A 21st to remember

My gorgeous cousin Tania is turning 21 this April. I was over the moon when she asked me to help her out with the planning of her party.

Now Tania is very trendy, creative and....well a fantastic person to know so I want to try and help her create an amazing night that she will always remember.

We started with a colour theme. She wants a simple cocktail style party, so no jeans! She has a beautiful yellow cocktail dress so we decided to work with that colour. A lot of people are not too keen on the colour yellow as a basis for a party, but yellow (with the addition of either/both black and white) can be an incredible combination.

We started looking at some inspiration boards. This is a great way to see how colour combinations can fit together (or in some occasions don't fit together). Although we are mostly sticking to yellow and white, adding a bit of black gives it some depth. Remember, inspiration boards don't have to have pictures to do with any particular thing, it is just to put the colours together to see if they work well.

So we have a great starting place. A great base to get the rest of the planning going.

Currently we are waiting to confirm a venue for the party. Once we have this decision we can decide how we are going to incorporate the colours Tania has chosen into the venue.

As we don't have a massive budget to work with incorporating DIY projects we will be able draw on her creative to make it a personal, memorable event.We are going to be coming back to this party-planning over the next few months.

Our next insert will be on the invite (designed by Tania), again, taking a simple design, putting your own stamp on it and making a very fancy looking invitation.

'Til next time

Your memories on mail

Did you know? Royal mail offer a simple service of personalising your postage stamp.

After you have spent quite a bit of money on your invitations the last the you would want is to stick a really horrible stamp on your lovely envelope.

Taken from the Royal mail website "capture and share your treasured moments with personalised smilers stamp sheets, from just £7.42 for 10 stamps. From weddings to new arrivals, you're just a few simple steps away from creating stamps that are uniquely yours".

Have a look here: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=3800007&mediaId=3800008

'Till next time

A little idea...

A simple idea but something you may not think about leading up to the special day...score your wedding shoes, both bride and groom.

The last thing you want is to be slipping and sliding around the dance floor during your first dance. Score your shoes with a non-serrated knife and make horizontal and vertical lines and don't forget the heel.

And don't forget to break in your shoes as well. It does not go against tradition that the groom cannot see the brides shoes before the wedding, so wear them in well.

'Til next time