Wedding Planning

Chartula couture wedding stationery

By Elisa Smith on March 9th, 2007

You may have been planning your wedding for months, or even years, but for some of your friends and family the first stage is the invitation. It’s the opening act to your spectacular show so you need to ensure it reflects that in grand style.

Chartula create Art Nouveau inspired invitations which delicately incorporate the Bride and Groom’s initials in the design. They use custom made card which is available in a wide variety of two tone colour schemes and the intricate design is then laser cut to produce a stunning lace like finish. The wedding details are then silk screen printed inside, and matching R.S.V.P cards are included for your guests to return.

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What’s in a date – when are you getting married?

By admin on March 8th, 2007

11 comments

According to a study by wedding website Hitched.com, the most popular day to get married this year is the 7th of July. Not only does it conveniently fall on a Saturday (the most popular day of the week to get married on), it also appeals to the superstitious, with all those lucky number sevens in the date – 07/07/07.

Now, this got me thinking. There’s no particular relevance to our wedding date – the 31st of March. When we found our venue we just asked them which dates they had available "around a year from now", and that was the date they had free. That it happened to also be the day my grandparents got married (or so we thought. It turned out they actually got married on the 30th – doh!) was just a happy coincidence. So, what about you? When are you getting married, and why did you pick that date in particular?

Posted in Wedding Planning | 11 Comments »

Food and Drink, Wedding Planning

Wedding Trikes: A catering surprise!

By Elisa Smith on March 8th, 2007

1 comment

Let’s face it, it can be a bore waiting for the bride and groom to have their photos taken, especially on a long hot summer’s day.

The ceremony was quite long, you’re feeling thirsty and a bit peckish, and the outfit you chose is making you hot under the collar. An ice cold Pimms would go down a treat, or a tasty ice cream perhaps?

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Posted in Food and Drink, Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »

Venues, Wedding Etiquette, Wedding Planning

Create the Perfect Table Plan

By Elisa Smith on March 5th, 2007

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Creating the perfect table plan for your wedding can be a nightmare. There’s family politics to consider, who’s not talking and you don’t necessarily want your drunken friends sitting beside old Auntie June and her pacemaker! There’s also the problem of how the waiting staff deal with all the special dietary requirements when there are just so many people. You don’t want the vegetarians ending up with rare fillet steak.

Perfect Table Plan will help you sort out all these issues and more. It’s a software package you can download to your PC for a fee of £19.95. It can cope with any seating plan from a small wedding reception to a 1000 plus seated banquet.

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Columns/ Opinion, Wedding Planning

Never Say ‘Never the Bride’

By admin on March 1st, 2007

4 comments

Foreveramber_1 Bridalwave writer Amber McNaught talks about the not-quite-as-stressful-as-you’d-expect world of wedding planning, and why not every bride to be is a bridezilla in waiting.

I’m getting married this month. Hold on, just let me say that again: I’m getting married this month. Sorry about that – I know I’ve been engaged for years and the wedding has been booked for 11 months now, but I’m still having a bit of trouble convincing myself it’s actually happening.

You see, I never intended to get married. While the other little girls were all dressing up as brides, I was out digging in the mud. While the bigger girls at high school and university talked about their dream wedding dresses (and dream grooms) I went on a never-ending search for the perfect, little black dress.

It wasn’t that I didn’t think I’d ever find a man mad enough to put up with me (well, it wasn’t just that, anyway) : I just didn’t think I was the wedding type. No one was more surprised than me, then, to find myself obsessively looking at wedding gowns and wondering whether I could afford to buy a pair of Christian Louboutins for the big day. (I couldn’t. Damn.)

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Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Wedding Planning | 4 Comments »

Columns/ Opinion, Gowns, Real Brides, Wedding Planning

The perfect wedding dress… or was it?

By admin on February 27th, 2007

1 comment

Freelance writer Elisa Smith looks back to her wedding day, her not so perfect choice of dress and trying to get that ‘hallmark’ moment.

I always imagined we would run away to Vegas and let ‘The King’ unite us in matrimonial bliss, then spend the evening necking outrageous cocktails and playing slot machines. What I’d be wearing never really crossed my mind.

So it came as a surprise to everyone, including me, that we ended up arranging our big day around a fairly traditional Registry Office service followed by a meal in a fancy restaurant with a string quartet playing in the corner. It was a compromise we reached when my parents offered us a two week honeymoon in the US, staying in top hotels if we would just stay at home and let them have ‘their big day’!

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Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Gowns, Real Brides, Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »

Columns/ Opinion, Gowns, Real Brides, Wedding Planning

Polka dot wedded bliss on a budget

By admin on February 26th, 2007

2 comments

Regular Shiny contributor Cate Sevilla shares the story of her "Anti-Bride" wedding, and how she found bridal bliss despite having a teeny-tiny budget…

I never realised how much of an “Anti-Bride” I truly was until looking at a copy of Modern Bride resulted in breaking out in hives, and suffering an afternoon of panic induced diarrhea. I was thrilled about getting married to my fiancé, as I love my him more than all of the Absolut Citron in the world; however, the thought of planning our wedding wasn’t exactly a dream come true. White dresses, linen, china, and churches aren’t exactly our style. Add on top of that I just recently moved to London from California, and we were now faced with the decision of, “So, which continent are we going to have this shindig on?”

Never mind all of the immigration issues to ensue, we had to decide which family would have to shell out the money to fly across the pond, or if we could deal with not having one side of our family present as we exchanged our vows. Unfortunately, my fiancée visa only gave us 6 months to plan and as it didn’t allow me to work in the UK, time and money were both against us. After many hours of thought, tears, and pints of lager, we finally made our decision. What always has mattered most to me about my wedding was the party afterwards, and having as much family there as possible. Therefore, we decided to have a small, quick ceremony in England in January, and then have a snowy wedding reception/party in Lake Tahoe, California, that March. That way, both of our families would both be involved, albeit, in different ways.

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Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Gowns, Real Brides, Wedding Planning | 2 Comments »

Gowns, Wedding Planning

Amanda Wakely sample sale

By admin on February 23rd, 2007

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Designer wedding dress sales are brilliant for Monica Geller-esque dress grabbing for those bargain gowns! So make sure you’re at Amanda Wakely for the one weekend only sale, 3-4 March. And as it’s RSVP, you’re unlikely to get into a scrap!

It will take place at Amanda Wakely’s flagship store, in the Sposa Showroom, at 80 Fulham Road, London, SW3. RSVP to Elena 020 7590 9108

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Ask Bridalwave!, Gowns, Wedding Planning

Ask Bridalwave – designer wedding dress sales

By admin on February 16th, 2007

5 comments

" I am trying to find a wedding dress but they are so expensive! Do you happen to know if there is going to be another Designer Wedding Dress Sale soon? Thanks!" Marina

You’re right about dresses being expensive but there’s always a deal to be had! Vera Wang are having a brilliant sample sale for two days only on 24th and 25th February with dresses up to 75% off and all under £995! (The Wedding Shop, 96-98 Waterford Road, London, SW6 Reserve your ticket here) Also in London on the 25th and 26th of February is the designer sample sale with up to 50% off designers including Cymbeline, Pronovias, Suzanne Neville, Sassi Holford and Stephanie Allin. (Blackburn Bridal Couture, 28 Blackheath Village, SE3 Appointments only 020 8297 1188). Pronuptia are also running a buy one wedding dress, get one bridesmaid dress free for a limited time.

Posted in Ask Bridalwave!, Gowns, Wedding Planning | 5 Comments »

Wedding Planning

Writing your own vows

By admin on February 15th, 2007

1 comment

Bride20headless20with20flowers This week we reached the stage of our wedding planning in which we have to finalise the exact format of the ceremony, and let the registrar know what kind of music we’re having, what the readings will be and – most importantly – which vows we’d like to make.

As we’re having a civil ceremony, there’s a lot of flexibility in the vows, and while there are some things that have to be included (the "just impediment" part of the ceremony, for instance) we can more or less have the rest however we want it. While we’ll be doing a little bit to tweaking to the rather dry vows which the registrar suggests, however, we’ve decided not to write our own vows. As I’m a writer, this surprised a few people, who had assumed we’d want complete control over what was said, but after a lot of thought, we’ve decided we’d probably feel too self-conscious reading out vows we’d written, and we’d rather keep those sentiments private.

What about everyone else? Will you be writing your own vows, and if so, why?

Posted in Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »

Gowns, Wedding Planning

Preview Monique Lhullier’s new wedding dresses at Browns Bridal

By admin on February 15th, 2007

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If you’re desperate to get your hands on the latest Monique Lhuillier gowns straight from the catwalk and can make it to London 8-10 March, then you’re in luck. Browns Bridal will be hosting a trunk show with the range from the LA catwalk so you’ll find all the new fashions and be able to ask Lhuillier’s own bridal director any questions. Call 020 7514 0057 to book an appointment.

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Books/ DVDs/ Online/ TV, Debates, Wedding Planning

Wedding finance – the Church doles out tips

By admin on February 12th, 2007

8 comments

You know we’re heading full tilt towards summer when the age old debate of wedding finance rears its ugly head again. It’s a bit like that dinner guest who always insists on finding out how much everyone earns! This time it’s the turn of the Church to wag the finger at commercialism with a book called Making the Most of Weddings. It advises couples to amongst other things -

#Brides should hitch or take a taxi to the wedding rather than a horse drawn carriage or limosine
#Buy second hand rings or use ones handed down through the family
#Make your own invitations on recycled paper
#Use silk rather than real flowers and gift to a nursing home after.

I have a feeling a couple of these ideas will have some of our brides incensed (I, for one, am rather repulsed at the idea of wearing a second hand ring) but I’d like to know what you think once you’ve read the BBC article. (You can also see comments relating to the article here)

Posted in Books/ DVDs/ Online/ TV, Debates, Wedding Planning | 8 Comments »

Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Keepsakes & Favours, Wedding Gifts, Wedding Planning

Favour sized Good Gifts

By admin on February 9th, 2007

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Whilst there has been an upsurge in alternative wedding lists for eco-friendly couples who already have their quota of toasters and towel bales, there’s been little to give to your guests until now. Thankfully, the Good Gifts catalogue have changed all that with a range of favours from £3 to £9 each that make a real difference to the wellbeing of people around the world.

Each gift is presented on a card in a red envelope and include an eyesight test and spectacles for an elderly person in India £3, a paraffin lamp for a hut in Africa £3 and a yearly medical fund for street children in India £5.

Posted in Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Keepsakes & Favours, Wedding Gifts, Wedding Planning | No Comments »

Cheap vs Chic, Debates, Gowns, Wedding Planning

Brides and Prejudice – the cost of your gown

By admin on February 7th, 2007

2 comments

I’ve just been reading this article in CiF at the Guardian remarking on the upsurge in high street wedding gowns. Here at Bridalwave, I’ve applauded the ranges of not-so-expensive gowns. Of course many women have their heart set on a gown with a few zeros on the price tag (I don’t mean after the decimal point!) and I’m not against that either. Getting married is a special day, who wouldn’t want to wear something great? But how important is it to you that you wear a once in a lifetime couture creation or keep the costs down on a dress you’re highly unlikely to ever wear again? Is it more important to spend that money on an amazing honeymoon, your education, a down payment on a house or car perhaps? What do you think?

Can you tell these dresses apart? One is £100 whilst the others are here and here.

Posted in Cheap vs Chic, Debates, Gowns, Wedding Planning | 2 Comments »

Gowns, Travel and Honeymoon, Wedding Planning

Destination dresses – how do you get the dress there?

By admin on February 5th, 2007

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Destination weddings are great – you’re probably going to be somewhere warm and wonderful (unless you’ve intentionally gone somewhere cold and wonderful) but how do you get your dress there? Chances are you won’t want to put it in your suitcase or buy an extra ticket purely for your dress! The Empty Box Company seem to have the solution with a range of dress boxes that fit airline hand luggage requirements so you can stow it safely in the overhead locker. Prices from £28.90