This time last weekend my friend Chris and I headed to a beautiful country wedding. It was a lovely ceremony followed but a fun-filled evening reception in the barn! Katie decorated the whole thing herself and it was absolutely magical with lots of boho-inspired greenery and fairylights. I came away totally inspired!

Here’s what we wore! My dress is Three Floor (I bought it maybe 4 years ago and I’m still as in love with it now as I was when I first saw it on Pinterest).

Well, it’s actually the second one I bought… Like with most love stories, it’s a bit complicated…

I fell so madly in love with this dress at first sight that, as is my luck, I was really disappointed when I found out it was sold out! Luckily with some frustration, determination, sheer lust and many hours of searching EVERY SINGLE WEBSITE POSSIBLE I found one on Ebay in a size smaller than I’d have liked but I just had to have it. It arrived in the most immaculate condition, I wore it to the races, had an amazing day… and promptly ruined it.

Not how I’d envisioned the end of my love story…

Luckily for me it wasn’t the end! A month or two ago I was surfing NZSale when I saw the dress again, brand new, in MY size (phew, I could breathe this time) and for an absolute steal! I can safely say that it is still in very good condition post-wedding. I’ve learned my lesson!

Anyway, sometimes it can be difficult getting inspired for an outfit for a wedding as a guest. There are so many rules – don’t wear black (it’s not a funeral) and you can’t wear white (so as to possibly upstage the bride). Then you want something that will support you at your demure ceremony-self and then be able at your handle you at your party-the-night-away-in-the-name-of-love-self. It’s a hard compromise!

So I’ve had a bit of a scan around the internet for you – some websites, some specific dresses, some lust-worthy, some classic and with a range of price tags. Let me know which ones you love or where you get your inspiration from!

Some great websites:

Three Floor Fashion 

You’re unlikely to see someone else in the same dress if you wear one of these!

STARLIGHT DRESS

NEW FLAME DRESS

Asos

Even has a wedding guest section!!

Asos Premium Lace Skater Dress 

ASOS Jumpsuit in Structured Fabric with Knot Front and Drape Detail

The Iconic

Calli – Melina Frill Dress 

Net-a-Porter

 Giambattista Valli – Bow-Embellished Silk-Georgette Midi Dress

ADEAM – Asymmetric ruffled crepe midi dress

 

Pinterest

Always a great place to get some inspiration!

 

Love to you all!

 

 

So, you’ve popped that bottle open, had a glass (or two) in your party for one (or two) but you’ve somehow still managed to preserve half a bottle!

Firstly, well done, we know how hard that self control can be when it comes to that liquid gold. But what now? How do you keep the stars that you (and our bff/idol Dom, when he accidentally created our favourite tipple) tasted in that bottle?

Well luckily we’ve got a few ideas to can try!

1. Put a bubbles-saving champagne stopper on the bottle cap like this one from Amazon and put it in the fridge. You don’t need to spend a lot – there are so many different options to choose from.
2. Simply put a spoon in the top (the tail goes into the bottle… come on, you know it won’t fit any other way…) and refrigerate. Seems strange but so many people (including my mother, the OG Champagne Socialiser) genuinely believe this trick is as good as any champagne stopper! Just don’t use a plastic spoon.
3. Don’t put a cork in it! Apparently the gases can build up and lead to the cork popping off again, which while fun the first time you open the bottle, isn’t exactly what you want happening while you’re watching a scary movie later on that night…
4. Failing all of this… share it (with yourself if you “have to”)!
5. Or make a dessert like these from Brit & Co  (they have so many to choose from, from granita to macarons mmm).

Do you have any other secret weapon ways to maintain the light in the glass? Did you try any of the ones I put out?

Tell me how you go – I would love to know!

x

P.s. On the spoon theory… do you think it’s truth or myth?  I, personally, am a believer but my boyfriend and all of his sciency friends don’t…)

This colourful tassel garland is a super easy way to whip up party decorations that both look amazing and don’t break the bank.

All you need is:

1. Whatever colour tissue paper you like (something that fits your theme). We went for pink, yellow, fuchsia and coral, but you can include foil, cellophane or anything else you like.
2. String or ribbon (we went for a silver ribbon from Kmart).
3. Scissors.
4. A glass of Veuve (sort of optional, but almost mandatory…)

First, you’ll need to cut the rectangles of tissue paper. You’ll be halving these after you’ve cut them so make sure that the length when halved is how long you want your tassel to be. We went for short tassels so did a total of 30 cm. Cut as many rectangles as you like out of your colours to make the length of garland you need to fit your space.

Next, you need to fold all of your tissue pieces in half. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to cut.

Keep the tissue rectangles in half and cut lines (about 1 cm wide) up to about an inch from the top fold. This will create a fringe, but leaves the top bit intact.

After you’ve cut all the tissue paper like this, you’ll need to unfold the rectangles so their back to their full length. Next you’ll need to roll them up (being careful not to rip the fringed tissue) so that you essentially end up with a cigar shape (ours was 30cm).

Once you’ve done this, you’re almost done! You just need to twist the bits that are not fringed so that they’re nice and tight and then cross them over each other (so you’re paper is in half again!) and you end up with a threadable loop at the top! You can leave them simply twisted (which works fine for tissue paper which holds nices) or you may need to use something to secure the loop if you’re using foil – the world’s your oyster, but I quite like washi tape for this as you can add some sparkle or pattern to your design).

Phew, nice one! Only all the rest of the tassels to go… Simply repeat the steps above and you’ll end up with lots of super cute tassels.

All that remains is for you to thread them on to your string or ribbon (in whatever order you like) to make your garland! You could mix them up or make an ombre one – whatever you like!

You can also use these tassels on so many other things – I used them on my Christmas wrapping this year and they went down an absolute treat!

Cheers to that!!

x