I was lucky enough to spend Saturday morning with Mairi and Anne from Event Diva at the gorgeous Headlam Hall near Darlington. They were setting up chair covers for a wedding ceremony and had a very early start! After packing the van the night before, Mairi and Anne set off at 7.30am to get to the hotel nice and early to set for the ceremony that was to take place at 2pm.

When I arrived the room was a gorgeous light filled room with green tones. The colour scheme for the day was green, blue and pink so I was interested to see what it would be transformed into.

The Before Picture

The gorgeous Edwardian Suite at Headlam Hall

Tables before the flowers

The Action Shot!

My arty picture of the fire place - Flowers by Daisy Mays

Another action shot

Amazing floral centerpieces by Daisy Mays

The after shot

Decorated Pillars

How gorgeous do those flowers look???

This was the end result of 3 hours hard work. I think you will agree that Event Diva made the room look amazing!

The flowers were from Daisy Mays Florist in Sunniside. Susan who owns Daisy Mays also happened to be the brides mother!!!

The photos are courtesy of me…..not a bad job even if I do say so myself!

]]> http://www.byginaevents.co.uk/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-event-dresser/feed/ 0 http://www.byginaevents.co.uk/high-street-wedding/ http://www.byginaevents.co.uk/high-street-wedding/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:06:37 +0000 By Gina http://www.byginaevents.co.uk/?p=496 With the budget just announced a lot of people will be feeling the pinch! If you want a stylish wedding without the designer price tag, why not look to see what the high street and internet has to offer…..here are some of my favorites on offer at the moment.

Bronte Bridal Dress @ Monsoon £225

Lace Bow Platform Shoe @ New Look £29.99

Purple Bandeau Prom @ Debenhams £90

Flower Girls Corsage Dress @ Debenhams £32 – £36.80

Classic Chocolate Rose Cake @ M&S £199.99

Vintage Silk Flower Bouquet @ Sarah’s Flowers £38.00

Adele Invite by Ribbons and Tulle @ By Gina Stationery £2.85

Mark Deeks had played the piano for more than 28 years, and has experience of performing at all kinds of venues from cricket clubs to concert halls, cathedrals to Disney (!).

He will perform music to order! Provide a list of requests in advance and if he doesn’t already know them, he will learn them in time for your big event.

Mark is offering 20% off all bookings made in January – so you best be quick to get this offer! 2012 is filling fast and 2013 is already looking busy.

Example repertoire and sound clips are available at: http://piano-player-newcastle.co.uk/?page_id=80

For more info and to contact Mark visit his website: http://piano-player-newcastle.co.uk/?page_id=2

Funky Hen

Now with it’s own funky warehouse Funky Hen will be able to stock many more products and offer its customers past and present a wider breadth of novelty tat and accessories suitable for hen nights.

So on Sunday 26th June, I set off to Harwick Hall Hotel for a photo shoot!

The amazing Jamie Emerson and Mandy Charlton were the photogrpahers for the day. And the very talented Steve from Forever Film was videoing the day.

Our hair was transformed by Lisa Cameron and Leeanne Bennett gave us movie star make up.

The gowns and some of the accessories were provided by the lovely Joy from Mia Sposa Bridal and Menswear and other accessories by me – By Gina Jewellery.

The stunningly beautiful models for the day were Julia from Brides Up North, Kristy from Simply Bows and Chair Covers, Kerry from Daisychain Events and little old me!

I hope you love the film and photos as much as I loved being part of the day and I highly recommend all the suppliers involved!

Click here for the video!   Brides Up North Wedding Belles Photo Shoot

What doesn’t cross our minds in this little girl’s dream is the actual planning of the big day; this usually happens when we’re older and start thinking about our perfect wedding dresses while daydreaming at work. From the same day of our engagement I started to look at cakes, venues and dresses (although, if the truth be told, I had been having sneaky peaks at dresses for a few months before our engagement, just don’t tell my fiancé that!). In fact it was only a few days after our engagement that we found our dream venue whilst browsing for ‘quirky wedding venues’ on the internet. That weekend we visited our venue, Danby Castle in North Yorkshire and within the first five minutes we were sold. It was gorgeous, one of a kind and exactly what we were looking for. It was the first venue we had looked at and the last!

So, with out venue booked we commenced the search for everything else wedding. I must have bought every wedding magazine on the shelves, flicked through them, read them in more detail and read them for a third time just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Still there was something lacking. I’m not saying that the magazines weren’t helpful, they had some wonderful ideas but they just weren’t totally ‘us.’

Then came Twitter, a tool that has been more helpful than any website or magazine in planning our wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved nothing more than sitting down with a cuppa and my favourite wedding mag, even now when we’re coming towards the end of our planning! Whilst perusing through wedding related time lines on Twitter my followers built up one by one – people in the wedding industry offering the most amazing, unique and original wedding related items. Dressmakers, stationers, florists, wedding planners and venue owners to name just a few.

Some of the inspiration for our special day has been taken from the many wonderful wedding blogs offering a feast for the eyes with all things wedding related. Styled wedding shoots, photographs from real weddings and engagements, showcases of suppliers, the list is endless. Before Twitter I knew of only two wedding blogs however I was amazed to find an array of beautifully written blogs by full time bloggers, part time bloggers and brides to be. It is on one of these fabulous blogs, Love My dress, that I stumbled upon my amazing dressmakers – House of Mooshki. Without Twitter I never would have found the Sunderland based designers who are making me the dress of my dreams!

Via a tweet from Carolyn, the proprietor of our wedding venue, I discovered our beautiful wedding stationery made by the hands of the amazingly talented Nikki at Knots and Kisses. Along the way I have also met some of the most wonderful and friendly brides to be, sharing our ideas and plans in the run up to all of our big days. Rustling up excitement for each other, it’s just great to be able to chat to people who are in the same boat as you sharing the same thoughts and feelings with them.

From the start of our planning process it went without saying that our wedding was going to be planned by myself with the help of my lovely mum. Working shifts I am lucky to have the time to spend on our wedding planning and I definitely take after my mum in the organisational department; she always says that if she had her time again she would be a wedding planner. A lot of women however, aren’t fortunate enough to have a lot of spare time with the ‘all go’ lifestyles that people lead these days. If I’m honest I always thought having a wedding planner was more of an American thing but after meeting lots of fantastic UK based planners on Twitter who have the most incredible ideas I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a planner to any of my friends if they didn’t have the time or the want to organise their own wedding.

What I am trying to say is that Twitter has educated me on some of the most remarkable and innovative suppliers and ideas related to all things wedding. It has been a Godsend throughout our wedding planning, better than any search engine. So much so that the social networking site along with it’s fabulous members have inspired me to write my own wedding blog in the run up to our big day and I will no doubt be still talking about all things wedding long after our special day this November!

What is Your Wedding Unveiled and who’s behind it?

I’m Sarah and I came up with the idea for our wedding directory website after my own wedding back in July 2010 (The best day EVER!) and launched on 3^rd March 2011. As a bride-to-be, I found the wedding service industry a minefield, to say the least! How did I know which florist to choose? Which bridal shop stocked the designer I wanted at a price I could afford to pay? How did I know suppliers were reliable? I found myself seeking friends’ wedding recommendations of services they had used and that’s when www.yourweddingunveiled.co.uk, the wedding recommendation directory, was born!

What I wanted was a wedding directory that was accessible 24/7, with local wedding suppliers in one place, giving me variety, choice and inside info from those who used and LOVED their services.  Let’s face it; a girl’s wedding day is one of the biggest and most exciting days of her life.  It has to be perfect, regardless of budget, and will be a day she remembers for the rest of her life! We hope to provide anyone involved in planning a wedding a whole host of amazing wedding suppliers to help them plan the PERFECT wedding!

Who is Your Wedding Unveiled for?

*Engaged couples, this one’s for you…Firstly, congratulations! You are about to embark on one of your most exciting adventures yet…planning your wedding! We want to provide you (and anyone else involved in planning your wedding) with a comprehensive wedding directory service with loads of wedding services local to you along with the added bonus of positive recommendations. Wedding planning can be stressful (definitely been there and done that!) and we aim to make it that little bit easier with real customer testimonials giving the inside scoop on literally, everything wedding!

*Married couples…until you’ve been married I really don’t think you can appreciate the need to talk about your wedding day at every possibly opportunity! First there’s the run up to it…MEGA exciting! Then there’s the day itself…amazing is an understatement, then there’s the honeymoon, when you get your photographs, oh and then when you get your album, and let’s not forget your first anniversary…it’s fab! I know I still jump at the chance of talking about my wedding (10 months ago), amazing, amazing, AMAZING!!

YWU lets you gush away to all of the UK about the best day of your life thanks to the amazing suppliers you used.  We would love to hear from you and writing a recommendation couldn’t be easier, you will need to sign up but…it’s free! We simply need to know about your fabulous suppliers from venues to florists, photographers to bridal shops, suit hire to bridesmaid dresses, wedding jewellery to wedding blogs, dove release to fireworks…everything and anything wedding! If the service you want to recommend isn’t featured, no problem!  Click ‘suggest a business’ and we’ll add it ready for you to recommend away. The great thing is, ANYONE can write a recommendation whether you were the bride or groom, bridesmaid or best man, mother of the bride/groom or even a guest, we’d love to hear from you.

*You fabulous wedding suppliers…You help make these amazing weddings happen, here’s where we repay you! We want to provide local wedding vendors across the UK with a platform to showcase your services. Get a full page dedicated to you and only you, and let your customers shout from the rooftops how you helped make their big day.  We’re a recommendation directory and your customers can tell everyone about you and why they would recommend you. Word of mouth truly does speak for itself! There’s a 2 month free trial for wedding suppliers where you can showcase your fab service or product for free to all our brides-to-be! Click log in on the home page to begin creating a listing.

How do brides and married couples use the recommendation directory?

The recommendation directory service is also free to brides-to-be and anyone involved in planning a wedding, who would like to find fabulous suppliers to make their dream wedding!

It’s also free to married couples who would like to rave about their big day by writing recommendations about the suppliers who contributed to the best day of their lives!

ANYONE who has been involved in or attended a wedding can write recommendations.

It’s great to get different perspectives from brides, grooms, bridesmaids, best men, ushers, mother of the bride/groom, guests…EVERYONE! Click log in, enter your details and voila! You’re signed up to browse and recommend as much as you like.

Where can brides, ‘recommenders’ and wedding suppliers find you?

We’re based in the North East but thanks to the powers of the World Wide Web, our site is everywhere!

www.yourweddingunveiled.co.uk

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube:

By Gina is also listed on our site! Write recommendations for her and her amazing wedding planning services, stationery or jewellery products and designs here: http://www.yourweddingunveiled.co.uk/business/tynemouth-by-gina-events

A few weeks ago I decided to write a very short survey to find out what brides to be think about wedding planners. I thought by finding out what the general public’s views are then I would be able to overcome any objections anyone would have to using a planner and convince people that we do not all have cloven hooves!  I was in no way prepared for the comments I received!

Firstly I asked ‘If you don’t have a wedding planner, why not?’

• 36% answered that they think wedding planners are too expensive
• 24% said that they thought a wedding planner would take over
• 40% said they would prefer to do it themselves

Then I asked ‘What would make you change a mind about hiring a wedding planner?’ This was a free form box where people could write their own comments – the following are some of the more interesting ones.

• Reasonable price at an already expensive time
• A greater presence of wedding planners in books and on the internet on self help sites. Removing the stigma of wedding planners being terribly expensive.
• Cheaper rates, someone who could source vintage.
• Cost and knowing more about what they actually do
• I kind of get one with my venue. If they could help more with ideas and styling not just sourcing.
• If I could get involved too – like a collaborative approach!
• Not sure would be concerned people think it pretentious of me to use one

Now that I have an idea of how people outside of the wedding industry view wedding planners, I’m going to take the opportunity to dispel some of the myths and ensure that future brides to be know the truth about how I work.

I work ethically and always with the couples best interests at heart. There are no hidden charges and I do not accept commission from suppliers. If I’m offered commissions or discounts they are then passed on to the couple. I will agree my fees with the couple before they sign a contract. I also make a bold statement; I will save the couple more money than I charge them! So I DO NOT cost you any more than you were already planning on spending. By working this way, I always recommend the best suppliers based on the couples needs rather than others who choose who will pay them the most commission. I always make sure that the couple have an enjoyable planning experience and are stress free come the big day. I believe this is how all wedding planners should work and I know that the best ones do.

I’m here to understand and listen to the couple, not tell them what to do. I’m discreet and will be there when I’m needed and always available at the end of the phone.  I would never tell a couple what to do, it is their day and I’m here to make sure they have the day of their dreams. Having a wedding planner doesn’t mean you’re not organising your wedding yourself, it just means you have another person to ask for advice.  I’m sure most brides will ask family and friends for recommendations, opinions and help along with way….so having a wedding planner works in the same way.  Why is that pretentious? I think there is enough pressure on a couple when organising a wedding, so anything that can help is a good thing!

It was a freezing cold night in November and, as many will know this is not a rare occasion, I was sat with my laptop tweeting away on Twitter. There were a few of us trying to come up with ideas of how to make our millions. Now at this point I must say if you want to make millions for yourself do NOT copy what we have done! The lovely Phoebe Irving ( now Mrs Miller) suggested we go a calendar aka The Calendar Girls. Of course everyone laughed and said what fun it would be but we should do it for charity (this is where the flaw comes in) and soon we have 12 people saying count me in as a model, 1 for each month perfect. Now, as we were all having a laugh, little did the other know I was sitting thinking I could make this happen….we should do this…..it would be such an amazing opportunity!

I can’t even remember how it happened…did I volunteer, did someone suggest me, or was it just a natural progression…but I was somehow now organising this calendar with Jo from Sprae PR! We could never have imagined what was coming over the next few days, before that night was out I was already receiving emails from photographers and other models wanting to get involved. By the end of the week we had over 300 emails from venues to photographers, models to cake makers everyone wanted to be involved! Jo and I had no idea what we had just let ourselves in for…..

In the next couple of weeks we got our own email set up twittergirls@hotmail.co.uk, a website www.tweetgirls.co.uk and started planning how we were going to incorporate everyone as they were spread over the whole of the UK!

The next few weeks were a frenzy of emails to try and get the venues and dates sorted out for the photo shoots. And by mid December we had all 4 sorted! Walworth Castle in Darlington, Woodhall Manor in Suffolk, Langley Priory in Derbyshire and Charlton House in Somerset. The dates were for the last week of February and 1st week in March! And I was going to them all!!! 2000 miles in 8 days…..but I was so excited!

Once the venues and date were sorted it was time to pick or 4 photographers out of the 80 that had offered their services! It was not an easy task I tell you! But the 4 we went for were Amethyst Photography, Sara Thomas Photography, Chris Lynn Photography and TP Photography.

The next task was telling all the models the dates and venues and finding out who could go where! I think this is when the reality of what we were doing sunk in……a lot of the models who had volunteered started to find lots of reasons not to come! We knew it would happen and I know, as one if the models, what the nerves were like! But we still had loads of willing volunteers.

Over the next 2 months on the run up to the shoots it was a busy time trying to organise all the props we needed. As the models were to be shot in underwear, the lack of the stuff was not helpful! It took all of my charm (don’t laugh) to talk 3 companies into supplying us lingerie. Elizabeth Wells, Lembrassa and Simply Yours were the amazing people who helped us out!

So chapter 2 is to follow soon and will be all about the 4 days of shooting! Be prepared……

the more they pay the better quality of service they get??? Do they think if they are on a budget they have to compromise on quality???

I really don’t believe this is how it works. I think there are lots of things you have to look at. Certain products and services are judged on your own individual taste…..a cake design you love may be hated by others and a wedding photographer you love may not shoot in the style someone else loves. So you book a photographer at £3000 just becauase you think they must be good if they can charge that price, that is not value for money. You book one for £1500  because you love what they do, who is to say they are not as good a photographer!

The same with jewellery, someone who makes jewellery at home has a lot less overheads than someone who has a workshop or a boutique. Is it fair to say their products are not as good as the others because they can charge less?

A bride walks into her ceremony and everyone is oohing and ahhing over their dress…how many people know if the dress cost £100 or £10,000??? As long as the person it it feels like a million dollars who cares! As a kid I was always in non named clothes. I wanted a pear of Levi 501′s. I went on and on about them and saved my pocket money for ages….when I finally got them they didn’t fit me right and didn’t look half as good as the jeans I had been wearing that costs a fraction of the price! No one can see the label in your dress…so don’t choose it for the designer, choose it for the design!

I have seen some amazing weddings put together on a shoestring budget and I have also witnessed some terrible ones where money was no object! I believe that you have the ability to make your day what you want no matter what budget you have and you don’t need to compromise on quality to do it. There are so many wedding suppliers out there that charge fair rates and don’t expect you to pay for a name, just their excellent service!

The point I am trying to make is that it doesn’t matter what an item costs in money…it matters that you love it! Don’t go for the more expensive option just because you think it must be better, but then on the flip side if you think it is worth the price tag then get it! It is all down to what you love…it is your wedding day and you are the two people that matter the most.