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!