Monty Manatee Weddings

Wedding Day Reveal is a new feature on the blog. It’s basically an interview with a bride who has been through the wedding planning process, had the big day and emerged radiantly onto the other side! It’s designed to provide inspiration, advice (and hope…!) to brides to be. My first interview is with the fabulous singer-songwriter Ellen Mary Mcgee. She got married two years ago to Pete Harris in London and as Pete, is also a musician (he plays in the band Git) they had some great entertainment!

Photo: Kathryn Edwards Photography

Wedding Day Reveal Interview with Ellen Mary Mcgee

MM: What was the most stressful part of planning your wedding

EMM: The most stressful part is deciding on the guest list, as it isn’t possible to invite everyone you know

MM: Where did you get married?

EMM: The wedding took place at the old Finsbury Town Hall in Clerkenwell and was beautiful.

MM: What style / theme did you opt for?

EMM: We just wanted nice food, good wine and some home made elements such as table numbers, cakes and table flowers. We liked the idea of handmade details. my sister-in-law hand decorated jugs for the flowers which her and my mother-in-law collected and arranged. I made my own bouquet and drew the table numbers. Besides, we blew the budget on the venue, food and wine!  a friend who has now gone on to run a very successful wedding photography business was just setting up at the time so photographed our wedding as a favour (Kathryn Edwards Photography)

MM: How did you feel as you made your entrance?

EMM: Quite nervous as I made my entrance. it’s hard being the centre of attention and not something I’m that comfortable with. My friend Aine played the harp as I walked down the aisle and that sounded beautiful

MM: Tell me about the entertainment

EMM: Possibly continuing the DIY theme, we had friends dj-ing and playing as the wedding band. We have so many talented friends we thought we might as well utilise their talents. I have sung at many friends’ weddings (including the Monty Manatee nuptials!) so thought it was fair to ask and friends were happy to play/ sing

MM: What was the highlight of your day?

EMM: It was all good. we stayed in the honeymoon suite in the hotel above our local pub in stoke newington afterwards and that was great too

MM: If you could go back and do it all again, what would you change, if anything?

EMM: The only annoying thing was the flowers that were delivered to the wrong room (the dining/ function room where we already had handmade arrangements by my mother/ sister-in-law rather than the room where the ceremony was taking place). It was annoying as you try to micro manage every element of the day and I gave the florist very detailed instructions the day before about where to deliver the flowers. the room looks a bit bare on the photos! that’s the only thing that went wrong though as far as I can remember…

Many thanks to Ellen. You can buy her music here.

If you would like to take part in the Wedding Day Reveal feature, or you know someone who would. Please get in touch. You can find more wedding inspiration here

Have a lovely day everyone xx

You might have been wondering what’s been happening to me of late (mainly because there was a fairly random collection of blog posts last week and a lack of me pestering you online Lol) The truth is, I was on holiday! I went to Spain for a week. It was my first holiday in years and the first time the kids had flown. By the way the had the exact reaction you’d hope to see “Wow!! Mum!! It’s taking off….everything’s gone little” etc. It was all fab (even though I have come back with a cold – how does that happen?!)

Me on holiday- relaxing and plotting!

Anyway the reason for me telling you this is not to boast (well maybe a little bit) but mainly to give you a “heads up” on what’s some changes that are going to happen to the blog. I’ve had a week in the sun, drinking far too much sangria so I’ve had plenty of time to think, albeit a little woozily. Also I’ve been doing my accounts for my first year in business and things are looking great.

From next week there will be two blog posts daily and I want to introduce a lot more offers and competitions to keep you on your toes. There will be more structure to the weekly content ie you can expect DIY tips on a certain week day, beauty advice on another and snarky comments about celebrities at the weekend ha ha. There will also be more real wedding photo features and interviews with brides to provide plenty of inspiration.

So this is a call to action. I’d love you to come on board with the new changes and help make this blog bigger and better. If you haven’t already I’d love you to sign up to follow the blog. You can do that by email or RSS. (See left) All followers of the blog will have access to the freebies gallery – which will be updated next week, with lots more goodies…

I’m looking for a few regular writers, who would like to submit guest posts. Genuine wedding industry peeps  or brides only please. Please submit your suggested subject in an email to me.

There’s a couple of other things too, but I’ll reveal them when they happen. Gotta keep a couple of surprises up my sleeve! Anyway tis all good. Hope you’re all well and happy. Have a most excellent day xx

Amuse bouche is a bit of a mouthful for first thing on a Monday morning, I know. Especially as you’ve got a whole week of work to get through first before you can even think about throwing a dinner party to practise making fancy hor d’oeuvres (that might be worthy of a wedding) However, here we are. Just in case you didn’t know, an amuse bouche is a tasty morsel of food to tease the taste buds and whet the appetite for the courses that lie ahead. They are often served to guests at weddings while the photographer is dragging you and your new husband off for a newly-wed shoot.

This photo was taken by the brilliant Christian Michael

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Melanie Sykes got married to Jack Cockings at Sherborne Castle Dorset this month. They met on twitter and got engaged after just four months. There were reportedly 100 guests at present at their ceremony and the bride arrived in a white jaguar. A fab British theme was the style they opted for, with details including mini fish and chip snacks for the guests and serving staff in waistcoats with the Union Jack on them. The Sherborne town band provided the entertainment.

Melanie Sykes Wedding to Jack Cockings

This wedding had to be postponed once when the details of the wedding venue  were revealed by a newspaper before it had happened. At least when you get married (unless you’re a celebrity) it’s unlikely you’ll find that the rest of the country has turned up to have a look… although who knows…. some people might quite like that? (for a day at least)

Source: The Mirror

Wedding styling is not a difficult job once you’ve got the ideas. Ideas, now that’s the hard part. Firstly, you need to know what sort of style and / or theme you’re going for and of course you need to know what your wedding colours are. I’ve got a few inspirational photos for you today, to show you some current wedding trends.

It all depends on your venue of course, but I love the long tables. This beautiful wedding table was from Tom and Marisa’s Devon wedding feature, shot by the fabulous Christian Michael Photography. Highlights include the stripy napkins (most venues will provide you with a plain white or ivory napkin for your guests) and the gorgeous rustic chairs.

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