Sparklers are the new Fireworks! (and cheap & charming too)

Snap it up!

House of Fraser are in a big summer sale at the moment and there are lots of wedding gems to snap up. Including half price earrings, shoes and that amazing ultimate strapless Wonderbra I mentioned before. I know from two brides already that these Dune shoes are really comfortable and flattering. And who can go wrong with pearls...another pearl tip, there is a beautiful contemporary drop pair in Jaeger on Donegall Sq West for £25 in sale. Ps not on sale but cheap anyway  and simply elegant is the ivory guest book in Paperchase for £12.95.

First Dance...

I'm really in a pickle about the first dance song...you see we have 'songs' of our relationship but to date they have included Queens of the Stone Age when my fiancé was a little tipsy and played it on repeat and told me he loved me....The Black Keys concert...when I returned the feeling. We have Metallica from two great concerts (which I don't think I would have ever considered until we met)...so you can see the pattern here not exactly first dance material! Along the way we have also encountered some music with great fun and meaning such as John Prine, In Spite of Ourselves (to rude for family I think), Home, Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros (too quick and jumpy) and Joshua Radin, Today which is beautiful if a little slow and quiet to one of my favourites so far, 'With this ring' by The Platters. Anyway, still totally undecided. In the meantime I'm also on the hunt for reasonably priced dance classes...have been calling the Crescent Arts Centre & Clarkes Dance Studio to date. I think if we combine the right song and the right teacher we might get there! Will keep you posted.

Perfect Peonies!

I'm not a summer bride (I think?!) so I won't be selecting Peonies. Peonies are a very (very!!) popular wedding flower choice and you can see why, they are beautiful, but they are only in season for a few months. Picking flowers in season will save you money and also, I once read that nature is very clever...flowers are in season for a reason, so that they complement that season. Therefore picking flowers in season works with nature & your budget! So this is peony season and as luck would have it Marks & Spencer’s are stocking them for £20.00 a bunch in white/ ivory & pinks. Any wedding florists reading this will kill me, but if you really are on a tighter budget and have the guts to take on your own flowers you could definitely do it with the M&S peonies (the one at Sprucefield is the best). 

Wedding Words

My cousin Emily spotted this wedding invitation...too lovely not to share! Just a different way of approaching the traditional wedding wording while telling your story. I was at a wedding once before where the bride & groom had their story printed on the back of the wedding program and it was honestly lovely. Makes you realise what all the wedding fuss is about...the magic of two people and their personal love story!

Suits you Sir!

I have a rather laid back (read he has decided seeing that the budget is heavily weighted towards me, then so are the tasks) groom who has decided to be very particular about certain things, one being his suit. I showed him some skinny boys in very cool modern suits (which the wedding magazines are full off, but how many Northern Irish fellas can pull that off, right?) and he just sniffed and said they weren't wedding suits! So I did a little dig and showed him a range of suits...turns out in his head a wedding suit is a morning suit! Go figure. So he's booked morning suits, if that's his thing it works for me, and to be honest as a rugby loving fella it suits him too (pardon all the puns). Next up, I was ticking off things that are done and mentioned a pocket square...which he straightaway said, yep that's what he wants...who'da thought...I just assumed (and why would I) that he would go for a boutonniere. Ah well, I think I'll go with whatever he wants as it isn't just about me & I'd hate it if it was, and it really does feels lovely to have his wishes included.

French Manicure

Ok not that manicure...and can I give a wee word of advice, don't do the nail stick on, extensions whatever...a good friend of mine and beautiful bride said to me at her wedding, as she looked forlorn at her nails...I wish I could take these off, they feel so false and they're sore'...not how you want to feel (Take note, same applies for heavy wedding dresses, another friend just couldn't wait to get that off...not how you want to feel about that dress you spent forever dreaming about and picking!). So instead I'm taking a 'Vogue Idea' from an article I read by a lovely and very sophisticated former french model who said use Dior Crème Abricot Fortifying Cream For Nails and you will never need a manicure (she did also say it will wreck your bed sheets...but sure so does red wine). Another lovely bride also recommended Perfectil Skin, Hair & Nails (available at all good chemists and usually 3 for 2) which she started 1mth before her wedding, and I can vouch, her skin was perfect(il) ha! So I think overall approc £17.00 for the creme & £15.00 for your supplements tallies up well compared with a salon based budget!

Ahhh I'm gonna be the bride photos

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Woohoo new post (don't know if anyone else is excited, but I am). Busy isn't even a word, so I'm back and blogging. So today I'm writing about sparkly wedding bits. Mostly because I really need to locate a particular item myself and have been looking at a few sites (can't tell you which items, giving enough away already!) What I have found is that there are a few tasteless companies & designers jumping on the 'Vintage' bandwagon and I can't see the pearl for the faux pearl to save myself. I've seen more than enough junk put together in bridal boutiques, made of glass beads and fishing wire and called 'vintage' than I can cope with! Also, a lot of the stuff is so bright, sparkly and seriously tacky! So I've discovered a few sites that aren't too bad, Liberty in Love, particularly the items by Stephanie Browne, also Glitzy Secrets and Ebuni.com. Or if you do want the real deal there is also the Decadence Vintage Bridal Fair on June 12th at Malone House. Last time I was there there was a lady who can also make you any bridal jewllery you desire. So if you have also found any good sources for wedding jewellery I would be delighted to hear from you? You can look on ebay, but type in vintage or antique and you will get a back a disaster list of irrelevant rubbish...so enough rant from me, I'm off shopping! :)

Was hoping for more magic!

Such as this Valentino prediction...