Accessories Event with Aliya Rose

A couple of weeks ago I was thrilled to attend an Accessories evening held at Aliya Rose, in Cupar, Fife.  Aliya Rose are our exclusive stockists for the East of Scotland and hold a vast range of pieces from the Starstruck Designs collection.

The evening started at 5pm, and as well as accessories advice from Kirsty and Liz from Aliya Rose and myself, brides could also discuss ideas for their hair and make-up from Princess Cut Hair and Karen Bowen Make-up.  There was plenty of pink fizz available (and I *may* have enjoyed a glass or two myself!).

Brides started arriving just after 5pm and continued to do so until about 9pm.  The shop was busy throughout the entire evening, although the atmosphere remained relaxed and fun, even though I did worry that I wouldn't get around to speaking with everyone!

It was wonderful to meet so many lovely brides, and holding the event in the shop meant that we could have a good look at their dresses.  This was incredibly useful for those who wanted something a little bit more bespoke in the way of accessories as we could get a really good idea of what would work, and what colours would be best.

I'm certainly going to be busy over the next few weeks with the orders that were placed on the night, including a fabulous bespoke version of the Gloriosa flower side tiara which I cannot wait to get stuck into!

Its going to be a combination of elements from the original design, and some from the Anemone flower side tiara.  Watch this space for the finshed design!

Thank you to Aliya Rose, for hosting such a fabulous event, and to all the brides who attended.  I had so much fun, and really hope to be able to another soon!

Cherry Blossom Wedding

I don't know what it is about cherry blossom, but I have a bit of a weakness for it.  I love the pink, the delicate flowers, and I love the taste of cherries, which I suppose also contributes to the general feeling of loveliness I get when I think of cherry blossom.  So on my travels around t'internet, i've been saving images of these gorgeous flowers when applied to all things bridal.

First on my list of "I LOVE" inspirations is this utterly stunning Cherry Blossom Cake by Intricate Icings. 

You absolutely simply MUST click on the link to their website (the photo links to the cake on their blog).  In case you have missed it, this is the link to their website:   http://www.intricateicings.com  I know they are an American company, and for my UK readers, you aren't going to be ordering a cake from them, but...they are awesome, and I really, really mean that.  Please, for me, click on the "Inspiration" tab.  I've never seen anything like it before, and i'm rather hugely in love with their designs.

I also love this cake by Complete Deelite - cherry blossom flowers, without the wooden stem, which is the bit that I can live without anyway - perfect!

But if you are planning on cupcakes, rather than the more traditional tiered wedding cake, you can't go wrong with these gorgeously cute cupcake wrappers from Cupcake Couture

I found it quite hard to find cherry blossom bouquets, but really love this from DK Designs:

The flowers are clay, so this would make such a gorgeous heirloom as well as looking beautiful on the day!

For Cherry Blossom thank you cards, these are from Wedding Paraphernalia.  The flowers are so delicate, with such a stunning colour to them.  They also sell cherry blossom paper fans, which would make beautifully themed favours for female guests.

For Cherry Blossom inspired hair accessories, we have a Cherry Blossom Side Tiara at Starstruck Designs.  She's not yet on the website, but keep a eye open for our newest range, coming soon...no name as yet, although Starstruck Boutique is a bit of a front runner!

And last but by no means least, are these utterly gorgeous shoes by Harriet Wilde:

I've never seen anything like them before, and must admit to having fallen head over heels (pun intended!) in love with them!

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

Accessorising High Street Dresses - Monsoon

Or, as I like to think of it: Blinging up your Bargains!

As more and more high street shops are adding bridal collections to their repertoire, I thought it might be an idea to look at how to accessorise them. So i've spent some time (far too much time actually!) researching, and over the coming weeks will bring you what I consider to be four of the best high street bridal dresses along with some suggestions of jewellery and hair accessories to complement.

The first shop that sprang to mind was Monsoon (www.monsoon.co.uk). I love Monsoon dresses, and have owned a few myself over the years. This is my favourite from their current bridal collection: The Valley Mesh Dress, priced at £225.

I love the vintage feel that this dress has, and the detailing on the shoulders is just gorgeous. Team it with a side headband that has an equally vintage feel to it, such as "Selene" from our Goddess collection, and a pair of bridal earrings that combine sumptious pearls and crystals for a softly sparkling effect.

I haven't included a necklace as i'm not really sure the dress needs one, there is already so much detail around the neckline. However if pushed, I would suggest going with either a pendant or a Y shaped necklace, something that will drop beautifully into that deep V-neckline. The Vintage Glamour bridal necklace below is a good example:

I spent a long time researching shoes for this dress, and actually couldn't find what I was looking for.  I wanted something with heavy pearl and diamante beading to echo that shoulder detail, but nothing seemed quite right.  So in the end i've gone with these gorgeous peep toes, called "Crush" from Pink by Paradox.

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:  Monsoon (www.monsoon.co.uk)

Bridal Shoes:  Pink by Paradox (www.paradoxlondon.com) 

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

That whole vintage asymmetric thing...

Over the last few years i've seen new trends start, and take a good strong hold within the bridal industry. Particularly the vintage, and "vintage inspired" look. Glittering diamante, sumptious pearls, and good strong nods towards the early part of the last century are found at weddings all over the place right now. At the forefront of this, has to be the amazing Kirstie, from Flo and Percy





The asymmetric look has been desireable for many years, and works fantastically well with the vintage trend. So....what do you get when a self-confessed magpie decides to combine both of these aspects? You get a 20 piece asymmetric headband collection, that's what! And the three photos below are just a taster of what you will find in our new collection of bridal side tiaras:





Oh.My.God. How excited am I to finally be able to say that!? Some of the componants that have been used in this collection have been in my possesion for quite literally AGES! I have been so keen to put together this collection, and now finally I have the time to do so.

As much as I loved owning a bridal shop, I can't help but be so grateful now to have the time to design new collections. I've been working on this one for a while and am so, SO excited to finally be able to open the stage curtains and reveal it in all its glory!

And is the vintage trend around to stay? Who knows? But I think its certainly going to be a favourite with brides for a while yet!