It’s a Classic The traditional table plan, usually placed at the entrance of the Dining Room or Marquee, will detail the guest’s table location and number. These can be home-made (a trip to HobbyCraft will have you stocked and ready to get creative in no time), from a kit (Confetti have a fantastic range) via the internet (TablePlans offer a great selection and range of themes) or designed and produced by a Wedding Stationers….the possibilities are endless!

All your birds in a row Using a bird cage as the centre of your table plan has been popular for the past few years, particularly at English Country Garden themed weddings where they tie in very nicely with the marquee, bunting and blowsy blooms. For the talented DIY-ers out there, a quick search on eBay should source you a beautiful birdcage that you then simply dress with flowers (real or artificial) and attach a card for each table detailing the names of the guests – et voila, hand-crafted and cost-effective.

Hanging Tree A small amount of creativity for a big result! Hanging Trees simply require a beautiful container (for example a large glass square vase for a contemporary wedding or a large metal water jug for a country garden wedding) and the prettiest branches you can find – these can either be from your garden or purchased from a local garden centre. You then attach cards to the branches detailing the guests and which table they are seated at.  The branches can also be ‘dressed’ to match the theme of your big day – miniature bunting, pearls, ribbons, etc…

Rustic Charm to give your wedding a rustic ‘outdoor’ feel; you could consider a variation on the more traditional Escort Card. Small squares of chalk board can be personalised with each guests name and placed on a picnic table outside of your Dining Room or Marquee. Team them with gingham napkins, brushed metal votive holders and native flowers for a relaxed, rural Californian type feel!

A few top tips for table planning:

* With divorced / remarried parents, the top table seating arrangement can cause headaches. Consider not have a traditional top table and instead each set of parents / step parents can host their own tables – filled with their close friends, they will feel comfortable and in their element.

* To save disagreements whilst deciding who to sit where – colour-code your guests (family, close friend, work colleague) on sticky notes which you can move around the paper ‘tables’ until you are happy that each table has the right mix of people.

* However tempting it is, try not to sit two single friends next to each other – they will see through your match making motives in an instant!

Happy Planning!

Credits: Photos

PR Wedding Photography

Butler Madden

Etsy – Bragging Bags

Being a savvy spender in one area can usually mean that you can splurge another; however have you considered renting key wedding items? It really could allow you to have your cake and eat it!

Let’s start with a girl’s best friends…Bridesmaids…as they come in many beautiful shapes and sizes, the trend for bridesmaids choosing their own dresses, tied into your theme by either colour or style, is set to continue in 2011. This is where Girl Meets Dress comes into play; having recently added a stunning Wedding Boutique to their collection, you and your bridesmaids can benefit from a wide range of dresses from 3.1 Phillip Lim to Alberta Ferretti from £49.00 for 2 days – not an unflattering puff sleeved number in sight!

Now let’s consider your other best friends…Diamonds… Sophie and the team at Rent Your Rocks have nearly 150 pieces of jewellery for you to choose from, with rental prices starting at a very purse pleasing £50.00 per week. Choosing to rent your wedding jewellery could enable you to drape yourself in diamonds, pearls or sapphires that would usually break the budget – how divine!

Have you been weighing up the possibility of purchasing Louboutins for your big day? This is often a dilemma; will the colour and style be wearable after the big day? Consider contacting the ladies at Cinderella Me for the fairy princess treatment, without the price tag! A gorgeous pair of Louboutin Prive Riga or Jimmy Choo Brent heels could be yours for as little as £49.00 for a week, perfect for you to strut down the aisle in style.

Should you be planning a retro wedding, another area of your wedding that can benefit from rental is your crockery and decoration. Two favourites in my little black book are Idyllic Days and Simply Love Vintage, both boast a huge selection of teacups, plates, cake stands, vintage table cloths, hurricane lamps and much more! Kim and Carrie have both taken time and care traipsing around car boot sales, eBay and charity shops to build up their fabulous collections so that you don’t have to. This rental option is not only cost effective; it is very ‘green’ which will leave you with a warm glow too!

Happy Planning!

Just in time for wedding season, we’ve been going a bit Pop mad this summer. If you like chocolate and you like lollipops and most importantly you like cake, then you will probably like everything about Pop Bakery.

Here are photos of some of their lovely products, bespoke of course!  We wish you well Clare and the team.

Have a look here for info on the Smilers

Coloured linen– just because white table cloths are what you always see, doesn’t mean that’s all you can have. Sure, it works well and looks timeless and elegant (and it’s what most hotels and banqueting venues use) but if you want to have a bit of fun and inject a statement colour splash into your tables, it’s a cost effective and an immediately stunning way of doing it.  A cloth might be around £10 to hire and a napkin only 50p so it’s not an enormous cost.  If you don’t want to go the whole hog, perhaps consider a coloured runner to go across the middle of the table and rest on top of the white cloth.

Wedding design - coloured linens

Coloured water glasses – for a subtle dash of colour, we really like to use “accent of colour” glasses for water. It can get pricey to replace all the glasses at a venue but adding a touch of colour can add that extra special something to tone with flowers for example.

Wedding design - coloured glasses

Charger plates – to set a grand and formal atmosphere, consider perhaps a beautiful charger platter which sits on the table during the entire meal and the plates that the meal is served on are positioned on top at each course. Before guests are seated, the charger is a lovely backdrop for a menu card to rest on or pocket-folded napkin to be positioned upon.

Wedding design - charger plates

Thanks to White Gold Weddings, Lloyd Dobbie and Well Dressed Tables for the images.

A solution to the ‘will anybody have the same outfit as me? dilemma which many a wedding guest worries about - well the female ones anyway!

What r u wearing  sorts that problem out.  You, as the bride or event organiser registers your event on their website for free. I suggest then letting guests know in the formal wedding invitation that they should register on-line once their outfit is chosen; they can even register the outfit anonymously so as not to give the glamorous game away. I suggest registering bridesmaids outfits too to help guests avoid certain colours or styles.  Inspired!

The bride probably doesn't need to register her dress!

 Thanks to Brown and Co Photography for the image.

It comes in handy for all sorts of little last minute touches which make a big difference. We therefore find ourselves a little addicted to ribbons and love some of the offerings on one of our favourite sites Cox and Cox. Their spools of ‘Luxembourg Ribbon’ in delicate shades of pink, sage green, ivory and chocolate are lovely to wrap around napkins, or decorate glasses with pretty little bows. We also really like the ‘To Have and To Hold Ribbon’ made in soft ivory and old rose pink; it’s great for tying around flowers or special gifts.

And if you’re ribbon addicts like us (and are based in London) you might like to drop by Barnett Lawson. It’s a little gem of a place and a real treasure trove full to the brim with ribbons and trimmings galore.