Category: Wedding Events

Are you planning your wedding and wondering if there is something you’ve missed?

Check out our planning tips below

1. Decide approximately how many guests you want to invite before even looking for a venue. This will ensure there is enough room for everyone you want there. 
2. Check your wedding date against local events, trade conferences, and charity events. These things could cause issues with hotel room availability and/or traffic on the day.
3. Listen to mother nature. Venues that could be too hot or too cold depending on the time of year could mean that guests leave early. Bugs also collect in certain areas at certain times of the year, be sure to check that too. 
4. Let your wedding vendors recommend other vendors. Your photographer will know a florist that shines, and your venue manager will know a band/disco that gets the party started. 
5. Be organised and keep everything together in one place. Letters, receipts, notes made during meetings, photos, or magazine clippings. The last thing you want to be doing is hunting around.

Planning a wedding can be all-consuming and frustrating, so you may find it beneficial to hire a wedding planner.

A wedding planner is there to execute your dream, your vision for your wedding. A wedding planner can help with the initial planning and managing of the budget for your big day.  They coordinate with the wedding venue and negotiate with suppliers and caterers and they iron out all those last-minute issues. 

If you hire a local wedding planner they will have a great amount of knowledge and contacts with local suppliers, so may be able to negotiate good rates for you.

So are there any downsides?  Well, yes!  You have much less control of your wedding plans, so if you are someone who likes to be in control, a wedding planner may not work for you. Wedding planners also cost a lot of money, especially if they have a lot of experience. If you have a tight budget, you may need to reconsider having a wedding planner as you have their fee on top.

From 19 July, the rules for weddings, civil partnership ceremonies and receptions have changed.  There are no longer any restrictions on the number of people who can attend, meaning the 30 no longer applies. 

Social distancing at the celebration is no longer required even if the person does not live with you. 

Face coverings are not required in any setting.  The government does recommend wearing a mask in crowded areas, but it is at the wearer’s discretion.

Guest can now sing, and dance at the reception and table service only is not required (unless you request this for your particular event).

If someone invited to the celebration has been contacted by Track and Trace to self-isolate, they must still self isolate and NOT attend the celebration.  This is for the safety of all the guests.

One incredibly important aspect of a wedding, actually happens after the wedding, the honeymoon. Many couples, mainly those who may already have an established home together, even go so far as to request money for the honeymoon as opposed to receiving gifts.

Travel has been quite tricky since the start of a global pandemic and will likely still be quite different than we are used to, for a while longer. If you are planning to travel abroad for your honeymoon, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Current Travel Tips

• First do some research into any health and safety restrictions within the country you wish to visit so there are not unnecessary surprises.
• Pack several, easily accessible masks as they are required in airports and planes.
• Have hand sanitiser to hand, no bigger than 100ml in carry on (anti-bac wipes can also go through security). Larger bottles can be packed in your checked luggage, inside of shoes, to avoid them being squashed.
• Empty water bottles can go through security and be filled pre-flight at contactless water fountains in many UK airports.
• Checking in online is mandatory for many airlines, so do not forget to do this before getting to the airport.
• Not all airports will have these available but for those that do, using self-service kiosks for printing bag tags can help avoid queues.
• Sanitise hands before and especially after security.
• Another thing you can do, is use the terminal toilets just before boarding to try and avoid plane toilets.
• Listen to airport announcements as boarding could be much different.
• Anti-bac arm-rests, tray tables, tvs and seat belts on board.
• There may be reduced food and drink on offer, so be prepared.
• Air filtration of planes has been upgraded to remove 99.9% of dust, fungi, moisture, bacteria and viruses. So please feel free to breath normally.

With wedding attendance restrictions still in place, it can be frustrating to not be able to have everyone that you would like to, but the good news is it will help you save money or be able spend more of your wedding budget on what is most important to you.

Adventurous Setting

With a smaller party, you can go to more exclusive locations like a cliff face wedding, beach wedding or taking the wedding to a location abroad.

Splurge on the Honeymoon

With the savings of not having to provide a large venue or food and drink for large group, you can really focus on an exotic and romantic Honeymoon.

Make Everything More Personalised

With fewer people, it makes it easier to do everything with a more personal touch. You could hand write the invitations, make your own wedding favours, and have more money to spend on the perfectly tailored dress and tux.

Intimate weddings can be just as phenomenal as larger weddings and often they are even better as you can focus on what is most important, you and your partner.