Archive for November, 2009
Wedding Genie News
Friday, November 27th, 2009
We are delighted to be featured in the latest West Midlands Your Wedding Magazine, December/January, and they called us “Absolute Genius” Check out page 10. Its all about our Genie for An Evening Service. Kick start your wedding planning for the new year.
Its been a really busy week, our newsletter is nearly ready for release. This month its all about how to start wedding planning. To subscribe just fill in your email address at the top of any page on our website and we will send it straight off to your in box.
Also we are really pleased to be mentioned in Claire Evans blog. Claire is a fabulous photographer in Lichfield. We hope to work together very soon, check out my blog next week to find out all about her.
Over the next couple of weeks we have some fabulous suppliers, tips on choosing your venues and much more. Our job is to help you start the new year calm and organised with plenty of inspiration.
To check our availability for A Genie for An Evening give us a call. Even if you just want us to answer a question email or contact us and we will be happy to help.
Until next time, happy planning.
Tags: News & Media
Posted in News & Media | 1 Comment »
Wedding Genie Winter Offer – 20% Discount!!
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
In the run up to Christmas life is extremely busy, and for couples getting married next year the time is whizzing by. The festive season is expensive both in terms of time and money so your wedding planning may be taking a bit of a back seat. Before you know it the new year will be upon us and if you are getting married in the spring time you may be a little stressed knowing your wedding is this year not next! If you are still looking for suppliers, venues or just need a helping hand to get back on track or even start your wedding planning, we are delighted to help with the launch of our seasonal special offer.
For all services booked before the end of January 2010 we are offering a 20% discount. This means that you can save up to £600 on Full wedding planning, £70 for On the Day Coordination and £25.00 on our Genie for an Evening. We offer various services in between, the offer applies to everything we quote you for.
No matter what type of help you need, we can make your budget work harder, help you relax and enjoy your wedding planning journey. We can guide you without taking over, inspire and support you.
Why not give us a call to chat about what type of help we can offer. We would love to hear from you. Get your wedding plans back on track, relax and enjoy the new year.
Tags: Offers, Planning
Posted in Wedding Planning | No Comments »
Stylish and Useful – Silk Velvet Bags
Friday, November 20th, 2009
I could not resist sharing this gorgeous find with you. These range of velvet bags are so stylish, reasonably priced and useful. They would make great presents for your bridesmaids or yourself. Because they are available in different sizes, they can be used for either jewellery or cosmetics or both.
The bags also come in deep red, and damson colours. The prices range from £15.00 to £22.00. If you decide to buy jewellery for your bridesmaids its a lovely way to present it to them. Of course they can always use them for the evening too. For winter weddings the deep warm colours and velvet texture works a treat.
Check out the website www.sibona.com
Until next time, happy planning.
Tags: Bridesmaids, Lovely things!
Posted in Lovely things!, Style, Tips & Advice | No Comments »
Wedding Planning under control for Christmas & The New Year – and New Suppliers
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
If like me you love to be ultra organised for the new year, then now is a great time to take stock and tick off a few of your wedding tasks ready for 2010. We have been busy helping our couples this week by giving them “To Do Lists” to check that they have everything under control. Sometimes couples get so overwhelmed with information they get lost in the maze of what to do next. Its great to have someone oversee your plans and give you a helping hand in the form of bite sized chunks of wedding planning. Our lists say who has to do what and by what date. Doing this keeps you focused on your priorities and what needs to be done so that you can enjoy a stressfree christmas. Our brides can wake up in the New Year knowing they are on track and really looking forward to their wedding planning. Our Genie Hours take care of this, purchase a couple of hours to get you organised.
I am a great believer in splitting wedding planning up into bite sized chunks! That way you don’t get weighed down with the sheer amount of things to do. If your wedding is in the spring and you want a quick helping hand to check you are on track then give us a call and book a Genie for An Evening. Its guaranteed to help you work out whats left to do so you can have fun over Christmas. Its a great way of using a wedding planner just when you want one and need it the most.
Here at The Wedding Genie we love to hunt out fabulous suppliers with the same attention to detail and customer service that we provide. This week I found two lovely ladies who I am really looking forward to working with in the future. Look out for our blog over the next couple of weeks and you will see them featured.
Until then here is a great find I made whilst researching for an elegant black and white themed wedding. Its a company called Crystal Tree who hire out the most exquisite centre pieces. The tress are made up of sparkling crystals hanging from the branches of a tree. They have candles within them to light in the evening. Use them as centre pieces or as message trees for your guests to hang their good luck message cards on.
In the evening they would create the most beautiful ambiance. They could also light up a dark corner in your venue.
If you want to check our availability and book a couple of hours of our time just call or email us and we will be delighted to help you.
Until next time, happy planning.
Tags: Planning, Supplier, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Lovely things!, Style, Tips & Advice | No Comments »
Fab Ideas for Xmas Weddings – Drink & Be Merry
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Today is our last blog on tips for Xmas weddings and what better subject to end on than warming festive drinks! Its a great idea to serve your guests nibbles and drinks whilst you are busy having your photographs taken.
If the weather is particularly cold and your guests have had to come from the church or travel to your reception what better way to welcome them by giving them a warming scrumptious drink. My favourite is mulled wine. When the winter nights draw in and it starts to get cold there is something really indulgent about drinking mulled wine in front of a roaring fire with Christmas tree lights sparkling.
Your caterer or venue provider can serve this drink, ask them to decorate it with cinnamon sticks, mandarin oranges and fresh apple. If you are providing the catering you can buy ready made mulled wine from Tesco or M&S or in fact any good department store. You can hire mulled wine kettles for around £19.50 for three days. Serve your mulled wine with warm mince pies.
Here is a recipe from which serves 24
2 x 75cl bottle of full bodies red wine, Bulgarian or cabernet sauvignon is ideal
1 Orange stuck with cloves and 2 oranges sliced
2 lemons sliced
6 level tablespoons granulated sugar or honey
2 inch cinnamon stick
2 level teaspoons fresh root ginger or ground ginger
2 tablespoons fruit liquer, such as contreau, Grand Marnier or Cherry brandy (optional)
Put all the ingredients in a saucepan with 2½ pints (1.5 litres) water then heat to simmering point, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Keep it barely at simmering point for at least 20 minutes – but do not boil or all the alcohol will evaporate.
This can be made in advance, then re-heated just before the party. Serve it warm in 24 sturdy wine glasses. This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas.
For children or adults that don’t drink how about serving up hot chocolate. Here is a Martha Stewart idea that is to die for. The mini donuts really finish it off.
Another great idea is to have a signature cocktail. You can choose your favourite drink or make up a cocktail just for your wedding day. Its fun and you can call it something that really reflects your personality. Take a look at Pink Frosting for great cocktail recipes such as Cranberry kick, Christmas pudding, this one I love Candy Cane Martini.
How about a blue cocktail for something blue?
This one is Russian standard vodka, De Kuyper Blue Curacao, equal measures of each topped up with lemonade and crushed ice.
Wow! am I dying for a glass of Mulled wine now. Well its the end of our Christmas tips for this week we really hope you have enjoyed them. We would love to hear your ideas and if you have a signature cocktail why not email it to us and we will post it on our blog.
Until next time, happy planning.
Tags: Christmas, Personal Touches, Planning, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Tips & Advice | No Comments »
Fab Ideas for Xmas Weddings – Deck the Halls
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Christmas has to be one of the most romantic times of the year to get married. It conjures up cosy warm evenings and roaring log fires with a candle lit atmosphere. Deep colour themes such as reds, greens and golds make the whole event warming, just a bit dramatic and exciting. Here are our tips and ideas for decorating your venue at this festive time.
Depending on your choice of venue you may already have the basics in place, such as Christmas trees and decorations so lets start with your centre pieces. Why not use bowls with fake snow in them filled with candles that match your colour theme. Buy christmas wreaths for the table centres. Add large church candles that will give your whole room a festive glow, then add extra pine cones sprayed silver or gold to match your colour theme.
Miniature Christmas trees made up in baubles, see below, look very classy and dramatic on the tables. Place them on round mirrors and dot votives with candles around them to light in the evening. Alternatively use mini Christmas trees as table decorations and add sparkly decorations to them.
How about using simple fur cones, cranberries and pine foliage in vases? You can buy really inexpensive vases from Ikea. Here are some examples below.
Poinsettia’s look lovely, you can use these for table centre pieces, alternate them on your tables in white and red. Decorate the pots with ribbons. They are readily available and inexpensive. At the end of the evening they can be given to your guests as presents to take home.
Here is fab video guiding you through every step of making beautiful centre pieces
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-a-christmas-centerpiece
If you still have not been able to get in the christmas groove on the decoration front, check out the examples below to give you more inspiration.
www.wedding-flowers-and-reception-ideas.com
Not everyone wants to use red and green so if you choose an elegant white wedding theme, here are some ideas for you.
www.favorideas.com
Here are a few more ideas for inspiration
- Use Christmas crackers around the reception area in baskets for children to pull as well as adults.
- Use baskets of pine cones sprayed silver and gold. They make really inexpensive lovely decorations and smell gorgeous too.
- Why not give your guests sparklers to light as you enter the wedding breakfast, or to light later outside if you are having fireworks?
- If you are having cup cakes for your wedding, you could stick sparklers in the cakes and have them lit as they are served.
- Vases of twigs can be used as decorations, spray the twigs gold or silver. Wind fairy lights around them to make them look extra stylish.
- Small pots of cyclamen plants arranged in sets of three in baskets filled with moss and decorated with ivy make great centre pieces.
- Hurricane lamps with candles buried in sand decorated with ivy and berries.
- Use red or green table cloths to match your theme, or table runners on white cloths.
- Red and green ribbons look gorgeous tied to pillars and chairs.
- Your wedding presents can be displayed underneath the christmas tree if its safe in the venue.
- Drape mistletoe around the venue for couples to catch a quick kiss under.
I would love to hear what you have planned for your Christmas wedding, send me your ideas and I will feature them on our blog. Christmas is fast approaching and if your wedding is getting stressful why not give us a call and we can help you over the last hurdles or help coordinate your day so you can enjoy every minute of your planning. Its not too late!
Until tomorrow, our last xmas ideas blog this week! Don’t miss it, its all about xmas nibbles and drinks.
Tags: Christmas, Planning, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Style, Tips & Advice | No Comments »
Fab Ideas for Xmas Weddings – Xmas Favours
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
If you are looking for wedding favours with a christmas flavour at a great price, how about using Christmas decorations? Tie labels on to them and double them up as place name cards too. Good old M&S have some really lovely ones at £1.00 each and some of them are on the offer 3 for 2. Your guests can take them home and hang them on their tree as a keepsake from your wedding.
You can use them singly or tie a few together that match your colour theme. Another idea is to pop them in mini santa stockings with cute labels.
If you are getting married next year, then you can pick up great bargains in the January sales and stock up.
Here are is an example from Marks and Spencers
If you want to send me your tips for favours we would love to hear from you.
Until tomorrow, its all about decorating, happy planning.
Tags: Christmas, Personal Touches, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Tips & Advice | No Comments »
Fab Ideas for Xmas Weddings – Candle, Scents & romance
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Candles are the perfect accessory for creating the most romantic ambiance. Candle light makes you feel dreamy and makes for an intimate atmosphere. If you can throw in authentic christmas smells such as cinnamon, cloves, frankincense and myrrh, it will create a real Christmasy feel to the occasion.
Great smelling candles can be expensive but there are some real bargains around at the moment. Try M&S who are selling their gorgeous Mandarin, clove & cinnamon home candles, three for the price of two. You can team them with the matching pot pourri arranged in bowls dotted around the reception.
Another idea is to collect pine cones, pop them ito a plastic bag. Drop some essential oils, such as Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Sweet Orange, Pine a or Fir onto cotton wool, pop into the bag, shake, and leave over night. The next day you will have the most lovely smelling pine cones which you can display in bowls and vases around your reception. Try www.quinessence.com for the oils.
To add to the atmosphere place lots of tea lights around the room. These can be purchased very cheaply from Ikea, along with church candles of different heights which you can place on mirrors to reflect the light. Fairy lights look great under voile on cake tables to accent your cake, or on your top table.
If you really want to finish the look and add to the scent sensation you can use mandarin oranges as pomanders. Roll them in orange & cinnamon essential oils. Make small holes in the orange with a needle, then push cloves into the skins.You can cover them all over or make pretty patterns if you have the time. Arrange them in bowls where your guests are likely to be. Not only do they look great but the smell will be gorgeous.
Looks very festive!
Until tomorrow, its all about Christmas favours, happy planning.
Tags: Christmas, Planning, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Tips & Advice | No Comments »
Fab Ideas for Xmas Weddings – Fab Xmas cakes!
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Dare I say it Christmas is approaching fast. The nights are drawing in and all you want to do is curl up in front of a roaring fire and sip mulled wine.
I thought I would give you five tips and ideas to make your wedding stand out this christmas. They will be posted on our blog over the next week so check it out, we have some great ideas for all things xmas!
As you can see from the picture today its all about cake! We love cake at The Wedding Genie and I came across these absolutely gorgeous cup cakes at Blue Door Bakery, Sarah makes the most wonderful creations. I just could not resist sharing them with you.
Your guests will love this idea, you can serve them as a dessert to cut down costs. Alternatively they could double up as favours which you could attach christmas labels to. Pop them in some see- through square cake cases packed with a sprig of holly. There are various flavours, including chocolate and mulled wine, scrumptious.
These are just mouth watering, and if you have a silver winter theme they will be the perfect match.
Pop them in these type of boxes if you want to use them as a favour.
If you want to email me your top tips we will post them on our blog.
Until tomorrow with another Christmas Top Tip, happy planning.
Tags: Christmas, Lovely things!, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Tips & Advice, Wedding Cakes | 2 Comments »
Table Plans Made Easy
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Wedding planning can be fun but at times very stressful. I am sure, that for most couples, drawing up the table plan belongs to the stressful category. But remember there are no hard and fast rules you have to stick to, unless you want to of course. Today’s blog aims to give you tips and ideas to help you enjoy the whole experience and to hopefully make the whole process easier.
The Table Layout
Before you decide on where to sit your guests you should start with how to arrange the actual tables. This may be dictated by the size and shape of your reception room, and the style of your wedding. The top table which traditionally sits the Bride and Groom, their Mums and Dads, Best man and Chief Bridesmaid can be oblong , round or even horse shoe shaped. It’s really up to you how you want it to be. A good idea is to talk to the venue coordinator for advice. They will generally have printouts of possible table plans that best suit their venue. Regarding who sits at the top table is again your choice, but it is quite unusual not to have your parents sitting with you. If your parents are divorced and remarried then this can make the decision extremely hard on who sits where. In this case I would think about perhaps having a table set up just for the two of you. That way no one is offended and you can seat your Parents, Best man, Chief Bridesmaids etc close to you. I have to say I rather like this idea. Its often hard to get your new husband by himself for any part of the wedding day and to have him to yourself throughout the wedding breakfast really appeals to me, but I do advocate having a wedding you want and not the one everyone wants you to have.
If your venue has individual rooms and your guests are seated over two or three small rooms with adjoining doors, an idea for you is to table hop so you can spend time in each room. One of our weddings in the summer had a room layout just like this and the Bride and Groom moved room with each different food course. They swapped seats with two guests who went to sit on the top table for a food course. It worked very well and it gave the chance for relatives who don’t see the family often to spend time with the immediate family on the top table. Another way of doing this is to have a small table for you and your husband set up in each room to table hop to. One last consideration with table layout is how many people to seat on each table. Again this depends on the size of the room but ideally for an average size wedding eight or ten people works well.
Whot to Sit and Where?
Seat your guests in the way that suits you! Nearly all the guests you invite to your wedding you should know quite well. This will give you a good idea of who to sit with whom, and to take into account their different opinions and personalities. If some of your relatives are distant ask your Mum for advice, she will know them. Below is a list of things to think about that you may find helpful.
- Sit families with their children unless there are specific childrens tables.
- Keep exes apart and people who actively don’t like each other.
- Try and make sure at least one person knows another person on a table.
- If you have singles its ok to sit them together. Weddings are a great place to meet people. As before, try and ensure each person knows at least one more person on the table. My own wedding for instance had eight single girls. Rather than split them up with couples they all wanted to stit together and had a great time.
- If there is a lot of children at the wedding, its a good idea to have their own table if they are old enough to sit alone. Putting them in the same age group works well too.
- Try and ensure elderly and disabled people are close to accessible exits.
- Its also helpful to consider people with different religious and political beliefs.
- Sit male and females alterntively on round tables and opposite each other on oblong tables.
Remember its your wedding and you can help your guests mingle. You can set the atmosphere but it is up to your guests to enjoy themselves. Do what makes you and your guests most comfortable.
How to Make the Table Plan?
A good way is to get a big piece of paper, plain wallpaper works really well, draw round cups or bowls to denote your tables. Write each guests name on a sticky note and them place them round the tables. That way you can move them around as you see fit.
If you are computer savvy I love the idea of using a software package that is cheap, easy and fun to use. I am quite a fan of TopTablePlanner. For the price of £10.00 you get a login to the software for six months. Its secure, you can access it anywhere you like, and even print out the finished table plan to give to your stationer and venue coordinator.
The software allows you to choose the type of table, the quantity and amount of people on each table. You can even put objects in the room such as a bar and your cake table. Adding guests could not be simpler, either import them using excel or word, alternatively manually enter them yourself. Its a great way of keeping track of your RSVP’s and even lets you note vegetarians or different options of menu choice. TopTablePlanner adds up your guest list, splits them into male, female and children, and if you have told the software, shows you how many guests have still not RSVP’d. Take a look at their website and download a free software package to see if you like it.
Anything that makes life easier and is fun to use is a plus in my book. Its also incredibly cost effective when you think of what you can spend on for your wedding.
Well dare I say it but Christmas is approaching fast, and I am beginning to feel the festive spirit. Next week our blogs feature tips and ideas for Christmas weddings. Be on the look out we are going to post every day for an extra treat.
If you want to send me your ideas and tips for anything Christmas I will feature them on our blog.
Until then happy planning.
Tags: Planning, Supplier, Tips & Advice
Posted in Inspiration, Tips & Advice, Wedding Planning | No Comments »
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