Vintage, Country and Mauve

Some little bits and pieces I found whilst looking for my friend Vicky. She gave me 3 words to work with which were:

Vintage

Mauve 

Country

All on the favourite Not on the High street  see what you think Vicky :-) 

More Birds

As you can probably tell the bird theme is growing arms and legs (or wings!) 

Another fab website with tons of cute ideas and accessories is Not on the high street but be warned its addictive and also has loads of brilliant gift ideas 

Birdcages and Lace

Flicking through a magazine on Friday I found these super cute lace pots. Don't you think they would look amazing on the tables with some pretty vintage pink roses in them?

They are on a really nice website Rigby and Mac

They also do some lovely birdcages, which would look really pretty in a marque 

Wedding Magazines

I love wedding magazines! They are an amazing source of ideas and can be really helpful if you're struggling or just for some ideas.

One thing I would say is subscribe to the magazine of the County you're venue is in. I stupidly made that error, and will now receive for the next year a subscription to Berkshire Bride and Surrey Bride even though our venue is in Sussex. This may not seem like a problem but each of the magazines are exactly the same but with adverts relevant to the area.

So you'll be flicking through and find a florist you like the look of but they won't be in your area. Whilst this isn't a major problem some do charge millage and not all are prepared to travel. So its best not to be disappointed

I would highly recommend subscribing to a magazine and have found County Wedding Magazine to be one of the best, it includes adverts for wedding fairs in the area you hope to marry and a few nice articles. It is also very good value for money

So Pretty

Chic Weddings and Events

A friend of mine is using this company for her wedding and cannot say enough nice things about them. She said they've been incredibly helpful and very reasonable cost wise.

Had a look at the website this morning, and wow! So pretty and well brought together. Well worth a look for some inspiration. They also do the flowers and the venue styling which has surely got to make life easier?

Have a look for yourself

.....the Registrar

In the midst of themes and guest lists the venue reminded me that the Registrar was my responsibility to book and the cost isn't included in the venue price (not at our venue anyway)

It worth factoring in this cost when deciding what day you wish to get married on. Prices vary quite a bit between Bank holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, Fridays and the Monday to Thursday. So even if your venue doesn't have a higher rate for a Saturday Wedding, the Registrar's Fee will vary. This fee can also vary between different Registrars. Ascot's fee was higher than the Crawley office.

Our lovely venue organiser gave us all the details we needed about who we needed to call. I called the registry office to enquire about prices and they informed me we need to call 1 year before the desired date. They also informed me there is a booking fee also, most of this information can be found on the relevant registrars website. Crawley registrars office website is really helpful and guides you through what you need to do and in what order. These websites also lists licensed venues so if you are really stuck on where to get married it may a good starting point.

You can't book any sooner than this but I will be calling exactly 1 year before the day to ensure we get our date.

Wedding Shows

These are a brilliant day out with your bridesmaid or your Mum. Most Mums will love it!

Now you've subscribed to a local magazine you'll know all about both your local fairs and the national ones. The local ones are lovely for a day out and often are held in potential venues, very good opportunity to have a little nose around without feeling hassled to commit.

I have to say though the National Wedding Show in London was amazing. Definitely worth the trip up to the City. For those who aren't a fan of the tube etc it really is very easy to and did seem to be the quieter of the Tube lines that were used so wasn't that stressful. For those with an iphone download the tube planner app-very useful.

Lucky for me my Mum had brought VIP tickets for my birthday. These were great, you had the option at time of booking to reserve seats for the Catwalk show-recommended and packed! Also you were given a glass of bubbly and a goody box, full of nice samples. There was also a dedicated seating area, very handy as the place was so full.

I cannot say enough how important it is to get there early! By about lunch time it was too crowded and became a bit less enjoyable. Another thing to bear in mind is the dress stands often run with appointments to try items on. So get to the dresses early, make your appointment to  maybe go back and try what may well be the dress on and then carry on browsing.

Another mistake made by me which resulted in me grumpily trying to kill time at the Bluewater wedding show when I had already been there a couple of hours!