Your Surrey Wedding - Feb/Mar 2020 (Issue 81)

ROSES ARE RED We’re getting married next Valentine’s Day and want to incorporate our theme into our big-day flowers. Do you have any suggestions on how we can do this? You can easily incorporate your theme into your flowers. Use soft delicate, flowing foliage with a variety of blooms to create different shapes and textures. Opt for candles as part of your centrepieces to create a romantic atmosphere. Valentine’s Day is a popular time of year to give flowers as a gift, especially red roses. Unfortunately, this means they are in high demand, so prices will be higher than usual. It’s worth keeping this in mind when choosing your big-day blooms. You could look for arrangements that aren’t red or mix them with other colours to save money. Remember Feburary is a lovely time for spring flowers which are a nice sight after winter. Sue Sturges Florist brambleandbelle.co.uk DELECTABLE DELIGHTS We want a menu that will wow our guests at our upcoming nuptials. Do you have any suggestions? We often suggest to our clients that they create a dessert station. Your guests will likely want to get up, mingle, stretch their legs or simply talk to someone else. A dessert station is a great way of giving your loved ones a place to visit and they will be able to eat what they want, when they want – plus it looks great! Steve Bailey Catering specialist pestofood.com IT’S SHOWTIME! My wife-to-be and I are getting ready to book our wedding entertainment and were wondering what we should ask our chosen supplier before booking? It’s important to establish a time frame for the day. Once you’ve done so, look for any must-have songs and discuss with the venue how long it will take to set everything up. Assuming you’ve done the groundwork, seen your chosen supplier live or an unedited video and their references look good then you should be ready to get the final quotation. Good questions to ask are: ❤ Can they play your most important tunes or suggest any better ones? They will have had lots of requests in the past and can offer up some ideas and alternatives for the bride’s entrance or first dance. ❤ What is their usual length of sets? Try to get the maximum amount of playtime for your money but take advice from the artist as to what will be best for your friends and family. ❤ How do they engage and interact with guests? In my experience, performers are usually best as backgrounds music during the day and interactive before the speeches. This will transform the mood and get your loved ones up on their feet. ❤ How long do they need to set up and do they require a noisy soundcheck? Most experienced artists will need to place their equipment, check it’s working, tune-up and ideally play a tune or two. For solo or small ensembles this can normally be done quickly and discretely but for a larger group expect there to be noise. If the venue needs to turn around the room, then the issue is usually time. If you plan to stay in your seats from dinner to the first dance, then you’ll probably need them to set up before the wedding breakfast. ❤ Can you have a copy of their Public Liabilities Insurance and PAT testing for their equipment? Your venue will usually ask for this, but it’s a good indicator as to their experience as wedding professionals. ❤ What happens if they’re unable to play? This is fortunately very rare, but serious illnesses and accidents do happen, so it’s important that the act has a contact at the wedding other than yourselves to liaise with. A professional band would normally be able to replace a player at short notice without you even knowing. ❤ Do they require food, what do they eat and when do they want it? It may seem like an unnecessary expense, but everyone working on the day needs to eat something substantial to give their best performance. Most artists will include any special dietary requirements in their contract as standard. It’s worth talking to your caterers in advance and deciding what you can afford to keep everyone happy. Paul Holgate Entertainer sosinatra.com vla-photography.co.uk sabinedarrall.co.uk 70