Wedding Planner – Choosing Your Date!

It’s finally here - My Wedding Wonderland Wedding Planner!

Taking you from how to choose your perfect date right through to organising your honeymoon, My Wedding Wonderland hopes to ease some of the pressures and make your planning experience more enjoyable!

We start with a guest post by the lovely Helen Carter of Helen Carter Weddings, who talks about all the things you should take into consideration when trying to choose your date...

Choosing a Wedding Date – Helen Carter, Helen Carter Weddings

Deciding on the date of your wedding can be trickier than you first think, and is one of the first big planning decisions you’ll make. Some couples may already have a special date in mind and know exactly when they want to tie the knot – perhaps the anniversary of their engagement or the day they first met – but for others it can feel like the equivalent of sticking a pin in the calendar. Irrespective of whether or not you have a date in mind, there are a few things you should consider before settling on your choice. Here are my top 5 tips for helping you choose your wedding date:

1.    Narrow it down

If you really have no clue about a wedding date, start by thinking about what time of year you would like to get married. Maybe you particularly love the colours of autumn, or perhaps you dream of snuggling up in front of a cosy fire in the middle of winter. The weather tends to be a big factor for most brides, but remember that you can’t guarantee a lovely warm summer’s day, so try not to make this the sole reason for choosing your date.   

Also think about the day of the week on which you’d like to get married. The most popular day is undoubtedly a Saturday, but couples are increasingly opting for Sunday or week-day weddings to give them a greater choice of venue availability and also to save on costs – venues often charge higher rates for a Saturday compared with a Friday or Sunday, whilst mid-week weddings can save hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

2.    Keep an open mind

Try to avoid setting your heart on a single date, as this can be restrictive when it comes to finding a venue, particularly in peak season or if you have a fairly short planning time. Instead think about a range of dates that you would be happy with (for example, a Saturday in July), as this can give you much more choice when it comes to finding a venue. Also keep an open mind when it comes to the day of the week. You may have your heart set on a Saturday, but the venue you love may be more realistic for your budget on a Friday or Sunday.

3.    Think about your budget

The date of your wedding will have a significant influence on the overall cost, mainly due to venue hire charges. I’ve already mentioned that Saturdays and summer months are the most expensive, and this is something you need to consider when thinking about your wedding date. If you’re looking for ways to make your budget go further, week-day weddings in the winter months can be one of the best ways to save money without compromising on the overall look of your day. 

4.    Consider your planning time

Think about how long you need to plan your wedding. If you don’t have very much spare time you’re going to put yourself under a great deal of pressure if you decide on a date that’s only a few weeks away. Don’t under-estimate how long it takes to find and meet with venues and suppliers, and give yourself a reasonable amount of planning time that means you will enjoy the experience, rather than feel permanently stressed out.

5.    Check for other important dates

Before settling on a date it’s worth checking whether there are any big events happening around the same time that could cause problems. For example, you might want to avoid the additional travel and accommodation issues associated with getting married in London during the 2012 Olympics, or if you or your guests are big football fans you might not want your wedding date to clash with certain World Cup fixtures.

It’s also worth checking whether there are any local events happening in the area where you’re getting married, as this may impact on travel and accommodation. The date on which I got married 4 ½ years ago happened to be the same weekend as the Staffordshire V festival. This caused complete gridlock on some roads leading to our venue and meant local hotels were fully booked, but because we made our guests aware of it well in advance it didn’t cause any problems on the day. 

Finally, think about the availability of the majority of your guests and whether your choice of wedding date might mean they’re unable to attend. For example, asking guests to take a day off work for a week-day wedding isn’t usually a problem, but if you have lots of children attending it can be very difficult to take them out of school during term-time.

This post was very kindly provided by Helen Carter of Helen Carter Weddings

www.helencarterweddings.co.uk

Follow Helen on Twitter-www.twitter.com/HCarterWeddings (@HCarterWeddings) 

My Wedding Suppliers

I gave you a run down on my big day yesterday so today I'm going to tell you all about the venues and suppliers!

Ok, starting with the most important thing – my dress!!

The dress I wore was ‘Colette’ by Rosetta Nicolini from Berketex brides, which at the time was located near Trafalgar Square (it has now moved to just off Oxford Street now). Now please excuse the photos but they’re the only ones I have of my dress at the moment.

My favourite colour is pink!! I love everything pink and girly so there was no doubt in my mind when it came to choosing the colour of my bridesmaid dresses!! Now, looking back at these I do feel that maybe I could have chosen a slightly less vibrant shade of pink but they certainly make a statement! My Husband, his Best Men (He had 3!!) and Ushers all wore Kilts. The Ushers and my Dad wore Black Watch tartan and my Husband and Best Men wore Irish National Tartan.  Again, this is just an amateur photo of the bridal party (my bridesmaids will probably batter me for putting this up) but I promise I am working on the uploading of the professional pics now (well not NOW but when you are reading this I will be I promise!) The bridesmaid and flower girl dresses were all from Debenhams and I just can't recommend them enough! They were so helpful! I can actually say the same for Moss Bros too which is where the guys all hired their Kilts….

My actual service took place in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, London.

I attended this church every Sunday up until I got married and moved to Oxfordshire (then Surrey and now I’m in Essex!! My husband is in the Army hence all the travelling!)

We got our cars from a company recommended by London Bride and Groom. I’m sure it was actually run by them too but really can’t be 100% certain. Anyway, the drivers were so lovely and made you feel so special! As I got out of my car at the Church, my driver said to me ‘Oh isn’t that a lovely dress. It’s a Maggie Sottero isn’t it – I can spot one of those a mile off’. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he was wrong after making the effort to say something so sweet bless him! (again I apologise for the pic!) …..

Our stationery was from a company called Lollipop Designs. They were so pretty and were a great hit with our guests too as they included a map and an RSVP. Now I know these come as pretty much standard in most invitations today but they were a novelty back then. God I am making this sound ancient but I have come to realise that the years since your wedding should really be measured in dog years in terms of how styles change as things revolve VERY quickly in the industry! I would love to show you a picture but Lollipop no longer do wedding invitations (which is a real shame!). I have just asked Terri (the lovely bridesmaid!) if she can send me a picture as surely she will still have one! I do have one myself but it’s up in the loft and there is no way, never ever EVER that I can go up there and the husband is out. Am I alone with Loft phobia??? ANYWAY, back on track I will add a picture of the invite tomorrow!

Our reception venue was the lovely Conrad Hotel, Chelsea Harbour and it was just beautiful. I wasn’t really sure about having it in a hotel but when I was shown the reception room I was won over! It overlooked a marina and was so romantic. When we got engaged we were quite torn between getting married in the UK or abroad and this venue kind of gave us the best of both worlds I think. It was very easy to forget we were in central London!

Our photographer was the lovely Nikole Ramsay – www.nikoleramsay.com. She was brilliant!! I can’t wait to share some photos with you. I am very shy and really don’t like having my photo taken so choosing the photographer was quite a big deal – at one point I was even considering not having one at all. I knew I wouldn’t feel very comfortable posing for lots of photos so we went for a reportage style and I loved the result! It captured the day perfectly and we have an amazing magazine album too. I really can’t recommend Nikole enough.

For someone who doesn’t like having their photo taken I went into full on panic mode when my Mum and Dad decided that it might be a nice idea to have the wedding filmed – THREE WEEKS before the wedding! I luckily found a lovely couple who were available at such short notice and were very reasonably priced too. They were called WOW! but again, I don’t think they are in business anymore sadly! This was such a good idea as it captured a lot of the day that I wasn’t able to see and again, you wouldn’t have known these guys were there!

I can now say that in hindsight, choosing the right photographer/videographer is probably one of the biggest and most important decisions you’ll make when planning your wedding. Both are most likely to be with you from the start of your preparations in the morning right through to your first dance so you really want to make sure you choose someone that you feel comfortable with!  They will also be providing you with your lasting memories of the day too so it is worth spending time researching and meeting with photographers /videographers and looking through samples of their work before you make your final decision. I consider the money spent on my photographer/videographer to be the best money spent!

Our favours were little silver pails filled with pink Jelly beans (and they had labels with our names and wedding date on) and a lottery ticket in a pink envelope which also doubled as our guests name cards too.

Ooooh! One more thing – A Guest Book!! Don’t forget to get one of these! I ordered mine through www.carolmillerdesigns.co.uk and it was fab! They are personalised and mine came in a box so still looks good as new. It’s full of lovely messages and another great keepsake!

Well that’s it – I won’t bore you with anymore today!! Thank you for reading this and for all the lovely comments about the blog! I was so nervous on Monday when I first posted but you have all been so lovely that I actually look forward to posting now!

If anyone wants any further information on anything mentioned today then please do not hesitate to email me myweddingwonderland@yahoo.co.uk

Thanks again for reading!

Emma xx

My Wedding Day!

We’re going back a little while here guys – Saturday 1^st July 2006!!

I spent 22 months planning my wedding and can honestly say I LOVED it! Of course I suffered with a few sleepless nights worrying that everything was going to go to plan and that I would fit into my dress (those bridesmaid meetings played havoc with my waistline!!) but overall I really enjoyed the experience! My wedding unleashed a very organised side to me and I found I was a bit of a control freak too!! The only problem I have now is that this side of me didn’t go back into hiding once I was married!

My favourite part was researching each aspect to find my perfect suppliers – filling my Paperchase notebooks full of magazine cuttings and ideas! It’s amazing how much has changed in the last 5 years though. When I was engaged all my planning was done on paper and by phone- It wasn’t until the last few months that I really used emails. I am quite envious of brides planning their weddings now. Most suppliers today have their own websites showcasing all their products & designs and Twitter is such an invaluable source too!

Now I have to confess first of all that I was unable to scan my wedding photos today BUT I am hoping to try again later (the hubby is bringing another scanner home from work for me to try!) and will upload them as soon as I can – I promise!

Like most brides, I spent a lot of time praying for good weather on my wedding day and I must say God was very good to me – a little too good maybe! It peaked at about 98 degrees and was extremely humid!

I got married in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, London by the lovely Canon Cronin. I have attended this church all my life and my Mum and Dad were married here too so it was quite special that I was able to follow the family tradition.

I had my reception at, what was then called The Conrad Hotel – Chelsea Harbour (it is now called The Wyndam Grand I think??). This was all a bit of an accident really as I was meant to be going to view the hotel at Chelsea FC but we took a wrong turn (no Sat Nav for us then – which, going off topic, has actually saved my marriage on a number of occasions but more about that another time!) and ended up at The Conrad. It wasn’t until a few days later, when I took a call from the angry wedding planner at the Chelsea FC hotel, that I realised my mistake – oooops! All turned out well in the end though!

We hired coaches (Redwing) to take all our guests to the reception and the lovely drivers had lots of cold water and the air conditioning on full blast to make the journey comfy for everyone!

Our lovely photographer, Nikole Ramsay (www.nikoleramsay.com) was an absolute angel and made everyone so comfortable. She was very unobtrusive and the photos we have are amazing! They tell the story of our day perfectly. I hate having my photo taken so the reportage style really worked well for us.

When we booked our wedding we kind of didn’t taken into account that our date fell right in the middle of the World Cup. We sat working out the dates on which the games would be played and we were VERY worried when we realised that, if England progressed, they would be playing on the day just as we were about to have our dinner!! Now, both myself and my husband are big football fans so rather than panic we just incorporated it into the day and had a ‘Football’ room and delayed dinner. It all worked out perfectly!

One of the things I knew quite early on when the planning started was that I wanted my guests to have a choice when it came to the meal and again we wanted to make this a reflection of our personalities too so we both chose our favourite meal – Bangers and Mash (hubby) and Steak Pie and homemade chips (Me!!). We also offered a chicken, fish and vegetarian option too.

For the evening reception we had a DJ. Again we spent a long time deliberating the pros and cons of a band but we just didn’t find one that we thought would suit everyone’s taste so we felt a DJ was a good option. When we sent our invitations out we asked each guest to list their 3 favourite songs when sending back their RSVP and we collated this information for the DJ so we could ensure everyone was catered for and it worked perfectly - the dance floor was full all night!

When sending these requests, the DJ also asked us to give him our 3 final songs too and wanted us to choose songs that meant something to us. Our song choices were ‘I’ve Had The Time Of My Life’ as this was a song that I shared with my close Friends who I wanted to say a big thank you to, the second to last song was ‘New York, New York’ – a good old classic but fitting as it was where we were going on our honeymoon. Our final song was one of my favourite memories of the whole day! This one was for my Dad – You’ll Never Walk Alone. My family are all big Celtic fans and all our guests formed a huddle with my Dad and me in the middle. It was such a special moment and still makes me feel emotional just thinking about it – happy emotional!

I loved my wedding day – there were a few hiccups but none of them bothered me and were all fixed (again by the fantastic Terri!) – My husband and I got married and shared our day with all our closest friends and family and that was just perfect!

My advice to anyone planning their wedding would be to try not to stress out over the small things or worry if things don’t go exactly to plan – no one will notice as they won’t know they are wrong! Treasure each moment as it just goes so quickly, and try to sneak in a quick 15 mins alone time with the hubby just to stand back and look at everything you have achieved and the guests all enjoying themselves. That was another great moment!

My final piece of advice would be to bag yourself a bridesmaid who really understands you and will sit and listen to all your wedding woes even though we are boring them to tears! It's always very handy to have that neutral opinion on your choices and they can be the voice of reason when you have your 'Bridezilla' moments too! 

Right, well that was my day! Tomorrow I will upload the photos and showcase all the lovely suppliers I used - keep the fingers crossed that I get the scanner working!! 

I’m sorry if I waffled but once I start I can’t stop! You should count yourselves lucky that my dinner is ready otherwise I would have gone into much more detail!

Emma xx

My Wedding Wonderland – Planner Topics

First of all, before I start waffling on again, I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone for their kind comments yesterday – You’re a lovely bunch and I hope you enjoy the rest of my posts!

Right, back to business – My Wedding Wonderland Wedding Planner!!

This will be starting on Monday 28^th February and will be spread out over around 3 months. Here is a taster of some of the topics I will be covering below...

Deciding on a date

Setting a budget – The big money talk!

Finalising the Guest List

Save the Date – are they necessary? How far in advance to send?

Searching for the perfect venue

Do you need Wedding Insurance?

Choosing the Bridal Party

Choosing the Wedding Dress, shoes and accessorizes

Choosing Bridesmaid/Ushers outfits

How to choose your perfect Photographers/Videographer

Caterers/Equipment Hire

Stationery – when to send invites, managing RSVP’s

How to decide on Entertainment

What to consider when choosing your wedding rings

Choosing your Flowers

Choosing your wedding cake

How to decide on your Transport

Ideas for Favours

Hen and Stag parties

Hair and Beauty!
Choosing your Gift List - Traditional and Alternative!

Honeymoons

Some posts will be quite detailed and may be spread out over a couple of days.

I was thinking that it might be an idea to collate all the information once the planner is complete and condense it into a downloadable PDF so brides/grooms can print it off to use a reference if they wish – what do you think? Email your opinions to me at myweddingwonderland@yahoo.co.uk

Also, if anyone feels I have missed something or would like further information on a certain topic, please email me and I can see if one of our experts would be able to cover this for you.

I am going to post my wedding story tomorrow – I hope I won’t bore you to tears!! I will try and scan some photos from my album to show you all. I will showcase my suppliers too but I have feeling some of them are no longer around unfortunately!

Right, that’s me for today! I’m off to find out what I am going to substitute my weekly fix of ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ with now that it’s finished :0(

Emma xx

An Introduction to … My Wedding Wonderland

Some of us started dreaming about getting married when we were much younger and already had a dream dress designed and the ideal venue chosen but others, and I include myself in this category, had never given their big day a second thought until the proposal and were suddenly faced with the daunting task of planning a wedding!

I had never heard of ‘Save the Dates’ and I didn’t realise there were so many types of photography! I thought the only flowers I needed was my bouquet and had no idea that the reception tables were usually named!

I had only been to two weddings before my own (at one of those I was only 9 years old!) and I was the first of my friends to get married too so to say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement!

After 22 months of Bridesmaid planning meetings (loved these – great excuse to see your friends!), sleepless nights spent worrying over the silliest things and yoyo dieting, the big day arrived and it was perfect…well kind of.

I broke my tooth while eating my breakfast (one of the back ones thank goodness!), my wedding make-up that I had spent £150 on from MAC disappeared on the morning of my wedding (well actually my Dad, not realising what it was, hid the bag in the cupboard under the stairs because he didn’t want our photographer thinking the house was messy!), my Mum didn’t fix my veil on properly so it blew away as I walked out of the Church, it was the hottest day in YEARS and my bridesmaid got burnt to bits BUT it was still the best day I could ever have wished for!! I didn’t care about any of those things on the day - I married my gorgeous husband and all our friends and family had a great time!

After getting married a huge void was left - I had a bad case of post wedding blues! I was pining for my magazines and couldn’t help but log back into the forums I had used. I tried their Off Topic/After Your Married alternatives but they just weren’t the same!

So, I decided to start this blog. It gives me the chance to share my personal experiences and at the same time showcase some of the UK’s finest talents in the wedding industry. One of my new loves is American weddings which I am hoping to try and incorporate into the blog at some point. They have such great ideas which can add a real personal touch to your day.

I am starting off with a brief wedding planner which will be posted from next Monday (28^th February) and this will include help and tips from some top industry experts! I will be posting a full list of the topics that will be included and if anyone would like to contribute then please feel free to email me – myweddingwonderland@yahoo.co.uk

I hope you enjoy!


Emma xx

Coming Soon!!

Coming Soon!!
Blog launching Monday 21st February 2011