Archive for October, 2008

Tomorrow is Halloween, so we thought we’d do a 2 part blog post on how to create the perfect wedding for Halloween.

If you’re looking to create a memorable and unique wedding for 31st October, then we have plenty of ideas for you. There are plenty of sensational wedding venues that will look perfect with Halloween decor throughout, so where do you start ?

Plenty of glowing candles and carved pumpkins for a start, most people can arrange a decent Halloween party, however when it comes to your Halloween wedding, you’ll want something that little extra special and memorable, so here’s a few suggestions, with more to come tomorrow :

Wedding Party Formal Wear

The Bride

A nice Addams Family style slim fitting dress, either in black or red, add a cape and long veil with long black gloves, very Morticia !

The Bridesmaids

How about pumkin orange dresses, or either the black or red dress that the bride didn’t choose. Why not opt for that high stiff collar look, with an added tiara.

The Groom

Black Tux with red waistcoats or cummerbunds. Or as another idea, black shirts, black trousers and a black cape with a silk red lining. Why not add a cane, and black top hat like Count Dracula himself.

Halloween Wedding Flowers

For the bride’s bouquet, it has to be blood red roses. Unless you’re planning a pumpkin orange then there are a few orange flowers available, such as Poppy’s, Roses & Hawkweed. You can of course carry fake flowers which can be made in any colour you desire.

Halloween Wedding Centerpieces

What else other then hollowed out pumpkins with glowing candles, add a few extras to it though, perhaps scarecrows, tombstones, little plastic ghosts, fake cobwebs. Tall Pillar candles in black & orange look really effective too. Scatter some Autumn leaves around too. Another great option is wrought iron candelabras full of candles for that extra eery effect.

Tomorrow we’ll finish the posting, with wedding venue decorations, wedding favours & suggestions for your guests to join in the Halloween Wedding Fun also.

There’s an age old saying “you can’t please them all”. While that is certainly true, surely your wedding guests would be very happy on your special day ?
Well, it’s an unfortunate fact that most weddings always seem to upset someone within your family or circle of friends. Little petty things often spoil the day for someone, so address them now and ensure that all the wedding guests have fantastic memories of your wedding day.

Here’s some top gripes from wedding day whingers, in no particular order -

1. I had to sit right at the back of the ceremony.
Some people see this as some sort of ranking system, close relatives expect to be near the front, with your friends behind them. Avoid any problems by simply placing names on seats for those that you want near the front.  Leave all the others unreserved for a first come first served basis.

2. The DJ was just too loud.
Ensure your wedding DJ is experienced at playing wedding receptions, never book a DJ on price alone, you’ll regret it. These guys are the entertainment for the evening, so ensure they know what they’re doing. Also consider finding a quiet area in the wedding venue for your older wedding guests.

3. The speeches dragged on, or couldn’t be heard at the back.
How long is a perfect best man speech ? Long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to keep people interested – like a mini skirt. (You can use that one.) Make sure your wedding reception venue has a microphone, and that the volume is set correctly for the entire hall.

4. We didn’t know any of the people on our table.
Carefully plan the seating arrangements, again, stick to “nearest and dearest” closest to the top table.
Consider who is sitting with who, and could you see them having a good time together. People won’t mind sitting with strangers at your wedding if you think they’ll have common ground to make conversation.

5. The receiving line took forever.
Just keep it to the bride & groom and your parents, don’t worry about the Best Man or Bridesmaids, or even consider just the newlyweds greeting the guests instead (if that doesn’t offend your parents.) Try and get the older and younger guests through first, so they can get themselves seated.

6. There was a lot of hanging around throughout the day.
There can be times between the ceremony, the photographs, the meal, the disco when things go a little quiet for the guests, not really something that they should gripe about – but you want them to enjoy every single moment of the day too. Why not hire a magician, or caricaturist to keep the guests entertained during gaps in the day’s timetable.

7. Parents friends weren’t invited.
The age old dilemma, you want an intimate wedding, yet your parents have contributed to the cost and expect you to invite some distant relative, or their friend who’s known you since you were a baby (but you’ve not spoken to since). It’s a tricky subject, so tread carefully. Perhaps agree on an evening invitation as a compromise.

8. Paying for drinks.
Let’s get one thing straight, anyone who moans about paying for a drink at your wedding, can go straight home in our opinion. If you budget stretches to an open bar, then great. If not, other options are to consider just paying for wine & beer, subsidize the bar, or just have an hour when you buy your guests a drink. Don’t be pressured into spending a fortune on a free bar.

9. We barely spoke to the bride or groom.
Make sure between you, that you pay a short visit to each table, the guests will enjoy the attention and will appreciate that you’ve made the effort to share a conversation with them. They’ll understand that it’s your day and you need to keep mingling.

10. I didn’t get a thank you for my gift !
If you’ve received wedding presents, and not sent a thank-you note, then shame on you ! Arrange your thank you cards before the wedding, and get them all hand written shortly after returning from your honeymoon. Post them out as soon as you can.

Hopefully these little tips will assist you in avoiding upsetting any of your wedding guests.

Good Luck & Happy Wedding Planning !

We’re delighted to inform you all that the world’s heaviest man has married his sweetheart. Manuel Uridem who weighs around 49 stone, tied the knot with his girlfriend of 6 years, Claudia Solis, on Sunday in Mexico.

Manuel, who hasn’t managed to leave his bed in six years, married in a while silk shirt, with a sheet wrapped around his legs. Bride Solis, 38, entered the ceremony walking down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory wedding dress & tiara.

The beautiful moment took place at a local hall, however Uridem arrived at the ceremony on the back of a flatbed truck which was brought in to tow his heavy-duty custom-made bed. The truck was decorated with a canopy, wedding flowers and gold edged bows. Their was a long line of slow moving traffic being the truck which was escorted by 2 police vehicles.

The groom broke into tears as they were declared husband and wife at the civil ceremony which was attended by more than 400 wedding guests.

Being bed-bound didn’t stop the newlyweds from a traditional first dance together as man & wife, they held hands and swayed throughout a romantic ballad.

The evening’s entertainment was provided by a local norteno band, who played mainly accordion based tunes whilst the wedding guests enjoyed their banquet.

The mother of the groom, Orquedia Garza, stated that her son managed to steer clear of the massive five-tier wedding cake. Apparently his doctors were present at the wedding, and were watching him closely to ensure he didn’t break his diet.

The wedding is to be fatured by the Discovery Channel who are filming a documentary on 43 year old Uribe.
He told reporters in the streets on Monterrey, “I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life.”

Uribe reached notoriety by earning the Guinness World Record as the world’s heaviest man, having tipped the scales in 2006 at 88 stone (yes you did read that correctly, EIGHTY-EIGHT STONE).

Since then, he has gone on to shed about 39 stone with the help of his bride and is now aiming for a new world record by becoming the world’s greatest weight loser.

Apparently Solis’ 1st husband died of obesity, maybe her experiences can help Uribe get out of his bed.

We wish them both every happiness in their life together.

Selecting your wedding stationary surprisingly can be quite difficult, sticking to the overall theme of your wedding often means that buying stationary off the shelf isn’t easy.

Save the date
Becoming more popular, save the date cards give you the opportunity to pre-warn wedding guests of your date. Especially important for those guests that will have to travel long distances to the wedding, they’ll want as much notice as possible. Another idea is to have fridge magnets printed, these can serve as a constant reminder and a nice keepsake of the wedding.

Invitations
Usually sent around three months before the wedding date, make sure you select your invitations carefully as they will reflect the style you’ve been planning for your wedding day. We recommend that you use the same stationery for all your different requirements, so ensure you order early and if they are being printed, make sure you order more then enough, as some guests may be unable to attend, so you may end us choosing to invite others. Quite often you’ll find one or two invitees who were missed from your original list.
Evening invitations will need to be sent at the same time for your wider circle of friends, it’s nice to have these of the same design.

RSVP Cards
You’ll want to know who is coming to the wedding as soon as possible, it’s not uncommon to print a “RSVP by” date in the invitation, but a nice added touch is to include a small matching RSVP card to encourage your guests to reply quickly.

Order of Service
For church weddings, each guest would like an order of service, not only is it part and parcel of the wedding ceremony, your guests will keep these as tokens of your wedding day. Remember that you’ll need additional copies for the organist and choir, and check all the details with the minister before having them printed.

Wedding Reception Stationary
Name cards, menus, table plans all need to be considered. If you’re really planning to go for it, then serviettes, personalised cake boxes, wedding scrolls can be optional extras. If you’re making your own table plan then ensure it’s designed in a way to make any last minute amendments. Check with the caterers before printing your menus, and once again keep everything in the same theme for your wedding.

Thank you cards
When your wedding guests have gone to the time and trouble of buying you a wedding gift, then a thank you card is the least you can do to show your appreciation. Our top tip is to have a plain insert to allow you to hand write the thank you. Although this is more time consuming, your wedding guests will appreciate the personal touch, and it allows you to personally mention the item they have purchased for you, it really makes a big difference.

As we mentioned at the start of the article, deciding on wedding stationary isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do, so ensure you allow yourself plenty of time to assess what you really want and how you want to achieve it.

Happy Wedding Planning !

If you have unusual family units that the photographer should be aware of, make sure you give him or her a written list several weeks in advance of the ceremony so that no important shots will be missed.  For instance, let them know about step-parents, step-siblings, half-siblings, etc. that you would like included in specific
photos.

Quick wedding tip provided by Elle Brown – wedaholic.com

Months in planning, several visits to the wedding dress shop, your new husband suggests a special dance on the lawn……do you trust him ?

So we’re still in Autumn, but a lot of skiers and boarding fanatics have already started planning the start of the new ski season. Some eager couples take the passion for snow a little further and have chosen to hold their wedding in the ski resort

www.skiweddings.com organise weddings in the mountains of Europe, and have been do so for the past 6 years.

With stories of grooms breaking legs on the eve of their wedding day, perhaps a skiing wedding is not for everyone. Says Roger Walker of skiweddings.com “We’ve had couples turn up with 110 guests and others that get married alone. One couple turned yo in their ski gear, used our staff as witnesses and dashed off to carry on skiing”.  Sounds like good fun, for some people that is.

Whatever floats your boat for your wedding venue.

Dino Remains – The Natural History museum hire out their Central Hall for weddings, so why not have a diplodocus centre piece as the back drop for your big day ? Details

Fighter Jets – Ever thought of breaking the sound barrier on your wedding day ? A company in Moscow can organise your “wedding g-suit” for you as you blast through the sky linked via a headset to a priest on the ground. Don’t worry about taking a witness – that role is done by the pilot. www.worldreviewer.com

Locked together – Seemingly pointless ceremony in Lovelock, Nevada where you can exchange vows in their “circle of love”. Basically it’s a circle of metal pillars, linked by chains. The idea is that couples place a lock on a chain and keep the keys as a reminder of their love.

If you’d prefer a slightly more traditional wedding ceremony, then read up on some of our wedding venues in Essex and start planning your perfect wedding day.

The Lawn Rochford, Essex – Wedding Venue Review

The Lawn is a historic 16th century building, which is a family run business in Rochford, Essex, and holds a license for civil ceremonies.
The beautiful gardens, picturesque fountain and of course the long lawn itself make a delightful spot for a wedding ceremony to take place.

Described as a “no worries wedding” – the Lawn can cater for around 100 wedding guests for a meal. However, the size of the building allows a lot more guests for a big party should you invite further evening guests. When you hire the Lawn for a wedding, you get the entire house to yourself for the whole day, there is no concern of bumping into another bridal party, and the management allow you access from around 9am to prepare for your special day. It really is “Exclusively Yours”.

Although there is no accommodation available at the Lawn, the bride is encouraged to get ready in one of their rooms upstairs. With a delightful balcony overlooking the gardens, these rooms are relaxing for the bride and yet spacious enough for the bride’s entourage of hairdressers, make-up artists, mother-of-the-bride and so on….!

For the groom, they have the opportunity of arriving in style and taking advantage of the heli-pad that the wedding venue has to offer. Should you not fancy arriving at your wedding feeling a little queezy with wobbly legs, there is more then enough parking available for you and your guests.

From the moment you first set foot on the property, the staff are delightful and pleasant to deal with. David, part of the family that run the business, seems truly proud of what they have achieved there over the years that they have been operating as a wedding venue. Nothing seems to be too much of a problem for the team, and they have a genuine desire to ensure your wedding day is nothing short of perfect.

Once inside The Lawn you are greeted by the “Blue Room” which is a long room, decorated nicely with antiques and a long mirror. This room immediately strikes you as the perfect room for wedding guests to relax and enjoy the goings-on around them. This is the reception room, where wedding guests congregate before the wedding ceremony.

From the Blue room, you walk into the Grand Hall which is used for both the ceremony and the wedding meal. This Grand Hall is absolutely perfect for personal intimate weddings, and can hold around 70 seats for guests to witness the ceremony. Surrounded by the upstairs balcony which overlooks the Grand Hall, you are instantly drawn to the stunning main feature in the building, the sweeping staircase. Making a fantastic point for the bridal entrance into the ceremony, the staircase makes a sensational feature for any wedding and a unique place for formal photographs.
Once the ceremony is over, the chairs are removed from the Grand Hall and replaced with the tables for the
wedding meal, which have been quietly hidden away behind screens in the Club Room just to the side.
In the corner, through a doorway lies the licensed bar area. Giving the feel of a small country style bar, this room is perfect in size and comfortable for any wedding guests who wish to sit in there. The reasonably priced bar remains closed before and during the ceremony, and The Lawn offer an outside bar on the terrace if the weather permits it.

Wedding Receptions at the Lawn

As mentioned previously, the wooden floored Club Room to the right of the Grand Hall which earlier held the tables for your meal, later becomes the setting for the dance-floor. Again, a well sized room perfect to hold a wedding DJ or band, and leave plenty of space for a dancing crowd.
During the evening wedding reception, The Lawn seamlessly changes face again, by removing some of the tables from the Grand Hall, replacing the top table as the buffet table, and the whole building opens up for guests to move freely from the bar, through the Grand Hall, dance-floor area, Blue Room, outside terrace, or take a spot on the 1st floor balcony overlooking the entire event.

The catering is all done on site, but outsourced to a private firm of caterers who work as their resident catering company. Couples may be put-off by the fact that they are unable to choose their own catering firm, but there is no need. Mussel Limited are a professional firm of caterers, who provide an excellent choice of menus and are equally as flexible when it comes to your wedding meal. A selection of set menus are available at very reasonable prices (with no sneaky add-ons) and Mandy will happily allow you to mix and match different courses from different menus to suit your requirements. A discounted children’s menu is also available for your younger wedding guests.
Their food is fresh, very tasty, and delivered to the tables by their highly trained staff.

The grounds around the main building are perfect for wedding photos, with the fountain and trees around the lawn itself, and some outdoor steps with the main building as a fantastic backdrop creating wonderful photograph opportunities. One fantastic memorable photo treasured by most couples, requires the wedding photographer to take their place on the first floor balcony, whilst the entire wedding party congregate on the lawn outside in front of the fountain. A unique photo opportunity with beautiful results to be treasured.

Should the weather let you down on your special day, then the interior design of The Lawn creates an equally impressive background for your formal photos, with both the staircase and Blue Room ideal indoor photographic locations.

Local area – Rochford Essex

The only downside we could find is that The Lawn do not offer accommodation. The bride & groom along with their wedding guests need to find accommodation nearby. With Southend not so far away, it should be considered an option as Rochford only has 2 hotels to offer. Local hotels are the Essex County which is largely dire in every aspect, and the Maison Renouf which is fairly nice but whose staff require some serious training in how to deal with customers. I’ve stayed at both and would recommend your guests to the Maison Renouf above the Essex County any day, Renouf also has a bridal suite on offer, but it doesn’t come cheap.

Overall, we highly recommend The Lawn as a beautiful setting for a wedding, with helpful and friendly staff who will make your day as special as possible. If you are planning a wedding in Essex, and have around 60-80 daytime guests with more evening guests, then speak to the Lawn today.

The Lawn offer discounted hire rates for ceremonies booked on weekdays and is available for hire 7 days a week, for further details, contact them here :

The Lawn
Hall Road
Rochford
Essex
SS4 1PJ
Telephone: 01702 203701
Web: The Lawn

Find the Lawn in Rochford :
View Larger Map

DID YOU HAVE YOUR WEDDING DAY AT THE LAWN ? IF SO, LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW ON YOUR EXPERIENCES.

DO YOU RUN A WEDDING VENUE IN ESSEX ? IF SO, WE’D HAPPILY VISIT YOUR VENUE AND WRITE A SIMILAR ARTICLE. Please contact us for details.

Video clip of a wedding reception held at the Lawn courtesy of EssexFilms.co.uk who create professional wedding DVDs for you to treasure forever – visit their website for further details.

More credit crunch news today, and we pose the question “Where can you get a wedding cake for under £10″ – the answer is simple, ASDA. Yes, the supermarket chain is offering their “Extra Special Cake” for just £8.99. Who needs a £15,000 wedding cake (a la Eva Longoria) when you can get Asda’s own at such a great price.

Or if you’re feeling a little mad, why not get married in the store. (WHAT?)

So far, Asda have married couples in York and Scotland. “The couples both had a connection to the store and the people who work and shop there” says the Asda spokesperson. “And we’re always hearing of people proposing in the aisles – we average about one a month”. How very romantic indeed.

We suggest you only get married at your place of work if you happen to work for Her Majesty at Windsor Castle. Otherwise, find a more suitable wedding venue please.

However if you’re fed up about hearing about the credit crunch, and have sensibly budgeted for your perfect wedding day, then you’ll find a fantastic range of excellent wedding cakes on our main website.

Nevertheless, Asda do offer one or two great bargains if you are someone planning a wedding on a very tight budget, here’s what the can offer you, along with average wedding costs, and extortionate wedding costs :

Bride’s Wedding Ring
Asda – £54.99 9ct Gold & diamond ring
Average – £250
Mrs Rooney – £150,000

Groom’s Wedding Ring
Asda – £58.47 9ct Gold
Average – £150
Elton John’s – £100,000

Catering
A selection of canapés from ASDA – Total £74.40 (based on 40 guests)
Average – £30 per head
Ant Mcpartlin’s was reportedly £50,000 for his wedding at Cliveden House

Wedding Stationery
Asda – Wedding evening invitations and Thank You cards,(6 packs of each at £3.98 per pack) = £71.64
Average – £200
500 printed cards and envelopes from Smythson – £1,470

Happy Wedding Planning!

We were talking to a bride recently who was disappointed with her wedding photographs, not because of anything the wedding photographer had done wrong, but because her tattoo was visible in some of the shots.

There seemed to be something of a boom in “body-art” for females since the early nineties, with girl-power and all that stuff! And as fashionable as the tattoos seemed at the time, it’s left many women with permanent markings that don’t quite coordinate with their perfect wedding dress.

There are a few options available for brides who want to hide their tattoo on their wedding day :
Read the rest of this entry »