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.

let the fun begin...

so the hangover should be over by now and those of us not drinking (or seriously cutting down) in January are hopefully still on the bandwagon.

time to look forward and make a list of things to be done. I've spent a good bit of this afternoon, when not watching Girls or X Files, sorting though my work space and deciding on which new projects to take first. i've got an exciting pile of cards, paper and odds and ends for some new post card and note card prints I have in the pipeline. so much is bubbling in fact that I wish I had a few days uninterrupted to work through it all but unfortunately some of us have to work a day job...I've tried out a couple of new designs and will post some pictures once the paint has quite literally dried.

i've also spent the last few days increasing my reading list of blogs and i've found a couple of beauties to get the creative juices flowing. first up was Chantelle from FatMumSlim who birthed the whole photo a day challenge (more of that in a couple of days) and whose blog is an inspiring candy coloured treat that i have been checking out daily. secondly is Nicole Lavelle who I discovered via Urban Outfitters website. she's an illustrator and general all round arty lovely and has a taste and talent for font. check them both out if you get chance.

finally, i've been mulling a separate section for my blog, more style and fashion focused but ill let that simmer a little while longer.

i was never much a fan of January before to be honest. the whole new year new start thing didn't really sit with me, i found September was better for that. i think it takes a while for the school year to get out of your system. 12 years in my case. but this time i have felt refreshed. even more so when I spotted this pink winter blossom on my New Year's Day walk with the family. pink blossom holds a special place in my heart because it was one of our wedding flowers. flipping bright pink blossom on a bright blue day. perfect.