Save the Date: Inspiration

I like the idea of Save the Date cards (or emails) for giving potential guests plenty of notice about your wedding. Choosing the design also kick-starts ideas for your wedding stationary as they can be a teaser for the tone and theme of your wedding. Here are some of the designs that have inspired the design for my own DIY Save the Date cards.

I discovered Made By Michelle Brusegaard's pretty flower designs on my favourite online shop Etsy.com.

Letterpress gurus Hello!Lucky now have a UK online shop full of inspiring wedding stationary.

    

    

    

On a more local note...Bristol stationery maker mhcreate offers personalised lithographic and digital printing.

So Sublime, in North Somerset, make pretty bespoke Save the Date cards (and stickers too!)

Setting the date

We knew we wanted to have a summer wedding, but our date was mostly determined by the availability of our chosen venue and the varying prices of the seasons. June, July, August tend to be more pricy, which is why Spring and Autumn weddings are increasingly popular. This September I went to a beautifully sunny wedding that it could have been mid summer!

We found trying to secure both the venue and the church for the same date was a juggling act, but it's all worked out fine. I can see the advantage of having the ceremony and reception at the same place if you have the option!

It can be hard choosing somewhere so far in advance (for us it was 17 months), but once you've put a deposit down you have your wedding date! Then it's time to start planning and booking everything else!

Some useful wedding venue sites:

On the weddings site for South West Tourism you can search by type of wedding, amount of guests and as well as by area.

A National site with many search results weddingvenues.com has very detailed descriptions, lots of photos, and a contact form to request a brochure for each venue.

An extensive list of wedding venues with useful descriptions can be found at westcountryweddingguide.co.uk.

Bloomin' lovely!

Over the summer I was inspired by the beautiful hydrangeas in various gardens in the South West. They are just perfect for decorating large spaces at your ceremony and reception or to create bold table centrepieces.


Hydrangeas are available for summer weddings in a variety of colours. You can buy small hydrangea plants in pots from nurseries, or by the stem from florists.

Watch my short video of the hydrangeas on campus at Exeter University...

Bloomin' lovely!