Tag Archives: wedding book

Benedict Cumberbatch Sends Wedding Invites By Email

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Benedict_Cumberbatch_SDCC_2014Would you send your wedding invitations by email? He announced his engagement in The Times in November but it seems in other areas Benedict Cumberbatch is less traditional. In fact, he sent his wedding invitations by email. The actor is expecting his first child with fiancé Sophie Hunter, a theatre director. It seems they are in a rush to marry and friends say they will marry “within months”. The couple got engaged after dating for a year. Benedict is up for an Academy Award for his work in The Imitation Game.

A friend told The Mirroer “The invitations have gone out already which is very quick, It’s shocked a few people but they want their special day to happen before they have the baby. The details have been sent out in an email rather than a paper invitation as time is of the essence.”

The wedding is top secret but the source also said “They’re planning the perfect day, Life couldn’t be much better for them at the moment.”

When my (now) husband and I got engaged we send out our save the date cards by email but posted out wedding invitations. I wrote about finding good but inexpensive wedding invitations here. Sending wedding invites by email is much more environmental friendly and we did think about it, in the end we thought our older relatives would like a memento that they could keep.

What do you think? Is it okay to send wedding invitations via email?

If you are getting married then check out my book The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity, it has everything you need to know about planning your dream wedding.

 

 

 

Affordable And Amazing Wedding Cakes | The Wedding Diary

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The craziness of the wedding industry really shows up in the price of wedding cakes. When my fiancé and I first started looking, we couldn’t find one for less than £350, and most of them weren’t even nice. If you take away the fact they have the word ‘wedding’ in front of them, would anyone actually pay thousands of pounds for a cake? I think not.

In saying that, there are a lot out there with the craftsmanship and design that makes the price worthwhile. If you want great design at a good price then I recommend going the supermarket route. My fiancé and I got our wedding cake from Waitrose.com. Marks And Spencers also do great, affordable wedding cakes.

Here are some beautiful wedding cakes from Waitrose.com

Fiona Cairns Ivory Rose Petal 3-tier Wedding Cake (mixed filling)

fionacairnweddingcakeFiona Cairn is the Royal wedding cake maker. So if she is good enough for Kate and William….

Fiona Cairns Vintage Fairytale 3-tier Wedding Cake (Sponge)

waitroseweddingcakeChocolate Wedding Cake – Gold – 3 Tier

chocolateweddingcakeIf chocolate is your thing and you don’t want a traditional cake.

And (drum roll) here is our wedding cake. It matches our wedding colours of pale pink, pale green and white. We love it and got it in a mixed filling of vanilla sponge and fruit cake.

wedding cakeWhen buying a wedding cake make sure you check how many people it serves. The website should tell you or ask your baker. Another thing to check is if decoration is included. Some cakes look amazing but the small print says that the decoration is not included. This is also an easier way to get a cheaper cake, if you decorate it yourself, it costs less. Although there is the added stress.

While researching wedding cakes I saw a lot of gorgeous wedding cake toppers on ebay and ribbon is very cheap to buy from a haberdashery. You could also make your own or get a relative to make one. Although I would not do this if you weren’t brilliant at baking. Waitrose.com also have some guides on decorating your wedding cake and the BBC also have a great blog on making your own wedding cake.

Good luck and let us know about your wedding cake choices.

Where will you get your wedding cake?

If you are planning your wedding then get your hands on The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity. It has great advice on every aspect of wedding planning and lots of great advice on choosing the perfect wedding cake. 

 

 

The Wedding Diary: Invites

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First, I have to apologise for not updating my Wedding Diary as often as I should. I assure you the wedding is being planned but I underestimated how hard it would be to run a magazine, publish a book while writing another one, be a freelance writer, act and go to auditions, finish two scripts and plan a wedding all at once. I am also sure I missed something out there. To top it all off: we are also moving a couple of days after our wedding. That won’t be stressful at all….

weddinginvitationsSo for my first of many catch-up entries I am going to start with the invites. Now a lot of wedding invites are incredibly expensive. You are talking hundreds of pounds for a piece of cardboard. We were shocked at the prices. If you add in save the date cards and thank you cards, it would be easy to rack up a thousand pounds if you include postage. So what is a frugal girl to do? Ebay. Obviously.

We got beautiful, personalised invitations for a very reasonable price. I won’t show the exact ones at the moment because I haven’t sent them out yet and we don’t want to ruin the surprise of people getting them (or have stalkers turn up at our wedding. I have had a few bad experiences in the past). The invitations are beautiful, come with envelopes and are well made and high quality. Just put ‘wedding invitations’ into the search function of Ebay and you can get some amazing ones for under £50.

We didn’t send out save the date cards because of environmental reasons, and also cost. We emailed and called people instead. The wedding industry is a £10 billion industry in the UK so don’t buy something just because you feel you have to.

When it came to the design of our invitations, we wanted something that reflected us and who we are. Family members will probably try and pull you in a certain way, but we wanted ours to be fresh and fun. Our invites are white, with a multicoloured tree. We are in our twenties so we wanted something to reflect that: nothing stuffy. They also came in a very handy, protective plastic case.

If you want to spend more on your invitations then John Lewis do some beautiful ones, and so do Marks and Spencers and VistaPrint. If you are good at DIY you can also make your own.

What to put on your invites

Your names (we included our surnames as we weren’t sure people would know who we were!)

Date and time of the wedding

RSVP details. Include a non-email option for the older guests. Include a deadline for the RSVP. Needed for the catering and seating.

The venue address and the reception address too if it is different.

Your wedding gift list number. We went with John Lewis and Prezola.com

Other options

Parents details. We decided not to do this but you can include either parents or both.  As in: ‘Mr and Mrs Smith invite *guest name*  to the marriage of their daughter, Chloe, to Matt Fox.’

Dress code. We didn’t put one on as everyone knows weddings are formal. I would only include a dress code if it is anything other than formal. For instance: a themed wedding or black tie.

You can, of course, put whatever you want on your invitations. It is your wedding.

What will you put?

 

My wedding book is out now. If you are getting married then check out my book The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity, it has everything you need to know about planning your dream wedding.

 

 

How To Know When Its The Right Time To Get Married.

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William_and_Kate_weddingWith royal wedding fever hitting an all time high there is a high number of women wondering if there boyfriend will pop the question. Kate waited by Prince Williams side for nearly a decade, earning herself the nickname ‘waity Katy’. It would seem that Kate, or Catherine as she now wants to be called, has had the last laugh. However, not all women want to get married, or remain undecided. While most men need quite a bit of a push in my experience. So, when is it the right time to make the commitment? What do you need to know first? Read the point below to find out if now is the right time to get married.

Are you in love?

There are many reasons why people think they should get married. Whether its peer pressure or because you have kids. Truth is, there is only one reason why you should get married: You’re in love. As long as you love someone it does not matter what life throws at you. They are the constant in your life. If you are unsure whether or not you’re in love; you’re not. If you are unsure if your boyfriend loves you, ask him or read this: How to tell if your boyfriend loves you

Are they your final emotional destination?

When you marry someone you are not just sharing your life, but also your soul and your DNA. You are forever joining together. Marriage is something to be taken seriously, do you really want to be with this person? It’s okay to have doubts, we all do. It is always possible that Angelina Jolie or George Clooney will want to marry you later, but the thing is; if you have found someone who loves you and you love them back you are blessed, people spend lifetimes trying to find the love of their lives. Don’t throw that away.

Are you just sliding into it?

Do you really want to get married or are you just sliding into it? Marriage is a mistake that’s hard to get out of unscathed – whether that be emotionally or financially. Being in a loveless marriage is something nobody should have to put up with. Don’t just get married because your mother is nagging you.

Do you just want a big day?

They say the most important day in a women’s life is her wedding day. I like to think this isn’t true, but it is still something women, and men!, buy into. After the dress, the presents and the honeymoon you will have to spend the rest of your life with this person. Not really worth one glamorous day.

Are you getting married because you (think) you are cracking on a bit?

Getting married because your nearly thirty isn’t a good enough reason. Although a women’s biological clock doesn’t work in her favour, marrying someone you don’t love – or worse, having a kid with someone you don’t love; a child ties you to that person forever- just because you feel pressure from society or your mother will never make you happy. Think of all the other thing you could do with your life; travel, focus on your career, study. There is a big world out there. You don’t need a husband (or wife) for that.

Do you know each other? Does the other person listen?

You have to know the person you are marrying. Can you communicate with them? Can you talk openly? If you tell your partner that something annoys you do they make the effort to change? If someone love you they will do anything they can to keep you around, they will care about your thoughts and feelings. You also have to accept the other person, good and bad.

And another thing…

 

Talk about finance, children, future goals together. It’s okay to be nervous, to be unsure, relationships are hard, but if you really love the person you are with, what are you waiting for?

The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity is available in print, ebook and Kindle. The Kindle version is only £2.99.