It's been a week of 'Girls Night In' planning sessions and 'On The Day' co-ordination preparation - 2 of our most popular, and valuable, services - and I've thoroughly enjoyed myself!

One of the most daunting things for couples planning their celebrations is knowing exactly where to start. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you're bombarded by magazines, websites and friends offering a million and one different ideas. Because we're passionate about keeping wedding planning 'refreshing, simple and invaluable', we relish the opportunity to help couples at this early stage with a planning session at home.

Our objective and experienced point of view enables us to highlight priorities and work through potential problems whilst offering ideas and inspiration that guarantee couples come away from the sessions much calmer and excited about planning their wedding.

The best way to ensure that you don't wake up in the middle of the night worrying about details is to identify what is worrying you and get answers to those worries as quickly as possible - sounds simple and, once you know what questions you need to ask, it really is!

Not only do couples spend 2 hours face-to-face with me but they know that I've already spent a similar amount of time preparing for the session to ensure that it's tailor made for them and no-one else, making these planning sessions incredible value for money and an ideal way to kick-start your wedding plans.

Tucked away at the bottom of the High Street in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, is a treasure trove of a shop, called 'Me Me Me'. It's a family run business and one of my favourite places to buy gifts. They specialise in hand-made, customised Memory Boxes that are excellent value (from £60) and a gorgeous way to store wedding photos, invitations & rsvp notes, tiaras, confetti and anything else you can think of to create an evocative reminder of the best day of your lives.

They only need a couple of weeks to produce them and the possibilities are endless - you can contact Natalie and her Mum through the Me Me Me website or pop in if you can. It's also a great place to find gifts for bridesmaids as they stock some beautiful jewellery and have recently started offering scrap-booking packs that enable you to produce wonderful, handbag-sized keepsakes.

If you'd like to talk to me about organising a 'Girls Night In' planning session, check if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination or just need an answer to a question that's keeping you awake at night, please get in touch!

Until next week,

So much has happened at Magic Dust this year that I wanted to mark the blog's 'Seven Month Anniversary' (any excuse for a celebration!) by saying a big thank you to all the wonderful couples, as well as the fabulous (and less than fabulous...) suppliers we've worked with so far this year for being the inspiration behind every blog.

I'd also like to thank all those of you who read the blog regularly - it's great to know you're out there and, even if we never meet, I wish every single one of you a fantastic wedding day and a stress-free time planning it!

I've got a couple of 'old faithful' suppliers to share with you this week before I head off to a tiny place in the Cotswolds for what promises to be a fabulously decadent - and impeccably planned (!) - wedding this weekend.

Kirsten Goss's jewellery is stunning. Even that doesn't do it justice! The fact that Kirsten herself is in London next week and currently taking bookings for appointments with brides at her Kensington store, is fantastic news. If you can be in London between 5th and 9th August and you would like some expert help in choosing your wedding jewellery, then give them a call and tell Kate I said hi!

Cox & Cox has long been a favourite website of mine that I've tried to keep a closely guarded secret but, no more, I just have to share it with you. Such a lovely website to browse, it's full of great ideas for wedding decorations but never strays into tacky, unnecessary frippery and that makes me very very happy! So do have a look, be inspired and like they say throughout the website 'use your imagination'.

If you'd like to talk to me about how we might be able to help you, check if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' wedding co-ordination or to help you kick start your wedding plans with a 'Girls Night In' wedding planning session please get in touch!

Until next week,

This is the key and one of the reasons why, at Magic Dust, we don't have any affiliations or 'agreements' with any suppliers. We work on our own experience of having worked with some of the best suppliers in the industry, we relish personal recommendations and we have a keen eye and ear for seeking out those people with a similar ethos to us - ones who always remember that the couple getting married are at the very heart of what we do every day.

So this week it's been venues in Cornwall and Northumberland, photographers and caterers in Warwickshire and South Wales and a children's magician on the South Coast - never a dull moment at Magic Dust!

I have a couple of people to share with you this week. They offer very different services but they're both important, and I can personally recommend both companies. If you're looking for jewellery for your wedding day, or perhaps for your honeymoon, and you don't want to spend an absolute fortune but you want something special and 'one of a kind', look no further than Ladies Who Lunch.

Mandy, one of the owners, is fantastic and will happily take the time to discuss what you are looking for, if you don't find it on their website, and create a one-off piece. And I guarantee you'll find it difficult to stop at just one necklace or bracelet so why not buy your bridesmaid's gifts here too... That's another couple of jobs ticked off your To Do list!

It might not be a terribly romantic topic but have you thought about the effect getting married will have on your will? That's if you've even got one... If you own property, have children or even family heirlooms to protect, you really should have a will. If you already have a will did you know that you need to have it amended to reflect the fact that you're now married or it won't be worth the paper it's written on?

You'll have heard the saying 'Where there's a will, there's a way' but how about this as a testimonial from a client of Jacqui Butler's Butler Estate Planning... "Where there's a Jacqui, there's a will!" She'll make the process as simple and stress-free as possible so you can get back to the fun bits of planning your wedding knowing that your affairs are all in order.

July is National Make A Will month, and two-thirds of UK adults don't have one - but peace of mind in knowing your loved one is looked after is always money well spent in my book.

Finally, check out our services page for details of our new 'Power Hour' service. An hour of a professional wedding planner's time to do with as you choose (within reason!). Like all our services it's designed to be flexible, it's the perfect engagement gift for a busy friend and the ideal way to really find out how a wedding planner can help you with your plans.

Until next week,