Here are some alternative ideas…

Nite Owl

Nite Owl Smoking Dry Ice Drinks

If you want something memorable Nite Owl drinks are pretty fantastic! They stand out a mile (even at a crowded wedding fair) and they taste better than you’re average alcopop. If you want a bit of theatre and magic at your wedding I would definitely give these two thumbs up.

Sparkling Red Wine

Jacob's Creek Sparkling Shiraz

If you prefer your red to your white you don’t have to miss out on the bubbles. I tried some of the Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Shiraz a few years ago and it was really nice – I might just have to buy some again to make sure it’s still just as good!

Cocktails

Mojito Wedding Toast (photograph by Mister Phill)

The list of possible cocktails is endless. The Mixology App for the iPhone is a brilliant way of finding cocktails that contain your favourite ingredients and I’m sure you’re venue will have lots of suggestions too!

A nice cuppa

Who says a toast has to be alcoholic? If you’re not a big drinker or don’t drink at all then why not toast with a good old cup of tea (or coffee) I can just imagine the end of the speech “If you could all please raise your teacups…” it has a lovely ring to it and no one will forget your wedding speeches!

Teacups by Vintage Simplicity via fiftieswedding.com

Why not do something different? Whichever drink you choose for your toast some guests will like it and some won’t. Every wedding I’ve been to there’s been at least one person on the table who doesn’t like champagne (of course I’m always on hand to help dispose of any spare glasses) so you might as well drink something you enjoy while you toast the rest of your life together!

Are you having an alternative toast at your wedding? Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Share them in the comments below… 

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Arial - Style 201 - Disney Fairy Tale collection by Alfred Angelo

When I was doing my singleton fantasy wedding research (don’t judge me, I’m not the only one out there) I discovered you could get Disney wedding gowns by Alfred Angelo, which are actually really nice wedding gowns even if you don’t like Disney, although I’m guessing you pay a premium for the association. It looks like there’s lots of stockists of the Disney Fairy Tale collection in the UK!

Arial - Style 210 - Disney Fairy Tale collection by Alfred Angelo

I think Style 201 is more Arial… though I have to admit my favourite dress is actually Cinderella, after my crisis about white wedding dresses last week something like that might just convince me otherwise.

So you have the dress. What about the bridesmaids? Well that’s where the Disney Bound tumblr comes in. This girl is amazing… she puts together inspiration for outfits from Yoda to Monsters Inc, with all the Disney Princesses in between. Here’s some of her fantastic Little Mermaid inspired sets proving you can do Disney with style!

Little Mermaid Wedding Inspiration from Disney Bound

Little Mermaid Bridesmaid Inspiration from Disney Bound

Little Mermaid Bridesmaid Inspiration from Disney Bound

Wedding inspiration is only a fraction of the outfits on Disney Bound. You’ll find plenty of casual inspiration so you could even keep the Little Mermaid theme going throughout your honeymoon… or maybe that’s going too far?

Honeymoon inspiration from Disney Bound

Okay I’ll stop gushing now!

Follow @brightbride on Twitter or Like Bright by Design on Facebook for lots of bright and exciting wedding inspiration! 

White and me just do not go together. And that can be bit of a problem when it comes to weddings.

Trash the Dress Shoot by Taylor Jackson Photography

Thankfully I seem to avoid destroying anyone else’s wedding dress, but I don’t trust when it comes to my wedding day that I’ll last more than five minutes before getting a stain in the most obvious spot. And that is not a good look for walking down the aisle.

If I fall in love with a white dress I know it will be followed with months of cold sweats and panics.

I can’t be the only one who doesn’t trust themselves to wear white? There must be a name for those of us who have a phobia of white clothes…

What do we do?

We could just go for it. Try and forget about it until the big day, and demand only white foods and drink.

Or perhaps we could break tradition and embrace colour? Maybe we were just not designed to wear white and that includes our wedding day. Read on for a few examples that could even tempt white lovers away from their spotless gowns…

Karen Caldwell Design via The Style Saloniste

My obsession with tulle continues… and the dress below by Ouma can be dyed to any colour you wish!

Tulle Wedding Dress by Ouma (Etsy)

Dress bought (and sold!!!) by elsie*cake

If you want some really bold inspiration I spotted this gorgeous green dress on Rock n Roll Bride last year, you need to take a look at the full post to appreciate the dress in all it’s glory!

'No Rules, Just Right' - Amanda & Tysons Party Hard Weekend Wedding

And to finish with another dress I spotted last summer… and after a lot of digging (tumblr is a right pain and I like to get my credits right) I’ve discovered that it’s from the Valentino Pre-Fall 2010 collection, worn by Liv Tyler in Tatler July 2010. And it is gorgeous!

Valentino Pre-Fall 2010 collection (Liv Tyler in Tatler July 2010)

Are you a fellow fearer of white? Have you worked out how to wear a white dress without having a nervous breakdown or destroying it? Are you thinking of ditching the traditional gown and being a colourful bride? Share your thoughts in the comments below… 

So I saw a lovely tissue paper envelope on FPO and it got me thinking that invitation creativity can start before the envelope is even opened. While tissue paper might not be practical for surviving the post, it’s always an option if you’re planning on hand deliveries.

Manifiesto Futura Invitation via FPO

Who says the envelope can’t be the invitation too? Jared & Jasmine’s Art Nouveau Invitation made by The Hungry Workshop is a beautiful, bold and fun example of a self-mailing invitation.

Jared & Jasmine's Art Nouveau Invitation made by The Hungry Workshop

If you’re handy with the sewing machine you can turn paper bags into lovely envelopes. And if you don’t want to DIY you can order them from Sunlit Orchard on Etsy.

Handmade Shipping Mailers by Sunlit Orchard (Etsy) via Crafting a Green World

Another DIY option is making your own envelopes using paper to match the rest of your design. The Knitted Blog has simple instructions that made me wonder why I’d never thought of doing it before!

Make your own envelopes by The Knitted Blog

Using your new found envelope making skills why not give your friends and family a hint of where they’ll be headed by making map envelopes featuring your wedding location? An idea inspired by Poly in Pictures. The Ordinance Survey website seems to have all sorts of pricing options for printing your own maps,  custom made maps and historical maps. And a quick search of eBay shows plenty of people are selling old maps on their too.

Map Envelopes made from ancient OS maps by Poly in Pictures

For something that adds a feeling of importance to the envelope opening moment, how about a wax seal? This is a lovely example from Mrs Bacon on Wedding Bee. I did a bit of research and found a UK site where you can order a wax coin stamp made to your own design, and they do lots of different coloured wax so you can find a match for your colour scheme.

Wax Seal by Mrs Bacon on Wedding Bee

If a wax seal is a bit to grand for your needs then why not finish off your envelope with something more simple? A sticker! MOO print your own designs from around a fiver, which is a nice low cost way to give your envelopes a personal touch (just like the tissue paper envelopes at the top… and the blog post comes round full circle!)

Have you personalised your invitation envelopes? What did you do? Share your ideas with the rest of us in the comments below!  

Apologies for the lack of blogging this last week… work went crazy just as I was in the full force of working on a secret project.

Less than a month ago my mum decided to throw a surprise party for my sister’s birthday and I found myself volunteering for all sorts of decorating and cake baking duties. Starting with centrepieces…

I printed sheets of paper using the pattern I’d designed for the cupcake flags a couple of weeks ago, so I could make matching flowers, flags and bunting.

The past couple of weeks my lounge has been home to a growing forest of paper flowers. On a couple of occasions I almost invited my sister round, before remembering I was on a secret mission and quickly changing the conversation!

My Friday afternoon was filled with cake baking and decorating. And the cakes went down very well judging by the compliments!

The flowers got their fair share of compliments, and were a big hit with the kids who took them home as party favours (much to our relief – I hadn’t considered where they were going to live after the weekend!)

So now the secret party preparations are over I can get back to blogging as usual! See you tomorrow…

You can see my latest creations for Bright by Design here and here

New Lanark Mill Hotel on the banks of the River Clyde

This week I’ve also had to accept that winter is here. As we were actually prepared for snow and ice this year, I was hoping sods law would prevail and we wouldn’t need to use our new shovels or the anti-freeze we’ve been stock piling. But the heating has been turned up and the big jumpers are being well used.

The one thing I do like about ice and snow is the sparkly-ness of it all. So to get me out of my cold weather fug I thought I’d hunt down some glitter ideas that bring the best bits of the freezing weather indoors…

via simplikate.tumblr.com

via sugaredoccasions.wordpress.com

Silver glitter or sequin table cloths look beautiful – still trying find somewhere to get them in the UK. It looks like it’s the kind of thing you need to plan well ahead for and buy at Christmas.

Glitter Teaspoon Set by Leif

I fell in love with these glitter teaspoons from Leif a few months ago and it took all my strength to resist the temptation to buy them. It looks like they’re out of stock now, but there is a Glacier Teaspoon Set that invokes a similar feeling of bringing the icy outdoors inside.

Snowflake Cupcakes by Cake Genesis

I have cake on the brain at the moment… and cake glitter is such a wonderful thing! Lottie’s World of Cakes & Bakes (image below) has instructions on how to get the lovely two tone icy effect.

Winter Cupcakes by Lotties World of Cakes & Bakes (including instructions)

Snowflake cupcake by Victoria Made

Do you have any party ideas inspired by the freezing cold ice and snow? Share them with us in the comments below… 

I was originally planning on making cupcakes to go with my little flags from last week, but I haven’t made butterfly cakes for ages! They’re a bit more decadent than the ones I used to make for my mum… there’s a little more buttercream, a few hundreds & thousands and even a little jammy surprise in the middle!

Helen’s Jammy Little Butterfly Cakes

For the cake…

• 2 eggs
• Margarine
• Sugar
• Self-Raising Flour
• 1tsp Vanilla Essence

First job is to find out how much margarine, sugar and flour you need. At uni a friend taught me the method of weighing the eggs and then weigh all the other ingredients to match. It made the most delicious cakes so it’s the method I use all the time now!

Grab your utensils…

• A big bowl
• A spatula or spoon to mix
• A hand whisk
• A 12 hole bun/muffin tin
• cake cases
• a sieve (optional)

You might also need the odd spoon here or there as you go along.

Now’s the time to preheat your oven to 180 degrees. I have a fan assisted oven, but in the past I’ve had all manner of ovens that did their own thing at their own pace so you just need to adjust the temperature and time so it’s right for your oven.

The electric hand whisk is my favourite tool when it comes to baking cakes. When I was growing up I used a food processor, but I found that the cakes were heavier using that (I suspect because it doesn’t get enough air in to the mix). One day I decided that I would mix all my cakes by hand, even though it took forever and my arm nearly dropped off in the process. But the results were lighter. Then I discovered the electric hand mixer (which you can pick up for less than a tenner) and from that day on I had lovely light and fluffy cakes without the arm strain!

1. Start by putting your margarine and sugar into the bowl and whisk until light and fluffy (90 seconds – 2 mins)

2. Add the eggs, the tsp of vanilla essence and whisk until combined

3. Sieve the flour into the bowl and whisk until combined with lots of air

If I have more than two eggs I usually repeat steps 2 and 3 with 2 eggs each time. So if I had 6 eggs I’d put two in, then mix, then add a third of the flour, mix, then the next two eggs, mix… etc.

My sister doesn’t bother with the sieve. I think it adds more air, but she says it doesn’t make enough difference to make it worthwhile adding to the washing up. I just leave the washing up to my other half…

4. Put the cake cases into the 12 hole bun tin and fill them up. I use little cake cases for butterfly cakes so they rise out of the cases, but use bigger ones for cupcakes so there’s lots of space for icing on the top.

5. Put them in your preheated oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. Check them after 20 minutes, they might need another 5 or 10.  (don’t worry if you forgot to preheat – I sometimes do! Just stick it on now and wait 10 mins to put the cakes in)

How do I know the cakes are done? 

I don’t rely on colour (if I do I usually end up overcooking them) I do two things to check. With clean fingers I press lightly on top of a couple of cakes and if they spring back that means they’re done. I also use my little cake skewer tester thing and prod it into the biggest cake. If it comes out clean (i.e. no cake mix) then they are done.

The icing…

While they cook and you’re leaving them to cool it’s time for the icing. My mum and I have been playing about with butter icing recipes for the past couple of years after I found the Magnolia Bakery frosting recipe. And this is what we ended up with…

• 50g unsalted butter
• 50g margarine
• 200g icing sugar
• 1tp vanilla essence
• 1tbsp milk

If the butter isn’t soft just put it in a microwavable dish and blitz it for 10 seconds.

Butter icing is easy. Just put all of the above in a bowl and whisk until it’s a nice white/cream colour.

You can add the icing sugar in batches and try and stir it in to everything else before you use the whisk to minimise icing dust. It seems whatever I do I end up looking like a snowman by the time I’ve finished making butter icing. If anyone has tips on how to not cover their kitchen in icing sugar I would be very very grateful!

Putting it all together!

Now this is the fun bit… you can do whatever you like!

I cut out a section of the cake, cut it in two for the wings and put it one side. I put a dollop of jam in the middle of the hole, then pipe the butter icing on top. I finish off by sprinkling with hundreds and thousands and sticking the wings on. And of course putting a little flag on top!

And there you have it! Butterfly cakes perfect for the end of the week… I’ll enjoy them this evening with a glass of wine and Bridesmaids on DVD (I finally bought it because it’s only a fiver on Amazon at the moment) – I can’t think of a better way to start the weekend!!!

I didn’t want to take over the usual wedding blogging-ness, so I thought I’d just pop in a little extra post to show off my latest bouquet.

The bouquet was inspired by some gorgeous paper I bought from Craftz Boutique – it made me think of fairies and other mischievous things that live in woods…  I’m really please with how it’s turned out. You know how you sometimes imagine things in your head, and they never end up looking like that in real life – well for once something has!

Although I love this bouquet I’ve decided to sell it (I haven’t been doing this long and our house already looks like an origami forest!) and it’s on sale for £67.50 (25% off full price) - You can buy it here. 

I’m really enjoying making the flowers. I’ve got lots of ideas to bring to life and I’m starting to work out my next design inspired by my favourite book. In the meantime I should have photos from a couple of commissions in a week or two! It’s all very exciting!

See more pictures of the Enchanted Wood Bouquet on the Bright by Design website

That’s not to say I don’t appreciate trends. I’m quite happy picking up Vogue and drooling over nice things I’ll never be able to fit in to, let alone afford (that lottery win is just around the corner!) however in real life trends cause me to have all sorts of adverse reactions. These days I’m terrified of walking into Topshop… there’s far too many clothes I don’t understand (but I will run past them shielding my eyes to get to the lovely shoes and bags!)

Photo from i-do-weddings.com (via chicboutiquefavors.com)

So it’s no surprise that wedding trends can cause me to have an adverse reaction. Just the other day the very awesome Kat from Rock n Roll Bride blogged about her recent media coverage, which included an article in Wedding Magazine about brightly coloured weddings being on trend for 2012. I threw a mini-tantrum in my head because I don’t want to be ‘on trend’ I want to be me. Well us. (His favourite colour is red so it’s not like I’m forcing bright colours on him!)

Photo from queenlondonscarriage.blogspot.com

I did feel slightly less uneasy when I realised that I’m not getting married in 2012, and hopefully bright colours won’t be trendy any more by the time I do.

But it made me think – do some people avoid doing something for their wedding because it’s ‘on trend’? Do others do something that doesn’t suit them because it is ‘on trend’? And how do you avoid getting caught up in all the loveliness of wedding things and lose sight of who you and your other half are and what you want your day to be like.

I have the luxury of time and a blog to explore lots of ideas without the pressure of making any decisions for now. There are things I like, but I know aren’t “us” and I have the space to think about that. But most people don’t. As soon as the question is popped everyone wants to know if a date has been set, and it’s all downhill from there into full on wedding chaos!

Photo by Nicole Hill Gerulat for One Charming Party (via brides.com)

So how can you make decisions without getting swept up in everyone elses ideas for your big day?

I’m pretty sure that giving yourself time before making any decisions at all is a good idea. Read lots of blogs and use Pinterest (amazing amazing thing it is!) to scrapbook all the ideas you like. Then look through your Pinterest board(s) and work out which bits you like for other people and which bits you like for you.

Once you’ve made a decision then focus on that and use it to skip past anything that doesn’t fit and find the bits that do. Similar to wedding fair advice – know what you like, but keep an open mind to other things that might fit in. Ignore the rest.

Photo from fudgebananaswirl.com

I love design, but I appreciate it must a nightmare if you don’t have a clue. I’d say go with your instincts and get what you like. If you have a couple of friends who you trust to think about what you’d like (not what they’d like) then use them to bounce ideas off. But this is YOUR wedding (that is you AND your other half). It’s not a business, you’re not trying to sell anything. The only thing you have to worry about long term is if you are going to enjoy looking back on your photos.

I think I’ve managed to talk myself down from my little trend panic. And on the bright side, all these examples just go to prove that lots of colour can look amazing!

What’s your opinion on wedding trends? Do you have any advice to share with other brides to be? Leave your comments below…

After seeing the selection at the wedding fair last weekend I think it’s fair to say that Ivory & Co have a tiara or headpiece to suit almost every bride. The do full on princess tiaras, along side options of every other style… I even spotted a feathers section coming soon on their website.

Rachel was a fan of the Sophisticated Pearl collection…

Hayley by Ivory & Co (£95)

Whereas I prefer the side headpieces… (proof I don’t always go for the most expensive option!)

Avalon by Ivory & Co (£55)

We also saw some gorgeous creations by Kathryn Russell… but silly me forgot to take photographs and she doesn’t have a website. Just imagine a flower fairy inspired wedding with ornate and beautiful tiaras and accessories. You won’t be far off. If I manage to track down some photos and contact details I’ll let you know!

With my mind in tiara land I popped into Accessorize earlier this week and spotted a couple of gorgeous tiara inspired headbands that are within the reach of even the smallest wedding budget.

Accessorize Crystal Cascading Rose Bridal Alice Band (£28)

Accessorize Titania Double Pearl Alice Band (£12)

These are my favourites, but there are more in store and online.

Are you wearing a tiara or headpiece? What style do you like? Share your thoughts in the comments below…