Vix Loves Weddings

I could so eat one of those right about now ha!

It’s fair to say during my time working on TV weddings, I saw my fair share of weird and wonderful methods of wedding transport.  An Ice cream van, a coach, a chariot, a helicopter, a zip wire, a mini bus, a limo, a taxi, a tractor and a ferry are just some of the forms of transport I witnessed to take the bride to her wedding.

So what do you choose? the classic car is always a firm favourite but if you want something a bit different to go with a theme then it’s worth thinking out of the box.

In recent years, with the rise of the ‘festival style’ wedding, along came the rise of the VW camper van as wedding transport. Yes, it’s cute, but remember hiring one of these vehicles for a couple of hours can set you back £300 plus and as much as every effort is made to avoid this, these vehicles are old and they do break down so it’s worth factoring this in when you make your transport decisions.

An ice cream van sounds like a great way to get to your wedding, especially cute little vintage ones, but in reality these are very difficult to book as transport. It turns out, a large majority of ice cream vans only have one seat for the driver because the second seat is often taken out to make way for the ice cream machine.  So this is one of those which, isn’t impossible, but if you do decide on this, make sure you are prepared to make lots of calls and do your home work to find the right one.

It’s also likely that you would also need to arrange your own vehicle insurance as most ice cream vans aren’t insured to carry passengers. All in all, if you are set on an ice cream van, when it comes down to it, it’s easier to look for alternative transport and have an ice cream van there to serve guests on your big day.

Whatever the method of transport you fancy for your big day, make sure you do your research and be prepared to get plenty of quotes to ensure you find the best possible deal as well as the best look for your special day.

What wedding transport takes your fancy?

Vix X

 

 

Would you ditch the cake for a champagne pour?

Traditional weddings have many elements that we tend to stick to, just because it’s the ‘done’ thing. Arguably, the wedding cake is one of these. The wedding cake tradition has undoubtedly changed somewhat in recent years and the once classic wedding currant cake is often overlooked in favour of other preferred flavourings. That’s just down to personal preference, which is of course, totally fine but these days those traditions are slipping even further.

Some bride grooms are opting for a cupcake tower instead of a traditional wedding cake, or a recent very popular ‘naked cake’ for those who don’t like icing.

In recent years, it has also become an option, to have your wedding cake served instead of a traditional dessert at your wedding breakfast. Now I don’t think this is a bad idea to save, often, expensive wedding cakes from being wasted but I guess it comes down to budget. If you have the cash to do both then there is nothing wrong with that but serving your wedding cake as your dessert can help slash your wedding costs if you are working to a tighter budget.

One of the most recent wedding trends in 2016/2017 is that of the champagne pour instead of a wedding cake. The ‘champagne pour’ is where champagne is poured to cascade over a decadent pyramid of champagne flutes instead of the typical ‘cutting the cake’ tradition.

Personally I love cake too much to ever agree to this 😝 and isn’t the whole idea of champagne that you have it for the wedding toast? I love an alternative wedding but on this one I’m in camp traditional. Give me a wedding cake any day. 💒🎂🍰

Would you ditch the cake in favour of a champagne pour?

Excuse the title ha. Yes, I’m talking about wedding favours. These fun little gifts that you place on your wedding tables at your wedding, can be a bit of a headache when it comes to thinking ‘what do I choose’.

Well, I’ve seen many different ideas over the years, from donations to charity on guests behalves, home made candles, chocolate, sweets or table place photographs. Sites like Pinterest can give you reams of inspiration of different and interesting ideas.

Once you’ve done your research and decided on an idea that suits you as a couple, it’s worth researching the costs involved. When it comes to wedding favours, often the stumbling block can be the overall cost and rather, the steep final price. When you see an engraved Welsh Love spoon, for example, at £2 each you might think ‘bargain I’ll go for those’, however, when you then add delivery on and times £2 by 150 guests, suddenly your cheap idea isn’t so cheap anymore.

Consider making gifts yourself. If you have a particular talent, or are good at baking, for example, this can be a cute way to deliver a delicious wedding favour that will be appreciated by your guests. But most crucially, on a budget, without seeming cheap.

Other wedding favour ideas I have previously seen include home made jams, flower arrangements, mint imperials, mini photo album, coasters, lollipops, note books and lottery tickets to name some. Just remember, if you do decide to buy all your guests lottery tickets, you won’t get a cut of the money if they win haha (if only hey).

It’s worth thinking carefully about wedding favours that will be useful or desired by your guests. What I mean by this, is that, i’m sure if you do spend £300 plus, on wedding favours, it will be frustrating at the end of the evening to discover most of them discarded on your tables.

Some bride grooms are opting out of selecting wedding favours all together and instead just opting for nice table decorations. This is totally your call, I don’t necessarily think guests go to weddings expecting favours so if you are on a budget, i’m sure guests won’t be calling you out on it.

Will you be having favours at your big day?

Vix X

We all use social media on a daily basis, it’s great to keep in contact with friends and family, as well as seeing at a glance what those in your network are up to. But what about when it comes to your wedding day? Is there an etiquette that should be followed to keep the bride and groom happy?

Everyone is different, but for some, having photographs posted on social media of their wedding day, before they’ve had a chance to post them themselves, is a big no no. Facebook live streaming goes a step further than this and allows you to live stream anything live on to your Facebook account. Is this acceptable? Would you want your wedding guests live streaming your wedding before you’ve even finished saying your vows?

I’m not sure i would. I feel like some things are better kept private until you decide to share with the world. On the flip side, maybe you think it’s nice to have a keepsake video that you might not have expected otherwise? Plus, this is a great feature if you have relatives in different countries, that can’t make your big day.

If you would rather not have your wedding live streamed by guests, or posts put out before you decide to, it might be worth mentioning this to your guests to avoid any situations after the wedding. A polite note on your invite should do it and makes  sure everybody is aware of your wishes, BEFORE your big day.

What do you think? Great to share or better to keep private?

#livestreaming #facebooklive #facebook #socialmedia #instagram #snapchat #pinterest #twitter #share #privacy #weddings #rightorwrong #weddingplanning #love #weddingfun #streaming

Do you have any elaborate plans for today?

I’m not doing a great deal today, present exchange with my other half and work, but we did have a lovely ‘honorary Valentines Day’ on Saturday knowing we wouldn’t get time for much today. Let’s be honest, trying to go out for a meal on Valentines Day is a guaranteed super busy occasion and I would rather do something a bit more low key and chilled.

The one thing that Valentines Day tends to bring, apart from lots of gushing posts from ladies about what their better halves bought them, is proposals.

Did you get a marriage proposal this valentines day? or do you think it’s a bit of a cliche?

Wedding proposals are getting bigger and better each year, but would you want a big public display or would a small scale intimate proposal suit you best?

During my time working on some of the most popular UK wedding shows, I discovered that many men tended to favour a more simple proposal such as pulling a ring out from their pillow while they were in bed, a Xmas Day proposal on Xmas morning or putting a T shirt on their child that said ‘mummy will you marry daddy’. Whatever the proposal, I think as long as there’s thought involved then it’s a lovely gesture. What do you think? How would you like him to propose?

Or are you a lady who would like to propose? in a modern world, many women see no reason to wait for their man to propose. I’m afraid it’s not a leap year this year ladies, but don’t let that stop you!

If you’re single, have a great day. I know, the stereotype tends to be, that if you’re single on Valentines Day you should have the day off work, watch Bridget Jones’ Diary and sob into your Ben and Jerry’s. But in reality this is really NOT the case. I had some great single valentines days where i’d have catch up’s with friends and make the most of the M&S meal deal for two. (I mean 3 courses with wine and chocolates for £20, What’s not to love?)

Have a Great Valentines Day!

Vix X

 

When it comes to gift-lists, there are some highly respected retailers offering these services, the obvious ones being John Lewis and Next. They allow you to set up a gift list to make life easy for you and your guests when it comes to choosing gifts for your wedding day. Alternatively, travel gift lists have proven immensely popular so that your nearest and dearest can pay towards your honeymoon instead of a traditional homemaking gift. Let’s be honest, many of us tend to live with our other halves before we walk down the aisle these days, so we usually have bathroom towels, plates and a good set of kitchen scales to boot. It’s no surprise to see that gift lists are immensely popular, after all, if they stop aunty Betty buying you a porcelain chicken ornament you will never display, then it’s worth it, you get a gift you will use and aunty Betty’s money has been well spent. WIN WIN.

The gift list, it has to be said, is a great invention. But is it always?

Well, it turns out, exclusively in the US (at the moment), there’s a newcomer on the block.

Domino’s pizza have set up their own gift list service, so that you can gift the bride and groom… PIZZA. I mean, who doesn’t love pizza? But, would you want pizza gifted to you as a wedding gift? I’m not sure I would. I’d rather have money towards a luxurious honeymoon or beautiful home furnishings than a 12 inch stuffed crust medium pepperoni, but that’s just me.

Should Domino’s launch this service in the UK too?

What do you think? Would you find pizza an acceptable wedding gift to give or receive?

P.S- that picture is making me sooo hungry right now. Somebody order me a pizza! haha.

Vix X

#dominos #pizza #food #ukfood #usa #uk #london #manchester #wedding #giftlist #weddinggiftlist #honeymoon #weddingtravel #yesorno
#weddingplanning #gifts #unusualgifts #foodgift #dominospizza #selfridges #johnlewis #weddinggift #honeymoonplanning #Monday #blogger #weddingblogger #love

When it comes to wedding planning, apart from the major things like the legal arrangements, the venue and catering. Sometimes it’s easy to overlook things and think ‘oh it’s okay i’ll get around to that at some point’ but actually, such things can end up being THE most important.

Yes, I’m talking about the guest list. Sounds simple enough, but make sure you leave yourself enough time to plan this properly as, if this goes wrong it can really mess up your big day.

One of the weddings I worked on last year, had miscalculated their wedding guest numbers and overestimated. Not by a few. But by 100 guests. The result of this was a very empty marquee, no atmosphere and the guests leaving by 8pm…the same time that we downed cameras.

This is totally avoidable. Don’t feel like you need to have huge numbers in order to have a good day. Less is more, count your guests carefully and cater for those who will be attending . On the plus it will save you heaps of cash and nobody wants an empty looking venue.

Make two guest lists, one for the day and one for the evening and make sure you send your invitations out in plenty of time so that you can get your RSVP’s back. However, when you do this, it’s worth acknowledging that people tend to be a bit rubbish when it comes to sending RSVP’s back via the postal service. In order to give yourselves the best chance of getting answers quickly, I would recommend creating your own wedding email address and giving guests the option of RSVP’ing via email. I can vouch that I am disastrously bad at sending RSVP’s back. I think I told my best friend I was attending her wedding via WhatsApp, which is of course awful, but I don’t think I’m alone.

If you’re really ambitious and perhaps technically skilled, you could even look into setting up your own wedding website. This is something some couples are now considering as it’s easy to put all the details on a personalised website so that guests can have all their wedding information handy at a glance.

Regardless of how you choose to arrange your RSVP’s, one thing is for sure, make sure you get your guest numbers correct to avoid any tumbleweed blowing through your venue on the day.

Vix X

One of the most tempting ways to save money on your wedding day is to look for your bridal or bridesmaid dresses online. There are some genuinely great dresses to be bought online and many designers who specialise in beautiful bespoke dresses and sell through fabulous online stores. Whether you scour popular auction sites or boutique online stores, it can be a minefield when it comes to knowing the potential risks involved.

One of my best friends is due to get married in the coming months and when it came to dress shopping for her bridesmaids, she found a beautiful looking dress being sold on Ebay from China. She decided it was worth buying one to test out the design and quality, thinking perhaps she might have stumbled across a fantastic deal.It turned out this was fantastically wishful thinking.The eventual dress she received was quite frankly jaw dropping. In her case, the dress proved to be a massive hit with her kittens but not so much with anybody else.

If you’re lucky you can get a great bargain doing your wedding shopping on auction sites and it’s always great to test the water. However, before you go shelling out your entire wedding dress or bridesmaid dress budget on supposedly stunning gowns do be mindful that there’s a chance not all will be what it seemed.

Take the photograph above of the dress my friend ‘bought’ and the actual product that arrived as a warning. Sometimes, not all is as it seems. Shop savvy and if you want to test, just make sure you purchase in small quantities.

Happy Shopping!

Sorry I had to go there 😂😂 Dad joke alert.

But no, really, As a TV producer I have learnt a fair amount about cameras and producing some great quality images for broadcast. But what about when it comes to your wedding day, should you shell out hundreds on somebody to film your big day? And if so where do you start!

Now, it’s totally your decision on whether you would rather have still images of your big day or whether you think you would like to fondly look back on a video.

Many TV producers and freelance videographers offer these kind of services and will edit a package together for you of your choice. It’s worth finding out what camera they will be using, as for a keepsake you will want some high quality images you can keep for life. There is, however, a new toy on the block. It’s increasingly being used to capture great TV content and there’s no reason why it can’t be used to capture a different perspective on your big day.

This is of course, the drone. The drone is a great way to get some aerial shots of your day, particularly if you have an outdoor wedding and the detail they can pick up can be phenomenal. We did have a drone at some of the wedding shoots I worked on last year and it achieved some stunning shots.

If you like the idea of choosing to have a drone at your wedding, you could think quite creatively and have your guests spell out words or shapes if they are carefully positioned below. Do be aware that drones do not capture audio so if you wanted aerial footage of your vows, you won’t be able to hear anything.

Make sure, if you do decide to hire a drone that you hire a qualified, licensed operator to operate this for you. Drones are, after all a bit like mini helicopters and in an amateurs hands could be potentially very dangerous. Your operator should be able to advise you, but you need to be careful about where you want to fly your drone as there are ‘drone exclusion zones’ throughout the U.K. Make sure if you do decide to have a drone that you have spoken to your operator and have come up with a plan with your traditional photographer so that everybody is on the same page when it comes to capturing the best images.

Would YOU consider a drone at your wedding? Or are you more interested in a traditional stills photographer?

Deciding who to select to be your bridesmaid is a big decision and if you have a lot of friends this can be a difficult decision to make. Do you ask Sarah because she had you as a bridesmaid? but what about Laura? will she be offended if she isn’t included? Sound familiar?

There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes down to it. Just make sure that everybody you select is chosen for the right reasons. Who are you closest to? who has your back? if you have any ‘frenemies’ make sure you banish them from the list because nobody wants somebody attending the biggest day of their life who can’t be happy for them and doesn’t have their best interests at heart. Sounds obvious, but many feel railroaded into choosing bridesmaids through worrying about offending them. I would suggest that, if they are your friend they will understand and respect your decision whatever that may be.

One of the big trends of 2016 and most certainly continuing into 2017, is that of non-matching bridesmaid dresses. Bridesmaids, of course, come in all different shapes and sizes so it makes sense that ‘curvy Joanna’ might not feel as comfortable as ‘slender Becky’ wearing that clingy number you’ve set your sights on. Choosing a selection of different dress styles can be a nice touch to ensure all of your bridesmaids are happy that the cut is flattering to each of their body types.

Choosing different, but complimenting dress colours, is a way you can give your traditional wedding a bit of creative flair. Plus, it helps to choose different colours that compliment, rather than frantically trying to look for different dresses in the exact same shade of pink, for example. If you’re happy for your bridesmaids to have some input, you could always allow them to choose their own dresses (with your approval) which would allow them the chance to be themselves and might make life a little easier for you.

What are your thoughts on bridesmaid dresses? LOVE the idea of different colour and style bridesmaid dresses? or are you team traditional?