Welcome to a New Year with Bride Society!

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Newly engaged? CONGRATULATIONS! Let’s get acquainted…

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It’s a New Year!  We’re back after our short Christmas break with all new content for 2024, week-in-week-out bringing you all the wedding content we can possibly think of to help you plan your wedding, from engagement to honeymoon.

So, first things first, to those of you who did some extra special celebrating over the festive period due to an extra special little box under the Christmas tree, CONGRATULATIONS!  We may not know you yet, but we’re still thrilled for you and are genuinely excited to be a part of your wedding planning journey. 

If this is your first time planning a wedding, or it’s been a while, you likely have questions!  We get it, whether you’ve dreamed about this day your whole life or you’ve barely given it a moment’s thought, it’s a big job that can be daunting, but it can also be exciting!  When it comes down to it, the main goal of our YouTube channel is to answer those questions and help you get the most enjoyment possible out of planning your wedding!  No matter what hour of the day planning panic strikes, a quick search and our videos will be there with an answer.  If you get into an inspiration rut, no worries, we’ve got 6.5 years’ worth of ideas to inspire you – not to mention our Pinterest boards!  Getting giddy about dress shopping but it’s midnight and all the stores are closed – check out our try-on videos!  All this and so much more…

Today’s video is here to welcome your fresh faces, a chance for you to get to know ours (we’re Rebecca and Laura – hi!), and let you know what this channel is all about, plus there’s some handy hints about which videos could be a good starting off point for you! 

Comment below, say hi, share your stories!  Follow us in all the places (see below)!  We want you all to feel part of the Society, a community of Brides and of Grooms, all supporting each other, all being excited for one another.  Let’s do our best wedding planning together, between all of us and all of the resources we’ve created at your fingertips, we’ve got this…Let’s get planning! 

— Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society.

Our Annual Christmas Message

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Merry Christmas from Bride Society!

In what’s become a festive tradition, at this time of year we like to look back at the past 12 months to reflect and review on our Bride Society year. Our annual Christmas message and review seems to come around quicker each year but I think that’s just a sign of us getting older!

We’ve had another wonderful year immersed in the wedding world; sharing tips, advice, tutorials, creating wedding DIY ideas and even a honeymoon destination review. But we couldn’t do it without you taking the time to watch and engage with our content.

As always, we’d like to say a huge thank you for supporting our channel. We really appreciate the time spent watching our videos, commenting, liking, and subscribing to our channel and we hope you’ve enjoyed the content we’ve created this year. And we’d like to thank Steph from the Secret Bridesmaid, Emma from Make-Up by Emar and MinaMollie for joining us this year.

We’ve even done a bit of a data analysis and created our very own Bride Society Wrapped with some stats for the year:

  • 51 Youtube videos
  • 28 Youtube Shorts
  • 16, 962.9 watch hours in 2023*
  • 593, 900 views in 2023*
  • 1, 341, 766 lifetime views*

*as of date of recording

If you’ve got any video requests or thoughts about what content you’d like to see from us in 2024 let us know in the comments!

That just leaves us to wish you a very Merry Christmas and an even happier New Year. If you’re getting married in 2024, you can almost say “I’m getting married this year!”

We’ll be back on Friday 5th January at 4pm GMT.

-Rebecca and Laura

Christmas Napkin Folding

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How to fold a Napkin into a Christmas Tree!

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Whether you’re looking for that extra touch for your winter wedding reception tables or trying to impress the future in-laws at Christmas dinner, a fancily folded napkin will get noticed!  Get ready for the ooo’s and arrr’s coming your way!

This week we’re adding to our playlist of impressive napkin folds (all actually much simpler to create that you might be worried about!) with a Christmas Tree Napkin tutorial!  Really, could we be any more festive?!

All you need is a large square napkin – though mine isn’t a perfect square and still worked fine, so don’t panic if yours aren’t either.  Paper or fabric napkins will work, and you can even add an extra embellishment of resting a small bow or a little star on the top…or go all out and add your guests’ names to the tree topper, a clever way of incorporating a place card if I do say so myself! 

Fancy having a go?  Just follow our step-by-step folding tutorial:

Folding success?  Tag us in a photo of your Christmas tables, we’d love to see your napkin trees in situ!  Comment below what your dinner guests had to say about them – we’re nosy and would love to hear! Looking for even more festive crafts and inspiration like this?  Check out our Christmas playlist on YouTube by clicking here!

Wishing you all a wonderful festive period, Rebecca & Laura at Bride Society x

Find even more content from Bride Society by joining us in all of these places:

Wedding Cake Trends 2024

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2024 Wedding cake trend predictions

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We’ve discussed Bridesmaid trends and general wedding trends for 2024, but we thought it was about time we turned our attention to the star of the wedding show…the wedding cake! Well ok, we admit it’s probably not the main event, BUT we are big fans of cake here at Bride Society so we’re sharing our wedding cake trend predictions for 2024.

From current styles that are well and truly here to stay (hint: pressed flowers), to new ideas to ensure your wedding guests are never short of a delicious snack (just remember to have your personal fork on hand like Joey!), we’d love to hear what you think of our suggestions for the upcoming year.

Do you agree with our trend predictions? Have you noticed any other cake trends you think are going to be big in 2024? And are you choosing anything we’ve mentioned in your own wedding? Let us know in the comments below!

-Bride Society

DIY Couples Christmas Star Decoration

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Christmas Crafts!  Fillable Christmas Star Decoration for your Winter Wedding (or home!).

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If ambition is high but skill level is, well, basic when it comes to crafts, then we’ve got what you need in this week’s tutorial: ‘Couples Star Christmas Decoration’.  Whether it’s finishing touches for your winter wedding or adding festive cheer around your home that you’re aiming for, this is a very easy-to-make decoration with great visual impact.  Santa Claus himself would be pleased with this one.  Stand it next to your wedding cake for the picture-perfect moment, then pop it on the mantel piece when you get home – we’re using artificial foliage so that it can come out of the loft Christmas after Christmas to be enjoyed and remind you of your wedding day.  We give ourselves big satisfaction points when we come up with an idea that can be used beyond the wedding day itself.  Better for the environment, the back pocket, and a keepsake all in one.  The other great thing about this Christmas craft is that the only crafting tool you need to own is a mini glue gun (although, to be honest, you could easily get away with super glue).  For your crafting ease, we’ve included the full list, with links, for everything we’ve used below.

Let the festive tunes flow!

What we used:

We’d love to see how your couples Christmas decoration turned out!  Tag us in your photos over on Instagram so we can sneak a peek!

If you’re looking for even more Christmas craft inspiration, be it for your wedding, party, or home, we’ve put all our tutorials into one handy YouTube playlist for you!

Join the Society for even more content in all of these places:

— Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society.

How to Make Festive Hot Chocolate Bombs

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Following on from our small business, Etsy Gift Guide last week, we’re vaguely sticking with the gifting theme but this week going one step further and showing you how to make a gift!

Budget friendly, perfect as a stocking filler, as part of a hamper full of delicious, edible goodies, or even as a festive wedding favour if you’re tying the knot at this time of year!
Hot chocolate bombs are really easy to make and will go down a storm, especially with our decoration to add some festive cheer. Who could resist adding a snowman or Rudolph to their favourite Christmas mug?!

You will need:

  • Heart Mould* (*Affiliate link – we receive a small share of any sales made through this link)
  • Chocolate of your choice to line the heart moulds – we’ve used both dark chocolate and white chocolate.
  • Chocolate for decoration – melted and used in a piping bag
  • Sprinkles for reindeer nose decoration (but you could use melted white chocolate coloured red)
  • Hot chocolate powder
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Cellophane bags and ribbon to wrap

Instructions for use:
Place the festive hot chocolate bomb into your favourite mug.
Heat some milk and pour over the hot chocolate.
Stir and enjoy!

Having a go?  We’d love to see what you did with yours, simply tag us in your photos over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk
And don’t forget, you can join the Society in all of these places:

— Rebecca and Laura, Bride Society

Etsy Christmas 2023 – Fiancé(e) Gift Guide

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Ultimate Gifting for your Fiancé(e) / Partner / Spouse this Christmas!

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Christmas is fast approaching!  Maybe that incites gleeful joy or sheer panic, or perhaps both…either way, it’ll be here before we know it, there’s really no stopping it (ok, I’ve not forgotten the pandemic Christmases, but technically, even those still happened!). 

If it’s panic stations because you’re drawing a total blank on what to get your partner this Christmas, or you’re super-chill and just looking for a few ‘extra bits’ for them, we’ve taken the leg work out of your Christmas shopping for you and rounded up our favourite finds from the wonderous world that is small shop online promoter, Etsy. 

By shopping our list you’ll be supporting small businesses…and us…, so spreading even more festive cheer…well done you!  All the product links for the items shown in our video are listed below to make your shopping even more effortless, and you’ll be at the top of our ‘nice list’ as they are all affiliate links, so we earn a few pennies from every referral at no extra cost to you.  Win win!  Know we’re out there somewhere raising a glass of eggnog to you!

And whilst you may be thinking, nah, I can’t be doing with thinking about Christmas shopping in November, well, we’ve posted this video now so you can take advantage of the Black Friday Sales (NB. we have no foreknowledge of which items on our gift guide will be having sales) – see, we’re thinking of you!

For a personalised, budget-friendly, socially conscious Christmas, look no further than our 2023 Gift Guide:

Product links (in order of appearance):

Affiliate links – we get a small percentage of the profits made through our referrals at no extra cost to you when purchased through the links below.

NB. Prices shown are the full price costs at the time of recording and do not reflect any sale pricing.

AD. Quick shop our Etsy Collection here!

You can also find all our picks and more on our dedicated Pinterest board:

We hope you find something you love for your partner, we’re excited to hear what you picked, let us know in the comments (assuming you don’t think there’s a risk of them spotting your comment on our site!  We’d hate to blow the surprise).

Looking for more festive inspiration?  Check out our ‘Winter / Christmas Wedding Ideas’, it’s bursting with ideas that work for more than just weddings, such as dinner parties and your Christmas tables, like how to make your own Christmas crackers!

If you just can’t get enough of us, don’t forget you can also find Bride Society in all of these places!  Join the Society:

— Rebecca and Laura, Bride Society

Groomsmen/Usher/Best Man Duties

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What to expect when you’re asked to be a Best Man, Usher or Groomsman

With our channel being called Bride Society, we don’t always give as much attention to the more traditionally male filled roles* in the wedding. But today we’re changing that and following on from our Bridesmaid/Maid of Honour Duties video, we’re turning to the roles and responsibilities of Best Men, Groomsmen and Ushers!

*Gender is irrelevant for wedding parties and actually the most important thing is having the people you care about most, standing with you during your major life event!

You’ve been asked to be a Groomsman/Usher/Best Man (delete as appropriate) but you might not even know what that role is and what you might be asked and expected to do as part of that!

The varying roles come with varying levels of potential tasks and responsibilities so we’re here to help de-mystify what you might have just agreed to!

Or, if you’re the couple in the midst of planning your wedding party proposals, what you might be able to ask your nearest and dearest to do when they accept their roles in your Special Day.

Thanks for watching!

We hope you’re feeling more confident about accepting this special role in the wedding. Any comments/questions /video requests, drop them in the comments box and we’ll do our best to help!

For even more content and to be a part of the Society, join us in all these places:

–Rebecca and Laura, Bride Society.

ASOS 2023/24 Winter Wedding Bridesmaid Dresses

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ASOS Bridesmaid Dresses: Reviewed

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November arrived before I could blink!  Anyone else?  And the second those clocks went back, a little ping went off in my head telling me winter is hurtling towards us, for better or worse! 

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll know I’m a firm summer lover…sunshine, warmth, and long daylight hours is where I’m at.  That said, I can’t deny winter has its merits, and I’m guessing if you’re thinking of having a winter wedding, that you might be someone who gets those winter-feels.  The cosiness, the big jumpers, twinkly lights, hot chocolate, the Christmas gatherings & celebrations, Strictly Come Dancing, the so-trashy-they’re-good Xmas films (so basically, I’m happy until about Jan 2nd! Haha)…  Or maybe you’re not such a fan and landed on the extremely genius idea to have a winter wedding in a bid to brighten up these cold, dark months, with something fun for you & your favourite people to look forward to!

With the chilly season on the horizon, we decided it was time to take a look for the perfect wintery bridesmaid outfit.  We checked out online retailer, ASOS, to see what they’ve brought out for the 2023/24 AW season.  Take a look at the dresses we picked and find out what we thought in this week’s video (time stamps in YouTube video description box if you’re looking for the review of a specific dress).

Product links (in order of appearance):

  1. ASOS DESIGN bare shoulder prom scuba midi dress in forest green, £65.
  2. Pretty Lavish one shoulder satin midi dress in plum, £75.
  3. Anaya Bridesmaid tulle one shoulder maxi dress in emerald green, £80.
  4. ASOS DESIGN twist pleat maxi dress in sequin silver, £60.

Please note: The views expressed in this video are those held by Bride Society only. We are in no way affiliated with ASOS and this video has not been sponsored by them or any third party.

Which dress is your favourite?  Comment below!  Let us know if you pick any of these dresses and tag us in your photos, we’d love to see.  You can find us in all of these places:

–Rebecca and Laura, Bride Society

Pressed Flower Pumpkin DIY

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No carve pumpkin inspiration

When you think of autumnal weddings, the colours of the changing season spring to mind; burnt oranges, rusts and golds and when it comes to decor, you can’t get much more seasonal than including pumpkins around your venue!

Carving a scary face into a jack-o-lantern might not quite fit in with your wedding theme, but thankfully there are so many more things you can do with pumpkins and gourds that do!

Enter our pressed flower pumpkins!

An incredibly easy way to make an impact without the scare-factor. Perfect for a wedding or even just your porch decor, and without any of the mess.
We’ve kept everything edible in this inspiration video, from the flowers to the glue and even the gold leaf. So once you’ve finished with using your pumpkins as beautiful decor, you can cook up something delicious with them!

Items used:
Pressed edible flowers
Edible glue
Gold leaf

Looking for more pumpkin inspiration?  Check out our Autumn/Fall Wedding Ideas playlist on YouTube for all things autumnal wedding!

And don’t forget, you can join the Society in all of these places:

— Rebecca and Laura, Bride Society

Cricut Place Card Tutorial

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Whether to Invest in a Cricut Machine and How to Deboss, Draw and Cut Tutorial

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If I was able to plan my wedding all over again, what would I do differently?  Honestly, I’d run out and buy a Cricut machine straight out of the gate (or you know, order it online like a regular person!).  It actually makes me a tiny bit sad I didn’t have my Cricut Maker back then…not that it existed at the time! 

I was a DIY bride, with next to no previous craft experience, but knew I wanted to make my wedding personal.  The trouble was that I also wanted it to all look sleek, not have that ‘homemade – I stuck dried pasta onto a sheet of paper’ feel.  You know what I’m saying!   And for me, Cricut is what elevates that homemade vibe to pro level, with its precision cutting and range of materials to suit almost any theme and desire.

So, let me save you from future regrets…if you know you want to DIY your wedding, with personalised touches at every turn, from the engagement party right through to the post wedding thank you’s, then this is THE piece of kit.  If you just want a personalised ‘welcome’ sign, then yea, you’re better just hopping on Etsy, but if the creative juices have already started bubbling away and your Pinterest boards are filling up, it could be worth the investment.  Whilst I went with the Cricut Maker, they now have a wider range of machines, from the Cricut Joy all the way up to the Cricut Maker 3, so if you don’t think you’ll need every function under the sun, all-singing-all-dancing, or don’t have the space, you don’t have to splash out quite so big.  Choices! 

That felt like quite the hard sell for someone who has no affiliation with Cricut themselves!  Anyway, on to today’s Cricut project…PLACE CARDS! We’ve created a step-by-step YouTube tutorial, suitable for absolute beginners, as well as those just trying to pick up a few extra tips on how to make a name card for your place settings.  We’ll be talking you through creating a design in Cricut Design Space, how to use the ‘debossing’ tool, using your machine to draw and finally how to cut using your fine point blade.  Whether you want to specifically create a name card or not, these instructions & tips can easily be adapted to your own project – time stamps for each step can be found in the video description box over on YouTube.

What we used:

*Amazon Affiliate Links – we get a small percentage of the profits made through our referrals at no extra cost to you when purchased through the links marked with asterisks.

NB. This video is not made in association with Cricut.  Some materials listed above are affiliate links, these are clearly marked by an asterisk* where applicable. This means we get a small amount of commission from the retailer for the referral at no additional cost to you.

Looking for more content like this? Check out our YouTube Cricut playlist or find us in all of these places too:

–Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society

2024 Wedding Trends

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It’s that time of year again and the most eagerly anticipated video of the year (completely unsubstantiated claims!). It’s our wedding trend predictions for 2024!

We’re covering the pop culture phenomenon already having a huge impact on weddings and that’s only going to increase going forward. Hint: think pink! The rise of the wedding content creator, floral hacks and more! We’ve got a full round up of what’s going to be big in 2024.

And while we’re covering a lot of bases, you may notice one small omission…cake. But that’s because we’re going to give our wedding cake trend predictions their very own video. Coming soon!

Do you agree with our trend predictions? Have you noticed any other trends about to explode in 2024? And are you featuring anything we’ve mentioned in your own wedding? Let us know in the comments below!

-Bride Society

Napkin Folding – Two ways, “The Fan” and “3 Angled Pockets”

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Step-by-step instructions on how to fold napkins into a decorative fan or a pouch for your cutlery.

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Two easy ways of folding napkins to add host points to your next gathering!  Whether you’re prepping wedding reception tables, pimping up your Thanksgiving / Christmas tablescapes or trying to impress your future mother-in-law with your entertaining skills, styled napkins will earn you big points with your guests. 

These days whenever we’re entertaining guests for dinner in our home, if I’ve managed to set aside enough time after cleaning and tidying the entire house (which is a tricky balancing act as I always have to leave it as late in the game as possible, otherwise I’ll turn around and find my husband (accidentally) messing it up again!), I love to get fancy with the napkins on my place settings.  At least one guest will always comment on them and a couple more will refuse to use the napkin because they’re, “too pretty to undo”…which is basically my objective these days!  I know, I know, a napkin is a practical thing that’s there to be used, and I’m sure they would if they absolutely needed to, but if it’s being regarded as a piece of art, then who am I to argue?  *Gives self a pat on the back*

First up in our tutorial is “The Fan”, for that little decorative flourish to your tables, or if you’re after sleek sophistication, try our “3 Angled Pockets” fold that will keep all your cutlery / silverware neat & tidy.  Both of these styles work best with a large, square, cloth napkin:

Looking for even more styles to try?  Check out our YouTube playlist here!

Having a go?  Tag us in your photos over on Instagram, we’d love to see what you did with yours!

If you can’t wait another whole week for more content from us, check out Bride Society in all of these places too:

— Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society x

Bouquet Alternatives

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Bouquet ideas for your wedding beyond the traditional flower bouquet.

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When it comes to weddings, there are so many aspects of the day and traditions we participate in, that often we don’t really give that much thought to. I know for me, flowers, and therefore bouquets were one of those things. My brain just went, “We’re getting married, therefore we need bouquets” -period- and I did nothing more than simply pick out what type of flowers and colours I wanted. It was an auto-pilot decision because that’s just ‘what you do’. But what if you don’t?! There’s nothing to say you have to stick with that tradition…it’s an opportunity to mix things up!

So if you’re looking for alternatives to traditional flower bouquets for your bridesmaids (or flowers girls, or even yourself as the bride), there are plenty of creative options to consider and we’re here with our latest video to provide you with a sprinkle of inspiration. We’ve rounded up a wide array of options, some even still involving flowers, just not in the traditional bouquet presentation. Curious? Check out our latest video here:

We also have a dedicated Pinterest Board to support this video where you can find all the styles we’ve showcased in today’s video. You can check that out and save the pins to your own boards here:

Remember to choose an alternative bouquet option that reflects your personal style and complements the overall wedding theme. These non-traditional alternatives can add a beautiful and memorable touch to your special day.

Got any other ideas? Share them with other couples by commenting.

Looking for more content like this? Check out our ‘Wedding Chat’ playlist over on YouTube or find us in all these other places too:

— Rebecca and Laura, Bride Society.

Wedding Cupcake DIY – Lemon Cupcake Recipe

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Cake! One of the highlights of any wedding reception. If you’re thinking of DIY-ing this part of the day, then cupcakes could be an easy (and not toooo time consuming) option. These don’t just work for your wedding cake display, they could be used as wedding favours. We all love an edible favour! Or just for an everyday treat (although you may need to scale down the recipe for that one).

One quite big caveat if you’re planning on making these cupcakes yourself for your own wedding. They really need to be made the day before, which is when you’ve probably got quite a few other things to do! So it could be a task for some very helpful friends or family members. Especially those who are a fan of, and confident with baking.

And if you still want that cake cutting moment and photo, it’s easy to add a small cutting cake to your display to slice into as newlyweds.

Lemon Cupcakes:

To make 45 cupcakes – scale up/down as necessary

  • 600g butter/margarine
  • 600g caster sugar
  • zest of 6 lemons
  • 9 eggs
  • 600g self raising flour

Bake the cupcakes at 160oC (fan) for 20mins

For the lemon syrup

  • juice of 4 lemons
  • 75g caster sugar

Add the lemon juice to the caster sugar and mix until dissolved. Brush this over the top of all your cupcakes to add an extra hit of lemony flavour.

We filled the middle of our cupcakes with lemon curd. To do this, use an apple corer or spoon to remove the centre of the cupcake. Fill with lemon curd and replace some of the cake to cover the hole. Then add your buttercream!

For the buttercream:

  • 500g butter
  • 1100g icing sugar
  • 1tbsp of lemon curd (or more if you prefer a more lemon flavour buttercream)

Beat the butter, icing sugar and lemon curd together for approx. 10 minutes.

Decorate the cupcakes to fit your theme and enjoy!

Having a go?  We’d love to see what you did with yours, simply tag us in your photos over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk.

Want to see some more baking content? Check out our Edible DIYs YouTube playlist.

-Bride Society