what it really means..

 wildaboutweddings)

Oh my. We've won an award. It sounds funny saying it... and all night I thought someone was going to tap us on the shoulder and say 'Sorry, we've made a mistake...' but a few weeks ago me and Pete got all dressed up (I had my hair blow dryed and bought sparkly shoes and everything) and we went to a pretty posh do. It was the Wedding Ideas Magazine Awards in London and we had been nominated for 'Best Photographer 2012'... mental. We arrived and it was friggin' massive. A 3 course meal for around 300 people.. a proper stage bit, a big screen and lots and lots of people.

We managed to find our table, had dinner, sat and chatted and then the award ceremony started. I was sat next to the lovely Jo from Mandalay Wedding Stationery and we chatted about what you would say if you won... but I just want to point out that at this point I did not think in a million years that it would be me.. so... I took literally none of this information in. None of it. Instead, about 10 minutes later I was stood on that proper stage bit with a microphone and 300 grown ups in front of me. Here's a clip of what happens when a) you are in total shock and b) you don't prepare anything.

The night was then made even better by my good friends Lucy Ledger winning Best Stationer and Rachel Simpson winning Best Bridal Shoes.. I was so chuffed! I know just how hard these girls work and I was just so proud of everything that we'd all achieved... we were all crying when each other won!











After the ceremony the party started and everyone was so lovely, coming up and saying congratulations and Twitter went mental.. there's actually no way to describe how you feel when people show how chuffed they are for you.. it means so much. What also means so much is that a large part of the award is through votes.. from Brides, readers, other vendors.... so I just want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT VOTED.

We now have our little award sat in our house reminding us of how far we've come and I'm going to admit that I'm really proud of us. Emma Case 'In your face' and 'Bring the party' Pete did alright... :)

We also might have to publically apologise for maybe chipping our award before we even left that night...

...and they all lived happily ever after...

So Saturday was the last show.. it was a lovely one to end on, with friends and family cheering us on, a little girl in the front row trying to offer us popcorn at every opportunity and me trying to hold back tears saying our last lines.. "..and they all lived happily ever after..." It's been two months of total hard work, joy, commitment, giggles, endurance, happiness, stress, freedom.. all rolled in to one.... and now, suddenly we're on to the next chapter...
2012 seems to be, for lots of people in our little wedding community a pretty big year.. lots of exciting plans, positive changes, a better work/life balance, bigger and better goals.. it feels good, like there's an exciting buzz in the air. I too feel really positive with what this year could bring. Me and Pete have a bit of a break from Weddings to take stock, re-organise, plan and also, most importantly, have some 'us' time.. so it might be a little early but we're having a little (well, actually quite a big) spring clean.. both personally and with the business. We'll still be available on email but we need to step back just for a few weeks... and I promise that when we do come back.. we'll be all sparkly with lots of exciting stuff to share...

caroline & stuart {wedding}

Caroline and Stuart are one of those couples that make my get butterflies... we hadn't actually met each other before their wedding day but the emails back and forth about giant tea cups and Elvis had me pretty much running to that field! You see Caroline and Stuart make stuff... giant tea cups, bouncy castles, giant light up initials.. you name it and their wedding was filled with their amazing creative talent!
The wedding ceremony was at St. Annes Church in Littleworth Common, Burnham, which was a stones throw from Caroline's Mum's house.. they then headed across the road to the marquee where a huge confetti gun started the party and the fun began! They had also made an old fashioned wooden stage with footlights, 4 giant funfair teacups, 1 giant funfair teacup cake table, giant wooden light up initials, an old fashioned funfair stall drinks bar, giant lollypop table numbers, an old fashioned style high striker to play on and a huge bouncy castle!! Caroline also had her talented Mum make her gorgeous dress and Caroline customized her shoes with 2400 swarovski crystals (which she put on herself!) and Stuart looked sharp in a gorgeous Stuart Hearn suit. It was incredible! They had wonderful speeches, a gorgeous cream tea and then we had dancing! Now ladies... if you ever get the chance to see Lee Jackson as Elvis then DO IT!!! He came on with his band and I swear all the ladies in the room went all swoony (is that even a word!?!?)! He was fantastic and everyone was up dancing!
The day was fantastic and both Caroline and Stuart had worked so hard to put it all together and it totally paid off.. such a talented pair... and bloody wonderful news.. they've now set up their own business called Vowed and Amazed where you can hire their amazing props or commision them to create bespoke pieces!!
Thank you Caroline and Stuart for letting us be a part of your amazing day... we loved it.. and I think I am actually in love with Elvis.
You can also see their wedding over on Rock n' Roll Bride too!! Cheers Kat!!