The following tips can be used as a guideline when you are deciding on who you should and shouldn’t choose for your bridal party:

1. Base your choice on the relationship you are currently having with them and not the relationship you used to have years ago. If you haven’t spoken to them for months or even years it might not be so good idea to include them.
2. No matter how hard it might be… don’t accept a ‘stranger’ to participate in your bridal party because is a relative/friend of your future husband to be and your future mother-in-law will appreciate the move. The choice of the bridal party is very personal and unless you know the person and you get on very well together you shouldn’t even think about inviting her.
3. Don’t invite someone who enjoys being in the limelight or even worse is unreliable and you cannot trust her being there when you need help. Your bridesmaids should give you the peace of mind when and if a crisis arrive.
4. If you are planning to invite more than one bridesmaid then make sure that they get on very well together and each one of them brings something different to the wedding.
5. Be as informative as possible; explain your plans and what you expect from them in detail. Give them the chance to think about what is required from them and if they are up to the task.
6. Provide a to-do list with the their tasks and the due date; it will provide clarity and guidance and avoid misunderstandings.
7. Appreciate their help and effort by giving them a small gift on the day or better during the rehearsal dinner if you are having one. The value of the present doesn’t matter. What really matters is a sincere thank you.

The most important factor is for the bridal party to provide the emotional support a bride needs. A good friend will be able to guide you, give her opinion and offer her help if you need it at any time…

Love,

Penelope

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A. Inviting children at your wedding is a very delegate matter and it should be handled with great care especially if close friends and relatives have children that they would love to bring with.

The first thing you should consider before you decide if you are going to invite children or not is the time, location and type of your wedding.

To be more specific, a formal wedding starting late in the afternoon might cause more trouble to the parents if they decide to bring children with rather than an afternoon wedding or a semi-formal wedding. Therefore if you choose to go with the formal wedding and you don’t want children at your wedding, very delicately explain the reason why.

In the case that you are inviting children there are plenty of activities and things to arrange for them to keep them occupied. To name a few:

• Prepare a goodie bags personalised for each child; have their names outside the bag and include puzzles, colouring books and crayons, small toys and table games for the older ones to keep them occupied the whole evening.
• Have the children sitting at the back of the room; if possible have them in a separate room with a babysitter. Decorate the room with balloons, give them confetti, have a CD player and create their own ‘Disco night’.
• Hire a clown or a face painter to entertain them.
• Create their own menu with funny names and mocktails.
• For an outdoor wedding, organise a treasure hunt game

Traditionally children at weddings bring good luck to the couple. If you are struggling to decide whether or not inviting children at your wedding handle the situation with positive attitude. Be creative and give them something they really like and you won’t even notice that they are around.

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Experience shows that couples and mostly brides get very excited at the beggining of the planning process. They buy magazines, visit online forums, search online for hours for ideas… At the end they become overwelmed with all the information. Some of them might even end up having sleepless nights on how they will be able to afford the designer dress and have the fairy tale wedding.

There are five simple steps that I have put into practice during my wedding planning period which I believe will help you organise your wedding and enjoy every single moment at the same time.

1. Know exactly what you want; not what the wedding magazines are suggesting or what your best friend, mother or mother-in-law wants. It is YOUR wedding and it is your style that is important here.
2. Sit down with your fiancee and decide on the budget of your wedding. If any set of parents will contribute towards the wedding invite them to the meeting. If they are contributing you must keep them involved but be certain on how much involvement you are willing to give them. Be polite and willing to compromise in some points but set the ‘rules’ from the beginning. You certainly do not want to end up fighting with anyone over budget issues.
3. Break the tasks into a month-by-month ‘To Do’ list and set up realistic monthly goals. Review the list at the end of each week to see what still needs to be done and that might require your full attention.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you are stuck. Have get together evenings with all the people who are involved in the planning process and ask for their opinion. You will be surprised with what ideas you might come up over a bottle of wine and some snacks!
5. Reward yourself with small gifts or getaways.  Don’t forget to enjoy this period prior to the wedding by celebrating each day with your fiancee. It doesn’t have to be something expensive or extravagant. Create the element of surprise by arranging a picnic day at the park, a walk by the river with a hot cup of chocolate or even a romantic dinner for two at the comfort of your own living room with candles and romantic music.

When you are not organised and live everything at the last two months, everything will seem to be impossible. When you follow small single tasks every day the planning process will seem to be like a walk in the park and the wedding day will be one of the most beautiful days in your life.

Create positive attitude and the reward will be an unforgettable day!

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You don’t have to spend a fortune on flowers, a good florist will be able to create something beautiful even if your budget is small. Florists know what is seasonal and what is cheap when it comes to flowers. They know how to create arrangements with not so many flowers and still look beautiful. A combination of candles and flowers can also do the trick.

A good florist will be creative and will suggest different flower creations as soon as you inform him or her about your budget and general theme of your wedding. No matter what don’t be embarrased to explain if an idea is above your budget. Be clear from the beginning and the outcome will be fantastic.

And finally a few words of wisdom… I was recently hired to coordinate the wedding day for a wedding in Cyprus. The couple wanted a glamorous wedding and originally have informed the florist that their budget was approximately €5000. During the last month when they had their final meeting with the florist they told him that they wanted plenty of flowers and not to hold back and budget was not an issue. The flowers had to flown from Holland to Cyprus because they were out of season. After the wedding when they went to pay the florist it cost them another €800 extra. The groom wasn’t happy with the extra charge and tried to avoid it. We had to remind him what he had said the month before in order to ease the tension.

Therefore, confirm and be clear with your suppliers of your exact budget from the beginning. In the case that you are making changes during the forthcoming months, re-confirm the budget and avoid misunderstandings and stress.

Until next time.

Love Penelope

If you have hired a wedding planner you should not stress about anything. He or she will make sure that everything will go as planned. In the case that you haven’t, just go through your checklist. By now you should have contacted all of the suppliers and go through the details. Make sure that your bridal party knows what is expected from them and the time you expect them to arrive, prepare the things that you are going to need on the day i.e. shoes, veil, accessories and of course the wedding dress and then relax.

The day before the wedding have a spa or a massage and definitely have an early night. Avoid drinking alcohol and sleeping late, you don’t want dark circles under the eyes on your wedding day.

On the day of your wedding, RELAX and enjoy every single moment. The day will go so quickly that you wouldn’t want to miss all the important moments by simply being stressed all day.

Until next week.

Love Penelope

Getting married abroad might need a bit more thought when it comes to choose the right outfit. The climate and temperature must be one of the main factors when you deciding on your suit.

Cyprus during summer months has temperatures ranking between 30 to 35 degrees celcium with most wedding ceremonies taking place between 11 am to 4pm where the temperature tends to be very high. You definetly don’t want to find yourself wearing a tailcoat under those conditions. And in the case that you do want to wear a tailcoat, have a second shirt handy to change; you don’t want to be sweating and miserable on your wedding photos.

An ideal outfit will be a nice quality linen suit or light fabric suit. Beach weddings tend to be less informal so why don’t you take advantage of the warm weather and wear linen trousers with just a nice shirt on top? The upside of this? You can wear them again and again.

Until next time.

Love Penelope

A palette of Autumn flowers will include: snow-berries, gerberas, roses, dahlias, calla lilies, orchids, english oaks, eucalyptus pulverulenta, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, amaryllis, tulips.

For unique and stylish receptions use the following decoration ideas:

• Use your colour scheme and customise your cake. If your colour scheme is gold then monogram the cake with your initials in gold colour. The cost will be less but the result will be as stunning and stylish as any other cake.
• Not fancy to have a wedding cake? Order cup cakes instead with your favourite flavour, carrot cake is a seasonal option. Decorate it with cheese icing and gold dust.
• Add your monograms in the entrance of the wedding reception and use satin ribbon to hang them. For example you can have gold monograms and aqua satin ribbon.
• Use the same monogram on your invitations; another way to cut cost.
• Create your signature cocktail; have one or two cocktails served during the cocktail reception. Why not serve the cocktails you love or create your own and give the recipe to your guests either by including in into the wedding favour box or having it printed behind the dinner menu.
• Coffee during the dinner reception? Keep the coffee warm by adding caramel wafers on the top of the cup. Coffee will be warm for longer and it will be an extra treat for the guests.
• Use lots of candles on the tables to create the romantic atmosphere. Use pumpkins instead of vases in different colours (white, orange, yellow) and sizes. Have the bigger ones filled with the flowers of your choice and the smaller ones as an additional touch for the tables.
• Instead of using flowers, create centrepieces by using wheat, grains and dried grass. Tied them with a silk bow of your chosen colour.
• Give flower girls leaf petals to throw during the wedding ceremony instead of the traditional rose petals.
• Pomegranate is an Autumn fruit; it can easily be used to hold the seating cards. Use small and similar size good condition pomegranates for a totally different decoration idea.
• Wedding favours; give to your guests a sentenced candle similar to the one on their table with a candle holder of your colour scheme. For a more sweat treat, give them mini-panettone cakes (sweat bread made with dried fruit) with a card with the word ‘Enjoy’ and your monograms.

I hope you find the above helpful. If you have any enquiries or you would like to ask a question please fill free to contact us.

Until next time.

Love

Penelope

1. Theme the wedding day around something that you are really passionate about e.g. fashion, music, colour, sports,etc.
2. Decorate the wedding cake with cake toppers that reflect your personality e.g Hollywood glamour, golfing, sports… Visit www.wedingstar.com for more ideas
3. For a classy contemporary look, combine flowers with floating candles.
4. Number the tables with significant dates for both of you; dates of birth, first date, first kiss, engagement date, etc.
5. Instead of a guest book have a wish tree. Place a willow brunch in a vase and decorate it with flowers of your choice. Attach ribbons to gift tag cards and tell your guests to leave their wishes on the tree.
6. Instead of flower arrangement as a centre piece have your favourite tree or plant in a beautiful pot and tell your guests to take it with them afterwards.
7. Hang lanterns on the trees, create a path with lanterns and candles leading to the reception area for the ultimate romantic atmosphere.
8. Give goody bags to guests as they go home. Include something they would really like; sweets for the journey or a pampering treat.
9. Children on the wedding? Keep them occupied by sitting them all together in one table, have marshmallows in different shapes as table arrangement, and give them a goody pack with colouring books, toys and puzzles to keep them occupied throughtout the night.
10. Provide your guests with miniature bubble bottles and let them blow the bubbles while you are having your first dance. The end result will be beautiful and the photos will look amazing too.

Until next time.

Love Penelope

Plan wisely and always have in mind that is not the amount you are going to spend that is important rather than the people that you are going to share this special day with.

Below there are a few budgeting tips which I believe will help you through the planning process:

• Set your budget the soonest possible.
• Add an additional 10% on the total budget amount for unexpected expenses
• Open a separate bank account for the wedding
• Start saving a certain amount each month to cover your wedding expenditure
• Decide on what is priority and on what you are willing to compromise
• update your budget every time you spend something relevant to your wedding
• If you overspend on one area then you should deduct the additional amount from another. this will make sure you stay within the set budget.
• If you are on a tight budget, book your wedding day either on Sunday or during the week; venue hiring fees tend to be cheaper on less popular dates to get married. Avoid the Christmas and Valentines Day, two very popular days for weddings and therefore the hiring costs are higher.
• Don’t try to overcome the pre-wedding stress by buying unnecessary things that you will regret later.
• Try to add your personal touch to your wedding by preparing your own wedding favours, invitations or if you are good in baking why not your wedding cake!
  

With Love

Penelope

1. Set the budget as soon as you decide on the wedding date. Be realistic and try not to underestimate things like music and food. Allow an extra 10% increase calculated on the total cost of the budget for the unexpected extras.
2. Winter is considered to be the cheapest season to host your wedding. However you should not forget that the length of the day plays an important part in the overall costs. The longer the guests have to stay the more things you should prepare in order to keep them entertained.
3. Try and bookyour venue well in advance in order to benefit from the current prices; if your planning to get married in 2011 and you have already chosen the venue it will be wise to book it from now to benefit the prices of 2009.
4. Negotiate with the venue to waive their hire charge based on a minimum spend. There are lots of venues that are willing to do this.
5. Keep the ceremony costs down by being careful with your requests. Usually there is additional charge for choir and bells at the church.
6. Use your ipod and the venues sound system for entertainment instead of hiring a band which is going to cost you a considerable amount of money. Ask your friends to provide requests in order to ensure that everyone will have a great time…

Next week we are going to talk on how to save on your wedding dress, flowers and photography.

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