Goodbye Blogger, Hello WordPress!

Wow - what a journey!  Ruby's blog has now been integrated with my main website so for all future blog posts from me please visit www.ruby-weddings.co.uk/blog

I hope to see you on the other side.

Love & Sparkles

On Location - The Ashmolean Museum, an Oxford wedding venue steeped in history

I am delighted to feature one of Oxford’s most iconic buildings, the Ashmolean Museum as a distinctive wedding venue on this weeks blog.

The Ashmolean welcomes couples for civil ceremonies, civil partnerships and wedding receptions – you can choose to host one aspect of your celebrations there, or the whole shah-bang. With ceremonies taking place at 5.15pm, once the museum is closed, your wedding is a seamless and smooth affair in the stunning location of the world’s oldest museum.

© Kate Hopewell-Smith

Surrounded by the rich collections of art and archaeology and the magnificent architecture – there are countless backdrops to choose from for your photographs leaving you with unique and lasting memories of your day.

The Mallett Gallery
Licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 100 guests, the Mallett Gallery emulates a style reminiscent of an 18th Century English Country Manor. Furnished with antique chandeliers, a Kirkman harpsichord and paintings by the Old Masters, it is a truly awe-inspiring location for your nuptials.  For larger or more intimate, ceremonies the Ashmolean will be licencing further galleries later this year to offer alternative venues for this part of your day.

© Diem Photography

The Atrium
Celebrate as newlyweds with a glass of fizz in the Atrium, which features an iconic, cascading staircase right in the heart of the new Museum – which can double-up as a natural stage for speeches. Surrounded by galleries featuring themes of Exploring the Past, Human Image, Conservation and Money there are a lot of talking points and ice-breakers for guests who may not know each other well. Make the most of the drinks reception and steal fifteen minutes to have photographs of just the two of you in some of your favourite galleries – safe in the knowledge that your guests will be drinking in their surroundings as well as their fizz!

© Lee Garland Photography

The Randolph Sculpture Gallery
Invite guests through to the Randolph Sculpture Gallery to enjoy a wedding feast to remember. Lined with the oldest collection of Greek and Roman sculpture in the UK, it is a beautiful backdrop for dinner.

© Kate Hopewell-Smith

The Vaulted Café
Continue the evening in the vaulted Café, where we can welcome bands, DJ’s or even jukeboxes. Housing an evening bar and areas of seating, everyone can enjoy the atmosphere in the vaults.

© Rob Wheal Photography

The Dining Room
Featuring a rooftop terrace, the Dining Room is available for more intimate wedding receptions. With a more contemporary feel, enjoy dinner and dancing in this modern space.

© Rob Wheal Photography

The Ashmolean has an exclusive partnership with Clerkenwell Green Event Caterers, and would be delighted to tailor the food to your tastes – from tempting canapes to sumptuous banquets, their talented Chefs can create an inventive wedding feast to remember!



The events team are dedicated to playing their part in making your wedding day the best day of your life; you will be looked after by Anna who manages all the weddings at the museum. Further information is available on their website or contact the team to arrange a personal tour of the wedding venue.

I love the Ashmolean Museum, it really is a stunning location for a wedding with so much history and so many wonderful photography opportunities - your photographer will be in heaven!

Lots of Love

Ruby Loves - Happy Mother's Day!

Today is my birthday and it is also Mother's Day, 35 years go I came into the world and 2 days later my mum celebrated her first Mother's Day.

My mum is the best, she is always there with a shoulder to cry on, a friendly ear, the best advice and the biggest, warmest hugs that can fix anything. Her roast dinners are legendary and she is famous for over catering at every opportunity!

At mum's 50th 'pink' party

She is incredibly creative and is a hit with every new skill she tries; from cake making to crochet, painting to knitting, she is a master of them all.  Mum loves spending time in her garden but she can't make up her mind where things should be planted (much to my dad's pain), her favourite new hobby is her granddaughter Millie - she is a fabulous grandmother who dotes on her and of course spoils her rotten!

To my mum - I love you lots and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lots of Love

Ruby Loves - St Patrick's Day Saturday Special

Happy St Patrick's Day, I always like to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland - not because I am Irish but because it is the day before my birthday - hurrah!  Today I am starting the day with a traditonal meal with my family, these are always great especially now at my that my neice is 3 - she is so much fun!  This evening will be dedicated to a night out with my girls - I have freshly dyed hair, new nails and a new dress - the cocktails will be flowing, I can't wait!!!!!

Black Velvet Guinness Cocktail via http://www.bonappetit.com/ credit Tim Mazurek

The things I've been loving this week are:
© Time off with my boyfriend for my birthday © Choccywoccydoodah opening a new London store © The long awaited start to the F1 season © A pink Vera Wang dress © Watching Dallas re-runs of Sue Ellen & JR's 2nd wedding © Cake TaDa! © St Patrick’s Day Cake Pops - yes please! © Wedding Boleros a plenty © Dreaming of this Champagne water cooler ©

How did she made it down the aisle with those enormous shoulder pads!

I'm looking forward to more birthday celebrations tomorrow with a visit to Heythrop Park & Blenheim Palace - more on that coming soon!

Have a fabulous weekend.

Love, Sparkles & Cocktails

Supplier Spotlight - Wedding Day Umbrellas from Love Umbrellas

I’m so pleased to be featuring Klair from Love Umbrellas on my blog today. I first met Klair when she very kindly let me use her fabulous umbrellas on last year’s AntiBride shoot. She creates unique and absolutely beautiful umbrellas for any occasion and I have no doubt that you are going to love them.

With the unpredictable UK weather an umbrella for your wedding is a wise choice, but they are not just for rainy days – Klair’s umbrellas will look just as stunning on a sunny day and will provide you with a welcome break from the sun, not to mention the beautiful photo opportunities they create.

You can customise your umbrella to suit a particular colour scheme with options to create a bespoke design.

The Edwardian style umbrellas are 87cm from tip to end of the handle, with 89cm umbrella diameter, and are safe to use in the sun or rain.

The heart shaped umbrellas are 89cm in length, from tip to handle, and between 94cm and 104cm in diameter.

They have proven to be extremely popular with brides who don’t want to risk getting drenched on their wedding day but also want to have an umbrella that will add something special to her wedding photographs.

And the best bit is that unlike your wedding dress, you can use your wedding umbrella again and again, come rain or shine. Now you just have to make the difficult decision – which design to go for!

To find out more check out the website or follow Klair on Facebook and Twitter.

Love & Sparkles

Supplier Spotlight - Show off your wedding cake in style with Cake Ta-Da!

Cake Ta-Da! is a brand new concept in wedding cake celebration designed for the bride searching for the hottest trend and the most stylish and individual way to display her wedding cake or cupcakes. Once cut, the cake is taken away and our designer creatively dresses it onto the clear glass-like skirt platform which forms part of this spectacular costume which includes a 1ft high layer cake head-dress in brown, pinks, turquoise, white and golden honey.

The room will be captivated as this interactive living cake platform makes a grand entrance to your favourite piece of music (optional) and the excitement of the wedding cake is continued as guests join in the fun and help themselves to a slice of cake/cup cake; offering a delicious photo opportunity moment to be captured on film forever!

The head-dress and costume can be customised with the Bride and Groom's names or a personal message from the couple; and lollipops or candy can also be displayed on the tray creating a 'walkabout candy table'. For brides with a winter wedding theme or who just prefer a white costume with the head-dress, there is a beautiful white alternative.

Rates are from £650 in central London (zone 1-2) and includes the performer, skirt platform, dressing for skirt platform (bags of sweets hanging down, dressed lollipops which can be featured in the corset and head-dress as well as the tray), all transport for props, designer onsite to dress and 100 guest lollipops if required.  Cake Ta-Da! is versatile and happy to work with the client towards making the occasion unforgettable and of course bespoke. 

I first met Sophie at the Choccywoccydoodah party in Brighton last year and I was mesmerised at the graceful way she walks around the room laiden with cakes and other tempting treats - she creates a fabulous talking piece for your guests and certainly captivates her audience.

With a website coming soon - keep up to date with Sophie's adventures on Twitter.

Love & Sparkles

Ruby Loves - Saturday Special

I really feel like Spring is here this week - it is getting warmer and daffodils are starting to show their faces everywhere!  I love them - they are so colourful, and are like little rays of sunshine that always make me smile, even better their arrival signals the approach of my birthday next week! 

The things I've been loving this week are:

© Being featured in the Oxfordshire Wedding Guide © Catching up with friends © Ghost Town Glamour Girls © Making my experimental chocolate & banana liqueur cake - then licking the bowl! © Cute Cupcake Proposals © My parfait amour delivery arriving © Wedding Favour T-shirts © Frogs made out of flowers!  © Winning a pub quiz with my girlfriends and only cheating a little! © A £1.3 million ring © A house full of daffodils ©

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Love & Sparkles

Supplier Spotlight - Bespoke Wedding Dress Design from Lottie-Emile

A few weeks ago I introduced Charlotte from Lottie-Emile, a fabulous bespoke design company specialising in fabulous and imaginative creations. I asked Charlotte to offer some guidance to the bespoke process and to give some insight into where she gets her inspiration.

At the start of the process you will be invited to Charlotte’s studio for a private consultation to try on a range of dresses for inspiration and you will have detailed discussions about what you want from your dress.

The studio is filled with really beautiful objects, “I feel that being surrounded by beautiful things gives you something to compare you work to, a standard of beauty to aim for with your creations. I can't resist a beautiful book for lots of inspirations!”

There are lots of fabric colour cards to show, but this is by no means a limit to what is on offer. She keeps a stash of vintage lace, ribbons, beads, buttons, brooches which can make beautiful details when coupled together. If you would like a very specific vintage piece, Charlotte will do her best to find it for you.

Ideally at least six months should be allowed for the whole process so that your design can develop and you can be clear on the choices you have made, Charlotte doesn’t like to rush things. That said dresses can be completed in two months if you are pushed for time and are confident in what you want.

Charlotte puts little fabric samples together to show her brides all of the options available, and presents them in a beautiful way to evoke a feeling of the finished dress - as it's sometimes hard to imagine a dress when looking a teeny pieces of fabric. She will experiment on her stands with contrasting colours and textures of fabrics, new and fresh silks, and vintage bead work and lace.

A set of patterns is then made for each bride, so that the fit will be perfect for her, and her only. It is ideal to have at least three fittings, though you should expect to make more visits to discuss design details in the early stages of designing your dress.

For evening gowns and bridal outfits and corsets, Charlotte combines her experience in costume making with high fashion to create beautifully extravagant pieces. Recently a trend has emerged for ‘New Vintage’ gowns. Vintage is great but sometimes it is unrealistic to hope to find a vintage gown that hits all of your design ideas and then to find one that fits you perfectly. She can create vintage style gowns that are true to their originals whilst allowing you to have a gown that is truly just for you.

Charlotte loves the journey that she takes with her brides from the initial design concept through to the finished dress. She has the ability to decorate everything in sight with a style that is fashionably quirky and elegantly glamorous. She also uses her unique style of embellishment to create a range of accessories including hats, handbags, show adornments, lingerie and jewellery.

If you are craving something a little different for your wedding day then Charlotte is your girl, let her take you on a voyage of discovery to find your prefect wedding dress.

For further inspiration please visit her website or follow Charlotte’s adventures on Facebook.

Love & Sparkles

Ruby Loves ~ Happy Anniversary Mum & Dad!

Today is my parent's 37th wedding anniversary and after a little arm twisting my mum was kind enough to let me share a few of their wedding photographs with you.

A bouquet of freshias - still my mums favourite flowers

Christine and Terry, who first met at a wedding, were married on 1st March 1975 at Lydbrook Church in the Forest of Dean, in my mum's home county of Gloucestershire.  After the church they had an intimate wedding breakfast for 60 guests at the Courtfield Arms, an 18th Centry Coach House in Lower Lydford followed by a week long honeymoon in Devon.

My dad tells me that their wedding album cost £21.80 which they thought was expensive at the time!

My parents are an amazing couple who love life and live for their family,friends and not forgetting the dogs, they have a enviably strong marriage and I wish them many, many more happy years together.

Lots of Love