Angela Harkin chooses the all important wedding rings!

Whilst searching for wedding rings recently, I discovered that (a) John is far fussier than me and that (b) I love a bit of bling!

John is keen to wear a wedding ring but trying to find him something he actually liked was the hard bit. After perusing countless websites and looking in numerous shops for ideas, I thought we’d never find anything he liked. However, his (extremely long) search for something a bit alternative led us to finally find a brushed steel ring that is very unique and something that he will be happy wearing forever.

My problem, however, wasn’t that I couldn’t find a ring but that I found loads of rings that I loved! I initially thought I wanted a simple plain band but I was quickly allured by the twinkle of diamonds and felt like a kid in a sweet shop. So much sparkle, too much choice! It was difficult to whittle it down to just one ring.

That’s not usually like me. I’m usually quite demure with my jewellery, often preferring costume jewellery to really expensive stuff however finding my dream diamond wedding ring has changed all that.

As John keeps reminding me, his ring cost a fraction of mine. But, as I’ve told him a thousand times, your wedding ring is a symbol of never-ending love. It shows your commitment to one another and is a symbol of eternal devotion. It’s therefore worth the price tag!

Once the wedding is over, the dress has been put away and the honeymoon is a distant memory, the ring is the one thing I’ll still be wearing every day of my life … besides I’ve already seen a beautiful eternity ring that would compliment it perfectly…. I think John had better saving for the first anniversary gift!

Blogging bride Katherine Charles' last post before her Big Day!

Well, it is finally here – after 15 long months of planning, we are 1 week away from our big day! I am rather on cloud nine after having a fantastic last week at work being thoroughly spoilt with good wishes, presents and cards. I could certainly get used to this! But I mustn’t take my eye off the ball just yet – I have a to-do list as long as my arm.

Thre are lenty of last-minute things that still need doing, including the table plan, picking up the suits and dresses, as well as doing that DIY décor project I started about 6 months ago and didn’t want to leave until the last minute!

And now, after months of planning the venue, the food, the flowers and the music, it’s time to concentrate on us– so the next few days are filled with beautifying appointments and lovely shopping trips with my bridesmaids, as well as the obligatory groom’s haircut! There seem to be 2 pieces of advice that everyone is giving me as we get closer to the big day and that is to appreciate it all, as it all goes so fast but my cousins wife had the best bit of advice for me….enjoy the build-up as much as the day - and in 2 hours, when I leave work, I plan to do exactly that!

Angela Harkin discusses the Mother of the Bride outfit!

All parents want to make their children proud on their big day and my mum is no exception. In her quest for the perfect Mother of the Bride outfit, she has managed to buy two outfits! I also won’t be surprised if a third outfit is purchased before the big day.

So it’s fair to say that my mum is very indecisive. Early on this year, she saw a beautiful raspberry-coloured dress and, on a whim, thought it would be a good idea to get it, along with all the pricey accessories. Then a few months ago, once John and I had worked out what colours we were having at the wedding, she decided to look for something completely different in the shade of midnight blue - her reason being that she needed to find an outfit that would tie in with the wedding party.

Mother of the Bride outfits can be expensive and I know other MOTBs who have shelled out a small fortune on their outfits, some even spending a few hundred pounds more than was spent on the bridal gown.

I don’t think you have to spend a fortune to look fabulous and in the words of my mum, ‘accessories complete the look’. This was her excuse anyway, when splashing out on a very expensive and gorgeous pair of designer shoes and matching handbag.

To top it all off, there is also the head gear to think of. Gone are the days where every Mother of the Bride has to wear a hat. There are many alternatives like hair pins, hair bands and fascinators. My mum has two fascinators and (unsurprisingly) has her eye on another one so she will definitely have a stunning piece of headwear for the day.

I asked her the other day what she would do with the first outfit she bought and she just replied that a woman can never have too many dresses. Maybe she’ll take a leaf out of all the big celebrities’ books and change outfits half-way through the wedding day.

Sandy Gaggini blogs about the all important groomswear!

One of the most straightforward and simple decisions we've made so far in the wedding planning process has been deciding on the suits. It was important to me (as I think it should be) that Adam decided on his own suit. After all, it's his wedding too and I got to pick my dress so it's only fair really.

He'd started by looking at suit hire websites where you could completely customise the suit and had a good idea of what look he was after. I was really pleased that what Adam liked was exactly what I'd pictured him in.

When my Mum and I attended the National Wedding Show in September (Adam had wimped out ill) I thought this was a good chance to have a look at some suits. Unsurprisingly, the style of suit I liked in my head matched the style I liked on the manikins, I was just hoping that Adam would feel the same. I grabbed every suit brochure that was going and proudly presented them to a poorly Adam when I got home, along with some of the goodies I'd picked up!!

One company really appealed to us, with shops in Solihull, and further North (Adam's family are in Manchester). We visited the Solihull branch a couple of weekends ago. I was in two minds as to whether I was going to go. I wanted a surprise waiting for me at the end of the aisle, but Adam wanted my opinion. The lady who helped us was lovely and helpful, and not disimilar to the ladies who helped me when I was dress shopping. When Adam was dressed up I don't know which one of us had the biggest grin!

So the suit is now picked, we just need to get the groomsmen measured, one of which is yet to be asked to be an usher. The store also offer a self measurement service which may be useful as they don't have a branch as far south as Australia where the best man lives!

Katherine Charles tackles the table plan!

The table plan.....every single person I have spoken to has given me horror stories of this part of the wedding planning so unsurprisingly, I approached it with some trepidation! On a whim, I downloaded an iPad application to help me and it was a life saver! All I had to do was enter the guest details in and assign each guest a little cartoon character.....you can select gender, hair and skin colour to match your guest profile! Once everyone was entered, I set-up the appropriate table sizes and numbers and then it was a simple ‘drag and drop’ exercise. I know that all sounds very easy and for the most part I was pleasantly surprised!

Given the initial dramas concerned with the roles of our family at our wedding, I had envisaged this being something of a nightmare but we made a decision very early-on that we would not have a top table. Instead, we are having a table with just the two of us, with each of our bridal party effectively ‘hosting’ a table around the room. We made this decision for three reasons – firstly, we didn’t want the pain of choosing who was on the top table; secondly, we thought it would be nice for people to look around the room at different speakers during the speech and finally, and most importantly, we wanted to ensure some time together during the day to take it all in.

After all the effort that has gone into everything and all of the advice everyone has given us about enjoying every moment, we thought this would be the ideal opportunity to take a step back. Now we have a plan that we are really happy with and we know that everyone is seated with people that they can enjoy the day with, rather than being stuck in a ‘formal’ seating arrangement where they have to be on their best behaviour next to people they barely know!

Angela Harkin looks at the D.I.Y. elements of her Big Day!

I am a D.I.Y. Bride and not afraid to admit it!

Most brides are aware of the tight budget they have to stick to when planning their wedding so it is a good idea to try and do as much as you can by sourcing products and putting items together yourself.

I have already made some items myself and plan to do a few more things but at the back of my mind, I am very aware of making sure everything looks stylish. I don’t want the wedding to look cheap and tacky just because I’m saving a few pennies.

I am lucky to have a very artistic friend who has helped me with my ideas. I have gone to her several times explaining what I’d like to do and she always comes up with something even better than I envisaged. In fact, she helped make the table name tags which look amazing!

So what else are we doing ourselves? Well, we have made our own place settings as we wanted something different from the plain white ones the hotel is providing. We also plan to make our own orders of service as we can then tie them into our theme for the day. Our favours will be partly made by us - lottery tickets wrapped in a scroll with a poem for the adults and a goody bag for the children containing colouring book, crayons and a small toy. I have even gone as far as to make a personalised wedding activity book for the little ones. I’ve also made our very own personalised guestbook featuring caricatures of us which is a fun addition to the stationery.

It’s enjoyable creating things for the wedding and a great way to build up the excitement, not to mention a good excuse to get the wedding party together to help make items.

But the D.I.Y. list doesn’t stop there. We have thought about having a candy bar at the reception which will be easy to do - simply purchase different shaped jars and bowls then fill with various sweet treats.

I have also seen beautiful brooch bouquets online which are really expensive but I might have an attempt at making my own…with a little bit of help from my friends!

Sandy Gaggini adds the personal touch to her wedding favours

With just under 5 months to go until our big day, I feel the major things venue, dress, cake etc. are all in hand so can now focus my attention to the smaller details one of which being the wedding favours. Now I know traditionally you'd present guests with 5 sugared almonds representing fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness with the bitter almond combined with the sugar coating symbolising the bitter sweetness of a marriage but this doesnt seem very personal. To me, the favour should be a personal momento of the day we shared.

My first idea for favours were plantable seed paper that our guests could take home and plant and when it bloomed would be a nice reminder of the day. Whilst I still really love this idea, would our guests like it' and would they plant them or would they end up going dusty on a shelf? My second idea came off the back of the first although it's totally different. With us being on a budget, do I want to spend money on items that may be left on the tables, or perhaps taken home and just forgotten about? It seems a waste. I dont think it's uncommon now for weddings not to provide favours, so thats one option but I would like to have something guests can take away from the day and it doesn't matter what they do with it.

This was what got me thinking about charity favours. Wanting to keep it personal, my first stop was the Cancer Research website. My Dad and Grandpa both died of Cancer and I'll really miss them on my Wedding Day. Cancer Research offer personalised favour cards and a Cancer Research UK pin badge for your guests. I also contacted the RSPCA as Adam and myself love animals (we have 2 dogs, one of which is 6 months old and deaf, 2 cats, 2 leopard geckos and a bearded dragon) and asked if they offer a similar service as I couldn't see anything on their website. They do, and have the cutest pin badges. Nothing has been decided for certain yet but if we do go down the charity route then at least I know the money won't have been wasted.

Katherine Charles looks at bringing together your Big Day look!

Writing this blog post, I am fresh from my recent hair and make-up trial which just couldn’t have gone better. I feel like I have spent so many evenings trawling the internet for inspiration about hair and make-up ideas. I have been making a conscious effort to grow my hair but it just doesn’t seem to be growing quickly enough so all the styles that I liked, I was convinced wouldn’t work for my length. I copied a few pictures of styles and hoped my poor hairdresser would be able to understand what I wanted and create some magic! Luckily for me, with very little input from me, Gemma managed to transform my hair into something which was absolutely perfect. Finding a balance between a pretty romantic style, without it looking too simple was where I thought the challenge would be, but she really managed to create a striking look and even won me round to the benefits of hair extensions so I could create the perfect look I wanted!

Straight after my hair trial, I also had my make-up trial which was equally as successful....again, I had so few ideas to share that I was so glad that my talented make-up artist was able to create a look that is going to fit perfectly with our winter wedding.

Together, the look was just brilliant and I’d love to look like that every day! Even in my jeans and jumper, I felt like a princess so I can only imagine what it is going to feel like on the big day!

For the rest of my accessories, I have had some great buys, simply from keeping my eyes peeled while out shopping. I actually stumbled across my jewellery while in Marks & Spencers, just going to show that you don’t have to spend hundreds of pounds. I had seen similar jewellery in a wedding magazine and here was an exact replica for a fraction of the cost – result! Using this jewellery, I was also able to get a hair accessory made to match with some explanation of my jewellery and a questionable picture from me, Karen was able to match all the colours and create a unique hair decoration especially for me. I really hope that all these little experiences are going to result in my dream bridal look – I cannot wait to see it now! Only 63 days to go!

Blogging bride Angela Harkin finds the perfect bridesmaid dress!

Finding a bridesmaid dress can be more problematic than you think, or at least it was for me. I had the colour scheme and style in mind but hadn’t stopped to think if either of those things would actually suit my sister. Only once we went shopping, did I realise that her dress was going to be quite different to what I had envisaged.

It got me thinking that it must be so difficult for a bride with several bridesmaids. I mean, how on earth can you find one dress that suits all? It must be daunting and almost impossible. What may suit one girl could look awful on another. It would be even more worrying finding one dress to flatter ladies of very different shapes, sizes and ages.

At a recent wedding I went to, there were seven (yes, seven!) bridesmaids and each one had their own style of dress, all in different colours. The effect reminded me of a rainbow and I felt like it didn’t really have a visually-pleasing effect. I do think bridesmaids can wear different dresses and still create a unifying look however that bride took it one step too far.

I am lucky that I don’t have a big group of girls all trying to look good in the same dress. I initially encouraged my sister to find a dress that she would wear again rather than something she would wear once then keep in a wardrobe forever. After trying on what seemed like every dress in every shop, we finally decided that no dress in the high street seemed right. We decided to go back to the shop where I got my wedding dress to see if they could offer some inspiration. After trying on a few dresses, we finally found a dress that she and I both love. My thoughts of a knee-length, floaty number turned into a long, strapless and sparkly dress. The colour is perfect and will compliment my dress and the men’s outfits perfectly.

My two flower girls are going to wear simple tulle dresses that compliment my dress. With added accessories of a wand and sparkly hairband, I’m sure they’ll look every bit the princesses they want to be.

Sandy Gaggini looks at the world of wedding entertainment!

Choosing the entertainment for our big day is proving to be one of the most difficult decisions to make, which is probably the reason why we've been putting it off. With just over six months to go and our date coinciding with St Patrick's Day I think we need to pull our fingers out, sharpish.

As the wedding service itself is at a Church, the organist and choir are already providing musical entertainment there so that just leaves reception to sort out.

We definitley want a DJ, thats the one thing we're sure of, but the problem is choosing one. It feels you're reliant on either taking a total risk or relying on recommendations either from the venue or friends. It would just be nice to actually see the DJ in action before commiting. We are attending at least two weddings before our big day but geographically these aren't local to us and I'm sure there's plenty of brilliant DJs in the West Midlands, it's just going to be a case of finding one. If anyone has any recommendations... ;-)

Adam's sister is also getting married next year and pointed me in the direction of a website where you enter the details of your wedding and local DJs send you quotes. Adam's sister received a couple of quotes within a couple of hours of posting her details so it's worth a shot.

Since getting engaged we have only been to one wedding fayre (something I plan to rectify in the coming months!), and that was more coincidence than planning. It was when we were looking for a venue and looking at the hotel the fayre was being held in was more of a priority than the stands within the hotel. Wedding fayres should be a great way of finding local suppliers and entertainment for your wedding. When we went we did talk to a company that supplied DJs for venues and effectively had reserve DJs just incase the DJ you booked broke down or couldn't make it for whatever reason which I found quite reassuring as I am a little paranoid about things going wrong, suppliers failing to deliver etc.

Although we haven't booked the DJ yet, we have been thinking of songs we would like played at the reception and are wracking our brains for our first dance song. Adam and I have quite different tastes in music so it's not been easy. Our different musical tastes are one reason why we felt a Band wasn't really an option for us. We are also planning on asking guests for song requests when they RSVP so that we can put together our own wedding playlist and everyone will have at least one song they can get up and boogie to.

Obviously a DJ isn't the only type of entertainment you can chose from. We did talk to a magician at the wedding fayre but it wasn't for us.
As I've previously mentioned I still love the idea of a photobooth, which is as much entertainment as it is a photographic memory.

We just want everyone to have a fun yet relaxed time so we need to get attending more fayres and get our entertainment crossed off our To Do list!

Katherine Charles looks forward to her dream honeymoon!

Well, with only 100 days to go now until the big day, I think I am as equally excited about our honeymoon as I am about our wedding! It took us quite a while to decide where to go, primarily because we were trying to balance what we wanted with what the budget would allow! I think it’s fair to say we were very shocked with some of the quotes we received!

Of course, like everyone, we wanted to make this a memorable holiday; our first as man and wife and, for that reason, we wanted to pick a destination that gave us the opportunity to relax on the beach as well as do a bit of exploring and sightseeing. At first, we thought of doing what now seems to be a very popular choice – Dubai and on to the Maldives. I have to say it was incredibly enjoyable looking through all of the brochures at the amazing hotels on offer, next to crystal blue waters and golden sands – bliss!! Although we wanted to really splash out on a lovely honeymoon, we also didn’t want to start married life in debt so this idea was quickly shelved!

Our second option was to tie our honeymoon in with a visit to my fiancés brother in Australia. We played around with options to visit somewhere on the flight there, such as Thailand......we also considered visiting somewhere on the East Coast of Australia but as I had been there before, we also ruled that out as we wanted to find somewhere that was a new adventure for both of us.

And so it caught us by surprise one evening while watching “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” that we struck upon the perfect honeymoon destination......Hawaii! And so, on Boxing Day, we will be jetting off to Honolulu and spending 3 days staying near Waikiki Beach where we are going to do some sight-seeing, followed by 7 days of bliss lying on a beach in Maui – we simply cannot wait!!!

Fill out Bride and Groom’s wedding dress survey and win £100!

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Angela Harkin on planning the perfect hen do!

I’m unsure of what I want to do for my hen do but I know what I definitely don’t want!

Luckily the responsibility for arranging everything falls on my sister’s shoulders. As my one and only bridesmaid, she will have the problem of deciding how her younger, fussier sister would like to celebrate her last days of single life.

I’ve been on my fair share of hen parties and after a near-death experience and far too many drunken nights, with the obligatory oiled-up stripper, I want something classy for my hen night.

I asked my friends about hen nights and if they had been to any unusual ones. Dance lessons seemed to be a popular choice, from belly-dance, can-can or even pole dance lessons but that is just not my thing. I prefer to sit and listen to music than dance to it.

Mini-breaks are still popular but I do feel this can be a big commitment for people from getting time off work to getting the kids looked after, not to mention the cost involved.

I’d also heard of someone who took all her hens tank driving! I experienced a hen weekend where we all went white-water rafting however after my raft crashed into a bridge and I was plunged into freezing water in the middle of January (and thought I was going to drown!), I vowed never to do anything like that again. Adrenalin junkie I am not.

Another favourite is a luxury pamper session with treatments and massages combined with a leisurely champagne lunch. Now that sounds more my thing although most places can be pricey and I don’t want it to cost a fortune for all the ladies.

I do love cocktails (one of the reasons we chose our honeymoon hotel is for their fabulous mojito lounge) so this has inspired me to look into having a cocktail masterclass. There seems to be more and more places doing these and they seem reasonably priced. I mean, what woman doesn’t enjoy a cocktail? We’ll have a great time whilst telling ourselves we are learning a new and essential skill!

I was actually surprised to find out that more and more girls are going for small get-togethers where they have a room in a bar or hotel and can all get a chance to chat and laugh in privacy. This means if the celebrations get loud and wild (or, in my case, if my sister starts shrieking her favourite songs at the top of her voice!), we won’t be annoying anyone else. The important thing is I have a fun hen night that doesn’t cost the earth. I want everyone to have fun and let their hair down for a night.

Now, I’d better make sure my sister reads this so that there are no unexpected surprises.

Sandy Gaggini enjoys every moment of choosing her wedding cake!

I LOVE cake! So this was naturally one of the first things I started thinking about when myself and Adam got engaged. I was adamant I wanted a tower of cupcakes and to be honest I didn't think Adam would really mind what cake we had as long as it tasted good... I was wrong! Adam totally surprised me and was insistent that he wanted the traditional tiered cakes.

One thing you should know about me is that I can be quite stubborn, so although I'm not a Bridezilla (honestly I'm not) I do like things to happen the way I want them, I don't go crazy if they don't but I do sulk! I began looking on-line at gorgeous looking Wedding Cupcakes and showing them to Adam in the hopes that he'd change his mind. He agreed that they looked awesome but he wanted a cake that we could cut.

We had a look at and considered a giant cupcake as the top tier but decided it wasn't what either of us envisaged for our wedding cake. Eventually we came to a compromise, tiers of cupcakes with a traditional wedding cake for the top tier that we could cut. I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner!

One of the things I love about cupcakes is the fact that they are individual cakes, allowing for a bit of variety. You can have different colours, different flavours and different decorations. For example we go to our local Farmers Market every month and the lately there has been a stall there selling cupcakes, although if you're there at midday she only has a couple left! She has Chocolate Orange cupcakes, Oreo cupcakes, Earl Grey cupcakes, Lemon cupcakes and even ones that look 99s with the flake.

I think your Wedding Cake is as much about how it looks as it is how it tastes. I could make cakes that taste great but I'm not creative and they wouldn't look very impressive.

I started contacting a few cupcake bakeries. Most seem to have price bands depending on quantity and vary depending on flavours and how intricate the detail you want on each cupcake is. Something I hadn't considered was the cake stand and some (not all) charge for the use of the cupcake stand.

As I've said in a previous post, I'm learning that it definitely pays to know people in the Wedding Industry. My uncle is a postman and on his round he delivers to Juci Luci's Cupcake Factory! I like to imagine it's like Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory but with cupcakes... AWESOME!!!

I checked out her website (www.juicycupcakefactory.co.uk) and her facebook page (social media and the wedding industry is fantastic) and fell in love with her cakes.

I contacted Luci and she's been really helpful. As we're getting married a few miles away she is happy to set up the cakes for us - one thing less for us to organise on our big day! She doesn't charge for the stand as she believes it's only right that the cakes are beautifully displayed. We haven't had a tasting session yet although I have it on very good authority that the cakes taste delicious, and Luci has offered to come to us or is happy for us to go to her for a tasting session and to discuss flavours, colour schemes and decoration.

Luci has also just started making Bride and Groom decorations and they look amazing!

I cant wait to see, cut and most importantly eat our wedding cake!

Our blogging bride Angela Harkin looks at the wonderful world of wedding stationery!

Apparently every bride needs nine, yes nine, different types of stationery! Don’t believe me? Drum roll please… we need… (1) Save the Date cards, (2) Day Invitations, (3) Evening Invitations, (4) RSVPs, (5) Orders of Service, (6) Table Plans, (7) Place Cards, (8) Menus and, finally, (9) Thank You Cards! Now if you take the average-sized wedding of, say, 150 guests, the cost of envelopes alone will eat up a large chunk of your budget so it’s important to be savvy when it comes to stationery.

The most important piece of stationery is without a doubt, the invitations. When my H2B and I decided on our gig-inspired theme, we knew that our invitations had to reflect that. It’s the first thing our guests will see and we want people to get a sneak peek of what our wedding will be like. There are so many unique ideas for wedding invitations, from printed chocolate bars to ‘Wanted’ posters and even computer games emailed to guests. As much as I like the traditional embossed invitations covered in diamantes, I think it is much more fun to try and do something different and make sure no-one else will ever have the same as you. We initially thought about flyers, coasters and even CD’s with the wedding information on however as we scrawled the internet, we came upon Treefrog Graphics who had the perfect invitations for us – concert tickets! They are distinctive and have a perforated RSVP that people simply rip off and return – two cards in one!

So with our invitations and RSVPs out the way, we have now started looking at stationery for the big day. I heard recently of one wedding where the place cards were cookies with names iced on them which is a great idea and a tasty treat while people are listening to speeches. We, however, plan to have the image of cassettes printed onto card and we will write the names of guests across them – a little bit retro and fun. This same design will also be on the menus. As I mentioned in my previous blog, we are having a set-list instead of order of service and our table plan will be in the style of a festival poster. These are things we plan to make ourselves and although I’m not very creative, I have found it’s easy to design them on the computer.

As for Thank You Cards, well we haven’t got that far yet. We have been toying with the idea of CD’s of songs played at the wedding but we will decide that nearer the time.

We are aware that our theme is very much a vital part of our wedding and the stationery will be a key element but we also aren’t letting the costs spiral out of control – Microsoft Publisher is definitely a big help!

My tip for stationery would be to ask the wedding venue if they do any of them for you as this could save lots of time and money. Many hotels will provide and write place cards, menus and table plans at no extra cost, saving a small fortune.

And after booking our luxurious honeymoon the other day, maybe I should follow my own advice and call the hotel…

Katherine Charles shares how choosing your big day flowers can be easy and fun!

It’s probably fair to say that there is only one task that I was dreading organising in the run up to our wedding.....flowers! I don’t know the first thing about flowers – What are they called? When are they in season? What is likely to last for the whole day? Seriously, I didn’t have a clue... Actually, thinking about it, I probably still don’t. But I am certainly a little wiser and much more relaxed about the flowers for our wedding all thanks to Lavenders of London, who we have chosen to provide the flowers and bits of decor for our big day.

They couldn’t have been more helpful – they asked me questions about the venue, about the general theme of the day and about any ideas that I had. In terms of my ideas, I did lots of Google research about what flowers would be suitable for a winter wedding – of course, most of the research I did suggested we might like to opt for traditional red roses, in keeping with a Christmas wedding. But I don’t want that....we are trying to move away from the “obvious” Christmas theme; however, finding pictures did help me try and explain what I was looking for.

When we visited the Lavenders of London warehouse, my poor Fiance thought we would be there for days...there was literally every flower, candle and ribbon you could ask for! I, on the other hand, was in heaven!! After chatting through all of my ideas with them and purchasing some decor in keeping with my theme, we have now organised all of our flowers in one visit alone. It was such a relief to have someone take a weight off your shoulders...in that single visit, I have been able to organise my bouquet, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, all of the buttonholes and corsages as well as some extra special touches for centrepieces and venue design, although I will keep those under wraps for now ;)

Sandy Gaggini shares her tips for choosing the perfect photographer.

Along with the dress, the venue and of course the groom, one of the most important things to get right is the photographer.

Your wedding day is only going to happen once, there will only be one entrance at the ceremony, one first kiss as husband and wife, one first dance. There's no room for retakes so everything needs to be captured perfectly first time. With so many things going on on your big day you're going to miss things that happen that don't directly involve you, but hopefully your photographer will capture some of these moments. Your Wedding Album is going to be a massive reminder of your big day and something you can share with friends and family who were unable to attend and your children and grandchildren. That's how important these photos are!

I first started looking at photographers when I was looking at potential venues. I would google each potential venue and the phrase "wedding photography" to look at the different photo opportunities each venue could provide. We wanted a beautiful church and a gorgeous wedding reception venue that would look amazing in our photographs, and what better way to envisage the potential than looking at pictures from previous weddings. This also allowed me to scope out potential photographers, find styles that I liked, get an idea of how much they cost and just generally be nosey into complete strangers weddings!!!
I soon discovered that photgraphers are pretty pricey, and each photographer offers a different package so you should make sure you know exactly what is included for the price.

As somebody who doesn't really like posing for photographs the main pictures I was interested in were the natural ones where the people in the photos don't realise they're having their picture taken. I did stumble across one particular photographer who's posed photos I loved, Steven Gerrard, so creative and talented. Unfortunately his prices don't fit in with our budget.

As I am finding with a lot of this Wedding Planning malarkey it's as much who you know as what you know. An old school friend's sister has started her own Wedding Photography business. As soon as Adam and I announced our engagement my friend recommended we take a look at her sister's website and facebook page to consider her for our photographer.

When I looked at Katie Ingram's photos I thought she was was the perfect choice. Her pictures are stunning and really capture the moment. I love the unforced, natural photos that she takes, and for the posed ones, who better than someone I have known for several years to make me feel comfortable and relaxed. In Katie's own words "I like to show the joy and happiness in people from the day. It's a celebration and I embrace the happiness and capture it as well as I can."

Check out her work and I'm sure you'll be as impressed as I was. www.katieingram.co.uk

Other than the professional photos, I have quite a few friends who enjoy photography and am planning on getting copies of the photos they take on the day, and if our budget can stretch to it I would really like a photobooth to add a really fun element to the photography and allow guests to take a memento of the day home with them.

Angela Harkin reveals all about her wedding day theme!

Superheroes, Zombies, Star Wars and even Shrek! These are just some of the bizarre themes people come up with for their wedding day. Ok, so those ones aren’t for everyone and you would need to be a very brave (and skinny!) woman to dress up in figure-hugging Wonder Woman hot pants on your wedding day. But why do we need a theme anyway?

As a teacher, I’ve always been involved in organising the school prom and, as the years have gone by, more and more pupils want a theme. This year, it was Las Vegas - seat covers were red and black, table decorations were poker chips, cards and dice and we had chocolate favours in the shape of hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds. For a wedding, this could be enhanced by adding cocktails, an Elvis impersonator and a casino at the reception. So themes are becoming very popular at all events but especially weddings.

People now regard the theme as a way of bringing their wedding together and showing off their personality. It’s about making the wedding one of a kind and memorable for everyone there. The simplest method is using colours and making everything from the invitations to the favours and bridesmaid dresses all the same shade. Some people prefer to use the season in which they get married for example, shells, pebbles and sand for summer weddings or winter effects such as ice carvings and snowflakes. Vintage and Eco weddings are growing in popularity with more emphasis put on saving money and DIY decorations. As the grooms-to-be become more involved in wedding preparations, football is also a growing theme - tables named after footballers, team colours everywhere and even having the ceremony at their beloved stadium.

So what about our theme? Well, we decided early on that we had to have a gig theme. Our love of music and seeing bands meant that it was only right it should form the basis of our wedding. We have recently chosen the perfect invitations in the design of concert tickets – not your typical wedding invitations however they are unique to us. Once our guests start to receive them, they will be intrigued as it gives a clue to what the wedding will be like. They will also be asked to request a song on their RSVP for our DJ to play at the reception. This is a nice touch as it means every guest will get their song on the reception playlist plus it will mean everyone will want to dance to at least one song! We will be naming our tables after our favourite bands and making LP sleeves to match. Our table plan will be done in the form of a festival poster (with the help of a very creative art teacher colleague!). We are going to replace the traditional order of service for a set-list of the songs that will be played at the ceremony. Many a time, I have gone to weddings and wondered what choice of song was playing so this will be a nice keepsake for guests.

For me, the theme is a key part of our wedding but it may not be for everyone. The occasion is so special and meaningful by itself, you may not feel the need for a theme. I would say it’s more about the little personal touches you add rather than the grand statements. So if you are choosing a theme, it should be personal to you, fun and easy to manage. My only warning is to think carefully about your decision as choosing a Wonder Woman outfit over a beautiful wedding dress may be something you look back on with regret.

Katherine Charles fills us in on finding her dream dress!

So, the date has been chosen and the venue is booked....now it is time for the real fun to begin – dress shopping!

When I first started looking for my dress, I was pretty open to suggestions. I had taken some inspiration from other weddings that I had been to as well as being a regular at the local wedding fair circuit. I hadn’t intended to get my dress so far in advance, I was just keen to start the shopping; after all, a girl only gets to try these on once, right?!

The only ideas I had in my mind, was that I wanted an A-line shape (to cover what I consider to be a larger than average backside) and something in more of an ivory tone, rather than a plain white since I had a feeling this colour would wash me out. I was also quite clear that I wanted something simple and not too ‘bling’.

Sure enough, my first shopping trip entailed trying on several in this style, all equally beautiful dresses. I was starting to realise how hard it must be to find ‘the one’! It seemed that every dress I tried on, I fell in love with – and it is definitely true what they say, you do feel like a princess! And, let’s just say (without revealing too many details), you surprise yourself once you start trying on different dresses!

What surprised me most was how comfortable the majority of them seemed to be – sure, there was that awkward ‘breathe-in’ moment when you first get into the dress, but after a few minutes, it’s amazing how you can adapt to them! I was also shocked by the sheer variety of dresses and was easily coaxed into trying on lots of different styles of varying meringue sizes. On my first shopping trip, I fell in love with a beautiful Alfred Angelo dress and was 99% convinced that this would be the one, but could it be that easy to find it on my first trip? We had been to see 14 venues, how on earth could dress shopping be so easy? And, more importantly, I WANTED to do more dress shopping!

Unconvinced that shopping for your wedding dress could be that easy, I booked a few more appointments with some other local suppliers; each a different experience. I am glad that I did....!

I had seen my dress on display at a wedding fair and had instantly loved it and was fixated on trying it on – sure enough, my Mum, my mother-in-law to be and I ventured to Rena Zhang Couture in Farnham on a cold December morning last year to seek out said dress. The whole experience was amazing – as soon as we arrived, the staff made us feel so welcome. We sat on a beautiful chaise-longue and talked through the style of the wedding whilst sipping champagne in a warm and relaxed shop. I had a very good feeling at this point...and luckily I wasn’t disappointed! As soon as I tried it on, I knew it was the one – it sounds clichéd but I did get goose-bumps and, as if I needed any more proof, the tears of my maternal support group soon proved that this was indeed the one for me.

I won’t reveal too many details about the style, just in case my eagle-eyed fiancé is reading this, but sufficed to say that it puts a big smile on my face when I wear it and I hope it has the same effect on him too. Now I just can’t wait to wear it for the big day

Read all about our final bride to be Sandy Gaggini's wedding plans!

Hi! I'm Sandy and will be regularly posting my blog on here!

I'd say I'm quite a relaxed and calm bride-to-be, definitely haven't turned into Bridezilla... Yet!!! I've been watching Don't Tell the Bride and if these guys can plan a wedding in a matter of weeks then I'm confident we'll do fine!

I never really thought of myself getting married so the wedding planning process is very new and I'm starting completely from scratch with no pre-existing thoughts or ideas.

My fiance, Adam and I got engaged Boxing Day. We live in Birmingham but Adam is originally from Manchester and so had spent Christmas day with his Family up north and I'd spent Christmas with my Mum in the Midlands. We'd exchanged presents but had decided to keep one present back to open together! I unwrapped what I thought was just a Christmas present in front of a glowing Halogen heater as the boiler had packed in with the cold weather. It was a total surprise, an engagement ring that Adam had chosen all by himself and he popped the question! All I'd bought him was the Toy Story trilogy box set! I love the ring! Its modern and untraditional looking. I couldn't have chosen better!

The wedding is booked for March 17th 2012, St Patrick's day, but not a St Patrick day theme and neither of us is Irish!!! We're getting married at a beautiful Roman Catholic Church and the Reception is at a Golf Club.

Invitations, Wedding Car and Photographer are sorted, and I am currently in the process of Wedding Dress shopping! Fun fun fun!

I hope you enjoy reading my blog!

Introducing Angela Harkin our second bride to be!

Bridezilla? Me? No way! I think I’m in the unique position where my H2B is probably more demanding about our wedding than me!

My Groomzilla is my lovely John, who I met 3½ years ago. After whisking me off to Rome last October and getting down on one knee in front of the Trevi Fountain (and an audience of over a thousand tourists!), we returned to our hotel to be welcomed by a bottle of champagne on ice in the rooftop terrace. Little did we know that this trip would help us set the scene for our wedding plans and within a fortnight of returning home, we had our wedding booked at the Gailes Hotel, simply because it had a rooftop terrace! We’re a bit impulsive and believe fate has a hand in everything so our wedding is no different.

With just over a year to go until the big day (2nd July 2012), there is so much to think about….I mean, with so many choices out there nowadays, I really don’t know how we’re going to make decisions. We’ve recently been looking at cakes and that in itself has taken far too much of my time (and destroyed my waistline!).

Everyone seems to have a theme these days and we can’t be any different so our shared love of music and going to gigs will feature heavily in the wedding along with my love of stars (my one and only Bridezilla moment – let’s hope it doesn’t rear its head again!). We need to find something for my ten year old son, Ethan, to do at the wedding (apart from singing Tinie Tempah songs at the ceremony – as he requested last week!)

This will be my second wedding (but the most important!) and we don’t want it to be a small affair. We want it to be unique to us and hopefully, with all our ideas, it’ll be unforgettable for us and our guests. We want to enjoy the big day and I want John to enjoy being a Groomzilla!

Bring on the fun!

Meet Katherine Charles, our first blogging bride!

I am definitely one of those girls who has dreamed about getting married since I was little. Interestingly, I never thought about the big white meringue dress or all the sparkly jewellery, I was just always excited about the thought of having all my friends and family celebrating together. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to be surprised with a proposal from my (then) boyfriend David, back in September 2010.

We were on a road-trip down the west-coast of America and, up until that point, had had the most amazing holiday, seeing so many great things. Friends had joked to us before we went that we would come back engaged and, although I wasn’t expecting it, it had crossed my mind! I thought that if he was going to propose, he would do so while we were in Palm Springs at a very romantic hotel, however nothing happened. I wasn’t disappointed as we had only been together a short amount of time so I didn’t think any more of it. Little did I know, just 2 days later (on the 1 year anniversary of our first date), he would surprise me by getting down on one knee at the Grand Canyon. This was always set to be an amazing trip, as we had planned a sunset champagne picnic after flying over the Canyon in a helicopter – however, being proposed to made it absolutely unforgettable. I remember being so excited flying back to Las Vegas and couldn’t wait to phone home and tell my Mum! After that, we waited to tell everyone until we got back home a couple of days after...although I was allowed to buy a wedding magazine at the airport!

So, 9 months later, we are well underway with our wedding planning. We both love Christmas and decided to be a little different and opt for a winter wedding, so we are getting married on December 16^th at Rivervale Barn in Hampshire. We are planning to have about 90 people to the day for a civil-ceremony, drinks reception and sit-down meal, followed by an evening reception where we will have an additional 40-50 guests. I have found the most gorgeous dress which I absolutely love and we have also organised the men’s suits (we will be having 2 ushers and 2 best men) and the bridesmaids dresses (I am having 4 bridesmaids) simply because 3 of them have/are emigrating to Australia before December (luckily they are coming back for the big day!). There is still lots to do...sorting out the food and drink, hair and make-up, flowers/decor and the smaller details like fittings, favours and thank you gifts, amongst other things.

My parents are divorced so my biggest challenge has been keeping everyone happy! To save any arguments, I am doing a few things the ‘non-traditional’ way, so I am having my Mum give me away and both my Dad and my Step-Dad delivering speeches. As my husband-to-be couldn’t choose his best man, he is having 2 of his closest friends and his brother will be our MC. We really wanted to involve our close family as much as possible. I am so excited about creating a really rustic feel at our gorgeous venue with lots of candles, ivy and glitzy Christmas accessories! Only 192 days to go (but who’s counting?!)...

Over the moon – now the hard work starts!

Wow what a weekend! The National Wedding Show really lived up to its hype; there was just so much inspiration all in one place. I am really glad we pushed the boat out and booked the VIP tickets as we were spoilt rotten! My mum and sister came with me and we started the day with a glass of bubbly in the VIP lounge before hitting the show.

Thankfully I wore my flat shoes as we spent nearly six hours perusing what was on offer! We started at the Catwalk, which was so glamorous – where we had VIP reserved seats. The best thing about the catwalk show was that it wasn’t just for the brides, Mum got loads of inspiration for her outfit and also my sister and I loved one of the bridesmaids dress styles. I even spotted a gorgeous suit for Dave and his groom’s party!

Dave asked me to gather ideas for our honeymoon – which was great fun. There was such a mix of exhibitors from stunning boutique hotels in the UK such as Kanika Hotels and Resorts in Cyprus to far afield adventures from Kuoni at Travel Designers and Luxuryholidaysdirect.com. We have both agreed to splash out on the honeymoon, making it into a maxi-moon. We have both arranged to have a month off work and make it a once in a lifetime experience. Top locations on the list are Dubai, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

I also chose some great favours from Chocolatelilly – cake pops! They are bright colours and so much fun; I think our guests will love them.

Jenny xx

If, like Jenny you want a bit of A-list treatment and glamour - why not treat yourself to a VIP ticket to the National Wedding Show, Birmingham NEC on 4th – 6th March, available to buy on the website www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk

The National Wedding Show features a number of top quality venues and planners for abroad weddings. For a full list see our exhibitor list online at www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk

Over the moon – now the hard work starts!

I think it is finally beginning to sink in that we are ENGAGED! I still have a massive grin on my face when I look down and my sparkly finger adornment.

We held a party in our favourite restaurant (just what our friends needed as a January blues pick-me-up) and officially asked my bridesmaids – Dave’s sister and my two best friends. Dave also confirmed with his best man, Mark.

We have also set a provisional date of August 27th 2011 – so now the hunt for a location/venue is on. I suggested to Dave that we wait until after the National Wedding Show, so we will have a lot more ideas of where to book. It is now only three weeks away. I am so excited and can’t wait to be a VIP for the day!

I have to admit – I am a bit wedding obsessed and keep my eye out for inspiration everywhere I go. I even went into B&Q the other day to pick up some colour charts. As we are having a summer wedding, we want a vibrant colour scheme – honeysuckle seems to be a popular colour trend for this year and I think it would really suit my bridesmaids.

Jenny xx

If, like Jenny you want a bit of A-list treatment and glamour - why not treat yourself to a VIP ticket to the National Wedding Show available to buy on the website www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk or call the ticket hotline on 0844 581 1404

The National Wedding Show features a number of top quality venues and planners for abroad weddings – click here to see our full exhibitor list for the London and Birmingham show

Over the moon – now the hard work starts!

When my lovely fiancé, Dave, popped the question on Christmas day – I could not have been more surprised OR happier. We had a lovely morning together in our new home and planned to visit my mum for a family lunch. Little did I know, as he opened the Champagne for a bucks fizz with breakfast, that small boxed shaped present wrapped up neatly beneath the tree was in fact the most gorgeous diamond ring!

Having the chance to celebrate with my family that day over lunch made it really special and I can’t thank Dave enough for being so thoughtful.

As soon as Boxing Day came, I dashed to the shop for a stack of wedding magazines – and found out just what I had in store for the next months of planning the perfect nuptials. Neither of us want a long engagement so it looks like there will be some hard work involved, but I am sure we will love every minute of it.

Of course, I instantly booked VIP tickets to the National Wedding Show in spring for me, mum and my sister Kirsty, I can’t think of a better place to start looking for inspiration. Especially for my dress as Dave will not be coming with us.

Of course second thing on our to-do list is to choose a location…we both love the sun and go on holiday whenever we can, so are brainstorming foreign locations where we can have a wedding and honeymoon all in one. It will also mean our guests get some sunshine and fun out of it too.

Jenny xx

If, like Jenny you want a bit of A-list treatment and glamour - why not treat yourself to a VIP ticket to the National Wedding Show available to buy on the websitewww.nationalweddingshow.co.uk

The National Wedding Show features a number of top quality venues and planners for abroad weddings, visit www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk to see the full exhibitor list

Our Bridal Coach Michele Paradise offers her top tips for ensuring you both look and feel fabulous on your big day

-Always get your feet measured before buying your wedding shoes. Your feet have changed since the age of 6!

-Always buy new shoes in the afternoon or early evening when your feet are at their largest. Feet swell during the day.

-Cover new shoes with cut off tights, wear them everyday for 15/30 mins to break them in at least a month before the wedding.

-Before the photo shake out your hands, gently place them on your hip or bouquet so that they look beautiful, not like a claw!

-In photos, stand at an angle with one foot slightly in front of the other. If feet are together you will look flat and wide.

-Perfection doesn't exist so stop striving for the perfect wedding. Celebrate, have fun, eat, laugh and enjoy the ride!

-Wearing a veil makes you feel different and requires a bit of practice. So put one on and practice now. It will pay off!

-Clean, shaped eyebrows open the eyes and create a wider eye they look better in the photos and you look rested and relaxed.

-Choose a creamy white dress so that it doesn't create glare when photographed and it's kinder to the skin tone.

-Don't follow make up trends for your bridal make up. Stick to a classic look and your photos will be timeless.

-In photos don't keep both arms entirely straight, bend one or both to create space between the arm and body.

-In photos rest most of your weight on one foot or the other. This looks less posey and gives a slight slimming effect.

-Focus on what you want to happen on your wedding day, not what you don't want to happen. You get what you wish for.

-When walking up the aisle please, please, please look up at your guests and your fiancé. Smile and they will smile back at you.

You can attend Michele's Bridal Coaching sessions at the show to hear more top tips for looking and feeling great on your big day. For more info click here