Throwing the Bouquet with a Twist!

I was watching a wedding programme last night (to Jubb's disdain!) and although the majority of it was a mixture of entertaining and painful, one part of it struck me as terribly sweet.

Image from Images.com

The bride invited all the married guests onto the dance floor after their first dance and instead of throwing her bouquet, awarded it to the couple who had been married the longest.  Who lovely is that? It makes such great change to the normal tradition and I love the sense of achievement it would have given that couple. A beautiful touch.

NY

Funky Photo details

I really enjoyed these DIY ideas for incorporating photos into your decor from bridesmagazine.com. I especially liked the photo tree idea and think it could also be a great way to present your table plan.  Instead of having the written names it would be cool to have a photo of your guests with their table number written on the back.  You could then follow this theme through to your table design by using photo place names as well. Black and white photos to complement a monochrome theme, would look striking.

All Images from bridesmagazine.com

The confetti cones are also pretty cool.  Using images other than portraits could add a new dimension to the cone and really be a unique detail to the service.  

All the above ideas are such easy DIY projects to make your time in Greece more fun than work and none of them necessitate too much forethought as a lot of it can all be done once you are at your wedding destination.  Not only that, all of the parts needed to make them, bar the photos, can be sourced in Greece so there is less to pack! Loving it Brides!

NY

Beautiful Hand Painted Stationary

These stunning, hand painted invitations and general wedding stationary blow my mind.  They are absolutely breath taking.  As you can tell by the amount of images below, I am a huge fan of this wonderful stationer and if i had had my way would have put all her images on this blog but a little restraint was needed!

All images from www.momentaldesigns.com

How awesome is the stationary with the frog on it!  I love it but I was always quite keen on the Wind in the Willows books.  I have always been interested in painting and art and these for me are a truly gorgeous option for your wedding stationary.  What is also great about this company is that they will personalise this for you. So you could have beautiful paintings depicting where in Greece you are getting married or just using the wedding flowers you have chosen.  Endless options are always my favorite and I firmly believe that you would also enjoy the process of designing these invites, which can sometimes be quite an arduous task.  Please go to their website to be inspired by more of their gorgeous designs  www.momentaldesigns.com .

NY

Guest Blogger: Manos from Sound Design!

I met Natalia and Sara, I think 2 years ago, in Hania town on Crete Island.  It was an October afternoon when I had a call in my office in Heraklion. On the other  end of the telephone line was Sara Pavlatou (the director of  sp-weddings.com) who was calling me to organize the music - sound and lighting installation for Natalia’s wedding event on May 2008 at Metohi Kindelis traditional, luxury farmhouse.  I was impressed   when I found out that these two ladies, started to plan the wedding event almost a year before.  Just because in my company www.sounddesign.gr   we  believe in responsibility and consequently,  it was nice  that I had found  people like them, who were preparing   their events  not  4 or 5 months earlier,  but   one year earlier.

Images by A friend & Annie Angelopoulou

I remember after a couple of  e-mails between us, we had our first meeting in Hania, 8 months before Natalia’s wedding. The area was really impressive, it looks like you were waking in a medieval Cretan villa and the entire atmosphere also felt that way.

We spoke about the master plan of the Natalia’s wedding reception and it didn’t take a long time for me to understand the way they could imagine (both Natalia and Sara) the event. They  already had the plan for the decoration, the sitting, and the timing of the event.

My company’s   www.sounddesign.gr  contribution was the music, sound and lighting installation for the certain areas and stages of the event.

We had also spoken in our meeting about the music and lights which is also a very important part of   most events.  I was excited when Natalia sent me her wedding party song – play list , and I found out that we almost had the same “taste” of music. We  also provided  Natalia’s wedding with Cretan folk musicians and dancers, and also the D.J. for the after hours party.

Images from Annie Angelopoulou & a friend

It’s a really bad impression when you find out that your guests after the dinner on a wedding event have had a boring evening just because of the music , the D.J. or the music band,  was really annoying and sent your guests to sleep on the tables.:)  So pay attention when you choose music and lights for your event. Act with the same attention as you had spent money and precious time for all the rests.  When you find out that your guests are bored it is because you didn’t pay the right attention for your music choices and off course there’s no other chance than that night. Really you won’t have another chance, unless you get married again….joking!

The area Kindelis in Hania, Crete had 3 different stages, cocktail, dinner, and party area and I think it was perfectly combined for that wedding's demands.

We had really nice atmosphere that spring night of May. The cocktail area with an outstanding decoration by these two ladies, amazing. Sounddesign's  smooth lighting plan, gave the area romantic and mystic sense.  The dinner area was also decorated in a smooth style.

Image from a friend

But the pool party area, oh!   Was planning  for a real great party , crazy uniforms, funny masks and Mexican hats with under tree lights and DJ music was  shakin’  the crowd with old gold hits and modern music styles until the early morning hours.

At last, I think Natalia and Sara (sp-weddings.com) put their own unique decorated drawings on that exclusive luxury wedding event.  They know how to organize, promote, and manage  with the right stuff and partners, impressive events worldwide.

Great job once again.

Manos

www.sounddesign.gr

Shipwreck Heaven

Wow!  I love this themed shoot for NonPariel Magazine it is gorgeous.  Now you had all better get comfortable as there are a lot of images to go with this.  I just could not decide which to have so I have posted most of them.  I find this shoot not only fresh but completely without any cheese factor attached to it.  Hard to pull off when your theme is shipwrecked.  I think you will all agree that it looks amazing and could be used in a number of venues.  I would love to see this adapted to a beach.  How striking it would be and the visual impact for you guests, on arrival, has the potential to be huge.

 

 

 

 

All the above photos are courtesy of lapartieevents.squarespace.com and where shot by www.elizabethmessina.com

Do you see what I mean?  Absolutely breath taking.  The attention to detail is perfect and can be easily replicated and changed to reflect your personality.  The other thing to take into consideration is that a lot of this can be done yourselves so it would not have to cost the earth.  Amazing!!!!!

Obviously I am  big fan!

NY

A Little Inspiration from Hollywood

I know, I know, sad but true.  I love chick flicks!  Whilst watching The Proposal I fell in love with the decor of the barn wedding scene.  It turns out that plain, varnished branches decorated solely with bare light bulbs, floats by boat!  I think they look gorgeous and just so we are clear, I think this look could look great in a variety of venues.

The aisle is just striking, pretty impressive for such a simple idea.  DIYing this look would be easy and not too time consuming either and I am wondering how cool this would look on a beach.  It could be a great way to define an area as well as an aisle.  Or just splitting the branches into bunches rather than as a wall could also look amazing dotted between your tables. Adding a lick of vanish on the branches can also add great surface for the light to reflect off. Subtle and yet striking.

The other part of the decor were these balls of light hanging from the ceiling.  Coupled with the rusticity of the branches they give a perfect contrasting dimension to the overall look.  They bring a softness to it all.  Just plain gorgeous!

NY

And we're back!!! Celebrating the Hop.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!  So Christmas was eventful and honestly quite manic but very enjoyable! Now back to grind of work and the fun of blogging.  I had an interesting car journey back from Switzerland. One which has left my car stranded in the French town of Chaumont (damn gear box) but it allowed me to have a great conversation with a friend of mine who is getting married in 3 months time.  She is a landscape designer and her knowledge of plants and flowers is incredible.  What interested me was her idea of using hops as part of her wedding flowers and center pieces at their forthcoming wedding. 

Now I have never really seen hops and as I am sure you all do, only really associate them with beer, so I googled them as soon as I managed to get repatriated back to the UK.  How beautiful is the lushness of the leaves?  Stunning and thanks to the Greek beer industry there will definitely be a supplier who you can purchase some off (yay! Mythos!).

Not only are they vivid in their green colour but also have a density that will provide amazing body to your arrangements.  This friend of mine is simply laying a garland down each table with fairy lights woven in between the leaves and finishing off with flowers of her choice dotted, sporadically throughout.

Above are two images from 'Kirsty and Phil's Perfect Christmas' that was shown on Channel 4 just as some inspiration and to show how great hops can look. Not only are they luscious but I also love their uniqueness.

NY