We’ve already seen our first order of black and white invites for the year, our recent blog on the monochrome trend for 2012 suggests it wont be the last either! Butterfly Love is still a popular choice and our new ribbon tied shutter fold invitations are also proving to be very popular.

Next month is THE month when it comes to romance so we’ll be expecting plenty of proposals on Valentines day. In preparation for the onset of such loveliness we wanted to share with you a lovely little story we found recently that is sure to warm even the coldest winter night…

 Source: Uploaded by user via Kathy on Pinterest

On December 26th in Michigan, USA a woman found a wedding ring in her back garden. Much to her surprise the inscription revealed the following day to be the couples 42nd wedding anniversary. Talking to neighbours led to the woman being given a phone number for the couple who’d moved in the 90′s. Understandably shocked to hear the news, they explained that they had thought the ring got lost whilst gardening, and had even borrowed a metal detector to search the whole yard. They were delighted to get the ring back. It’s a wonderfully romantic story which they’ll no doubt be telling their grandchildren one day!

With that in mind, we’re looking forward to hearing all the hopelessly romantic proposals just around the corner…

Inspiration comes from Audery Hepburn in Funny Face, continuing our love of all things vintage…

Think Chanel couture, bold, brave and oh so elegant.

Both our Cherish range and our Brighton range are available in monochrome colour ways.

Cherish Wedding Invitations

Cherish will compliment a romantic theme beautifully, whilst Brighton is perfect if you’re looking for something modern and unique.

Brighton Wedding Invitations

Whichever’s your favourite, you can be sure a monochrome element will give a sharp and sophisticated look to your day.

Get the Look: Cherish Wedding Invitations and Brighton Wedding Invitations can be found online at www.ivyellen.com.

For those couples choosing a traditional theme for their wedding, simplicity and elegance are the key to achieving a beautiful look to your big day.

With that in mind we’d like to introduce to you our Fairytale range. Undoubtedly a classic choice, produced with luxuriously embossed 300gsm card for the highest quality finish. This range is simply stunning. Elegant and sophisticated, the invitations include personalised inserts on co-ordinating shimmer paper.

The range is available in 8 different items of stationery and finished with stunning gloss foiled text.

If you are looking for the perfect accompaniment to a traditional themed day then look no further. Whilst it’s still cold outside, we can but day dream of that perfect Fairytale Wedding.

View our Fairytale Invitations Online

A range of stationery items from our Celebration, English Beauty, Snow Kissed, Butterfly Love, Rose Scroll, Beauty, Elegance and flagship Vintage Floral designs can now be purchased through Confetti’s Online Shop.

Here’s a word from Confetti’s Brendan Jackson:

“At Confetti we stock a huge range of wedding stationery and wedding invitation related items. We’re very excited about launching Ivy Ellen products in our wedding stationery shop as we feel the range will offer our customers some stunning choices. We are sure the feedback from our customers will be superb.”

To see the Ivy Ellen range of wedding invitations and stationery offered by Confetti, please visit http://shop.confetti.co.uk/branch/wedding-stationery

What better way to beat the winter blues than to feast your eyes on our new ranges, perfect for next years weddings.

We’ll be blogging about each of the new ranges over the coming months so you’ll have plenty of food for thought.
We’re starting with a beautiful range that ticks all of the boxes for next springs trends.

Sheer, delicate, and embellished fabrics are set to be adorning next years dresses and what better compliment than our Freya range…

Freya Wedding Invitation

The delicate floral design works beautifully in spring, with the blossom on the trees providing the perfect backdrop for a spring wedding.

This lovely shutter fold invitation is available in 12 contemporary colourways, which are printed on luxurious 300gsm boards. It’s versatility lends itself well to any wedding theme. Personalised inserts on coordinating shimmer paper and envelopes are included. Sized 150x150mm.

Complimented by satin ribbons they are are simply delightful and prices start at £3.00 per invitation. Full range of items to be released on the website in January 2012.

Freya Wedding Invitation in Stone

With so many new designs and twelve beautiful colour ways you’ll be spoilt for choice. Luckily we don’t have to choose, we love them all!

Harriet & Tom married in Surrey in September, with their reception held at the stunning Hampton Court Palace. They chose our Pearlescent Baroque wedding stationery in Tea Green. Harriet & Tom share their top wedding tips with us below:

Did you have a look or theme in mind for your wedding day? Our theme was Vintage English Garden.

Image courtesy of Mark1Photography

Who were your top 3 wedding suppliers that helped make your day special? 

Our band was called Funkification and were booked through Dave Odams at The Musicquarium. They were a 6 piece including 1 male and 1 female vocalist and absolutely kept the party going all night! The venue manager said he had never seen the dance floor so busy and that it had even moved by 3 feet by the end of the night! We both love funk and old disco music and they played covers of classics by the likes of James Brown and Curtis Mayfield perfectly.
www.themusicquarium.co.uk

We would also like to give a special mention to Jo at Goldfinger rings who produced our wedding bands. Goldfinger don’t have a shop but do home visits, this allows them to produce high quality pieces at low cost and we were very happy with the finished products.
http://www.goldfinger-rings.com/

Image courtesy of Mark1Photography

What top tip would you give to brides whilst planning their wedding/on their wedding day?

From Harriet “I’d say in terms of planning, think about a theme as early as possible….it helps to build on all your other ideas like flowers, stationery, colour scheme etc. As we got married in The Garden Room at HCP, it was very easy to come up with the ‘Vintage English Garden’ theme.”

Friday kicked off well and saw the country’s top wedding planners attending the show. It’s always interesting for us to know what trends are emerging for next year and to hear what brides are asking for! Jeremy met with some of them and filmed their top tips for brides. Join our brides club to see these over the coming weeks.

Saturday’s catwalks drew a huge crowd and Vera Wang was a highlight for us. Simply stunning, as ever. We also managed to film interviews with some of the top photographers, cake makers, dress designers, wedding stationers, venues and we even bagged a word from Brides Magazine. All of these will be up on the blog soon.

Mosimann’s were catering the show and if they’re good enough for the royal wedding then they’re good enough for us (we do love very high standards!) Naturally they provided delicious food and excellent service. Their lunch boxes are a must have at the show, as were the cupcakes on sale at Peggy Porschen’s pop up cafe.

New Brighton Wedding Invitations

We saw lots of lovely brides and grooms, many of whom gave us great feedback on our new ranges. A show favourite was our new Brighton range (pictured), which is available in 12 candy colours. These new designs are now live on our website via our recently updated wedding invitations page.

New team member Amber joined Jeremy and Lewis for the first time and enjoyed getting to meet the brides. She has been busy making the samples and orders for all our new shutter style invitations launched at the show.

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.

We will be bringing along 5 exciting new invitation designs in our stationery range and 6 new vintage garden invitations in fresh spring colour ideas, perfect for 2012 weddings. You’ll also be able to see our tables plans, menu cards and the full range of our beautiful wedding invitations.

This will be our 4th Designer Wedding Show and we always look forward to meeting our customers face to face and seeing how well our new ideas are received.

We will also be excited to see the other exhibitors such as Peggy Porschen who makes amazing bespoke cakes and also By Appointment Only Design who create breathtakingly beautiful weddings.

You can find us at stand 12, to the left of the entrance. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

For more details please explore www.designerweddingshow.co.uk

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