we heart igigi

so with a quiet sunday and nothing planned I took a trip to Igigi in Brighton to check out their little store. I'd heard from good friends that the store was very similar to my favourite homeware store, Baileys Home and Garden (Ross-on-Wye) and after two years of wanting to go, I finally made it.

although not on the scale of Baileys, the store was beautifully stocked with gorgeous rustic homewares (vintage and new) and a some rustic-y christmas decorations. just up my street!

my favourite part, however, was the cafe on the first floor. they serve Monmouth Coffee (rather a recurring theme here I think?...) and have a delicious looking cake table.. as everything looked so amazing, I couldn't make up my mind and kept with just a coffee. hmmmmmm.....

and of course I couldn't resist buying a few things...

and some of the little treats I bought:

(mostly christmassy bits and pieces)

paper christmas decorations and rusty fleur-de-lis hook from Igigi.

antlers, olive tree and tin bird, my own.

we heart christmas styling- first christmas posting of the season!

sorry, I was hoping to hold off on mentioning anything to do with Christmas but I just can't help it! and not because I'm obsessed with all things Christmas, but just because there's so many pretty things I've seen and just had to share.

I actually think it's a great time in terms of styling to get some wedding and interior ideas. It doesn't have to be tinsel tackiness but gorgeous textures, unique detailing and inspiring colour palettes...

some of the gorgeous things I have seen so far:

TOAST

maybe I'll try wearing a tiara for christmas breakfast, or shall we swap our usual paper hats at lunch for a bit of diamonds chic?!

a lovely idea for flavouring some warming hot chocolate..

these stunning floral garlands would be perfect for wedding decor- they could be hung (as below) very simply along walls, from trees, draped across a tiered cake... so many ways to use.

I also really love the bunting above. I think it's the rustic hand made paper and the small scale of the flags that looks a little chicer than the larger traditional type. You could easily make your own in any type of paper or fabric, perhaps made out of old newspaper, maps, dress-making patterns..?

I love these rusty hearts too. perfect for hanging on the back of a bride and grooms chairs?

JCREW

the latest christmas shoot online and in their catalogue... a lesson in using tinsel in an unusual and classy way.

all decoration for this shoot was done by confetti system. super talented and styling genius. I like the Opening Ceremony window they did in NYC:

there'll be plenty more christmas inspiration to come soon...

we heart a royal fairy tale!

I couldn't very well go without mentioning the biggest news in the world press today. yesterday Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement to the excitment of the worl'd media! very exciting news for us locals- a new wedding to obsess over next spring/summer! and I think it was a very lovely gesture for William to pass on his mothers ring to Kate.

and I want to know the secret of Kate's great hair! did everyone notice how shiny?!

we love round diamonds!

I looked at A LOT of engagement rings when it came to choosing my own. I love round diamonds, but I'm not much of a solitaire girl- I wanted something individual to me:

another stunning shoot by Duston Todd photography today on todays Style Me Pretty blog. The brides ring reminded me of my own- it's quite unusual and really pretty!

check out the whole post here...

but here's some others from tiffanys that are pretty gorgeous!!

This delicate one has some similarities to my own:

I love this flower one.

Am I making it up or did SJP have a flower-shaped engagement ring?!

and here's the ultimate:

(should you have a spare $2million!)

bridal sample sales...

two fabulous sample sales coming up and both definitely worth making the effort to get to if you're looking for your dress and accessories!

philippa lepley

by appointment (call ahead)

18th & 19th november

48 Fulham Road, London SW3 6HH

020 7590 9771

jenny packham

18th-20th november

thurs, 10am-7pm

fri, 10am-6pm

sat, 10am-2pm

3 Carlos Place, W1K 3AN

020 7493 6290

this is actually an evening-wear and accesories sample sale but as my own dress was a collection piece and the accessories are all so beautiful I'd recommend going anyway.

details- inside

details from our wedding- inside...
Food is such a huge part of any celebration so I think it's really important to consider how your wedding breakfast reflects your whole day and your taste (excuse the pun!).

As a couple, James and I eat (and cook) a lot of Indian food so we thought it would be great to serve a thali-style Indian meal in our own unique way. Instead of the traditional steel trays you would usually serve thali from, we chose porcelain deep rimmed plates with guests able to help themselves to a choice of 4 curries placed on the tables.

Orginally we chose to look to true Indian caterers to provide the food but we very fortunately found the fabulous Relish who created the most beautiful meal for us. More to come on food in later postings...

We spent a great deal of time considering what we wanted to serve our guests but it was also really important to create the right atmosphere and follow on our rustic flowers, herbs and props through to the grand hall.

we were so pleased with our tables that we wanted to keep our dining room hidden away from the guests to see their reactions when they sat down to dinner!* every table was slightly different rather than being matchy-matchy, which wouldn't have worked for us.

*fantastic room decor completely down to the hard work and support of my parents and my aunt and uncle! It was all hands on deck the day before!

our guest place 'cards' were little zinc hearts (sourced from Daylesford Organic in Kingham- they were actually tags for cut flowers) tied with rafia to the cutlery.

guests and the wedding party (myself included) were later seen wearing theirs as bracelets or hanging from necklaces. pretty keepsakes from our day!

we created a sweetie table for later in the evening (guests + sugar= lots of dancing energy!) and laid out coffee bags bought from Monmouth Coffee for fill up with treats.

these were the perfect bags to use- lined and with a metal close tab at the top. we also added our wedding logo (used throughout our stationary) to customise.

To carry on our rustic theme, we placed old jars amongst herb planters and put the sweetie bags in a crackeled old bird bath.

details- outside

details from our wedding

the beautiful Chavenage House, Tetbury

our flowers were designed by the very talented Zita Elze who is based in Kew. Her shop on Sandycoombe Road is worth a visit if only for inspiration- it's truly beautiful! we felt completely safe in knowing that Zita understood our vision of the day and her execution of the floral details was just stunning. I hope you agree!

We (I) had agreed that hydrangeas (I love them- they're just so typically English-garden) were an important part of our day so Zita unearthed (very naughtily!!) the planted pansies in the urn at the front of the house. I loved this- it was the first of our details that the guests saw upon arrival at the house.

rustic detailing

there was a spectacular tree at the back of the house which we served champagne from under. the branches spilled over to create a hidden garden room under the boughs through which guests were able to pass...

Zita hung reams of ribbon in shades of grey and neutrals with glass vases randomly at different heights and above the champage table placed an antique Indian oil lamp...

we anticipated lighting the lamp later in the evening but regretfully never actually got around to it, but it was just as beautiful unlit.

all photographs by Chloe Browne @ Caught The Light Photography

interior details to follow...