Tag Archives: Etsy

Cool alternatives to vases

18 Jun

I’m a massive fan of simple flowers for the centre of wedding tables. It can help save a few pennies, plus it is very practical from the point of view that guests can actually see each other. I’ve heard of a wedding where the waiters had to dodge the massively ornate floral arrangements that were placed on the floor around the tables because there was no room to serve the meals otherwise – probably not the best outcome! If you’re going down the simple flower (including the thrown together posy look), one way you can make it more interesting is by using an alternative to vases… or even a bit of a special one-of-a-kind vase.

We used tomato tins to hold our simple posies and I think they looked swell. See some pics below (thank you to my gorgeous friends Gab and Lucinda for being our floral designers for the day x).

I’ve pulled together a few non-vase and vase suggestions. Warning – many of the websites I direct you to in this post are chock full of seriously cool stuff…. enter at your wallet’s peril.

Remember the fantastic brown medicine jars that Cecilia Fox used in Tim and Rosy’s wedding? I think the medicine jars contrast so well with the berries and the green leaves.

You can snap some up on Etsy here and here:

While hanging out on Etsy, you could start a vintage tin collection which would look fabulous with the easter daisy / lisianthus combo that we had for our wedding.

And if you’re saving on your flower costs, you might like to splurge on a set of these (this is called a compromise fellas, you will thank me one day):

Never one to shy away from a bit of nostalgia, I’d love to use these sweet milk bottles from Hello Polly or Form.Function.Style.

There’s also plenty of hip looking vases out there and you’ll then be able to use them for many years to come! You can pick these up from here, here and here.

 

In a true one person’s trash is another person’s treasure story, these and these are trash picked up from the streets of Holland and dipped in porcelain.  

Lastly, aren’t these ceramics from Up in the air somewhere just divine? Imagine all of the little combinations you could pull together? They’d look great with two totally contrasting bunches of colours or varieties.

Love these double stack vases? Your home may just well be in need of one of their factory vessels. Check them out here!

Short wedding dresses (and some shoes to match) – day 2

1 Mar

Continuing on from yesterday’s post about short wedding dresses (and some possible shoe suitors), today I bring you more littl’ dresses from around the globe.

First up is New York designer Matthew Christopher. His dresses draw a lot of inspiration from the old world glamour of Hepburn, Monroe and Kelly. To complete your outfit, pair a Matthew Christopher dress with gloves, pearls, a pillbox hat or a birdcage veil…. and of course some fabulous shoes!

Matthew Christopher - Josyln

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Jimmy Choo – Garland

Matthew Christopher - Arabesque

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Jimmy Choo - Tema

The next dress is from London-based Marchesa who you might remember from my blog about their latest haute couture collection. I love the lacework on this dress and the really strong silhouette. The asymmetry of the bust line and the v-shape detailing on the back view add some edge to what would otherwise be just a pretty dress. They have it spot on with the model having her hair tied back to accentuate the shoulders. The Louboutins that the model is wearing are a great match…. or you could add a bit of sparkle with Kate Spade’s fabulous gold (or silver for that matter) charm heels.

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Kate Spade New York - Charm Gold

Moving on to the Etsy set. All three Etsy sellers that I’ve picked out offer a completely personalised service. So the dresses are made-to-measure (you measure, they make), you will select the fabric colour and in some cases you will be able to instruct on other elements of the dress such as the length. Although I’ve never purchased from these three shops – I find it quite reassuring that they all have 100% positive feedback. If they’re like other Etsy sellers that I’ve encountered, they’ll work with you until you’re happy.

First up is a shop called ouma who is a girl close to my heart because SHE. LOVES. TULLE. Other than her tulle-loving tendencies, Ouma loves a bit of colour too. Her range is definitely worth a look – for brides and also for their maids. I couldn’t resist pairing this pretty little dress with Kate Spade’s charm shoes but this time in multi sparkle glitter.

Etsy - Ouma

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Kate Spade - Charm

The next dress is definitely channeling Kate Middleton and the bride’s tousled hair / fresh flower halo absolutely rocks this look. Brought to you by Bridal Bliss Designs – they have plenty more to offer in the elegant / vintage style.

Etsy - Bridal Bliss Designs

Etsy - Bridal Bliss Designs

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BHLDN - Elizabethan Heels

We finish up today with two sassy dresses from the incredible KT Jean (who happened to grow up sewing with the tulle-loving Ouma). KT also likes to use headpieces in her photoshoots from Mignonne Handmade – if you’re in the market for something a little boho band then she’s your girl.

Etsy - KT Jean

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Carven - Suede Slingbacks

Etsy - KT Jean

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BHLDN - Brilliant Axis Sandle

There you have it…. my snapshot of some short wedding dresses. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that you can often take designs to dressmakers and they will be able to create something that you want. If you’re in Melbourne try Alice Haute Couture or if you’re in London try Carla Kirste. Good luck!


Etsy invitation week: wrapping up with the great outdoors

30 Sep

Our final day of Etsy invitation week is all about the great outdoors. These invites feature trees, barns and a tandem bike and I think they’re perfect for the fun-loving, chilled-out couple. I feel like I have saved the best for last as first up we have a set of invites from the amazingly talented illustrator from Chicago, Amy Heitman. Just imagine getting her to do a custom-designed invite and map for your wedding? It would be so exciting! Amy sells through Etsy but you also need to check out more of her work on her website - her menus and ceremony programs are just gorgeous.

Continuing on with the forest theme we have lots of trees in different styles from vohandmade, deanpennandpaper and a reappearance from one of our modern magic designers, steliedesigns. Then vohandmade brings us a cute little barn and sunshineandravioli rounds out Etsy invite week with a bike and a “tear-off RSVP” – make sure you jump on her Etsy shop to check out their accompanying products like tags and table numbers…very adorable!

I hope you’ve enjoyed Etsy invite week. Let me know if you’re in the process of looking for invites and you need some assistance in the search….  as you can tell, searching through the 1000s of invites on Etsy is a little past-time of mine!

Cat x

Etsy invitation week: modern magic

29 Sep

Rolling on into day four of Etsy invite week and today’s little beauties are all about modern magic. These are just perfect for a fun and stylish wedding. Featured in these invites are colours, handwriting, birds and mason jars.

We start with steliedesigns and shineinvitations with their crisp white card and splashes of colour – they are sure to take pride of place on your guest’s fridges. These are followed by an invite with pretty handwritten names from lucky lady paper and some lovely little letterpressed doves from cmeahan. We wrap things up with jackandjillwedding who have incorporated the very fashionable mason jars into their invites and I love their fun, personalised save the dates – I wish I could be as cool as the dude with the glasses!

Etsy wedding invitation week: colour, fun and character

28 Sep

Day 3 of Etsy invitation week and today’s bright set of invitations are full of colour and pizzazz (if you’re in Melbourne, they might be just what you need to brighten this miserable day!).  These invites are inspired by days gone by of film premieres, the wild west, school formals and carnivals. They are for couples who are organising a fun day that’s not too formal and as a guest, if you get one of these invites in the mail, you know you’re going to be in for a good time at the wedding! If you like the styles but are not such a big fan of the colours, don’t fret, all of today’s invites can be fully customisable to suit your own colour choices.

I’ve selected a few of my favourites (loving the punch card idea by Hoopity!) and jump onto Etsy to check out more from these talented designers: Hoopity, bethcote, butlerpaperandprint, and mybigdaydesigns.



Etsy invitation week

26 Sep

This week is going to be the week of the Etsy wedding invitation. If you haven’t heard of Etsy, stop reading this and sign yourself up! Etsy is basically a worldwide marketplace for handmade goods. There’s all sorts of amazing items on Etsy, from art to stationary to jewellery – you can easily lose an afternoon perusing all of the pretty products. I’ve only had positive experiences purchasing from Etsy. Every seller that I’ve dealt with has been a perfectionist, so they’re not happy until you are.

At last count there were over 28,905 wedding invites listed…. yes almost TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND!!! I can understand that this might be a wee bit daunting so each day this week I’ll make it a little bit easier for you by showcasing my favourite Etsy invites.

To kick it all off I’m starting with an invitation maker very dear to my heart. Julie from GoGoSnap made the invites for
our wedding and we couldn’t have been any happier. Her invites are based on vintage deco postcards and are printed on beautiful thick card stock. They’re wonderfully unique and I think they’re a great way to set the scene for your wedding day. If you’re having trouble choosing which image to go with, the lovely Julie will send you a few samples and she’s very happy to answer questions and accomodate changes to the designs and wording.

Here’s a few of my favourite invites, fans and order of services; and make sure you pop on over to Julie’s Etsy store to have a gander at her pretty works of art.

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