An Essex Wedding - March/April 2022 (Issue 103)

PLAN A An Essex Wedding asks local wedding professionals some all-important questions to help with your wedding planning PULL UP A CHAIR We’d love to change the look of our chairs for our ceremony, however, I’m not so keen on the traditional chair covers; what alternatives are there? If your venue has the wooden-style chairs, the most popular look for chair décor at the moment is using chiffon in either hoods, vertical drapes or a weave design. We would always advise couples, not wanting to fully cover a chair, to check the condition of a venue’s chairs, such as the paint finish and making sure the seats are not stained or marked. Jane MacDonell | Venue stylist Exquisite Wedding & Event Services https://exquisiteweddingandeventservices.co.uk STYLED TO PERFECTION We want to turn our ceremony area in to more of a focal point. How can we do this? Your ceremony area is where the main event takes place so you want this area to create the right atmosphere for guests to enjoy and also set the tone for your whole wedding. I always suggest the following for my clients: ❤ An arch way gives a defined start to the aisle and stunning entrance for the bride and groom. ❤ The aisle should be a magical walkway. This can be achieved by added aisle runners along with rose petals, candles and lanterns. ❤ Chairs can be dressed with sashes, bows, vertical drops along with flowers. The end of pews can have flowers arrangements to line your aisle. ❤ The vow area will be where lots of photographs will be taken as this is the main event. The registrar table should be dressed so that it looks beautiful for the signing pictures (even though this is all digital now). Framing of the happy couple really shows them off, this can be created with arches, backdrops, blossom trees and canopies and lights. ❤ If your venue has a pagoda then consider having a hanging floral ring and vines with flowers for the columns. ❤ Remember to let the colour theme to flow all throughout your wedding but also let it show your personality as a couple. Hannah Peek | Venue styling | May Violet Events www.mayvioletevents.co.uk HELP IS AT HAND I have a busy work and home life and the thought of planning a wedding is overwhelming. I know I need to hire someone, I just don’t even know where to begin with that either! How do I know who’ll be right for me, and the level of service I need? Spend a little time researching wedding planners that are local to you, or local to your wedding venue. Once you have put together your shortlist take a look at their websites to see which services they offer, as well as what they include within each package. This will help you to identify the planning service that provides the level of support you need. Also take a look at each planner’s social media accounts to check that the images they share match the style of wedding you’re looking for. This will help you to find a wedding planner that understands the vision you have for your wedding day. This research will take a few hours, but I guarantee investing a little time finding the perfect planner will save you hours upon hours in the long run. Hayley Bunting | Wedding planner and creative director Hayley Jayne Weddings and Events | www.hayleyjayneweddingsandevents.co.uk www.hannahphipps.com Getty PLANNING SOS 61

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