Archive for October, 2009

Trick or Treat!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

I have a guilty secret, I adore Halloween. Even before I had children I would decorate the house and garden and dress up for the trick or treaters! I have therefore created a spooky mood board of my favourite things to do at Halloween parties. If you are planning to get all spooky with your house here are a few tips:

  • Create a graveyard in your front garden. Paint old bits of wood or cardboard and write RIP on them. Position in the garden and cover with spiders webbing and fake spiders.
  • Line the graveyard with lanterns and lit pumpkins
  • Create or buy silhouettes for the windows
  • Use a wok as your cauldron and fill with sweets for the trick or treaters
  • Use the webbing to drape on mirrors, picture frames, banisters - basically anywhere it can stretch and hang

Above all have fun this weekend.

Halloween Board

Photo Credits:

Cocktails, wreath and graveyard - Martha Stewart (fantastic site for Halloween ideas)

Candelabra - Dream Occasions Hire

Nibbles - Halloween Decorating Ideas

Pumpkin - White Hall Garden Centre

Tablecloth - Littlewoods

Q&A on Kerry Morgan blog

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Recently  I answered some questions for the lovely Kerry Morgan photography. Those familiar with my website and blog will notice many of her photos feature within my real weddings. Do take some time to read the post over on Kerrys blog and enjoy looking at her beautiful images.

Kerry Morgan

Kerry Morgan

Be honest about your budget!

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

As part of their consultation I naturally ask clients if they have a budget, in past years clients would give me a rough budget but I’ve noticed a bit of a trend recently when clients say there is no budget determined. Far from being helpful this makes it very difficult to price what their wedding will cost.

After all there is a huge difference in weddings costing £10k compared to £30k and even more when the wedding is £80k+. Without a broad spectrum of a budget I have no idea as to what they want for their wedding. I pride myself on being an honest wedding planner so when a client gives me a budget I don’t set out to spend every penny or intentionally go over budget so I earn more! In fact my budget breakdowns are pretty accurate and we rarely go over the agreed budget.

Think about it another way, I have suppliers I recommend in each price bracket and I only recommend those the client can afford. There is nothing worse then seeing and falling in love with something only to discover it’s out of your budget. For example the bands I use can range from £700 - £4,000. Is there a big difference between them? To be honest yes, my top bands are fantastic but I only recommend them IF the client can afford it.

The same can be said of flowers, you could enter a meeting with a florist saying there is no budget, the florist will then quote giving you everything you wanted, you receive the quote and fall off your chair because you don’t want to spend that much so ask them to cut down. Wouldn’t it have been easier to say this is my budget in the first place?

So, the moral of the story is not every supplier is trying to spend ALL your money. We are only trying to give you the wedding or party you desire but without knowing what you want to spend, expectations are rarely met.

Please be honest with us!

Hire focus: New packages available

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Dream Occasions Hire have just introduced a few packages containing our most popular items. We noticed that most clients were hiring the same group of items for their events. Therefore we have put some packages together which saves 10% on the individual prices. Visit the special offer page for further details.

Marquee deluxe package includes:

Toilet and Car Park sign
Coat Rail and Hangers
10 Table name holders
10 Shepherds crooks and lanterns
5 Storm lanterns
Easel
30 Votives

Cost of package £128.70
(10% saving off individual hire prices)

Marquee interior

Marquee interior

Garden games deluxe package includes:

Wooden Croquet set
Large Connect 4
Giant Geronimo
Giant Snakes and Ladders

Cost of package £72
(10% saving off individual hire prices)

Snakes & Ladders

Snakes & Ladders

NSPCC Emerald Ball

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

It’s only a few days until the NSPCC Emerald Ball at Stoke by Nayland club in Colchester. The evening is going to be fantastic with lots of varied entertainment to keep guests busy all night. We have now hired Calanthus to do the table flowers for us, they have come up with some amazing modern designs that I know guests will love. If you want to hear more about the ball or puchase last minute tickets let me know.

emerald-ball-2009-flyer

How gorgeous: Flo & Percy

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Whilst browsing the internet I came across Flo & Percy who make beautiful tiaras and hair accessories from vintage jewellery. I especially love their reasons for naming the company Flo & Percy:

Florence and Percy were married for 80 years and held the record for the longest marriage in the world. May the Flo & Percy piece you purchase bring you the same luck, health and happiness that they shared.

Flo & Percy

Flo & Percy

I also love their gorgeous hand bags , if only I had somewhere to go that warrants taking such gorgeous bags and what to put inside, hmm.

Flo & Percy Handbags

Flo & Percy Handbags

What items from their collection would you love to buy? Flo & Percy can be viewed here

National Wedding Show

Monday, October 5th, 2009

On Saturday I helped at the UKAWP stand at the National Wedding Show.  The day was sold out with brides queuing to get into the show. There were so many faulous suppliers there with imaginative stands. I had a great time chatting to potential wedding planners about our courses but also brides themselves.

It gave the UKAWP a chance to explain wedding planners can assist with partial planning if brides dont want to hand over all the wedding plans. Many were interested in Wedding Day Management services whereby a wedding planner would attend on the day to project manage the wedding. To find out more about what this service includes visit our services page.

Love quotations

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

“True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.”

Erich Segal