Impress for Less, Part 3

Wow Your Guests on a Budget

The final instalment of my tips on wowing your guests without breaking the budget, hopefully these tips will inspire you to get creative for your wedding.

The First Dance

What is your first dance style? Serious and romantic? Fun and silly? Or something very different?  There are heaps of inspiration on the internet, especially on You Tube so you can see if there is anything you would like to copy.

Also, weddingideasmag.com have heaps of wedding dance ideas. It’s important to find inspiration where you can, it may end up being the biggest talking point at your wedding.

Bingo!

Table games are a fantastic way of adding a bit of fun to your wedding, and the prizes you offer can be silly things from the pound shop or more expensive gifts.

If you’re getting married in the summer, how about a space hopper race?

At one of my friend’s weddings, she challenged guests to see who could drink a pint of beer the fastest. Games at a wedding aren’t to everyone’s taste, but if you’re having an informal wedding games may fit right in!

Venues – The Moat House

The Moat House

View the Moat House website

This is the venue at which my best friend held her wedding reception and we had a fantastic time! It’s also where I brought my mother for her 65th birthday! I’m a fussy eater but on both occasions, the food was absolutely delicious! And without us asking, or letting them know we’d booked for a birthday, they served my mum a special birthday selection of chocolates which I thought was very kind!

My friend’s wedding here was wonderful. The day went very smoothly with delicious food and a beautiful back drop for your wedding photos. There is more than ample parking across the stream from the hotel.

We were greeted at the door with reception drinks and my friend had chosen mini doughnuts to be served as a welcome snack between the photos and the wedding breakfast. They were absolutely delicious.

The main room was wonderfully decorated with flowers supplied by the venue and we were seated and served our dinner. I had soup, vegetables in pastry and a chocolate brownie for pudding. All completely delicious and well presented. The service was brilliant and staff were very helpful.

At night time, there are tiny sparkly lights in the trees casting a beautiful light over their small lake. If your photographer is sticking around into your evening do, he/she could take some spectacular photos with that as a backdrop.

Why We Didn’t Book
I didn’t want to have the same wedding venue as my friend. She says she doesn’t mind but we have the same taste in colours, I didn’t want to have the same venue as well! Also, there’s no long winding drive. This winding drive is important to me, I would like my venue off set from the road quite a way. Also, I think the room was a tiny bit small for the number of guests we’d like to attend our wedding.

My Recommendations
After attending a fantastic wedding at The Mill I cannot recommend them enough! I know that my friend had an amazing day and we were well looked after. The breakfasts in the morning were amazing as well. I would recommend The Mill to a bride who is looking for a stylish, beautiful and accessible wedding. It’s easy to get to and stunning to boot!

Venues – The Mill Hotel

The Mill

View The Mill Hotel website

I saw the the Mill Hotel with my best friend when she was choosing venues for her wedding. I have to be honest, I wasn’t impressed with the gentleman who spoke to us about the wedding options but it is a nice venue.

It’s not an exclusive use venue, and could have up to three weddings going on at the same time. However, each wedding area is clearly separated and it is highly unlikely that you will see another bride, so said the gentleman who spoke to us. I’m not sure if you’re like me and would prefer an exclusive venue, but they do guarantee to do their best so that you won’t see another bride.

They have three different main rooms for weddings of varying sizes, styles and capacity, they do have a lot of options available. There’s a beautiful lake and manicured grounds which are fantastic for wedding photos. There’s a gorgeous fountain at the front and a lovely little bride over the lake. As a venue, it is very attractive with outside seating and separate bars for each area. When we were looking round, there was building work going on so The Mill has been recently updated.

Why We Didn’t Book
I wanted a venue that had exclusive use.  It also didn’t have that ever elusive winding, romantic driveway that I want so much.

My Recommendation
The Mill is nice, it’s experienced, it’s a convenient venue. You know that you will be in good hands if you book with The Mill. I’d recommend The Mill for a bride who wants a venue with choices, who has any size of guest list and who isn’t bothered about exclusive use.

Venues – Somerford Hall

Somerford Hall

View the Somerford Hall website

Again, this was a venue we almost booked! My Dad used to go walking near here with his brothers and his dad, so our family has a sort of link to this house. Dad really liked Somerford Hall, and so did I.

It’s an impressive house with a large room for the wedding breakfast, and lots of little rooms for guests to retire to during the main party. It’s a gorgeous house with an oak stair case and some lovely rooms for over night. The staff were welcoming and professional and took time to talk to us about our wedding.

The surrounding grounds at Somerford Hall our spectacular and the long, romantic drive follows past a pond and amazing countryside, just what I wanted!

Why We Didn’t Book
We felt the room was again too small for the number of guests that we wanted. Somerford Hall does have the capacity for the guests that we want as long as they are seated at long tables. I have my heart set on round tables for my guests and a long table for the head table, so I didn’t want to have to seat my guests at long tables. In a way, it’s a shame we have so many guests as it would have been lovely to book Somerford Hall.

My Recommendations
If you want long tables, or have a smaller guest list, Somerford Hal is for you. If you want a beautiful, welcoming venue with history and amazing grounds for photos then Somerford Hall is for you. I would definitely book it if I felt they had the room for our guests. It is a gorgeous setting and would be a fantastic venue for any bride.

To Film or Not to Film, That is the Question

To Film or Not to Film, That is the Question

Hiring a videographer is becoming more and more popular, however, does your budget stretch that far? With some videographers charging upwards of £300 is it financially viable? A hefty chunk out of any budget… at my wedding £300 equates to 6 meals, or a wedding car and a half, or 30 pairs of wedding shoes! (I had them made to order in China, soooo comfortable!)

And think about it, really, as much as your friends and family love you, how many of them will sit for 2 hours and watch your lovely but long wedding video? I love weddings (could you guess) and I could sit to watch wedding videos but with the best will in the world, I couldn’t last 2 hours! And if it does cost £300 I would want it to last 2 hours at least!

An alternative is to ask a guest to video your wedding. At my bessie mate’s wedding, her sister who was a bridesmaid videoed a lot of the wedding. A cousin later used the footage to mix in with still pictures when creating a wedding video. That video was a very manageable 30 minutes, just perfect! The video clips added a very personal touch to the still photos and brought the video to life. I do think there is a lot of merit in videoing a wedding.

Most cameras these days have a video option. My camera does, as does my phone!   (I wouldn’t suggest using a phone camera as the image quality isn’t suitable for TV standard.)  With this option on most cameras, any of your guests could be a potential videographers, and so many easy to use video editors available such as Windows Video Maker which is free with windows, or iMovie which is free on Apple Macs (and better than Windows Video Maker, if only it worked on PC’s) then anyone can make a wedding video.

I recently made a video for my niece and nephew’s christening, and I also made a video for my friend’s wedding before that. Even people who aren’t that good with a computer could put together a very effective and meaningful wedding video using these simple to use editing programs.

For top tips on videoing your friend’s wedding, see Jake McMillian’s blog.

However, if you do decide to hire a wedding videographer, there are some very professional videos out there. Some photographers offer videography as part of their service. That would mean that your photographer and videographer would be working in sync and produce a much better product. Alternatively, your photographer might be able to recommend a videographer they have worked with before, or your venue may be able to recommend someone who has impressed them in the past. Often, if a service has been recommended through another person, you may receive a discount on their services.

To answer the question of ‘to film or not to film’… I think you should film, but not hours and hours of footage. Think of your audience, who will watch the video? Film key moments in the wedding, touching moments that you will want to remember for the rest of your marriage: walking up the aisle, exchanging the rings, walking down the aisle, some moments outside the church, the speeches, cutting the cake and the first dance.

If you do know any good videographers to recommend, please post them as a comment in my blog. Alternatively, if you know any good tips for videoing a wedding, post those in the comment box too!

Beyond Excited

My wedding is 14 months away, but it's predominant in my  mind. I was trying to work out why. Of course, it's going to be an amazing day and there's a lot to organise, but why is it so exciting? My fiancé and I have been together for almost 8 years, engaged for 18 months, and although I'm very excited to become Mrs Wong (and as I'm a teacher the kids will be calling me Mrs Wong quite a bit) it really is just one day, and what will change really? 


Here are the reasons I came up with as to why I'm so excited, and why you should be too! 

• You get to be the main attraction, the centre of attention:
  I'm not a huge fan of being the centre of attention, not all the time, but when it's something special like your birthday or a promotion, it's nice to be the centre of attention, and weddings count too! All that planning and time and stress you've put in are finally worth it!
  
• Taking his Surname
  That's if you are taking his surname, but I'm looking forward to taking his name so much! His surname is a lot more interesting than mine and it'll be lots of fun! It's not very feminist of me to look forward to changing my name, but it's a little special thing that I think is really nice.
  
• Breaking the Dress Diet!
  Although you'll be very proud of all the weight you've lost, how you've avoided carbs and fat for the last year and spent every waking moment at the gym, finally.... Finally! You can eat a big main meal and have a pudding and then eat cake after it!
  
• Seeing your man all dressed up!
  If your hubby-to-be is like mine, he doesn't get dressed up very often. The chance to see him all dressed up in a proper wedding suit looking suave with his hair done is just wonderful! I'm looking forward to that!
  
• Match Making
  Arranging your seating plan meant that you could seat your gorgeous single friends together, and who knows what might happen? Looking forward to the reception and all the fun it may bring is another fun part of planning your big day, and something else to look forward to!
  
• The Dress
  Many women want to be a princess for a day, and most of us don't get many opportunities to dress up nicely. In my job, there's not much point dressing up nice unless I want paint, playdough, sick and other unmentionables all over my clothes so this one day is a chance for me to dress up and look completely beautiful (I hope). And the dress: my one chance to wear a princess dress and have a princess day.
  
• The First Dance
  After all the practising and rehearsing and changing the song this way and that way, it's finally time to show all your guests your first dance. I'm especially looking forward to my wedding dance because we're starting dance lessons in October so we will have worked really hard on it. I have two left feet and don't want to let my dance guru fiancé down, and I am excited to see everyone's reactions!
  
• The Reception
  A big party with all your friends and family! What could be more fun! All the music you personally enjoy, everyone being merry and a bit tipsy and celebrating your marriage to the man of your dreams! I can't think of a more enjoyable party! I'm really looking forward to that!
  
• The Honeymoon
  I've told fiancé I don't want to know anything about the honeymoon, I want it to be a complete surprise, all I want him to tell me is what kind of clothes I need to pack!  You may think I'm utterly insane but I'm taking over the wedding planning, it'll be good for him to have something that's his and he can decide about. I'm so looking forward to it because I know nothing about it. It'll be amazing! 

All in all, my excitement is fairly understandable. There is so much to look forward to! If your bride harks on a bit too much about the wedding, talking about dresses and invites and cars and orders of service, then give her some leeway, because now you know why she's so excited! 

The First Dance

I think it's important to remember you don't have to have a first dance. If you have two left feet, you're really shy or dancing just isn't your thing, don't have a first dance just because people expect you to, unless you want to. 


I want a first dance, I want it so much my fiancé and I have decided to have dance lessons just to get it right! My fiancé is already a dancer, he does street dance at a local dance studio but I'm a bum wiggler. I need the dance lessons just to keep up with him! I'm really looking forward to starting our dance lessons as it'll also help with losing weight! 


Choosing a song to dance to is difficult. My best friend chose Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars which was absolutely perfect and so romantic. My cousins had Moulin Rogue, Come What May, which was really lovely. Another friend had Yellow by Coldplay, which he told me felt as if it went on for 20 minutes! My brother chose Lets Stick Together by Al Green which was loads of fun for everyone! My fiancé is Canadian so we decided to go with a wedding favourite, Everything I Do by Brian Adams. It's a bit of a cliché but it means something to the both of us and that's what's important.


Top Ten Songs

10, Rule the World by Take That
9, Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (more recently by the Black Eyed Peas)
8, Nothing At All by Ronan Keaton
7, My First, Last, My Everything by Louis Armstrong
6, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
5, Love is All Around by Wet Wet Wet
4, Take My Breath Away by Berlin
3, I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith
2, Come What May by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman

And the winner for most popular wedding dance song is:
1, Everything I Do by Brian Adams from Robin Hood Prince of Theives, number one in the UK music charts for 16 weeks in 1991. 


Unusual Wedding Dances
One of the best first dances I've ever seen is on youtube that everyone should have a peek of: Evolution of Dance Wedding. If you can't decide on a song for the wedding, have them all! Do you have a friend who is good at mixing music together? Ask them to do you a mix of all your favourite songs and do a dance to all of them! If you have any friends who are good at choreography or who are dancers, or if you're good at learning the dances to songs, you could have lots of fun at your wedding performing a fun dance at this one. 

Alternatively, you could dance up the aisle.