Choosing your wedding flowers

Where to start when choosing your blooms..

Spring

Perfect for spring bouquets are Orchids, they are a sign of beauty. Phalaenopis Orchids are large flowers that really make a statement while Catlaya Orchids are beautiful for romantic weddings as they are usually white with shades of pink or lavender in the center. Anemone represents unfading love and a ray of colours including brilliant reds, pinks and purples, while daffodils range from yellows to whites and are great for center Pieces.

Summer

Ideal for summer months are forget-me-not and Stephantis. Small blue flowers with short stems, representing true love. Forget-me knots are great for filling bouquets with colour while Stephantis are white, waxy flowers that make excellent button holes. Chrysanthemums are colourful daisy like blooms that come in a range of sixes. The lime green satin variety is perfect for complimenting bright bouquet. Carnations are a symbol of good health and energy, while sunflowers are always a summer favorite.

Autumn

This autumn is all about the vintage look; faded pinks are really in this season and create a really stunning look. The pink illusion Rose looks amazing in bouquets. For a mellow autumn wedding you could go for Gladiolus that come in a warm, soft peach colour or a bright exotic bird of paradise for a more dramatic look. Honeysuckle is a symbol of generosity and devoted affection, while white heather represents protection. Arcacia re tiny little yellow flowers that represent friendship and secret passion.

Winter

For those who are having a winter wedding. Holly berries, snowdrop and deep red roses add a touch of winter glamor to bouquets or arrangements lilac has a wonderful scent and brightens up centerpieces while red poinsettia go wonderful with mixed Tulips and roses. During winter there is often less choice when it comes to flowers but mixtures of foliage and berries look great and create a real winter wedding!

It was the most talked about divorce, since the split of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.The courts had asked the McCartney’s to reach a financial agreement, however it was the judge who was to give the final settlement to each of them.

From his £800 million.Sir Paul’s first offer for Heather was a healthy £15.8 million, but Heather actually wanted £125 million. She finally agreed to £24.3 million, and this is what she took home.Heather, claimed that their daughter Beatrice, four, would now “have to travel ‘B’ class while her father travels ‘A’ class”. For some reason I think that her daughter or herself will never travel “B class” with the money she gets from Sir Paul. I think she should be happy with what she got from the final settlement, after all look how much Sir Paul made before he even met her !Hey that is just my opinion, what do you think ?

I think my next topic will be on Prenuptial Agreements….

It is hard to ignore recently that the green is the new white.
There are so many ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint, from getting to the church to favours to even the wedding dress. Some top tips below:
The Venue: How about a state park or a venue that supports Eco Friendly Weddings.

The Dress: Here there are many options, from using a recyclable dress, from your mothers weddings dress or shopping for that classic vintage dress.

The Ring: You could look in to having your ring made from wood or recycled gold.

Confetti throwing: Why not try tossing flower seeds or petals or even get your guests involved they can blow bubbles.

Catering: Talk to you caterers to arrange organic foods and make sure they have a variety of food to cater for vegetarians.
Bouquets: Make sure your florists support the organic flower farms, and that they use seasonal wild flowers.
Cosmetics: Make sure your beautician brings along products that have natural organic ingredients not to mention that have not been tested on animals.

These are just a taster but for more details; I love this book - Eco-Chic Weddings: Simple Tips to Plan an Environmentally Friendly, Socially Responsible, Affordable, and Stylish Celebration by Emily Elizabeth Anderson in all good book shops and on line.

See Barnes and Noble.com for more details.

Well we searched a few place and found this site called, Buy Our Honeymoon. This is a great alternative to a wedding list. This gift registry allows guests to buy the happy couple a part of their honeymoon. Instead of guests buying toasters, iron of even a set of towels, they could make your honeymoon more memorable by buying a balloon flight over the Valley of the Kings or a sunset dinner cruise in the Maldives. Buy our honeymoon allows you to create the ultimate fantasy whilst to transform your honeymmon into the trip of a lifetime.

Anyho, take a look for yourself and let me know what you think…
See www.buy-our honeymoon.com for more information on some more ultimate wedding gift ideas.

They offer fabulous range of designer names that differ in each shop.

So what makes Mirror Mirror so unique ?
They have dressed celebrities such as Tamzin Outhwate, and Anne Marie Duff, and ex runner Denise Lewis. Maria and Jane offer a very personal service and are passionate about what they do.

Mirror Mirror couture range, is their in house bespoke bridal label. Brides can choose from the samples, mix samples, mix styles anything is possible. Gowns are fitted using toile (a mock up of the dressin calico) and then made up in their London showroom

Prices start from £2,700 contact www.mirrormirror.uk.com

Traditionally the groom books the wedding day transport, but these days we are finding brides tend to be involved in the decision making process too.

There is so much choice on the market it is a good idea to sit down together and select a short list of your ideal transport and then start your search.Many brides dream of a horse drawn carriage on their big day and it certainly is the perfect option for a princess fairy tale wedding. However, it can be an expensive choice and you have to bare in mind the unpredictability if the British weather so have a back up plan in case it pours down.

The most popular choices for wedding day transport is to the luxury car hire route, i.e., Rolls Royce, Mercedes and Limousine. These are classic cars in the stylish shade, such as sliver or white, are a wonderful way to arrive at your venue and make the ceremony seem extra special right from the start.

If the bride is wearing a full-skirted gowns it is wise to check there is enough space in the rear of the car to accommodate it with ease, though most upmarket cars will have seats that can recline to create extra room.

When hiring your car ask to see the actual model that you will be transported in and check you are happy with it.

Also, ask if you can have the car decorated with flowers and ribbons, and whether the car hire company will do this for you.

Finally you will have to decide how many cars you will need for the wedding party, do you just want one car to transport you and your father to the venue and you and your husband to be from the venue, or will you need a couple of cars to move around the whole wedding party ?

ALTERNATIVE IDEAS
If you want something a little different then there are lots of fun alternatives you can consider to ensure you arrive at your wedding venue with a smile on your face.

Some choices that real life brides have told us about include a pink 1950`s cadillacs, vintage gangster style cars and eve a red double decker bus, perfect for moving around the entire wedding party.

If you are looking for something really different then how about a brightly coloured camper van ? this is the dream vehicle if you want to drive off into the sunset together- you could even spend your first night in it or why not spend your honeymoon touring Europe in it ?

A classic sports car such as an MG or Austin Healey, is a fun choice, though make sure mechanically sound and don’t break down on the day, you don’t want to be late getting to the service!

Anyone out there interested in Chinese superstition ? Well I am sure you know that the number 8 is a lucky number in the Chinese culture. As in Chinese it sounds like the word prosperity.

The summer Olympics in Bejing this year will be on the 8th August 2008 and will start at 8pm.

This date 08.08.08 happens to be on a Friday so am sure will become a popular wedding date, being number 8 is such a lucky number. So if you want that date, you better get booking !

Check out 983 wedding.com for more great ideas for modern Chinese designs.

Happy New Year to the year of the Rat.

Brides no longer need to keep their wedding dress in a box in the wardrobe because the latest craze from the States is to Trash the Wedding Dress.

Why not ask your photographer to capture this unusual moment. I found that there are so many ideas on how to do this, from horse riding in it, swimming in it, paining with it, walking in the mud in it or setting fire to it, all of course with the photographer capturing this one off moment.

John Michael Cooper, a Las Vegas wedding photographer started this trend. John said that the trash the dress seemed appropriate because one of his brides was feeling pretty anti wedding after the whole affair. Besides, she had no plans to wear it ever again despite the £2,500 cost of the gown

Any UK photographers who also offer this service or would like to add it to their portfolio, get in touch with me so that we can make a comment in this post about you, and do remember to send in some images of the event.

Check out www.trashthedress.eu to see some great images and to read their blog.

As we all know this couple are so popular in today’s media, the contract is more money than David and Victoria Beckham, who received £900,000 from the rival OK! magazine for their wedding in Ireland in 1999.

I heard that Rooney just signed a new £100,000-a-week contract with Manchester United last November, and has a £5m deal over 10 years with Nike and is the face of Coke Zero, so he won’t be running out of money for his honeymoon after his wedding.

Coleen McLoughlin is one of highest paid footballers wives in Britain, so we can all imagine the kind of wedding she will be planning very soon, don`t worry guys will come back to you once I get a bit more gossip on this.

Advise for Brides who would like to make a speech.

If you want to say a few words, it is best to go after your husband. This is a popular addition to the modern wedding in America if you feel comfortable with public speaking then why not. Generally stick to similar lines as the groom, thank everyone for attending, especially close friends and people who have traveled a long way and to those people who have helped keep your stress levels down when preparing for the wedding.

This is also the time to say special words about your parents, how your mum has helped with the wedding, how supportive your dad has been etc. If you wish you could also speak about your new husband, and how you met for instance and add a personal message about your marriage and what he means to you, and end your speech with a toast to your guests.