I’m sure it comes as no surprise that weddings can be costly. Everyone wants their wedding day to be the best, no matter what your budget you can make that happen with some proper planning. Kevin Brown, savings specialist at Scottish Friendly, offers his top tips for creating your dream wedding on a budget:
Start saving early
Wherever you go, marriage is sacred. But different cultures have their own unique ways of preparing for and celebrating the happy couple’s nuptials. Here QUIZ, retailers of occasion dresses, tell Vows & Venues a few weird and wonderful wedding traditions from around the world.
As China is a large nation, wedding and bridal traditions can depend on which region you’re from. Tujia brides must cry for an hour a day every day for a month in the run-up to their wedding. After ten days, the bride’s mother joins her in crying daily before being joined by her grandmother. As the other women join in, it’s seen as an expression of their joy.
The setting for your weddings is arguably one of the most important elements of the big day. As well as being immortalised in wedding photography, a stunning backdrop will set the mood and provide context to the story of your special day.
Whether you’re opting for country opulence, urban chic or a mixture of both, it’s important that the backdrop reflects the story your telling while accentuating key elements and representing you as a couple. So how do you inject your own style into proceedings and what can you do to make the most of that all important wedding venue?
Chose a statement backdrop
Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club has invited a couple who wed at the hotel in 2014, back to relive the memories of their special day.
Gemma and Garry Watson, who said their ‘I dos’ at the luxury four-star hotel, located in the heart of Northumberland, are one of more than 200 couples who took part in the nationwide search to celebrate those who tied the knot at a Macdonald Hotels & Resorts venue over the last 50 years.
After submitting photographs from their wedding, they were selected at random and rewarded with a luxurious overnight stay in the wedding suite, complete with champagne on arrival, and a three-course dinner.
Children can really make a wedding very special. Whether it’s the couple getting married who have children that will feature in the day, or family and friends who want to bring along their kiddies, having children around can really add to the atmosphere of the wedding.
But, if you are inviting children, it’s important to ensure that they are catered for and looked after during the day. Invest in planning something for them now will ensure parents and children both have a great time! Our team are experts in organising weddings that include children, and here’s our top tips to help keep children of all ages, amused and entertained all day!
There’s a growing trend amongst couples to opt for a truly romantic twilight wedding. The setting of the sun combined with atmospheric lighting and music gives the whole ceremony a beautiful feel. And it’s not specific to a certain time of the year either. Twilight weddings are gathering a pace all year round, and here are Cresta Court Hotel's top tips to making it a romantic wedding day.
1 – Book a venue that has access to natural light. You and your guests will want to see the change from late afternoon to night time. It will help create a romantic setting and add to the excitement of the day. Also consider the lighting in the room. You want to create an intimate atmosphere so need to be able to adjust lighting.
Planning a wedding can be a stressful period for even the most organised of couples, but it doesn’t always have to be the case. A little forward thinking and flexibility will go a long way, but there are also a few tools that can help keep you on track. To make things a little easier and ensure your day goes off without a hitch, here are the top 7 questions you need to ask your wedding venue before booking…
1.Is the venue available on the day we’d like it?
Booking the venue is one of the first items on any soon-to-be-wed couple’s to-do list, so make sure you contact them well in advance. Popular venues may have a waiting list months long so the further in advance you enquire, the better.
BOTH MEN and women invest time and money into their appearance, but new research has revealed that men are indeed the vainer of the sexes.
A survey of 1,021 UK adults carried out by interiors etailer, Furniture123.co.uk, found that men are the vainer sex, as men confess to admiring their reflection 28 times each day, whilst women did so 21 times each day.
Despite men looking in the mirror more often, the research data found it was women who look in the mirror for longer on each occasion, as they confess to spend an average 42 minutes each day, which equates to more than 10 days (10.65) per year.
In comparison to women, men spend an average of 31 minutes per day gazing in the mirror which equates to almost eight days (7.79) per year.
by David Rucker, wedding photographer
An unplugged wedding is where electronic equipment such as phones and cameras are banned. Going unplugged can be for the entire wedding, or certain parts: for example the ceremony or reception, allowing only the professional photographer unrestricted access in order to capture those special moments.
Lynn and Steven Connolly have long had a love affair with the New Forest. They are regular visitors to the national park for day trips and short breaks at the 4-star Balmer Lawn Hotel and Spa in Brockenhurst from their home in Oakley, Nr Basingstoke. When they had their son Benjamin, they decided to host his summer christening at the hotel, and hired the entertainment industry go-to special effects company ‘Snow Business’ to transform a area of the gardens into a winter wonderland - It was a phenomenal success.