Happy Sunday! I hope you've managed to get some of the sun we saw here in Dorset yesterday... and we're told that next week is going to be even hotter. It sounds like summer has finally arrived, so let's celebrate it as who knows how long it's going to be with us!
It's early on a Sunday morning, and the day is heavy with promise. What do you have planned for your long, summery Sunday, I wonder? In rural Dorset, it's the season of the village fairs - and it seems that every village, no matter how tiny, really puts on a huge event here. The lanes are full of signs advertising what each little village will have to offer on their big day of the year. Fun dog shows seems to be a particular favourite feature, although I shan't be taking mine to any, he's far too young and excitable right now!
Anyway, moving on from the thoughts of summer fairs, and onto thoughts of summer weddings. If you're planning a summertime wedding, have you got anything outdoorsy planned? I seem to remember that a few years back, it was very popular to have a 'village fete' kind of event at summer weddings, but this seems to be a trend that has lost its popularity recently. So what's on your summertime entertainment list? (I'd suggest that the fun dog show might be a stretch too far for a wedding day!)
Here's what I've been looking at on the internet this week, and hopefully some of it will give you a little inspiration for your wedding planning....
It's always good to look a little further that your own back yard for wedding inspiration - and this wedding from Ohio is a great example of an outdoorsy wedding with some great touches. I LOVE the guys' buttonholes, and I REALLY love the chandeliers in the barn, adding a real touch of glamour to a rustic look! What I also find interesting, when thinking of trends that come and go, is to look at the style of photography and see things which perhaps aren't as asked for now here in the UK and how they are still very much in vogue in other areas. It just spells out to me that whilst it's great to take inspiration from other weddings, it's more important than ever to do your wedding your way, just how you want it, and not because it's fashionable....
http://whimsicalwonderlandweddings.com/2016/07/autumn-country-farm-barn-wedding-in-ohio.htmlThis excellent blog from a Practical Wedding is a particularly good read, as it's very open about what the couple feel about how they spent their budget (albeit that this was in New York, so relative costs may not be the same). There are also some beautiful images of the loft space they used for their wedding, too - again, fantastic inspiration, although in the UK we're pretty short of this kind of loft space - when we think 'loft', we're more used to imagining the tiny spot at the top of our houses we store the Christmas decorations in! But we do have plenty of barn venues, and the fabulous look they pulled off in this New York loft wedding would look equally at home in our own venue settings. What else to take from this wedding? Well, you might not want to go quite as 'out there' in terms of the bride's dress, unless you're very confident!
And finally ... not a wedding at all, but a lovely photographic project I read about and found fascinating, as reported in The Guardian. It's about a chip shop owner who likes to take portraits of his regulars in the back yard of the shop. Don't judge until you've read it; not only are the images much, much better than you might think, but it's a real social document which has captured some amazing characters, too. Take a look!
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2016/jul/16/hello-mr-chips-the-fish-shop-photographer-in-picturesThat's it for Sunday Reading, for now... have a great day and see you soon!