A Quick Tip: Stationery

Not only can the look of your stationery help to set the tone of the wedding day and let your guests know what kind of day to expect but the wording you use can too. For a traditional, formal wedding you may want to ‘Request the honour of your presence’ or if you’re having a more casual and informal day, you could ask them to ‘Come join the party as we celebrate our love!’

Image Courtesy of Cutture

Behind the Scenes: Cakes & Canapés

So this week started with me meeting cake maker Rosalind Miller. She’s been running Peggy’s Cupcakes for a while now but is launching her luxury wedding cake company Rosalind Miller Cakes at the Designer Wedding Show in a couple of weeks.

Rosalind is based quite locally to me in Forest Hill so I popped round for tea and cake. She made vanilla sponge, chocolate & cherry and lemon cake for me to try and they were all quite yummy (I had the lemon cake while there and then shared the other 2 with my husband and son, thought 3 in one day might be a little greedy!)

 

I’ll be posting photos form Rosalind’s cake collection next week, in the meantime here a are few sneak peaks I took.

I also visited 10-11 Carlton House for an evening of drinks and canapés. Owned by the British Academy (The National Academy for Humanities and Social Sciences-yes I originally thought it was the British Film Academy but no they’re just down the road) the two buildings have recently undergone a massive refurbishment where all the rooms were lovingly restored and the two buildings combined to make one great event space.

It’s a beautiful refurbishment with lots of lovely period details and it looked particularly charming on this evening with lots of tealights and flowers provided by Euphoric Flowers. There are a number of rooms to choose from and it would be a great space for a wedding if you want somewhere where you can create different looks for different parts of the day. There are also some stunning backdrops for photos too-quite frankly my little iPod photos could never do it justice so here are a couple from the website.

Cake Photos taken by Always Andri Wedding Design

Venue Photos via 10-11 Carlton House Terrace

Always Asks: DJ Mitch Matthews

I caught up recently with Brighton based DJ Mitch Matthews to ask him a few questions about being a DJ and weddings.

 

How did you become a wedding DJ, what’s your background?

I grew up DJing and partying all over the UK and Europe DJing for the students and ex students that grew up into the people now getting married. I got in to DJjing at weddings because the major international event organisers who I DJ'd for wanted me to DJ at their weddings and parties. Also now I’m in my 30s its where I still get to have a brilliant party with the people that I've always loved DJing too. We are all just a bit older…but not wiser.

How would you describe the music you like to play?

Brilliant fun music that makes the crowd in front of me get up and dance and interact with the other people at the wedding.

What has been your favourite wedding to DJ for?

I DJ’d on a Turkish beach in Cesme at a half outdoor bar which you could dive in to the sea from. That was pretty special.

What have you found the most challenging job?

When people don't give me any of their time before the day. They always love what I do for them, however, I feel frustrated because I know their wedding, although better than the norm, could have been so much more personal to them if they had spent some time with me.

What do you think couples should be looking for when hiring a DJ?

If you haven't seen a DJ that you really like the first thing is to get recommendations from people that you trust. Never book a DJ from an agency without talking to their DJ yourself first and feel 100% comfortable that they will do a good job for you.

What advice would you give couples putting together the playlist for their wedding day?

The reason for the play list is for the DJ to understand the likes of the people in front of them. You really want the DJ to be able to say to themselves 'the bride and her female friends are dancing and I know that they love the things on this list’. Because of this I would make not one list but 4 to 6 or even more different play lists, one for each different group of people at the wedding. i.e. list 1, Bride and her female friends (I know it sounds sexist,) 2, Groom and his male friends- point out on the list if they are likely to be at the bar till later or on the dance floor) 3, Brides parents, 4, Grooms parents, 5, Kids. 6, Any Special play lists (Irish, Scottish, French, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic etc.).

Then divide each play list into 3 sections:

Section 1: Tracks that mean something to the group, such as the track that was playing when the couple first met or music that their mum always used to dance around to house too. Etc

Section 2: Tracks that will definitely make that group get up and get on the dance floor.

Section 3: music you feel that the group will really like.

Warning! Don’t try to filter your each other’s lists until you both meet the DJ. The dj needs to see what you don't want as much as what you do.

Tip - it's ok to give each list to a trusted, knowledgeable person in their specific group. I.e. getting help from your bridesmaids or the groom getting help from the best man.

What do you wish couples knew already when working with you?

That their wedding was going to be really really good and they can relax and enjoy the run up to it as much as the day itself. Oh and that they should book a day in a hotel and spa a few days before the wedding so that they are being pampered instead of stilling at home worrying.

What’s your one non wedding related obsession at the moment, something you just can’t live without?

My Roz, she's my partner best friend and lover. However, I guess as we are getting married in September that too is wedding related. So my mountain bike, getting out on the South Downs is brilliant and looking forwards to summer BBQs on the Beach with my friends.

All photos courtesy of Sergerius Bruce Photography

A Quick Wedding Tip: Timings

When planning out the schedule for your day do factor in how long it takes to move guests around, whether it be from the ceremony to the reception venue or simply just from one room to another. Seating 100 guests for dinner can easily take 20-30mins.

Photo by Marianne Taylor Photography

Behind the Scenes: Floral Workshop

Last night I attended the UKAWP Floral Emergency Workshop led by the wonderful florists Simon and Victoria of Euphoric.

Attended by a number a fab UKAWP wedding planners many of whom I know, we had great fun learning lots of basic floristry skills from wrapping wires, creating buttonholes and corsages and putting together hand tied bouquets; just the kind of thing that might come in handy of the day of a wedding if we need to fix a floral emergency!

Here are a few pics I took of the evening on my IPod Touch (I was recommended a cool photo app this week called Hipstamatic, this was my first time trying it out)

Wiring my roses and leaves in preparation to make into a buttonhole

My completed corsage

After making the buttonholes which we then turned into corsages we did some speed hand tying with tulips

… my first attempt

We were then shown how to make a more compact hand tied bouquet, here are a few shots of mine...

All photos taken by Always Andri Wedding Design

Wedding Fashion Inspiration: Golden Globes

I do love a good awards show and with Golden Globes this weekend marking the start of awards season there were lots of fabulous frocks to feast your eyes on and provide great inspiration for your wedding dress.

As ever there were a number of beautiful dresses in the paler colours from coral to blush pink, with the girls from Glee leading the way.

Lea Michele in Oscar de la Renta via the Guardian

Diana Argon in J Mendel via the Guardian

Heather Morris in Lorena Sarbu via the Guardian

There were also a number of dresses with sleeves, could this be a new trend, it would be great to see more sleeves in wedding dresses

Leighton Meester in Burberry via the Guardian

Anne Hathaway in Armani via the Guardian

Angelina Jolie in Versace via Glamour– I think one of my favourite dresses, such a fab colour!

There were also some lovely dresses by well known wedding gown designers...

Sandra Bullock in Jenny Packham via the Guardian

Mila Klunis In Vera Wang via Glamour

Olivia Wilde in Marchesa via Glamour

What was your favorite dress?

A quick wedding tip…It’s your wedding day

It’s your wedding day so have the wedding you want not the one you think you should have. Sit down together and think about all the things that represent you as a couple, what you love doing together, your hobbies and passions and make it a truly personal day.

Photo by Sarah Gawler (bride in stunning Claire Pettibone dress) via Rock'n'Roll Bride here

A little bit about me...

When meeting with a new couple it’s important to me to really get to know them, their lives and loves so that when we plan their day together I can help them inject all those personal touches that will make it memorable for them and their guests. At the same time when it comes to choosing your wedding planner as well as knowing they’re going to provide you with an excellent service I think you also want to know that you’re going to get on with them. So with this in mind I decided that it was time I shared a little more about me on the blog so that you can get to know me bit better. So I’ll be posting more regular posts where I will be sharing with you not only some behind the scenes info on the life of a wedding planner but also some more personal things that I’m inspired by and love from beautiful imagery, great books and quotes to my favourite plays, films and TV programs.

To get things going I thought I’d start by sharing some photos of me! Taken by the wonderfully talented Fanni Williams of Fubumedia along the Southbank in London. It was a cold, wet December day and despite there being loads of snow that week it had all gone by this day. I’ll confess I’m not naturally comfortable in front of the camera but Fanni was great at helping me relax and enjoy being photographed and as you can see I do tend to smile quite a bit, I’m not really into serious posy photos, my one attempt leaning against the tree below was swiftly followed by me bursting into laughter a bit like in the first photo…

I thought I’d also share with you why we went to the Southbank: the walk from Waterloo Station along the river to London Bridge is one of my favourite things to do in London not only are the views great across the river but you take in art galleries, theatres, loads of yummy restaurants and boutique shops and the fab second hand bookstalls outside the British Film Institute. How could it get any better? Well for me it can as it was the place my husband and I shared our first meal together and where a couple of years later he proposed, the final photo below is taken outside the restaurant we ate in that night.

A big thank you to Fanni for taking the photos it was fab day and I’m looking forward to working on future projects together. For more photos from the day take a look at Fanni’s Blog here

I want to use one of the photos above for my soon to be updated about us page; I’d love to know which one you think I should use?

A Fab Little Idea: Children’s Wedding Eye Spy

I’ve loved this little idea for a while now and have been looking for the perfect wedding to use at. Eye Spy for kids, leave a disposable camera on the table with this lovely little rhyming list of things for them to find and shoot; its sure to keep the little kids entertained for ages. You can use the rhyme and template here or write your own and adapt the colours and font to fit in with your stationery.

Martha Stewart via Wedding Window

If you only have a few children to get cameras for why not splash out on these great little juice carton cameras from Photojojo…

Photojojo

After the wedding is over you could put the photos into little albums and send them back to the parents as thank you gifts. Now I know there will probably be a number of dodgy photos taken but in amongst them you may find some real treasures and you never know you might inspire some kid into a lifelong love of photography…

A Quick Wedding Tip: Getting Started

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to start some new regular features, up first A Quick Wedding Tip to get your week going…

Before you get carried away with all the pretty details of your wedding day sit down together and ask yourselves 5 important questions:

What kind of wedding do you want to have? Religious or civil, traditional or alternative?

Who do you want to invite? Write down a proper list in order of importance.

When do you want to marry? As soon as possible or much later, do you want a summer or winter wedding, weekend or weekday?

Where do you want to get married? Close to your home, your parents or perhaps a destination wedding in UK or abroad?

How much do you have to spend? Will you be financing it all or will family be happy to help and if so how much?

Happy New Year & 2010 Recap

Happy New Year, hope everyone had a great Christmas and for any newly engaged couples out there congratulations!

Just to get the year started I thought I’d take a quick look back at some posts of 2010 and point you in the right direction if you’re new to the blog.

For planning advice check out my Always Advice posts, back in November I wrote this piece on Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

Photo by Annamarie Stepney

If you’re newly engaged you may want to take a look at my advice on starting your Wedding Planning.

Looking for ideas on themes and colours, take a look at our Colour Inspiration mood boards, here’s a favourite from early in the year Valentine Red and Aqua

(see original blog post, here for photography credits)

For beautiful blooms check out my Floral Inspiration series, one of my favourites is the Ranunculus

Photo by Emily Quinton

And for more wedding flower inspiration check my series of posts from the New Covent Garden Summer Inspiration event held last June, here

A great way of infusing some personal touches into your day is to get crafty and do a little DIY, I love these giant paper flowers (see full post & credits here)

Photo by Lauren Gabrielle

One of my favourite set of posts from the year was looking at how different elements from your wedding day or personal loves can influence the design of your wedding cake, be that your wedding dress, invitations or as below your favourite artist.

And let’s not forget The Any Campaign- have you signed the petition yet to allow for weddings to take place

any time anywhere in the England & Wales? If not do it NOW!!! …Please ;-)

So as we head into 2011 I’ve got lots more Loves, Adorable Finds and Fab Little Ideas to share with you, some more Q&A’s with great new suppliers,  Always Asks and a few new series too, including showcasing the Real Weddings that I had the pleasure of working on last year at Always Andri Wedding Design and telling you all about The Wedding Sanctuary at Somerset House on Sunday 20th March on which I’ve been working with fellow UKAWP planners ….watch this space