Romantic Garden Wedding Dresses

Exploring the possibilities of having a wedding outfit which isn't formal and doesn't really follow the norms. It's important to me that I am really comfortable and beautiful on the day. These have all been planned with flats to keep my feet happy. Straps and flowing materials to avoid any ugly bulges and having to readjust myself all day. And they could be high street store prices which is fantastic because it keeps within my budget and doesn't make me feel guilty for spending astronomical amounts of money on a dress I will only wear for a day. They are feminine, useful and beautiful.

Romantic Garden Wedding Dresses by jessica's wedding plans featuring Chloé

THE DRESS

You know I can't do anything the easy way. Why not get a loan from the bank, ask a relative, blow your savings and blast it One Wonderful Wedding Day and quite probably an Epic Honeymoon?? Nooooo.... I have to make sure that my wedding is frugal, recycled and second hand to the point of insanity. Don't worry with only 9 months to go I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I really can't do everything and I will have to pay for a professional on some points at least.



One of these points is THE DRESS.

The options are these:

1. Buy the fabric myself and have a professional (friend of the family with 20% discount) make it perfectly fitted.
2. Buy the fabric myself and get my wonderful Oma to make it. 
3. Buy the fabric myself and make it myself - no I am in no way qualified to do this.
4. Buy a second hand dress.
5. Buy a vintage dress hints from {frolic!} here
6. Buy a brand new dress in the sale

 
sold dress by adVintageous

Things that are UNDECIDED:

1. The fabric - lace, silk, satin, crushed silk...
2. The length - over the knee, knee length, floor length...
3. The shape - shoulder straps, Aline, empire....
4. The colour - white, mocha, cream, champagne...
5. The extras - beading, lace...

short or long dresses by Sarah Seven

Things I have DECIDED I don't want:

1. a strapless dress.
2. velvet fabric.
3. any other colour than from the white - beige range.
4. a two piece outfit - it has to be a dress
5. uncomfortable
6. scratchy
7. cold

And with that I am a little bit less lost but I will keep you up to date!

DIY: Boutonniere, Hair Adornments and Banners

I LOVE hessian and linen. These are great inspiration for doing your own timeless and everlasting bouquet, hair slides, boutonniere and venue decorations. Reusable venue garlands are a wonderful idea. This would be really easy to add to if you wanted to add some pinks or blues to liven it up. From Milkpod Studio

BAMBAKO Headpieces

Easy DIY project for you bridesmaids hair. Make with left over fabric from the dresses or a matching length of ribbon and sequins, feathers, gems, beads lying around the house. This fine example is from Bambako who have a wide range of sophisticated hairwear. Beautiful.

DIY Bridesmaids Clutch

Great DIY Project as gifts for the bridesmaids

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!