we were very blessed with the wedding presents we received from everyone, but here are a few of the more unusual ones ...

a weather house all the way from Germany!
perfect for our little cabin!

sheep skin rug and wood carving ... we got an eagle one too and they are now outside but this was when we first got it!

beautiful throw made from sari's ... love it on the wall!

these lovely Welsh love spoons ... and one is totally personalised!


and an amazing scrumptious blanket, hand made by my cousin!

a couple of months before the wedding Auntie Jo asked me what colour my bridesmaids were going to be dressed in ... it was for a surprise and I was intrigued!

The night before the wedding I popped back to the hotel to see everyone who was staying there and put the flowers in all the jars and Auntie Jo gave me a box full of a teddy wedding!! and there was even a Dilly-dog and Timber wolf!!

so cute!
there was a little shelf at one end of the room, perfect for displaying them!




after the wedding I sent each of the bridesmaids a bridesmaid teddy with a thank you card as a memento of the day


I know my little baby is going to love playing with us as teddies and the cute dilly and timber toys! thank you AUNTIE JO

I wanted to keep the gifts matching the style of the wedding, so the bridesmaids bracelets were wrapped in gold tissue and packed in a lovely pale gold box. I used the same ribbons I had used for the chair tags and flower jars.


to thank Tina for doing the flowers I found her a vintage brooch (she loves vintage brooches)


wrapped it in voil and ribbon ...

and in one of the lovely pale gold boxes!

for our parents, we bought lovely pink roses bushes ... I stupidly didn't take a photo though, and we also gave jars of sweets to various people ... I tried to pick sweets they would love and they are like big versions of the jars the kids got in the activity bags ...

I put them in rustic brown paper bags with tags and ribbon


for Auntie Jo, I wanted to do something a bit different to thank her for the amazing wedding cakes, so I made her a cake queen sign!


George the best man got some lights for his truck ... the packaging wasn't that exciting, but here it is all packed up for him!!!

I wanted to give my dad a little something and came across something like this on pinterest and decided to make some myself. My dads suit was blue so I embroidered in blue a lovely message on a hanky!


Dad, of all the walks we have been on, this is my favourite. love Maria

I also made one for Steves dad ...
thank you for being my second Dad. love Maria



I gave them to them just before we left home in the morning :)

having gold on my dress and a gold in my engagement ring it was a no-brainer that the wedding jewellery would be gold ... my dress had leaves embroydered all over the bodice, so I knew I wanted leaves in the jewellery ... I love the soft colour of the gold and it matched my dress perfectly!




my beautiful older bridesmaids, Sally and Kara, wore pale gold so I made them jewellery that was similar to mine, but also suitable for 11-12 year olds ... I personalised them with letter charms for their name and added lovely birds which also fitted in with our themes (will show you more birds in later posts!)




Natasha, being not quite 4, I made different jewellery for as felt the other was a bit too grown up for her, but this was also something that would last her for years ... she still had the pretty bird but I added a little pink to go with the soft aqua colour

While I was having a jewellery blitz I made some for my mummy-in-law too ... she was going to wear a black dress with lots of pretty coloured flowers all over it, so I found some bits that were perfect from some ex-shop stock that was all broken and adapted it for her ... she ended up wearing a black and pink suit as it was a bit chilly for her to wear the dress, but the jewellery still went really well!

and my beautiful best friend who did my flowers had a lovely aqua and white monsoon dress and needed some matching jewellery ... so this is what I made ... it was a really lovely day making it all!

every girls big thing about their wedding is the dress right! well last May after we got 'officially' engaged, I started looking and found my dream dress ... it was from Monsoon and had beautiful gold leaves embroidered on the bodice ... it was perfect! later in the summer I found the sweet lace shoes but it was only a couple of weeks before the wedding when I was worried about the weather that I bought the little cardigan.

We didn't originally plan on having bridesmaids but once we were, I thought sweet apple green dresses. Steve wanted something they could wear again, but when Sally and I went bridesmaid dress shopping we couldn't find a thing like I pictured ... but we did fall in love with these pretty pale gold Monsoon dresses!
a couple of years ago my Auntie passed on to my a hand made veil that had been my Great Great Great Grandmother ... it is stunning and I can't believe I  was lucky enough to wear it for my wedding. It did smell a bit musty so we soaked it in some warm water with a squeezed lemon in the water and it came out fresh as a daisy!

(oh and I did iron the bottom of my dress before I wore it!!!)





I found on ebay a week before the wedding this little bag which was perfect for me to have tissues, my phone and my little speech in ... and it was a monsoon-accessorize one too so matched perfectly!

the handle was very little and with having to hold my bouquet too, I decided to add a longer one. I kept the little one attached too, just tucked it inside, so I can now use it as a shoulder bag or one I hold in my hand!


the bridesmaid dresses were soooooo pretty ... I often wish Monsoon did their childrens clothes in adult sizes too and they were the perfect soft gold colour that went with my dress!




Steves outfit was just perfect for him ... he is not really a full suit kinda guy, so we decided to go for a waistcoat and the casual look ... George his best man loved it too :)



Steve loved it because its something he would wear again and again!