Festival Brides

A few weeks ago on Sunday 22nd April we exhibited at our very first wedding event in Nottingham! We are generally not huge fans of the wedding fair industry, but we’re starting to change our minds as there are so many cool and unique fairs/events popping up all over the UK…many festival related!

At Save the Date – Wedding Event with a Difference, you can expect to see fantastic suppliers, interactive demonstrations, catwalk show and lots of fabulous goodies! An uber stylish and highly unique wedding event with a difference.

You couldn’t miss our stand – it was so bright and eclectic just like a festival! It certainly caught the eye of many passers by and we loved meeting like minded brides to be who wanted something out of the ordinary for their special day. We had lots of inspiration and wedding pretty on display with a large scale scrap book full of unique ideas (think our blog but in a book!) and a ‘washing line’ of inspiration which we changed and added to throughout the day. Laura and I also put together a slideshow (in the early hours of morning before the show!) of mood boards and festival wedding inspiration which seemed to go down really well.

On our stand we featured the wonderful Plant Box crates who design bespoke wooden crates in various sizes – a wicked idea for a festival/country vibe and great for stacking your beers in!! You can pick your colours and choose personalised messages and decor. Check them out www.plantabox.co.uk

Catkin Flowers very kindly supplied the flowers for the stand which were bright and beautiful. The sweet smell of wild flowers graced our senses for the whole day and the cute bunches of poppies and bluebells fitted perfectly in our beer bottle collection. If you need an English grown florist in the Midlands be sure to contact www.catkinflowers.co.uk for natural and seasonal flowers.

The very talented Katy from Hand Picked Vintage designed an awesome feather top hat and bridal feather headdress especially for Festival Brides and they looked amazing on the stand. Katy makes these from scratch so if you want to swap your veil for a stunning feather head dress then you need to be contacting this lady!

Lastly and by far not least Big Beautiful Bunting supplied the bright and colourful bunting which we draped from pilar to post around our stand!! the bunting was so impactful and made our festival theme come to life!! For quirky and unique bunting with a difference be inspired by www.bigbeautifulbunting.com

We met Lucy and Chris (who are modeling the top hat and feather head dress from Hand Picked Vintage above) who are planning a Festival Wedding for 2014! They have a love of tea so we suggested they celebrate their day embarrassing their love of tea and having their very own tea festival!! Not sure what they thought about this idea but they certainly loved the tea cup bunting that we had on display! 

The fabulous Kate from Vintage Style Hire supplied all the props and furniture for the event and we loved the fireplace set above. Coral and lime is fastly becoming a new favourite colour combo of ours…….just lovely!

We mixed with some lovely suppliers and bloggers during the day. We met the lovely Kelly from Boho Wedding and Events - An awesome boho wedding blog; Chloe from Adore by Chloe - Wicked handcrafted wedding blog; Peach Blossom - Pretty and stylish party decorations; CW Campervans – East Midlands Camper Van hire; Ruby + Diva – Cool and unique wedding boutique……..plus so many more.

Event photography by Rachel Connerton

The next Wedding Event with a Difference is on 14th October 2012…we will definitely be making an appearance so hope to meet you all there!

Book your tickets now for early bird offers

Erin (Carly’s friend) did the layout for the wedding invites. They had them Letter pressed at The Distillery in Sydney. www.the-distillery.com.au It was very much a DIY production as Carly designed them and put them all together and wrapped them in string herself!!

THE SETTING, DECOR & PARTY…

Carly wanted to be very hands on with the styling of her special day. She did an awesome job of pulling a very understated blush theme out the bag!!! Little details and pretty lighting, the venue was dressed with bohemian drapes , pretty pom poms and relaxed seating.

We thank Carly and Matthew for sharing their day with us.. It looked so much fun!! Love you Miss Reid or should I now say Mrs Small… xx

Photographer – Ryan Nix

Caterer – Sprout Desert Bar

Cake – Courtney Reece

Florist – Kirryn West

Styling – Bride, Groom friends and family

Decor –  www.prestigepartyhire.com.au  www.ousha.biz

Food –  www.sproutcatering.com.au

Poms –  Etsy

You may remember the travelling bride (Carly) featured in Festival Brides last year.. Check out the post here for a reminder

So Carly and Matthew finally made their way back to their home in Newcastle, Australia. Full of inspiration and ideas from their travels they quickly set to work finalising the last details of their imminent wedding day!!

It’s not exactly festival, more of a frees spirited beach party, but there are some really cool ideas that fellow festival brides could take inspiration from.. Here is a photo dairy of their special day. Enjoy!!!

We love this shot from Carly’s Hen Do.. Very Festival Princess!!!

The girls looked like they had so much fun getting ready together and we love Carly’s cool plait created by her sister Chelsy, who is a fab hairdresser – result!! http://cuttingoutaloud.tumblr.com/

The girls all wore Peter Alexander PJ’s to get ready in!! www.peterelexander.com.au

Carly bought all her bridesmaids some funky jewels from Jenny Packham whilst living in the UK.. The shoes are by Steve Madden- Love the ballet slippers!!!

And what a dress..!! Carly didn’t want anything off the peg so she went on her search for something unique and totally personalised to her. She asked her friend Faye to make her vision become reality.. and what a vision it is!!

Faye also made all the Bridesmaid dresses using fabric from www.tessuti.com.au/locations/surry-hills and www.thefabricstore.com.au. We love the soft metallic tones that create a mix and match vibe!!

The veil that fitted so perfectly around her plait was by Kristi Bonnici http://www.kristibonnici.com.au/ (This is the perfect place to find your festival inspired accessorise – fab feather headpieces and fringed shawls)

Love that all the boys went for a surf before the ceremony!!! What a way to start a day. They wore very cool bow ties which they got off ETSY..too cute boys!!!

The ceremony took place in church at ST Marys Star of the Sea, Newcastle…followed by the reception in a beach club!!

They had an acoustic singer/guitarist and cello player at church and walked down the aisle to Snow Patrol – Run, signed the register to Angus and Julia Stone – Bella and left the church to Foo Fighters – Times like these – Great alternative tunes for some aisle walking!!!

Carly told us her favourite moments: ‘Setting up together – a huge job but very rewarding!! The morning with the girls -trip in the car to the church with Mum and Dad plus the beer was good!!  The ceremony and obviously seeing Matthew made my heart flutter. The speeches – heartfelt and hilarious and lastly the first dance… So basically the whole day was one big special moment!!’

See PART 2 Tomorrow.. for decor, dancing and stationery!! 

Laura and I were browsing one of our favourite wedding mags BRIDES, and we just had to let all our lovely readers know that they are holding a reader event at French Connection on Thursday 5th May 2012 from 6-8pm (held at London Regent Street branch or Manchester Exchange Square.)

Guests on the night can enjoy:

20% discount on all full-priced items / Free goody bag with purchases over £100, packed with gifts from French Connection, Dermalogica, Label.m, Green & Black’s and Jamie Aston Flowers / Face Mapping® skin analysis by Dermalogica / Styling tips from the Brides team / Complimentary bubbly whilst you shop / and the chance to win a £500 shopping spree at French Connection for you and a friend!

Here is our top pick of dresses from French Connection’s latest collection…… a little bit hippy and eclectic with a touch lof luxe!!

We love the Spring/Summer collection, beautiful muted pastel tones and floral embellishment, just perfect for a festival bridesmaid!

The event is free but you need to register online at www.frenchconnection.com/brides. Places are going fast so book yours today x x

Do you remember Carly, our travelling bride….??

Check out her planning post from last year, which tells you how Matt and Carly basically planned their wedding from their camper, whilst travelling the world!! What a very special way to plan your special day…

Here is a sneak peak of their super special day.. It’s not totally festival related, but its beautiful and free spirited!! xx

 Image copyright Ryan Nix KILLNIX