Champagne and Petals

How to find the perfect wedding dress

How to find the perfect wedding dress you ask? Well, it can be a tricky task, yet one of the most important. Each and every bride-to-be is beautiful in her own way. With each loving and loathing something about their appearance. Luckily we now live in a age of stunning wedding dresses, designed to suit every body-shape and personal style.

I love fitted lace style gowns. However as I am short and really quite curvy they just do not suit me. I’m ok with that, even though I would have loved a fitted lace dress. You can’t drastically change your shape but you can change the style of dress you choose.

I always felt I knew what styles suited me the best & I wasn’t too far off. I went to the bridal shop with an open mind, which allowed me to try on different shapes and styles that I wouldn’t normally even consider. By doing so I found that I really suited a fishtail style dress. Ok, it wasn’t the lace style which I loved, but a more heavy weight fabric that had some structure. Never the less it suited me.

As a bride you want to look your best. So have a look at my top tips for choosing the perfect wedding dress and you won’t go far wrong:

Set a budget – the last thing you want to do is fall in love with a £2000 dress when you only have £800 to spend.
Get recommendations for bridal boutiques.
Go with an open mind.
Research styles to reflect your style and personality.
Start looking as soon as you have set a wedding date. Some dresses take 9 months to make. Then you need time for alterations!
Take any cut outs or fabric samples you have.
If you have a colour scheme or flowers in mind let the boutique know.
If you have any jewellery or shoes you want to wear take them with you when you try on dresses. Remember, some types of shoe can be dyed to match an outfit.
Take a couple of people with you that will give their honest opinions. It’s no good having someone who will say that you look amazing in everything, it wont help you decide!
Visit more than one bridal boutique. They will stock different designers. Quite often designers will only work with one or two boutiques in one area. You might have to travel if the design you want isn’t available in your area.

Just remember the more details about you, your style and your ideas you give the boutique, the more chance you have of finding your perfect wedding dress. You never know what gems they might have hiding out the back!

Dreaming of a Castle Wedding…

Every little girl dreams of getting married in a big castle, with a horse drawn carriage to carry her and prince charming off into the sunset.

In the UK we are blessed to have some stunning wedding venues. Included in that are many beautiful castles. Which means your childhood dreams can come true. Although some of these venues are not for everyone’s budget, they are all stunning in their individual ways.

See my top 5 picks from across the UK.

Hever Castle – Kent

Hever C astle was built in 1270 it was home to Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife. It is now privately owned by the Guthrie family. Hever Castle offers varying different options for wedding packages. The Castle, the Astor Wing, the Italian Garden or Marquee set in the grounds. There are 28 bedrooms to hire, perfect for guests wanting to stay over. Prices start from £165 per person.

Peckforton Castle – Cheshire

Peckforton Castle was built in 1851 by John Tollemach, in a medieval style, taking 9 years to complete the build. Home to numerous TV and film sets. They proudly offer many different wedding options. The Great Hall, Hexagonal Room, Drawing Room, the Wine Cellar and the Chapel that offers blessings only. There are 48 bedrooms for hire fitting in family and friends for almost any size wedding. Prices are on quotation only, as they provide a price plan to meet your requirements.

Hensol Castle – Vale of Glamorgan

Hensol Castle was built in the 17th Century. Set in 650 acres of Welsh Countryside its a beautiful setting for your dream wedding. It has been used as the set for many TV shows. Hensol Castle offers 6 different functions rooms with its newly built Courtyard Hall. There is also the Oak Room set aside for ceremonies. The castle is adjacent to Vale Resort, a luxury spa resort, perfect for all of your guests to stay in. They offer discounts for people attending weddings. Prices start at £2750 for Castle hire, then packages start for 42.95 per person.

Dalhousie Castle – Edinburgh

Dalhousie Castle was built in the 13th Century it is proudly Scotland’s oldest inhabited castle. They offer various different wedding packages with prices starting from £1000 for 30 people, making it possible to have a castle wedding on a smaller budget. There is even a beautiful chapel that is perfect for your ceremony. It is a unique and romantic venue that offers extras that I haven’t seen in many other venues. Like the falconry package. Where an owl delivers the rings during ceremony…… perfect for any Harry Potter fans out there!

A castle wedding might not be for everyone but they are magical. Keep your eye out for future posts. Including weddings on a budget.

What would be your dream wedding venue?

Purple and butterfly themed wedding

My purple and butterfly themed wedding

While planning your big day choosing a wedding theme is important. Along with the venue, the theme is what almost everything else will revolve around. It could be a colour scheme, fancy dress, black tie, vintage style, hollywood or anything that shows who you are and expresses your style as a couple.

For our wedding we opted for the colour purple and butterflies. Choosing a really deep purple for our September wedding fitted in perfectly with the flowers that were in season at the time.

I love butterflies. Pretty, elegant little creatures, each one perfect in its own way. I had visions of them sat in in my bouquet, in the table decorations and in wreaths hanging in the trees.

After we had picked a colour and a theme we could start to make plans for the rest of the wedding. Arranging for invites to be made, choosing a florist and flowers, picking a bridesmaid dress, arranging for suits and all of the other little elements that combine to make your day perfect.

I loved looking through all of the amazing wedding magazines, coming up with ideas for our day. My Hubby wasn’t too worried about all of the little extras. So after we had chosen our venue and colours scheme, he was quite happy to leave the rest up to me. I was more than happy with that. He did however want to choose his own suit style (eeeeeek!) I need not have worried as he did a good job.

I felt like the butterflies were a real focal point for our wedding. Finding some beautiful feathered butterflies on eBay, I bought around 200 of them in different shades and patterns. Knowing I wanted them within the bouquets, in the table centre pieces and sitting in wicker wreaths that were hanging in the trees. I really wanted to have that ‘confetti shot’ therefore I found some beautiful real petal confetti. There is still some on the kitchen dresser now, 6 years on.

We started our purple and butterfly theme with our invitations. I wanted it them to set the scene for the wedding. Our wedding cake was a cupcake tower, which had butterflies sat on each cake.

Writing this down it seems like I went over board on butterflies! However they were all very subtle. All the little things bringing our wedding together from the invites, wedding flowers, bridesmaid dresses and cake. Right through to our thank you cards.

What theme did you choose for your wedding?