Doily Days 'Country Garden' Wedding Favours

We recently prepared 120 'country garden' wedding favours for a wedding in Sommerset at the beginning of the month. The bride was presented with a flavour menu and chose old fashioned apple chutney for the boys and victoria plum jams for the girls. The jams and chutneys were made for Doily Days by Auntie Val in her magical workshop in Storrington (www.auntievals.com). The labels were personalised with the bride and grooms names, wedding date and location. And finally - the icing on the cake, small circles of mismatching fabric were tied to the top with raffia (fabric chosen, pinked and tied with my own fair hands!). The favours looked so gorgeous I had to take them on an outing to the beach and get some piccys! The favours are £2 each and we can provide old fashioned sweets if you prefer - sugar mice, dolly mixture, rhubarb & custard etc.... all enquiries via the website www.doilydays.co.uk

Somerset Wedding

Phew... I have just returned from a whirlwind couple of days in Somerset. I was providing table decorations etc for a lovely couple who had their reception at the beautiful Brympton House near Yeovil in Somerset (www.brympton-weddings.co.uk). I provided mismatching vintage sideplates and teacups for their tables, teapots, coffee pots, a tableplan, rustic namecards and 'country garden' style wedding favours (small jars of old fashioned apple chutney for the boys and victoria plum jam for the girls).

Brympton House is a gorgeous venue and was used in the film 'Chocolat' with Johnny Depp! My B&B was pretty amazing too!

It was hard work but all worth it and I can't wait to see the professionl pics of the tables complete with the flowers. Bella & Fifi provided the flowers and their website has a distinct 'Doily Days' feel! (www.bellafififlowers.co.uk)

I had time to kill of Friday and managed to pick up lots of vintage china in Yeovil, Sherbourne and Crewkerne. All in all a great trip.

The Essence of Doily Days

I recently read an article about exploring your brand identity so I made myelf a coffee and put it into practice for Doily Days. Here's what I came up with:

If Doily Days was a country it would be: England because tea from bone china cups and delicate sandwiches with the crusts removed couldn’t be anywhere but!

Car: Morris Minor Convertible – perfect for a sunny drive through country lanes

Drink: Tea or homemade lemonade on the lawn before tennis

Shop: Cath Kidston because the traditional country house style is just fabulous

Flower: Foxgloves because they evoke images of pretty cottage gardens hundreds of years ago

Cake: Victoria Sponge although there are many

Fruit: Strawberries served in bone china teacups

Duncton Mill

Took a drive to visit a client this morning at her wedding venue - beautiful Duncton Mill fishery in Petworth. We set up a table to show her the vintage china and for a 'tasting' of the afternoon tea treats in store for her wedding. The fishermen thought we were mad setting up a village fete type affair!

Doily Days 1st Birthday!!!

Doily Days is only young. Just a baby actually. It was born last May and has gone from strength to strength ever since. We've been lucky enough to be involved in some fantastic events so far - an 'art deco' style wedding complete with orchids, black and HOT pink decorations... a charity event comprising different 'country garden'
themes for each table, a 90th birthday party in London where the theme was 'colourful' - Lily of the Valley was shipped in at great expense but the amazing scent was priceless (that wasn't the colourful part! The colourful part was tulips, hyaciths, menu cards complete with vibrant feathers and vases in all the colours of the rainbow). A retirement party in Worthing, a rainy :( wedding in Kent complete with VW transport and rustic hog roast. Beautiful cake stands have been created.... fabulous plates have been smashed in the process :( I've stayed up very late drinking wine and making cute wedding favours, I've learnt the names of my favourite flowers, I made hampers at Christmas time, I've spent a LOT of time at car boot sales and charity shops and i've consumed far too many Rhubarb and custard sweets!

As for the future - Sandy (the beautiful splitscreen camper) is soon to mark a special occassion for some young girls as we're transporting them to their prom! A Surrey wedding is on the cards next month - Vintage china, rustic floral centrepieces and homemade namecards... we're off to Somerset in August to beautiful Brypton D'Evercy (www.brympton-weddings.co.uk). Also in August we're keeping it local and providing VW transport for a blushing bride and her hubby to be in our native Brighton (she's the assistant manager at Cath Kidston don't you know!). Sempember - Sandy's busy looking beautiful again and we're off to Duncton Mill for a tea party/hog roast extravaganza!

Thank you for all your support in our first year! We're looking forward to the rest of the season and many 'Doily Days' to come.... xxx

Mismatching Vintage Plates for BBQ/Hog Roast style wedding

One of my clients is getting married in Henfield in August. She is having a wedding that is right up my street. A marquee in a field opposite her parents cottage, they're getting all the food themselves and a local community group is BBQing for them. They're hiring vintage china from Doily Days! The tables will be laid with mismatching main plates. The client is making her own jams and chutneys for wedding favours and I am providing old fashioned jugs and vases for her bunches of seasonal flowers. They're having bunting and they're colecting jam jars for the tables... I'm proving mismatching platters and bowls for their BBQ buffet. For dessert they're having a selection of cakes (so I'll be proving cake stands) and trifles (so I'll be proving cute little vintage bowls) sigh. Love it! And so pleased to be a part of it. Can't wait to see the pictures.

I was washing up a few of the plates before I packed them up for our meeting and I thought they looked lovely drying in the rack - what do you think?

New Teacups

The car boot season has well started as far as I'm concerned - clear, sunny morning, armed with a purse full of change - my very favourite start to any Sunday morning.

My local car boot sale was actually on Saturday. The first one of the season. There was one planned for 3rd April but due to the horrendous weather it was cancelled (much to my dismay).

I purchased some perfect plates with which to make cake stands (it's the middle tier that's tricky!), a beautiful navy blue top with cream ruffles (a snip at just £2.40), some adorable fabric to use for my wedding favours and last but not least some sexy new teacups. They are Grindley and the design is quite different from the rest of my collection. Six teacups & saucers, six plates and a milk jug all for £4! Plus the woman took my business card because she may have someone interested in my services.... you can't say fairer than that can you?