Vera Wang - Autumn '09 Forest Fantastasia

Unbelievable. Vera Wang hit the nail on the head with her Bridal Autumn '09 dresses. From off white to taupe to outright chocolate brown the colours are amazing. The texture and ruffles are exactly what I want and definately not prim princess! The ivy crown. The flowing hair. The accent of simple purple flowers. This is it!

Wisteria Cake

Woodland wedding, purple wisteria cake. Wistful, romantic, classy. Love it.
Pic courtesy of Martha's Wedding site where you can even find out how to make it.

Golden Invitation

Love this. The gold. The unconventional. The kitsch.

To Monogram or Not To Monogram?

I recently read that to make simple monogram logo for your wedding will save you money and tie the whole thing together but, I think a monogram on anything makes it look rather "lah-di-dah". That's ok if it's what you're looking for but, if it's not, what other options have you got? I'm off to explore.

In the mean time here are a few monogrammed ideas I found. Hope you like.

Keeping It Real

If you feel like you've been martha'd enough and are floating in a big fluffy wedding cloud of candyfloss pink and need to hurl, then check out Taxidermy Church blog. Love the sense of humour.

Wedding Budget

It's 457 days until the wedding and we have a budget!

After much research and browsing online (mostly ideas from 100 Layer Cake and the blessed Little Black Book blog) and adding more and more items to my list I have finally come up with 3 versions of what the wedding could cost.

The process:

1. List everything you can think of for the wedding from the dress to the favours ( you can add more things as you think of them).
2. Make 3 columns and use the titles " Extravagant", "Realistic" and "Frugal".
   
3. Start thinking BIG! Dream about how you would want the wedding to be if you had absolutely no restrictions. Horse drawn carriages, Vera Wang dresses and glass slippers are encouraged at this point.
4. Start putting prices in the Extravagant list. At this point they will mostly be guesses unless you know that your dream dress costs £4100. Tally up. Mine comes to £21, 662.50!
5. Setting your priorities is extremely important when setting your budget. For example: I want all the men to be in the same smart, tailored suits but what's actually important to me is the unified look so, they could easily all wear the same tie and socks. Saved money. Easy.
   
6. The Frugal list is all about figuring out what you can live without (eg. possibly the live 40 man swing band), what can be made in advance for a fraction of the cost and who can possibly help you with paying for certain parts of the wedding. I cut out spending money on invitations at this point and decided we could probably email everyone. It's that kind of extreme I want to see. Tally up. Mine: £1,372.50
   
7. In the Realistic column you start putting in the figures which are inbetween your two extremes. Try not to compromise on the key elements of your dream wedding. If the vision of your dream wedding includes fairy lights en masse then you could possibly get outdoor lights at the end of the Christmas season in the sale and get your man to hang them up. This is an "extra" that you don't really need but you can't imagine your wedding day without it.
   
8. Keep finding ways of doing things yourself for a fraction of the price. Get tips from the pro's. Take a couple of floristry or calligraphy classes or get people you know to show you how it's done.
9. My wedding budget is an ongoing process. The aim of which is to make the event as close to my dream wedding as possible while spending as little money as possible. One tip is to not compromise on the things that will save you stress and heartache, especially on the day - get someone else to do them!

Bridesmaid or Flowergirl Headdress

Bridesmaid or Flowergirl headdress available from AprilHilerDesigns on Etsy.

Budget Lighting Ideas

October in Edinburgh is dark already at about 4 pm and as we're likely going to celebrate around that time lighting has to be taken into consideration. This is gorgeous and simple to make with a metal basket (unused garden hanging basket), fairy lights, moss, twine, ivy and ribbon.

Wedding Favours

Wedding Favours by beadstyle on Etsy

Inspirational Woodland Template

wood forest green brown wedding inspiration, originally uploaded by finestationery.

from The Finer Things blog

The Mystical Woodland Banquet

The moss covered table, the wood rounds to display individual platters and the tiny acorn details. Great idea for the wedding!

More Cake!

This is just stunning! The rich cream base colour and the PERFECT little mushrooms, acorns and ferns and moss.

Woodland Berries Cupcake

chocolate_berries_cream, originally uploaded by My Artisan Cake Company.

There's got to be cupcakes!

The Sequoia Grove at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (27th July 2008)

Giant sequoias at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (27th July 2008), originally uploaded by treeblog.

This is where the actual ceremony will be held. We're hoping for no rain for about 20 minutes!

Awaiting a fairy

Awaiting a fairy, originally uploaded by Tangent~Artifact, here sometimes :).

Location, location, location.

Woodland Fairy Flowergirl

Woodland Fairy, originally uploaded by Cutie Patootie Tutus.

Isn't she adorable? Ideas for the flowergirls dress. Easily handmade.

Woodland Wedding Cake

Woodland Cake, originally uploaded by EB Cakes.

Today I'm looking for everything to do with my Mystical Woodland Wedding them... this cake is inspiration for it. To keep within budget I will probably be baking this myself with help decorating from my artistic Dad. The wooden slice-of-tree cake stand is frugal ecofriendly idea - as long as you haven't cut the tree down especially for your wedding day...that's not okay.

Ye Olde Keys stationary- love it!

Old keys on stationary perfect for the vintage feel I'm going for from Etsy seller JessicaZ

Long Lasting Wedding Favours

A great idea for your guests as long lasting wedding mementos from the talented etsy shop people of sjEngravings

Wedding Invitations for Sophisticate Autumn theme

Wedding Invitations - Hiu and Kent, originally uploaded by UglyKitty.

by Ugly Kitty on flickr

Wedding Invitations

Wedding Invitations - Jennifer and Richard, originally uploaded by UglyKitty.

by Ugly Kitty on flickr

Thank you to Style Me Pretty

This is a dedicated Thank you to the Style Me Pretty people.

Thank you for all the inspiration on your site!

With only 465 days to go I have been searching for some wonderful DIY projects and lo and behold here you are to my rescue!

From favours to table decor, bridesmaid gifts to food - you can find everything on Style Me Pretty