The intimate 1920's/30's house party wedding..

 

 Gosford Park (2001)

I completely fell in love when I first saw Robert Redford in the Great Gatsby dressed to the nines in white tie and tails, so stunningly handsome and suave.  Back in the early 20th century the men in their evening attire and the ladies in their satin gowns and perfect hair oozed sophistication and glamour - the perfect inspiration for a stylish wedding.  Host an evening dinner party reception in a grand venue for close family and friends and live like lords and ladies for a day.

Satin bias cut gowns are the order of the day and nobody does these better than Jenny Packham.  Her dress are sleek and sophisticated, perfect for the Hollywood Vamp look..

For a similar dress on a smaller budget look for destination dresses from Dessy, or Monsoon in the UK.  Also look at evening style bridesmaids dresses (I love the ones at Watters & Watters) and order in white or ivory! 

Complete the look with a sleek waved hairstyle and statement crystal hairslide like thew models in the photos above - traditional veils and boho hair is forbidden!  If you want a more bridal look go for a small birdcage veil, there are so many versions on Etsy.

The perfect venue for this type of wedding would be a grand country house available for private hire, where you and your guests can lord it up for the weekend.  If your budget won't quite stretch to this, look for a hotel with a private dining room, the grander the better.  For brides inviting a few guests, have an intimate candlelit dinner party.  If you are inviting more guests, cocktails and canapes are the way to go.

I love this theme - but it will only work if you ban any guests in 1920's gangster costumes, you want a sophisticated wedding, not a fancy dress party!

All the Fun of the Fair

I don't know anyone who doesn't like a funfair, and what a fantastic theme for an informal wedding!  If you are planning a larger wedding, there are some companies that offer a whole fairground for hire, or just one or two rides or stalls.  For lower budgets and smaller parties, traditional games like hoopla, a coconut shy, hook a duck and tin can alley are easy to set up.  And of course you need the traditional refreshments, so a burger stand, hotdogs, fries, toffee apples and candy floss are the order of the day.  What I love about this theme are the bright colours and lights, so go mad with the red, blue and yellow.

  Top: program fans, popcorn favours, bright bouquet

Middle: traditional refreshments, stunning red dress, gumball favours

Bottom: poster invitation, a kiss on the carousel, toffee apples

Carters Steam Fair

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I'm in Cake Heaven......

If you're planning to have a desert buffet, you could do worse than serve some beautiful and scrumptious cakes like these.  Before my sister offered to make my wedding cake I thought about choosing a few of these in different sizes and placing them on a three tier cake stand.  This is a fab idea if you are on a budget, as you can serve these for desert after you have cut the cake.   I also had the idea of making a tower of various individual french cakes, tarts and slices on a transparent acrylic multi-tiered cake stand which would look so impressive, and guests could choose which kind they wanted to eat for desert (though not a great idea for a summer wedding in a hot marquee!).  These beauties from Patisserie Valerie in the UK come in various flavours and can be ordered from 6" to 16" in diameter.  Putting these pics together has got me feeling rather peckish.....

Vintage Marquee Reception - Carellia Rose

Carellia Rose, based in Rutland, UK is a vintage hire, styling and planning company, and I think what they do is fabulous.  Here's a little idea of what they can do for your wedding.....

 

I love the contrast between the sparkly chandeliers and the shabby chic marquee and bunting:

Visit the Beautiful Little Wedding Store for beautiful vintage wedding accessories

The English Summer Fete

The fete has been a feature of English Summers for decades, traditionally held by churches or villages to raise money, by organising competitions, games, displays, sales and refreshments.  This is a great theme for an informal wedding reception, all you need is a traditional marquee swathed in flowers and bunting, cake and sweet stands, homemade lemonade and cider, strawberries and cream and lots of games for people to take part in: hoopla, a coconut shy, lawn games and traditional contests like tug of war and welly throwing.  Let the games begin!

Click on pictures to enlarge:

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Picnic Time!

Following on from the garden reception idea: if you're on a tight budget or you're looking for something a little different, why not treat your guests to a wedding picnic?  I love this idea.  You'll need some picnic rugs or tablecloths and if you know your way around a sewing machine you could make them with some matching napkins with the fabric of your choice.  You could buy picnic hampers but it's cheaper to find some wicker baskets from flea markets or junk shops, a variety of shapes and sizes looks better.  Just load them up with goodies and off you go!

 Top: Laura Ashley

Bottom left: Mabel & Violet

Bottom right: Moet et Chandon

John Lewis

Cath Kidston

The lovely people of Etsy

I really love the idea of a small shabby chic wedding reception.  If your guest list and wedding budget are a little on the small side, you can't get better than a garden party reception.  If you want to bypass heart stopping venue and catering fees (and you have amazing family and friends!), find someone with a beautiful garden and get everyone to pitch in with decorating and food.  This feature on countryliving.com has some nice decorating ideas:

I did want an English country wedding but this country you can't always rely on the weather!  Think summer roses, mismatched crockery, flowers planted in old tin buckets and watering cans and afternoon tea with sandwiches and cakes.

 Idyllic Days, Country Living, Ages Past, Pretty Vintage

Loving this collage from Signature Weddings:

Yummy pink champagne displayed in metal buckets, low budget (the buckets, that is!) but very stylish:

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Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

If I look out of my bedroom window, through the rooftops and trees I can see the North Sea, just! I love living on the coast and have done so in a number of places, I love the traditional seaside experience with deck chairs, prom, Punch and Judy and Mr Whippy. I didn't have a seaside wedding but I think this is a great wedding theme, colourful, fun and nostalgic.

Lilac Coast

Dotcomgiftshop
Cotton Bunting Company
The Rock People
Nautical Art

For a more subtle beach look, using light blues to tie everything together looks very fresh and pretty.

Laura Ashley

Dotcomgiftshop
Confetti
Cotton Bunting Company

Some gorgeous seaside jewellery:

Charmed Memories

Tiffany & Co
Harvey Nichols
Dolly Dagger
Jane Davis
Accessorize

In The Beginning......

This is my wedding. After nine years together my partner and I were married in London in June 2009, an intimate affair with a small budget, close family, friends and our two small children. The ceremony was at the grand Wandsworth Register Office, the transport was a 1950's Greenline bus and the reception was at the Dukes Head, on the river in Putney. The rain stayed away and the day went without too many hitches! The day went so quickly, after months of planning we finally did it.
When I first started planning our wedding I had a few ideas as to how I wanted to day to be. I bet a lot of you felt the same as me when you went and bought those first bridal magazines, flicking through them excitedly and devouring all the info on dresses, flowers, receptions, cakes, venues, rings, music, guests, stationery, catering, bridesmaids, favours..... phew! There are soo many choices out there for brides to be and it can all get a bit much. I must have changed my mind about a hundred times as to what I wanted, and to tell the truth, I still think about how I would do the day differently, changing the theme, the colours and style.

And so this blog was born. After a lot of searching and planning my own wedding I hope that I can give you some ideas about how to plan yours, looking at different styles, different products and general info on wedding companies, retailers, offers and events. I've chosen to concentrate on more informal weddings rather than big ballroom affairs, looking at non-traditional styles that don't cost big bucks. And of course this deal works both ways because it means that I can continue planning for my renewal of vows! (Don't tell my husband...)

Sarah xx