As a wedding planner in Belfast I attended more than a few wedding fairs (or fayres if you prefer) and they all followed the same pattern... exhibitors showed their, very similar, wares and potential clients wondered around looking bored but saying all the right things.
Since establishing Two Little Words wedding stationery (now I'm based in Gloucestershire) I have attended a couple of fairs as an exhibitor, and a few more just to check out the competition, and I have to say that nothing much has changed! There's nothing 'WOW' about them.
So now I want to organise something completely different. I want a wedding fair where all of the exhibitors have been hand picked for offering something slightly different, quirky even. I only want people that will stick in the minds of brides and give them new and exciting ideas. With 'vintage' still being the theme of the day I have found an absolutely stunning venue, it's an old barn with all the original beams, a stone floor and a beautiful courtyard out front.
Photograph: Craig Holmes Premium/Alamy
I'd like the whole day to feel like a party, a village fete, a vintage wedding! I want bales of straw so the grooms can sit and enjoy a beer (or tea) in the sunshine while their brides to be talk with a myriad of fantastic suppliers. I want cute little sandwiches and scones with fresh cream and home made jam for canapes.
And I want freebies, lots and lots of freebies for the brides! I'm planning a cheque book of special offers to go into the goody bags that will be open for any local supplier who can't attend on the day, I want a wedding mag in there and maybe even some samples. And I'm going to offer a free gift (to be announced) to any couple who pre-registers their interest, to be collected with their goody bags when they arrive.
So what else do you think this magical wedding fair will need to make it perfect? Can you recommend a supplier in the Gloucester area? Would you be interested in attending?
More than any other post, I would LOVE to hear your comments on this one!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we did a wedding fayre at The Frogmill Hotel last weekend, where we met the very charming Charmante Wedding Videographers. They kindly agreed to write an article for us to share, so without further ado I'll hand you over to Charmante...
The Charmante Story.
VibeTV, a family video production company, based in Swansea, South Wales, were asked to film a friends wedding. A market that we never intended to go in to. But an option we would always consider for a friend. The friends wedding happened to land on the weekend of an ‘on location’ job, and therefore had to miss the day.
However, as soon as we wrapped our shoot. And the martini shot had been happily achieved, we headed straight to our friends wedding. Another videographer had been hired to film the day, and so we thought as a gift we would take a more personal, upbeat short video, of friends and family within the evening.
The wedding was not a small affair. From horse and carriage, to doves, singing waiters, magician, chimney sweep and fireworks at midnight… they had it all. And unfortunately we had missed it all! The pressure was already against us, with the razzle dazzle that had already been captured on film.
But with a little imagination, some beautifully crafted words from family and friends, good music choices, and wonderful editing. We achieved the most watchable video. We were assured by the bride and groom, that they used ours to show absent friends. And this is where the adventure, of what is now known as Charmante weddings, began.
We discovered, that a shorter account of the day was definitely beneficial. A personal individual touch to the couple is highly important. Comments, from friends and family, adds a huge emotional advantage to the film. And providing a more artistic flare, to what is deemed as, the most important day of your life creates a more important influence on the beauty and magic captured. Without realising it, we had created a Hollywood movie.
After discussing this concept at length within the VibeTV office. A member of staff had a pre-arranged coffee meeting with a colleague and came back with an open invitation to film their wedding. Game on!! The only hold back was the groom didn’t want to be filmed, saying to our cameraman at the first meeting….”(excluding hello) If I see a camera at any point throughout today, my wedding will be ruined!” ‘Charming’ (or ‘Chamante’, in European dispair! ) we thought!! As the trauma and pressure ran through our veins, the rain started to pour! Could we get a worst start?! But like any true professionals, on with the job, venturing into the unknown of the wedding industry!
We were working at the charming Frogmill Hotel last weekend and met some lovely people - couples, vendors and hotel staff.
I'd never visited the hotel before and was very impressed with the quality finish throughout and the staff all bent over backwards to make sure we had everything we needed! Lunch was beautiful and fresh, and the events manager, Carol, was easy to get along with and very efficient!
I'd be happy to recommend The Frogmill to anyone planning a wedding in the Cheltenham area.
They are offering couple's a chance to win a £3000 wedding, so if you live close enough it might be worth popping in and registering your details. Of course we'd love to meet you there too, so call to our table and say hello.
Another busy week ahead (or what's left of it) but watch out for our first post from a guest contributor Charmante - lovely ladies and great videography. As they say in the movies... Coming Soon!
I can't believe it's been over a week since I last wrote! Things have been so busy, what with new designs and a tonne of samples going out this week on top of the orders we knew about! Mustn't grumble, as they say.
I really hope to get the web site updated tomorrow and write in a bit more detail about what I've been up to but for now I found another Martha Stewart paper flower that would make quite pretty table decorations. They could be scaled down and given as favours or used to decorate napkins - or even stationery (although they would have to be boxed invitations).
I saw these on MarthaStewart.com and thought they might make an interesting centre piece for a summer wedding! You could make them up in your wedding colours and in various sizes and they'd cost pennies!
As promised the first of our completely unrelated tutorials!
This soap sock is a neat way to make your soap stretch a little further while gently exfoliating your skin. You can knit them up in half an hour and use whatever yarn you have to hand. I'm told that felting wool is great because it actually shrinks with the soap as you use it, but my particular favourite is using string! Not the horrid nylon stuff but the old fashioned 100% cotton twine. It's a little strange, at first, knitting with something that has no 'give' whatsoever but it's a simple project so doesn't cause too many headaches!
First of you will need...
A ball of your chosen yarn (or string)
A pair of knitting needles - I use 8mm but play around to find what works best with your yarn.
A bar of soap - whatever you like best!
A pair of scissors and a cup of tea (all the best projects involve tea or wine and since I'm detoxing it's tea for me!)
Start by casting on in your preferred style. I've always gone for the 'Thumb' method myself! You'll need to cast on enough stitches to cover 3 sides of your soap - I have cast on 12 with this chunky string and 8mm needles. Just remember to cast on an even number of stitches.
Now this next stage could sound daunting if you've never tried double knitting but it's unbelievably simple and so quick to do you will be a pro in no time.
Knit your first stitch. Then slip your next stitch as if to purl - this means put your needle as if you are going to purl the stitch and then just slip it over. Carry on with knit one, slip one until you reach the end of the row. You will always finish on a slipped stitch.
Once you have worked a few rows like this you will be able to feel 2 sides to your knitting and actually be able to separate them a little!
There is a great video explaining the method:
Turn your work around and repeat until your 'sock' is long enough to hold your bar of soap. Always start on a knit stitch and finish on a slip!
Once your sock is long enough you've reached the scary part! Leave a long tail - about 1.5 meters - and slip your work off your needle. Yes, I said slip it right off without casting off.
Now gently prize your work open (like opening a bag of crisps!) and carefully thread your long tail through each of your stitches, starting with the last knitted stitch.
Be careful not to drop any stitches as you thread your tail through them!
Once you have caught every stitch on your tail you can turn it inside out, pop your bar of soap inside and pull the tail to tighten around the top of the bar.
Now the reason for the extra long tail... We're going to make a handle to hang your soap from so it can dry out and not go all squishy between uses!
Make a slip knot in the yarn, as close to the sock as you can get it. Form a loop and tuck it into the noose. Make another loop and tuck it into the previous loop. Keep repeating. When the chain is long enough, lock it by passing the end through the final loop. See here for animated instructions.
Tie the loop to form a handle and you're done!
Please let us know what you think - it's my first tutorial - and feel free to ask questions or show us your finished soap socks!
Putting together a new catalogue of my designs. I've updated the range of wedding stationery so much for 2012 that my old book of samples is really no use any more. Really must do it before I meet some potential clients next week!
Sending back my tax return. I've got all the info but I just can't seem to fill in the form... or even open it! Must do this one tomorrow or it's a hefty fine coming my way!
Taking the last bit of paint off wardrobe I'm refurbishing. It's so cold right now, the garage is the last place I want to be. Maybe I'll leave this one til spring?
Putting links to 'last design' and 'next design' on my web page. I think it would make it easier for clients to click through rather than having to go back to the designs page every time... but it's so boring!!!
Redecorating my kitchen. I moved in here in October and planned to redecorate the kitchen (and living room before Christmas. Then I had so much else to do it's been shoved on the back burner but the paints and rollers keep looking at me every time I go in there. OK, this one will be done by the end of February so I can invite the in-laws round for a much overdue dinner!
What have you been putting off this year? Work, friends or diy? I found some handy tools today to keep me concentrating while working on the computer... funnily enough I was supposed to be seeing to those web links (number 4 above) when I got sidetracked!
I'm obsessive when it comes to weddings. I love them and all things wedding connected! I guess the wedding planner in me didn't really die when I moved house and shut up shop, she's still in there trying to get out and plan again!!!
Anyways, I thought I'd post you an assortment of lovely wedding based images in a completely random order and without a thought for styles or themes or colours. Just lovely wedding things...
That's right! Two Little Words is giving you the chance to win £100 to spend on our printed wedding stationery - including bespoke design, guest name printing... whatever you want !
All you have to do is look at the basic invitation design below and come up with a funny or appropriate caption for it. Well that's not actually all... we'd love for you to follow our blog too. Pretty please. It's lonely here typing away to myself!
So spread the word on your networks, wedding forums, chat groups and blogs. Then post your winning caption in the comments for this post and watch this space... We'll let this run until 30th April when we will pick our favorite and announce it on the blog!
It's been a really hectic week this week. I had a couple of rush orders to get out, which meant I had to ring my suppliers and get more stock in for the wedding stationery I was expecting to make next week. They were also up to their eyeballs but never too busy for a quick chat... or a rather lengthy one I just couldn't bring to a conclusion.
Anyway, I digress! One of the rush orders was for a storybook invitation. They didn't want a fairytale style (shame, because I've done one of those before!) but a modern, down to earth 'Our Story' sort of thing. It sounded interesting so I took it on.
The couple met in uni, traveled the world together as friends and then got jobs in different countries, lost touch for years and only started talking again when they bumped into each other at another Uni friends wedding (where my bride caught the bouquet!).
So I worked day and night on this design. Emailed variation after variation and finally came up with their perfect wedding invitation on Thursday! Proof is sent but I'm not expecting any changes as they've already seen the design by email.
I soooo wanted to share their invitation with the world but it's not my place to do that, so I spent a good part of this afternoon playing with fonts and images to come up with a 'mock' invitation in a similar style. I've put this one onto an A6 card as it fits nicely but I think more complex stories will have to go bigger - either right up to A5 or maybe something that concertinas out (I have a cunning plan).
After a couple of wordy blogs I thought maybe you needed something to brighten up your day? This range of wedding stationery came about when a couple emailed to ask if I'd ever seen anything featuring a Volkswagen Camper Van or Beetle.
Yes you might well laugh, but we were asked by Kev & Nicky to design a Volkswagen themed wedding invitation. They are just how you imagine from their invitations - relaxed, free spirits, with a huge sense of fun! It was one of those occasions when I really enjoyed the project and had a good idea where I would go with it, as soon as we had our first email from them.
They absolutely loved their stationery and I received a wonderful email from Nicky's Dad saying how all of the guests passed comment on the stationery from the invitations to the place cards.
As I'd made up 2 designs for them to choose from they had a big decision on their hands. Do they go with the Beetle theme...
Or the Camper Van theme...
In the end they couldn't decide so we made up a mixed order!
Now the wedding is over I can finally show off the designs and will be including them in our range in the next couple of weeks!
Congratulations Kev & Nicky! We hope your day was fantastic and the rest of your lives will be just as much fun!
Your Wedding Invitations should only be ordered once you have all the details of your wedding set... place and time of ceremony and reception as well as your guest list. Plan to place your invitation order at around 3, or even 4, months in advance (although this is not always necessary).
Ideally invitations are sent 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding. It is best to send out-of -town guests their invitations at least 8 weeks in advance, this will allow for making travel, accommodation and childminding arrangements.
Consider sending important guests, or those who have to travel further, save the date cards as early as 3 to 6 months in advance, perhaps with information on hotels, airports and car hire.
Keep in mind that you will need time to address your invitations, or send them to a calligrapher, and this can take days. An alternative offered by many stationery makers is to use their guest name printing and envelope printing service to save time and stress. We also feel it gives your wedding stationery a luxurious and professional finish.
Even though selecting your wedding stationery and invitations may seem like a daunting task with all the possibilities available, giving yourself enough time will prove beneficial and a money saver - so long as you are sure of your themes and colours.
It is never too early to start shopping around so why not order a sample today?
Are you in the wedding business and have some great advice to offer?
Are you a bride with a wedding story to tell?
Is there something you want to praise up or simply have a rant about?
We are looking for guest contributors to write articles to appear on our Blog. Of course we will provide links back to your own blogs or web pages and are happy to reciprocate.
If you've something to say then just get in touch either by posting a comment below or sending us a quick email.
I've been trying for ages to come up with a design that has a real vintage feel to it and now, after a little tweaking I think I'm finally happy with my vintage rose design!
I used an old piece of vintage wallpaper I bought ages ago, with the intention of putting it in a lovely shabby chic frame. Once I managed to scan it and spent lots of hours cleaning it up in Photoshop, it just needed the colours adjusting and a bit of playing around with the Hue and Saturation.
Originally I was going to make it into a brush - and I might still do this if there's nothing on tv tonight - but when the sample prints turned out to be so very pretty, I just had to print it up properly! On our card stock it looks even better than the sample prints.
Drum roll please.....
What do you think? Are the colours muted enough? Is it pretty enough? Does it have that 'vintage' feel to it?
*Edit on 23rd Jan
Just as I'm happy with one vintage rose design I come up with another!
Two little Words can make such a difference! So much can be said with just two words that they are often more important than the whole conversation - in fact you could probably have a conversation with each person saying just two little words at a time...
On bended knee he said "Will you?"
Her smiling reply was a breathless "Oh yes!"
"You will?"
"Of course!"
"Thank you"
"You're welcome."
Maybe that's just a little over simplified, but you get what I mean!
Two little words can change your life forever, think "I'm pregnant!, "Marry me", "Love you" (okay I'm maybe cheating a little with the last one) but it's amazing how just two little words can make, or break, our day.
Not just the big ones either but a well placed "Thank you" shows someone you appreciate them. Say "Excuse me" in the right situation to have your opinion heard. "Happy birthday" shows you remembered, "I'm sorry" ends the fight, "Sleep well" is always the last thing I hear every night.
What two little words have you heard today? Did the make you smile or have the opposite effect? I'd love to hear what two little words have changed you life.
I've been revamping some of my designs today and am in a very vintage frame of mind! I do love all things shabby chic or vintage so I guess it's only natural that this should come through in my designs.
I think that a vintage styled wedding would be fabulous - I imagine it outside on huge picnic tables, with mismatched crockery, bunting and pretty little cupcakes on china cake stands. If only the British weather was reliable enough to plan something like this without having to have a back-up plan in case of rain!
While I was sketching some ideas out (yes, my designs usually start with paper and pencil!) my other half asked why they were all 'so girlie'. Well, I'd never really thought about it - weddings are romantic and pretty so it follows that the wedding stationery would be the same... wouldn't it?
So, to please the 'Blokes' out there, I've put together a wedding invitation as they might design it. I'm not sure if I'd ever sell one but if there's a demand then they might just make it into the range lol!
As always, comments, questions and ideas more than welcome!
I've had a mini blog over on my google site at www.twolittlewords.co.uk for a week or two now but I'm not completely happy with the way it looks. For some reason Google haven't given the facility to incorporate Blogger within their own sites - WHY WHY WHY?
Anywhow... I've decided to move everything over here and just link to it from my commercial site - at least that way you can jump straight in a chat away to me without having to go though the main site. Oh, and it will help me to keep my stats more accurate too... don't get me started on the Google Analytic stats, that's a whole other post!
The bad news is it will look like I've had a posting frenzy and put up half a dozen posts in my first hour on Blogger. I'll also loose the one lovely comment I had from my friend over at One Eye Shut but it's early days so better now that down the line.
Wish me luck, and let me know what you think of the show so far!
