Tag Archives: wedding

Book great entertainment

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After your guests leave your wedding and have returned to their daily routine, they’ll remember two things about your special day: the interaction between you and your spouse-to-be, and the rockin’ band or DJ. Details like centrepieces, name cards, and dinner selections will trail far, far behind in the memory banks of your friends and family. That’s why you should look at all your options and carefully choose the most amazing wedding entertainment out there.

Tips for Booking the Best

When you’re searching for that perfect wedding entertainment, it’s important to do your homework. If you’ve never heard or seen their performance, you can do a little research to see what they offer. Reviews are always a great option as you can hear from some of their happy past clients. However, in some cases, reviews may not be available. If you’re interested in hiring a performer but you want to dig a little deeper to make sure they’re the perfect fit, then you should do the following:

 

  • View their website.
  • Look at their social profiles to see how they interact with fans and followers.
  • Have a contract with clear and precise terms.
  • If at all possible, go see a live performance.
  • Reach out to the entertainer to discuss their prior performance experience. They may be able to connect you with clients they’ve worked with for a referral.
  • Most importantly, you must trust and like who you are dealing with while negotiating the booking.

 

This is a very special day in your life, and like any milestone event, planning can get hectic. It’s wise to be prepared for last-minute hiccups and do everything you can to make sure the wedding entertainment is what you’ve always dreamed it would be.

 

Inviting people

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Planning a wedding guest list can be stressful enough, without the added dilemma of whether to invite people your other half does not approve of.

Honestly is the best policy

Being completely honest with your other half is important from the very beginning, and the sooner you approach the subject, the better. Make them feel completely comfortable, and ensure that you aren’t demanding this person to come, but rather asking if they would be happy with the idea. An ex might feel snubbed if they’re not invited, but in some cases, people may not have been invited to spare their feelings.

Think sensibly

Make sure you think about why your other half to be doesn’t like this person? Was it recent? Worst case scenario is your friend going to ruin your big day by drinking far too much and saying something offensive. People should only invite people to weddings if they think that person will be a positive presence at the wedding.

Be sensitive

Ask yourself why specifically you want that person at your wedding. Often people invite people because they are part of a friendship network and if everyone else is going then why not invite them?

Your other half

There is a chance that your partner will say no. It is as much your day as theirs, so it is only fair that you take their feelings into consideration! After all, your ex is an ex for a reason. Every case is individual, sometimes we have enough trouble when the couples’ parents are divorced or remarried without the added pressure of exes being invited too! As long as the couple have discussed it and have both agreed that they are comfortable with it, then there is no problem!

 

Wedding makeup

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  1. Peach your cheeks

Choose a peachy blusher and apply to the apples of your cheeks for a fresh and natural look. When applying this type of wedding makeup, blend upwards and along cheekbones to finish.

  1. Wear eyeliner and make it gel

Gel eyeliner is magic! It creates real definition like liquid liner but is so much easier to apply. It looks great on and lasts all day, something you’ll need with all the attention. Opt for brown for fair skins and black for darker complexions.

  1. Line your lips for great definition

Use a lip liner (in a natural shade) all over your lips before applying your lipstick or gloss. It creates natural definition and the colour lasts for hours!

  1. Get your skin in shape

Seek professional advice to ensure your skincare routine is right before your big day. This way, your skin will be in tip-top condition and your foundation will look ultra-flawless. Try using a facial oil at night for powerful and quick results.

  1. Prime your canvas

For perfect bridal beauty on your big day, be sure to start with a primer all over your face to even out skin tone and texture, and help your foundation to last all day.

  1. Choose long lasting foundation

Choose a long lasting foundation to avoid shine and dullness throughout the day.

  1. Get rid of those dreaded bags

Do not use light reflective concealer under your eyes as you risk having white eye circles in your photographs. Instead use a matte concealer or your wedding makeup foundation to hide those bags.

  1. Focus on your eyes

When it comes to the best wedding makeup for eyes, use waterproof mascara to avoid panda eyes in pictures, but comb through your lashes after each coat to eliminate clumps.

  1. Eliminate creasing or fading around the eyes

If you suffer from creasing or fading, make sure you start off with a good base. Use an eyeshadow before your shadow to keep it smooth.

  1. A quick pit stop – touching up on the day

On the day itself, carry with you 3 essential products for touching up; your lip liner, lip gloss/stick and a translucent powder for stopping shine. This will ensure you look your best throughout the entire day. Why not buy yourself a little wedding makeup bag as a treat for the day

 

Finger food dining

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When planning a wedding; informal dining options such as buffets, bowl food and rustic platters are shaping up to be hot this year. These all give guests the freedom to move around and enjoy proceedings, making for a more relaxed atmosphere. Remember, the key is to include a good mix of meat, fish and vegetarian options to accommodate all guests.

Offering canapés as a starter or dessert adds a fresh twist and provides a good talking point for guests. Think miniature steak and chips with a warm horseradish cream – lovely!

Another huge trend this year will be reinventing classic dishes. Pay homage to your childhood favourites, with a twist. Think pie and mash, mini sirloin hamburgers, bangers and mash, or fish and chips all made from local produce. We particularly love the fish and chip option. If it’s not formal enough for the day time, it would definitely work for your evening guests, and it may work out cheaper than a buffet.

When it comes to wedding desserts, the key is to think small! Opt for dessert tables or platters with an array of miniatures. smatterings of your favourites such as cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, dainty trifles, chocolate brownies or crumble will allow guests to tuck in. And with light portions they won’t be left feeling lethargic, meaning they can dance the night away!

One particularly lovely trend ‘bring a cake’ dessert table. Brides are asking friends and family to bring their favourite homemade desserts – cakes, flans and more. It’s a cost-effective way to add a personal touch, guaranteed to get everyone talking.

For a novel wedding menu idea, why not serve an actual ‘wedding breakfast’ a la Carrie and Big in Sex and the City? A beautifully served full English with locally sourced produce, fresh orange juice or fruit to start and pancakes or waffles for dessert.

 

Autumnal Weddings

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Planning a Wedding of your dreams? Autumn is the perfect time to get married. Something about this season just makes you want to curl up with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, and who better to do that with than your new husband or wife?

Plan ahead.

Schedule Wedding Suppliers ahead of time. In most cases, you can do this through the same service that provides your chairs and tables. Because weather is flippant and unpredictable, most vendors will have a reasonable cancellation policy for marquees, allowing you the freedom to make the call much closer to the date without scrambling to find a marquee at the last minute. Talk to your vendors. They want your day to be perfect, too.

Keep It Simple

With so many vibrant colours around you all of the beauty that nature has to offer- clean, classic decorations go a long way.

Indoor or Outdoor?

It’s tempting to have an outdoor wedding in Autumn, especially for those in the leafy areas. Keep in mind that while it is very beautiful, the Autumn can be quite chilly. Never fear- you can have both the comforts of home and nature’s beauty, whether you’re inside or out.

Lights.

Consider using white string lights, vintage-style iron lanterns, or round paper lanterns to offset your colourful surroundings.

Sparklers

Sparklers are the new confetti and it’s no surprise why. Aside from being beautiful and inexpensive, sparkler send offs make for gorgeous wedding photos and by opting for sparklers over confetti.

Let Mother Nature Inspire You

Natural wood tables and chairs. Going with a very simple and natural looking wood will bring the feeling of nature inside.

Leaves.

This one’s a freebie! Bag them up and bring them inside to decorate. You can line the aisle with bright, multi-coloured leaves for an outdoor feel.

Take advantage of what the season has to offer by using autumn colours, serving seasonal food and drinks, and using your favourite things about autumn to create beautiful centrepieces, placeholders, and other decorations.

 

Personal wedding music

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The Wedding ceremony music has to be right for both of you, and to have the right piece played, you will remember your wedding day for years to come.

Music is a very personal to each individual whatever your faith it will play a very important part in your Wedding Entertainment.  You don’t have to be from a particular faith to enjoy a piece of music, just go what feels best for you.

Favourite choices for Christian weddings:

 

  1. “Amazing Grace” (American Folk Melody)
  2. “Ave Maria” (F. Schubert)
  3. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (J. S. Bach)
  4. “The Lord’s Prayer” (A.H. Malotte)
  5. “Simple Gifts” (Elder Joseph)

 

Favourite choices for Jewish weddings:

 

  1. “Dodi Li” (N. Chen)
  2. “Erev Ba” (O. Avissar & A. Levanon)
  3. “Siman Tov” (traditional Israeli song)
  4. “Sunrise Sunset” from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof”

 

Favourite choices for Celtic weddings:

 

  1. “Mairi’s Wedding”
  2. “Star of the County Down”
  3. “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”
  4. “Skye Boat Song”
  5. “My Wild Irish Rose”

 

Wedding Ceremony Music– The Common Requests

 

  1. “Air in G” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D (J.S. Bach)
  2. “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9(Beethoven)
  3. “Trumpet Voluntary” or “Prince of Denmark’s March” (J. Clarke)
  4. “Clair de Lune” (C. Debussy)
  5. “Hornpipe” from Water Music Suite (G.F. Handel)
  6. “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (F. Mendelssohn)
  7. “Canon in D” (J. Pachelbel)
  8. “Allegro from Spring”, first movement theme from The Four Seasons (A. Vivaldi)
  9. “Bridal March” from the opera Lohengrin or “Here Comes the Bride” (R. Wagner)

Great wedding entertainment

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How many of those who have been married can remember each and every guest twenty years later? If only there was a way to remember… Well with our five fab entertainment ideas, there is!

Signed Jenga Blocks

Who doesn’t love a good game? You might be thinking of the classic board games like Monopoly, Cluedo and Connect 4 but between you and us, there are many better modern board games that have been invented since. Even so, nothing beats a game of Jenga played with blocks that have been individually signed by each and every person at your wedding. You’ll need a sharpie to write properly on the wood, but trust us when we say the idea of having your future children play with the wedding Jenga blocks and find out what people thought about their parents on their wedding day is truly magical.

Graffiti Table

Buying the happy couple a wedding gift on their wedding day is tradition. Aside from the usual things like plates, a corkscrew and err, a candy floss machine, happily married newlyweds often tend to chuck a few slightly more expensive items on the wedding list just in case. Well we can tell you now that a table doesn’t have to be there because, their brand new table can be signed by everybody in attendance on their wedding day!

Not sure if you want a table scrawled upon by all of your guests? Alternatively you could hire a graffiti wall and have the resulting scribbles condensed down into a cool one sheet poster for your lounge or bedroom wall.

Photo Booth Album

Photo booths are still tremendously popular at weddings. What’s not to love? In this modern world of sharing every aspect of our lives online, having numerous wedding photos taken with props seems like a hugely fun idea. The problem is that they may just end up on a random Facebook album, never surfacing ever again. You can change all that with photo booth photo albums! Your guests’ photos are printed out in mere seconds after they take their pictures, before they affix the photo into a book and write a meaningful message beneath it. Lovely.

 

Royal Venues

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Still longing for a Royal wedding type venue?  Here are some more ideas on Wedding venues that will really wow your guests and make you feel like princess for the day…

Cambridge Cottage

The former royal residence of the Duke of Cambridge (no, not that one), Cambridge Cottage became a part of Kew Gardens in 1904. The building is suitable for civil ceremonies and dining, with a stunning drawing room and gallery spaces, where botanical artwork adorns the walls. Both of these rooms open out onto the Duke’s Garden a brilliant choice for wedding photographs or outdoor drinks.

Nash Conservatory

The Nash Conservatory is the oldest of the 19th century glasshouses at Kew and is of major historical and architectural importance. It didn’t actually begin life at Kew; the building was originally built in the grounds of Buckingham Palace before being move brick by brick to Kew Gardens in 1836! Featuring floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, the building is served by an abundance of natural light and can hold up to 200 guests, depending on your requirements.

Princess of Wales Conservatory

A unique drinks reception venue for your wedding, the Princess of Wales Conservatory is the most complex glasshouse at Kew Gardens. Containing ten computer-controlled climatic zones, up to 200 guests are able to enjoy drinks and canapés whilst admiring the botanical wonders nearby. Will they be able to find the rare orchids or Chinese Water Dragons? A short stroll from the other Kew Venues, this is a fabulous celebration space for those who love nature!

Orangery

Perhaps the most popular venue at Kew from our perspective, the Orangery is a hugely popular building filled with citrus trees, that is just perfect for your wedding dinner and the dance that follows! We’ve provided a whole host of brilliant bands to play in this venue over the years, with the large, open plan design allowing a happy couple to customise the area to their delectation. High ceilings and arched windows help to add natural light to the space with spectacular views of Kew able to be enjoyed from the terrace in the summer months.

Sir Joseph Banks Building

Named after the famed botanist, the Sir Joseph Banks Building is a gorgeous modern wedding venue that can hold a maximum of 230 people and is also home to Kew’s Economic Botany Collection. Often hired in conjunction with the Orangery, the building is licensed for religious ceremonies and sports impressive large windows that provide vast swathes of natural light. Entrance to the venue is provided through the Atrium, which can be used to welcome wedding guests upon their arrival.

 

Share your wedding

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Wedding ceremonies are all about sharing. While the big day ultimately belongs to you, it’s also a special and significant moment for the people who know and love you best. So, how can you involve your guests to make your wedding day into a truly shared experience for everyone?

Photo opportunities

Posing for wedding photographs is the perfect opportunity to get everyone involved while creating some stunning shots! You could set up an aerial shot and get everyone to stand in formation to make a heart shape or a word. Or if you have suitable space, why not lead everyone in a procession around the grounds of your wedding venue? It’ll be a special, shared experience to cherish, and you’ll be able to treasure some ‘action shots’ of all your guests together.

Like and share

Yes, today’s wedding ceremonies can now be digital events! Why not create a real-time Twitter Wall at your reception, where you can project your guests’ tweets by giving them a dedicated #weddinghashtag?

Ceremonial rituals

For centuries, people have used rituals to help cement their unions. One relatively new wedding ritual is the lighting of the unity candle, where close family members of the betrothed couple light a separate candle each before the ceremony. The newlyweds then take their respective candles and bring them together to light one single flame.

In a twist to include everyone in your new union, you could hold a version of this ceremony in reverse, letting each guest light a candle of their own from your united flame.

Confetti throwing

Showering confetti over the happy couple is another time-honoured wedding ritual. Make sure everyone is prepared for the big moment by handing out confetti dispensers like wands or cannons to all your guests. (This is a job that you can delegate to a trustworthy member of the wedding party)! Alternatively, why not set up a ‘confetti bar’ beforehand, so that everyone can mix and match their own unique concoction?

Wedding entertainment

Once you’re on the dancefloor, you’ll want everyone to come and join the party. Why not make everyone feel included by playing one song for each guest?. The DJ can announce any special dedications or significant songs with comments from the nominator. The mixtape approach will make your reception into a truly communal experience that everyone will appreciate… and they’ll have no excuse not to get up on their feet and boogie!

It’s also good to give your guests somewhere they can all share their respective photos of the day. Wedding apps like WedPics allow your guests to upload all their snaps to one central place, making sure you don’t miss a thing! Alternatively, set up a Facebook event for your wedding day. This will ensure that everyone can communicate and stay in touch after the big day, if they so wish.

 

How to choose your wedding party

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Try to keep it balanced. While it’s perfectly fine to have more women than men (or vice versa) in your wedding party, do your best to keep it close to balanced so it doesn’t look odd in photos. If you find yourself with a large difference, consider narrowing down your wedding party to just one or two on each side to keep it under control.

When planning a wedding, think about your overall event size. If you’re having a 25-person or less wedding, having a large wedding party would just be awkward. Scale down your party in accordance with your event size.

Are you having a formal or casual wedding? For the most part, casual weddings are more suited to smaller wedding parties, where formal weddings can support a larger one.

Start with siblings. Especially if you’re having a small wedding party, invite siblings before you invite friends. Your family has always and will always be a part of your lives, so they should come first.

Consider their circumstances. Being in a wedding party requires a significant investment of time and money. Make sure that your invitation to serve as a wedding attendant won’t be a hardship on anyone.

Remember there are other ways to honour people. If you have a lot of people you want to stand up for you at your wedding but there isn’t room in the wedding party, consider inviting people to serve as ushers, guest book attendants, gift collectors, speakers, singers, or other important roles on your special day instead.

Pick people you can rely on. Your wedding party is meant to include people who do more than just stand beside you and smile for pictures. You’ll need to rely on them for any number of things before and during the wedding. Choose your party accordingly.

Consider how long you’ve known them. Once you’ve asked your family, it’s time to consider which friends you’d like to ask to stand up for you. I recommend beginning with the friends you’ve known the longest, the ones who have been there with you through thick or thin. Those are the friends who are most likely to help you out when you need it, and who will remain a part of your life after the wedding.

These are some quick tips on choosing your wedding party, but the fact is, there aren’t any hard and fast rules. Do what works best for you and your wedding.