TIME TO CELEBRATE What advice can you share for the perfect confetti throw? Wedding confetti throws make for some of the most joyful photographs in wedding albums. You can maximise getting the most out of these shots in some great ways. From confetti’s size, shape and style to how it’s thrown and presented. If you want to use real petals, our advice is the bigger the better. Larger petals take longer to fall and have less disruption from the breeze, which works better for outdoor photos. The added weight makes them easier to aim, and their size makes more of an impression in your photographs. For dried petals, choose a mix of sizes to help with coverage. Just make sure guests throw up and not at you! If you’re an animal lover or having a child-friendly wedding, a confetti pony could be for you! Children are absolutely enthralled with these gorgeous miniature ponies. It’s a truly memorable way of carrying and presenting confetti to guests. If your venue doesn’t allow wedding confetti, bubbles are a brilliant alternative. Not only do they add beautiful luminescent colours to your shots, but there’s also no clearing up afterwards! Invest in some bubble guns with greater power and trajectory to fill the photos. Alternatively, smoke bombs inject colour and personality into your wedding shots. Just choose a great backdrop and give yourself lots of space. Paper wedding confetti comes in all shapes, sizes and colours. Best of all, lots of options are now biodegradable. We recommend this kind, not just for the environment, but because it will travel a long way. Some of our favourite shots have come from using the multi-coloured discs – perfect for summer weddings! Don’t be afraid to load up on wedding confetti; the more, the better! Champagne sprays are perfect for party-loving couples and will make you laugh. Plan your spray at night with targeted production lighting for dramatic photos to capture every last drop. With any throw or spray ideas, always speak to your venue and photographer to ensure they are both on board and happy with your choices. Constance Taylor | Mrs T Weddings | https://mrstweddings.com CREATURE COMFORTS Your Herts and Beds editor, Olivia Gibson, says: Probably the biggest challenge you’ll face when planning an al fresco wedding is – all together now – the weather! But if you plan, you’ll find ways around it while still having the best open-air celebration you could wish for. Make sure everyone’s adequately informed. When you send out your invitations, ensure you’re clear about what parts of your day will be celebrated outside, or indeed all of it, so that guests know to make their arrangements for attire and protection. Keep an open line of communication with your suppliers too, and collaborate with them on wetweather backup plans. For example, at which point will you be prepared to take it all inside? Who is going to be responsible for moving the whole shebang? Check on the access to your venue. If you’re tying the knot in a field, is there parking nearby? Are there accessible roads and paths to get to you? If not, think about overcoming these challenges for your guests. Perhaps you must lay on extra transport from a local car park, for example. Also, think about accessibility from the point of view of any less able-bodied guests you may have coming. Sound tends to drift away in the open air, so ensure you have all the tech in place to ensure everyone can hear you say, “I do.” You’ll also need to check with the venue whether there are any restrictions on late-night music, as you don’t want to disturb the local wildlife or residents! Also, do you have all the creature comforts in place on the tech front, such as loos and generators? Think of what cover you want to provide for you and your guests; this is crucial for the comfort of all in terms of wet weather protection and the sun – we’ve had some scorchers in recent years. Once you’ve settled on a vibe for your nuptials, this should all become clear. An elegant, lined marquee is ideal for a classic wedding, whereas a tipi is the perfect choice for a boho or rustic vibe. When it comes to styling, look at your setting and plan ways to complement it with your theme. Nature can do incredible heavy lifting on this front if you strive to work with it rather than against it. A SLICE OF THE ACTION How much is a wedding cake and how much do we need? When ordering a wedding cake for the first time, setting aside a budget is tricky! As you browse for inspiration for your dream cake, there’s no ‘one size/price fits all’ approach. Here are a few options to consider. •Size matters: Different-sized cakes can offer different portion numbers in a tiered arrangement. Ideally, cater for 80 per cent of guests unless serving the cake as dessert. •Flavours: Guests may devour a slice of each if you opt for different flavour tiers, and you may need additional cake if you save a tier for yourselves. •Design: Sugar flowers, edible gold leaf, sparkles and those beautiful ruffles you set your heart on add to the cost. A four-tiered wedding cake with fondant ruffles and sugar flowers could take 20 to 30 hours to create and, depending on design complexity, cost upwards of several hundred pounds. •Venue: If you’ve booked your dreamy large manor house with vaulted ceilings, a small-tiered cake could disappear within the grandeur. So faux polystyrene tiers, acrylic or metal separators can replace cake to minimise leftovers and achieve a stunning centrepiece. Cake designers will always provide a starting price using the above information to help you budget your dream cake! Angela Hodson-Jones | Angela Jane Cake Design https://angelajanecakedesign.co.uk www.lisajane-photography.com www.ianscottphotography.co.uk EXPERT ADVICE 73
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