All the latest wedding news for couples getting married in the UK, along with bridal fashion and beauty inspiration and honeymoon ideas.
Is keeping your maiden name at work right for you?
NameSwitch shares its advice on the dilemma that many women face in the workplace, and that's whether to keep your maiden name? Read on to find out more... The process of getting married comes with a million personal choices to be made along the way – do you want a big white dress or something more minimal? Do you want a DJ at your celebration or a live band? Do you want to keep your maiden name or embrace your married one? Each choice is personal and unique and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Even when it comes to something as momentous as what name you'll be known by for the rest of your life, there are different options and choices to be made. And just like decisions about what kind of dress to buy, the choices you make about your name will also be influenced by your personal preferences and life experiences.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 25 January 2023
New interactive feature to make hen and stag dos less stressful
A new randomised spinning wheel feature has been launched by Hen Weekends and Stag Weekends in an effort to make the planning process of hen and stag parties easier and less stressful. This comes as their recent study of hen and stag party bookings found that 30% of hen and stag party organisers have no idea which location to book, with so many different options on offer creating quite the predicament.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 23 January 2023
Free Valentine's wedding with Frankie & Benny’s
Top Italian American restaurant Frankie & Benny's has been swamped with applications after offering a free wedding for Valentine's. The popular restaurant has launched the ultimate cost of living crisis busting wedding and they've already had thousands wanting to say 'I do'. The team at Frankie & Benny's have been astounded by the number of applicants, many of the lovebirds had their first date at one of the restaurants and want to celebrate their special day where they first met. You still have a chance to win, so long as you've just tied the knot, or about to, have a great love story, then you can apply for the free wedding. All applications need to be submitted via Facebook/Instagram by January 29, 2023.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 23 January 2023
New honeymoon experiences for couples with a conscience
Hotelgift is the ideal way to share the joy of travel with a newlywed couple with a conscience; from uber luxury glamping to wellness journeys for two. For every Hotelgift bought and for every gift card that is redeemed for a new hotel stay, 1,000 litres of water are donated to support local communities in places that need it most through a partnership with Made Blue.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 20 January 2023
New hen/stag do offering in Stratford, London, March 2023!
Grab your #weddingsquad, it's time to get dressed up and put on your dancing shoes because Tony n' Tina's Wedding - the immersive hit Broadway show from America - is coming to London! This unique live theatrical experience - during which the audience and cast interact together during a 'live wedding' - will officially open at the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London on March 16th, 2023, and here at County Wedding Magazines HQ we think its got all the ingredients for the ultimate stag/hen or sten do!
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 19 January 2023
Average ages we are hitting life’s milestones
A new study from Confused.com has revealed the average ages we are hitting life's milestones in England & Wales, including getting married at age 35! So how does your milestone timeline compare? Typically, the first milestone people in the UK reach is moving out of their parent's home at age 20, followed by moving in with their partner at 27. The next life milestone those in the UK usually meet is having their first child, with couples seeming to have children before marriage. The average age for having children is 29, while the average age for getting married is 35. The data also suggests that on average, people are choosing to have children before purchasing a property. This could be a result of house prices continuing to rise making it harder to save for a deposit.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 18 January 2023
Couples are opting for eco-friendly weddings
One of the UK's leading waste and recycling management companies BusinessWaste.co.uk collected data, which shows how much attitudes to environmental and sustainable choices in regard to weddings are changing. According to the research searches for 'sustainable wedding' has skyrocketed by 75% over the last year, while 'sustainable wedding venues near me' saw an 80%+ increase along with 'sustainable engagement ring' which saw a staggering 96% search increase. What's more, us Brits came out on top overall for our eco-friendly mindfulness, with France and Greece also seeing the biggest increase in searches for sustainable wedding venues.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 16 January 2023
Keep your wedding guests warm this winter
Putting the chocolate back into drinking chocolate with their unique fine beads, Cocoa Canopy are making winter weddings super cosy with its sample-szie offering. Perfect for winter wedding favours, they offer the ultimate in comforting hot chocolates, guaranteed to put a smile on the receiver's face! Cocoa Canopy is the only UK drinking chocolate brand to craft unique fine chocolate beads for beautifully smooth, real chocolate drinks made from only a handful of sustainably sourced ingredients.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 13 January 2023
How to throw an insta-worthy engagement party
You never have to scroll too far to stumble upon a celebrity engagement party on instagram and if you've recently got engaged yourself, you're probably thinking - should I throw one too? The short answer is yes, absolutely. While planning the wedding is always top priority, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a party to get all your loved ones together and celebrate the big news straight away - particularly when most weddings take place a good 12 to 18 months post-proposal. However, hosting an engagement party of your dreams can still be quite a daunting task. To help, wedding jewellery experts, Queensmith have pulled together 11 tips for taking your celebratory soirée to the next level.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 11 January 2023
Spotify data reveals the most popular wedding songs
Luxury engagement ring retailer, Diamonds Factory, has scraped Spotify to find the top 100 most popular wedding songs to include in your playlists. To do this, Diamonds Factory analysed over 100 Spotify playlists containing the word 'wedding' and found the most featured songs across all playlists. These playlists included 3500 unique songs, and the data scrape also used additional keywords to reveal the top wedding ceremony songs, wedding party songs and top wedding artists, too.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 9 January 2023
New planner reveals when you can afford to tie the knot
With wedding costs rising by 3,000% since the 1950s, and set to reach an all-time high in the 2020s, making and sticking to a wedding budget can be a real headache for couples. To help would-be newlyweds with the complex task of budget planning their big day, the wedding finance team at money.co.uk have created a new wedding budget planner, to help couples account for all their costs for each stage of their dream wedding. The new planning tool also helps you calculate the earliest date you should set for your big day, based on how long it will take you to save up enough money to pay for your dream wedding. The wedding budget planner page also has lot of tips to help couples save cash, including:
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 6 January 2023
The most popular wedding foliage 2022 revealed
Wow, 2022 was quite the year for weddings with a bumper amount taking place. Looking back at what was trending last year, perhaps inspiration for those tying the knot in 2023, wedding insurance specialists Protectivity have researched the most popular wedding flowers, based on UK Google Search Volume. The most popular wedding bouquet foliage was Eucalyptus, with 585,000 searches! Followed by, Ivy 495,000, Jasmine 458,200, Rosemary 374,600, Ferns 351,200, Monstera 319,500, Silver Birch 219,600, Philodendrons 219,400, Olive branches 143,000 and Myrtle 133,300.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 4 January 2023
Honeymooning in your married name
If you are dreaming of jetting off to sandy shores with your sparkling new ring, spouse and matching passports...then this guide from NameSwitch will tell you how to make your dreams come true. Please do have a proper think about whether having matching passports straight away is really that important to you because, trust us when we say, it's not an easy thing to pull off! With recent changes to how processes work, effects of the Pandemic, and added complications like not being handed your marriage certificate on your wedding day, or needing the name on your NHS records to be the same as the one on your passport, an already stressful undertaking just got even more nail-biting! Now it's not mission impossible, but you do need 3 key things to be aligned (and nerves of steel) if this is going to work...
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 2 January 2023
The rise of double-barrelled surnames
n the past couple of years, there's been a continued increase in the number of people wishing to join their names. For example, in November, research by The London Mint Office to mark The Queen's platinum wedding anniversary shows that 11% of married couples between the ages of 18 and 30 joined their names. As the UK's leading Name Changing Service, NameSwitch has also seen an 18% year-on-year growth in couples wishing to adopt a double-barrelled surname, which accounts for 12% of the thousands of name changes we've assisted over the last 12 months. So, why are more of us opting to double-barrel their surnames?
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 26 December 2022
With the Pandemic derailing wedding plans since 2020, the next few years look set to be a busy time for couples celebrating their union. But couples themselves are evolving – from individuals who feel shoehorned into traditions or cultural expectations they don't feel comfortable with, to those who feel more confident creating their own idea of how a wedding should be, encompassing a far wider range of preferences, traditions, and cultures. When NameSwitch was invited to speak on diversity at a recent industry event, Bridelux Symposium, the overwhelming consensus of wedding professionals was that they, too, are seeing a change in how weddings are becoming more individually unique; created to celebrate the heritage (often blended) and preferences of each couple.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 23 December 2022
GREAT! romance to Launch on Thursday 5th January 2023
Dreaming of cosying up with some love-ly film entertainment in the New Year? GREAT! romance, a new, free-to-air, TV channel dedicated to bringing feel-good, romance films to TV screens, all day, every day, is launching on Thursday 5th January 2023. If you have a soft spot for romantic movies and are looking to indulge in escapist entertainment this winter, then look no further! Romantics across the UK can fall head-over-heels with the only TV channel that promises back-to-back love stories all day every day - for free! - and the curated selection of movies is guaranteed to melt anyone's heart at the start of 2023.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 21 December 2022
Christmas winter wedding music
Getting married at Christmas doesn't mean that you have to plan a Christmas-themed wedding. Here, roaming band The Travelling Hands, suggest songs that would work well for a Christmas winter wedding and the songs to avoid! When it comes to music, the same rule applies. Just because you want to get married at Christmas it doesn't mean that your musical playlist has to be full of Wizzard & Cliff Richard if you don't want it to be there. When our acoustic roaming band The Travelling Hands perform at winter weddings we see a wide variety of decisions when it comes to Christmas songs. Some want to embrace the Christmas classics - adding these into their day. Others like a few placed in here and there, whilst some want to just stick to their favourite songs without any Christmas numbers added in at all.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 16 December 2022
Outdated wedding laws need to change
In an article earlier this year there was discussion and praise aimed towards the Government's plans to allow outdoor weddings to be made permanent. The article also highlighted the eagerly awaited Law Commission report into marriage laws, which was due to be published in July. Now it has been published and we have had some time for the dust to settle, Kate Van Rol, Barrister at 4PB has looked into these recommendations, "Are wedding laws at present 'confusing, outdated and restrictive' as the Commission suggest, or would the implementation of their suggestions trivialise weddings and commercialise the ceremony?". Kate continues...
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 14 December 2022
Christmas activities from The QHotels Collection
The festive season is almost upon us, bringing with it all that sparkles, from decorative baubles to candles, crackers, and colourful lights. But as December approaches, it's easy to let the time run away. So, The QHotels Collection list their top five ways to keep the sparkle alive, bring a little twinkle to your eye and warmth to your heart in the run-up to the holidays. 1.Start a countdown to Christmas - who says advent calendars are just for the kids? Extend the Christmas fun over the whole of December by finding a special way to countdown to the big day. Why not play a different Christmas song each day on your commute? To really get in the festive spirit why not book a festive activity for every weekend in December? It could be anything from making homemade wrapping paper to heading out to see the panto or enjoying a festive-themed afternoon tea with your mates.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 9 December 2022
New hen party ideas at Bird & Blend Tea Co. venues
On various dates throughout December and January '23, and into 2023, Bird & Blend Tea Co. will host its two brand new workshops. A magic potions brewing & tea mixology workshop at Bird & Blend Tea Co - is for those keen on discovering and learning the mastery of potion making whilst mixing tea, and the science behind the magic. The special two-and-a-half hour workshop invites its guests to take an immersive step in to conjuring up shimmering, colour changing and whimsical potions...all whilst the smoke swirls, the smells take over and the senses awaken. As a VIP guest, wannabe magic and mixology makers will be treated to unlimited amounts of tea from an exciting selection of blends or tea cocktails.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 7 December 2022
Pantone’s Colour of The Year - we love it!
Pantone's Colour of The Year, Viva Magenta, is oh-so gorgeous and perfect for wedding colour palettes whatever time of year. Claiming, 'It's a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating colour whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative,' how very appropriate for weddings!
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 2 December 2022
New Wedding Planner Journal & Keepsake collection
Just in time after the influx of festive proposals, Paper Crane Unique has announced the release of its Wedding Planner Journal & Keepsake collection launching January 2023. A bride- or groom-to-be's perfect planning companion; organise your wedding plans, write about your personal story and keep your photo memories safe altogether in one place that you can keep forever. The planners are 200 pages of wedding planning tools, inspiration boards, notes and journal sheets featuring a beautiful eucalyptus design inside, cloth cover and gold gilded edges. Priced at £32.95, the collection has a choice of four colours: classic ivory, blush pink, luxe gold and dusty blue.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 1 December 2022
Brand new to the wedding scene, April & Bloom have a vision to redefine wedding gifting, by providing a range of elegant gifts for engagements, the bride-to-be, bridal party proposals and for 'the morning of'. The luxe gifting brand promises on-trend products and 'insta-worthy' moments, through its carefully curated range of signature floral gift boxes, wedding planners & notebooks, bespoke gift box service and wedding favours. Filled with stylish products from a range of desirable brands – including Whispering Angel, Pale Fox, Charbonnel et Walker, Chalke Valley and more – April & Bloom's signature keepsake gift boxes are unlike anything on the market, and come adorned with preserved posies, all wrapped up with luxurious ribbons and bows for those precious "wow" wedding moments. There are 13 signature keepsake gift boxes available from the April & Bloom website (aprilandbloom.uk), in blush, cream and neutral colour schemes.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 28 November 2022
Winter weddings: how to create the perfect tablescape
Creating the perfect tablescape to bring that wow factor is an important part of your wedding. But how does winter change things? Here, Suzanne Pearce from the interior experts Casa Bella offers some tips. Planning the aesthetic and decoration for your wedding is an exciting task, but it can be tricky to know how to adapt to the seasons when you are having a winter wedding, as so many classic wedding tablescapes are inspired by floral summer designs. But there's still plenty that you can do to incorporate the seasons and make your wedding table look as beautiful and atmospheric as you like. The added drama of seasonal foliage and scenery can add a whole new level to your winter wedding, and can make for some truly memorable photos. Here, we'll show you how you can create a beautiful winter wedding tablescape that's personal to you and your partner.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 22 November 2022
Stylish advice for grooms, fathers-of-the-bride and ushers
Choosing your wedding dress is only part of the story when it comes to styling your big day. In order to achieve a coordinated look, it's important to think about what the men who make up the wedding party will be wearing. What you choose will ultimately come down to the style of wedding you're planning, the location and of course the time of year. Here Cliff Bashforth, MD of Colour Me Beautiful shares with us his advice on how to ensure that they not only look the part but feel comfortable too. Do not overlook the men who will be at your wedding. What they choose, or you tell them, to wear must complement what you are wearing and be consistent with the rest of the bridal party. A little guidance on colour and fit will ensure that they, too, look the part and feel comfortable.
Posted by Danielle Harvey on 18 November 2022
Now available
Simple and timeless, these stunning hammered silk children’s celebration dresses by Hampshire British designer Dawn Clarke will make any little girl feel like a princess!
Why not come along and see for yourself - Dawn will be attending County Wedding Events – Mercedes-Benz Signature Wedding Show on 28th April 2024 and showcasing some of her flower girl dresses down the catwalk.
If you are looking for the finest quality silk children’s garments for your wedding visit our website www.dawnclarkedesigns.co.uk or telephone us on 01962 670014.
Email: info@dawnclarkedesigns.co.uk
Image credits: www.kateizakphotography.com
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