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Halfpenny London

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I have resisted until now writing about what I think is the most exciting purchase in planning your wedding. The Dress. This is the one day you get the chance to wear something truly magnificent that makes you feel like a million dollars. In this month’s Cosmopolitan Bride there are some fabulous dresses featured from the catwalks in New York for the 2011 bridal shows earlier this year. Whilst there are some aspects of the dresses available off the rails of bridal shops that you may like, there are probably some that you really dislike. Another option is to have a dress designed and made just for you, either by a family friend or a member of your family or you can seek out a designer to work with to produce ‘your dress’.

Kate Halfpenny is a wedding dress designer based in London. Also with many years experience as a celebrity stylist and an impressive academic portfolio in textiles and design, including a BA Honours in Fashion Marketing and Manufacturing and holds a prestigious MA in Design for Textiles Futures from Central St. Martins College, London.

As a child Kate Halfpenny grew up in a creative environment, her mother was a talented knitwear designer and her father was qualified graphics and craft designer. This led her to try many arts and craft mediums including pottery, printing, jewellery design and fine art before following her passion in textiles.

By 2000 Kate Halfpenny’s knowledge and passion for the history of fashion and her ability to turn an idea into reality meant she was in demand as a costume designer for many brands, including Pepsi, Honda, Ghost and Hugo Boss among others. Kate has also styled many celebrities including Twiggy, Shirley Bassey, Daisy Lowe and Pixie Lott and Emilia Fox has even modeled dresses on Kate’s website. Kate Halfpenny has also made a dress for Kate Moss to wear for her 35th birthday celebrations.

Yet even with celebrity credentials Kate Halfpenny can design and create a beautiful dress for you. From her London studio Kate offers a bespoke dress making service so that you really can have the dress that your heart desires.

All images are taken from Kate Halfpennys website www.halfpennylondon.com with her full permission.

Save The Date

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When I got married 12 years ago wedding invitations were sent and only a handful of people had prior knowledge of the date. However in the past few years ‘Save The Date’ cards, like the above from Artcadia Wedding Stationery, seem to have become the norm when thinking of wedding stationery.

Yet as these ‘Save The Date’ cards are a relatively new concept brides can easily be confused as to the etiquette regarding to whom and when to send these cards. The above bookmark style cards by nmi Photo Creations are especially creative.

Traditionally wedding invitations are not sent until 6-8 weeks before the wedding. Yet by sending a ‘Save the Date’ card, like those above by The Little Stationery Company, you can give your guests a heads up of the wedding date, 4-6 months in advance. This is particularly beneficial as guest lists become more spread out throughout counties, states or countries. Therefore by providing the date of the wedding in advance people can start planning necessary travel arrangements.

Many weddings are held in the Summer months at peak holiday time, so by sending a ‘Save the Date’ card you can avoid the main wedding party and important guests being on their summer holiday at the same time as your wedding. This great card by Serendipity – Beyond Design is perfect for a destination wedding. Obviously this is also an important consideration if your wedding is to be at Christmas or during other key festivals or holidays.

Whilst etiquette suggests that an r.s.v.p. is sent in response to your wedding invitations there are no rules for responding to ‘Save the Date’ cards, like the above typographically-inspired cards by ABSINTHE Custom Print. However you maybe able to gauge a response from speaking to your guests, enabling you to have a preliminary head count.

When you have sent your ‘Save the Date’ cards you need to remember that these people will be those who receive an invitation to your wedding, so you need to be very sure of your final guest list prior to sending these. The above cards from Ello There are a fun way of confirming your head count. However you can add to your guest list after sending ‘Save the Date’ cards.

By sending a ‘Save the Date’ you can provide your guests with a first impression of your festivities, as these are often in the same design as you wedding stationery. The above card by ABSINTHE Custom Print announce a very formal upcoming event, whereas the below card by eb1 lets you know the wedding is likely to be more close and intimate. These notes can just say the couple’s name and the date of the wedding however it may be a good idea to include the venue location so that guests will be able to consider travel arrangements in advance.

So when you have booked your venue it’s time to choose your ‘Save the Date’ stationery and let your guests know the date of your big day.

Wedding Planning

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After the initial excitement of being engaged wears off you may find you suddenly feel incredibly daunted at the task ahead, planning your wedding. Few of us are fortunate enough to be able to afford a wedding planner but thankfully there are many websites and magazines that can help.

When planning your wedding day you will have many things to consider, from venue to stationery, from cake to flowers, never mind your dress, hair or shoes! Perhaps you are lucky enough to know the theme or colour scheme you want for that special day but most brides are bombarded with choice and can often choose several ideas before choosing a theme.

Over the coming months you will spend hours leafing through wedding magazines or searching for specific suppliers on the internet. As well as a collection of magazines there may also be brochures or even photos of ideas you have seen when out. Planning a wedding is like being an interior designer putting together a mood board for a particular room, creating a style that reflects the people living there but encompassing current trends.

When I am planning a party I like to collect ideas in a journal or folder so that I can keep thoughts for themes in one place. I may tear out a picture from a magazine, noting the supplier’s website or telephone number. Thankfully due to camera phones I can always take a picture when I am out, if I see something that sparks an idea for a theme or just for reference to help me find or make a similar idea.

By being organised from the start you can plan a truly fantastic day, without employing a wedding planner. Surprisingly you will find that suddenly people around you are wonderful resources, everybody seems to know a great florist, or cake designer, or stationery designer or even a shoemaker…well maybe a shoemaker is a little more difficult to find, but I will try for a future post!

Beach Party

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We are in the height of Summer here in the UK and I know some of you are lucky enough to have year round sunshine. I am fortunate to live near to the beach and cannot think of a better theme for a party. Think of the fun you could have decorating the venue and choosing beach inspired treasures to incorporate into your day, like the fab cake topper above from Lollipop Workshop.

Choosing a theme for your wedding is probably the most difficult thing about planning your celebration. Perhaps you have a little gem of an idea but are not quite sure how to bring it to fruition or maybe you have chosen the most fantastic colour for your bridesmaids gowns and want to use this as the starting point. Maybe you just love starfish and want to use this as the starting point, like these gorgeous hair accessories from Dreams by the Sea.

Living near the sea or holding your wedding on the beach is the perfect opportunity to have a beach themed party. Maybe you will use bright orchids as the focal point for a tropical beach theme. The gorgeous pink orchid hair clips above from Blue Lovebirds would be a perfect accessory for the bride or bridesmaids hair, made from silk they definitely would not wilt on the day.

Another beach theme is a little more rustic and would be ideal if you are a fan of the shabby chic trend that is currently very popular. Napkins could be sewn in Cath Kidston ‘Boat‘ fabric, boat or fish shape chocolate favors could be made using a chocolate mould and the wooden fishes above, from Giddy Kipper, would make great decorations perhaps tied to the back of a chair or even in place of namecards for place settings.

By choosing a beach theme you are not limited to a particular colour or design, as you can see the beach really does inspire different ideas.

Floral Flourish

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Flowers are a vital part of any celebration, adding colour and texture or perhaps even as a dramatic flourish. The emerald city inspired bouquet above from Idotakeu would certainly add drama to your outfit. Many brides choose neutral colours to compliment their dress, such as cream roses which were popularised by the Victorians as a wedding flower, as they became fascinated with the meaning of different blooms. The wedding rose is said to represent true love.

However some brides choose a brighter bouquet and use this colour throughout their designs for their wedding festivities. A fabulous example can be seen above in the brooch bouquet created by Lionsgate Designs Beautiful flower garlands are draped around the shoulders of the bride and groom by their mothers in Thailand whilst they are at the altar, adding plenty of colour from the start of the wedding celebrations.

Perhaps you will choose a dramatic orange colour to accent your theme, picking marigolds to feature in your bouquet or even choosing these fabulous orange flower shoe clips from Chloe & Maddie, as seen above. Marigolds were dipped in rosewater and carried by brides in Tudor England. The brides would then eat the marigolds as they were considered as an aphrodisiac. I would not suggest that modern brides follow this tradition!

A Christmas wedding would perhaps take advantage of the abundance of ivy available, especially as the Ancient Greeks considered ivy to be a symbol of their never ending love for their spouses. Mixing ivy with cranberry coloured flowers would be a great combination for a winter wedding, like the garland worn in the flower girls hair above from The Red Magnolia .

Herbs can also be used in your wedding flowers as they were by the Ancient Roman brides as a symbol of fertility and to scare off evil spirits. The headdress above from Stitches and Scribbles is reminiscent of the olive headbands worn by Roman emperors. Artemisia is a bitter herb and is used in bouquets by brides in the Middle East as it’s bitterness is considered to help the couple through bitter times as well as sweeter times.

The best known tradition of wedding bouquets is of course the bride tossing her bouquet as she departs from the festivities. This originated from the Victorian Age when the bride would throw her bouquet to a friend to ward off evil spirits, keeping her safe and bringing her luck. In more modern times this tradition has come to mean that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to marry! Yet I would be loathe to toss away the beautiful bouquet created by Hair Bows Wonderworld, featured above.