Black....

2010 has been very black. Black and white, black and silver, black and red, black and green, black and ...... black.

Sarah and Paul's colour was black and we mixed it with a light silver and a dark graphite, and finished everything with clear Swarovski crystals. With all that black you would think the Pavilion at Rushton Hall would be dark, but far from it.

We folded the napkins and finished with a double tied ribbon - black sheer ribbon and a silver satin. Each napkin had a personalised menu; the ladies then had a little white notepad with the bride and groom's name and the men had chocolate cigars.

Beautiful white roses in black martini glasses graced each table - the white roses were dipped in black ink and finished with crystals.

We finished the tables with black table crystals, clear dewdrops, frosted tealight holders and diamond bubbles - how very sparkly!

Envelopments in the UK

We're proud to say that we've been a licensed reseller for Envelopments since about 2004 and will continue doing so for the foreseeable future.

Envelopments are probably best known for their pocketfold invitations, which we use for corporate, events and weddings. They are available in so many colours, patterns, sizes and styles and are of the highest quality.

We are yet to try out their new range of pocketcards and pocket envelopes, but their time will come when we get a chance to draw our breathe! In fact, we are currently designing our own corporate terms and conditions around the pocketcards.

They are constantly looking at new ways to stay as the market leader and this year have brought us the Twist Card - which are going to be great for Christmas cards and will be featured in our 2012 wedding season.

So how will you let us inspire your creative touches, with an invitation that is designed entirely by you, but created by us?

Planning - Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow

When we started Wedding Paraphernalia in 2003, we found that many bride and grooms were taking the planning process quite slowly. They would build their dream wedding over the space of a year, maybe two years. During that time, they were able to think their plans through and save for the paraphernalia they wanted. By booking early, they were able to secure the photographer, venue, church and cars they wanted too.

So when we look back at 2005, we found that we had been talking to these couples for anything up to two years, we knew the couple really well and they knew and trusted us. They had excellent relationships with their wedding suppliers.

Fast forward to 2007, suddenly there was a boom of "we've remortgaged or taken out a credit card to pay for the wedding" and budgets went through the sky. Couples were coming into the shop and booking us for a wedding that was literally in six months and there was no limit to their budget. Yes, we had great business relationships with them, but didn't get invited to half as many weddings as we did in 2005!

But this was the start of the recession years .... and suddenly reasonable budgets did matter and ebay was looked upon as the place to buy lots of cheap items and "do it yourself" - and many weddings were postponed until a later date.

Roll on to 2010 and a reflection of the weddings we have been a part of this year. We've had a really excellent year turnover-wise and have helped with lots of last minute weddings, where couples have secured venues at cut-price offers and taken cancellations but suddenly we are taking bookings for 2012, what about 2011?

We think we are going back to the days of carefully thought out budgets and savings plans; the budget-savvy bride is going for a 2012 date and will carefully think through her ideas and suppliers, whilst saving every penny for it.

So, what about 2011? Will it be mainly last minute weddings again or are couples sitting tight until the New Year now before booking? Just remember, come January and you will be paying the VAT increase!

Ribbons and Bows

As we were uploading some photographs to Flickr today, we realised that we use a lot of ribbon, and when we say a lot of ribbon, we mean a LOT of ribbon.

Whether we use it to finish our wedding invitations as seen here in our California design or for creating a beautiful look on your reception tables with our Michigan Napkin Tags, ribbon gives a very feminine feel to your wedding stationery.

We use satin and sheer ribbon, depending on whether you want a sumptuous or a lighter feel to your design.

Use ribbons at your reception as a great way of adding colour; from the bows and sashes on your chairs, to little satin bows on your wedding favours. How about dressing up your napkins to bring in your colours?

Here we used black sheer ribbon as a bow and then finished with a smaller satin ribbon. The napkin look was finished with a personalised menu tucked underneath a personalised notebook.

Get creative with your wedding ribbon!

How to get your woman on YOUR wedding wavelength

We haven't blogged recently, but have something new in the pipeline that we are working on - which has been made easier with Kara now on board. Although I can't decided whether we should use Blogger or Wordpress - hence why I keep skipping between the two!

So in the meantime this is something we blogged on Wordpress in February! see you soon xx

So you went down on one knee and popped the question. Not only did she say yes, but she’s now having the time of her life showing off the engagement ring that cost you three months salary, looking at venues, choosing flowers and oohing and aahing over dresses.

But chances are your enthusiasm for making her your wife has now cooled a little and whilst you are really looking forward to the day and to be being the leading man to her leading lady; it really seems it’s all about her being the centre of attention. What about you?

Our Wedding

Make her smile by mentioning “our wedding” regularly, gently reminding her that it’s a big day for you too and that yes you would like some input.

Calendar

Make sure you write your important dates across your Nuts/Michelin/Rachel Stevenson calendar, including Sunday services to hear your banns being read, stag/hen weekends, appointment at the suit hire shop, her birthday, when the invites go out, RSVP date. When she sees how much you’ve got on the calendar, she won’t give you too much more to think about.

Off-Limits Time

Book a weekend break away and insist that you do “couple” things without mentioning the W word. Book a lovely hotel, run her a bubble bath, cook her breakfast in bed, or just stay in bed all weekend and remind her why she’s marrying you in the first place [nudge nudge].

Think Like a Woman

Whilst you don’t want to pay a great deal of attention to the finer detail, you tell her that’s her forte; why don’t you let me sort out the honeymoon – think of the time you can sit surfing the net looking for the perfect trip together and if you are a good negotiator think of the money you will save playing the agents off against each other.

Flatter Her

Tell her regularly what a fantastic job she is doing and she will be more inclined to let you sit back and watch her do all the hard work. Tell her how much you appreciate what she is doing, by boosting her ego you’ll get her on your wavelength faster than you thought possible!

Don’t let her ask you to make decisions on things she has chosen

You know she’s already chosen the invites, she’s been looking through websites for months. Tell you trust her judgement and would like to see her top three favourites so you can help her decide on THE ones.

And if this all fails subscribe to the leading online mens magazine Staggered.

Happy planning!