Where do you want to say "I do"?

Every proposal is a beautiful story whether it takes place at a favourite local restaurant, an exotic location or even in your own bedroom. However, Bride24's top ten cities to propose in got us drooling with travel envy. Take a look at our picks from the list: These amazing hotels in cities all over the world are perfect for a proposal, honeymoon, anniversary or an indulgent romantic get away.

Palazzo Barbarigo, Venice, Italy

 

 Crosby Street Hotel, New York, USA

Cayo Espanto, Ambergris Caye, Belize

 Noir D'Ivoire, Marrakech, Morocco

 Amankora, Bhutan

 

La Residence, Franschoek, South Africa

Send us your proposal stories - we would love to feature them!

Sweet Tooth

If you were inspired by the Candlyland Inspiration board posted yesterday, then you will love today's sweet DIY idea.

I love magazines and find it hard to part with them but in clearing out some cupboards I realised I would have to throw the piles into the recycling bin ASAP! I was browsing through some of them and came across these great recipes in the Food & Home Entertaining December 2008 issue. The bright red lollipops and soft pastel turkish delight would perfectly suit your touch of candyland and would make great favours.

Lollipops
Makes about 10
A little effort
40 mins


400g (2 cups) sugar
170ml (2/3 cup) liquid glucose
170ml (2/3 cup) water
a few drops of red food colouring
wooden skewers
sugar thermometer
ice

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper and lay wooden skewers out in rows, leaving 5cm between each stick.
2. Combine the sugar, glucose and water in a small saucepan. Place a sugar thermometer upright in the saucepan.
3. Bring the mixture to the boil over a high heat. Without stirring, cook until the mixture reached 151 degrees C or hard crack stage on the sugar thermometer. While the syrup is cooking, occasionally wash down the sides of the saucepan with a clean brush dipped in water, to prevent crystallisation.
4. Set up an ice bath in the sink. When the mixture is done, remove the pot from the heat and dip it into the ice bath for 15 seconds to stop the cooking process.
5. Add the food colouring, stirring very gently with a wooden skewer so that the colour is evenly distributed. To avoid air bubbles in the finished lollipops, stir the mixture gently in both directions, but be careful not to overmix.
6. Carefully spoon a little of the syrup around each skewer, creating freeform designs covering at least 6mm of the end of each skewer. If the syrup sets too much while you're working warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds.
7. Let the lollipops cool until they're hard, about 20 minutes. Lift them off the paper and store in an airtight container for up to a week (or up to 3 days if the weather is very humid).

Turkish Delight
Makes about 25
Easy
25 mins plus extra to set


130g cornflour, sifted
300ml water
25ml (5 tsp) gelatine
500g sugar
25ml (5 tsp) rose water
juice of 2 lemons
a few drops of pink food colouring
70g (1/2 cup) icing sugar, sifted

1. Line a 20cm x 23cm baking tray with plastic wrap. 
2. Combine 80g of the cornflour with 50ml of the water to form a paste. Set aside.
3. Sprinkle the gelatine onto 125ml (1/2 cup) of the water and set aside.
4. Place the remaining water, sugar, rose water and lemon juice in a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cornflour paste, whisking continuously. Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes.
5. Melt the gelatine mixture on the defrost setting of the microwave for a few seconds. Add the gelatine in a thin stream to the sugar mixture. Stir in the food colouring. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and allow to set at room temperature. Combine the icing sugar and the remaining cornflour and set aside.
6. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Place the in the icing sugar mixture and toss thoroughly to coat*. Leave to rest in the icing sugar for a couple of days or until the shapes are not moist anymore. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

*Start with only half the icing sugar and cornflour mixture to roll the Turkish Delight in as it tends to become lumpy. Discard the lumpy icing mixture and continue with the other half.

Inspiration board #12: Candyland

Welcome to Candyland: Macaroons, carousels, candy canes, and all things that make you smile. This week we took inspiration from those childhood delights that recall memories of long ago, innocent joy. Inspiring this feeling at your wedding can come through small details such a favours, or extravagant extras like a carousel, and even subtly through the colour scheme of playful pinks, pastel strips, and touches of red.

(Please click on board for larger image)

Top row from left: White blouse and pale blue tulle skirt from Martha Stewart Weddings, peonies by Erica Jayne Floral Designs, cones and straws via Hello Lucky, bride and groom with candy canes via Ruffled
Row 2: Cake stand via Bridal Bar Blog, flower girl dress by flora and henri,
Row 3: Photo of carousel via Little Brown Pen, candy canes via Hello Lucky, invitation by Ice Cream Social

Happy Freedom Day!

To all our inspired brides-to-be in South Africa, we hope you are enjoying this public holiday! It's always such a treat getting a day off work in the middle of the week. May it give you a chance to get those items ticked off on your to do list, or just a chance to put up for feet and relax!

Source: Le Love

Real wedding #12: Naturally Beautiful

This wedding reminds us of the beauty of simplicity. These pictures exude that heartfelt feeling of giddy nerves and excitement that only getting married can conjure up. The decor is kept to a minimum which makes those gorgeous fresh roses even more striking in the large silver buckets. I love the brides dress: the layers of soft fabric have been created into a style that is at once unique yet timeless. And the pearls work perfectly with the look, as do the flat coral sandals and casual hairstyle. The interesting bespoke invitations were drawn by Alyson Fox. All so naturally lovely.

Source: Once Wed

Konfetti

By now you know just how much we love free stuff! So today we're featuring Konfetti, a free online South African bridal magazine. The March - June 2010 issue is now out and available here. It's filled with beautiful dresses, champagne tips, vendor information, real weddings and some great giveaways. In this issue you could win a two day stay at the amazing Thula Thula or an engagement shoot. You do have to register to view that magazine but it's free and totally worth it! Happy weekend reading!

Oh So Sweet Straws

I am having one of those days that goes by in flash and you still haven't got through half of your to-do list. As brides-to-be I am sure you understand how I feel!

This free download was this perfect way to end your day for three simple reasons:
1) It's free (we love the beautiful, creative ideas beautiful, creative people make freely avaialble on the web)
2) It's fun, bright and will add a little sweetness to any occasion
3) It's super easy to make and while the red and white candy striped straws are ideal, any coloured straws will do

Download the instructions from Papermash

Inspiration Board #11: Down to the Woods

A forest is an enchanting and romantic wedding venue and in South Africa we are spoilt for choice. Be inspired by the colours and textures of this board, especially in Autumn.
{Source: Apologies, my source list has disappeared so if you have seen these or took them yourself, please let us know!}

Out-the-box wedding dress inspiration

We love Refinery29, a cutting edge newsletter about what's hot right now. So of course, when they featured alternative wedding dresses we wanted to share it with you. These five looks offer great out-the-box inspiration for choosing the THE dress, the rehearsal dress, the going away dress and even bridesmaids' dresses.

The romantic bride

Think draping fabric in luxurious silk or delicate lace. This look has a timeless feel and is perfect for a romantic wedding with soft colours and elegant or rustic decor.

The neo-classical bride

If traditional dresses aren't your style then this look may be right up your alley! These dresses incorporate on-trend elements such as one-shoulder dresses, folds, and modern lines. The dress second from the right would be my choice for a going away dress: cute, sassy and a what to make an exit!

The bodacious bride

Are you a statement making kind of girl? If these dresses inspire you to think 'I want that' and not 'You'll never catch me dead in that' you may be a bodacious bride. A touch rock 'n roll, even a touch punk, this look is one way to make a statement.

The fashion-forward bride

Want people to be talking about your dress for many weddings to come, perhaps a fashion-forward look is the answer for you. As the bride, all eyes will be on you anyway but wear one of these and the eyes will never look away. If you don't want to go to the extreme, incorporate elements of these into your dress - that low back will look stunning even on the most classic of dresses.

The multi-tiered bride

Want to go straight from your wedding to a honeymoon in the French Riveria? The multi-tiered dress is all about glamour and can be dressed up (like the one on the left) or down (like the one on the right. Perfect for a small, intimate wedding, an elegant lunch reception, or a destination event at a beautiful coastal restaurant.

For names of designers of each dress as well as prices click here.

Real Wedding #11: Swedish Charm

I love the rustic elegance of this Swedish wedding. Gordon and Monika are one of the most gorgeous looking couples I have seen - and I adore the manly knife tucked in his sock! I love the beautiful and whimsical stationery, the magnificent table setting and the butterfly cut-out used in a subtle yet romantic way (how gorgeous are the butterflies perched on the glasses?). Lovely!

{Source: Photos by Monika Manowska via Style Me Pretty}

Monthly round up: Give aways, downloads and competitions

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Free stuff

• Our favourite online planning tool, click here
• Photo booth backdrop download, click here
• Patterned label download, click here
• Beautiful online wedding magazine, click here

Competitions

• Win a wedding, click here
• Bride of the month competition, click here

Other specials we know you want to know

• Last weekend of pampering discount at Sorbet, Rosebank, click here

For our March round up with more downloads click here

Have a wonderful weekend brides-to-be!

To DIY or not to DIY?

I loved this view on DIY projects when I came across it. Rachel, who has a lovely blog Heart of Light, helped her sister plan a DIY wedding where they literally did everything themselves! That is a huge undertaking and understandably they were exhausted by the end of it. Rachel has put together this cute and useful DIY reality check to help you decide which projects to do yourself, which to get  help with, which to rather buy, and which to toss. The point being, you can't do everything yourself so choose those projects that will really make a big difference to the day and plan around them. It's the gorgeous touches that people will remember but not as much as they will remember a gorgeous, relaxed bride!

Click here to view the full-size PDF.

Here are a few pics from the wedding - they even made from scratch all the biscuits for the 'cookie table'!

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Inspiration board 10: Garden romance

Today's inspiration board took a cue from this weeks Real Wedding feature and made its way into the garden. There is something special about getting married in your parents' backyard but many venues offer a feeling of an old family garden. I love the simplicity and timelessness that is offered by this environment. Decor can remain at a minimum as the setting creates the atmosphere. This gives you room (and time!) to focus on small details like flower name tags and beautiful canvas welcome bags for your guests. Potted plants on tables serve well as flowers and tie into the theme. Petals can be add a romantic touch on walkways, in fountains and on the dance floor.

 

(Please click on board for larger image)

Top row from left: pot plant table number via Once Wed, photo of tables under canopy by Elizabeth Messina, bridesmaids from InStyle Weddings
Row 2: Flowergirl dress by Eliza Gran,  'To have and to hold' welcome bag by Melangerie NYC, flower name tags from Tinsel Trading
Row 3: cake by Perfect Endings, fountain with petals via Style Me Pretty, photo of bride by Jenny Sun Photography 

Utterly Engaged

 

We've been meaning to share this amazing wedding find with you for some time - Utterly Engaged is a gorgeous, online, free (!) bridal magazine. Issue 8 is currently available here and you can also access the back issues via the site for even more lovely browsing.

The latest issue features the winners of their recent tablescape competition - loads of inspiring ideas to suit all tastes, budet savvy tips for a blue wedding, beautiful tablescapes, cakes and more.

Real wedding #10: A timeless affair

As you know, we are always inspired by brides who incorporate personal details, hand made touches and original extras into their wedding. However, we also love a bride who decides to remain classic and simple. This wedding is beautiful, elegant and timeless. The couple had a small intimate celebration in the bride's parents' garden surrounded by close friends and family. The dress code was formal which created a glamorous atmosphere with the men in tuxedos and the women in gowns and hats. The bride's gown was a lace creation with a vintage feel and the tables were simply done with family silver and glass collections. Take a look at these beautiful pictures and be inspired by a classic!

Source: Once Wed

Photography: Jessica Johnston