Showing posts with label bridetobe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bridetobe. Show all posts

Sunday, 4 January 2015

Decoration - To buy or to hire?

In the last few posts we have talked about where to buy wedding decoration and looking at the DIY options and if it's better to buy or to hire.
In this post I will go through how I decorated our hall and how much I spent on creating the final look. 
here's a few of my lovely helpers that made my vision a reality:)
We hired Chalton Village Hall for our wedding reception. Village Halls tend to be quite reasonable and cost as little as £15 per hour. Due to the low cost we decided to hire the hall the day before the wedding to give us plenty of time to make everything perfect.


I chose to purchase most of the decoration and hired just the tables and the wine coolers.

I really enjoyed setting up the hall the day before the wedding. It was fun seeing it all come together and I got to spend time and build memories with family and friends. I also have a lot of respect for the people that do this for a profession. 


I feel that picking a venue where I had to plan and organise every detail was both the most brave and refreshing thing that I could have done. The venue dictated the theme which was in-keeping with my original ideas. I started looking for inspiration and shopping around for key pieces around a year before the wedding. I had no idea whether I wanted to hire a decoration company or do it alone. I had never planned a wedding or even a party before so this was a new experience for me. 

I knew how many guests we were having which helped me to be able to plan how many tables we needed and how best to position them. We had 100 gusts and our hall was fairly small. We went for two long rows of trestle tables to allow clean lines and clear walking routes.


I now had the template to draw out my table plan inspiration. I knew I wanted vintage birdcages and that's where I started my research and found these...


I came across them in B&M and they only cost £2.97 each. To decorate them I used ribbon and Hessian string £1 each from Tiger and paper roses hand crafted in Thailand £1.85 for 50 eBay. I sold 12 of the 15 centrepieces for the same price as I paid. The remaining cages went into my memory box.

the most costly and time consuming item to purchase were the chair covers. I wanted Ivory cotton covers which worked out around £2-£3 each to hire. After lots of bidding and just missing out, I purchased 165 covers for £175 and went on to sell them for the same price! But be warned laundering 165 chair covers is a time consuming job and does add to the cost.


I managed to purchase 18 tablecloths for £46 which works out £2.55 per table cloth, which is half the price of the average selling price. I sold these for the same price.


I purchased my chair sashes from a higher company for £45 for 115 sashes. I then sold these for £35.


As you can see I saved quite a lot of money from buying and selling on. the preparation and set did take a lot of time, so do make sure you consider that when booking your hall and planning your final few days before your wedding. 


Here is the breakdown of my costs 
Chair covers        £175
Chair sashes        £45
Tablecloths         £46
Centre pieces       £50
Large Centre pieces £22
Burgundy Napkins    £40

Table hire          £57
Wine cooler hire    £9.50             Total amount £444.50 

Money from selling on items  £336.00 

The total spent on wedding decoration came to £108.50 

The hire company that I used and would highly recommend were Jaspers Luton. 





    


  




Wednesday, 12 February 2014

On The Road - Wedding Ring Shopping

Yesterday was my 6 year anniversary. To celebrate we went shopping for our wedding rings.
We both went with a clear idea of what we wanted. I wanted a white gold wedding band quite plain and engraved. My FiancĂ© also wanted a plain wedding band engraved.
I really liked the idea of matching rings and I wanted mine to be quite classic.
We went to a large town centre that had a wide range of jewellery shops so we could have a look at as many different options as possible. We decided not to rule anywhere out and to just wonder into every jewellers that we passed.
We started by going to F Hinds. The majority of the stock was displayed in the window so you had to shop from outside.
We walked into the store and asked to take a look at the wedding rings as we had trouble spotting them. The response from the sales assistant was welcoming but lacking any kind of service. She explained that the rings were on the bottom row... We gave up and moved onto the next jewellery shop.
The next Jewellery shop was Goldsmiths. We had a warm welcome and the team member gave us her full attention. She encouraged us to try on different styles and suggested different rings that would sit nicely with my engagement ring. They had a really good product range on display and catered for a wide range of budgets.I enjoyed the experience but wanted to visit other places so we said thank you and went carried on shopping.
The next shop we went to was H Samuel. A team member introduced herself and showed us the range of rings on offer. They had a good selection from lower budget to premium rings, which is something that I was not expecting. I used to visit H Samuel for little stud earrings when I first got my ears pierced and wrongly associated it with just that. 
The service was very informative and I liked that the team member had enough confidence and product knowledge to give her own opinions. This was my favourite experience so far and we both left feeling really happy.
On to the next shop... Ernst Jones. My approach was delayed and the service I received was very minimal... I feel that even if my dream ring was there I would of thought twice about buying it as the experience and care was not what I expected...
We looked across the way and there was another H Samuel which was a lot larger than the other one so we popped in to take a look at the product range. We were greeted and given a warm welcome. The lady took us over to the wedding rings and asked lots of questions to try and see what it was that we wanted. She was full of suggestions and ideas and you could tell she really enjoyed her job and the products. We tried on a lot more rings on and finalised our ideals. The lady was really friendly and the whole process was a really happy experience.. I would recommend them to anyone looking for wedding rings as they really do cater for all budgets from the very small to premium and the personal touches can be introduced along the way.

When you are shopping for rings be sure to set your budget before you go and stick to it.. It is very easy to get caught up in the moment and over spend.
We had a 10 minute break after visiting each store to make sure that we discussing our options and had some time to reflect.
Consider what look you are going for, what metal your engagement ring is, what shape your engagement ring is and any engravings or personal touches you would like to add.
Have a look at each retailer on-line so that you have an idea of what each store stocks and the price ranges they cover.  
Do not panic if the ring you want in your mind doesn't look right in reality... I wanted a plain white gold band and ended up getting a completely different ring which is also the exact opposite to my fiancĂ©s. I would compare the feeling to wedding dress shopping... you will try on a ring, fall in love and then you will stop looking!! Just keep looking until you get that feeling.
Make a day out of ring shopping. It's a personal day and should just be about the two of you. 

Please share you wedding ring experience below. It would be lovely to hear a few more stories.

Have a nice day 

The Wedding Assistant x    
   

Monday, 3 February 2014

Stylish ways to keep warm / dry / cool on your wedding day


1) keep warm - If you are having a Autumn / winter wedding here are a few ideas on how to keep warm.
Feathered Wedding Cape




I Love this cape by Gilly Gray. I the feather detail is beautiful.
£160 from Notonthehighstreet.com






 This shrug is from a great website. They specialise in discounted wedding dresses.
Samples Worn Once or New 
this shrug is a brand new real feather discounted shrug priced at £99
http://swoonweddinggowns.co.uk/feather-bolero-i3444.html 

BHS Have a wonderful selection for affordable items.
This shrug is priced at just £39.99
http://www.bhs.co.uk/









Ivory faux fur long sleeve jacket shrug bolero FB001-IvoryThis long sleeve shrug is from Etsy which is a great place to pick up unique pieces and one off bits and bobs. Priced at £62.59
http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/62215970





2) keeping dry
There are lots of pretty umbrellas about. You can get personalised one's, lace, and all different colours and styles.
Here's a few of my favourite picks...


Victorian Wedding Umbrellas / Parasols - IvoryIvory Victorian lace umbrella £18.95 from http://www.umbrellas4life.com/











Personalised umbrella £13 from http://www.tiptopweddingshop.co.uk/











3) Keeping cool 

Fan Ebay £4.99 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ivory-Handmade






 Feather Fan Amazon £3.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pams-Feather-Fan

Monday, 13 January 2014

Task 3 continued - Reception venue ideas

I just wanted to take some time to share with you some affordable venues around the Beds and Herts area.
When your looking at venues you should view them as a blank canvas. Most wedding venues are a big empty room and its the decoration that gives them the WOW factor.
You can make an empty space beautiful with just a little imagination. If you put Village Hall wedding into google you will see exactly what I mean.
A lot of the venues below are in lovely grounds and even if you wanted to extend a venue you could always enquire to see if the grounds are suitable for a Marquee, or you could use party tents and gazebos to host the welcome drinks and give people and extra space to use.

This image is from google images. 



Venue: Woburn Village Hall 
Capacity:120 
Cost: £300 
http://www.woburnvillagehall.org.uk/Hire%20the%20Hall.html


Venue: Unity Hall 
Capacity: 80
Cost: £15 per hour 

We Went to view Unity Hall and I instantly fell in love with it.
It had such a welcoming feel and it was all nicely enclosed with grounds outside. It has a Kitchen, cloakroom and lots of parking.
As soon as I walked into the main hall I instantly decorated it in my mind.  

http://bartonunityhall.wix.com/home
Unity Hall


Venue: Stanbridge and  Tilsworth community hall
Capacity: 150 
Cost: on application 

http://www.iloveleightonbuzzard.com/community/venues-for-functions/function-venues/756-stanbridge-and-tilsworth-community-hall.html



Venue: Millbrook Village Hall 
Capacity: 80 
Cost: price on application

http://www.millbrookvillagehall.co.uk/Millbrook_Village_Hall/Welcome.html



Venue Pirton Village Hall
Capacity 120 
Cost on application 

http://www.pirton.org.uk/VH%20Brochure%20aug07%20zigzag.pdf














We wanted to have an empty space from the start. Somewhere that we could make ours and the freedom aspect was really important.
We have hired our hall for 3 days so that we had a full day to set up, a day for the wedding, then the next morning to clear up.

I hope this gives you a bit of inspiration.

The Wedding Assistant 

Monday, 16 December 2013

Task 4 - Deciding what to do with the venue.

You have your guest list draft.
You have your venue.

So know you can start planning the style of wedding you would like or the theme that you would like to create.
This will help you finalise your guest list and work out the final number that you can accommodate for.
It might be that you want a Registry office wedding and a big party reception,a Church wedding with a sit down meal, or have the whole day in one place.
You could have a sit down meal, a BBQ, a picnic, afternoon tea, a buffet, a hog roast, the list goes on and on.
You may want a vintage wedding, summer fete, winter wonderland, nautical,beach wedding, Autumn Wedding... This is where your wedding becomes unique.

I will post a blog for a variety of themes as its an area that really excites me and I'd love to pass on some ideas.

You will probably find that your venue dictates to an extent the theme and the style of wedding that you have.
Our wedding is a Church of England Service. Our Church and Venue hold 100 at a squeeze so our initial thoughts of having a BBQ were put to a swift end when we thought about the layout of our hall and how 100 people would feel about moving in and out to get food and having to meander around each other. 
We have decided to opt for a sit down meal so that there was not as much moving around.
As the hall is of the Tudor era we felt that a rustic vintage theme fitted in beautifully.   
We spent a lot of time at our venue and made sure we measured and counted everything!!

Things to do while you're at the venue

  • Count the tables and take measurements
  • Count the chairs and take measurements
  • Look at where power points and doors are
  • measure the hall
  • measure the outside space (Marquee's / Party Tents)
  • measure any kitchen areas and other rooms
  • count the toilets
  • List all facilities the venue has to offer 
  • list any equipment that you are allowed to borrow.


If you are allowed a good length of time in the hall then set it up!! Plan how you would like your tables to set out and see how easy it is for people to move around. 
If you are short of time then you can always sketch out your ideas to scale on graph paper. (Mum's tip)



TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES - Ceilings, floors, windows, doors.
   

Make sure you spend time creating mood boards and creating a look that works for you.

As I say your venue will help you dictate this.

I got a lot of my inspiration from Pinterest 

http://www.pinterest.com/naynay19841/

I loved reading real brides stories and found that the 'Wedding Ideas' magazine was fantastic and sharing real events and helped me have the 'I can do this' attitude.

http://www.weddingideasmag.com/

You may change your mind 100 times. We sent a shortlist of our options to our caterers of choice so that we could get a selection of quotes which also was a huge help in finalising our choices. We got a quote for Marquees, Bars, BBQ's, sit down meals. We felt it was important to have the information on hand to help us finalise our decision.

So have fun exploring magazines books and Pinterest. Get cutting sticking and creating! 

On my next blog I will go through my wedding theme and the decoration.

If you would like any help on selecting a theme or decoration ideas then please comment below or email me directly the-wedding-assistant@outlook.com 

Thank you!