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What’s going to Rock 2016!

27th December 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

So as everyone sits in a mince pie induced coma in their brand new Christmas pj’s here’s a little evening reading to keep you entertained. Scarily 2016 is only a few more sleeps away so what better way to welcome the new year than to highlight a few of the key wedding trends for the upcoming season.

1 – First on our list are oversized bouquets – filled full of luscious greenery, statement blooms and tied with strands of ribbons, hand tied bouquets got a whole lot more jaw dropping. Straight from the styled photoshoots these bouquets pair perfectly with a vintage inspired dress guaranteed to help make an impact and add that additional wow factor to your photos.

Oversized Bouquets – Images from various sources

2 – Next up its time to start thinking out of the box for your welcome drinks, get crafty and reflect your personality with decadent cocktails, get creative with White Russians and Porn Star Martinis (my absolute new found favourite, the passion fruit counts as one of your 5 a day right?). Adorn with herbs, fruits and berries, rim glasses with sugar or glitter and pour into vintage glasses or modern copper highballs. Display on trays filled with flowers, surrounded by candles for a breath taking welcome drinks tablescape. Can’t decide on one cocktail why not allow guests to mix up their own, what better way to get your guests stuck into your day.

Decadent Cocktails – Photos from various sources.

3 – 2016 is the year of the doughnut, personally I’m not a fan unless filled with jam but I love the idea! Ditch the traditional wedding cake and serve guests mountains of mini doughnuts instead. A new take on the favour provide each guest with their own little box of batter Krispy Crème style! Alternatively get a bit retro and fill paper cones full of mini doughnuts as an alternative to canapés.

Doughnuts – Photos from various sources

4 – It may be the penultimate but it’s my favourite – breath taking lighting (don’t pack away your Christmas lights just yet). String barns full of festoon lights, fill rooms full of candles and string fairy lights from tree’s. Less definitely is not more where lights are concerned in 2016 . I love the idea of festoon strung back drops and dance floors canopied with lanterns and fairy lights and that hanging light topped table scape is to die for!

Lighting

5 – Is a look at one of the new colour palettes for the season and it’ time to get a little dark and moody. Greys, midnight navys and indigos provide a moody breath-taking base with which to contrast golds and coppers against.

Dark Palettes, photos from various sources.

Drop us an email for ways we can help you incorporate the above trends.

Happy New Year to you all and I will see you in 2016!

Love Gem xxx

The White Emporium

Copper Crazy

21st December 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

I have found myself with a spare few minutes! Crazy I know! So here is a short but sweet blog!

I have realised I have gone a little copper crazy in the images I have been liking and pinning so thought I should put them to good use and show you lovely lot what I have been drooling over.

I don’t think there is currently such a thing as too much copper!

Have a look at the below mood board and judge for yourself, I especially love the use of copper pots and candlesticks as table centers

Hope this provides a little bright inspiration into this dull and wet day!

Love Gem

The White Emporium xxx

Spring Country Wedding Styled Shoot

12th June 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Oooppps been a month since our last blog post! Life at The White Emporium has been non stop and manic but in a good way so please forgive us for the absence.

But we have something below certainly worth waiting for!

A couple of weeks ago we took part in another styled wedding shoot with a band of amazing wedding photographers. The look was a summer country wedding, the feel was fresh and airy. There was crispness in the styling with only white flowers contrasting against beautiful greenery and eucalyptus, the only real use of colour came from gold highlights in the invites and styling accessories. May sees an abundance of Cow Parsley which makes for a dreamy back drop.

The table was dressed with vintage linen and accessorized with brass candlesticks and glass tealights. I love the idea of stand out plates, (I wish I had thought of interesting plates for my own wedding plain white just looks so boring now!) so we found some beautiful gold rimmed, dinner and side plates, you can create some really beautiful table settings with a few simple touches and we tied a few sprigs of greenery in with the knife and fork.

The second look saw the bride and groom heading to a vintage picnic complete with crates and slate boards. This idea can easily be translated into a cheese table or why not have welcome drinks in a picnic setting.

At The White Emporium we have a wide selection of chalk boards and love nothing better than a good love quote. Don’t miss these below!

Check out the beautiful striped cake, i love this idea what a way to make a unexpected impact and how amazing do the flowers look on top!

Finally the group of lovely photographers whose photos are below are super talented, they all have a slightly different style to their technique make sure you hope over to their websites for full photos don’t forget to check out all the other suppliers below who worked on this beautiful shoot!

Credits:

Photography: www.summerlilystudio.com

http://www.sungblue.com/

http://www.nikkismoments.com/

**Also Laura Mutz

Hair: www.updosbynatasha.co.uk

Make Up: www.facebook.com/makeupbymackenziekate

Flowers: Wood View Floral Designs – lesleymutz@hotmail.co.uk

Cake: www.icakeyou.co.uk

Stationery: www.karleegould.co.uk/

Accessories: www.somethingnewsomethingblue.co.uk

Love Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

Bunting Love….

29th April 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

I am a dab hand with a sewing machine and bunting is one of my favourite things to make. It is such a versatile way to add colour and height into a room.

Weddings are getting more and more creative and the decoration more unique and colourful with every issue of Brides Magazine you pick up. So I thought I would share with you my top 5 favourite alternative bunting ideas.

In at number 5 – Lace and crochet bunting (did I mention we stock lace bunting)

Watch the light fall beautifully through the dainty lace fabrics. Crochet doilies and the more traditional lace triangle flags are a must have for summer weddings. Perfect for woodland blessings and old barns.

Found in the littleweddinghelper

Found on ETSY

Closely following behind at number 4 is bunting made from pine cones and ribbon. Effortlessly rustic and simple, it is a great for those who love the idea of a DIY wedding. I love the idea of mixing this with rag bunting which you can never have enough of!

No 3 – Photo Bunting! This can be incorporated in so many ways. why not make garlands adorned with images of you growing up as a child surrounded by all your friends and family. Or use it as part of a guest book, hire a Polaroid camera and encourage guests to snap away and then add the Polaroid onto the bunting. It will serve as a great time line for how the night evolves.

Image found on bespoke bride

No 2 is Big, Bright and beautiful flower garlands. String carnations ( a relatively in expensive flower) across your venue and watch the colours pop! Or string them vertically to create a sumptuous back drop.

Image found on Hello May

And my all time Summer 2015 bunting idea is…. Lampshades! A key trend for SS15 is bringing the inside out, perfect for creating a unique area. I love how the image below shows them strung from trees, imagine a relaxed seating area below and you instantly have the most sought after wedding vibe!

Image from the wedding community

We have some photo shoots coming up and hopefully we will try and include some of these beautiful ideas.

You can’t beat a bit of Wednesday hump day inspiration!

Love

Gemma xxx

The White Emporium

Rustic Bar Inspiration

10th April 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

I hope I’m not the only person that as soon as the sun shines I want to grab a drink and head outdoors put my feet up and soak up the warmth. So with this in mind this weeks blog post is a little bit of home made rustic bar inspiration. Wedding season is just around the corner and what better way to create something truly unique and personal than with your own home made bar. You can play it as safe or as adventurous as you like, incorporate your favourite tipples, why not create your own signature cocktail and serve it in glass drinks dispensers, (have I mentioned before we have those :-)!)

One for the guys and the height of coolness, create your own whisky bar with glass decanters, silver trays and sparkling tumblers, brass candlesticks would help make an awesome back drop. Serve along side the finest cigars, imagine sipping your drink as the sun sets with your nearest and dearest around you reflecting on your perfect day.

Feeling super adventurous? Then create a whole bar from scratch, (you may need the help of someone with carpentry skills). Grab a hammer and get handy with some wooden pallets, the beers can be displayed and kept cool in metal buckets and wheel barrows, wooden crates (we have those to) can be used to create shelves and create height in your display, use the designs of the spirit bottles to your advantage and turn them into a feature weaving your flowers in between them to create an almost living space. ( I am getting far to excited!)

No bar would be complete without a sign, I love the deep south inspired iron light up ones that have become so popular, they make such an impact and would make sure every guest knew where the bar was. Being a sparkle magpie I love the glitter signs, which would be easy to create yourself and adding to our hire range this week we have a cork BAR sign, perfect for the rustic feel!

So I hope this has inspired you not just if you are a bride but if you planning a party, I will certainly be incorporating some of these ideas in the events I am planning this year!

See you next week!

Love Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

Flower Love

20th February 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Feeling a little nostalgic today, so was taking a trip down memory lane and found the inspiration board for my wedding flowers. I loved my flowers and I still love these images. I wanted the vintage colours but contrasted them with the bold pops of colour like the bright pink, deep purple and corn flower blue. If I do say so myself they looked pretty amazing! (I know very modest). I was lucky that The White Emporiums number one fan (my mum) has a natural talent for flower arranging, she translated my ideas for the venue and church beautifully, everywhere you looked there was a little floral display. Fortunately my florist Elaine was also on the same wave length and the bouquets and buttons holes fitted in perfectly with the venue displays.

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Bouquet by Elaine

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Bouquet by Elaine

Hopefully this board of lovely colour will brighten up your day, my little trip down memory lane has put a smile on my face.

P.S – If you need a little flower inspiration head To Liberty’s of London the florist there is amazing!

My wedding bouquets were created by Elaine at http://www.elainesturges.co.uk/

Photos by Two-D: http://www.two-d.co.uk/

Happy Flower Planning!

Love Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

Wedding favours you will want to take home…

30th January 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

You spend so much time worrying about what is a suitable wedding favour for your guests, I know I certainly did! You want it to be meaningful, not to expensive and to fit in with the vibe of your day. The reality is that most likely quite a few of your guests are going to accidentally leave behind your little gift that you spent so much time worrying over. So why not make your favour something they can’t resit! Below I have found some great ideas, that aren’t to expensive and if you are feeling brave can be created yourselves.

For the sentimentalists –

Why not create a playlist for your day to share with your guests, it could include your first dance, your last dance and all your favourite tracks as a couple.

Found on Festival Brides

Hand painted stones will be loved by the ladies and the older generation, you could doodle away on the stones to your hearts content. They make excellent paper weights (practical) and pretty decorations.

Found on Studio DADA on Facebook.

For the drinkers (well the hot drinkers) –

Create test tubes with your favourite tea blends in or my must have hot chocolate, complete with sprinkles and marshmallows. If your guests like a tipple why not include an alcoholic miniature?

Found on customfavours.com

Found on oppulentoccasions.com

For the green fingered –

Offer your guests something to take home and grow, succulents or cactus are very cost effective and you can jazz the pot up to your hearts content. Why not encourage your guests to share photos of their plants every year on your wedding anniversary.

Found on bride to bride

Found on caught the bouquet

For the chefs –

If you and your future husband like cooking why not create your own infused oils, they will need to be created in advance but its so simple! I love the idea of creating Chili oils as gifts for your guests.

Found on greenlif3.wordpress

Finally for the sweet tooths –

Cake! But cake in the jar that your guests can take home and enjoy whilst reflecting on your amazing day! Trudy from Trudy Scrumptious Cakes makes to die for cakes and she has just added this lovely range of cake jars, in mouth watering flavours. If you are local to Bedford her Facebook page is – https://www.facebook.com/TrudyScrumptiousCakes

From Trudy Scrumptious Cakes

At least if any of the above get left behind you and your husband can enjoy them!

What are you having as your wedding favour?

Love

Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

How to incorporate metal ware…

16th January 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

When I was planning my own wedding I collected and found lots of beautiful metal and tin items, many were found buried in sheds and green houses. Long had they been forgotten, left out in the elements to weather and age beautifully! I loved the wear on them, the hints of rust and distress, I just had to incorporate them into my day. As a bride it can be quite difficult to picture these alternative wedding items into your big day so I thought I would share with you some of my favourite images that will help to inspire you.

Flowers look great displayed in tin buckets, my particular favourites are the gyp and lavender, what a beautiful colour scheme the ivory, purple and grey makes.

Found on g-style.blogspot

Layering items together to create a feature make for lovely photo back drops, it also provides a great space for displaying flowers. I’m in love with the below image and hope to use it as inspiration for the display at our next wedding fair.

found on arquitetura-pessoal.tumblr.com

It’s not just buckets and baths that can be used as decoration, why not display your flowers in watering cans and milk urns. The pink roses in the below image add an excellent colour pop.

found on fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net

found on dreamywhites.blogspot.ca

At our wedding we used tin baths and buckets to display the welcome drinks and keep them cool. They make excellent photos and provide a great talking point. OI love the below ideas of storing the sparklers in for a sparkler send off and blankets to keep guests warm, perfect for outside orientated weddings.

Photo by two-d photography

found on weddinginspire.com

found on sherricassaradesigns.com

I hope this gives you some food for thought and a little bit of inspiration.

Love

Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

Once Upon A Christmas Window Display…

9th January 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

The past month has been so busy I have not had time to share the Christmas Window display I created with you. The newly opened Bluebird Salon in Bedford wanted a non ‘Christmassy’ Christmas display to enhance their beautiful floor to ceiling windows.

The salon itself has a very contemporary feel to it, there are vintage hints with their gorgeous decadent mirrors and antique furniture but this is contrasted with the industrial feel of the brushed metal lights and clean white surfaces. It has a perfect balance which gives the salon a very modern feel, there is definitely no ‘shabby chic’ in site! Therefore it was important to create a window display that reflected the movement of the salon and emphasized its alternative approach as a boutique which seems quite new for Bedford.

Christmas Mood Board

For Christmas displays it is very easy to be predictable and go for full on Christmas love, the brief was very clear though, there was not to be any sign of tinsel or the formidable red colour, I was given an image from made.com as a reference point. So I created a mood board and had a good rummage through my treasure trove and came up with the below. I would have loved to have been able to use some brushed metal pots in which to sit the greenery and candles, alas I am still searching for the perfect ones, so we compromised with the pretty French boxes.

The use of wood is currently a very strong decorative theme at the moment and the logs gave excellent height and came in handy as shelves with which to display the salons products on. The books and candle sticks provided our vintage high lights, the brushed silver lanterns and hanging paper stars our cleaner modern edge.

It is Christmas after all so we had to include pine cones and real holly with berries on in the greenery, (I got a little bit of red in!). The twig Christmas tree provided the central focus for the main window, they have a very open modern feel to them and provided the most wonderful decorative space. Because the owners are a little bit quirky and the saloon is filled with a few kitsch touches we hung sketched ceramic deer from the branches.

Finally my favourite decorative pieces were added, the glass ware, mini jugs and decanters with blue toned old spice pots, I seriously love these pieces and they are some of my key items in my range, they just look awesome on their own!

So there it is my first ever Christmas Window display! I can’t wait to get planning the ideas for next year!

If you are in the Bedford are I can’t recommend the Bluebird Salon enough!

See you all next week!

Love The White Emporium xxx

Black Friday

28th November 2014 by Gemma Leave a Comment

It’s Black Friday today! If you didn’t know that already! It seems to have become another American tradition more and more endorsed over here in Blighty. So in honor of this mad selling day I have created a little inspiration board under the theme of black, scouring the internet these images represent some of the loveliest ways to use such a dominant colour. I’m not a massive fan of having a set rigid colour scheme but I love the idea of bringing in hints and highlights of your favourite colour. I especially love the black trimmed table cloths and runners I think these are such a strong statement piece. Black and gold is such a classic combination especially at this time of year, it has such a feel of sophistication, the invite design I have added onto the board is one of my all time favourites and I just can’t get enough of glitter! I hope this gives you a few different ideas in how to use the colour black.

I hope you find some bargains in the Black Friday sales!

Love The White Emporium xxx