A little while ago I was checking out the blog of one of my favourite photographers when I spotted this fabulous shoot with a lovely range of stationery (just one look at my logo and you’ll know I love calligraphy) by a new company called Berin Made, I quickly bookmarked the website thinking I must get in touch for some samples. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and I was delighted to receive a lovely email from the Erin herself introducing her company. So without any hesitation I got back in touch and asked Erin a few questions…

What’s your background? (Self taught or design/art school?)

I’ve been making things with my hands for as long as I can remember. My background is in painting with a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martin’s in London. After which I got my MA in Contemporary Art focusing on theory and criticism. I did a lot of art writing and curating work with private collectors too.

Why did you decide to set up Berin Made?

When I graduated I worked in the Post War and Contemporary Art department in a high-profile auction house, but I found myself desperate to create things again. I set up the Etsy shop selling things I had made at home in my spare time. It was at first really just an outlet for my creative itch. But the more time I spent on it, the more I realised that I really enjoyed the prospect of doing this full time, as well as running a small business. I really admired people who ran their small businesses– now I see that it takes a lot of versatility and creative thinking which I just love to do!

How would you describe your style/vision?          

I’m naturally attracted to all things floral, colourful and bold. I spent a long time resisting this when I was in Art college because it just wasn’t conceptually “forward-thinking” enough for a fine artist. Over time and as I grew into my practise though, I found that it was OK to embrace this inclination while keeping the look updated and modern. I love that the look of my work sits between timeless hand-painted florals and calligraphy and at the same time appeals to a modern audience, I guess because of the colours and versatility.

Championing creativity is also a huge thing for me. I love making products where clients can customise pieces by themselves, like the hand-lettered name stamp. That’s why I love my DIY projects and styled shoots so much!!

Where do you find your inspiration?

I love the art of calligraphy, hand-lettering, and antique letterforms, so old books and vintage illustrations are definitely a starting point. For colour and pattern I love looking at interior and fashion magazines and shop displays (Anthropologie is such a fast pick-me-up). At the end of the day, my soft spot is and always will be for the masters of painting: Cy Twombly, Peter Doig (although perhaps it will be a while yet for him to be considered a master!), Lucian Freud, Henri Matisse, and the like who have such a heart and soul for colour. The best part for me is somehow to pull these worlds together to work them into my own aesthetic and the look of the brand.

You recently launched your new wedding ‘mix and match’ service can you explain how it works?

The mix and match stationery line is compiled of a swatchbook of illustrated designs, and can be mixed, matched and colour-customised to your hearts’ content. Conceived with the budget-and-design-savvy bride in mind, it aims to champion a love of festive celebration with a unique personal touch, without the price tag of total custom design.

The Swatchbook, much like a sketchbook, is my collection of illustrated and hand-lettered elements where you can explore your ideas and vision, and experiment with mixing, matching and colour-customising what you like best for your invitation set. These elements can be chosen to extend into their enclosures, accessories, day-of paper goods, as well as after-the-day stationery.

On top of all of this, built into the price is a unique hand-lettering of the couple’s names which will feature on their invitation sets. The whimsical flourish of hand-lettering is the perfect emblem in the suite which gives it all the look and luxury of custom invitations.

Invitation sets are printed on a luxurious Colourplan range by GFSmith. Extra finishing such as embossing, debossing, and foil blocking are all supported by this paper range. Since paper is so important, I encourage my clients to order a sample, and it’s fully redeemable with a future order.

What has been your favourite wedding to design for /work on?

Every project brings on its own unique set of challenges and perks so it’s hard to pick just one! I love it when a bride comes to me knowing that I am “the one”. I know this feeling when I got married myself, when approaching a supplier you just know in your heart that you want them to be a part of your big day because their work makes your heart skip a beat. It is wonderful to work for someone who feels that they have found a match in my work! Also I love it when they ask for a product I don’t offer! It sounds strange but I really love that my work can be applied in different ways and I love that challenge of answering a special request!

What do you think couples should be looking for when buying their wedding stationery?

I think that wedding stationery is one thing that couples tend to cut back on their budget on because it is conceived as just a piece of paper. In a sense that is true, but I think there is so much more to it, because it’s such a tangible piece of your wedding and memories that every guest will get to keep after the day. I have kept every single piece of beautiful stationery from friends’ and family’s weddings because tactility can conjure up amazing memories (that’s why scrapbooks and photo albums are such tear-jerkers).  So I think it’s important to find a supplier whose work makes your heart skip a beat, who listens to your ideas and accommodate you always where possible.

What advice would you give to couples when planning their wedding?

Have fun with it! It’s a celebration of your lives ahead. This is just day one. I loved my wedding and keep beautiful memories of it but my marriage is even better.

Also, always order a sample– most reputable suppliers will offer this option whether free, or redeemable against your order.

Where do you see the future of Berin Made?

I love doing weddings and have found brides to be so wonderful and exciting to work for. I’d love one day to have enough illustrations to make a beautiful book out of them. Oh, and also homeware. I’d love to get my work produced on fabrics, dinnerware, wallpaper and the like. I already play with some of these ideas in my shop such as my wall vinyl and hand-lettered prints, but hopefully one day I’ll have the opportunity to expand on all of this.

A range of homeware products…now that I’d love to see! Thank you Erin for telling us a little about yourself and Berin Made, for more information please check out her website and order those samples!

Photos courtesy of Berin Made, top and bottom photos by Marianne Taylor

I started off by putting a couple of mood boards together and some design ideas; here is the mood board based around Anne’s love of irises and books.

A family friend Jane, put together the flowers for the church but was unable to do the personal flowers so I stepped in to make the bouquets and buttonholes. We all had a fun morning together at Covent Garden market where Anne got to choose her favourite flowers for the bouquets.

When it came to the reception details we knew we wanted to include Anne’s love of books but it was just as important for Seb to have something he loved especially as his family were not able to make it over from Argentina. As Seb is a big football fan we decided to name all the tables after famous Argentinean football players. The cake was made by one of Anne’s auntie’s but Seb made his mark by customising a cute little cake topper with a photo of his favourite team on the TV and supplying football shirts for the table!

There were a large number of children at the wedding too so as well as personalised goody bags at their seats I also set up a kiddy table with lots of fun activities from colouring books and balloon driven plastic cars-a big hit! I also made a finger print guest book tree for the kids to stamp their mark on.

So a final Happy Anniversary to Anne & Seb as they celebrate one year of married life today!! x

Wedding photos courtesy of Shell de Mar Photography

Mood board credits:

Iris bouquet photo by Arrae Photography.  via Green Wedding Shoes, Bridesmaids photo by Richard Wood Photographics via Project Wedding, Necklace photo by Cunningham Photo Artists via Style Me Pretty, Books photo by Jenny Liu via Ruffled, Cake photo by Chelsea Elizabeth via Style Me Pretty, Place setting via Style Me Pretty, Silver Frame photo by aaron delesie via JL Designs, Flowers photo by Marianne Taylor, Bouquet photo by Jessica Claire

Photography by Shell de Mar

First up getting ready and the ceremony: Anne got ready at her parents’ house in Tooting where she grew up. With her sister as her maid of honour helping her and makeup by Ellie Blackwell.

Seb and his three best men-who says you can only have one? Got ready across the road from the church at the Long Room Hotel

Now Anne could have walked to the church it was so close but one of her cousins surprised her by booking a classic Rolls Royce from Carol’s Classics to take her and her mother, who walked her down the aisle, to the church.

The ceremony took place at St Nicholas’ Church in Tooting were Anne’s mother regularly attends.

After the ceremony guests were treated to Sri Lankan sweet treats while group photos were taken in the gardens and before heading off to central London for the reception at The Grand Connaught Rooms.

Come back next time when I’ll show you the lovely photos from the Reception.

You can also read Anne’s account of the day as featured opn Whimsical Wonderland Wedding blog here

Photography by Shell de Mar

The dessert table was just a small part of the shoot as we also had a model in a couple of lovely wedding dresses as well as a sweet heart table but you’ll just have to wait to see the rest of the shoot…

Cake… mmmm, who doesn’t love a bit of yummy cake? At the Luxury Wedding show last year I got to taste the delicious cakes of Surrey based company Le Papillion Patisserie and wanted to know more so I caught up with owner and cake maker extraordinaire Neil Thornton to ask him about those cakes….

What’s your background?

I was very keen on baking from an early age.  Looking back I was probably destined to be a cake maker!  My journey started at catering college where I specialised in Patisserie and sugar craft.  My career then developed in London in five star hotels and restaurants whilst making wedding cakes on the side.  Eventually I was able to realise my dream of opening a patisserie with a wedding cake business attached

Why did you decide to set up Le Papillon Patisserie?

Well it was my dream.  I love making cakes and knew that so many famous patisseries are now chains where the focus on quality has really suffered.  I also wanted a platform to build the wedding side of the business and it gave me the opportunity to do that.

How would you describe your style/vision?

Um probably scrumptious!  I just do not understand wedding cakes that taste of nothing but look pretty!  Why make a cake that is average?  For me cake should always be 100% tasty as well as looking gorgeous.  My style is based on that, it must look edible.

Where do you find your inspiration?

A lot of my inspiration comes from the bride in question.  We try not to offer you a book to choose from but encourage brides to get creative with us.  Of course we do duplicate cakes when a couple likes a cake we already made.  I also take lots of inspiration from classic patisserie, you will see hints of it in lots of our cakes.

What’s your design/creation process working with couples?

Well all our couples are invited to the shop to taste the cakes first, this is a must for us, once they go through flavours we start with the portfolio to get ideas from previous cakes, we also look to the couples wedding for inspiration.  If there is a theme running through the wedding we will try to incorporate it in the cake.  The design is sometimes finished in front of them that day or sometimes we work on it for a week or two.  Even now we are having last minute changes where a bride changed her colours last minute!

What has been your favourite wedding to work on?

I seem to like all our couples.  We have such a personal service that we make so many friends.  There is one wedding that sticks out where we created a cake for an artist where we used her art with our classic chocolate wrapped gateaux.  It was one of those jobs that until it’s finished you have no idea how it will turn out.  As it happens it was my favourite cake of the year.

What have you found the most challenging job?

The artist cake definitely, getting the balance of colours right was a very difficult task

What do you think couples should be looking for when buying their wedding cake?

You need to first of all decide what style you like.  If you want a tiered cake then there’s no point looking at our French gateaux tower.  Once you have the style then you can work on varieties of that style and flavours etc

What advice would you give to couples when planning their wedding?

RELAX!  I find it so amazing when someone is so uptight about the whole thing that they look like they aren’t enjoying themselves.  This is meant to be a romantic wonderful day, if you plan ahead relax and take professional advice planning can be very easy.  Also make sure you know what kind of wedding you want, stick to your idea.

What do you wish couples knew already when working with you?

Well I could probably write a list!  One of the things that amazes me is that people don’t realise you can have multiple flavours for your wedding cake.  I guess because traditionally you just had fruit cake that when you mention three flavours for a three tier cake they seem amazed!

What’s your one obsession at the moment-something you just can’t live without?

My new puppy Winston!  He is therapy after a hard long day baking

All images courtesy of Le Papillion Patisserie

I’m a big fan of any big paper flower so I loved seeing this beautiful wedding on Green Wedding Shoes with these fabulous DIY paper flowers made from paper and bath loofers that were used to make a great ceremony backdrop. Do take a look at the stunning wedding here (where the mother of the bride also made the bride’s amazing dress) and a great DIY tutorial on how to make the flowers here

Other ways to use the flowers could be as a backdrop to your top table, for a photo booth,  even lone ones dotted around your room.  How about using brightly colour modern wallpaper to make them from with coloured netting as their centres.

Images by : (once like a spark) photography via Green Wedding Shoes

I’m a firm believer in continuing my education and learning as a wedding planner and every year since launching my little company I’ve attended the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners annual Wedding Planning Excellence seminar. Held over two days, this year at the Private Rooms at 51 Buckingham Gate, it’s a jam packed weekend of business advice and industry speakers giving us the latest scoop on upcoming trends.

On day one we were given inspirational talks by business speakers Ray Hutchins, Tamsin Fox-Davis and Keren Lerner. We also had some great talks from Jo Byrne of Debretts on modern wedding etiquette and insightful talks on marquees by TT tents and bars for your wedding by iBarco. Day one was rounded off by a delicious meal at 30 Pavilion Road.

For day two the excellent calibre of speakers continued with another varied agenda that started off with an informative talk on post processing by Lloyd Dobbie, whose lovely photos I’ve shared with you on this post.  We were treated to an excellent make up demo by Jules Cardozo-Marsh, tips on venue dressing by venue stylists Mediterranean Occasions and a great presentation by Ellie Sanderson on the latest bridal style including us getting to choose dresses for brides in an X-factor style game that I ended up being one of the judges for! Rounding off the day was one of my favourite speakers who I only wish we’d more had time with,  US based wedding planner Whitney Wing-Drake, of Wish Wonder Dream. It was fascinating to hear how a fellow wedding planner works across the pond and of course hear all the latest trends over there which I’m sure we’ll see over her very soon.

Finally I can’t talk about the event without mentioning the fabulous flowers by one our favourite florists Euphoric Flowers, the stunning stationery by Cutture and rather well stocked goody bag we got to take home too.

All photos courtesy of Lloyd Dobbie

The 20^th Century Theatre is very much a dry hire venue so everything has to be brought in: lights, flowers, tables, chairs, etc. It really was a big production including a fabulous floral installation that went into the lighting rig and it looked amazing.

Guests were seated on arrival and treated to some yummy homemade dips and bread followed by a delicious 3 course meal by truly amazing caterers Under Cover Kitchen. After dinner cocktails were served including Espresso Martinis and guests were entertained by swing and jive band The Goosebumps.   The amazing chocolate covered profiterole tower cake was by Patisserie Valerie and the beautiful blooms by Rebel Rebel.

All photos courtesy of London wedding photographer Tyson Benton

The beautiful photography on the day was by Tyson Benton. There was so many great images that I decided to split them into two posts. First up getting ready, the ceremony at The Foundling and some fab portrait shots taken around London on the most perfect sunny winters day.

All photos courtesy of London wedding photographer Tyson Benton