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!