Win a Fabulous Wedding Prize

If you’re getting Married I'm sure you have been spending lots of money on things for your Big Day. Well finally here’s your chance to get something exciting for your wedding totally free and with very little effort involved. Read on to find out how to win one of our great Wedding related Prizes from How 2 I Do. 

This great promotion begins at 9am on Friday 1st July, 2011 

Entering couldn’t be simpler. All you you need to do is first “Like” our How 2 I Do Facebook page (if you already like it then it's even simpler) and then just write a brief message on our wall. You can find Our Facebook Page here.

Your message must begin with the words “I love How 2 I Do because…” so that we know it’s a competition entry and then simply add your own brief personal message afterwards. You can write whatever you like. Perhaps tell us how we can help you plan your Big Day or why you deserve a fabulous Wedding freebie.

For example “I love How 2 I Do because they make wedding planning easy and stress free”

Anyone who completes this task between 9am on the 1^st July and 5pm on Friday 16th July will be in with a chance to win one of these amazing prizes, which will be allocated throughout this period at random. Only one entry per person is permitted, but a couple can each enter separately, so get your Grooms involved too to double your chances.

The 10 amazing Prizes on offer, which are worth over £400 are…

One How 2 I Do Gift Voucher for 2 Wedding Planning Workshop Places worth £60.00 (to be used on any Bristol How 2 I Do Workshop – subject to availability)

Three How 2 I Do Workshop places for our Sunday 31^st July Bristol Workshop, each for 2 people worth £60.00 per couple. This Wedding Planning Workshop is at the Avon Gorge Hotel in Clifton, Bristol from 1:30pm to 4:30pm

One stunning Swarovski crystal and faux pearl tiara from www.PrincessBridetiaras.com worth £50.00

Two interactive wedding planning tool discs worth £10.00 each, shown here as part of our Planning Pack (the full pack is not included in this promotion, but is provided as part of the workshop). The discs include our budget allocation and monitoring tool and our planning timescale tools.

Three Free Wedding Photo Sharing Accounts with Share My Wedding worth £12.50 each to allow all of your wedding guests to upload their photos for you to view. Read more about Share My Wedding here.

Please note that there is no cash alternative to these prizes. This promotion ends on the 16th July 2011. You can Learn more about the Workshop and Planning Tool Prizes at our How 2 I Do website.

So make your way over to our Facebook page now, click on “Like” and write your message. We’ll post a comment under any winning messages telling you which prize you have won. If you have won something, just email us with your contact details and we'll send you your prize.

Good luck from How 2 I Do - See you on our Facebook page

How Wedding Planning Workshops Can Help You

Wedding Workshops are a relatively new concept, but one that is fast growing across the UK and America. They are specifically designed to bridge the gap between the DIY Bride and the Professional Wedding Planner. Most workshops offer affordable group planning help and inspiration in a simple format that allows Brides, Grooms and anyone else involved in the planning to come along and learn all of the basics in a few hours.

I think this concept is going to grow and grow and will in a few years become second nature to newly engaged couples. Much like attending ante-natal classes to prepare for the arrival of a new baby, which allows you to learn everything in a short space of time in a supportive group environment as opposed to spending hours looking online and in endless books.

It has been estimated that planning a wedding takes 250 hours. On top of this planning a wedding requires diligent research, patience, extreme diplomacy, super organisational skills and a good understanding of finance to keep everything on track. Wedding Planning Workshops can cut down this planning time drastically because the bulk of research has been done for you and you are provided with a concise set of options.

The other key advantage of a wedding workshop is that the facilitator will share all of their skills and experience with you as well as offering tips, inspiration and tools to organise and simplify the planning process. Our How 2 I Do Wedding Planning Workshops run regularly in Bristol and show couples firstly all of the elements that go into planning a wedding and then timescales of when they need to be completed by.

We then move on to our interactive budgeting tool that shows you how to allocate out your budget to afford everything. This in combination with our money saving tips could knock thousands of a typical wedding budget and mean couples can sometimes afford their dream day with just a few simple compromises like making some elements themselves. More importantly we also tell people where not to cut their budget as some things such as photography should never be done yourself.

We also cover what to look for in a venue and key questions to ask when attending a viewing. Our planning pack provides a list of 30 great local venues in the Bristol and Somerset area. Our workshops also cover how to make your wedding really stand out by giving couples loads of options for entertainment and food and drink so they can try something other than the traditional 3 course meal and Church organist if they want a more individual approach.

Our couples also get a planning pack to take home that summarises the workshop and lists local suppliers. It can also be used to store their other planning documents. They also get a disc with the interactive planning tools to organise their budget and planning timescales. So if you want to find out more about How 2 I Do Wedding Planning Workshops then please contact me by email steph@how2ido.co.uk or give me a call on 07725 656682. Alternatively pop along to http://www.how2ido.co.uk/.

Steph

How to have Happy Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids are a big part of your Big Day. You probably have selected your closest friends or Sister or like me had some hard decisions to make about who your Bridesmaids are if you have an extended group of friends from childhood and University as well as family to consider. Unfortunately my budget didn't stretch to the full 11 adult bridesmaids so I opted for family and one friend who I had lived  with through University and up until we both moved in with our then Boyfriends and now Husbands.

Picking your Bridesmaids can be tricky but picking their dresses can be trickier still. Adult Bridesmaids will probably set you back about £200 to £250.00 each by the time you have bought a dress, shoes, a gift and a bouquet and that doesn't even cover any hair and make up. Of course you can do it a lot cheaper if you can find dresses on the high street or in sales. Great High Street options are Monsoon or Coast, which both have regular sales. This dove grey Kipp Dress from Monsoon is £110.00 from www.monsoon.co.uk and is very elegant with it's soft draping and embellished neck and waist.

With adult Bridesmaids it's nice to have a consistent theme or colour but to allow them to express some individuality. Also it's essential to consider that Bridesmaids come in different shapes and sizes and some may not feel comfortable in short, strapless or low cut. One great idea I have seen recently is an innovative design from Two Maids that means that all of your Bridesmaids can have the same dress but wear it in 15 totally different ways from strapless, backless, halter, cap sleeves or one shoulder.

These dresses can be bought in Bristol from the Mews, Clifton www.themewsclifton.co.uk. You can also buy a matching bandeau to go underneath for a more modest look, which is great for curvier girls. They even work on pregnant Bridesmaids too thanks to their flowing silk jersey design. They also make ties to match all of the colours for a complete look for the guys too. The Photos below courtesy of Two Birds at the Mews Clifton, show the full length dress with two of the 15 options.

If you are having little Bridesmaids Monsoon Girl has some lovely dresses like this Audrey Butterfly one for £46.00 show below. For Brides on a tighter budget it's worth checking out BHS for a range of coordinating dresses and little waistcoats and cravats for any page boys.

As it's the tradition in the UK that Bridesmaids don't pay for their dresses but get to keep them it's well worth getting them something that they will wear again.