DIY save-the-date cards

26 April 2013 |

As I think I mentioned in my initial post, I really, really like to plan things. So naturally, approximately two days after getting engaged, I had a first draft of the guest list drawn up in a colour-coded spreadsheet. (I’m not even exaggerating.) Sending out save-the-date cards was the next logical task on my list, and I was determined to make them myself.

I knew I wanted to use brown card or kraft paper, as all the invites that I’d seen and liked were made from similar materials. We were keen for them to be personal to us as a couple, and as we’re getting married in a barn in the countryside, I wanted to create something that fitted in with the style of our wedding. It was Josh who suggested using pictures of little animals and, although initially I thought he was being completely ridiculous, I really came round to the idea. We have a kitten and three pet chickens at home, so it was great fun to incorporate them into our wedding stationery.

We designed the bunting and animal graphics ourselves using Photoshop, and then fed sheets of brown card through our home printer, printing four invites onto each sheet of A4. Although this was quite time consuming, we were determined to do it ourselves so we could get the exact design we wanted.

I think the lettering from old typewriters is extremely pretty, so I wanted to use this type of font on our stationery. We bought a stamp from English Stamp and had it personalised with our names and the details of our wedding day. It was so much easier doing it like that, as it took away a lot of hassle and meant I was able to get the exact font I wanted.

After several hours of printing, cutting and stamping we had our cards. We’re really happy with the result and can’t wait to send them out to our guests!

If I hadn’t made my own save-the-date cards, I would have chosen one of the following designs by A Bird & A Bee, all of which I love:

Midsummer Meadow Wedding Stationery Range by A Bird & A Bee

Love Heart Wedding Stationery Range by A Bird & A Bee

Summer Fayre Wedding Stationery Range by A Bird & A Bee

How to choose your bridesmaids

18 April 2013 |

Above: Fabric Bridesmaid Posie by ‘By Alex’

Choosing the people to have as your bridesmaids is one of the first, and biggest, decisions a bride-to-be is faced with. From the moment you announce your engagement, aside from ‘have you set a date?’, it’s the biggest question on everyone’s lips, not least your closest friends.

There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a difficult decision, especially if you’re part of a large group of friends. When Rory popped the question and the news began to sink in, I immediately started to think about my bridesmaid selection.

There are many elements to consider when making your decision so, to help focus my mind, I decided to concentrate on the key things that I would want from my bridesmaids. Asking someone to be your bridesmaid is more than a nice gesture, it’s a request to have that person around you during one of the most special, and somewhat stressful, times in your life. I know that I will need my bridesmaids to help me through this journey and, as a result, I wanted to ask people who would:

Embrace the fun of planning a wedding: you want to be able to share your planning with someone who can enjoy it with you and understand the things that are important to you
Listen to me in times of sheer panic: it can be a stressful time and I want to be surrounded with people who can support me through the more challenging moments
Provide an unbiased opinion to help make the big decisions smaller. I knew I needed people who know me well enough to give helpful, objective advice
Throw me a hen do to remember!
Ensure my Champagne intake is high throughout the planning process and limited on the big day (until after the ceremony at least!)

Based on this criteria, my decision was relatively simple and my four special ladies were chosen. My older sister, Cara; my cousin, Caroline; my future sister-in-law, Ciara; and (making one exception to the ‘C’ rule that I seemed to have inadvertently set) my best friend, Antonia, have all taken on the mantle.

I have also nominated three of the younger members of our families to be flower girls and I will definitely be giving my two year-old niece, Orla, one of these Bridesmaid Dolls by Laura Long to help her to understand a bit more about the day itself.

There are, of course, countless other friends who I’d like to be involved in my big day, but I decided four bridesmaids was a good number. There are lots of other ways you can include close friends if they’re not going to be a bridesmaid: you might want to ask someone to give a reading during the ceremony, be a witness as you sign the register, help you with the preparations (such as making decorations or invitations) or style the venue on the day. You could even have a number of non-bridesmaids with you on the morning of your wedding to help you get ready.

Having been a bridesmaid four times myself, I know what a privilege and an honour it is to be asked, so I was really excited to break the news to my four lovely ladies. These personalised ‘Will You Be My Bridesmaid’ Cards from Button Box Cards were perfect for the job.

So now the fun has started! Discussions around the hen do have begun, Pinterest boards have been generated for bridesmaid outfit ideas, and a lot of Champagne has been drunk. It’s fair to say that my selection criteria worked a treat for me!

How did you go about choosing your bridesmaids? Was it an easy decision-making process? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

The notonthehighstreet.com brides

26 March 2013 |

Meet Fiona, Emma and Leanne, our three resident brides-to-be (there always seems to be a lot of wedding action at notonthehighstreet.com HQ). These lovely ladies are at various stages in their wedding planning, so we’ve used our amazing powers of persuasion and convinced them to talk us through the whole process and to share their ideas and inspiration in the run up to their big day. They’ll be blogging about everything from save the dates and planning the hen do to decorating the venue and finding gifts for the bridal party. If you’re planning a wedding yourself, they’ll guide you along the way by sharing tips, advice and great product finds, as well as talking through any issues that they’ve faced. Each of our brides-to-be have created a pinboard on our Pinterest profile, so you can see what’s influencing their wedding style as their journey progresses. Here’s their story so far…

Fiona and Josh

“Josh and I have been engaged for just three weeks. We’ve been together for just over two years and he couldn’t have surprised me more with the proposal, mainly as I didn’t think he was capable of a) that level of planning and b) actual romance. I received a mystery text message while I was shopping telling me to go home and pack an overnight bag, and that a taxi would be picking me up an hour later and I wasn’t to ask any questions. I was collected and driven to Claridges (he picked Claridges as I got a little bit obsessed after the TV documentary series). I was escorted by the woman from the front desk into the posh lift (with the real life lift-button-pressing man from the TV series) up to the Penthouse. Josh was waiting on one knee on the balcony with a gigantic plastic ring he’d picked up the day before (fitting for such a venue I thought). We then stayed overnight in the hotel and ate the best food I’ve ever eaten in the restaurant – the whole weekend was just amazing. This was all from the man who’d smugly presented me with two Cadbury’s Creme Eggs the previous Valentine’s Day (they were on offer – two for £1 at the petrol station).

Getting engaged has given me an excuse to unleash my exceptional planning skills; in the last three weeks we’ve set a date, booked the venue, picked the caterers and have finalised a guest list. We’ve ordered the materials for our homemade save the date cards and I can’t wait for it all to arrive so I can get making (and blogging) about them. I now spend every lunchtime scouring bridal sites and wedding blogs for inspiration – it’s great being able to do this because I’m actually getting married and not just because I’m a bit mental. We’re getting married at Gate Street Barn in Guildford on the 6 April next year and I’m planning a huge home made bunting and paper pom pom fest. Needless to say, I’m VERY excited!”

See Fiona’s wedding style pinboard

Emma and Paul

“Paul and I got engaged last January in Sydney. We had decided to do a road trip up the East Coast of Sydney, taking it in turns to pick a place to stay on the map. One evening after a lovely day on the beach, we went back to our beautiful hotel. Sitting out on the balcony, Paul said he was going to get a glass of water. He reappeared a couple of minutes later and got down on one knee. Despite the fact he had blood pouring down his arm (he cut it when trying to extract the ring from the lining of his suitcase where he’d hidden it from me as I’m SO nosy), I gleefully accepted. I wish I could say I was graceful but I sobbed hyena-style for five minutes before I pulled myself together and said absolutely, yes.

We’re getting married in about eight weeks (eek!) on the 25 May. Our ceremony is in a tiny village in Devon called Drewsteignton, followed by a reception in Fingle Bridge right next to the river. This area is very special to me as not only is it a stunning location but my grandparents used to live there so it carries so many fond memories. Paul’s family are from County Down in Ireland so, luckily, he was keen on having a rural wedding too.”

See Emma’s wedding style pinboard

Leanne and Rory

“Rory and I have been together for five years and he popped the question in November. Having just returned home, tired and bedraggled, from a long and rainy shopping trip, Rory greeted me with the news that he had a small present waiting for me in our dining room. Romantically, I guessed that it might have been a microwave as we had been discussing our need for one earlier in the week (oh domestic bliss!). Needless to say I was completely taken aback to be greeted by lit candles, scattered rose petals and an abundance of photos from our many travels together adorning the main wall. Rory proposed with a beautiful aquamarine and diamond ring that he had commissioned – I couldn’t have picked anything more perfect myself.

We have chosen our venue and are getting married in December at The Oakley Court Hotel in Windsor. We loved that the hotel has a historic, vintage feel, while still remaining relaxed – ideal for a Winter wedding. It is also perfectly located for Rory’s friends and family in Ireland to fly over and join in the celebrations. Rory and I are both quite decisive (or perhaps just impulsive) and so have ticked off a lot of the larger items on the wedding ‘to do’ list, leaving plenty of time to focus on the fun aspects such as wedding styling, entertainment and bridal styling. I’m looking forward to putting our mark on the day with a focus on our love of travelling and music and, of course, adding a Christmas twist!

One of the issues we’ve already faced in the process of our wedding planning is the number of guests we want to invite – we need to be realistic with our budget and select a guestlist according to what we can afford. Other difficulties include taking a traditional venue like a hotel and stamping our personal style on it and choosing bridesmaids – how many and who?!”

See Leanne’s wedding style pinboard

If you’ve got any words of wisdom for the girls, or your own wedding or engagement stories to share, let us know in the comments below.

Mum’s the word

12 March 2013 |

'Mother Of The Bride' Tote Bag by Alphabet Bags

Since celebrating Mother’s Day this weekend, inevitably we’ve been thinking about our mums and how much they mean to us. If you’re lucky enough to have your mum share in your wedding plans and celebrations, there is much you can do to make her an integral part of the occasion. We have a few suggestions for how to make your mum feel special, appreciated and involved:

Meet the family. Introduce your mum to your future mother-in-law. It’s an urban myth that there should be rivalry between the two – there’s no reason why they can’t get along and even become friends. They will both appreciate getting to know one another, and will help unite forces.

Let her know you value her opinion. Although it is your wedding, your mum will have been dreaming about the day too. Choose an aspect of the wedding that you are fairly flexible on and let your mum (and future mother-in-law) offer their recommendations.

'Mums Know Best' Cross Stitch Print Kit by Onneke

'Mums Know Best' Cross Stitch Print Or Kit by Onneke

The hen do. Be sure to invite her to any events you hold leading up to the wedding, such as the hen do. This says to her that you see her as an important member of the bridal party – and a friend, too. If you’re planning a big night out that your mum might not enjoy, plan an additional event like afternoon tea or a girly spa day that will be more her kind of thing.

The dress. One of the most emotional pre-wedding events is shopping for the wedding dress. You’ll probably be itching to try on dresses the second you’re engaged, but try to wait until your mum can come with you. It’ll be a special moment when she sees you in a big white gown for the first time. Make it an occasion: set appointments with bridal boutiques and spend the day with your mum. After a few dresses, take a break to consider your options, and go out to lunch or for a glass of wine together.

Louise, our Weddings Business Manager, made sure her mum was there to help her choose her dress. “When I was looking for my wedding dress, my mum came with me to every appointment. I trust her advice completely and it was lovely to spend the time together in the run-up to the wedding.”

Make reference to family traditions. Open some wine and pull out old albums, and prompt her to talk about her wedding day. There might be an aspect that you could incorporate into your day. It might be something small like adding her first dance song to the wedding playlist, or perhaps wearing a piece of jewellery she wore on her day. Ask her if she could contribute one of the elements to the “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” tradition, allowing her to share a piece of herself with you on your wedding day.

'Something Old, Something New' Letterpress Card by Yield Ink

'Old New Borrowed Blue' Letterpress Card by Yield Ink

Give her a distinct role in the bridal party. If you want your mum to walk you down the aisle, give a special reading or speech at the wedding breakfast, then throw out the rule book and ask her. She might enjoy taking a more prominent role in the day. Alternatively you could ask her to be one of the witnesses as you sign the registry.

Make her feel special on the day. Book hair and make-up for both of you in the morning. Leave a special note in her program or a special ‘Mother of the Bride’ reserved sign on the first pew.

Handmade 'Mum's Tissues' Holder by Handmade at Poshyarns

Get her a thank you gift. It’s important to make sure both sets of parents are thanked for all their help with your wedding in the groom’s speech. As you will most likely be giving gifts to other members of the wedding party at this point, make sure your mum’s gift is a special one by giving her something that’s uniquely for her. Choose something that evokes a special memory you share.

This is a wonderful time for you to bond with both mums, so remember to let them have some input and show them your appreciation. You will undoubtedly need their help with some aspects of the wedding planning, and for a shoulder to lean on when it all gets a bit overwhelming. As you will be surrounded by your friends and family throughout this time make sure you schedule some one-to-one time with your mum, so she knows she is important to you. Leave a comment below to let us know how your mum got involved with your big day.

Love birds

13 November 2012 |

Flamingo Food Pick by Miss Cake

The bird trend is something we’re big fans of, but this is by far our favourite idea on how to incorporate the love bird theme into your wedding in a much more tangible (or should we say drinkable) way. The ‘Love Bird’ cocktail is a very sweet, very blue (and very nice) tipple that makes a brilliant signature drink at your wedding reception.

0.5 part vodka

1 part peach schnapps

1 part Blue Curacao

2 parts pineapple juice

At a wedding, it’s customary to greet guests with a free drink on arrival at the wedding breakfast and reception (see our more in-depth post about the open bar debate). Whilst champagne or fizzy wine is traditional, some brides take this as an opportunity to stamp yet more personality on the big day: Pimm’s lends itself to summery, outdoor weddings; whereas mulled wine or hot cider can add a touch of warmth to a wintry wedding. But perhaps it’s an opportunity to get even more creative and develop your own personalised cocktail. The ‘Love Bird’ is just one option – you could experiment with other drinks (or visit a mixologist before the wedding) to come up with something truly unique that reflects you and your partner.

We’d love to know if you’ve used signature drinks at your wedding (or if you plan to). And why not revisit the open bar debate – are you covering the cost of guests’ drinks on your big day or will there be a cash bar? Let us know in the comments below.

The world at your table

29 October 2012 |

Map Wedding Table Plan by The Wedding of my Dreams

If you’re a keen traveler and are looking to incorporate some of your most treasured locations into your wedding, the map wedding table plan by The Wedding of my Dreams is the perfect solution. Name each table at your reception after a country and pin a vintage-style gift tag, listing all the guests at that table, to the correlating location on the map. Get creative with the countries you choose; they could be places you’ve been, somewhere you’re hoping to go, or even make it relevant to the guests who’ll be sitting at each table (if you have family coming from abroad, name their table after the country they’re from). To make it even more special, you could choose the places that hold sentimental value for both of you, like the place you got engaged, are getting married or are going on your honeymoon.

You can choose from a range of different maps depending on which locations you hold dear; the world map (our personal favourite), a map of Paris, a map of Rome, the London Underground map and a map of the British Isles. We like the idea of the London Underground map – if you live in, or are from London you could name the tables at your reception after the tube stops that are nearest your favourite haunts. All maps are printed on archival quality Italian laid paper stock and measure 71.1 x 50.8cm (28″ x 20”), and can be pasted onto a mount board or placed in a frame (without glass) to make it sturdy enough to stand on an easel or be rested against a wall so guests can find their seat.

This is one of our favourite (and one of the easiest) original wedding styling ideas for a travel-inspired wedding, see more on our travel-inspired pinboard on Pinterest.

Map Wedding Table Plan by The Wedding of my Dreams

Danielle and Mark’s wedding

18 October 2012 |

Back in August, our merchandising manager Danielle told us all about her wedding plans. We’re happy to say that she and her lovely husband Mark were happily married on the 31 August, and the day went off without a hitch. The new Mrs Lancaster shared some of her gorgeous wedding photos with us, and we weren’t disappointed. She talked us through some of the highlights of her day, and how all her unique styling details came together beautifully…

“The whole week leading up to the wedding was cold, grey and rainy, but somehow we got lucky with the weather and woke up to gorgeous sunshine on the big day. This was so important as it meant we could get married outside on the lawn of our venue (Buxted Park in Uckfield) as we had always planned. The ceremony was held under a canopy which Mark and my dad had constructed.”

“I really wanted the wedding to have a handmade feel; I was determined to make as much as I could myself. One of the more laborious projects was making the heart-shaped lawn decorations. I used a heart-shaped punch to create hundreds of hearts from pastel-coloured card, which we then attached to little wooden sticks and stuck into the grass either side of the aisle. It was a lot of work but I’m so glad it we did it. This, along with the giant coloured balloons we tied to the canopy, was a great way to introduce the pastel colour scheme that continued inside in the Orangery, where we had the reception later.”

“After the ceremony, we set up lawn games outside for guests to play; we had giant Jenga, croquet and bowles. It was nice for the guests to have a bit of fun, it made the atmosphere very relaxed and laid back which was really what we wanted.”

Fun and games on the lawn after the ceremony

“For the reception, we decorated the Orangery with loads of pink, cream and grey coloured tissue pom poms. Mark’s mum made hessian table runners and we had zinc buckets filled with flowers as our centrepieces.”

The Orangery was decorated with paper pom poms

Hessian table numbers and zinc flower buckets

“We used a personalised crate by Plantabox to collect cards and gifts. I love that we can now use the crate in our garden for plants and it will always remind us of our day.”

“We didn’t really want a traditional wedding cake so, as we’re both big cheese fans, we opted for a cheese tower instead. We didn’t want to disappoint any cake fiends, though, so we also had lots of cupcakes made. I had to call in some help from my team with these; Emma, who is our Merchandising Catalogue Manager (and cake-maker extraordinaire), made the cupcakes and Joanne, our Merchandise Co-ordinator, made the tiny heart cake toppers. I’m so lucky to work with talented, creative people – every bride’s dream!”

Homemade cupcakes with handmade heart toppers

“Our seating plan was one of my favourite styling features of the day. We made our own plan using vintage-style keys and luggage tags. For every guest, we labelled one of the keys with a gift tag that had their name and table number on. We hung all the keys up on a board with the words ‘the key to your seat’ spelled out in paper bunting and the guests had to find their key to work out which table they were on. This doubled up quite nicely as an extra favour, as most people took their keys home.”

The guests find their seats on the table plan

Most of the guests kept their keys, so they acted as another favour

“For our favours, we made little hessian packets of sunflower seeds in mini terracotta pots for our guests to plant as a reminder of our day. We thought that would be a really nice to give all our guests something that would last longer than just that one day. We put them in recycled cardboard boxes by Wedding in a Teacup and had a personalised stamp made up by English Stamp with a key design to tie in with our key-themed seating plan.”

“We used the same personalised stamp to create a similar key design for the front of our order of service booklets. We designed this ourselves, along with our menus and thank-you cards which were placed on everyone’s place setting.”

“We set up our own DIY photobooth area with our own backdrop and Polaroid camera. We had a vintage school desk next to it where guests could write messages to us on gift tags and pin them up on a board along with their Polaroid picture. This was such a fun part of the day; guests loved playing with the camera and adding pictures to the board and we can keep the photos and messages forever.”

“We had such an amazing day and couldn’t have asked for anything more. It all came together perfectly and looked just as I’d wanted it to. My one tip for any brides to be is to make sure you’re happy with your photographer. My photographer was Simon Fazackarley, and he was just brilliant. I spent so much time thinking about how every aspect of our wedding would look, and the day itself was so overwhelming that I was barely able to take it all in. After all that excitement, I’m so happy to have beautiful photos that document everything. I’ll treasure them forever.”

Steal her style…

We’ve pulled together a selection of items from our sellers to help you achieve Danielle’s wedding style:

Let’s dance…

26 September 2012 |

This week we’re celebrating all things musical, and the sentimental value in our favourite songs. For many people, the first dance as man and wife is one of the most important moments of your wedding day and so naturally choosing an appropriate song can be a daunting task.

It’s often a difficult decision; you have the creative license to chose whatever song represents you as a couple, and that can mean anything from the truly romantic to the completely ridiculous. We’ve asked around the office to find out what songs members of the team had for their first dance:

“We were going to have One Day Like This by Elbow, but we opted for You’re The One That I Want (from Grease) sung by the Beautiful South. Quite often, after a few glasses of wine, Pete and I would end up putting on our favourite songs and slow dancing in the kitchen (or jumping around like lunatics – depending on the song) and You’re The One That I Want was always a favourite as it’s such a cool version of an otherwise fairly ridiculous song.” Cora, Merchandising Catalogue Executive

“My first dance was to We Have All The Time In The World by Louis Armstrong. My husband loves it so much that whenever I play it he can’t help but dance with me (he never dances) and fill up with tears, even after 15 1/2 years of marriage. It’s got amazing words and he’s a big Bond fan. Mind you, the wife died in her wedding dress in that song in the Bond movie…” Lorraine, Human Resources Director

“I planned my wedding very quickly and my dad volunteered to act as DJ. My husband and I met in a nightclub and so Dad thought it would be appropriate to play Strangers In The Night by Frank Sinatra as our first dance. Memorable – yes, but perhaps not that romantic” Anonymous

If you’re looking for a way to capture the memory of your first dance, we’ve chosen our three favourite ideas of ways to immortalise your chosen song. The first is a personalised, hand-cut papercut, which is made bespoke with your chosen words, names and dates. It can be framed and then hung in your home, or rested against the wall on a bookshelf or chest of drawers.

Personalised Words First Dance Wedding Papercut by Kyleigh's Papercuts

Personalised Words Papercut by Kyleigh's Papercuts

We love these necklaces from Joulberry: choose any words, dates, places, names, or song lyrics to be engraved onto this sterling silver scroll. The words won’t be legible to anyone else, so only you and your other half will know the meaning behind it. This is a great gift idea, not only to commemorate your first dance song but to keep any sentimental messages close to your heart.

Personalised Open Love Scroll Necklace by Joulberry

Personalised Love Scroll Necklace by Joulberry

This print is available in a range of colour themes and simply captures the details of ‘your song’; hang it in your home as a constant reminder of your first dance as man and wife.

Personalised 'Our Song' Print by The Drifting Bear Co.

As always, we’d love your input. What song did you/will you have for your first dance? Is it something sentimental or fun? Leave a comment below or tweet us @notonthehighst. We thought we’d leave you with one of our all-time favourite first wedding dances, just for a bit of inspiration…

First class wedding postboxes

17 September 2012 |

This week we’ve been thinking about ways to store your wedding cards on the big day. Let’s be honest; you know you won’t have the time to coordinate them, and the last thing you need is for one to go astray (especially if you’ve asked for money or honeymoon donations instead of gifts – these envelopes could be very valuable). But we’d like to think this is another opportunity to get creative, as well practical. We’ve pulled together some of our favourite ideas and, as always, we’d love to hear yours too!

Using vintage suitcases is a trend we’ve seen gathering pace over the past few years, so we had a go at creating our own with wooden letters from letters etc and baroque style hanging bird decorations by The Orchard.

Hand Crafted Wooden Letter by letters etc

Another popular idea is using a birdcage as a postbox. You could fashion your own using these round aged metal birdcages by Monty’s Vintage Shop or go for one that’s been specially designed to accommodate wedding post – this bird cage post box by Hope and Willow is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Bird Cage Post Box by Hope and Willow

If you like the idea of incorporating a birdcage into your wedding, you could also try the wire birdcage photo and memo holder by The Orchard and have guests peg their cards to it on the big day (more stock will be available in early October!)

Wire Birdcage Photo And Memo Holder by The Orchard

Our Merchandising Manager, Danielle, was married at the end of August (find out more about her pre-wedding planning here). To create a distinctive card-collection point, Danielle bought a personalised wooden crate from Plantabox and had it personalised with her & her fiancé’s initials. They’re now making equally good use of it at home, where it’s become a stylish new wine rack.

Personalised Wedding Gift Crate by Plantabox

If you want something a little more traditional, these personalised wedding post box by Dreams to Reality Design Ltd can be personalised with your names, initials, venue name, reception end time and wedding date.

Personalised Red Wedding Post Box by Dreams to Reality Design Ltd

Personalised Wedding Post Box by Dreams to Reality Design Ltd

We asked around the office to see if anyone else had come across a bright idea for wedding card storage:

“I once went to a wedding on a farm – the couple were farmers themselves. They had a pair of wellies to collect cards and a huge bucket for presents, which really made us laugh. It might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but it was very apt for the bride and groom.“ Nicki, Relationship Marketing Manager

“When I got married last year, we covered a cardboard box with brown paper to hold all our cards. We printed the London skyline across the bottom using the same stamp we’d used on our invitations and I bought a sign from Delightful Living Weddings to hang from the top.” Louise, Weddings Business Manager

Louise's wedding postbox. Image courtesy of Amy Murrell

Have you been creative with your wedding post box, or seen any other imaginative ways to collect cards? Let us know by commenting below or sending us a tweet @notonthehighst

Just a note to say…

22 August 2012 |

'Fancy Getting Married Later?' Wedding Day Card by Slice of Pie Designs

So you’ve done all the planning, and everything’s ready to go. The guests have been invited, the cake has been baked, the dress has been pressed and the flowers have been arranged. It’s the morning of your big day and you’re getting ready with your friends and family. Without doubt, you will be thinking of your fiancé, their thoughts and feelings as you approach your big moment. So we’ve been wondering: what can you do to mark the special time in the few hours before you wedding? How do you let your loved one know how much they mean to you on one of the most important days of your life?

One of our newest sellers brought this to our attention with their range of ‘Wedding Day’ cards. Slice of Pie Designs have created a collection of charming cards perfect for sending to your beloved before you tie the knot. They had found there was a lack of personal, heartfelt cards to send your fiancé on the morning of your wedding, and we love their simple yet witty designs.

'Your Wife' Wedding Day Card by Slice of Pie Designs

'It's Our Wedding Day' Wedding Day Card by Slice of Pie Designs

This got us thinking about other possibilities for notes or messages to leave for your loved ones. We headed over to Pinterest (our favourite place to head) and found some amazing ideas, from messages left on the bottom of the bride’s shoes, to sending the flower girl down the aisle with a hand-written note for the groom. Have a look at some of our favourite ideas on our pinboard.

We also took a quick survey amongst some of the ‘already marrieds’ we know, and asked what they had done for their partner on their wedding day…

“My fiancé and I had discussed exchanging cards prior to our wedding, and we’d decided we would do it after the ceremony. We didn’t think we’d have time to give it our full attention if we opened cards before we left for the church. On the morning of my wedding I was nervously getting ready at my parents’ house with my bridesmaids, and a huge bunch of roses were delivered for me. The card that accompanied them simply read ‘See you at 2 x’. It was such an emotional moment; to know that despite all the stress leading up to the day, my future husband had taken the time to plan this gesture to let me know he was thinking of me. The only problem was I got a little too teary and had to have my make up redone!”

“When I got married, I made an anniversary book and had my best man deliver it to my wife on the morning of our wedding. It had a section for each year of marriage, with a space to put photos and mementos and little notes about the past year. I filled up the first few pages with a brief history of our relationship so far: a map of the location of our first date, a picture of our first home and our plane tickets to Dublin where we got engaged. She loved it, and has added to it every year since.”

So tell us, have you planned a special way to let your betrothed know you’re thinking of them on the morning of your big day? If you’re already married, did you receive a card, flowers or a gift from your other half before the ceremony? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments below.

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