Five fabulous frame ideas

From table plans to kitschy dessert table trays, vintage frames have a lot of potential for practical and decorative use in your DIY wedding. Here are five fabulous frame ideas...including our own table plan made using an old frame from a charity shop, which we painted gold and placed black card inside. My painting easel came in handy to display the frame and saved us from hiring a stand for £20. And, being a budget bride I then sold the frame on afterwards to another bride and we made our money back!

Our DIY vintage inspired table plan frame

DIY Wedding Chalkboard - Intimateweddings.com

DIY Vintage Frame Table Numbers - Projectwedding.com

Framed floral fabric table plan - Little Miss Wedding's blog

DIY Framed Dessert Table Trays - ruffledblog.com

Thrifty Nifty Flowers on a budget

'Handmade not High Street' is the ethos of The Craft Hub, a Crafty Collective for Devon, based in Exeter.

The Craft Hub runs modern, vibrant and seasonal craft fairs, showcasing products from some of the best of Devon's Handmaking Talent. They run pub nights teaching fun and engaging workshops called Cr'After Dark, inspiring others to join the handmade movement. In the May workshop they made Crafty Corsages (as seen above).

The next workshop on 15th June is set to be a flowery fantasia! Thrifty Nifty Flowers on a budget workshop with Sarah Pepper, a highly experienced florist, will be teaching how to flower arrange on a budget, and how to use old and obscure treasured things in the home as vases for your floral creations.

Their craft fairs are a great place to find unique handmade quality crafts and get inspired too. Whether it's wedding favours, corsages, candles, bunting, flowers or jewellery (to name a few) the Craft Hub can inspire all you DIY brides out there.

After I went to one of their fairs in Topsham I was inspired to pick up my knitting again, and now we have a weekly knitting circle at work!

Don't miss the next fair on Fathers' Day, Sunday 19th June 2011, Matthews Hall in Topsham.

Congrats Kate & Wills!

We had such a fun time celebrating Kate & Will's Wedding on Friday, with a garden party along with quintessentially English party food and great company! What a beauiful bride and a wonderful wedding!

Photo courtesy of The British Monarchy flickr feed

Patriotic cupcakes (I used draw-on Dr. Oetker 'Easy Writer' food colouring pens)

Any excuse to bring out the vintage china from our wedding!

Flapjack recipe by Delia.

No tea party is complete without cucumber sandwiches!

Fiona's gluten & wheat free Cherry & Almond cake.

My first attempt at scones (in basket) using Delia's guide.

Louise's Gluten free 'Earl Grey' cupcakes

Powderham Castle Wedding Show

The Powderham Castle Wedding Show is coming up in a few weeks, which reminds me, I wanted to blog about the show after I went in 2009! Better late than never...

It was the first wedding show that Mum and I went to back in the early days of wedding planning, and was our introduction to a whole new world to us...the wedding industry!

The castle, which has been there in one form or another since 1066, is an amazing location for a wedding show. Bagpipes were playing some merry tunes as we crossed the moat, and then we were presented with some shiny vintage wedding cars and camper vans in the courtyard.

Inside, a wedding reception display set up in their grand hall, trying to entice people to have their wedding reception there. We'd just come from visiting Cadhay so there was no chance of that (and no budget for that)!

There was a great array of wedding suppliers in the castle and even more, maybe hundreds, in a huge marquee in the garden. From wedding florists and jewellery, to a Master of Ceremonies and venues, everything you could need was there.

Halfway through Mum and I needed a cuppa and a nice sit down! Lucky there were plenty of caterers and vintage teacups handy. After watching the lively bridal fashion show and dance demos, we were pleased to see Liz Armitage of Lumen Photography was there so I could show Mum her beautiful albums.

We came away from the show feeling inspired by the lovely vintage ideas we saw (see pics above), as well as being a bit bombarded by lots of sales people!

Powderham Castle Wedding Show
Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th March, 2011
Open 10am to 4pm
Tickets are £5.00 in advance or £7.50 on the day
Powderham Castle, Kenton, Exeter, Devon, EX6 8JQ

Love is in the air

It's my first Valentine's Day as a newlywed...so I thought it was about time I started blogging again about our wedding last June!

It was a huge success and we had a wonderful time thanks to all our family and friends who made it so special. Here's a selection of our romantic moments beautifully captured by Liz Armitage from Lumen Photography.

I'll be sharing how we made our dream vintage English countryside wedding come true on a budget, with DIY ideas and signposts to great local and online suppliers. I hope it's of use to any couples out there planning their big day...Kate and Wills watch this space!

Ethical engagement rings

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...but what if she likes to shop ethically? If you're choosing a diamond engagement ring you may want to consider where the diamond has come from.

For new rings it’s best to get a guarantee from a jeweller that their diamonds are conflict-free diamonds. For more information on ethical diamonds here's a useful article: 'How to steer clear of blood diamonds'.

Another option is choose an antique ring which allows you to be eco-friendly by re-using resources. Antique rings also offer you a wider range of traditional designs not often used in modern rings.


My fiancé and I chose an Edwardian engagement ring together from a local antique jeweller because we like how pre-loved diamonds are ethical, plus I love the style of vintage cluster settings.

We really enjoyed the experience of finding my ring, especially as we were looking for a ruby/diamond ring and one had just arrived, in my size...it was meant to be! It was two weeks before Christmas and we were warmed not only by mince pies and mulled wine, but their caring service too. If you're in Devon I recommend the reputable Mortimers Jewellers, a family run business in Exeter, for a high quality range of antique rings.


Mortimers rings are available in both original and new settings in platinum, 18ct white and yellow gold. They have a large stock of ladies and gents wedding rings in platinum, 22, 18 and 9 ct gold, plain or engraved styles; and also provide wedding rings handmade to order.


To find an antique ring try your local antique jewellers or search for an online shop selling antique jewellery.