Love Padlocks in Spain

Attaching a padlock to a bridge and throwing the key into the river is seen as a symbol of enduring love and this rather romantic idea of love padlocks, otherwise known as love locks, is proving a popular craze in most cities across Europe after the publication of the 2007 cult best-seller Ho Voglia De Te (I Want You) which saw a young couple attach a padlock to the city's Milvian Bridge and throw away the key into the river, as a sign of their love.  

This trend has spread, but not of course without controversy. 

Whilst it is a lovely romantic idea, it does appear sadly that in some cities it has caused problems with the weight of thousands of padlocks threatening structures and historical monuments, the Rialto bridge in Italy is one such structure that has suffered, I guess due to it´s already popular romantic setting. 

The not so romantic authorities of many cities have been apparently dismantling the padlocks with cutters, but in Moscow they have built metal trees instead on Luzhkov Bridge, giving a designated area for friends and lovers to express their love and affection.

Wouldn´t it be fabulous to have these in Marbella!

I was quite intrigued by this idea though and found out there is a bridge in most of the Spanish cities where this latest craze has developed including Malaga and Sevilla and even now in Madrid.

Perhaps Spain should now build some romantic structures to attract what I think is rather a romantic idea but in the meantime this could be perhaps bought into your wedding day either in the ceremony, stationery or even in the props.

I do love an inspiration so thought I would share this with you!

Eco Friendly Rice Butterfly Confetti

Traditionally rice is thrown at the bride and groom to bring them fertility and good luck and the word confetti comes from the Italians who traditionally threw sweets at the lucky couple, confetto.

All this, however, sounds painful and as we are always searching for eco friendly alternatives to our weddings, we were delighted to find this new product, rice butterflies which we will now be stocking in our shop.

These gorgeous butterflies are currently available in white, red, yellow, green and blue but shortly will be available in pink.  As they are so lightweight they stay in the air for longer ensuring your photographer will capture the magic and give your photos the wow factor.

We love them and with all the symbolic meanings behind throwing rice at the happy couple, we cannot think of a better way to start your married life than to be blessed by fluttering butterflies!

Udreamybridal Our New Shiny Sponsor

We are delighted to welcome on board our latest shiny sponsor Udreamybridal.

Udreamybridal offer an amazing range of bridalwear from bridal dresses, bridesmaids dresses, mother of the bride and very cute flower girl dresses.

We particularly love the vintage styled 1950´s Audrey Hepburn styles and there are some fabulous lace and beach style dresses perfect for weddings here in Spain.

You must hotfoot it over to take a sneak peek, particularly if you are working to a budget, as the prices amazed me and they ship worldwide.

Wedding Trends Bright Neons

The NEON trend hit the fashion world last year and of course is now being translated into wedding world and we are seeing these bright pops of colour becoming increasingly and boldly used. 

I think, as a designer, the key element when using these fabulous and riotous colours is to tone it down with the cooler colours, whites works with me all the time!

 We have the soft greys combined with the zingy yellows, citrusy greens combined with plenty of whites and pops of hot pinks and cobalt blues combined with paler shades of nude pinks and whites.

Get it right and the end results will be fabulous and make a strong colour statement, get it wrong and it will be a mess of riotous colours!

This style is funky though and would suit a young and retro bride, we have a few weddings with strong colour statements in this year, mainly the bright yellow but just little details here and there which will be stunning.

Images found via Pinterest

Reviva Weddings are featured in WeddingBells, Canada

 We are delighted that one of our beautiful weddings, from last year, has been featured, across the waters, in the Canadian Weddingbells Magazine so we thought we would share this moment with you! 

According to Joee Wong, the fantastic photographer that Kelly and Wil bought with them all the way from Toronto, the article looks even better in real life.

Kelly and Wil contacted us, not long before their wedding date, and needed help to finalise all the details of their wedding day and someone to style, decorate and oversee their stunning wedding at the Puente Romano Hotel.

It was a challenge, as despite booking the venue, Kelly and Wil had actually not been here, although we then found out Kelly had visited as a child and decided she wanted to get married here :)  Having been together for 7 years and saved up for this special day, we were very excited and honoured to be involved. 

Carla set to and finalised all the suppliers, arranged the last few details and organised everything so it all came together and I worked with Kelly to design and style her

wedding day.

The end result was stunning, it was a beautifully hot September day and the emotional ceremony conducted by the delightful Natasha was held on the beach at Puente Romano Hotel followed by a reception at the hotel´s Suite Del Mar. 

 

 

Kathryn Parr made everyone look gorgeous with her amazing hair and make up talents and Mark at Cake Marbella did us proud with his cupcakes (still have to have words with him about supplying extra though!)

New Ruche Pastel Wedding Collection

We felt this was too exciting not to share and thanks to Green Wedding Shoes for introducing Ruche's new wedding collection which is being launched on the 19th March.

We are already an avid fan of their clothes and accessories and are delighted that Ruche are now creating vintage, feminine wedding and bridesmaids dresses with a focus on embroidery and intricate detailing.

We are in love the pastels and neutrals, a huge fashion statement this year mixed with metallics and even more amazing are the prices with wedding dresses below $500 and bridesmaids retailing at around $100.

All brides must pop over and take a sneak peek at Green Wedding Shoes and in the meantime we have about 4 more sleeps until this gorgeous new collection is launched.

I have no doubt we will see many more gorgeous photos and will share these with you.

Springtime Blossom Cupcake Decorating Class by Sweet Things By Fi

We are delighted to announce Fi's Springtime Blossom Cupcake Class will be held at our shop on the 24th March and we already have bookings so be quick as there are limited places left.

You will learn how to create stunning accent cupcakes, adorned with handmade sugar roses and fantasy flowers, and you can wow your friends when you create your own cupcakes at home with your newly acquired skills!

Buttercream piping skills will also be taught.

The Springtime Blossom cupcake class, we think, will be Fi's most popular class, as it focuses solely on the decorative side of cupcake making and sugar flower design just in time for your Easter entertaining!

At the end of the class you will be the proud designer and owner of six beautiful vanilla and chocolate cupcakes that can either mirror Fi's designs above or be completely new if you are feeling creative!

The class will last for around 2 ½ hours and refreshments (and cake!) will be provided throughout.

All our classes have had positive feedback so perhaps this is a good excuse for you and your girlfriends to spend an afternoon together!

For more information please contact Fi on 697229088 or send her an email to mail@sweetthingsbyfi.com

Romantic White and Floral Wedding Inspiration

Who does not love white with flashes of colour and this week I found some fabulous cakes on Pinterest that prompted me to do this gorgeous floral mixed with white blogpost.

Sometimes with Pinterest it is not easy to see the original source of all the fabulous photos that are pinned, but I have taken time to see who these fantastic cakes are made by and I think this comes from Amelies House and her creations are gorgeous.

I love the colours and themes of the birds and florals and this would be the basis for a very pretty wedding theme with the cute birdhouses and delightful details.  It is much cleaner and fresher than previous vintage style themes.

I have also noticed this year golds are definitely back in combined with pastel colours and I hope this inspiration board emulates the latest trend not perhaps with weddings but generally in interiors which of course will follow suit in the wedding world.

Ombre Cushions :)

It is widely known that I have a cushion obsession and just had to share these fabulous rosette cushions with you from Etsy, aren´t they just divine and I love the Ombre touch.

I can see my lounge being transformed in the next few months and how fabulous to have a wedding or party chill out with this idea :)

Ombre for Weddings!

We love this new trend called Ombre, a French term meaning shaded.

It is popping up everywhere in wedding world.

I did see a bit of this trend last year with bridesmaids dresses in different shades of one colour.  We are even seeing coloured wedding dresses this year and I have seen some die for evening dresses that I am secretly coveting :)!

Ombre is a lovely idea and the cakes with this shaded design are gorgeous, even the insides are shaded layers which look divine and very eatable! 

Whether your chosen colour palette is pink, purple, blues, yellows (a huge colour in fashion world too at the moment) this idea of applying different shades of one colour to your wedding details is definitely worth considering.

Perhaps a cocktail going from dark to light, a cake or even this fabulous ribbon backdrop or your table centrepieces. 

Ombre is going to be a big hit this year and we will see a lot more of this by the autumn.

Love is in the Air!

Reviva Weddings have had a fabulous week meeting many of our wonderful clients. 

I love getting to know our couples as we approach their wedding days and I, to be honest, am humbled my many of their stories they share with us. For me, and my fantastic team, it just makes our work so very special to be able to share in these truly emotional and special occasions knowing some of the stories behind the relationships.

As Valentine's Day approaches this week we would like to share our delightful heart inspiration board with you all and wish our charming couples from the past and for the future a very special Valentines Day and hope romance and love is in the air this week!

Metallic Wedding Cakes by SweetThings ByFi

We are delighted to welcome SweetThings ByFi to our blog to talk to us about the latest 2012 metallic wedding cake trends. 

Just like Wedding Trends, wedding cake designs are constantly changing.

Designs are heavily influenced by the fashion catwalk, wedding blogs and wedding magazines. Throughout 2011 there were many high profiled weddings, including the Royal weddings in the UK and Monaco, Supermodel Kate Moss, Pop singer Lily Allen and let’s not forget Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in the US. As a result, this has seen an increase in ornate piping and sugar flowers being incorporated into cake designs.

For many brides, 2012 is marking the end of the vintage trend and the beginning of glamorous decor with jewels and sparkles being incorporated into the cake designs, this is resulting in the rise of the ‘Couture’ style wedding cake.

This style of cake makes a strong statement by incorporating accents of the bride’s wedding dress, headpiece or jewellery. Our friends in the US have taken this one step further by introducing metallic wedding cakes which is taking the wedding world by storm for 2012.

We are seeing the use of shimmering tones of silver and gold’s combined with warm pastel or vibrant jewel colours.

When working with Reviva weddings, Laura and I often spend countless hours discussing the wedding designs we are working on together, and both of us are hugely excited about this trend and cannot wait for this to take off here in Spain!

Of course, it is imperative to ensure that your wedding cake design flows with the style or theme of your wedding not just the current wedding trends. For example, if you are getting married here in Spain and want a Spanish themed wedding, then perhaps you feel that a sparkling jewelled cake would not be suitable for your wedding. Thats ok! Your wedding day is one of the most special days of your life, so it is vital that your cake design is perfect for your personal taste! Try decorative lacework and textured ruffles with accents of Spanish warm colours or flowers, what is important is that your wedding cake designer designs a cake that is classic and timeless for you.

At Sweet Things, our fashion concious brides are becoming more involved in the design process to create their perfect wedding day, this is resulting in some amazing wedding cake designs which we cannot wait to create!

But for now, here are some of our favourite metallic wedding cakes!

Design Sources from Pinterest and Martha Stewart

A Romantic Norwegian Wedding in Marbella

We were delighted earlier this year to be asked to decorate this beautiful, stylish Norwegian wedding at the end of September.

The ceremony was held at the lovely Norwegian Church in Calahonda and a very gastronomic reception was to follow at the El Lago Restaurant in Elviria Hills.

El Lago is a modern style Michelin star restaurant offering a gourmet getaway for foodies and is set in a stunning location on the lake at Greenlife Golf, it was a perfect wedding venue for Inger and Ingvald´s wedding.

The food and scenery were astounding and complimented with a beautifully hot
September day.

We dressed the chairs with white covers and silver satin sashes, created some beautiful white floral arrangements including pedestal arrangements, stunning bridal flowers and pew ends for the church.

Inger was such a lovely person to work with and her attention to detail was amazing, she bought some fabulous flashing rings and sunglasses for her guests that we randomly scattered on the tables.

Simple white floral arrangements adorned the tables and we used various styles of tealights to decorate the large square tables, the railings on the terrace were wrapped with fairy lights and we placed lots of beautiful large white candles around the edges of the terrace.

We did lose one of our large white candles over the edge almost into the lake which caused some panic but our friendly waiter rescued it and all was well!

Anoulka created some very pretty stationery for the table seating plan and the tables names were set in simple white frames. We tied the napkins with silver satin ribbons and a guest name tag to match, the end result was certainly stylish and stunning and we were delighted to have transformed this fantastic restaurant into a gorgeous wedding venue for Inger and Ingvald´s celebration.

Our congratulations to our charming couple and our thanks to Anna Gadza for these beautiful photographs we are sharing with you.