Planning a wedding in less than six months

Some time in early June a couple of our dear friends got engaged, and this is fabulous, of course. After some thinking and changing of plans, they have decided to move the wedding from next August to this December - right between Christmas and New Year.

Now, some of you will say - "oh that's nice".

But some of you will think "Are they mad? That's less than 6 months!!"

But, y'know what? It's ok. 

If you really want to speed it up, it's perfectly possible, with a bit of know how on planning.

I have this thing about organisation. I am very good at it. Our friends don't need that help as they are already pretty set, but it gave me an idea to write a little bit about it. 

And these are my tips.

1. Budget talk

How much money do you have that can be spent on this? Taking out a loan should be the last thing you consider as the repayments aren't the best memory of a wedding. Don't start thinking about weddings you've been to, especially if they were the ones planned way in advance. This is about YOU TWO and you are unique. You do not need to spend thousands to have a wedding of your dreams.

1.1 Enlisting help from people around you

My friends love my baking skills. I have agreed to create cute little cupcakes to go with their vintage theme. They even knew which flavours, as I made them this cake a while ago - I'll just need to adapt it a little.
Can someone bake you a cake you love? You can normally get them decorated professionally if you so wish - or simply have them looking gorgeous and homemade.
Is there someone who can arrange your flowers? You do not need to order a special "Wedding" bouquet. Buy some flowers even from the local supermarket and trim and tie and create your own. Add some beads, feathers, ribbon, fabric, pearls.... options are endless. OR explore the more crafty options.
You get the jist?

1.2 Guests

There is only one rule to this - this is your day. YOU decide who you want to share it with. If you cannot invite everyone, due to budget limitations or space, maybe you can organise a party afterwards for them. Or, invite them to the evening do only. There is no need to feel pressured about inviting someone you don't even speak to just because you invited someone else. This is your wedding. Your memories.

2. Reception venue and date

How about looking at some more...unconventional venues. Restaurants? Clubs? Your grandparent's massive garden? Local farm? There are so many options. And if you are more of a traditionalist, look for the nearby hotels, or - like another couple of friends - go further afield if they will offer a great discount on accommodation of your guests.




A venue can be found online and phone calls can be made to check availability. In this day and age, it should not take you any more than a day to find a few to check out. I would recommend lmiting yourself to 3, for convenience. Take a weekend to yourself and go have a look at them. Then book - most will accept a booking over the phone, once you saw them all and you made your decision.

Also, why not look at alternative days? Keep it right by the weekend, as people will need to take time off work - but Mondays and Fridays are getting increasingly popular due to lower pricing.


3. The photos and entertainment

Photographer? DJ? Band? Again, these days, getting some music for your wedding can be as easy as creating a playlist with your favourite tunes on your phone/laptop/whatever - use things like Spotify, why not? Then have someone acting as a DJ - we all have that one friend...
There are also plenty of bands around on the internet if that's your thing. You may want to consider having the band on just at the beginning for a few hours, rather than a whole night.
Photographers? No need to pay big money. Create an instagram wedding page for guests to share your pictures to, get an arty friend to take the more posed pictures - or even, see if there are any local photography classes or courses at the university/college - student will ask for less if it means they build their portfolio of work. Be very precise as to what you want and you could even create a Pinterest board for them to see what kind of thing you like.

4. Stationary

In my humble opinion - if you have a printer and a couple of hours time, you can create something amazing. Go to Etsy and browse for printable wedding stationary. For a few pounds/dollars you will be able to find something you can pay for - customise - download in a matter of hours and if you do not want to spend too much on paper and ink, use an online printing service.
Go to something like Printed.com





5. The all important - suits, dresses, jewellery

In terms of suits, depending on your wedding theme and style, there are plenty of options. For more relaxed themes, opt for something more casual. For keeping up with the tradition, go to the usual shops - in UK Next, BHS, Debenhams and the rest all have some fantastic offers that won'd break the bank.
Jewellery. There is probably already an engagement ring on that finger, and you'd probably like to match it. Again, Etsy is full of gorgeous non-expensive options. Try Ebay too, given enough time, overseas shipping sometimes is the better option. Just remember to go and get your measurements first.

And ---- the dress. Of course.
Vintage shops, Ebay, Sample sales, Local seamstress............. options are endless. You can find a local seamstress who will be able to create one for you. Bring some samples, show the Pintrest board... my sister in law had her crafty neighbour create one. And all she had to do is find the materials - measurements were advised by the lady that made it.
There are also wedding fairs, usually several in a year so chances are you may be able to find a dress on sale - remember, you can always customise.
Or - go to the vintage shops and find something in the right colour for you - who says it needs to be white and long?! You're the one wearing it!

And keep your mind open - customisation doesn't need to be expensive or difficult and let's be honest, you can probably do something yourself.

And - Google is your friend. Pinterest is a must. Keep a record of your spending and spend wisely. Shop around. Take note of any shipping dates on online orders. Think outside the box. Delegate responsibilities - you two do NOT have to do everything. Your friends and family will be happy to help too.

And most importantly - relax. There's enough time.






What are your planning tips? Have you had any experiences of speedy wedding planning? Please leave some comments below. If you have any questions, it is more than likely there will be someone on here with an answer!

Colours love

It would appear Tuesday is definitely going to be a colour day over here. Although my personal style is rather simple (well, ok, most of the time), I do love colour. And creating hair pieces is probably my way of expressing that.
I will tell you more about them in due course (working on it!), for now though let's talk colour.

Do you have a favourite? Or is it a mixture that you like? There are so many options. I am currently geeking out on Pantone View and the Design Seeds blog. Seriously, if you haven't had a chance to look through these, you're missing out. Pantone does charge for a subscription, but there is a 30 day trial available so you can see what it's all about.

Things to admire right now

Pinterest search

So simple, yet so beautiful. Probably impractical as they are, but who cares?

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The blues, the pinks, the *gasp* gorgeousness.... Simple, yet fun

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This image is not helping my irrational wishing for a typewriter.

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It's been a while since I've knitted or crocheted for that matter.... This is making me wanna start again. What do you think?

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Eat or not to eat...that is the question.

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I wish I had the guts to colour my hair in pastel. Maybe, one day.

Tell me about your favourites. Who knows, maybe I make a piece to your directions? Go wild... ;)

Something's in the making

Hi!

Had a good weekend? I sort of decided to do nothing on Saturday. We went for a nice big field walk with Al (of course, it rained) sometime in the afternoon, but other than that I really just did nothing.

Today though, I made a lovely breakfast and maybe because of my "total day off" yesterday I felt rested and ready to take on the day. Of course, it's not quite as exciting, but sometimes doing the chores can be quite rewarding as it is. Don't you think?

So now I'm looking at my gorgeous new pieces of fabric and my little chest of scraps dreaming up new pieces to make. I've shared a couple on Twitter already, but there are more to come. And I truly believe having had little to nothing to do with making and blogging for a couple of days inspired me. Letting your brain wander through ideas whilst you're going through your simple daily tasks really does help the imagination :)

But, for now a couple of pictures of what I'm staring at (yes that is a huge mug of hot chocolate in the background):

In honesty, there is another box, much larger, full of goodies.... but not as photogenic as this little thing. Shhhh

As for the hot chocolate, I make my own little mix. I promise I will share that soon, and you'll never look back, so watch this space.

7 tips on finding materials

Although I am relatively new to blogging, I am most certainly not new to art and crafting. Obviously, we all do something as kids, but for me, lets say around about mid-teens I started creating things that were a little bit more than random cuts of paper or endless threads of basic crochet (which I would wrap around my wrist and pretend it was super hard to make).

However, unless you have an endless supply of funds (yeah right), getting the right materials is kinda expensive. Even if you simply want to produce some handwritten A4 prints, you still need to have a variety of good quality pens, variety of good quality papers or cards or whatever. Oh and unless you want to constantly produce them until your wrist gives up, you should really get a good quality printer....and so on and so on...

I know all this sounds like preaching to the converted, but lets be honest, we've all been there (and heard the "HOW MUCH are you charging!?" comment).

So, a while back I created a list of things that I would do in order to get materials that are good quality AND cheaper.

And not all of them are internet based ;)

1. Let's get the obvious out of the way first - EBAY. Thing is, I don't necessarily look for specifics. There's a lot of people out there that either misspell or aren't sure what to call something. And when I'm "on the lookout" I'll create some generic searches which I can then follow. One of those is simply "Vintage", I made sure it's in order of Ending Soonest, so every day I'll have a quick scroll through while I'm waiting for my lunch or having 5 minutes off the desk to see if there is anything interesting. I found a gorgeous collection of brooches like this and about 8 of these lovely old pieces cost me a couple of £.

Or, if you are in a hurry for something, try misspelling what you're looking for. You never know.

2. Charity shops = good for the charity and good for your pocket.

Recently, I went to a local one and found a range of silky scarves for about £1 each. As a scarf they were never going to be used. They were really old fashioned, slightly torn or washed out. I got a few - cut them up and created lovely little flowers out of them. You'll be able to see some of them eventually, when I get to taking photos.

You'll find frames with terrible artwork, but ones you can use for your own after a few brush strokes of paint. Faux pearl necklaces and such things that girls buy, wear 3 times and then give up are gorgeous for tearing apart and getting you some cheap beads.

3. Your friends - maybe they're having a clearout? Maybe they have kids who have outgrown certain things? Maybe they have some cheap canvass pictures they don't like any more and you can re-cover and re-use?

4. DIY stores. Oh yes. I went to B&Q a few weeks ago and went to the chains display. They had a lovely selection of thin brass, copper and silver chains - and they are made to last! Yes you'll need some pliers and the such, but they look so pretty and you can get a metre length for about £1. And let's not forget, you get the free wallpaper samples anywhere - and no you should not take advantage of this too much, but a few bits here and there are ok if you wanna make little tags or wrap stuff up.

5. Sales - in clothes shops, accessories shops, arts & crafts shops.... be open minded. Just because something is built up in a certain way, doesn't mean you have to use it as such. 

6. Salvage yards - although it may sound an obvious one, I'm not talking about the little pretty antique stores with a bit of a yard of scraps at the back.

A number of them will have things like old knobs off olf chests of drawers, old tiny windows in their original frames, bits and pieces of metal/stone/whatever, cute little period tiles, old style massive keys....... at bargain prices.

7. Go to handmade and craft fairs. But also, go to the wedding shows or any kind of fair where there MIGHT be something of interest. If for nothing else then for inspiration - I'm going to a cake and sugarcraft fair in near future, just to see what's new with the colours and techniques used... you also might get some freebies.

Extra inspiration?:

For inspiration we have Pinterest, Instagram, and various other sites we follow religiously these days. But don't forget books. There is a huge collection of older or self published books on Amazon, for example, which are completely FREE. And you don't need a Kindle, just the Kindle app. ;) I have recently downloaded several free soapmaking books right onto my laptop... beautiful :)

And if they're no good, who cares, you didn't pay anything!

Do you have any tips you wanna share? This isn't just about your profit, but also about being able to have enough materials to create what you love without spending silly amounts of money.

Now....

Monday blues

This is how it starts

With a blank page. 

And quite a few ideas. But which one is first? Do you choose by how easy something is or how much time you have or how much you want to put something on paper?

The latter doesn't apply as I have little patience really. I wanna do everything. I need another 5 arms if you have some going spare, please.

Thank you.

I found this and loved it :)