Vintage Birthday Parties

Lately I seem to be surrounded by kids and birthdays, and it’s made me itchy to plan my own vintage birthday party!

The vintage birthday party idea was spawned, in part, by these charming invitations from Hard to Find

Girl Invitations

And they’ve got some for boys, too!

Boy Invitations

And check out these super adorable re-usable balloon balls also from Hard to Find.

Balloon Ball

They’re like cushion covers, but for balloons! Which also means they’re reusable.

But it’s not just about the decorations, vintage birthday party games are a must as well! (Although, to be fair, most of them are probably still used today).

There’s good old “Pass the Parcel”, “Musical Statues”, “Musical Chairs”, “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” and “Simon Says”.

And the food! I almost wish I was a kid again just forthe birthday party food. Especially the fairy bread. There’s never enough fairy bread around. Or mini hot dogs. Or sausage rolls and party pies.

Christmas Bells

As I mentioned last post I decided to try to make some cute Christmas decorations:

Well, after finally managing to work out some red and white polka dot paper (I ended up buying jpg images off Etsy and having it printed at our local Officeworks) and my mdf shapes arriving in the post, I commenced DIYing!

Behold, my first attempt:

The downside to the mdf is that it’s obviously not the same colour as the thin pine they used in the original, but otherwise I think they’re pretty alright! Of course, now I have to choose between the white and red ribbon.

Any opinions?

Burnt Orange Bridesmaid Dresses

One of my friends is engaged, and is frantically trying to locate burnt orange bridesmaid dresses. Turns out it’s harder than you think, so I thought I’d see if I could help her out.

So here’s some dresses that are close in colour for her (and you) to check out!

Available from Alfred Angelo

Available from Weddington Way
and Dessy

Available from Dessy

Available from Cynthia.Styling

Available from Dessy and Weddington Way

Available form Dessy

Available from Dessy

Available from Dessy

The wedding is due to take place in Autumn, and I think that those colours are going to look so incredible in some outdoor photos:

 

Autumn Leaves and Autumn Season

Image from OWIPS

Can you just imagine it? I’m a little bit jealous – is it too late to change the date for my wedding?

Coloured Petticoats

One of the things I’ve been thinking about is whether I want a coloured petticoat under my wedding dress.

For example:

from pixiepocket.com

fiftieswedding.com

from http://honeypieboutique.co.uk/

Don’t they look stunning?

I’ve tracked down a couple of suppliers of the coloured petticoat, Dolly Couture has them, as does Honey Pie Boutique and Vivien of Holloway.

So what do you think? Coloured petticoat, or no?

Cleaning Costume Jewellery

I have discovered that one of the more difficult aspects of planning a vintage wedding is working out how to care for vintage items.

Take my jewellery for example. I bought some perfectly lovely 1930s style jewellery from Etsy

but I cannot work out how to clean it. I can’t use any chemicals myself because
the chemicals are supposed to be bad for pearls (both real and faux), and I’m concerned that if I use one of those ultrasonic-immerse-in-water-and-vibrate-the-dirt-out machines, it’ll cause problems with the glue holding the faux pearls in place.

I’ve tried a silver polishing cloth, but to not much avail. I think the only thing I haven’t tried is using a soft brush (such as a paint brush) to brush any dust out, but there doesn’t seem to be much there.

So basically I’m stumped. The jewellery is pretty, and it sparkles, which I suppose is all it needs to do, but I’d be a lot happier if I could be sure it was clean!

Do you have any advice for me? Would love to see any tips and tricks! Alternatively, have you purchased anything that’s been hard to clean or maintain?

Processional Songs

I never realised just how hard choosing music to walk down the aisle would be!
As some may remember I had my heart set on “The Wedding March” being my processional song, but the fiance refused, insisting instead that we use it as our recessional.

The quest to find the perfect song began. I know there’s a trend now to use songs that have a meaning to you as a couple, non traditional ones, with lyrics and so forth. But that’s not me.

So I stuck to the classical songs, and I think I’ve finally struck a winner.
Known as “Trumpet Voluntary (Prince of Denmark’s March)” it’s got the same triumphant feel as “The Wedding March”, (and just to add a kicker to the day, was used as the processional for both Pring Charles and Dianna’s wedding and Mary and Prince Frederick’s, so now I can pretend I’m royalty for the day, too!).

Here’s a link to the song on youtube, should you like to listen.

Other popular choices include the following songs:
Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” (from Lohengrin. Also known as “Here Comes the Bride”)
Pachbel’s “Canon in D”
Vivaldi’s “Spring” (from Four Seasons)
Purcell’s “Trumpet Tune in D”
Handel’s “Hornpipe” (from Water Music)

Lace Ahoy!

My last post was (incidentally) about trying to find a pretty lace from which to make my dress.

After having another look at Clegs I have discovered a few more laces to consider:

The problem with this one is that it’s a discontinued line and there’s only 2m of it left.

This one is ok, but it only comes in white, and I wanted an Ivory dress…

And this is also divine (apparently worn by Kate Middleton for her wedding to Prince William), but comes in ecru, which I’m not sure I will like in a wedding dress.

But, I’ve also found another veil that I quite like, that’s also Kate Middleton inspired, so I’m wondering if it’s a sign…

To get an idea of the whole look:

Any thoughts?

Lace Veil

I’ve been trying to work out what veil to wear with my outfit. When I originally planned to wear a plain taffeta dress, I was going to wear a lace edged veil. And then I changed my mind and went back to lace (though I haven’t worked out which one yet – what do you think?

)

and I thought I couldn’t have a lace edged veil with a lace wedding dress.

And then I saw this photograph at Madame Guillotine

and totally changed my mind.

What do you think?

The Perfect Centrepiece

So after months of searching and looking at all sorts of different ideas, I’ve finally found the perfect centrepiece inspiration:

The Perfect Centrepiece

at Elizabeth Anne Designs. Now I just have to go find all the vases and candle holders, and I’ll be sorted!

Invitation Progress!

My darling fiance has finally finished doing our first mock-up of the invitation.

Draft Invitation

For those of you that remember I was attempting to re-create another invitation, and I think he’s come pretty close!

Now all I have to do is work out where I can get some nice parchment style cardstock, and some a5 envelopes. Any ideas?