I Love... Milk Bottles

I totally have a thing about glass at the moment - cut glass, clear glass, coloured glass, jars, vases, you name it if it's made of glass, I'll like it right now. My son on the other hand, likes sweets and his personal favourite is the humble milk bottle. So that got me thinking about milk bottles, but the 'proper' kind, for weddings...

Milk bottles are a great prop for weddings - they're cute, they're kitsch, you can dress them up or leave them nude. Use them for flowers or fill them with some milkshake and a stripy straw for fun drinks. Use them on their own or group them together, hang them from trees or backdrops or place them on tables, pathways or windowsills. You can buy them on-line and recycle them after the big day or you can give them away to homeward bound guests.

So, embrace the humble milk bottle as a gold-top design prop (and add some milk bottle sweets to a candy buffet too, just so my son doesn't think 'his' milk bottles are forgotten either!)

 Above - these milk bottles have printed menus attached to them - such a simple idea. You could use the same idea for a seating plan (each bottle showing a different table's guests) or as decorations on a drinks table with the labels naming the different drinks. Lots of options! Image - All About You

 Above - love this ideas! Here, a number of bottles are loosely filled with flowers and then bound together to create one large display. This would work fabulously as a ceremony decoration which you could then pick apart to decorate a cake table, a drinks table or seating card display. Image - Country Living

Above - here the milk bottle has been attached to a hook stand to make a little lantern. These would look great lining a pathway as the sun goes down... Image - My Kate Parker Wedding 

 Above - large milk bottles with numbers on make a great double-act as a centrepiece and table number combination. You could either print the numbers onto stickers and cut them out carefully before applying or use an etching spray and stencil to get the same affect. Image - Oh Joy

 Above - again, the milk bottle is doubling as a table number but this one has a little extra zip with the addition of the bird decoration but anything that fits with your day would work really well.  Image - via Planet Mithi

 Above - little milk bottles with a single stem create such a pretty seating card display. The tags with guest's seating assignments are just hung around the neck of the bottles. This would certainly be something that would be easy to do yourself (just remember to take a little watering can to top up the bottles, scissors to trim the flowers and the tags too of course!)  Image - The Knot

Above - these milk bottles have a little hand tied posy popped inside and they're all lined up along these gorgeous long tables. What I like here is the wrap around the bottle (you could use lace, ribbon or fabric) as it hides the stems, covers the water line and just adds a touch of luxury. Image - via Style Me Pretty 

 Above - now, I'm not saying it's practical for your bridesmaid to walk around all day clutching a milk bottle bouquet holder but why not use your bridesmaid's bouquets to decorate your cake table or similar? Leave a bottle with water on the table and during dinner, pop them into the water rather than just having them left around. Image - via Wedding By Color

Above - milk bottles work wonderfully at this fresh green & white wedding, perfect to hold a few small blooms in between the large arrangements but ho-hum, creased table cloths. I must focus on the pretty bottles instead... Image - Wedding Bells

I Love... Cake Stand Centrepieces

Anyone who reads my blog surely is well aware of my love for all things cake-related. But don't be thinking I'm just a baking & eating kind of girl. Oh no, my adoration even extends to cake accessories - I love pretty china plates, antique cake knives & forks, gorgeous cake tins for storing the lucky cake that survives longer than a day and cake stands. I just adore cake stands. They make cakes look important and that, for me, is very good.

But last week, I was on a photo shoot and got to take home the most gorgeous floral wreath arrangement so I stood it in the middle of my dining table atop the cake stand that lives there and it looks beautiful still. So that inspired this post - cake stand centrepieces...

Above - simple but incredibly effective - flower balls rest on prettily coloured cake stands. The differences in height and size of the stands is key to making this look visually  interesting and if you're on a budget, opt for the most cost effective blooms you can. Image - Country Living

Above - I thought this might be an interesting and unusual addition to a guest book table. Lots of us like to display old family photos and popping them on a cake stand (especially under a cloche) elevates them and makes the table vary more in height. Image - Hive For The Home

Above - elegant simplicity here. The orchid heads are tucked in glasses and the silvered tea light holders add a little more sparkle and colour. So easy to copy & setup and cost effective too. Image - House To Home

Above - love these centrepieces with the flowers and pretty beribboned favours. This is such a great look - by having the favours off the table, there's a real sense of space on the tabletops, the little candles add a glow, the lace linen if beautiful and the entire setting all comes together perfect. Those mismatched contained on the stands that hold the flowers are so dainty, it's just gorgeous. Image - Martha Stewart

Above - centrepieces don't come much more simple than this! Pillar candles of varying sizes are randomly placed on the cake stands and there you go, all done! Imagine the fabulous light this would give as the evening arrives... Image - Real Simple 

Above - such a fresh look for this seating card table. The fab silver cake stands have been filled with white flowers, greenery and limes. I love this because the flowers look like they're almost spilling over the edges of the silver dishes and the colours are so alive. Love this! Image - Southern Weddings

Above - another easy candle display but here the tealights are popped in holder and arranged on the cakestand. Love the addition of the two holders on stems too for some added height & variation. If you plan something like this for your wedding, take extra tealights to replace burned out ones otherwise you'll lose impact half way through the evening! Image - The Love Jones

Above - ahhh, a peony teapot on a pretty cut glass cake stand - how could I possibly resist? You could pop cupcakes around the pot instead of favour boxes or nibbles and canapes for a pretty buffet. Oooh, how lovely... Image - via Bridal Buzz

Above - I love the spring bright palette here and those sweet little arrangements contain some of my favourite flowers (spot the Ranunculus!). The pink stands and table runner look great with the sherbet lemon of the napkins. You could give a little pot of flowers to each guest at the end of the evening as a great 'home time' gift. Image - via Trend Setting Wedding