Real Wedding - Sabrina and Tariq's Wedding - Part 1

In August, we organised a wedding for a couple at Micklefield Hall in Hertfordshire. The colour scheme was gold and white for the civil wedding ceremony which was held outside. Then the guests gathered in the lawn outside for drinks and canapes. The evening reception took place in a marquee and the colour scheme was turquoise and silver.

Here are some of the photos that we took of the marquee:

The chair were covered with ivory chair covers and turquoise bows:

The tables were decorated with matching turquoise and silver table runners, turquoise napkins and flower arrangements:

The stage had silver seating for the bride and groom:

Guests were each given an individual menu as there were a number of dishes for the guests to sample:

I will post some of the professional photographs shortly.

Gorgeous Wedding Ideas

I recently came across the Cox and Cox website. They have some stunning things for weddings and parties as well as a large range of products for Christmas and the festive season.

Here are a few of my favourite items:

Confetti box with holes for all your confetti cones:

Walnut place holders that could be kept by your guests as wedding favours:

Heart shaped signs to hold your table numbers or names:

Colourful Chinese lanterns that can be hung up outside in the garden:

Happy browsing!

Real Wedding - Karthica & Tim - Part 2

At the start of September, we planned a wedding for a couple at a barn in Essex. Previously I showed some of the photos that I took on the day.

Here are some of the photos from their photographer Terence Sullivan of Zephyr Photo

The bride wore a traditional outfit with beautiful gold jewellery:


The bride & groom, Karthica & Tim cutting their wedding cake:


The bride's carried a bouquet made of Gloriosa Lilies, Cymbidium and Cerise Roses:

Mosaic bowls with lillies and floating candles decorated the entrance to the venue:

The cake was 3 tiers and decorated with orange icing:

The couple travelled in a classic car decorated with orange and pink ribbons

Real Wedding - Karthica & Tim

At the start of September, we planned a wedding at a privately owned barn in Essex. We had been planning the wedding since December 2007 so it was great to finally see the end result after lots of wedding preparations. We also got to know the couple really well during the planning meetings and telephone/email exchanges!

Here are some photos that we took on the day. More professional shots to come.

The civil ceremony was held outside:

The entrance was decorated with a traditional Sri Lankan oil lamp and orchids:


The colour scheme was hot pink and orange. The tables had alternative tall and short flower displays with gerberas. All the flowers were created by the ultra talented Marion of Poppies Flowers

We created a chilled out seating area for guests using sari material and cushions:

Here is the email we received from the bride just before she headed off on honeymoon:

"Thank you so much for all your help in and preparation for and at the wedding. Everyone has been commenting as to how well organised everything was and we all had such a fantastic time! We really did have the best day ever and a lot of that is down to you and your team."

And the beautiful bouquet we received on the day as a thank you!

UKAWP Event - September 2009

In mid September we attended the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners London Networking Event. The event was held at the beautiful and initmate setting of 30 Pavillon Road in Knightsbridge, just round the corner from Harrods. It was great to meet so many different wedding planners all with their niche markets and unique selling points and ranging from well established names to those just starting out! Some photos of the event are available here.

We often get requests from would be wedding planners about where to train and study wedding planning. We would encourage them to visit the UKAWP website which has lots of information and advice and also offers a range of training courses.

Follow us on Twitter

You can now follow us on Twitter @ Jonsam_Events! We will keep you posted on our upcoming weddings, projects and events.

Where have we gone?

Hello! You may be wondering where we have been for the last couple of months! Its been a busy & sometimes crazy time as we have been working on our sister company - Jonsam Events Ltd. The company works on high quality events ranging from intimate gatherings for small groups to spectacular conferences for large organisations. We have also been busy with lots of other event related projects. More news to come when we launch our new website! We will keep you posted. Coming up over the next few weeks, we will be sharing some of our summer weddings with you.

More Fabulous Fascinators

Via Twitter, I recently came across Hatastic who create unique handmade hats, fascinators and hair accessories inspired by the beautiful bits and bobs sourced from remnant boxes and junk shops. All the products are available to purchase via http://www.folksy.com/

If you are a bride looking for something different to wear or something for your bridesmaids or a mother of the bride, Hatastic's designs would be perfect.

Here are a few pictures:

Make a statement with jewellery

I love the St Erasmus jewllery created by Pieter Erasmus. He has previously designed for high-end labels as diverse as Givenchy, Matthew Williamson and Roberto Cavalli and now has his own line. His inspiration comes from India and Africa and Pieter creates stand-out pieces using gold and silver thread hand crocheted over glimmering Swarovski crystals.

Michelle Obama recently wore one of his pieces as seen in the picture above.

Here are a few of my favourite designs:

Design Tip - Lanterns

Photo from Luna Bazzar

Every month, I will be posting a design tip that can be incorporated in your wedding design and will work with most budgets and colour schemes. Lanterns can be an inexpensive way of giving a venue a wow factor as guests walk into a room.

If you are thinking of using lanterns at your wedding, here are a few things to consider:

- Check with the venue that there are hanging points in the room. If the venue is a hotel or a historic building, it may already have hanging points. They are usually very small and hard to see so it is best to check with the venue directly.

- If the venue is a marquee structure, it is possible to hang strong fish wire across the canopy to hang the lanterns from. Check with the company supplying the marquee to see if this is possible.

- To have the best effect, the room needs to have a high celling. Otherwise it will just make the room seem smaller.

- Decide on a colour scheme and style for the lanterns.

You could go for a mix of colours and designs. This would work for a wedding with a bright colour scheme as in the photo below:

Photo from Luna Bazaar

Or pick 2/3 colours and coordinate with the table linen and flowers as in the picture below:

Photo from Luna Bazaar

Or go for a simple all white look. These are the easiest lanterns to purchase

Photo from Big-Wedding-Tiny-Budget

Or mix lanterns with draping and fairy light and focus on a central point:

Photo from Your Best Wedding Blogspot

I loved this photo Via Style Files

This is a great idea too for a more intimiate wedding or to go over the top table from Scott Weston table setting beneath electic Chinese lanterns via Desire To Inspire

Hope this gives you plenty of ideas!

Multicultural Weddings 6 - Creating the Wow Factor

When working with couples to create a multicultural wedding, we always try to come up with a wow factor idea for the wedding to really make a design statement and be unique to that wedding. This is also something for the couple, their families and guests to remember that wedding by.

Here are a few ideas:

Lighting
If there is one room being used for the civil or religious ceremony and then later for the sit down meal, the room can be completely transformed by using uplighters or pin spot lighting on the tables. Another option is to use a fairylight canopy in a marquee or above a dance floor.

All photos from Shreyas Decor

Lantern Release
Instead of going for fireworks which can be difficult in some venues due to proximity to farms and animals, how about having a lantern release at the end of the night? This is an environmentally friendly way to have a special event at the end of the evening and can be a very special moment to share with friends and family.

All photos from Light a Lantern

Dessert Buffet

Instead of serving a buffet, make a real statement and have a dessert buffet instead. Have lots of different sweets, candies, profiterole towers and foil wrapped chocolates all in keeping with the colour scheme and allow guests to choose what they would like. Have this available in the evening from after the main meal so that guests can have something to nibble on during the evening.

Photos from Amy Atlas and Martha Stewart

Divine Biscuits

Today I received a regular e-newsletter from Not on the High Street and came across a great company called Biscuiteers who create handmade biscuits beautifully designed and iced. Makes you hungry just looking at them! Ideal as wedding favours or themed boxes could be placed on tables for guests to nibble on later in the evening. They also do a bespoke service for weddings and events where they can create an individual designed biscuit to match your theme.

Here are a few of my favourites: