Love My Dress (and hair... and make up...)

There aren’t many opportunities on a Wednesday night in Newcastle to don your best frock, sip on champagne and style your hair like Rita Hayworth but the extremely glamorous “Love My Dress Soiree” was THE vintage affair of the summer and demanded nothing but pure style and vintage tributes.

Joanne wearing a
dress from Vivien of Holloway

The UK Wedding Industry Networking Event was hosted by the lovely Annabel of the fantastic Love My Dress blog, a blog which has supported Vintage Twee since the early days by regularly featuring our products. It only seemed right that such an evening demanded the highest level of preening so Joanne and Nia, from Nia Fiori Designs booked themselves in for a morning of pampering by the extremely talented vintage hair and make up artist, Bethany Jane Davis. I was priviledged to receive regular updates of the transformations in to 1940’s beauties as they were taking place and resisted the urge to post pictures of the girls in heated rollers… but if anyone wants to see them I will be accepting bribes…!

Held on the banks of the River Tyne (yes, there was singing and several mentions of the words “Fog on the….”) , the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts was filled with glamorous flapper girls, vintage decor and props, chaise lounges, antique furniture and a fab display of cake pops, cupcakes and other sweet treats provided by the Boutique Baking Company http://www.boutiquebaking.co.uk/.  Joining Joanne and Nia was Katie from Perfect Days Vintage who rocked a 70’s inspired red dress, gold heels and a statement leopard print hat, all three of them posing in the retro digital photo booth for some memorable snaps and a reminder of how fabulous they looked!!  http://www.snaparazziphotobooths.co.uk/

Amongst all the champagne and canapés Joanne got to personally thank Annabel for her support of Vintage Twee – lots of brides mention they found us through her website so it was lovely to be able to show our gratitude. Also attending the event was the editor of Wedding Magazine, Catherine Westwood, another industry professional who recognised Vintage Twee’s potential in the early days and offered numerous features in the magazine – thank you Catherine!

The first 120 lucky people through the door managed to nab themselves a luxury goody bag filled with treats from contributors… including a pack of the infamous Vintage Twee party picks! It really was an evening to remember and showcased the best the wedding industry has to offer in a wide range of themes. According to the girls it was hard to snap out of the bubble they were in when the night drew to an end… so they “forced” themselves to go for a pizza on the way home just to bring them back down to earth!! I can only imagine the faces in the pizza parlour when their late night customers appeared to have just stepped off the set of Breakfast at Tiffanys!

Ok... I didn't need a bribe after all!!!

Pick a place, any place...

Planning every last detail of your special occasion is no doubt the part most party organizers love - what's on the menu, how will the theme transpire, who's sitting where? Now Vintage Twee may not be able to have any influence over how much red wine your mother consumes on the big day but these brand new place name settings will at least ensure she does it in the correct seat! Guaranteed to be the talk of the table, there are 2 new themes to choose from, each one being a simple way to add an authentic vintage feel to your seating arrangements.

The Victorian Style range depicts portrait images of young men and women from the 1800's with a design for every person in your party!  Each image has been aged, embellished with vintage lace and mounted on to gift tag style cards and is completed with natural coloured twine to allow them to be tied to wine glasses, napkin rings, cutlery or tea cup handles. Unique and interesting, they're sure to get everyone wanting to collect the whole set!

In contrast to the Victorian Style, the Vintage Rose collection show 4 different designs taken from vintage postcards and greetings cards. Using pastel coloured satin ribbons for the ties and delicate sparkling accents of gold glitter to highlight the images. Additions of the ivory pearls finish off the look whilst the font used for the name of each guest will be that of a typically authentic vintage typewriter.

Priced incredibly reasonably as follows, these name place settings are the perfect way to make sure the theme for your big day doesn't slip up when it comes to the detailing.

-Vintage Rose - £1.25 each  http://www.vintagetwee.com/shop-stationary-place-rose.html

-Victorian Style - £1.50 each http://www.vintagetwee.com/shop-stationary-place-victorian.html

And don't forget, if you require a specific colour of ribbon or have an idea in mind of something you'd like, Vintage Twee would be happy to discuss any amendments and 

provide an estimated costing as soon as possible.  

If music be the fruit of love...

 You can’t get more romantic than the charming theme of music and wine for your wedding.. . just take a leaf of out of April and Edwards lyrical book whose wedding took place on Saturday 04^th June in an exceptionally tuneful style. Vintage Twee was honoured to be chosen to make the table plan, table names and place settings for this stunning wedding and relished at the opportunity to have free reign to design something the guests and happy couple  would remember long after the champagne stopped flowing.

April’s criteria to Joanne was that the décor must be fitting to the music and wine theme her and Edward had opted for, representing their musical background. Joanne quickly formed an idea of how she could use vintage inspired  idea’s to encompass all aspects of romance, history and of course, the lovely grape. Starting with the table plan,  a black and cream colour scheme was used to tie in with the vintage music sheets, circa 1930’s. Each table was named after a favourite wine and shown in a scripted font complete with delicate pearl heart to soften the image. Continuing the colour theme and style through to the table names, vintage lace edged the placards and a pretty bunch of grapes were added in the corners. Being the unique bride that she was, April was spray painting bunches of the tasty fruit in purple glitter to place on the tables so Joanne added small purple diamantes on to the printed grapes to accentuate and really set them off!

Choosing Vintage Twee’s rose music place settings for the female guests and the very imaginative idea of having corks as a place setting for the gents (bride’s own idea!!), really completed the look for the room and ensured the wedding was as swinging as the theme! As a thank you to her beautiful flower girl niece, April asked Joanne to create a card she could keep as a memento of the day- as you can see it turned out to be another feather in the Vintage Twee cap and we think it looks absolutely great!

Joanne was touched to receive a text off April the morning of the wedding to thank her for the items- as any bride knows there usually isn’t a spare minute in between being hoisted in to your dress and trying not to ladder your stockings!! As a wedding gift to the couple Joanne included the book from which the vintage music sheets were used which came complete with an inscription from 1937 and is truly something to treasure.

Don’t forget Vintage Twee are happy to custom make your orders to complement your theme.. don’t be afraid to share your ideas as Joanne will be able to offer advice and a specialist vintage eye to help you create your vintage dream.

Fanciful favours for summer

Cute polka dot's add the fun element!

With wedding season fast approaching, Vintage Twee have 2 new additions to the popular favour box range to tempt brides and party planners alike! Starting off with the fabulous Polka Dot favour boxes which couldn’t be more perfect for 1950’s glam appeal at your special event. The stunning box design has a lift off lid which is perfect to pop a delicious treat inside. Standing out in cornflower blue with white polka dots, there are 3 designs to choose from to complete the look on the top of the box. Choose from a mini heart of pearls, a beautiful vintage lace bow or a cute tea rose and ribbon- even better, why not have a selection of all three?! All you need now are retro sweets or mini cakes to complete your polka perfect favour!

Perfect for summer favours

The second new addition is a beautiful butterfly themed favour holder, different in shape from the standard box and thoroughly gorgeous! Keeping up with the current trend for all things winged, they are ivory in colour with touches of vintage pink and sky blue. Each box has been embellished with a hand pressed butterfly shape and finished with co-ordinating ribbon, an ivory pearl and a hint of vintage inspired floral paper. These unusual favour boxes would look great at any English Garden themed party, summer wedding or even a baby shower!!

Priced at a mere £1.75 each for the Polka Dot and £2.00 each for the Butterfly, don’t miss out and secure your orders today!!

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 ..

Cupcakes and lovely-Ness!!

When you think of the Wirral, it probably doesn’t automatically conjure up images of idyllic flowered gardens, beautiful landscaping and lush lily ponds. However the award winning Botanical Ness Gardens defies anyone to not fall in love with this romantic and awe inspiring venue, proving that the perfect place to hold your wedding lies just around the corner..

Vintage Twee was recently invited to exhibit our items at the latest wedding fair alongside Roses Tea Rooms, a company whose original and top class wedding and tea party catering has earned them new premises on site at the lovely Ness Gardens. Starting the day with breath-taking views over the River Dee to the Welsh Mountains, Joanne got stuck in helping decorate the gorgeous Roses Tea Rooms cupcakes with Vintage Twee’s infamous Party Picks, ready to showcase to the public. From all accounts it was hard to resist the frosted treats with lemon, chocolate fudge and the more unusual but delicious beetroot and ginger varieties! All handmade by their extremely talented chef Raf, there was even homemade marshmallows and honeycomb…diet? What diet? Roses use all locally sourced ingredients and everything is made on site, fresh on the day of your wedding/event. Take a look at their mouth-watering website and you won’t fail to be impressed with the range of treats available.

Vintage Twee has been working with the lovely Roses Tea Rooms right from the very beginning, when they gave a “new starter” in the business (us!) the opportunity to be displayed at the events they catered for. An amazing working relationship has now bloomed and it was great to get the chance to work in person alongside Amy and Christina who were representing Roses at the fair. Good laughs were had by all and after consuming way too much sugar for a Sunday afternoon, Joanne and the girls crammed in to a photo booth on the stand next door for the obligatory photo! Provided by Cetra Studios, the booth can be hired out to capture your party guests in true photo-finish style with memories to keep for all!

Vintage Twee would just like to thank all the people involved including Jen, the wedding co-ordinator at Ness Gardens, as well as Amy and Christina from Roses Tea Rooms for making Joanne feel so welcome! A great day out mixed with delicious food, interesting people and gorgeous surroundings- hoping to book our space for next time already!!

Joanne, Amy Christina and Jen striking a pose!!

A year in the life of Vintage Twee!!

Yesterday marked the anniversary of a particularly special day in the life of Vintage Twee- it was the grand old age of one year old!! It seems almost unbelievable that this time last year Joanne had just about started cutting, sticking and being badgered in to making her big sister’s wedding invites (thanks, sis!). Now, here we are celebrating a year of creativity with a cosy Vintage Twee birthday party!

Just a small piece.. oh go on then, make it a big one!

Gathering together on Little Underbank in Stockport, Joanne was greeted at the bash by Nia and Shaun, the duo behind the fantastic Gallery 6 Studios. http://www.niafiori.com/ http://www.gallery6studios.com/ Swiftly joined by Claire from the popular English Wedding blog http://www.english-wedding.com/ , the four of them popped open the champers and attempted to salvage a glass each from the bit that Shaun didn’t feed to the floor! Traditional birthday balloons decorated the room and of course it wouldn’t be a birthday party without a cheeky slice of deliciously calorific cake… The high point of the day though was the amazing collage board that Nia had thoughtfully made, presenting in true celebrity style all of Vintage Twee’s best bits! Spending the next 3 hours chatting and putting the world to rights, they all discussed how far they’d come in their respective businesses and how they’d managed to turn what once seemed like pipe dreams in to reality. It was a real celebration of all the hard work, long nights and trips to the Post Office Joanne has made in the last year but I think we’d all agree it has certainly been worth it to see this special business flourish.

I’d like to add how very proud we all are of Joanne and her achievements this past year, she always was the creative one in the family and when we were kids she could turn her hand to anything if it involved a glue stick and some glitter! Not sure if mum and dad ever thought they’d be packaging up rows and rows of miniature cardboard teapots whilst watching Corrie of an evening but they’ve been invaluable to getting all the deliveries out on time!

So, all that’s left to say is here’s to many more years of Vintage Twee and its rise to global stardom with Joanne and her antique treasures at the helm. HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY VINTAGE TWEE! xxxxx



Jazz hands, Claire (left) and Nia??