I have just discovered a wonderfully talented textile designer or rather she found me on twitter. Anna Whitford makes some beautiful products including these fabric ring cushions. I totally love the detail on them so had to share with you.
Ring Cushions
Each month we highlight one of the beautiful venues we have worked at or particularly love, in and around East Anglia.
This month it is Leez Priory in Chelmsford, Essex
Leez Priory is a 450 year old Tudor mansion set in 40 acres of parkland complete with lakes, lawns and a sweeping driveway. It is hired out on an exclusive basis so you can be confident there will be no other wandering brides around. There are 5 areas licensed for civil ceremonies suitable for most sizes of weddings and each season including the 60ft high Tudor tower which has the serenity of a church, the wood paneled Great Hall or my favourite outside under the carriageway.
Leez Priory Carriageway
Drinks and canapés take place in the courtyard if the weather is dry or inside if wet, incidentally the whole house is yours allowing guests to spread out amongst the many areas & rooms if you have to be inside.
The wedding breakfast can take place in the oak paneled Great Hall for up to 80 guests or Coach House can seat up to 110 guests. For the evening there is a Medieval vaulted cellar complete with resident DJ.
Coach House
Leez Priory also has 15 bedrooms available to hire on the night of your wedding as well as a quaint cottage within the grounds which is reserved exclusively for the Bride and Bridesmaids the night before the wedding to relax and prepare for the big day.
The costs vary throughout the year and they have some brilliant late deals so keep checking their offers. When reviewing the costs bear in mind:
Coach House
You also get the services of their in-house co-ordinators from about 12 weeks before the wedding, they are very organised and experienced as they organise weddings pretty much daily. Should you require a wow factor for your wedding or literally do not have time to organise an exquisite event give me a call to see if I am available. One of the weddings we organised at Leez is on our gallery or to review our services look here.
Credits
I was having a wonderful look around Wedding Chicks (which is a truly wonderful site for inspiration) when I discovered these cookies by William Greenberg , how perfect are they for Easter treats, Christening, Birthdays or perhaps put on guests pillows at weddings. Shame they are New York, not sure they would stay fresh when airmailed!
Cookie Heaven
Recently I was browsing the blog for the wonderful Sasha Souza when I discovered an article on feeding your suppliers. I thought it was a great post and useful for any brides reading my blog. Of course my clients know we need to feed suppliers because I organise it but those that do not have a planner might not think about feeding their suppliers.
As a rule I say suppliers there for less then 4 hours should have a drink and light snack if over lunch time, i.e a sandwich & cake. If a supplier is working longer then 4 hours then they should have a hot meal. The caterer should be able to provide this easily and a fraction of the guest cost, i.e a supplier certainly does not need 3 courses the one will suffice!
I did smile at Sasha reference to bands as its so true, I also make a point of setting up a rest area for the band with soft drinks & biscuits to stop them hovering at the bar, incidentally I also make it clear soft drinks only for all suppliers.
Please do read Sasha tips for further information.
At the moment there are many brilliant deals from venues for late bookings which potentially could save you hundreds of pounds. It is important though to be thorough in reviewing the venue and not impulsive. I was speaking to one of my 2008 Mother of the Brides this morning, who was telling me a story of an Essex venue that is taking a friend for a ride. It saddens me that in this current economic downturn, honest & naïve couples are being ripped off. There are many fantastic venues in East Anglia with very experienced in-house co-ordinators but sadly there are also a few unsympathetic venues out there.
So I have listed my top 10 tips in ‘vetting’ a venue in the hope it helps.
One of my fav. venues: Gosfield Hall
My last bit of advice is remember this is your wedding, don’t be bullied by a venue manager who says you will have x, y & z. Some venues assume you won’t question their opinion, as a wedding planner I discuss with the couple what they want for their wedding and make sure the venue is capable, the venue should adapt for the couple not the other way round.
Picture Credit: David Islip Photography
Venue Image: Gosfield Hall (stunning & very organised venue)
I have a confession to make - I love chickflicks and by that I mean books not films. I must admit it is a bit of an obsession so I limit myself and wont buy more then 10 a year. Why? Because I get so absorbed I wont put the book down, wont talk to anyone and HAVE to finish the book.
So imagine my delight standing at Waterstones counter when I saw a book called ‘Wedding Season’, well of course my radar is set to anything to do with weddings so I started reading the back.
I nearly topple over when I see its about a wedding planner, so of course I had to buy it.
Wedding Season
The first paragraph opens as:
Sarah is a wedding planner hiding a rather inconvenient truth – she doesn’t believe in love. Or not for herself, anyway. But as the confetti flutters away on the June breeze of yet another successful wedding she somehow finds herself agreeing to organise two more, on the same day and only two months away. And whilst her celebrity bride is all sweetness and light, her own sister soon starts driving her mad with her high expectations but very limited budget.
So what did I think? I loved it even though the reality of the story is totally out. She doesnt seem to have a wedding between June & August, she plans budget weddings & big weddings yet has her own flat/house - er. how does she pay the rent?! Then there is the celebrity client who hired her via her agent without meeting her. Or the fact the dress designer & hair stylist accompany her on every meeting. Well for me my florist is my ‘right-hand’ woman not hairdresser, no offence .
BUT - I loved it, yes it was predictable but then arent all girly books? I think all wedding loving girls should buy it, for a sneak of the first chapter visit the authors site Katie Fforde
This board is a mixture of Spring & Mothering Sunday but the 2 go together so perfectly. Have a wonderful weekend whether doing the pampering or indeed being pampered yourself.
Credits
Floral Settings - design by La Partie Events & photo by SDK Photo
Jacket - Marks & Spencer
Chocolates - Hotel Chocolat
Room Insense - Cox and Cox
Cookies & Honey Butter - Martha Stewart
This Sunday is the time to remind our Mums how much we love them. Some of you may well take them out for lunch but with us all tightening our purse strings I’m sure many will entertain at home instead.
Why not make your Mother feel pampered from the moment she arrives?
Bookings are flying in for Dream Occasions - Hire for this summer. Popular items remain the garden games with new editions of Snakes n Ladders and Dominos, anyone interested in reserving the games should email post@dreamoccasions-hire.co.uk and visit the website . We also find a large % of our clients are those having marquee receptions at home and as such needing the highchairs, table name holders, lanterns and easel. To carry on providing for the marquee market we have ordered 2 beautiful wooden signs, namely ‘toilets’ and ‘car park’ with reversible hanging arrows. These will be ready to hire from May onwards.
Giant Dominoes
In the 3rd part of our wedding planning guide we discuss how important it is to budget for your wedding from the outset.
Step 1 - What Wedding do you want? (part 3)
Budget
If there is one thing that upsets me greatly, it’s seeing couples struggle to pay for a wedding they cannot afford. Please work out what you can realistically afford to save and speak to your parents about any contribution they can offer. Do you have any talented relatives or friends that can lend a helping hand? The key is to have a wedding you can afford without compromising on style. Discuss with your fiancée what elements of the day are important to you, i.e entertainment, venue or number of guests. You then spend money on the areas important to you and save on other areas, for example spending £3 per favour for every guest is not a necessity whereas perhaps a good photographer is?
If family are contributing towards to wedding, put it towards something like a photographer or transport. Once you use that money for the reception, you open yourself up to conflicts in terms of who ’should be invited’. Use the below % breakdown as a guide when working out what to allocate to the reception or suppliers.
In the next instalment we will discuss how to hire your dream team.
|
RECEPTION |
45% |
| PHOTOGRAPHER/ VIDEOGRAPHER | 14% |
| OUTFITS | 8% |
| FLORIST | 5% |
| ENTERTAINMENT | 7% |
| STATIONERY | 3% |
| WEDDING CAKE | 2% |
| WEDDING MAKEUP/HAIR | 1% |
| TRANSPORTATION | 2% |
| CEREMONY | 3% |
| TOASTMASTER/WEDDING PLANNER | 10% |
| 100% | |