Going for Gold!

As Olympic fever really hits the country today with the opening ceremony this evening, we thought we’d treat you to a little Olympic inspired blog!

If you fancy an Olympic themed wedding or party, then let our mood boards below inspire your décor and theming!

A true Olympic theme

Or why not go back to the Olympics roots and go for a Grecian theme for your special day.

Or if you’re feeling very patriotic with all the celebrations in Britain this year, how about a Best of British or London insipred theme?

Alternatively, if you don’t want to theme your day with the Olympics but still want to get into the spirit, why don’t you incorporate your very own mini games into your wedding day? Revert your guests back to their childhood and treat them to some fun and silly games and races- very nostalgic!

Image courtesy of Joel Smith Photography

Getting all your guests involved will really bring everyone together and the laughs will be endless! Even those who don’t want to participate will have a great time but we think you’ll be surprised at how many people  really get into the spirit and want to join in!

A mini games will also make for some very special photo opportunities and will ensure your guests will never forget your day!

The nostalgic silly sports are the best so that its fun and not taken too seriously- although you can guarantee there will always be one competitive one!

How about a sack race?

Image courtesy of Joel Smith Photography

Or Egg and spoon race?

Image courtesy of phweddings.co.uk

Or tug of war?

Image courtesy of activehire.co.uk

Or a wheel barrow race?

Image courtesy of Leslie Ann Mills

Or a sandcastle building competition if you’re on the beach- would be perfect for Beach Weddings Bournemouth

Image courtesy of leighton-orient-blog.blogspot.com

Or a three-legged race?

Image courtesy of alexbecket.co.uk

Or why not put your guests into teams and play baseball or rounders or good old English cricket?!

Image courtesy of Sundberg Photography

Some other ideas for you are  welly throwing, balancing bean bags on your head, obstacle course, quoit throwing to see who can throw theirs the furthest, relay racing- theres so many endless possibilities!

To give your guests something to really remember your day by it could be a great idea to order some personalised gold, silver and bronze medals that have been personalised with the Bride and Groom’s names with the date of your wedding to congratulate those who take part in your games! This alone will bring out the competitiveness in your guests who will revert back to their childhood with the desire to win a medal!

Image courtesy of amazon.co.uk

All that’s left to say is good luck in your competition! Enjoy the opening ceremony- you never know you might get some wedding inspiration from there!

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Mood board credits

Olympic colours mood board

Blue flowers- weddingflowers-cotswolds.co.uk

Red flowers-bouquetweddingflower.co.uk

Yellow flowers- BXB Photography

Green flowers- prweb.co.uk

Black bouquet- Blue petyl bouquets

Red Shoes- jcowandewar.wordpress.com

Blue shoes- fairyshoeprincess.com

Green shoes- ninashoes.com

Yellow shoes- pied a terre

Black shoes- rasputinmataram.com

Blue table- lovely wedding.info

Green table- word-of-wedding.com

Yellow table- bridesmaidsandweddings.com

Red table- weddingsonthefrenchriviera.com

Red Bridesmaid dresses- whiteazaleabridesmaiddresses.blogspot.co.uk

Yellow bridesmaid dresses- katemiddletondresses.org

Blue bridesmaid dresses- momentville.com

Black bridesmaid dresses- girlsdressoffer.co.uk

Green bridesmaid dresses- Cassidy Duhon

Grecian theme Mood Board

(Left to right)

Flower girls- bridalcookie.com

Statue- bransoneventrental.com

Handbag- brides.com

Dress- inweddingdress.com

Urns- pyromouse.org

Column wedding cake- brides.com

Draping- wedding-decorations-with-columns.bjfbiero.dnsalias.net/?q=Wedding%20Decorations%20With%20Columns

Leaf earrings- polyvore.com

Wedding dress- Dessy

Olives- Wikipedia.org

Olympic flame- metro.co.uk

One shoulder wedding dress with ruffles- Dessy

Grecian Hair with hairband- theweddingtiara.com

Wedding cake- pinterest.com/stilettofotog/captivating-cakes-cupcakes

Jewellery- athensguide.com

Table cloth- resourceoneinc.com

Best of British

(Left to right)

Underground sign- pureclassics.blogspot.com

London cake- cakelove.tumblr.com

Phone boxes- popartuk.com

Guestbook- madewithlovedesigns.co.uk

Lollipops- notonthehighstreet.com

Post box- theweddingpostbox.com

Black cab- photograph-london.com

Red bus- viktorialove.com

Pimms- fdin.org.uk

London flags- houseofturquoise.com

Bunting- nationalgallery.co.uk

Shoes- domesticsluttery.com

Black cab with wedding ribbons- thechiefbridesmaid.co.uk

Union Jack Heart decoration/pew end- littlepresentpalace.co.uk

Bride- wedbits.com

Place card- beadazzledesigns.co.uk

Flowers- arenaflowers.com

Victoria Sponge- goodtoknow.co.uk

Chair- onewedding.co.uk

Your wedding during the Olympics?

Newly engaged couples will now be starting to think about setting a date and if it is set to be in the summer of 2012 my tip to you is book super duper early! We have recently been asked to look after a few couples whose weddings will be taking place in the middle of the Olympics! With this happening it shouldn't put you off your dream 2012 summer wedding it will just take a tiny bit more thought and you can always look into alternatives for transport and accommodation.

 (photo courtesy of theguardian.co.uk)

Official dates for the 2012 games are 27th July -12th August 2012, however for much of the time leading up to it and a while afterwards England is set to go Olympics crazy. The application for Olympics tickets opens on Tuesday 15th March 2011 and will be open for six weeks closing 11.59pm on Tuesday 26th April 2011.

(image courtesy of h3sean.com)

If you have guests traveling from afar for your wedding, hotel accommodation should be high on your wedding planning list of priority however you could go for something a little different as far as guest accommodation goes if you struggle to get space need to where your guests need to stay.  If your wedding is London based or Dorset based because of the sailing events taking place in Weymouth you need to think on this very early.  Considering it is summer how about going for a little bit of a festival twist and  think about hiring tipi or bell tent for your wedding.  These days its very much "posh" camping!

(images courtesy of Honeybells tent hire)

These tents from Dorset based company Honey bells can be hired furnished or unfurnished sleeping up to 6 or 8 people. With a few different hiring prices and different packages available they really could be a perfect way of solving your accommodation worries in a very unique way also it can ensure your wedding isn't just one day but a whole weekend event and definitely something that will be remembered for a long time to come.

 (image courtesy of lovemydress.typepad.com) 

If transportation is a worry why not hire in transport that will ensure all your guests get to the venue on time. Whether that transport be just basic mini buses from a local hire company or you could treat your guests to a a stylish ride in a personalised wedding bus.

(image courtesy of ThisBus.com)

So, if you have the summer of 2012 in mind for your big day don't let the Olympics stand in your way. With a bit of thought it really doesn't need to be a problem and you can have everything on your list that you would like.

Frances Edwards

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