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Amazing Wedding Photo Ideas!

16 Feb

These photos are really fun, just try not to give your photographer too much of a long list of photos you’d like or you’ll find too much of your wedding day is filled by standing around waiting for the next shot… đź’•

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/impossibly-fun-wedding-photo-ideas-youll-want-to-steal?s=mobile

Comedy valentines from children…

13 Feb

Just has to share this with you all x

http://distractify.com/fun/fails/the-most-hilariously-awkward-valentines-from-children/

The hen party…

12 Jan

What a night!

I won’t bore you with all the details, it would take hours to go through every detail of planning so I’ll break it down for you.

imageChoosing the entertainment
This is important as the entertainment has to fit with the personality of the hen herself but also keep her guests happy. My sister is not a crazy party animal so it was important to choose something that didn’t make her feel uncomfortable.
Choosing the best entertainment is also key, we ended up at a cocktail bar where we took part in a cocktail masterclass, the gents that fronted the class were both fun and knowledgable – they made my sister feel special and everyone got the chance to go behind the bar and shake a few spirits together.
One particular point that I felt was important was to do my best to find a venue where we were likely to be the only hen party. I’ve been to a hen party before where we were surrounded by about 4 other hen parties, it kinda took the special feeling away.

After the entertainment
After the cocktail masterclass I reserved us a table in the bar for us to enjoy the rest of the night and have a few more drinks. Boy am I glad I did! The bar got super busy and judging my the hight of some of the girls heels, chairs were welcomed.

Transportimage
Arriving in style is a big YES! I booked us a party bus fully equips with a champagne bar and an awesome stereo system. The driver was very friendly and welcomed us jumping around and dancing (safely) while he drove us to the cocktail bar.

Accessories
Well we HAD to have hen party sashes! My mum had a ‘mother of the bride’ sash, my sister had a ‘bride to be’ sash and the rest of us has ‘hen party’ sashes. I bought some fun ‘snog marry avoid’ cards with celebrity names on, some willy whistles (it’s not a hen party without a willy) and I made some dare cards for the girls to have fun with. I also gave some of the girls some disposable cameras, I know they’re dated but everyone loved them.

imageGames
I made a game called ‘how well do you know your husband to be’. A week before the hen party I asked my sisters fiancĂ© a number of questions and took some photos of some body parts (ears, feet, hands etc). On the hen night my sister had to answer the questions and pick out her fiancĂ©’s body part from a number of other peoples. Any wrong answer had to be forfeited with a shot. The game was fairly quick, but that suited us just fine as I didn’t want to keep the girls from letting their hair down and dancing.

Scrapbook…image
After the hen party I spent a month putting a scrapbook together as a gift for my sister. I pulled pictures from Facebook that the girls had posted of the night, I visited a craft shop and bought tonnes of stickers and paper to decorate the book, she loved it!

All in all the night was a total success, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. So if you’ve been tasked with organising a hen party I hope I’ve helped!

Happy planning!

The After Party!

13 Nov

Once all the traditional wedding bits are over, the rings are exchanged, the register is signed, speeches are read and bellies are full, the bride and groom have the creative freedom to entertain the guests at… the after party!

For some people, this is what a wedding is really all about!

The music…
This is a very important decision, the bride and groom must be very careful in their choice of DJ or band, the wrong choice can lead to poor music being played or your guests even confusing the band for a karaoke night…
Firstly, check online for any reviews on the DJ / band you have your eye on, this will most likely give you the most honest answer to how good they really are.
Secondly, in case they don’t ask you, make sure they know exactly the genre you want them to play, nothing worse than hoping for the spice girls and ending up with a heavy metal DJ! It’s always a good idea to not just tell them what your first dance is, but your last dance too!
And finally, just to put a safety net over making sure you have a good night, give them a list of music you definitely do not want to hear!

For those who prefer a more interactive style of music, what about county dancing! I’ve actually attended a country dancing wedding myself, and I must tell you – they are fantastic fun! If you are the bride I would recommend wearing a dress that is easy to ‘Dosey Doe’ in and perhaps offer your female guests a more comfortable footwear, flip flops for example. Also, make sure the venue you choose has plenty of space for the band as well as space for your guests so skip around the dance floor!

What about a photo booth?image
For those who don’t fancy dancing, how about getting them involved in the photo booth craze that seems to be sweeping the wedding scene? A photo booth gives your guests the chance to come away with their own professional picture from the day; and to make things more fun, why not offer a selection of dress up gear and signs to make the pictures super fun

Love is sweet…
Sweet stations are a common accessory to any wedding night now. They can be themed for your colours, or even made to match your ‘under the sea’ wedding, for example. Some people love sweets so much they gather a huge variety of sweets to spoil their guests with.
One point I would stress however, only unveil your sweet station AFTER the wedding breakfast, having it available all day will spoil the appetite of pretty much every child there, there’s the wedding breakfast gone to waste!

Drinkies!
The bar, the most popular place at the wedding! If you’re thinking about putting a tab behind the bar but you’re concerned about certain people taking advantage of your good will, fear not!
Firstly, enforcing restrictions is important and more importantly, setting a limit. Restrictions stop the tab from disappearing too quickly, for example asking the bar staff to only allow beers, wines, soft drinks and standard spirits (the cheapest vodka, gin and whiskey for example). A limit also means you will only end up spending what you can afford on the bar. If you’re worried about certain people spending much more than others then you could issue tokens to each guest which they can exchange with the bar staff for a drink of a certain price; this way everyone gets to have the same chance to get a few drinks and they can still drink at their own pace.

End the day with a bang!
Fireworks make the wedding so much more exciting and add extra of romance for the bride and groom. Companies like ‘Pyromania’ can put on an excellent display for you and your guests and will cater to your desires, they will make them as loud or as flashy as they can!

And finally, comfort accessories!
Many couples like to offer their guests bathroom refreshment baskets. For the ladies, hair pins, lip gloss and hair spray (and for emergencies – tampons) are top choices; for the gents, cologne, hair wax and mints!
image

As previously mentioned, it’s always good to keep your guests dancing, so providing flip flops is always warmly welcomed by those who’ve decided to celebrate in 6inch heels! Signs saying “a little treat for you dancing feet’ are a nice touch.


Next time…

Saturday 23rd marks the long awaited, much planned hen party of my dearest sister. I have been planning it for months now and it all comes to a head in a week and a half. So stay tuned to my blog for details on what we did and how well it all went down! 🙂

Can you teach romance?

24 Sep

imageSome people have the inbuilt ability to romance their partner for a life time, keeping the spark alight. Others may find that once the dust has settled and the honeymoon period of their relationship has passed they struggle to find their romantic streak.

So what do you do if your partner isn’t romantic? No matter how many hints you leave them, they just don’t get it…

You could google it, find a self help book or even seek out a ‘love doctor’…
There are pages upon pages online or in books aiding people who are looking for romantic advice or those seeking to coax their loved one into romancing them. I’ll be honest, they’re all basically the same…
– watch a romantic film together in the hope that your loved one will pick up on the romantic vibes and respond accordingly, or just to spend some time together having a cuddle on the sofa.
– lead by example, show your other half exactly how it should be done, if candle lit dinners are what gets you going then treat him to a couple, if he enjoys it as much as you do he may just treat you to one!
– and then there’s the obvious… tell them what you want. Telling your other half exactly what makes you feel special, what melts your heart or what turns you on makes things a whole lots easier.

Love doctors are a little more complex, however. These self proclaimed ‘doctors’ base their imageadvice mostly on opinion and, if you base your relationship on them too much, could more or less end up running your relationship for you, or even worse, ruining it.
Love doctors take many forms, through websites, as a ‘love hour’ radio DJ or even disguised as a close friend (I know this one sounds bizarre but even friends have a tendency to get too indulged in their friends love life).

Sometimes I think, just reminding yourself of the things that attracted you to your partner is enough to keep your relationship alight. Those little things your partner did for you at the beginning of the relationship to make you smile may now be something you’ve become accustomed to; reexamine your relationship before asking more from your partner, it may not go down as well as you think.

May I have the attention of the room…

25 Jul

ImageWell my next post was going to about trends, however I feel I have a more pressing topic on mind at present, speeches, or more importantly a speech I have been asked to make.

My sister will be marrying her childhood sweetheart on the 31st of January next year at the beautiful Audleys Wood hotel in Basingstoke, Hampshire.  As the maid of honour I have a few duties already, keeping the bride calm and sane, planning the hen party, lending my vast wedding knowledge, and now making a speech.
I’ve done a little research into speeches, there are tonnes of websites scattered across the web for your free perusal, or if you’re not an Internet bee then check out your local library, most will have a section on weddings, or failing that a section on public speaking.
So what have I learnt? As far as weddings go, MOH speeches aren’t common, however there is some advise out there for those writing one.  Firstly, don’t be afraid to show up the best man.  You may not have to be as crude as him, but you can sure as hell be as funny!  I don’t plan on making my sister’s cheeks as pink as the roses in her centre pieces, however I do have a couple of childhood memories up my sleeve, one example being the time she tried to control her growing eyebrows with a piece of Sellotape…
There’s also creativity.  I may not have put my creative writing degree to much use, however I feel this could be a good place to start.  I am considering making a fun poem for the speech, I’m not one for public speaking and I think if I have something strong to read it may go much better.
A lot of people decide to use props during their speeches too or even slideshows of embarrassing photos… The possibilities are endless…
The most important thing to remember is as a maid of honour, it’s not all about you and the bride.  Don’t forget to thank both the bride and groom for choosing you to be a part of their special day, and even for trusting you to stand in front of their friends and family and not embarrass either of them (too much!).
Remember to thank the best men for attempting to write a speech that could top yours, and to the parents for doing such a great job of rearing their children.
Good luck to any maid of honour out there, it’s a big job, and if you’re writing a speech, I wish you all the best and hope this post has one in useful 🙂