On Wednesday night many of the UK's top wedding suppliers headed to London for the National Wedding Industry Awards which reward excellence in the Wedding Industry. The national winners were chosen by a panel of expert wedding industry judges and it was a fantastic night for Bristol, with four national winners based here.

Kirsten Butler, The Little Wedding Helper (below) won the Best Special Touch Category for her fabulous Venue Styling. Kirsten attended the awards ceremony at the Bloomsbury Ballroom and collected her award on stage to a rapturous reception.

                    


Michele Jetzer also won Best Wedding Coordinator at a venue for the second year running for her work at the Riverstation. The Riverstation said "Michele works hard with couples to ensure that each wedding is unique, meticulously planned and flawlessly executed. Michele has been working at riverstation for almost four years and this award is a testament to her tireless commitment and professionalism. Congratulations Michele!"


                                          

Michele looked stunning on the evening in a gorgeous Jenny Packham gown from The Mews of Clifton.

Hermione Harbutt also won her category for best Wedding Accessory. She said "We are delighted to announce that we have won the award for Best Wedding Accessories in the UK at The Wedding Industry Awards, the highest accolade! Thank you to all our wonderful brides!"

Congratulations also to Bramble and Wild www.brambleandwild.com, who won Highly Commended in the Best Wedding Florist category.

The Best Wedding Entertainment category was won by local magician Darren Campbell www.darrencampbellmagic.co.uk. A huge congratulations to all of the Bristol based winners.



Learn more about the awards here.

The National Wedding Industry Awards are held annually to recognise and reward excellence in the Wedding Industry. As the UK Wedding Industry is not regulated it's a great way to find quality suppliers as Brides nominate in each category and winners are picked by a panel of expert wedding industry judges, based on customer testimonials.

                                                           

We recently listed those Bristol wedding suppliers who had been regionally shortlisted. Now the regional winners have been announced and many of the South West winners are based here in Bristol. Again this year Kirsten Butler, The Little Wedding Helper won the Best Special Touch Catergory for her fabulous Venue Styling.

You can read Kirsten's hugely popular article for Bristol Wedding News on styling Village Halls here.



Michelle Jetzer also won Best Wedding Coordinator (Venue) for her work at the Riverstation. We recently featured one of Michelle's lovely Weddings, and you can read about all of the gorgeous details here. Michelle won the national award earlier this year so good luck to Michelle at the award ceremony in January 2013.



Congratulations also go to Kingscote Barn who won Best Wedding Venue. Hermione Harbutt also won her category for best Wedding Accessory in the South West. You can read all about the opening of her stunning showroom in Clifton here. Congratulations to the other local winners listed below,

Best Wedding Videographer: I Do Wedding Films www.idoweddingfilms.co.uk

Best Wedding Florist: Bramble and Wild www.brambleandwild.com

Best Wedding Stationery: Archibald Edwards www.archibald-edwards.co.uk

Best Wedding Menswear Hire: Men's Hire Thornbury www.menshire.co.uk

Best Wedding Entertainment Darren Campbell Musician www.darrencampbellmagic.co.uk

Best Wedding DJ: The Celebration Roadshow www.celebrationroadshow.co.uk

Best Wedding Hair Stylist: Fordham Hair Design www.fhdmobile.co.uk

Learn more about the awards here.

It's been a year since Bristol Wedding News first launched in early June 2011. I started it as way to promote all of the great stuff happening in the wedding industry in Bristol. It's really taken on a life of it's own with input from local suppliers and is regularly viewed up to 6500 times per month.

As I'm shortly expecting a second baby I have been thinking about ways to balance work and family life and how to take some maternity leave to enjoy time with the new baby and our gorgeous toddler. However I really want to keep the blog going, as I think it's worth investing time and effort in. It's strong presence on google means it will continue to be found by more and more engaged couples under many different categories relating to Bristol Weddings.

I have decided to dedicate one working day each month to planning, writing and editing around 12 to 14 new blog posts to be scheduled three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the following month. This allows me to make the most of my permitted "keep in touch days" and also take some time off. To make this work I still need as many guest posts and submissions as possible to keep the blog interesting and varied.

Please can Bristol or locally based wedding suppliers continue to submit useful articles, real weddings, news, competitions and press releases to add into the schedule of posts. If you are reading as a Groom or Bride to Be, please think about submitting your wedding or perhaps a guest post about how you chose your venue or suppliers or how you are managing your planning.

Thanks to everyone who has supported Bristol Wedding News over the last year and please keep coming back and sharing the blog with other Brides and Grooms.

Steph

How would you like to feature on Bristol Wedding News? We are currently looking for submissions to feature on the blog over the next few months in the following categories:

• Real Local Weddings
• Supplier News
• Wedding Fairs and Events
• Theme Inspiration
• Special Offers and Competitions
• Informative articles

If you got married recently and would like your wedding to be featured, please ask your photographers permission and then get in contact by emailing [email protected] We are happy to take submissions from photographers at any time for weddings and engagement shoots.

                                               

If you are a local wedding supplier and would like your business to feature, please submit an interesting article about what you do, or perhaps some tips for brides based on your area of expertise. We'd love to hear from you and look forward to any submissions via [email protected] soon.

We will feature any weddings and articles that we feel are suitable.

Image credit: Real Weddings: Lauren and Daniel by Sidney Diongzon

If you are looking for a way to personalise your wedding ceremony or entertain your guests whilst you sign the register, then you should consider hiring The Classical Songbirds. They are talented singers Jemma Barnes and Terésa Bray, based in Wiltshire and they are available for weddings in the Bristol area.

There is a new concept arriving for local brides and grooms called the Wedding VIP Card. It has been described as an exclusive club for anyone getting married in Dorset, Somerset & Wiltshire.

Wedding VIP Club have teamed up with premium quality suppliers to offer you special discounts, upgrades and offers in the lead up to your wedding day. Couples can choose from a hand picked selection of wedding retailers who have agreed a unique offer on production of their Wedding VIP Card!





  

The card costs £49.00 but booking just one supplier through Wedding VIP Card could save you hundreds, so it's well worth the initial outlay. 

Wedding VIP club have already successfully operated in the Bournemouth area, before relocating to the South West. They are currently recruiting more top quality VIP suppliers to joining their growing network. If you are  local wedding supplier, you can learn more about the benefits of joining here.





Paul from Wedding VIP explains the benefits for engaged couples,

• Access to our password protected members only area where you will find details of all the exciting money saving offers and upgrades.
• Discounted access to local wedding suppliers and services for the duration of your engagement.
• A personalised stylish membership card.
• Monthly newsletter bringing you up to date with wedding trends, latest suppliers & offers.
• Free invite to our regular events to meet our suppliers.

Find out more about Wedding VIP Club on their website

Did you know that Bristol Wedding News is also on Facebook and Twitter? We'd love you to follow us on Twitter or come and "Like" us on Facebook (it's nice to be liked). I launched this blog back in June and I have been so delighted with how it's already grown to over 3000 page views per month and is increasing all of the time, so I thought I'd share some information about the history of Bristol Wedding News.



I started writing Bristol Wedding News as I found it hard to find information about Bristol Weddings and also because, as a Bristol Wedding supplier, I realised it was hard for small businesses to tell Brides what they are up to. Wedding magazine advertising costs hundreds or even thousands of pounds for one small advert and wedding fairs around £100 to £150 to exhibit.

This makes it hard for all of the talented and hard working self employed and often small Wedding businesses to promote themselves, especially when working from home or trying to grow with a small start up budget or work around families. Like me, many Bristol Wedding suppliers that I have met are local women who are following their dreams and trying to build successful careers.

This blog was designed as a way to connect Bristol Brides with great local suppliers and also national suppliers that they can order from online but may not know about. If you regularly read Bristol Wedding News and have found it useful in planning your Wedding, I'd love to hear from you.



Also if you have any feedback about what could improve or what you'd like to see on here, I'd love to hear your views. You can get in touch by email, comment on the posts, comment on our facebook group or message me on Twitter.  However you choose to get in touch, I look forward to hearing from you.

Don't forget that once you have tied the knot, you can send in your Wedding photos to be featured on these pages too. Thank you to all of those who have read and contributed to Bristol Wedding News so far. Let's work together to make it a fantastic resource for any couples getting Married in the Bristol area.

Like us on facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Steph x

Bristol Wedding News is owned and edited by Steph Allison who also runs How 2 I Do Wedding Planning and Bristol Candy Buffet

Yesterday saw some of Bristols top wedding suppliers exhibiting at the newly opened Old Down Manor for Vintage in the Park. The house has been completely remodelled following huge investment and is now an amazing mix of traditional and modern with large airy rooms and glamorous crystal chandeliers adorning the high ceilings.





The views from the landscaped gardens are also divine stretching over miles of countryside and down to the severn bridge. Old Down is also a country park with animals, a farm shop, bistro and more so is well worth a visit, whether you are planning a Wedding or not.



Old Down has it's first Wedding next week and already has lots more booked despite being a building site when most brides and groom booked. Luckily their faith and imagination has been rewarded with a top wedding venue that won't disappoint.

The suppliers ha some great displays for Brides and Grooms to view, such as the Candy Buffet shown above from Bristol Candy Buffet, the table styled by the Little Wedding helper below, plus beautiful vintage dresses and accessories from The Bridal Styling Company and cupcakes from Cupcake Delight (pictured) and the Vanilla Pod bakery.




The wedding fair was organised by Lizzie May in aid of Cots for Tots, with each exhibitor paying £65 towards the charity and donating prizes for the raffle. Over 500 people turned up to visit the fair and to view the house.






Exhibitors ranged from florists to cakes, candy buffets, chair covers, magicians and singers so there was lots of ideas and inspiration for Bristol brides. The gorgeous floral displays shown above are from Bijoux Floral (top and centre)  and the Wilde Bunch (bottom).

Here is a full list and links to all of those who took part and donated towards a great cause. Please follow the links to find out more about these brilliant suppliers.

Florists

The Wilde Bunch Florist, Bijoux Wedding and Event Flowers, Sorori Design Florist,

Photographers and Videographers

Caroline Alexander Photography, Lizzy May Photography, Wedding Day Movie Video

Venue Styling, Decorations and Accessories

The Little Wedding Helper Venue Styling, Ambience Venue Styling, Aunties Vintage China,
Music

New City Sound DJs, Dixie Belles  Singers

Jewellery, Clothing and Make Up

Frocks and Tails at Home Menswear, The Bridal Styling Company, Hannah Banks Jewellery, Jess Mills Make Up

Cakes and Sweet Treats

Lizzie Likes - home made treats, The Vanilla Pod Bakery,  Cupcake Delight, Bristol Candy Buffet

Wedding Cars

England's Finest Cars, Karma Kars

Other

County Marquees,   Alec Walker Toastmaster,  Sur Les Ailes D'Amour Doves, Archibald Edwards Stationery, Elf sitters Child Minders, Darren Campbell Magician
Surroundings Gifts and cute wedding stuff, Jamie at Home Homewares

We have been contacted by Absolutely Cakes to tell you about their Wedding cakes and cupcakes. They have a great selection on their website that you can purchase and order easily online.


                                                     

"Whether you want Traditional, Classical, Elegant, Modern, or Novelty, our Multi Tiered Cakes or Cupcake Towers will be freshly made from the best of ingredients and can be tailored to your individual requirements in both looks and flavours."


                                           

                                              

They also make delicious macaroons, a French delicacy which is becoming more and more popular in the UK. They can be made in a rainbow of colors and flavours to match any Wedding theme and Absolutely Cakes make them in Chocolate, Vanilla, Rose, Tiramisu, Coffee, Lemon, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Ginger, Lavender Chocolate, Orange Blossom. Yum Yum!

                              

You can also visit them and buy cakes at the following markets across Bristol:

• Tobacco Factory Market, Southville, every Sunday, 10.00 to 2.30
• Whiteladies Road Local Producers Market, first and third Saturdays of the month, 9.30 to 2.00
• Corn Street Farmers Market, every Wednesday, 9.30 to 2.30
• Thornbury Fine Food Fair, quarterly as advertised

Find out more on facebook or the website

Images courtesy of Absolute Cakes

Words by Stephanie Allison

It's not often that I get emails that make me cry, but I had one recently from Rupert Ward-Lewis that really brought tears to my eyes! Included in his email was a link to a beautiful video featuring the Wedding of  Claire and Nick at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol.

Rupert has managed to perfectly capture all of the fun, love and emotion involved in the marriage of two people so obviously head over heels about each other and I found watching his account of their special day incredibly moving.


                            

Rupert has a background in television and you may even recognise him from ITVs Heartbeat, which he starred in for 3 years as PC Don Wetherby, before realising that he preferred to be behind the camera. He uses a DSLR camera which gives his films a beautiful quality that you rarely see in Wedding videos.


                                                           

If you want to watch more examples of his work, visit his website for lots more of his stunning films. If I could get married all over again (to the same man I might add), I know who I would want to create my own bespoke Wedding film.

Words by Stephanie Allison

Wednesday night was the second Bristol Wedding Tweet Up organised by Kirsten Butler, The Little Wedding Helper and held in the Champagne Bar at the glorious Goldbrick House. Guests from across the Wedding Industry arrived from 6pm to be greeted by complimentary champagne and delicious canapes. Bristol Wedding Photographer Marie Man was on hand with her camera to capture the evening and her brilliant pictures are shown here.







Guests also got to enjoy a delicious selection of sweets from Bristol Candy Buffet. The Buffet was styled in vintage colours to match the Little Wedding Helper's venue styling. It was hugely popular all evening and only a handful of sweets were left in the the pretty jars and vintage tins by the end of the night.



The Little Wedding Helper styled the Champagne Bar with pretty flowers, vintage floral china, gorgeous battered vintage suitcases and a framed board for people to add their business cards to.


It was a great fun and friendly event and there will be another one scheduled in the New Year for anyone who missed out or wants to come to another one. See all of Marie's pictures here

Words by Stephanie Allison

Today Bristol Wedding News Editor and Bristol Wedding Planner, Stephanie Allison shares with us why On the Day Coordination is perfect for the modern Bristol Bride.

So you've spent a year to 18 months planning your dream Wedding. You're naturally excited as the weeks tick down to the big day but you're also nervous. The nerves come from fear you'll trip as you walk down the aisle of totally lose it in a massive teary lip trembling wobble as you say your vows (I did this and people thought it was sweet so don't worry!) Nerves are also caused by the fact that you want everything to be perfect and for everyone to love it.





The ironic fact is that as the Bride you have very little control on how the actual Wedding day pans out. Yes you can spend months or years planning every little detail to the nth degree, but on the morning you will be at home, or at the hairdressers or having your make up done as everything is being put together.

If you're lucky your venue will have a great Wedding Coordinator, who will be ensuring everything is being done for you. However, check if your coordinator will actually be there on the day. Often it's left to catering staff to decide what goes where. The other disadvantage is that they only deal with the reception. They won't confirm with your suppliers, or know if your car hasn't turned up on time, or care if the flowers in the church don't match your bouquet.



This is where I come in to help. Most Wedding planners now offer On the Day Coordination as a fantastic service for Brides that want to plan their own Wedding, but also want the reassurance that the day itself will run like clockwork. On the Day Coordination is also great to reduce the last minute stress and panic associated with those crucial last few weeks. I would meet you 4 week before the Wedding and talk through how you want the day to be.

I'll then make a detailed list of timings and contact all of your suppliers and venues to confirm you bookings and make sure they know where they need to be and when. Before becoming a Wedding Planner I worked in Hospitality as an Operations Manager and a lot of my time was spent contingency planning, organising suppliers, motivating staff, managing budgets and dealing with emergencies such as a flood, power cuts and even fires. You can therefore be sure that I know how to manage a crisis calmly.

On the day itself, as your Wedding Planner, I'll be working hard behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly and on time. I'll deal with any little emergencies discretely and professionally and your guests won't even know I'm there unless you want me to act as Master of Ceremonies too.



So how much does this cost? Not as much as you may think. It starts from just £350 for a small Wedding to up to £500 for a larger scale affair with a lot of preparation and set up on the morning of the Wedding. So if you think this service is for you, please get in touch as I'd love to hear about all of the amazing things you have planned for your Wedding and I'd like to help you to relax, knowing your dreams of a perfect Wedding are being turned into a beautiful reality. I work as a Wedding Planner in Bristol, Bath and Somerset with my Wedding Planning company, How 2 I Do.

Please visit my website for more information or to book a complimentary consultation.

Next Wednesday, 7th September, approximately 50 of Bristol's Wedding Suppliers will be meeting at Goldbrick House for a Tweet Up organised by The Little Wedding Helper.

Tweet Ups are a chance for suppliers who chat regulary on Twitter to meet up and put some faces to the names they follow. Steph Allison from How 2 I Do Wedding Planning, who attended the last event said

"I really enjoyed the last Tweet Up and I have made some really great contacts as a result, some of which are now good friends. As a self employed Wedding business I don't have any colleagues or a water cooler to chat around, so Twitter has been a great way to meet people and promote my business within the Industry."

Here's a few images form the last Tweet Up, which were taken by West Weddings. You can read their report here


                             


                              

So why not come along, bring some business cards and make some new contacts. It will be held in the Champagne Bar from 6pm to 9pm.

Photo Credit: West Wedding Blog

This week I was lucky enough to attend a cupcake decorating workshop in Henleaze, held by the lovely Kim from Swirls and Curls Cupcakes. I thought that this workshop would be ideal for Brides to Be to learn how to make their own cupcakes for either fun favours for their Big Day or to stack up in a tower instead of a traditional cake.

What really amazed me is how easy to follow the course was and how professional my cakes looked at the end. My Husband will testify to the fact that I'm not a skilled baker but look at what I made!




The workshop begins with making the little decorations for our cakes out of pink and blue fondant, which is surprisingly easy due to a range of templates and cutters. I love the little butterflies and flowers we made and think they look so pretty and professional.



After a cuppa and the chance to sample a cupcake, we moved on to learning how to ice the cakes. We began with learning how to pipe a rose onto a cake. I mananged a pretty good rose first time, but it seemed to be beginners luck as they went down hill from there! A few attempts later, I had some pretty good looking cakes.


We piped some more in chocolate icing and learnt how to do pretty two tone effect and a whippy topping. At the end we put all of our handy work together with some edible glue and a flourish of glitter and here's the results. Not bad if I do say so myself.



Sue Davies, who attended the workshop with her friend Sarah said "It was great fun and easier than I imagined. You get a great result and the cakes look really good. You can try again with no pressure and it's really helpful. The workshop was very enjoyable and I would throughly recommend it"



Lynwen Evans, added "It's highly recommended, a thoroughly enjoyable evening meeting different people with the same interests and learning new techniques."

My piping partner for the evening Claire Gallagher said "it was an enjoyable evening creating some exciting cakes". Thanks Claire for helping me and many thanks to Kim and her Mum Sue who helped make the evening such fun. Here we all are proudly holding our finished designs.



So for a great night out, look at Kim's website. There are two workshops available to book on Monday 26th September and Monday 24th October for £50 per person, including a starter pack to take home.

If you are looking for something a bit different in terms of a Wedding Venue or you dream about spending your Wedding night "glamping" under the stars, then read on. Wedding Yurts allow you total flexibility in choosing your reception venue as they can be used in your garden, in a field or in the grounds of an existing Wedding Venue. They can also provide accommodation for you or your guests.



 These stunning shots were taken at Maunsell House by  Antonia Wozencraft, the styling by the girls at Ava Event Styling and the wedding dresses, shoes and jewellery by the Wedding Club.




Here's what Lizzie from Wedding Yurts has to say about this brilliant new concept,


The 20ft yurt can be used for a party with a 12ft yurt attached for the bar and another 12ft yurt the kitchen, or a 20ft yurt for hosting a banquet with a kitchen yurt or crèche attached.
Our boutique yurt accommodation is luxurious and we have a honeymoon yurt beautifully decorated for a magical wedding night under the stars.

We have a mobile kitchen which can be set up inside the 12ft yurt, wooden dance floors, furniture, sound system, lighting, soft furnishings and decorations, we also know lots of very talented and creative people to help create your special day.



The yurts are wonderfully versatile and can be erected inside or outdoors, in a field, a garden or your chosen wedding venue, a unique venue ideal for celebrations and intimate gatherings.