Supplier Spotlight - Vintage Scoops

Vintage Scoops brings together three wonderful ingredients: Hayley Southwood, the owner and founder of Vintage Scoops, Beechdean Farmhouse Dairy Ice Cream and Betty the retro Ice Cream Van.

Vintage Scoops is wholly concerned with providing your wedding with a feast both for the eyes and the taste-buds, combined with the highest standard of personal service. No event is too big or too small and Hayley will be able to advise you at every step, from deciding how much ice cream you want to selecting flavours to suit your event.

Hayley was inspired to start her business when a friend tried and failed to hire an ice-cream van for her wedding reception. The idea for Vintage Scoops was born out of two of Hayley's great passions: all things kitsch & retro and great ice cream!

Hayley’s renovated 1973 Bedford CF ice-cream van is decked out in 1950s style in pretty pale blue and cream and decorated with floral bunting. She offers delicious local ice cream, favourite ice lolly flavours, old-fashioned drinks such as ginger beer, cloudy lemonade and dandelion and burdock, plus retro sweets.

Hayley serves the treats dressed in vintage-style florals to complement her van.  Hayley says: ‘It’s a trip down memory lane for some guests, but great for keeping the little ones happy, too. It’s a unique addition to a wedding.’

Vintage Scoops is the perfect complement to a country or town wedding, and creates great opportunities for photographs of the day. Why not serve your guests with treats from the van for an exciting alternative to dessert?

Do you have an unusual ice cream flavour in mind? Or maybe a childhood favourite that you haven't seen for ages? Hayley understands that attention to detail is the key to making your event as successful as possible and welcomes any suggestions you may have, no matter how big or small.

Or you can just get in touch to chat about our mutual love of all things kitsch and ice cream!

To find out more visit http://www.vintagescoops.co.uk/

Supplier Spotlight - Rebecca Bolton Designs

Rebecca Bolton is an artist who loves drawing, especially people and has been doing commission portraits for the last 3 years after studying illustration at university.

It all started when a friend asked her to do a portrait of her and her fiancée as a wedding present. Since then Rebecca has painted and drawn children, families, couples and pets. Painting is something she is really passionate about and it shows in her work.

Rebecca draws in pencil or paints in acrylic, and can work in black & white, full colour or just a selection of colours and can tailor her work to any colour scheme.  Rebecca works from photographs, all she needs is a clear photograph of the desired portrait, she will then draw or paint any size from A4 up to A1.

Portraits can make great personal gifts and presents or a special way to commemorate your engagement or wedding day.

For further information please contact Rebecca on rebeccakay17@yahoo.co.uk or visit her website http://www.picsandportraits.com/

Supplier Spotlight - My Vintage Day

I’m thrilled to introduce Jo from the fabulous vintage hire company My Vintage Day, who, in her own words, describes the passion she has for all things vintage.

“My Vintage Day, based in Buckinghamshire and run from Willow Tree Barn, was born in 2010 and has its roots with everything I collected for my own wedding.

Setting up 'My Vintage Day' has been a labour of love, where I have been able to use my creativity and entrepreneurial skills to create a successful small business.

At 'My Vintage Day' we love all things country and vintage, and hire out the most beautiful vintage crockery and accessories to anyone who wants to bring a little piece of nostalgia to their special day, and where afternoon tea is the dish of the day!

Our entire collection consists only of pieces from English potteries, creating an eclectic mix of days gone by, adding a personality and individuality to your event or celebration, and making it a truly quintessential English experience.

From the most delicate tea cups and saucers to the prettiest cake stands and tea pots, glassware and cutlery, everything is available for hire.

All the items that you decide to hire will be carefully wrapped and packed at Willow Tree Barn, and delivered with love and care, in our restored Land Rover. We cover Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, but will deliver further at an added cost.

We hire out our collection to weddings, garden parties, birthdays, christenings, and just about any event that is in need of that adorable 'vintage touch', aspiring to make your event unforgettable and providing the most personal care and attention your special day deserves.

We offer a bespoke service from beginning to end, and can at present provide afternoon tea for up to 175 people, and in 2011 we will be offering an afternoon tea package with a local award winning cake maker so watch this space"

For more information please visit the website http://www.myvintageday.co.uk/

Supplier Spotlight - Lil'Guy Wedding Stationery

It is a pleasure to introduce Kim from Lil’Guy Wedding Stationery who, in her own words, describes below how she got started, how she works and gives some valuable hints and tips when planning your wedding stationery.

“When I was getting married in 2008 I decided to make my own invitations as I wasn’t particularly impressed with the standard or cost of ones I’d seen elsewhere. Having received many compliments on them from our guests I decided to start www.lilguy.co.uk as a business running alongside my day job. At the end of September this year (2010) I was made redundant from the day job and am now running my own business full time. I’m not a large company or franchise so each couple are guaranteed to get my individual attention!

Wedding invitations are usually the first indication your guests will get as to what kind of a wedding you are having, whether it’s going to be a lavish formal occasion or a more relaxed one. Having a colour scheme and/or theme for your day is es[ecially effective when taken through to place name cards, table plan and table name/number cards, menu cards, favours and post box for congratulations cards.

At Lil’Guy Wedding Stationery I use top quality and unusal boards, Grade A rhinestone buckles and embellishments, genuine Swarovski crystals, gorgeous ribbons and flowers to create different designs and styles, and it gives me great pleasure when couples receive their order and are thrilled with it!

If you’re having bespoke stationery chat to your stationer so that they can get a feel for your personality and style – and if the first draft isn’t quite to your liking don’t give up! Try to give as much information as possible to help the process along, if you don’t like diamante ribbon slides or butterflies then saying so at the offset really does help. Think about the style of card you would like – if you are going to be enclosing lots of additional information sheets then a wallet or pocket style is a good idea as all the information is kept together and doesn’t just fall out and get misplaced.

For a small additional charge I will insert the guest names into the invitation which will save you time and also looks very stylish. You might also want to pay to have the envelopes addressed for you and have the invitation sent out. Whatever you decide to do, if there is ANY doubt regarding whether or not the made and sealed invitation needs to be sent as a large letter, pay the additional cost. It would be a false economy to have beautiful invitations only to have them held up in a sorting office – not to mention costly to sort the problem out!

Seasonal wedding fairs tend to be held in the Spring and Autumn. Make sure you book your stationer as soon as you know all the details of your wedding as they do get booked up. Don’t leave things to the last minute as sometimes the embellishments can be out of stock and take a while to arrive. Give your guests a deadline date to respond to (in a nice way!) as this gives you a timeline to work to. There are bound to be one or two guests who need to be ‘chivvied’ along, and your reception venue will also have a deadline for numbers.”

If you would like to hear more about these beautiful designs, to discuss your requirements or get a quote please contact Kim:

email: kitty@lilguy.co.ukkitty@lilguy.co.uk

phone: 07899 664070

Follow me on Twitter: @Lilguys

Find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lilguy-Stationery/133197253397387

Read the Blog: lilguyweddings.blogspot.com

Supplier Spotlight - Marmalade Button

I'm so excited to introduce Marmalade Button, the creation of Nicola, a maker of beautiful Vintage Cake Stands.

Nicola runs a small business based in a tiny cottage in rural Oxfordshire and finds her inspiration from fabulous yet forgotten items.

Marmalade Button uses locally sourced British vintage and antique teacups and plates, many of which may come with some pre-loved aging or crazing which adds to their character.  

All cake stands made by Marmalade Button are simply one of a kind – “we pride ourselves in making just one of each style, ensuring your piece is truly individual and unique”.

Their cake stands can be used not only for traditional afternoon teas but also for savory dishes like good old stilton and crackers.

Why not try filling one of their delicate teacup stands with whipped cream and surrounding the saucer with strawberries to make a very grown up after dinner treat.

The miniature two tier cake stands also look stunning used on a ladies’ dressing table filled with diamonds and pearls.

At Marmalade Button, they just love giving a new lease of life to bygone beauties.  Do you have some of Granny’s china, lying lonely in the dusty loft? Marmalade Button can lovingly transform your heirloom into a modern delight to be seen and treasured every day or used as part of your Vintage themed wedding.

For more information visit http://www.marmaladebutton.com/ or email Nicola on marmaladebutton@hotmail.com

Real Weddings - Wedstock 2010

Julie & Pete’s festival themed wedding was dreamt up mid July 2010, whilst they were sat around the campfire drinking wine and toasting marshmallows in a woodland campsite in East Sussex. They knew from that start that they didn’t want a normal wedding where tradition was dictating the order of the day, and both had strong feelings for a day that would suit our personalities and interests.

With Julie’s passion for camping and festivals, and Pete’s DJing and entertainment background, the couple knew that they could create something totally original that would reflect their personalities.

Brainstorming continued when they returned home from camping, and they quickly decided that a traditional marquee would not cut the mustard for their festival themed wedding. Having been a festival bunny for quite a few years, Julie had seen some really cool tents and knew that with the right furnishings and lighting, a Tipi was exactly what they were looking for. The guys at Beautiful World Tents were fantastic, and provided them with an absolutely amazing space for Wedstock.

With Julie being a designer, the invites were a no brainer, she created a festival themed flyer to invite their guests. A few weeks after the flyers went out she designed personalised festival style tickets for each guest, with a Wedstock wristband for authenticity. A little touch that built excitement for their guests as the big day approached.

 Julie & Pete decided to make the day and night as much fun and free flowing as possible with plenty of content to avoid any lulls. Being in their mid-30’s, Julie & Pete decided upon vintage games from the 70’s and 80’s to entertain the adults. The ‘Retro Gaming Arena’ included Scalextric, Kerplunk, Crossfire, Frustration, Buckaroo and Astro Wars. For more discerning guests, the ‘Casino Royale’ was based around a sophisticated black leather racetrack poker table. To keep the fun flowing, there was a resident mixologist (an old friend of Pete’s) to blend cocktails at ‘Winnie the Pooh’s Watering Hole’ (the bar).

With Pete being a DJ, and also a few of his DJ friends present as guests, it was obvious from the start that hiring a traditional wedding DJ was never on the cards. This is where the evening took an original direction with the “Wedphone Disco”. All of the guests were invited to make a 30-minute playlist on an MP3 player to bring to the wedding.

The Wedphone Disco kicked off with Julie & Pete broadcasting their own individual playlists over the 2-channel transmitter to the 40 pairs of wireless headphones the guests were wearing. Both playlists started with the same track, enabling them to have their “First Dance”, then both playlists went on their different directions (Pete’s being disco/funk, Julie’s being more Indie flavoured). This gave the wedding guests 2 different styles of music to listen to through the headphones. The guest own playlists then followed throughout the evening. This idea allowed each guest the chance to be a wedding DJs for half an hour. It was a massive success!

Other personal elements included setting off Chinese Lanterns over Ashdown Forest, glowsticks for the old ravers, marshmallows for the kids to toast, and a comfy chillout area with big old leather sofas. For that proper festival feel, they hired Portaloos and decked them out with posh soaps, mirrors and romantic lighting. Personalised bunting and over 50 lit candle bags marked the borders of the event.

Feedback from the guests was amazingly positive.

Everyone had a great time, even the oldies!

Julie & Pete chose not to have a professional wedding photographer, instead opting for guests to share their photos with them. Their wedding shows that with a little imagination you can have the wedding of your dreams that truly reflects your personality.

If you are looking for inspiration for your wedding day contact Ruby Weddings for a FREE consultation.

Ruby Competition - WIN a Wedding Planner for the Day!

To celebrate our nomination in the Wedding Ideas Magazine Awards 2011 Best Wedding Planner category Ruby Weddings are pleased to announce this exciting competition, offering one lucky couple the chance to win a wedding planner to help manage their wedding on the day.

This fabulous wedding package, worth £450, is open to any couple who confirm a FREE consultation with Ruby Weddings by 31 November 2010*

To enter please contact us, via the Enquiry Form on the website, to arrange your FREE consultation to see how Ruby Weddings can help you with your wedding planning.

*Terms and conditions:  Weddings must be held during 2011 and at a wedding venue in the UK.

Ruby News - Ruby is nominated for Wedding Ideas Magazine Awards 2011

Ruby Weddings is beyond excited to announce that we have been nominated in the Best Wedding Planner category of the Wedding Ideas Magazine Awards 2011. 

This is the only wedding awards ceremony where you, the real brides-to-be of Britain, decide the winners!

In it's sixth year the annual awards is going to be the biggest and best ever, with weeks of frantic voting culminating in a lavish awards ceremony at The Brewery in London where the winners will be announced.

Please vote for us!