Head Over Heels with Milliner Rosie Olivia

A few weekends ago at the launch of exclusive South Liverpool hair salon Matt Cox, young business lady and milliner Rosie Olivia  was described in conversation as ‘Liverpool’s best kept secret’. Now, as a wedding blogger, I only love secrets if I’m in on them, so I contacted Rosie, who in turn, kindly invited me to view her collection at her home-based studio and showroom. I, of course accepted, at the drop of a hat!

Rosie graduated last summer at Nottingham Trent University with a First Class (BA) Hons degree in decorative arts. Having completed internships with milliners Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy, and a millinery course at London based Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Rosie realised her dream career was to work in the millinery industry.

So last weekend I met Rosie and was truly fascinated by her enthusiasm and raw talent. Her showroom was adorned with beautiful, bespoke creations; hand-made designs with Rosie’s unique stamp on. “All hats are hand-made, designed and created by myself. They are really different and unique due to the fabrics and trimmings that I use. If you’re looking for something different, stylish but out-of-the-ordinary, you know where to come!” And stylish they certainly are. Forget the dated fascinators favoured by the likes of Kate Middleton et al, Rosie’s are on trend, en vogue, and perfect for any fashion conscious bride, wedding guest, or racegoer!  Perfect for any occasion.

“I offer a bespoke service which starts at £120 depending on what it is that the client would like. I work closely with the customer to make sure it is exactly the right colour, size and style that they are after.”

Rosie launched Rosie Olivia online at Christmas. “It has been the most exciting and hectic couple of months! I am naturally really creative and am so happy to be pursuing a career in what I love doing best. The business side of things is all new which is a challenge but I find it so satisfying when I make a hat for a client and it’s exactly what they want. Best feeling!”

Prices range from £80 - £380

For a sneak preview of Rosie’s collection, and a chance to win one of her designs, Rosie is attending Radio City’s Cash for Kids Pre Aintree Ladies Day Lunch on Thursday 24th March 2011 at uber stylish Palm Sugar Tickets are £25 and include a cocktail on arrival, a fabulous buffet provided by Chaophraya  and a glass of wine. 12pm – 4pm.

millinery by

R O S I E O L I V I A

W www.rosieolivia.com

E info@rosieolivia.com

M 07780668885

Spotlight Tonight An Interview With Steve Charles

It gives me immense pleasure to introduce tonight's Specialist Spotlight,  the Über TALENTED musician and vocalist, Steve Charles.  A firm favourite on the wedding circuit, no, make that KING of the wedding circuit, Steve's dulcet tones, seamless sets and perfect persona wil guarantee to bring your wedding house down.  FACT. 
Steve sung at our own beloved wedding and the atmosphere was electric, with each and every guest up dancing during the main course!  We loved him so much that Mr Dreams and I spent our first wedding anniversary reliving our happiest moments, watching Steve live at Zeligs.  Steve was booked through Riverside Entertainments Agency on our Wedding Day.

Ladies and Gentleman, please puts your hands together for Mr. Steve Charles!  Whoop Whoop!

How did you get into the music business?
I should have realised early on that music was going to play a major roll in my life as when I was in school I was the one they always picked on to start the singing during morning assembly.  Although my Mum and Dad were both in show business so this may have had some influence.

Who or what inspires or influences your style of music?
Nothing specific , but I do love Seventies music and Motown.

Do you have a favourite segment of the wedding day you prefer to perform at?  
Not really…I love performing during all parts of a wedding day or night.  I feel so lucky doing what I do and to play a major part on such a special occasion is amazing.  To be asked to sing the first dance is always an honour.

Do you have a favourite venue?
I must admit I do have a couple of five’s but to single any one out would be unfair.

What are the most requested first dance songs?
It has to be Al Green's Let's Stay Together.

What do you love most about your job?
I love the interaction with people and watching them relax and unwind in front of me.  I like to get stuck in so always try my best to encourage guests to let their hair down and enjoy themselves. After all, isn't that what life is all about! 

And the most challenging...
Introducing a new song into my show.  I do my best by trying to select songs carefully then I have to structure my choice according to my audience. Always a challenge!

What's the most extravagant wedding you've performed at?
I have performed at many celebrity / footballer's weddings but one celebrity wedding was held at the Dorchester in London and that was WOW!!!

Any Bridezilla moments?
I have been lucky so far but there was one occasion when the bride insisted on singing a well known Shania Twain song to her new husband…ANY EAR PLUGS IN THE HOUSE ANYONE!

Do you have any top tips or words of wisdom for our B2B's?
I always say it is as important to choose the right entertainment for your wedding as it is to choose your flowers.  You can have a magical day spoilt by cutting corners with your entertainment so please Ladies choose wisely and don't be afraid to pay that little bit more for quality.  It's simple… YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Did you sing at your own wedding?
No, thank goodness that’s one day I did have off!  We are very lucky to have great entertainer friends who helped us out and did us proud on our lovely wedding day.

Who would be your dream top table wedding guests be to perform to?
The cast of Brothers & Sisters as they all seem so nice!

Do you ever get star-struck meeting celebrity clients?
I've had my moments but celebrities are only like you and me at the end of the day.

Have you ever been tempted to go down the reality TV route? What do you think of shows like The X Factor?
Yes.. I’ve thought about it but then I enjoy singing at weddings too much to give it all  up...I suppose its harmless fun for the general population but then again some people are brain dead when it comes down to actual talent spotting. So glad I work on a Saturday night.
What's the biggest crowd of people you've performed for?
6000 people at an open air concert in Leeds…Scary !
What else have you got coming up this year?Apart from my current wedding bookings and a couple of lovely cruise ship contracts I have in my diary, I must say that without a doubt my most exciting event for 2011 has to be the birth of our little baby girl who is due to arrive at the end of March.. " Fingers crossed "

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Charles for their imminent beautiful pink arrival!
Much love, Mr and Mrs B xxx

Sparkling Spotlight Tonight: Heirloom Wedding Bouquets

Fit for a Princess….Designed by a Twitter Queen!

For the Social Butterfly Brides out there who follow the wedding industry on Twitter (and if not, why not?!) you’ll have already tweeted, LOL’ed, #followfridayed #weddingwednesdayed (and sometimes *blushed*) with the reigning Wedding Queen of Twitter, @hhjtinygems aka Sarah Marks, owner and designer at Tiny Gems. Sarah has run with the number one spot of the Top 100 Wedding Tweeters for umpteen weeks, months even, giving Bryan Adams a run for his money in the Twitter world.

Everything I do, I do it for...You “All our jewellery is handmade; therefore each item is as unique as you are.”

Tonight’s Spotlight is on Tiny Gems’ beautiful Heirloom Brooch Bouquets.

“Traditionally, brides have flowers for their wedding bouquet however Tiny Gems have designed something that is bespoke and is perfect if you want to make a statement or take a break from tradition. Each wedding is individual so why not have a bouquet that is unique with a Tiny Gems Heirloom Bouquet.

The beautiful heirloom bouquet is made to each bride's specific requirements making it a complete one off original. Tiny Gems will create a mood board for you, and consult on your colour scheme for the ribbon handle and the collar of the bouquet to tie in perfectly with your colour scheme.

Each bouquet is made up of approx 30 vintage style brooches and will be a stunning finishing touch to any big day. It is also unique by the fact that this is something that can treasured forever, and pass down to your children for their wedding day.

“I wanted to design something that was bespoke to each bride and something that they could treasure. Each bouquet is specifically designed to meet each bride's requirements ensuring that it matches the colour scheme or theme of the wedding. It also offers something different from the normal wedding bouquet.”

Tiny Gems also offers a fantastic range of tiaras, wedding accessories, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and jewellery sets."

For further information please visit

www.tiny-gems.co.uk
sarah@tiny-gems.co.uk

Red Carpet Treatment for a Red Hot Lip Trend

“Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick.”
Gwyneth Paltrow - actress

...And kick-ass this trend it is! Spring and summer’s signature red-lip trend has arrived with an almighty BANG. So when better to celebrate your inner Valentine Goddess with lashings of luscious RED lips? Make up GURUs, best friends and business partners Kathryn Rooney and Claudia Douglas of Red Carpet Make Up share their tips on how to achieve this positively perfect pout.

Get ready to paint the town red…

"Red Carpet Make Up is now in it's third successful year.  Initially mobile, we are both now based in elite South Liverpool salons; Kathryn at Saints on Aigburth Road and Claudia at Matt Cox, Woolton Road. We are specialists in wedding and special occasion make up. We only use the finest, luxurious products for our clients including the fabulous french make up By Terry (exclusive to Space NK), Bobbi Brown, YSL, Laura Mercier, MAC and Armarni, to name a few.


"The Perfect Pout"

Red lips are a timeless classic. Glamorous, feminine and always in style! Many women assume they can't wear it, but they're wrong, its just about HOW you wear it!


Rule 1
Red lips are dramatic and such a statement, it's important keep your other make up minimal. Opt for natural eye makeup and soft blush, that way your lips stand out and you avoid the 'clown' look!


Rule 2
Apply a lip liner. Red lipstick, especially if glossy, tends to bleed outside the lips, so line the lips with lip liner to avoid this happening. You can also fill the rest of the lips in with the liner, this acts as a primer so the lipstick sticks to it and therefore lasts longer.

Rule 3
Pick the right shade. Hair colour doesn't matter, its skin tone that counts! If your complexion is pink you'll look better in plum shades. If your tone is more yellow, warmer reds with a brown base will be more flattering and for dark skins orangey reds are better. Top tip - experiement by blending a couple of different reds to get the best shade for you!"


I experienced the luxurious Red Carpet treatment on the morning of my wedding day. Kathryn used a MAC Ample Pink gloss on me and I’ve been using it ever since. But I’m ready to vamp it up a bit and give Ample a well earned rest with the launch of MAC’s new limited edition lipstick, Russian Red (£15). This exclusive collaboration with Wonder Woman is available exclusively at Selfridges from 17 February and nationwide from 3 March. Call 0800 123400 and ask for the MAC counter to join the waiting list.  See you there…if you dare!

Special offers:
Valentines weekend Hair and Make Up package ONLY £30!!! - Saints hairdressing

For more information on bookings or forthcoming special offers contact

Kathryn on 07876 680 980 / Saints Hairdressing 0151 727 5268
Claudia on 07928 219 618 / Matt Cox Salon 0151 722 6686

Or find Red Carpet on Facebook!

Spotlight Tonight TATTY LASHES

Tatty Lashes Handcrafted Stationery seem to be having a bit of a moment!  With a cult following in Liverpool and the North West, Tatty Lashes provide bespoke stationery for all occasions, whether it be a simple postcard invitation to one of their more intricate designs.  Now in their 4th year of trading, Tatty Lashes have certainly put their seal on the discerning B2B's of Liverpool...
Bespoken Dreams proudly give you Tonight's Specialist Spotlight, TATTY LASHES...

"We absolutely LOVE our company name but it has confused people who thought we were offering eyelash tinting and beauty treatments! However, we’re a mother and daughter stationery company from Liverpool – hence the name, which comes from an old ‘Scouse’ nickname which was always shouted out in the street – ‘hey tatty lashes, get in ‘ere your dinner’s ready!’ A lot of girls from Liverpool can identify with this name and that’s why we chose it for our business.

We’ve been making our own stationery now for around five years, although commercially only for the last couple of years. It’s quite exciting to occasionally receiving a request for something unusual – an out of the ordinary design feature or colour scheme and we can let our imaginations run riot. However, things do get quite stressful sometimes when we’re in the middle of a really large order and the clock’s ticking towards the deadline. It’s all worth it in the end though just to see the look of delight from the bride and groom when they receive their stationery.

We’ve often thought, out of all the people in the world, whose wedding stationery would we like to make? It would have been fantastic to make the wedding invitations for John Lennon and Yoko Ono when they got married in Gibraltar in 1969. Some fabulously colourful 60s style luggage tag invitations perhaps?

We’re updating our ranges constantly to keep up with (and hopefully set a few!) new trends. One of the current trends at the moment is to have a wishing tree at the venue. We’ve recently started hiring out our wishing tree and this is proving really popular with our couples. It’s a lovely feature to have for the venue and it provides a way for guests to leave a personal message for the bride and groom. All the messages can all be placed into a customised memory book, which we supply as part of the package."

For more information on Tatty Lashes full range of service please visit

http://www.tattylashes.co.uk/ or find them on Facebook!

Spotlight Tonight MARRY ME FILMS

"At the end of the day, it is all about the commitment between two people and that’s what is most important."

It gives me great pleasure to introduce tonight's Specialist SPOTLIGHT, husband and wife team Sara & Tony Williams of Marry Me Films. With an evident passion for creating modish magical memories, Sara shares her top tips on what to look for when commissioning the film makers of your dreams....

The Wedding Film of Kelly & Matthew from Marry Me Films on Vimeo.

"It is with some trepidation and excitement that I start our first ever blog, never mind guest blog! Firstly we are very pleased and honoured to have been asked by Bespoken Dreams to write about wedding films, as we love filming weddings.

Let me introduce ourselves, we are Sara & Tony Williams, husband and wife for over 12 years and owners of Marry Me Films. We are wedding film makers not videographers, and if you are wondering why we make this distinction then let me explain. Unfortunately wedding videography has deservedly, some might say, got a terrible reputation. Admittedly there are some terrible cheesy video companies out there and as a result, a lot of Brides & Grooms dismiss the idea of having their wedding filmed straight way, which is a real shame. A wedding film is the perfect way to capture one the biggest days of your life. When executed well, wedding films should provoke powerful emotions, whether viewing post honeymoon or at the 25th wedding anniversary, and not simply be just a record of the day. They should propel you right back into the moment, make you smile, laugh, cry, and evoke all the emotion and memories of your special day. The actual day will fly by in the blink of an eye and there will be lots of cherished moments that may be unseen by the Bride & Groom or forgotten in the whirlwind of the day.

At Marry Me Films we strive to enhance this experience by taking the time to produce a memorable film that captures all of the above, is creative, interestingly edited, re-watchable and stands the test of time. Like any good broadcast programme the wedding film has to capture all the important moments whilst being interesting and entertaining. What we feel is paramount is to capture the interaction between the Bride & Groom and the emotion of the day. We know we have achieved this when our Bride & Grooms’, their family and friends, and even potential clients at wedding shows cry watching our highlights trailers. We hope that we are slowly changing the perception about wedding videography by bringing broadcast quality to wedding films. You never know, one day maybe wedding films will be as popular and central to everyone’s wedding days as photography.

The Wedding Film of Fiona & Neil from Marry Me Films on Vimeo.

 Unobtrusive Filming

It is important to keep filming discreet and unobtrusive. We do this by having years of experience in filming both weddings and television programmes using high spec broadcast equipment. Wedding film companies should be able to creatively capture the whole of your special day without unnecessarily drawing attention to themselves; blending seamlessly with the guests and venue. Some of the most natural and best footage happens when people don’t realise they are being filmed. Our overall aim is to beautifully and expertly film one of the happiest days of most people’s lives, not to be part of it.

Pre-Wedding Planning Meeting
An in-depth pre-wedding planning meeting to discuss timings of the day is vital. A good wedding film company will always familiarise themselves with your wedding venue so that they are comfortable with the surroundings. Flexibility is also key; being adaptive to any situation that may occur on the day. A professional, positive attitude and appearance is equally important.

Reflecting Your Personality
What we feel makes a good wedding film company is the ability to reflect the couple’s personality. Every couple we film is different, so every wedding film we produce is unique; from the cool contemporary to the utterly traditional. We take the time to meet our Bride & Grooms’, talk to them and find out what makes them both tick, so we can create a wedding film that perfectly suits them and truly is one of a kind.

Your Soundtrack
The music is a big factor in deciding how the wedding film will feel as it is so personal and emotive. We ask all our couples to choose a selection of music in various tempos before their wedding day, which acts as a guide to the style their wedding will be filmed and edited in. We also incorporate and reflect the atmosphere and sentiment of the day itself.

Our USP

We are different from other companies in our field because as a husband and wife team we have walked in the shoes of a Bride & Groom and we know just how important weddings are. Our intimate, personalised, diligent and caring service ensures that the very highest of standards are achieved in every aspect of our wedding films. Working freelance in the television industry on a wide range of programme types and styles, enables us to keep abreast of the latest methods and techniques from broadcast programmes keeping us fresh, creative and forward looking. Being BBC trained means that everything is filmed to the highest standards and right in one take, because at weddings there’s never a second take. At Marry Me Films we are so confident that we will get it right first time that we don’t charge for changes. We have very high standards and take great pride in everything we produce; we love the sense of achievement we feel when our Bride & Grooms’ take the time to thank us and tell us how special their wedding film is. We are very lucky to have such fantastic clients and their generosity towards our work, never ceases to amaze us.

We have had the pleasure and privilege over the past few years to be part of some fantastic weddings and we have some very exciting ones booked in for the next few years too. Amazing venues all over the country, different types of ceremonies and celebrations and even a Groom arriving by helicopter, but at the end of the day whatever happens it is all about the commitment between two people and that’s what is most important."

m 07949 806390
t / f 01925 483664

memories@marrymefilms.co.uk
http://www.marrymefilms.co.uk/