They say the Devil’s in the details. I love love love the details. If one looks carefully, it is precisely the little things that make a wedding unique. We all have a version of the usual formula: a dress, a ceremony, a reception and then dancing till the lights go out. A wedding wouldn’t really be a wedding without these things. But it’s the little bits of prettiness captured in the DIYs and personal touches that make people go WOW!
A few weeks ago, I introduced you to reader Claudine, who showed us how to put together a whisky bar, as she did for her wedding. Today Claudine is back with a second post sharing one of her DIY projects – what she charmingly calls a ‘wolfpack’ program. Anyone who’s ever been stuck in a church waiting waiting waiting for the bride to arrive will know that it’s about ten minutes of smiling excitedly, looking around and waving at old friends, five minutes of shuffling and glancing at the door, and then sheer boredom until the big arrival. Which, depending on how punctual you are, could be anything from five minutes to an hour (and yes, I have been there, and in a freezing church nogal). I’m not encouraging bride’s prerogative-style lateness, but if you want to make sure your guests are entertained, this program is a great way to handle that, plus it doubles as a fan in case of hot weather. It includes the wolfpack – introductions to the wedding party – and a fun wordsearch. And it’s been a huge hit among other brides already. So here we go! Thanks Claudine! (PS All images are by Laura Versveld, and you can also see the whole of Richard and Claudine’s wedding on Lovilee.)Read More
The invitations….that first tentative step into the deep-end of wedding planning, often happens before you know exactly what your (fully fabulous) Big Day vision looks like. Which, of course, makes picking the ‘right’ invitation even trickier!
SAVE THE DATES SAVED THE DAY!
We had the added stress of getting our invites out ASAP, as many of our guests needed to book flights, and organise annual leave. This is where the American tradition of a ‘Save the Date’ came in handy. With our date and venue set, and and inspired by the fact that most of our guests would be travelling from London to SA, we decided to base our Save the Dates on that London Underground staple – the Oyster card.
We tweaked the design (with apologies to TFL) and printed them straight onto magnetic paper (no really, it is a real thing – look here) at home on our shke-donky old inkjet printer, and mailed them out with the Christmas cards. This not only gave our cross-continental guests no excuse not to come, but also gave us breathing space to send out the invites closer to the day, once we had some idea of styles and themes.Read More
Good morning wedding belles! We’ll have another fabulous South African wedding on the blog this afternoon, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some fresh inspiration. First there was the pastel trend, then ombre, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise that watercolour-style design has been one of the biggest trends to emerge in 2012. It’s everywhere, from gasp-inducingly beautiful invitations and other paper elements, to cakes, decor and even to bridesmaids dresses. It’s soft and romantic, and heart-stoppingly pretty. I know you’re going to love it.
Here’s a roundup of all my favourite watercolour details – look out in the credits for the DIYs and printables (in bold), as this is a look you can pull off on any budget!
WATERCOLOUR STATIONERY
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**UPDATE** Find our roundup of 20 Adorable Love Story Wedding Invitations from Etsy here
Here’s a little trend I am weak at the knees for. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for romance, and maybe it’s just because I like to have something to read on my fridge, but I love the idea of sharing your love story with your guests as part of your invitation. It’s a great reminder of how it all began and what you’re getting together to celebrate, but more than that, from a design perspective, it’s the perfect marriage between sentiment and beautiful typography. Form and function. Goosebumps. As far as I know, it all started with this one – a totally original invitation dreamed up by New York designer Matt Dorfman for his own wedding.
You guys, I am so excited about this guest post! One of my personal daily must-reads is indieBerries – a completely fresh and original (and award-winning!) blog just bursting with fun and creativity, written by the awesome Che. She documents her life in a series of hilarious cartoons, and she also just happens to be a craft goddess with a penchant for pretty stationery. I’m so honoured that she’s agreed to guest post for me today. Thank you so much Che! (I’ll give Durbs a big hello from you today!)
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Hi, I’m Che from the blog indieBerries. I’m South African currently teaching English in South Korea and I write a personal/inspirational/design/cartoon-infused blog.
When I started this whole wedding blogging thing, it didn’t take me long to come across two of the rising stars in the industry – Sofia and André from Brancoprata. Talk about a match made in creative heaven! I was (and still am) blown away by their amazing, inspirational ideas and André’s beautiful photography (head over to their blog to be overwhelmed by the prettiness yourself). What I didn’t know then is that they are also incredibly lovely, and I have so enjoyed getting to know them. And I am still pinching myself that they not only agreed to guest blog while I’m in South Africa, but that they’ve also created some AWESOME free downloads to share with all of you! Muito obrigado, you two!
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Hello, you lovely readers from South Africa and beyond!! We are Sofia and André from Brancoprata, a Portuguese wedding company who specializes in design, decor and photography!
When Gaby asked us to guest post here we were delighted and completely honored with this opportunity to show you what we do!
So when we start thinking about what we wanted to post, we thought about something we never done before… a free download!! Something that could easily be printed and assembled at home!
So, without further delay, we give you a lifetime chance (…just kidding) to have a classic chic meets fresh and modern invitation!
