Bits and pieces of busy!

Every day this week I have planned to write a blog post, and every day time has just slipped away from me! I've been so busy, working on so many different things - am really looking forward to having a rest this weekend!

So, first and foremost, Starstruck Designs has been listed as an Elite Supplier on Pavone Weddings!

 We work really hard to ensure we provide the best service that we possibly can to our clients, so to be recognised for this is a really wonderful feeling!

Its also lovely to see photos of the gorgeous Jess and Nikki being used on our listing, and I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with them again later this year.  They, and several other models will be working on a charity photoshoot, organised by photographer Rob Ferrol.  He is raising money for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and we have offered to loan any bridal accessories that they need for the shoot. 

In terms of new designs this week, apart from a couple of bespoke bridal tiaras (sorry, no sneaky peeks until the brides have seen!), I decided that I needed an injection of colour.  I love working on bridal pieces, but sometimes I feel the need to move away from ivory pearls and clear crystals.  In order to showcase the more unusual, less commercial, and often "One Off" pieces I make, there will soon be an additional collection on our website under the name of Starstruck Couture.  Here are two of the three headpieces that are ready to go!

Siren is inspired by the sea.  A tiara that would be perfect for a mermaid!  The entire design centres around a silver diamante starfish, surrounded by lustrous pearls in various sizes, and accents of Swarovski crystal in sea blues and greens, with a few sandy golds.  Teeny tiny Swarovski crystals in clear and Aquamarine are used to create the waves.

Rule Britannia was inspired by a pair of shoes!  This Union Jack headband is created with around 500 Swarovski crystals in Siam, White Opal and Sapphire (or red, white and blue!).  The bow sits to the side of the head and it sparkles in a way that only Swarovski can create!  I shall be sporting one of these myself when I attend the Olympics in London later in the year!

And finally... this week also sees the start of my movie making fame (well, sort of!).  All too often I am told that the photos on the website don't do my designs justice - which of course is incredibly flattering, but there isn't really much I can do about it.  Or is there....  I decided to have a go at making a video of some of my products, to capture the utter beauty of their sparkle.  You can view the video on the home page of my website - Starstruck Designs  Or, you could just watch it here:


Please do leave us your comments - we love hearing from you!

The Royal We...

I think there must be something in the air, perhaps its the new year? I don't know, but over the last few days I have read some unusually personal entries on the blogs that I follow.

It got me thinking about my own blog. I don't post very often - I guess I don't really have a clear focus when it comes to the purpose of the blog. Its predominantly about my business, and the wedding industry, but i've always been a bit of a gas-bag, and I often find I really curb myself when i'm writing so that I don't get too *involved*, at least not on a personal level. Honestly - I spend more time editing my waffle than I spend writing it! But what the heck....

Let's start with me. This is me (no not Isme, I *really* hate those adverts!).

I'm a closet magpie. OK, who am I trying to kid, i've not been in the closet for a very long time! I'm a Magpie, and i'm proud!

But I have to balance my sparkly side, with another side that is Wife and Mum. This year sees my husband and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, and we have two beautiful children, Aliya who has just turned 6, and Austin who will be 2 in a couple of weeks. So really I suppose, THIS is me --->

I often use the words "we" and "us" and "our" when I talk about Starstruck Designs, and that's because, although I run the business, and I make all the pieces, this is very much a family business and all four of us are involved. My husband Andy, is my ultimate sounding board. He is the one person that I can guarantee will stomp all over my fantastic (expensive), creative (non-commercial), never-been-done-before (impossible/unrealistic/away with the fairies) ideas without a care in the world. Sounds harsh? Hmmm...but he keeps me grounded. He helps me sort the chaff from the wheat when it comes to the crazy think tank that sits on my shoulders. He also critiques my new designs, enourages me during the lows, pours me a glass of wine to celebrate the highs, and nags me to complete my tax return on time. He's also not afraid of the early Saturday morning run to the post office, with both children, so I can have a lie in. And he sometimes comes back and wakes me with tea and a bacon sarnie. For that, I love him forever.

My children tell me when i'm working too hard, or working when I shouldn't. They run their fingers though my boxes (and boxes, and boxes) of crystals and pearls and diamante and ohh and ahh over my "sparklies". Their delight when I twirl a tiara around in the sunlight and cause rainbow flecks of light to fill every wall of the room reminds me of the beauty of the materials I work with. Aliya likes to try on the samples that I make up, and if she can pop a tiara on and then completely forget she is wearing it, I know that its not going to cause a bride a headache on her wedding day. Austin also likes to try on my samples...

Last year was a tough one for me. It was the first year I was back at work full time since having my children. Its hard to balance a business and a family, and I don't always get it right - and if the balance isn't right then both sides suffer. If I spend too much time working and not with the family, my children miss me, I feel guilty about neglecting them and that inhibits my creativity. If I spend too much time with my family and not enough working, then of course, my business, client relationships, and credibility suffers. Sometimes one side needs me more than the other and identifying those times when a shift is required is tricky...that's why it takes more than just me, to make sure I get it right. But believe me, Starstruck Designs is made up of a team of experts - we might not all get involved in making tiaras, but we are all brilliant at the parts we are in charge of!

Orange and Fuchsia Colour Scheme

To kick off the New Year I thought I would blog a colour scheme in response to a request I had.  I love the hot pink/fuchsia and orange mixture - so fiery, warm, fun and bold.  I think probably the combination would be mainly used during the Summer, but orange is such a fantastic Autumnal colour, pink is beautiful in Spring, and who wouldn't want to be warmed up like this on a Winter's day?







If you click on any of the images above you will be taken to the website of the company that offers the product shown.

Top row, L-R: Fuchsia and orange silk flower bouquet by Debbie Co Flowers. Orange and bright pink cupcake wrappers by Bella Cupcake Couture. Citrus Ombre bridesmaid dress by Dessy

Middle row, L-R: Orange and Pink Mens Neckties by Tux and Tulle. Orange and hot pink paper lanterns - I couldn't find the original credit for this image, but I have found a UK seller of gorgeous paper lanterns Hanging Lanterns. Orange and Fuchsia thank you tags for favours by Weddings by Susan.

Bottom row, L-R: Orange and hot pink wedding invitations by V O Handmade. Orange and fuschia clay flowers by D K Designs. Hot pink and orange wedding cake by White Flower Cake.

Whilst writing this post, I kept thinking about jelly beans! I absolutely love the Jelly Belly beans and this post really made my mouth water for the pink grapefruit flavour, which I think would work perfectly with this colour scheme. So off I went to find a photo, and in my search I found this:

Flavours shown are Bubblegum, Cotton Candy, Pink Grapefruit, Peach Bellini and Orange Sherbert. Click this link to find your way to Jelly Bean Heaven!

If you are a wedding supplier, and you have any product or venue images that you would like to be included in a future blog post, please leave me a comment or email me details!

Award Excitement!!

Its been a busy few weeks at Starstruck HQ - The brand new Renaissance Collection is just weeks away from being released, and we already have a fantastic bridal boutique on board!  Aliya Rose in Fife will be stocking several pieces from the collection which owners, Liz and Kirsty, feel will perfectly compliment their 2012 range of bridal dresses.

We hope to be supplying other bridal boutiques in the near future and our trade brochures have litererally just gone to print!

We have also been working very hard on a range of snowflake themed pieces, which have been now been completed.  The "Let it Snow..." collection currently consists of a snowflake side tiara, a snowflake necklace and a snowflake bracelet, with plans to add a smaller side tiara and a snowflake comb in the very near future.

So having reached Friday afternoon after a week of non-stop work, I was looking forward to relaxing that evening with a glass of wine or two.  Instead of winding down though, the excitement and adrenaline kicked in when I found out that Starstruck Designs has been shortlisted as Best Bridal Accessories in East Midlands, in the 2012 Bridal Industry Awards!!  Cue much jumping around, squeals of excitement and more than 2 glass of wine!

We are absolutely overwhelmed at the support we have had from our 2010/11 brides, and thank you SO MUCH to every single one of you that voted for us.  What makes these awards so different to the many other industry awards, is that these are voted for ONLY by brides who have actually used each supplier.

The winner from each region will be announced at the end of November so watch this space to see how we get on!

Behind the scenes with Starstruck (and a Chicken...?)

On Saturday, Starstruck Designs embarked on its first ever location photo shoot, which turned out to be incredibly good fun, very hard work, and from the preliminary shots i've seen, extremely successful!  I really wanted to be able to showcase my work "in situ", and so enlisted in the help of an incredibly talented team of professionals to create a portfolio of images which I simply cannot wait to show you!  However, whilst I wait (im)patiently for them to arrive on my desk, I thought i'd share a "day in the life of" account with you...

The day dawned with the beautiful sunshine that I had been praying for all week, and I packed up the car and headed to the venue, Stoke Hall, which turned out to be the most beautiful, intimate wedding venue in Notts and Lincs that I have ever seen.  Owners, Diane and Brian, were so patient and welcoming throughout the whole day, despite us tramping through their home for almost seven hours! However, the very first person to greet me as I arrived was a very sociable chicken who seemed to think she was part of the family, and that access to the Hall was her right.

She became quite a fixture throughout the day, I think at some point all of us had a go at trying to chase her out of the house as she found her way inside again and again!

After a quick tour of Stoke Hall, we chose the Orangery as our base due to the fantastic natural lighting, and started setting up hair and make-up equipment, and laying out all the accessories into sets ready for the quick changes that were to come!  Model, Jess, soon arrived with her mum Julie, who was incredibly helpful when it came to helping with accessories changes, and keeping track of what had and hadn't been photographed!

The very talented Karen Kemp, Lincoln based hairdresser who created 2 fantastic looks on our models, here expertly coiffing Nikki's hair:

And equally as talented was our Lincoln based make up artist, Helen Mitchell who created the most beautiful looks on both models, here finishing off Jess's make-up:

Whilst our models were being "beautified" (like they needed it....gorgeous ladies!), Lincolnshire wedding photographer, Richard King and his rather lovely wife, Elizabeth were scoping out the venue for perfect locations to shoot.  The cherry on the cake when booking Richard, is that Elizabeth just so happens to be a highly sought after wedding planner! She brought a real perfectionist attitude to the shoot and I really do consider myself exceptionally lucky to have had not just one, but two fabulous professionals taking care of the photography.

Both Karen and Helen stayed with us all day to ensure that hair and make-up remained absolutely perfect throughout. So with hair and make-up finished, and dresses on, we started shooting...

Moving from one beautiful room to another, stopping briefly in the stunning hallway to take advantage of the impressive staircase:

And I had to include this photo as it makes me smile so much - Spot the model hiding out of shot!

Both models, Jess and Nikki, worked really hard as we moved from room to room, and swapped one set of accessories for another.  Photographer, Richard, knew exactly which parts of the rooms to use to create the best effects, and to make the most of the natural light that streamed in through the huge windows.  He also shows enormous patience with me as I nipped in and out of shots adjusting a tiara here and a necklace there!

Then, as the day got later, and the sunlight softened we headed out into the Secret Garden.  An exquisite walled garden, hidden entirely from view until you are standing in it.  Flowers of every conceivable colour, in every size and shape you could imagine, just everywhere.  And in the very center, a beautiful little fountain - the sound of the gently trickling water was the only noise to be heard.  I could have spent hours sat out there drinking in the colours and the peacefulness, however there was simply too much to be done, and I only managed to snap a few photos, but they give you a glimpse of the beauty:

I've already had a sneaky preview of some of the professional photos taken by Richard and they are absolutely stunning.  He managed to take photos of over 20 headpieces, and about 15 necklaces, with matching bracelets and earrings, on models, close up of each piece on models, and then individual product shots on both white and black backgrounds.  He worked tirelessly throughout the day and I think he would have carried on a lot longer had Elizabeth not kept him in check!

All in all, the day was absolutely brilliant and I couldn't have asked for a more professional team to have worked with.  I would highly recommend every single person within their role, with absolute confidence that they will not disappoint!  There was so much more to the day, but I fear I may have gone on too long already!  Watch this space for some of the professional shots soon!


Huge thanks to everyone involved in the shoot:

Venue:  Stoke Hall

Photography:  Richard King     Facebook Page

Hair:  Karen Kemp   Facebook Page

Make-up:  Helen Mitchell    Facebook Page

Models:  Jess and Nikki

Accessories:  Starstruck Designs     Facebook Page

And a little thank you to Elizabeth for all her help too:  Elizabeth King

Waiting for the weekend!

This Saturday Starstruck Designs will be involved in its first ever professional commercial photoshoot.  Nervous?  Me?  I was thinking a photo of an ostrich with its head in the sand would be appropriate, or maybe a photo of a headless chicken.  This one covered all bases.

The incredible venue is Stoke Hall, and I feel utterly privileged to have a fantastic team on board.  Two gorgeous models, Nikki and Jess, hairstylist Karen Kemp, make-up artist Helen Mitchell and as luck would have it, the Lincoln based photographer, Richard King, will be accompanied by his Wedding Planner wife, Elizabeth.  With such a wealth of experience between us, what could possibly go wrong!?!

There are plenty of new tiara and headband designs to be unveiled, as well as some gorgeous jewellery, both old and new.  Watch this space for pics from the shoot, and I can't wait to blog about the experience - once I have recovered!!

Accessorising High Street Dresses - Coast

So, the second of my series of "Blinging up your bargains"....

This week i've found an utterly gorgeous dress from Coast Stores (www.coast-stores.com). Again, a High Street favourite of mine, Coast corsets have been rather a staple in my wardrobe for some time now.

This is their Mimosa Bridal dress, and it is simply beautiful, with the most amazing floral lace, accented with matching lace appliques. Combined with a nipped in waist, and slim silhouette, you really can't go wrong.

I love it when a dress dares to be different, and the way the appliqued flowers extend over the neckline, really appeals.  And of course the shape of the flowers are a perfect match for the Aster headband, complete with its tiny "something blue" crystal.  With such gorgeous detailing on the dress, and hair accessories, I think its best to keep any further jewellery quite simple.  A delicate bangle, such as the Eternity Bridal Bracelet, and perhaps a really simple pair of bridal earrings such as these:

And what about shoes?  Well, after a little bit of help, I have found these beauties Clara by Benjamin Adams - just the right amount of lace, and a gorgeous peep toe.

However, if you fancy something a little bit more on the unusual side,  then these ivory lace over duck egg blue peep toes, by Oscar De La Renta, are simply gorgeous.  I must admit that I am coveting them...in a BIG way....!

Feel free to leave us a comment below, and follow our blog to receive notification of our next post, which will be looking at accessories suitable for another high street wedding dress!

High street wedding dress:  Coast (www.coast-stores.com)

Bridal Shoes:  Benjamin Adams (www.paradoxlondon.com) 

Bridal Jewellery and Headband:  Starstruck Designs (www.starstruck-designs.co.uk)