a new direction?

i've had a lot of friends weddings the past few months and yesterday was the last one on the list. and what a stunner it was! i was 'chiefo' bridesmaid for ex-house mate emily and hubby to be rob. not only that but i was enlisted to create their wedding stationery, organise the all important palette and (due to a love for floristry) to do the wedding bouquets. such a great celebration of our friendship to be involved so heavily.

emily already had her eye on one of my 'rose' designs so we worked together to sort the palette and then this became the basis for the rest of the stationery (save the dates, invites and menus). the wedding was held outside on the grass leading up to a beautifully painted pagoda which was featured in the invites and the rose theme ran throughout.

all that was left to do on Thursday was the flowers. now i hadn't done much since my last friends wedding (last april...eek!) so i bought some flowers the previous week to have a practice with. and loved it! it was no different on Thursday, apart from the fact these flowers were absolutely stunning. a beautiful selection of corals, creams, and greens , including peonies, roses, stock, rosemary, and eucalyptus. (there were a couple more but i can't remember their names!)

ta-dah!

it was so relaxing to do, i really miss it and i really hope one day it can become an actual part of my job. popping round to the florists house (she did the main displays) beforehand and seeing her works pace with all the flowers out was just lovely and i'm very envious! the smells were amazing and it's just such a gorgeous job.  if only i can leave my admin job and replace with floristry...oh wait, i could do that. might get job searching this week...

me and imogen (emily's sister) the 'maids' with our flowers :)

a perfect village wedding!

my best friend got married a couple of weeks back - hoorah!  'twas a delightful day and the perfect wedding for her and her new hubby. i wanted to share with you a few snaps from the day of all the lovely decor, flowers, dresses, cake, and of course stationery...

my brief was to produce a 'save the date' and invitation for a spring village wedding. (note: this later grew to an 'order of service' and thank you cards!). tea and cake imagery needed to play a part as there was going to be a pre-wedding-ceremony get together in the village hall with lots of delicious baked goods and vintage tea cups for a good brew. 

my 'save the date'

...and here's my invitations (2 x double sided postcards):

so the day started somewhat differently with the tea & cake reception and as it was such a lovely day weather wise we actually got to enjoy it outside on the haystacks. the bride and the 2 bridesmaids (myself and the brides sister) had mismatched floral print dresses made especially for us by soho mode...they were beautiful!

our beautiful bridesmaid (and pre-wedding) dresses

the ceremony itself was just lovely - a simple and relaxed church wedding with the most adorable flower girl! 

the last page of the 'order of service'

on the topic of flowers, alice has asked if i could do her bouquets and button holes being that i had taken a floristry course. i jumped at the opportunity - we were going to pick lots of flowers from blooming green flowers and make some beautiful accessories. then i realised it had actually been 6 years since my course and got a bit nervous...

...but it all turned out a-ok! ta-dah!

yellow for the boys to match their ties and socks

tulips, ranunculus, and ummm...other pretty flowers

and then it was back to the village hall for further celebrations, photos and of course the food and dancing! it was decorated in almost 100 paper lanterns in the colours of the all important colour palette (and to think, some people actually didn't understand the importance of the colour palette. tsk tsk...that's pain to a designers ears!!)

lots of yummy cakes baked by guests for the pre-wedding tea  & cake 

and then it was all over [insert sad face]. i received my very pretty 'favour' of a pansy in a vintage teacup (with matching saucer and tea plate) and 'thank you' spoon'. and i have just had my thank you card through the post (in normal circumstances this would have been a lovely surprise but as i designed them i knew it was coming!!) 

my beautiful 'favour'

a 'thank you' from me to them and Back again

as a last note i might as well take this opportunity to get a little shameless self promo in - if anyone is interested in wedding stationery please do get in touch - mail@melsmithdesigns.com

ta-ta for now!