wedding details...

the last time i wrote i was about to attend the wedding of one of my best friends (and then jet off to a little week of sun with my family...)

anyone who knows me, or who has read old posts on here, will know im a sucker for a bit of decor. home decor and especially party and event decor. i still follow style and wedding blogs back from when i was planning my own wedding and the love and back- catalogue of ideas has just grown.

my friend's wedding was a perfect example of rustic prettiness with cute and colourful touches that really showed off the brides creative and fun personality. set in the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, the service was in a little church literally down a dirt track and the reception afterwards in a stunning barn style building connected to a popular golf club just outside of York. 

i wanted to share a few of the details and touches... 

the groom's family are farmers and the happy couple are just about to move into their family home, complete with fields and sheds and cows. so the farming and country living influences were clear to see...

hilariously, and very much what i would expect of my friend, she had no idea who designed her dress. but it was beautiful. traditional to an extent, so so pretty, and pure bridal. she looked a million english pounds. the groomsmen were simple and modern in deep blue slim fit suits with pale blue ties. the look definitely worked for men more used to wearing overalls than a suit...

beautiful headpiece...

sandburn hall is famous locally as the perfect venue if you are looking for rustic simplicity where you can put your own stamp on the room... the bride made all of the decor herself...

simple, charming features on the card table...

love a letter light to mark out the disco area from the seating area...

and the most important of these is love...

rites of passage...

this week has been manic. from the 9am Monday blood tests to the traffic jam on the way to my parents house yesterday evening, it's been one of them weeks. and this is in part because I go on holiday on Saturday morning so the work/ life gods look down and punish you by multiplying your tasks and throwing in some unexpected traumas to sort.

but now I'm packed and my little boy is settled with his grandparents and the dog is settled with the grandparents too and I'm getting really really girlishly giddy and excited because today, before any holiday, one of my best friends gets married.

i've been to a good number of weddings over my 20s and I've been a bridesmaid 4 times in that time too, but I've never been to a childhood/ teen hood friend's wedding. and it got me to thinking about the rites of passage you experience with your friends, as a girl, along your lifetime. the first kisses, the discos, the fights, the first try of a cigarette, the heartbreak, the first drink. that night with a waiter on holiday, that affair... they might break us but our friends re build us. and we live to love and fight and drink and make mistakes some more with our friends by our side to watch and help where needed.

i jumped ahead of all my friends by getting married first and I've already had my first baby, so I'm super excited to watch them take the steps. another of my best friends, who I met in adulthood though, married at a similar time to me but since then everyone has steadied off, no life changes. it's all really new for me to be on the observation deck and I love it. i am expecting shed loads of tears on my part because a) I love weddings and b) because she's one of my girls. i know I can handle married life and babies because I'm here and I've survived 3 years of one and almost 2 of the other. but now she's going to do it all too and it's not always easy and sometimes it hurts. with babies it really hurts.

but above all I'm just so excited to start the journey again. to be there when a friend takes that leap of faith. so cheers to love, friendship and holidays.

super sundays...

today has been one of those great days where you manage to do a little bit of everything a sunday should give you and you finish the day feeling like you've achieved.

a good sunday should always start with breakfast in bed. this morning I was woken up by the Jack R and so it was up to me to make porridge and hot cross buns. a good sunday breakfast in bed should always be accompanied by a read. be it the papers, electronically or traditionally, or a good book. this morning I started to work my way through Shopping in Marrakech by Susan Simon. it's a pocket sized, delightful insight into the medinas and souks and shops of the red city and started the excitement bubbling for our baby- moon in 5 weeks time. 

following your escape from the duvet, a super sunday always requires a decent outfit. not necessarily dressy as there are always one form of housework or job to be done. but certainly some effort should be made when going out into public. always. especially on a sunday. to starve away the rain I decided on my new raspberry asos maternity jeans that I am slowly growing into (and to be quite honest they are still to big.) I teamed these with a topshop boyfriend fit navy and oatmeal t shirt, navy whistles blazer and pink pumps with sparkles on. sparkles and sunday go hand in hand. 

i accessorised with my weekend watch; gold Marc Jacobs, a variety of bracelets and charms and some multi coloured starling ear rings.

once dressed we walked the dog (good sundays should always have some form of exercise) and frequented our local spring festival. working for a local company and living in a rural area you get to enjoy dipping your toe into community life. the sun managed to stay out just long enough for the festivities and we enjoyed a bacon sandwich (a staple of a sunday diet)within the beautiful church yard.

on our return home I relaxed with some recorded tv and a cup of chamomile tea(the rain was starting in its way) and then fitted in a couple of jobs; cleaning the bathrooms and cleaning up a second hand unit we have just purchased. dispite housework not being too fun a successful Sunday must include some jobs to make you feel like Wonder Woman/ domestic goddess. 

mid afternoon it was time to start on my real job for the day; prepping the flags for the centre pieces for a christening I am decorating in a few weeks. 

whilst I am on the subject of decor, I cannot highly  recommend this book enough. it was purchased to help me with ideas for my home grown wedding and it is full of fantastic ideas for paper crafts that really don't look naff and homemade in that 'not very handy' way. it's called paper & craft by Minhee and Truman Cho of Paper & Cup. 

and as all good Sundays should finish, we have seen out the final hours of today with a roast and good company. before early to bed of course, being a school night. 

so a super sunday requires, in my opinion:

breakfast in bed

a good read (or other suitable activity)

a snazzy outfit

a walk

a bacon buttie/ hot cross bun/ pancakes etc etc

relaxation

domestic brilliance

something creative/ a hobby

a roast

family and friends

i hope you've had a good Sunday, whatever you may have done. it's worth stopping at the end of the weekend and thinking about the good stuff, before we get bogged down into the next week... and take pictures. it's nice to reflect back on...

christmas eve eve...

so after delivering my last two pictures yesterday,and doing the 'merry christmas' rounds, I was feeling very festive.

today I was home alone for the afternoon so used the opportunity to get the presents wrapped. like last year, I reverted back to traditional brown paper and hairy string. tried and tested.

this year I spiced it up with some old style pink paper too. topped off with a luggage tag stamped with a purple crown.

wrapping done, it was off to the parents for a '4 o clock' and then onto parents in law for tea. and it's christmas eve tomorrow.