Something Old, Something New...

Most brides, especially those planning a vintage themed wedding, are on the lookout for that significant and precious item that will hold the prestigious title of being their 'something old' on the big day. Many brides choose a family heirloom to represent this age old tradition, such as a veil or accessory that once belonged to their great grandmother, or special piece of jewellery to tuck away in their purse. The 'something old' tradition is one that continues to be the most thought out of the 'somethings' as it represents the sentimental connection the bride has, and will continue to maintain, to her family.

Dealing with all things vintage, it is not unusual for Vintage Twee to be asked by brides to contribute to their 'something old' in the form of some kind of keepsake or décor for their big day. However, when asked to make a bridal bouquet, consisting entirely of the infamous vintage music sheet paper roses, the challenge was embraced with open arms and I set to work!

The bouquet contains over 30 vintage roses, a selection of which have been adorned with pearl centres and draped with a string of ivory pearls, which have been carefully intertwined between the delicate leaves. The stem of the bouquet is covered with a champagne coloured satin ribbon and has been adorned with a hand tied ribbon and lace bow which is embellished with a vintage jewel.

So a bride's 'something old' was actually 'something new' for Vintage Twee and will be available to purchase in the Boutique very soon! It is a perfect alternative to traditional flowers for those brides having a vintage or music themed wedding and, unlike real flowers, it wont perish and can be kept for many years to come as a momentous keepsake of your wedding day.

If you would like to enquire about our new Vintage Paper Rose Bouquet in the meantime, please do just email joanne@vintagetwee.com!

Car Booty = Vintage Beauty

Never has the saying “One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure” been more appropriate than this weekend! Joanne decided to check out the local car boot sales of the North West to see if she could find anything more than redundant audio cassettes and broken kids toys- and she did well! Aided by Daddy Twee who is renowned for spotting a bargain, the two set off on a mission to find hidden treasures in need of a little tender loving care.

First to be snapped up was a stunning Brass Letter Rack  for the unbelievable price of £1.00. Ornate and decorative, after a bit of elbow grease and patience it now looks as if it’s been standing proudly on the mantelpiece of a stately home instead of spending the last 20 years lying in somebodies cellar! Perfect for displaying Vintage Twee Bridesmaid postcards, it will be making an appearance at a craft fair very soon…

Following the bargain trail, Joanne picked up a beautiful Vintage Sadler China Sugar Bowl which quite conveniently was a vintage dusky pink colour with gold gilded edges- perfect Vintage Twee colours! Dated 1922 on the underside, it will be a welcome addition to the props Joanne has collected for the Vintage Twee photoshoots. And priced at 10p… who could resist?!

Also to be used for photoshoots was an amazing early 20th cenutry vintage butterdish which we’re sure you’ll agree is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately it had one corner missing which usually would put most people off… but not Joanne! She added this delightful dish to her growing collection for a mere £1.00 and will be sure to photograph it from an angle which definitely shows off its best side!

Plenty of vintage pieces of jewellery were discovered which will become features on Vintage Twee Table Plans and Wedding Guestbooks, as well as a whole host of vintage music sheets dating back to 1919. These will be transformed in to the trademark Vintage Twee Paper Rose Place Settings and romantic Rose Cones , ensuring these long lost music sheets get to live again. Accompanied by the purchase of a selection of lace doilies at a rock-bottom price of 50p each, it proved to an extremely successful shopping trip for under £10!

The only item of the day that so far has yet to be fully restored to its original glory is a cream, lace and pearl 1920’s handbag that sadly, is proving to be a challenge. It’s deeply stained with rust and tea (understandable after being over 90 years old) but for an absolute snip at 50p Joanne found herself drawn to it for more than just the price tag. If anyone has any ideas on how this could be re-invented please get in touch!

Help us restore this antique gem!

Be sure to check out the Vintage Twee website to see all the fabulous products that will be created using both inspiration and materials from purchases this weekend. And as Joanne is hoping to hit another barrage of car boot sales over the next few bank holidays there may well be more treasures still uncovered that will shortly be making their very own Vintage Twee debut ..

Shiver me timbers landlubbers, there be treasure ahead!

Talk about forbidden treasures!

Sat nestled amongst 2000 deliciously tempting chocolate coins sounds like any woman’s idea of absolute heaven and Joanne is no exception! This week she found herself knee deep in the chocolately treats as she produced a whopping 235 mini Treasure Chests for a very special kind of party. Altogether now… “Oooh- Arrrr….”

Contacted by Jo Bircumshaw back in August 2010, Joanne was asked if Vintage Twee would do the honour of making the unique party favours for the “Pirates and Pearls” MS Society Ball, presented by the lovely Calum Best to be held on Saturday, March 26th at Mere Golf and Country Club, Knutsford, Cheshire. The purpose of this fantastic event is to raise money for the MS Society, helping the sufferers and carers of this debilitating condition with much needed funds for respite. Jo, the organiser of the Piratey themed party spotted the eye catching Vintage Twee Treasure Chest favours in an edition of Cheshire Life and swiftly ordered 140 of the cute boxes. As the popularity for the event increased, the boxes multiplied and soon there were enough gold coins, pearls, skulls and crossbones piling up that Joanne could have filmed Pirates of the Caribbean 5 in her studio!

Each guest of the event will enjoy swashbuckling banter with the party’s very own Captain Jack Sparrow before being seated at the Captains Table for a delicious meal and goodies. Treated to fire entertainers before dancing the night away to live music from local band Beaver, at the end of the evening the guests get to keep their own Treasure Chest as a fitting memoir of the bash.

As you can imagine this has been an absolutely amazing opportunity for Joanne and Vintage Twee to take a step in to the world of mass production (still, all created by one pair of hands! Oh, and a little help from Mum and Dad who faithfully filled up the treasure chests with coins until they started thinking they were actually about to board the Black Pearl themselves!). We’d like to wish Calum, Jo and the team the very best of luck for Saturday night and hope they raise lots of pieces of eight for this well deserving charity. And not forgetting a hearty thank you for choosing Vintage Twee to provide the Treasure Chests and we sincerely hope the guests feel like they’re taking a little piece of buccaneering booty home with them!

Long John Silver would be proud!

My True English Beauty...

This week the blog entry comes from my good self as my sister and co-blogger Emma Louise 'Gregory' (as from last Sunday!) is currently sunning herself in Hawaii on her honeymoon with her lovely new husband! It was a fantastic day and Emma looked stunning, I was extremely proud and I had to show you all how beautiul she was!

She wore a vintage style ivory wedding dress and gorgeous jewellery by Yarwood White and held a lovely trailing bouquet of roses in dusky pinks and cream. Us bridemaids were donned in 50s style halterneck satin dresses with full underskirts from London boutique Viviens of Holloway and beautiful ivory heels (that I kept on for a miraculous 14 hours!!!) She really was a true English beauty and I would like to say congratulations again to Emma and my new brother in law Lee!

So, at times like these some would say it's very useful (and economical!) to have a sister who can take care of your table decor and favours! Of course, it was my pleasure to have Vintage Twee provide this service as my gift to the happy couple and I had been working with them for the past few months to come up with the perfect arrangement for their day. The theme of the wedding was vintage, with beautiful birdcages as the centrepieces on each table at the reception and so we worked this into the design of their table plan. The wedding also had a travel theme (this being something pertinent to both the bride and groom) and I created vintage style luggage tags as place settings for each guests. The favour boxes were taken from the design of my Simply Vintage range and adorned with a string of pearls and burgundy satin ribbon to match the bridesmaids dresses and the table names were edged in lace for a truly classic look. Everything looked beautiful and we had some lovely compliments on the decor during the course of the day.

All in all, it was a roaring success and I'm so proud to have been able to add an extra special touch to my sisters wedding day. And I managed to leave the business cards and Blackberry in the hotel room all night. Lots of love and congratulations to Emma and Lee!