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.

Spring is blooming!

We've gathered a few of our favourite pins from our Spring Pinterest board that we think would make any Spring/Easter wedding look absolutely beautiful! There are so many different ways to interpret spring ideas, which means that no spring wedding has to be the same. Yours can be totally unique.

The first thing we think of when we think of spring is flowers. Spring is when the countryside comes to life with beautiful bluebells, snowdrops and daffodils. You can make such lovely spring bouquets, whether you want simple or extravagant. This bouquet above is a statement bouquet; having a long stalk and a big shot of colour on top, the flowers would stand out perfectly against a plain white or ivory dress.

If you don't fancy traditional spring flowers, you can choose other flowers in a colour that you'd associate with spring. Peach and yellow make a fantastic colour combination and with these daisies and pale pink roses, this bouquet is perfect! 

Again, the peach and yellow theme works beautifully, even if you want to choose just one flower for your bouquet.

Taken in Ufton Court's beautiful bluebell woods

If your wedding venue has a bluebell-full woodland area, get your photographs taken there for a super spring feel to your wedding album.

It's not just in your bouquets that you can use spring flowers; we love these beautiful flower crowns. A messy sock bun is such a lovely accompaniment to a daisy flower crown for the bridesmaids, or even the bride! Now, how adorable is that pup? We've heard of brides and grooms having a family dog as the ring bearer, which we think is a lovely idea, given your dog is as well behaved as this one. However, our mad spaniel would eat the flower crown before you got to the "I do!"s

Flowers aren't the only thing that scream spring! These big, bright, floral lanterns are a lovely idea to decorate your indoor or outdoor venue. The shapes and colours are completely perfect for a spring theme. Paper decorations are also a nice decoration for a spring wedding, they add a charming, fairy tale feel to your wedding venue.

You can do so many different things to create a spring wedding cake. Whether it's within the colours, shapes, flowers, tastes, there are millions of ways to interpret the spring theme. This wedding cake's spring theme is present through the robin egg coloured icing and beautiful cherry blossom style flowers.

Cherry blossom is also the spring theme for these delicious cake pop. Team up with paper lantern decor for a Japanese kick to your spring wedding.

We love these spring macarons. Pink and peach are statement colours for spring and the fancy icing looks so delicate and pretty.

Spring is when you start to notice beautiful daisies studding your lawn. This yellow daisy cake looks so beautiful.

As well as food, you can bring the spring theme into your drinks reception. How about having a huge glass jar of a pretty pink cocktail with edible flowers that you can pour into delicate cocktail glasses. We love this idea!

 

Finally, Easter. Spring means Easter, and Easter means eggs and bunnies! There are many ways that you can demonstrate Easter without it becoming childish and over the top. We love the first idea for your table place names, with a simple silver egg cup and black writing, these place names are subtle and sophisticated. The second use of eggs is so fun, but still not childish or over the top. Break eggs, wash them, and paint the insides with spring pastel colours. Fill with wax, add a wick and you have lovely Easter Candles. 

We love spring, and we can't wait to see how this years brides and grooms have decorated their spring weddings!

Colour of the week

This week's colour of the week is popular purple! 2011 saw the colour purple as the most popular colour of the year. Then in 2012 TheKnot.com and TheWeddingChannel.com revealed that purple was still reining amongst the most used colour schemes, once again. 

There are so many different ways of incorporating colour schemes into your wedding. Your cake is such an important part of your wedding, and needs to fit into your theme to keep the colour flowing. Both of these cakes show how differently the colour purple can be interpreted. The cupcakes are so elegant and simple, whereas the wedding cake features a lot more detail; ombre icing and delicate purple and yellow flowers.

If you can't find a purple flower you're fond of, don't panic. You can still slip your colour scheme into your flower arrangements. Mason jars are such versatile vessels that you can do so much with; use a purple chalk paint to cover the jars and sandpaper the surface to bring out the details. Simple, ditsy baby's breath is a perfect flower for your mason jars.

If your chosen purple is more of a darker, bluer purple, lavender is a great flower to use. With such a simple stem with no leaves, tall vases and bottles are a really good way of showing them off. Use mismatched glass bottles to add a vintage feel to your wedding.

To subtly bring purple into your bouquet, choose a single flower in a much softer, washed out hue. Against this more vibrant dress, with pinks and dark berries, this bouquet looks beautiful!

If you don't fancy big bright pinks and peaches to bring out the purple, balance out your purple flowers with soft white petals and grey leaves. These bird cages look so charming with subtle colours for a much more elegant and classic feel.

Purple or pink? Rather than a blue-purple, a lot of couples have opted for a more dusky pink-purple, at the other end of the spectrum. This is a much less bold, softer way of using the purple colour scheme. We really love the mismatched glass wear on this table, mix pinks with purple to break up the colour on your table.

The blue-purple would be much too bold for your wedding make up, however the softer, dusky pink-purple is a fantastically subtle colour for your eyes. Gradient the colour from the inner corner to the outer, to give a dramatic, beautiful look.

The less obvious ways of using your colour scheme are often very effective. Your reception drinks are a good way of starting any type of theme off for your wedding. Colour can be incorporated in various ways; in the colour of the drink itself, the glasses, fruit or ice in the glasses, or the straws which you put in the glasses. For a more interesting and unique, summer reception drink try making a blackberry cocktail, with real blackberries to float in the glasses and dark purple straws.

Check out our pinterest board http://www.pinterest.com/potkilnanywhere/perfect-purples/ for more popular purple inspiration!

Mike's Crisp Sea Bass, Crushed Violet Potatoes and Samphire Beurre Noisette

(Serves 2)

1 Sea Bass (filleted, scaled and pin boned)

400g washed violet potatoes

500g marsh samphire (alternativly sea purslaine)

1 lemon

Knob of unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Flour for dusting

Flat leaf parlsey to garnish

Extra virgin olive oil

This is a nice, simple and quick dish that anyone can rustle up after a hard days work and best of all its packed full of flavours and amazing colours.

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft enough to break up with a fork. Drizzle with some olive oil, season and set aside somewhere warm

2. Lightly flour the skin of the sea bass and place in a cool, oiled, non-stick pan and place on a high heat. When cooking fish like this, it is important not to fiddle with it whilst its cooking. You want to leave it until its 80-90% cooked (You will notice the flesh changing colour and a nice brown edge starting to creep up the sides)

3. Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon on the fish and throw in a small knob of butter before flipping it over. Keep basting the skin with the foaming butter until the fish is just cooked through before taking it out and letting it rest on some kitchen towel

4. Whilst the pan is still hot, add another small knob of butter and add the samphire. You want to let the butter turn brown and nutty (Beurre Noisette = Nutty Butter)

5. To assemble, place the potatoes in the centre of the plate and lay the fish on top. Spoon over the samphire and butter. Finally sprinkle with some choppped parsley and another squeeze of lemon juice

Using food and drink to decorate your wedding

Food is for eating, and drinks are for drinking, right? Mostly, yes. But you can use food and drink for all sorts of things on your big day. Here are some unique ways to incorporate food and drink into your reception.

Your reception drinks can set the entire theme for the rest of your wedding reception. In 2013, vintage wedding receptions were rife, starting the theme off with a bang. Traditionally, your reception drinks would be a simple table cloth + glass + drink combination. But gone are those days! You can do all sorts wtih your reception drinks. Funky drinking vessels, vintage drink crates, beautiful straws and fancy cocktails. These drinks can look as beautiful as the rest of your decorations!

By layering heights, textures and colours you can create a beautiful centerpiece for the reception room or outdoor reception. 

Fruit has also been seen used as a wedding decoration. This wedding in the woodland features fantastic, raw and natural centrepieces made entirely of apples. Simple green and white flowers have been added to keep the whole theme subtle but beautiful.

You can also use fruit for your place names. Apples and pears are such beautiful shapes and colours, you don't need to spend lots of money on place names. Spray paint your chosen fruit gold for a more decorative place name, or keep them plain for a natural feel.

Clear glass vases of fruit are an extremely effective way of colour blocking. Layer oranges, limes and lemons in a bowl for a beautiful centrepiece for a summer wedding or fill oversized cocktail glasses with winter berries for a festive feel.

This year, a huge trend is going to be unique and interesting bouquets featuring fruit, vegetables and herbs. Last year saw the rise of the herb bouquet, with rosemary being extremely popular. However this year, you will be seeing more striking and interesting additions such as artichokes and crab apples.

Now, we're not quite sure how many vases made of squash you might come across at weddings this year... but we stumbled upon this on Pinterest and thought it was such an amazing idea! Whacky, but amazing.

Sweets and cakes have been an extremely popular way of decorating weddings last year, and we hope to see more of it this year because it works so well! Use candy floss as a way of colour blocking for a pastel palette wedding.

We cannot believe how popular macarons have been this year. Such versatile little treats, you could use them like a cake pop and put them into a tall vase to decorate your dessert table, or alternatively poke name flags in for your place names.

Finally, how about a centrepiece made of cake? We like the sound of that. Instead of having a traditional bouquet of flowers in the centre of your tables, why not use beautifully iced cupcakes?