The lovely Kirsten Butler, aka the Little Wedding Helper held a brilliant launch evening at the Riverstation on Wednesday and the Bristol Wedding Industry were out in force to support her.

                                                      

The Little Wedding Helper is a Bristol based Wedding styling service and Kirsten is an expert at inspiring Brides and transforming a blank canvas such as a marquee or village hall into a spectacular venue. We are delighted to be featuring an article on Wedding style from Kirsten on Bristol Wedding News soon. Kirsten had beautifully decorated the Riverstation with gorgeous touches, such as vintage suitcases, pretty pastel bunting and stunning pink flowers supplied by Emma Norton Wedding Flowers.

                                                   

                                                    

There was a fantastic ambiance created by "Grammaphone DJs" Shellac Sound who offer a really original service by playing a selection of  music from the 20s, 20s and 40s on original 78s. This would be perfect for a vintage themed wedding and would make excellent background music during drinks or dinner.

                                           

Guests at the launch were spoilt for choice with delicious food with canapes provided by the Riverstation including to die for Pork Belly as well as pretty cupcakes with sparkly icing from Cheeky Cupcakes and absolutely delicious cakes and truffles from Chocolate Delores, who we will be featuring in full next week.

                                                        

Bristol Wedding Photographer Martin Pemberton was also on hand with his camera and set up a fantastic photo booth with a range of great props from tiaras to feather boas, hats and blackboards to write little messages on. This was in huge demand all night and would be a great fun entertainment idea for any Wedding.

If you are getting married and need some help with a theme or styling your venues, then we wholeheartedly recommend giving Kirsten a call. She even promises hot chocolate for her consultations and you can't say better than that. Well done Kirsten and the Riverstation for a fantastic evening.

                                                            

Check out The Little Wedding Helper website here or  Kirsten for  more information.

There are loads of Wedding Fairs in Bristol and we have some of the largest coming up in the next few months with the West Weddings show in August and Wedding World in September. You can keep up to date with Fairs on our Wedding Fairs page.

The Bristol Marriott Royal is hosting a Wedding fair on Sunday 31st July. That's the College Green one, not the one in Cabot Circus if you mix them up like I do and here's a picture, so you definitely don't end up at the wrong one.

                              

The fair opens at 10:30 and admission is free. There will also be two fashion shows at 11:30am and 2:30pm. The Wedding fair ends at 4pm and as Bristol Wedding News will be popping in to take a look around, we may see you there. Here's the hotel's website if you need any more information.

If you are looking for a theme for your Wedding, then Auntie's Vintage are here to inspire you. They hire out vintage crockery and props for your Big day as well as offering an event styling service. Sue from Aunties's Vintage has sent us these gorgeous pictures and three fantastic theme ideas.




English Country Garden – Afternoon tea served in beautiful china cups, pretty tea pots and cake stands laden with delicious treats.




1920s – How about adding a gramophone and entertaining your guests with a selection of 78s? Add silver candelabra on each table and some champagne saucers for added glamour.

There are few Bristol Wedding Venues that can rival the drama of the sweeping staircases at Leigh Court. If you want to make an entrance into your Ceremony or Reception, then this is the venue for you.


Leigh Court is a beautiful estate with a range of rooms that can be hired for Civil Ceremonies or Wedding receptions. Here's a picture of one of the rooms beautifully styled by The Little Wedding Helper, with gorgeous contemporary flowers by Lisa Elliot.

                                                 

Another great feature of Leigh Court is the wealth of catering choices that are available from Barbeques to Hog Roasts to A la carte choices such as delicious Pork Belly, Beef and Guiness Stews and Pies. Prices start from £500 for a Ceremony with additional room hire costs for receptions.

You can find out more on the Leigh Court website below.

When you look around some Venues you can often feel that they will not fit the look or style that you have in mind for your Wedding due to brightly coloured carpets and heavy maroon or dark blue and gold banqueting chairs. Chair covers have become more and more fashionable as they can transform even the brightest chair into lovely neutral seating that can then be accessorised with a pretty sash or flowers to match your theme.

We love this picture from Ambience Venue Styling of the gorgeous Orangery at Goldney Hall styled with neutral chair covers, vintage shabby-chic crockery and pretty pink peonies.


Kathryn from Ambience has a blog with some great tips of what you should look for when booking a chair hire company. These include not always going for the cheapest option, as the quality of chair covers can vary massively and you need to ensure that they look pristine on your special day. Why not take a look at the blog to find out more if you are considering hiring chair covers for your Big Day.

If you google Bristol Wedding News apart from this great blog (of course) you mostly get results about the Bristol couple who had their Wedding reception in KFC. Our warmest congratulations go to Kalli and Gareth pictured below, but I know we can do better than this Bristol and we don't just want to be just known as the City that has finger lickin' good Weddings. Here's a photo of the now famous nuptials courtesy of This is Bristol. Click the link to read the full story of this extraordinary Bristol Wedding.


Why not share your beautiful, stylish and glamorous Weddings with us so that we can show the wealth of stunning Wedding Venues in the Bristol area.  Please submit your photos to with some information about the Wedding, such as date and location. Please also get permission from your photographer and let us know who it is, so that we can correctly credit their work. We will show as many Weddings as possible as long as they match the style and content of the blog.

Bristol has loads of fantastic Wedding photographers so it can be hard to choose the right one to record your most special day. Martin Pemberton is offering a great "suck it and see" promotion that allows couples to have an Engagement shoot with him to see if he is the right photographer for their Big Day.

If they then go on to book the full Wedding package, Martin will deduct the cost of the Engagement shoot from the overall package. This gives the Couples great peace of mind that they will get on with their photographer and more importantly be thrilled with the finished photos. Here's an example of Martin's work on a recent Engagement shoot for Laura and Nathan, who will be tying the knot in Wapley Church.



Here's some more pictures taken from Martin's Blog. This Wedding is actually in Bath and not our much loved Brizzle, but we'll overlook that one as we like the relaxed style and the huge grins of the very happy Couple Max and Nina. Congratulations to both Couples -you look fab!


You can contact Martin for more information via his website or him

If you are looking for a fun idea for a Hen Do why not try making something with your Hens. Flo-Jo Boutique offers fantastically different knicker making parties where each Hen can make their very own pair of frilly pants to take home. Here's a picture of some happy Hens from the Flo-Jo Blog.

If you are in the Bristol Wedding Industry and would like to feature on Bristol Wedding News we are looking for interesting content, so please . We would love to feature...

• Bristol Wedding Venues
• Real Bristol Weddings
• Bristol Suppliers
• Bristol Bride and Grooms Planning Stories
• Bristol Hen/Stag Ideas
• Bristol Wedding News
• Bristol Wedding Promotions/Offers
• Photographers Images

Get involved now. We will try to feature everyone as long as submissions are suitable and relevant to this blog. You can also advertise Wedding Services here for even more exposure. If you are a supplier, please mention this blog to your Brides and Grooms as a great local resource for all things Wedding in beautiful Bristol.

You've probably been to Ashton Court for the annual Balloon Fiesta and seen the fantastic grounds but did you know that there is an historic 16th century mansion house on the estate that is perfect for Civil Ceremonies or Wedding receptions.

Hire prices are surprising affordable for such a grand venue and start from just £695 to hire a smaller room for your reception of 30 to 80 people. The larger Music Room can hold up to 210 for a sit down meal or up to 300 for a buffet but a marquee can be added allowing up to 750 guests. You can also hire the entire mansion exclusively.



You can learn more about Weddings at Ashton Court on their website by clicking here

Credits:  External Photo Bristol City Council

Lots of the South West's top Wedding Industry Tweeps met up last night at the Castle Hotel for the Taunton Tweet Up arranged by Marry Me In Somerset and Wedding Ideas Magazine. It was an opportunity to network, chat, meet new friends and have a few cheeky glasses of Pimms served by some extremely sculpted Butlers in the Buff.

The Bristol Wedding Industry was well represented by the following lovely people who we would recommend for your Bristol Wedding.

How 2 I Do  -Wedding PlanningWorkshops, Planning Services and On the Day Coordination
The Little Wedding Helper  - Venue and Marquee Styling
Marie Man - Wedding and Fashion Photography
Proof Photography -Wedding Photography
The Wedding Reporter - Wedding Reports to treasure forever
Wedding Blog Designer -Personalised Wedding Blogs
My Wedding Workshops -Wedding Workshops
Martin Pemberton -Wedding Photographer
Bridezillas Ltd -Wedding Accesories Boutique *Coming Soon
Hermione Harbutt - Wedding jewellery and accesories
The Mews of Clifton Village - Wedding and Bridesmaid Dresses
Adam Drake Photography -Based in the Cotswolds covering Bristol and Beyond

The full list of those who attended can be found here

There have been reports in the local press that Hinton Grange has closed unexpectedly leaving some couples with impending Weddings not knowing what's going on. The Hinton Grange had not contacted a couple due to get Married on Monday about closures and there is no-one at the Hotel for people to speak to to find out what is happening. Apparently there is a hand written sign on the door stating that the Hotel is closed due to "unforseen circumstances" and directing visitors to another nearby Hotel.


If you are planning to get married at the Hinton Grange please look into a contingency plan until more information is available about whether Weddings booked at the Hotel will go ahead. The Hotel's website is currently offline. There had previously been lots of great reports about Weddings at Hinton Grange and it's a lovely venue so let's hope that future Weddings can go ahead.

Abi and Lisa from Marry Me in Somerset have recently made a huge impact on the local Wedding Industry with the launch of their fantastic Wedding directory. They list many local venues but also carefully check the credentials of other Wedding suppliers so that Brides and Grooms can be assured that they are in good hands, when they book any services listed. Abi and Lisa said,

"With so many wedding directories online set up for profit purposes, we are passionate about promoting only the very best suppliers that Somerset has to offer. All of our suppliers are by invitation only and we thoroughly research all potential members before inviting them to join MMIS giving you the confidence that any supplier you contact in our directory will give you the high level of service we would expect you to receive"


So head on over to Marry Me in Somerset to look at the great suppliers that they feature. Also look out for their Wedding Fairs, called a Brides Affair coming soon.

Here's a few dates for your Diary

Taunton Tweet Up, Castle Hotel Taunton Thursday 7th July For Wedding Professionals on Twitter Hosted by Marry Me in Somerset and Wedding Ideas Magazine Fully Booked

How 2 I Do Wedding Planning Workshop, The Avon Gorge Hotel, Clifton: Sunday 31st July 1:30pm to 4:30pm www.how2ido.co.uk Spaces Available

Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel: Sunday 31st July 2011 10:30am to 4pm with Fashion Shows at 11:30am and 2:00pm www.bristolmarriottroyal.co.uk/