Claytastic Archives - Page 2 of 2

If you are planning your wedding (or anybody else’s for that matter) you want it to be a great day, the best day in fact. Of course you do.

I read a ‘helpful’ article recently which outlined the trends to avoid if you are planning a wedding in 2017 which I thought I would share with you.

Here are a few of the no-no’s on their extensive list;
Floral crowns
Cowboy boots or Converse trainers with your wedding attire
Having a big bridal party
Chalkboard signs
Naked cakes
Anything boho or DIY
Giant bridal bouquets
The informal wedding breakfast

Having read their article I would like to respond with a few of my own trends to avoid. Some you might agree with, some you might not! Feel free to let me know in the comments section.

1) Having a theme or colour scheme (or anything else) because you feel like you are expected to.

For starters, there will be very few guests who will remember your colour scheme. Secondly some of the most beautiful wedding photos I have seen have been ones which had NO colour scheme at all. If you want to go down this route then cool, that’s your choice – just be aware of the “teal trap”! You pick a colour (any colour) and you will be surprised by how many different shades there are. Want to save some money? decide on a palette rather than a colour.

2) Expecting your wedding to come above your guests comfort/priorities

Your wedding is a pretty important day in your life and you want your loved ones there. Great. Do them a favour though and don’t expect them to travel hundreds of miles and spend a lot of money only to be spending the day standing around with a rumbly tummy because the person planning the wedding decided that it was “their problem if they didn’t have breakfast”.
If you invite a person they are your guest, it is common courtesy to make them feel comfortable.

That doesn’t mean an endless supply of nibbles and a free bar. It does mean letting them know if there will be a long gap between the ceremony and the food. Similarly if you don’t want to have children at your wedding, that’s understandable. Don’t be cross though if that parent you invited can’t make it due to the lack of a babysitter. That’s life.

3) Not including your In-Laws on the thank you’s if they don’t contribute to the wedding

If you value your relationship with your future spouse then you should probably just suck it up and give them that thank you. Maybe they are an enormous pain, maybe you share an immense dislike of each other, maybe. It doesn’t matter. Grow up and get behind the fact that they produced and raised their child to be the person who you are choosing to spend the rest of your life with. Be nice.

4) Asking your Bridesmaids to change their appearance to better suit your photos

Yes, it happens. Some corkers I have seen in the last few years have included them being asked to get to a tanning salon (not a spray tan, a proper one. The bride didn’t want the dress ruined), a girl being asked not to be in her wheelchair for the photos and many, many girls who were asked to dye their hair so they didn’t stand out in photos. Please. Just don’t.

5) Scrimping on the Photographer

Trust me on this. It is the biggest regret from all of the brides I speak to after their wedding. If the photos aren’t right or the photographer is “not a people person” then you are not going to be happy with the end result. That doesn’t mean you need to pay through the nose, what it does mean though is that if your budget is limited you need to do your homework big time!

5) Including (or excluding) anything for the sole reason that it is (or isn’t) en vogue.

Your wedding day should be about you. It should represent you both as a couple and as individuals and as such there is NOTHING off limits. Naked cakes are beautiful and DIY weddings can save you a LOT of money as well as bringing more than a touch of the personal to your special day. There really are no rules at all. Don’t wear white or ivory or even a wedding dress if that’s not who you are. Or do! Whatever your day looks like, the outcome will hopefully still be the same.

So that’s my list. Feel free to add your own to the comments section, I would love to hear them!

The things people will remember from your day will be how much fun it was, not whether you had favours or what canape they were given after the ceremony. So forget the politics, make it FUN and GOOD LUCK!

Before I Played With Clay For A Living

Once upon a time I worked in an office and not with clay, I worked in several office jobs actually. This particular one though saw me working on the telephones within a small team. I mainly took note of customers complaints about some (very boring) air conditioning units or spoke to engineers about their frustrations with their employer and told them why they would have to wait a week for a part we were meant to hold stock of.

It sucked. It REALLY sucked.

At the time Col was a 4 year old blonde bundle of energy. He was always my little shadow and having to drop him off with his childminder (even though she was great with him) to go to a job I hated was utterly soul destroying.

Then, I discovered I was pregnant.

Big Fat Positive

After I had gotten over the initial shock of that little line appearing, I had to think of the practicalities. At the time I was living 150 miles away from my parents and siblings and in fact all of my relatives. Childcare was expensive for 1 child, for 2 it was going to pretty much be out of our budget. Of course we would make it work. People generally do, don’t they?

I pondered the question of how. The days turned to weeks turned to months and before I knew it I was the proud owner of a great big bump and on Maternity leave. The panic was starting to set in.

One Day I Woke Up

I was 7 months pregnant, had quite severe SPD which was preventing me from walking any further than to our front door without crutches and I had an idea! Well, it wasn’t so much as an idea than a feeling. I had played with Fimo as a child with my Aunt who had taught me how to use it (and loved it) but since becoming an adult I hadn’t really thought about it at all. On this day though it was all I thought about. Off to the local craft shop I went and procured a few assorted colours of Fimo. I returned home excited and sore. This was what I made that afternoon.

I cringe when I look back at it now but at the time I was pretty pleased with how it had turned out! I popped it on Ebay with an item description explaining how I was selling a service rather than a premade item and clicked POST!

My First Sale

12 hours later I had a direct message from a lady called Kathy who lived in New York and who was desperately searching for a bride and groom in their wedding attire with faces made up to look like members of the band KISS. I accepted her challenge and that was that. My first sale!

Once the cake topper had been made I sent Kathy a photo and she quickly replied to let me know she was very pleased and wanted to order clay figures of her pets. Her 12 cats and dogs. They were to be assembled around the lower tiers of her step style wedding cake. I obliged of course and the topper was sent.

I have never forgotten that first sale and how grateful I still am that she entrusted me with such an important part of her special day.

11 Years Forward

I know how lucky I am. I get to be at home with my children. I’m am able to attend all of their special assemblies and sports days and I owe all of that to a little idea planted when I was a child which grew into something I love. I don’t like to call it work or a job because with those words comes the implication of a lack of enjoyment. Of course at times it has been difficult. Juggling a business with a demanding family is definitely a skill. Sometimes life can get in the way of time I ought to be crafting orders and usually on those occasions I am working very long hours and surviving on very little sleep. It’s worth it. Every single time.

My Favourite Part

I love creating. The design process and speaking to excited brides and grooms to be about what they would like to have included is lovely. Sitting at my desk with clay around me bringing our ideas to life has never lost its appeal. I can lose myself in those hours and let my hands take over. But when all of that is finished with and a client emails or messages to tell me how pleased they are with their cake topper and how everybody at their wedding has commented on how wonderful it is. That is an amazing feeling. That is probably why I could never give it up.

As well as wedding cake toppers I create figures for all occasions. Click HERE to win a bespoke birthday cake topper!