12 Things Wedding Planners Can Do For You

Working with a diverse portfolio of clients from around the world including Myanmar, Peru, USA, Germany and Australia this year allowed me to create unique and personalised wedding visions for my wedding planning couples. Although some of these plans have now moved to 2021 and 2022, my wedding planning service is all about producing tailored joyful and inspirational celebrations.

 If you’re considering getting help with your wedding planning and you’re unsure whether to get professional support, in the next few paragraphs I will be revealing to you the 12 Things a Professional Wedding Planner could do for you, so stayed tuned in…

1.      SAVING TIME

If project planning isn’t one of your strengths, a Wedding Planner can save you between 200-300 hours of wedding planning.

 Very often the misconception about Wedding Planners is that we’re an extravagant expense, where in fact by using a Professional Wedding Planner you get your time back to concentrate on the things you enjoy the most – have I mentioned that we can take a lot of the stress away with our service too?

 How much value do you put on your spare time? Can you afford giving up 200-300 hours for wedding planning? Let me know in the comment box below.

2.      CREATING A PLAN

Wedding Planning involves juggling both smaller and bigger projects as part of the overall wedding plan.

Wedding Planners create personalised timelines for your wedding and ensure everything happens seamlessly. All the while arranging all those necessary appointments, fittings and consultations on your behalf and keeping your wedmin on track. That way you enjoy the fun part only.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have all those appointments organised for you and taken care of? Give me ❤️ in the comment box below if you agree.

3.      CREATING AND MANAGING A BUDGET

It is often part of our service to create a realistic wedding budget and ensuring it is met – having worked in the wedding industry for years and with hundreds of vendors and suppliers, we understand the market that we’re in daily and we can easily navigate through estimates for you.

We can also easily understand what it takes to turn your dream wedding day vision into reality, while providing your accurate guidance.

Do you know how many couples stick to their wedding budget? Up to 20% of couples struggle to keep their wedding budget on track. Does this surprise you? Give me a YES or NO in the comment box below.

4.      SAVING MONEY AND MAXIMISING YOUR BUDGET

Reverting to the previous point about wedding budgets, we can truly maximise your budget and save where you might not have anticipated. This is where we can guide you and make recommendations in allocating resources based on your priorities.

Imagine sourcing your decorations for your ceremony and a separate set for your reception – is this the best way to use your resources? Maybe it is, but it is our job to understand your budget and help you make clever decisions on what’s truly important to you.

Are you maximising your budget and making the best decisions?

5.      SOURCING YOUR VENUE

Having worked for clusters of venues in my career including city center hotels, mansion houses, country estates and marquee venues, in addition to having a vast network of venue contacts from my time working for an international wedding venue directory in Scotland, I can easily identify venues that are best suited to your requirements.

Additionally, there are so many ways in which you can maximise your wedding budget when considering wedding venues. I’ve recently saved one of my couples the cost of my part-wedding planning package by choosing their venue based on their set criteria, while having my support along their exciting wedding planning journey.

What is / was the most important aspect to you when considering wedding venues? Let me know in the comment box below.

6.      SOURCING AND NEGOTIATING WITH SUPPLIERS

Wedding Planners have got a very unique ability to source and negotiate with vendors and suppliers based on the fact that we’re well connected and work with suppliers we know will provide you with the best products and services.

You could almost say that booking suppliers through your Wedding Planner gives you a guarantee of quality, as we don’t easily give our personal recommendations. Because of this loyal relationship with our industry partners we’ve got the bargaining power for you.

Can you believe that a Wedding Planner can save you on average up to 20% of your wedding budget spend using trade deals? Give me 🌟 in the comments below if you’d be happy with this saving?

7.      LIAISING WITH ALL SUPPLIERS AND VENUE ON YOUR BEHALF

When you choose to work on your wedding plans with a Professional Wedding Planner, we will liaise with your venue and suppliers on the smallest of details by becoming your one and only point of contact for the entire wedding planning journey and be the main person who takes care of all wedmin for you.

Doesn’t that sound amazing? Give me YES in the comment box below if you’d love to have wedmin all taken care of for you.

8.      CONDUCTING THE BACKGROUND RESEARCH

Your Wedding Planner could be your ‘fixer’ and as previously mentioned we draw from an extensive network of connections and years of experience and research.

The chances are that when we recommend a supplier or venue to you, we’ve worked with them before on a wedding or a project, and if we haven’t, they always come with the highest recommendation from those partners we already work with. Either way, we ensure we vet all suppliers before making our recommendations and provide you with our own set of pointers and observations, making decision making a lot easier.

How much time on average does it take to plan your wedding including all the research?

A.     100 hours?

B.     200-300 hours?

C.      500 hours?

Let me know in the comment box below.

9.      HELPING YOU STYLE

Many couples often have a few ideas aided by our experience we put these ideas into a cohesive and stylish vision for your special day.

Working with the best of the best in the industry we come up with moodboards that will perfectly highlight your personal and unique aspirations for your desired wedding day.

Would it be easier for you to have your wedding vision drawn out for you?

10.      ORGANISING YOUR GUESTLIST

Guestlist management is often part of the full wedding planning package and this is the element which probably takes the most of your wedding planning admin time.

As wedding planners we can take care of all your RSVPs, organizing them cohesively into tables with all requirements clearly noted.

Additionally, we can be that one point of contact that can take the stress of responding to all FAQs on your behalf and updating your wedding day website.

Anyone who finds this part most challenging give me YES in the comment box below.

11.      RUNNING THE SHOW

With On The Day Coordination Package we can ensure that all those months of wedding planning come together – call us Master of Ceremonies, Conductors or On the Day Coordinators, our job is make sure that the entire focus is on the two of you and that we make it happen for you.

This includes managing suppliers, setup, organising the flow of the day, handling any on-the-day emergencies all the while soothing nerves and providing a helping hand.

This service is particularly popular with our full and part wedding planning packages or with couples booking dry hire venues or venues.

Would it not be amazing to have a professional making your dream wedding vision happen behind the scenes for you? Let me know your thoughts in the comment box below.

12.      GIVING YOU SUPPORT AND ADVICE WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST

Finally, the most important element of working with a wedding planner is relying on a person who is available at a time that works for you, for us this is not a regular 9-5 job, this is passion and this is commitment to you and your guests.

We are there to advocate for you, while offering sound and objective advice, and we never get bored talking about weddings… has this given you a better idea on the benefits of working with a Professional Wedding Planner for your most important day?

Feel free to share your worries, concerns or questions in the comment box below or privately email them to me. I’d love to help with things small and big – I’d love to make things easier for you!

Effective ways to plan your wedding guest list - by The Wedding Guru Oskar!

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PLAN YOUR WEDDING GUEST LIST

In response to one of the most recent requests on how to plan your guest list, I decided to come up with my own outlook on how you can best tackle this daunting for many task.

In the following paragraphs I am sharing with you my top tips on planning a guest list.

As always, feel free to share your own opinions in the comments below as we all might have different and just as useful approaches.

START EARLY

For those of you that already know me and follow me for a while – you might be right – it’s to START it EARLY!

I don’t believe any of you would want to start wedding planning without knowing who your wedding guests are.

Additionally, having this list started before you’ve even approached any suppliers or venues can become very useful for many reasons including budgeting, venue and supplier’s suitability, catering etc., etc.

The reality is with most things in wedding planning that the more work you do early, the easier things will get closer to your wedding day and ultimately, knowing your guest list inside out, will help you design your wedding day better.

Have you started your wedding planning with a guest list first?

THE SPLIT

The next thing I would focus on in planning your guest list is to divvy up the split between yourselves and your family, especially if your parents or family are supporting your wedding efforts financially.

It might also be important to discuss this element early, so that you understand the scale of your wedding, set the expectations of numbers each person can invite and only consider those venues, suppliers and caterers that can accommodate for your numbers.

I’ve been there! Many families want to invite all those important to them guests, however, the reality of budgets, venue capacities and catering can be a lot different, this is why, it is important to ensure you’ve all agreed on your split early on, in order to avoid disappointment further down the line.

Do you find conversations with the family about your wedding a little overwhelming? I’ve been there too! Everyone has their opinion, right? But, is everyone right? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

LIST A & LIST B

My next tip for managing your guest list is to have two wedding guests lists… and you might think – why do I need two guest lists? Allow me to explain the logic behind this for you…

LIST A will include all those guests that are a must at your wedding, and therefore you might want to send those invitations early.

LIST B on the other hand, is for those guests that you might really want to invite to the wedding, but due to budget constraints or venue capacity limitation you physically cannot. This is also why, you might want to send your LIST A invitations early, so that should you receive any declined RSVPs from this list, you might want to start inviting your guests in the order of importance from your LIST B without upsetting anyone.

What do you think of this idea? Let me know in the comments below.

POLITE RESPONSE

 This next tip might come in very handy as you are meeting people who you haven’t invited to your wedding and they have “expected” an invitation.

This might come up in conversations as you attend other family, work or friend’s events in the lead up to your special day – after all, everyone will know you’re getting married.

It is important to have a polite response why you’ve been unable to invite them, and you don’t want to upset them.

Should they challenge you with this question, make them feel like you really wanted to invite them, but you simply couldn’t. Making them feel like you were cutting them out, might not go down as well…

How about: “We really wanted to celebrate with absolutely everyone – wouldn’t that be fun? It is because of our venue limitations; we’ve had to keep things smaller than we initially wanted and we’ve just fallen in love with the place!”

Would you have any other suggestions? Share them in the comments below.

CHILDREN

 Including or not including children to your wedding is always a hot topic and I can understand why you might be having this dilemma.

The reality is that you don’t have to have children at your wedding, but you must make this decision very early on and make it crystal clear if you’ve decided not to have children at your wedding.

Some couples advise of this in Save the Date cards, meaning that families can make early arrangements for childcare and this does not come to them as a surprise if your invitations are only sent out a few months before your wedding date.

If you decide to invite children to attend your wedding, your next task will be to figure out how you’re going to keep them amazed, entertained and occupied – simply catering for them will not do the trick I’m afraid!

EVENING GUESTS

Guest list planning might also involve considering evening reception guests for some couples.

Once again, this will very much depend on your budgets and venue capacities, so you might want to make this decision quite early on.

Most of the time those invitations are reserved for your work collages or plus ones if you’re limited in capacity for your daytime celebrations.

Would you consider inviting evening guests to your wedding? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

TABLE PLANNING

The next step you would like to make in planning your guest list is to arrange it into tables.

To help you with that, you might want to ask for a sample room layout from your venue, so that you know where the tables go and in what order you want to seat your guests from your top table – if you are having one.

There are many table planning services out there, including My Scotland Wedding who can help you with that, easily and effectively.

The reasons behind doing it earlier rather than at the point of RSVPs deadline is that within the last month prior to your wedding, you’ll have many confirmations to make and your pre-organised table plan which will only need small adjustments at that point, will be one less thing you’ll need to worry about.

Statistically, your numbers will only change by up to 10% at the point of your RSVPs, so it makes sense to get yourself organised early.

More importantly, I’ve heard many couples saying that table planning is a time-consuming task and you don’t want to leave it to the last minute. It’s not about physically adding guests to tables (because that’d be easy) and more about making sure that your tables work in terms of capacity, table dynamics, family politics, etc.

Would you rather plan your tables early, or would you choose to wait until you get your RSVPs? Let me know in the comments below.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

When planning your guest list you will also need to consider your guests dietary and special requirements.

The reason why I haven’t only used dietary requirements is that your guests might have other requirements that it is important to 1) acknowledge and 2) accommodate for within your venue or setup.

All caterers nowadays can cater for all dietary requirements, so don’t worry about communicating those to them and they will ensure you guests are well looked after.

RSVP SUBMISSIONS

My next tip on planning for your guest list relates mostly to online RSVP software, although can also relate to paper RSVPs too.

There are many RSVP management software providers out there these days, however, what is often forgotten about (and I’ve seen this many times), they are not always set to one response per submission, meaning that you might end up with a one submission for the entire family and then you’re left which checking who that “vegetarian guest” is in this and many other submissions… make sure you check the setting in advance of sending out the link to your guests.

This can also apply to paper RSVPs and the best way to avoid this happening, is to send out individually named RSVPs. This also reinstates exactly who has been invited to the wedding – remember the tip about not inviting children or not, this could work as a reminder.

Have you heard of multiple RSVP submissions per form before? Let me know in the comments below.

MENU

Another thing you might want to consider adding to your guest list plan is to send out your menu or the link to it in your invitation.

This will avoid guests changing their mind on the day of the wedding if you have opted for a set menu and will allow them to select the alternative option suitable for dietary requirements – this makes things a lot more organised in advance of your special day.

Additionally, this is particularly important if you’re planning for a choice menu – again one submission per form is critical here too!

Would you add anything else to your invitations to ensure everyone is catered and accommodated for? Let me know in the comments below.

DEADLINE

Setting a deadline for your invitations for 2-1 months before your wedding, will give you more time to organise them clearly.

This deadline will also give you the time for chasing late responses and organising your table plan before you need to focus on the final confirmations for your wedding in the last few weeks before the big date.

Would you agree with this deadline?

UPDATES

Your next step after receiving your RSVPs would be to update your tables plan.

If you have been organised as previously advised in my latest posts, you should have your guests provisionally added to tables already.

This should mean small alterations rather than starting from scratch and from a long large list of guests and taking into consideration all other aspects of good table planning.

If you would like to find out more about how to manage your wedding planning time more effectively, follow this link for my FREE 3 step guide.

CHANGES

Finally, if you have followed my guest list planning tips lately, you will already know that I like a no-hassle approach for my couples and therefore my last tip for you is not to discuss or share your final table plan with anyone in the lead up to your big day!

This will prevent from last minute headaches caused by guests “politely requesting” to be seated elsewhere because of XYZ reasons.

These last-minute changes are the last thing you need when you’re finalising everything else for your special day and you’ve already worked so hard in making sure you’ve considered everyone by this point.

Now, it’s time for you to enjoy your special day and see your guests having a great time! You’ve done a cracking job! Well done! Now, go and enjoy it all!

Bridal Preparation Advice by The Wedding Guru Oskar

BRIDAL PREPARATION ADVICE BY THE WEDDING GURU OSKAR

Many Brides often wonder how the morning of their wedding could look like and although it might often seem like an organised chaos, there’s a few things you can consider in preparation to your special day.

Over the next few paragraphs, I will be bringing to you a list of things that will make this process easier and more relaxed, so that you can enjoy this moment of pampering before your all-important marriage ceremony.

Is there any part of the morning of the wedding you’re most concerned about or looking forward to?

Let me know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below – the more the merrier and many Brides might find your personal opinion useful!

LIST OF JOBS

My number one advice is to create a list of jobs which you can delegate to your Maid of Honour, Bridesmaids, your Groom-to-be, Best Man, Ushers, Parents, etc.

You won’t be able to do it all by yourself and you don’t have to! There’s a reason why you’ve selected these important people to give you a helping hand on the most important day of your life!

Trust me, they’ll also love having the responsibility and being involved.

It might also be a good idea to have these lists printed for them and given out on the morning of the wedding.

GOOD NIGHT SLEEP

This applies to Brides or Grooms, having stag dos or hen dos on the night prior to your wedding is definitely not a good idea, nor is it staying up late, and although you might have a lot going through your head, try and relax and put your head to rest at a reasonable time.

Your wedding day goes fast but it is also a long day with most preparations starting around 8am.

There are many solutions that might help you relax on the night prior to your wedding such as essential oils, relaxing music or ambient lighting.

Have you got any suggestions on how best to relax before your sleep? Remember sharing is caring and all advice can be found helpful!

BREAKFAST

Don’t underestimate a good base and start to your day!

This is particularly important and although you might not feel like eating much, make sure you have what you enjoy for breakfast and that is also fairly filling, as your first meal after that will be your Wedding Breakfast, normally served around 5pm.

You simply don’t want to be feeling faintly, hungry or dehydrated on the day of your wedding, so please make sure you take this part seriously!

If you’re planning to nibble on things throughout the day – it might be useful to purchase the same lipstick your make up artist will be using on the morning of your wedding, for touch ups.

THE SPACE

It is very important to consider the space you’ll be getting ready in too!

Does it have plenty daylight? Does it have easy access to the bathroom? Is it large enough for your group? Is it equipped with enough of and correct furnishings for hair and make up?

If you’ve decided to get ready at your venue – has it got a dedicated room which is setup for this purpose?

Have you decided if you’ll be getting ready at home or at your venue?

TIMINGS

It is imperative to get your timings right, because you do not want to feel rushed on the morning of your wedding. You want to create as much of a relaxing atmosphere as possible, right?

Good idea is to put your hair and make up teams in touch with each other and listen to their advice – they’ll know exactly how much time will be needed to make sure you’ve also got some spare time for breaks and any emergencies.

There are also businesses out there that provide a full service in one place for you – if you’re not sure of how to “marry” the two together, you might want to consider that option too.

DRESSES

It is advisable to keep your dresses out of the bags and hang as high as possible to let the fabric breath.

If your dresses need to be transported on the morning of your wedding, you might need to place them in a steamy shower room to get rid of the creases from transport.

On the other hand, if you will need to arrange for steaming service for the morning of your wedding, make sure you arrange this well in advance as a lot of dry-cleaning businesses will be closed at the weekends.

Additionally, you might want to keep your dress as far away from any make up and bring in a specialist to help you get in your dress when you’re ready. Remember, your Bridesmaids might have never done this before and they will also be wearing make up already.

Is there anything else you’d add to the care necessary to look after your wedding dress on the morning of your wedding? Comment below!

GATEKEEPER & PEACEMAKERS

Having a dedicated person or a Wedding Planner on the morning of your wedding can save you many unnecessary conversations or “helpful” visits. The less people helping, the better too!

Nobody will question if your Mum or Wedding Planner opens the doors and says you’re busy with the photographer 😊

A few years ago, when I was assisting a Bride, all was going to plan until the zip on one of the bridesmaid dresses broke off completely! The only option was to sew her in. I took on this challenge, having stocked my pockets with a sewing kit. My skills must have been rather good as the thread wasn’t visible and lasted well until the night. The bride and I still giggle over this.

MARRIAGE SCHEDULE

I’ve seen this forgotten about so many times especially when the ceremony is held at a venue.

Somebody must be made responsible to bring your marriage schedule on the morning of your wedding to the venue.

Without it, legal marriage cannot take place, and this is another reason why delegating jobs in advance is so important.

Would you add anything else to my list of preparations to the morning of your wedding day?

Finally, ENJOY IT!

It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have this experience!

If you’ve taken care of all previously mentioned steps, you should have a fabulous morning, filled with heartfelt words, beautiful emotions, improvised toasts and plenty chat, giggles, fizz and nibbles.

As mentioned previously, the day goes within a blink of an eye, so take the time to capture mental snapshots of it all.

Now, go on, put that gorgeous dress on and meet your guests and most importantly, nervously awaiting your arrival other half!

Useful things to be aware of when planning for a wedding in Scotland!

Useful things to be aware of when planning for a wedding in Scotland!

Scottish weddings in particular, might be slightly different to other traditions you might be aware of, especially when you’re planning a destination wedding in Scotland – this might also be useful for our English friends beyond Hadrian’s wall who plan to get married in Scotland.

Wedding Day Schedule

Unlike in some other parts of the world, it is considered unlucky in Scotland for the couple to see one another before the official wedding ceremony so if you’re used to first look photos, this might come to you as a surprise that here, we start with separately taken preparations photos and official couple photos post-ceremony. This is why, traditionally ceremonies in Scotland start between 12 noon and 2pm, although a professional wedding planner can tailor a wedding day schedule specifically to your desired outcomes.

Ceremonies

You might be surprised that neither civil nor religious ceremonies are the most popular forms of legal marriage registration here… that’s right! Scotland, unlike England (although we’re all in the UK) is one of those very few places in the world where Humanist and Independent ceremonies take over the traditional forms of legal marriage registration, the reason for that is that couples have a lot more freedom and can personalise their ceremony a lot more when choosing a Humanist or Independent Celebrant to conduct their legal ceremony. And, it is the celebrant that carries the license, that is why in Scotland you can marry at the top of a hill, outdoors, indoors or in a family backyard – how could you not love this level of flexibility and freedom, right?

Gratuity

It is not as popularly considered at weddings as it is in other parts of the world and if you do decide to offer gratuity to your suppliers or venue in the UK, it is considered a very generous thank you gesture for an excellent service you’ve received. Remember that in the UK, minimum wages and unit prices are regulated that is why some services or products might seem more expensive than in other parts of the world.

Wedding world language

WOW, this is indeed a very exciting topic! For us in the UK, phrases such as Wedding Breakfast, Drinks Reception, Canapes, etc. are so obvious nowadays, however, they might not be as obvious for those couples who are starting to learn about our traditions, so let me bring to you a few of those phrases and their alternatives:

Wedding Breakfast - named as this for it is the first meal for a married couple, it is in fact - a Wedding Meal

Drinks Reception – otherwise known as the Cocktail Hour, this one take place post-ceremony when guests are entertained with canapes and drinks, giving the couple time for professional photography and venue the time to turn things round or complete the final setup touches

Buttonhole – otherwise known as Boutonniere, often floral decorative piece worn by men on their left lapel

Canapes – also known as Hors d’oeuvres, often taster sized savory or sweet refreshments served during the Drinks Reception

Starter / Main Course – might be also referred to as Appetisers / Entree

Chief Bridesmaid – often referred to as Maid (single) or Matron (married) of Honor, the most important person in Bride’s line of Wedding Party, normally assisting the Bride and standing right beside her during the ceremony

Open Bar – term a lot more popular in the Americas, as alcohol sales in the UK are a lot more restricted and regulated with venue licenses, minimum unit pricing and alcohol measures. In the UK, this might be referred to as an Account Bar, where couple pre-pays or pre-orders additional drinks for the guests to enjoy through the wedding day in accordance with the above-mentioned regulations

Additional charges

Some venues and vendors in the UK might charge an additional security deposit which is to cover any damages, normally refundable, but it is important you are aware of this so you’re not surprised last minute that you’ve got to have this amount put aside in addition to your final payments

Additionally, some venues and vendors might or might not include taxes such as VAT in their quotes – so make sure you always ask the question as standard VAT in the UK is 20%, which again could affect your wedding budget especially if this relates to venue hire or catering

Seasonality

In the UK, we’re both, blessed and coursed by the weather conditions, but you would always want to have a bad weather Plan B in place, no matter if your wedding takes place in June, July or December, January – I in fact got married in January and had a lot nicer day for my wedding then that of the first two weeks of June this year.

Additionally, you might want to consider the benefits of daylight – once again we’re blessed with it in the summer and cursed with it in the winter. Because of the far north location of Scotland (similar to that of Norway) we can enjoy up to 18 hours of sun in the summer months and as little as 6 hours of sun light in the middle of the winter, so this is particularly important when considering venues and locations for your wedding photography – also important to consider this in your wedding day schedule.

WEDDING COUPLES - we, your wedding suppliers DON'T STOP!

WEDDING COUPLES!!!⁠

Although new measures have now been introduced by our Government, we, as your wedding suppliers DON'T STOP!⁠

I promise to be working tirelessly to help you with your wedding planning virtually over the coming months, as I know many of you will be working from home and looking for hints and tips on your special day.⁠

As you can see my website has already received a little face lift with a new and refreshed look, so feel free to check it out when you've got a minute!⁠

In my latest highlights/stories on Facebook and Instagram, I have announced that since we're unable to meet in person over the coming months I will be putting together Facebook Lives for you featuring my "Guide to Effective Wedding Planning" talk, so that we can meet virtually and continue your wedding planning journey!⁠

I was due to present my Guide at five wedding shows and open days in the next two months, which have now been postponed to the end of the year, so I thought I could come to your living-rooms, home-offices virtually with my top wedding planning tips and hints and answer your questions as if we met at one of these events.⁠

Let me know in the comments below or send me a DM with your preference of when you'd like me to host my first of a series of Facebook Lives?⁠

ENSURING YOUR WEDDING IS ON TREND IN 2020

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Are you planning a wedding for 2020?

Here are a few tips on what to look out for ahead of this momentous year - 2020.

Bringing the outdoors in, creative and sustainable catering arrangements, diversifying your wedding party and the return of Princess-like wedding dresses are among some of the biggest wedding trends in 2020.

Firstly, one of the most spoken about features of every year is the chosen colour and this time Pantone is going back to the “classic blue” - very understated colour, bringing peace and tranquility to the human spirit. This is reassuring in providing calmness and confidence in the wedding planning.

On the other hand, wedding flowers in 2020 will become a little more informal and rough around the edges to also show the connection with true nature. Sustainability will be a big factor in any 2020 wedding, so you should prepare for a lot more botanical, leafy greens and foliage.

On the subject of sustainability, I don’t think it will be a surprise to anyone that our menus will see a lot more vegan influence. Interestingly our tastes and vegan flavours changed so much that you might be surprised at how many more of your guests will opt in for the vegan option on their pre-order in the coming year.

Following on from the subject of catering, the trend for more informal dining options will prevail. According to the wedding market surveys, 3 in 10 couples will no longer choose a traditional sit-down meal for their wedding. A lot of weddings are now thinking of beginning their meal in a standing reception setup with Italian-style grazing stations, where guests can mingle with their small plate and sample their preferred choices of food as they please. This is a very effective way not to only impress your guests and give them choice, but to also encourage your guests to engage in conversation and is also a great ice breaker. This will quite often still be followed by a procession to a seated main course and family-style service of the dessert with a choice of cakes and sweet delicacies served at the table.

On the opposite spectrum and looking at dress codes, we will again see the opulent yet timeless Princess-like dresses. You can expect to see a lot more cathedral length veils and plenty more personalised embroidery.

Additionally, with the growth in same-sex marriages and also ever so changing roles in the wedding planning process, a lot more couples choose not to follow the traditional structure of the previously referred to “Bridal Party”. In 2019 we will continue observing a trend of growing introduction of roles such as Bridesmen, Groomsmaids, Best Woman or equivalent names to these new roles. It is encouraging to observe how couples more than ever before want to see those people truly closest to them at their side when making one of the biggest steps in their life. This also means that we will see a growth in the size of wedding parties going forward.

Finally, the upcoming leap year will see a lot more female proposals, so I recommend watching out for any hints ahead of 29th February as this might be your lucky year! You might even make it onto YouTube with the growth in streamed proposals on social media platforms.

All in all, according to many market trends, wedding magazines and influencers, these are just some of the many trends that are coming your way in the new year, so don’t be shy to put your own stamp on your wedding plans, as many couples are now opting to ditch the tradition and move towards a more diverse 21st century style of wedding.

Good luck to you all in your upcoming wedding plans.

Photography by Geebz Photography.