My Wedding

This is where it all began for me.

I stumbled upon, pun intended, a photo that was the starting point for almost all my wedding ideas:

 

Additionally, my husband proposed during a picnic and I wanted to bring that element into the reception.

So it was that I found myself planning a picnic wedding, under the trees, with birdcages and a bit of a romantic vintage theme!

My hunt began for picnic blankets and baskets, but instead I found a hundred other elements that I wanted to include. A bit of glamour, birds for the birdcages, chandeliers and candles hanging from the trees....the list was endless and all a bit mismatched at times. On top of that, we did not quite have the budget to match my wish-list! I needed to start looking at a few DIY options and compromises.

This is what I plan to do for you. I want to help you bring all your thoughts together and suggest ideas of things you can do yourself to save a bit of money for your wedding, or any other event you are planning. Or, if money is not an option, help you tie everything together to make your event truly unique.

Below are a few of my favourite touches and things I made myself. Starting with something for my bridesmaids.

I was not a big fan of flower corsages for our wedding and, with the vintage theme, I felt that I could be a bit more creative. I made these wrist corsages with a bit of tulle, beads and some lace ribbon. It suited the theme perfectly!

And similarly for my groom a self made boutonniere was more suitable. There are loads of handy items at haberdasheries like self cover buttons that let you choose which fabric to cover them with. It's an easy way to make sure your details match perfectly.

The birdcages hanging from the trees were a must and we brought the theme together with bird nests filled with roses and bird figurines. Even our cake toppers were love birds!

 

There are some ideas you can replicate yourself with a bit of patience. I saw these table numbers from a supplier on Etsy and I told my husband we had to have them. But rather than order them I made them myself with books I found at an antique market and stencils I made in MS Word.

One of the other elements I fell in love with was using indoor furniture outside. I wanted to use more of it for the reception furniture, but the hiring costs meant I would have to reduce my dress budget, never! So instead we negotiated with our venue to allow us to use some of the furniture from their hotel and limited the indoor furniture to a 'photobooth' area. It worked wonderfully and the only cost was for the lampshade.

It is possible to have the dream wedding you want and make compromises. Thank you to Jacki Bruniquel for the beautiful photos from our wedding. You can view our full wedding on her blog: Granny Mouse Country House Picnic Wedding: Adél + Drew

 

Our wedding day was perfect and I believe it was made all the more magical because of the amount of personal effort we put in to the details.

 

xxx