Your wedding reported by The Wedding Reporter

Look how lovely and smiley she is!

I've been a wedding planner for nearly two years now. And I've seen a lot of supposedly 'fresh, unique' ideas in that time. But a certain someone we shall call Emma actually has a fresh and unique idea.

Essentially the wedding reporter does exactly what it/she says on the tin. I shall let her explain in her much more eloquent English...

How does it work then? Is the 'wedding report' like a story or more like a, well, report?

I try to think of them as romanticised reports - they have all the elements of the day chronicled through the eyes of a fiction writer. If there's a metaphor to be drawn or a pathetic fallacy to be found then I will most certainly be incorporating these into the report! It's essentially the story of the wedding day, so whilst I only write about what happened (I don't make stuff up!) I try to transcribe it in as literary way as possible so that your report would sit comfortably on your bookshelf somewhere between Austen and Keats.*


*Emma wanted to point out this doesn't mean she's comparing herself to Austen or Keats incidentally.

Do you fade into the background like photographers do and watch what's going on or do you engage and act more like a wedding guest?!

Although I'll always take a notebook with me to weddings this is primarily to jot down details (names, titles of readings, key events etc) as I try to actually experience as much as possible whilst I'm there and leave the writing until afterwards. Ideally I like to engage with other guests as I find this to be a mine of information. Whilst I endeavour to get to know the couple as much as possible before their day so that I'm not a stranger turning up to their wedding, I generally find that other wedding guests are invaluable in helping fill in the blanks. Additionally, by being immersed with them I think I can experience the ambience of the day better than if I stay objective and detached from the day. However, there are clearly times throughout the day when it is more beneficial for me to step back and observe the overall event in order to create a fuller picture for the purposes of the report.

And how does your pricing structure work? Is there a set fee or can you work with any budget?

My prices very much depend on the variables of the wedding details. I say that prices generally start from £200 but I'm very happy to negotiate with couples to try and get as much bang for their buck as possible. Initially, I wanted to offer the service as a favour, but realistically I needed to cover my costs. £200 is not a figure plucked out of the air, it comes from a break down of costs for an 'average' full day wedding, considering up to 10 hours attendance at the wedding and the subsequent 7-10 hours that a final report will entail, travel costs and so on. However, there is always wiggle room and I wouldn't want any bride to miss out because of budgetary restrictions so I do encourage anyone who's interested in a wedding report to contact me for a chat.

Thank you Emma for answering my questions! The Wedding Reporter is definitely a supplier I recommend and will be using when I become an engaged lady one day.

Everything in weddings is so visual it's nice to have something a bit more... wordy. So what do you think? Original idea no?

You can read more on her website and you really should follow Emma's tweets for she certainly is a witty wee lass.

The perfect foundation? I think so.

I've been after the perfect foundation for years and think I've finally stumbled upon THE ONE! Sorry for shouting but in some small way this feels like a lifelong quest accomplished.

The texture is lovely and smooth and it feels light and moisturising. It doesn't feel like you're wearing foundation which is the main problem I've had with most of the ones I've used in the past. And it has SPF 15 which is a nice bonus.

It's not too pricey either, about £13 for 40ml.

Have you any beauty product recommendations? I'm still searching for the perfect mascara.

Pastel inspiration board

If you're feeling uninspired by your wedding styling or just want to shake things up a bit why not curate an inspiration board to get your creative juices flowing. 

Looking solely at wedding blogs and magazines can leave you feeling a little deflated sometimes, (and me too), so that's when I usually soak up all the pretties on Pinterest.

If you want a private inspiration board (Pinterest please hurry and offer this soon), you can create one on photoshop, or sites like beeclip.

from top left:

Swedish Has Beens, Doe Deere Blogazine, Color Collective, Everything Fabulous,

Valspring via Flickr, Ben McGee via Ruffled, Belle via Flick

What are your favourite tools for creating inspiration boards at the moment?

If only Australia was closer to the UK...

...Then I would definitely be recommending these to my brides to be. Juliette Hogan's bridesmaid dresses are simple, elegant and in the kind of shades that make me a little weak at the knees.

 

 

 all images Juliette Hogan

Girl Meets Dress

Christopher Kane hire £189 RRP £575


Aftershock Palais Maxi dress hire £99 RRP £399


Schumacher graphic print tunic hire £109, RRP £252

Designer dresses without the hefty price tag? Don't mind if I do.

Girl Meets Dress has loads of dresses from the likes of Marc Jacobs to Halston ready and waiting for girls like us to hire for that special occasion.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm not in the habit of buying designer labels (much as my heart sometimes sighs for them) so I love the idea of this site.

From a wedding boutique (with brides, bridesmaid and wedding guest options) to work function outfits, Girl Meets Dress has a lot of dresses for your perusal. It seems pretty straightforward and you can do it all online.

What do you think? Would you hire a dress for an event or do you always want to own what you buy?

And you can see me on their blog here!

This isn't a sponsored post incidentally, I just wanted to share.

Watercolour pop portrait

Personalised portraits. What a cool gift idea, or wedding invitation maybe?




from Pop Pop Portraits via the rather fab Village

Music, blogs, and magazines and other news...

savoir weddings news

Phew what a week last week was. Looking forward to this one being less manic! Aside from dramas with Blogger (which I'm sure a lot of you experienced), my friend and business buddy Charley and I launched We Plan, You Play which was launched through Rock n roll Bride. A wedding music blog designed to help couples compile their wedding playlists.

Nothing beats live music and all but for the hours you have an iPod running you have to think about each and every song that plays at your wedding. Especially as there's nothing worse than the wrong music for destroying the mood. And coming from a music events background I am particularly keen on encouraging clients to think about their wedding music and We Plan, You Play aims to do just that! So go check it out and let me know what you think!

Last week was also pretty cool because Nina and Patrick's wedding was featured in Wedding Magazine and I designed a mood board for Annabel over at Love my Dress - a rustic charm board, the first of three May inspired boards.

the wedding fair

Not a fan of wedding fairs in general, this is one I can get behind the idea of...



See the website here for more details. I figured this was something interesting when I read this on their site:

Wedding coming up? Fed up of sprawling soulless commercial wedding fairs? Compact and bijoux, get personal at Craft Central! All you need to add a handmade touch to the big day. From bride to evening guest, there’s something for everyone...

Sounds good no?

Have a good week my dears!

Savoir couple in Wedding Magzine

Super pleased to see the one of my couples, the lovely Nina & Patrick and their wedding in Wedding Magazine out now.



Yay!

What does a wedding planner actually do? Part 6

via French by Design (awesome blog, check it out)

When I set up my wedding planning & styling company a lot of people - friends, family, randoms responded with, 'Oh, okay, so.. what exactly do you do'? Which being slighly paranoid, I heard as, 'Oh, okay so you charge people for things they could do themselves'?

Now fast forward a couple of years and I'm less sensitive about this issue. It's true, and I've said it before, wedding planning isn't rocket science. It falls into two main categories - organisation & research (the planning), + creativity and an eye for detail (the styling). Which require skill and ability sure, but we're not exactly doing brain surgery over here.

In many ways I see being a wedding planner as similar to being a mum (not that I am one so it's kind of conjecture but anyway). You work damn hard and are excellent at multi tasking, staying calm in a crisis and so on and yet in the eyes of many, it's not a real job.

I'm not saying this to whine about how misunderstood we wedding planners are, but just to draw your attention to the quote above, (found via Amma from Beyond Beyond on Pinterest incidentally, cheers for that).

Common sense is not that common.

Damn straight.

So yes, wedding planning isn't rocket science and yes most people can manage it. But that doesn't mean they're good at it. Or it won't stress them out.

And if you're wondering whether hiring a planner is worth it, and whether you can do it yourself, well yes you can probably. But the key skill, if you'd call it that, that wedding planners possess, is common sense. Which is among other things, what wedding planning is really. And as Voltaire wisely put it, that ain't that common.

Etsy wedding dress

I've waxed lyrical about my love for Etsy many times on this blog. I just think it's such a good resource for anybody looking for unique and individual pieces. Sure, you often have to search to find the diamonds in the rough but it definitely rewards the patient browser.

Also a good option if you're looking for an original wedding dress. Look at these beauties I found recently...


from Lightwitch $395.00


from Ouma $480.00

This dress I've seen around before (and maybe even blogged) but seriously, look at it. It is insanely awesome. And only $840. Bargain eh.


also Ouma $840.00

What do you think? Would you buy your wedding dress from Etsy?

Hair envy

It's all about plaits (braids for you US folks) and buns for me at the moment. Elegant but relaxed. Perfect bridal hair.


from ...love Maegan


from HappyNess original source unknown


from Loveology original source unknown


from Once Wed


from Elle Magazine


from A Cup of Jo

Style crush on... isabel lucas

Being an avid Home and Away fan (yes, tragic I know) I have been aware of the ridiculously beautiful Isabel Lucas for a good few years.

She pulls off the hippy boho look with a kind of innocence that makes me think of Bambi/Disney characters. With my current love of all things 70s, I wouldn't mind channelling it myself...


via Elle


via instyle


via elle


via Glamour



via grazia


via grazia

Who's your current style crush?

A close shave

A perfect present for a a super smooth groom.

See more of my Etsy discoveries here.

What does a wedding planner actually do? Part 5

Help create the running order of the day...


Lavender champagne from Martha Stewart Weddings

A key part of a successful and enjoyable wedding is the atmosphere. Which mainly boils down to how the guests and bride & groom obviously, are feeling. Atmsophere is made up of sights, smells, sounds and and it's peoples' interpretations of these, that collectively creates the atmosphere.

So it stands to reason a good way to keep the atmosphere good at your wedding, is to keep the guests happy.

And a good way to keep guests happy is to think about timings. This seems to be one of the areas a lot of couples worry about, if my couples are anything to go by.

From how long the ceremony should last to what time to serve the wedding breakfast, the wedding day running order makes a big difference to the overall feel of the day. We've all been to weddings where you're hanging around after the ceremony whilst the bride and groom have their photos taken. You've got a glass of champagne but you haven't eaten for hours and it's nearly 3.30pm and there's no sign that you'll be fed anytime soon.

These kind of moments aren't great for guests and are definitely something you want to try to avoid. You want charmed, relaxed, happy and satiated guests and the best way to guarantee this is to get the running order right.

Every wedding is different and what's right for one couple and one wedding doesn't necessarily apply to another. But there are some general good rules/guides to follow and understanding timings is one of the main skills of being a wedding planner. We know roughly how long things take, and when you're most likely going to want to move things along. This comes partly from experience, but it's also a skill that every good wedding planner should have.