Then in late 2023, my daughter and her (now) husband, got married. They chose the very beautiful Jesmond Dene Hotel in Newcastle, and I had the honour and privilege of styling the venue for their big day. Bouquets and buttonholes for the full bridal party. Floral arrangements for the venue. Lanterns for the aisle and tables. Chair draping. Table runners. Signage. The works.

It was hard work, but I loved every minute of it!  And on the day, bride and groom were delighted with the end result ("It was the best day ever!" they tell me, repeatedly). Guests were suitably wowed. I lost count of the number of times people told me they thought the (faux) flowers were real or how lovely the venue looked. Well, people do, don't they? It's polite, isn't it? So I never thought much of it ... 

... until the staff (seasoned professionals 'in the know') started asking "Do you do this for a living?" adding "Well you should! You've got an eye for it." And so it was that, over the next few weeks, as I reflected on events and considered their comments, the seed was sown and ReStyle was born.

It is my strongly held belief that every bride (or groom, as the case may be) deserves the opportunity to exercise their creativity and be involved in the design of their venue styling so that it says something about them as a couple. But not everyone has the time, inclination, energy or creative skills to do it themselves. Nor does everyone have the vision to bring everything together in a way that looks stylistically coordinated and seamless. 

If you want or need to engage a typical event dressing service, there are limits to how far you can take things and therefore how personalised the end look is likely to feel. I mean, let's be honest, who really wants the out-of-the-box wedding experience some suppliers provide?! Well, here at ReStyle I put you and your future spouse at the heart of everything I do. Head over to consultations to find out more about how that works.

But sadly, as I began to develop my plans for ReStyle, I realised that the wedding industry is becoming increasingly renowned for the environmental impact it has. I also realised that by just making a few small and discrete (but thoughtful) adaptations here and there, I could take big steps to help reduce the environmental impact of your decor for you. In doing so, my aim is to provide all the style and finesse you're looking for but, crucially, without obvious stylistic compromises and without your eco-friendly decision-making diverting attention away from where it should be - on you. 

So here at ReStyle, I put reduce, reuse and recycle at the heart of everything I do. But I keep it all low-key and in the background - unless, of course, it's something you really want to showcase! 

Please head over to the eco-credentials page to find out more about what I do to protect the environment, and how I do it.