I love finding new, and different, suppliers who can help you create something special for your wedding reception. I've never been of the opinion that you have to throw money at things in order to have a fantastic celebration that embraces your personalities and Candy4U is no exception!

Fancy a 'candy bar' at your wedding, full of your favourite sweets (the list you can choose from is a big one!)? Perhaps you want table centre pieces that can double up as favours? Candy4U should be your first port of call - from just £4 per head (plus delivery and set-up) they will create something very special for you, and I bet your guests will be talking about it for ages - as well as leaving your wedding with pockets full of humbugs, sherbet lemons and chocolate eclairs!

We have recently announced the first set of dates for our 2009 Wedding Planners Master Classes and the response has been fantastic. If you are looking to become a wedding planner, or know someone who is, then there is no better place to start. Far less of an investment, and infinitely more valuable than the many online 'degree-style' wedding planning courses, this one day class will inspire and motivate you to make your dream a reality and become a successful wedding planner. So why not get in touch and see if we have space available for the Master Class of your choice - we're visiting London, Bath, Cheltenham and Milton Keynes in 2009.

If you'd like to see if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination so you too can relax and enjoy every second of your day, or you would like to book a planning session to kick-start your wedding plans or you simply have a question that's been keeping you awake at night, please get in touch - we're here to help!

Until next week,

ps - you can get regular wedding planning advice from magicdust's regular newsletter, simply click here to subscribe (and don't worry, we don't give your details to anyone else - we'll only use them to send you the newsletter)

Labels: becoming-a-wedding-planner, caterer, supplier

Wow, this week has been a busy one!

I discovered a couple of new suppliers that I want to share with you. Kieran Doherty is a photographer with 15 years of experience as a war and sports photographer. He knows exactly how to capture a fleeting moment and his experience is such that you can totally trust him to make the first edit of your photos.

Earlier this week I spoke to two of his recent wedding clients and the praise he got from both of them was fantastic! I particularly liked the idea of the 'photo booth' which he can set up somewhere in your venue for guests to go along throughout the day and take their own pictures. It's a brilliant way to capture your friends and family really enjoying themselves and, judging by the examples on Kieran's website, boy do they enjoy themselves!

Kate from Sparkle & Rose stationery sent me her latest pack of wedding designs this week and they really are beautiful. All the stationery is available in co-ordinating ranges and they also offer a bespoke design service if you want something truly original. Their flair for impressive attention to detail and great customer service means they're Magic Dust's favourite kind of supplier so check out their website and see for yourself!

We've taken a flurry of bookings and enquiries for 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination for 2009 this week. It would seem that quite a few people are taking my advice and getting their planning and preparation done early so that they can relax and enjoy the run-up to their wedding, and the Christmas break, safe in the knowledge that someone who plans weddings everyday is going to make sure they get the wedding they want, not the one other people think they should have.

I love knowing that every single one of these couples is going to wake up on New Year's Day and think "Yippee, we're getting married this year and we're so excited!" rather than "Arrrggghhhh, we're getting married THIS year and we're so stressed!".

Helen & Richard Terrington, who married in October, sent me this note earlier in the week which brilliantly sums up what using Magic Dust's 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination service is really like...

"After that first meeting (Dotting the i’s) we both felt so much better about things. So much so that we then thought ‘On the Day Co-ordination’ was the way forward. It was the best planning decision we made and our only regret is that we did not hire you sooner! In fact, we think that if we had hired you from the beginning we may well have saved money on our overall budget.

In the planning stages, emails to you were answered very quickly, even the slightly deranged ones! It was so helpful to have someone with experience ‘on our side’.

It really was the best day of our lives. It was great just to be able to enjoy the day knowing there was someone on hand to deal with problems. Even little things like getting service behind the bar (for our guests that had decided to start celebrating early!) were sorted in a flash.

Magic Dust provided a really professional but also friendly and reassuring service, without any ‘over the top fluffiness’. Most importantly, you kept us focused on the fact that we were planning a marriage as well as a wedding."

If you'd like to see if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination so you too can relax and enjoy every second of your day, or you would like to book a wedding planning session to kick-start your wedding plans or you simply have a question that's been keeping you awake at night, please get in touch - we're here to help!

Until next week,

ps - you can get regular wedding planning advice from magicdust's regular newsletter, simply click here to subscribe (and don't worry, we don't give your details to anyone else - we'll only use them to send you the newsletter)

Labels: photographer, stationery, supplier, testimonial

November is one of my favourite months of the year as it invites you to look forward to Christmas and to the start of a new year with fresh goals and an invigorated outlook. But whoah there, I hear you cry, there's still 6 weeks until 2009!

True, but those 6 weeks will fly by so now is the time to decide what wedding planning tasks you want to complete before the end of the year so that you can start 2009 on top of everything and raring to go. Better that than waking up with a headache on New Year's Day in a complete panic!

This week I've been preparing for our pre-Christmas wedding planning sessions. By working through outstanding tasks and allocating each one a deadline and a person who will be responsible for making sure it gets done, these lucky couples will whiz through their 'To Do' lists in time to put all thoughts of wedding planning to one side and enjoy the Christmas holiday. They'll be able to treat their friends and family to conversations that don't revolve around colour schemes, cake flavours and catering choices and that can only be a good thing!

I've been shopping this week with a bride-to-be who asked for my help in choosing venue decorations for their December 2009 wedding. Yes, you read that right, December 2009! We had a great day out in London checking out the Christmas departments in John Lewis, Liberty and House of Fraser, among other places and we didn't buy a thing.

But, what we did do was note down all the things that she loved so that, come the January sales, this particular bride-to-be will be first in line for the bargains that will decorate her venue beautifully and ensure that their budget works as hard as it possibly can. My idea of a fantastically productive day out!

I've also been busy organising our Wedding Planner Master Classes for 2009, where anyone who wants to become a wedding planner spends an entire day with Magic Dust, and comes away with the direction they need to start a career in wedding planning & coordination..

The pre-registration system has worked incredibly well and everyone who registered has already received prior notification of the 2009 dates. They will be announced on the website next week but, if you'd like to maximise your chances of securing a place, pre-register here and we'll send you the details before they go on general release.

And talking of Master Classes, I'll be hosting the penultimate one of 2008 this Sunday and I can't wait! It promises to be a fun and informative day that will inspire the attendees to launch their own successful wedding planning companies that focus on the couples getting married, rather than the money they can make out of them. Together we'll keep on challenging the wedding industry to do the same!

If you'd like to check availability for a pre-Christmas planning session, see if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' co-ordination so you too can relax and enjoy every second of your day, or you would like more information about our 2009 Master Class schedule, please get in touch - we're here to help!

Until next week,

ps - you can get regular wedding planning advice from magicdust's regular newsletter, simply click here to subscribe (and don't worry, we don't give your details to anyone else - we'll only use them to send you the newsletter)

Labels: becoming-a-wedding-planner, tips

You can take the girl out of Grazia but you just can't take Grazia out of the girl, which is why I jumped at the invitation to join the team down at Westfield shopping centre earlier this week!

I'll let you make your own minds up about the biggest shopping mall in Europe because I was much more interested in catching up with the Grazia fashion team and picking up some insider tips for Christmas party dressing (navy and black is the chic-est combination, and if you've got good legs don't be afraid to get them out!)

My favourite tip, and one that I have already successfully tried out, came from Mel Ricky, Grazia's Fashion Features Director. She very kindly passed on Giorgio Armani's advice for carrying clutch bags... arm outstretched behind you so the bag doesn't ruin the line of your dress. So now you know!

I think the most important thing to remember though, whether you're looking at wedding dresses or searching for the perfect party frock, is to be led by what suits you and what you feel comfortable in, not just by what is deemed 'fashionable'.

The LBD (little black dress) is the perfect example of timeless style. Update it every season with a statement necklace or new fabulous shoes and you have a fashion-classic that will last you a lifetime. When you're hunting for your wedding dress, think along similar lines - don't dismiss the classic, simple shapes as these are sometimes the most flattering and give you a wonderful base from which to inject your personality through your jewellery, shoes, hair.

Whatever you do, have fun and make sure you love love love your wedding outfit - you'll be looking at the photos for years!

It's been a week of fashion and beauty and what's not to like about that? I'm going to share a secret with you... Ecorium, a fantastic new beauty emporium in Canterbury and on the internet, is all about pure skincare with a clear conscience. I'm going to keep you posted about Ecorium as they have lots of things in the pipeline for brides-to-be and I think you should be the first to know...

But, in the meantime, if your skincare routine needs an overhaul to ensure you're looking your best on your wedding day I can think of no better way to start than with the natural, ethical and ecologically friendly product ranges at Ecorium.

So, if you're in Canterbury pop in and say hi to Niki and tell her I said hi too, otherwise find Ecorium on the internet. When you place your first order you will automatically be entered into their prize draw to win a skincare goody bag worth £100 - now that's my idea of heaven!

If you'd like to check if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination so you too can relax and enjoy every second of your day or you just need an answer to a question that's driving you crazy, please get in touch with Magic Dust - we're here to help!

Until next week,

ps - you can get regular wedding planning advice from magicdust's regular newsletter, simply click here to subscribe (and don't worry, we don't give your details to anyone else - we'll only use them to send you the newsletter)

Labels: beauty, supplier, tips

Let's say you've already found your dream wedding dress... does that mean you stop looking at, wanting, or sometimes even needing(!), a new dress for another occasion?

Of course it doesn't and that's why I am delighted to have discovered, and spent time getting to know Rachel, the brains behind Frock Online. They stock little known in the UK, but fabulous, brands like Rene Derhy, Bekaloo and Numph, which almost certainly guarantees you won't suffer the toe-curling indignity of turning up in the same High Street-dress as 3 other people at your Christmas party!

But, perhaps most exciting, you can arrange an appointment if you're local to Farnham to see the clothes before you buy. Why not treat your bridesmaids to a marathon trying-on session or take your Mum along to find her outfit for your big day? Even if you can't do that, Frock's delivery and returns policy is simple and customer-friendly and that means they get the thumbs up from Magic Dust!

I recently worked at a wedding where the couple had obviously put a lot of thought into the gifts they gave their bridesmaids and ushers - I thought it was a brilliant, simple but hugely personal way of saying thank you.

Apparently it had taken the groom 6 years to propose and this had become something of a standing joke amongst their friends. The couple embraced this and handed out bottles of wine that needed to be laid down for 6 years before they could be drunk!

Try Wine 2 Lay Down if you're interested in doing something similar.

In my mind, you're only as good as the last wedding you planned so, imagine my delight on receiving this testimonial from Sarah & Ben, on their return from honeymoon:

"What seemed like a mountain of organisation became a fun, stress free and pleasurable experience. And that was totally thanks to Tammy and the Magic Dust service. The whole experience was faultless. That might sound like an exaggeration, but it's absolutely true. Whenever we needed Tammy she was there. Never intrusive or domineering, but always helpful and supportive. She offered ideas we loved, and brilliantly executed and improved our own."

And that's just one more reason why I think I have the best job in the world! If you'd like to check if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' co-ordination so you too can relax and enjoy every second of your day or you just need an answer to a question that's driving you crazy, please get in touch - we're here to help!

Until next week,

ps - you can get regular wedding planning advice from magicdust's regular newsletter, simply click here to subscribe (and don't worry, we don't give your details to anyone else - we'll only use them to send you the newsletter)

Labels: style, supplier, testimonial