No Faerie wedding would be complete without at least one quote from the Bard! I love the imagary from this quote, it captures the enchantment of Titania’s sleep so perfectly. Today’s inspirations draw from the lushness of that description with embroidered flowers, rich fabrics and glistening jewels. These are just a few of my favourites I hope you like them too.

Image credits and sources from top left to bottom right:

• To be queen of the faeries wear a garland of flowers, this type of headdress works equally well with long or short hair, girl with a floral headdress found on Wedding Chicks
• This beautiful gown, Lalique from Claire Pettibone, features the most amazing floral embroidery which is reminiscent of the organic floral style of Art Nouveau, image found on Weddingbellsblog
• No faerie queen would be complete without her wand to sprinkle a little magic.  This single bloom long stemmed bouquet Grace, in white crushed silk with beaded embroidered petals and a heart of swarovski crystal, surrounded by green beaded satin leaves would be a perfect finishing touch. Designed by Posy Rosy.
• So you can appreciate the lusciousness of the embroidery I have included a close up from the Claire Pettibone Lalique dress, totally beautiful, image found on Italian Lakes Wedding
• One of my favourite designers for the ultimate in wildly wonderful is Basia Zarzycka, from bespoke wedding gowns to luscious accessories you must visit her website to be amazed. A one stop shop of gorgeousness that will defintely make you stand out from the crowd. Bag, shoes, hat and ballet pumps all from Basia Zarzycka

To complete this faerie story I have chosen an organza cloak that drapes and frames your faerie crown or flower garland, organza hooded cloak in champagne, cream or white from Wonderful Wraps. Perfect for a summer bride. If you are planning your wedding for later in the year and love the faerie theme then take inspiration from the Snow Queen and take a peek at their velvet and fur trimmed cloaks and glittering baubles, beyond sumptious!

I could go on for weeks with this style there are so many fabulous designers out there, I hope if you choose this that this week’s blogs have given you inspiration and set you off on a magical journey. I would love to hear your thoughts please leave me a comment or two below and let me know what you think – thank you

There are lots of diy tutorials on the web to show you how to create these.

Today I wanted to go one step further with the whole Faerie woodland theme and give you some ideas for creating your very own Faerie grottos.

My first offering is a very simple idea from Martha Stewart for place settings, these are a sort of set the scene for the main feature. Just an upturned glass with a minature plant pot and seedling with card. To get the shabby look to the plant pot use a dry stippling brush and white paint, dip in white paint dab on paper towel until almost gone then dab on to pot. If you want your pot to be mossy, paint with live yoghurt and leave outside for a couple of months (you need to be well organised for that one!)

Mini terrarium place cards from Martha Stewart Weddings

Then I came across this lovely idea on Pinterest from a Swedish website, Idemakeriet. Teapot and teacup made from spagnum moss by Idemakeriet found on Pinterest. You could really make this your own by placing different flowering plants in the cup in different colours, or fresh flowers in the lid of the teapot to a reservoir of water hidden inside to keep them fresh.

How to: Translated from Swedish Site Cup and teapot (10 May 19:00 to 21:30, 495 SEK) Of two ordinary plastic pots we make this wonderful duo. We dress the first of these pots with green moss and chicken wire, then we decorate the cup and teapot with ropes, in the end do we handle and the spout of birch twigs. In the cup we are planting a small plant. Set together on a tray on the garden table and you will enjoy the entire summer.

Next I wandered down the virtual garden path of Pinterest and came across this Faerie garden in a tin container. When we were children we used to make minature gardens in wooden plant trays, this is just a step up but how adorable would something like this look decorating your table tops!

You don’t need a “how to” let your imagination run riot and find miniature houses and miniature garden furniture on Google, use small flowering plants, herbs (they make good trees) and flowers from your local garden centre and spagnum moss to create your own.

Each could have its own name picked from your favourite faeirie story, or, after the main plant you have used, or, just a number like a street number. Be inventive!

Find natural and faerie elements on Idemakeriet to add interesting touches to your gardens or terrariums, like these paper butterflies, lily of the valley, princess crowns and fairy photos. You can also find lots of fairy inspired graphics as free downloads on one of my favourite sites The Graphics Fairy which can be resized to miniature and printed on to card.

Take ideas from Bonsai displays, like these here, which I photographed during this week’s Temps de Flor in Girona.  Image (c) Posy Rosy.

To create your own woodland forest buy seedlings and place in a large pot, cover with spagnum moss. To turn into a faerie grotto add tiny battery powered fairy lights (hide the power pack under the moss) fairy lights available from Top Notch Goods, seedlings available from Tree Shop in the UK, for other countries search Google for tree seedling suppliers in your country. You could go one further and add little faeries and sprites printed on to card (one in reverse) glued back to back with a toothpick sandwiched between to stick into the moss. Find lots of faeries on The Graphics Fairy as before.

I love the idea of adding an eco element to the woodland theme I’ve been exploring this week it fits so well with the whole natural feel and any of these projects would be a lovely way to involve the younger members of your families each creating their own enchanted tablescape

I was an avid reader of Jackie, a girls journal, and slavishly copied their very stylised drawings into my art pad. Platform soles were all the rage and I penned a few of my own teetering versions on long legged models. One of my favourite designs was a moss green suede platform with ribbon laces that came to the knee (laces up the legs was also high fashion!) worn with the shortest of short hot pants – aah those were the days when I could get away with the hotpants!

So I am in awe and ever so slightly jealous of people who design handmade shoes. In keeping with our Faerie week here on Posy I have selected a range of handmade shoes for you to ogle. All have been chosen with the outdoors in mind, much as I love teetering high heels (although they don’t love me so much these days) if you are going to spend much of your time tromping around on the grass you don’t want to be sinking in the soft ground.

For the impish Faerie brides and grooms amongst you this first selection includes matching men’s and women’s leaf shoes, pixie purple pumps and ochre yellow elf shoes.

Image credits and sources:

• Leaf men’s shoe and leaf women’s sandal by Pendragon Shoes
• Handmade purple faery shoes by Jose Machado (one offs) see his Etsy store or contact direct through his blog
• Ochre handmade shoes by Spirocreations on Etsy

For brides who are looking for something less woodland and more chic

Image credits and sources:

• Red velvet wedge shoes Women Cosmo Shoes
• Script ballet pumps Pendragon Shoes
• Handmade wood and ribbon sandals by Mohop on Etsy
• Moped ribbon lace up the ankles sandals by Mohop on Etsy

If you want to be the glamorous Faerie then you just have to love these handmade shoes by Caroline Groves, from the wildly ornate feathers and velvet ribbons of her Icarus shoe to glittering diamonds and flower inspired

Image credits and sources

• Icarus handmade shoes by Caroline Groves
• The Diamond Jubilee Shoe by Caroline Groves
• Hydrangea blue and pink handmade shoes by Caroline Groves

For little Faerie feet my finds for your flower girls

Image credits and sources:

• Sabrina Blue shoes by Fairy Feet
• Merline Gold girls shoes by Fairy Feet
• Pink Snookie handmade soft soled girls shoes Ross and Rosie

So, will you be skipping down the forest path in pixie shoes, meandering as a chic woodland sprite or leading your entourage as a Faerie Queen?

Today’s inspiration takes it’s cues from Snow White, so we have to have bright red apples, then trailing along a meandering path through a mini forest of woodland scenes in terrariums to edible decorations and bowls of mossy hillocks as table decor and fabric art in the shape of bowls to grace the most enchanted of tabletops. You could even illustrate your story with calligraphy menus and love letters to add authenticity.

Image credits from top left to bottom right:

• Take a leaf from Snow White with a flower garland for your hair and garden fairy makeup ideas from Squidoo
• Caligraphy love magnets by Rafya on Etsy
• Terrarium place settings found on Swoon
• Red apple handmade escort cards found on OneWed
• Edible chocolate mushrooms by andiespecialitysweets on Etsy
• Embroidered hedgerow bowl from Chocolate Frog on Etsy
• Edible chocolate cocoa bean acorns andiespecialitysweets on Etsy
• Moss and mushroom bowls found on Swoon
• Caligraphy wedding menu card found on Pineapple Post

No Snow White scene would be complete without a mirror or two, I took these photos at the Theatre in Girona during this year’s Temps de Flor (The Time of Flowers) an annual celebration and visited by thousands from across the world. Using mirrors draped with stunning white orchids the designers have created a waterfall of glass cascading down the theatre steps. Wouldn’t this idea translate well using mirrors as backdrops around your venue? Reflecting light,  and doubling the size of your floral displays in the blink of an eye and of course reflecting the one who is most beautiful of all – the Bride!

I will be sharing more of my journeys around Girona and the Temps de Flor on Facebook and Twitter so why not follow me on there too

To celebrate this magical time and to bring inspiration for your wedding planning I will be featuring some of the spectacular displays and Posy’s blog this week will take on the theme of Faery tale. Not in a Disney way, although this style is popular this year, more the images that I want to conjure come from the tales of Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm or Tennyson’s The Lady of Shallot. Think woodland and folk, rustic and lace, earthy and natural but most of all enchantment and magic – that is after all what a wedding is all about.

Images and sources from top left to bottom right:

• Moss and wicker balls for decoration found on Monster Marketplace these can be tied simply with ribbon or adorned with flowers
• Flower girl found on Miss Bees Haven the recorder is not recommended unless they are a child prodigy
• Vintage kettle flower basket found on Intimate Weddings think outside the box, or basket, for your flower girls
• Atelier Aimee wedding gown found on Weddingbee, consider a floral overskirt rather than a plain white dress, or, a plain white or off white dress with flowers in your hair
• Seedling place setting and favour found on The Bridal Lounge, a rustic and natural favour which will be a living reminder of your commitment to each other
• Lily of the Valley shoe clips by Cate’s Cottage found on Beyond the Pale, add natures little lovehearts to a pair of wedding pumps
• Wedding cake found on Ruffled, a simple cake with lovebirds perched amongst little branches continue the woodland theme
• Hanging place names on old keys found on Intimate Weddings, if you are having an outdoor wedding use the surrounding trees as a backdrop, or, take fallen branches and pot and hang your keys and place names as a rustic guest board.

It’s difficult for many couples to go for a completely outdoor wedding as the weather plays a big factor in that decision and many locations are not guaranteed sunshine and no showers. This does not mean that you can’t recreate the outside inside using decor tricks and tips (which I’ll be covering later this week), or, the range of marquee and yurt styles that can transform an outdoor space into something truly magical.  So stay tuned and do share any fabulous finds you have made if you are having an outdoor wedding.

Whether you want a signature drink or just a summery cocktail to wow your garden party guests you’ll find something peachy in today’s blog post.

My personal favourite is a fresh Bellini, preferably taken at Harry’s Bar in Venice, very romantic.

Although I am rather tempted by the Peaches and Cream cocktail and I love the thought of recreating a cocktail invented over 100 years ago like the Peach Blow featured below.  Quite like the idea too of serving Lilac Fizz alongside it as a contrast, would be cool if you were using peach and lilac as your wedding palette. For recipes follow the links below

Image credits and recipes from top left to bottom right:

• Peaches and cream martini and Peach cobbler martini the Martini Diva
• Whisky Peach Smash recipe found on Doing the I Do
• Peach coloured rather than flavoured but gorgeous none the less recipe lemon rose bellini on 20 something cup cakes
• Bit of history showing cocktails have been popular for over a hundred years, article from 1909 Philiadelphia Enquirer where a reader is asking for the recipe for Peach Blow (Peach Gin Fizz) and Lilac Fizz and the newspapers response – for the recipe visit The Art of Drink
• Peaches from Peach Monday on Kitchen Simplicity
• If you want the original recipe for Peach Gin Fizz also on Doing the I Do
• Peach iced tea recipe on Cocktail Culture
• Image of peaches and cream found on Why Did.com

For a whole host of great peachy treats from Bergen.com including Peach Julep and Fuzzy Navel Crush to name but two!

If you try any of these would love to know what you think and which is your favourite and if you have any peachy recipes feel free to share them in the comments below

Clocking off now and will be back with a whole new colour palette on Monday, have a great weekend!

K. I. S. S. I. N. G

I don’t know if you remember but in the olden days (ha ha ha) when I got married the choice of cake toppers and decoration was a bride and groom, wedding rings and little plastic doves. You could, of course, choose flowers, that has never gone out of fashion, but the choice for anything a bit more exciting was non existent.

Now, well you could have a whole flock of doves and very lifelike too. I love the trend for quirky toppers and am very taken with the whole love birds thing so today I am bringing you some of my favourites and a diy on how to create your very own lovebirds.

Starting off with the cute from top left to bottom right: Handmade lovebirds by Tuck & Bonte on Emmaline Bride, Bride and Groom quilled birdies by Natiquille, Pink and Blue lovebirds found on Southern Scraps, Bride and Groom lovebirds by LaurenElaine on Emmaline Bride

Next the pretty Blue Birds and White and Sand Birds found on How Do I Love Thee

These put a smile on my face they’re like little rays of sunshine, lovebirds by Ashley Anna Brown found on Kojo Designs

To the adorable and detailed from the amazing Ann Wood these are from Wedding Party in Prospect Park and the cute couple to the right are Queenie and French, for lots more beautiful styles visit Ann Wood

There are lots of tutorials on the web for making birds, none that I can find though that are as spectacular as these. However, I have found a site where you can buy two doves at just £5.95 for two from Jayne Morris which with a little ingenuity, imagination and a glue gun you could dress up in pearls and lace, top hats and tails.

Or, there is this very simple tutorial from Living Life Creatively if you ignore the rather Christmassy fabric used here these could be adapted with a neutral fabric and the addition of lace wings on the bride birdie and a bow tie on the boy birdie.

Instead of free standing, if you think your birdies legs might not stand up to it, you can also buy birds nests from the same site as the doves and use as is or line with fabric or add ribbon to tie the colour into your scheme. Or, you could nestle your birds in amongst flowers from your scheme like this image here from Miss Bee’s Haven.

For the experienced crafter I did find this lovebirds caketopper tutorial video on YouTube, this produces a birdie much more like the professional ones above although I found the actual making bits slightly off camera which was a bit distracting but have a look and see what you think.

I have to say my favourites today are the birds made by Ann Wood they are all such little characters, I love them, what about you?

On Monday I chose sea foam green and textures of gossamer silks and translucent georgette. Tuesday it was matched with early summer flowers, the creamy whites of roses, white lilac and the bright white of lily of the valley with its dark green glossy leaves and fluttery whites of sweet peas.

Today I have chosen the most muted of palettes, peach and grey, think bleached wood and burlap, white linen and crockery, pale silver enhanced with swarovski and you have a wedding palette of simple sophistication.

Image credits top left to bottom right:

• Tablescape Jose Villa
• Wrapped peach favour and name setting found on b.loved
• Bride and Groom, brides dress Claire Pettibone photography Jose Villa
• Modern rustic vintage place setting Confetti Times
• Embellished place setting MJTrim
• Handkerchief invitation from Lucky Luxe
• Ballet pumps found on Zenadia Design

I love the simple and pared down elements so that the beauty of the peach colours shine out. Particularly love the handkerchief invitation, such a lovely and unique idea. This is a real mix of contemporary and vintage chic, perfect for the modern bride who loves vintage but wants a cleaner less cluttered style. Another bonus is that it with the whole less is more approach you can choose to spend more on key pieces and less overall for your venue decor. What do you think?

We were lucky we had a corner plot so had a front garden, nice neat square of lawn with borders of floribundas. A side garden, not quite as neat as it was our tennis court, horse trials (we didn’t actually have horses we just galloped around pretending over boxes and canes stuck in the ground) and my brothers racing track, the borders there had hardier shrubs like mock orange and forsythia with the odd stand of red hot pokers. Then the backgarden which was home to our drive and car and the occasional foray into vegetable growing, mostly potatoes. My dad had a job on his hands trying to keep anything resembling floral beauty with us lot around.

One of the things I remember about those long hot summers apart from being outside all the time (I don’t remember any other kind of weather, do you?) was my sister and I gathering up rose petals and mixing them with water and talc to make perfume. It always turned a slushy brown and smelt distinctly of pond water but we were convinced we were on to a winner.

My love of roses continues and today’s inspirations include roses as well as other traditional garden flowers, sweet peas, white lilac and lily of the valley. I love this tablescape, it is such a lovely hotchpotch of mismatched chairs, china and attic finds with pots of summer flowers crammed into every space. Probably not very practical for a wedding, even a small one but like the designer fashion shows take the overall look and key elements to create the same atmosphere of long, hot summer days of lunch on the lawn, garden party, shabby chic style.

Tablescape by Brandon Kidd Photography found on Alexan Events

Etsy is one of my favourite shopping places, I get so excited when I find something that is one of a kind, whether it is vintage and got a story to tell or new but designed as a single piece. Like these rose earrings and the lily of the valley and glass necklace by LilyoftheValley, or these beautiful lily of the valley drop earrings by Anthropologie which I found on Pinterest

For me old fashioned flowers add a romantic flavour and I have always favoured the handtied bouquet, I like the informality of it as if you have just gathered up a bunch of flowers cut from the garden. Like these white lilacs, ranunculus, roses and sweet peas flowers by Studio Blush and the pink, peach and white bouquet with cameo, again designed by Studio Blush. To add a touch of vintage romance look out for cameo’s they are quite easy to come by.

I will leave you with the beauty of the rose – this deliciously decadent vintage lace cake by Rosalind Miller, with it’s tumbling flowers, a beautiful floral display featuring delicate pink and peach roses by one of my favourite floral designers Campbell’s Flowers and this simple single peach rose with vintage teacups found on The Wedding Girl

Until tomorrow and may your memories be like mine, rosy

Florals are cottage garden blowsy with roses and peonies, unstructured displays in various glass containers against creamy linens and silverware.

Accessorised with floral elements from pretty petals to bead encrusted embroidery with the very lightest touch of sparkle.

Image credits top left to bottom right:

• Beaded jade green gown found on Elizabeth Ann Designs
• Shoes source unknown
• Girl with peach roses dress Pinterest
• Peach bridesmaid dresses and lace wedding dress Once Wed
• Peach and seafoam green ombre wedding cake found on Lela New York
• Veil on chair found on A Paper Trail
• Pillow talk favour boxes Vintagetwee on Etsy
• Tablescape The Sweetest Occasion
• Peach fabric flowers found on Marry2012

I’ll be adding different accent colours and introducing other styling ideas during the week, if you are a peachy bride what colours would you like to see?