Archive for February, 2009

Ladies, you know you’re planning a wedding because :

You’re on a strict diet plan.
You find yourself searching for bridal magazines.
There aren’t enough wedding fayres for you to visit in a month.
You can’t stop talking about your wedding plans.
You stare at your engagement ring for the 10th time that day.
You wonder what your niece looks like in a bridesmaid dress.
You’re stressing about inviting your Great Auntie Norah.
You can’t wait to buy a valentine’s card with “To my fiancee” on it.
You moan at your husband-to-be for eating more then one burger at a BBQ.
You warn his best mate about his language during the best man speech.
You’re worrying about a free bar or a paid bar.
You subscribe to a wedding website’s “daily wedding tip” email newsletter.
You start wondering why wedding favours are called wedding favours.
You carry a picture of your wedding dress around in your handbag.
You wonder if that really is the dress to get married in.
You consider joining a gym.
You join a gym.
You go twice in 9 months.
You stress about involving one sibling in the wedding and not the other.
You think it’s all costing too much.
Your parents want to invite their friends because they contributed to your wedding day.
Your H2b’s parents are divorced and you plan to ensure they don’t sit near each other.
Your uncle offers to be the videographer, but his nose whistles.
Your mates plan your hen weekend and buy a “hilarious” “L” plate for you.
Your Mum asks your opinion about her hat.
Your best man asks how “fit” the chief bridesmaid is.
You hire a Rolls Royce to get you to the wedding ceremony, and book your H2B’s cab for him.
You “finalise” your seating plan for the fifteenth time.
You test your H2B to make sure he is thinking of the same song as you for the first dance.
You consider dancing lessons.
You make a list of people that you want in your official wedding photos.
You warn your H2B that his mates must be well dressed and well behaved.
You ask yourself again, do you want a DJ or a band.
You think wedding cake testing is the best part of the whole planning.
You look at wedding rings, and wonder if you should get one with diamonds.
You’re not sure if your 3rd make-up trial was better then your 5th.
You book your dream honeymoon destination, and set up a countdown in your calendar.
You wonder if a 50″ Plasma TV is a little too much for your wedding gift list.
You ask if you should have flowers or balloons on the tables.
You choose to have both.
You think a toastmaster is a little too formal for your wedding day.
You book him anyway, because he’s cute and friendly.
You warn your fiancee about his behaviour on his stag do.
You can’t wait to go mad on your hen do.
Your wedding invitations turn up and they’ve mis-spelt your name.
You cry and blame your fiancee as it’s entirely his fault.
You wonder why anyone hires a lucky chimney sweep for a wedding?
You book a lucky chimney sweep for your wedding.
You look into wedding insurance and assume it’s just for people who don’t turn up.
You panic and wonder if “he is really the one?”

Gents, you know you’re planning a wedding because :

You’re told what to do and where to be.

The wedding has been planned for months, the build up has been the most exciting time of your life, you’re nerves are getting worse by the minute, so you decide to have a few glasses of wine ahead of the ceremony to calm yourself slightly.

Don’t forget, you’re not really used to drinking early afternoons, your body will wonder what is going on, especially if you’ve barely eaten anything to ensure your wedding dress isn’t tight in all the wrong places. A hot summer day, a glass or two of wine, mixed with nervousness and an empty tummy spells disaster on your wedding day.

Everyone of the wedding guests will expect to see a nervous bride walking down the aisle, but no one wants to see a drunk bride, it’s not a good start to your married bliss.

There are plenty of relaxation tips available on the internet, so if you think you’re going to be nervous beyond all control on the morning of your wedding, perhaps booze isn’t the answer.
You’ll want to remember every single moment of your special day, after all your wedding is meant to be the best day of your life.

If you do choose to relax with a drink before the wedding ceremony, ensure you have a sandwich or something that will settle your stomach. Butterflies and wine don’t really mix, so a decent brunch with your nearest and dearest is highly recommended.

Once you’ve made it through the ceremony, this should lift any nerves you had, and you’ll find you can truly begin to relax and enjoy your wedding day. During the meal enjoy your wine, ensure you eat all you can without beginning to feel uncomfortable in your beautiful wedding dress.

It’s at this stage that your wedding guests will really want to start chatting with you and taking your photograph now that the official wedding photographer has finished his main snaps.
Trying to look your best after a couple of bottles of red and some champagne is a bit difficult, so stick to lighter drinks, perhaps wine & lemonade would be perfect for a summer’s day.

It’s going to be a long day for you, but if you’ve gone easy throughout the day, enjoyed the food that you’ve spent so long saving for and planning, then you can let your hair down in the evening. All the wedding guests will want to see the bride on the dancefloor, so have a drink or two and get your dancing shoes on, to whisk your new husband around and shake your stuff with your girls.

This advice doesn’t come from an anti-drinking campaign, far from it, this is written by a bride who enjoys her wine with her friends. It’s just my advice that everyone will sympathise with a nervous bride, however a drunk bride doesn’t make a pretty bride – so relax, enjoy your day, but ensure you pace your drinks well.

Wedding Cakes

When you’re thinking of your wedding cake, most of us picture the traditional tiered fruitcake with white icing and maybe an edible flower or two decorating it, alongside the bride and groom statues.

Of course this style of wedding cake remains very popular, however there are so many different options available to the bride and groom when you’re considering your wedding cake.

Recently fairy cake wedding cakes have become popular, it’s a nice way to show that you want your wedding to be a little contemporary, and it allows each wedding guest to receive their own “miniature” wedding cake.
Coloured icing matching the colour scheme of the wedding, or perhaps coloured icing flowers to match the scheme are also popular ideas.
How about really getting away from the tiered wedding cake idea, and have fairy cakes with your wedding guests initials iced onto each individual cake, perhaps even use them as a sort of place card.

Wedding Cake Ideas

Something that makes a fantastic desert as well as a unique idea for a wedding cake is a tower of profiteroles, stacked pyramid style covered in chocolate and filled with cream, your wedding guests will love getting stuck into it. Miniature meringues also make a good tower idea, perhaps with fruit inserts.

Whatever your choice of wedding cake, make sure it matches the style of your wedding though. By that we mean, a chocolate wedding cake may be a fantastic choice for a winter wedding, but a lighter sponge cake may be more suited to a summer wedding in a marquee, a wedding in a country barn may match a rustic theme for your fairy cake wedding cakes.

As well as looking fantastic in all your wedding photographs, you’ll want your guests to enjoy the taste too.
Fruitcake remains a popular choice, and of course has a much longer life if you’re planning on sharing it out with people who couldn’t make your wedding day.
If you’re having a tiered wedding fruitcake, it is a tradition to save the top tier and cut it on the christening of your first born child.
Other tasty wedding cakes options are carrot cake, chocolate, plain sponge or perhaps lemon cake. If you’re having a few tiers, why not ask for a few different flavours, obviously this may push the price up, but if it’s what you want then ask your cake designers if they can manage it.

When you’re discussing your cake ideas with the baker, try and show them photos of your ideas, or better still ask them for photos of their previously made wedding cakes.

For local cake makers in Essex – please take a look at our list of Essex Wedding Cakes.

The bride will no doubt thank the photographer for this wedding shot for many years to come.
They say pictures speak a thousand words so I won’t say much more.

Wedding Album to forget

Today we’ve added another great wedding article to our collection on our main website, it’s a top ten list of wedding myths.

Brides and Grooms across the country have been following several wedding day traditions for many years now, most of which can often cause added stress or upset when it comes to the planning of your dream wedding day.

So to help avoid any wedding day disappointment, we compiled this list of ten wedding myths for you to read through and decide for yourself if it’s really fact or fiction, and whether or not you really need to attempt to follow these particular wedding ideas.

Hope you enjoy the articles, leave your comments below if you’ve thought of more wedding myths.

Tomorrow is Valentines day, and if you’re getting married on Valentines day, then you are either very romantic indeed, or just fancied a Saturday wedding in mid February.
However, if you’re still in the stages of planning your Valentine’s day wedding perhaps for next year, then we thought we’d compile a few wedding ideas to help you along the way. Make sure your wedding is inspiring and captures the romance of the day.

Valentine’s Day Ideas

Wedding colour scheme

It’s Valentines day, so the colour that immediately springs to mind is red, simply because of red roses. However, a deep red is perhaps not always a bride’s idea of the perfect bridal colour, especially when thinking of bridesmaids dresses or hiring waistcoats for the gents, so consider warm colours or fresh light colours too.

Wedding Dresses and Suits

An old fashioned look on Valentine’s day is quite a nice idea, think classic styled dresses and tuxedos.

Wedding Venues

First things first, wedding venues will get booked up early when it comes to Valentine’s day, especially when they fall on a Saturday as it has this year. Beautiful picturesque wedding venues may look great when you visit, but don’t forget February is winter, and in England you’re pushing your luck hoping for a sunny day. Make sure the wedding venue has some indoors areas that will make great backdrops for your wedding photos, just incase the Valentine’s day weather doesn’t match your hopes.

During the Ceremony

Don’t forget everyone else is celebrating Valentine’s day too, why not ask the registrar to get the wedding guests standing and and reaffirm their love for each other too, it’ll be fun and make them feel even more part of the occasion.

Wedding Music

Romance is in the air, Valentine’s day music needs to be a harpist or string quartet – playing all your favorite love songs.

Flowers

Flowers are romantic, so try and fill the room with as many flowers as you can afford. Of course roses are the flower of choice on Valentine’s day, yet they are also the most expensive at this time of the year too, consider tulips or freesia as second options if you’d prefer to save some all important budget.

The Menu

Discuss with your caterer if they can create a menu with a Valentine’s day theme, perhaps a few aphrodisiacs mixed in to spark the wedding guests of, asparagus, perhaps even an oyster bar? Strawberry’s covered in chocolate springs to mind for a romantic dessert.

Wedding Invitations

Instead of the usual “you’re cordially invited…” how about something like “Please come to celebrate love and romance on Valentine’s day at the wedding of…”

Wedding Favours

Love Hearts offer mini tubes of personalised sweeties that make excellent wedding favours. Other ideas are chocolate shaped hearts in red foil.

Table Plan

Instead of the usual Table 1, Table 2 etc, why not choose famous couples for the table names? David & Victoria tables, Brad & Angelina, Charles and Camilla !! It’s all about making the Valentine’s day wedding a bit more fun and special. Place the table names in heart shaped card and the wedding guests will love the fun.

There are plenty of churches in Essex to choose from for your wedding day, there are some ornate churches, there are also some simple churches. Depending on which church in Essex your opt for, will depend on how much you decorate the church for your wedding ceremony.

Having said that, no matter where you choose to get married, you’ll want to add some wedding decorations to make it look and feel like your wedding and not just a church on a normal day. Here are some great church wedding decoration tips that could help to save you money:

• Use plenty of greenery in your bouquets and only use flowers that are in season.

• Pick out some pretty garden bouquets from the local florist, or go to a flower wholesaler or greenhouse.

• Make sure you ask someone to take the floral arrangements from the wedding ceremony to the reception venue.

• Consider decorating the church with potted plants as an alternative to fresh cut flowers.

• Use some twinkly Christmas lights and decorate the church yourself.

• Be even cheekier, plan your wedding at Christmas or Easter. It’s possible the church will already be decorated for you !

• Decorate the end of the pews with bows, simply, affordable and very effective.

• Better still, try and find out if someone else is getting married the same day you are at the same church. If so, ask if you can arrange to share the costs decorating the church.

• Buy an inexpensive arch at a craft store and place it at the entrance to the church. Decorate it with flowers, ivy and twinkly lights.

• Consider silk wedding flowers instead of the real things. They have come a long way and look very effective these days.

Hope these wedding decorating ideas are both useful and effective for your special day. Decorating your church wedding in Essex needn’t cost a fortune and can look wonderful.

Stumbling around wedding websites looking for more ideas to tell our Essex brides all about, we found this great fun idea of creating your inner bride.

The Knot.com has a brilliant online way of getting some ideas for your perfect wedding dress and look for your wedding day.

The fun system allows you to add everything to your model starting from face and body to hair, dress, and accessories. Then if you’re not happy with the model, you can just go back and amend everything.

If nothing else, it’s just a bit of fun for brides.
Here’s what we managed to create…….

Click the image to head to theknot.com and try it out for yourself.

Now that Christmas festivities are well behind us, the wedding planning season really kicks into gear this month with several wedding fayres in Essex.

If you’re in the early stages of planning your wedding, then probably the first thing you’ll want to do is set your all important wedding date to tell all your friends and family.
Realistically you can’t set a fixed wedding date until you have a confirmed booking with your wedding venue or church. If you’re planning a church wedding in Essex, then you’ll also need to confirm a wedding reception venue has availability for the same date.

It’s becoming more and more popular for brides and grooms in Essex to get married and have their reception at the same venue. There are lots of wedding venues in Essex that offer a civil marriage, and then have the facilities for a meal for the guests followed by an evening reception.
This idea not only saves travelling from one venue to another, but means that costs can be saved as well.

When you’re planning your wedding and looking at wedding venues in Essex, you’ll need to consider the following points before making the final decision :

Availability of wedding venue – If you have a date that is not flexible, this has to be your first question to the wedding venue.

Size of venue and how many guests can be held – Have a good idea of how many daytime guests and evening guests you will be inviting to your wedding, don’t choose a wedding venue that is too large or too small.

Facilities at the wedding venue – Is there a bar, on site catering available, dance floor area, outdoor area for photographs, somewhere to be if the weather isn’t so nice, do they have a house DJ ? Several questions to ask, find out what the wedding venue offers, and whether you must use certain facilities as part of the hire.

Timetable of wedding venue – If you’re planning a midday wedding ceremony, you want to ensure the start and finish times of the wedding venue hire.

Costs – Different wedding venues in Essex will have different costs and packages available for you, often dependant on the day of the week, and month of the year. When they quote a price, ensure you know exactly what you are receiving for that price.

These are just a few questions to start considering when discussing your wedding day with potential wedding venues. Often the most popular wedding venues in Essex are booked a long time in advance, but many of them offer late booking deals if they have dates available, and off-season (winter) weddings should always be a cheaper option when booking.

Remember, wedding planning is the most exciting part of getting married, the actual ceremony is exciting but can be nervous for some brides (and of course grooms) – so ensure you enjoy every moment of planning your wedding in Essex.

We are lucky to have some of the very best wedding venues in Essex, so try and visit as many as you can, read their testimonials and decide which wedding venue is best for you.

Happy Wedding Planning !

We’re delighted to tell our readers that Essex girl Denise Van Outen has got engaged to her boyfriend Lee Mead.
Denise originally from Basildon, who is both an actress and TV presenter said “yes” when the “Any Dream Will Do” winner got down on one knee last week.

According to the report, a close friend said “Denise had no idea but was absolutely thrilled”

The loved-up pair apparently haven’t set a date for their nuptials but a representative of Essex born Denise – who was said to be in tears when Lee proposed – said “it will probably be later this year”.
Denise, if you’re searching for Essex based wedding services to help you with the planning of your wedding, then you’re certainly in the right place here !

The 34 year old and her stage star toyboy Lee, 27, celebrated their engagement by jetting off to St Lucia for a romantic break in the sun, may we ask what was wrong with February in Southend ?

The couple recently splashed out on a new home together in Kent, which is where Lee, winner of BBC’s Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat in 2007, is said to have popped the question.

Neither of them had been married before, and from everyone at Essex Wedding Services we wish you the very best of luck – and of course, if you’re reading this Denise, please leave us a comment below.