Our Day by Design

Last Monday I went to meet the florist, Val Hamilton , at her studio in Linlithgow. Graham didn't come with me as he isn't really that bothered about the flowers and the florist had suggested that it would be better as we could properly discuss my dress as well. I quickly put together a couple of pages of pictures to take with me showing the types & colours of flowers I liked as well as another couple of pages showing my dress since I don't have a fabric swatch yet. I had some ideas about the type of flowers I wanted including orchids and tulips but I wasn't sure what else would tie in. Val was really helpful and together we went through lots of different ideas and looked at what would be in season. As we had thought, the sweet peas that both my mum and granny had in their bouquets, are not available in April so I wont be having any in my bouquet. Val suggested she could get fake ones if I really wanted them but I only want fresh flowers, which she was happy about a...

Last Sunday we made the trip to our nearest B&Q {a DIY superstore} to get some paint for our G & G letters. As I mentioned when they arrived , I hoped that we would be able to find shades that would match, or at least be similar, from their large range. There were a couple of colours that we thought would match but the sales assistant offered to scan my pieces of purple and grey card so that we could get an exact match mixed up. We got a tester pot of each and since they are 250ml, it should be plenty to do the 3 letters and means we will have loads left if we can think of any other projects to paint! Each tester pot was only £2.48 so it was really cheap to get the exact colour we wanted, even though no one else is really going to notice. I didn't bother telling the assistant that we only wanted the paint for wooden letters as I think she thought it was really important that we get an exact match! So now we just need to paint them but I don't think we will get a chanc...

Following our lovely week in the Cotswolds we returned home on Saturday evening. I spent the rest of the evening with bridesmaids Lucy and Karen-Louise then we went to the wedding fair at our reception venue yesterday. We went with very specific objectives in mind which were to book the florist, the chair covers and look at cakes. We had a very productive hour and managed to accomplish each item which was great and it takes care of the major remaining items on our list. The florist we booked is Val Hamilton , whose arrangements we had previously seen at the last wedding fair and open day we attended at Norton House and really liked, especially the tall table centres. The arrangements she was showing yesterday were also really nice and she had plenty of examples of bouquets to look at as well. As she doesn't have a shop, and only concentrates on wedding flowers, she is able to keep her prices reasonable and it means that any appointments can also be made at weekends or in the evenin...

Although I haven't really thought too much about the flowers yet {or spoken to any florists}, we will definitely be using some purple flowers within our arrangements. Possibly some tulips, to tie in with the spring & Easter timing, and of course, some orchids, since they are my favourite flower. Originally I thought I wanted to have a white orchid shower bouquet, and thought it would contrast with the bridesmaids, but once I had chosen my dress that wasn't really going to go with the style or colour of it. So now I'm leaning towards a more colourful bouquet and really like the one below that I found on Style Me Pretty a while ago. (Images from here )

Although this isn't really related to anything, I came across this a while ago and meant to post it after I introduced my wedding colour since its in the same vein as the colorscope post. Pantone, the standard language for colour communication, have what they call Colorstrology , by Michele Bernhardt, which determines your colour & characteristics by your birthday, a bit like your star sign. So my birthday colour is Celestial (which I quite like) which means I should be Private, Independent & Quick Minded: ALTHOUGH YOU are independent and strong, there is a sensitive side of you that remains hidden. It is that side that needs to be acknowledged and understood because it holds many of your deepest wishes. Try not to hide your feelings especially from those who are trying so desperately to understand you. Many people born on this day have a gift for dance and music. Your personal color helps blend your inner and outer world. Wearing, meditating or surrounding yourself with C...

While I was doing my own dress searching, we had a look at a few bridesmaids dresses in each shop for ideas and since then I have been looking at others online from Dessy and Watters . I knew I wanted the girls to have long dresses but didn't really have any other must haves at the start. These are some of the ones I have looked at so far (although not in the colours shown for the Watters ones): L-R: After Six Style 6558; Dessy Style 2753; Watters Style 4249; Watters Style 1265 (Images from Dessy ; Dessy ; Watters ; Watters ) The one below is my favourite so far and I think it ties in quite well with my dress. I love the detail on the back and really like the straps too. I have emailed all the girls to let them see it and find out what they think. L-R: Dessy Style 2732 Front; Back (Images from here ) The colour I think we would go for is the concord, as shown above, as its the sort of deep purple colour I was looking for. Ashleigh went to have a look at it in a shop in London ...

Following on from my post about our wedding colour, according to Paper Source , your choice of colour reveals a bit of your personality. Their colorscope shows the range of colours their products come in along with a description about each one. (Images from here )

Purple is one of my favourite colours and I definitely wanted to incorporate it into the wedding. The bridesmaids dresses are going to be purple but a really deep dark shade, rather than a bright or lighter purple. We are also using it as the main colour of the invitations and have already made the save the date cards* with purple card backing & purple ribbon. All the other stationery items (order of service, table plan, table names & place cards) will also follow the same theme. As the tables will already have some hints of purple from the stationery, I think we may also use some purple flowers. Since its Easter Saturday we are getting married on I think spring flowers like tulips would be lovely. Although I absolutely love orchids and I'm sure they will also be making an appearance somewhere. Until I collect enough relevant images and get round to making my own, I leave you with some gorgeous purple inspiration boards from Snippet & Ink , The Wedding Decorator , The ...