The Wedding Philosopher

As one of my roles when I was the wonderful Kelly Chandler (the Bespoke Wedding Co)’s intern, I designed the supplier list to accompany her beautifully styled Cherry Blossom table at Waddesdon Manor’s Wedding Inspiration Event in March, as well as helping out with co-ordination on the day.

Photo of Kelly’s table: Xander & Thea Photography

Portfolio: original wording by me, edited for the ASTW Magazine - Spring Issue: http://issuu.com/swoonnose/docs/and_so_to_wed_issue_6/45?e=14035385/33795692

'Oh look how cute these are!' I hear you cry. 'They must be so tricky to make! Can someone as clumsy as me make these?' (Ok, this might just be me. But the answer is still yes.)

Heart-shaped teabags are an absolute winner – an easy project, super customisable, and versatile too. You could make them as a way of asking your bridesmaids to be bridesmaids, you could make them as favours, or you could incorporate them into the place settings of the day itself. Play around with different teas and the world is your oyster – though fruity ones give the nicest pinky-red!

You’ll need:

Paper Tea filters

Loose leaf tea, any flavour

Needle

Thread

(Optional: Card & glue)

1.Draw a heart on your tea filter. Remember, your teabag will puff out a bit once it has tea in it, so don’t make it tiny!

2.Make sure both layers of the filter paper are in the same place, and cut your heart out. That way you cut both of them at the same time!

3.Begin to sew them together round the edge, leaving about 0.5 cm between the stitching and the edge of the heart. It’s good to start somewhere near the top, on the side. There’s nothing magical about this: backstitch will do just fine. (So you do a stitch as normal, as you would running stitch, but when you get to the space in between the two stitches, instead of just continuing on, your next stitch is to fill that gap – so it will go back into the hole from the last stitch it made.)

4.Stop before you get fully round! You need to leave about 3cm of space – then use this space to teaspoon your tealeaves in. (About a teaspoon is a recommended serving of loose leaf tea.)

5.Continue to sew this gap together, coming to where you began. You’ve made your teabag, well done!

Portfolio: Blog post by me, featured with images here:  http://www.andsotowed.com/blog/most-pinned-2015

Most Pinned 2015

Raise your hands if you spend more time on Pinterest than you probably should do. Don’t worry, you’re in safe hands here…but let’s turn this obsession into something healthy and constructive, shall we? The lovely people over there have released the top 10 pins in the UK from this past year, so we’ve given them a weddingy twist so you can change that pinning to winning.

10. Cornwall

Channel the beauties of the coast with seaside touches on your big day. Think personalised stick of rock favours, a Punch & Judy theatrefront for the photobooth, driftwood signs, an ice cream van. Or, if you’re a foodie, have a Cornish pasty cake, or a cream tea (just make sure you put the jam on first!)

9. Kitchen Space

We love the succulents in this photo – use them as centrepieces and take inspiration from the gorgeous forest green and deep purple hues to use as your focus colour. Alternatively, take note from the geometric lampshades. This edgy look will be brilliant on wedding stationery, filled with fairylights dotted around or for holding things as centrepiece decorations!

8. Amsterdam Getaway

When I think of Amsterdam, I think of bridges, canals, and chocolate, but it would appear that we weren’t thinking of that side of Amsterdam this year – instead this photo is the 8th most pinned thing this year. We’re talking bright and bold colours in your bouquet, coloured petticoats for a flash of colour under your dress, and loads of creativity in your wedding stationary. No plain cream!

7. He and She Sheds

This shed screams to me the fact that couples want a space where their personality shines through– so make sure your wedding reflects your interests and represents you. If you’re a festival-goer, have a corner of your wedding with glitter tattoos, facepaints, and hair braiding, if you’re a gin connoisseur, reserve a corner of the room for a special gin bar, with loads of different brews. Let your personality shine through!

6. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pots

We want to look like Nigella, we want to have Nigella’s kitchen, we want to be Nigella. We DEFINITELY want her cookie dough pots all the time, everywhere. Why shouldn’t that include weddings? Incorporate cookie dough into your cake, serve it on a desserts table (there’s some great eggless recipes out there, to keep it all safe), serve cookies and milk instead of fizz, or create a brilliant make your own cookies and cream bar for guests to peruse and enjoy.

5. Tom Hardy’s “Dapper Dude” Style

In the absence of Tom Hardy as your groom, make sure you ooze his attitude on your wedding day. Keep your beard tamed, slick your hair back, rock that suit. She’ll love you all the same! And as for your pooch, make sure you involve them too. Ringbearer, sign carrier down the aisle, make sure they’re in the photos; or, incorporate their breed into centrepieces, table decorations, and the stationery on the day. There are some incredible

artists out there who could definitely draw your French Bulldogs wearing flower crowns and in love!

4. Avocado Hummus

You and your fiancé are like the avocado and it's stone: together, you’re a whole. You were loving this avocado hummus recipe this year, so why not have a hummus bar at your wedding? There are so many different recipes out there, and so many different things to dip, you’ll have endless fun. Or, use their Mediterranean culture as inspiration for a warm and bright wedding theme!

3. Peacock Colours

Put this colour palette everywhere, and put it there immediately! Bridesmaid dresses, groomsmen details, shoes, stationery, flowers, tablecloths, feathers as centrepieces…we could never stop. Twin them with greys and blush pinks for the most beautiful colour palette! The colour’s a big part of Art Deco and oriental themes too – are either of those things you’d like to centre your big day around?

2. Camel Coat

Apparently we’ve been lusting after this must-have piece this year, and how to style it for everyday use. Camel hues can also be incorporated into weddings without it looking too boring – for something different, a camel-coloured groom’s suit can look amazing, and bridesmaids decked out in different camels, nudes, and browns can look equally stunning. The camel coat has also been a favourite with fashion bloggers this year, so use the tall white townhouses of London that form a backdrop for their photoshoots as inspiration for the theme. British china, street photoshoots, different flavours of tea…we love it. Finally, if you want to go down a different route, channel the Queen of Nude Clothes, Kim Kardashian, and take inspiration from her all-white wedding.

1. Avocado Baked Eggs

The humble avocado has topped the list of The UK’s most pinned in 2015, this time in eggy breakfast format. We love a unique take on a wedding, so why not serve a breakfast bar, complete with breakfast cocktails, instead of traditional wedding food? If you’ve got farming ties, run with the idea – barns look amazing when decked out with wedding regalia.

...to those who wait.

Slash, those who didn’t know they were waiting for anything until it came up on their instagram feed, and now they’re anxiously awaiting.

Today it came up on my feed that dress designer and bridal couture extraordinaire Hermione De Paula is collaborating with fashion retailer Wallis, with a run of fresh, deep floral prints inspired by travels in Thailand. She shared some behind the scenes photos from the set today and I can’t wait to see the collection - they were captioned as inspired by magical journeys, and I feel like I went on a magical journey just looking at the photos:

(instagram.com/hermionedepaula)

...So owning one of these collaboration pieces is a precursor to having her design my wedding dress, right? Her bridal collections are the stuff of DREAMS. There’s so much I’ll eventually want weaved into my wedding dress - memories of important family members, symbolic parts of my life, names and dates - and no-one could put it together more beautifully than HDP! Her designs are breathtaking, her craftsmanship unparalleled...and her ethos is pretty slammin’ too. “I probably shouldn’t, but I will do anyway”. Femininity, traditional English craftsmanship, intricacy, a focus on bespoke, and a tongue-in-cheek attitude. What could be better?

Below are some of my favourite details from the wedding dresses that she’s crafted to date:

On August 15th, a relative got married to her wonderful fiancé, and asked me to do some of the stuff for it. Of course, I said yes, packed my glue gun in my suitcase for Portugal (then looked up “glue” in Portuguese, for any sticky (HAAAAAAAA) airport situations), and got started!

Thank you so much to Toni-Amanda and Richard for letting me be a part of their special day - and for being such wonderful people. Congratulations! <3

(Take a look through these pretty fly wedding decorations - if I do say so myself - and if you need anything doing for your wedding or do, who ya gonna caaaaaaaall? - Me. ALWAYS me.)

x

Ok, so this month’s DIY project is a little bit late and a little bit predictable, but none the less absolutely banging...

In July, I launched my business with my best friend, Francesca. It’s called Effie Box - a subscription service where monthly, you will get the materials and instructions needed to complete a super cute DIY project straight through your door. The projects will always be fun, and cute - and easy enough to make that you don’t need any special equipment or skills. Soz Liam Neeson.

Have a look at www.effieboxblog.blogspot.com, or effiebox.bigcartel.com - and find us on Social Media too! 

(I promise I will post August’s project in August)

Awwwwh yeaaaaah wordplay.

June’s project (I know it’s July - I just like to treat ‘em mean and keep ‘em keen) was for me to tussle with a tassel. Or four.

It is my mantra that there is nothing that can’t be improved with a tassel, so it’s both surprising and disappointing that I haven’t yet attempted some kind of tasselcraft. They’re so versatile, and once you know how to make one (they’re SO easy), nothing shall be left untasselled - garlands, necklaces, t-shirts, blankets, cushions, dresses, bookmarks, hairbands, handbags, earrings, etc.

I considered the idea of making a tassel necklace because they’re super effective, but considering I haven’t unpacked my necklaces from uni yet (just the 2 weeks in a black bin bag) I thought that might be a bit redundant. Instead, I focused on my summer goal of getting my bedroom a little cosier and more lived-in, and decided on a tassel cushion.

Cushion covers are super easy to make, and so are tassels - put them together, and you've whipped up some super cute homewares in literally (and not even in the way I always say literally, I mean dictionarily literally) 10 minutes. I’m going to keep building on this one so that the tassels go all the way round!

The lovely Francesca over at on the bias has featured a b e a utiful project: super affordable, bloomin’ gorgeous (HA. Get it) and also a great way of decorating a wedding, or, if you use fake flowers for your bouquet, a great way of preserving them forever.

Check it out here, and let her know what you think!