How to Plan Like a Royal

If anyone has seen recent news about the Royal Wedding there's little doubt that it has been planned with military precision. Even the arrival of the guests is planned by the minute to accommodate road closures, Royal protocol and security issues. Catherine and William's big day looks something like this, as reported on bbbc.co.uk/news

• Between 0815 and 0945 - The general congregation will arrive at the Great North Door of Westminster Abbey.
• From 0950 - Prime ministers and governors-general of various Commonwealth countries, the diplomatic corps and other guests arrive at the Abbey.
• 1010 - Prince William and Prince Harry leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey.
• 1015 - Prince William and Prince Harry arrive at the Abbey.
• 1020 - Members of foreign royal families arrive at Westminster Abbey from Buckingham Palace.
• 1020 - Kate Middleton's mother, Carole, and brother, James, leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.
• 1025 - Minor members of the Royal Family leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.
• 1035 - The Duke of York and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, leave for Westminster Abbey along with the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence.
• 1038 - The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey.
• 1040 - The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.
• 1048 - The bridesmaids and pages leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.
• 1051 - The bride, accompanied by her father Michael, leaves the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.
• 1100 - The marriage service begins and is relayed by speakers along the route.
• 1215 - The carriage procession of the bride and bridegroom with a captain's escort of the Household Cavalry, followed by the Queen's procession with a sovereign's escort of the Household Cavalry, leaves Westminster Abbey for Buckingham Palace.
• 1230 - The bride's carriage procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.
• 1240 - Members of the Royal Family and members of foreign royal families arrive at Buckingham Palace.
• 1325 - The Queen and the bride and bridegroom, together with their families, appear on the balcony.
• 1330 - Fly-past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

So how is this relevant to a "normal" Bride and Groom? Actually there's a few tips that anyone planning a wedding can follow. It is well worth considering the exact timings of the day even for a small wedding. This is vital to ensure that the day runs smoothly and everyone involved knows what needs to be done and when. Our How 2 I Do Wedding Planning Workshops offer an interactive timescale planning tool that allows you to track the timings for your day and to also delegate responsibility for certain areas to key members of your wedding party. We have received great feedback about how useful this tool is to ensure that everything goes to plan.

Here's a few more great tips from How 2 I Do on how to Marry like a Royal...

• Make sure that as the Bride or Groom you are not responsible for doing anything on the day - delegate tasks to your Best Man, ushers and Bridesmaids and make sure they have contact details for key suppliers
• The Royal Wedding may be rainy. Have a clear contingency plan for wet weather such as big umbrellas and an indoor photo and drinks reception location
• Plan timings with precision and make sure you know how long it will take to drive to the wedding venues, how long the speeches will be and how long the photos will take
• You may not be marrying a real Prince but make sure you feel like a Princess and be sure to have all of your beauty essentials on hand to be "close up" ready at all times
• You don't need to follow Royal protocol but brush up on Wedding etiquette such as how the top table should be laid out and in which order the speeches should take place (Father of the Bride, Groom and then Best Man)
• Why not take inspiration and go for a Cool Britannia theme with lots of Union Jack Bunting and a street party style reception
• Prince William will be having a special chocolate biscuit cake so why have fruit cake if you don't like it or for more variety have tiers with different cake flavours
• Kate Middleton has a very individual look and likes to be perfectly groomed and stylish rather than cutting edge fashionable. Make sure that your wedding look reflects your personal style so that you are a highly groomed version of yourself.

For more planning help, why not come to one of our Wedding Planning Workshops. We have two new dates available in June and July and 20% off if you book this month. Visit us at www.how2ido.co.uk/workshops for more information.

News from our April Wedding Planning Workshop

Our first How 2 I Do Wedding Planning Workshop took place today and it was a great success. Our Brides and Groom to be arrived at the fabulous Avon Gorge Hotel (http://www.theavongorge.com/) and were welcomed with pastries and cool drinks as we overlooked the amazing sun baked terrace. We started with some introductions and then went on to look at where to begin planning.

Our next step was trying out the interactive budgeting tool, which everyone thought was really useful. Our money saving tips were also well received by all. We demonstrated our handy timescale planning tool, which allows you to know what needs to be organised and when it should be completed. It can also be used for timings on the Big Day. All of these tools are in the Wedding Planning pack that everyone can take home to store their planning documents in, along with a printed 21 page summary of the day and a pen.

Next we did a fun exercise to help pick a wedding theme. To do this we looked through wedding magazines and cut out any pictures that we liked and stuck them on to paper to make a mood board. Melissa made a great classic board with lots of creams and a retro feel, while Francesca opted for lots of blues and silvers. Here's one we made earlier...

After making our mood boards we looked at choosing venues and gave everyone some great ideas for venues that they had not heard about before such as the Clifton Lido. After a break for some tea, coffee and sunshine we covered entertainment ideas, food and drink, picking photographers, ceremony legalities, roles and responsibilities and had a question and answer session.

Francesca who took part in the workshop with her Fiance Jeff said "I thought the workshop was extremely informative, fun and creative. It calmed me and my fiance down about the whole wedding experience. I will be spreading the word. Thank you very much. You made us feel special about our special day."

Melissa who is planning to get married in either 2012 or 2013 said "The whole afternoon was very informative and useful. I now feel confident to begin planning my Wedding. Stephanie has some great ideas and was able to answer any queries I had. I would recommend this workshop to anyone starting out planning their wedding."

If you would like to come along to our next workshop, visit us at http://www.how2ido.co.uk/ for more information.

The Avon Gorge Hotel is liscenced for Civil Ceremonies and has two inter-connecting reception rooms downstairs that have direct access to the Terrace with it's stunning views on the Clifton Suspension Bridge. There is also a larger room upstairs with its own bar.

Where to Start Planning your Day

So you're engaged...Congratulations! I bet you can't wait to start all the fun stuff like looking at dresses and venues, but hang on there a moment because there's a few things you should do first if you want everything to go to plan.

The first thing you need to do is think about roughly when you want to get married and decide whether it's in 6 months or 6 years and whether it's in Summer, Winter, Spring or Autumn. Next you need to make a list of everyone you would ideally like to invite and get a ballpark figure as planning a wedding for 50 people is a very different matter to one for 150.

So, you've decided to get married in May next year and invite about 60 guests. What comes next? You really need to pin down your budget at this point as this will dictate all of your planning. To do this you need to look at funding options from savings to loans and help from families. Try not to overstretch yourselves as you may have the day of your dreams, but you really don't want to still be paying for it when you have been married a few years and need to save for other big purchases like buying a house or kitting out a nursery.

Once you have a budget figure you can work out what you can afford for your venue as this and your food will be your largest areas of spending. You can find venues online, in wedding magazines and from recommendations from friends. Make a shortlist and visit three or four before committing to your final choice. Make sure to take a list of questions to ask the venue and don't be afraid to haggle over prices.

If you have a tight budget there's loads of areas where you can reduce your spending and our How 2 I Do wedding planning workshops are full of tips and ideas to keep your budget on track. Here's a few we've decided to share with you, because we're nice like that...

• Ask your guests to donate towards your honeymoon for your wedding gift
• Instead of a toastmaster ask your Best Man or venue Wedding Coordinator to make announcements
• Ask your married friends to lend you a veil as your something borrowed as they can cost hundreds to buy and you will only wear it for a few hours
• Use flowers that are in season or grown your own to keep costs down
• Use film students via http://www.schoolyweds.com/ to film your wedding video and you'll get future talent at affordable prices

For more tips and planning help book a How 2 I Do wedding planning workshop at http://www.how2ido.co.uk/

For Better or Worse - Contingency Planning

Weddings are a fun and joyous occasion so it's easy to plan for the good things that come with getting married. But what if something goes wrong just before your wedding or on the day itself? Even though it seems a bit depressing to think about, it's always a good idea to have a plan B.

For a start it you are getting married in Britain, it makes sense to have a wet weather plan. Ideally you will have all of your photos outside in bright sunshine, but if it does rain all day and let's face it with recent summers there's a good chance it could, where will you go? It's a great idea to speak to your venue and photographer in advance about wet weather plans. Scout some indoor or covered locations that you could use in the rain and make sure if you are planning an outdoor drinks reception that the venue has indoor space available too. Make sure to buy a few big golf umbrellas just in case. I've seen some great wet weather photos taken of Brides in wellies under huge brollies.

When you book suppliers, ask them what would happen if they are ill on the day. Many good photographers for example will have a network of other photographers that they would call on if they couldn't attend your day. It's a great idea to give a list of suppliers names and contact numbers to your best man or wedding coordinator on the day and then if someone doesn't turn up, they can start ringing them asap without bothering you.

It also pays to check simple details like can the stretch limo you have booked make it down the narrow one track country lane to your remote country house or can your 16th century venue support your DJ's amps and lighting rig draining all of their power without plunging the whole room into darkness.

Wedding insurance is essential and it will protect you from supplier problems and also the more unthinkable problems like having to call things off at the last minute due to ill health of the Bride, Groom or immediate family member. Apart from that the best thing is to confirm all of the details with suppliers before the wedding, make sure you have contracts with all of your suppliers and ensure that everyone know where they should be and when on the big day.

Don't let worrying about things going wrong ruin the day, especially the small stuff like your flowers matching your table diamonds, but do spend a bit of time thinking about what you would do if any or the big parts of your day like the weather, venue, cars, photographer or caterer let you down at the last minute.

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