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Plan an Engagement Party with These Simple Tips

Getting engaged is always gonna be pretty exciting. It won’t be long before you’re married, and legally tied to the love of your life. Except, many couples nowadays opt for a long engagement. It takes the pressure off planning the wedding and allows for you to save a bit more. While there’s heaps of benefits to waiting, it also means you could have a long while before you get to have a partaaay, so, if you’re impatient, the answer to your problems could be in having an engagement party. It doesn’t need to be anywhere near as lavish as the wedding, and it’s an ace excuse to get everyone together before then. Try the ideas below to decide how to plan yours.

Consider the Scale – If you’re going to throw an engagement party, you need to consider the scale of it. Chances are, you don’t want it to be as big a to-do as your wedding will be. It’s not the sort of thing you can afford to spend a year planning! Ideally, you can put your plans in place to have the party no more than a month or two after getting engaged. It’s best to do it while the excitement is still fresh. You’re probably not going to invite everyone who will be on the wedding guest list. Closest family and friends will want to make an appearance, but no one needs to travel long-distance to make it.

Choose a Theme – If you want to do something at least a little fancy, you should pick a theme for the party. It doesn’t have to be too complicated, but it will help to bring everything together. Your theme could be a design style or period. It could even be an activity that everyone can enjoy at the party. For example, you can rent a bowling alley from some private venues. You could do something rustic or relaxed, or you could glam it up with a Great Gatsby theme. Get everyone to dress up if you want.

Pick a Venue – Once you know what you’re doing, you need somewhere to host the party. Think about what will be suitable for your idea and convenient for your guests. You, of course, have a budget in mind, and it’s important to be able to stick to it. Look at different places to find the right venue for your party. You might find suitable function venues in a variety of places. Don’t just look at hotels and restaurants. You can also consider pubs and bars, as well as other places the offer rooms for hire.

Keep Your Guests Happy – Throwing a party isn’t just an excuse to massage your ego. Even though an engagement party is about celebrating you as a couple, the aim is for everyone to have a good time. You should keep your guests in mind at all times when you’re planning the party. It should make you happy, but your guests should enjoy it too. If you hire a DJ, will they get up and dance? What sort of food is everyone going to like?

An engagement party doesn’t have to be particularly complicated. It could just be a quick meal with some close friends and family if you want it to be, it’s all about having the excuse to celebrate and have FUUUN!

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Four Ways To Make Your Wedding Day Personal And Unique

It’s just been leap year proposal day and, I have a friend who is planning a super-dooper wedding so, with that in mind, we are ALL about wedding ideas right now, and it got me thinking… To create a wedding day that is reeeeeally remembered for years to come, you need to put your own mark on it, make it like no other. Some of the more memorable weddings have aspects that are truly unique and have you talking about them for evermore! From bespoke menus to personalized wedding toppers there are so many ways YOU can make YOUR wedding more unique. If you’re stuck for ideas and in need of some inspiration, here’s some suggestions you could potentially use….

Make your own invitations – Nothing is more personal than something you make yourself. Create fun, personalised wedding invites to send to your friends and family; they will totally LOVE them! Consider the kind of look and feel you want to create for your wedding and experiment with invitation designs. Try different shapes, sizes and colours to really make your invitations amazing. You might want to include a drawing or photograph of you both for more personality, ones from when you were kids are always ace. You could even try an alternative kind of invite such as vinyl record or memory stick which you can record a video or message onto, that’s a very cool move. This will add a unique quality to your invites and your guests will want to keep them forever and ever!

Create a hashtag – Social media is a perfect way of documenting your wedding with pictures and updates. It’s so easy to create your own wedding hashtag that you and your guests can use both during and before your big day on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook! This will give your wedding a modern edge and encourage your guests to share their pictures. Think of a hashtag that is relevant, easy to spell and cannot be confused with something else, and obvs, make sure your guests are aware of it by adding it onto their invitations and having it displayed on a blackboard or sign as they enter your wedding venue! So much fun! 

Find an alternative to confetti – While there is nothing wrong with confetti, it’s a little predictable. So again, think about your theme and consider an alternative to traditional confetti. You could have your guests blow bubbles, release balloons or wave colourful flags for instance. Add your name, a photograph or the date of your wedding to these items for an even more personal touch. Make sure that all of your guests have a balloon or flag as you leave your venue and encourage them to keep them as a memento. 

Get creative with your table numbers – Making your table numbers more personal to you and your partner will let everyone know a little bit more about you. For instance you can have a table that is called March 4th, which could be the date you first met. Or you could have a table called 643 which could symbolise how many days you’ve known each other. Alternatively you could use characters from books and TV shows you both enjoy instead of numbers, or road names from the area you live!

These are just a few examples of ways you can make your wedding day more unique and personal. Remember this is your wedding day and everything about it should reflect you both as a couple. So regardless of whether you want a minimalist or vintage themed wedding, make sure your uniqueness is apparent in every aspect of your big day, and then, ta-da, you’ll have the best wedding ever! 

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Five Tips For Choosing THE Perfect Wedding Photographer

Your wedding photography is one of the only things that’s going to last forever after your wedding, apart from your LOVE, obvs! The food, the flowers, and the decorations will pretty much only last the day. The dress, favours, and guest book will last longer if you cherish them. The photography is the only thing you can count on to last forever, and bring back the memories which are gonna make your heart smile. This means you really need to take your time finding the most perfect wedding photographer. A photographer that you think is perfect may not be perfect for somebody else, so the key is to make sure you know what you want from them.

These 5 tips will help you to find the perfect wedding photographer:

Know What Style of Photography You Want – There are tons of different styles of wedding photography. Checking out all about these different styles, doing some research and being able to choose the right one for you is super important. You can have really formal looking shots, arty shots, vintage style and even cool edgy photography, so many beautiful variations!

Set Up Meetings – When you’ve looked at different styles of photography, you can find the photographers who offer that service. It’s up to you to then set up meetings with the photographers where you can chat through the service they’ll give you, what you’d like, and anything else to do with the big ole’ day. This should give you an idea of what to expect and you’ll be able to compare services afterwards before you confirm who you’d like to book.

Check Out Full Wedding Portfolios – Don’t just look at the highlights the wedding photographer has to show you, make sure you can look at full wedding portfolios. This will allow you to see all of the shots taken at multiple weddings. You can assess whether you think they’ve captured the right moments, and whether they are in fact the right fit for your day. Weddings by JP say ‘there shouldn’t be any issues with you looking at a photographer’s full portfolio. If there are, maybe you should avoid them’.

Be Critical – Make sure you look at the portfolios with a critical eye. The pictures might look lovely at first glance ,but make sure you look closer. Have they missed important pictures? Are any elements of the shot blurry or out of focus? Do you feel like they are too posed?….eeek, that could be too cringey! You don’t need to tell them this, but you should make a note of it to yourself when making your decision.

Make Sure You Get Along With Them – Getting along with your wedding photographer is reeeeaally important. They’re going to take pictures on the happiest day of your life, and if you don’t feel completely at ease with them your smile might not be as wide, you might not feel like you can relax. Make sure they are somebody you can stand being around for a while and that you feel you wanna welcome along on your day!

Ready to choose your wedding photographer? Use these tips, get your gorgeous face smiling, and say cheeeeeese!

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Planning The Perfect Vintage Wedding

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Vintage is always gonna be a big favorite theme for a wedding because it offers just soooo many possibilities. With plenty of decades to choose from, you can add that vintage and retro feel to every aspect of your big fancy day. With so many suppliers out there, it’s easier than ever to create the vintage wedding of your dreams. Some super good ideas to get that perfect look?….

Looking back – Deciding which decade you want to inspire your big day is an important first step. Maybe there’s a period of time that you’ve always been inspired by or forever adored. Look at movies and fashion from that time period to help get your ideas a go-go! Or, look at your grandparents wedding photographs, I adore the idea of using that as true inspiration. You may decide to recreate the look they had on their big day, which adds even more, sentiment to the occasion, gorgeous! Each decade will have a very particular look and feel so always go for the one that attracts you instantly. Popular time periods many brides choose are 1920’s or 1950’s as they are so distinctive.

How vintage do you want to go? – Consider how profoundly you want to include your vintage theme. It’s totally a personal thang, and there’s no right or wrong way of incorporating it. You may wanna have a more modern day with a few select vintage decor pieces, or maybe you want it to spread across every aspect of the event. Look at how other couples have included vintage time periods into their wedding for some ace inspiration.

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Invitations – This is the very first glimpse your guests will get as to what you have in store for the day. So, they need to look pretty special. Vintage wedding invites come in such a huge array of sizes, colours and designs to choose from. Do lots of research into old-fashioned lettering and images or, use old tickets or postcards for inspiration. Whichever design you go for, the vintage theme can continue throughout your wedding stationery. So choose something that you love and won’t get bored of. 

The Dress – Vintage wedding dresses can often be difficult to find in a spotless condition and in your size. Thankfully the internet is full of boutiques and online suppliers of both vintage and reproduction dresses. Think about the fashion of the period you have chosen as this will help you decide on an suitable length and style, the dress is totaaly A BIG DEAL for your day! For instance, 1920’s dresses were heavily beaded, shorter and loosely fitted. Whereas a beautiful 1950’s dress can be more feminine and frothy….so many contrasting options to look gorgeous in!

Decorative touches – Create a vintage mood by using appropriate decor at your venue. Old suitcases, books and chandeliers are beautiful touches, as are old lace tablecloths and  china teapots. Keep checking in on charity shops and online for unique pieces that will transport your guests back into another time, these little elements make it become perfect.

That’s just a few teeny tips to get you started on your day of magic and LOVE! Research is the start and it’s so much fun, and it makes the day feel authentic so do plenty of it! Also, get creative and don’t be afraid of mixing the old with the new to really give the day your own personality! Hurrah for love! 

 

 

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Gin in jam jars and the most beautiful bride

lou16Well, what a super summer wedding. One of my most lovliest of friends, Louise, got hitched last Friday and it was nothing short of glorious. This current heatwave, combined with a breathtaking venue made for one of the most relaxed and happy days I have spent in a while. Lou and Andy were the most perfect hosts and my goodness, that little place out in the deepest depths of Norfolk, was just about expolding with love on that sunny day, what a joy to share it.

The location was perfection. A new venue, The Keeper and The Dell, is a good distance from the city of Norwich and allows you to feel like you are entirely in another World. A deep grassy dell with wooden seats and hay bales set into the slope, Lou had dressed the venue seamlessly. An original old handmade marquee, backing onto woodland, a swing in the tree, lanterns hung in the branches; the tranqulity and sense of space was a real treat. A sincere and informal ceremony in front of their loved ones, Lou looked breathtaking. Brides always have this immense glow to them and Lou, well, she truly sparkled. Her dress was a nod to the 1930’s, silky, body hugging and feminine, she radiated happiness. Their cute-as-a-doll daughter is called Iris, so, of course, Lou clutched a bunch of these as she walked to meet her groom.

Afternoon tea in the marquee, oodles of Gin in jam jars, live music and much sitting on the grass barefoot made for a day that dreams are made of. To fill our tummies, a fish and chip van (a classy, award-winning one mind) arrived to serve us and the merriment continued till it got dark, when we all gathered around an open fire with the band playing an accoustic set. Wonderful.

James and I have been a couple for around 13 years, we don’t have any real intention of getting hitched, it’s not something we feel we want to do, but weddings do tend to bring out the very slight romantic in me. Pledging your absolute love and devotion to your partner in front of your friends and family is a really special event and always, momentarily, makes me wanna do it too!

My outfit was a last minute choice, having been busy of late I hadn’t decided what on earth I was going to wear! I had this red lace dress in my closet. This dress has a story of sorts. It was mine, I loved it, but never wore it. So I popped it in the shop window over Christmas the other year, I guessed it would look pretty and festive while we were closed for the holidays. On the first day of opening after Christmas, I arrived a little late to the shop and James had sold it!! I informed him, whilst trying not to look too sad, that I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to sell it. I guessed I’d never see it again, but thought of it often. Then recently, the girl who had bought it mentioned it and said she had worn it once and was finished with it, so, I suggested I buy it back off her! She agreed, and the dress was back in my arms. So, for Lou’s wedding, I decided this dress was gonna be worn. Red lace 1960’s wiggle dress with spagetti straps; I teamed it with some 1970’s gold Russell & Bromley heels, a 2004 Dior perspex cuff and my 1970’s Magazine clutch bag.

A happy day indeed.

lou19lou17lou3lou6lou20lou21lou23lou10lou14lou15lou13lou24lou9lou8lou7lou26lou22lou27lou12Photo 14 courtesy of the lovely Cassie Tillett who has a lovely decluttering website, for more information on the wedding venue visit The Keeper and The Dell, all my clothing is, of course, from Prim Vintage Fashion.

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