Pride of place settings

I’ve had the pleasure of working on some pretty cool and unique place settings for weddings and events this summer, from musical instruments such as maracas and tambourines, to some truly instagram-worthy rose quartz slices and cotton kit bags. While I’m busy putting pen to all manner of creative ideas I thought it was about time I shared some of my favourites from recent years. Feast your eyes on these unique place settings for directing your guests to their seats, and just you try and wrestle them from their grasp at the end of the night…

First up, these moustaches and paper fans made excellent photo props:

These fun moustache props were personalised for the gents to find their seats at a beautiful destination wedding in Chateau St. Martory, captured by David Wheeler Photography. There were also…

These fun moustache props were personalised for the gents to find their seats at a beautiful destination wedding in Chateau St. Martory, captured by David Wheeler Photography. There were also…

…fans for the ladies, creating plenty of photo opportunities for the guests while keeping them cool during dinner in the chateau courtyard.

…fans for the ladies, creating plenty of photo opportunities for the guests while keeping them cool during dinner in the chateau courtyard.

Next up, these were one of my absolute favourites, vintage glass bottles (and glass tankards for the gents):

Personalised vintage glass bottles sourced by the couple made a beautiful keepsake for all the guests to keep. Captured by Matt Horan Photography.

Personalised vintage glass bottles sourced by the couple made a beautiful keepsake for all the guests to keep. Captured by Matt Horan Photography.

Tambourines, need I say more:

These tambourines were sourced by the couple and personalised with the guests names in deep grey. Captured by Beccy Goddard at Aswarby Rectory, Lincolnshire.

These tambourines were sourced by the couple and personalised with the guests names in deep grey. Captured by Beccy Goddard at Aswarby Rectory, Lincolnshire.

Individual menus for the guests place settings are also a great way to combine stationery elements and a great keepsake for memory boxes and scrapbooks:

Personalised individual menu cards doubled up as place settings, hot foil printed by Rose Press and captured by Joanna Brown at Ragley Hall

Personalised individual menu cards doubled up as place settings, hot foil printed by Rose Press and captured by Joanna Brown at Ragley Hall

These cotton rag handmade paper place cards sitting atop cute gold animals were pretty cute too:

Captured by Matt Horan Photography at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham.

Captured by Matt Horan Photography at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham.

Functional versus fabulous... A real-life approach to #weddinggoals

Wedding stationery and signage includes wedding invitations, save the dates, and on the day essentials like table plans and place cards. It also includes a whole host of fancy other stuff, and no doubt a ton of ideas Pinterest and Instagram have delivered to your scrolling feed. Think hanging banners, personalised cocktail menus, glassware, neon, acrylic, ceramics... (insert all the heart eyes here). Modern calligraphy can feature across the board, from personalised wedding party thank you cards, to welcome signs.

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Super Sundays with TWC UK

My love for a barn wedding knows no bounds. My husband and I were lucky enough to get married in a marquee on my parent's farm, but if my dad could have weatherproofed one of the barns, oh the opportunity - I can only imagine the electricity bill for those hundreds of metres of festoon lights weaving their way back and forth above our heads... I'll stop daydreaming and just say if you appreciate great photography and flowers and are willing to brush over my terrible beginner's attempts at modern calligraphy you're welcome to check out the pictures over at Rock My Wedding

Anyway, when this crack team of wedding industry pals (aka The Wedding Collective UK team, aka TWC UK) got wind that there was a new barn venue on the scene, we knew we had to go and take a look. We hoped that Grove Barn just outside Kinoulton in Nottinghamshire would provide us with the perfect blank canvas for an upcoming styled shoot we were planning. 

Jenny, Grove Barn's first ever bride, clearly had great vision and imagination for what this vast space could be transformed into for her nuptials last year. So with first hand experience, a wealth of contacts from planning and organising her own wedding, and a friendly and warm approach, she now works with couples to co-ordinate their weddings at Grove Barn. 

So on a sunny Sunday back in April we loaded the cars with our wares, our stylist Nay packed up a knockout picnic, and we headed for the farm. TWC UK's cinematographer Rachael captured the action in all it's ethereal glory so you can watch how the day unfolded... I defy any bride who won't want Rach to film their wedding day after seeing this!

Photography - Matt Horan Photography

Cinematography - Rachael

Floral Design - Number Twenty Seven

Bridalwear - Kula Tsurdiu

Hair & Make Up - Joella

Model - Chryseida

Cakes - Elle Jane

Chocolates - Chocolate Alchemy

Styling - Nay

Hand-dyed silks - As Petals Fall

Stationery & signage - Kayleigh Tarrant

Venue - Grove Barn, Kinoulton