Finding the perfect dress

When I got engaged I couldn't wait to go wedding dress shopping. Most women dream of the moment when they step out of the changing room in the perfect white gown. Picture the scene..you emerge from behind the elegant curtains to greet your Mother and best friends who are sat eagerly waiting for you. An awed silence transcends the room and you steal a shy glance at your Mum who is wiping away a tear, while your friends gush that your dress is "the one".

Well that's what I thought would happen, but unfortunately this never happened to me and, as far as I know, not that many of my friends have had this great thunderbolt moment. Instead I was massively confused by the fact that most wedding dresses look pretty special on and there were several I really liked. I visited four or five different wedding dress shops searching for "the one". They say most women end up buying the first dress they try on and I wonder if it's because it's the first time they have seen themselves in a wedding dress and been transported emotionally from fiancee to bride.

In the end I went for a Maggie Sottero dress because it was flattering, built on an amazing lace up corset and had enough features to make a style statement while still being feminine and bridal. It was the one for me, but still not "the one". In the end I absolutely loved my dress and I even got some tears out of my future Mother in Law when I modelled it for her in the shop.

For any of you about to begin this quest here are a few tips:

• Make appointments well in advance as most wedding dress shops are very busy, especially on Saturdays
• Take a couple of people with you who will be honest with you like you Mum, Sister of best friend
• Wear good underwear as you will need to be helped into the dresses by the shop staff
• Do your hair and makeup and try on veils and tiaras to get the whole bridal look
• Try on lots of different shapes and listen to the shop staff as some dresses will look nothing on the hanger but can be amazing on.
• If you are curvy, a dress built on a lace up corset will give you a great shape

So good luck brides in your quest for "the one". I hope that you find it and if you can find a dress you love that is also reasonably priced, then you're a better woman than me!!!

For more tips on planning your perfect wedding visit http://www.how2ido.co.uk/ to book a wedding planning workshop.

Weddings: Size matters!

When you get married it's great to share your wedding day with your friends and family, but before you casually mention your wedding to Bob from Accounts or your whole Sunday football team, it's important to think seriously about numbers.

The average UK wedding now costs in excess of £20,000 and a large proportion of that will be made up with your food and drink budget. You will need to allow approximately £50.00 per head for a day guest at your wedding. This should cover welcome drinks, food, wine, toast drinks and evening food. However, some upmarket venues may charge closer to this sum just for a three course dinner.

If you choose to invite all of your friends, everyone from work, friends from sports teams and your Parents friends you could easily reach 150 people. Before you know it that's £7500 just on food and drink alone and if your total budget is £10,000 it's not going to stretch to cover venue hire, entertainment, wedding clothing, ceremony fees, transportation, rings, accommodation and all of the other endless costs related to your wedding.

So how do you keep numbers in check? Firstly make a list of everyone you would like to invite and see what figure you reach. To have a wedding with a budget below £10000, you ideally want to keep to 50-60 day guests, with another 20 or so guests arriving for the disco.

Evening guests will only cost you the price of any evening food you arrange, normally around £10-15 per head and you can often only cater for 80% of guests for evening food as many will have eaten a big meal before they arrive.


If your list is on the larger side, you may have to be a bit ruthless to keep your budget on track. A good way to cut guests is to create some simple rules such as only inviting people that you have seen in the last year prior to getting engaged or only inviting work colleagues that you have socialised with outside of work.

Obviously family are a bit more complicated and you may need to discuss with your Parents who you need to invite. Perhaps stick to immediate family, Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts and first Cousins only. You may need to have some honest conversations with your Parents if they wish to invite twenty of their closest friends.

Another good trick is to think how you would feel if the person you are considering inviting got married and you weren't invited to their wedding. If you wouldn't be that bothered, the chances are that they won't mind not being invited to yours. What do you do if you try all of this and still have 200 people? Well you can always get married abroad and see if your Great Aunt Edna, twice removed still wants to come!

For more useful help planning your wedding, visit http://www.how2ido.co.uk/ to learn about our fun, affordable wedding planning workshops in Bristol