Displaying your napkins in a fun and different way will instantly upgrade each table setting and won’t cost you any extra money.
Take a look at these simple and achievable napkin displays and the impact they have on the place setting:
Napkin ring
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Pocket Fold
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Tie the knot
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Fanned out
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The drape
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Plate wrap
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Feature Image: Visual Poetry
Fruit and vegetables as decor have been trending for a while now, but a few new takes on the trend have surfaced more recently. We take a look…
A welsh bride lost 63kg for her wedding day, stunning her wedding guests with her incredible physical transformation.
Claire Williams (44) from Wales has battled with her weight for the majority of her life.
Speaking to Fabulous Digital, she said, “I was a chunky child and in my early 20s I was about a size 14 which was fine. But I just got bigger and bigger. Any food I could find I’d put in my mouth.”
“I would eat a stupid amount of bread – almost a loaf a day. I’d have it with every single meal of the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, too.”
At her heaviest, she weighed 125kg. Her weight began to negatively affect her life in many ways.
“I was beginning to suffer with my mobility. When I got on a plane I sat in my seat the whole journey without moving once – terrified if I undid my seat belt I’d never do it up again.”
When she met her now-husband Matthew in 2013, however, everything changed.
“Matthew loved me unconditionally. He met me when I was fat and he got a lot of stick. People asked him why he was going out with a fat lass like me.”
Matthew received lots of criticism for dating her, which is what made things truly change for her. She decided to embark on a weight-loss journey, this time sticking to it because she knew she had the full support of her partner.
“Having such a wonderful partner who loves you unconditionally is amazing. If it wasn’t for him, I’d not be the healthy and happy woman I am today.”
With his support, she joined a Slimming World group, a UK-based weight loss organisation. The group members quickly became family to her during her weight loss journey, so much so that she even asked her consultant to be one of her bridesmaids.
Through this programme, Williams lost a dramatic 63kg, almost half her body weight. She now feels full of energy, and has a renewed confidence. Her weight loss also had another important effect. As she lost the weight, she discovered a prominent lump in her stomach that turned out to be a tumour. She had the non-cancerous tumour removed, and feels lucky that her weight loss helped her discover the tumour.
“It’s shocking to think I had something that big in my stomach and I had no idea.”
She confidently walked down the aisle on her wedding day, stunning guests with her transformation.
“I did feel truly amazing on my wedding day. Walking down the aisle felt wonderful. Matthew did nothing but tell me how beautiful I was and the whole day was fantastic,” she said.
Picture: Facebook
If you’re having an outdoor wedding, a great way to keep guests entertained is to have lawn games. These are especially helpful when the bride and groom go…
One of the most time-honoured traditions still in existence today is the wedding day. Traditional weddings include a host of specific customs that brides typically engage in, one of them being wearing a wedding veil.
For centuries, lovebirds and strangers have been getting hitched and brides donned the famous headwear. Widely considered just another fashion accessory on your big day, the wedding veil actually has an interesting history.
The history of the the wedding veil
The wedding veil is arguably the oldest part of the wedding ensemble. There is some contention over its specific history, but most wedding historians pinpoint ancient Greeks and Romans as the first people to wear the wedding veil. According to Julie Sabatino, expert bridal stylist and founder of the The Stylish Bride, brides of this time wore the wedding veil to disguise themselves from evil spirits aiming to spoil their joy. Some accounts show that veils were red in hue to symbolise the fire of the betrothed’s commitment as well as to ward off evil spirits.
Wedding historian Susan Waggoner speaks of the Christian symbolism of the veil, telling Brides.com that in ancient times, people “wrapped brides from head to toe to represent the delivery of a modest and untouched maiden.” These were also the days of arranged marriages, when a bride’s virginity was her most important marker. The veil thus became a way of representing modesty and purity. The veil also acted as a method of concealing the bride’s face to the groom to prevent him from getting cold feet and running away from the stranger he was about to marry.
In Judaism biblical times, the groom would place the veil on his bride as a symbol that he was marrying her for her inner beauty.
The 18th century saw the veil fall out of fashion as brides opted for caps, bonnets, tiaras, jewels, wreaths and other adornments. However, they came back in style when Queen Victoria donned a four yards (3,7m) by 0.75 yards (0.7m) wide veil during her wedding to Prince Albert on 10 February, 1840. Following her iconic wedding, the veil became a symbol for wealth, status and style. The length, weight and quality of the veil all spoke highly of the status of the bride. This is why royal brides traditionally wore the longest veils.
The wedding veil today
Today, the wedding veil is largely seen as an optional accessory. Many brides opt out of wearing wedding veils. Some consider it too traditional and unnecessary, others just don’t like the look. However, it is still quite popular and is largely used as another fashionable element to your Big Day. Many celebrity brides have famously donned the wedding veil, including Ciara, Princess Diana, Kim Kardashian and Duchess Meghan Markle.
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Picture: Unsplash
Slicing the wedding cake has become a time-honoured tradition for couples. It’s the moment all eyes are on these towered treats as the newlyweds share their first dessert…
A British couple took their love for Monty Python to the next level when they centred their wedding theme around the popular surrealist comedy group.
Superfans John Wood and Gemma Harris from West Sussex wanted their wedding to honour the 50 year anniversary of Monty Python’s Flying Circus’s first broadcast. The extravaganza took two years to plan and cost over £15,000.
They invited their guests with this unique save-the-date video. In a Facebook post, Harris wrote, “As well as a Monty Python theme, we also had ‘The Wood Party’ as a consistent thread throughout the process which was based on a real Monty Python ‘Wood Party’ sketch and also the ‘Silly Elections.’ This was our Save The Date video.”
Their wedding, held on October 5, 2019, featured numerous references to the popular show. Harris walked down the aisle to the Python theme song and fart noises in lieu of the wedding march, and a hand of God pointed to the couple throughout the ceremony. They even recreated the ‘Buying a Bed’ sketch at their ceremony.
“There was a 9ft parrot, a handmade albatross, all sorts of things. We commissioned artists to make some of the props, but most things we did ourselves,” says Wood.
“Instead of saying ‘I do’, I said ‘perhaps’, to which Gemma replied: ‘Oh, say you do!’ To which I replied: ‘Oh, all right then.’”
As a starter, they served guests salmon mousse, which Wood explains to BBC was “a reference to the salmon mousse which kills everybody at the end of ‘The Meaning of Life.'”
The main course featured spam in reference to another popular sketch. Instead of cutting the cake, they smashed it with a prosthetic foot.
Carol Cleveland, an actress well known for her work with Monty Python, even made an appearance at the wedding.
The British surrealist group entertained viewers with their Monty Python’s Flying Circus TV show from 1969 to 1974, as well as several movies. Members of the group included John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, and Michael Palin.
Monty Python is incredibly important to Wood, who was once married to a woman that did not like the show.
“The way I look at the world, everything reminds me of it,” he told The Guardian UK. “I wanted a woman who likes and understands Monty Python. It was the most important thing in my search for a new partner.”
He took his search very seriously, even setting up a Monty Python themed Facebook group called Pythonesque Dating to help Python-heads find love with each other. It was here that he met his future wife, Gemma Harris.
The couple became engaged in front of Monty Python stars Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam at a fundraising event in London.
Picture: Facebook/Gemma Wood