Make and do inspiration

I have the greatest of respect for brides and grooms who inject creativity into their wedding day with DIY projects. So you can only imagine my excitement when I came across this project on Offbeat Bride 

Shaving Cream lanterns. I couldn't believe my eyes! I'm not the most competent DIY and craft enthusiast, but I could definitely give it a bash! All you need is shaving foam and food colouring. Swirl it up and then dip whatever you want to tie dye into it. Easy peasy.. I think!

For the full list of pics from this particular bride's project, click here.

Here's a tutorial I found online. It's about using shaving foam to decorate Easter Eggs, but it can be used on all sorts of textiles and surfaces.

Will I be able to use it for something to do with the wedding? Watch this space!

Wedding resources

Getting married is meant to be an exciting time. I remember when we announced our engagement to our families and friends, it was a hub of joy and excitement. It wasn't long after we got engaged that my family and I excitedly bought loads of wedding magazines. Discussed pros and cons of what time of year to get married. What dress styles did I like? Ivory, Cream, Champagne, Colour or a variant of white?

However, the novelty of flicking through the glossy pages of wedding magazines quickly wavered. I had spent €5 on a shiny paged brochure of all things wedding related flogging their wares. It was then I realised that the wedding industry was bigger than I had ever thought possible. (Seriously, Google 'wedding' and you get 1,150,000,000 hits!)

Recently we attended a wedding show with many different vendors offering a multitude of services. I thought releasing doves, fireworks and free flowing champagne were considered personal touches to your day. Instead it has exploding into so much more. We were presented with customised glasses, balloon people, a meat wagon, sweet tables and so much more. All these added touches cost money, whether or not they would make your wedding day better or enhance your marriage? I wouldn't bet on it.

There seems to be a lot of pressure put on your wedding day as 'The Best Day of your Life'. Personally, I don't agree. I think it is a very important day when you and your partner vow to love and care for each other in the paradigms you set for your marriage, but expecting it to be the 'The Best Day of your Life' puts unnecessary pressure on a day where you should just relax and have fun with your guests. The best day of your life may be when you travel somewhere you've always wanted to go, succeed in your career goals or hold your child for the first time. Everybody is different.

People must be buying stuff like this, wedding flip flops for life yo!

Shit happens. Your dress might get dirty, guests might be late, someone who is not the bride might wear cream, someone (or several people) may get drunk and make fools of themselves. Is it really going to matter in the long run? Really?! Let your wedding day reflect you. Who cares if felt flowers aren't traditional? Or Lego isn't considered appropriate table decor? Don't want to wear white or a similar shade? Then don't. Just because something is considered 'the done thing' doesn't mean you have to do it. It's a long way down that rabbit hole so look before you leap!

After wasting money on the glossy wedding mags, I soon realised that I could get the same information and even more ideas online, for free! I read reviews, looked at forums of real brides up for discussing their experiences. No glossy magazine can do that. So why do we buy them? Well, when else are we going to? It's an exciting time, and it's hard not to get carried away with all the giddy excitement, but don't forget to explore all resources. Chat to family and friends, get information from real brides, talk to colleagues. These kind of resources are priceless.

Top wedding cake toppers!

If you're anything like me, you can appreciate a nice cake. With icing, and chocolate... And sprinkles... Ahem! So in the spirit of all things 'wedding cake' I've gone on the hunt for cake toppers.

I was blown away by how creative some couples can be when it comes to how they choose to top their wedding cake. Here are my top 10:

1. Lego cake topper
You may have gathered that we're big Lego fans chez Ree, your imagination is the limit!

So cool! Would be tempted to put some LED lights in there too!

2. Alien couple
Love the Alien movies? Why not pay homage to the creations of H.R. Giger by putting them on top of your cake? Aliens need love too!

There's something so cute about this, even in biomechanoid style.

3. Zelda and Link love
We very nearly bought an 8-bit wreath this Christmas, so this is high up on our wish list!

There's something timeless about 8-bit graphics.

4. Marvel Zombies for life.. Erm.. sort of!
This was one that Mr. Ree put forward. We've got a healthy and ever-growing collection of comic books, and love all things zombie related. Combine the two and you've got a pretty awesome cake topper!

Spiderman and Mary Jane zombie style!

5. Memes for every occasion
On the internet, there are things called Memes, so why not put some of your favourites on a cake? When else can you use 'Me gusta' with such zeal?

Which memes would you choose?

6. Lightsaber wedding
Sick of all things cute, white and fluffy in the wedding world? Cut through the crap, and possibly other things with the help of Darth Vader.

Dark, but I like it! (Mwa haw haw!)

7. My friend Totoro
A wedding often brings family, friends and lots of different characters together. How could you possibly leave out your friend Totoro?

It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

8. Not just for Muppets
I've always thought that Miss Piggy was one of my earliest Feminist role models.. She was strong willed, vocal about what she wanted and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Quite a character, for a pig puppet, I mean Muppet!

Granted they look a bit wrecked, but maybe this was later on in the night!

9. Burton related goodness
I fell in love with 'The Nightmare before Christmas' film the first time I saw it. I loved the ghoulish feel of the characters, the music and the art of stop motion film making.

For the love of Jack and Sally

10. Room for Space Invaders?
For extra nerdy joy, you could make the Space Invaders out of Lego! Cheap as chips to do, plus you can customise it to suit your wedding colours. Sorted! I'd be tempted to stick a veil and top hat on them too.

Love this idea!

BONUS: I came across this one in my searching and snooping. I have no clue what the background is. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Mermice? Is this a thing?!