02.11.08
Decorating the Bride’s Home
The Wedding Planner advises: 
Engagement parties, rehearsal dinners and the week up to the wedding can often be a time for constant visitors to the bride’s home. Flower arrangements can be a way of making the house appear that bit more special for the celebrations ahead.Rather than order in arrangements making your own for your home can be an enjoyable way of saving some money.
White is typically the presiding colour for wedding celebrations. You should start with basic white flowers and add a few accents that complement the surrounding decor. Large leafy green pieces add a nice contrast to delicate buds for table centerpieces, and sometimes simplicity is the best aesthetic tactic. If you are making centerpieces for several tables, you can purchase your flowers in bulk and use one design over and over again, or you can make each piece an individual work of art.For vase arrangements, choose your container first, and pick flowers that are the correct height for the vase. When you cut your flowers, be sure to cut the stems at an angle so they can absorb water correctly and stay fresh for a long time. Vase arrangements require a focal point, and this can be one large flower or a grouping of several. It is important to choose a color scheme and to stick with it. For instance, you would not want to mix red and pink roses, or to combine yellow daisies with died green carnations. Make sure you choose flowers that look and smell good in combination with each other, and fill in the gaps with baby’s breath and leafy greenery.
When you are making larger potted flower arrangements, an aesthetically pleasing plant is a great base for your design.
If you are using only flowers, you will need a piece of arranging foam to provide a structure for the piece.
Green foam can be purchased at most craft shops, and it can be cut to fit any shape you need. The foam is soaked in water over night, this not only keeps a water supply going to your flowers but also adds weight to help counter the arrangement becoming top heavy and falling over. Before you start sticking in your stems, you might sketch out an idea of the final product. If the arrangement is to be large, pick a few large flowers to act as focal points rather than picking a multitude of tiny blooms. Too many small flowers distract the eye and make the arrangement seem busy rather than soothing.Once you have chosen all of your flowers and greenery, begin arranging them in the container. It will take several tries and lots of adjusting before your create a finished product, but be confident and do what looks best. Arranging flowers is an intuitive art, and if you have chosen a good colour scheme and a variety of shapes and sizes, the correct eye-pleasing concoction will often fall into place with little effort.
Wedding Shoes – Big feet, little feet
‘Sorry we don’t have that size.’ If you are outside the normal shoe size range you’ve probably heard this more than once while shopping for your wedding shoes.
Most shoe shops sell from size 3 to a size 8 (UK size). If you fall outside this category the choice gets limited and in some areas is non-existent.
SMALL SIZES:
A size 1 to 2 is the equivalent of a 6-8 year old shoe size. Most shops direct women of this size to the children’s section but at your age you are probably not looking for a sandal or welly with a Barbie motif.
There are only three to four manufacturers of small size shoes in the world. They are based in Italy and Spain. If you are a size two you are more likely to get your size in a small boutique as these generally sell Italian and/or Spanish shoes.
Roughly 3% of women in Ireland are over a size 8 in shoes. Many women with feet over a size 8 tend to wear runners or men’s shoes and will dress down in trousers with wide legs to hide their horrible choice of shoes.
Women with small or large feet often buy shoes first and then the outfit to go with them as its impossible to do it the other way around.
CINDERELLA SHOES
Gina Hennessy set up Cinderella Shoes after she spent a number of years researching and sourcing large shoe stockist around the world. She is a size 9 herself and could never find shoes to fit. She stocks elegant shoes in size range 8 ½ to 12 in narrow and wide fittings and has showrooms in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Customers register with Cinderella Shoes and if there are a number of people in one area she will take a road show there. http://www.cinderellashoes.ie
DAINTY SHOES
Dainty Shoes was set up in 1999. All of the shoes are handmade Italian or Spanish. Mail order is available. Shoes will be delivered within the week and there is a straightforward return policy. http://www.womens-small-shoes.com
SMALL SHOES
Small Shoes stock from size 1 to size 3. Small Shoes are based in the UK and delivery takes a few days and they have an easy return policy. There is a currency converter on the site from sterling to euro. http://www.small-shoes.co.uk.
