Tag Archives: champagne

Casual dining experience

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Informal wedding dining options such as buffets, bowl food and rustic platters are shaping up to be hot this year. These all give guests the freedom to move around and enjoy proceedings, making for a more relaxed atmosphere. Remember, the key is to include a good mix of meat, fish and vegetarian options to accommodate all guests.

Offering canapés as a starter or dessert adds a fresh twist and provides a good talking point for guests. Think miniature steak and chips with a warm horseradish cream – lovely!

Another huge trend this year will be reinventing classic dishes. Pay homage to your childhood favourites, with a twist. Think pie and mash, mini sirloin hamburgers, bangers and mash, or fish and chips all made from local produce. We particularly love the fish and chip option. If it’s not formal enough for the day time, it would definitely work for your evening guests, and it may work out cheaper than a buffet.

When it comes to desserts, the key is to think small! Opt for dessert tables or platters with an array of miniatures. smatterings of your favourites such as cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, dainty trifles, chocolate brownies or crumble will allow guests to tuck in. And with light portions they won’t be left feeling lethargic, meaning they can dance the night away!

One particularly lovely trend ‘bring a cake’ dessert table. Brides are asking friends and family to bring their favourite homemade desserts – cakes, flans and more. It’s a cost-effective way to add a personal touch, guaranteed to get everyone talking.

For a novel menu idea, why not serve an actual ‘wedding breakfast’ a la Carrie and Big in Sex and the City? A beautifully served full English with locally sourced produce, fresh orange juice or fruit to start and pancakes or waffles for dessert.

Booking great entertainment

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After your guests leave your wedding and have returned to their daily routine, they’ll remember two things about your special day: the interaction between you and your spouse-to-be, and the rockin’ band or DJ. Details like centrepieces, name cards, and dinner selections will trail far, far behind in the memory banks of your friends and family. That’s why you should look at all your options and carefully choose the most amazing wedding entertainment out there.

Tips for Booking the Best

When you’re searching for that perfect wedding entertainment, it’s important to do your homework. If you’ve never heard or seen their performance, you can do a little research to see what they offer. Reviews are always a great option as you can hear from some of their happy past clients. However, in some cases, reviews may not be available. If you’re interested in hiring a performer but you want to dig a little deeper to make sure they’re the perfect fit, then you should do the following:

  • View their website.

  • Look at their social profiles to see how they interact with fans and followers.

  • Have a contract with clear and precise terms.

  • If at all possible, go see a live performance.

  • Reach out to the entertainer to discuss their prior performance experience. They may be able to connect you with clients they’ve worked with for a referral.

  • Most importantly, you must trust and like who you are dealing with while negotiating the booking.

This is a very special day in your life, and like any milestone event, planning a wedding can get hectic. It’s wise to be prepared for last-minute hiccups and do everything you can to make sure the entertainment is what you’ve always dreamed it would be.

Choosing a wedding menu

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As more and more couples become self-confessed foodies, couples are raising the stakes when it comes to choosing their wedding menu. When planning a wedding, whether you desire the ultimate five-course dinner, paired with wines and finished with petit fours and coffee, or you want to embrace global cuisines in a cultural celebration, you’ll find caterers and venues alike offering all of that and more. But, with choice comes a challenge – when you could have almost anything your heart desires included in your wedding menu, how do you choose what makes it onto the plate?

What type of food do you like?

If you find ordering at a restaurant tricky, you’ll find planning your wedding menu even harder. Do you go for something light, something heavier, or something utterly indulgent? Do you go for vegetarian, fish dishes, lots of spice? Do you keep it traditional or go for a full on fusion of flavours?

The easiest way to narrow down your choice of dishes is to start with what you as a couple both love. If one of you isn’t a big fish fan, and there will only be one main course on the menu, your wedding day probably isn’t the day to try to change it – you both need to enjoy your first married meal together!

If you’ve decided to offer several choices for each course in a menu sent out with your invitations, you’ll have a bit more flexibility, so if you and your new husband or wife-to-be don’t have the same tastes, you can still both be happy.

Will your guests like it too?

While we definitely believe that you should put yourselves first on your wedding day, you are going to be spending a lot of money feeding all your guests, too. By choosing dishes that most of them will like, you’ll be spending that money far more wisely and ensure that your guests have as good a time as you do. For this reason, it can be good to avoid some stronger flavours or more fatty dishes.

It’s also worth asking guests to disclose any allergies or dietary requirements beforehand and choosing caterers who can adapt to these – there is nothing worse as a guest than sitting down in eager anticipation of a decadent and delicious three courses only to find that you can’t eat them.

How do you want your wedding breakfast to be served?

Once you’ve narrowed down your flavours and dish choices based on what you love and what will work for your guests, you can fine-tune your wedding menu by throwing the dining experience into the mix!

While the days of an obligatory sit-down banquet have passed, couples who have chosen more traditional and formal weddings often opt for a three or four course meal, while relaxed and outdoor weddings will often embrace picnic, barbecue or buffet-style dining arrangements. Those with a sweeter tooth might like to mix traditional with contemporary trends and opt for an afternoon tea instead!

If your heart is set on a global feast and you don’t want to limit yourselves to a set three courses, why not have multiple food stations? They can serve up everything from popcorn and hot dogs to sushi and curries. They can cater to all tastes and all cultures, guaranteeing that there will be something for everyone.

Overseas wedding

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Italy

Thanks to its stop-and-stare scenery, nowhere on earth spells ‘amore’ quite like Italy. Become husband and wife here and you can swap promises in places like Positano, where the views have to be seen to be believed, or in private cloisters surrounded by lush olives groves. Honeymoon celebrations are given over to lingering coffees in pavement cafes, drawn-out dinners in barely-lit restaurants, and hand-in-hand strolls across moonlit piazzas.

Ibiza

It’s always a nice day for a white wedding in Ibiza. Blanched sands and sugar cube villages have given this bohemian island its ‘White Isle’ nickname, and nuptials tend to follow the same virgin colour scheme. Blessings usually take place on the beach, so you can feel the sand between your toes as you say your vows. Here, honeymoons are made up of spectacular sunsets, and spa treatments in view of the sea.

Iceland

Iceland is the ultimate winter wonderland, and weddings here certainly take advantage of the country’s spectacular scenery. You can choose to say ‘I do’ in the open air, against a backdrop of lava fields and the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano. You can opt to get married in Thingvellier National Park, next to Iceland’s biggest lake. Or you can plump for the amazing Blue Lagoon, and toast your nuptials in 37-degree geothermal waters.

Cyprus

There’s a reason Cyprus is known as the Island of Love. This is, after all, the birthplace of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. And the place just oozes romance. Your wedding ceremony can take place on a slither of the country’s 800-kilometre-long coastline, or deep in a forest straight out of a storybook. For a 5-star reception, meanwhile, look to the Sensatori Resort Aphrodite Hills – this luxurious property will make an oyster of your wedding world.

Mauritius

With its unmatchable fusion food, rare wildlife, and the longest unbroken coral reef in the world, Mauritius is a land of one-and-only. And that’s what your dream wedding will be too when you choose to make your promises on this island. You can say your vows on a beach that’s whiter than your veil and quieter than a cloister, and toast with Champagne as the sun dips below the horizon.

Clever ideas for foodies

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Everyone knows that the wedding breakfast and reception will eat up the biggest chunk of your wedding allowance. So how can you squeeze the most out of your budget, while still being bang on foodie trend?

Informal dining options such as buffets, bowl food and rustic platters are shaping up to be hot this year. These all give guests the freedom to move around and enjoy proceedings, making for a more relaxed atmosphere. Remember, the key is to include a good mix of meat, fish and vegetarian options to accommodate all guests.

Offering wedding canapés as a starter or dessert adds a fresh twist and provides a good talking point for guests. Think miniature steak and chips with a warm horseradish cream – lovely!

Another huge trend this year will be reinventing classic dishes. Pay homage to your childhood favourites, with a twist. Think pie and mash, mini sirloin hamburgers, bangers and mash, or fish and chips all made from local produce. We particularly love the fish and chip option. If it’s not formal enough for the day time, it would definitely work for your evening guests, and it may work out cheaper than a buffet.

When it comes to desserts, the key is to think small! Opt for dessert tables or platters with an array of miniatures. smatterings of your favourites such as cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, dainty trifles, chocolate brownies or crumble will allow guests to tuck in. And with light portions they won’t be left feeling lethargic, meaning they can dance the night away!

One particularly lovely trend ‘bring a cake’ dessert table. Brides are asking friends and family to bring their favourite homemade desserts – cakes, flans and more. It’s a cost-effective way to add a personal touch, guaranteed to get everyone talking.

For a novel menu idea, why not serve an actual ‘wedding breakfast’ a la Carrie and Big in Sex and the City? A beautifully served full English with locally sourced produce, fresh orange juice or fruit to start and pancakes or waffles for dessert.

Crazy Marriage proposals

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There are two types of people when it comes to marriage proposals; there’s the type of person who says that a proposal should be a private, intimate moment between two people in love that should reflect their time together.

Here are a couple of crazy proposals from the second type of person – take a look at these grand, public proposals!

A Blackpool Tower flashmob

This is a pretty unique flashmob, as the girlfriend in question was dancing along with the crowd!

The groom-to-be is a dance instructor, and is teaching a whole crowd a routine to’ Marry You’ by Bruno Mars on the dancefloor at Blackpool Tower. Once the crowd gets the routine sorted and are dancing away happily, his girlfriend Emily (also an instructor) comes up on stage to dance with him and lo and behold, he pops the question – much to her delighted amazement and the shouts and cheers of the crowd. This one takes some confidence and chutzpah but it really works and is emotional in all the right ways!

A surprise trip to New York

“I proposed to my girlfriend using deceit, lies and trickery.” Actually, it was a lot more romantic than it sounds – in fact he had two, rather than one big surprise lined up. The first was that his girlfriend was convinced they were going to Paris for their break, and it wasn’t until they got to the airport and Andy produced her passport and a beret that she discovered that they were actually going to New York! 

Then he sets things up just so he can propose in Times Square and film the whole thing – and really takes her by surprise yet again. How impressive!

 As if by magic

A proposal should always be magical, but this one might take the cake! David enlisted the help of magician and street performer to help him pop the question in Las Vegas his girlfriend Mary really had no idea this was going to happen. She’s completely amazed – in all the right ways!

April Fool’s!

Timing is definitely a key part of planning a proposal. One man took a bit of a chance proposing on April Fool’s Day – his girlfriend’s first response is, “This better not be a joke!”. She doesn’t look convinced until he finally pulls out the ring!

His girlfriend is crazy about dogs and always admired the puppies she saw on their walks together in Hyde Park, which gave the groom-to-be in question an idea. He got some special little coats made for three puppies professing his love and popped the question that way. 

Working it out

Proposing to your girlfriend whilst she’s at work isn’t always the best idea – unless she’s a teacher and you can get her cute pupils involved!

That’s the idea this groom-to-be had – he made them all hold up letters spelling out his proposal and briefed them before his girlfriend entered the class.  It’s a really sweet idea, and of course all ends well.

Unique wedding entertainment ideas

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If you are looking for unique wedding entertainment or something a bit different, here are five unusual wedding acts that your guests may never have experienced before!  Obviously these ideas may not be perfect for every wedding, but if these brilliant ideas fit the wedding theme, then the bride and groom certainly have an opportunity to help make their wedding stand out in people’s minds.

Petting Zoo

Yes, we’re jumping right in on the unique wedding entertainment ideas by picking something that the Best Man and Maid of Honour will love: a petting zoo. Even the hardiest members of your family will struggle not to smile at stupidly cute fluffy animals in attendance. But if that’s not enough, then a unicorn can also be made available! Okay, it’s actually Tony the Pony in costume, but it’s still incredibly cute and perfect entertainment for your big day. Just think of the photo opportunities!

Pianist

Band or DJ is a classic conundrum for every wedding couple. Not least because saying ‘band’ comes across as a simple choice between one or the other but neglects to mention that there are so many different types of band from a Ceilidh band to a swing band, a quartet to an a cappella trio. There is just so much choice that it’s difficult to know where to look.  A pianist is also a great alternative to a DJ where you and your guests could dance and sing around the piano.

Games Room

Yes, you read that right. Most people want a games room in their house but how about a games room at a wedding? This can take the form of old school classics made large like Giant Jenga, Giant Chess and Giant Connect 4 to your favourite arcade games from days gone by. Pacman, Tetris, Galaxian… How about a game of Pong at your wedding? All doable and great fun for kids and big kids alike!

Dance Lesson

Although many of us learn a few short dance moves and steps, another inspired choice is to hire professional dancers to teach a room a more traditional dance will have you dancing the Charleston in no time! Having a choreographed dance with your guests seem to be all the rage at the moment, and you never know it may be put on You Tube? If some of the wedding guests are from a certain part of the world, this is also a brilliant choice in having an entire room learn a national dance, breaking the boundaries between the guests.

Quiz

Who doesn’t love a good quiz? Although ordinarily associated with a good old British pub, a wedding quiz is a superb choice of entertainment for the post-dinner discussions. At this time, it’s common place for the wedded couple to walk from table to table and thank guests for attending, sometimes leaving guests unsure what to do in the meantime. With this in mind, a quiz is perfect for getting everyone involved. And who’s to say there won’t be a round testing just how well you know the bride and groom?!

Save money and help you impress on your big day!

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Happy talk

Build up the hype and get your friends talking before the wedding day by creating unique save the dates and invitations. A budget saving craze in the US right now is for couples to shoot a short film telling the story of their relationship revealing the date of their wedding, and then email it to friends and family!

Music to our ears

Have a unique wedding ceremony by incorporating different types of music. To save money, how about asking a friend play the guitar at the ceremony and have everyone in the congregation sing along to your favourite song? It’s a nice twist on traditional hymns and will be a special moment to remember.

Time for tea

Rather than serving a traditional three-course meal at your wedding, think about mixing it up a little. Serve a dish at each table for guests to share and enjoy. Think about a bespoke wedding menu to fit your budget.

Creative cakes

Tiered wedding cakes continue to be popular at weddings, but it’s great when couples look to do something different. Think about money saving options like cupcakes, cake pops and pick and mix stands. They’re often cheaper than a tiered cake and can be personalised, too.

Trendy transport

Drive off with your new husband in something unusual. Think about leaving in style in a fab vintage sports car or be unexpected and save money by arriving to your wedding with your bridesmaids on classic bicycles!

Fab focals

Think about working with focal points in your wedding venue to make them part of the style or theme. One example could include filling a fireplace with large white lanterns, and making a post box out of a wishing well where guests could safely post their cards and gifts.

Bright ideas

Invest in some lighting to help transform your wedding venue from day to night. It doesn’t have to be expensive, a few uplighters and coloured ceiling washes can make a huge difference. Think about some great lighting designs for my events that really add the wow factor but don’t blow the budget.

Take care

From flip flops for sore feet, pashminas for cold shoulders, fans to cool down in the heat and personalised ponchos for festival-style rain – all these budget saving but very effective ideas show your guests you have really thought about them, too.

All together now

Think about communal areas at your venue and how you can personalise them to make them unique to you. Think about high gloss banners to hang on top of signs at a wedding venue to announce the couple’s wedding. These spaces are perfect for guests to mingle and get to know one another. Think about candles, perfumes and essential toiletries in the bathrooms for a personal, thoughtful and simple touch.

VIP guests

Make guests feel special by re-creating the VIP areas you see in trendy clubs. Place a chilled bottle of Champagne and vodka on the tables in the reception room for guests to enjoy – it really makes an impact and can help save on the bar budget!