Category Archives: Planning

Wedding Times

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What Time Of Day Should You Get Married?

While 11am or 1pm remain the most popular ceremony time historically, sunset and candlelit weddings are pretty appealing too.  So, how should you choose what time to get married?

When you first meet with your wedding venue coordinator, you’ll be presented with options for the scheduled timings of a traditional wedding day. While they may be popular for good reason – a 1pm ceremony gives you plenty of time to get ready and take photographs with your bridal party – there’s nothing to say that your perfect day has to fit the same mould.

Over the last few years, here in the UK marriage laws have relaxed considerably. These allow for more relaxed schedules in turn. So, if you’ve been imagining a sunrise elopement with the dawn chorus or exchanging vows beneath the stars, they needn’t be pipe dreams anymore.

There may be times that are particularly sentimental for you as a couple. How about the time of your first date, of the proposal, or other relationship milestones, for example. You could use these to guide the time you marry too.

The time of year you choose to tie the knot will influence the time you choose to hold your ceremony. If you want a candlelit ceremony or to have your couples portraits at sunset, then you’ll be able to tie the knot much earlier in the day during the winter months than in the summer.

But, while moonlit ceremonies do sound very romantic, you must consider the practicalities of your chosen times too. Your wedding needs to be held at a comfortable time for your guests to attend and suppliers to set up. Thorough planning in advance will make many things possible, though.

Perhaps the set up can be completed the day before and accommodation provided for your guests…

There’s also the question of whether you want exclusive use. If you’ve chosen a wedding venue that is open to the public, then you may need to work around their opening hours to have the place to yourselves. You could encounter this if your venue is a country house with open gardens during the day, a gallery or a museum, for example.

There are benefits of marrying a little later in the day once the crowds have dispersed, though. A 5pm ceremony means you only need to cater for one meal, saving you a significant sum of money that could be invested on your honeymoon instead

On the other hand, if you’ve booked multiple wedding entertainment acts, then it makes sense to hold your ceremony earlier to give you time to enjoy it all. We’ve seen couples book everything from magicians and fire-breathers to photobooths, bands and bouncy castles. Some entertainment will be better suited to the daytime or evening. Anything for children specifically should be planned earlier in the day.

 

DIY your Wedding

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It’s great to see that so many brides and grooms-to-be are drawing on their own talents, and no doubt those around them, to make their big day their own. It is lovely to be able to make your wedding special and unique to you by having real input into it.

When the newlyweds were asked to reveal which items were made or altered through do-it-yourself means, they found the most common DIY details to be the favours, invitations, and the wedding cake. The more unusual answers included the wedding dress (9%), the music or entertainment (6%), and even conducting the service or ceremony (2%)!

Here are the top 10 DIY details at weddings:

Photography – 19%

Flowers – 18%

Catering – 15%

Order of service prints – 14%

Guest book – 13%

Beverages – 11%

Favours – 41%

Invitations – 38%

Wedding cake – 24%

Venue decorations/styling – 21%

DIY is not for everyone, though, and if you’re starting to feel a little overloaded or panicked, you need to make sure you have time to put your feet up too! It’s okay to get some outside help, but be sure you can trust wedding suppliers and that they can help you make your dreams a reality.

A survey conducted found that fewer than one fifth of weddings do not feature any do-it-yourself touches, with the vast majority of newlyweds relying on the method to save a bit of money, add that oh-so-special personal touch, and to make sure everything is done the way you want it.

Most guests love to see a bit of a handmade touch in weddings, and that’s why there is no surprise about how many people are DIYing their wedding these days.

 

Shedding some extra pounds

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Unsurprisingly, brides hope to shed extra pounds before getting married. However, perhaps more shockingly, as many as one in three will resort to crash dieting in an extreme bid to get their ideal bridal body.

The sooner you start the better. Don’t wait until the last minute to try and lose weight and then expect miracles.

You should be thinking about your diet and exercise plan as soon as you start planning a wedding, so that you don’t end up resorting to a crash diet in a bid to lose pounds at the last minute. Ideally you should aim to reach your weight loss goal within 4 weeks of your wedding, in time for the final dress fittings. That way you’ll be able to focus more on the finishing touches of the wedding planning rather than worrying about fitting into your dream dress.

Make sure you take regular exercise over the first four to six weeks for general fitness, then start to target specific areas such as your stomach, thighs and bottom. Keeping a fitness diary will also monitor your progress and help you to feel good about your achievements.

Finding the right kind of exercise regime to suit your needs and schedule can vary from a brisk walk to a full workout in the gym or an exercise video that you found online.

If you have a demanding work and life schedule that rarely allows you to fit exercise in, then try to make lifestyle swaps wherever you can. For example, ditch the car and walk to work or the shops and try to take the stairs instead of the lift – even just taking up small exercises like this will help you keep trim.

High intensity interval training (known as HIIT for short) is great for a busy bride. This consists of short bursts of intense exercise mixed in with small rests, which could benefit you more than a long session in the gym.

You need to start sweating and exercising alongside a healthy diet to make great changes to your body but this doesn’t mean that you need to spend hours on a treadmill.

Above all, have fun and don’t beat yourself up if it takes a while to get the results you want. Getting fit and losing weight healthily takes time, but stick with it and you’ll feel fabulous inside and out when you finally get into that dream wedding dress.

 

Beach wedding hair

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Are you planning a dreamy beach wedding? Once you’ve found the perfect beach wedding dress and booked an amazing seaside wedding venue, you need to start thinking about your hair.

What constitutes beachy wedding hair for you? Braids, texture with waves. A fresh unstructured playful look.

The best thing to do would be to have braids or twists in the hair, or have the hair pulled back fairly tightly. Always embrace the texture and using salt spray to add to it, perhaps have some braids around your face for some pretty detail and then it doesn’t matter so much if the rest of the hair gets a little frizzy as it adds to the look. You can also use a strong hairspray to seal the hair but it can look quite fixed so although it seals away moisture it may not fit for a relaxed look as much.

A loose chignon of some sort to keep the hair away from the face. A look with loose tendrils and texture would be ideal, nothing too fixed and neat. Then if it isn’t too structured the odd hair being blown about will add to the look and it will not look as though anything is out of place.

Hair accessories for a beach wedding would be a flower head crown– Or a few faux flowers dotted through the hair.

Beach weddings can be more relaxed than traditional ones, if its windy then embrace your long hair and let it blow over your face for a romantic look. A good wedding photographer should capture these moments to make you look like a beach gorgeous bride!!

 

Wedding Planning

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We know how important it is to make sure that your special day is also your perfect day. That being said, we’re also aware of how stressful planning a wedding in one of the U.K.’s most incredible cities is! We’ve narrowed down the lists to find you the top 5 wedding planners in London.

The Bijou Bride

– Even the ethos of this company is exactly what you’re looking for. The Bijou Bride runs off the motto “Your wedding, your rules”.

– The weddings that they produce are those of fairy tales. They have been featured in numerous magazines for their stunning creations, and the head designer was even a commentator for the Royal Wedding. They also have vendor associations for days.

– They only offer minimal packages and these guys are busy, a testament to their incredible prowess and producing some of the most glamorous weddings.

Pocketful of Dreams

– Another incredibly fashionable luxury wedding design company, Pocketful of Dreams’ founder, Michelle Kelly has been given extremely high praise and features in some of the top fashion magazines, including Vogue and Glamour.

– Pocketful of Dreams also offers fewer customizable services for the bride to be and the wedding options. This is easily made up for by the incredible vendors and venues they have at their disposal.

SnapDragon

– SnapDragon knows how to throw an unforgettable event. Many of their parties are over the top in the best way possible. They are the gurus of weddings that aren’t just weddings, but events that will be absolutely unforgettable.

– They offer specialties in Indian, Asian, and Jewish weddings and if that’s what you’re planning, you’ll be more than aware of how many details there are that must be flawlessly executed.

– They also offer destination wedding packages which are utterly fab!

My London Wedding Planner

– Lead designer Ayshea Donaldson has been featured in quite a few wedding magazines and it’s no wonder why. Her aesthetic is absolutely incredible. With bespoke luxury wedding design that speaks to a wide variety of brides, she is an up and coming star, renowned for her innovative creations of your ideal vision.

– Easy to book and excellent value for money. My London Wedding Planner has a keen sense of which vendors and venues will fit your personal style best.

Lindy Dowling

– Lindy Dowling is one of London’s unsung heroes in the wedding planner world. Her weddings are absolutely breathtaking and incredibly affordable.

– Lindy Dowling offers a wide range of packages and options available with up front pricing and a zest for finding exactly what fits you best.

– She has been referred to as “professional and personable”, ready to help at any moment, but also great when it comes to getting you the best deal for your needs.

 

Unusual wedding entertainment ideas

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Perhaps, but you want your special day to be unique! So how can you make your wedding day extra special? What sort of wedding entertainment should you hire for your big day? We’ve come up with a few unique cabaret ideas to help get you thinking!

Drag Queen

A Drag Queen isn’t a typical addition you might expect to see at a wedding but they can be a wonderful Master of ceremonies and deliver a stunning and outrageous show at the reception. From stand up to singing, a drag queen diva will wow your wedding guests. The ultimate in unique wedding entertainment.

Aerial Silk Artist

One for the larger wedding venues, there is no piece of unique wedding entertainment more beautiful than an aerial silk artist. Suspended from the ceiling by flowing silk drapes, a talented performer can twist and turn to music to create an ambient acrobatic display or even improvise a hanging routine. A majestic and graceful act, it’s best to let the photos speak for themselves! No performance is ever the same.

Classical music artists

One for the classical music lovers how about a little background music on your wedding day? Classically trained singers from the Royal Academy of Music will captivate your audience. A fabulous addition to any wedding, enjoy a flawless rendition of your favourite classical piece to make your wedding day truly magical.

Dancers

When it comes to unique wedding entertainment ideas, it’s often easy to forget that your guests are as part of the big day as yourselves. A function band is great to get the room going but many attendees are often too shy to hit the dance floor. By booking a dance group who relate to the style of music that your function band play, the evening can incorporate the fun nature of your event and music that suits your particular musical tastes.    

Garden party weddings

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When planning a Garden Wedding, these top tips can make this ever-evolving theme personal to you.

Outdoor venue

To hold an authentic country garden wedding theme you usually need one of three types of wedding venue – a country barn with fairy lights wrapped around the beams, a marquee reception with hay bales for seating, or a quintessentially English manor house with beautiful gardens filled with blooms where you could set up garden games for your guests to enjoy.

Tea and cake

What’s a country garden party without high tea? Instead of a traditional dessert, put a tiered cake stand on each table filled with scones, muffins and cupcake so guests can help themselves, with a pot of tea and coffee on hand to wash it down. Why not stir up a little competitive spirit among your guests and have a Great Wedding Bake-Off?

Set up a table in the marquee and ask guests to bring their homemade goodies. The bride and groom can then present first, second and third prize before cutting their own wedding cake.

Pastel perfection

From the details through to the bridesmaid dresses floral prints and pastel shades are best suited to a country garden theme.

The best floral prints for this theme are pansies, daisies and roses. Think pink, lavender, turquoise and lemon for perfectly pretty girls. Keep shoes nude and hair accessories minimal – flower headbands, perhaps?

The little details  It’s the little details your guests will notice, so consider some of these country inspired ideas… Hand Picked flowers for the bouquets and centrepieces, raffia-tied jam jar favours filled with mini eggs and handmade bunting with Cath Kidston-style material spread all around the wedding venue.

Boho bride

For a country look, consider a short or tea-length wedding dress, and for a bit of fun, add a coloured underskirt with matching shoes! Put real flowers in your wedding hair and accessories with pearls – the chunkier the pearls, the more modern the look.

Make sure you have some wedding wellies on hand for your outdoor reception, as well as some white umbrellas should you need to shelter guests at any point.

 

Choose the right colour scheme

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When planning a wedding, for some reason the need to get a colour scheme sorted presents itself. Do you pick red because of the season? Why do we feel the need to focus on one or two colours, though?

Every bride seems to have a colour scheme or wedding theme in mind but are they really important? And, if so, how do you choose one that’s right for you?

Having a summer wedding? Go with a pretty floral look with your stationery then you can pick and choose accents from it to match your theme as a whole. Doing things this way will save you hours of time and money searching for that ‘one’ colour of bridesmaid dress or exact shade of flower.

Close your eyes and think of a feeling rather than searching with your eyes, conjure up hazy summer days, beautiful autumnal sunsets or a springtime landscape and dream up your colour scheme that way!

The most important piece of advice would be to always be yourself – if you have a perfect colour that is ‘you’ and that’s all you need – go for it! If you don’t, there is no rule for you to stick with one or two colours.  Remember… your wedding, your way! Enjoy every minute of planning your perfect wedding day.

 

Create the ambiance of a Royal Wedding

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If you loved the Royal Wedding and you would love to have all of the music and create the same ambiance (without the Queen of course) then why not replicate some of the music and musicians at your Wedding.  There are plenty of wedding entertainment musicians that would cater for you.

Wedding Singers.

Kicking off proceedings at the Royal Wedding was Elin Manahan Thomas, who sang Handel’s Eternal Source of Light Divine accompanied by a full orchestra. If an array of musicians is in your budget then go ahead, though we expect that most couples would be very happy booking a soprano and having her sing to a backing track.

Gospel Choir

There’s nothing quite like the sound of a choir and it’s fair to say that the whole world was impressed by the aptly named Kingdom Choir as they performed Ben E King’s Stand By Me at the Royal Wedding. You could book your very own Gospel Choir at your Wedding to sing a song that means so much to you both..

Cellist

Sheku Kanneh-Mason wowed the guests at the Royal Wedding as he performed three pieces by Faure, Schubert and Maria Theresia von Paradis respectively. His impact on proceedings has been so great that in the days hence, his classical album is currently at number one on the US iTunes pop charts. Talented cellists would be a great addition to your Wedding, making it as Royal as it can be.

So if this has got you all excited about planning a Royal(esque) Wedding, we hope it goes smoothly (but maybe forget the long speeches from the Pastor!!!)

 

Awkward Wedding Moments

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When planning a wedding, it’s nothing short of exciting and wonderful but there are a few surprise moments which may leave you feeling uncomfortable and a little anxious. We’ve compiled a list of the most awkward wedding moments to arise and how to overcome or avoid these cringe-worthy moments…

  • Having to tell one of your friends that she isn’t your bridesmaid is probably one of the biggest hurdles in the planning stage of the wedding. The best way to let her know that you still care about her is to tell her quietly and ask her to do something else important at the wedding, for example make a special speech!
  • If you don’t want to invite everyone in the office to your wedding, you’re definitely not obligated to. The rule is, if you socialise with them outside of work, then your friendship is more likely to be genuine. It’s your day, just invite your closest work friends but be discreet about it.
  • Inviting your mum to your hen do can be a tricky decision. If you feel like you won’t be able to let your hair down, relax and have fun then don’t invite her. An alternative can be to do something a bit more formal to celebrate with your mum rather than taking her out with your friends. Equally, your mum may not fancy a drunk night on the town! If that is the case, use this opportunity to have a second hen party – perhaps a spa day, activities or a weekend away?! It’s important to make sure she doesn’t feel left out.
  • Every bride fears messing up the first dance, whether that means stepping on the groom’s toes or falling to the floor, all eyes are on you. It is definitely something that should be practiced even a few times, it doesn’t have to be choreographed but take some time with it. Still on the lookout for the perfect first dance song to suit your style? Whether you’re a slow shuffle or flash mob scene kind of couple, take the personality quiz and find out the PERFECT first dance song for you…
  • This may be something that’s overlooked when choosing your perfect wedding dress, but essential on the night of the wedding reception. Whilst this shouldn’t dictate the ease of your wedding dress per say, it’s a good idea to prepare your bridesmaids and your MOH of their potential duties including toilet assistance!
  • It’s a given that on your wedding day there will be hundreds of wedding photos taken of you and your h2b. Do not feel anxious by this if you’re not particularly photogenic. You’ve paid a professional photographer to take photos of you and they’ll know what angles look the most flattering. If this is potential worry for you, make sure you speak with your photographer pre-wedding so you can discuss poses and even have a taster shoot to practice.
  • Most of the time, relatives will be civil with each other at a wedding even if they don’t get on with each other. After all, they love you and are there for you on your big day – they won’t be focusing on each other. If you are worried however, then make sure they aren’t sat on the same table or sat near each other at the ceremony. It’s probably best to keep the distance between them. Check out our seating plan guide for unconventional families.