The translation of Beaulieu is ‘beautiful place’, and this is by no means an exaggeration. The 13th century palace overlooks magnificent grounds and the Beaulieu River, whilst the Abbey, dating back to 1204, was home to the Cistercian Monks and whilst much was destroyed by Henry V111 during his reign, part still stands. There is also the infamous car museum, home to well known cars from the movies as well as the first cars made to futuristic ones. For the motor enthusiast, this is definitely one to look at. One  could argue that it has something for everyone.

Beaulieu as a wedding venues offers much choice, catering for intimate weddings and holding a license to marry in the Palace to much larger ceremonies and receptions in the Abbey or the museum.

Our team at Only Weddings will be very happy to discuss any plans to hold your wedding here, especially as it gives us a great excuse to go back!

Imagine this; it’s your wedding day, you’ve invested in the Wedding Pad and there are Apple I-pads for your guests on each table (all functions disabled bar this software). The home page is designed in a bespoke way, even down to the colour and pattern of the frames. On it is a plethora of information.   This could include; the table number, menu, information about the bride and groom and bridal party, guest book, where guests can take their own photos or video message and write a personal message to the bride and groom. There is also a social media section, linking everything to Facebook or Twitter (again, this can be disabled) and even a concierge service, allowing guests to order taxis, request food or beverages to their table or select music. All requests are simple and easy to use, filtering to a master tablet which is maned throughout the day and evening. For the children, there are pre-downloaded games to amuse themselves with during elements of the day where they are expected to keep quiet, i.e. the service or speeches.

In short, it’s a fabulous piece of technology that we are delighted to promote. It’s at the cutting edge of this industry and is sure to create a lot of attention when it is launched this summer. We understand that this product is a lot like marmite and there are those that will think ‘what’s wrong with the good old fashioned way?’. However, for those who are looking for something new and different and that almost certainly, would never have been at any of their friends’ weddings, this is really worth a look.

Please contact Only Weddings for further information.

Planning your wedding has to start with the engagement itself so, if your budget allows, this is surely a way of getting the ‘yes’ vote from your lady love and to mention it, all of her loyal girlfriends too!

The Belmont can be hired on an hourly rate and to make the experience even more wonderful, a luxury picnic can be arranged by one of the Cliveden chefs.

For all those nervous chaps or chapesses out there, good luck!

We were very privileged to have organised a fantastic surprise 60th birthday party for a very glamorous lady last week. The party was held at The Plough, Winchmore Hill near Amersham. The Plough has fast achieved high standards with it’s amazing Italian cuisine and charming staff and it’s capacity for well in excess of 60 guests for dinner made it an ideal venue.

The bar, restaurant and lounge areas were decorated with fairy lights, ranunculus in over sized bowls, candles, antique glass votives and lanterns. There was a beautiful array of flowers for the birthday lady to take home at the end of the evening, and the cake…well, simply magnificent.

To keep the rustic touch, the table plan was written on a large chalk board and individual blackboards for place settings. Table numbers had a different image of the lady of honour.

The drinks reception of Kir Royale and champagne was accompanied with home made bar snacks and this was followed by a four course Italian feast of shared antipasti, pre-selected main courses and and array of mouth watering desserts. Birthday cake and cheese followed along with coffee and cantuccini. The Plough’s Italian owner, personally selects the wines from different regions of Italy and the red wine of the evening won a silver medal award for best Italian red.

The surprise did not however, finish with the chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ when the lady of honour entered the premises with her husband at the start of the evening. A fantastic Michael Buble impersonator, who happens to be the only UK artist signed by Michael Buble’s label in the USA, was there to start the party off with a night of singing and dancing.

We are delighted that the evening was a success and everyone enjoyed themselves and we look forward to many more.

Please contact Only Weddings, soon to have an ‘Only Parties’ division if you wish to discuss how we may help you in planning and organising an special events.

1. Spring


The snow has melted, the leaves are starting to grow back and the birds are singing again – plus spring is a season synonymous with new beginnings and fresh starts, a perfect way in which to view your big day.  Spring is therefore (usually!) a lovely time of year for a wedding, the weather will hopefully be mild enough for outdoor photos and with the days getting longer your reception can go on into the late evening.  Getting large groups of people together for a wedding after the hustle and bustle of Christmas can be difficult but for most of your guests it will be a welcome day out after so long cooped up indoors.  Choose a simple dress and accessorize with spring flowers to compliment the spring weather, think about wearing your hair down in soft ringlets also decorated with flowers to create a beautifully feminine style.

What better way to celebrate the first months of a new year than celebrating the many years you and your partner intend to share with each other under the first blue skies of the season?

2. Summer


Summer brings long days of sunshine and warmth, perfect for wedding parties.  Due to the weather being so beautiful, many opt for summer weddings so they can throw a lavish outdoor party and make the most of the sun.  You can wear a shorter dress if you so wish due to the good weather and light make-up will work as the sun gives the skin a warm and healthy glow.  The bride’s simple and natural look will compliment an informal style wedding too and an outdoor alter decorated with bright summer bouquets and a large barbeque style buffet with picnic style seating will give your big day a really great party atmosphere.  Can you imagine getting married on a beach in the sun as it slowly sets, lighting candles and Chinese lanterns to give your reception a romantic, and paradise-style backdrop?  Choose Sri Lankan and Thai style foods and the informal summer dress code to whisk your guests off to this exotic dreamland for the evening and make your special day feel like the honeymoon has already commenced!

3. Autumn


Aesthetically, autumn offers some beautiful colour changes that make it a truly magical season, and apart from an increased probability that the weather might interfere with your wedding, it can be a wonderful time to get married.  As the evenings get darker, receptions will feel more quaint and intimate as you gather your guests together for a large sit-down roast dinner indoors.  You can use earth tones to decorate at your wedding, with seasonal flowers and plants to match the changing of the trees outside.  Perhaps a country mansion would be a good setting for this time of year as the grounds will be lit up with the fiery orange of the leaves and your guests can be warmed by roaring log fires and red wine.  You could opt for a Downton Abbey theme with a dress code to match; this will add some real glamour; coat and tails and elegant cocktail dresses will bring a touch of old-fashioned class to your big day.

4. Winter


Winter can be the most ethereal and elegant season to wed in.  It offers some undeniably beautiful photo opportunities plus you can often enjoy the presence of snow. Of course Christmas is the most popular holiday during the winter season and your guests will be glad to celebrate your marriage at such a family-oriented time of year.  The magic of the season can be spread throughout your day from decor to food too; you can use understated Christmas decorations to add a touch of sparkle to the occasion and perhaps a large medieval feast at your reception will offer your guests something exciting and different.  Getting your friends and family together at this time of year is always a pleasure, and to have them there to celebrate your wedding and the first Christmas you will spend together as a married couple will make it an unforgettable event.

1. Castle Wedding


The best way to make sure your wedding feels like the fairytale you’ve always dreamed of is to have it in your very own castle! England is home of some of the most beautiful castles and manor houses in the world, often located in sprawling countryside. If you have found Prince Charming and you want to make sure you feel like a true princess, castles like Leeds Castle and Rowton Castle offer bespoke wedding packages. Or if you are looking to wed your Heathcliff in an Austen-esque ceremony, a quick Google search will show you hundreds of gorgeous country mansions that will cater to every need.

2. Boat Wedding

Having the majestic, sprawling ocean as the backdrop to your wedding is a fantastic way of adding the wow factor to the day and will create a day you and your guests will never forget. Many cruise liner holiday companies will have packages you can choose from, sometimes with discount prices for large bookings, so you can be sure all your family and friends can attend. Alternatively, for a more intimate occasion, you could hire a small yacht or sailboat to take you out to sea at sunset. There are many types of small boat available for wedding parties and it is a really interesting way to celebrate. Decorate with a few fairy lights and enjoy the open sky above you; a truly magical atmosphere.

3. Beach Wedding


In keeping with the ocean theme, beach weddings continue to be an extremely popular choice for couples. Places like Thailand and the Caribbean have some of the most gorgeous coastline in the world and with white sands, sunshine and clear skies; this type of setting can make the perfect metaphorical start to your wedded life together. It can be expensive flying family and friends out to far distant lands but you will find many all-inclusive resorts have great deals on group bookings, particularly for something as special as a wedding and you can be sure that if you do end up having to spend a little extra, it will ensure you have the perfect day. Young couples love beach weddings for the simplicity; the surroundings speak for themselves and you and your partner get a chance to witness natural beauty as well as each other’s.

4. Disney Wedding


If you have children or are still a big kid yourself, Disneyworld could be the perfect choice for you. Its famous Wedding Pavilion is lavish and will really add some fun and sparkle to your day with great photo opportunities for you and all the family. Packages often include the chance for guests to go on the rides and a sumptuous reception so you can be sure you will be taken care of. This is a great choice for people who have large extended family or those who want to turn your special day into a great family holiday too.

5. Extreme Wedding


If you are a thrill-seeker or adrenaline junkie, maybe this is the choice for you. If you love extreme sports or have a wild hobby that you share with your one true love, why not incorporate that into your big day? There have been skydiving weddings where couples have exchanged vows mid-fall in full wedding attire, or perhaps you like mountain climbing; why not scale one and have a private ceremony at the top. These may sound like crazy ideas but a little research can go a long way.

You will find that somewhere in the world there is someone who can marry you anywhere and there are thousands of bespoke packages available if you know where to look. If you can’t find what you are looking for, you could incorporate your passion into your wedding using theme and decoration. Your guests will get a chance to be part of you day in a special way, helping them really celebrate for you in a fun way.

There are so many gorgeous places all over the world to suit your tastes and expectations for the most important day in your life and you can be sure to find something to suit your budget. You will remember it forever so picking an interesting and unexpected location can make the day that little bit extra special.

Images via Flickr

Setting
With the coming spring and summer months promising longer days and warm nights, an outdoor venue is the most obvious choice for this theme. If you are on a budget, a large garden is perfect as you can decorate with flowers and outdoor fairy lights, giving the surroundings an ethereal glow. If you have bigger ideas in mind, the grounds of many country houses have some beautiful trees and there are magnificent decorations you can buy to turn it into a palatial enchanted forest. Florists will be jumping at the chance to help create some incredible works of art to add to the theme and, weather notwithstanding; you should have an angelic setting for your nuptials.

Bridesmaids
Shakespeare’s play is full of mischievous fairies so your bridesmaids and flower girls can really enjoy dressing up for the day. You don’t have to make this a fancy dress event as just delicate touches can bring the magic without looking tacky. Use light dashings of glitter on eye make up and hair, this will catch the light and create a fairy-like glow. Dresses can be simple or flamboyant depending on how far you want to take the theme but having wings for your younhger bridesmaids can be a cute idea. You don’t have to go for fluffy and cheap either, there are websites dedicated to making bespoke wings of all shapes and designs so your fairies can have class.

Bride and Groom
The fairy King and Queen should be the stars of the show. The lush setting and beautifully made-up bridesmaids will be hard to top but your Queen Titania and King Oberon will be majestic and regal if you know how to dress them. Taking inspiration from the modern-day movie retelling of the play, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Queen Titania. Her dress in the film is a long, figure-hugging gown in a pale olive green, decorated with precious stones and sequins; this type of dress will look equally gorgeous in the traditional white. Her hair is long and in loose ringlets, fashioned with a tiara woven from ivy but given a silver glow – the options for hair and body decorations for your bride are endless and exciting! The groom, probably reluctant to dress in anything fairy related, will look stunning in a classic suit with some Shakespearean twists. The fancy dress party scene from Baz Lurhman’s retelling of Romeo and Juliet sees Leonardo DiCaprio dressed in chain mail, a relaxed yet royal look destined to make your future husband appear as your knight in shining armour.

There are so many ideas for this theme and you can go as wild or as tame with it as you like. If you wanted to go for something low key, simple fairy lights or hanging baskets of flowers will add to the enchanted forest look without breaking the bank or making your surroundings looks tacky. If you want to go full throttle to this theme, there is no end to the options for clothing, decorations, food, music and style. It truly is the Bard’s idea of a perfect wedding and who knows romance like Shakespeare!

Even though they had to ask for permission from the Jersey government themselves, they went ahead because the film meant something to them.

And then there’s the Russian couple who got married on bikes. Indeed, all the guests had to come on bikes… and then there’s the record-breakers. Those who had to beat everyone else, by having the biggest cake, or the longest wedding dress train.

We hope you like our infographic – if you really like it, you may want to use it on your own website (do feel free) – the embed code is at the bottom, for both the interactive version, and the plain ol’ image.

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For anyone unconvinced of the pervasiveness of social media in our lives, this may help convince: the latest wedding trend appears to be the creation of a special #hashtag, created by a couple on their wedding day, for guests to use when talking about the wedding on social media.

For example, a couple called Nick and Sue could choose the hashtag #nickandsueswedding, inform all guests, who would be able to take photos on their smartphones, post them on whichever social network they’re using, and subsequently access a stream of comments and photos using that hashtag.

The possibilities are endless. For example, why not create a Pinterest board especially for the day where everyone can post their instagrammed instant shots of the happy couple and everyone else. Or Twitter’s new Vine app, which allows for 6-second videos to be posted almost instantly on the micro-blogging network.

As The Frisky points out, this is beset with risk. At least with an official photographer, you have a little control over what is being snapped – or at least, what you keep at the end of the day. However, with social media, potentially embarrassing (unmediated) photos of bride and groom can be posted onto social networks without their knowing – immediately. What’s more, everyone accessing the hashtag stream would be able to see these photos, probably before the bride and groom.

Equally, any guests who have had a little too much to drink of an evening, would have photos of them splashed all over Facebook, accessible (if privacy settings allowed) to the whole world.

Hashtagging a wedding? Sounds like a nightmare… but then again, there is an upside. In this mobile, all-access world, whyever not. It’s an authentic, contemporary way of cataloguing an entire day, and you have an army of commenters and photographers ready to document the day from start to finish. What’s more, it involves guests even further, giving everyone the opportunity to contribute, and catch up on preparations, which they probably weren’t involved in. It gives everyone more context, and could make them feel more involved. For those not too close to the bride or groom, yet still invited, this is a great way of getting into the wedding.

And who knows, there may even be some blossoming social friendships developing over the smartphone that develop into more real-world, proper friendships. Hashtagging your wedding may, perhaps just bring people a little closer together. If only they’d put their smartphones down for a second and talk…

Since the peak around 2008, the cost of a wedding has continued to fall – with people seeking second-hand wedding dresses, and less expensive alternative venues. Equally, people are seeking more and more to Do It Themselves, and the Etsy-style, more personal approach to weddings has contributed to this decline in spend.

That doesn’t meant that the wedding industry has suffered – it continues to thrive largely thanks to its adaptability. For example, here at Only Weddings, we offer a service that allows couples to “dip in” to stages of the wedding planning process – not everyone in the UK wants a wedding planner from A to Z… and this model appears to be working well around the country, with more and more wedding planners focusing on different aspects of a wedding.

Indeed, when you look at the total cost of a wedding, including costs absorbed by guests, each wedding is still worth £36,000! It’s a far cry from the 1950s, as we’ll see, and proves that despite the economic downturn and everyone’s restricted finances, nothing stops the Brits from having the wedding of their dreams…

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