Here is a selection of Q&As from Your East Anglian Wedding magazine whether it be about flowers, hair and makeup, fashion, wedding themes, health & beauty, cakes, stationery, legal advice. If you would like your question answered by our experts, please email it to editor@youreastanglian.wedding
To view more expert advice on a different topic, please select one from the list below.
Hold me close
Q | My hubby-to-be and I love Christmas and want to incorporate festive nods into our ceremony. Do you have any ideas of how we could do this? |
A | Susan McGregor says: Creating a magical ceremony with festive nods is exactly what an independent celebrant will do. Whether you want a sprinkling of Christmas (or a great big dollop), you'll work with your celebrant to create the perfect feel for your big day. Think about the music that you'll come into and exit to, and if you want to have a favourite festive piece played during the ceremony. Readings can be themed, and even your vows and promises can be built around your favourite festive movies or movie quotes, the gifts you've given each other over the years, or the places you've visited over the season. Symbolic rituals can also be added. A wine, gin or mulled-wine blending ceremony can bring the season to life and is something that your lovely guests can be included in too. Blend your chosen drink, then have a tot ready for your guests to toast you with at the same time. Handfasting ribbons with themed colours, a candle ceremony to light your way, or a holly bush or ivy bush planting are just some of the limitless choices. Whether you choose one to highlight during your ceremony or to do a few to sprinkle even more magic on the occasion, your ceremony will be the highlight of your day, creating that wonderful Christmas cheer! |
Susan McGregor, Susan McGregor Celebrant
A Memorable Moment
Q | How can we make our wedding ceremony personal to us? |
A | Robert Head says: There are so many ways that your ceremony can be personal to you. Firstly, consider the use of a celebrant, they are not confined to the structure of legal words which a registrar would be, allowing you to think outside the box. It's your special day, so share your love story with your family and friends and take them on your journey together. Consider involving family members in different ways, be it through the use of a ritual during your service, such as a sand ceremony or hand tying and have your family choose colours that represent you as individuals and as a couple. There are so many options and bespoke rituals that can be created around your loves and passions; the possibilities are endless. Write your vows to each other. A celebrant can assist you with this if you wish, and your words can come from the heart and be specific to you as a couple. Location may also be very important, and with a celebrant, you are not restricted to a certain area of a venue, so if there is a special place you wish to marry which is personal to you, consider a celebrant. We can also incorporate animals into your ceremony and even have them place a paw print on your commemorative certificate at the end. The options are endless. |
Robert Head, Oaktree Ceremonies
A Special Touch
Q | How can a celebrant help us make our ceremony extra special? |
A | Susan McGregor says: Your wedding day is an important day for you both; the ceremony is the main event and a celebrant will help create a fantastic, one-of-a-kind opening that will set the tone and atmosphere for the celebrations that follow. Your celebrant will put you first. You will be the only couple that they look after that day and give their whole focus to. You are investing in them to create a seamless ceremony around you and your love story. It will be a very personalised ceremony that will bring you and your guests together, which you'll all remember with great love and affection. Your celebrant should be someone you can trust. You'll be booking a supplier with a high degree of skill and professionalism, who can engage your guests and lead from the front. Your celebrant will spend time with you beforehand to make sure they understand what you'd love to see in your wedding ceremony. On the day you'll know them well and you'll trust them to deliver so that you have a ceremony which encapsulates everything that's important to you both. |
Susan McGregor, Susan McGregor Celebrant
Your day, your way
Q | As two brides, we both want to make a grand entrance in our beautiful gowns on our wedding day and enjoy that magical first-look moment but we can't decide who should walk up the aisle and who should wait at the end. Any ideas? |
A | Rob Head says: The most important thing to remember is that this is your day and there are many ways you can have that magical first-look experience. You may like to share this special time in private with only your photographer for company to capture your reactions. It could be arranged for you both to be either backto-back or behind closed doors, so you can't see each other, and then have the big reveal. Alternatively, you could walk up the aisle together, blindfolded so all your family and friends get to witness and share the happiness and delight with you when the blindfolds are removed. If you have your hearts set on tradition, each of you can still have your moment being walked up the aisle and have two photographers at either end to capture it all. There are no rules on how you should enter the ceremony and it is entirely up to you how you do it. |
Rob Head, Oaktree Ceremonies
Singing in the rain
Q | We're hoping to have an al fresco ceremony for our April wedding but are worried bad weather might spoil our plans. What would you advise? |
A | Francesca Foulsham says: No one wants to hear the words, 'shame about the rain' on their wedding day. However, the Great British weather is incredibly unpredictable at any time of year and especially during the spring months, so how can you be prepared to embrace whatever the heavens throw at you? Here are my five top tips to help you turn a negative into a positive: 1. Ask all your wedding guests to come prepared with big, bright, colourful umbrellas or have some available to be handed out if needed. Many venues will provide them. 2. Have coordinated bad-weather accessories for the bridesmaids and groomsmen, great for fun photos! 3. Chat with your photographer and venue to find out if there are alternative locations for the photographs. Many venues have stunning backdrops inside, which can be prepared in advance just in case it's hailing outside! On the plus side, overcast skies can be a bonus for photographers as bright sunshine can cause problems with shadows. 4. Celebrate the wellies! There are some gorgeous ones out there in a variety of colours and patterns, fabulous for popping on before treking across the lawn or down a slushy path. They will save your beautiful wedding shoes from mud and grass stains too. 5. Tents, gazebos, pods and yurts all make fantastic shelters for your guests, perfect for drinks and canapés too while you wait for the skies to clear. |
Francesca Foulsham, Francesca Foulsham Celebrant