A little wedding inspiration

We all know that weddings can be quite a handful to organise. From choosing the location to finding the perfect dress, booking the band to creating the table plan (including the inevitable friendship fallout this can incur), weddings are a minefield of do’s and do not’s.

I recently attended the nuptials of a fabulous friend of mine Davina to her gorgeous fella Bash, and was blown away by the attention to detail and the creative and personal touches they brought to the event.  Held in a marquee in a field at Bash’s old primary school, the day was peppered with scholarly touches, with dinner-money envelopes being utilised as name cards and an old desk being used as the collection table for cards and gifts. Furthermore, Davina’s lovely mother had even hand-stitched printed tags of Davina and Bash’s names (the type your own mum used to sew into your itchy grey school jumper) onto yellow ribbon to tie around the serviettes.  These we proceeded to tie around our wrists festival-style and I actually didn’t remove it all week.

P1020039-small

Unique themed name cards, table names and serviette ties

Zelda pic 4

School desk for the card collection and wedding book (image by Zelda Cave)

Jess pic 2

The marquee before the mayhem (image by Jess Haskins)

The overall colour scheme was yellow, with a highlight of blue, and an extra theme of cricket also ran through the decorations. Table names were printed onto mini cricket bats and as per the finest summer tradition, there was a reference to fetes that saw games on the lawn including a coconut shy, skittles and even a traditional ice-cream stand.

Zelda pic 3

The wedding date on the cricket score board (image by Zelda Cave)

P1020010-small

Guests enjoyed champagne on the lawn accompanied by a very happy accordion player

Zelda pic

The bridesmaids in yellow frocks with bright blue shoes (image by Zelda Cave)

Hayley pic

The gorgeous bride Davina enjoying her ice-cream (image by Hayley Young)

There were other wonderful touches.  Rather than one cake, Davina and Bash decided to opt for an array of flavours including passion-fruit, lemon drizzle, chocolate and Victoria sponge (if memory serves me correctly).  These were all presented under a rather cute hand-stitched sign, made by a friend of the couple.

zelda pic 2

Cake anyone?  Gorgeous hand-stitched signs (image by Zelda Cave)

Nicola pic 2

Ornate cutlery (image by Poptart pics)

Of course a wedding blog wouldn’t be complete without a detail pic of the bride in her dress.  Davina channelled Grace Kelly in her stunning backless lace gown with chic pearl headpiece.  No wonder Bash looked so happy.

Nicola pic

The first dance (image by Poptart pics)

Heather pic 2

A cheer from the groom

If you are newly engaged and are in the early stages of planning a wedding I thought these images may inspire you.  I think the bride and groom did a great job.  I hope you like the pics.

Main holding picture of Davina Perkins and Bhaskar Maji arriving at their wedding, 20th July 2013 (image by Poptart pics)

Bold Blumenfeld

This Monday’s musings are of an arty disposition. Last week I popped along to Somerset House to check out Erwin Blumenfeld’s fashion photography exhibition. These images are simply stunning & despite being more than 50 years old, feel so modern the only thing giving away their age is the clothing.

Born in Berlin & from humble beginnings, Blumenfeld scaled the heights of fashion fame to become a leading contributor to US Vogue & Harper’s Bazaar in the 40s & 50s. The techniques displayed in these photographs could be easily created on Photoshop today, but the marvel is this was a time of film not digital, & Blumenfeld utilised frosted screens, clever lighting & even water to create some of the burnt-out, blurred & striated shots. You can see the inspiration of Man Ray in his work, whilst other images reference his colleague Cecil Beaton, both more famous but none more talented.

Keep an eye out for the image of Grace Kelly, the Chesterfield cigarette campaign (which feels almost naughty in this era of smoke-free advertising) & the iconic beauty image shown above. A superb & unique exhibition, I defy anyone of an arty inclination not to come away feeling truly inspired. & best of all it’s totally free…

Until September 1st, http://www.somersethouse.org.uk