It’s such a gorgeous wedding shot beautifully by  Sasha Felix. It’s full of so many pretty things, a wonderful collection of rustic outdoor decoration mixed with some beautiful vintage collectables. The setting is amazing but aren’t the couple Heather and Ryan so cute together, I am loving Ryan’s outfit and the utter joy when they are pronounced man and wife is just priceless!

The wedding is full of amazing DIY features and Vintage treats that Heather and her family worked hard on pulling together
Heather tells us a bit more about all the personal touches she added to the wedding

• Decoration: We mixed clear and blue Mason Jars that we bought at local yard sales. We then picked wild flowers. The vintage tins, vintage vases and vintage table runners all bought and collected locally and through family.
• Table numbers: We used little wood pieces painted black and wrote numbers on them with chalk. We tied the numbers using twine and old fashioned clothes pins.
• Photo Booth: We bought a fuji mini Polaroid camera and set up photo area for friends and family. We bought a wooden frame from a local flea market and strung it with twine for the photo booth backdrop and bought paper moustaches, lips and glasses from Etsy
• Photo Area: Using an old window we made a collage of old photo’s of us throughout the years, mainly high school and college. We then picked old frames and had family wedding photo’s also displayed
• Favours: we used local honey from West Shokan, used them for take home gifts and table assignments. The tags for the honey were stained with tea and handwritten

Supplier Shout Outs
Caterer:  New World Home Cooking
Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas
Dress Designer:  Nicole Miller,The J. Crew Bridal Boutique
Other:  Betsi Ewing Studio
Tuxedo and Mens Attire:  J. Crew
Event Venue:  Ashokan Dreams B&B
Fore more information on Sasha’s work go to:
www.sashafelix.com
www.sashafelix.com/blog
sasha@sashafelix.com
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TWITTER

This is a pretty simple DIY feature so hopefully accessible for everyone and it can be adjusted for your own taste in terms of colour and also the shape you decide to use for the names and numbers. For this tutorial Hazel has chosen heart shapes with blues and greys but you can choose what ever you like to go with the theme of your wedding.

You Will Need

 Old Picture frame with no glass
Ribbon thick
Ribbon thin
Card
Decorating Hooks
Paint
Scissors

How to Make the Seating Plan

1) Get your self a picture frame, from a charity shop or from a picture framers (they often have miss shaped and 2nd’s that they are more than likely going to throw away) take the frame and sand it down  and then paint.

2) Decide what shape you want your names and numbers to be, draw out on card and then cut out. You could also use luggage tags

3) Take the  thin ribbon and thread it through the place names, string them together to create rows.  An alternative to threading the names onto ribbon is to buy miniature pegs to clip them on with. This is great if you have last-minute changes.

4) Take each row of ribbon and attach them to the picture frame using decorating hooks, Hazel has used 3m Command decorating hooks, which need no hammering or screwing .

5)  Using the hooks again on the back of the frame, take the thicker ribbon and thread it through the hook and then tie in a knot to finish so the table plan can be hung up on a wall.

6) And you’re finished!

Big Thanks to Hazel Ball, from Velvet Brown for this fab DIY Tutorial.

The wedding took place on  3rd Sept, and was shot by Ickootu.The ceremony was held at St Pandionia and St John the Baptist Church in Eltisley with the reception at Anna’s mother’s house in Cambridgeshire with 100 guests. It took 9 months to plan. They describe their wedding as ‘Traditional personal ceremony in local village church followed by fun, creative, informal reception in marquee in the garden. We aimed for a festival atmosphere at the reception and it really felt like everyone was having a great time’

How they met
I worked in London at an events company and Dan came to work there as an intern whilst at Bournemouth university. We’ve been together for 8 years

The proposal
Sunday night at home over chicken curry (my favourite meal) the evening before our 7 year anniversary

The venue
I grew up in Toseland so it has good memories. Having a marquee in my mum’s garden meant we had complete freedom regarding the whole reception – we could do whatever we wanted!

Dress
Was by  Cymbeline. I made my hairband, borrowed big sister’s veil and bought shoes online from Next. I bought matching bracelets each for myself and my three bridesmaids and also had a small locket containing a photo of someone very special to me who had passed away the previous summer.

The suit and bridesmaids
Brown tails hired from Jack Bunney’s in Barking and bridesmaid’s dresses from Dessy.

Theme
Very natural colours – browns, cream/white and greens for wedding party and in church, however, for the reception we wanted it to feel relaxed, fun and informal so the more colours the better!

Food
Roasted veg tart, Locally reared sausages with veg, mash and gravy (we wanted the vegetarian option to look the same as the others to avoid food envy for any anyone!). Ice-cream man on a bike cycled into the marquee to give away ice-creams for dessert.

Entertainment
The Kounterfiet Kinks and then local DJs (then Dan later on)

Flowers
One of my bridesmaid’s close friends, Zannah, is an Art teacher and wants to get into floristry so offered to do the flowers free of charge (apart from her costs). She did an amazing job and managed to create my dream flowers– absolutely perfect.

Decoration
In the Church: Pews ends made by Zannah, pots of ivy (grown by my auntie) and candles and white flowers on window ledges,
Marquee: Paper garlands round the marquee, artificial flowers on the table in little jars and vases (sourced from family, friends, car boot sales and charity shops), jars of sweets we filled and hand-topped with material, hand-made napkins made of approx. 14 different floral fabrics, floral clips on napkins (which looked so pretty as all the guests had them clipped on throughout the night),
Garden: Re-useable light-up lanterns in trees, decorations and artificial flowers in trees, bunting in trees, ‘campsite’ and tents decorated with wedding and pretty stuff!

Personal touches
• Cake – made by the mum of one of Dan’s best-friends. The cake was delicious, 3 tiers of fruit cake with colourful, delicate handmade flowers and then on the top-tier an exact replica of our campervan with us sitting next to it. Unbelievable!
• Cider bus – our campervan with help yourself cider and real ale in tubs and old iron bath outside.
• Table with pickled eggs and nuts and crisps.
• Haystacks for people to sit on.
• Royal wedding scene – surprise from my aunties and cousins. The royal wedding scene was re-created with all the guests shouting for ‘the kiss’ and my family wearing masks of the Queen (definitely more shambolic and amusing than Will and Kate’s)
• Ice-cream man cycling into marquee to the sound of ‘just one cornetto’
• Campervan as transport for bride and bridesmaids to church and then bride and groom to reception
• We made the seating plan – had a photo of each guest as well as their name. Great source of amusement and ice-breaker as everyone was laughing and trying to work out when/where the photos had been taken.
• The place names were coloured cardboard made into tiny campervans with people’s names on – all hand-cut, hand stuck and hand-written.
• Paper garlands round the marquee bought online and hung up by my cousin,
All tables decorations:
• Artificial flowers on the table in little jars and vases (all sourced from family, friends, car boot sales and charity shops)
• Collected more jars to be filled with sweets and hand-topped with material,
• Hand-made napkins made of approx 14 different floral fabrics, tied with different ribbons, floral clips on napkins (which looked so pretty as all the guests ended up wearing them throughout the night),
• Candles in more jars and tiny lanterns

Special moments
The church ceremony – really personal, beautiful, touching, funny – just perfect and so special. Also, that Dan and I were the last people standing at about 5am. We had our last dance, last glass of wine and then walked round the marquee and turned off the generator together. It was good to know we’d made the most of it!

Planning Advice
Remember to enjoy all of it – the planning, the day and then the good memories. Don’t leave things till the last minute or even the week or month before. If you’re planning creative touches stop planning and start making!

Biggest surprise of the day
The balcony scene… and just how much fun and special the whole day and night was.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Flowers: Zannah in Bedford
• Cake: Dave’s mum
• ICKOOTU Photography www.ickootu.com
• Catering: Charis Wedgwood at Chef de la Maison Ltd
• Marquee:Kate from Concept Marquees www.concept-marquees.co.uk
• Catering equipment: Whittlesey Catering Hire Limited www.cateringhireuk.com

For more information on Eleri’s work go to
ICKOOTU Photography
www.ickootu.com
http://ickootu.blogspot.com
FACEBOOK
07966 594 603

ICKOOTU are Caroline Addison and Eleri Tunstall and have been shooting weddings together for 7 years (not to mention being best friends for 15 years too!). Caroline is expecting a baby so from the next few weeks Eleri will be going it alone for a while! See her new Facebook page  for details of her new website coming soon. Looking back at this wedding not only brings back memories of a great day for a wonderful couple but for Caroline and Eleri it also reminds them of the great times they’ve had working together.

I’ll pass the Blog over to Tracey……..

Hello everyone, As a lover of all things pretty, romantic and vintage-inspired, I made a number of designs for a recent wedding fayre in Sheffield and contacted Kelly to see if she would like to feature one of my bouquets as a tutorial.  I was delighted when she said yes – as an ex-advanced level tutor, there’s nothing I like more than helping DIY Brides.

So, here’s a simple, step-by-step guide on how to put together these sweet little gypsophila bunches which could be used as a Bride’s bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets or even cut short as table decorations.

You will need

 About 5-6 bunches of quite full, open gypsophila
String or raffia to tie with
Scissors
Ribbon
Pearlheaded pins

1)  Start by removing all the lower leaves from your gypsophila – this is a bit fiddly and time consuming but its worth it.  If leaves are left on they get in the way when you come to tie your design and can cause problems.  Even worse, when they shrink they can make your design fall apart!

2) Cut all the side shoots off your gypsophila and keep everything.  They can all be used later.

3) Collect all your stems into a bunch like this ‘til you have used all your stems up

4) Take a couple of stems into your hand and feed each new stem into your hand from the left (if right handed) or right (if left handed).  This might be a bit tricky at first but be patient and keep trying – you will get the knack!

5) If you make sure you always place the new stem on top of the ones you have in your hand it should work and you will eventually end up with spiralled stems.

6)  Your design should start to grow quite quickly and look a bit like this after you have fed about half a dozen stems into it.

7) After a short while your design should become a nice round ‘ball’ shape.

8] Next tie off your design – I’ve used some fancy florist’s tie, but string or anything non-slip will do.  Don’t try and use satin ribbon as it can be a bit of a nightmare to tie with!

9)  Cut the stems to the desired length.  Florists generally use the ‘hand-width-and-a-bit’ rule, which looks attractive and is comfortable to hold.  If you’re not confident about how long you want your stems, be cautious.  As my lovely friend, and first Manager, Mel says “You can always cut them shorter, but you can’t stick them back on!”

10) Now time for the pretties! Choose some ribbon to add to your design – I’ve chosen white satin and lace, so delicate and romantic.

11) Bind off your design to conceal your tieing point with some pretty ribbon.  (Sorry about the green nails but the reality of floristry is, it’s a bit messy!)

12)  Then you can finish with some pretty lace to add a vintage feel to the design and secure with pearl-headed pins

13) Voila! There you have it and if you want to use up all those little bits and pieces you can make a tiny buttonhole to match using exactly the same techniques.

Good luck and my thanks to Kelly for featuring me on her blog -  I’d love to hear through her how you got on, if you tried making this design.  If you do struggle I’ve uploaded a few videos on YouTube which might make it a bit easier – just search under Campbells Flowers.

Tracey x

For more information on Tracey’s work go to
www.campbellsflowers.co.uk
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After an epiphany at Chelsea Flower Show over 10 years ago, Tracey decided to forgo the world of Advertising and Marketing and retrain as a florist.  Since that time, her love of all things flowery has led her through jobs in retail floristry and a stint teaching at local colleges, to starting her own business – Campbell’s Flowers.  Concentrating on good old-fashioned care and attention to detail, Tracey’s business is fast becoming one of the most talked about florists in Sheffield.  Her design style focusses on using beautiful flowers in stylish simplicity, used naturally and as romantically as possible.  She is a friendly soul whose main strengths lie in wedding flowers and workshops.  Her delightful little workroom was recently described by one as her Brides as a ‘girl cave’!

I am especially loving the bridesmaids outfits their cute dresses and cowboy boots as well as their gorgeous bouquets. The wooden signs and all the amazing home made details like the pots of jam, just beautiful. You really get a feeling of the Tennessee countryside here. A relaxed informal wedding which looks like a whole of of fun!

It’s the wedding of Amy and Tristan, who got married with a homemade feel with lots of friends and family, pitching in to help. I Love Jessica’s style of photography, the muted tones that give it a vintage feel, making the images even more soft and romantic. I am also loving the bike ride, the swings, Amy’s shots with the bridemaids……oh and naturally the food! A most gorgeous day I’m sure you will agree.

Jessica told me a bit more about the day

‘Amy & Tristan celebrated their big day surrounded by wonderfully warm and relaxed friends and family in a garden setting outside of Melbourne, Australia.  Everyone pitched in and helped create an incredible array of goodies, from platters of fine cheeses to sweets and treats homebaked with love.  Amy’s vintage inspired gown was handsewn by her mother who also made all the bridesmaids dresses. Such a clever cookie!
Everyone enjoyed the warm sunshine on picknick blankets and gathered around for a bashing of a love heart piñata.’

For more information on Jessica’s Photography go to
www.brownpaperparcel.com
www.thevanishingarerunning.blogspot.co.uk
jess.tremp@gmail.com
FACEBOOK
TWITTER

In case you missed it last time Laura is one of my brides getting married on 7th September 2013 and she is DIY mad! she has already created some amazing things for her wedding, so  a few weeks ago I invited her along to my house to put together a few DIY tutorials for the Blog. The lovely Jess Petrie also came along to take the photos.

And if you did miss it you have to check out her last post, 1000 paper cranes backdrop as it is AMAZING!

Today Laura is showing us how to make Tea Bag Favours

Here’s Laura……………..

Tea Bag Favours

You will need

Tea bags of your choice (or other small favour)
Cello bags
Sewing machine or needle & thread
Strong glue or glue gun
Labels or thick paper
Printer
Scissors

Instructions

1) If your cello bags are big (mine were huge!), trim them down to size. (Mine are A5 size cut in half)

2) Insert favour

3) Seal shut along one side with a sewing machine. Leave the thread tails slightly long to provide a really satisfying ripping when you tear the bags open!

4) Add a nice label to the top of your bags, with suitably witty saying. I printed mine on paper from a standard PC and printer, but you could also print directly onto sticky labels.

5) You can be as creative with you contents, stitching and labels to really personalise your favours.

I’m sure you will agree these cute favours are an easy and cheep idea for your wedding, and great for an afternoon tea theme wedding.
Laura will be back in a few weeks to share with us more of her DIY ideas.

If you want to read more about Laura’s wedding journey and more about her DIY adventures then she ahs just started her own blog http://themrsmakes.blogspot.co.uk

For information on Jess’s Photography work go to:
www.jesspetrie.com
info@jesspetrie.com
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
FLICKR
07581209794

It’s the wedding of Elizabeth and Jess who held their spring wedding in Maryville, Tennessee, jam-packed of homemade items with an English tea theme mixed with lots of lovely vintage touches. I’m sure you will agree that every bit fo this wedding is amazing….and another outdoor wedding ceremony! Yay!

Elizabeth and her mother, Leslie, planned a small intimate 2 o’clock afternoon wedding. English adornments included sixpence in Elizabeth’s shoe, personalized doilies under each plate with each guest’s name on them, lumps of sugar, and vintage decorative tea bags.

The bride’s veil was hand made by the groom’s mother, and there were antique hankerchiefs for “happy tears” during the wedding ceremony.
The guest seating cards were hand made on vintage paper and hung on twine across antique wooden screen doors.

The reception catering included scones, marmalade, delectable tea sandwiches, and hot tea provided in vintage tea pots.The bride and groom’s teapot was hand painted by the bride’s grandmother.
An assortment of blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry jams were favors for the guests – the berries were hand picked by the bride’s mother and father months before the wedding, canned in their home, and personalized for Elizabeth’s wedding day!

Elizabeth and Jess met in college playing the game of foursquare, so it was only fitting that they ended the wedding reception with a game of foursquare!

Supplier Shout Outs                  

• Caterer: Holly’s Eventful Dining
• Photography: Jo Photo
• Floral Designer: Lisa Foster Floral Design Studio
• Dress Store: White Lace & Promises
• Linens and Coverings: White Table
• Event Venue: Smithview Pavilion & Event Center
• Other: The Bride Link

For more information on Jo Photo go to
www.jophotoonline.com
http://jophotoonline.com/blog
kathleen@jophotoonline.com
TWITTER

Run by Boho’s resident Guest Blogger and DIY Queen Chloe from Adore, (The leading UK crafty wedding blog) you’ll have Chloe with you leading the workshops teaching you new skills helping you make something personal and give you lots of creative ideas and tips!

Choose to make one of the crafts below or Chloe can help your group design and make something totally bespoke, for example the bride’s wedding table numbers or some quirky string art signs!

♥  Handmade stationery

♥  Decorating rustic wedding or home decorations

♥  Glamorous fascinators and shoe accessories

♥  Fabric floristry

♥  Decorating personalised candles

Recent chief bridesmaid Laura, from Nottingham… “It’s such an enjoyable way of doing something together as a group, we had a lovely afternoon chatting, eating cake, crafting and did lots of laughing!”

How it works…

1)    Email Chloe with your preferred date, time and craft project. Once this is finalised a non-refundable £100 deposit is required to secure the booking.

2)    Invite your group along!

3)    Chloe will get in touch a few weeks before to confirm numbers and all the final details.

4)    On the day of the party Chloe will set up all the materials and equipment you need to get making and bring lots of examples to help inspire you!

Prices start at £15 per person (depending on the craft) for a minimum of 6 people. The parties can last up to 3 hours and be held anywhere in the East Midlands– at your home or a venue of your choice!

You can contact Chloe here:
Website: www.adorebychloe.co.uk
Email: hello@adorebychloe.co.uk
TWITTER
FACEBOOK:

Photography credit: www.butterworthphotography.co.uk

* This is NOT a sponsored post!*

It’s the wedding of Melissa and Larry who tied the knot in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and what a beautiful venue it is! married by one of their friends (this makes me so jealous that we can’t do this in the  UK) the wedding is a wonderful celebration, which included 50 of their  closest friends and family for the outdoor ceremony and  speakeasy-inspired cocktail reception. The whole day is full of charm, style and of course a whole load of love.

Kpoene’ Kofi-Bruce the dress designer tells us a bit more about the day, while Melissa tells us all about the suppliers and her DIY details.

Theme and Venue
Melissa and Larry moved from Brooklyn in 2008 for work (she in education, he in computers). Melissa and Larry are adventurous intellectuals who love to travel, and they wanted their wedding to be an inclusive celebration, reflecting who they are as a couple and honoring the love they have for their wonderful friends and family. Wanting to keep the focus on having a fabulous party, they opted for an outdoor ceremony in San Francisco’s enchanting Golden Gate Park with a speakeasy-inspired cocktail reception afterwards for about 50 family and friends at Bacar Restaurant.

The Ceremony
Guests arrived from all over the country to enjoy the lighthearted ceremony performed by a friend of the couple’s, and to appreciate all of the personal touches that went into making the day perfect.

Details
Melissa handmade the bridesmaid’s favors herself as gifts for each attendant. She also kept costs low by taking an early-morning trip to San Francisco’s Wholesale Flower Market with her mother and sister to purchase blooms, and then arranging the flowers for her bouquet, boutonnières, and the tablescapes herself. Printed signs and balloons directed guests to the ceremony venue, a delightfully cozy public garden in the park filled with herbs and flowers from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets.

Reception
At the reception, guests descended Bacar’s dramatic grand staircase for photographs. The escort table directed guests to their seats with a display of vintage family wedding portraits, and each guest went home with an individual painting commissioned by the couple from Brooklyn artist Steve Keene. Rather than having a cake, Melissa had cupcakes from Pinkies Bakery specially made in their favorite flavors, and commissioned a custom cake topper in the shape of the couple’s two cats to grace the scene. Guests toasted the couple with a signature cocktail and danced the night away.

The Dress
For her gown, Melissa wanted to reference the feel of Mad Men’s Joan, the sexy secretary known for her amazing style and voluptuous figure. We also wanted to try and incorporate some elements from her grandmother’s veil into the gown. Because we were doing such a structured gown, we decided on a candlelight silk dupioni with a cotton cady lining, and to emphasize the bride’s figure we added small pleats around the neckline of the crossover bodice, and deeper pleats on the skirt. Melissa isn’t a fan of ruffles and bows, so we decided on an obi-style closure for her sash, giving it a romantic touch with wired resin flowers from her grandmother’s veil.

The accessories
Melissa, a talented crafter, teamed the gown with a cage veil and fascinator that she made herself, plus earrings from Sulu Design, a friend’s Etsy shop. She gave her attendants earrings and fascinators from Sulu Design as well. As a final touch, she wore a bracelet made from the remaining flowers on her grandmother’s veil.

The entire effect was thoroughly modern, beautiful, and unique, just like the bride herself! Hearty congratulations to them both!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photographer: Traci Griffin Photography -www.tracigriffinphotography.com
• Dress: Mignonette Bridal – www.mignonettebridal.com - 1747 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657 – FACEBOOK
• Ceremony – Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park – http://www.golden-gate-park.com/garden-of-shakespeares-flowers.html
• Reception – Bacar Restaurant in SF (now closed)
• My earrings, bridesmaids’ earrings and their fascinators – Sulu Design -  www.etsy.com/shop/SueLieu
• My shoes were from jcrew
• Larry’s suit was from Macy’s. His shirt, tie, cuff links and socks were from Thomas Pink.
• Our cupcakes were from Pinkie’s Bakery in SF – http://pinkiesbakerysf.com
• Our cupcake toppers (including custom kitties!) were custom made by goose grease – www.etsy.com/shop/goosegrease
• For wedding favors, we gave our guests small original paintings by Brooklyn artist SteveKeene – http://stevekeene.com
• We bought all our flowers from the San Francisco wholesale market the day before and made our own bouquets, boutineers (sp) and center pieces.
• We had our invitations designed by orange beautiful www.orangebeautiful.com and then we printed them ourselves using our gocco
• Candle holders and assorted glassware from ikea
• I made my fascinator, veil, the centerpieces and just about everything else