English Wedding Ideas

that are kind on the purse

Green, Ehtical, Eco – these words are on the tip of many tongues at the moment and something that might be in the back of your mind when organising your special day. You don’t have to be a full on tree hugger to incorporate some of these stylish and chic ‘recycled’ ideas into your wedding – whether its using recycled invites, second hand dresses, getting people to RSVP by email or choosing local and organic suppliers there are many small changes that can be made (which I guarantee will be kinder on the purse too)

Flowers and Foliage
A good idea for flowers is to use flowers that are  in season and are grown and sourced locally (maybe even in your or your neighbours back garden) – I got my dad to cut down holly and Ivy for our Christmas wedding from the fields nearby and not only did it save a lot of money, but it was local and seasonal foliage.  My mum and my bridesmaids made all our bouquets on the morning of the wedding – which kept us occupied, was great fun and a bit of bonding for us all in the run up to that special time .  Make sure you use the bouquets afterwards on the tables, or place them somewhere they can be enjoyed by everyone.  The 2 large arrangements in the church were then taken (by friends) to the evening venue – it seemed ridiculous to waste the amazing flowers.  We decided against flowers on the tables too – the venue looked fantastic with fairy lights and candelabra it would have just been overdoing it. I’ll be talking a lot more about flowers, foliage and decor later on – one of my best mates is a whizz in that dept and she has many fab ideas and top tips that I’ll be sharing.

Invites and Stationery
I think its nice to send out invites as people like to receive them and I most certainly wanted a reminder of my special day, but get people to RSVP via email, its so much easier to keep track of (and great to send reminder emails etc) and saves on postage too.  There are lots of companies out there that do recycled invites if that is what you are looking for and I suggest that you check out the directory at The Natural Wedding Company (its a great site actually with a good directory offering ethical and organic suppliers – what a great idea!). Its easy and fun to make your own name places, wedding services and invites and I’ll be sharing mine (and other brides top tips on this too)

Dress and Accessories
I definitely wanted a new dress for my wedding day, one that was specially made and fitted to me. This had to be one of the best bits of planning the wedding. However there are lots of designers and dress makers out there that use organic fabrics and run their companies in an ethical manner check out some of the alternative designers. Its also a great idea to check out charity shops, Ebay and specialist online suppliers for second hand wedding dresses and accessories, or even better borrow from friends and family, you know where its come from and it probably means a bit more. I will certainly be loaning out my tiara, jewellery, shrug and ideas to my friends.

I had never thought about vintage crockery for a wedding, or even any crockery for that matter of fact until a very stylish friend of mine brought it up the other day when I was talking about this site.  But having done a bit of digging and research it I can see the inspiration – how cool and appropriate it could be …. the afternoon tea and cakes, the english summer weddings, the lace and antique dresses  - it all fits in perfectly if that is the look you are going for.  

There are companies that specialise in the whole ‘vintage’ wedding such as Vintage Days, or  Glynnis Maguire at Scarlett Ribbon for creative wedding work and ideas.  I have heard that there are many specialist (and some very good) vintage wedding dress boutiques – I’ll be reviewing those shortly.

Scarlett Ribbon (does among many other things) vintage crockery hire at pretty reasonable rates.  However my favourite of all the sites is The Crockery Cupboard, a London company founded by 2 friends,  who hire out crockery from the 1920’s to the 1960’s and promise to add a bit of stylish ‘vintage glamour’ to your wedding celebrations.  I can’t remember what I paid for my bog standard white dinner plates but they’re charging anything from £1 for dinner plates to £2 for cups and saucers which sounds like a much more fun and stylish alternative than what most of us opt for.

If you are thinking of using vintage wedding crockery at your wedding, if you have used any good, reliable suppliers that you would recommend please do let me know – I would love to get some feedback on who to use in this space (and the suppliers that let you send it back dirty as I know my caterers didn’t have the time or space to be washing up on the night!)

Contact me with any ideas and thoughts on this matter or leave a comment at the end of the post.