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Perfect for a relaxed Sunday evening, Brides Up North pours herself a cold glass of rose and talks all things chic and lovely with event stylist Lisa Huxley of Alwena Rose. This is the life!
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How did Alwena Rose begin?
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As with many businesses in the wedding industry, the idea for Alwena Rose started when planning my own wedding.
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John and I had a beautiful ‘shabby chic’ themed wedding in a rustic barn on Bodmin Moor in August, 2010. As someone who absolutely loves anything rustic, country and pretty, our wedding was filled with lots of lovely little touches like a vintage candy bar, twig hearts, lanterns and bird cages. However, I was frustrated that we were unable to hire the items and that we had the expense of buying everything. And so the idea for Alwena Rose was born.
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Where did the name Alwena Rose come from?
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The ‘Alwena’ part came from my name – Lisa Alwena Huxley. I wanted the business name to be unique, have heritage and to convey that it is a family run business. ‘Alwena’ did all those things. I also wanted the business name to incorporate something symbolic to weddings and feel that there is nothing more beautiful and symbolic of a wedding than a ‘Rose’.
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What services does Alwena Rose provide?
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Alwena Rose provides beautiful and unique venue styling across North Wales, Shropshire and the North West. Our stunning hire collection offers everything for a truly beautiful wedding day, including chair covers, candelabras, rustic bird cages, candy bars and twig hearts.
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What event styling trends are popular for weddings in 2011?
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Given the range of shabby chic hire items we provide, the vintage / rustic look continues to be a popular styling trend for 2011. In terms of colours, couples are keeping it classic with ivory and pastels for spring and summer weddings; and reds for winter weddings.
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Tell Brides Up North a bit about your styling accessories – what can you provide?
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Our styling accessories all have a shabby chic / rustic theme. Items include distressed vintage style wooden blocks which feature the word LOVE, lanterns, twig hearts, metal wedding signs and beautiful wooden bunting.
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Any really memorable/ gorgeous weddings that you have styled?
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I would say my wedding….but that would be biased!!
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That is actually really difficult! I honestly do think all the weddings I have styled have been memorable and gorgeous in their own way, so I would find it hard to choose one. However, I am particularly looking forward to a wedding I am styling this July: the couple are sitting on bales of hay for the ceremony and are hiring our cream jugs to fill with sweet peas grown on their own farm in North Wales. I really can’t wait!
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What is your favourite wedding “look”?
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Anything rustic or country chic.
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Tell Brides Up North a little about your own wedding day…
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John and I had an intimate wedding on 2nd August, 2010 at Trevenna, a collection of converted barns in beautiful, rural countryside on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. After our honeymoon, we celebrated by throwing a big party near our home for all our friends and family at Carden Park, Nr Chester.
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I wore an Italian lace fishtail dress and cathedral length veil, with a vintage side comb in my hair. We went for an elegant shabby chic theme with lots of rustic flowers, twig hearts, candles and bird cages. We had a harpist for the ceremony and drinks reception followed by a jazz band in the evening. Guests were kept entertained with a vintage candy bar and a post dancing portion of fish and chips!
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[Note: You can see Lisa & John’s Real Wedding photographs coming up very shortly on Brides Up North.]
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What celebrity wedding would you most like to have styled and what would you have suggested?
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A recent celebrity wedding caught my eye actually – Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth. They were married at her ranch in California in March. Their theme was rustic, farm-style. The outdoor styling included lanterns and chandeliers hanging from trees, mismatched antique chairs and distressed benches, a wood plank dance floor, antique leather sofas, antique rugs, wagon wheels and Turkish textile pillows. The table decorations included different arrangements of white, blush and lavender flowers in mason jars, fish catcher lanterns and antique pots.
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It sounded like the perfect wedding to me and I would have loved to have been involved in the styling.
What would I have suggested? I think some wooden heart bunting to hang between the trees and twig hearts for the end of the benches would have looked really sweet and matched in with the theme perfectly.
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What can a bride who books your service expect?
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A personal and professional service at all times. At Alwena Rose we personally deliver, set up and collect all hire items.
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Can you give Brides Up North an idea on price?
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As we appreciate that some brides want to be more hands on than others, our wedding decorations are available to hire either as item only (Simply Rose) or decorated (Rose Plus). Prices range depending on the hire item chosen. For example, our cream metal jugs are £6.50 each on their own or £8.00 each decorated. This compares to our candelabras that are £16.00 each on their own or £18.00 decorated.
Our candy bar is priced at £2 per guest and includes sweets of the couple’s choice, traditional glass sweet jars, silver scoops, traditional candy bags, decorations to match the colour scheme as well as delivery, set up and collection.
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Our chair covers are available from £2.50 per chair.
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Can you do a discount for Brides Up North readers?
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Yes – I can offer 5% discount if a couple mention that they came through Brides Up North.
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Why do you read Brides Up North?
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I love anything wedding and the blog keeps me up to date with trends. Plus, it allows me to find local suppliers that I can let my couples know about.
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Anything else that Brides Up North should know?
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At Alwena Rose, we absolutely know how important it is to have everything perfect for a couple’s wedding day and pride ourselves on our huge attention to detail. We also appreciate that each wedding style is uniquely individual and we work with our brides and grooms to create their dream wedding day.
All our chair covers are made from the best quality fabrics and are professionally laundered and pressed to ensure immaculate presentation. Available in white, ivory or black, our chair covers can be complimented with a delicate organza or sumptuous taffeta sash, chosen from our wide range of colours.
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We don’t use ‘one size fits all’ or ‘stretchy’ chair covers. We have a large stock of high quality chair covers in various shapes and sizes. We will always contact the venue to ascertain the best chair cover for the chairs – ensuring a perfect fit every time.
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How can Brides Up North get in touch with you/ see some examples of your work/ find out more?
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Couples can email me on info@alwenarose.com. My website has an online gallery that shows examples of my work and I also keep my wedding fayre page up to date on the website with local wedding fayres I am attending.
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Alwena Rose is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier
Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier
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