Alannah Rose Exclusive Stationery Boutique

Planning a wedding is a huge task and can place a great deal of stress on everyone involved - brides, mum’s, bridesmaids, grooms and even groomsmen are all placed with some form of pressure at some point in the planning or on the big day.

That’s why I think the Bridal Survival site is so great. This little gem of site is a feast of wedding day and planning survival tools. You’ll find kits full of tape, cotton thread, band aids, and panadol for emergencies on the day, through to books on speeches, gifts for bridesmaids and wedding planning software - all I might add, packaged together and presented with style.

I think my favourite kits are the Exclusive Bridal Emergency Kits, these come in gorgeous little handbags and contain all the necessary items to get you through the big day hiccup free. They come in white and ivory for brides and a host of other colours and styles which would be perfect for bridesmaid gifts!

Above: Claire Exclusive Bridal Emergency Kit from Bridal Survival contains tissues, paracetamol, bandaids, bobby pins, candy, mirror mints, cotton tips, emery board, makeup pads, wet wipe, sewing kit and much more!

Another great kit is the Mother’s Survival Kit - I know my mum did just as much work as I did in the lead up to my big day, and she probably carried more stress, her little girl was getting married after all!

Above: The Mother’s Survival Kit from Bridal Survival includes contains a ‘to do’ list, stress ball, display folder, Husk silver leaf tea cup and saucer, Husk selection of green and black teas, tea infuser, Pamilli boxed soap, Pamilli intensive hand treatment, jelly beans, Zetta Florence journal, sticky notes and more.

Couples these days are getting married at a later age and therefore have most of the possessions they need to set up house. With this in mind, more and more couples are electing to have a wishing well, honeymoon registry or gift registry for guests who wish to help them celebrate with a gift.

I get asked on a daily basis for wording ideas for wishing well and registry cards, here a few that seem to be popular.

Traditional Gift Registry

Your presence at our wedding is the greatest gift of all.
However should you wish to help us celebrate with a gift, we have registered a gift list with {Registry Name}.
We hope that this registry will make it more convenient for you to select something that you know we will love.

Gift Registry/Honeymoon Registry

Your presence at our wedding is the greatest gift of all.
However should you wish to honour us with a gift, we have registered a honeymoon registry at {Registry Name}, where you can make a contribution to help us make a honeymoon memory that will last a lifetime

Wishing Well

More than just kisses so far we’ve shared,
Our home has been made with Love and Care,
Most things we need we’ve already got,
And in our home we can’t fit a lot!
A donation to our wishing well would be great,
But only if you wish to participate.

Orange Ornate Wishing Well/Registry card from Alannah Rose

We quite often get asked about the timing of invitations and rsvps for weddings, so I thought I’d answer a couple of the most common questions here.

When should we send out our wedding invitations?

Traditionally wedding invitations are sent out 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding. Although some brides and grooms elect to send them out earlier - particularly if they are having a destination wedding or if a lot of their guests will be traveling to attend. Another instance where more time is allowed, is for weddings falling in January, February, and early March, where it is not uncommon to send out the invitations in late November or early December in order to avoid the Christmas mail and holiday season where people are likely to be away.

If you would like to give your guests a lot of notice of your wedding date, Save the Date cards are also popular, this gives the guest notice of when your wedding is, asks them to ’save the date’ and let’s them know to expect a formal invitation at a later date. These are sent out anywhere from 6-12 months in advance depending on the extent of notice your guests are likely to require.

How much time should I give my guests to RSVP?

This really depends on your wedding vendors and your organisational plans as to what date you will require final numbers by. Some reception venues require final numbers 2 weeks prior to the wedding, whilst some vendors require more. If you are ordering personalised place cards from Alannah Rose for example, we suggest setting your RSVP date about 4-5 weeks prior to the wedding. This then gives you time to gather your final list of names together to send to us for printing, whilst still allowing time for your cards to be delivered before the wedding day!

I’m into all things pink and pretty at the moment. Le Sweet Boutique is one of our new wedding invitation designs at Alannah Rose, so I thought I’d put together a pretty inspiration board to go with it!

Clockwise from top left: Le Sweet Boutique folding pink and white wedding invitation from Alannah Rose; striking black and pink cake by April Reed ; stunning Juliette Montparnase pink wedding gown from Mariana Hardwick ; delicious sweet tray styled by Rebecca Thuss ; postcards from paris noir lace dress from Rose & Ruby ; black and pink table setting by Martha Stewart