Breathtaking Wedding Rings Without the Breathtaking Price Tag

Kat

October 23, 2013

Budget-Friendly, DIY & Colourful Village Hall Wedding: Abby & Liam

Kat

Miki

October 23, 2013

With just £3000, a mountain of ideas and a hell of a lot of hard work, Abby and Liam planned their DIY village hall wedding for August this year. The day was held at Eccleston Village Hall, with the ceremony in the garden. They saved a lot of money by not going for traditional wedding stuff. Abby's amazing dress was vintage, bought at Pillbox Vintage Wedding Fair, which she then had reworked by Carla at Mon Ami. Liam's outfit was from River Island. The flowers were all grown in the bride's mother's garden and their transport for the day was their own vintage yellow Beetle!

I Don’t Care About Blog Comments… and You Shouldn’t Either

Kat

Shell De Mar

October 22, 2013

OK so that's not strictly true. I love to get feedback from my readers and it's awesome to see so many encouraging words after I've published something. However recently there's been a massive shift in how people interact with and read blogs and, for the most part, these factors mean that across the board blog comments are going down. If you think of your comments as some kind of indicator to the success of an article, then this sudden lack of validation can be incredibly discouraging.

City Chic London Wedding: Eleanor & Nick

Kat

Viva Wedding

October 22, 2013

Eleanor and Nick were married at Century Club on Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho. Their wedding had an urban, city feel with DIY throughout. The bride wore a gorgeous Roland Mouret dress with Jimmy Choo shoes but they saved money by homemaking most of the décor themselves.

Rock n Roll Bride for Crown and Glory: Autumn/Winter 2013

Kat

October 21, 2013

Not content with just doing one collection together, Sophie of Crown and Glory and I decided early on in our collaboration that an Autumn/Winter range would need to be on the cards. Of course I love the rainbow, neon pop insanity of the first collection but I was also really excited to get a little bit deep, dark and moody for this second incarnation

Simple and Personal Manchester Museum Wedding: Laura & Matt

Kat

Chloe Anne Charnock

October 21, 2013

Laura and Matt's wedding was simple, personal and perfect for them. When they started planning they were encouraged by their parents to do whatever made them happy - so that's exactly what they did!

Insect and Creepy Crawly Themed Wedding: Tessa & Matthew

Kat

Mark Osborne

October 20, 2013

It's not everyday you see an insect themed wedding, so needless to say I was both grossed out and super excited (in equal measure!) when Tessa and Matthew's wedding landed in my inbox. The bride is an artist, known for her work consisting of insect carcasses, plant roots and other found materials. So, clearly, her wedding was never going to be 'normal'. Even the wedding cake had sugared caterpillars and insets crawling all over it and one guest even showed up with real ants and beetles stuck to his bald head!

Business Bites: Ideas are Pointless

Kat

October 18, 2013

Can I let you in on a secret? Ideas are pointless. How many people do you know that have 'brilliant new ideas' all the time but never actually do anything with them? How many people have you heard say "well, if I did that, I'd do it sooo much better". How many Pinterest boards do we see full of amazing recipe ideas people will never cook or home décor ideas they'll never implement?

Marriage Mantras: Making Time

Kat

Devlin Photos

October 18, 2013

It's inevitable at this time of year. Up and down the wedding industry comes those oh too familiar rumblings through blog posts and tweets about work/life balance, wanting to spend more time with loved ones and needing some time off. As we near the end of the busy summer season, everyone is desperate for a break, a marathon of their favourite TV show and a bloody long a lie in.

DIY Islington Wedding: Katy & Dave

Kat

Assassynation

October 18, 2013

They met in Manchester in 2001 while they were both at University. He asked her to join his band even though he didn't have one yet. At their Islington wedding, 12 years later, many of the friends they made during this time were there as witnesses. "We considered many themes briefly but decided in the end just to try to make the day as relaxed and informal as we could while still making it feel like a special event", explained the bride. "We just wanted to get everyone together for some good food, wine and dancing and worked the rest around that. We did sneak a few sci-fi and superhero references in though!"

Thursday Treats: Madness!

Kat

October 17, 2013

Unless you've been sleeping under a rock (or er... you just haven't been online) you probably won't have failed to notice that we launched The Blogcademy 2014 world tour on Monday. Oh my goodness what a reaction!

Elegant and Quirky Brooklyn Winery Wedding: Jaime & Marty

Kat

Photo Philosophies

October 17, 2013

When it came to planning their New York wedding, Jamie and Marty didn't really know what they wanted. It wasn't until they found their winery venue that it all fell into place. The rustic yet urban space completely set the tone of the day.

Don’t Want the Usual, Boring Gift Registry? Ask your Guests to Buy Your Honeymoon!

Kat

October 16, 2013

More couples than ever before are looking for alternative gift list ideas. Adding new pots and pans to a department store registry is about as exciting as it sounds, which is why so many newlyweds are opting to forgo the new linens and ask money towards getting started in their new married life or for something they've always wanted but could never afford.

English Country Picnic Wedding: Tim & Scarlett

Kat

Miki

October 16, 2013

Tim and Scarlett were married on 8th August, their five year anniversary. They had a church ceremony followed by a tea party reception in the gardens of Baxby Manor, a gorgeous 705 year old Manor house. "We knew that we wanted somewhere beautiful, and Baxby ticked all the boxes", Scarlett began. "It even came with a glamping site down the lane for all our guests to stay over! Baxby isn't a wedding venue, just a luxury holiday letting, but the owners were amazing and let us create a beautiful day there, as if it were our own house."

A Little Bit of Competition Never Hurt Anybody

Kat

Chellise Michael

October 15, 2013

In any industry - creative or otherwise - there is competition; from your peers, from seasoned professionals and from amateurs. It's a fact of business life. Far from being something that you should see as a threat, I am a firm believer that a little bit of competition never hurt anybody.

Quirky and Colourful Handmade Wedding: Netty & Andy

Kat

Casey Avenue

October 15, 2013

Netty and Andy were married in Northampton during August. They wanted their wedding to be colourful and fun. "We picked wedding suppliers that were really arty and talented", began the bride. "Our photographer, Hannah of Casey Avenue, was both creative and quirky which suited our style perfectly. Hattie & Flora did our flowers and took our colourful brief and ran with it! By having such great suppliers our wedding was really relaxed and really 'us'. It was such a lovely celebration, and apart from being a bit nervous, we didn't feel stressed. It wasn't too fussy, we just had a really good party."

The Blogcademy World Tour 2014!

Kat

October 14, 2013

I think I can safely speak for my fellow headmistresses when I say that this year has been a non-stop whirlwind of epic proportions! Since last October we've taught ten classes, with three still to come before the year is out. When we launched The Blogcademy in August last year we didn't know if anyone would actually want to come, so the fact that today we're announcing our SECOND world tour is pretty damn exciting indeed!

Eclectic East End Wedding Tea Party: Cassandra & Howard

Kat

Robbins Photographic

October 14, 2013

Cassandra and Howard were married at The Roost in Dalston, London, a photographic studio and shooting location. Because it wasn't a traditional wedding venue it meant their whole day was really chilled out and non-traditional, but also that they could completely plan it the way they wanted. "We’d had a really small and intimate wedding ceremony in Cornwall with just our immediate families so we wanted to throw a vintage wedding tea party for friends and relatives here in London", began the bride. "The Roost was an amazing find. It's a former Victorian pub in deepest, darkest Dalston converted into a four floor photographic and film shoot location. My heart skipped a beat the first time we viewed it. It was perfect. I just loved the eclectic vintage vibe and ‘out there’ style of the place. From the gorgeous House Of Hackney wallpapers, to the giant props, old film posters and quirky paintings on the wall. We were just blown away."

Heavy Metal Estonian Wedding: Inge & Janar

Kat

Sandra Palm

October 13, 2013

Business Bites: Giving Up Guilt

Kat

October 11, 2013

It's the same old song and dance. I got to Australia for our final leg of The Blogcademy 2013 tour in a little under two weeks (cue major freak out!) and so I'm spending most of my waking hours desperately trying to get as much blog content written and scheduled for while I'm away. This is no mean feat when you have at least two blog posts per day for three and a half weeks to do (not to mention the blog posts before I go as well!) ARGH.