Madonna’s Wedding Dress when she married Sean Penn is up for auction!

Madonna has never been one to conform, like her or loathe her or believe she should wear more clothes! she has always stuck to who she is and wants to be… and for that I applaud her.

This has been ever so clear in her choice of wedding dresses.

In the mid 80’s Madonna married Sean Penn in this dress…and yes that is a veil on a bowler hat!

 

I’m not over-the-top about this dress, although I do love the tulle skirt, but what I love is that Madonna brought HER to the dress.

If you fancy spending $40k-$60k this dress is currently available to buy on Julien Live Auction now.

So tell me:

• Have you/would you do something unique to make your wedding dress your own?
• Do you think wedding dresses should be classic, or used as a basis to create another reflection of your wedding day?

I’d love to know what you think?

Jo xx

How to choose the right wedding hairstyle for you

There are several factors which can influence your wedding hairstyle: your venue, theme, whether you are wearing a veil, headpiece etc, but right from the basic’s it’s good to understand what style actually suits your face shape.

So what is my face shape?

Using the chat below by Chic Factor Gazette you can you work out what face shape you are and I’ll run through some of the beautiful styles that work with that shape.

I’m Blake Lively…I only wish I had her actual face, body and husband!!

Heart Shaped Faces

How to make a paper flower ball

These paper flower balls are sooooo super easy.

I actually made them for my wedding, without really knowing what and where I was going to put them as I just thought they were so pretty.

I ended up coupling them with heart bunting, (which I’ll cover in another blog) and hung them behind the top table, as shown above. They looked really elegant, and are now hung up all around my house.

How beautiful and cost effective it would be to use them as substitute flowers throughout your venue! You could be really creative with the colours, put them on top of vases, hang them around the venue or even make it into a bouquet!

So here’s how to make these really simple paper flower balls

What you will need:

Coloured card
Polystyrene Ball
Pearl topped pins
Flower punch
Ribbon
Super glue

Step 1 

Using your flower punch, start at the edge of your chosen colour card and stamp out a line of flower shapes, trying to avoid going over the edge, or over another stamped out flowers.

Step 2

On your polystyrene ball you will see a join, this is a great place to start pinning to try and keep the row of flowers as straight as possible.

Take one of the pins, and push it through 2 flowers, one at a time, and then into the polystyrene.

Step 3

As you make your way round the ball, you will find that it will get harder to keep the row of flowers straight. You may need to do some repining nearer the end to ensure that all the polystyrene is covered.

You can also mix the colours, for example, light with dark, like a cream and purple as below or you can stick to the same colour for each ball.

 

Step 4

Once you have covered the whole ball, take a pen and make a small whole for the ribbon to go in. Decide how long you want your ribbon to be and fold it in half so that the 2 ends which you will use to tie the balls are together.

Put some super glue in the hole and using the pen press the middle of the ribbon into the hole and hold it there for a few seconds whilst the glue takes hold of the ribbon.

Leave the ribbon for a couple of house to ensure it’s completely secure and voila! you’ve made your very own homemade flower ball!

I’d love to see what you made and how they looked in your wedding or even just for your house 🙂

Sign up to continue to receive DIY projects and hints and tips to create your perfect wedding.

Top 5 marriage quotes that will make you smile

These are my 5 most favourite marriage quotes!

Forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably – Tweet this!

Happiness is being married to your best friend! – Tweet this!

True lovers, marry not someone that they can’t live with but one that they can’t live without – Tweet this!

Marriage is a mosaic you build with your spouse. Millions of tiny moments that create your love story – Tweet this!

A successful marriage requires falling in love, many times over, with the same person – Tweet this!

I love LOVE xx

 

3 Top Tips to Beautiful Wedding Hair

Once you have chosen your hair stylist it is also very important to make sure that your hair is in tip-top condition before your big day.

Here are 3 crucial hair tips for the lead up to the wedding

1. The Last Cut

If you are planning on having a fairly drastic cut before your big day, ensure that it is done prior to your trial so your stylist knows how your hair will be on the day, otherwise you may find that the hairstyle that you fell in love with may not work.

See related article – Advice on your wedding hair and makeup trial 

It’s a good idea to leave your absolute final cut to about a week before the bid day but follow the advice of your stylist. The most important thing to remember is to keep the length you need for the style you’ve chosen and just have a clean-up of the ends and not a full cut.

Your hair is your best accessory – Tweet this!

Personalise your wedding music

Music has an incredible ability to evoke strong memories, which years down the line can transport you right back to the place you last heard it.

So, image how amazing it would be to have your very own song, one that no one else has ever heard, written personally for you to walk down the aisle, or as your first dance??

Or, what about your groom becoming the next Tom Fletcher from McFly, and performing his grooms speech as a song!!

Advice for your Wedding Hair and Makeup Trial

Having a hair and makeup trial is essential to your wedding preparation. Do not just rely on the fact that you may know someone well, or use them regularly, because your wedding is a very different ‘event’ and your hair and makeup needs to suit your dress, venue and theme.

In most cases it is reasonable to have the trial 3-4 weeks before the wedding.

If you are slightly concerned about the person, or are still deciding between several people, I recommend that you schedule in the trial as soon as possible so there is enough time to find someone else.

How much and how long should the trial be?

The average cost for a trial run is about £150 and the H&M artist should dedicate at least 3 hours to you on that day.

Should I bring anything with me to the trial?

11 Unique Wedding Readings

Choosing a reading for your wedding can be tough, especially when you don’t want the traditional biblical readings, or verse from the Corinthian.

So I’ve put a collection of some of my favourite unique wedding readings for you to consider. The collection is a mixture of poems, songs and books.

To make it even easier for you, I’ve made each a downloadable link so you can print off each reading straight away.

 

I Wanna Be Yours – John Cooper Clarke

The Bridge Across Forever – Richard Bach

Dance Me To The End Of Love – Leonard Cohen

Lighting your Wedding

When it comes to your wedding, I bet you have your theming sorted, your decorations planned, flowers organized and music chosen, but have you considered lighting?

It’s easily overlooked, especially when you usually see a venue in daylight, imagine getting married during the day or even outside, but what happens when the sun goes down?

I am a HUGE fan of fairy lights, I put them up one Christmas and they have never come down since. I think they create such a romantic, magical atmosphere. Not least they can create spectacular photographs!

Q&A with Carlos Palma, hair and makeup stylist

I am so privileged to introduce you to the fabulous Carlos Palma.

Carlos has worked extensively within the fashion industry and has an accredited reputation in New York, Miami and London. His creativity and talents are coveted by industry professionals from photographers, stylists, publishers and celebrities alike.

He has worked with numerous celebrities including the beautiful Coleen Rooney for many years, doing her wedding hair and makeup as well as many more lucky brides!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are so privileged to have him as part of the team, and can’t wait to share many more hair and makeup hints and tips with you.

Today Carlos, is going to share with you his advice on choosing and budgeting for your hair and makeup artist.

How far in advance should I book my hair and makeup artist?