Cupcake delights!

Cupcakes are all the rage nowadays. Whether its in a trendy west london eatery like hummingbird bakery, or at a local fete– these finger-food sized sweet treats have definately made a come back.

Ideal for all kinds of parties, from a kiddie table to a sophisticated soiree, their adaptability means they can look both fun and chic. Cupcakes are also very easy to display and are perfect for large gatherings and buffets, or the back of a village hall.

To top it all off, I just discovered these delightful ‘supercook’ cupcake wraps:

They give a very pretty lace look to your baking, and if you are getting different people to contribute a dozen or so cakes each, would be a perfect way to tie them all together.

Here seen with berry and almond muffins, they come in a pop out flat pack, and wrap around any standard cupcake case.

Best of all they were under £1 for a set of 12 at my local Sainsburys- Bargain!

Combine these with lacy bunting and doily lighting and you have an instant teatime party treat with a pretty delicate feel. Perfect for a garden party or church hall.

And one with icing

Lacy doily bunting

I wish I had made this discovery before our wedding, but it wasn’t until my birthday party in July that I had a total brainwave on how to make pretty bunting easily on a budget. I’d toyed with making bunting before, but fabric bunting can be quite faffy if you need lots of it, so I gave up on the idea.

This method is quick and easy and will make you around 100m of bunting for the grand total of £4.50 (I guarantee you will not find such a good deal buying the stuff!)

You will need:

• 100 doilies (I got mine for £1 from a pound store)
• A ball of string
• Scissors
• Glue

Making the bunting

Fold each doily (see below) to make 8 triangles. Cut these out.

Now, fold the top end over a piece of string and glue down…

Space your triangles a few cm apart and keep folding and gluing. Each doily will make around 1m of bunting. You could experiment with other papers etc, but this is by far and away the quickest and cheapest effect I’ve found to get an effective and pretty look.

If you need tonnes of the stuff, this is quite an easy one to delegate out to friends who want to help out as it really is very simple and should end up with a fairly uniform effect.. or, if you want to make it social, why not have a bunting making party over a few glasses of wine!

Treasurehunting…

After my blog about finding stately home inspired charity shop vintage, I thought I’d showcase a few other treasures you can find if you’re willing to hunt a little.

I love charity shops, partly because you never know what you’ll find and I like a bit of a challenge! You often come across unique and interesting pieces at knock down prices plus it’s a great way to reuse and recycle stuff. Most importantly though, anything you pay is going to charity!

Some examples of charity shop treasure:

Want a sweet table or ‘candy buffet’ like this one from weddingbee?

Candy buffet display- from http://www.weddingbee.com

Why not use random cut glass from second hand shops for your display? These are often much cheaper than newer jars (under 50p-£2 each) sparkle in lights really well and give a lovely unique feel.

These are crying out to be filled with colourful candy!

Or, if you’re inspired by a ‘look’ in trendy homeware/design stores- you might find the same one in a local charity shop. Some charities do new ranges, like the one below from breast cancer care. They might not be quite as cheap as second hand, but the money is still going towards a good cause.

50s polka dots make a great wedding or hen party theme. Above: from Chatsworth house farm shop. Below: Breast cancer charity shop

You can’t guarantee what you’ll get in second hand stores, so if you have very specific ideas and products in mind, then this kind of shopping isn’t for you. But, if you are willing to hunt a bit- there may be all kinds of treasure out there waiting to be snapped up!

Top tips for charity bargains:

• Don’t just shop in trendy areas. Charity shops in Chelsea probably won’t save you money (unless you want designer gear)
• Touristy spots and market towns are often quite good. I’ve found amazing charity bargains on holidays in Buxton (Peaks) Eaglescliff (North East) Cirencester (Cotswolds) and Craignure (Isle of Mull, Scotland)
• If you want lots of items with a specific look (eg cut glass or vintage tea cups) then send your friends example pictures and get them to hunt too. Come to think of it- you could make it part of a hen day treasure hunt!
• When the big day is over, consider re-donating left over table centers or even your dress/shoes back to charity shops ready for another treasure hunting bride to find. Spread the love, hope and charity!

Happy treasure hunting!

Some great UK charities that have shops:

Oxfam; Breast Cancer Care; Cancer Research UK; British Heart foundation; Salvation Army; MIND; Mencap; Scope

False economies- when DIY blows the budget

It’s really easy when planning a big event like a wedding to get caught up in the whirlwind of amazing DIY ideas. I check out new stuff on stumbleupon (great site if you like inspiration) all the time and often post ideas up on my blog.

BUT, since I’m all about budgets- a key piece of advice is not to forget to ‘cost’ your DIY projects. Some things may seem cute, and because you’re making stuff yourself you think it’s somehow ‘cheap’ or ‘free’. Not so. You are also only human and can’t do everything.

The cost of DIY projects can soon mount up

Here are two of the top ‘homemade bank-breakers’:

Invitations:

I was very tempted to get arty crafty with ours- but then I added up the costs. Blank Cards and envelopes for 150 invites + embellishments to go on top would come to at least £50-£100, maybe more depending on what kinds of cards/ patterns/materials you use (and that’s before you factor in the time taken to stick everything together). Our Vistaprint invites were free + P&P.

The same can be said for other stationery (service sheets/name tags) There may be cheaper options than getting tied up with ribbon and covered in glitter.

Homemade favours- Pots of jam/chutneys etc

There’s been a recent trend in giving home made treats as favours- which I think is both lovely and admirable. However- before you plan to slave over a preserve pan, don’t kid yourself that you are saving money. Sure- this will be a thoughtful and cute gift for your guests, but once you factor in the money for sugar, fruit, preserving kits and most importantly the jam pots themselves- this is not a budget option and it will take TIME. You are potentially looking at more than £2.50 per guest, which if you’re having lots of people really starts to add up. (Our favours were around £1.20 per guest, and included a £1 charity donation)

Don’t get me wrong here- I absolutely love crafty touches- and have saved lots of money on a few, like making my bouquet for example. I also really enjoy the process, so if you are one of those people who loves jam making, maybe you’ll relish (pardon the pun!) the chance to make up a mega batch to bless your guests.

Just be aware of what the real costs are before you get knee deep in sugar, chutney and glue.

More delightful craftiness- A bit of Doily love!

I am sorely tempted to have a go at this wonderful idea from ‘more design please’. Its a variation on old school balloon papier mache but with a delicate twist- using doilies!

From http://www.moredesignplease.com

Instant cheap shades- with a cute vintage look! you could do them in different sizes and maybe even colours. I LOVE the possibilities here and if I’d have seen this before my wedding it would have been high on the ‘must try’ list.

I discovered recently that doilies can also be used to make very effective and pretty bunting. Here seen on greentreegoods, but having made some (slightly more traditional looking) myself recently- watch this space for a step by step bunting ‘how to’.

Doily-bunting from greentreegoods.blogspot.com

Sweet rainbow colour!

I am completely in love with this rainbow cake idea from sweetapolita.com . Originally for a child’s birthday I can see so many applications to the plan: A fun themed wedding cake, that has a colourful surprise when you cut it? Maybe just one tier of rainbow colour? Why not get guests to ‘doodle’ on or sign the cake before you cut it?

from http://sweetapolita.com

Or maybe, as a twist on the ‘sweet table’ or cupcake trend you could do ‘decorate your own’ cupcakes? I can see plates of multicoloured cupcakes, covered in white icing, and a whole load of writing icing tubes and sprinkles at tables…

Ask guests to take polaroids of their cakes before eating- and collect them on a board for a twist on the traditional guestbook. Oh yes, the possibilities are endless

Anyway- these colourful pics should be enough to inspire your creative juices!

How can you use this idea?

Backyard party…

Having just moved into a house with a garden (only other budget buddies in a tight-for-space-city will understand quite what a miracle our house is) I’ve been pretty overwhelmed by what we could do with the space and how best to utilize our new ‘backyard’ complete with plum tree and resident magpie. A promising housewarming BBQ led to not much else in our lovely outdoor space all summer.

A great post on the ‘fabulously wed’ blog touched on how to bond with your new family (and possibly also your other half’s friends too) and gave a gorgeous example of a DIY outdoor movie night.

The details in the photos are just amazing and somewhere I think there is backyard wedding crying out to be themed this way, but since I’ve had my day, I’ll concentrate on the newly wed entertaining opportunities instead.

I have to admit, despite the obvious drawback of the British weather, I am totally in love with the concept. I love a good outdoor movie, and the idea of hosting a stylish comfy showing in our own leafy garden is very tempting! But, from the looks of  things it could get a bit pricy…

Never fear though, I found some great hints and tips from the all american store ‘pottery barn’ on how you can make a DIY movie screen on the cheap. You’ll need to beg borrow or have a projector for this (which could be the expensive part) but otherwise a potentially cost effective fiesta film evening:

I can't wait to try this out!

Beautiful birds nests and other such crafty things

Beautiful birds nests for beautiful bridesmaids maybe?

I adore these gorgeous necklaces featured on Sarah Ortega’s fabulous blog. Some DIY jewellry seems overly complicated and I can’t contemplate trying- but these are both simple and delightful!

The raw materials are really cheap too- so the final pieces should literally cost pence not pounds- fitting in with any budget. The value in these is the look and the thought that goes behind it. They are unique and thoughtful gifts that people will treasure.

Check out her blog for a full how to and maybe make your bridesmaids/friends smile with a little bit of classy homemade bling.

Lovely locks by ‘hair romance’

A few weeks ago, I blogged about how to look a million dollars on a budget. I mentioned there that I had a talented friend to do my hair- but, bride or not, what if you want  to get a stunning look yourself for free?

I’ve found this fabulous blog for any girls (brides or otherwise) wanting to get the perfect twist and pin look for a special occasion.

From http://www.hairromance.com

Aussie, Christina takes you through hundreds of chic styles step by step in her easy to access ‘hairromance’ blog. Even if you dont fancy doing it yourself there is tonnes to inspire any bride to be- especially as it doesn’t major on ‘wedding hair’ and just covers simple, beautiful styles.

I can’t wait to try some of them out!

Getting the look- clown style

I know lots of people have gorgeous delicate decor at their weddings, and in lots of ways, it would have suited me too- but when we came up with the ‘theme’ for our wedding, it was our joint love of fun and laughter that drew us to a colour scheme that would reflect BOTH our personalities.

Taking inspiration from the primary colours in Michael’s froggle suit and my ‘clown and bride’ cake toppers we went for a bright and joyful feel. As one person on the day put it- ‘This is just the essence of fun!’

The 'essence of fun' colour scheme

The service was in our church St Helen’s, a lovely traditional building that needed minimal decorating. We just used the wooden roses to wind around pillars and some paper flowers made by a friend at the end of the pews.

At the reception, we had 150+ guests for a sit down meal, in tables of 10-12 with one very large ‘top table’ (something I will blog about at a later date). We were in another large old church building, but couldn’t fix anything to the  walls or pillars due to venue regulations.

Our decorating solutions?

1. Bright bold colours (using florestry spiders web as table runners) toned down with neutrals and cream

2. Home grown flowers- My auntie’s friend grew tulips in her allotment that flowered around the time of the wedding and she kindly made table decorations for us with these

3. We also used the left over wooden flowers (in 50p vases from Ikea), and helium balloons in blue red and yellow to complete the colourful feel.

4.Homemade paper flowers for the church pews

Total decoration costs for both church and reception? Under £100!