This is our first British real wedding here at IW. Lucy and Rob had a 1930’s Glamour theme, with an English country twist. Their color scheme was black and white.

Lucy, 29 & Robert, 32

Leicester, England

Wedding Date: August 22, 2009

Number of Guests: 69

Wedding Cost: £16,000 (including Honeymoon 15 nights in Thailand)

Wedding Ceremony Location: Halstead House Farm, Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire

Wedding Reception Location: Halstead House Farm, Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire

Want these? All of ’em?

You are going to LOVE this Valentine’s Day Giveaway from Night Owl Paper Goods! One lucky winner is going to win all of the stationery goodies (and the canvas tote!) pictured above valued at more than $100.

If you haven’t heard of Night Owl Paper Goods, you must take a look at their truly lovely and unique wedding stationery.

Night Owl Paper Goods makes handmade letterpress cards and eco-chic wooden goodies that are unlike anything else! Their work is inspired by Swedish and American folk artists, British haberdashers, as well as the cute critters and colossal colors provided by Mother Nature. Above is just one of many beautiful wedding designs they offer.

So, back to the contest.

Here’s what you need to do to have a chance at winning:

1. Fan Me on Facebook (already a fan? no prob.)

2. Leave a comment at the end of this post telling me what you consider romantic (i.e. a walk in the forest; sushi and saki by candelight; baking bread together etc.) or tell me about something romantic that your partner has done for you.

3. Cross your fingers and wait until I announce the winners on February 14!

You have until 11:59 p.m. February 13, 2010  to enter. This contest is open to residents of Canada and the U.S. only. Winners will be selected by random number generator.

Good luck!

(Bella-the-dog not included.)

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You’ve got a wedding to pay for. Perhaps a house. Car. Then there are the bills.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to stash some money away for the future? You can! Forget the linens, toaster, latte machine – why not register for stocks?

WeddingFutures.com lets you do just that. Simply open an account and select your stocks. Let your guests know that you are registered at WeddingFutures.com and instead of running around looking for a wedding gift for you, they simply choose from your list of stocks and pay via Paypal or credit card.

“Gifts from WeddingFutures.com are securely purchased and transferred online, and can actually increase in value over time, so today’s gift will always fit every couples’ needs now and into the future,” says Keaton Nguyen, founder of WeddingFutures.com.

WeddingFutures.com provides the registry and collects the funds. (They charge 5% commission.) The funds are transferred to your brokerage  account to be purchased by your brokerage firm. You can use any bank or brokerage firm. When your wedding day finally arrives, the gifts are transferred to your account.

“Couples can register for gifts that feather their financial nest and set the foundation for a solid financial future, “ says Nguyen. “Gift givers can be confident that their WeddingFutures.com gift – unlike a pricey coffee-maker, which will break or become obsolete — will always be needed, wanted and put to good use.”

Check out WeddingFutures.com for more info.

Thinking of a DIY photo booth? Beware: bum photos are quite possible. Check out this National Post story on DIY photo booths. (Don’t forget to check out my article on the classic photo booth too.)

Photo: Critsey Rowe

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Now that you’ve made your delicious caramels from this caramels recipe, I’m offering a free wedding printable that will help you make these adorable DIY candy favor bags. You can put just about any kind of candy in these bags and customize them to suit your wedding theme. We used heart cardstock because Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. The free wedding printable is a template – in two different sizes – that you can use when cutting out your card stock.

I got the idea for these candy favor bags over at Martha Stewart Weddings.