There's a hot new trend in wedding decor and it's a very simple but hugely effective one that takes little skill or expense to make a big impact. Ribbons are huge for 2012 and 2013 wedding and can be used to make stunning backdrops, to decorate chairs and aisles or to hang from ceilings to create a canopy of colour.

Ribbons are a great way to decorate chairs as a modern alternative to white chair covers. This pretty image from Elizabeth Anne Designs shows.

                                           

Use colourful ribbons and paper lanterns or pom poms to add colour to ceilings, as this bright colour pop wedding shows.

                                              

                           

I love the pretty ribbon canopy shown above from Intimate Weddings via the Life Work Media Blog.

To see some more ideas of how you can use ribbons as part of your wedding decor, visit How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning's board in Pinterest here.

Local Wedding Planner Steph Allison of How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning answers all of your wedding questions. Today its all about invitations.

Question: When should we be sending out our wedding invitations and what's the difference between an invitation and a save the date card? Beckie, Stoke Gifford

Answer: Traditionally the brides parents, in their role as hosts, would send out formal invitations around six weeks before the wedding. These days it's much less formal with many couples paying for and hosting their own weddings. Most people now choose to send out invitations around 12 weeks before the wedding as there is lots of information to give guests so that they can book accommodation and make travel plans.

Save the dates are also becoming more popular as people lead such busy lives and could risk being away on holiday or planning another event on the same day. Save the dates can be sent out around 12 months before the wedding. Here's a really fun ways to pass all of the required information to your guests. How about a fun wedding tea towel?

These Wedding Tea Towels from The Original Wedding Tea Towel come in black and white or a range of colour options to match your theme.


                                                      

Visit the website to find out more.

The market for Wedding Planners is steadily growing in the UK with more and more couples with busy work and social lives finding it hard to find the time to plan their dream weddings. Today Bristol Wedding Planner, Stephanie Allison from How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning talks us through how a wedding planner can help you.

On Sunday Goldbrick House opened its doors for a fabulous wedding open day to allow engaged couples to view the ceremony and reception rooms as they could look for their own big day. The rooms were styled by The Little Wedding Helper using stunning pink and green floral displays by Flowers By Thea.




Acoustic Musician Matt Bee created a relaxed ambiance while couples milled around viewing the range of rooms from the restaurant, which was set up for a reception, to the stylish champagne bar and loft, which was set up as a ceremony space, with access to the outdoor terrace ideal for summer weddings.




A selection of top local wedding suppliers were on hand to give prospective brides and grooms even more inspiration from sweets and lollipop favours from Bristol Candy Buffet (below) to vintage china hire from Bristol Vintage as shown above. There were also free wedding planning tips and advice from How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning.





For those with a sweet tooth there was lots to behold from Vintage Candy Buffets to stunning cakes by Chocolate Delores and The Custom Cake Shop.

Paper Sherbet had original design stationary and HQ Hairdressing were on hand to offer advice on wedding hair styling.




For more information on getting married at Goldbrick House, contact Katherine Minton or visit the website. Please also click the links above to find out more about any of the great suppliers who exhibited.

Will it ever stop raining? I do hope so as these persistent downpours are really not good for the start of the spring wedding season (or my poor hair). Getting married in the UK is always unpredictable and apparently this early rain means we're in for a long hot summer (I'll believe it when I see it) but if you are planning your I Dos, don't get caught out as frizzy hair, runny mascara and muddy hems are never a good look.

Today we look at ways to work with the rain and not let it spoil your big day. You just need to forward plan and you can guarantee as soon as you buy a few brollies and some wellies, then the sun will shine all day long.

In fact I bought an ivory wedding umbrella "just in case" for my own May wedding in 2008 as forecasts had been mixed and it ended up being glorious all day. I thought it might have been a lucky charm so I lent it to each of my friends as their "something borrowed" and it's magic worked for all of them too!

Local Bridal Accessory Boutique, Bridezillas has a great range or umbrellas, parasols and "weddingtons" to keep dry and stylish on your big day. This Anna umbrella comes in white or cream and only costs £13.00

                                        


These "Catherine" weddingtons are so gorgeous with their heels, pearlescent finish, pink lining and bow and at £49.99 are a good investment, as you could hitch up your dress and head outdoors for photos even on the wettest of days.
 

                 



     


        

















Here's some handy tips to ensure that even the dampest of days can't dampen your spirits...

10 Top Tips for Wet Weddings

• Have a pretty bridal umbrella to hand
• Buy or hire golf umbrellas for the bridal party or guests
• Have a backup indoor drinks reception location planned in advance
• Speak to your photographer in advance about indoor or sheltered photo locations
• Get ready at the venue if there is a room available to avoid getting wet before the ceremony
• Have bridal wellies or weddingtons for outdoor pictures
• It's unlikely the whole day will be wet so be ready to head outside for pictures if the weather breaks for a while
• Plan ahead and inform your guests if the grounds will be muddy so they can plan too
• If you are planning a marquee check that walkways are carpeted or covered
• Don't let it worry you...there are some fantastic wedding photos taken under big umbrellas

Words by Bristol Wedding Planner Steph Allison of How 2 I Do Wedding and Event Planning

Image Credits: Bridezillas

Today, Bristol Wedding Planner Steph Allison of How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning looks at ways to keep to a smaller wedding budget and focusing on the tricky subject of the all important guest list.

When you get married it's great to share your wedding day with all of your friends and family, but before you draw up a mammoth list, remember, you will need to allow approximately £50.00 per head for a day guest at your wedding. This should cover welcome drinks, food, wine, toast drinks and evening food. However, some upmarket venues may charge closer to this sum just for a three course sit down dinner.

Once your guests lists reaches 150 people, that's £7500 just on food and drink alone and if your total budget is £10,000 it's not going to stretch to cover venue hire, entertainment, wedding clothing, ceremony fees, transportation, rings, accommodation and all of the other endless costs related to your wedding.


So how do you keep numbers in check? Firstly make a list of everyone you would like to invite and see what figure you reach. To have a wedding with a budget below £10000, you ideally want to keep to 50-60 day guests, with another 20 or so guests arriving for the disco.


                           


Evening guests will only cost you the price of any evening food you arrange, normally around £10-15 per head and you can often only cater for 80% of guests for evening food as many will have eaten a big evening meal before they arrive.

If your list is on the larger side, you may have to be a bit ruthless to keep your budget on track. A good way to cut guests is to create some simple rules such as only inviting people that you have seen in the last year prior to getting engaged or only inviting work colleagues that you have socialised with outside of work.  Perhaps stick to immediate family and close friends only.

If you can't cut numbers due to having a large family or circle of friends, then you will need to look at some creative ways to reduce your food and drink costs to keep a smaller budget on track. Consider buffets, hog roasts, afternoon tea or fish and chips as cheaper alternatives to a three course meal. You can also buy your own alcohol if your venue allows and their corkage charge isn't too high.


For more useful help planning your wedding, visit  How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning

Image Credit Sidney Diongzon

Lauren Lane finally became Mrs Welch on Saturday when she married her Fiance Daniel in a wedding that she feared may never happen. The couple had originally booked Keynsham wedding venue, Chewton Place for their big day and paid them just under £4500. Just before Christmas they had the devastating news that Aspire Venues had gone into liquidation taking all of their money with them.



Happily for Lauren and Daniel what seemed like a hopeless situation was saved by the kindness of many generous wedding suppliers, who stepped in with some amazing offers. As one of the suppliers who has been helping Lauren, I spoke to her just before the wedding to ask a few questions about this heart warming story to share with readers of Bristol Wedding News.

Thank you to photographer  Sidney Diongzon for sharing these lovely pictures of Lauren and Daniel on their wedding day.



How did you and Daniel feel when you first heard the news about Aspire going into liquidation?






Can you briefly explain how has Twitter helped you save the wedding?

Planning a wedding can be stressful, time consuming and expensive. When you initially get engaged and start looking into planning your wedding, you discover the scale of the task at hand. Some brides to be (and grooms) are born planners and have had a secret wedding file tucked away since they were 13 jammed full of pictures of dresses, flowers and fabric swatches.

For others, with hectic jobs and busy lives, though they are excited about being married the endless research and tiny details of a wedding can get too much and they lose focus and motivation and suddenly find with just a few months to go their to do list is massively overwhelming.


                                

If you feel that you need any support or guidance with simplifying the planning of your wedding, then How 2 I Do's bespoke wedding planning workshops could be your ideal solution. They can be booked individually of you can use them flexibly as and when you need to create your own personal "pay as you plan" package.

The workshops involve you and your partner spending two hours with Bristol Wedding Planner, Steph Allison, who will focus entirely on the areas where you need most support whether it's finding a venue, organising your budget, theme ideas, sourcing suppliers or designing your seating plan. After the workshop, you will receive an email summary of the workshop and a written action plan for your next steps. You will also receive any planning tools or guides relevant to your stage of planning.

 
                              


If you need more wedding planning help, How 2 I Do also have a range of planning packages and services such as On the Day Coordination, Venue Sourcing, Full Planning and Candy Buffets.

The workshops cost £75.00 per couple and you can find out more about them here

Bristol Wedding Planner Steph Allison from How 2 I Do Wedding Planner solves your big day dilemmas. Today it's putting the fun into weddings.

Question:

How can I make our wedding really fun for the guests as I've been to some recently that were a bit dull in places with lots of hanging around, Anna Marie, Longwell Green

Answer:

Great question and you're right that there is nothing worse as a guest than hanging around not knowing what's going on. It's important to plan your day from your guests perspective. Make sure that your guests have all of the information they need in advance and have timings for what will happen and when.

Wedding websites are a great way to let guests know all of the useful information like timings, hotel information and taxi numbers. Take a look at the Wedding Blog Designer for lovely bespoke websites.

                          

The next thing is to add some fun for the guests and to fill those pauses while you are having photos taken or waiting for the room to be turned around. I love the Original Wedding Fete Company, who can set up a village fete for all of your guests, complete with coconut shy and fun games. Other fun ideas are ice cream stands, photo booths, candy buffets, live music and close hand magicians.





The last thing is to think of your guests welfare. Really thoughtful touches can make your guests feel  valued like baskets in the loos filled with sun cream, deodorant, plasters, perfume and safety pins. I recently was involved in a wedding where the couple provided a basket of flip flops for female guests to dance the night away in comfort and it was a massive hit.

If you have a wedding planning question, or contact How 2 I Do Wedding & Event Planning


Image Credits: The Wedding Blog Designer, The Original Fete Company

January is a long month following the excesses of Christmas when we all have to tighten our belts slightly. If you are planning a wedding you are probably looking for ways to reduce your budget without compromising on style.

There are lots of ways to knock thousands of a wedding budget with a few clever DIY tips and by using the talents of friends. Here's some top budget busting tips from How 2 I Do.

• Keep the day guest list down to close friends and family only
• Look at prices for mid week or Sunday weddings as they are often far cheaper
• Serve processo or sparkling wine instead of champagne
• Swap a 3 course meal for a hog roast, cream tea or fish and chips
• Use candles, lanterns and rose petals instead of large floral displays

                                

• Get ready at the venue instead of having expensive wedding cars
• If you have a friends who can sing, ask them to perform during the ceremony
• Buy cake tiers from M&S, stack them and add fresh flowers to decorate
• Make your own stationary on your PC and print onto good quality card
• Look in Ikea or The Range for reasonably priced venue decorations
• Keep floral displays small in tea cups, jam jars of bottles and display in clusters of 3

                                    

Areas where you should never scrimp are,

• Wedding insurance is crucial and could save you thousands if things go wrong
• Good photography is essential as you will be never have the chance to retake those key shots
• Don't scrimp on food quality but it's fine to make clever substitutions as above
• Make sure you have a good DJ or band in the evening as this will create a great atmosphere

Floral Image courtesy of Splendid Stems Floral Design and The Knot

Budget Tips courtesy of How 2 I Do Wedding Planning

Today, Bristol Wedding Planner, Steph Allison shares another wedding trend with us. Today it's rustic chic and you can get more great theme ideas from her Pinterest inspiration boards here.

Rustic weddings seem to featuring more and more recently and it's a trend that is mainly coming from America. Modern rustic weddings combine natural elements like wood, linen and natural looking flowers with stylish design elements. For a rustic venue think farms, barns or an outdoor space like an orchard. This great venue is from my board on Pinterest.


                                     

Lighting is important for a rustic wedding and for this think strings of twinkly white lights, hanging lanterns or dancing candle light. Softly draped fabrics make a great contrast to rough wooden textures. Hessian, burlap and rough linen work well as does a softer lighter linen fabric to make floaty white curtains for a romantic feel.

I really love this rustic dessert table. The combination of floaty curtains, wood and fairy lights totally nails the key elements of the rustic look. This is from a goregous Californian wedding on the Ruffled Blog.


                           


The images below are from Bragginbags shop on Etsy that sells the wooden planters and lots of great rustic accessories, like the fabulous birch bark candle holders. The table also looks great with white cloths and burlap table runners.

                                      


                                     

Rustic weddings have a certain home made, back yard feel. Drinks work well left in glass bottles or served in jam jars, as below. Home made favours also add to the charm like those shown below from Style Me Pretty.


                                   


                                    

When it comes to the cake, cheesecakes work fantastically as a change from the traditional fruit cake. Serve the cake on a log base for a truly rustic look. This cake by Kima Konfections was from a rustic farm wedding in Passadena, USA.


                               


Bouquets like table decorations should look as though they have just been grabbed from the garden. This gorgeous rustic bouquet from A Mountain Bride Blog.


                                      

Finally these photos from a Style Me Pretty wedding demonstrate just how stylish rustic can look if done properly and they have got is spot on in this rehearsal dinner inspiration shoot by Tying The Knot Wedding Coordination as shown on Style Me Pretty. Click the link for more gorgeous images.


                                

I hope this has given you some ideas for your own rustic wedding. There are lots of great barns and farms locally where this look would be fantastic. If you need any help planning your perfect wedding, please do get in touch.

January is packed full of Wedding fairs, events and great promotions from Bristol suppliers.

January Wedding Events

Designer Wedding Dress Sample Sale the Mews of Clifton. Appointments Neccessary

World of Weddings Fair: 75 stands at the Holiday Inn Filton, Sunday 8th January 10:30am- 4:30pm

Wedding World: 100 stands at the Bristol Marriott City Centre, Sunday 15th January 10:30am -4:30pm

The Bristol Wedding Show: Mercure Holland House, Sunday 22nd January 11am -3:30pm

Love Actually Wedding Fair: Berwick Lodge, Sunday 22nd January 11:30am- 4pm


                                             

Bristol Marriott Royal Wedding Fair: Sunday 29th January 10:30am to 4pm

January Special Offers

20% Off Bespoke Wedding Reports booked in January from The Wedding Reporter


                                             

10% Off Candy Buffets and Wedding Planning Services from How 2 I Do booked in January. How 2 I Do and use code XMAS10




10% Off Weding Jewellery at Port Out Starboard Home. Quote code BWB11 when ordering

                              


Wedding Photography Tayor Barnes £250 off any Wedding package booked in January or February 2012.

Image Credits: Berwick Lodge, The Wedding Reporter, How 2 I Do, Port Out Starboard Home

Christmas is a time when lots of people get engaged, so many congratulations to anyone reading this who has recently given or acquired a gorgeous sparkler. Here's a few tips on where to start planning your dream Wedding.

The first step should be to draw up a rough guest list so you know if you have 50 people or 150 to invite. This will affect your venue choices and budget so it's a good place to begin. Next sit down and have some honest conversations about finance. The average Wedding costs around £15,000 but you can have a fantastic Wedding for a lot less, but you may need to incorporate a lot of DIY touches and avoid grand venues to make a smaller budget work.


                          

Talk to family to see if they want to contribute a set amount or pay for something like the dress or flowers. It's great to get financial help from family but sometimes it does come with certain conditions, such as input into the planning or inviting certain guests so there are pros and cons to paying for the day yourself.

Next begin to look at venues. Bristol and the surrounding areas are packed full of gorgeous Wedding and reception venues. You can choose from farms, barns, hotels, restaurants, boats, country estates and even the zoo so do lots of research online and then make some appointments to view venues.  You can get some great prices by choosing a week day or Sunday or marrying out of the traditional summer Wedding season so don't feel you need to stick to a Summer Saturday. The image below is from the Riverstation, which is ideal for a contemporary Wedding.


                                           

One final very important tip is to ensure that you have Wedding insurance in place before paying any deposits as sadly several local couples have lost thousands as local venues have gone into administration. Sadly this is becoming more common and any money you have paid will be used to pay creditors and not returned to you.

If you need some additional guidance, why not consult a Wedding Planner for a free consultation. They can help in lots of ways and often their fees will be absorbed by the savings they negotiate and they ways they can suggest to cut your budget without compromising on style.

Words by Stephanie Allison, Wedding Planner and owner of How 2 I Do Wedding Planning. Steph would be delighted to offer any guidance to newly engaged couples. Visit her website for more information.

Photo Credits How 2 I Do and Howard Wedding Photography

 www.riverstation.co.uk

Recently Weddings have been very toned down with a lot of pale pastel shades and neutrals, especially with the vintage and shabby chic trends dominating. However bright colours are back for Weddings and I have a lot of Brides who have chosen brights like teal or purple for their main colour.

One colour that is due to be huge for 2012 is orange. I had a couple request an orange, yellow and green theme for a party and to be honest I wondered how it would all work together but I was pleasantly surprised how stunning orange can be. Check out my Pinterest board for more ideas.


So here's some inspirit ion for a bright orange and yellow Wedding. It's the perfect antidote to Winter gloom. Orange drinks in glass bottles from Country Girl Wedding work perfectly for this theme. Pop in some stripy paper straws and let people serve themselves.


                                              

 I love paper lanterns shown on The Knot and these orange on are gorgeous for adding warmth to your venue. They look particularly good in marquees and strung outdoors.


                                           

Orange flowers work well with the lanterns as shown below in the great picture from Offbeat Bride


                                     

I mentioned the trend for big round balloons last year and these orange and yellow one look fantastic in photos. This picture is from Green Wedding Shoes, taken by Priscilla Valentina


                                   

To make an orange theme work, think rustic summer or it also translates well to autumn, incorporating fallen leaves in reds and oranges. Don't forget to add a subtle touch of orange to the cake too.


                                            


Words by Wedding Planner, Stephanie Allison from How 2 I Do. Get more great ideas from her Pinterest boards here.