Miscellaneous Monday: Welcome December!

Welcome to Monday (and December, for that matter). I absolutely love this season for its festiveness and colours, and I can’t imagine a better way to encapsulate those things than through a wedding. As usual, today I’ll be sharing my wedding-inspired findings from across the web, which will hopefully help those of you planning weddings in the upcoming winter months! And as always, if you would like to share any of your favourite findings with us, tweet us (@WestWeddings) or email us (westweddingsbristol@gmail.com).

Today I am loving chunky bridal jewellery (yes, it can be done!), cookie favours (featuring Pretty Amazing Cakes), a gorgeous triangle-neck dress found on Etsy!

Favourite accessory: chunky bridal jewellery

I’ve stolen this look from one of my favourite photographers, Tori Watson (Marvelous Things Photography), who recently blogged about the fashion she wore at her own wedding. Though her wedding may have been three years ago, I think this trend has only grown more popular since, and I think we could all use a dose of inspiration to go bold with our accessories! Tori paired this jewellery with a gorgeous vintage lace dress (passed down through her family) – proving that statement accessories don’t rule out vintage elegance!

Favourite food/favour: cookie favours

One of our favourite cake maestros in the Bristol area is Anne Gliddon at Pretty Amazing Cakes, and one of her specialties also happens to be one of our favourite wedding ideas: cookie favours! Anne provides custom cookie favours to suit your wedding and décor. What a lovely, and tasty, idea for thanking each of your guests for attending your special day.

Favourite wedding dress: triangle neck dress

Once again on my travels through the magical land of Etsy, I found a gem. Triangle anything is on-trend these days so I was delighted to find it incorporated into the collar of this dress. That’s not the only feature I love, however. The silhouette and fabric really captured my attention and I feel like this would be the ideal dress for a bride who doesn’t want to go casual with her look, but doesn’t want to be overly formal either.

Let them eat cake

Pretty Amazing Cakes is one of those fabulous companies that do what they say on the tin – delicious and fantastic-looking cakes for weddings and other special occasions. 

You may have seen one of their creations in our last issue – for our Imperial Russia shoot, we had a beautiful four-tier cake with deep red sugar roses balanced on top. 

The opulent cake was a real hit, so we thought we’d spread the word about how good these cakes are.

Based in Bristol, Anne Gliddon designs and bakes bespoke wedding cakes, cupcakes and cookies to make any day that little bit more special. Whether you’re looking for a vintage style, or something original and funky, Anne can take a design idea and turn it into a reality. Even better, consultations are free and you get to partake in some cake tasting while you discuss your ideas!

As well as wedding cakes for the grown-ups, Anne has also been known to make something fun for the kids to enjoy as well. Most recently she’s created a Dolly Mixture Delight – a specially made sponge cake with dolly mix lining the tiers and jumping out of the top with wiring. The multi-coloured icing stars made it look even more fantastic.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Anne’s cookie favours are a delicious way to delight your wedding guests. With a personalised name tag, they can also double up as place settings. Like her wedding cakes, Anne’s cookie favours can be personalised to tie in with any part of your wedding theme, from the colour of your bridesmaids’ dresses to the bouquet. Available in a variety of flavours, including classic vanilla, ginger spice, and lemon lush, previous shapes have included glam shoes, birdcages, and matching brides and grooms. 

Designs can be adapted or originals drawn up. Alternatively, wedding cupcakes are a popular choice, and can come with a matching top tier for the traditional cutting of the cake. 

Like the celebrations they’re served at, Anne’s Pretty Amazing Cakes are unique and memorable – and tasty too! For more photos of her fantastic creations, check out Anne's Facebook page.

Sweet treats

Mmmm, sweets. I'm a big fan of old fashioned penny sweets such as rhubarb and custard, bon bons and  pineapple rock, and I've noticed that it's getting more and more popular to use these sweets as favours. Some couples are also having sweet tables with lots of different goodies on offer for guests to help themselves to during the day.

With this trend in mind, Bah Humbugs, the online sweet shop, has launched a range of party bags to mark their seventh anniversary – providing unique and fun favours for weddings.

The Bah Humbugs party bags all contain a fantastic selection of the most popular retro sweets such as popping candy, double dip sherbet, finger of fudge, refreshers, Black Jacks, fruit salads, mini love hearts, parma violets and a candy necklace.

If you've got children at your wedding and would like to entertain them with party bags, Bah Humbugs has also put together a bag specific for boys and girls which contains the usual selection of scrumptious retro sweets, along with a wooden yo yo, bouncy ball and either a wooden bead bracelet for the girls, or a super glider kit for the boys.

Bah Humbugs owner Lucy Scott Paul said: “We are delighted to be launching the party bags line at Bah Humbugs which is a new range of products to celebrate our 7th anniversary.

“The country is definitely in the party spirit with the recent Royal Wedding and Queen’s Jubilee next year and we felt what better time to launch a new range of party bags for every occasion? The party bags have delicious treats from our fashionable retro range of sweets and traditional crafted toys for boys and girls. And busy would-be party planners don’t even need to leave the house as they can be ordered from our website.” 

 

For more details see www.bahhumbugs.com. Then comes the hard part - deciding what sweets you want!

 

- Helen