Both traditional and vintage style wedding fairs are pretty easy to come by, but Belle’s Events are striving to tempt the wedding market with alternative and innovative ideas for your big day. My favourite event is Belle’s Bridal Boot Fair- a chance for newly-weds to sell on their wedding nick-nacks and for brides and grooms-to-be to find pre-loved and ex-display bargains as well as a ‘Make Your Own Fabulous Wedding‘ area with mini how to tutorials. Another must for treasure hunters is Belle’s Bridal Bazaar, packed full of quirky wedding suppliers, some ‘vintage’, most ‘alternative’ and all unique! Check out Belle’s Events for upcoming dates and venues.

There are more photos and exhibitor details on our photography blog Tino&Pip Photography: Belle’s Bridal Bazaar // Belle’s Bridal Boot Fair

Today’s our first anniversary! Wow, does it come round quick! I wanted to share a few of our little projects with you, for the sake of nostalgia if nothing else! It was really important to us for our wedding to be memorable… ‘memorably quirky’ was the phrase we had in mind! We spent a lot, I mean A LOT of time crafting all the little details! For us, the planning part of the wedding, the DIY, the collecting, the crafting, the imagining, the designing was just as meaningful and enjoyable as the wedding itself. 

We wanted an outdoor ceremony somewhere beautiful, dramatic and remote – somewhere that was just ours! Stupidly, this isn’t legal in England! We had considered doing the legal bit in our jeans the day before putting on the main ceremony for our friends and family, perhaps in the woods, but we were uncomfortable with the idea of already being married. Scotland (and most of the rest of the world) is more relaxed on their marriage laws so we would be able to have a legally recognised, humanist ceremony wherever we liked… and well, the Scottish highlands are stunning! We were really concerned that our nerves would overpower all other emotions on the day if we were to stand up in front of an audience, so we made the decision to have our little ceremony all to ourselves!

We just loved the idea of having our own little photo project and actually the photographs mean so much more knowing that we took them ourselves! Martin was super-clever in how he organised all the cameras on tripods hiding in every available patch of long grass, set to take photos every second during the ceremony and every few seconds during the ‘couple shots’! We have loads of pics just like this one, of Martin running into the frame, bounding over rocks and streams!

We made some twinkly light fabric garlands from strips of reclaimed fabric to decorate our reception venue, and took one to Scotland with us, just in case we found a use for it! When we got to the cottage we were searching for suitable ceremony location and came across a tree that would display the garland beautifully and provide the perfect backdrop! We had a few bits that we would need for the ceremony, like a candle, lighter and of course the marriage certificate to sign, so we needed somewhere to store it. We found a little cupboard in a charity shop and decoupaged it with fabric so it would fit in with our theme.

I wasn’t looking for a ‘wedding dress’ as such. I wanted something that was mine, a one off, designed for just me! I was gathering inspiration on Etsy and toying with the idea of designing my own, when I came across the wonderfully talented Tawny from Armour sans Anguish who uses reclaimed fabric (girl after my own heart) to create one-of-a-kind garments to order. It was a bit of a risk ordering a dress for a designer in California without having any fittings or even seeing the colour of the fabrics in person (photos can be rather deceptive)! However it really paid off. A few tweaks from a local seamstress and it was just perfect!

I wanted to make my own bridal bouquet, one that I could keep and admire from time to time! Initially it was going to be made up of paper &/or fabric flowers, but it grew as time went on! We spotted some cotton stems at a flower stand & grabbed a bunch, then at Belles Bridal Boot Fair, my magpie eyes fell on some crystal flowers- perfect to add a little sparkle to an otherwise rather rustic looking bouquet!

I made Martin’s button hole, using a cotton stem, a little bit of reclaimed fabric and a gorgeous little broach by Circus Kinetica in Snoopers Attic, Brighton, an a glue gun!

We didn’t have wedding ‘stationery’ as such. We made save-the-dates using copious amounts of tissue paper and PVA! We found the little brown papier mache boxes in Hobbycraft and collected tissue paper from various places including from around the beautiful fresh flowers Martin buys me from time to time! Tucked inside were food bags full of coffee beans for their gorgeous aroma, and a label with a link on them to our wedding website, which was to host the full invite a couple of months later. When the website was ready, we sent out little luggage tags with all the details our guests would need to access it. We even popped a magnet on the bag so it could be stored on the fridge for safe keeping. We have since updated the website to include every bit of memorabilia from the wedding, which we’ll have as a keepsake forever more!

We really didn’t want anything formal for our wedding reception and we wanted it to be memorably quirky! The Marwood with their extensive collection of awesome tat combined with skip-dived furniture and peeling walls was perfect! Plus it isn’t actually a designated wedding venue so it was unique to us! Most importantly, they serve “kick arse coffee and life changing cake”! Your wedding venue doesn’t have to be a ‘wedding venue’. If they don’t often/ever hold weddings, they’ll have no preconceived ideas about what a wedding ‘should’ look like or how the day ‘should’ pan out, so the world’s your oyster!

We really loved the idea of having paper and fabric flowers and spent ages trawling through tutorials online. Once we had gathered hoards of fabric from charity shops, bootfairs and ‘worn and washed’ fabric from Liberty we headed over to my mum’s to set up little production line! Within a few minutes, my mum had designed a handful of coffee filter flowers, having completely disregarded all the tutorials we had sourced and we just loved them! We then set about making another 250 odd for our reception, each one unique! They were so easy to make! Simply scrunch the bottom of a coffee filter in your hand, then stick what ever bit of fabric, paper, buttons, beads, feathers you fancy inside with a glue gun. Then attach the bottom of the flower to a wooden kebab skewer with self adhesive framing tape. Done! 

We pegged little ‘wishes’ on ribbons tied to embroidery hoops & hung from the ceiling. On one side they read ‘It is usually customary for the guests to grant wishes for the bride&groom – we are turning that on it’s head! Pick a wish & keep it safe’, & the other had little wishes such as ‘find a pot of gold’, ‘find someone who makes your toes curl’ & ‘be visited by the stork’!

Origami butterflies were scattered everywhere- all over tables and sideboards! Martin and my sister Lydia spent many an evening making these little cuties- there were HUNDREDS! Martin even threw in the odd paper aeroplane to butch it up a little! You can find all sorts of origami tutorials on Google.

Sod the traditional 3 course meal… we served coffee with a selection of scrummy Marwood cakes, like chili&plum & blueberry&lavender, followed later by a fish&chip supper served in paper, from a local chippy. After the video the most incredible chocolate brownies EVER were handed out fresh from the oven! It would usually be around this time that the wedding cake would be cut and served, so instead, we put pieces of our bespoke Choccywoccydoodah cake in party bags.

Also in our party bags were little pots of green coffee beans ready for growing! We covered each pot with squares of mismatched reclaimed fabrics and held it all together, along with growing instructions, with various coloured elastic bands. For those with children, we made pin wheels with patterned paper and attached little name tags.

We just can’t resist a good rummage around a boot fair or charity shop! Leave yourself plenty of time if you plan to collect treasures for your wedding- we spent the best part of a year gathering tea & coffee sets, in a variety of patterns, colours and eras to match our colourful, eclectic theme! We used the tea and coffee pots as vases for centrepieces and scattered the rest of the crockery on tables surrounded by paper butterflies! It really worked!

Martin had never shot video before but he had 12 hours of practice on the way up to Scotland and I think he did a grand job- everyone was oohing and aahing when we played the video for our friends and family at our Brighton reception a couple of weeks later! It was so wonderful watching their reactions- laughter and tears, all of which we would have missed had we been at the front worrying about getting our lines right!

Details of all the music used & how to purchase the track can be found on Youtube, if you click on the ‘Watch on Youtube’ button in the right corner.

(Scotland photos by us, Tino&Pip, and Marwood photos by Eliza Claire)

If you’d like to see your junk shop wedding featured on Junk Shop Bride, send it my way! I’d love to see and hear all about your DIY and treasure hunt adventures. xXx

Sharing with you some of my favourite pre-loved, shabby chic and vintage treasures that I’ve stumbled upon whilst doing my research…

Left: This clever Rock My Wedding bride left old Polaroid cameras with her guest book for guests to add their photos and comments of the day! I just LOVE this idea!

Right: Who’s eyes wouldn’t light up at the site of retro sweets in a jam jar?! The perfect little favour! (Also found on Rock My Wedding).

Left: You all know I adore creative tableplans- well it doesn’t come much more creative than this! This Victorian letter cabinet was a fab Brighton junk shop find! All the drawers and shelves represented a table, but they were two tables short, so, rather ingenious I think, they cut a rectangle out of a dictionary and displayed the table number inside, then for the last table, names were placed on individual pencils in a jar marked ‘table 4′!  (Another Rock My Wedding gem)!

Right: Lovely story and gorgeous design! These cowbells were part of the bride’s grandfather’s collection from all over the world, which had hung as an installation in her grandparents’ house when she was growing up. Love sentimentality like that! The bride had adorned them with various ribbons and hung them on the chairs, each differing from the next- beautiful! And what’s more, their guests rang them as they came back down the aisle as a husband and wife! (Green Wedding Shoes).

Left: LOVE buttons! Enough said! (Part of real wedding feature on Green Wedding Shoes).

Right: What a cute detail! Adore quirky ideas like this to make your wedding decor extra special! (Rock My Wedding).

A fabulous Love My Dress bride after my own heart! This exquisite dress was an Ebay treasure at only £620! Please do shop around for your dress- there are so many beautiful bargains to be had!

I do hope you have gathered inspiration from this week’s Tid Bits! Which is your favourite? xXx

On Sunday, just as I was preparing a suitably authentic outfit for Judy’s Vintage Fair, I spotted a tweet from one of my best friends, the oh-so-stylish, oh-so-talented illustrator, Ellie, aka Miss Domm, saying she was on her way to the very same event! Then it dawned on me; who better to tell us all about it…

“Having been to ten weddings in two years, and with a love of all things vintage, I am forever on the look out for treasures. Such research keeps me out of mischief financially and might come in handy someday; the engagements just keep on coming after all!

Recently I’ve been cheating on fashion with furniture in an ironic attempt to save the pennies and I even have a new rule.

Instead of buying lovely pieces of attire to hang prettily in the over-spilling cupboard of ‘wonder’, I must slowly but surely collect items of sentimental value to display/accessorise/perch in my new humble abode.

So, when I heard that Judy’s AFFORDABLE Vintage Fair was combining forces with The Vintage Furniture Flea in Brighton, on Sunday 15^th May 2011, I couldn’t help but put the new rule to the test. And, possibly take a gander in the fashion section ‘just in case’ something caught my eye.

I scooted off to the seaside to grab a little fresh air and found myself at the races amongst 75 stalls of vintage fabulousness. With little supervision and a Judy’s stamp on my hand I tweeted my whereabouts (final rescue call) and went straight for the furniture section.

Surrounded by haberdashery, prints, vintage magazines, 1970s Tupperware and a stunning array of affordable ceramics I thought that the handpicked traders showcased an eclectic mix of retro finds. Most of which could easily have come home with me if I hadn’t left my Mary Poppins carpetbag in London. For any couple wanting to find affordable bits and bobs to decorate their home or venue, unique in style and price, Judy’s fair displays a fair few finds at pretty reasonable prices. Traders know their stuff too, which is great.

Coasters could make quirky additions to any themed table arranagement.

Crockery galore, as one would expect. However, most sets were in superb condition and some were even packed in boxes. Pretty dainty florals and 1970s coffee sets stood out from the crowd for me.

Metres and metres of glorious repeat floral fabrics perfect for handmade cushions, curtains or tea towels! Perhaps a drop fabric screen area to snap the guests by as they arrive?

Most impressed by the vintage frame collection at one stall, a beautifully simple way to display wedding piccies in!

After sampling a jammy-dodger encrusted vanilla cupcake, with a pot of tea, I momentarily drifted back to the 1940s with thanks to the live music.

I then took a gander in the fashion section … and I am so pleased I did.

It’s clear fashion experts hand-pick and price-check all stalls in order to ensure shoppers are paying up to 75% less than high street prices. If I were a bride, I would have had a field day! Affordable prices did not override quality and I spotted two potentially show-stopping vintage wedding dresses.

See first two below.

Would this not be breathtaking when tailored to fit? The dress certainly had a Grace Kelly vibe and I found it very difficult to walk away without trying it on.

And this one on the left; Graceful, delicate and undoubtedly my favourite dress in the entire fair. I fell in love IMMEDIATELY. This darling dress was in excellent condition and admired highly by all.”

I’d like to interrupt Ellie for a moment, to give a special mention to this gorgeous boutique featured above- Anything Goes, a Vintage Clothing Shop based in Southsea, raising funds for THE BIVOL TRUST. They sell vintage and retro clothing for both men and women and their in store seamstress and local fasion designers make special one-off designer peices.  Funds raised are used to support the trusts activities which involves helping children and young adults with learning and physicl disabilities. Wonderful hey?! Back to Ellie…

“Other brilliant finds included a bucket of knitted ties in ecclectic colours, beautiful petticoats, lace cardigans and dainty shoes. I ended up spending most of my time in the fashion section, the rule has temporaily been put ‘on hold’ and I’m left hoping that some lucky lady has picked up one of those dresses for her big day. I’m certain the Groom wouldn’t be the only one shedding a happy tear.

Ex Selfridges Personal Shopper Judy Berger apparently ‘set out to create a one-day cosmopolitan marketplace’ celebrating ‘vintage fashion and homewares from the past sixty years’ with affordable prices. Refreshingly, and in my humble option, the fair in Brighton did just that. I would highly recommend any Bride-to-be to take more than just a gander. Enjoy!” 

Thank you Ellie! Back to me…

There was a tear in my eye as I walked away from this adorable combo (above, right), detail shown below…

Of course you could always make your own… they had patterns too!

There were lots of cute dresses perfect for your mismatched bridesmaids too!

Something for the groom…

How fabulous are these hangers?! Just had to show you! They have been wrapped in scraps of beautiful fabric, not too neatly, and tied in a rough knot! Much love!

Either one of these treasures above would be amazing for naming your tables! On the left, French fashion magazines, with gorgeous illustrations, which you could frame and use as a centrepiece. On the right, American motel keys- perhaps you could have them poking out of your floral centrepieces to mark your tables.

BUTTONS! Say no more! On the right, a whole host of little vintage toys… fabulous to keep the children entertained or even the adults if you fancy using them as favours!

Love these little dice, you could get really creative in using these within your wedding decor for a cute retro twist.

Right: We came across a huge case full of retro glasses frames… fabulous as photobooth props we thought!

I very much hope you have enjoyed your virtual tour of Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair! Do be sure to check out their website to see where they will be next! They are sure to come to a city near you!

Photography by me!! (Tino&Pip Photography)

The lovely Emma from Oscar and Rose sent me a selection of photographs from a vintage wedding that melted my heart! Rather unusually, Emma took along several of her own props to the wedding, and with further research I discovered that Oscar and Rose actually run an online photography prop shop- fabulous! Anyway, here are some of my favourite trinkets of inspiration from this gorgeous wedding… 

We all know I LOVE buttons! The cutest wedding decoration! Well Emma collects them too! 

Emma found these cute little letter blocks for £3.00 for a huge box at a boot sale! 

We all love a suitcase right?! This gem was going to be thrown out by a charity shop (horrors) so Emma rescued it, and got the Lexicon cards from ebay. 

The vintage romance in the muted colours of this rose bouquet are b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l! And how about the brides exquisite dress?! I’m so in love with this crochet bunting on the right, made by Emma’s mum. 

The bride did all her own flowers except her bouquet of roses, in fact the hydrangeas came out of her garden on the morning of the wedding! I’ve always loved the idea of growing your own flowers for your wedding. 

She spent ages sourcing all the mis-matched china. 

She even baked the heart shaped biscuits herself! 

The bride designed the table plan easel with these fabulous mis-matched (my favourite word) picture frames on. She now has wedding pictures in the frames in her house- what a spectacular idea!

Sharing with you some of my favourite pre-loved, shabby chic and vintage treasures that I’ve stumbled upon whilst doing my research…

Left: “I really wanted all the polka dot and vintage feel to it, so instead of doing the traditional long dress and winter colours we went for red and white colours.” Inspirational words from Peri, the bride! I recommend you check out the rest of this wonderfully vibrant wedding featured by the fabulous Rock ‘n Roll Bride.

Right: Taking Peri’s idea to the extreme… LOVE the idea of coloured tights with a wedding dress… or perhaps patterned! A new must have for me! This was actually an amazingly artistic Valentine’s Day shoot featured on Ruffled!

I simply must express my love for the fabulously talented Princess Lasertron! Here, she is presenting one of her newest designs the Academy Bouquet. “Last month I set a goal to start working with more unusual materials and experimenting with texture to create bouquets that I have always wanted to work on.” And what a success!

Both images above are from a beautiful outdoor wedding in New Zealand featured on La Belle Bride. As favours, paper bags from Poppies For Grace were filled with TraidAid fair trade chocolate bars and TradeWinds Papua New Guinea coffee beans- LOVE! After the ceremony, the guests gathered next to the vineyards for an afternoon of high tea presented on vintage crockery. Guests enjoyed wine from the venue’s vineyard- how wonderful!

These funky folded letterpress cards really caught my eye. The cards feature mixed antique wood type printed with black ink on kraft paper. Wouldn’t they make fabulous invitations or save- the-dates?! Designed and printed by Etsy store Happy Deliveries.

This ‘sweetheart table’  displays some beautiful treasures- special vintage books, buttons, an alarm clock and jam jars filled with blackberries- much love!

So pleased with this week’s finds- I hope you love them as much as I do! Which is your favourite? xXx