Make a tiara with your favourite little girls

We hope you enjoy this fun half term project for your favourite little girls. We would love to see the results from anyone who makes one so please don’t be shy, upload a photo of your finished tiara, or even pictures of the whole process to our facebook album

You can download full instructions in a word document here Make with Mum Royal Wedding Celebration Tiara We’ve kept photos to a minimum so that it downloads quickly but you can find more helpful images to guide you in our photo album on facebook

Make your tiara from pipe cleaners and a cereal box!

Will you go for Princess Pink or more traditional Red, White and Blue? Maybe decorate with glitter paint? Be sure to put your own stamp on it! If you have little boys you can include them by making a crown using the same techniques to go around the whole base. They may be more interested in a sword though!

Enjoy! We hope you have as much fun making yours as we did creating ours!

Learn to Make Wedding Hair Pins

There are some great classes out there that will teach you to make your own jewellery but you’ll need the best part of £200 and a full day or evenings over the course of six weeks before you can reap the rewards. I know a lot of brides want to add a personal touch to their wedding and would prefer to try their hand at a bite sized project where the results are immediate and relevant.

I really believe that everyone who wants to get a bit crafty should have the opportunity. Making something yourself is extremely rewarding. With the Royal Wedding just weeks away this is one of three projects I have in mind to get people doing just that. I find the occassion such an inspiration and feel we can all partake in the excitement of the build up to the big day!

I will be running the workshops from my home in Greenwich (less than 5 minutes from the dlr and train station) teaching you to make your own simple wedding hair pins in pearl or crystal. Each 1 hour 15 minute lesson will be hands on and you will leave with at least 6 hair pins for your big day and a worksheet so you can carry on making more for yourself or your bridesmaids when you get home.

Pearl Hair Pins

The classes are suitable for beginners and a great way to add a personal touch to your wedding. Each workshop will cost £25 with £5 from every session going to one of the charities whose patron is Prince William. My aim is to raise £100 for charity through this and my other upcoming Royal Wedding inspired projects!

You can find the dates and times of the workshops here and book simply by clicking ‘add to the basket’ and checking out through the online shop. Once a date and time is booked it will disappear so be quick to get the slot you want! There are some afternoon, some after work and some weekend slots so hopefully something for everyone.

If you can’t see the slot you want you can drop me a line and I will try to squeeze you in if at all possible but please note that availability is limited. Currently these classes are only for making the more simple hair pins, this is because they involve the minimum amount of tools and I believe most people will get good results with practise once they know how.

If there is demand for making other items or general demand for these classes in the future I will consider continuing with them as more than a one off project so do let me know if your wedding isn’t for a while but you are interested or fill out our survey here Click here to take survey

If you have any questions or comments about any of this do drop me a line at jen@radianceboutique.co.uk

As any avid readers will know we’ve usually posted our thoughts on the wedding trends for the upcoming year by now. But this year we decided to postpone because we all know where most of the inspiration will come from -all eyes will be on the Royal Wedding. This event will inform many a bridal decision for years to come! Maybe even decades if she gets it as spot on as Grace Kelly did.

Remember all those eighties weddings with the floral headbands and big puffy shouldered dressses? I was a bridesmaid at a few such occasions back then and they all took inspiration from Diana’s 1981 wedding day look. Flowers adorned heads in most cases as not everyone’s budget could stretch to precious stone tiaras!

Almost 30 years to the day since Diana’s wedding to Charles, Kate Middleton will become Princess Catherine and all eyes will be upon her. Then Waity Radiance will scurry off to inform you of the precedent she has set with her big day look. We’re so excited by this that we don’t mind waiting. Which must be exactly how Kate herself felt for the last 8 years!

Please stop by the blog in May when we promise a big breakdown of our thoughts on wedding trends for 2011 as inspired by the big event. Flags at the ready!

And many of you did just that. Today we wanted to show you one tweaked design in particular. A bride to be who loved our crystal teardrop earrings and wanted a bracelet to go with them. A bracelet not unlike our best selling pearl bracelet. But with crystals of course. And not twinkly crystals please, plain, uncoated ones -she knew her stuff. And with the beads from the earrings incorporated here and there. But not quite so many beads as on the pearl version.

Handmade Crystal Wedding Bracelet

Well, our bride sure knew what she wanted and we were very happy to make it for her. Here is the finished result. And all it took was a brief email conversation. The price was no different. We didn’t charge anything more for this bespoke service. And our bride is happily awaiting her wedding day this Spring were she can say ‘Thank you’ to all the compliments and add ‘I helped design it myself!’ Impressive huh?

Whether you have a specific idea in mind as in this case or a rather more vague one, don’t be afraid to get in touch. You don’t have to sign up to anything immediately, we give you plenty of opportunity to say no thank you before committing to anything further. We’re here to listen to your ideas and hopefully to help bring them to life. This is what makes us tick and that is why we do it so well. Please get in touch at jen@radianceboutique.co.uk even if it’s just to say hi. We like hi!

Under the description of every gorgeous piece of wedding jewellery you’ll find a little button that says ‘Send to Friend’. Click it, fill out their name and email address details, write them a little message and press ‘send’. It’s that simple!

To be clear, Radiance Boutique does not have any access to the contact details you give when using this tool so your privacy is assured. We just like helpful tools that brides to be can use to make the best choices when it comes to their wedding day look.

Crystal and Pearl Wedding Earrings

This Christmas we’re predicting the elves will be packing our bestselling crystal and pearl drop wedding earrings for plenty of ladies who’ve been savvy enough to ask for them as a present.

We know lots of mums and mother-in-laws-to-be in particular are happy to purchase a gift they know will be loved and cherished. Plus it helps ease your wedding budget a little. So why not? Click today and get what you really want this Christmas!

Last date for Christmas orders, Friday 17th December 2010

Pearl Wedding Headband

If there’s one thing Radiance Boutique prides itself on offering brides to be, it’s flexibility. Like one of our designs but wish there were more pearls and less crystals? Like our earrings but looking for a matching pendant necklace to go with them? Get in touch and we’ll do out best to help make these things happen.

You don’t need to be in the area, or even available to talk! Quite often an email conversation is enough to work from. So if you’re time short feel free to get in touch from your laptop whilst wearing you’re pyjamas!

Here is a pearl headband we created for one bride. It’s our pearl headband with the 4 crystal teardrops swapped for pearl ones. We’re not offended if you’re not keen on the crystals -we like making things that you can’t wait to wear! It’s also cream instead of Ivory. That’s the beauty of handmade items, you can have a say in what’s created for you.

Crystal Earrings and Pendant Necklace

Another bride, Chantal, loved our crystal drop earrings so much she asked us to make a matching pendant necklace. As you can see the result is a beautiful and happy bride. At Radiance Boutique we make everything to order. So take advantage and get the wedding jewellery and accessories you really want.

Why not email jen@radianceboutique.co.uk with your ideas and requests? We look forward to hearing them!

What a great way to personalise your wedding!

Astound your guests and showcase your taste to make your day a day to remember.

Tips for making signature cocktails – by LiquidSpirit
1 – Stay true to your event
If you are creating a cocktail for your anniversary, remember where you and your partner spent your honeymoon, if it’s for a birthday, consider your favourites pastimes.

2 – Celebrate your history
If you have Brazilian ancestry, consider Cachaça. Part Scottish? Scotch. Russian heritage? Vodka. Chinese forebears? Sake, you get the picture. Remember to research your spirits wisely as local produce will support your roots more than an international brand, i.e. don’t think there’s that much Cuban interest in Bacardi.

3 – Listen to your pallet
What do you like, sweet or sour, sparkling or still, light or strong, clear or dark? This drink is usually intended to be enjoyed by your guests as well but don’t forget this is one drink you will want to recreate for the rest of your life.

4 – Local & Seasonal
Find garnishes and local liquors in your market to make your drink locally sourced and ecologically friendly. Flavoured vodkas are a good spirit to research as they can match any ingredient and provide a flavour for all occasions.

5 – If you think outside the box, destroy the box
Go nuts! Consider outlandish cocktails with that added wow factor; consider flaming orange zests, bacon infusions and possibly a whole banana as a garnish.
For more inspiritation check out the Mai Tai 3000.

6 – Nostalgia
Research old cocktails, the Manhattan, Vesper, Old Fashioned and Sazerac are becoming popular once again. Try inventing a modern twist on a classic; include your family’s namesake or the area your event is in.
Create the Steel City Vesper, the Zeuners’ Flaming Ferrari or Timothy’s Twisted Sazerac!

7- Simplicity.
Too many clashing flavours can ruin a drink, no matter of the quality of the ingredients. It’s useful to know that many mixed drinks contain a liquor base, a liqueur and juice. The garnish is added for eye-appeal. A Cosmopolitan is double vodka, a single Triple Sec and a double cranberry juice. A dash of lime is added to zest it and a lemon twist is added to the glass to make it more appealing. This formula is tried, tested and easy to adapt.

8. Fashion.
Have a look at modern restaurant menu’s or up-to-date cocktail guides. Pomegranate is in right now and if you’re a perfectionist you could research Japanese tools and techniques, inspired by East Asian tea ceremonies’ attention to detail add to the luxury of crafting slow drinks. Have a Google of it and ponder no longer.

9 – Have Fun!
This should not be a chore; this should hark back to childhood days of ‘mixing potions’. Playful experimentation should be the cornerstones of your cocktail creation. Remember to celebrate your likes and don’t stress out about pleasing anyone in particular.

10 – The Golden Rule, never forget:
“A cocktail will never be better than its cheapest ingredient.”
– David A. Embury (1948)

For more hints, tips and advice or to hire the Liquid Spirit Mobile Bar for your event head to http://mobilebarhireuk.com/

Bridal makeovers

Our brides to be were pampered with mini makeovers and we chatted about how different wedding hair accessories might work best for their wedding day style. The opportunity to try different hair accessories and hair styles went down a storm and everyone looked beautifully bridal by the time we had finished with them!

With these ladies wanting to keep their final chosen styles to themselves I’m afraid we won’t be publishing their photographs in this blog before their weddings -we can’t spoil the surprise for their groom, friends and family now can we?! But as you can imagine by the gorgeous array of makeup laid out to create these looks, the whole experience was very much like being a kid in a sweet shop!

We hope to run more of these events in the future. In the meantime if you need any one to one advice on choosing your wedding accessories please feel free to get in touch, I am always delighted to help! Email jen@radianceboutique.co.uk or call 020 7193 9599.

Wedding Hair Ideas

Next week sees us combining our talents once more to host an afternoon of make up tips and bridal hair suggestions, as well as the chance to browse Radiance Boutique’s wedding hair accessories collection -all whilst filling us in on how your wedding planning is coming along. We can’t wait!

In the meantime, why not check out Beauty Call’s You Tube make up tips online for a taster of what’s in store? There are still a couple of spaces available for our Tips, Tea and Tiaras event so if you like this clip be sure to snap up one of the last remaining tickets and come meet the team in person for more handy advice and some Sunday afternoon tea and cupcakes!