This Sunday Weddings by Rachel will be at the Eternity with Love wedding fayre at Wales Millennium Centre. As a special offer at the wedding fayre, we will be offering a 10% discounts for consultations and bookings made on the day!
We will also be offering great offers for Eternity With Love’s members!
Come and see us and have a chat about how we can work with you to create a bespoke, unique and personal day for you both within your budget, saving you money along the way!
Here are some top tips to having an amazing church wedding from Wedding Ideas!
Get in Touch Early
This isn’t just about getting your chosen date for your church wedding. Banns (a declaration of your marriage) have to be read in church for three Sundays before your day, and sometimes you might need a licence that can take time to get hold of. Before your wedding, your Vicar may also ask you to an event to help prepare you for married life. It’s a no-obligation invitation, but one that many couples appreciate.
Check your Connections
You need to have a connection to a church, like living in the parish, to marry there.
Get Visiting
Go along to a Sunday service if you don’t already. You can pick up useful tips for readings you might like to incorporate into your church wedding, and how to best use the space for floral arrangements and decoration.
Perfect Readings
You will need to have one reading from the bible in your service but otherwise the choice is yours. If you’re feeling creative, why not pen something yourself?
Heavenly Music
Churches have instruments like organs built for them that fill the space with sound. Consider using these alongside your chosen music to really make the most of the acoustics in the building.
Absent Friends
If you are missing an important person on your big day you could light a candle in their memory to burn during your service.
Nooks and Crannies
Look for beautiful detail in the church that you can enhance. Decorate window sills with candles or line an entrance arch with flowers for a real wow factor.
Learn your Words!
Ask the Vicar for a copy of the service words and vows. This makes a great keepsake, but will also allow you to practice, practice, practice before the big day!
A Musical Interlude
The signing of the register is the perfect opportunity for some different music. Most churches have CD players but perhaps you could ask a friend or family member to sing a favourite song that you have chosen?
Think about Parking
Most churches were built before parking for lots of cars was an issue! Check where your guests are most likely to find a space to avoid latecomers stressing out and interrupting the service.
To help pull together your perfect church wedding, contact Weddings by Rachel today!
At Weddings by Rachel we LOVE this ‘Dress to impress’ cookie idea as a gift for your bridesmaids or flower girls.
These ones are from Fancy Nancy in London.
Here are some great tips of finding and achieving your dream wedding theme! We’ve picked a couple of the more popular theme’s (and one’s we LOVE at Weddings by Rachel) to get you started!
Village fête
This works well in a village hall or marquee. Think of bunting and balloons and fabric hearts and garlands. Even add in a few deck chairs for good luck!
Go for trestle tables instead of round and make fabric runners for them. Use daisies, sunflowers and bluebells in jars that you’ve collected to help decorate.
You can even go as far as having your own cake stall or beer tent!
Art deco
Art Deco themes are still popular and to achieve this think of flapper girls, beads and fascinators and bow ties!
Go for blacks and whites on mirrored plates and aim for bold and dramatic with calla lilies, peacock feathers and Charleston music!
Winter Wonderland
Glitter balls, roses and mistletoe teamed with candles and fireplaces can help create a truly perfect winter wonderland themed wedding.
Serve mulled wine and mince pies and decorate with plenty of fairylights and sparkles!
Keep it cost effective with paper snowflakes and lots of Christmas baubles.
English country garden
Pimm’s on the lawn, strawberries and cream and a string quartet make the perfect English Country Garden wedding.
Use classic roses and peonies in vases and use lanterns to decorate gardens.
Fragrance is key here – use herb for favours and springs of rosemary as place settings!
Fairytale
Every little girl dreams of a fairytale wedding. Go all the way with a huge ball gown, elbow-length gloves and a horse and carriage.
Opt for a manor house venue and use plenty of roses. Hire a harpist to create the perfect fairytale atmosphere and have a wedding cake in the shape of a castle.
For help putting all of your dreams together, contact Weddings by Rachel today.
I came across the new Gemy Couture 2013 collection on Plan Your Perfect Wedding recently and wanted to share it with you .
There are some truly beautiful designs here. What are your thoughts?
Contact us for wedding planning support today.
At Weddings by Rachel we have been working closely with Llancayo House to put it on the wedding map. This beautiful little guest house in Usk has grounds for a marquee or smaller rooms for a more intimate wedding, and is currently undergoing licensing.
We will be working with them as the designated wedding coordinator to help every couple who are getting married there have the wedding of their dreams.
There are some fantastic offers available for last minute weddings this year or for weddings in 2013. Contact us today for more information or to arrange a visit.
I speak to a lot of couples who want to name their tables but don’t know where to start. Here is a bit of inspiration to get the ball rolling.
Favourite Colours
Different colours are a great way to name tables. If you’re going for bold and beautiful why not colour the tables appropriately too?
Songs
Use different songs that you both love to name your tables. You can even include some lyrics and play the songs later in the evening, challenging people who were on that table to sing and dance.
Famous Couples
These can be real or fictional couples, such as Kate and Will and Johnny and June or Ross and Rachel and Homer and Marge! Why not include a picture of said couple on the table?
Flowers
Flowers are a very romantic option for table names. Add one or two of the chosen table name flowers into an arrangement on each table to add something personal.
Childhood Heroes
Now this is something a bit different. Who wouldn’t love to sit at Action Man’s table? Use photos (or even the hero themselves) to break the ice.
The Bride and Groom in Numbers
If numbers really are your thing but you want to make it a bit more fun, why not include pictures of yourselves at each of those ages? So table two would have pictures of both of you as toddlers!
For help pulling this and the rest of your wedding day together, contact Weddings by Rachel today.
This Sunday Weddings by Rachel will be at the Eternity with Love wedding fayre at The Bear, Cowbridge. As a special offer at the wedding fayre, we will be offering a 10% discounts for consultations and bookings made on the day!
We will also be offering great offers for Eternity With Love’s members!
Come and see us and have a chat about how we can work with you to create a bespoke, unique and personal day for you both within your budget, saving you money along the way!
It can be so difficult to find the perfect wedding venue, especially when you are looking for something a little bit different. Here are three of Wedding by Rachel’s favourite South Wales wedding venues for couples looking for something a bit out of the norm.
This is a beautiful venue with the option of a fantastically refurbished barn or space for a marquee. The manicured gardens make for excellent photographs and the buildings themselves are breathtaking. There’s even a little cottage on site for the bride and groom to stay in for the weekend!
Photos from Gary and Sue Photography.
Another exclusive venue, Porthmawr Country House is in the centre of Crickhowell although you would think it is in a world of its own. The spectacular views allow for wonderful photos and the ceremony area leads onto the perfect area for a marquee for larger weddings.
This breathtaking castle in Rhoose is the perfect place for a fairytale wedding. The building itself is one of my favourites in the area and the interior is just as outstanding. Very traditional, this is ideal for any couple looking for something a little bit different.
So much focus is put onto the bride and bridesmaids (and rightly so), but what about the groom and his groomsmen? They’re important enough to be involved (after all, you are marrying him!), so don’t forget him in the fashion stakes!
Grooms, Weddings by Rachel suggest following some of these tips when you and your fiancée select outfits for yourself and your gents.
Complement, don’t match, the bride
This is one day on which you want to look confident and completely at ease, and you can’t do this if you are decked out in some costume that just isn’t ‘you’.
Whilst it is a nice touch to match the colours of the men’s accessories to the wedding colours, you don’t have to have all the groomsmen wearing matching pink cummerbunds and bowties simply because the bridesmaids are wearing pink. Dark shades of blue, green or grey look better on men.
It is important, though, that the groom’s outfit complements that of the bride, so it is advisable to delay your choice until the bride has decided what she is wearing. Of course we all know the groom shouldn’t see the bride in her dress before the day, but she is allowed to give you some clues as to the choice of outfit that would tie in with what she is wearing.
Tradition has always dictated that the groom, best man, ushers and fathers of the bride and groom should dress in similar fashion. These outfits need not be identical, but should reflect the same theme and colour scheme.
It would be inappropriate, for instance, to have the groom wearing a morning suit and his attendants dressed in tuxedos. The fathers of the bride and groom are, sadly, often overlooked and it is important to ensure that they also know exactly what the dress code is and what is expected of them, to ensure that they are appropriately dressed.
Obviously, when trying to dress a large number of men in a similar fashion, it is usually easier to hire all the outfits. If you are planning to follow this route, it is a good idea to obtain them from one hiring company, to ensure that they are all the same shade. Also, to guarantee that your choice will be available, don’t leave it too late to book the outfits you require.
Over the years, companies that hire out men’s apparel have increased their selection and now offer a much bigger choice, ranging from white and charcoal lounge suits to single- or double-breasted tuxedos, mandarin suits, frock-coats, morning suits etc.
However, you do have to bear in mind that you are limited by what is available for hire and if you are wanting a particular colour or style, you might have to resort to having it made up for you.
The general rule regarding what is appropriate to wear is as follows:
One way to differentiate the groom from his entourage is to provide him with a buttonhole of a different colour. His tie could also be a slightly different colour, but still tone in with those of the rest of his party. (It is advisable, though, to buy the ties at the same time, to ensure that the colours match and do remember to include ties for the fathers). All of this should prevent being faced on the day with a plethora of multi-coloured neckwear on display – definitely not what you need on your wedding photographs!
If you are investing in a new pair of shoes for your wedding, it is wise to spend a bit of time ‘breaking them in’ around the house before the day. Remember that if you are having an evening wedding, you are going to be on your feet for at least eight hours and if your shoes are uncomfortable, it will show on your face.
If you are having a church wedding, in which case you will probably have to kneel, remember to check the soles of your shoes to ensure that there are no forgotten price stickers lurking there.
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