Thursday 28 April 2011

Royal Wedding Preview

I'm sure you haven't failed to notice that there is a very big event happening in London tomorrow!  The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton takes place at Westminster Abbey at 11am, but there will be lots happening all day.



The Official Royal Wedding website has released detailed timings for the day as follows:

8.15 -9.45am The general congregation will arrive at the Great North Door of Westminster Abbey.
From 9.50am Governors-General and Prime Ministers of Realm Countries, the Diplomatic Corps, and other distinguished guests arrive at the Abbey.
10.10am The Bridegroom and Prince Henry of Wales leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.15am.
10.20am Members of Foreign Royal Families arrive at Westminster Abbey from Buckingham Palace.
10.20am Mrs. Michael (Carole) Middleton and Mr. James Middleton leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.27am.
10.25am Members of the Royal Family (except those listed below) leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.30am.
10.35am The following Members of the Royal Family leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.40am: The Duke of York, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie or York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence
10.38am The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.42am.
10.40am The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.45am.
10.48am The Bridesmaids and Pages leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.55am.
10.51am The Bride, accompanied by Mr. Michael Middleton, leaves the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.
11.00am The Marriage Service begins. The Marriage Service will be relayed by audio speakers along the Route.
12.15pm The Carriage Procession of the Bride and Bridegroom with a Captain’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, followed by The Queen’s Procession with a Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, leaves Westminster Abbey for Buckingham Palace.
12.30pm The Bride’s Carriage Procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.
12.40pm Members of the Royal Family and Members of Foreign Royal Families arrive at Buckingham Palace.
From 12.40pm Other guests for the Reception arrive at Buckingham Palace.
1.25pm The Queen and the Bride and Bridegroom, together with their Families, appear on the Balcony.
1.30pm Fly Past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Miss Catherine Middleton, accompanied by her immediate family, will spend the night before the wedding at the Goring Hotel. This was the Middleton family’s personal choice.
All arrivals at Westminster Abbey are at the Great West Door unless otherwise indicated.

The wedding will be shown on various big screens in London as well as extensive coverage on all the main TV channels.  I've already booked my seat on the sofa in front of my mun & dad's new big screen TV - my 3 year old daughter is most excited to see a real life princess getting married!

Where will you be watching the Royal Wedding?
   

Thursday 21 April 2011

Wedding A-Z: G is for Groom

It can be very easy to get so absorbed in planning your wedding that you forget about your groom!  Make sure you are including him in at least some of the planning - here's a few suggestions:
  • Get him to view venues with you - it's important that you choose a venue that you both like
  • Ask his opinion on flowers and colour schemes
  • Ask him to research Bands or DJ's
  • Ask him to help choose the menu

Direct him over to the Staggered website as well - it's a wedding website developed especially for men.



Their tag line sums it up for me: Weddings, Blokes, Sorted!

Enjoy!

Thursday 7 April 2011

Choosing the Perfect Dress

Part of my job involves going along with brides to search for their perfect dress – as a wedding planner, I can provide a no nonsense, impartial opinion and relate that to how the style of dress will fit with the overall theme and design of the wedding, as well as how well the style suits the bride.


The first thing most brides to be will do as soon as they get engaged is buy a stack of wedding magazine and start turning the page corners of the wedding dresses they like. A pattern will soon emerge and there is likely to be a style of dress that you continually go back to - but try not to set your heart on something purely based on a picture. Think about the outfits you have in your wardrobe and try to go with a similar style to your favourite dress. It’s your favourite dress because it fits you well and you feel comfortable in it.


Keep an open mind when going to try on dresses, and remember that the dress designers fit brides in wedding dresses every day so they really do know what they’re talking about – ask them for their opinion.

A strapless full gown doesn’t suit everyone, yet it is one of the most popular styles of wedding dress. You can still feel like a Princess in other styles. For example; if you are slightly larger in the bust area (like me!), you could really benefit from some structure and probably some straps to help you feel more secure (particularly for dancing!).

Most importantly you need to feel comfortable, the last thing anyone wants to see at a wedding is a bride constantly pulling up her dress or fiddling with the straps …and you just want to enjoy the day. Dress designers can work wonders with a needle and thread, my underwear was sewn into my dress when I got married so I didn’t have to worry about any unruly bra straps!

Good luck with your search for ‘The Dress’, if you would like a no nonsense impartial opinion when dress shopping contact us to find out how Endless Love could help you.