S O R O R I T A S – A styled shoot about the bridal sisterhood.

I’m so blown away happy that this styled shoot has been published in Love My Dress. Helen and Sam Bloomfield, the photographers, created the story when we were in the initial stages of lockdown to raise hopes and remind us of the emotions and laughter that our brides and their bride tribe feel on the morning of the wedding.

It was a complicated shoot with so many elements so when asked we jumped at the chance to be involved. Luckily we were talking to a dress shop in the UK at the time for another shoot and through them found We Are Rewritten. If you are looking for bridesmaid dresses, look no further as these dresses are so perfect for the Spanish weather. Light, easy to maintain and in a variety of styles that don’t break the bank. They tick all the boxes.

The bridal dress from Santos y Eva was jaw-droppingly beautiful with a detachable train and the most intricate detailing that myself and the beauty team were all fawning over it in the prep room. A lot of my brides ask me where to go for their dresses and we can’t recommend this shop enough, its run by three sisters in the centre of Marbella which coincidentally follows our theme of sisterhood!

So then came the hard part. Finding a group of girls who were fun, vivacious and all available on the same day. Not easy but I approached Isla, one of my past brides who had the most amazing bridal party. They were all dancers and the energy on her wedding day was electric! Long story short, after a lot of editing we finally had our list of girls who could all do the shoot, including Isla of course. The girls were great, they posed, danced and laughed together with such ease that it was hard to remember that this was actually a shoot.

We chose Molino del Duque for the shoot because Sam had been inspired by the many windows and could really see the girls hanging out of the different levels. This beautiful 18th century water mill is one of our most popular wedding venues as it permits late night partying, sleeps 12 guests and has the most picturesque grounds to reflect the house’s history. Of course the pale pink walls and sky blue windows coinciding with our colour scheme also helped!

The rest of the team behind the shoot were all local and part of our extensive wedding crew. Due to Covid its been a quiet year so many of us have jumped at the chance to be creative and the idea for this one was so different it was easy to put the suppliers list together. We created an inspiration board on Canva (one of my favourite tools!) and Elena from Echevarri cakes made the cutest mini cakes and biscuits to match the theme. Pedro Navarro created the most decadent but delicately feminine table set up for our six girls to enjoy their “special day” together that by the end of the evening myself and the beauty team were all sat around it enjoying a secondary sisterhood moment with cava and macaroons. The girls deserved this after managing to prepare our six models in record time plus it was just too pretty to resist!

Part of the prettiness was the stationery that Anulka from Nulki Nulks created for us. The idea of having a heartfelt personalised note for each bouquet from our “bride” was perfection, our brides often want to show their love for their bride tribe on the day and this is such a lovely touch for the flowers….. and the flowers, just wow! Each girl had a bouquet in her dress colour tied with silk ribbon, to accentuate each one’s individuality. Anne from Eleventh Heaven Accessories also helped with this, supplying so many beautiful and delicate hair pieces and earrings for the girls.

One of my favourite elements of this shoot, aside from the theme, the colours etc is the film that Jeremy Standley made. When he sent it through with the soundtrack my heart just burst! I thought this is so cool! He really did the most amazing job with the edit and choice of music as many would have been tempted to go all sweet and soppy but Jeremy made it sexy and fun which is how we should all feel on our wedding day when getting ready with our best girls.

There have been so many styled shoots that the blogs have been inundated and are desperate for real weddings so it really means that much more to us that this has made it in to Love My Dress. Thank you Bloomfield for the opportunity, we loved every second of the creative process. Here are some of the images, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Here is the link to the film: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDbfsgiJGZ-/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

The Team:

Planning by @wedouniqueweddings
WWW.WEDOUNIQUEWEDDINGS.COM

Photography by @bloomfield_wedding_photography
WWW.BLOOMFIELDPHOTO.COM

Videography @jeremy_standley_weddings
JEREMYSTANDLEY.COM

Styling, Florals & Decor @pedronavarro_es
WWW.PEDRONAVARRO.ES/EN

MUA @lizamayne.makeup & @nicolacuddymakeup_
WWW.LIZAMAYNE.COM/INSTAGRAM

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NICOLACUDDYMAKEUP

Hair @alexbridal
ALEX-BRIDAL.COM

Hair Accessories @eleventhheaven11
@ELEVENTHHEAVEN11

Bridal Dress @santosyevanovios
SANTOSYEVANOVIOS.COM

Bridesmaids Dresses @rewrittenbridesmaids
WEAREREWRITTEN.COM

Stationery @nulkinulks
WWW.NULKINULKS.COM

Cakes & Sweets @echevarridesign
WWW.ECHEVARRIDESIGN.COM

Venue @elmolinodelduque
ELMOLINODELDUQUE.ES

Models
@annette_z
@laislarose
@karyna_kolevska
@katya_grudtsova
@nictorious0
@anoulka_y

Find the Love My Dress feature HERE

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Girls just wanna have fun!

Eco Weddings

What we love at We Do…

 This month’s trend focus has to be eco-influenced. Environmentally-considered weddings are fast becoming one of the most popular themes for 2019. This does not mean you have to drop chic, or elegant, and become a naked bohemian flower child with wild hair, it just means that you are making earth-conscious choices when it comes to your wedding plans.

 There are some quite literally brilliant ideas sweeping the wedding planning world when it comes to sustainably sourced materials, ethically-minded venues, and low impact products which will keep your carbon footprint in check. Here are a few of our favourite ways to go green at your wedding:

Confetti: gone are the days of sparkly colourful bits of plastic being thrown all over the place (please tell me this is true). However confetti is still part of a traditional wedding day. Throwing rice is not particularly bad for the environment at all however it just isn’t the most convenient item to have stuck in your hair and left all over any surface. Natural confetti is becoming standard, utilising materials from mother nature herself such as leaves, herbs, petals, flower buds, recycled paper pieces, lavender buds, feathers, bubbles, and even bird seed are among the latest confetti trends.                                                    

Lavender pockets by bridesmagazine.co.uk      Olive leaf cups by easyweddings.com.

 Paper Use: Weddings tend to incorporate a lot of paper waste; the wedding table stationery, invitations and save the dates, as well as the gifts and cards from those that attend on the day. If you do send out invites and save the dates, then make sure they are printed on recycled paper, or go tech-modern and paperless by sending the save the dates digitally; there are some really incredible sites that are affordable and have a huge range of styles to suit everyone. Paperlesspost or Greenenvelope area couple 

 Gift List: Keep your gift list as eco as possible by contemplating a little and being mindful as to what you really need in your life. Don’t add to the clutter just because you can; perhaps a contribution to the honeymoon rather than a second blender or set of bath towels?

The Rings: You may not have considered this one but there are some amazing ethically designed rings out there. Don’t add to the environmental price of diamond mining but instead opt for alternative stones, secondhand and vintage stones, or find a fair trade company when sourcing your rings. There are also companies that craft rings from alternative materials such as wood, such as these pictured here by emmalinebride.com

 The dress:Yes these too can be ethically sourced; you can select fantastic vintage dresses or even go for the ‘worn-once’versions as many of my friends have and check out the plethora of online resources offering secondhand dresses.

 There are other options such Covet and Girl Meets Dress who will lease you your dream dress, or at least cover the bridesmaids who generally don’t reuse their dresses, nor do they hold as special a connection as they do for the bride. Saves on expense and environmental costs too.  

If you are finished with your dress, you can donate it to an organisation that will sell it secondhand, resell it on eBay or one of the pre-worn sites we mentioned earlier, and keep it in circulation not loitering in a cupboard feeling abandoned.

 Rent it: If you rent as much as possible on your wedding day, it gets returned and reused. Simple as that. You are not creating masses of waste just for one day of splurging. Linen, silverware, lighting, the dress, the tux, the cufflinks, the cake, ok maybe not the cake, but plenty of the materials needed to make a wedding special can be hired for the occasion. Ask your wedding planner to help source the most ethically sound options.

 Catering: Try to seek out a caterer that will adhere to your eco-theme and supply the guests with a eco-minded menu considering minimum waste, reliably sourced ingredients, etc. meat-free or as little as possible will reduce your contribution to C02 emissions and world waste.

DIY: Make some things yourself, or have come clever friends and family join in and get crafty. Dreamcatchers, bunting, signage, wedding favours, stationery, ceremony backdrops…. all can be sourced for minimum cost to you and the environment when you make them yourself. Think wild flower bunches in mason jars, sprigs of rosemary and lemons adorning the tables, greenery left right and centre making a beautiful statement and reflecting your enviro-efforts.

Place names by @mrstobe.club

Beautiful homemade dreamcatchers are easy to make, love this styling by rockmywedding.co.uk

NO plastic:Try to maintain a plastic free environment for the wedding, no straws, no plastic plates or cutlery, there are mountains of alternatives that won´t hurt the world, such as compostable knives and forks, and bamboo straws.

Green wedding set up by rockmywedding.co.uk  

The flowers: Go for local wildflowers but be sure not to pillage an entire field as they’re there for everyone’s pleasure, we want them to grow back! Utilise indigenous  greenery to add a natural and elegant touch to your decor. As a centrepiece eucalyptus or olive looks stunning, or a spruce which has a scent; lavender, rosemary, thyme, are all perfect aromas and look the part in cute pots

And one more little final request – PLEASE no balloon releases!!! They’re so harmful to the environment and to be honest there are far more beautiful and effective ways to make a venue look stunning

Lots of love for now,

Lots of love for now,

Tara – We Do Unique Weddings, Spain.

@wedouniqueweddings

wedouniqueweddings.com

Photos courtesy of Agata Jensen from one of our weddings.

We do Unique Weddings are situated in Southern Spain, providing an all-encompassing, bespoke wedding planning service in Marbella, the Costa Del Sol, Tarifa and Andalucia. Services include providing the wedding venue, wedding styling, wedding dress and attire, wedding decoration, wedding catering, wedding ceremony, and any other necessities and preparation required for your special event.

 

Wedding Stationery

Choosing a theme for your wedding starts when you design your save-the-dates. From this moment on you are defining your wedding day style so make sure it ties in with your ideas and dream day vision.

With the wedding stationery suite you will usually send out your save the dates first, which I often recommend you do via email. There are so many sites that offer this service but we often recommend Green Envelope as they have many templates to choose from.

Approximately 6 months before the wedding date we suggest sending the official invites which can carry useful information such as the local accommodation, transport options, menu choices, pre and post wedding info and of course your choice of wedding gift list. These invites will have the venue address for both ceremony and reception and the timings for each day as well as the option to RSVP with a date set 3 months prior to the wedding for destination events.

Then we have the stationery for the day which includes the order of service for the ceremony, place settings, table name/numbers, seating charts and then any extras such as favour tags, signage and menus. Sometimes receptions are open air so bear in mind the climate and possibly having to tie things down.

Think about what is necessary and what will be left unnoticed and look into economising such as using one card to hold the name, menu and thank you note you want to place for each guest. Perhaps only printing one order of service per couple or making them into paddle fans to keep the guests cool and double up as a favour.

There are many, many possibilities that you can use and its helpful to use Pinterest to garner ideas. Do look into local suppliers who can show you samples as they go. We work with a small but very talented selection here for our weddings however many brides prefer to use online services such as Etsy. Wherever possible go Eco, think of ways to help save the planet reducing on the carbon footprint weddings tend to leave.

Tableware

Lately I’ve become passionate about napkins, not just napkins but everything that goes on the table at the wedding. It started with small touches on a white landscape but the white landscape that is so standard at weddings has become a desert for me. Why do we settle for the standard white everything for a wedding? So yes I can admit that boredom was my inspiration for this post. I’m frankly bored with white, and I love white just not everywhere! So I’ve decided to share some of the inspiration around with this pinterest board that I’ve put together and hopefully it will spark some like-minded passion! After all being sat at a dinner table for 2 hours we should definitely invest in some pretty just in case the conversation stalls!

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/TaraChapmanWeddings/

Sometimes we don’t have the budget to make our tables as beautiful as Pinterest demands however there are many ways to keep the financials in control while feeding our creativity. Here are some ideas for you.
1. Stationery – its necessary on all the tables in order to tell people what they’re eating and where.  So why not double up on the name cards and make them into menus/thank you cards? This way you only have to print one piece of paper, and this way you’re saving the environment a little.
2. If we can´t manage coloured napkins a coloured ribbon on the white napkin can add some colour without breaking the bank. A tip would be to buy extra for a little more hang or splash out and do velvet.
3. Greenery –  even 3 leaves from the eucaliptus plant can be made to look stylish, if eucaliptus isn’t in your back garden then any interesting but hardy leaf will do, in Spain Rosemary is considered lucky so can have a double meaning on the day.

Colour can be brought in to your tables in so many ways, a runner for the tables for example…. but I’m not talking a flat old fashioned thing like we had in the 90´s, no I’m talking lovely creased organic linen or cotton swathed down the table in a pastel river of colour with the candlesticks and flowers nestled amongst the waves. Then there are the napkins which again can look beautiful but once you’re spending money on these I really urge you not to settle on the typical folded thing on a plate or worse yet under the knives, left like an afterthought. No as much as we all hate the tedious labour of doing these on the day, the effect is so worth it, and if the caterers/planner is unable to then offer to do them in advance. Sometimes this keeps the cost down and means you get involved, so get knotting, tying or folding with the stationery of your choice so that all that’s left on the day is to place them.

Now if you aren’t the type to like colour and white really is your favourite then enhance it with touches of gold and green. Gold rimmed chargers, or rattan place mats can totally enrich your setting depending on if you are bling or boho. This image caught my eye the other day and combined with the gold frames in the second photo can keep your elegantly minimalist style on track. If after all you really need that clean silver and white look then cut crystal glasses please! Anything to jazz the table up.

Now if you need further inspiration my all time obsession is www.casadeperrin.com and I can safely say if I ever step foot in their showroom I might need a stretcher.  There probably isn’t a set up that I don’t love, even the OTT baroque ones with lots of black and gold are so beautifully put together that I can see them in a really rural setting creating that perfect juxtaposition that we first fell in love with when the classic image of a chandelier in a tree caught our attention years ago. The great news is that we now have so many choices for plates, glasses and cutlery here, and although they’re often not included in menu packages your caterer offers, they are a worthwhile investment for your decor. In Spain there is a saying that food must first be eaten by your eyes and then your stomach which is something I think we can agree is helped by a beautiful setting. Need I say more?

Please leave me comments on your favourites and let me know your thoughts.