Running up the Aisle!

Was browsing Google today and came across this website

http://www.weddingrunner.com/

They are a total wedding non essential but they are oh so pretty x

Busy Busy !

I have been busy over the weekend sorting out last minute stuff for the Show.
My stand decoration idea's are coming together and I have handed out all my Complimentary passes.
Looking foward to meeting lots of lovely people. I love to chat so I will be in my element.
The next few days will be used to sort out all my flyers and brochures and my information packs.
And remember everybody, that the best rule for wedding fairs is WEAR COMFY SHOES !!

Fairyland !!!

Try out these fairy theme idea's for your little girl's Birthday party or Christening/ Naming day

Hall or Room Decoration
-Drape organza or tulle or netting[ preferably pink but white would do ] from a ceiling to give a enchanted feel to room - this can be obtained in IKEA in several colours for approx £6 or purchase from a haberdashery such as Remnant Kings or larger John Lewis stores [ price by metre]
-Hire topiary trees to give room garden feel- see http://www.toptopiary.co.uk/ to buy or hire.
Drape with fairy lights and consider also little stick on butterflies-can be obtained from the Confetti store.
Lights and fairy ornaments can be found at at good garden centres
-Have lots of flowers dotted about- fresh flowers - [from supermarket or florist ] or artificial flowers [garden centre or ikea]
- Consider a bubble machine [ adds to enchanted theme] and kids love it !!- can be purchased at the Early learning centre for approx £12-16 .
This is also good for a child's gift following the party
-Make paper mache toadstools. - place paper mache in bowl to rim, place finished kitchen roll tube in it in centre and cover with paper mache so that it is wide enough to support the top. Wait till dry and paint in toadstool colours.
-Have fairy themed balloons - http://www.woolworthsparty.co.uk/ - garden fairy 18" foil fairy balloon - £2.99
-Custom printed personalised fairy banner - http://www.woolworthsparty.co.uk/ - £29.99

Tables
See http://www.woolworthsparty.co.uk/ for fairy themed party and tableware
-Cover with pink or fairy themed tablecover-plastic tablecovers x 2 [pink]- £0.99
Fairy Garden theme tablecover x 1 - £2.99
- sprinkle fairy dust or star confetti
-table confetti - £1.49 a bag
-fairy dust - £0.99 per tube
- napkins - £2.49 for 16
- plates - £2.75 for 8
- cups for 8 - £2.25

Invitations
- Fairy garden theme- http://www.woolworthsparty.co.uk/ or if you're creative make your own.

Food
-Just got to have FAIRY cakes
-Any kind of pink fizzy or diluting juice [ blackcurrant] - fairy nectar

Consider also fairy wings and fairy wands for your own little fairies.

For a birthday party , you can also play a Find a fairy or have a craft corner to make fairy pictures, make fairy wands or decorate fairy cakes.
Kids love glitter, its fun !!!

Famous at last..ha ha...Not!!!

Loving my name in print, just really nice to see your name up in some big flashy website thats not your own.
Looking forward to meeting lots of happy couples at the show, all excited about their special day.

http://www.weddingeventsscotland.co.uk/wedding-events-scotland-exhibitors.html

Once upon a Wedding Show!!!

Had a really good time at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall today at the Wedding Exhibition.
It was a great opportunity to see some of Scotland's best wedding suppliers all in the one place.
My favourites from the day are varied.

I would just like to give a shout out for Joanne Teirney. She is a wedding photographer based in Edinburgh. She works in reportage style while still incorporating the more formal wedding shots.
She is absoloutely lovely and would put any bride and groom at ease.
http://www.joannetierney.co.uk/

Then there is David James Chauffeur Drive, a Glasgow based company providing luxury wedding car hire. I would just like to say, beautiful car, ample leg room for that wedding gown and oh so comfy!
http://www.davidjameschauffeur.co.uk/

As I stated in my last blog post there is Prestwick based Perfect Match Designs.
Christine has an amazing range of bespoke designs, fully co-ordinated from invitation, thank you cards, table stationary, order of service. and much more, I was very impressed.
http://www.perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk/

A service that caaught my eye was BFN Productions, it is a cocktail and mobile bar service.
The most fabulous thing is that the bar hire with bartenders and equipment costs you nothing, there profit comes from the drinks that are bought and they are very reasonable.
Plus a girl can never turn down a Cosmo!
http://www.bfnproductions.com/

Now we get to the yummy part. A company that has previously been recommended to me was exhibiting.
Too Good To Eat in Dalkieth specialise in making stunning cakes and they don't disappoint, absoloutely fantastic designs.
http://www.toogoodtoeat.co.uk/

And then there is Sonia from Gioia Mia, stunning handcrafted jewellery and also of the Pleyel Quartet, a simply fabulous string quartet, they are truly excellent and an oasis of calm in the wedding show madness.
http://www.pleyelquartet.com/ and http://www.gioiamia.net/


A really great guest gift idea I came upon was Kilmarnock based COOK SCHOOL.
It is a relatively new company that runs cookery classes with some top scot's chefs.
Certainly a good idea for the new husbands to learn to cook and maintain equilibrium in the household.
www.braeheadfoods.co.uk


And I am loving the £3395 deal from the Halo Group of hotels on the Royal Hotel in Bridge of Allan, it covers pretty much everything. [apart from the groom!]
http://www.royal-stirling.co.uk/

There were many more great suppliers there and I could have spent many more hours but I had a little grumpy man with me who wanted his grub.

It has also focused my thinking for my own exhibitor experience in a few short weeks, looking forward to that !

Take your seats please !!!

A seating plan is potentially the biggest bone of contention at weddings and many people worry themselves silly over it but all it needs is careful planning.

Traditionally, a seating plan is based on the idea of the bringing together of the two clans but nowdays a lot of people organise their seating so that familiar faces surround each other.
Also traditionally there is a top table where the main wedding party sit but many couples these day choose not to go with convention, instead sitting at tables with their guests.

Making the plan is not easy and it has to be remembered that while a wedding can be a reunion for friends and family, it can also involve the the reunion of those not so friendly.

If possible let people know of possible difficult situations prior to the day, so that guests are courteous to each other, remembering that it is your special day.

Remember also that when making a plan, communication is key. Try to face up to any problems early on , not letting anything fester.
Sort out any issues or disagreements well in advance will help to ensure that there is less likelyhood of dispute on the day.

Make sure that the co-ordinator of your venue or your caterer knows your seating plan well in advance for smooth running of plans.

And on the day, place a seating plan prominenetly so that your guests can see where they are sitting easily with corresponding place cards at their seats.
A very good supplier of bespoke seating plans is http://www.perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk/ , Christine makes beautiful table plans and co-ordinating table numbers, placecards and menus.
Another supplier of items such as these is at the wedding store, Confetti , and you can purchase DIY seating plan kits there too.

At the end of the day, try not to fret too much about it, we can't make everybody happy all of the time, we can only do our best .
With a little bit of tact and thought, your day will go just fine !

Accomplished and loved !!!!

Yesterday marked the day where I FINALLY cracked the front page of Google.
It feels like a huge accomplishment to get there through hard work.
I am feeling just a teeny massive bit proud of myself for getting there in under 6 months from start of business.

It was also my 5th Anniversary which I celebrated by buying some lovely new tops in Next so I am presentable for events, especially my upcoming shows -
Scottish Wedding Exhibition - 5/6th September
Stirling Wedding Show - 13th September
I also got a lovely ring from my hubbie for my anniversary.
I would like to say a huge thankyou to my friend, Lois at http://www.beadsandmorebylois.co.uk/ for making that, its gorgeous!!

Feeling a big bit important!!!

I am super excited today as I going to be the featured Wedding Planner for my area on a CD that is being attached to the December issue of "Brides" Magazine.
It is a huge honour and it feels like I am finally getting somewhere!

Created in my image !!!

Had a bit of a laugh yesterday. We were all in the car going to the train station [ I was meeting a client in Edinburgh] and we were discussing my husbands birthday.
My nearly 4 year old daughter then piped up, "I want to make Daddy a party- we need balloons and streamers and decorations and I want to help you put them up, please, please,please!!!" and then to top it off I asked her what kind of party are we making for daddy - "Sponge Bob square pants " she said, lol!!!
At least I know in the future I have a ready and willing successor to take over my business when I am old and grey, but she will probably want to be a fireman by next week though!

Promote Your Friends Day !!!

I just want to use my blog today to give a little boost to all my talented friends.

My lovely irish buddy Celine is just setting up business.Her business name is Soaperstar and she makes the most wonderful soaps and lotions.
Check out her blog from the weekend, and in particular the cupcake soap.
http://soaperstar.blogspot.com/2009/08/soapy-drought-is-over-new-soaperstar.html
Her website is coming soon.
I keep trying to persuade her that once properly established she will do a mean line in favours, she is so talented !!!

My lovely Dundonian friend, Allie makes lovely bridal tiaras and jewellery.
Check her out at http://www.nujoolz.com/ or at her blog http://www.nujoolz.blogspot.com/
She made a lovely necklace for my sister in law recently that she was thrilled with.

My lovely friend Lois, hails from south of the border, an essex girl.
She has recently started out in business as a jewellery maker also but also sells decorative homewares.
She is making me a fabby customised ring for my anniversary, pressie from Hubz and I am also getting a beautiful necklace for a friends birthday [ see Oriental Swirl]
Check her out on http://www.beadsandmorebylois.co.uk/ or http://www.beadsandmorebylois.blogspot.com/


My lovely friend Susie from Arbroath is another talented stationer and jewellery maker.
Her web shop is launching today.
Check her out at http://www.potofgold.etsy.com/
and http://www.potofgoldcrafts.blogspot.com/

There is also Rebecca who is a technological wizard with websites and photoshop.
She doesn't have a web business yet but should cos she is a genius !

And then there is Babs who makes fabby bath bombs but is contemplating the future with regards to business, is doing a craft fair to test the waters!

We are a bit of an entreprenurial lot !
They have been an enormous source of support to me in my business venture so I thought they were due a vote of thanks and some support in their pursuits as well

Love you guys xxxxxx

Scottish Wedding Show

Just got it confirmed this morning but I will be exhibiting at the Scottish Wedding Show at Braehead on the 5th and 6th of September.

I would love you all to come along and visit me x

Fun, Mad, Brave - you decide ?

There seems to be a multitude of wedding dance videos out there and some are better than others.

But the main thing is that the couple enjoyed their day and their little surprise addition made the day unforgettable for them and their guests too .

Youtube is great .

Here is a few

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tjX89RCfxE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUzpcsZ_KsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT6InvLJUzA


And this is a bit of a cheater cos its from a movie but its still great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEsi-eWtBdY

Enjoy x

Life is Yum....

An exciting trend of recent times is the CANDY BUFFET!
This is a fantastic way to keep the kids amused at your wedding or event and usually the mums and dads think its pretty special too.
There are many specialist companies providing this service and it is an scrumptious addition to any event and if your time is limited, it is worth researching this option.
You can go retro, you can go colour co-ordinated, you can go posh, any theme you want.
And as well as candy, the cupcake is a fabulous sideline too.

If working to a tighter budget, here are some tips for a DIY candy buffet.

Look in places such as the supermarket or Ikea were you can get unusual shaped dishes and glass jars from as little as £1. Scoops and tongs can be purchased cheaply at these places too.

Consider sourcing your sweeties online, at a wholesalers or at the aforementioned supermarkets when they have special deals.
You can have all different types of candy such as lollipops, mini chocolate bars, mints, gummies , jellybeans. Retro sweeties such as sherbet dib dabs, swizzles, candy necklaces and licorice wheels and many many more drool inducing additions.
Ebay is also great for the purchase of sweetie bags so your guests can have a delicious momento of your special occasion.

Your tables should be adorned with a simple white tablecloth to set off the colour of your candy and many people use flowers or table confetti to add a bit of pizazz.
An effective addition often used by professionals is a canvas adorned with the wedding couple's or event hosts names and the words "life"or "love is a sweet experience" or "life" or "love is sweet". This looks great and can be recreated by yourself more cost effectively if you are creatively minded.

Hope you have a delicious day!

An Artist's Palette - Colour for your Wedding !

Seasons can have a big influence on wedding colour schemes.
Traditionally Spring and Summer favourites usually include pastels and brights. Autumn brings warmer tones such as red, orange, and brown and in winter, deep purple, burgundy, greens, silver and ice cold blue.

The trend for Spring 2010 is going Tropical.
An array of colour , whether pink in a varying degree, red and white, bright orange or yellow and turquoise.
Your wedding will be a showstopping affair with the boldness of colour.

Where black has been popular for the last 2 years, in bridal and bridesmaid dresses , it now becomes an important accessory colour.
And dresses are going shorter with mid length calf and mini dresses gaining exposure.

These trends can be used as much or as little as you want and are just a guide.

From my own personal experience and not being a big follower of fashion, this didn't really come much into play at my August wedding.
I chose a rich emerald green and silver colour scheme which I found very effective.
Bridesmaids in green, cake with green ribbon and silver accents, little poem scrolls tied with green ribbon.
With white as a base colour, other bold colours can be striking and I think I achieved that on my day.

As with anything, the choice you make for your wedding is individual and personal, and will reflect the essence of you.