FURRY COMPANION What questions should we ask a dog chaperone service before booking? Here are some questions you should ask your potential supplier: ❤ Where are you based? What areas do you cover, and how far do you travel? ❤ What’s included on a typical wedding day? ❤ Do you offer a bespoke wedding day package that can be tailored specifically to my requirements? ❤ Can my dog wear a special attire/outfits on our wedding day? ❤ Do you offer grooming services? ❤ Will you assist the photographer/videographer on the day, so our pooch can be part of the photographs? ❤ Can you collect our dog on the morning of the wedding and chaperone to an agreed location afterwards? ❤ Will they get plenty of rest plus food and water breaks? Emma McGrotty www.facebook.com/thebowwowco.weddingdaydogs PERSONAL TOUCHES We’ve just started wedding planning, and I’m slightly confused about what a celebrant does! Can you help? It’s not uncommon to feel confused when planning a wedding as there are so many choices. The main part of the day should be the ceremony, without it you would just be having a big party. There are several options available when it comes to your service if a religious venue isn’t for you. A registrar, for example, will marry you in a licensed venue, but the ceremony is very prescriptive and doesn’t allow much opportunity for personalisation, and any content you wish to add is heavily restricted. This can prevent including elements from your culture which may be important to you or your family as any religious content is not allowed. This is where a celebrant comes in. With an independent celebrant you can get married anywhere (obviously permission is needed from the owner), including a forest, a theatre or onboard a plane. Your supplier will make the ceremony more personal and tailored to you and will be able to include any religious content. You can also include rituals, friends and family into your vows or even include your pet. There is much more freedom to make the ceremony about you. A celebrant ceremony isn’t legally binding, however, so you would be required to go to your local registry office to officially get married, but this is a small price to pay for the ceremony of your dreams. Rebecca Douglas www.rdceremonies.org.uk BEAUTIFUL MUSIC My wife-to-be and I would love some live music at our drinks reception, but don’t want anything too intrusive as guests will want to chat and catch up. What would you suggest? Live music can bring a fantastic quality to a drinks reception and set the tone for the day. Any wedding pro will understand that what they play will be required to be in the background. This means that the volume and tone should be at a level that still allows for guests to chat and mingle easily, whilst enriching the atmosphere. I always have a discreet amp with me when playing at drink receptions, which allows me to adapt the volume to the space, and move the volume up and down as required during the set so it is always at an adequate level. Music can be a great ice breaker to help get guests chatting, especially as mingling at big events can be intimidating for some people. Even if some guests aren’t seemingly paying much attention whilst chatting, they always notice the drop in atmosphere when the music stops. Mark Levin www.weddingharpistmark.com www.hiroartsphotography.com 56
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