Planning Advice

Practical tips on all things to do with planning a wedding

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  • Planning Advice – Finding Your Suppliers

    Friday, October 23rd, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice

    You’ve set a budget, chosen the date and booked your venue. So what’s next? As part of our Planning Advice series we look at some of the different suppliers you may need to hire for your wedding, and offer some of our top tips on how to go about finding the perfect service providers for your wedding day.

    Floral arrangement

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  • Wedding Planner Q&A – No Children at the Wedding

    Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice, Wedding Planner Q&A

    In our weekly Wedding Planner Q&A we look at how to deal with common anxieties, questions and problems that often crop up when you’re planning a wedding. Today I’m offering advice on how to tell your guests that children aren’t invited to the wedding.

    Lots of our friends and relatives have young children, but we don’t want lots of children running around at our wedding. How can we tell them children aren’t invited without causing offence?

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  • Wedding Planner Q&A – Unhelpful Bridesmaid

    Thursday, October 15th, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice, Wedding Planner Q&A

    In our weekly Wedding Planner Q&A we look at how to deal with the anxieties, questions and problems that often crop up when you’re planning a wedding, and today I’m offering advice on how to deal with an unhelpful bridesmaid.

    I asked my friend to be a bridesmaid when I first got engaged, but she isn’t helping me with any of the planning or providing any of the support I need. She doesn’t seem to have any interest in the wedding and I feel she’s making my life more difficult and stressful. I don’t really want her to be a bridesmaid any more, but how can I tell her without losing her friendship?

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  • Wedding Planner Q&A – Wedding Finances

    Thursday, October 8th, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice, Wedding Planner Q&A

    Part of my role as a wedding planner is to provide impartial advice on anything relating to a wedding. This is a very emotional time, and it can be easy for worries and concerns to get blown out of proportion and cause huge amounts of distress.

    I see these sorts of problems all the time when helping couples plan their wedding, so today I’m launching a new Wedding Planner Q&A series where I’ll offer advice on how to deal with common situations and problems. If you have a question you’d like to share, drop me a line at helen@helencarterweddings.co.uk with “Wedding Planner Q&A” as the title, and I’ll be sure to feature it here on the blog. Today we’re dealing with wedding finances…

    Our parents are helping us to pay for our wedding, but we’re worried that they might start to take over with the decision making. How can we have them help and still have the wedding we want?

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  • Wedding Planning Advice – Finding Your Venue (Part 2)

    Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice, Venues

    Last month we looked at how to start researching prospective wedding venues, and the main things to look for on an initial viewing (see the full post here). Today we’re going to look in more detail at the questions you may want to ask of a prospective venue, as well as how to understand venue charges and avoid any unexpected extra fees.

     

    Brocket Hall

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  • DIY Design Boards

    Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

    Posted in Design Concepts, Planning Advice

    One of my favourite wedding blogs is Abby Larson’s Style Me Pretty, which is jam-packed with gorgeous weddings and design inspiration. If you haven’t already, make sure you pay it a visit, but be sure to allow plenty of time because you will end up swooning at all the beautiful details!

    Abby’s recently added a fantastic new feature called the “Style Circle”, which includes a tool where you can create your own wedding design boards. I use Photoshop for all of my design concepts, but as not every bride has access to this software (or indeed the patience to use it!) I thought I’d check it out, and here are the results…

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  • Wedding Planning Advice – Finding Your Venue (Part 1)

    Friday, July 31st, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice, Venues

    Once you have decided on a date, drawn up a planning schedule and set your wedding budget, you’re ready to start organising your big day. The first thing on your list is to find a venue – this is a very important decision, so it’s worth taking plenty of time to make sure you find the perfect location. As part of our Planning Advice series, we examine the important questions to ask when considering wedding venues.

     

    The Fennes

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  • A Wet Wedding Day

    Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice, Wedding Styling

    I think it’s fair to say that almost every bride wants the sun to shine on her wedding day. What, then, if the unthinkable happens and it rains? I came across this beautiful post over on Kiss the Groom, and it totally inspired me to write about how to cope with a wet wedding day. So how can you make sure wet weather doesn’t spoil your big day?

    Bride and groom in the rain

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  • Wedding Planning Advice – Wedding Ceremonies

    Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice

    Today we are focusing on the different choices available for the wedding ceremony. This is the most important and emotional part of your big day, so it is important that you choose a service that is right for you. You should make this choice at the start of your planning, as it will influence the type of venue you require. For example, you may need a venue that is licensed to hold a civil ceremony. Remember that you will also need to make sure your place of worship, registrar or celebrant is available on your preferred date before booking your reception venue. (more…)

  • Wedding Planning Advice – Organising Your Time

    Thursday, May 7th, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice

    Planning a wedding is fun and exciting, but it can also be stressful with so many things to organise. Life is very hectic these days, especially if you’re based in a city like London, so it’s important to stay organised to minimise stress throughout your planning.

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  • Wedding Planning Advice – Budget Management

    Monday, April 6th, 2009

    Posted in Planning Advice

    Each month we’ll be posting our best advice and top tips for planning a wedding, with topics ranging from organising your time through to finding the perfect suppliers. Today it’s the turn of one of the most important aspects of wedding planning – budget management. (more…)