Love Letters – Edward Scissorhands Inspired Garden Engagement Shoot

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Today on Marry Me Ink, I get to share with you Kristy and Spiryt’s engagement shoot from Alexis Schwallier Photography. Taken in these gorgeous Tim Burton/Edward Scissorhands inspired gardens, they make such a gorgeous couple.. (I also get to feature their wedding soon)

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Spiryt & I met by him stalking me at work at the mall (I truly thought “Wow, this guy is kind of awesome for thinking that I am this cool to be that into me” and it was kind of endearing). He worked upstairs for Verizon at the time, & I was a retail manager at Bath & Body Works. One of my friends, Asia, that worked with Spiryt had mentioned that he was wanting to ask me out.

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She showed me a picture of him on her phone (this is back in 2006 when smartphones were super pixelated). All I saw were these amazing dreadlocks, and I was intrigued by his Lenny Kravitz-like looks.. I was geeking out that this really attractive guy wanted to meet me.

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Asia kept putting in the good word for Spiryt, and she set us up meeting for the 1st time. She said, “He is coming down after work today at 4:30 to meet you”. That day, I planned to leave work early but as soon as I was walking out of my store, there Spiryt was in all his glory. I smiled so big – he was definitely more than what I expected. Such a gentleman.

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Alternative Twists For Your Reception

It’s easy to add quirky touches here and there that will make your wedding unique. The perfect place to do this is at the reception; it offers the best opportunities to do something different. Stray away from tradition, or add your own twist to it. Today on Marry Me Ink, I’m posting just a few ideas to get you started.

1) Modernise your guest book

Wedding guest books are a fantastic way to involve your guests in your special day, and create something that you can both look back on for years to come. People can leave messages and pieces of advice, but who says it has to just be a book? 

il_570xN.681057450_bt8k-1Cascading Champagne Tower Signature Guestbook“i do” it yourself

How about leaving a golden-framed canvas for your guests to write on, so you can hang it in your home as a constant reminder of your beautiful day? Or instead, have a jar with tokens that guests can write on – it could be ideas for date nights or trips abroad, and your guests can leave their suggestions for you to pick out. You can find tonnes more unique ideas right here.

2) Turn the place cards into favours

Usually, place settings are just pieces of card with a name on, but who says that’s all they need to be? Why not incorporate the favours into the place settings instead, creating something that is not only a piece of your wedding, but personal to the guest. 

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If you’re having a forest theme, why not have little plant pots studded with flowers and a miniature wooden sign with their name on? Or if you’re the practical kind, go for miniature bottles of champagne for the ladies and whiskey for the boys, each with themed name tags on.

3) Hire a photo booth

One of the most important parts of your day is the photographer. This is the person that is going to help you remember your special day forever, but also capture those moments you didn’t even know were happening. You’ll be able to see the reaction of people as you throw the bouquet, or to your first dance as a married couple.

But these days, there are a lot of photographers who can bring many more unique twists to your reception. For example, this Leeds wedding photographer also hires out photo booths are part of the service; you can even tie it into your theme by having props too.

An Evening Under the Stars – Maria & Sam

4) Give your drinks a signature twist

Everyone has the usual champagne and canapés, but how about creating your own drinks menu with the caterers? You can have cocktails inspired by your favourite drinks, your passions in life, or to fit in with your theme. And what about modernising those canapés too? Go for miniature 50s burger sliders if that’s your theme, or hold a beach-style reception and serve Spanish tapas.

vtphoto-77A Woodland Tea Party With Band Merch and Bunnies – Erica & Adam

These are just a few ideas for how to give your reception a unique touch, but don’t forget to leave me a comment if you have your own!

A Farm Wedding And A Bride With Dreadlocks – Sarita & James

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Today’s tattooed bride Sarita with gorgeous dreadlocks decided to wear a stunning Phase Eight dress when she married James. They got married at Dorset venue Lower Stockbridge Farm and even had their dog Irwin there for the day. Photos are by the awesome Jason Williams Photography.

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I met James in my first day in a new job, thought hubba hubba! We became friends for around 6 months (he had a girlfriend) but they split up. He came round for a haircut (I used to live in South Africa at a monkey sanctuary where I somehow became the hairdresser amongst the volunteers!) and after 2 bottles of wine, chatting and playing the guitar till around midnight, met up the following night for a few drinks, and been together ever since… Almost 3 years now.

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We’re both pretty laid back and informal, the venue was perfect for us as soon as we saw it.  It was held in an unassuming barn that had a wow factor when you walked in with gorgeous beams, fairy lights dotted all over the place and subtle lighting that changed from purple to deep red to green, was just such a lovely feature, the venue was nothing grand or pretentious, and we found an awesome reggae band who just made the evening perfect.  As a surprise for James I’d arranged for his dog Irwin, to be the ring-bearer, so I think having Irwin around the place not only felt completely normal to us, but completely made James’s day, and didn’t seem at all odd to any of our guests!

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An Outdoor Wedding Between Two Travel Lovers – Patti & Jordan

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Today’s on Marry Me Ink, tattooed bride Patti tells us how she created the perfect wedding at Foster Farm for her and husband Jordan. This included a gorgeous backdrop for their ceremony and memories from their day from J. Briggs Photography.

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Jordan and I met at Six Flags in 2007. A big group of friends were going, and with an invitation by my brother, I went as well (Jordan was a friend of a friend of a friend sort of thing). At the Runaway Mountain rollercoaster I didn’t have a cart mate, and Jordan volunteered to ride with me. We introduced ourselves, and clicked right away, but we didn’t talk much after Runaway Mountain. As the day wore on, Jordan seemed like he wasn’t having fun, almost as though he was bored or having a bad day. I’m a pretty rambunctious person, so I grabbed a piece of ice from my water, and gave him a cold surprise on the neck. He smiled and I knew that I could at least make his night a little better. We ran off from the group to ride several of the rollercoasters before the park closer for the evening, got to know each other a bit, and really hit it off. I just wanted to cheer up his day, but little did we know that our meeting would change both of our lives.

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Our ceremony backdrop, for sure, was a representation of who we are, and the items I chose had meaning in one way or another: a globe and my great Aunt Ruth’s vintage suitcase to denote our love of travelling, an ampersand as a symbol of continuation, and a large chunk of amethyst, which, in crystal meaning, is known to provide calm, balance, patience, and peace. Our backdrop was my little way of making a wedding wish for us both.

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