A quick bit of cakey loveliness

We had a meeting with our cake maker yesterday. Here are a few pics of her tasty creations...

Boutique chic

So, the wedding dress search didn't get off to the best start. After suffering with the virus from hell all week (seriously, why do i always get so ill in January?) I was determined not to back out of my big day of 'find that frock' appointments. Feeling a little wobbly, but a woman on a mission, I headed to Tunbridge Wells and my first shop stop, Frou Frou Bridal. Ladies, this is one cute bridal boutique. Yeah, I know it's really all about the dress, but stylish surroundings go a long way towards making the dress shopping special. Frou Frou is spacious, contemporary and a little bit quirky, with oodles of sweet design details, freshly baked cupcakes and dedicated appointments to make you feel properly looked after.

Then there are the dresses, oh the dresses, with designs by Matthew Williamson, David Fielden, Lyn Ashworth, Stewart Parvin, and American names Sarah Seven and Ivy and Aster, as well as a few vintage numbers. There's just something a little bit different and special about the frocks here. You won't find any cookie cutter puffy 'princess' dresses. Perfect if you're after an individual W day look. I was v impressed.

I wasn't looking my best (honestly, I was so pasty I looked like a corpse bride). But I really fell for 'Sweet Pea' by New York designers Ivy and Aster. It was proper floaty fabulousness. The teeny velvet dots, sweetheart neckline and pockets (a wedding dress with pockets, love it!) were super-cute. We accessorised with an Ivy and Aster belt ('Snowflake') and a little sequinned cape that I can't find a picture of (darn it!).

We found a good shop here girls, put it on your frock list. 

Heaven scent

Lots of people recommend buying a new perfume for your wedding, so you'll always have a delicious scent to remind you of the day. Seems like a good plan to me. And I think I found my number one contender so far in Selfridges recently. Laura Mercier Creme de Pistache is just mmmmmmmmmmm. Sweet, creamy and nutty with a hint of spice. It smells good enough to eat. And with a whole range of products in the scent I can really make a wedding morning ritual of layering the yumminess. Hand cream, body scrub, honey bath, body souffle (delicious words!) and perfume. I could be in the bathroom for hours!

L.O.V.E.

Ooh, look at my new LOVE letters from Nordic House. Really pleased with them. Another purchase that we can use for both wedding and house. I'm thinking end of the aisle and wall in the kitchen. It's positively killing two birds with one stone!

Dreaming of a Temperley dress

So it's a little, well, a lot, out of my budget, but a girl can daydream right? And this is a very special daydream of a dress. The embroidered lace! The subtle silver crystals! The buttons on the sleeves! The puddle train! So romantic. Be still my beating heart.

  Temperley London dress, £4,900 at Net a Porter

The front runners - no.2

                                                                Frisson by Cymbeline 

Oh the floaty loveliness. This is my other favourite at the mo. It brought a lil' tear to my eye when I saw it on the catwalk at the National Wedding Show. The chiffon, lace tiers and v back just make me go all mushy. I think all the the floatiness makes it quite relaxed for a wedding dress too, which could make it just right for our garden wedding...

The front runners - No.1

I haven't tried on a wedding dress yet. Four months into the wedding planning, that might seem a little odd. I must admit I've been putting it off. The main reason? I'm planning to lose a couple of stone before W day. But the other is that I've gone all rabbit in the headlights and stalled because I just don't know if I'll find anything I really like. Or if the dresses I do take a shine to will suit my body shape. Major PANIC. 

But I start this Thursday, with 8 appointments planned over one week. I'm going to brave my wedding frock fears and find something beautiful. Oh yes I am. 

From all the wedding blog and magazine browsing I've done over the last few months, two dresses have really  stood out for me (well two dresses within my budget, I seem to have expensive taste in wedding dresses, oops). First up is this vintage French lace gown by Charlotte Balbier. The lace on the shoulders, the deep v front and back and the incredible fishtail skirt. It just has showstopper written all over it. Swoon.

Tabitha by Charlotte Balbier

Oh, and while we're on the subject of Charlotte Balbier, I'm rather keen on her Garbo dress too. I do like a frock with a sleeve...

Garbo by Charlotte Balbier

Another Don't Tell the Bride marathon...

... another wedding detail made in front of the telly (I do go out sometimes, honest). This time it's the table names, which we've done in the same style as our Save the Dates. We just found some (free) cutesy images of birds, cupcakes, teacups and rings on the iStock photo website, and chose a couple of pretty fonts. I do love a good font.

For the love of jam jars

Lace and ribbon and jam jars. Coo. Who needs vases eh?

Back to basics

So, I am suddenly very conscious that I've been wittering on about random details without telling you what kind of W day we're actually planning. Here, dear reader, is an overview.

I love a stately home. Or a boutique hotel. Or a castle. I just couldn't see us getting married in any of them. When we sat down and thought about our big priorities wedding-wise, we realised we wanted it to be personal with a capital P, in a place that means something to us, with loads of homemade details. So there was really only one option. My grandparents live in the Sussex countryside, with a big garden surrounded by fields. My gran offered, and that decided it - a humanist ceremony in the garden and a marquee reception. We didn't even look at any other venues in the end.

So, since October, we've booked two marquees - one for the ceremony and one for the reception, a florist, a caterer - who'll be laying on afternoon tea and an evening pie buffet, a photographer, and all sorts of other suppliers (and my goodness you need a LOT when you're planning a marquee wedding).  Wedding planning has become a real family affair, with mums, aunts and sisters sewing metres and metres of bunting, gardening plans aplenty, dad making signs, Essex boy rustling up some really rather lovely save the dates, and me getting crafty in front of the telly on a regular basis.

The plan is a relaxed vintage/country garden/ rustic chic wedding with hay bales for seating, jam jars of flowers, Pimms and garden games. Colour-wise, we've gone for blush pink and sage green, with blues and purples in the flowers and the boys' lovely Liberty print ties. So far, even though every time you book another supplier you feel like you've handed over a big wodge of control over everything, it feels like 'us'. And so far, even though it gets stressful every now and then, I am loving wedding planning. Even if I do seem to spend every day with my fingers crossed...

Confetti cute

I like ice cream. A lot. I think that must be what's swayed me towards cones rather than little bags for confetti. They just look kinda lickable. So my latest wedding DIY fest was to make these little doily cones for our guests to sprinkle their petals from (goodness, I can't wait to be showered with pretty petals, what fun!)

Just get your doilies, cut a circle of kraft paper a little larger, stick 'em together and roll into a cone. Then tie with ribbon, wool or string. Easy. Now I just have to wait until a couple of months before W day to order some lovely petals!

If I was feeling less frugal.... I'm loving these gorgeous little vintage music sheet cones from Vintage Twee.

And these very ice cream-esque cones from Gifts by Lucy at Not on the High Street. Highly yum-alicious.

Wooly words

Happy New Year all! I've just spent January 1st getting wedding crafty in front of Don't Tell the Bride (I watched 4 in a row, that's my record). And very enjoyable it was too. I've mostly been winding charity shop wool round these cardboard letters from good old Hobbycraft. I think they're fun, and cute in a silly homemade kind of way. Oh, and I've done a few jam jars to pop flowers in too. Where would our wedding be without jam jars and Hobbycraft...