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Emma and Michael contacted me just 7 weeks before their wedding day. Due to personal circumstances they needed help to get outstanding suppliers booked and to bring together their overall style and design as well as to make sure everything ran smoothly on the day. With just the venue, photographer (Claudine Hartzel) and makeup artist (Makeup by Katy) booked, there was plenty left to do. When we met we immediately hit it off and I was so happy that they chose Cherry Topped to work with them. Straight to work it was to get flowers, lounge furniture, chairs, PA system, jazz duo and live band booked for a bank holiday Saturday in August, with just 7 weeks to go! I also provided style and design support providing an inspiration board to bring together their colourful ideas, suggestions of items to hire and purchase to bring the ideas to life and then the sourcing of ribbons, confetti, glassware, lighting, sweets and other incidentals.

Emma and Michael wanted to create a wedding atmosphere which was full of vibrant colours, and with their wedding ‘motto’ being “Eat, Drink and be Married!” they wanted to create truly happy memories for their family and friends. With areas for relaxing, fun and partying and also a play area for the children; the enjoyment of their guests was paramount. With the surroundings making the most of the stunning riverside location and enhancing the pure white venue with colours of the rainbow through an abundance of ribbons and flowers. Emma and Michael wanted strong rich colours, choosing emerald green, teal, fuchsia pink and royal purple.

So to the details of Emma and Michael’s truly colourful wedding day…

Venue

Emma and Michael’s wedding venue Phyllis Court Club has a Grandstand Pavilion, a Grade II listed building, situated right alongside the River Thames, with the most beautiful view and overlooks the finish line of the world famous Henley Royal Regatta. Just as guests came out onto the lawn after the ceremony the heavens opened, but with umbrellas and a canopy at the ready this didn’t phase anyone, after all they had delicious bubbly and canapes to tuck into. With the glorious sunshine that then came out to play, we were lucky enough to get a rainbow, perfect for Emma and Michael’s colourful wedding day.

Flowers

Ruby and Grace did an amazing job with Emma and Michael’s flowers. Emma’s stunning bridal bouquet consisted of white roses in a contemporary tear drop shape. The two large white urns were filled with white and deep purple hydrangeas, lisainthus, roses and gladioli and complement with deep green foliage. The table centres were made up of 3 different sized white glass fishbowls filled with contemporary domes of flowers, with some tables having  all fuchsia pink flowers (ranunculus, roses and hydrangeas), some tables having all deep purple flowers (stocks, lisianthus, hydrangea) and some tables having all deep green foliage table centre. The top table had one of each colour. White hydrangeas also lined the upper balcony, tied with multicoloured ribbons and with fairy lights along the stairway.

Chill Out

Emma and Michael wanted to create a contemporary, slightly 60′s inspired chill out area on the upper deck of the Grandstand. So we hired sleek white furniture with low coffee tables, stools and colourful cushions from Velvet Living. Storm lanterns were placed on the tables, round paper lanterns with LED’s from the beams and homemade colourful medallions were hung along the back wall. Funky sweet trees were also placed on the tables, together with 60′s dessert bowls of retro sweets for guests to enjoy. A jazz duo serenaded guests during the drinks reception and chill out lounge music was played after the wedding breakfast.

Colours of the Rainbow

Vibrant colour was introduced throughout the wedding day from Emma’s emerald green shoes; to the beautiful teal bridesmaid dress; to the teal, emerald green, fuchsia and purple ribbons tied to the chairs (hired in from Place Settings) and balcony and laid across the tables; to the cushions and medallions on the upper deck; to the bold floral arrangements and to the tea light holders for the evening.

Special Places

Emma and Michael chose names of places that were/ are special to them for their table names. Whether it was where they first met, grew up, first place they lived together, special holiday destination etc. They also had some bespoke wooden letters “E & M” made with a map of where Emma grew up on the “E”, a map of where they both live now on the “&” and a map of where Michael grew up on the “M”.

Eat Drink and Be Married

The wedding stationery made use of the motto “Eat Drink & Be Married”, giving the hint of fun which Emma and Michael wanted to have on their wedding day. There were many happy moments and plenty of smiles and giggles!

Family & Fun

With Emma’s mum sadly being unwell, Emma and Michael’s wedding day was more so than ever about family and creating fun and happy memories. The ceremony and the speeches were highly emotional, but there were lots of happy moments to be had too with the joking around and dancing the night away to the fab rock/ indie band.

Photos & Guest Messages

A selection of dove and heart shaped note cards were provided for guests to write their messages to Emma and Michael and pair it with a snap shot of them with a Polaroid camera. Little white wooden heart pegs were then used by guests to peg them to the multi colour ribbon along the back wall of the upper deck. A cute memento for Emma and Michael and alternative to a guest book, with some fun shots of the guests too!

My wedding planning journey with Emma and Michael was over a relatively short period of time, but we became very close and I loved every minute of helping them with their wedding plans. The wedding day came together beautifully and it was a real honour to be a part of their day and to be welcomed by their families and friends during such an emotional time in their lives. Thank you Emma and Michael! And Congratulations!

Bizarrely Emma and I are now expecting our babies within a week of each other! Baby parties next!?

x

Image credits:
Courtesy of Claudine Hartzel Photography

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Clementine and Olivier, as you may guess from their names are a French couple (who live in London). With their main focus being on the enjoyment of their guests they wanted to treat their French guests to some English traditions and wanted to treat their English guests to some French traditions! With them both being engineers, they freely admitted they required some help in the creativity department, which I loved helping them with. They wanted to introduce a subtle Mary Poppins aspect as they both loved this film when they were children as well as a travelling aspect as they have lived and travelled through various countries. They also love pastel colours rather than bold colours, so a mint green and sky blue were selected to run throughout.

Planning Clementine and Olivier’s wedding was an absolute joy! They contacted me literally just after they got engaged and we were straight onto the venue search. There was no messing around and this is how they were throughout the process; quick solid decisions!

So onto their wedding details…

Venue

One of the key criteria of the venue search was to find a venue which could have an extended licence. In England this is more tricky than you would think, with most venues only allowing weddings to continue up to midnight or thereabouts. French wedding traditionally carry on until the early hours of the following morning, so Clementine and Olivier knew their guests would be disappointed if the party wasn’t extended past midnight! And so Nonsuch Mansion ticked this box as well as being such a beautiful and intimate venue in stunning surroundings and so close to London and the main airports for travelling guests. It also provided the perfect space for the bridal party preparations, with Claire Portman doing the hair and makeup for the ladies beautifully. At night time it was lit up by EffectEvent, bringing in the blue and green to the exterior and also the bar area to create a funky night time atmosphere.

French Frolics

The ceremony incorporated French readings and Clementine and Olivier also said some words to each other in French. The wedding stationery was designed by Apple of My Eye Design and was called “Ooh La La”. The design complemented the French feel. Some of the favours given to guests were some little French candies from Olivier’s childhood holidays.  A typical French feel to the day with the laid back approach, French champagne literally flowing and a truly vivacious atmosphere well and truly into the early hours!

English Experiences

Guests were collected from nearby hotels in a red routemaster double decker bus giving them a taste of good old London Transport! A white traditional post box was hired for guests to post their gift cards into. The other half of the favours for guests were tea leaves in mini tins with a little note explaining how best to take your English Breakfast tea! The food by the wonderful Bovingdon’s caterers was all English produce, even the classic French cheese course consisted of English cheeses! Their wedding cake was a tower of individual slices of different English cheesecake flavours, baked beautifully by My Sweet Tooth Factory, topped with a personalised figurine of Clementine and Olivier.

Mary Poppins Inspired

The Ooh La La stationery provided the basis for introducing a subtle Mary Poppins theme, with the stripes and silhouette feel.  Personalised silhouettes (full and head only) were created by Alison Russell and used throughout the stationery items. We used quotes from the film such as “Practically perfect in every way”, “A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down” and “Come along children, spit spot!”. Parasols were hung from the chandelier in the Rose Room and from door handles, as well as a “Love” parasol for Clementine and Olivier’s photos. Guests were provided with a Mary Poppins hat, straw boater, penguins on sticks, bow ties and moustaches to have fun with a Polaroid camera and send messages for Clementine and Olivier. Little waiter penguin silhouettes were printed on the menus.

Jolly Holidays

“Jolly Holidays!” was the theme of the table names, with landmarks of places Clementine and Olivier have visited. Linking in with the Mary Poppins silhouettes, the landmarks were printed as silhouettes on the table name cards.

Entertainment!

Entertaining their guests was so important to Clementine and Olivier. They wanted to make sure everyone was catered for and that there would be no excuses to not have lots of fun! Serenaded by Mike Georgiades, a guitarist, during the ceremony and drinks reception (they walked down the aisle as husband and wife to the Jungle Book’s Bare Necessities!). They provided bottles of vodka for some of their guests who don’t traditionally drink wine with their meals. As a little evening pick me up they provided miniature bottles of vodka and rum for guests to kick off the evening with. There were also Clementine and Olivier cocktails for guests to enjoy! The DJ, Boogie Nights, was one of the most important aspects to them, keeping the majority of guests on the dance floor for the whole night was paramount, and this is exactly what happened! They also had a few surprises from guests; a couple of Olivier’s friends played some trumpet tunes as a surprise! The Best Men, Bridesmaids and cousins also did some surprise presentations for Clementine and Olivier during the wedding breakfast. Clementine and Olivier also wanted children to be welcome, with a table especially for them with goodie bags and a “Salle de jeux!” for them to play video games.

Flowers

Clementine chose to have a personalised fabric and brooch bouquet beautifully designed by Brooches Buttons and Bows, which brought in the colours of their wedding and enabled her to have pieces of her Mother’s and best friend’s wedding dresses, together with cuts of the bridesmaid dress fabric and some vintage brooches. Clementine and Olivier wanted something very simple and understated. They also wanted to introduce water in their table arrangements. Wild About supplied the perfect arrangements of baby’s breath used in urns, on aisle chairs and as the bridesmaids bouquets. Then floating white rose petals in large fishbowls with floating tea lights created the centre pieces.

Gorgeous Couple!

To finish off, some beautiful shots of Clementine and Olivier, Kerry Morgan’s photos are just stunning!

This was such a fun wedding and a real pleasure to be a part of!

Thank you so much being such gorgeous clients and Congratulations Clementine and Olivier! x

Image Credits:
All images courtesy of Kerry Morgan Photography

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Looking for some fun and fresh wedding inspiration, then go and buy yourself a copy of the April/ May 2012 WEDDING Magazine!

Turn to page 57 where you will find their “Wedding Style” section filled with colourful inspiration from the bright and bold bridal photo shoot we planned and styled with a truly wonderful team of wedding industry experts and creative minds!

Take a little look below at the vibrant pages we’re very excited about seeing in print! x

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Most couples who enquire after the services of a wedding planner have never gotten married before, so will be considering hiring a wedding planner for the first time and may not fully understand the extent of the services provided by a wedding planner. If you’re recently engaged and wondering…

So what does a wedding planner do?

The sorts of things I will work on for a client are so varied as each couple have such different requirements. The below will give you an idea of some of the things I do for clients depending upon their requirements, in no particular order, and by no means exhaustive:

• Sourcing and coordinating suppliers: venue, caterer, celebrant, florist, photographer, cake, stationery, DJ, harpist, guitarist, string quartet, bagpiper, caricaturist, casino, candy buffet, band, hair stylist, makeup artist, table decor, venue decor, chair hire, glassware, linen, crockery, vintage bus, London bus, chauffeur service, childcare, lighting, PA system, drinks, confetti, ribbons…
• Preparing and keeping track of the wedding budget
• Keeping track and sending reminders to clients of supplier payments due
• Preparing a wedding planning timeline and keeping on track
• Keeping a summary of suppliers who have been booked, their contracts and service details
• Ensuring all contracts and payments are complete and fair for both parties
• Providing suitable supplier options with enough information for clients to make a decision as to who they wish to choose for their wedding
• Supplier meetings
• Venue visits
• Advice on colours, fabrics, style and design
• Inspiration board for wedding style and design
• Sourcing of items to complete the style and design
• Suggesting options for alternative ways to do things
• Suggesting ways to make the most of the budget
• Advice on menus, drinks and how much to provide
• Collecting and returning hired items where required
• Organising guests around the wedding day, perhaps a meal the night before or a brunch the day after
• Providing suggestions for readings
• Providing suggestions for music
• Providing guidance around wedding party roles and responsibilities and informing them of the wedding day schedule
• Coordinating requests from Groomsmen and Bridesmaids
• Advice on guest lists
• Guest management – tracking RSVPs, dietary, transport, accommodation etc
• Advice on wording for invitations and other stationery items
• Advice on accommodation and transport for guests
• Devising seating and floor plans for ceremony and wedding breakfast for clients to complete
• Providing etiquette advice
• Providing emotional support and diplomatic advice through any political or difficult family and friend situations
• Advice and help with the Bride’s wedding dress and accessories
• Advice and help with Bridesmaids dresses and accessories
• Advice and help with the Groom and Groomsmen’s style
• Making decorations, tying ribbons to jars, chairs and napkins, tying tags to glasses, painting “Love” onto a parasol, filling bottles with alcohol, filling tins with sweets and teabags, filling pouches with duck food…
• Advising on the order of the wedding day and suitable timings
• Confirming all wedding day details with the venue and all suppliers
• Acting as the couples’ ears and eyes on the wedding day, ensuring every detail is as they want it to be
• Point of contact for the venue, suppliers and wedding party on the day
• Facilitating all supplier requirements on the wedding day to make sure everything runs seamlessly
• Provide full set up, support to the couple, family and wedding party, supplier and venue coordination, guest communication, any ‘hiccup’ resolution, emergency kit, clear down and an assistant on the wedding day

The above are the practical and professional elements that I carry out for clients. Over the course of planning a client wedding I also provide emotional and friendly support, as well as guidance to ensure the couple are happy with their decisions.

The benefit to my couples is that I am their sounding board and a single point of contact for everything they could possibly think of to do with their wedding (aside from the legal aspects which must be carried out by the couple). I save them lots of time by taking away all of the administrative aspects, save them worry by finding reliable options which suit their requirements and budget and save them stress by providing knowledgeable advice on various elements. I don’t take over and make all the decisions; the couple remain in complete control and have a wedding day which is truly about them.

I love what I do and I love the couples I work with. Being a wedding planner you have to be passionate about what you do, it is an all encompassing role, during which you become quite close to your couples. It is always sad when the wedding planning comes to a close (I think I suffer a little from the wedding blues too!)

I thought it might also be useful to try and put some figures around what I provide for my clients with regards to hours and resources. So I have looked across my full wedding planning clients and have summarised the average stats per wedding below:

• Comprehensive communication and support spanning between 7 weeks and 12 months before the wedding date
• 700 Emails (approx.) between clients, suppliers, potential suppliers and the venue
• 213 Hours of work per wedding (I’m sure there are some hours I don’t keep a record of too)
• 15 Suppliers to source, communicate with and coordinate
• 12 Face-to-face or Skype meetings with clients, suppliers and the venue
• 1,800 (approx.) Minutes of phone calls to clients, suppliers and the venue
• 15.75 Hours attendance on the day of the wedding

Bearing in mind the above figures are average, so some weddings will be much more or less complex and involved than others.

Hopefully this puts a bit more understanding around the sometimes ‘unknown’ of what a wedding planner does.

x

Photo credits:
Wedding Guide and Wedding Sign by Juliet McKee Photography
Tanya and Anthony thanking me by Guy Collier Photography

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Tradition has it that us ladies only get one chance every 4 years to propose to the love of our lives if we want to! 2012 is one of those years!

I find the tradition interesting, especially as we now live in an age where women and men are predominantly seen as equals, so why is it that women don’t propose more often? Perhaps despite wanting to be ‘equals’ we secretly enjoy the chivalry and tradition of being proposed too?

So why is it that the 29th February is seen as the date for women to propose?

It is believed the tradition started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose. Also, according to English law, February 29th was ignored and had no legal status, therefore traditions would also have no status on that day. Hence the tradition of only the man being able to propose was temporarily ‘removed’. Some also believed that since the leap year day existed to solve a calendar problem, it could also be used to fix an old and unjust custom that only let men propose.

Tradition also states that any man who declined a proposal in a leap year must pay a fine, such as a kiss or payment for a silk dress or a pair of gloves!

So how many of us ladies will be proposing on the 29th February this year? Or doesn’t the leap year tradition have any bearing on whether you will propose or not?

Happy Valentine’s Day! Perhaps the love of your life will beat you to it today!?

x

Photo credit: Juliet McKee Photography

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