Engaging: Audrey + Mike

Audrey + Mike's engagements got featured on The Bride's Cafe last week & we are thrilled to share them here too!

We recently wrapped up a site walk through with this lovely couple, which always gets us even more excited for the upcoming wedding!! Plus, just being around our couples reminds us of how amazing they are!! Audrey is just the sweetest bride you can ask for and Mike is hilarious! Love his sense of humor-- they balance each other perfectly!

Awwww.......We always appreciate some good puppy love!!

How sweet! Adore this last shot! Betwixt did an amazing job capturing the modern & urban vibe that Audrey & Mike wanted, which will definitely be present during their July wedding downtown at the Culy Warehouse! And there may be a little bit of sparkle....who doesn't love sparkle?

Loving: peat pots

Good morning! I simply adore this peat pot chandelier installation from French Larkspur!  Such a wonderful way to bring a little spring into your table setting.  Lavender and Baby's Breath will dry perfectly while in the pots, while not being too heavy.  You can hang these anywhere.  From your windows, porches, on the backs of wooden chairs--be creative!  Please, Spring, come quickly!

Gown Friday: Elie Saab Spring 2011 Couture

Elie Saab designs nothing short of glamorous magic in each collection and this spring 2011 couture line is complete with dreamy, glittery dresses that are the very essence of breathtaking. If I could be a runway model for one day, I would definitely work Elie Saab into my schedule...

{Images: tfs via this is glamorous}

Destination Guest Book Ideas

I am seeing some hugely creative ideas on the internet for guest book ideas, from vintage typewriters set up on tables, so let's hope all your guests will type out a personal message and hopefully despite their drunken haze be able to hang this from a beautifully decorated wishing tree or be able to assemble scrabble pieces in a cohesive form :)

I of course love all these ideas as they are hugely creative, but let's be honest, they are not practical from a European wedding point of view.

Let's face it most of your guests by the time they are presented with a guestbook to sign would have downed the best part of a bottle of champagne or sangria and will not have any co-ordination to test their keyboard skills on an old typewriter or delicately hang perfectly formed cards on a tree.

A destination wedding as well also poses the problem of getting everything home. It is all very well to make up a park bench and have your guests write on it and put it in your garden, but if you are getting married in Spain or Italy it is going to cost you a fortune to get this creative artifact to your homeland.

Having been working on this idea with some of our brides for our weddings this year, by far the better options are to have a photo or video booth, this can be set up for you here in Spain by our wonderful Becky Sharpe, she created an amazing video booth last year for a wedding here.

Or to have a wishing well such as a birdcage where guests can post their messages into this (hopefully!) and you can take them home and mount them into your wedding guest book, a normal shop bought guest book just set out or another lovely idea I have suggested this year for our brides is to go onto a site such as Blurb and create your own personalised guestbook.

This is a fabulous idea, and if you take a look at the Blurb site, for example, you can create and design you own book.

Upload photos of you and H2B, some fabulous photos of the country and venue you are marrying in, in our case Andalucia, perhaps photos of your guests as well could be fun and leave blank pages for them to leave their messages.

You can also add in questions for them to answer such as, where do you see us in 25 years time, any tips for a happy marriage, etc and see what messages and replies you get!

I love this idea as it is creating something truly unique for your wedding day and such fun to look at afterwards, you could even follow this book up with another one about your honeymoon and the first year of married life, a sequel!

This is also an easy option to get everything home and to be practical, as much as us creative divas love to think we will create a fabulous scrapbook after the wedding, there are many of us that will become bogged down with work and back to a 'normal' life and this will take a back seat and may never get done.

By creating this personalised book with photos and fun questions plus the guests comments it is already done and dusted will save more time and effort when the honeymoon period is over and normality returrns.

You will have a wonderfully personalised guest book on your coffee table without any effort on your part apart from having created it in your wedding excitement and another lovely part of building up to the day!

I have certainly got some of my brides thinking about this idea which is very simple and not expensive and yet fun to do so I hope I have given you some inspiration too for your wedding day by creating your own personalised guest book idea.

Inspiration: tabletop

I am battling some neck and back pain right now and seeing this sweet gold and pink tea setting gives me inspiration to sip my herbal spice tea and find some relaxing moments...I can almost feel it... but of course finding that magical moment in the midst of caring for my 2 energized toddlers, the household cleaning and my wonderful clients may be a stretch of the imagination.  But one can hope...

Wouldn't it be lovely to create this tabletop for your bridal shower?  Just perfect!  And if you love the adorable flags and table cards, check out The Knotty Bride for the free download and instructions by Brancoprata.

{Images: Brancoprata}

SUZY & IAN REAL WEDDING

In September last year we were thrilled to be flown over to Morocco to cover the incredible wedding for Suzy Pickthall & Ian Wheal. The idea of a sunset ceremony at a boutique hotel underneath the Atlas Mountains in Marrakech sounded like a photographers dream come true & the landscape delivered everything we imagined on the day. Bride to Be Mag (Aust) have just featured our work over 4 pages in their Your Day Annual on sale

The incredible Atlas Mountains were an incredible backdrop.

Boutique Hotel Tigmi was the couples chosen venue in Marrakech. Serendity stepped in on a steam train pub crawl through the Worchestershire in Central England when a friend mentioned his family owned a hotel in Morocco. The couple were keen to shown their Australian family & friends an experience of a lifetime in a magical location.

The natural colour palette of the building and fixtures were perfect for the couples additional jewel coloured theme. Splashes of colour on cushions & scarves were added, perfect for the Northern African light.

It was hard not to photograph all the interiors and traditional artefacts at Tigmi, the hotel had surprises hiding behind every corner for us!

The ceremony took place in one wing of the hotel and the poolside candlelit dinner in another giving guests maximum exposure to the location. The wedding doubled as a 3 day getaway for most of the couples guests with "relaxed and romantic" becoming the buzz words of the trip.

Colourful fans were perfect for beating the summer heat, Moroccan designed table seating plans were hung from the roof top down one of the building columns with the pink & purple ribbons mirrored in the bridesmaid dresses. Multi coloured sparkling butterflies were attached to the place cards by Not on the High Street

Natural flower arrangements of pink and purple cockscomb, white chrysanthus and Moroccan daisies along with euculyptus leaves in jam jars decorated the banquet tables.

Over 100 metres of floating pink fabric hand dyed by the Bride's Mum & Sister were added to the ceremony & reception areas and swayed in the light breeze throughout the evening.

The hotel wing used for the ceremony wing. Simple flowers were used as the altar backdrop.

Suzy's maid of honour Tessera and bridesmaid Davina wore one-shouldered purple dresses from London's Monsoon.

Travelling to the flower market two days before the wedding was enough planning time for Suzy to choose a bouquet of fuschia roses surrounded by euculyptus leaves put together by school friend Vicky.

The brides gown was by Jane Bourvis. The modern corset featured ivory antique beaded lace from France dating back to around 1900.

Tiffany Chairs were assembled in the ceremony wing poolside.

Pale pink & white rose petals were on hand to celebrate the couples i-do

Congrats by family & friends were enjoyed over canapes and cocktails.

Suzy's other two bridesmaids Kate & Arabella wore strapless raspberry coloured chiffon dresses found in Sydney. Floaty maxi-dresses were perfect for a relaxed and glamourous setting like Morocco.

We were spoilt for choice for photographic backgrounds to use on the day

A stroll around Tigmi for thirty minutes for our photo shoot. The couple chose not to venture off site to allow for maximum time spent with family & friends on the day.

On the way to the rooftop in the ceremony wing of the hotel.

The highest point usually provides the best light, wow what a sunset!!

Suzy & Ian were so natural in front of the camera & so head over heels in love...we were not in the least surprised to hear they are now expecting their first baby this year!!

A perfect prop for a moment of heat relief on the rooftop.

Strings of mini lanterns provided ambient light around the pool. A pre bridal dance rehearsal in one of the hidden corridors enroute to the dinner table.

Candles are lit and it is time for a Moroccan feast with all the guests

An evening of cute moments & lots of laughter in Marrakech

The cake cutting and moonlight in Morocco was an incredible experience we will never forget.

We all thought it was fate that SugarLove was already assigned to cover a wedding in Florence, Italy just 5 days after Suzy & Ian's wedding so we were thrilled to be booked to cover their day as well. After all Morocco is not too far from Tuscany right?

It was impossible to travel to such an incredible location and not cover their day on video as well. Suzy & Ian said "without a doubt our favourite wedding present" when they received the surprise gift in the post with their wedding photographs. Here is a sample of our work below which you can see online at our White Designs site as well. To Suzy & Ian - thank you for such an incredible opportunity to cover your day in Marrakech. It was the stuff dreams are made of and the memories will last a lifetime. We look forward to seeing you & meeting baby in Sydney next year, Leigh & Bradley x