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September 12, 2010
Life long love

For better for worse

Music is evocative and is often wrapped up in a particular emotion. A song can unexpectedly bring great joy into your heart or tears to your eyes. It can also be very moving listening to someone else tell a story featuring a piece of music and the song is forever transformed for you. Such an instance happened to my husband, Garry, and I yesterday.

We were on the way to the Lake district, listening to a Radio 4 programme called Soul Music. The song being discussed was 'Send in the Clown's and various people were declaring it a masterpiece.

August 11, 2010
Love me love my Dogs

Who let the dogs out?

Celebrity bride Ayda did a walkies up the aisle - with eight dogs as bridesmaids as she married Robbie Williams at his LA mansion.

The pets would have been perfectly at home - after all it was their own back garden. They wore collars of flowers for the big day and were no doubt treated to a Hollywood sized steak for their supper. Hopefully they were all bright-eyed and bushy tailed afterwards.

May 16, 2010
The Heat of the Moment

Some brides can be so bitchy!

I was amused to read today about the wedding ceremony in Brazil that turned into a bit of a dog's dinner!

April 13, 2010
Choosing your TEAM for the big day

You can't do it all yourself!

There are so many people involved in bringing together a successful wedding, don't you know! I call them TEAM ACE (ace is our initials - cheesy I know). Each of them has a part to play in making your special day come together, it's really important that you take time to choose your team members properly.

In TEAM ACE we have:

- our church and officiant
- our reception venue
- wedding planner
- day of coordinator
- photographer
- videographer
- caterer
- designer and printer
- bridal and grooms wear
- seamstress
- cake maker
- hair and make up
- registry

April 10, 2010
The colour purple

Colours and dresses

In African culture you choose wedding colours, which will be your theme for the day and also the accent colour which guests can wear also.

Our wedding colour is purple. I've always liked it as colour and there are so many variations on the shades that it comes in. I am attending one other wedding this year and as far as I'm aware, purple is not being used by the other bride. Our bridesmaids and groomsmen will have elements of purple in their outfits to tie everybody in together.

March 23, 2010
What do you want from us?

The church with an attitude

I've just spent two days with the Church of England Weddings Project team thinking how the Church can improve our welcome to Brides and Grooms. As 'Investors in Weddings' we would really love it if you felt you wanted to stick with us when the last bit of confetti has finally composted itself on the church rose bed. Hence my poll below: I really want to know - What do Wedding Couples Want?

February 17, 2010
I lift up my eyes

Walking into doors and stargazing

I walked into a door this morning.
I realise that this phrase can be a euphemism for domestic violence - as in Roddy Doyles very sad book - 'The Woman Who Walked into Doors'. Some people think that the church dictates that you marry for life and that's that. So they feel stuck in abusive relationships. This is not the case, as the word 'Cherish' is written into the marriage vows and anyone who abuses their partner has broken that vow. I would never encourage anyone to stay in a violent relationship. Best to leave with dignity intact.

February 10, 2010
Jewellery with a conscience

How to wear a rock without tears

It's great to find beautiful things that have been ethically sourced. Here's Karina Anne with a range of gems that don't cost the earth - whichever way you look at it...

Working from her studio in rural Suffolk, Karina Anne makes jewellery using premium quality materials such as A-grade freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystal, handmade lampwork beads and lots of fair trade silver.

February 2, 2010
The Scottish Wedding Show (Glasgow)

The Scottish Wedding Show, Scotland's best event for brides-to-be, will take place at the SECC, Glasgow on 20th-21st February 2010.

The Scottish Wedding Show, Scotland's best event for brides-to-be, will take place at the SECC, Glasgow on 20th-21st February 2010.

The show will bring together over 300 of Scotland's leading wedding suppliers under one roof, who will showcase everything needed to make the big day just perfect.

February 2, 2010
The UK Wedding Show (Coventry)

Over 120 suppliers will be on hand to offer you help and advice to make your big day go without a hitch.

COVENTRY Wedding Show

COVENTRY Ricoh Arena

DATE: Saturday 15th, Sunday 16th January 2011

Opening Times: 10am - 5pm

Fashion Show Times: Saturday & Sunday 12pm, 2pm, 4pm

The Show: With professionally choreographed catwalk shows featuring the finest local and national designers of bridal wear, men’s formal hire and outfits for the mother of the bride, this show promises to be an exhibition any bride and groom would not want to miss.

February 2, 2010
The UK Wedding Show (Harrogate)

The show has a host of local and national suppliers, who can provide everything you could ever want or need for the perfectly organised wedding.

HARROGATE Wedding Show

HARROGATE International Centre

DATE: Saturday 18th, Sunday 19th September 2010

Opening Times: 10am - 5pm

Fashion Show Times: Saturday & Sunday 12pm, 2pm, 4pm

The Show:

February 2, 2010
The UK Wedding Show (Manchester)

With over 100 suppliers, this show will take away the stress of planning your big day.

MANCHESTER Wedding Show

MANCHESTER Central (G-MEX)

DATE: Saturday 23rd,Sunday 24th October 2010

Opening Times: 10am - 5pm

Fashion Show Times: Saturday & Sunday 12pm, 2pm, 4pm
The Show: An established show that attracts visitors from Manchester and all over the North West. This show has all you could ever need for your wedding, all under one roof.

February 2, 2010
The UK Wedding Show (Newcastle)

Over 60 suppliers will be on hand to offer you help and advice to make your big day go without a hitch. The show has a host of local and national suppliers, who can provide everything you could ever want or need for the perfectly organised wedding.

NEWCASTLE Wedding Show

NEWCASTLE Racecourse

DATE: Saturday 2nd, Sunday 3rd October 2010

Opening Times: 11am - 5pm

Fashion Show Times: Saturday & Sunday 12pm, 2pm, 4pm

The Show: Over 60 suppliers will be on hand to offer you help and advice to make your big day go without a hitch. The show has a host of local and national suppliers, who can provide everything you could ever want or need for the perfectly organised wedding.

January 22, 2010
Making Money out of Misery

Jan Harney on how a major retail store now has a gift list for divorce parties.

I was saddened this week to read that a major retail store now has a gift list for divorce parties. How sad. Such bad taste.
Divorce is not something to celebrate - it is the death of earlier hopes and dreams, the last final broken promise. If anything it should be marked by a funeral wake not a party!

December 18, 2009
Twittering about weddings

I thought I was in the minority getting all of a twitter about weddings, but I read a story in The Week about a Bridegroom who interrupted his wedding to update his status on Facebook to say that he had just got married.

He finished his post with the immortal line "Must go - time to kiss the Bride"

July 1, 2009
Never a Bridesmaid....

Yes I know the song lyrics are actually "Always a Bridesmaid, never a Bride," but our Book Club opted to read an autobiography this time and (because I'm a Vicar of Dibley fan) I suggested Dawn French's book 'Dear Fatty'.

It's very easy to read because she has written her memoirs in the form of letters to various characters in her life, but one of the things that jumped out at me was her desperate desire to be a bridesmaid...

June 17, 2009
To Hire or to Buy - what's the answer?

It has been a very busy few weeks, with brides visiting us to find the dress of their dreams, and then making the decision to buy or to hire. It sounds an easy choice - do you want to keep your dress after you are married, or not. If you do want to keep it, buying is the only answer - but what if you aren't sure?

March 10, 2009
Growing Pains

As a firm believer that we should re-invent ourselves at regular intervals, I’ve recently embarked on a career change - running a ‘Confidence and Self-esteem’ course for Adult Learners. Today I had ‘tutor observation,’ and the feedback report says that I know my stuff but spent too much of the hour talking. Gutted!

My husband will probably joke that they got off lightly with an hour – after all he’s lived with that problem for 35 years - but clearly I’ll need to learn from this when I’ve stopped sulking into my coffee.

February 23, 2009
The Scottish Wedding Show beats the Crunch!

Record-breaking crowds attended Scotland’s largest wedding event, The Scottish Wedding Show, at the weekend (21 – 22 February).

April 22, 2008
Choosing a Wedding Wine

Choosing wine for your wedding should be easy... but often isn’t. Chamarré – producers of a delicious new range of wines from France – offer their advice on how to get it right.

March 28, 2008
Not tying the Knot

If you are reading this because you are planning a wedding then according to the Office of National Statistics you are in the minority as fewer people choose to tie the knot. And everyone has their own version of why that should be the case.

March 27, 2008
Bridesmaids Duties

When it comes to getting married Bridesmaids can cause complications for any bride based on them wanting to choose their own dresses, choosing the colour of the dress and then the old favorite of who pays for who.

So what should you expect from your bridesmaids? Well, all brides are different, some want their bridesmaids to be there to choose the dress, organise the hen night and be involved in every step of the planning process. Others, on the other hand need them to turn up on the way and provide support as needed.

March 19, 2008
Little words in the kitchen that count in the bedroom.

According to a quote on my 2008 Family Organiser Calender, the four most important words in any marriage are "I'll do the dishes".

If you have a dishwasher that's clearly not too difficult. However, according to a survey in a Californian University, men who help with the chores are more likely to be 'rewarded' with a more pro-active sex life.

I always wonder how much people get paid to organise surveys and collect data that anyone with an ounce of common sense could work out in the time it takes to mop the kitchen floor!

January 31, 2008
Mother of the Bride - Where to start

Ahhh .... so your little girl has finally grown up and is going to be a Bride. Its a difficult time, you want the best for her and make sure shes happy, but you still remember her saying her first word, picking her up when she'd fall over and scrape her knee, and cuddling her whilst she fell asleep after a bad dream.

Shes met a person that shes convinced that she wants to spend her life with. You might or might not like them ... its her choice really, but still you want her to always be happy and so you're involved in the Wedding.

January 31, 2008
Mother of the Groom - What to wear?

Deciding what to wear to any Wedding can be a tricky task, but when you're the Mother of the Groom, it is very important to get 'the look' right!

Firstly, you don't want to upstage the Bride. You might have known the Groom for a lot longer than the Bride has but its their big day - not yours or the Mother of the Brides.

Secondly, think colours. We all have colours that suit our hair and skin colour, but I would suggest that you avoid cream, white, Ivory - all those traditional Bridal colours.