We can’t quite believe we’re already heading towards the end of 2021! What was meant to be the year of getting back on track after an unusual 2020, saw a lot of the world go through multiple lockdowns (again).
BUT weddings started happening again, and couples have been able to celebrate their Big Day with their nearest and dearest. SO we can only hope this continues and 2022 is the year we can really let loose.
As we head towards January 2022 at an alarming rate, we’re once again looking ahead at the trends we think will be big in the New Year. You’ll see that a lot of the trends we’re seeing have been impacted by, and are a result of, the last 18+ months and we’d love to hear what you think.
Do you agree with our trend predictions? Have you noticed any other trends about to blow up in 2022? And are you featuring anything we’ve mentioned in your own wedding? Let us know in the comments below!
Autumn has fully set in, Halloween is on the horizon, and the stores have mounds of pumpkins greeting you at the door. We’re fully embracing those fall vibes (at least whilst the sun in still shining)…we’ve dug out the sweaters from the depths of our drawers, started to don the occasional light scarf and have put the gloves within easy reach – just in case! If you’ve taken the love of all that is autumnal to the next level by deciding to have your wedding in this golden-leafed season, then maybe you’ve stopped by our blog for a touch of inspiration on how to incorporate seasonal touches into your wedding day. Tasteful nods are always key to any wedding ‘theme’. In this week’s DIY tutorial, we’re giving the spooky ‘ghost’ munchkin pumpkin a touch of wedding glamour to create the perfect fall-meets-wedding look!
In fact, we have two designs for you, both using ‘ghost’ munchkin pumpkins as a base.
1. A ‘Ghostly’ name place setting – keeping it white, adding beadwork with a handwritten name (also shown with vinyl for options).
2. A ‘Ghoul’ name place setting – a tad more gothic or Halloween-esq., depending on your desired vibe for your wedding, also beaded and with a cut vinyl name. Either get your pre-cut vinyls online and skip ahead to the application step (time stamps below) or make them with our quick Cricut demo.
Tip! Even if you’re not planning a wedding right now, don’t let that hold your craftiness back! These cuties will bring a touch of seasonal class to any dinner party or even Halloween party. Having more than one event? Use ‘removeable’ vinyl rather than the ‘permanent’ vinyl that we used, then simply remove and replace the names as desired!
What we used:
• ‘Ghost’ munchkin pumpkins • Uni Posca Gold Chisel 8mm Pen* (*Affiliate link – we get a small percentage of the earnings made from this link, but there is no additional charge to you.)
• All Purpose Glue* (*Affiliate link – we get a small percentage of the earnings made from this link, but there is no additional charge to you.) • Oval Pearl Beads
• Pearl Beads, 2.5mm • Pearl Beads, 5mm • Twisted Bugle Beads* 7mm silver (*Affiliate link – we get a small percentage of the earnings made from this link, but there is no additional charge to you.)
If you want to fall down the rabbit hole of even more inspiration for your autumn/fall/Halloween wedding or celebration, check out our YouTube playlist here!
Having a go? Tag us in your photos over on Instagram here, we’d love to see what you come up with! Any questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.
If you’re in the US, then it will come as no surprise that Halloween is the second most popular holiday (Christmas being number 1) and the popularity is only rising in the UK! So it’s quite possible that if you’re planning a wedding around the end of October you may want to include some Halloween touches.
Move over pumpkins (not really – we love wedding pumpkins! Check out quite a few wedding pumpkin ideas here.) Edible favours always go down a storm so we think our mummy and witch inspired cakesicles are definitely more treat than trick! And who says Halloween has to be scary? These cakes will bring a smile to anyone’s face!
Perfect for wedding favours, your guests will be sure to take these with them at the end of the night, if they last that long that is!
Oh man, doesn’t it feel great to be back in wedding season?! Although the term ‘season’ doesn’t really seem to apply to 2021 weddings in the way it used to. This September was the first wedding I’ve attended since the pandemic began (I can’t even remember how long ago the last wedding was before that) and it felt GOOD!
This, like many of recent times, was a long-awaited wedding, with multiple dates having been and gone, to the point where you’d stop believing it would ever be able to happen. However, this September, IT HAPPENED!!! Two of my truly lovely friends from yoga tied the knot and every single one of us cherished this wedding all the more for the wait.
We danced, we laughed, we ate cake and we applauded. It was the very best of days…there was even sunshine! The only challenge that lay before me, which was surprisingly quite a sizeable challenge, was remembering how to get dressed up…what do I do with this eyeshadow, which spray keeps my curls in, which heels are comfy for all-day partying?! So, in today’s video I’m taking you along for the ride of rediscovering makeup and party dresses as I get ready for this September wedding. (So mostly a video of me looking confused!)
As much as we love flowers, it can sometimes be heartbreaking when you can only enjoy them for a few days before they die. Especially something like a bridal bouquet which holds so many emotions and memories!
I know I attempted to hang my bouquet flowers upside down from the cottage we rented for our mini-moon to try and dry them. With limited success! Some worked ok but others shrivelled up or turned brown. Not quite the look I was going for!
After hearing about silica gel beads as a way of preserving flowers, we were intrigued, but wary of using silica when we’re trying to be more sustainable. However, after some research, it turns out the gel beads can be re-used over and over again. So we gave it a go!
The main thing you need with this method (other than the silica gel beads themselves) is patience. I left the flowers drying for a week before uncovering them from their blanket of beads although small flowers may dry quicker than that.
You will need:
Flowers (the larger the flower, the longer it will take to dry)
Silica Gel Beads – We used this 2kg bucket*Affiliate link – we receive a small share of any sales made through this link. The silica gel can be re-used however each set of flowers will take approximately a week to fully dry.
A container – this could be anything as long as you can completely surround your flowers with the silica gel and cover it over. (We used a 4l Really Useful Box)
A soft paintbrush to remove any silica beads from in between the dried petals.
Gloves and a mask are advised when using the silica gel beads as they can be an irritant
I would say that this isn’t the cheapest DIY. I ordered a 2kg bucket and that worked perfectly to cover the four flowers dried in this video. But you would need a lot more to do a large bouquet all at the same time.
Overall, I was really impressed with the results of this preservation method. Although I lost a few petals, the flowers kept their colour which is unusual! And don’t look dried at all.
An easy way to keep hold of those cherished blooms!
Once dried, I added my flowers to a deep shadow box frame to display them along side some other treasured memories from my wedding.
We used this frame* – Affiliate link – we receive a small share of any sales made through this link
Anyone around here a morning person? Especially the morning after a wedding? I for one am definitely not (and I don’t even particularly drink!), so the hotel ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign is basically my best friend. I usually blame my husband for working on another time zone for my nocturnal lifestyle, but in all honesty, I was always a night owl (don’t tell him I owned up to that though, shhhh!).
So if you’re a Cricut fan, ready and raring to craft your way through to W-Day, we’ve got a tutorial, suitable for all levels, on how to make a Door Hanger for your guests. Perfect if you are having a hotel based wedding and want a fun way to welcome all your out-of-town guests!
We’re showing you how to use the Cricut Design Space, their foiling kit, fine point blade and debossing tip in today’s how-to, but you can always just skip ahead to the bits you need using the time stamps in the video description box!
Having a go? Tag us in your photos over on Instagram here, we’d love to see what you come up with! Any questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.
When I look back at my wedding, some of the most fun and ‘alive’ photos of our guests, are the ones from our photo booth. Almost everyone had a go, even the characters amongst them who I thought wouldn’t be into it. Every image is of someone having a good time and letting their playful side out…yes, in some cases, aided by alcohol (no comment!). Those photos even ended up being a number of peoples’ profile photos for a while there too!
So if you’re looking to add a little extra magic to your photos, be it at your engagement party, bridal shower or hen do, then have a go at making our diamond ring DIY Photo Booth Frame with our tutorial over on YouTube now! Fully customisable, just add to or adapt the text, or once you’ve learnt the basic technique, apply it to whatever shape you want!
Having a go? Tag us in your hen party photos over on Instagram here, we’d love to see what you come up with! Any questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.
How to Make Your Own Wedding Stationery | Embossed Place Settings | Faux Wax Seal Place Cards
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If you’re thinking about DIY-ing parts of your wedding, chances are you’re already a bit crafty and might have a stash of crafting supplies you can dig through for your wedding projects. This was the case for the Embossed Place Setting DIY. I wanted a take on a wax seal since we’ve seen a lot of wax seals on wedding stationery recently, but don’t own a wax seal kit. I thought there must be something I could use to give a similar effect so raided my craft supplies! Our faux wax seal place cards use embossing powder, heat and rubber stamps to create a similar effect.
If you haven’t used embossing powder before, it’s a powder that when heated, melts to produce a raised pattern/design. It’s usually used with rubber stamps with intricate designs but we’re using it a bit differently. The powders come in so many different colours, there’s sure to be something to match your colour scheme.
For this DIY you will need:
Pre cut place cards or sheets of card to make your own (standard place cards are 5.5cm x 8.5cm)
Vellum paper or paper in a colour/pattern of your choice
Embossing Powder
Clear Glue Ink Pad
Craft Heat Gun
Rubber stamps (for both the guests’ names and to create your design in the embossed circle)
Circle stamp/something circular to apply the clear glue ink with
Ink pad
** Please be careful when using heat guns as they get very hot! **
Having a go? Tag us in your photos over on Instagram here, we’d love to see what you come up with! Any questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.
Dried flowers were increasing in popularity for weddings before 2020 but the trend has exploded over the past 18 months, for obvious reasons! We’re a fan of a DIY that can be done well in advance, and this is definitely one of the perks of our dried flower cake topper. Because, although wedding crafting can be fun, and often budget friendly, one thing is for certain: Everything always takes longer than you think it’s going to!
We’ve created a heart shaped topper for our wedding cake topper, because, you know love an’ all that, but the technique’s exactly the same for whatever shape you want to create.
Heart shaped cookie cutter (or shape of your choice) ours was approx 10cm.
Thin floral wire
Dried flowers
Top tip: If you’re struggling to shape the wire using the template, if you’ve used a cookie cutter to draw around, you can also bend the wire around the cutter itself.
Having a go? Tag us in your photos over on Instagram here, we’d love to see what you come up with! Any questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.
You’re gathering up your closest friends for a day, or these days more likely a weekend, of fun. You’ve booked the venue, hired the transport, lined up the activities, prepped the games, maybe even made a survival kit for everyone. And after the past couple of years, you’re more excited than ever to get your favourite people together to celebrate seeing you off in to married life. Now all that’s sorted, let’s talk outfits! Are you going all in and having your group wear fancy dress…tutus and neon leg warmers anyone? Maybe everyone is colour coordinating their looks. Or maybe you’re keeping it simple and just want everyone to wear their favourite outfit that they’ve not had nearly enough opportunities to wear of late.
No matter which end of the scale you land on, when it comes down to it, we more than likely want to feel like we’re all part of your chosen ‘Bride Tribe’, I mean, why wouldn’t we, you’re clearly fabulous – you clicked on this page! And the perfect way to do that? Have everyone wear something that matches / coordinates and a really easy way to do that is to give them a party hat! Yes, you may have not worn one since your 5th birthday party, but we’re here to capture that pure fun and joy. So, grab your coloured card and let’s get crafty with our step-by-step tutorial with decoration suggestion, now available on YouTube:
Of course we couldn’t leave out our longstanding, adventurous hen party mascot, Henny…or perhaps we should rename her, ‘Hatty’?
Having a go? Tag us in your hen party photos over on Instagram here, we’d love to see what you come up with! Any questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.
We’ve been looking to the world of bridal fashion this week and turning it into something delicious with our wedding ready wedding cakesicles! Our bridal inspired cakesicles showcase the ivory backdrop and delicate lace popular with so many wedding gowns. Finished with a flourish of sprinkles to represent pearls and a bit of sparkle, they’ll be ready for their close up on your Big Day.
If you’ve been around for a while, you know we’re big fans of this bitesize treat and think they’re perfect as an alternative wedding cake, canapés or wedding favours. If you’re tackling them yourself for your wedding, just make sure to give yourself plenty of time as there are a few stages to them with waiting time in between.
• Cake and buttercream/frosting mixture (a ratio of 1:4 buttercream to cake)
• White chocolate (approx 2tbsp melted chocolate per cakesicle)
• Oil based food colouring (we used Colour Mill in the shade Latte
• Sprinkles – We used Happy Ever After sprinkles* by Happy Sprinkles – (*Affiliate link – we receive a small share of any sales made through this link)
This week we’re bringing you a DIY that I did in fact ‘do myself’ for my very own wedding! After 4 years of running this blog, there’s not many projects left which we took on ourselves that we haven’t already shown you. This was one of these little extras I found myself doing, wanting to add a little something to every aspect of our wedding. Know the feeling? Make them with us here!
These sweet bags are a perfect addition to your sweet table / candy station, and you can go one step further, adding your own names & wedding date to really make them your own. Funnily enough, I didn’t actually have a sweet table at my wedding….I know, I’m a fool, because really, why wouldn’t you (no, really…I have no answer for this, I have no clue why I didn’t have one!)?
If that’s now got you questioning why the heck I was doing with these bags – fair – well, they were actually so people could take home the wedding cake. Weddings notoriously have lots of cake left over at the end, especially when guests have also been served dessert with their meal. So, if you’re skipping the candy but simply having cake, or maybe a dessert table, leave these little bags out with a small sign encouraging people to take a piece for later. Or, you know, have a sweet table.
What you need:
A printer
Paper bags (ours are 15cm²)
And Microsoft Word – don’t panic, we show you step-by-step how to use it.
Having a go? Share your designs with us by tagging us in your photos over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see!
Any questions? Just ask, we’ll try our best to help.
How to Make Cake Pops – Perfect Wedding Favours or Alternative Wedding Cake
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If you’re going down the route of wedding favours, then an edible one is definitely up there with one of the best kinds. You won’t find many sweet treats left behind at the end of a wedding day. Here at Bride Society we’ve shown you how to make quite a few different types of edible favour, from giant marshmallows to cakesicles, but this week we’re going back to a classic.
The original cake pop.
Smaller than the cakesicle, cake pops are bitesize spheres of delicious-ness which your guests will love. And the best bit, you can use up any leftover or offcuts from cakes you’ve baked to create them! Throw any offcuts into the freezer until you’re ready to create your favours and you’re already most of the way there!
Top tip: Dip your cake pop stick into melted chocolate before pushing into the cake ball. This helps secure the stick in place before dipping your cake pops.
Coordinate your pops with your wedding scheme, the technique’s the same for all types of chocolate. And don’t feel limited by the standard chocolate types, use an oil based food colouring to colour white chocolate if you fancy something a bit more colourful! Add sprinkles/gold leaf or more chocolate for decoration and to add that extra finishing touch, why not tie a ribbon around the stick.
Don’t forget to tag us over on Instagram if you give these a go. We love to see your creations!
It’s been a long time since any of us even dared to fantasise about beaches, palm trees and lounging in a hammock with a frozen daiquiri in hand – I know that’s a pretty specific fantasy, but I’m trusting I’m not alone with that?
Sunnier shores never seemed further away, but I’m going to say it…I’m daring to hope…well, I’m whispering it in case C$!$#-*9 hears me! [Insert ALL the crossed fingered emojis possible!]
What exotic destination are you making plans for? Share with us in the comments! This holiday was probably already going to be one of the most special ones of your life, but after everything the past 1.5 years has put us through, you’ll savour it all the more! With that in mind, we got thinking about the little extra touches for your honeymoon and came up with the idea of customising your luggage tags especially for the trip. Fear not, all your craft efforts do not end with the wedding! Hurrah!
Our tutorial is for Cricut users of any level, so beginners, we’ve got you! Step-by-step instructions with time stamps in the YouTube description box if you want to skip ahead to specific techniques like cropping in Design Space or layering iron-on vinyl, and the design / lettering is totally adaptable to your needs!
Your wedding day will obviously be a wonderful day, but no matter how much time and effort you put into planning, there is always the risk of a couple of hiccups on the day itself. BUT, if you’re prepared for that then you can conquer them with ease and no stress! That’s where our Wedding Day Emergency Kit comes in. A bag of tricks that we hope you won’t even have to open on your Big Day, but if you (or your bridal party) do, the emergency kit can be grabbed at a moment’s notice to leave you with concentrating on the main event of the day, getting married!
So what kind of things are we talking about? Unseasonal heatwave? We’ve got you covered with sunscreen and a fan. Buttonholes arrive without anything to attach them? Well here’s some handy pins…the list goes on! And it’s so easy to prep beforehand.
Let us know what you think of our suggestions and if you think we left anything out, tell us in the comments below!
