Shoes glorious shoes!

I’m obsessed with shoes and Chris is obsessed with Whiskey and so we have decided to name half of our tables after Scottish Single Malts and the other half after my favourite shoe designers. Our guests will either sit at Glenmorangie, Laphroaig, Talisker, Ardberg, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, or Terry de Havilland tables.

Yesterday, I was at the UK Fashion Export Awards and to my delight so was Terry de Havilland. I was so excited to meet the man himself and introduced myself to him. I gushed about how much I loved his shoes and told him I was actually going to name one of my wedding tables after him. He and his wife Liz were so sweet and we chatted for hours. They make bespoke shoes and said they would be able to make me my wedding shoes. I can’t believe it, I’m going to have a one-off pair of shoes made for the most important day of my life by one of my favourite designers. It’s so exciting!! Because my wedding dress is so traditional I’m going to go for really amazing shoes in the colour of my bridesmaid dresses (think Cadbury dairy milk purple) as I think it will add a really interesting twist. They’ll be something I cherish forever and knowing that nobody else in the world has a pair like them will make them all the more special.

There are lots of shoe companies that can create bespoke shoes for your big day and a number of them exhibited at the National Wedding Show. It’s a great way of having something really personal and unlike your dress you’ll be able to wear them time and time again. They are definitely worth investing in.

Luce x

No going back now the dress has been chosen

I’ve done it. I’ve made the decision. I’ve paid the deposit. I’ve started the diet… The dress has finally been chosen and there is now no going back. I’m still not sure if it’s The One as I just didn’t get that feeling that everyone talks about. Plus, because I work in fashion everyone expects me to go for something really “out there”. I’m actually going for something really traditional which goes against every initial thought I had but I’m lucky enough to have borrowed some amazing dresses for Awards ceremonies including Matthew Williamson, Escada and Vivienne Westwood in the past so I feel like I’ve done that and wanted to wear something that is totally different to anything I have worn before. The dress I’ve chosen is by Maggie Sottero who retails at the National Wedding show. I won’t tell you which one as I’m keeping it a secret from everyone but will promise to post a picture after the day. I’m actually getting married while the National Wedding Show is on in October. It’s such a great place to go for ideas. I went a few weeks after I got engaged and it really helped me to organise myself. If I wasn’t getting married while it is on I’d definitely go again!!

I have less than 5 months to go and have ordered the dress a size smaller than I am now so I definitely have some work to do. I’ve started going to Zumba which is a new exercise craze which is based on Latin/Street/African dancing. I’m not the most coordinated person so I’m hoping that this will help me squeeze into my dress and also help me with the dreaded first dance!!

Luce

xx

Planning a perfect day can seem easy compared to being the perfect bride!

There is so much to think and worry about on the big W day let alone the idea of being the centre of attention, having hundreds of photos taken, saying your vows in front of all your family and often the dreaded first dance... I am sure many brides out there love the limelight but some wall flowers amongst you may well be dreading certain elements of the big day. Thats why we have introduced a new feature to the Autumn National Wedding Shows focusing on Bridal confidence both ''inside and out''

Former model turned life coach, Michele Paradise will be holding 3 different sessions a day focusing on different needs of the modern bride, she will be teaching you how to exude confidence and remain calm during your ceremony as well as offering practical advice on how to walk in your fabulous wedding shoes, how to achieve the perfect posture and how to work the camera, baby!

Michele’s advice will ensure you look and feel fabulous on your big day and we are very excited to have her on board.

Were always keen to know whats keeping you awake at night - so feel free to comment and let us know, you never know we may have the perfect solution

Location, Location, Location

I’ve done it! It’s taken over 3 months, scores of venue visits and a few tears but I have finally set a date, secured a church, booked the venue and practically decided on my dress. I was so determined not to become bridezilla that I went the other way and became so laid back that I was complacent. Don’t make the same mistake!!! Thankfully the main elements of the day have been arranged so now I can just enjoy planning all the fun bits. Phew!

My venue* is the totally gorgeous Number One Marylebone, www.onemarylebone.com , voted no.2 in a list of the Top 20 venues in the UK by Event Magazine last year, and I’m thrilled to have managed to get the date I want. So on October 2nd 2010 I will leave the title of Miss Walsh behind and become Mrs Stott (except for work that is, well a girl has to keep some of her identity doesn’t she?).

My day will start at 2pm with a Roman Catholic service at the beautiful Farm Street Church in Mayfair. It’s right next door to Guy Richie’s pub the Punch Bowl so I can guarantee that my groom will be in there for a bit of Dutch courage before he steps foot in the church. I’m sure half of my guests will probably pile in there too on the off chance of seeing a celeb.

Now I have to find a florist who can really make everything come to life so if you have a suggestion for a London based florist I’d be thrilled to hear from you. I am looking into Zita Elze www.zitaelze.com and Mathew Dickenson www.mathewdickinsonflowers.com/ at the moment!

6 months to go and counting, I’m really rather excited!!

Speak soon,

Luce

*If you too are organising a chic city wedding, why not check out The Grand Connaught Rooms www.grandconnaughtrooms.com or even The White House www.whitehouselondon.com

The Personal Touch

We went to a wedding the other week which was so personal to the couple it really reflected their personalities. They are incredibly funny and the whole day was side splitting including the bride walking down the aisle to Star Wars Death march (incase you don’t know what that sounds like click here) www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8 and the tables being named after dead pets!! OK, it’s not to everyone’s liking but what it did show is how important it is to make your wedding about you. It got me thinking about what personal touches Chris and I could do to make our wedding day memorable. Chris is a real whiskey fan and so we’re going to give all the male guests mini bottles of Laphroaig single malt whiskey as wedding favours. They are so cute and come in a little presentation case. For the ladies I’m going to give them little crystal perfume bottles from Lavenders of London which I found at the National Wedding Show www.lavendersoflondon.com/Wedding_Accessories/Favour_ideas/


I absolutely love hot food, the more chilli’s the better, so I’ve found miniature Tabasco bottles that you can have a personalised message on printed on. I’m going have our names and the date of our wedding added and tie them to each napkin with a red ribbon as something for people to remember the day by. I’ve also decided to have chilli’s placed amongst the flowers in my bouquet and in the flowers at the reception which I think will look really great and be totally personal to me.

It’s definitely the little quirky things that I remember from other peoples weddings and I hope that what we’re doing will make people smile.

Let me know if you’re doing anything that you haven’t seen before or if you’ve been to a wedding that had a really great point of difference.

Luce x

Maids with a difference

I have managed to find some fab 1950’s style bridesmaid dresses for my bridesmaids. I am having 3 adult maids and want their dresses to look like different variations along a similar theme. I have decided to go for prom style dresses in a really rich red with huge petticoats of the same colour. My 3 maids will each have a different neckline meaning they can personalise their dress and wear the shape that suits them best. I’m now worried that they might look better than I do walking down the aisle so I really need to up my game and find the perfect wedding dress.

Luce xx

What would you like to see at the October shows?

The National Wedding Show team are beavering away planning the October shows. Having taken on board all post-show research from the Spring shows we are looking at new and exciting ways to enhance your experience. The team have lots of meetings planned over the next coming weeks to confirm new features for the Autumn shows, we want to make sure the shows are offering you everything you need to plan your big day, so please let us know if you think were missing anything.

Let us know what you would like to see at the show by posting a comment and we will see what we can do...

Tickets for the October shows taking place from the 1-3rd October 2010 at London Earls Court and the 8-10th October at Birmingham NEC will be on sale shortly!