Wedding Event Design & Management

After being inundated with requests for instant advice & practical training, Lisa Hilliard (from Lisa Hilliard Wedding Planning) & myself, have joined forces to launch The Wedding Planning College

There will be few weddings as prestigious as Prince William & Kate Middleton, but with the number of weddings expected to increase, it won’t only be the rich & famous that will look to hire the services of a wedding planner. However, wedding planning is unregulated & there are no mandatory qualifications required to set-up a wedding planning business.

The Wedding Planning College offers Training Events,Mentoring & On-going business support

WHAT DOES THE WEDDING PLANNING COLLEGE OFFER?

The Wedding Planning College prides itself on offering real, honest & professional advice through training events, personal mentoring & long term business support. The graduates from the college will be encouraged to become part of an on-going network that aims to bring best practice to their businesses.

Watching films such as The Wedding Planner can sometimes paint an inaccurate picture of what’s really involved in planning the most important day in someone’s life. This kind of romantic media results in many people aspiring to wedding planning as their dream job.... which it can be ... but it’s also a lot of hard work, both emotionally & physically!
Lisa & I will personally mentor people to achieve their dream but our support will be based on practical learning & experience. We believe that as established and trading wedding planners we can offer real training & advice to enable people to become successful planners.

The Courses have been designed by REAL Wedding Planners

WHERE & WHEN WILL THE TRAINING TAKE PLACE?

Using the fabulous training facilities, on the 6^th Floor of the new CASA Hotel, in Chesterfield, we aim to attract people from the Midlands & Yorkshire to our “Train to Plan” two day training events. Each event will take place over a weekend and includes a mixture of factual based learning, individual exercises, group activities & guest speakers, from the industry. Lisa & I will guide & mentor delegates through each session, offering honest advice, sharing real examples and working with individuals to inspire their own wedding planning business development.

The new CASA Hotel in Chesterfield

Training sessions will include “Setting up a wedding planning business” & “How to plan & coordinate a Wedding”. The first ones are due to be held on the 1^st/2^nd October & the 5^th/ 6^th November. There are opening offers for the first 16 delegates. Please check the website for details:

www.theweddingplanningcollege.co.uk

Lisa said “There were no specific practical wedding planning courses when I started my business & I went in to it somewhat blind. General courses helped with the business side of things & an on-line course taught me an overview of the wedding planning industry, but no-one actually told me what I really needed to know”

All Train to Plan events offer REAL honest advice, guidance & support

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are extremely grateful to Mark Tierney from Tierney Photography for the amazing images for our new web-site & to Lynsey Wells from Bimbo Design for creating the look of our new brand. 

How to have a Unique Wedding

I've said it before ... I believe that no two weddings should be the same... your wedding should be bespoke to you ... not a replica of someone else's.

At Unique, I specialise in the use of Unique venues & the creation of bespoke weddings & services. I don't believe that it matters what your budget is ...  it's about the way you choose to spend the money & ensuring that your day reflects your personality & the day you want to have.

So what are my top tips for planning a Unique Wedding Day ?
For the process to begin, I think you both need to answer four key questions :

1. What do you like about weddings?
2. What do you really dislike about weddings?
3. What do you want people to say about your Wedding?
4. What is the total amount that you want to spend on your wedding?

Start with a plan that you both agree on !

Wedding budget breakdown advice:
This will vary slightly from book to book & between planners, but the below is a good indication (as supplied by the BBC web-site).

• 45% on the wedding reception - venue, food, drink and cake
•   5%  on ceremony - venue fees, wedding rings & choir
•   8%  on all flowers
•   5%  on transport - bridal cars and additional cars
• 10% on photography and videography
• 12% on wedding attire including dress
• 15% on everything else - stationery, gifts for bridal party, wedding insurance, wedding night accommodation and honeymoon

Have your day exactly the way you want it : Image courtesy of RusticLifestyle.com

Venue & supplier search advice:
Once you have a really good idea of what you both want from your day & know exactly what you want to spend on it then you are ready to find a venue & suppliers to match your theme & budget. Here are some of the things that I would look at:

• How flexible is your wedding venue & are they interested in your ideas? 
• Are you tied to set package for food & drink?
• Have you got exclusive use of the venue?
• Can you taste the food before your wedding day?
• Can you use the suppliers you want to at your chosen venue?
• Are there any restrictions on times for either the ceremony or closing time?
• Are there minimum / maximum numbers of guests that you have to have?
• Do you have to purchase rooms at the venue?
• Is the venue happy to work with a wedding planner,should you chose to have one?
• How flexible are suppliers on the options that they are offering?
• Will they adapt to suit something that you particularly want?
• What are their prices compared to the competition & if they are more / less expensive, what makes that difference?
• Do they have testimonials & images of previous work, so you can ensure that they match your theme?

I hope you find this useful .... I do think that finding the just the right venue & theme will give you a Unique Day & one that you will remember forever .. for all the right reasons!  

Finally... hiring a good Wedding Planner will guarantee that you find the venue & suppliers to match both your style & budget ... I always start with a free consultation that covers all the above .. what have you got to loose??

Joy x

Purple Styling Inspiration

I know I put a blog together recently indicating that Peach is on trend as the colour to have for the new season... well..that might be happening on the High Street & in magazines, but it doesn't seem to be the case in reality......

I've met over 50 new couples over the last few weeks & many of them seem to be just loving dark purple... I can see why.. It's so versatile & transfers easily from a chic summer look in to dramatic evening styling..great with tea lights, candles & a crisp white background...

Purple Styling Inspiration

As you can see....it's just fantastically versatile.  Lot's of brides described it as "Cadburys" purple..(now I'm not sure I'm supposed to say that..but that's exactly what it is!!).

When I take one of the signature Calla-Lilly bouquets from Katie Peckett to a Wedding Fayre, they're a real show stopper.  Come along to Wentworth Castle Wedding Fayre on Sunday 13th March & you'll see why..

Joy x