A little last minute change...

Back in September last year I met a lovely bride called Kelly at a wedding show. After a little chat it was obvious that she needed an On the Day Co-ordinator as her wedding was going to be at a city location in Gloucester which wasn't a usual wedding venue and her family were worried that there would be no one to run the day properly. Also they were planning to decorate the venue themselves and didn't know how it was going to be done as well as everyone getting ready. Her parents thought it was a fantastic idea and after a meeting with everybody, they confirmed the booking for the wedding in May.

As I do with all weddings, we had our final details meeting about 4 weeks before the wedding and I started my work in taking over the final organisation of the wedding. However, all was not to be that simple. Five days before the wedding, Kelly phoned to tell me that the venue's owners had decided that it was impossible to hold the wedding there and that they were cancelling their venue. As you can imagine, Kelly and her finance Pete were beside themselves.

Emergency meetings were called with the owners and the family and luckily the venue's owners had a second venue in the city which was due to reopen after a refurbishment on the same day as the wedding. This venue was much better suited for a wedding and they agreed to delay their opening and for the couple to use it for their reception.

Now the work really began. I had to reassign the decortations using the items we'd already purchased and work out the logisitics of the day including the speeches and disco as well as contact all of the suppliers to ensure they knew the change of venue.

I asked the couple to print a card which could be inserted into the Order of Services explaining the change of venue with a map so the guests didn't go to the wrong place.

On the day itself, the sun was shining and everyone at the house was calm and relaxed, maybe a bit too calm, but it did give me time to go round and take some photos .

I was waiting for the cupcakes that Kelly's aunt had made to be delivered before I left and when they arrived, I was off to set up the venue!

When I arrived, the venue was let's say 'chaotic'. The problem with using a venue not used to doing weddings is there is little sense of what needs to be done and when. The staff were focusing on the kitchen as there was a large amount of food to be made and nothing had been done which I had expected. The tablecloths were unusable as they were and needed ironing so I managed to get a member of staff to iron them all for me so I could start with laying the tables. Whilst they were doing this I turned my attention to the bar areas.

Kelly was using banqueting roll for the tables in the bar so the red rose petals and candles would stand out, but the venue said it would be too much hassle. Not the attitude I have, if this is what the client wants, it's what they get! So myself and one of their staff painstakingly covered all of the 22 round tables and decorated with candles, confetti and candles, just as Kelly wanted them.

Once the tablecloths were ready I could start in the main room and managed to lay up the tables and set up the cupcakes with enough time for me to get changed before the guests started to arrive.

Kelly and Pete were thrilled with the way the venue looked and realised that there was absolutely no way it would have happened had they not had me to oversee everything. The rest of the day went exactly to plan including the sky lantern release off the roof of the building!

I wish Kelly and Pete a wonderful marriage together and hope it's not as stressful as the final week of the run up to their wedding!

www.finesseplanning.co.uk

A Modern Gold and Cream Affair

I've recently presented a mood board (above is a much smaller version with just a selection of images) to a client who wanted to have a gold and cream theme. Usually this would lend itself really well for a more traditional style wedding, especially seeing that it will be a winter wedding (November), but the couple wanted a modern element to the wedding.

The bride has chosen Orchids for her bouquet, which are perfect with their cream petal and gold centre, but we are also going to introduce calla lillies to the design too. The bridesmaids will have a small bouquet of calla lillies and the groomsmen will have calla lily buttonholes, but to pull the two flowers together, for the centrepieces we have chosen to combine a few different ideas from the mood board. We will be using tall centrepieces as the venue (Pittville Pump Rooms, Cheltenham) has extremely tall ceilings.

We will be using the orchids in the centre of the vases as in the left hand picture and then at the top of the vase a ring of calla lillies. Out of the top we will be using large leaves (as in the middle picture) sprayed gold coming out of the top and gold sprayed beargrass hanging over the edge with gold pearls treaded onto the ends. These are to be the main feature of the room. Very striking. We will also be using the centrepieces to put on tall white columns going up the aisle for the civil ceremony.

To add further elements of gold to the scheme, we will be using gold chargers, gold gilt chairs and we will also be using gold mood lighting to light up the coloumns and ceilings.

I'm very excited about how striking this wedding is going to look and can't wait to see the finished result!

www.finesseplanning.co.uk

What food to provide for an evening reception?

When budget is a constraint it's very difficult to decide on how to provide food for your evening reception.

A usual hotel facility will usually charge anywhere between £13-£17 per head for a finger buffet. They will also usually want you to cater for a minimum number, eg 75%. If you were having 120 guests, you would be looking at spending £1170! This for a couple with a budget of £10,000 is over 10% of the total budget.

When considering what to do for the evening reception there are a few things you need to consider,

How many more people will there be to the evening reception?

How far are my evening guests travelling?

When would my daytime guests have last eaten?

There are plenty of options available even within the restrictions of a hotel.

One of the cheapest options available is to provide bacon and sausage (vegetarian options) rolls. Usually you will still be looking at approx £5-£6 per head. However, if you were to not serve your wedding cake with coffee and serve it with the evening buffet, this would fill out your evening fayre.

Another cheaper option, if the venue allows is to have a hog roast. I have paid as little as £400 for a full hog roast, with baps, apple sauce and crackling for 200 rolls. Ask the venue to supply 3 large bowls of different salads at about £10 per bowl and for less than £500 you have an impressive evening buffet which will feed everyone.

For those of you who are restricted by the budget and simply don't have the money to spare, ensuring there are plenty of bowls of nibbles around for people to eat as well as the wedding cake will help at least soak up some of the alcohol. Look at serving giant pretsels, tortilla chips and dips, grisini breadsticks to add something a bit different to the usual bowls of crisps.

www.finesseplanning.co.uk

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How to Personalise Your Wedding

When planning a wedding it is easy to get lost in all of the different aspects involved and even easier to lose sight of what you actually want.

Following a few simple rules and guidelines will ensure that your wedding will reflect your personalities and styles and will add aspects that will ensure your guests know that it is your wedding.

The most important thing to remember is that the day is about you and your partner and this should be reflected throughout the wedding.

Choose a theme that reflects you whether it is a favourite colour, a sport, a hobby and use it to personalise things. However, do not combine different themes, choose one and stick to it.

Once you have chosen your theme, it is a great idea to produce a ‘mood board’. It is all too easy to save pictures that you have seen and swatches of fabrics you like in a file, but until you put them all together it is hard to see what does and doesn’t work. Make as many mood boards as you want, to see what works well. You can then use this to show to your suppliers who will instantly understand what look you are trying to achieve.

Make sure though that you don’t go over the top. It is easy to get carried away. Choose a number of elements that you can personalise such as invitations, centre pieces, attendants outfits, flowers, even music but make them impressionable. To add too many things will over power the wedding and any impact could get lost. Have just a few bold items, this could be large flower displays, an amazing cake design or the use of coloured lighting and then finish off the theme with smaller details.

Finally, don’t forget your budget. Theming a wedding usually involves the finer details of things and last minute ideas and changes can seriously alter your budget. If you choose a theme from the beginning, brain storm the different aspects that you want to incorporate into it, then you can budget for them accordingly.

By following these simple guidelines you will be ensuring your guests will walk away not only impressed but knowing that it was definitely your wedding and no one else’s.

www.finesseplanning.co.uk

It's time I shared some of my wedding knowledge!

So, here it is, the first of my blogs to help those of you getting married or involved in the planning process. As a wedding & events planner I have lots of tips and advice on how to plan your wedding or event with less stress and more money in your pocket. I will be providing tips and solutions to all parts of the wedding planning process and will be updating you on my day to day antics as I plan other people's events.

Everytime I come across something new that I think should be shared, I will let you know.

When I try something new and want to share, I will let you know.

When I have got something wrong, I might not be so quick to let you know.

I hope you enjoy my blogs and that I can help you plan a successful and unique event.

Ruth

www.finesseplanning.co.uk