Sparkling Ivory Rose

Vintage Magpie's gorgeous little beauty; The Sparkling Ivory Rose Bouquet, has just gone up for sale on my Etsy

I love her simple, stylish, and elegant lines...and those super hard to find millinery flowers just add a wonderful authentic vintage feel.

She is £330 which includes a next day delivery. Contact me if you are interested...or simply buy her from my Etsy.

Recently there has been a huge increase in the amount of people attempting to copy my work... it makes me sad... I am strangely not angry, some of their bouquets are laughable. This might sound a bit harsh, but I hate that these people are claiming to be using Vintage, when it is obvious that most of the bouquet is new and very cheap.

A few are using a small amount of vintage but most are not. I dislike this...I wish and want people to be honest... Some are more expensive than me, and they have only 20% vintage items in them. This is truly riping a bride off...

My bouquets are 80% vintage ( the only things that I use that is new is the wire and the small flowers...but sometimes these are vintage like in the bouquet above!!) and in the last 4 years it has become increasing hard to find quality vintage items.

The 'Vintage' wedding is here to stay.... therefore it is a look that everyone wants and are searching for. This makes my job A LOT more difficult!!

But I am committed to the search and it makes my day when I find a treasure... But I urge anyone who thinks I'm out of there price range to please just contact me and ask....I will always give honest and real advice. I offer a truly vintage item, which is made with love, authenticity and pride. I hope this comes across in the beauty of my work.

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend !!

My World of Flowers

Flowers...ahhhh....the smell, the colour, the endless possibilities.....

If you didn't know, I used to be a florist. My Ma and me had our own shop in Dorset.



We spent most Saturdays set up wedding venues, listening to the hustle and bustle as we gentle and happily made arrangement after arrangement for tables, cakes, churches, brides and sweet bridesmaids....it was hard work....but the best job I have ever had.

I found a few old photos on a memory stick today and it took me back.... to the excitement of the Dutch flower lorry turning up and being allowed on...to be engulfed by the scent, the colour and the vast array of flowers and greenery.

...I miss it... I miss seeing the delight on my brides faces...(the only downside to Vintage Magpie is the fact I am not there to see your reaction when you open that box)! It makes every bit of hard work worth it....

I enjoy the JOY that flowers bring...the make you smile, they make you happy, they make you swoon, and they bring back memories...

The wonderful Dutchman is a florist...and an excellent one at that!! He works in London and gets to create displays in the most amazing places....I am quietly envious...

He comes home with amazing stories, and big adventures...

It is a hard world for a florist today. You have to compete with the buying power of the huge supermarkets...the online growers...and the cheap low quality flower seller.

But their power still calls me...I work with the vintage flower of Vintage Magpie now...I use all my knowledge and experience and channel it into your bouquets....and I love it!

But a part of me will always be a Florist...

A Stunning Thank You

Do you remember this Vintage Magpie fascinator?



Those silky roses, soft veiling and the sweet grey ribbon....



Well this is how it looked on the day.......

Stunning don't you think?? I love her eye shadow that matches....just beautiful!

Thank you Emma for remembering to send me a photo, it really does brighten my day to see how lovely my VM brides look on their special day xxx

Amsterdam in photos...

Don't you want to live here? I know I do!!

Brides..I cant get away from them!! a glorious backdrop for a photo shoot

Isn't that door just fab!! I love the date with the heart..I cannot get over just how old these pristine buildings are.

If i had 8000 euro I would of bought her....her hair waves into birds in flight....a simply stunning lady.

The blossom was in full show....

This stunning field was Hyacinths in full bloom....the smell was so beautiful...

The blossom showing off again against a lovely stone carving

...a stream of Muscari....this year the scent of everything was divine!

This handsome chap guards Amsterdam at sunset....some find him scary' but I think he is wonderful!

The beauty of Amsterdam's canal houses

A delicious dinner with the most amazing salad bar......

Apple pie.....words cannot describe; nor a photo show, just how huge this pie was!!

The cheese shop didn't do just cheese!! these were hard to resist on our last morning!


It is forever changing, but stills stays beautiful, the bikes seem to double every time....but

I stay safe on my feet, wandering the tiny street, hand in hand with the Wonderful Dutchman..... slowly starting to understand the chatter of passers by..... feeling more and more at home....

Courtyard cooking

Yesterday the wonderful Dutchman and I sat out for the first time this year in our courtyard....he cleaned and re-planted a few weary plants, and made her look pretty for the glorious summer we are going to have this year.....a girl has to be optimistic!!

We enjoyed stir fry chicken and listened to the birds chatting away, a party in the distance, and the gentle hum of the radio. We also discussed our wedding, our journey so far, and just how wonderful is was not be cold while sitting outside!!......

I hope you are having a lovely weekend too xxx

My heart is shaped like a cupcake!

I had a lovely meeting with Fiona from Sugarsugar today......



....as luck would have it she is my Darling sisters friend, and fellow wedding wonder woman....


She brought cake :)



She is making our little cupcakes for the wedding, we are having this style with white, light green and yellow icing..... they are a zesty lemon sponge.....she knew the way to my heart!!



Her designs are stunning and to be honest we are having her simplest cake....she designs too many wonderful scrummy looking cakes.....

These are her Vintage Rose cupcakes.....they are to die for....in fact I don't think I could eat them they are so pretty!

..... So Elegant and stylish, plus a bit different which I adore.....



......and how about these for a Birthday Boy?..... such fun! Pirate themed wedding anyone?

Thank you Fiona for a lovely morning! x

My Labour of Love

Our Invitations are done....and I am relived!

They had become a real labour of love for me.....

...I wanted them to be fun and reflect us as a couple. I started to collect paper, luggage labels, and stamps back in January when a lot of items were on sale after Christmas...paper is a slight weakness of mine and I C.A.N.N.O.T miss a bargain, especially as paper is so expensive.

These are for the address labels for the envelopes....this map paper was found on our recent trip to Amsterdam, and set the theme for the invites....I added a hand detailed sticky label and wrote on the address. I then attached them on the envelope with sticky back plastic; to protect them while cruising Europe!

I challenged my Mum to draw the front of the invites....mammoths, Scottie dogs and bunting was the 3 things that we wanted in it....a tough task!! But we adored what she came up with......

And with the Wonderful Dutchman's gift....my dinky sewing machine, I then sewed screen printed vellum inside....bless my machine, she is dinky but she managed it like a pro!

The brown envelopes contain our wish....to go on honeymoon....we have never had a holiday that has not been in Holland....the sun and sand is calling our names!!

A labour of Love....but included in each invite is love and a wish.....and the chance to see the start of our beautiful journey.....it was worth every paper cut!

A Bubbling Bouquet

This bouquet was not created for a Bride, but for a wife.....



So what are you doing to do with your dress after your day? One of my gorgeous girlie's decided she wanted it made into a Vintage Magpie bouquet..... so I asked her 10 times if she was sure she wanted me to take the scissors to her stunning dress.....then I cut.....this was the result.....




A splash of personal pieces...a measure of silk wedding dress.....and a celebratory champagne cork!!

The cork was from the champagne bottle that announced their engagement...too cute!

It now has pride of place in their bedroom.....how perfect xxx

Nearly there.....

My new snazzy lap top is charging up and hopefully the Wonderful Dutchman is on the case to move the vast amounts of photos over from my old broken friend.....then Vintage Magpie will be back to normal!!

YAY!! See you all soon with wedding updates, Bouquets and more of Amsterdam's beauty!