comfortable and you’ll value their opinion, such
as parents, but it’s essential you remember that it
is your day and you don’t want to have any
regrets.
The guest list tends to be the most contentious
issue when planning a wedding, but if you don’t
regularly see or speak to someone, I see no reason
why they should be at one of the most important
days of your life! Similarly, don’t feel guilty if
people you do see or speak to a lot don’t make the
final day guest list due to your budget or venue
restrictions. You can always invite them to the
night do, and if they are true friends, they will
understand that unless you’re a millionaire you
can’t have everyone there!
peas! It was delicious and certainly was different
visited. Simple, personal but effective!
Top tip: Try and remember that those who kick up
to the usual chicken and beef.
be, either because they got married a very long
mainly because they can be very expensive and I
team Paul and Kelly at Paul Joseph Photography
and friends love my brownies, which is one of
If a wedding photography package seems too
a fuss tend to forget how stressful weddings can
time ago and things have changed or because they haven’t had to organise a wedding. Gently remind
them and don’t let it spoil your planning! tHe WoW FaCtoR
A lot of our guests were travelling very far to
I wanted something different for our cake,
really don’t like icing or marzipan. My family
the reasons why I set up A Jar of Happiness, so I
decided to create a great whopping tower of
them. Simply decorated with strawberries, they
suited our rustic English country theme perfectly
join us on our day, so we wanted to provide some
and everyone commented on how fantastic and
make our wedding extra special. We had Burnley-
that I now offer them to other brides and grooms
wow factors, not only as a thank you, but also to
based singer Wayne Farrow, who I can highly
recommend. He is very versatile, got everyone on
their feet and can even be your evening DJ if
required.
As well as entertainment during the wedding
breakfast, we decided to invest in an amazing
caterer, Rowley’s Catering. We wanted a classic
effective it looked. I got such a great reaction,
starting at just £175 for 100 pieces and a heart
topper for the cake cutting.
Top tip: Don’t be afraid to ask your caterer if you
can provide your own dessert. Paul Rowley at
Top tip: Please don’t cut costs by using an
amateur as your photographer. Husband and wife
take some of the best photos we have ever seen.
cheap to be true, don’t take the risk. Not paying
for a top-notch professional is one of the biggest
regrets of brides I’ve spoken to.
Hopefully you will find this guide useful and get
some inspiration as to where you can cut back in
order to spend a little more elsewhere. My final
tip is to remember that your wedding is about
getting married to the one you love, not how
much you spend.
Good luck and have fun!
Rowley’s Catering was more than happy for me
Rachel Bayley
how much it meant to me to have that personal
www.facebook.com/ajarofhappiness
to bake the brownie tower, especially as he knew
touch. It honestly saved us a fortune and meant
www.ajarofhappiness.co.uk
we could afford canapés at the champagne reception.
DoN’t Be aFRaiD oF DiY
We decided to get crafty to save money and
make things even more personal. We created our
own invites (although I admit we got printer
rage!), made our own confetti cones out of free
wallpaper samples and put flowers in vintage
jugs and teapots for the table decorations. Rob’s
grandma found us 30 pieces of vintage china for
£10 in Todmorden charity shops – bargain!
I reckon we saved hundreds of pounds doing
the table decorations, table plan and invites
British menu for our wedding breakfast, and had
a main course that may have raised some
eyebrows – fish and chunky chips with mushy
ourselves. I’ve seen table plans at wedding fairs,
for example, cost upwards of £50. Ours was a £7
vintage-style map with luggage labels stuck on
with each table named after a country we had
www.rochdalestyle.com
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