Best of British - jubilee inspiration

The Queen's jubilee this weekend has inspired me to pull together a Best of British mood board.  There are lots of ways you can use this as a wedding theme.  

Taking it literally, as I have below, you can use red, white and blue as a colour scheme for you wedding.  Navy blue is a very popular colour at the moment and is great as a colour for bridesmaid dresses or your groomsmen's suits or ties.  Red also makes a fabulous accent colour - why not use it for your wedding shoes if you'd like to make a statement or as a really striking bouquet.

If you want to be a bit more subtle with your theme you can simply use Best of British as inspiration.  Maybe use only British suppliers or look for things which are quintessentially British - such as a red double decker bus for your wedding transport, have a street party theme for your reception or go for strawberries and sparkling English wine for your food and drink. I'm sure there's lots of different options - but here's some examples to get you thinking.

 

Image credits:

Gerbera bouquet - Taylored Images

Union Jack invitation - Dottie Creations

Red bouquet - Silesia Group

Place holder - Not on the high street

Bus - The Beautiful Image 

Bunting - Not on the high street

Red shoes - One wed

Navy bridesmaid dress - Nordstrom

Cake - Cakes by Elizabeth Finch

There's even more inspiration on my Best of British pinterest board. 

Tips for ensuring your wedding day runs smoothly - Tip 3

So you've spent lots of time and energy getting yourself ready for your big wedding day and now it's just around the corner.  So how do you make sure that your big day is as fabulous as you've dreamt it will be? Follow our hints and tips over the next few months to get some great advice to make sure your wedding day is all you imagined it should be.

Tip 3 - Plan your wedding venue set up

Every bride has an image in their heads of  how their wedding venue is going to look on their big day, however, don't just assume that it will look that way and that everybody else understands your vision!!  If you don't want to spend the morning of your wedding very stressed, directing where things should be placed, follow these tips for ensuring your wedding is set up exactly as you want it to be:

1. Write a list of everything that needs to be taken to the venue, detailing who is taking it and when it will be there.  A typical list will include things like - flower arrangements, table plan (ensure you know what it is to be displayed on), cake, cake stand, cake knife, guest book, pen, name cards, favours, menus, table numbers / names & holders, children's presents, table confetti, presents for parents & wedding party, candles, table cameras, confetti, orders of service
2. Ensure everyone (including suppliers) who is responsible for delivering items to the venue is clear on what they are doing, who they should hand them to and when they need to arrive by
3. Make a plan of each room that is being used at the venue indicating where you would like everything to be (including flower arrangements, furniture moves, bands, drinks tables, sweetie stations,cake table etc)
4. Draw a detailed plan of how you want your tables to be set up - in particular how each setting should look
5. Outline how your venue should be set out for your evening reception - highlighting anything that needs to change
6. Go through all these plans in details with your venue so they know exactly how each room should be set out.  If your venue is not setting up the rooms for you it can often make sense to have a wedding co-ordinator to do this for you
7. Delegate someone you trust to check the rooms are set up as you would like them to be.

If  you're having a Yorkshire wedding and would like some help ensuring your wedding day runs smoothly you could also consider using us to help you - at Hel'sbells we can help in lots of different ways and you don't need to have a massive budget to use us, why not get in touch to find out more?

Tips for ensuring your wedding day runs smoothly - Tip 2

You've spent months planning your big day and now it's nearly here.  If you want to make sure that your big day is as fabulous as you've dreamt it will be, follow our hints and tips over the next few months to get some great advice to make sure your wedding day is all you imagined it should be.

Tip 2 - Managing your wedding suppliers in the last week

Every wedding has a vast array of different suppliers to make it happen and with all the excitement in the run up to the wedding it can be easy to neglect them in the last week - here's some tips on how to get the best out of them:

1. Call each one of your suppliers and ensure you are both clear on what your expectations are of them on the wedding day (when they should arrive, who they should ask for, what they will be doing, how long they will be staying etc)
2. Choose someone who can act as a contact point for any suppliers should anything happen on the day (e.g. transport problems, illness).  Ensure that person knows to leave their mobile phone on in case they are called
3. Ensure all bills have been settled for suppliers who need to be paid in advance and that you give the money to a reliable friend or family member for any payments that need to be made on the day (there's nothing worse than a supplier who doesn't turn up or who won't provide services because they haven't been paid!)
4. Pull together a list of all your suppliers, what they are responsible for and contact names and numbers.  Copies should then be given to key members of the wedding party and your venue in case anyone needs to contact them
5. Send an email to each of your suppliers confirming what your expectations are, include a copy of the timing plan you've done (see tip 1) and provide them with the appropriate contact details in case of emergencies for on the wedding day
6. Make a special friend of whoever will be managing your wedding on the day at the venue and ensure they understand what is really important to you.

If you'd like some help ensuring your day runs smoothly you could also consider using a wedding planning - at Hel'sbells we can help in lots of different ways and you don't need to have a massive budget to use us, why not get in touch to find out more?

Tips for ensuring your wedding day runs smoothly - Tip 1

So you've done all the planning and everything's ready.  Now how do you make sure your wedding day runs like clockwork whilst managing to enjoy it at the same time? In the run up to wedding season I thought it would be useful to share some hints and tips to making sure your wedding day is all you imagined it should be.

Tip 1 - Write a timing plan

The first step to making sure your day runs smoothly is to write out a timing plan.  This should be really detailed and should cover the following types of things:

1. What time any suppliers are arriving and where they should be
2. What time all the key parts of your day should start and finish
3. Timings for all key members of the wedding parties e.g. when the groom should be at the venue, when his groomsmen are expected to meet him, what time your bridesmaids should arrive for getting ready
4. Time allocated for any travelling to / between venues
5. Detailed timings for the reception including how long for drinks reception, photos, speeches, time for wedding breakfast, expected timing of cutting cake and the time the venue need to turn around any rooms and when evening guests will be arriving
6. Timings for photographer - when they are expected to be where and how long they will need for photos
7. Timings for yourself - for hair, makeup, getting ready, photos etc

As you can tell, you should literally put down everything you can think of - it will help put your mind at rest that  you have remembered everything whilst allowing you to check you have allocated enough time for all the important part of the day.

Once it is written you should ensure that you give a copy to all your key suppliers - including the venue and ask them to confirm they are happy with it.  You should also give copies to key family and friend members who you trust to ensure the day runs as you want it to.  You need to pick friends who will stick to your plan but not run it with military precision - as at the end of the day it won't matter if timings change slightly!!  Then your ready to just sit back and be the bride for the day - knowing it will run just as you want it to.

If you'd like some help ensuring your day runs smoothly you could also consider using a wedding planning - at Hel'sbells we can help in lots of different ways and you don't need to have a massive budget to use us, why not get in touch to find out more?

Art Deco style

The 1930s always conjures up images of style and glamour for me and having been watching the latest series of Upstairs Downstairs I thought I'd create a mood board based around this style.  You don't have to take the art deco style too literally - just add touches throughout the day to bring a touch of class. For example use glass photo frames for your table numbers, find a silver and black 1930s car, theme your tables on classic New York buildings or use art deco stationery. If you really love the style though why not go all the way and consider an art deco style venue - for example the Midland at Morecambe?

In terms of colours, you can just use silvers & blacks to bring a real strong sense of the period - but it works equally well with a touch of colour - for example blood red, hot pink or deep purple.

Image credits:

Wedding cake cakesforwedding.net

Hair accessory notonthehighstreet.com

Wedding dress jennypackham.com

Wedding cars yesteryearcars.co.uk

Candle holders notonthehighstreet.com

Bridesmaid dresses watter.com

Jewel confetti coxandcox.co.uk

Place baubles coxandcox.co.uk

Invitation debenhams.com

Wedding cake getmarriedideas.com

Invitation invitationsbyajalon.com

Bird cages kaboodle.com

Flowers Diane Penny Flowers

Autumnal Wedding Inspration

A few weeks ago I was at the Thorp Perrow Arboretum and the colours reminded me how striking an autumn wedding can be - full of rich browns, greens, golds, oranges and deep reds.  Whether you choose one or a combination of these colours they can real work well to bring a warm, opulent tone to your wedding day.

An Autumnal or Fall themed wedding also brings lots of opportunities to say money - think about using leaves as place settings and table confetti, fruit and candles for decorations and why not even try making a table plan tree from twigs?

So I thought I'd pull together a mood board to help you all get some inspiration too!!

Image credits:

Green baubles, gold small vases & brown, sliver & green heart baubles: cox and cox

Chocolate wedding cake: Marks & Spencer

Red bridesmaid dress: Jasmine Bridal

Sun flower table decoration: Serendipity Floral Designs

Chocolate and Fruit Cake: The perfect cake company

Shoes: The beautiful image

Sun flower urn and bouquet: Taylored Images

Orange candle and birch tree: Hus and Hem

Brown & green bridesmaid dresses: JLM Europe

Gold and multi-coloured table confetti: handmadebyhells.co.uk

Lanterns & skeleton leaf tea light holders: notonthehighstreet.com

Red star lights: lights4fun.co.uk

It's raining again!!

There really are no guarantees of good weather in this country.  This year's seen yet another mixed summer so what is the best way of dealing with the question of poor weather? Planning, and if you really want an outdoor wedding be prepared to embrace it!!!  Here are some hints and tips for how to get round the great British weather.

If you want to avoid the rain make sure you look for a venue that works well inside and out.  Speak to your photographer about where you could take great shots in the rain - look for feature staircases, big windowsills you can sit on and fireplaces.  Even door frames can look great - your photographer might get wet but you don't need to.

If your reception venue doesn't really cut it for features, then if you are marrying in a church this can give you lots of indoor opportunities for fabulous group and inidivdual shots with alters, stained glass windows and great big stone door frames.  If you plan in advance you can always bring hot flasks of coffee to keep your guests occupied whilst all the photos are done - or why not even bring some mulled wine?

An outside drinks reception is fabulous in the sun but a real headache in the rain so again it is worth thinking about how this will work if the weather is poor.  Is there enough inside space for all your guests - particularly if your reception venue only has one room?  Is there a bar or another room that can be used?

However, if you truly want an outside wedding then you need to embrace the rain!  Consider looking on the brighter side of life and incorporating the rain into your theme.  Think colourful quirky wellies and funky brollies.  Make sure you have lots of each on hands so guests can still enjoy your wedding outside - or at least be able to get to the toilets if they are seperate from your marquee!! Think about doing fun shots of you and your guests in the rain.  You really can get wellies and brollies in each and every shade these days so why not match them to your theme - or even consider bright multi colours to brighten up a dark dreary day. 

Not convinced?  Well, hopefully these images from weddingindustrypros.com will help change your mind!

Tiffany Blue

I've always loved Tiffany Blue as a colour for a wedding - it conjures up images of glamour, sophistication and Audrey Hepburn.  It's a classic sophisticated colour scheme which can be teamed with ivories, silvers and even brown tones.  It also works well with vintage themes using diamonds, brooches and sumptuous fabrics.  I've pulled together a mood board which gives you some ideas on how to pull this theme together:

Image credits:

Wedding Cake: elegantcakery.com

Tie: jaanj.com

Flowers: brides.com

Cup cakes & chocolate favours: kaboodle.com

Bridesmaid dress: watters.com

Invitation: vanillapoddesign.com

Trinket box & bracelet padlock: tiffany.com

Shoes: arunaseth.com

Every little helps!!

There's so many decisions to make when planning a wedding that it's often easy to forget the little personal touches which may not cost much but can really help make your day special.  Here's a few ideas that I've come across whilst helping at weddings over the years:

• Put photo frames with pictures of previous family weddings on your cake table or with your guest book
• Place a basket of flip flops near the dance floor to encourage your friends to party all night!
• Instead of the standard group shot of all your friends and family why not hand out pots of bubbles, or sparklers if it's dark enough, to make it a fun memorable photo
• Instead of taking a vintage car on your own why not travel to your reception in a vintage bus with all your guests so you to get to spend more time with them
• Instead of a guest book why not ask guests to email or text you photos of themselves at your wedding along with a message - you can then put it all together in a digital photobook.  Alternatively use the digital wedding guestbook website to co-ordinate everything for you and create a personal DVD record from your guests messages, pictures and clips
• If you have friends or family who are staying a few days why not prepare a pack with details of places to visit, things to keep them occupied and nice restaurants to go to that are appropriate to them
• Make sure there are nice soaps, hand creams and perfume in the ladies toilets - it will always go down well!!
• Quite often favours are forgotten or not even taken away, despite costing quite a lot of money.  Why not have favours that mean something special, so they are more likely to be remembered:

• Make them yourself, for example pots of jam, biscuits, sweets, decorated tea light holders
• Have something that relates to where you come from or where you are getting married, for example Yorkshire Lavender, Kendal Mint Cake, Whisky
• Give money to a charity that means something to you instead and put cards on the table explaining your decision
• Have something seasonal - baubles at Christmas, chocolate eggs at Easter 

What's important with the details is not how much you spend but the thought that goes into it - the more personal and relevant it is to you, the more memorable it is likely to be.