Vintage Wedding Ideas.....

I'm sure I must have mentioned before, and if not, you may have caught wind of the fact that Lula and I are both wedding obsessed! (And is one of the reasons why we set up the Golden Afternoon Tea Company!) We love hearing about all the little details that make a wedding unique to the couple, from the proposal to each little decision made along the way, to the big day itself.

And as an 'old married' who hasn't quite shaken off the wedding bug I thought I should share my favourite places to seek out wedding ideas and indulge in some wedding porn......

So if you're taking the plunge, tying the knot, getting hitched or spliced be sure to take a peek at these sites for some wonderful wedding ideas and inspiration.

Snippet & Ink should be a daily port of call for any bride to be, a beautiful Stateside blog jam packed with real-life weddings and fantastic moodboards. Perfect for getting inspiration on themes, colours and so much more......

An Alice in Wonderland Themed Snippet & Ink Moodboard

A perfect wedding picnic?

Do you love retro? Are you planning on a wedding with a difference? Then pop along to Rock'nRoll Bride for a veritable feast of individual ideas to ensure your wedding celebrates you!

One of the original cheerleaders of weddings with a difference, Offbeat Bride is brimful with tantalising wedding porn!!!

Ruffled celebrates the savvy chic indie bride with a collection of real weddingss and clever ideas to inspire your individual style

See more of this wonderful real-life wedding

Happy wedding planning..............

we love a sale!

There really is only one place to be this weekend..

The Vivien of Holloway sale!

If you're a lover of authentically styled 50's frocks and 40's tea dresses, you probably are well aware of the doyenne of swishy petticoats VOH  but did you know they are holding the very first sale this weekend at the brand new shop appropriately enough on the Holloway Road, North London.

And not only will there apparently be huge reductions on the dresses, Vivien is selling of some of her own vintage clothes! What are we waiting for? Anyone fancy a stampede?

The dresses are perfect for a 50's style wedding for the bride and ever so cute for bridesmaids.

And heart shaped for lurve..

Uh-oh can the credit card take it?! See the website for plenty more temptation.
Any of these would be perfect for an Golden Afternoon Tea party!

The last time I was there, purchasing the outfit I wore for the wedding fair(see this post), there was a trio of excited bridesmaids trying on polka dot dresses and super cute they looked too!

And if you can't make the sale, thank heavens for online shopping!

all pictures from the Viven of Holloway website.

Blue Monday and Comfort Cookies..

Well, apparently January 18th is meant to be the day of glums and boohoos and misery..

For why, I ask you lovely readers, is this day specifically singled out to be a day of sadness?

Let's not be dragged down.. The promise of spring is wafting it's way to us, yesterday we almost had a whole sunshiney walk with the pooches. And what is really cheery is to come home take off the muddy wellies and snuggle on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate and a toasted crumpet with butter all oozing through it... Some serious mmmms.

I must give this recipe a go from Hugh Fearnly-Whatsit, as he says if you're tired of British teatime, you're tired of life and who are we to disagree!

If only we had an open fire.. that's the only way to toast a crumpet- sitting near to the fire as possible, toasting fork in hand. Keeping warm with your loved one as the night draws in.

Another favourite recipe that has been putting a smile our faces is this  delicious oat and raisin cookies recipe from the marvy Smitten Kitchen website. It's the best we've tried as they are just the right texture of chew, I can't resist tweaking and throw in whatever I have in my dried fruit and nut cupboard. Our favourite muesli even goes in the mix, it's called Rude Health! See, the cookies must be good for you if they have prunes,apricots,oats and nuts in.

The tip about refrigerating the cookie dough before baking is a winner as the results never last long. The chap blames the pooch but I know they prefer chocolate chip..

Oh look Blue Monday is practically over, let's raise our teacups to a terrific Tuesday!

Delicious cupcakes for a lovely twosome

A few weeks ago we were delighted to be providing the wedding cupcakes and flowers for two very lovely lovebirds. A long awaited wedding of International variety as reflected in their preference for cupcakes. .. she requested Lavender, and he being a very very tall man of Dutch persuasion didn't mind as long as it was orange! So scrumptiously moist Choccy Orange cupcakes were the match.

We couldn't resist popping in some Vanilla ones with pale pink icing to complement the colours of the flowers.

The flowers were delicate pink spray roses, white tulips, pink avalanche roses and for a splash of that Dutch orange, Cherry Brandy roses. This is a glorious sunset of a rose, the outer petals fading to a gentler shade so it's almost two tone.. we loved it,no kia-ora orange here!

The reception was held in a community hall that was transformed into a winter magic land of wedding with acres of parachute silk and fairy lights and the most giantest big balloon you've ever seen.. apparently one of the relatives blew it up the night before- imagine! must have had lungs of steel.

If you need a space transforming in the London area, drop us a line and we can put you in touch with the clever chap.

It was all go, but made even more fun by the chance to don my feathery chapeau and my red dancing shoes.

Time for Tea?

Not one to rabbit on........ but as our winter wonderland melts away before our eyes on a grey, dismal day surely the best remedy for bringing a Cheshire cat style smile onto your face (besides tea and cake!) is the prospect that Spring is about to grace us with her presence - I'm thinking of those first crocus blooms and the golden trumpets of the beloved daffodils..........

But also with the arrival of spring this year, comes Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which in an earlier post I alluded to being, in anticipation of its release, as Mad as a Hatter with excitement - eeek!

And today, through my letterbox did fall the National Trust Magazine, with the Mad Hatter the cover star and a lovely article about the filming that took place in and around Antony, a National Trust property in Cornwall.

And for those not content with just seeing the film, head to Antony between March and October to see the house, garden and estate transformed into Wonderland! With lots of fantastic events taking place you can enjoy tea parties, walk through scenes from the dream-like stories of Alice, and even meet the Mad Hatter!

What better way to spend a Golden Afternoon.......

Snowflakes that fall on my nose and eyelashes

Isn't it the most glorious thing to wake up and find the world transformed by a blanket of snow? So magical, through the War Drobe in Spare Oom and we find ourselves in Narnia!

The light becomes brilliantly bright and the humdrum sounds of the city are replaced with a heavenly stillness.
From our house in the trees, the view across the park is like peering over clouds and being surrounded by vistas of sparkly white fills me with inspiration for winter tea party ideas, full of snow white flowers and snowflakes.
Not so much a Golden Afternoon but a dreamy Silvery one instead!

An all white palette; refreshing,simple and elegant.
Glass candlesticks, mercury silvered glass, flickering light and vintage lace tablecloths, linen napkins and lots of flowers!
Delicious.

country living of course!

You can use flowers and foliage to create a magical setting so effectively,

  like paper thin Honesty seed heads, very seasonal too!

 

We had tables of pure white roses and silvery eucalyptus for a Christmas tea party .. I couldn't resist some fluffy pussy willow at the flower market and pounced on it like the cat that got the cream!

 Am such a fan of Gypsophilia used in large bunches. Otherwise known as baby's breath,

try to find the one that has the larger flower heads for a better effect..

It really does look like falling snow in this picture.

 

 here

here

 

A simple way to decorate your place setting, a single snowflake shaped chrysanthemum, would look sweet in a teacup.

Or hang vintage chandelier pendants from sprayed branches to catch the light

And for a really opulent party these glittery crystal trees would put a twinkle in your eye..

 here and here

For a more vintage snowflake look, I adore these ideas with lace doilies and placemats.

 They are plentiful in charity shops and good ol' ebay and look fab with mismatched teacups and china.

They can be used to create snowflake patterns as a table runner.

good housekeeping

And you must remember happily snipping away to create paper snowflakes when you were little? Hours of fun and what a good way of occupying the troops on a 'snow day' when they tire of tobogganing.. with a mug of steaming hot choccy, what a lovely way to while away the afternoon!

You can find a fantastic tutorial to create a snowflake curtain by Lupin on her blog Bugs and Fishes

Or use your fabric ones to create a curtain, they often need a good soak in bleach to restore their brightness and then starched. See here for the how to.

Or use this idea and stitch to red velvet ribbon to create snowflake bunting and suspend across doorways or above your party table.

And wouldn't these be the most perfect invitations to send out for your snowy day? From the masters of delicate paper designs, Chartula. Oh they take my frosty breath away!

Right off for that hot chocolate to warm me up!

Tootle pip!

Lula x

Sparkly wishes

With much love from Lula and Lina, we send you this glass of fizz and our best wishes for a delicious 2010!

May your champagne saucer always be brimming,your cakes always rise and your teacup never go unfilled.

Like the champers we are brimming and bubbling with excitement about the coming year and sharing all our prospective adventures into the land of tea parties and vintage passions with you,

and who knows what else the year ahead may hold!

 As long as it's filled with tea parties, laughter with good friends and loved ones, sunny days and golden afternoons,we will be sugar sweet happy.

Happy New Year!