Here at Not Your Average I Do we’re on a mission to inspire couples to create a wedding day that’s as unique as they are.

As National Award-Winning Wedding Designers, we are able to style your venue to create the day you have always dreamt of. We love nothing more than bringing our clients vision to life and helping them create an awe-inspiring day that truly reflects their personalities. Our draping, lighting, lantern displays and fresh floral arrangements can really give your venue that WOW factor. As well as ceiling decor, we have a large Wedding Warehouse full of props, furniture and bars, providing all the little extras to add that personal touch to your day.

In addition, we have just launched Not Your Average Flowers, our NEW floristry service to complement our warehouse full of props, altars, arches, table centres and backdrops. Floristry compliments our venue styling service beautifully and we are delighted to now be able to offer bridal bouquets, buttonholes and floral accessories with our very own talented florist, Lisa.  Asking NYA to style your venue and design the flowers, you can be assured that the floral design work will complement and flow from the bridal party to the venue styling effortlessly.

We also offer our popular on the day coordination and event management service, which is ideal if you are dry hiring a venue, have booked a marquee or want an outdoor festival wedding. With our vast knowledge and expertise, you can rest assured that your day will run smoothly, leaving you and your family to sip champagne and leaving the stepping up ladders to us!

Whether you would like us to style your whole wedding, install a lighting, lantern or draping installation, hire our props or simply be an extra pair of hands on the day, here at NYA we can do exactly that.  Please do drop us a line if you would like to book a free inspiration consultation at our Wedding Warehouse. Let the team at Not Your Average I Do transform your dream day into a reality.

Copper & Confetti – Custom Wedding Goods and Printables

Lauren is full-time handbag designer and recent newlywed living in New York.  After her wedding in September 2018, she really missed the planning part of it! “I love being creative, designing and all things wedding related, so opening an Etsy shop – Copper & Confetti seemed like the perfect thing for me to do”. She said.

When Lauren was searching for thank you cards for her own wedding, she had a hard time finding exactly what she wanted. “This became something I really wanted to focus on in my own printable portraits- offering lots of different customised options that a lot of other shops don’t have” she said. “I researched current trends for bridal beauty, dress styles, bridesmaid colours etc and made sure these were available to my customers”. Lauren thinks personalised items bring a really special touch to a wedding that the guests are sure to remember! To add even a more unique aspect to her art, all the florals you see in her pieces are hand painted.

Lauren also offers further customisation if needed and can work 1:1 with the client to ensure their vision for their wedding day is met.  All her pieces are digital, so they are emailed directly to the clients who can then either print at home or bring to their local print shop.

“As a recent bride myself, I know how stressful planning a wedding can be.  So, my wish is that my designs not only bring beauty into the events surrounding the special day, but also help to make your lives easier.” She says.

Finding the perfect Bridal jewellery is an exciting part of the build up to your big day & Simon Pure are here to help.

Choosing jewellery for your wedding might seem daunting but with guidance from the friendly staff you can relax knowing you’re in safe hands. Simon Pure can offer advice & consider your personal style, gown along with any other accessories you may have.

Many of our collections are available in different metals – perfect for all skin tones. Silver & gold tones are gorgeously classic, while rose gold offers a softer look that’s very feminine & flattering.

Passionate about beautiful jewellery we have been creating the most gorgeous designs at our Surrey workshop since 1986. You can visit either the Guildford Boutique or the workshop itself in Smithbrook Kilns, Cranleigh to be engulfed with beautiful jewellery containing precious stones, semi-precious stones & fresh water pearls set in our unique hand designed pieces.

Both stores & our website carry a range of beautifully crafted rings, bracelets, necklaces & earrings with an emphasis on simple, elegant style. The friendly team also welcome bespoke commissions, so if you have something in mind let Simon Pure help your design become reality.

With all of the hot weather we’ve been having through Spring and Summer months in the past few years, there have been some horror stories around about melting wedding cakes. Cakes are made of some of the most simple ingredients, butter/sugar/eggs/flour, and are therefore quite vulnerable when it comes to extreme conditions, whether that be hot and humid or cold and dry! We have Lara at lovefromLila sharing her top tips for looking after your wedding cake on a hot Summer’s day…

• Think about the room where you’re planning to display your wedding cake. Is it outside or inside? Air-conditioned or a warm sunny spot? Marquees are an absolute no-go for cakes in hot weather. Where possible, you want to keep your cake in a cool spot, indoors where the temperature can at least be moderated, if not completely controlled. Ask your venue what they have done in the past for other couples.

• You should also speak to your cake maker to see if they have any suggestions about different designs or flavours that would survive better in the heat. There are some icings which can cope better in the heat, e.g. fondant icing, but if you have your heart set on a buttercream wedding cake, then an experienced cake maker will know how to do that well.

• However, even the best cake makers cannot avoid a small amount of bulging between the layers of a fondant cake in the heat of Summer. If you really want your wedding cake to look perfect, it might be worth asking your cake maker to create the display cake out of dummy cakes, and use cutting cakes in the back to actually feed your guests

• If your wedding cake is being made by a friend or family member that isn’t as experienced with wedding cakes, why not think about having more of a deconstructed cake like Meghan Markle? It avoids the complication of stacking cakes in hot weather and makes it easier to look after each tier e.g. getting them in and out of the fridge.

• When transporting a wedding cake in Summer, it’s even more important that you keep it cool as any bump or corner in the car could lead to the layers in-between sliding away from one another. For fondant cakes, you need to keep them somewhere cool before getting in the car and then make sure the air-conditioning keeps the car as cool as possible. Never refrigerate a fondant cake as it doesn’t need it, and will create more problems down the line. For buttercream cakes, I would recommend refrigerating the cake for at least 90 minutes before travelling, and then keeping the air-conditioning on in the car for the journey. As soon as you arrive at the venue, get the cake out of the car as without the air-conditioning on, the car quickly turns into a sauna.

• If you’re not planning to cut your wedding cake until later on in the evening (e.g. 9pm) then don’t put your cake on display until later on in the afternoon. The temperature tends to start dropping around 5pm, as does the sun, so keep your cake cool/refrigerated and bring it out once you’re happy that the weather is on your side!

• Most importantly, even if you’ve taken every other precaution on this list, make sure you have a backup plan. Ask a bridesmaid or family member to keep an eye on your wedding cake on the day, and if it looks as if it’s starting to sag or the icing is too wet (because it’s starting to melt), get it into the fridge or at the very least into a cool and shady spot or air-conditioned room.

Summer weather is not always the kindest to cakes, but with a little bit of extra thought, planning and care, your wedding cake will be absolutely fine, even on the hottest day. Keep up to date with the weather forecast and have a backup plan just in case. Good luck and happy planning!

Lara x

With lots of spring/summer weddings coming up; what a perfect time to showcase some of the best wedding invitations we’ve found.

Atelier Rosemood

English Garden Gatefold

We are obsessing over the ‘Gatefold’ wedding invitation format – especially the beautiful English Garden design which is available in yellow and green.

Wanting the ‘Gatefold’ finish? Atelier Rosemood are currently offering this finish to the following designs – English Garden, Chic, Chic Border, Poem

Invites can be designed on smoothe matte paper, textured ivory or iridescent paper – all prices are found on the site.

A New format for wedding invitations!

Rosemood are now offering gatefold wedding invitations, which open from the centre, both left and right, to reveal your wedding details on the inside. Your guests are sure to love how this stylish format of wedding invitations allows them to reveal the information about your day little by little, discovering text on the inside of each folded flap and the back inside page. This elegant format is already available for five wedding invitations*

Papier

Dusky Peonies

Designed by the very talented @Emmablock – these beautiful, floral wedding invitations are printed on textured Mohawk paper and are something special for your guests to have and to hold forever.

From £20.00 for 10
Printing and production takes 3-4 working days

The Wedding Of Calligraphy Gold

Minimalist, gold-foiled wedding invitations by @suziedicker with hand drawn calligraphy are the signature notes of contemporary stationary brand – À L’aise

£20.00 for 10
Printing and production takes 3 – 4 working days

Love Invited

Country rustic wedding invitation

Planning a outdoorsy, country wedding? These invites would set the scene well.
Each invitation is lovingly hand finished with natural twine and a personalised tag.
You have the option to customise the invitation finish – with Rose Gold Foil, Gold Foil or Silver Foil, as well as selecting the size of the invites and if you’d like guest names to be printed.

Etsy 

Peony Rustic Floral Design Laser Cut Wedding Invitation Suite

How stunning is this entire summer wedding invitation suite – complete with wedding invitations, RSVP, pearlescent envelopes, guest information cards, menu cards and a honeymoon wish list!
* Free UK delivery

Invites are all:

• Handmade
• Wedding theme: Boho & hippie
• Season: Summer
• Fold: Flat
• Made to order

Polina Perri 

Rosalie Rose Gold & Ivory Glitter

We are in love with the elegance and glamour of this stunning rose gold wedding invitation by Polina Perri
All personalised adjustments will be handled by the in-house designer who will create an electronic copy first to ensure you are completely happy with the design.

If you are planning a garden wedding or an outdoor celebration, these invitations would be a perfect choice.

We would love to hear all about your wedding theme idea’s and which wedding invitation has grabbed your attention – let us know by leaving a comment below!

Happy Saturday from Design My Wedding x

Fed up for fruitcake? Sick of sponge? We hear ya!

We’ve done our research and put together a mouth-watering list of all things alternative to help you design your wedding, starting with the most important part – all things sweet!

Gingerrayuk

We are obsessing over this ‘Treat Yourself’ Donut Wall by GingerRayUK
For the rustic, country couple; this makes a very cute finishing touch!
– Contains 2 donuts walls/ space for 18 donuts
– Priced at £14.99

If you’re after #weddinginspo and haven’t already checked out GingerRayUK  or their Instagram page, YOU MUST! You can shop by category, by theme or by range which is perfect for couples wanting to design their wedding.

Perfect Pie

We are loving the Pork Pie wedding cake alternative! If you prefer savoury than sweet, why not chose one of the glorious pork pie tiers from, Perfect Pie – what’s great about this company is they create bespoke orders to suit your preference and work solid on one cake per week.

Check out their Instagram page for lots more #PorkPieWeddingCakeInspiration

Our ‘go-to’ would be this – Classic Onion Marmalade pork pie, Sweet Chilli, Naked (traditional), Chorizo or Wiveton (lemon, parsley and garlic). Mmmm …

Crumbs and Dollies

Want something fun and unique? Head over to Crumbs and Dollies for some quirky, cool inspiration.

We are loving this modern take on an old-school, classic – Jammy Dodger. What do you think?

Raspberry Ripple Vanilla Sponge filled with raspberry goo, vanilla buttercream, raspberry jam splodge, topped with a Jammy Dodger.

Big (dozen)|£38.00
Mini (dozen)| £19.00

If you like this style, you must check out their Instagram page #quirkyweddingcakes

The Cheese Wedding Cake

Cheese Wedding Cake Draycot

The Draycot cheese tiers have definitely caught our full attention; with Truffle Gloucester, Dorset Blue Vinny and Cerney Ash cheeses – what’s not to enjoy!
Price: £240
Feeds: 75 -105 guests

If, like us, you’re a big ‘cheese fan’ and are thinking that this alternative wedding cake option is right up your street, go ahead and check out The Cheese Wedding Cake and their mouth-watering Instagram page. They also offer bespoke services for those of you that want to design your own – big thumbs up from us!

Roxsys Delights

These beautiful cupcakes caught our attention – All natural ingredients and freshly baked to order!
Check out her website and Instagram page for lots more #weddingcupcakeinspiration
Mini cupcakes | £15 per dozen (minimum order 2 dozen)
Regular cupcakes | £30.00 per dozen (minimum order of 1 dozen)

Choose from a variety of unique and delicious flavours or design your own. Here are two of our favourites.

~ Vanilla sponge, topped with vanilla buttercream and a pink rose.

~ Vanilla sponge, topped with Baileys buttercream. Garnished with a pipette filled with Baileys – OUR FAVOURITE!

Ginger & Cacao

After a sophisticated twist? Look no further than Ginger & Cacao who offer a professional and bespoke service to capture your style.

Specialising in buttercream cake designs, Ginger & Cacao are inspired by art, textures and cultures.

We adore this Champagne and Mauve Macaron Tower – for more #weddinginspiration head over to their Instagram page.

Let us know what alternative wedding cake you choose by leaving a comment below!

1. Ettington Park Hotel

Ettington Park Hotel, set in 40 acres of private grounds in the Warwickshire county is the perfect wedding venue choice for those couples that are country enthusiasts. The breath-taking views and enticing, rural walks truly makes for some romantic moments and beautiful photograph opportunities.

At Ettington Park Hotel they understand the importance of offering a high level of privacy and commitment to ensure the day runs smoothly and is exactly how the couple envisioned. Weddings are normally carried out in either the elegant surroundings of the house itself; the historic Library or the spacious South room. During the summer months, the Orangery located in the gardens or the Bell Tower next to the Normal Chapel are popular choices – both licensed for civil ceremonies.

For a truly personal experience and intimate wedding package; contact Becky or Ollie to find out more 01789 450 123

 

One of Surrey’s most sought after venues, ‘Nonsuch Mansion’ is a truly beautiful, historic stately home, offering a tranquil and picturesque setting – perfect for couples looking to escape the hustle and bustle.
Located in Cheam, this spectacular Georgian house is set within 300 acres of rural grounds and parkland.
Here at Nonsuch Mansion, there are a team of specialised and dedicated wedding planners that will offer professional and helpful advice to ensure couples feel that all their needs and desires for their big day are met.

For more information, contact: 020 8786 7392

Believed to be England’s oldest inhabited Manor, New Hall Hotel & Spa is set within 26 acres of well-kept grounds, with a stunning lily-filled moat in the West Midlands.

When you plan your wedding at New Hall Hotel and Spa, you will have a dedicated team of professional co-coordinators on hand, every step of the way to help build a unique and personal wedding day that you’ll forever cherish.

 

 

This grade II* listed building offers a historic venue choice for your special day. Set in the heart of Manchester, The Monastery offers breath-taking views, with an internal walled garden which makes the perfect backdrop for beautiful wedding photographs.

At The Monastery, they understand the importance of offering a tailored package to suit your individual requirements to ensure your day is matched to your dream. A handful of professional and dedicated wedding co-coordinators will work with you from start to finish to give you a truly unforgettable wedding experience.