Quick Tip!

This is a fabulous tip for removing Spray Tanning.

If you are planning to have a tan done before your big day, make sure you go for a test run at least 2 weeks before your day. Remember to exfoliate before your tan and DO NOT shave before. If you end up orange and blotchy and you are not happy with the tan, you can remove it and not have to stay orange!!

All you need is some whitening toothpaste and a wet cloth which you can scrub your body with. You will have to scrub, scrub, scrub with a bit of pressure, but it will remove the spray tan. Your skin will be red and blotchy for a little while after, but you won't be orange anymore!!

Stay tuned for more quick tips!

Get the Look!

Hair.Makeup.Beauty

When is the right time to organise and book your hair and makeup artists? Ideally, you should book both of them about six months before the wedding. This will allow you plenty of time to have a trial run, or two!

It may be easier and less costly if you can find two professionals who work well together to offer you a great service or maybe someone who does both hair and makeup.

When you choose your hairstyle, be sure that it will suit your face shape and compliment your gown too. Most up styles look gorgeous with a strapless gown, but make sure you then add a simple piece of jewellery around your neck to take away the bareness, but not too much that it detracts away from your gown and hair.

Schedule any beauty appointments a couple of months before your wedding to allow any changes which may occur in your skin to calm down well before your big day! Your beautician will work with you in finding the right skin care routine for your skin type and you can then continue your facials, skin care etc... up until your day (and beyond) and your skin will be glowing.

Childproof your Wedding

Pre-Wedding:
Allocate a key person to look after the little ones in the bridal party, as the preparation before the ceremony can be quite stressful and chaotic for the bride and bridal party.

Ceremony:
Arrange small snacks for the children (preferably something that is not messy). Ask your usher to hand them out to the parents as they arrive to the ceremony and if the weather is hot, consider arranging a few bottles of water in case parents forget to bring their own (there is nothing worse than a thirsty child screaming for water during your ceremony).
Another option is to have someone look after the children outside or slightly away from your ceremony.

Reception:
Arrange a special kids table full of fun activites, such as games, colouring in books and stickers and possibly some entertainment.

Meals:
Make sure the reception venue brings out the children's meals before the adult guests, as children are not as patient as adults when they are hungry.
Messy meals are not a good choice either. Pasta's with red sauce are a recipe for disater, especially if your bridal party consists of a flower girl wearing a white dress. Keep menu simple for the little ones.

Your wedding can still be fabulous with little ones running around, having a fun time! Just remember to include ideas for them in every part of your wedding and you will enjoy having them there.

Runway Bridal Fashion 2010

On the runway at this years New York's Bridal Market, designers were showcasing some gorgeous gowns incorporating black.

Would you consider a theme incorporating black?

What to do first??

Welcome to our first blog!

(We hope to be able to help you in certain areas of your wedding planning and just remember that we are available to officially help you if you are interested. Please see our website for further details.)

So, you're engaged!! Congrats to you both! Your engagement should be an exciting and wonderful time of your lives.....but as you start to think about piecing your wedding together, it can become quite a daunting task, and sometimes, can turn you into a BRIDEZILLA!! As a wedding planner/stylist, I can give you valuable advice and direction to make sure you relax and enjoy the process of piecing everything together, and keep you within your budget.

Where do you start? Well, after you have decided on a date your next move is to start looking around and speaking with friends or family who have recently married, for ideas and suggestions on venue locations. Will your venue selection be primarily based upon your budget? On the theme of your wedding? Or will it be based upon your guest list?

Your reception is usually the first thing you book. This is because nearly all the other wedding services need to know the date and the location of your wedding so they can confirm their availability. Once you have narrowed your venue selection down to a couple, you need to look at how many guests you wish to invite for the amount of room each venue can support. Keep in mind that most venues are booked quite some time in advance so you may not get the venue for your chosen date. If this happens, try to be flexible with your wedding date if you really want that particular venue or maybe see if they are available for the Friday or Sunday around the date you have chosen. You need to be somewhat flexible with a lot of elements along the way for things to flow smoothly. Of course, you can't be too flexible that your wedding doesn't turn out the way you want it to either!

So, try and book your reception venue at least 12 months before the date you have chosen, so you are not disappointed. A very popular function centre will probably be booked out up to two years in advance for Saturday nights in popular months. The same venue can probably be booked less than a year ahead if you steer away from a Saturday night or choose a quieter time of the year.

The next step is to book your ceremony. Or vise-versa if you choose so. Just remember that because Saturday evening is the most popular time for wedding receptions then Saturday mid-afternoon is the most popular time for ceremonies.

One way to avoid the difficulties of not getting both your venue selections to coincide is have your ceremony and reception at the one place. This can also save you money and will save you time and hassle and less running around!