What a great way to personalise your wedding!

Astound your guests and showcase your taste to make your day a day to remember.

Tips for making signature cocktails – by LiquidSpirit
1 – Stay true to your event
If you are creating a cocktail for your anniversary, remember where you and your partner spent your honeymoon, if it’s for a birthday, consider your favourites pastimes.

2 – Celebrate your history
If you have Brazilian ancestry, consider Cachaça. Part Scottish? Scotch. Russian heritage? Vodka. Chinese forebears? Sake, you get the picture. Remember to research your spirits wisely as local produce will support your roots more than an international brand, i.e. don’t think there’s that much Cuban interest in Bacardi.

3 – Listen to your pallet
What do you like, sweet or sour, sparkling or still, light or strong, clear or dark? This drink is usually intended to be enjoyed by your guests as well but don’t forget this is one drink you will want to recreate for the rest of your life.

4 – Local & Seasonal
Find garnishes and local liquors in your market to make your drink locally sourced and ecologically friendly. Flavoured vodkas are a good spirit to research as they can match any ingredient and provide a flavour for all occasions.

5 – If you think outside the box, destroy the box
Go nuts! Consider outlandish cocktails with that added wow factor; consider flaming orange zests, bacon infusions and possibly a whole banana as a garnish.
For more inspiritation check out the Mai Tai 3000.

6 – Nostalgia
Research old cocktails, the Manhattan, Vesper, Old Fashioned and Sazerac are becoming popular once again. Try inventing a modern twist on a classic; include your family’s namesake or the area your event is in.
Create the Steel City Vesper, the Zeuners’ Flaming Ferrari or Timothy’s Twisted Sazerac!

7- Simplicity.
Too many clashing flavours can ruin a drink, no matter of the quality of the ingredients. It’s useful to know that many mixed drinks contain a liquor base, a liqueur and juice. The garnish is added for eye-appeal. A Cosmopolitan is double vodka, a single Triple Sec and a double cranberry juice. A dash of lime is added to zest it and a lemon twist is added to the glass to make it more appealing. This formula is tried, tested and easy to adapt.

8. Fashion.
Have a look at modern restaurant menu’s or up-to-date cocktail guides. Pomegranate is in right now and if you’re a perfectionist you could research Japanese tools and techniques, inspired by East Asian tea ceremonies’ attention to detail add to the luxury of crafting slow drinks. Have a Google of it and ponder no longer.

9 – Have Fun!
This should not be a chore; this should hark back to childhood days of ‘mixing potions’. Playful experimentation should be the cornerstones of your cocktail creation. Remember to celebrate your likes and don’t stress out about pleasing anyone in particular.

10 – The Golden Rule, never forget:
“A cocktail will never be better than its cheapest ingredient.”
– David A. Embury (1948)

For more hints, tips and advice or to hire the Liquid Spirit Mobile Bar for your event head to http://mobilebarhireuk.com/

Bridal makeovers

Our brides to be were pampered with mini makeovers and we chatted about how different wedding hair accessories might work best for their wedding day style. The opportunity to try different hair accessories and hair styles went down a storm and everyone looked beautifully bridal by the time we had finished with them!

With these ladies wanting to keep their final chosen styles to themselves I’m afraid we won’t be publishing their photographs in this blog before their weddings -we can’t spoil the surprise for their groom, friends and family now can we?! But as you can imagine by the gorgeous array of makeup laid out to create these looks, the whole experience was very much like being a kid in a sweet shop!

We hope to run more of these events in the future. In the meantime if you need any one to one advice on choosing your wedding accessories please feel free to get in touch, I am always delighted to help! Email jen@radianceboutique.co.uk or call 020 7193 9599.

Wedding Hair Ideas

Next week sees us combining our talents once more to host an afternoon of make up tips and bridal hair suggestions, as well as the chance to browse Radiance Boutique’s wedding hair accessories collection -all whilst filling us in on how your wedding planning is coming along. We can’t wait!

In the meantime, why not check out Beauty Call’s You Tube make up tips online for a taster of what’s in store? There are still a couple of spaces available for our Tips, Tea and Tiaras event so if you like this clip be sure to snap up one of the last remaining tickets and come meet the team in person for more handy advice and some Sunday afternoon tea and cupcakes!

Tips, Tea & Tiaras

Whilst the men are watching the football, why not join us at the fabulous Butterfly Boutique in Central London for makeup tips and makeovers, the chance to browse through tiaras and wedding hair accessories and chat about how your wedding planning is going. Tea and cupcakes on us thanks to our friends at two:delicious!

For more information please email jen@radianceboutique.co.uk

Tickets can be purchased through the Beauty Call website http://www.beautycall.co.uk/latestnews.php - only £10

We hope you can join us!

Well real life Professional Wedding Planners are fast becoming a brides must have accessory. The services of a Wedding Planner is no longer reserved only for the A-list. Think of it this way, we now have food delivered, cars washed by those helpful guys in the supermarket car park, and it’s not seen as lazy or extravagant. In the US Wedding Planners have been the norm for years, over 26% of brides in the UK now enlist the services of a wedding planner to inject creativity whilst taking away the stress of the big day resulting in priceless peace of mind.

If you need inspiration to put a personal stamp on your big day, then this is where the creative skills of a Planner can turn your wedding from ordinary to extraordinary – without blowing the budget. Ideas that wow and little touches make the difference. Planners are full of ways to create a day that truly represents you.

Don’t worry this will be done in close collaboration, we never loose sight of who’s wedding it is. It’s a collaborative approach that will produce stunning results.

So back to the initial question, Do I need a Planner? the answer is probably. To plan a wedding from the beginning to end can take over 300 hours, that’s nearly 2 months of a full time job! Who has that sort of time?

So what will it cost? Each wedding planner works in a different way and offers an individual product and service. Some wedding planners charge a flat fee, others an hourly rate with a minimum fee or a percentage of the overall budget. Shop around, and you will find a planner to suit your budget and needs whether it is an afternoon’s consultation, full planning service, venue search, budget planning or on the day coordination.

So if you want to explore the idea of hiring a Professional Planner, I suggest you follow these tips:

1. Personal recommendation is the ideal way to find the right planner for you
2. Have a look a planners websites and see if you like their style
3. At the consultation it is important you feel comfortable, so ensure you get on as you will be communicating a great deal. Do they listen to your ideas?
4. Ask for references and testimonials
5. Have they received any awards, press coverage
6. Not essential, but ask if they have undertaken any professional training
7. Speed of response to your initial enquiry
8. If you are happy and want to proceed, sign a contract that details the service specifics including number of meetings

Article by Sonia from Sparkle and Wow Events.

Sonia from Sparkle & Wow Events, is a Professional Qualified Wedding Planner and runs an award-winning wedding design consultancy in London. She offers all prospective brides and grooms a complimentary consultation over a cup of tea or wine if you prefer and will happily listen to your wedding plans. To book your complimentary consultation (which is without obligation) call her on 0845 234 0528 or 07947 571 693.

The trouble with creating a wedding table plan is deciding how all of your guests are going to react to it, and to each other, when they realise the company they’re going to have to keep through a three hour reception.

When it comes to creating your table plan the first thing you’ll need to think about are the tables themselves. The venue may offer either plenty of options, or limitations which in themselves stipulate how the tables will be set out. But where you have flexibility, it’s worth bearing this in mind. The traditional top table seating plan is not necessarily the best arrangement for everyone. With many families becoming increasingly complex a top table can sometimes end up so vast that there’s almost no one left to sit at the remaining tables.

In such cases it may be more practical to have a romantic table for two for the happy couple, with everyone else on standard tables. But have you considered how you’ll label those tables so that everyone knows where they are to sit?

There’s no doubt that having designated places for guests to sit saves a great deal of time and anxiety for all concerned, unless of course the occasion is quite small. But numbering tables presents its own challenges. Clearly table one must be the bride’s and groom’s immediate family, but what of table two? You know full well that those seated at table 23 will be feeling pretty neglected.

Why not abandon numbering your tables, giving them names instead? Perhaps your wedding has a theme, in which case you could have fun giving each table a theme related name. Or you could use flower names, or if you’re deeply in to travel – country names. Although avoid placing the Mother-in-Law in Afghanistan – it might not go down too well.

There are a few rules to consider whatever wedding table plan you choose, such as alternating men and women round tables and seating partners opposite each other. It’s terribly tempting at a time of such romantic bliss to create a table for the singles. Resist the urge to play Cupid and try not to set people up – you won’t be thanked.

Guests at your wedding will be seated for some time, and so it’s worth trying to strike a balance between seating people with those they see every day, and sticking people in the middle of a group of complete strangers. Above all, whatever type of wedding table plan you come up with, make sure it’s thoroughly flexible. Your wedding day is about tying the knot, not getting tied up in knots.

Article written by Adam Leyton, Director of Toptableplanner.com
Arrange your table plan the easy way with Top Table Planner’s online seating planning software -just drag and drop!

Here we are, peak wedding season again. All over the country brides and grooms-to-be are busying away, planning every microscopic detail of their big day. Thanks to the internet, the sky’s the limit when it comes to choice and advice.

Wedding planning and buying has, like all other commercial industries, moved online. Online gift lists, chat forums, editorial articles and supplier searches greatly increase choice and awareness. The next step on from this, taken up by 25000 brides in the past year, is the couple’s personal wedding website.

Out with the reams of paper inside the wedding invitation and in with the online electronic information pack informing guests about the day, complete with maps, route planners, streaming videos and photo albums to which their guests can upload photos.

Amanda Hinton, Editor-in-Chief at WeddingPath comments

“WeddingPath is the perfect platform for anyone planning a wedding, whatever the budget and wherever the location. Our free wedding websites are a complete bonus while the rest of the site buzzes with activity from daily wedding news updates and fabulous competitions to one of the UK’s busiest forums for wedding talk.”

With 2000 new brides logging on to build a free wedding website every month, there’s no doubt that a personal site is the new must have. WeddingPath is unique in offering a personal do-it-yourself design and build service for free along with up to the minute wedding news, real life wedding stories and useful tips. The only thing WeddingPath can’t do is guarantee the weather…

Check out this example of a wedding website for yourself and be inspired to create your own!

Wedding photographers sometimes have a bad reputation – ask a sample of your married friends and it will become clear that in wedding photography there is no middle ground.  Happily-marrieds are usually terribly disappointed or ecstatically over-joyed with their wedding images.

What is the secret?  Why is there such a divide between loving and loathing your wedding album, and just how much impact does the photographer have on the memories of your day?  A lot.

I recently shot a portrait session with a lovely actress who was married in June last year.  She had seen my wedding photography website since then and started telling me how much she wanted to get married again so that I could shoot the wedding – such was the “nightmare” she was experiencing with her photographer.

She sent me a link to her wedding images and I clicked on the collection, expecting to see hideous poses, out of focus shots, selective colour, and ill-thought out effects.  However, much to my surprise, the images were actually quite good from a technical point of view.

The photographer clearly had a good understanding of composition, the backgrounds were nice and soft, and the main subjects were always pin-sharp.

The images were just a little bit ordinary.  Perfectly fine.  Acceptable.  Nice.  However, the emotion of a wedding tends to magnify feelings and as this particular bride didn’t want “nice and ordinary” she started to loathe the pictures.

Now, when choosing your photographer it really is important to think about the style you want captured as each photographer will be different.  The tendency to categorise styles, with reportage and photojournalism on one side, and classical on the other does little to help the bride understand the differences between each photographer.

The first thing to do is ask any of your married friends if they have had a great experience with their wedding photographer.  If they have, and you like the images in their album then put that photographer on your shortlist.

Next you’ll need to start researching other photographers to add to your shortlist.  A google search is probably the best place to start to find photographers in your area.  When you look at the websites consider the feeling you get from them.  Does the website look fresh and modern and is it easy to navigate?

A photographer who has invested in their website is one who has passion and who is concerned with the image they are presenting to the world.   A scruffy unkempt website is not a good sign at all.

If you get a good feeling from the website, next navigate to the gallery pages and asses the photographers work.  Do the images have a clear style?  Are they technically sound?  Has emotion really been captured?

When you have found a couple of photographers who have portfolios containing images that really excite you, check if what they offer is in your price bracket and what you want.  Some photographers will not post price lists on their website so find some who do before making any decisions.

Also, be aware of what is actually included in any wedding packages as this can make an initially cheap-looking photographer quite expensive when everything you want is added up, or a more expensive photographer better value when the quality of their products is considered.

There can seem a whole range of different products and services on offer in Wedding Photography, but what are the main things you need to consider – and what are the hidden traps that couples may not be aware of?

1.     Coverage – how long will the photographer be at your wedding?  A wedding day can be anything from 8 hours to 16 hours.   Make sure you are aware how many hours are covered and how much additional hours will cost, or find a photographer who offers Unlimited Coverage.

2.     Albums – is there a range of albums to display your images?  How many “spreads” are included in the quoted price, and how much are additional spreads?

3.    Personality – Do you have a sense of the photographers personality through their website?  Are they a fresh and fun wedding photographer, or staid and corporate?

4.    Blog – Does the photographer have a photography blog, and is it regularly updated?  A busy blog means the photographer is also busy.  It gives a great insight into their personality and can help you decide if this is the kind of person you would like at your wedding.  A photographer who updates their blog regularly is one who is excited about their work, and gives you an opportunity to see their very latest images.

5.    Similarity – can you see yourself in the images on the photographers website?  Are you similar to the couples he or she regularly shoots?  If the couples look like models and not “real” people then chances are the images are of models hired in or from training courses.  As the photographer directly if the images are from real weddings or pre-wedding shoots.

Follow this advice and you should have a short-list of photographers you can arrange to meet and see their work.  At this stage you need to check the quality of their albums matches the claims on their website and that their personality is one you feel comfortable with.  You will be spending a lot of time with your wedding photographer so it is vital you get on with them!

Tell us about the inspiration for your blog?

I started the site after my own wedding in April 2008. I had a ‘planning blog’ before the wedding but after it was over I didn’t really want to give it up.

I decided to evolve the site into a place where I could gather some of my favourite real wedding and photography inspiration. I put all of this gorgeousness together and Rock ‘n Roll Bride was born!

What is a Rock ‘n Roll bride?

Rock ‘n Roll Bride (Noun) A rock ‘n roll bride (or newlywed or someone with a wedding obsession – i.e. moi!) acknowledges that to plan a good wedding, they have to incorporate themselves and plan what they love for their day.

It’s not about being ‘cool’, being a rebel or even thinking of the most unique idea you can, it’s about planning a wedding that reflects you and your partner and declaring your love in your way. You don’t have to be cool. You don’t have to be ‘out-there’, you just have to be you.

What’s the best way to make sure our wedding reflects our personalities?

Do just that! You have to plan what is right for you and incorporate yourself into your day. Just today I was asked advice from a work colleague who always dreamt of having bumper cars at her wedding but now she is actually planning her wedding she was wondering if it was a good idea…would people actually use them? Would they be a huge waste of money? I told her if you want bumper cars then you go for it girl!

Where can I find more inspiration?

www.rocknrollbride.com! I love blogs. Some of my favourite are www.snippetandink.blogspot.com and http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop