Wedding Magazine – You & Your Wedding UK

22 Wednesday Aug 2012

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bridal candy, wedding decor ideas, Wedding magazines, wedding stationery ideas, wedding table setting ideas, You & Your Wedding magazine

You & Your Wedding is a modern wedding magazine from the UK. Cosmo Bride UK merged into this magazine roughly 1 year ago. The latest issues of You & Your Wedding are beautifully laid out and I have to say they have done a really great job of taking some of the best ideas from Cosmo Bride UK and incorporating them into their magazine. I was very disappointed to hear Cosmo Bride had come to the end of its magazine life but You & Your Wedding makes up for it.

I personally believe wedding magazines are not just for brides. Yes, you get asked “when is the wedding “ when purchasing them and you get a few looks when you say I’m not getting married but what you gain from purchasing them is worth all the looks. Bridal magazines have the best decor ideas, stationery ideas, cake ideas and table setting ideas you’ll find at the flip of a page. If you have anything to do with the wedding industry or you work in decor you should be keeping up with wedding magazine trends locally and internationally. Even if you just like pretty things and blog about them, you won’t be sorry about buying these little treasures. Many wedding magazines have DIY sections now as well so if you are into crafts have a look at the wedding section next time you are at the bookstore.

I highly recommend You & Your Wedding for the following reasons:

1. Fantastic and unique selection of wedding dresses. Beautiful photography spreads of modern and traditional wedding dresses.

2. Simple and classic moodboard styled pages featuring great fashion pieces, accessories, cakes, stationery and decor ideas.

3. Bride Candy section – Here they create a look/style and do a full spread on it with decor, flowers, cake and stationery ideas. Basically anything and everything you would need to think of for the wedding day. It’s a great idea because it allows you to envision your own wedding and see if that style is really what you want. They also cover what’s trending and have fun ideas and details to add a personal touch to your wedding.

4. Useful articles on planning your wedding with fabulous trips to save you time, money and tons of stress.

5. Beauty tips to make you glow. Fashion and accessory ideas.

6. Quite a few real wedding features with all the days’ details from the dress to the table settings. The bride’s story and the vendors used by the bride.

7. Trend setting spreads on what’s hot this season and what each season should look and feel like.

8. COLOURFUL SPREAD, SPREADS and MORE SPREADS! I love this magazines photography shots.

9. Fashion suggestion pages for bridesmaids, the brides mum and the groom.

10. Honeymoon trips, from what to pack to where to visit.

11. IDEAS ON BASICALLY EVERYTHING: Bouquets ideas, cakes ideas, stationery ideas and table setting ideas all in one magazine.

Go buy their latest issues and see for yourself what an exciting and creative wedding magazine this is. You won’t be disappointed as they truly cater for every type of women and cover all wedding styles.

If you are unable to get hold of You & Your Wedding at your local bookstores you can purchase the latest copy and back copies all the way back until 2007. I’d say buying up until 2010 is a good idea. See link below.

YOU & YOUR WEDDING

All images courtesy of You & Your Wedding 2010 – 2012.

TOAST

Debbie

Wedding Magazines 101 – Cosmo Bride UK

21 Tuesday Aug 2012

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Cosmo bride UK, wedding inspiration, wedding magazine ideas, wedding magazine spreads, Wedding magazines, wedding style inspiration

For those of you who are familiar with Cosmo Bride UK will know that the last issue of this magazine was printed roughly one year ago. The best part is that Cosmo Bride’s fun style and out of the box ideas won’t be going out of fashion any time soon. So I suggest you get your hands on some past copies and start paging. Otherwise you can find some of their past issues in digital format online.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting about wedding magazines and why they are so important even though today we have thousands of wedding blogs to choose from. Magazines shouldn’t “replace” your favourite blogs it should only add to your inspiration. Blogs will always play a bit part in the wedding industry and rightly so.

Firstly, there is nothing like paging through a glossy magazine while lying in the sun or under the covers in winter. If you are not able to purchase the hard copies of the magazines you like you should be able to purchase the digital versions online for your laptop, iPad or iPhone.

2. A good magazine has great articles to help with your wedding day planning, relationship issues, advice on bridesmaids’ drama and many more articles that address the real and relevant issues that most brides will face at some time before the wedding. All at the flip of a page(or a click of a button) instead of spending hours searching the internet for answers to the number of problems you are having.

They have great ideas too, see the image below. I LOVE this idea. I know most people choose to have “kid free” weddings these days but I love children and I think they should be able to attend with their parents. If you are afraid of them setting things alight during the night then keep them busy with something like this. Anyway I have seen things set alight at weddings without any helps from kids.

3. Most “glossy” wedding magazines have a number of spreads on real weddings where they give you an idea of the whole day and the bride’s experience and not just the photography like most blogs do. You’ll get an idea of the bride’s personality, her experience and how she decided on her decor, stationery, flower etc .

4. Magazines will show you many different styles all at once. This so you can make that difficult decision of which style to choose for the wedding day. Magazines often interpret vintage, rustic and graphic styles differently with the use of fashion, stationery and decor.

6. No more trying to find that website you thought you saw something you liked on it. Just wipe out that wedding scrapbook with all your treasured wedding magazine spreads and you can show your wedding planner, florist and stationery designer your full vision. I can’t stress how important it is that each vendor has a good idea of your style in every area of your wedding. Each vendor works separately but it all has to come together on the big day. Not every bride chooses to have a wedding planner so make sure everyone has a clear vision of what it is that you like.

7. Magazines have a full experienced team selecting what’s trending, beauty expert’s tips and ideas, what new vendors are out there and how to bring your whole vision together. Not every website has all these expertise.

8. Try to buy back issues of your favourite magazines. You’ll be surprised to find things you like that might not be trending at the moment but it is exactly what you are looking for.

9. Be selective, if they are not enticing you with the cover the changes are they won’t be captivating you with their content. However it can be the other way round so have a quick look before you buy the selected magazine/s. Don’t just simply collect every bridal magazine you can find.

10. Buy international wedding magazines as well as your local ones. I have found some absolutely hideous wedding magazines locally and same fabulous international ones and vice a versa.

My next post will be on You and Your Wedding magazine. It is the magazine that Cosmo Bride UK “merged” into.

All images courtesy of Cosmopolitan Bride UK. Images taken from issues 2010 – 2011.

TOAST

Debbie

Wedding Inspiration – Mood Boards

13 Friday Jul 2012

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ballerina style wedding, british style wedding, colourama style wedding, graphic style wedding, inspiration boards, retro style wedding, summer lovin inspiration, village charm style wedding, vintage style wedding, Wedding mood boards

Mood Board by Toast: image credits – Tea cups- Intimate Weddings, gramophone – Quirky Parties, newspaper service book sheets – Elizabeth Anne Designs, suitcases – My Pretty Vintage, books – Wedding Bee, paper hearts – Etsy, Plate – Love and Lavender, vintage floral invitation – by Ally Hay via Before the Big Day, Invitation – Wedding Clan, cupcakes – Vintage and Cake, Wedding Dress – By Jim Hjelm Bridal Collection 2012.

When planning a wedding mood boards are a great way to gain inspiration and keep ideas on hand. When planning your decor and stationery it’s always a good idea to have a mood board or pictures available to show the vendor. Reason being is that what you see in your mind is seldom what someone else sees. So to save time and much frustration be sure to take some ideas along to your appointment.

I found some lovely mood boards on You and Your Wedding. All mood boards are by Kate Hornby. I have not seen such pretty and different boards in a while so I had to share them.

Starting with my favourite one, the British themed wedding. You and Your Wedding: Main photograph: Chiara Romagnoli, Stylist: Sally Dixon.

I adore the main photo with the red shoes and purse!

Colourama – You and Your Wedding: Main photography: Leonardo James. Stylist: Sally Dixon.

Graphic Style – Red, White and Black – You and Your Wedding: Main photograph: Chiara Romagnoli. Stylist: Sally Dixon

Village Charm – You and Your Wedding: Main photograph: Chiara Romagnoli.
Stylist: Sally Dixon

Graphic Hues – You and Your Wedding: Main photograph: Chiara Romagnoli. Stylist: Sally Dixon

Ballerina theme – You and Your Wedding: Main image photography: Chiara Romagnoli. Stylist: Sally Dixon

So Retro – You and Your Wedding: Main photograph: Chiara Romagnoli
Stylist: Sally Dixon

Summer Lovin’ – You and Your Wedding: Photography: Leonardo James. Stylist: Sally Dixon

If you are looking for mood board ideas for your wedding or party you can email me on info@toastsa.com.

Toast

Debbie

COVER ME PRETTY

12 Thursday Jul 2012

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book cover designs, book covers, DIY book covers, old books, recover old books

I bought a few second hand books a while back from two small book stores in Franschhoek. I love old books and I thought these particular books could assist with some assignments I had due. I bought even though they were pretty ugly looking and not all of them were in the best of shape. However the outside does not affect the value of the content and these books proved to be very helpful.

After staring at them every day for a few months I decided they needed to be recovered as they were a sight for sore eye amongst my other books. Assignments were done so no more mishandling of these books meant that I either needed to recover them or pack them far away out of sight.

After I recovered them they looked far better and are now able to stay on my shelf without looking like they came out of the 18th Century (especially since they were only printed about 40 – 50 years ago).

BEFORE AND AFTER RESULTS

I still have some more old books to cover and a few of my new books covers freak me out so they need new covers in order for me to actually finish reading them.

If you have any old books you are considering having recovered or you have an old book that you know a friend or family member loves but you can’t stand looking at it because of its condition you can always contact me and have a cover made. Shipping something like a cover is easy due to its size.

My contact details are on my contact page – info@toastsa.com.

Please send me an email if you are interested.

Toast

Debbie

DECOR WITH A TWIST

10 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Amazon LED Shower head, cup holder, decor, DIY decor, Etsy, Mason jar soap dispenser, neon picture frames, pink vintage phone, scale clock, suitcase chairs, vintage dresser, wall art ideas

Patchwork Chest of Drawers

I love walking into stores or waiting rooms and seeing some very unique decor pieces that you did not expect to see there. Things that almost don’t belong because you can’t believe a doctor’s room or a shoe store would have something that funky or creative on display.

Suitcase Chair

Decor is another form of art for me and inexpensive unique pieces are harder to find these days unless you paint, recover or design something yourself. I love multi-purpose items, items that don’t only look pretty for decor purposes but actually have a useful function too. I found a few fabulous items online especially on Etsy. The only problem I have with Etsy is that the stores/individuals sometimes only stock one item and once it’s sold that’s it, good-bye pretty thing. Many of the decor pieces I found I thought would be great for DIY decor ideas and they will hopefully inspire you to go take that old chest of drawers and turn it into your own unique piece of art.

Modern Wooden Headboard

I love this chalkboard idea for the fridge. It makes it impossible to forget something since the whole family uses the fridge. The monthly office organiser is a great idea too and easy enough to clean.

Toaster and Egg Maker

Lemonade Dispenser

vintage old clock scale Scale Clock

Pink Vintage Phone

I love how some old items simply need a polish and a coat of funky paint and then they are “modern vintage”. In the case of the scale clock no paint paint job or retouching needed just a new piece added and you have a whole new item.

LED Shower Head

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

Door Mat

Key Holder

Toast

Debbie

Unique Pieces – Strange or out of the box

10 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Always fits, creative gifts, cute pans, digi piggy bank, fresh finds, ipod jukebox, shop plasticland, unique pieces, weird gifts

I have come across some seriously weird items on the internet that are available to purchase. I often think, wow these people obviously don’t want to make money or you are kidding me! People actually buy this trash? I suppose normal is over rated and what’s considered normal anyway right?

I have to say though some items brought back some good memories. When I was in high school my friends and I would often buy people two gifts. One as a joke which we would obviously give first and wait for the predicted “oh thank you it’s really nice” reaction or “is this a joke!” (How to separate the liars from the blatantly honest individuals). For this blog post I added things that are a bit strange or items that are outside the box or clever in their design.

Random tin

I need a couple of these tins for all the random stuff I have.

I can see a lot of kids in tear before bed time with a title like this. It’s not a bad book but can you just imagine ” Would you like me to read you all my friends are dead tonight darling?”

Lickety Spoon

How to get your children to take their medicine.

Bacon Frosting

I wonder if you need to warn vegetarians before you serve this at a birthday party.

Bacon Mints

Yes because people use mints to make their breath smell like food? This idea is kind of bizarre. I think I’d just prefer someone to eat bacon and not have a mint afterwards than use these mints.

Fake Pregnancy Test

I wonder how many poor souls have had a heart attack or been convinced into marriage with this one. Boys watch out there are crazy ladies out there. I love how the label says “GREAT FOR: MARRIAGE! EXTORTION! LAUGHS! “. Somehow I don’t think the men were laughing at the time.

Onto the “more” normal and rather clever ideas.

Ear Buds Earphones

This is a clever idea as kids are always looking for colourful funky earphones. These earphones come in different shapes and the designs appeal to both boys and girls.

Now I can’t guarantee that this will keep your kids fingers away from the plugs, the opposite is true. It looks great though. Child supervision is advised.

Digi Piggy

I LOVE THIS! I think it is such a cute gift for a kid. It’s a great idea to allow kids to see exactly how much they are saving. No more breaking those old piggy banks.

Grater

Super cute, a nice accompanying gift for a house-warming.

Jukebox

This is a great modern idea and the design of this jukebox is stunning. I can see this been a great piece of decor at any party, young or old.

Cute Faces Pan

This is my favourite! I am sure adults will enjoy this as much as the kids will.

Have a look at these websites if you are looking for some unique or slightly crazy gifts that you won’t find at your local store.

Always fits

Shop Plasticland

Fresh finds

Toast

Debbie

Fashion and Jewellery Inspiration

06 Friday Jul 2012

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artistic shoes, fashion, fashion inspiration, jewellery inspiration, marvel comic bag, shop plastic land, unique rings

I believe whatever we do or where ever we go during the day we gain inspiration through the things we see. Whether it is fashion, art, design or simple decor items each detail stays somewhere in our memory waiting to be used at a later stage. We find things we like and things we don’t. We sometimes find that we like certain trends we never thought we would.

That’s why I blog about so many different things because I believe they inspire my designing and hopefully give others some ideas as well. I love fashion, art, design, decor and so many other things in the design world. Art is not limited to a painting hanging on a wall. I love items that are unique and push the boundaries of art, fashion and design.

I found some unique and artistic items on the internet in fashion and jewellery. Items that could inspire other areas of art and not just fashion. If you click on the image it will take you to the original source.

I fell in love then I saw these 2 pairs of shoes. It’s art in the form of a shoe.

These are super cute but out of stock. I love how simple these leg warmers are and yet it stands out because of the small details.

I’m a big fan of anything that has black and white cities printed on it or when designers use it in their designs. I love the look and I think it makes a statement of its own and you need to do very little to a design or to your outfit to look great.

I adore this. I must say I have seen similar ones that looked kitsch but this looks classy and has just the right amount of detail.

Marvel comics will never go out of fashion and with Hollywood keeping the stories alive I am sure Marvel items will be on the selves for our lifetime. I think a bag like this is great especially for students.

If you’re going to wear jewellery let it reflect your personality and style. Don’t simple choose items because they are in style. Be unique and don’t be afraid of it if it’s not in fashion. Think of it as wearing a piece of art or inspiration.

A website worth having a look at is www.shopplasticland.com they have some very unique pieces. It’s not a website for everyone as they have a specific style but I like that they stock things that you won’t find at the usual fashion stores.

Toast

Debbie

LoveIt – You’ll love it!

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Anna Sun, Colourful jars, cool watches, DIY, DIY bulb vases, DIY memory lights, iphone cover, Love It, LoveIt

I recently came across a website similar to Pinterest, just way better. The website is called LoveIt and I guarantee you’ll love it. It is a fantastic place to get inspiration, share your favourite ideas and images or even just find out what the latest trends are. You can choose to follow some of your favourite websites, photographers and artists to list a few. The website is super easy to use and you’ll be loving images at a click of a button. Do yourself a favour and go check out LoveIt and see for yourself.

Some of my favourite images from LoveIt, just a few I have liked or Loved.

Anna Sun by Jose Luna

Colour Jars by Wedding Chicks

Watches

Click on image for the step by step guide to make this DIY vase.

Click on image for the step by step guide to make these DIY memory lights.

Follow Toast on LoveIt at LoveItToast to see these images and many more we love.

Toast

Debbie

Garden Party

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

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candels, Chinese Lanterns, Colour straws, Croquet, cushions, cutlery, DIY, Garden Party, Garden Party decor, Garden party drinks, Garden party entertainment, Garden Party invitation, lighting, outdoor decor, Outdoor lighting, summer garden party, summer party colours, table settings, Virgin Cocktails

One idea that I LOVE is a garden party. Regardless of the occasion whether it happens to be a birthday celebration, outdoor wedding or just a weekend get together a garden party is a fabulous idea. It’s so simple, fun and anyone can do it and look like a pro at organising.

This lovely setting is from Alicia Salcedo. She has some really great photo’s of this garden/tea party on her website. I love how they have paired the pinks, blues and purples with some bright colours like orange and yellow. It really makes everything pop.

Photo credit: Real Simple

Pinks and light blues work really well together and the stripped details on the cushions and stationery add a bit of fun to this look. Photo credit: Stylisheve

Colour goes a long way at a garden party. Colourful flowers and ribbon allow you to keep everything else very simple and plain. The end result is stunning and it takes barely any work. Photo credit: Thoughtfully Simple

There are so many great ideas for a garden party and depending on which route you plan on taking decor wise (fun-colourful, simple-elegant) there are dozens of ideas from lighting to cutlery.

Ideas to help you plan a Garden Party.

1. Cutlery

This is such a creative idea to spice up your old boring cutlery. The look is fun but it still has that elegant feel form the old cutlery. This type of cutlery is great for any type of garden party. I suggest you keep things plain with the plates and glasses if you go for a bold cutlery. Photo credit: Aleggup

This is super cute. I have seen this cutlery design in most homeware stores. Choose two or three colours in the cutlery and work with those for the rest of the table. Team up similar patterns as well to keep things flowing nicely. Photo credit: Kisforketchup.

If you are going for a rustic look simple spray old cans white or another other neutral colour you decide to use. Fill cans with your cutlery/ flowers or straws. Photo credit: Country Living.

2. Cushions

Photo credit: All Doing

Cushions make a huge difference in how the decor of a garden party looks and works. Go bold and stripped for a bright colourful summer look or choose something softer and not as bright for a more elegant look such the images below.

Photo credit: Every fine home

Photo credit: Mr Price Home

3. Lighting

This is a really simple idea for lighting at a garden party if things carry on into the night. All you need is a glass jar, a floating tea light candle, colour/clear pebbles and some twine/ribbon. Photo credit: vi.sualize.us

Photo credit: Room Remix

Photo credit: Candles.lovetoknow

Photo credit: Buzzle

Photo credit: Punch Bowl

Photo credit: Osunset

Photo credit: Practical Enrichment

4. Drinks

Colourful drinks are a must to add that summer vibe to any garden party.

Photo credit: Country Living

Have your own drink labels made for a more personal touch. Photo credit: Pink Preppy Lilly Lover

Photo credit: Home Confetti

You can’t have a garden party without colour straws! Photo credit: Dan Cutrona

Two easy virgin cocktails and drinks for kids and those who don’t drink below.

5. Party Invitation

Don’t forget about the invitations. This is a lovely invitation for the Sidney Sussex Boat Club.

6. Entertainment

An outdoor movie on those warm summer nights is a great way to relax. After things wind down from the afternoon party put a movie on or play MTV or any other music channel depending on the mood on a white sheet or screen.

Croquet is an easy game to set up and everyone can join in.

I hope you have lots of fun planning your next garden party!

Toast

Debbie

London 2012 Olympics – Design

24 Thursday May 2012

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2012 London Olympics, design, London 2012 Olympic clothing, London 2012 Olympic medal, London Olympic torch

The London 2012 Olympics is only 64 days away. The torch relay visited Gloucester Cathedral and Severn Valley Railway today.

260 Buckingham palace guards line up to mark the 100 days until the Olympics.

The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in London revealed this stunning image on the 100 day mark. More than 20 000 flowers and plants were used to create these Olympic rings.

The British team’s kit was designed by Stella McCartney and consists of 590 pieces (now that’s a lot of designing). I was a little shocked to hear that Stella had designed them but I must say they are really good and I like the twist on the typical British design.