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!

Pretty Paper Straws for Weddings

One of my summer obsessions has been paper straws, probably following on from the trend of paper cupcake wrappers, but aren´t they just beautiful and reminiscent of childhood days :)

I love the idea of personalising them for weddings and using them as cocktail stirrers with cute flags attached to them or presented in a vintage jar for guests to help themselves.

There are some lovely striped ones or even more exciting are polka dots! I have just ordered some more for our shop and I am sure Anoulka will hate me when she has cut out hundreds of these for our weddings! But it will be so worth it :)

Ice Pops and Cake Shooters!

Sometimes it is difficult to think outside the box and create new ideas for weddings and parties.

To be perfectly honest I have not had much time over the past few months to do much scanning of latest trends and new, fun novel ideas. Many of the blog posts I have seen are now too samey, albeit pretty just churning over the same fashions over and over again, a big kick is now needed in wedding world to get out of this rut of vintage suitcases, postcards and typewriters!

I personally think Retro is the way forward :)

Having witnessed the seventies revival in fashion with the maxi dresses plus large floppy hats seem to be a big hit this year on the beach as well, let´s bring back the seventies goodies we used to enjoy! I was thinking today that ice pops now would be a big hit at weddings, given we are now spending everyday (sorry!) in plus 30 degrees. Obviously more sophisticated grown up versions could be created and whilst googling this idea I came across this cool idea of Cake Shooters at Sprinkles. What a brilliant idea and the next step up from a cupcake perhaps?!

What do you think? Having googled this idea it appears they are not easy to make and I have seen some disasters, but get this right and it would be really fun for a wedding!

Forget the cupcakes and Macaroons! Here come the Jellies!

I have always loved the simplicity of jelly and have been an avid fan of this gorgeous wobbly stuff since I was tiny so you can imagine my delight when I read about Bombas and Parr and I love the quirky jellies created by these culinary whizzkids.

They are bringing the light hearted touch of kids nostalgia to the grown up world and these jelly towers made with these gorgeously coloured jellies in all shapes and sizes are just such a new and fun idea.

These jellies are served in mind boggling flavours such as lemonade, strawberry and raspberry and blackcurrant and berries, how refreshing for a hot summer wedding served with some ice-cream. More exotic flavours include Prosecco and Gold, Glow in the Dark, Flaming and Striped Clementine, I wish I had known about these when we were creating our fire and ice party last year, they would have been the WOW factor for the night!

I do think we are going to see some very creative ideas this year as retro jellies join balloons in making a comeback to weddings!

I have no doubt all the hotels and caterers here are now beginning to dread my next foodie idea blogposts, sorry guys! :)

Camping Inspiration for a Wedding?!

I just love Twitter it is throwing up so many fabulous websites and links, it is a bit like picking up a magazine and reading so many creative articles by so many talented people, that otherwise would go missed!

This one caught my eye tonight, A Camping Inspiration for a Wedding?!

Posted on Love and Lavender's site, I had to go and check this one out as I could not think of anything worse than camping and did wonder what on earth would make someone want to do this theme for a wedding! However I was pleasantly surprised and fell in love with the lace tent and lanterns, the rustic candy bar and all the other glorious details which you must go and check out.

Perhaps my view on camping could possibly be changed and it is not all about damp sleeping bags, being attacked by cows in a field and waking up to one with it's head sticking in through the tent door, plus 100 plus mossie bites?!

It would still take a lot to sell this to me though and I do recall a few years ago my sister was invited to a hippy style hen night that involved sleeping outside in posh tents and she elected to pay extra for a bedroom inside the house with central heating and carpets ;)

Alternative Guest Book Ideas for Weddings

As a Wedding and Event Stylist, I am always looking for different ideas and love this one sent to me of a fingerprint wedding tree :) What a fabulous alternative idea to a guest book and rather than put it in a cupboard after your wedding, you can frame it and proudly hang this on your wall as a piece of wall art.

These trees are made by Love from the Thumb on Etsy, they are the unique idea of Ricky and Ashely after they created one for their own wedding and you can order your own personalised tree and some really cute sets of inkpads for your guests to personalise your tree.

What I also like about this idea, again if you are planning a destination wedding, is that this is easily transportable back home.

New Google for Weddings

How cool is this, I have just seen it on Facebook, Google have launched a new free wedding tool in time for Valentines Day, Simplifying Wedding Planning.

The creative designs throughout this fabulous new tool were created in collaboration with the reknowned wedding and event planner, Michelle Rago, one of my inspirational creative people I watch for trends and styles I love along with Preston!

You can create a website, use all the Google planning tools to collaborate with your wedding guests on schedules, guests lists, addresses and travel arrangements plus much more.

Access and edit your planning documents from anywhere and create online albums.

Well worth heading over to Google to check out this fantastic idea, a must for any bride to be and I think I will be playing around with this as well today to see what it can offer our brides and clients, that is yet another Sunday taken care of!

A Sorbet Colour Palette

A stunning combination of colours for 2011 wedding colours is the kaleidoscope of soft sorbet colours, champagne, cornflower, lemon, watermelon, raspberry and peppermint, all divine romantic colours and all good enough to eat :)

Think of hot Mediterreanean summers with these cooling pastel colours and the endless possibilities of creating icecream and cocktail bars or even serving iced yoghurts such as Snogs, which apparently Kate Middleton has requested for her wedding.

This mood board was created as we are currently planning a spring photo shoot here with some of the most talented, artistic suppliers involved, so lots excitement and a fair amount of brain storming to be done over the next month for our favorite colour combos.

Please do leave us comments as we post our colour inspiration boards to vote for your favourite one, we would love to know the most popular colour scheme our readers would like to see us feature for our Spring photo shoot here in the charming countryside of Andalucia.

I would like to thank Wolf and Willow for many of these gorgeous images on this board, I have spent hours on their blog tonight being truly inspired :)

Fruit and Veggie Bar

Whilst a wedding is full of decadence and chocolate, I love this idea for perhaps a slightly different and healthier version of the canapes served with the cocktails, to set up a fruit and veggie bar instead. 

How different is this and I think it is a wonderful idea. 

Imagine this set up at your wedding complete with a signature cocktail, fabulous! 

Instead of the 'what shall we give the guests that do not want to drink' you could offer refreshing healthy smoothies, little bite size pieces of watermelon topped with a walnut and sour cream mixture, mozzarela and tomato eggcups, lovely dips with carrots and celery and what we call here in Spain Picos (breadsticks).

My favorite combination of any foods are the cheese and fruit elements which would work well here, Stilton and Pears, Apples and Cheddar for example.  I am sure my sister could come up with many food combinations and ideas of this sort of canape table.

I was chatting online with Fi, our fabulous and hugely stylish cake designer, who of course as always immediately throws me fab things to distract me from my tasks so ended up wandering around the Amy Atlas blog and stumbled upon this idea.  

Fi is also studying business law and about to complete her final exams, so her and I were of course busy studying hard and not looking at wedding websites :)!  We both now know how to create cupcake garlands, and design veggie bars!  Perhaps Sweet Things By Fi should be renamed to Sweet and Sour Things By Fi :)

To all the caterers we work with take note, I think this is a fabulous idea and certainly a new and novel one, I just need to make sure I can get hold of some sprouts and artichokes as we are soooo seasonal here in Spain but we can work on this :)!

Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland theme

Isn't it strange, last year we were looking at the Alice in Wonderland theme for parties and weddings with the fun elements of 'eat me' and 'drink me', the tea party set up and slightly quirky ideas you could incorporate into this theme.

Now with the much anticipated Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland just about to hit our screens, some fabulous ideas are popping up on the blogs we watch and love.

I found these posts on Green Wedding Shoes and the Wedding Chicks of an Alice in Wonderland styled shoot for a bridal shower and it is fabulous. Cannot wait to see this film!

Beautiful candles - help

I have just found this image in my blog folder but cannot for the life of me remember where I found this, if anyone knows which supplier sells these can you please email me!

Autumn Inspiration

Feeling very guilty about my blogging absence, but now the autumn has arrived and life becomes quieter I am so excited about being able to spend more time browsing and finding these fabulous inspirations online.

It is difficult to get into the autumnal mode here when southern Spain is still basking in fabulous weather and we are still enjoying temperatures of 80 degrees! I am sure it won't last forever so making the most of it and certainly the nights are arriving earlier now.

I found this fabulous inspiration board on Snippet and Ink, I love the flower girl wreaths, such a lovely idea and definitely one for Christmas weddings.

The Sintan Wedding :)!

I first met Natasha & David last year when they were venue hunting, upon their return back to Dublin I received an email confirming they had chosen the charming La Posada del Torcal as their wedding venue.

As the year progressed and we designed and planned together I earnt many nicknames due to always complaining to Natasha that I did not have any time to sit in the sunshine although I lived in Spain! For the record, Natasha, having had a few days off in August the legs are finally brown back and front :)!

What a truly, amazing day this was, starting with a military church wedding in Antequera followed by a Zoroastrian blessing back at La Posada in the evening all organised by Jenny.

The whole day was fabulous with some beautiful saris and of course lots of handsome young men in uniform and I was thrilled to have a pink bhindi stuck to me before the Zoroastrian ceremony started! I was so excited I almost forgot to go and get the garlands out the fridge, it was a close escape as the highly organised Jenny suddenly realised I had not produced them!

We created a beautiful white and aqua theme with stunning centrepieces that echoed the feel of the venue and it's fabulous peaceful surroundings. All the little details again with the fans, the gazebo for the blessing in the evening, plus the lanterns and candles to make the evening magical. The hentastiques were true to form, as promised!, and created the quirky initials to hang from the tree and did some pre wedding crafting of lovely table seating ribbons to hang from the trees.

Thanks yet again to Jeremy for these beautiful photos, albeit I am a PITA now and of course a Sintan (with a tan now!), am rather puzzled that everyone seems to have the urge to give me nicknames?!

I am still waiting for my bracelets Natasha?!