Vintage inspired weddings are gaining popularity and rightly so we feel!

Mixing old with new creates an entirely unique theme for your wedding and expressing your individuality gives a truly special feeling to your day.  Here are some of our thoughts on how to achieve a great vintage themed wedding…

Keep your backdrop simple so that your vintage details stand out. Having a neutral colour scheme from your marquee down to your tablecloths will allow your vintage pieces to shine.

Research, Research, Research. Take every opportunity to source the perfect venue, dress or accessories to fit your vision. Be creative online, there are lots of blogs that can inspire you and help to underpin your ideas. Try vintage fairs or even the humble car-boot, you might be surprised and often you can find great vintage tableware.

Ask Around. its a great way to get mums, nans or aunties involved. They are likely to be grateful to be of use and can shed some interesting light on their heyday if you’ve chosen their era!

Live Music. Think about including Live music. Your vintage theme will feel more authentic with a band as opposed to a DJ. If live music is not an option why not find a DJ who specialises in playing records from a specific decade or genre.

Attention to detail. Tie in your wedding favors giving your guests a real reminder of the day. Style your hair and make-up to match your chosen era. Then you’ll not only look but also feel the part!

It’s no surprise that our two vintage inspired ranges, Vintage Floral and Vintage Garden are two of our best sellers and can be used to tie together your vintage theme from start to finish.

Winter may not be the obvious choice for a wedding, but the season lends itself so well to a traditional theme. From the crisp white dress to the sparkling glassware, simple touches can turn your winter wedding into a wonderland!

Image courtesy of Jonathan Ryan Photography & Madeline Isaac-James

Here are some of the reasons we think winter makes the perfect backdrop for a romantic wedding…

The Colours. White and silver are perfectly reminiscent of snow and ice, whilst red or gold make luxurious accompaniments to a winter theme.

The Dress. Fur stoles make a beautiful and practical addition for a winter outfit and layering lace gives a snowflake effect.

The Flowers. Holly and Ivy add a wonderful accent to a traditional bouquet as do Amaryllis, Eucalyptus, Heather,  Iris, Berries, Rosehips and of course Snowdrops!

The Reception. Mulled wine makes for a warm welcome when your guests arrive and using candles or open fires will create a festive atmosphere.

Snow Kissed Wedding Invitations from £3.00

However you decide to theme your winter wedding our luxury stationery will add that final touch. Our Snow Kissed design (pictured above in Gold) compliments winter weddings perfectly.

Photography: WeddingsbyRyan
Wedding Dress Collection: Madeleine Isaac-James

When you work hard to create the best wedding stationery for brides and grooms who want that extra special attention to detail, it is always a pleasure to make friends with other wedding suppliers who are similarly doing their very best in their respective fields and producing high quality work. This month Janet Mohapi-Banks Sculptural Cake Design kindly included our wedding stationery in their latest photo shoot, run by a team of talented wedding pros. The results of everyone’s magnificent efforts are simply stunning.

'Rose' Cake by Janet Mohapi Banks with Ivy Ellen Rose Scroll Place Cards

Not only are Janet’s wedding cakes breathtakingly beautiful, but she is also a lovely warm person that I am sure brides must love working with. You can see how much clients like her in a recent appearance on Wedding TV’s The Great Cake Bake. What we also like about her is that, as a recent winner of the Precious Start Up Business of the Year Award 2010, her customer centred focus on exquisite wedding work for cherished clients is something we aspire to as well . As she says, “You are only as good as your last cake.” When it comes to our clients’ weddings, we want the very best for them and their guests. This is a view shared by all of the other wedding pro’s involved in this shoot, including Stacey-Marie from Cherry Topped Wedding Planning who styled the shots.

Janet Mohapi Banks 'Addison' cake styled by Stacie Marie of Cherry Topped featuring an Ivy Ellen English Beauty Wedding Invitation

It’s a subtle art making these photos look good. Obviously you need nice things to photograph, but they way they are laid out on the table and the details included add so much to the overall feeling that the images give you. It’s this quest for perfection that makes hiring Stacey-Marie such a pleasure for her wedding clients. Not only does she save time, money and stress, but most importantly she delivers on that special feeling brides want for their ideal wedding day. Visit her site to learn more about what people like about working with Stacey-Marie and find out further information about hiring a wedding planner.

Janet Mohapi Banks 'Florence' Wedding Cake photographed by Sugar and Spice Photography featuring an Ivy Ellen Wedding Invite

Also key to this shoot were Leah and Paul from Wood’s Florist of Epsom in Surrey who’s beautiful floral arrangements really bring the styling to life. In fact you don’t even have to wait until your wedding in order to work with them. Mother’s Day is coming up soon and they offer the perfect solutions for putting an extra big smile on your mum’s face on April 3rd.

Rose Scroll Wedding Invitation by Ivy Ellen

Last, but by no means least, we simply love the photography by Juliet from Sugar and Spice Photography. I particularly like her use of natural light and her fun friendly approach to her work. Be sure to visit her website and take a look at her portfolio.

You can see more of our wedding invitations and stationery on our website and we have linked all the above photos to their respective Ivy Ellen designs. So just click on an image if you want to know more about that particular wedding stationery product.

It really is a privilege to have our work included in this beautiful photo shoot and we are eternally grateful to Janet, Leah and Paul, Stacie-Marie and Juliet for doing such a wonderful job and producing such amazing results. Thank you everyone. x

You can sculpt your winter weddings to become a glamorous and magical event and many great theme ideas lend themselves perfectly to a winter setting. To give you a little inspiration I’ve put together a few tried and tested ideas that have set the scene for some unforgettable winter weddings.

Themes
If you are looking for a glamorous day a winter wedding is perfect for an elegant icy theme using lots of silvers, icy blues and whites in your colour scheme. Your reception can greet your guests with gorgeous ice sculptures, graceful candles, plenty of sparkling diamonds (or faux diamonds!) and for the complete fairytale, a horse drawn carriage to mark your arrival in style.

Alternatively you could try a more traditional yet hugely effective winter warmer theme with roaring log fires and mulled wine. Rich festive reds and ivory colours can be used with seasonal ornament such as pine branches and berries.

Stationery
Whatever time of year, it’s great to try and incorporate your wedding colours into your stationery. With a winter wedding you can really set the tone for your day by sending out themed invitations to your guests to let them know they’re in for a treat.

Snowflake Wedding Invitation

Attire
We all know just how important your wedding photos are and one of the main sticking points when mulling over a winter wedding is the temperature! For those beautiful outside photos in the freezing cold look for wraps, shrugs and coats to accentuate your theme colours and stay nice and snug at the same time

Food
There are so many scrumptious winter classics to choose from your menu will never be restricted by a winter wedding. The colder months are the perfect time to serve hearty, comfort food from full roasts to hot pasta dishes or shepherd’s pie, and your caterer will have plenty of great ideas of how to warm up your guests. You can also serve seasonal drinks such as eggnog and spiced wine to accompany the traditional champagne.

Flowers
There are many elegant winter themed flowers to choose from, with silver dollar eucalyptus, dusty miller and of course white roses all perfectly suited to a winter theme. You also have the opportunity to use seasonal foliage such as holly and pine tree greenery to bring out some festive colour.

Whatever your taste, a winter wedding can offer something special for everyone.

With the festive season now well and truly upon us an increasing number of brides to be are making the final preparations for their winter wedding, whilst many more are at the first stages of deciding on a season in which to marry. Although winter may not be the first season that springs to mind there are many advantages to holding your wedding at this time of year, and endless ways to make a winter wedding truly remarkable.

The main benefit of choosing a winter wedding is most suppliers and vendors still consider the winter as “off season” despite more and more brides choosing to get married between November and March. You can use this to your advantage to get some great deals and keep some key costs down for your wedding day, especially with your venue and reception suppliers, allowing you to splurge on the items and areas of your wedding that make your day truly memorable. One of the topmost stresses for brides is coordinating the availability of key people such as photographers and bands, something that is undoubtedly minimised (although, sadly, rarely stamped out!) with a winter wedding.

Of course availability isn’t just a problem for your suppliers, as everyone knows the summer months become the holiday season and a wedding in the middle can often conflict with your loved ones’ summer trips.

If you’re looking for a unique wedding day there are plenty of ways to make your day distinctive in the winter months, and whilst making your budget stretch further too.