The Ice Cream Van was a MUST! I argued this point to every Tom, Dick & Harry who thought it was a stupid idea as the desert. In the end, everyone handed it to me. It was a great touch! Alex from Sweet Scoops was absolutely adorable and possibly the cutest little bean I have ever met. The whole thing just suits her down to the ground.
She had decorated the van with our wedding date and our married ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ and even played music as she came down. Everything about it just made me a little giddy kipper (more than I am normally!)
The ice cream flavours were the delicous Yorvale brand and it was so tasty. We had sorbets and ice cream flavours so there was something for everyone!
Sadly Mr C could not manage an ice cream (despite telling me everyday before the wedding he was going to eat 100!) as he was busy being a little bit sick after eating too much blue cheese from the cheese platters! (This makes me really sad that he spent some of his wedding day with his head down the toilet!)
What did you do on your wedding day that made it a little different or did you have an ice cream van too?
Now, call me a bitter bride I don’t care. To my dismay when our photographer, Jenny Prest (who is AMAZING by the way and all the photos you are seeing are hers!! Bar one or two shots!!) was loading some snippets to her facebook page and people were commenting MORE on the Bridesmaid dresses than mine.
Although, secretly I was pleased as no-one could see my vision. I told everyone numerous times, red shoes & petticoat. I was greeted with looks of despair and questionable glances ensued but I was adamant. That was what it was going to be!
And, look how pretty they all look. The Cath Kidston style fit in perfectly with the wedding. They all looked amazing in them and it is such a flattering style of dress. In fact I was jealous that I wasn’t a bridesmaid in one of them. (Although, I personally don’t think I could trade my beautiful dress in just yet!)
I stumbled upon these dresses on, you guessed it, eBay. They were from British Retro eBay Shop and at £45 they were a steal. They even gave me a small discount for purchasing 6 dresses. If you are looking for something a little bit kitsch and cute this is the place to go!
What Bridesmaid dresses have you chosen or have you been a Bridesmaid where you loved or loathed your dress? I want to hear so drop me a comment below.
You can see all my other posts over here! For all my Wedding Diary posts press that ‘’Follow Button’’
It’s the little details that mean a lot to me at weddings. I want to feel like I am taking a glimpse in to the Bride & Grooms life. Our special day was no exception.
James family are die hard farmers, we rear chickens and love the outdoors. So what was more fitting than a ‘’Countryfied’’ Wedding. My family are very crafty and creative so it was even better that there was so many home spun features on our big day.
The old potato chitting trays welcomed our guests on arrival. Despite the rain we managed to get the ‘’Mr & Mrs Clayton’s Wedding This Way’’ Sign out so everyone knew where they were going.
I think everyone was shocked when they walked in to the hall and saw just how amazing it was and how much love had gone in to decking it out. I have always imagined what peoples faces would be like when they opened their invites & saw that we were having our wedding reception in a village hall.
We managed to get a lovely shot the day before of the venue before chaos ensued. I’m sure you will agree it look PRETTY amazing, if I don’t mind saying so myself.
My mum sewed plenty of bunting to wrap around a few of the tables, like the top table and the Cake/Photo/Post Box table. It gave it just that extra pizzazz (is that even a word, it hasn’t got a squiggly red line under it?!) of colour to compliment the ivory marquee lining.
The ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ on the top table was a Hobby Craft special & so was the red post box that Mr C and I painted at his work. My mum paper mache’d the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ too, she is so super clever!
The napkins are from the Cath Kidston sale that I picked up right when we got engaged so we have always known that this was the type of wedding we were going for
The centre pieces & flowers were very natural and country garden style. We didn’t want a huge centrepiece on the tables that people could not see one another! The ceramic jugs were an ebay find, we had lovely duck egg blue, blush pink and cream jugs. Each Table was different. We were a little boring with the table numbers and stuck to ‘’1, 2, 3’’ (you get the picture!) but we bought so cute chalk board table number stands which looked great!
I loved our little place settings, simple brown luggage labels that my mum decorated with doilies and the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ ribbon. It was so simple but so effective. And I love how ours said Mr & Mrs Clayton on them!
Because we didn’t have ‘’favours’’ as such we created buckets for the children at the wedding that had sweets, magazines, colouring pen and pencils. One even had a set of fake moustaches which went down a treat! It kept the children happy during the speeches and throughout the meal and it was something we were so happy that we did. Thanks to my super Aunty Kate!
Like I said, we didn’t have favours so instead we opted for a cute Kandy Kart that kept guests entertained all day/night, rather than taking something home that they were going to stuff in a cupboard to never see again or, throw in the bin and never see again. Plus, it was a nice talking point for people to have a laugh & a joke about how many sweets they were getting.
Donna was fabulous & even sourced some material that matched the bridesmaid dresses. How’s that for service?
We got to choose 10 different types of sweets and we also got to keep what was left. So, we are currently wading our way through LOTS of sweets!
Our beloved ‘’R & J’’. I had seen these all over pinterest and thought, ‘’I HAVE TO HAVE THEM’’ and so I did. My uncle is super talented as he is a joiner by trade. I asked him nicely if he would mind doing them for us and he made sure they were perfect! They looked amazing when the lights were turned off. Again, it just added that extra little sparkle to our wedding!
Now, let me bring you on to the food. It was to die for! When we decided on a DIY wedding the first people we thought of were our local pub, The Fox & Hounds. Their food is amazing, delicious and locally sourced. They did not disappoint with their fairings.
The Chicken Liver Parfait is my particular favourite starter, add that to the succulently warm olive bread you have a winning combination.
Now, with James’ family mainly all farmers, meat is something of a task to them when they aren’t eating their own field fodder. So it was a welcome surprise that they were all saying it was some of the best beef they have EVER tasted.
Food was so important to us, because most weddings you go to, the food is just ‘’okay’’ and you want to feel full. I hate to blow our own trumpet but I think we got it spot on, 100% with the caterers, so a MASSIVE thank you to Alan and his team.
What made your day feel special and set you apart from other weddings you’ve been to? I can’t wait to bring you our other instalments of the big day, it is keeping the memory alive for me.
I thought the best way to bring you a snap shot of our special wedding day would be to do short, little blog posts to let you in on some of the special moments of our big day.
The Cake was truly magnificent. It was everything I had hope for and more. My Aunty Kate was fabulous as she knew exactly the right person to go to for obligatory wedding cake. The very talented Amy from The Cakery whipped up our 3 tier cake, the bottom cake was a rich, dark fruit cake, the middle tier was a simple, quintessential Victoria Sponge and the top tier was a deliciously gooey chocolate cake! We had the best of all different cake flavoured worlds. It was finished with a beautiful, blue buttercream which tasted divine!
You can see that the time and effort spent on this was quite simply a testament to Amy’s hard work. Everyone loved how it captured our whimsical theme.
The cake stand was made by my amazing Uncle who also helped with a few of the other DIY projects we wanted for the wedding and they will follow in another post.
My Mum is a super crafter and she created the gold, glitter bunting for the cake topper. We loved the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ theme and thought this was much more ‘’us’’ than a traditional Bride & Groom on top!
So, what did you have on your wedding day for a cake? Was it as cute as ours? I’d love to hear from any other Brides who might be falling in to the ‘’Post wedding blues’’ stage like I am so we can just chat merrily about Wedding’s all day long. That is a plea, a request and a downright beg for someone to help!!!
I thought I would do something slightly different for my last post of June 2014. It is another little delve in to my life & what I carry around with me on a day to day basis.
Those of you who follow my blog/twitter/Instagram account will know my love for my Zara City Shopper Bag is my go to bag for all occasions (she is just so pwetty!) but I have now found myself using my gorgeous, new, Italian leather vintage style padded handbag.
She cost me €65 from Gloves in the centre of Sorrento, Italy and was my only purchase on our honeymoon. Yes, she is a total rip off of a vintage Chanel handbag but she’s real leather so who cares that it ain’t the real deal.
So what’s hiding in there? I hear you ask. Well, not a lot but it has just the right amount of space so I don’t go crazy and clog it up with crap/receipts or anything remotely useless. She just has the bare essentials.
I’m a fan of lashes. Yes, totally fake. I know. So when my real eyelashes don’t have the glue and fakeness attached my go to mascara is Maybelline Great Lashes in Very Black. I love how it’s not clumpy and suits my delicate little (real) lashes! Easy application and always even.
Ahh, my Yves Saint Laurent waterproof eyeliner. Perfect for those days you just want to cry or like me, rub your eyes until they bleed because of blasted hayfever! It’s a right buggar to get off but at least you know that it’s going to last you all night.
Who doesn’t like a bit of rouge? Ok, put your hands down. This one is my go to lipstick if I want to stand out from the crowd. It’s not that deep red you’d expect, it is positively WOW! From YSL range it’s no.13 and it makes me feel like I should be dancing on the streets of Paris when I wear this!
My sweet & very flowery perfume is Carcachel’s Amor Amor. This is my signature scent. If you asked someone what I smelt of, this would be it. I wear it to death but I can never get enough of it, it’s fresh and lasts forever. I can’t stand a perfume that disappears within minutes. I want to smell good, all the time. Plus, this one does not break the bank balance. For a 30ml you can find it anywhere between £12-£15 on the high street.
My sunglasses were a last minute airport but before our honeymoon as I had forgotten to bring my Zara sunglasses along! And at £10 they were a real steal (plus a 20% sale discount!) I really struggle to find glasses that suit me because I have such a small pea head. I was lucky with these bad boys.
Last but not least, my trust diary. This year has been one of more hectic times. With the wedding I needed to make sure I had key dates to hand at all time. I could’ve chosen a better diary but limited funds meant I had to opt for a supermarket £1er. She’s battered & bruised but an absolute life saver! Next year I will treat myself to a pretty one from paperchase I think.
What’s in your handbag?
Oh, you may have noticed that I have finally got my own domain name so please search for www.queenbeady.com for all my regular posts!
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