The wedding of Wedding Buttonique

Further to my last post which introduced Wedding Buttonique I will now explain to you how the vision for button and brooch bouquets became a reality with my wedding back in March 2013.

 

Tim and I had been together for just over 8 years when he proposed.  We have a daughter, Eva, and marriage just wasn’t discussed.  During a rare child free weekend away in Bowness, Cumbria, on the edge of Lake Windermere all of that changed.  We went for a walk along the shore line and Tim suddenly stopped, held my hand, dropped on to one knee, apologised for it taking him so long and proposed with a gorgeous ring which fitted! It was a perfect place with no one around.

We set our date for March of the following year and started the process of working out costs: what we wanted compared to what we could afford.  We needed to make, bake and do most of it ourselves!

There was already a fascination for buttons before the proposal.  This was emphasised more by looking at quirky and unique weddings from sources like Rock ‘n’ Roll Brides’ blog and from looking at wedding sites to see other people’s ideas.  Vintage sourced buttons and brooches became the main items but also Cadbury’s chocolate buttons needed to be included – who doesn’t like chocolate?  We used the purple as our main colour for the table setting, bridesmaids dresses and the bouquets.  The actual buttons could be seen everywhere; on our stationery, table pieces, bouquets, button holes and favour boxes.

All of the table settings were designed and made by us.  For the year leading up to the wedding there, it seemed, was no social life – actually we had no life!!  Evenings and weekends revolved around sewing, sticking, making and fastening of all the different items and materials we used.  The table numbers, jars of pom-pom paper flowers, the guest book, the cake and the four button bouquets – all ‘home made’ to allow us to do the wedding as cheap as possible.  If it could be made at home we did it.

 

With my design background of an Art Foundation course at John Moores University in Liverpool and four more years at Staffordshire University on a Ceramics Degree and Masters Course, there was the idea we could draw and design the items we wanted to make for our wedding day.  The years of sketch books and collecting scrap albums came to life. 

 

Wedding Buttonique has designed and made button and brooch bouquets for nearly three years now and the work is going well especially via word of mouth from one bride to the next.  One of my wedding vows was to ‘play with buttons less’.  So far that vow has not been kept but on the flip side there are lots of lovely bouquets and plenty more ideas.

 

Flowers: Wedding Buttonique; www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WeddingButtonique; weddingbuttonique@gmail.com

 

Venue: The Burnside Hotel, Kendal Road, Bowness, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 3EP; 015394 42211; www.burnsidehotel.com

 

Photographer: Chris Freer Photography – 79 The Parklands, Cockermouth, Cumbria, CA13 0XJ; 01900 827243 www.freerimages.co.uk

 

Any questions please email WeddingButtonique@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @Buttonique