An Essex Wedding - Sep/Oct 2019 (Issue 88)

WED-MIN My fiancé and I both travel with work and we’re struggling to find time to squeeze in wedding prep. What are your top tips to get our big-day planning in order? While it’s tempting to jump straight into viewing potential venues, investing a little time beforehand confirming your budget and creating a draft guest list will ensure that you have the essential information needed to shortlist venues to meet your requirements. Securing your suppliers can also be time consuming. Hours can be lost stalking social media platforms and websites. However, family and friends who have recently tied the knot are often keen to share their supplier lists, saving hours of research! You could also ask for recommendations from the experts you’ve already booked. Wedding professionals work with like-minded creatives on a daily basis, making them an ideal source of information. I know it’s hard to delegate but sharing tasks from your to-do list is an excellent time-saving idea. If you have a particularly organised friend, why not ask them to take control of your RSVP and dietary requirement management? You could also ask your maid-of-honour to book bridal party attire appointments. Whatever tasks you decide to assign, sharing the workload is a great way to include your loved ones in your planning journey. If you’re really finding it hard, why not pass the baton on to a qualified and experienced wedding planner leaving you to enjoy the excitement of the wedding build-up? Hayley Bunting Hayley Jayne Weddings and Events | hayleyjayneweddingsandevents.co.uk TYING THE KNOT We don’t know where to start with our celebrant-led ceremony. Do you have any suggestions for what we could include? It’s great you’ve chosen a celebrant to lead your wedding, as it opens up your choices and enables you to be creative with the structure of your ceremony. However, this can be overwhelming when it comes to making decisions. A trained professional will be able to guide you through some ideas of what to include, and you can still incorporate traditional aspects such as exchanging vows and rings, the announcement of marriage and sealing the deal with a kiss, which always makes a great photo! You might choose to include talented family members or friends. Someone could sing you into the ceremony, you may want fire jugglers to lead you out or a friend could read a poem. You could even ask a loved one to pay tribute to what they admire about your relationship. Celebrant ceremonies can involve the whole congregation. How about a ring-warming? This is where the wedding bands are passed around your guests for them to imbue them with good wishes. You could also have a giant handfasting – a demonstration of unity and community. My advice would be to start with your celebrant. Research the training and experiences of professionals in your area, then meet or Skype them for an informal chat to discuss ideas. If you feel your personalities suit and they understand what you’re trying to achieve, then you can get to work on building the ceremony of your dreams. Shelley Bell Shelley Bell Independent Celebrant | shelleybell.co.uk 114