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!

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

Off the peg, vintage, borrowed or bespoke? Bride and Groom want to know everything about the most exquisite dress you’ve ever owned – your wedding dress!

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