All Things Bunting...

When researching wedding ideas we're sure one of the first things you notice is bunting... everywhere! There are so many different types of bunting, different materials, shapes, patterns and textures, where do you even start? We're going to start at the beginning with this bunting guide!

Let's start with some brief history about bunting. It used to be that bunting was the term used for the antique fabric that flags were made of for the Royal Navy. Now it's used as a more generic word for repetitive fabrics stringed together for ornamental purposes. You used to only really see bunting at your village fete but now it can be used for pretty much any occasion!

So... why bunting? It's a quick decorative fix for a lot of venues, it can brighten up most spaces without really using a lot! This means it's pretty cheap too as you don't really need much of it to make an impact. It's also really easy to DIY, there's loads of websites that show you how to do it yourself, all you need is your chosen material and something like ribbon to attach all the pieces together! We found a really great site that shows you how to do it, it features bunting for a baby girl but you can personalize it for whatever you like. Click on the photo below to check out the site.

Basic Bunting
There are lots of different types but we thought we'd start with the simple, popular triangle bunting. It's basic but so effective. People often wrongly think of bunting as just being for the shabby chic lovers as it's often seen made from Cath Kidston inspired fabrics, check out some other examples..

Ideal for travel inspired weddings, simple bunting made from map pages and jute.

Nautical inspired bunting

Sheet music and jute. You could DIY with your favourite pieces of music!

Texture
It's all about texture this year with sequin table cloths and varied bouquets, why not add a little more with bunting made up from different materials. You could just stick to one unusual texture or mix different textiles.

Painted burlap, ideal for rustic themed weddings. Would look great in a barn!

Tweed mixed with lace and burlap

Cotton hankies, look great mixed together. 

There are so many different types of bunting for your wedding, whatever your theme there is more than likely to be the perfect bunting for you. We've put together a little mood board of just a fraction of what's out there to give you a little inspiration...

As you can see there are no limitations. Here we have heart garlands, real flower garlands, bicycle bunting, paper flower bunting, pom pom garlands and tissue tassel bunting. The tassel bunting is really popular at the moment and you can buy it in basically any colour scheme, Etsy is a great place to buy it and other really unique bunting.

Colour of the week - Yellow!

As usual we are aiming to brighten up these rainy days and today we're doing this with our cheery, sunny colour of the week. Tying in with spring and Easter we thought yellow was the perfect colour, the colour of daffodils, sunshine, bumble bees and little chicks.

We gathered some inspiration from pinterest to bring you this cheery blog post. If you head to our board -http://www.pinterest.com/potkilnanywhere/spring-yellows/ you can have a look yourself!

We thought we'd start with a very important part of the wedding - the cake! We have managed to find a variety of styles, suiting all sorts preferences.

Whether you like to keep it simple or go all out we've found some inspiration for you. We even found some lovely yellow cupcakes, perfect for a tiered cake replacement. Daisies feature heavily on yellow iced cakes which we think look great. White and yellow make a great combo. Take a look at some other examples of white and yellow!

It's those macarons again, how lovely do these look?

Yellow and white gingham, perfect for honey or home made jam favours! Very rustic.

Very stylish combo, ideal for spring, we're loving the gingham!

Charming table set up, perfect for late spring or summer. We offer coloured napkins with your wedding package at The Pot Kiln Anywhere so if you choose us, don't be shy, go bold!

We found a variety of beautiful bouquets, some very simple with just daisies and others with lashings of texture and colour!

We love a bit of rustic so the bouquet in the crate stands out to us, it's ideal for a spring barn wedding or a woodland wedding. The small hints of yellow really stand out and cheer up the white. 

Hopefully this blog will inspire those who are stuck on a colour choice for this spring or summer or maybe it'll lift your spirits on this dreary rainy day! Head on over to our twitter for even more inspiration. https://twitter.com/potkilnanywhere

Colette & Karl's

Last Friday we had the pleasure of catering for Colette and Karl's wedding in the lovely Tithe Barn in Ufton Court. The Barn was beautifully decorated and even the sun decided to show its face.

Straight after the ceremony the reception drinks started with soft drinks and bubbles whilst canapés circulated. These snazzy looking canned drinks would look great at a summer wedding in rustic tin buckets filled with ice.

The tables looked lovely, this couple went for a cheerful fuchsia colour for their table theme. Usually couples tend to go for the ivory napkins but we think coloured ones can look really good, it's great to be creative with your table set up! The flowers were in huge glass vessels in the centre of the tables surrounded by petals.This photo really shows off the lovely timber beams of Ufton Court's Tithe Barn.

Standing proudly on the way into Tithe Barn was our chef's masterpiece. Instead of the traditional tiered wedding cake, this couple opted for a croquembouche which looked absolutely delicious! Each bun was filled with creme patissiere and decorated with white chocolate-dipped raspberries and mint.

After a champagne toast the starter was served, breaded pig cheeks with caramelised braeburn apple and frisée salad. The starter was followed by a hearty venison stew with roasted root vegetables.

The poached pear dessert went down a treat, which doesn't surprise us as it looks delicious! This photo may well make your mouth water.

After the meal the tables were cleared and the bar was open for business. The guests danced away to a live band who performed some really unique covers of well known classics.

Wedding invitations

Sourcing photographs and ideas for this blog took a gigantic amount of time! There are so many different designs and ideas for your 'Save the date' and wedding invitations, you may well feel a little bit lost. On the other hand, the more imaginative and creative brides and grooms will feel like a kid in a candy shop; with so many colours, patterns, fonts, shapes, words and finishes.

It's not just the aesthetics of your wedding invitations that need careful planning, you must brush up on your wedding invite etiquette. Head onto http://bridalguide.com/blogs/bridal-buzz/wedding-invitation-mistakes for the top six wedding mistakes that are commonly made or check out http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-invitations/articles/wedding-invitations-etiquette.aspx for the most frequently asked wedding invite etiquette questions.

Simple

We thought we'd start of with the simple stuff. Simple wedding invitations can still be beautiful and unique. A lot of brides and grooms opt for elegance and simplicity over patterned, illustrated designs. The invitation above is such a lovely idea, although it's extremely simple, it's unique; with the bride and groom's fingerprints.

Another example of elegant simplicity is this design from CMSStationary on Etsy.

Following the theme of having a small centre design, this wedding invite from Sillhouetteblue on Etsy features a venn diagram with the bride and grooms initials and a heart in the centre. It's such a lovely statement invitation, we love!

Romantic and elegant. 'Peonies' by Artcadia  features embossed text and one simple peony flower at the top of the invitation. This design would be perfect for a romantic, traditional wedding with a dusky pink or grey colour scheme.

ElloThere on Etsy has such a beautiful online shop. Her designs are so fresh and unique with such a variety. Now, you might not think that bold and subtle could be describing the same thing, but in this case they really are. The boldness of the clean cut, capital typography contrasts so well with the simple and subtle pale body text and delicate birds.

Illustration

Illustrated wedding invitations feature much more fancy typography, softer flowing lines and shapes, and images or patterns around the design. We love the curves and general flow of this wedding invite. The simple red image of the couple aren't too harsh against the black background as they're broken up by the calligraphy style text.

The illustration bordering this wedding invitation is so delicate and stunning.

Here's another design from Artcadia called 'Peaches'. Unlike the one above, where the border is more prominent that the thin and simple text, this design has a bold text banner, and a simple border. We love the beautiful subtle powder blue colour.

'Summer garden' by Artcadia; A bold, simple, statement wedding invitation. The illustration is much more funky and bold, but is just successful.

Rustic and vintage

This set of 50 wedding invitations by StunningStationary on Etsy feature a vintage doily wrapping up the wedding invitation, tied up in a jute bow. We love the rustic feel of this wedding invitation, it would be perfect for a vintage themed wedding with a vintage cake table. Lovely!

This unconventionally large text is the predominant design on this wedding invitation. Against the brown paper it looks so rustic and bold.

Themed Wedding Invitations

There are wedding invitations out there which are themed to your wedding. Whether that themed to a certain era, colour or season. Here are a selection of winter themed invitations. Themed invitations kick start the feel of your wedding, so that your guests have an idea of your big day before it happens. This could work hugely to your benefit; if your wedding was to be Art Deco, or Great Gatsby inspired, creating a wedding invitation in the same theme would perhaps make your guests inclined to dress within the theme, meaning perfect wedding photos!

Here's an example of an Art Deco themed wedding invitation from Not on the Highstreet. We love the corner borders and typography, and the peacock is such an icon of the era.

All of these wedding invitations are themed for a winter wedding, or could be interpreted to theme a rustic woodland wedding at Wasing Woodlands. The first is a design by EverAfterPapery on Etsy. It's such a magical and charming invitation, great for a traditional Christmas themed wedding with seasonal flowers and fir tree decorations.

The second design by RockPaperDove on Etsy is a more modern and less rustic invitation. On viewing the invitation, your guests will assume an autumn, wood and winter themed wedding.

The third wedding invitation is a very simple and subtle invitation. 'Frosty' by Arcadia, is another design which will immediately get your guests pondering tall firs and winter themes.

The Weird and Wonderful

This is such a fantastically unique idea by Ambient Studios. Their whole wedding invitation is inside a camera film. The bride and groom were both photographers, and their wedding was themed around cameras and photography. 

Another interesting idea; ElloThere on Etsy has created a wedding invitation that looks like an old record in a lovely bird covered slip. This would be a great invitation for a vintage wedding, you could use vinyl records throughout the wedding in different ways to link everything together.

We found this wedding invitation on Pinterest but unfortunately couldn't find the original source! It's such a shame because this is a really unique and clever idea. The invitation is folded up into a circular box and each individual circle features a photo of the bride and groom, and information about the event.

Another whacky idea for a wedding invitation is to have it as a puzzle, so that your guests have to piece it together to find out the details of the event. This invitation would be good for a summer wedding where you could set up outdoor games like giant puzzles and jenga.

The Little Heart Workshop

The Little Heart Workshop is a small online shop that sells beautiful hand decorated wooden shapes and gifts. Louise has a whole section for Weddings; whether you need a seating plan, place names or table names. She also makes beautiful wooden hearts for saving the date, that you can send out to your guests.

Such a unique and lovely idea; rather than a piece of paper that can get crumpled or ripped, you can hang these wooden hearts and keep them forever to remember the day.

Another big craze this year has been Chalkboard wedding invitations. Click the link to see more beautiful chalkboard wedding invitations https://creativemarket.com/blog/2013/07/16/design-your-perfect-wedding-invitations-chalkboard.

A lot of popular highstreet brands also supply really lovely invitations to you to hand write your wedding details on. Here are some beautiful designs from Paperchase;

This fun, charming design features a woodland theme with flowers and owls.

These wedding invitations are simple and romantic, with flowers, roses and ribbons.