Archive for November, 2011

When it comes to wedding planning, getting the budget correct is a huge priority, costs can spiral out of control if you are not careful. Quite often we hear couples have added a few more guests here and there, meaning costs increasing and the budget being squeezed.

It’s important to work out how much you can save between the point of getting engaged, and the end of the honeymoon. Write yourself a list of all the things you intend to buy or hire for your wedding, then set about getting some quotes. Once you have yourself a full list, and a good idea of what it will all cost then you have the basis of your wedding budget.

Today’s question, is what item on your wedding budget are you willing to overspend on ? By that we mean, you’ve set your budget and the item you truly desire costs more then you’ve planned for. In this hard economic times, at what point do you say to yourself, “no I’m not paying that”.

PLEASE VOTE BELOW :

If you have problems using this poll – try our facebook page – Facebook

All comments accepted below…..

Hi all, My name is Krystine Atti, I am one of the entertainment coordinators for earcandy. Having look after many wedding entertainment clients, I thought it would be useful to write a quick blog with some advice on entertainment for your wedding day. I know for most of you, entertainment and wedding bands can have a huge question mark next to it, alongside what colour will the flower girls wear and will I have an ‘up – do’ or a straight ‘Cleopatra’ hairstyle! So many concepts and styles to choose from.

Today, I will be writing about the first dance song. For some, this has already been decided and rehearsed (as you’ve forced your fiancée to dance with you in the living room over a thousand times). However, for some, you still haven’t found the ‘perfect’ song for the wedding band to sing on your special day… there are so many to choose from.

I’ve got a couple of suggestions here in hope that this makes the process a bit easier.

First: You and your partner could spend a night in, listening to as many songs as you can that best reflect your relationship (maybe a song that reminds you both of the beginning stages or a song that says a lot about your relationship). Once you’ve done that, you could think about whether you would like the wedding band to perform it, or whether you would like it played via CD or iPod. From our experience, a good band can make the right song a lot more personal and intimate.

Second: We’ve had a couple of clients who have discovered their partners have two left feet or cringe at the concept of dancing in front of large crowds. If this is you, DO NOT FEAR! There are a number of ways to manage this. The great thing about professional musicians is their flexibility. You could have your first dance song merged with a more up-tempo song. This will mean that the focus will be on you for only the first half, and then you can bring everyone to the dancefloor for the uptempo song.

One client had one of our bands perform ‘Etta Bond – At Last’ which segwayed into ‘Black Eyed Peas – Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night’ halfway through. This worked out to be quite wonderful, as her bridesmaids and grooms men came up to dance relieving the nervous groom. We have a number of wedding bands for hire that are more than happy to compose this for you allowing you to have your special moment and allowing the party to start without an announcement! Something different and unique.

Hope this has helped some of you and triggered an idea!

Until next time,

Krystine
entertainment co-ordinater, earcandy

If you are a man who wants to marry the girl he’s with, planning a romantic wedding proposal is going to be something that you will just simply have to do.
After all, it will be the moment that she decides whether or not she wants to be with you for the rest of your life – that means you should at least show some effort on your part to impress her.

A wedding proposal starts with a romantic idea and then planning it out the right way. Romantic ideas sometimes take a little bit of time to develop, and it might be hard for those who aren’t used to getting creative. Here are some of the most popular plans for proposals to help you jog your mind.

Propose at the place where you met. This isn’t only a meaningful place to propose, it’s also one that reinforces how much that location means to you. If you met at a nightclub or at a party, this might not be possible. But for those that met at a school or at a convention, it is very easy to retrace your steps.

Get some fancy reservations to a good restaurant, and propose there. This is, by far, the most common way to propose, but it’s common because it works wonderfully and is easy to plan out.

Make a vacation of it. If you have the money to do so, why not take her on a trip to a romantic destination like the Caribbean or Paris to pop the question? This will make it a vacation to remember, and it will also be a vacation that she will be boasting about for years to come.

Write it in the sky. If you want everyone to know your love for her, hire a skywriter to propose to her. This can be tricky, and can be expensive, but it’s going to be one of the most memorable proposals in your circle of friends.

Once you have got an idea of where you want to propose, you are going to have to make it happen. Make sure to tell her that it’s an important date, and start booking any reservations, tickets, and other necessities that you might need to think about.

Some proposals will take more effort than others, so you will also have to take into account the amount of work that you will have to do. If you aren’t the type to coordinate things very well, it’s best to stay with a very basic proposal, like one in a favorite restaurant. However, if you enjoy the idea of planning it out to be “just right,” then putting together a more involved proposal is a great idea.
After all, it’s going to be your wedding – you might as well do it in your style.

The article is written for Brillianteers, Global Diamond Engagement Ring Designers.

Here is something brand new and different for anyone who would like to buy something a bit different for the bride and groom.

The Wandering Minstrel will surprise the couple, in full medieval minstrel outfit and sing a special song all about them from the information that you give him. You can include their name, the occasion and the names of who the greeting is from. You can tell the story of how the couple met and fell in love, or why not tell the minstrel about their work, their achievements, their interests, and the celebrities that they adore. It’s best though when you tell them all the funny things that they say and do, and all of the funny things that have happened to them. You know all the private jokes that will make them laugh out loud, and all these details can all go into the song.

If that was all that happened it would still be amazing, but that is not all:

They will create a full band production audio CD of the special song, and print any photo that you supply onto the body of the CD too.

If that was all that happened it would still be amazing, but that is not all:

They will also create a stunning animated video featuring the song and all of the photos and videos that you supply. This is like the bride and groom starring in their own music video all about them.
If your reception venue is set up for this you can even show this video at the reception too.
The Wandering Minstrel will also produce a special DVD of the finished video, with a photo printed onto the body of the DVD.

As part of the surprise, The Wandering Minstrel will present the audio CD and the DVD video, plus a certificate style lyric sheet.

We believe that it is the best way there is to show someone that you love them. Currently available in London, Manchester and Yorkshire, and on DVD only worldwide.

Visit their website to see more video samples and read the testimonials from their very happy customers.
Contact The Wandering Minstrel to discuss your requirements on 01709 204941 / 07523396608 / miketheminstrel@yahoo.co.uk or view their facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/liveminstrelgreetings

Pure-Light.co.uk think finding beautiful and unique wedding gifts doesn’t have to be difficult. As gift specialists they know that whether you’re buying for the bride and groom, or you’re the happy couple looking for for Bridesmaid, Flower girl, Best Man and Usher gifts, even gifts for the family, engraved gifts are the quick and easy answer to making a simple wedding favour a memorable keepsake.

Just choose your gift, enter your message and wait to receive your item in the post, you’ll be amazed at how much a few thoughtful words can change the look and importance of your wedding gift.

Here are their current top 3 personalised wedding gifts, at number 1 is a stylish Personalised Hip Flask in a gift box, you cannot get a better gift for Father, Brothers, Best Man or Ushers.

Number 2 the Engraved Wedding Photo Frame, a stunning frame with joined wedding rings at the center of the design. The ideal frame for your favourite wedding photo, it’s so elegant and stylish it compliments a wedding photo perfectly.

Number 3 is an essential for cutting the cake, an Engraved Wedding Cake Knife and Server. A great item that is becoming really popular, not only does it look great in your wedding photos, people love it as a keepsake and use it at anniversaries, their babies birthdays too. It becomes a tradition as well as a beautiful item to remind you of your special day.