The English Wedding Blog Book 2016 by English Wedding Blog

English-Wedding.com

Photo credit: Lisa Aldersley Photography  Styling: Aspire Photography Training

Cover image: Melissa Beattie Photography

Be happy - break the rules Love & lilacs: a spring wedding style shoot Venue hunting tips An intimate wedding? Winter elegance: wedding style shoot Choosing your wedding photographer Jessica & Michael’s gorgeous Newcastle wedding Dress shopping advice Summer luxe: wedding style shoot Using wedding blogs - the insider’s guide Elegant rustic wedding style shoot Styling & colours - hints for 2016 Plan together: the secret to happiness! Sigrid & Daniel’s Secret Garden wedding in Kent Your wedding flowers: styling and buying advice Scarlet & sea blue: seaside wedding style shoot Wedding DIY - is it for you? Luxe barn wedding style shoot The great wedding stationery debate Laura & Rich: a very personal Bristol wedding Planning timings & checklist Nina & Ben’s pretty summer wedding in Oxfordshire The English Wedding Blog’s top trends for 2016 Real weddings, real advice from brides & grooms Beautiful autumn wedding style shoot Buying independent for your big day Vanessa & Will: a beautiful Warwickshire wedding The English Wedding Blog story Submissions & sponsorship Thank you

Introduction / Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

Images on these pages are by Melissa Beattie at Aspire Photography Training.

You’ll find a handful of beautiful inspirational wedding features from Aspire running through this book. Their aesthetic is always beautiful and images are out of this world. I owe huge thanks to all of the Aspire team and especially Catherine Connor, lovely stylist Yasmin and photographer Jenny Heyworth as well as to all of the pro photographers whose images Aspire have shared with us in the creation of this book. Be inspired… Style your wedding for spring with a loose bouquet of lilac and spring blooms; choose a sweet and simple dress (model wears a gorgeous gown from The White Closet)  Styling by the fabulous Emma Tebbey at Tebbey & Co.

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Introduction / Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

‘Your day, your way’ is the oldest cliché in the book - but it’s true. There are no rules in weddings any more. Elope, have an intimate wedding with 20 guests, or a fabulously opulent castle celebration. The choice is yours. All yours. Every wedding is different!

Traditions are just that: conventions handed down through generations. But how long should a wedding tradition go on? White dresses for virginity; fathers handing over daughters in exchange for a dowry; a promise to honour and obey; the etiquette of a receiving line; a formal written invitation? Traditions can be nice; but our enjoyment comes from our freedom to choose. The loveliest thing about weddings now is creativity, choice and individuality. There are no rules any more.

English-Wedding.com

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A wonderfully inspirational shoot for country loversâ&#x20AC;Ś

Sweet lilacs and cow parsley Peony blossoms in your hair Plaits and natural makeup Simple, short & sweet dress styles Trailing ribbons in your bouquet

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Pastel ceramics for table flowers Old windows and white lettering Handwritten rustic signage

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

Be free spirits Invite whoever you choose: from three to three hundred guests. Every size of wedding is accepted; the important thing is you’re comfortable with your guest numbers and it works financially for you. Marry and celebrate wherever you want to be: outdoors, on the beach, in church, with a humanist ceremony, in a fusion of cultures and traditions. There is always a way: ask around, research online and don’t be afraid to find somewhere different. Commit your life to whoever you love: girls can marry girls; boys can marry boys. The sooner this is worldwide; the happier we’ll be. Bespoke bridal parties - eight best men and no bridesmaids? You can. Gone are the days when you ‘had’ to have a couple of bridesmaids, one best man, two ushers and a flower girl. Mix and match: choose your favourite people in the world and give them a role - or skip the bridal party altogether and let everyone relax as guests, all day long. Being ‘given away’ is only a tradition. If your Dad is around it’s lovely to include him in the traditional role, but you don’t have to by any means. I love the idea of walking down the aisle together with your partner. You’re already a team! Early risers? Night owls? Time your wedding to suit your lifestyles! You can marry at 9 and party all day, or marry at 5 and dance until sunrise. Formal invitations are a relic. And they’re part of the wedding game: they can be nostalgic, romantic and part of the whole ‘dressing up’ atmosphere of a formal wedding. If you’re playing the part of a lord and lady, hiring a stately home and wearing formal dress, by all means buy invites to suit! For a festival wedding or an informal party, skip the invites. Dressing up is fun - but dress as the ultimate you! Wear sequins, jeans, flowers in your hair or beard - be comfortable, feel fabulous, and enjoy your day in comfort and your very own uniquely gorgeous style! Style your reception your way, if you want to. Only if you want to. For some couples it’s all about amazing food and outstanding company; often a venue or location is all the styling and atmosphere you could ever need.

English-Wedding.com Avoid overinfluencers. Choose your bridesmaids carefully - and not for their honest opinions but for their company and friendship. Involve others only to the extent you want them to contribute to your day. Avoid prescriptive venues or opinionated wedding suppliers. Most of all, know your own ideas, be clear and stand your ground. There are infinite ways to plan, style and celebrate your marriage. Keep in mind that anything is possible; there’s no need to follow wedding ‘rules’ - and enjoy the freedom and creativity that comes with modern weddings.

Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie Window lettering: Claire Gould

Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

Perhaps you already have in mind the geographical area for your wedding: your county, your region, your city. Double that and you’ll have twice the number of venues to choose from. Buy a map: draw a circle around your ideal area. Then draw a circle twice as wide, three times. It will contain surprises, little gems, alternative sites and amazing landscapes you didn’t know were even there. Allow yourselves scope and choice. And enjoy the journey.

A shortlist of venues is a good idea. It’s nice to have a plan - but while you’re driving around do keep your eyes and minds wide open. If you spot somewhere intriguing on the horizon, go and investigate! A checklist - as dull as it sounds - is helpful too. Refine and review your list of essentials as you go along. You might need a late curfew; a number of rooms; local amenities; options for catering. Think of all the things you need, and all the things you’d have in an ideal world. Take a pen and tick them off - but be prepared to reconsider a few of the items on your list.

English-Wedding.com Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie Styling: Tebbey & Co.

Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

Trust your instincts. Listen to each other. Those funny feelings about a wedding venue can turn into major worries down the line. Don’t waste time on places you don’t think will work for you both. Weigh up venues’ wedding coordinators. Most are lovely; some are set in their ways. Many are full of enthusiasm; some are new to their roles, inexperienced, or have other jobs at the venue. Listen to their tips, learn about the venue from them: but use your own judgement and explore a place for yourselves too. Never rely on a coordinator to plan your wedding; keep track of your arrangements and make sure you know what is going on. It’s a role with a very high staff turnover at almost every wedding venue. How flexible is your wedding venue? Will you have freedom to bring in your own suppliers? One of the worst things is a venue with their own built-in DJ. Trust me. Think about styling your venue: some are ornately decorated and won’t need a drop of glitter. Others are purpose built blank canvases, perfect for DIY decorations, bespoke lighting and floor to ceiling floral architecture. If your hearts are set on a colour palette, will it clash with your venue’s curtains and carpets?

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Stately homes, manor houses and restaurants are the standard in wedding venues. But I’ve known many couples to hire alternative spaces: old theatres, barns, village halls and schools, tents and tipis, even fields for a festival style celebration. Don’t feel you’re limited to a building with a ‘wedding vene’ label stuck on the side: they can be a little claustrophobic for creative couples. Don’t be shy: ask at your favourite restaurant, your local country pub, even landmarks and crazy spaces you’ve never known as ‘venues’ before now. You might be surprised when the owners say yes!

Find a venue which is practical for yourselves and for your guests. It might be very close to your home; it might be halfway across the country, closer to where your other half grew up. Is there road access? Public transport? Is it wheelchair friendly? Are the caterers part of your venue’s package? Can you bring in someone else? What about corkage? Does the curfew change if you marry on a Wednesday or a Saturday? When the music has to stop, will the bar stay open for you? How much will your venue cost you? Can you be creative with costings by bringing in your own suppliers? Are they comfortable or familiar with intimate weddings? There is so much to consider, I can only advise you to take your venue search slowly. Don’t rule anything out from the beginning; cast your nets as wide as you can, and then wider still. Most of all, keep looking: your dream venue is out there - it just might not be what you expected!

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

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Spring wedding style: Aspire Photography Training Photo credit: Melissa Beattie

We’re becoming very fond of small weddings - they’re relaxed, cost effective and often wonderfully creative. When the wedding ‘rules’ began to change, couples’ options exploded: fewer guests mean a wider choice of venues, times and suppliers - and ultimately less planning stress and more fun! I love intimate weddings. The extreme example is elopement. One of the coolest weddings I saw last year was a city elopement: the bride wore sequins; the groom a fashionable suit. There was a bouquet; there were smooches and candles and more romance than I’ve seen in many a traditional wedding. Of course many of us want our parents and siblings to share our wedding days; maybe you wouldn’t dream of getting married without your best friend - but how much further does your guest list really need to stretch? Guest numbers increase pretty much in line with cost and complexity. I could draw a graph for this: it would be a straight line going up, up and then up some more. If you want to save months of your lives from hassle and planning, keep things small and simple. If you’re happy - excited, even - about the wedding planning process, then get to work on that guest list and enjoy the ride!

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An Intimate Wedding / Photography: Melissa Beattie

They invited you to their wedding?

Every wedding is different. They’re your friends / family. They’ll understand! Mum wants them to come? Ah but it’s not Mum’s wedding. Explain as best you can; times have changed; weddings are different now. Your family has big weddings. It’s a thing. Remember we talked about breaking tradition? Time for a change: scale it down if you’ll feel more comfortable. Office politics… Along with social media, office politics and weddings don’t mix. Be straight from the start, and be honest. Only invite your real friends. One of you has more friends or family The solution is to mix everyone up. Simple! You’re bringing two families together; any friend of hers is a friend of yours, right? Who’s counting! More guests, more advice, more expectations… People will be excited and looking forward to your day. They’ll want to talk about it - and will have advice, recommendations and opinions to share. There’s something lovely about keeping a wedding small and secret!

On the day you’ll be married, you should be surrounded only by the people you want to celebrate the best day of your lives with, the friends and loved ones you’d miss so much if they weren’t there. Remember this, and the pressures will fall away!

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for winter blissâ&#x20AC;Ś

Pastel and duck egg blues Cosy accessories for you & your guests Branches and eucalyptus Silk ribbons in soft whites A vintage Beetle in grey Delicate eggs for cake styling Classic English bridalwear A dream wedding venue

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Winter Wedding Style / Photography: Melissa Beattie

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Winter Wedding Style / Photography: Melissa Beattie

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Photography: Melissa Beattie Photography Styling: Tebbey & Co. Venue: Askham Hall Dress: Sassi Holford from Julia Tasker Bridal Couture Hair: Heather Lawson Hair Make-up: Aimee Chorley Makeup Artist Stationery: Ever After Press Floral Wreath and Car Garland: Made in Flowers Vintage Cars: Lake District Vintage Wedding Cars

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Winter Wedding Style / Photography: Melissa Beattie

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Winter Wedding Style / Photography: Melissa Beattie

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Winter Wedding Style / Photography: Melissa Beattie

Don’t underestimate how much choice you have here: there are almost infinite wedding photographers, and you could spend years looking at portfolios and blogs to find the right one. You could also choose quickly from three in your area. I wouldn’t recommend either of these approaches to finding your photographer. The key piece of advice I can give is that you’ll get what you pay for. Cheap photographers will give you bargain basement service and mundane images of your day. Leave budgets out of the equation until you’ve begun to explore the sorts of images you want: these will be your forever memories. The pool of photographers you can choose from isn’t local. It’s national. 90% of the wedding photographers I know will travel around the UK. And yet 90% of couples choose a photographer from their local area. Why? Because it’s easy… …but you’re not getting the best choice for you. Wedding photographers come in a delicious assortment of flavours: reportage, fine art, fashion, traditional, vintage… and within each category you’ll find a huge range of prices, abilities, experience and personalities. It doesn’t make it any easier to choose; but narrowing down the style of photography you’re drawn to is a really good start. The best place to start looking is online, via wedding blogs. We thrive on publishing real weddings by hundreds of photographers every year. Reading blogs fairly regularly will help you become familiar with different wedding photographers. Choose your blogs carefully: they vary in style and locality. The English Wedding Blog, along with other top British wedding blogs, is a great place to start looking at photographers’ styles close to home.

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Choosing a wedding photographer / Photo credit: Duncan McCall Photography, Newcastle

Once you know if you’re a fine art, reportage or fashion kind of couple, you can start your search for a wedding photographer in earnest. Google ‘reportage wedding photographer UK’ and compile a shortlist with prices. Read the photographers’ own blogs to familiarise yourselves even more with their photography style and their personalities. Check out Instagram and Facebook pages too. Reading the photographers’ own blogs will show you a full range of images from their real weddings; exploring their Facebook pages will reveal a glimpse of their personalities: both are important.

Also look for weddings photographed at the same time of year as your own wedding. If you’re marrying between September and April when the days are shorter, you’ll need a photographer who can still capture amazing images in low light. This comes down to equipment and skill! English-Wedding.com/category/spring-weddings English-Wedding.com/category/summer-weddings English-Wedding.com/category/autumn-weddings English-Wedding.com/category/winter-weddings

Meeting your photographer in person before you book is important. Having that personality ‘click’ is priceless: they’ll spend a lot of time with you on your day, from getting dressed until the dancing begins… trust your instincts.

I’ve heard couples say they found a photographer who knew their venue, and all the best spots for photography. But I have also seen photographers travel across the country to a venue they’d never visited, with incredible results: sometimes the ‘best spots’ are where the light shines on an October afternoon, or the undiscovered corners of a library where you can sneak away for a romantic moment! Don’t limit your search to photographers who’ve seen it all before.

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Choosing a wedding photographer / Photo credit: Duncan McCall Photography, Newcastle

My photographer friends take most of their bookings 18+ months in advance. Don’t leave it too late: book your venue, registrar and photographer as a priority and around the same time. See our checklist at the end of the book for a rough guide to timings. Lastly, if your photographer offers a pre-wedding or engagement shoot, do it. Pre-wedding photoshoots are fantastic for so many reasons: you’ll have amazing memories on canvas from before your wedding. You’ll get to know them. You’ll be comfortable in front of the camera. You might even get some tips on posing for photos - but only if you want them! So look far and wide for your photographer. Choose someone who will make you happy on your big day, and who will make you equally happy for years to come with the magical images they provide. They’ll be worth every single penny.

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Jessica & Michael  by Duncan McCall Photography, Newcastle

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Duncan McCall is a UK wedding photographer based in Newcastle upon Tyne and covering the UK and destination weddings. His style is timeless: “I avoid any current trends as I really believe looking back on the photos in years to come a more natural timeless look will stand the test of time and look as good in 50 years as they do today.” duncanmccallphotography.com

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Real wedding: Jessica & Michael Photo credit: Duncan McCall Photography, Newcastle

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Real wedding: Jessica & Michael Photo credit: Duncan McCall Photography, Newcastle

This very morning a bride told me she loved her wedding dress as ‘a focal point’ of the wedding. It’s so easy to fall in love with your wedding dress - and I believe with all of my heart that finding your dress should be an experience in itself. There are good and bad bridal boutiques out there. The good ones are amazing. You’ll feel welcomed, comfortable, pampered and treated as a friend at your appointments. If you don’t get an amazing vibe from a bridal boutique, walk out and don’t look back. There are plenty of ‘alternative’ bridal shops out there: if you’ve never pictured yourself in a standard wedding dress, why not explore vintage or bespoke dress companies? The Couture Company in Birmingham is one of many making waves right now; Indiebride has a fabulous collection of dresses you’ll love if you’re not sure about looking “like a bride” (in the traditional sense!) modern brands let you be YOU.

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Dress Shopping / Image credit: Lisa Aldersley at Aspire Photography Training

Take your closest and most trusted friend or family member with you. For first appointments, take one person. Choose someone who shares your taste, attitude and who understands your budget. Choose someone who’ll support your decisions, who’s calm and thoughtful, and who you can share anything with. Your sister, mum, bridesmaids - whoever you didn’t take to your first fitting - can come with you next time. Keep those first fittings relaxed and simple.

Wear nice, plain, simple underwear for your first dress appointments. Don’t worry about what will look right with your dress: for first fittings it’s more important you feel comfortable. If you wear strapless bras they’re a good idea; but honestly girls, wear what you’re happy in. Remember most bridal boutiques are amazing. They’ll give you friendly, kind help and advice including underwear tips. They will help you feel relaxed when you’re trying on - and they’ve seen it all before.

Let’s start with “never Ebay”. It is possible to buy your dress online; but always shop from a reputable source. Check returns policies; have a seamstress’s details to hand in case you need alterations. Some stores specialise in online sales: BHLDN is one; Indiebride another. They have comprehensive fit guides and published returns policies. Their dresses are designed for buying online so you’re more likely to get a great fit when yours arrives too! Top tips for buying your wedding dress online: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Never Ebay. Did I mention that? Read the terms carefully Have a good local seamstress you can call on just in case! Check customer service will be easy to access, by phone or online

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Dress Shopping / Photography credit: Nichola Morton Photography â&#x20AC;Š

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English-Wedding.com Dress Shopping / Photography credit: Nichola Morton Photography

Decor: wedding styling and colours I love wedding colour palettes - they give you the freedom to be a little more creative than styling your whole day around a single colour. Keep colours in keeping with your venue. Big blocks of colour in your reception room can be distracting: so check the carpet and curtains will work with your palette. Trust me: a clashing carpet will become overwhelming in your wedding photos! The overall style of your wedding will work best if you consider your venue too: vintage won’t work in a modern hotel. Art deco will look out of place in a tipi (but fabulous in a Sperry tent). Bring your personalities into your wedding style. If you live surrounded by vintage bicycles and old books, they’ll work on your wedding day. If you don’t have these at home; they will look out of place on your day. Choose statement styling elements rather than extensive fluff… one amazing bouquet is way better than dozens of jars of flowers on tables. If it comes down to budgets, make an impact with quality, not quantity. Work your style around something you both LOVE: it could be your venue, the food, designer stationery, your 1970s outfits. If you’re passionate about your theme it will show and it will work beautifully. Use Pinterest and wedding blogs, but don’t follow their every word or emulate a published shoot or real wedding. Blogs are there to inspire you to come up with ideas, not to dictate how your wedding should look.

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Dress Shopping / Photography credit: Nichola Morton Photography

If you’re new to wedding blogs, welcome! If you’re a blog expert then perhaps you’re about to learn something you didn’t know… The best wedding blogs have extensive archives full of real weddings, styling ideas and advice - and the English Wedding Blog (EnglishWedding.com ) is dedicated to sharing the very best wedding inspiration with you, every single day. The home page of the English Wedding Blog shows the most recent articles I’ve published. Most are real weddings, with the occasional styled ideas shoot or supplier feature. They’re organised by date with the most recent at the top, and there’s a link at the bottom of the page to ‘older posts’. Reading the blog this way is lovely… like flicking through a magazine where you know you’ll stumble across something wonderful Looking for something specific? Use the top menus… If you’re searching for wedding ideas, the best place to find inspiration is from the real weddings I’ve featured on the blog. The category menus at the top of the page will help you find weddings by style and season as well as weddings featured in your own county. Exploring wedding blog archives With printed wedding magazines it’s simple. You buy your mag, flick through, and keep a pile of old editions in the corner. With blogs it’s so much tidier… new features are published every single day - and finding older features in the pile is simple when you know how! Have you chosen your venue? I might just have featured a real wedding there and there’s a clever way to see if your venue has been featured: type this into your browser: http://english-wedding.com/tag/ ufton-court/ (replacing ufton-court with your actual venue name) You can also check out my beautifully organised Pinterest boards… where I have categories for colour themes, stationery, styling, cakes, flowers and so much more! Some words of wisdom: Wedding blogs are aspirational, full of ideas and the most amazing photography. Bloggers are here to show you what’s possible; not what you “should” have, buy or make. Everyone is different; we all have different wedding budgets and in the end, your wedding should be about you, not designed to look good on a blog! So take wedding blogs with a pinch of salt. Take a few ideas and run with them; but don’t try to have it all. Discover a few amazing suppliers, listen to other brides’ advice. Your wedding will come sooner than you imagine and at the end of the day you’ll be married to the love of your life… which is really all that matters!

Photography: Theresa Furey   Calligraphy for Weddings Flower design: Garden & Wild Styling: Wedding Creations The Vintage Hire Company Table To Dine For Vanilla Pod Bakery

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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English-Wedding.com Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style Create natural ambience with beautiful foliage Style tables with brass candlesticks and antique ornaments Use hessian creatively, as a backdrop to nature Incorporate rustic, modern calligraphy and neutral stationery Rosemary twirls make the loveliest napkin rings Rustic buttercream and visible layers for statement cakes The most beautiful textures and subtle shades of green of a fabulously creative bouquet

English-Wedding.com Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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English-Wedding.com Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

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English-Wedding.com Elegant, rustic wedding style / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

Plan your wedding as a couple As a blogger the weddings I love most are a team effort. Planning your day together will mean your personalities come together to create a day which really reflects you both. And that’s something you’ll treasure. Working as a team before your big day means you’re still spending time together: you won’t spend 18 months of your life being ‘too busy’ to do all the things you’ve loved doing since you met. Perhaps one of you is the voice of reason in your relationship. Maybe you’re a time management ace while she is amazing with budgets or spreadsheets. Often one of you will be thrifty while the other likes to splash out. Your strength as a couple comes from balance and compromise, so work together from the start. Planning together doesn’t mean you both have to be involved in every tiny decision, but it does mean you’ll be aware of what you’re both doing. Allocating tasks between you is a great idea - but don’t see it as delegating! Attend initial meetings together for all of your key buying decisions: with your cake designers, photographers, florists, venue coordinators, stylist etc. Once you’ve agreed the basics - i.e. who your supplier will be and the overall theme or style of what they’re providing - one of you can take over the finer details.

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Planning Together / Image credit: Theresa Furey Photography

Finding your balance in planning duties You won’t both be as invested in every detail of your wedding as the other: one of you will be more excited about flowers; the other could be keener to investigate photography or stationery. Use these preferences to allocate responsibilities, but keep your tasks balanced. If one of you isn’t interested in cakes or flowers, then reconsider how important they are to you as a couple on your wedding day. The day should be about you both: so if only one of you even likes flowers, perhaps they should be kept to a minimum: a statement bouquet can be so much better than lots of flowers on all the tables, for example - and you will save money. This is important because there’s a danger that one of you will end up making all the arrangements for the details you feel you ‘should’ have (because everyone else does). Not true. Choose only the styling elements which matter to you both. Remember everything is optional for a modern wedding. Being involved from day one means you’ll both be looking forward to seeing your wedding day plans come together. Wedding planning is a big journey, lots of fun but never without hurdles to overcome… so lean on each other, work together and enjoy the months before your wedding.

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Sigrid and Daniel  The Secret Garden, Ashford, Kent  Photography: Howling Basset Photography Flowers by Anemone Blue

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Real wedding: Sigrid & Daniel / Image credit: Howling Basset Photography, Kent

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Andy Stonier is a member of The Royal Photographic Society and has been a professional photographer for over 25 years. He’s worked as a photographer all over the world and as Howling Basset Photography   become one of Kent’s leading wedding photographers, shooting nearly 700 weddings. “This level of has wedding experience means I’m calm, professional and unobtrusive, helping me to best capture the full story on your biggest day.” Howling Basset Photography

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Real wedding: Sigrid & Daniel / Image credit: Howling Basset Photography, Kent

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Real wedding: Sigrid & Daniel / Image credit: Howling Basset Photography, Kent

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Your wedding flowers / Photography credit: Jennifer Sinclair, Hampshire

Wedding flowers are really coming to the fore in 2016. Brides are carrying BIG bouquets of amazing blooms, statement flowers and streams of foliage. I would urge all brides to source local flowers for bouquets and table arrangements. If there is a grower-florist near you (someone who grows all their own flowers and arranges them too) then do support them: they’re the most wonderful independent businesses. At least buy British flowers - there is so much choice even winter brides can carry a beautiful, home grown, planet-saving bouquet.

You won’t have to play on Instagram for long before you discover the talents of our amazing British florists. Floral artistry is most definitely a thing. There is such a difference between traditional high street florists and the new breed of designer florists rocking the wedding world: and most towns will have an amazing floral artist tucked away in a flower shop somewhere! Your job is to find them, and Facebook is your friend. By finding a florist whose style and arrangements you love, you will be able to relinquish control of your floral arrangements. Trust your florist as a designer. Give guidance on the colours and flower types you love most of all, and let them design something amazing for your day. The more freedom you give a good florist, the better your flowers will be. I promise. Florists will travel too: consider florists in your town, your county, the county next door and your nearest city. Don’t limit your search to your local high street. Don’t be constrained by your venue’s recommended supplier list. Be a free spirit and discover someone amazing who is worth a little extra journey for!

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Your wedding flowers / Photography credit: Jennifer Sinclair, Hampshire

Budgeting for your blooms

Flowers aren’t the cheapest of wedding styling elements, but they are worth every penny. Save costs by reducing the number of arrangements, but still have those statement pieces: a ‘wow’ bouquet, a flower in your hair, crazy creative

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buttonholes or hanging arrangements will delight your guests.

Green is a big thing this year. Styled shoots are full of leaves and tendrils, mosses and succulents. Ferns, seedheads and even grasses look amazing alongside just a few flowers. Look at styled shoots on wedding blogs for inspiration and ideas about using foliage creatively. For outdoor weddings you have even more options. Cascading, trailing leaves on a rustic archway always look amazing. Use long branches to build your archway - make sure it’s solid as can be - and place it at the end of your ‘aisle’ where you can make an entrance. Decorate with eucalyptus or other seasonal foliage which cascades naturally and add a few statement flowers for a little colour. Playing with the height of your venue can be as much fun inside as your floral archway outside! Could you hang flowers from the beams in a barn wedding venue? Look at the ceilings in restaurant venues: many make use of the ceiling space… it can be an incredibly versatile option for hanging a floral shelf, a chandelier made of branches and leaves, or interspersed lanterns and blooms.

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Be creative with your containers. Glass jam jars and bottles are easy to collect, but decorating them is a challenge. Hessian and lace is fading from our favourites; we love metallic glitters, gold leaf, dipped paint effects and matte pastels. Instead of glass jars try mercury glass, brass or copper jugs and vases: you can always squeeze a waterproof lining inside to protect the metal and make preloved metals watertight.

So long as you’re prepared, DIY floral styling can work. But you’ll need practice and ideally some expert tuition to get your flowers looking amazing. Grower florists are running workshops all around the country, and they’re an amazing opportunity to spend a fun day with your mum or friend learning the tricks of a magical and beautiful trade. Flowers can be incredibly exciting and beautiful. The secret - as with everything - is to be creative, inventive, curious and different. Don’t follow tradition or rules: carry your bouquet in your hair if you dare - just love your flowers, and style them to suit YOU.

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Vibrant seaside wedding look insta gram

Photography: Jennifer Sinclair Photography Fabulous flowers by Lisa at Fleur de Lis Contrast a seaside wedding with vibrant flowers; the rich reds and textures of Kerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bouquet and crown contrast beautifully with the calm aqua blues of the sea and warm sandy tones - a top tip for every beach bride and groom!

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Vibrant seaside style / Photography credit: Jennifer Sinclair, Hampshire

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Vibrant seaside style / Photography credit: Jennifer Sinclair, Hampshire

Jennifer Sinclair is a lifestyle wedding photographer based in Hampshire and covering Surrey, Wiltshire and Dorset. “I fell in love with photography back in 2004 and wedding photography became my passion and still is today. For me wedding photography is a lifestyle choice as well as a profession!” JenniferSinclair.co.uk

Vibrant seaside style / Photography credit: Jennifer Sinclair, Hampshire

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Vibrant seaside style / Photography credit: Jennifer Sinclair, Hampshire

Regretsy was an amazing Etsy spinoff which showed the world how wonderfully entertaining bad crafts could me. While Etsy is one of the best shopping sites ever, exploring it long enough will prove that not everyone is skilled in handicrafts. And it’s unfair: there is so much pressure on brides and grooms to DIY their wedding stationery, decor and favours I think it’s time to step back from wedding DIY. If you love crafts, if making is your thing, then you’ll love making things for your wedding and you should embrace it. If you haven’t crafted since you were a child, why start now? Helpful aunties might think they’re doing you a huge favour by offering to make your wedding cake / flowers / invites… but unless it’s their business, it’s a huge responsibility and a tricky thing for you to oversee. Stationery is the most DIY-ed element of weddings. If you’re crafty and determined to have a go, try to

buy quality materials keep your design simple buy online templates plan carefully: design and budget!

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There are classes and workshops for flower arranging, cake decorating, calligraphy… almost every wedding DIY project you can imagine. Events like Hampton Court’s annual Handmade Fair are amazing for their skills workshops where you can learn with expert crafters. Local colleges also run workshops, as do many small wedding businesses. You won’t master a craft in the year you get married, but your DIY projects will look so much better with a little expertise all wrapped up inside them! Online tutorials can be helpful if you can’t find a workshop, but they tend to cover the ‘lighter’ crafts: decorating lanterns, making paper garlands and other techniques for styling your venue.

The preconception is that wedding DIY will save you money. It’s not always true - in fact, it’s not often true! Even if you save a few pennies on making your own decorations, is it worth losing your evenings and weekends for? Think what else you could be doing… I always think it’s worth spending an extra £50 on invites if it means you are free to go away for a long weekend with your love. Don’t you?

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Wedding DIY / Image credit: Amanda Karen Photography

If your friends are up for a challenge, and if you’re happy with imperfectly perfect decor, have a crafting party. Spend a few hours with your best girls knocking out a mile of crazy bunting, or invite all your friends round to paint a crazy mural as a backdrop for your photobooth… there’s a lot of fun to be had with paint and glitter turning glass jars into gold, or stamping monograms onto stationery!

Step away from the glitter at the end!!

Plan to have all of your crafts finished at least a week before your wedding. DIY is a stress you really won’t need just before the big day. That includes table plans and escort cards, which are all too easy to put off until the last minute. Believe me: you’ll have enough to do in your last week as Mr and Miss! Remember wedding DIY is a labour of love. It’s tougher than the internet would have you believe. Think carefully about the elements you’ll DIY. Then cull your list, and outsource a few to the experts! Make sure you choose projects you will both enjoy - and never plump for homemade just to save money. Oh, but this doesn’t include jam. Everyone loves a little jar of homemade jam. Make jam!

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Wedding DIY / Image credit: Amanda Karen Photography

Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

Luxe barn wedding look

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

Peach, rust and copper tones for a beautiful barn wedding Gilded pears as place settings Soft eucalyptus and glistening berries Boho bridal gowns Loose plaits in your hair Statement flowers with splashes of yellow gold Brass candlesticks Rustic buttercream cakes Handwritten calligraphy invitation suite Trailing silk ribbons Candlelight

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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Luxe barn wedding look Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

The great wedding stationery debate Calligraphy for Weddings with Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

The amount of discussion about wedding stationery online proves we’re a nation with a paper fetish issue! It’s kind of nice though… Personally I adore papery things. I’m a calligrapher; I get silly about paper and type and print and all the little threads and twinkly things that come with it. But I’ll be the first to admit you don’t need wedding invitations, or place names, or a table plan. They’re simply a nice thing to have. We send wedding invitations because of tradition. It used to come down to etiquette - and the old ‘rules’ around inviting people to your day are mind-numbingly ridiculous. Nowadays it’s so easy to invite people online - and amongst all the stationery and fluff of a wedding I’m sort of in love with the idea of a good old fashioned telephone call in lieu of a printed or handwritten invite. Who sends letters these days?! Do we even need wedding stationery? I’m torn - stationery is one of the loveliest things; it comes down to styling, personal preference and budget in the end.

The standard ‘suite’ of wedding stationery includes invitations with info sheets and RSVPs, and then orders of service, table plan or escort cards, place names, menus and thank you cards. Modern add ons include save the date cards, maps, gift lists (or poems - don’t do it!), welcome signs, drinks menus and favour tags. insta gram

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Making your own wedding stationery won’t save you a fortune. It will kill a few weekends. If you’re skilful and excited to make your own, then do it. I’ve seen some amazing stationery made by brides and grooms. Think it through though: if you make your own invites, will you have time to write or print matching place names, menus, orders of service and all your other on-the-day stationery? When?

There are no longer any rules to sending wedding invitations at a certain time. If your wedding is at a quiet time of year, leave it a little later. If you’re marrying in mid summer, let people know before they book their holidays. If you’re worried, send save the dates as early as you like! Traditionally invitations are sent around 8 weeks before the big day. This gives guests a few weeks to reply, but it doesn’t give you long to juggle numbers. Allow a little longer for larger weddings so you can manage your guest list more easily. And remember to book your wedding stationery with the designer well in advance! The most popular get very busy and often have a 6 week turnaround. Allow plenty of time; reduce planning stress by a million percent!

No. You’re not queen Victoria. Give yourself a break! Really - I’ve been asked whose name comes first on invites, whether it’s right or wrong to centre-align text, as well as who ‘should’ be named as hosts or what the ‘correct’ date format should be. It doesn’t matter - be yourselves, write as you would: so long as your spelling and grammar is good, it’s fine!

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The great wedding stationery debate Calligraphy for Weddings with Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

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The great wedding stationery debate Calligraphy for Weddings with Melissa Beattie Photography & Styled by Louise

You can have a lot more fun with on-the-day stationery. Escort card displays can be amazing - and they can take any shape or form. They’re almost like a little game: wonderfully interactive and pretty for your guests. Table plans can be scribbled on windows or pinned onto world maps, calligraphied onto ornate mirrors or painted onto upcycled wooden panels to make a backdrop with wow factor. If you’re a real paper lover, you can even style your whole day around an invite. There are some amazing independent illustrators online who will create something for you - a monogram, logo or illustration you can use across your whole stationery suite and beyond: think stag illustrations, feathers, flowers, trees or bird graphics… and style your wedding around the idea.

Stationery doesn’t have to be local. As lovely as it is to support your local economy, stationers sell worldwide - and supporting a small independent business from anywhere in the world is a wonderful thing to do. Explore Etsy and other craft sites for those fabulous sellers who’ll make your paper goodies unique!

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Image credit: Love in Focus Photography

Laura & Rich Hotel du Vin at The Sugar House, Bristol Love in Focus Wedding Photography

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Image credit: Love in Focus Photography

Real wedding: Laura & Rich Image credit: Love in Focus Photography

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Real wedding: Laura & Rich Image credit: Love in Focus Photography

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Real wedding: Laura & Rich Image credit: Love in Focus Photography

Sandy McClure - Love In Focus Photography - is a Bristol photographer who creates vibrant images people in love. “I love weddings, everyone is in a good mood and looks great, it’s why they are my favourite thing to photograph. I like to think of my style as a combination of relaxed reportage and contemporary fine art portraits; a combination of natural shots of the day as it unfolds accompanied by some stunning pictures of just the two of you to create a beautiful story of your day.” www.love-infocus.co.uk

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Real wedding: Laura & Rich Image credit: Love in Focus Photography

Etsy

~ a wedding planning overview

The key to a successful wedding is flexibility and planning. This list is included as a guide only. It’s certainly not a checklist of things you ‘need’ to have or do. Please adapt it to your own needs: I secretly hope there are many of you out there now happily bending all the wedding rules - you’ll find this list is more than a little conventional. ;-) Nonetheless, any wedding no matter how small or relaxed will require a degree of planning. So to help those of you who are checklist-inclined, here is a simple guide to timings for things like booking suppliers, communicating with your guests and so on. I hope it’s useful; I encourage you to adapt it as you need to!

2 years - 18 months before your big day, or just after you get engaged

Talk about your wedding with your partner. Agree - and compromise on:

- the style of wedding you’ll have: traditional or alternative? - the scale of your wedding: intimate or large? - your budget (a rough figure at first) - a list of 5 priorities which are important to you both, for example food, music, flowers, entertainment and outfits

- who will pay for your wedding, and how - your bridal party, if any - roles for your friends and family - when you’d like to get married

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18 months to go

- Contact your priest or registrar and book the church / ceremony venue

- Book your reception venue - Book your photographer - Discuss a style and theme for your day, or a colour palette - Start looking for your wedding dress and suits

12 months to go Contact and book your other key wedding suppliers:

- florist - cake designer - stationery designer - hair stylist and make up artist - seamstress, if required - caterer - transport: for you, and for your guests - band or DJ - marquee and furniture Write up your guest list and send save the dates, if you need to Get wedding insurance

6 months to go

- book your honeymoon (and check your passports!) - arrange time off work for your honeymoon - find bridesmaids’ dresses - decide on ceremony readings and details - order your wedding rings - buy accessories: jewellery, ties, cufflinks… - make time for DIY projects - don’t leave it too late

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4 months to go

- finalise arrangements with your vicar or registrar - finalise arrangements with your venue coordinator - plan timings for the day - organise your hen and stag dos - finalise plans with key suppliers - order wedding invitations - have a pre-wedding photoshoot - think about music for the day

2 months to go

- send wedding invitations - attend dress fittings - enjoy your hair and makeup trials! - order on the day stationery - organise gifts for your parents and bridal party - write your speeches and vows â&#x20AC;Š

Melissa Beattie Photography Styling: Tebbey & Co. Stationery: Ever After Press

1 month to go

- have your final dress fitting - send guest information to your stationer, caterers and venue coordinator

- chase guest list stragglers and draw up a final final list - plan seating arrangements (if required) and order escort cards

2 weeks to go

- contact all suppliers to confirm details are crystal clear - book beauty appointments (hairdresser (cut & colour), barber, waxing, manicure and pedicure)

- prepare for your honeymoon: pick up currency and update your wardrobe!

the week before your wedding day

communicate timings with all suppliers and bridal party give suppliers an emergency contact number just in case pick up dress and suits try on your dress complete with veil, shoes and underwear take stationery to your venue coordinator have money ready to pay suppliers on the day, and delegate if necessary relax and spend time with each other as much as you can enjoy the company of guests who arrive early trust your key helpers to troubleshoot any problems from now accept that little things might go wrong; you’ve done all you can and it’s time to focus on getting married.

… get married.* ----*this is the only important thing on the entire list. So long as you do this one, nothing else really matters.  insta gram

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English-Wedding.com Real wedding: Nina & Ben Image credit: Carol Elizabeth Photography, Oxfordshire

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Image credit: Carol Elizabeth Photography, Oxfordshire

Real wedding: Nina & Ben Image credit: Carol Elizabeth Photography, Oxfordshire

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Real wedding: Nina & Ben Image credit: Carol Elizabeth Photography, Oxfordshire

Carol Elizabeth Photography is based in Oxfordshire. “I love the range of beautiful venues in my home county – from stately homes to barns, old hotels to boat houses. My style of wedding photography is informal, natural and enjoyable but also unique to each couple. I get to know my clients ahead of their day so that they are relaxed in front of the camera.” www.carol-elizabeth-photography.co.uk

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Real wedding: Nina & Ben Image credit: Carol Elizabeth Photography, Oxfordshire

The last thing I want to do is suggest anyone fall in with the crowd and style their wedding for this year’s fashions. And yet… there’s a wonderful appeal to creating something new for your wedding, something your friends and family didn’t see at last year’s weddings, right?

I don’t follow trends in fashion; but what I see online does influence my tastes. I love messy foliage, tumbledowny style and design, upcycling and art. They impact on my home life, my calligraphy studio, the things I buy. The same applies with weddings: we’re exposed to so many beautiful things online that we can’t help wanting a little piece of them… and this is what we’ll be seeing more of in 2016. Feel free to run with these ideas and create something magical, or to ignore them entirely and pour your own fabulously creative style into your day.

Image by Melissa Beattie Photography Shoes: Emmy London

1. Foliage | woodland | elfin brides It’s all about the greenery. Flowers are going to be less flowery and more leafy, with textures, trailing leaves and vines all moving in the breeze. Woodland weddings are magical; I’ve seen tables styled with banks of moss and candles; branches and flowers nestled in cosy, fairytale arrangements. They look otherworldly and fabulous. The trend for woodland weddings can only continue and grow more intriguing. Cue dresses and accessories for elfin brides: ethereal fabrics and festival style natural touches. Vines, leaves and branches will create statement jewellery; flower crowns will evolve into pure, enchanting greenery and barefoot brides will reign over outdoor celebrations

2. Floaty, sheer fabrics and romantic silks From one little snippet of silk ribbon comes a world of wedding inspiration. Styled shoots are featuring billowing skirts, ethereal layers and the lightest of fabrics you can imagine. Choose sheer overskirts for your wedding dress, build layers with separates or shop away from traditional boutiques for the latest in boho style. Couples on a budget can still incorporate delicate touches of silk and sheer fabrics into a deliciously modern reception with hand dyed silk ribbons. We love recycled sari silks torn into strips - and nothing beats a bouquet trailing lengths of fabulous floaty fabric. Hessian is over; silk is the new everything.

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3. Super messy flowers | freedom in floral design Creativity is never neat or tidy. Fun isn’t something you can make with a ruler. Flowers are interesting when they’re all over the place - and floral designers are ruling the internet. Neat, trim, perfect little bouquets were popular a few years ago, and then we started to see a little more texture and a lot more colour in wedding flowers. Mismatched flowers were huge; the country garden or ‘just picked’ look blew our minds when Pinterest was invented. And then florists began to take things further, creating bouquets full of berries and branches, with the longest trailing foliage and statement flowers: I still love those bouquets with a huge dahlia or peony taking centre stage. Messy bouquets can only get messier, incorporating more berries and leaves, even feathers and seedheads for 2016. And flowers will be looser, bouquets bigger and more mixed in colour. I love the idea of the palest pastel flowers with delicate blossoms for summer: dainty daisies with super long stems alongside cornflowers and grasses - but loosely tied with silk ribbon so they move in the slightest breeze. For weddings in the colder months we’ll see bouquets with rich, dark colours: think the very darkest dahlia blooms, deepest red stems and leaves, trailing vines and burgundy foliage. And no matter what, find a florist you LOVE and trust in their talent to create your beautiful flowers.

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Image by Melissa Beattie Photography Styling: Tebbey & Co.

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Image by Melissa Beattie Photography Styling: Tebbey & Co.

4. Creative thinking We’re changing how we think about weddings. We’re reinventing our approach to styling our day and creating new ways of doing pretty much everything. Gone are the old rules; so it’s time for new traditions, ideas and trends to evolve. We’re also finding more inspiration than we could ever need online. It’s not only down to wedding blogs, Pinterest and styled shoots; it’s the inspiration we see from real brides and grooms which spins the wheels of the wedding world. Being creative isn’t all about learning a craft or dashing out to Hobbycraft. Creativity is in our minds. We follow our dreams, create our visions and personalise our celebrations. This is creative thinking. If you’re happy to ignore etiquette, and to pick and choose your traditions, you’re already thinking creatively. There is a solution to every obstacle you’ll encounter when planning your wedding, and creative thinking is how you’ll find it.

5. Chic wedding style | glamour | urban backdrops Styled shoots take place in the most creative settings, and not always at wedding venues. Photographers look for - and find - amazing spaces to inspire their imagery and create incredible backdrops. Urban spaces contrast beautifully with the grace and romance of weddings. City wedding venues afford couples the opportunity to explore streets and alleyways with photography. Graffiti adds a contemporary edge. Bringing modern architecture and concrete inside isn’t so easy; yet the contrast between scenes can lend a heady mix of styles to your day. A modern dress and suit are perfect for a chic urban wedding. Bright flowers bring a contrast in colour; soft, floaty flowers lend a contrast in textures. Combining a city location with glamour and romance only highlights the beauty of a wedding. Picture yourselves lost in a world of your own while crowds swirl around you - it’s an image you’ll treasure for eternity. City restaurants will sometimes cater for a wedding, some with exclusive use if you have the numbers and they have the space! Style the room creatively with modern flowers and minimalist stationery.

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6. Victoriana | a darker shade of vintage Vintage weddings rode in on a wave of pastels and rose print. Their prettiness has inspired thousands of weddings. But beautiful doesn’t have to be pale pink and pretty. 2016 weddings will turn heads with design from another era - we’re talking Victoriana. Victorian style is luxurious and opulent, combining rich colours with lace, satin and velvety fabrics. Dresses are sensual; suits are timeless and ultra luxurious wool or darker tweed. Corsets and birdcage veils in rich colour palettes will provide wow factor at weddings where tablecloths are magically dark and metallic decor is everywhere. Victoriana plays well with steampunk, so for alternative couples this really is a style to explore and have fun with. Fantasy elements can creep into your day: instead of antique books and lace think clockwork, machinery and invention. Couples with a taste for minimalism should turn the page now. Victoriana is all about the extras: stationery will be heavily illustrated with botanicals, wreaths and rich florals. Flowers will be OTT; draping and trailing and scaling the heights of your venue. Dresses will be grand, and flowing, and gathered, and as dark as you dare. Make up will be bold. Tables will be busy; with darker details, shimmering metallics and antique or interesting ornaments. Queen V herself wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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Image by Melissa Beattie Photography Dress: Jessica Charleston Hair & makeup:Lucy Pearson Styling: Tebbey & Co.

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~ amazing tips for 2016 weddings

All images used in this section are by Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

At one point my best friend took me to one side and walked me to the end of the field. She said “stand back and take this moment to take it all in!” As much as the alcohol had started to take effect I can still remember that moment as if it happened an hour ago! The day goes so quickly…do this one thing and spare a moment to take it all in!!! Also, where you can personalise your day do so, get people involved and enjoy the lead up to it. It comes and goes so quickly, embrace every moment…even the stressful bits! And if you can, get a wedding planner… ours helped us think of things that we’d never have thought of and having her there on the day was the peace of mind needed to be able to relax and enjoy every moment. ~ Mark & Chris

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

As long as you all show up and you have the rings and you get married, then the day was a success. So stay as present as possible, and enjoy having all those family and friends beaming at you, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the nearest thing youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get to heaven! ~ Rosie & Jon

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

Have someone come and do your hair and make up and remove the pressure of worrying about doing it yourself. Be philosophical about the details, as much as every detail may have seemed important in the planning, in the grand scheme of the day you will get caught up in the moment and things will inevitably be overlooked. If there are details that really matter to you both, entrust them to someone else, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try to do them yourself on the day. ~ Ananda & Darren

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It will all go so quickly that some bits you won’t notice until you sit down later and look at the pictures, but it means that it’s really not worth stressing about anything on the day. If something hasn’t gone the exact way you hoped, just move on and enjoy the next bit – chances are, no one will notice something hasn’t quite worked. (Our processional and recessional music flopped but I didn’t notice on my walk down the aisle – it was the last thing on my mind, and when we left we got a massive cheer which was so much nicer than a song!) I think the best thing we did on the day was go off and have some photos taken while everyone was having the BBQ, we got a bit of time to ourselves, to have a chat and chill. We talked nonsense while Simon took some stunning pictures, and it didn’t feel quite so overwhelming for the rest of the day and no one even noticed we were missing! ~ Ann & Nic

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Don’t feel pressured to do things you don’t feel comfortable with. Alex didn’t want to stand and give a speech so he made a video to play on the day. Me and all our guests were in tears and we get people complimenting us on it even now. It meant that Alex could relax and give a speech he knew he was happy with and it is much more his style than a traditional speech. It goes to show that adapting the rules can give the best results! We just tried to relax and enjoy the day as you spend so much time planning for it and it goes so quickly. We made sure we spoke to all our guests at some point during the day but also took some time out just to be together. One of our favourite parts was going for a walk at sunset. It was our photographer’s idea so we could get some shots but it gave us 20 minutes to relax and reflect on the day together. ~ Alex & Nina

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Relax and have fun. Try and spend some quality time with your new husband, however short. We both really enjoyed the time we spent with David getting our more posed photographs. I would recommend this to anyone, it was the only time in the day we could just enjoy being with each other and be our normal selves, no one to talk to and check they were enjoying themselves. You get pulled in so many directions on the day, you find you spend very little time actually together, so this must have been one of my favourite parts of the day, and it produced some very special images. David made us feel so comfortable that it felt like it was just the two of us! I would also recommend having a videographer, our video is so special and every time we watch it you notice something new about the day. ~ Danny & Danielle â&#x20AC;Š

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Enjoy your day and being with the people you love. It really does go so fast! I remember standing on the dance floor and looking around at everyone, and realising that it was probably the only time that all of our favourite people would be together in the same room. Whatever happens on the day, your friends and family will be so excited and happy for you that nothing else will really matter. ~ Lara & Andrew

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Spend time with each other, there are so many of your friends and family there but seek each other out, dance to your favourite songs together and when you go for just couple photos enjoy! For us we had such a laugh with Paul and Kelly wandering around Castlefield and it gave us time to catch up and talk about it all. We had photos done after the meal which werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t planned, but worked out so well. Have fun! I remember laughing a lot - and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get too drunk! ~ Nicola & Liam

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Relax and trust the professionals. Just enjoy the company of your friends and family and each other. Stay true to you and your husband-to-be’s wishes as other people will certainly have their input in the matter but you have to do what you want as it’s your day. Savour every second as it truly does fly by and set a limit of meeting and greeting. I made sure I got round as many people as possible before 9pm as then I wanted to enjoy the dancefloor. ~ Kate & Damian

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

I woke very early so decided to go for a walk by myself and took photos of the beautiful area: it was a very memorable moment for me and helped me relax. ~ Kerrie & Nick

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Make sure someone else knows what is going on. You won’t be available to coordinate things or tell people where to go or where to find everything on the day. And you won’t want to! Enjoy yourselves. Don’t worry about whether people are having a good time (they are if you are!) or whether you are circulating enough. It is your day and it will fly past so quickly. Take a few moments at a few points through the day to be together just the two of you. The day is about your relationship and celebrating it with the people you love. ~ Nicola & James

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Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

Luckily my best friend and bridesmaid used to work as a wedding planner so I used her wedding spreadsheets for planning and details and a timeline on the day that listed supplier details and timings of all actions. This really helped ensure everyone was aware of what was going on throughout the day. The best advice I can give is to not get bogged down with lots of different themes and ideas but stick with one and build around that keeping everything tied into together. ~ Chris & Kelly

Stay calm and don’t expect everything to go to plan. Things happen, people don’t turn up and in our case the cake did get dropped! It still was the best day of our lives and we would do it all again but we couldn’t have asked for any more! ~ Alexandra & Daniel

English-Wedding.com

I would advise brides to work out timings for when bride, bridesmaids and mother of the bride will be having their hair and make up done to eliminate panic and also, to overestimate rather than think that should be enough time! If the bride and groom are staying at same venue the night before as I did then breakfast needs to be scheduled also so you don’t accidentally see each other! I would also recommend a ‘travelling to the venue time table/schedule’ so you’re not late! Get the men to do speeches before the wedding breakfast so they can relax and enjoy the meal rather than being nervous the whole meal! I suggested this to my husband but he thought he would prefer a few more drinks for Dutch courage but regretted this as he was worrying and didn’t relax during the wedding breakfast. Most importantly, try not to worry about the vows, I wasn’t really listening to the meaning of the vows my husband was making to me as I was trying to remember what he was saying as I had to say it next, this is not necessary as the registrar says them in very short sections so there is no chance of forgetting, you’re also facing your groom rather than your guests so relax and forget that they are there and concentrate on your groom! Enjoy every moment! ~ Robert & Katie

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Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Don’t forget to take a few minutes out away from everyone with each other. Do your research and make sure you’re happy with your suppliers – Don’t just go with somebody if you have doubts – iron them out or change supplier. Don’t expect everything to be perfect – there will be problems or issues but you probably won’t even notice them. ~ Lizzie & Henry

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Always make a little time for just the two of you, even if its just 5 minutes. Try to utilise the time between courses to make your way around the room to chat to the guests, it can be hard in the evening when everyone starts moving around and mingling. Make a list of jobs for your ushers - ours were absolutely fantastic and it helped everything run so smoothly. ~ Frances & David

Enjoy it! It goes so fast so make sure you enjoy yourself don’t worry about anyone else it is your day. Make sure you put some blister prevention products on your feet. There isn’t much time to sit down. If you don’t have straws at the event make sure you bring some for you so you don’t ruin your makeup and your lipstick lasts longer. ~ Charlotte & Chris

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Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

We spent an inordinate amount of time planning the wedding – the schedule, the venue, the food, the details, etc., etc. We enjoyed doing so and wouldn’t change anything, but at times we lost sight of the most important part of the day – the ceremony. We decided to write our own vows and read these to each other after the registrar did her bit. We’re really glad we personalised our wedding vows. ~ Claire & Christian

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

Relax. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stress about the weather. Try and say hello to everyone. Eat something. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drink too much. RELAX! ~ Kate & Steve

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Just go with the flow, everyone said I seemed very relaxed on the day. I let the wonderful venue staff and suppliers run the day and just enjoyed myself. ~ Jacqui & Steve

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

Remember what the day is all about – marrying the love of your life – and you will enjoy every moment. Nothing else matters! ~ Charlie & Sophie

English-Wedding.com

Leave plenty of time to set up and be really organised before you arrive at the venue, it will take longer than you think! Make sure you have a really good team to help you set up. In the end little things will be forgotten and overlooked, the day will go so quickly that you barely have time to notice all of the details that you have spent so much time and energy planning. So just relax and take it all in, if you haven’t done it on the day, or you’ve forgotten something, it probably wasn’t that important and so don’t spend your day worrying about it. Make sure you benefit from all of your hard work! ~ Katherine & Ben insta gram

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Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

Get as many people to help as possible to take the pressure off, but don’t have too many people arriving at the venue too early as everyone ‘wants a piece of you’! Decide on a time to stop planning and creating so that you can ‘tool down’ and enjoy! Try and have the wedding over a couple of days so that you can get all your introductions and greetings out of the way the day before, so that the day itself doesn’t feel rushed. ~ Emily & Aaron

English-Wedding.com

Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

Get the stress out the way early so you don’t get stressed. I had no worries and everyone kept saying how relaxed I was, but it really meant I could just enjoy the day. The main thing we realised in the run up to the day was that when we looked back on the pictures and our memories, we wanted to be having fun. As they are traditionally the ones that run the order of the day, make sure you write a list for the ushers so they have all the timings of a loose plan. We wrote down timings up until we sat down to eat (as timing for beef wellington was imperative) but after that everything was free flow so we could relax…

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Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training with Calligraphy for Weddings

We didn’t plan taxis or a time to leave and ended up being the last guests to leave with the best man, back to the Green Man Pub where we found over 20 of our guests in the bar at 3am, singing and drinking! Oh and carry a sewing kit – Doug, rugby player at large, did a few too many enthusiastic dance moves and ended up splitting his trousers down the bottom! Luckily someone had a needle and cotton, so Doug sat in his pants in the bridal suite, whilst he was sewn back together! ~ Doug & Kath

English-Wedding.com

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If you have bridesmaids make the most of them! Ours were amazing and I didn’t have to organise a single thing on the day.

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Nerves, what nerves? They will soon disappear when you see your soulmate’s face light up the room!

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Get the best man or the venue to put aside a tray of bubbly and canapés for you both otherwise you won’t get any!

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~ Emma & Mark

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Image credit: Barber Photography at Aspire Photography Training

The elegance of an English autumn

gently draping couture gowns ivy and autumn leaves candles… and more candles velvet accents a venue with history and charm home grown flowers and autumn fruits a focus on food, with country flavours

Image by Melissa Beattie Photography Dress: Jessica Charleston Hair & makeup:Lucy Pearson Styling: Tebbey & Co.

Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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English-Wedding.com Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

Melissa Beattie Photography Styling by Tebbey & Co. Hair & Make-Up – Lucy Pearson Calligraphy for Weddings at Halecat House Gowns & Accessories – Jessica Charleston Emmy London shoes Churchmouse Cheeses Alison Thompson Catering

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Autumn elegance shoot / image by Melissa Beattie Photography

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Buying independent and handcrafted for your wedding

Are you buying handcrafted wedding invitations from one of those fabulous designers you see on Etsy, or at vintage wedding fairs? If you are, you’ll know how much more enjoyable and exciting it can be to buy from a small creative business than a corporate giant. It’s something I feel passionately about too. Buying handmade is a unique experience, and your wedding is the best opportunity you’ll ever have to explore England’s most exciting creative businesses. There are thousands of talented crafters making their living from beautiful creations in studios and workshops all over the country. Discovering them will be one of the loveliest things about your wedding - try it and see!

Buy handcrafted…

- invitations and stationery - jewellery and accessories - wedding decor and signage

Handcrafted wedding stationery by the fabulous Bunny Delicious

The experience: buying handmade I’m passionate about supporting small businesses in the wedding industry. There’s so much creative talent out there: independent designers who are passionate about every design they create, and artists and graphic designers who turn their hands and talents to exquisite design for the couples they work with. Designers like Zoe from Bunny Delicious are the lifeblood of the creative wedding industry. I asked Zoe why buying handmade and designer wedding stationery is so special. “Using a small company for your wedding stationery can sometimes work out A LOT cheaper than the big boys. With them you get very little choice, and they won’t know your name, just your order number.” “With us small independents, not only can we bend what we do to suit your wedding, we can make you 2 more invites, without a minimum order of 20. We make the process more pleasurable, personal and you know that you really have got one-off stationery to suit your day. We get to know you, you get to know us. Simple.” So when you go to a wedding fair this year, look out for those designers who are showcasing their handmade wedding invitations - the time and expertise that goes into creative wedding design is worth your investment a million times over. Independent designers are making wedding invitations for YOU. They’ll be unique, personal and a pleasure to buy. The high street stores are making wedding invitations for everyone. The more couples who buy identical invitations, the better – so far as the big boys are concerned. But ask yourself: who would you rather give your money to? I hope it’s the indie designers.

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Handcrafted wedding stationery by the fabulous Bunny Delicious

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English-Wedding.com

Handcrafted wedding stationery by the fabulous Bunny Delicious

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Handcrafted wedding stationery by the fabulous Bunny Delicious

Vanessa and Will in Warwickshire Images by Rob & Sarah Gillespie Photographers

Real wedding: Vanessa & Willâ&#x20AC;¨ Photography credit: Rob & Sarah Gillespie Photographers, West Midlands

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Real wedding: Vanessa & Will  Photography credit: Rob & Sarah Gillespie Photographers, West Midlands

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Real wedding: Vanessa & Willâ&#x20AC;¨ Photography credit: Rob & Sarah Gillespie Photographers, West Midlands

Rob & Sarah Gillespie are husband-and-wife photographers based in the Midlands. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been a full-time business since 2007 and specialise in weddings. Their photography is stylish and honest with a big emphasis on story-telling. Carefully considered, beautifully crafted and full of feeling, our pictures capture the essence of a wedding in a natural and relaxed way. robandsarahgillespie.co.uk

Real wedding: Vanessa & Willâ&#x20AC;¨ Photography credit: Rob & Sarah Gillespie Photographers, West Midlands

The English Wedding Blog Story It all began in November 2009 - on a quiet morning a geeky girl with a computer wondered what would happen if she started a blog about weddings. She wasn’t a bride-to-be like other wedding bloggers; she had a little independent wedding business and loved the industry. Perhaps she was a little crazy (and perhaps she still is). She set up the website, made it look pretty and then reached out to her friends - wedding photographers, stationery / cake / jewellery designers - to share their work. Little by little, the English Wedding Blog grew into something pretty unbelievable - and it’s still growing. The blog has been ranked amongst the top 10 UK wedding blogs consistently for years. Thirty thousand or so readers visit the blog every month and the very best photographers, designers and small business owners continue to support and share with us, every single day. Unlike other top wedding blogs, the English Wedding Blog is still written by its founder. The geeky girl who writes the blog is Claire - a thirty-something self-taught calligrapher who is passionate about the online world of the blog. She’s fiercely supportive of independent businesses, and has found herself at the heart of the boom in the wedding / craft industry. Claire’s approach to weddings is all about making it personal: “Creativity is what lights my fire. Always. Seeing new ideas, discovering beautiful things and learning from amazing people.” Claire loves individuality - however it’s done - and “big, lousy, home grown bouquets full of messy colours and tendrils of amazing foliage I don’t recognise. With dahlias, anemones and colour. I love the kind of bouquet you could just dive your face right into. And love. Glances, smiles and tears captured on camera make my heart skip a beat.” The English Wedding Blog is proud of its independence. By not courting the wedding press, or joining up with big wedding shows or major retailers, it retains the freedom to be totally honest about the wedding industry - warts and all. The blog’s sponsors are independent small businesses, just like Claire - who is one of the UK’s best-known modern calligraphers. Claire’s work can be seen at Calligraphy-forWeddings.com, in her Etsy shop and on Not On The High Street. Her lettering has featured on most major wedding blogs: Love My Dress, Magnolia Rouge, Rock My Wedding, Junebug Loves, Grey Likes Weddings, Style Me Pretty and Wedding Sparrow.

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English-Wedding.com

Photography credit: Kent wedding photographer Benjamin Toms. Benjamin specialises in documentary wedding photography that captures the special moments of your wedding day as they happen. “I also love to take those extra special pictures of just the two of you, to look back on again and again.”

Submit your wedding to the English Wedding Blog! Being a one-girl-band here at English Wedding, I love it when photographers and brides get in touch with ideas for blog posts. Here’s how to join in… Brides and grooms If you’d like to share your wedding on the English Wedding Blog we’ll need to work alongside your photographer. Please send them my email address (info@english-wedding.com) and show them the submission guidelines here. If they submit your wedding and it’s accepted, we’ll be in touch with a mini interview for you to complete! Wedding photographers To submit a wedding to feature on English Wedding, email me first with just one or two of your favourite shots (web size only - I don’t need high res images) and a link to your blog. If I love them (I very often do!) I’ll email you back. I’ve introduced a mini interview for brides and grooms to complete with some details of their day, which we will ask your couple to complete online. I’ve always replied to every wedding submission – but with the English Wedding blog getting busier, and because I’m only a part-time wedding blogger, I can’t reply to every submission. Please don’t be offended if I don’t reply to your submission email. I get up to 40 submissions per week and can only feature a handful of weddings each week. Guest bloggers Anyone can write a guest blog post and get published on English Wedding blog. I only ask that it’s well written, useful and not spammy! Brides and grooms, wedding suppliers, passers by with something vital to say about weddings… please don’t be shy, if there’s something you want to say I’d really love to hear your idea for a guest blog post! Send me a quick email with your idea and if it fits, I’ll get back in touch with what happens next! info@english-wedding.com Wedding experts, wedding suppliers If you have a product launch, new website, exhibition or exciting event you’d like me to share, please ask. I’ll often promote small independent businesses with a one-off free feature. You’ll need professional photography and permission to publish the images on the English Wedding Blog. Do consider signing up as a regular sponsor though - this will entitle you to regular (as often as fortnightly) front page features on the blog!

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Sponsor the English Wedding Blog Be a part of one of the UK’s top wedding blogs. We have 52,000 monthly page views, 25,300 twitter followers, 4.956 Facebook fans and 5,600 Pinterest followers. And our focus is all about matchmaking couples with the wedding suppliers we love. We focus on UK weddings so all of our handpicked sponsors are showcased on the ONLY top 10 wedding blog with a purely UK focus. We do things a little differently here. Blog sponsorship is most effective when your work is published often... so joining our little team of handpicked sponsors means you're regularly a front page feature on the English Wedding Blog. Every English Wedding Blog sponsor gets: 1

An introductory feature post when you join

A banner advert on every page of the blog

An optimised, dedicated page with photos, introductory text, even videos

A listing on my recommended suppliers page

Priority features. Submit a real wedding or styled shoot; I'll publish it fast

Regular front page news, events and offers

The chance to login to write your own fortnightly features on the English Wedding Blog

An admin / editor role on the blog's Facebook page

My advice on the best content to promote on wedding blogs

Regular inclusions with links in opinion and advice features

I've said many times that blog advertising is an interactive experience: a blog is a form of social media and as with Instagram and Facebook, it works best when you contribute, and often. Sponsorship of the English Wedding Blog is designed to help you do just that. For more details on each of the bullet points above, email me... I have a little more info up my sleeve! If you’re not already a sponsor and you’d like to apply to become one of my recommended suppliers, email me: info@English-Wedding.com

My media pack is always published on the blog, and you’ll find the latest version on this page: https:// english-wedding.com/advertise-on-the-english-wedding-blog/

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Photography credit: Kent wedding photographer Benjamin Toms

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Photography credit: Kent wedding photographer Benjamin Toms

I have so many thanks to share. Some I’ll forget - but I’m grateful to so many people for making the English Wedding Blog the wonderful place it’s grown to be: to YOU - and to every bride and groom who’ve read, discovered and featured on our pages to every wedding supplier who’s been in touch to share thoughts, ideas and inspiration on the blog to every featured contributor: the amazing photographers who’ve generously shared their work with us all to all of the amazing people I’ve worked with over the last year to the creatives who’ve featured in this book, whose names you’ll see included on the pages to the fabulous sponsors of the English Wedding Blog, without whom I’d simply be a geeky girl with some funny pens and a slightly smaller computer. Kent wedding photographer Benjamin Toms Newcastle wedding photographer Duncan McCall Kent wedding photographer Andy at Howling Basset Bristol wedding photographer Sandy at Love In Focus Hampshire wedding photographer Jennifer Sinclair Midlands wedding photographers Rob & Sarah Gillespie Nottingham wedding photographer Robert Sail London wedding photographer Steven Anthony Photography Oxfordshire wedding photographer Carol Elizabeth Wedding stationery designer Zoe at Bunny Delicious Lake District wedding photographer Arusha’s Images Photography Special thanks to everyone at Aspire Photography Training for including me and my lettering in your wonderful styled shoots and for sharing the images with me for the book. Huge thanks to Melissa Beattie Photography for being ridiculously talented, lovely and generous throughout the year. Thank you to my fabulous freelancer Claire from Garden & Wild for looking after the English Wedding Blog Facebook page with me - you have all inspired me in more ways than I can begin to explain. Thank you.

The English Wedding Blog is an online wedding magazine updated daily with the very best real weddings, inspiration features and supplier showcases. It’s the only national wedding blog with a local focus: it exists to help you find amazing suppliers and style your day the way you want it to be. I hope you’ll love it: English-Wedding.com

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