There is so much to remember in planning a wedding, that it’s eye-watering. One bride commented to me recently that the job of wedding planner is “not for the faint-hearted”. Its all about planning as far as we see it and ticking off that list. Here are a few must-haves that everyone forgets to tell you!

1. Remember to buy a small matching handbag and fill it with tissues, waterproof mascara, deodorant, mints and lipstick; remember to hand to a bridesmaid or your wedding planner during the service
2. Upon delivery of your invites and order of service, keep a couple for your memory box; on the day, they might go walkabout, never to be seen again!
3. Make sure the best man has spare sets of cufflinks for the bridal party if organisation isn’t their forte!
4. Don’t forget the teetotallers when planning your drinks. An elderflower spritzer or peach punch makes a luxurious change from orange juice
5. Remember to budget and arrange food and drink for your wedding suppliers; they work harder when well fed!

 We get lots of calls from couples who don’t have too long to plan their wedding and we like to help where we can, having lots of experience in successfully managing last minute weddings across the years. 

If you’re planning your wedding from scratch in less than six months, then you’ve probably come across wedding-industry folk telling you that you’re last minute.  Here are a few tips which we hope will set you on a sure path:

 1. Decide on your real priorities, what really matters most to you and concentrate on those. The venue is the obvious one and will often dictate or inspire the rest.

2.  Try and be as flexible as possible, particularly with dates when looking for your venue. Could you get married on a weekday rather than the very popular Saturday? Or can you marry in October rather than September? It can make a big difference.

3. Tell suppliers up front of your date so as not to waste time with people who won’t be able to help you because they can’t turn it round in time. This particularly applies to buying dresses where the lead time quoted by wedding dress designers can be up to 12 months. However, note that dressmakers can often make dresses in as little as 4 weeks, if you know what you want.

4. Don’t listen to friends and family who tell you that it isn’t possible in a short period of time. With careful planning, lots of help and some flexibility, it is.

5. Concentrate first on these three things: your venue, your dress and the legal ceremony requirements. Everything else can be found through sheer determination and hard work.

6. Get the figures right. Make sure that what you are looking at, you can afford. Check the cost of venues (venue hire, food and drink per person) in your budget before you waste time visiting or, more importantly, deciding on your venue.

7. Be prepared to make quick and sure decisions. She, who procrastinates, loses.

8. Delegate to only those you trust and with the requisite organisational skills. You will need help with this project and you will need a good team.

9. Yes, we would say this but you might like to consider hiring a wedding planner. They are used to short lead times, turning things around quickly, finding the illusive and managing in a crisis. Also, with their contacts within the industry, they are well placed to put a little pressure on where needed due to the repeat business they offer. To find the right one for you go to www.ukawp.com

10. Put it in perspective. Don’t forget to enjoy your engagement. It is, hopefully, the only one you’ll have!

If you’ve just got engaged over the festive period, you will probably be starting to look at where you will host your wedding and reception, so here is our quick tried and trusted tip which we hope might be useful at this time where everything is new and it’s hard to know how to budget set.

It’s the 50% rule.

Time and time again no matter what the overall budget we find that around 50% of the overall wedding day budget is spent on the venue hire and food and drink elements of the wedding combined. So to illustrate the point:

120 Guests

Venue hire         £4,500

Menu of 3 courses          £60 x 120 = £7,200

Drinks package  £25 x 120= £3,000 

Evening snacks = £10 x 120 = £1,200

Total = £15,900

This £15,900 will make up roughly half (50% of your budget) so I would suggest working on a budget (excluding honeymoon and perhaps excluding super expensive bridal gowns) of £31,800 approximately.

If this sounds too much then we’d strongly suggest altering your venue to something less costly as it can be difficult to cut back once this large chunk of money is committed to.

Happy planning!

Castles do cost

We are often called upon for comment and advice by the media and today we appeared in The Guardian talking on the trend of ’staycations’, where couples are hiring farms and self catering cottages for the weekend to completely tailor-make their ideal wedding celebration.

Have a read for more on this trend which is something we’ve been lucky enough to notice for a while. It’s a perfect solution if you live far away from the majority of your loved ones and want to have quality time with them in a more informal setting. Especially great if you want everybody to pitch in but we strongly suggest a great catering team on the day to ensure that the VIPs can really relax, kick back and enjoy!

Continuing with our theme of understanding and planning for guests with special diets, here are a few further things to be aware of.

Lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest the sugar in milk called lactose. This inability results from a shortage of the enzyme lactase, which is normally produced in the small intestine. Sufferers have to avoid; milk, ice cream, cheese, cream, sour cream, chocolate, and butter. There are many non-dairy or ‘lactose free’ products available today as substitutes.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin (a hormone that is needed to convert sugar). There are two main types of diabetes:

 Type 1 – When the body is unable to produce any insulin. This type of diabetes usually appears before the age of 40, less common and non-preventable. Sufferers often have to replace the insulin into their body by form of injection.

Type 2 – When the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work. This type of diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40, and is the most common accounting for 85% of all people with diabetes.

They keep their diet high in fibre, low in fat and relatively low in sugar. Pulses, green vegetables and whole-grains are all low on the glycaemic index. Other foods popular with diabetics are; grilled white meat such as chicken and turkey, oily fish or lean meats, vegetables, starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and potatoes and fruits like berries, peaches and melons.

 Food Allergies

Food allergies occur when your body mistakes certain foods as harmful, and produces antibodies, which then react  negatively to the food when it is next consumed – causing an ‘allergic reaction’. Some food allergies result in immediate, severe and even life-threatening symptoms (such as severe nut allergy), whereas others take longer to develop and are less severe. People with food allergies stick to a balanced diet, just without the problem foods. These foods can be replaced with an alternative to ensure consumption of all essential nutrients.

It’s best to ask guests to send you details of their special diets with their RSVP to the wedding invitation.

We all love a good meal and wedding days are often an excuse to indulge in all things delicious and delightful. In planning your wedding it’s really important not to overlook guests with special dietary needs and to ensure that they enjoy everything too . We thought some information on the main special diets might prove useful as sometimes there is confusion over some of the less common ones even among caterers; there is quite a bit so this will be a two-parter! 

Vegetarian

A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry, fish or shellfish. They have a varied diet of grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits with or without the use of dairy products and eggs. (Many vegetarians that eat eggs will eat only free-range eggs, due to moral objections of battery hens)

 There are three types of Vegetarian:

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian – Eats both dairy products and eggs. This is the most common type of vegetarian diet.

Lacto-vegetarian – Eats dairy products but not eggs.

Vegan – Does not eat dairy products, eggs, or any other animal product.

Coeliac

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. This immune reaction is triggered by gluten, a collective name for a type of protein found in the cereals wheat, rye and barley and often oats. The most common sources of gluten in the diet are: breads, pastas, cereals, flours, pizza bases, cakes and biscuits, other less common sources are: soups, sauces, ready meals and processed foods.

Coeliac sufferers can eat foods that are naturally gluten-free such as all types of rice, potatoes, polenta, quinoa, millet, corn (maize), plain meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, most yoghurts, fruit, vegetables, pulses and all gluten-free substitute products such as manufactured breads, pastas, flour mixes.

Wheat/Gluten Intolerance

Wheat Intolerance is when you have difficulty digesting wheat. Gluten intolerance appears as chronic symptoms like aching joints, gastro-intestinal problems, depression, eczema, low blood iron levels and others.

The symptoms are similar to Coeliac disease, but not as severe, sufferers follow a wheat & gluten-free diet, which includes all foods that are naturally wheat & gluten free as well as the specially formed substitutes. Sufferers may find they are only intolerant to wheat, rather than both wheat and gluten – wheat intolerances affect 15% of the population.

Always ask your guests to reply with any special diets on their RSVP to your wedding invitation.

 The following websites were used to provide factual information for this blog post: www.vegansociety.com, www.vegsoc.org, www.diabetes.org.uk, www.foodintol.com

 Thanks for the use of the image go to Laura Dodsworth