Wedding & Lifestyle Show at The Italian Villa - 31st October 2010

In the beautiful surroundings of The Italian Villa in Compton Acres. Bellissimo joined with the team at The Villa to create a Wedding and Lifestyle Show which took place on Sunday 31st October 2010.  This was our biggest show to date and it was a huge success with over 400 visitors coming along.  We are pleased to announce that The Villa have already asked us to repeat this success next year with another show on Sunday 30 October.

All images featured in this blog were taken by the very talented Ina Halsor and are subject to copyright - please do not reproduce without the express permission of Ina  - you can make contact with her via the link to her website above

Busy brides after the shot for a photocall

Show in full throttle - guests were able to take in the beauty of the Italian Gardens from the back of the Medici Suite in the Villa

Just one of the lovely stands on offer for guests to look at - exhibitors really did go to town with their stands at this show

Lovely stand featuring cakes by Lisa Notley

A wonderful day which brought together suppliers from the wedding world and suppliers who can help the newly weds find everything they need to start up their new home.

Tony Marsh from Absolute Fun Casino chatting to one of our guests 

Well Groomed of Lower Parkstone provided the suits for the male models to model during the fashion show and this was their stand

Habitat at their stand - featuring some lovely contemporary furniture and home items

Two fashion shows took place throughout the day with stunning bridal gowns on display. Dresses provided by Natalie at Exquisite Bridal in Lymington and Michelle at Bliss Bridal in Christchurch. The lovely boys from Southcoast Butlers were kitted out in suits from Well Groomed in Poole.

Faye and Jake modelling their stunning outfits 

Klynton in black dinner suit from Well Groomed and Lisa wearing gown from Bliss Bridal 

Anita modelling one of the beautiful gowns from Exquisite Bridal of Lymington 

Rob from South Coast Butlers 

Before each show guests were treated to a performance from Ed Hailwood a wonderful singer for all your event needs and alongside this a treat from Alexandra and Andrey from Dancezone who can teach you all the moves for your perfect first dance - always such a pleasure to watch and great to have Ed back at one of our shows - such a joy to hear Ed singing and always enjoyed by the visitors to our shows so thank you Ed for taking part and thanks also to Alexandra and Andrey for your stunning exhibition performance

Ed Hailwood singing to the crowds with catwalk arrangements courtesy of Crystal Adonis 

Alongside the bridal dresses we had a catwalk show with some stunning shoes,bags and other accessories from Sugar Plum Fairy Autumn/Winter collection.

Lisa modelling for Sugar Plum Fairy 

Sasha modelling for Sugar Plum Fairy - Autumn/winter collection 

Food was provided on the day by the wonderful Beales Gourmet Catering who are the in house caterers for all the functions at the wonderful venue and also run a very successful outside catering service to a number of local wedding and function venues including Lulworth Castle, The Lighthouse Poole and Highcliffe Castle.  Food was served to all the visitors outside with the wonderful back drop of The Italian Villa gardens.

Some guests enjoying food from the Winter Food Court in the Italian Gardens 

The stunning images that you can see throughout this blog were captured by the talented Ina Halsor. Ina is a contemporary photographer who manages to capture stunning moments effortlessly in a cool contemporary way throughout all of her work.Thank you Ina for coming along and taking these beautiful images.

One of our models - Sasha preparing for the catwalk in a stunning gown from Bliss Bridal - busy girls backstage 
Sasha is wearing crystal jewellery from Crystal Adonis 

Lisa looking amazing after the show for some shots with the bridal cars 

Our bridal models

Throughout the day a competition was running that visitors could enter to Win a Wedding at The Villa with other elements being provided by some of the lovely exhibitors of the day. A fantastic prize worth over £5,000 the prize was drawn at the afternoon fashion show and won by this lucky young lady who was presented with her scroll with details of her prize plus a bottle of bubbly to celebrate further.

A huge thank you goes out to all those who came along to exhibit at the show this year. As always thank you to our lovely models both male and female who always create such beautiful fashion shows. The talented hairstylists who made the models look even more fabulous Laura Mackenzie of Hair by Laura and stylists from Chris and Helens team from Off the Square Hairdressing who created some beautiful bridal hair and the gorgeous make up looks created by Annabel Hornsby and Robyn Vallender.

 

Looking lovely Lisa!

One of our models - Natalie - looking stunning and showing her lovely hairstyle by Off the Square Hairdressing of Wimborne 

Anita - wonderful model - and looking great in this gown

Emma-Jane - in one of the bridal cars looking amazing as ever 

Gorgeous girlies! 

Real Wedding- Paul & Helen.

The wedding of Paul and Helen took place at The East Cliff Court Hotel in Bournemouth in June.  Now this wedding had several twists to keep us on our toes!  In our brief we were requested to locate a venue which had sea views but somewhere which would provide our lovely couple with a relaxed feel for their day - nothing too formal.  The bride had strong ideas with the use of bold colours - lime and yellow and we wanted to bring in the seaside theme subtly into the day.   With the Bride and Groom living in Cornwall but the groom originally coming from Bournemouth this wedding really was a little bit of long distance organisation, with the Bride not seeing the venue for herself until the evening before - we were very pleased of course to meet the bride there on the evening of her wedding to see that she was delighted with the choice that her soon to be husband and ourselves had made for her.  Due to pressures of work she was unable to see the venue until this late - something we had not come across before!  On the wedding day itself the Bride was so overwhelmed with the transformation of their reception room from the night before that it brought a tear to her eye (in a good way of course!) which we were delighted with - thats what its all about!

For the table centres Karen of Karen Eveants Designs created these lovely arrangements of whole and cut limes topped with a 
round ball of flowers to resemble an ice cream so as to bring in the seaside theme- Karen Evans Designs 

(Images courtesy of Amanda Clay Photography)

Lime green organza sashes complimented the white lycra chair covers which transformed this room

With a truly stunning lime green and seaside theme the venue was transformed using very unique centre pieces created by Karen Evans. The day was photographed by the amazingly talented Amanda Clay who captured every moment of the day beautifully.  Amanda has a wonderful style of photography but not only her photography complimented this day but per personality and patient and gentle manner in getting the photographs taken in the style that the couple wanted.  Amanda's job was also made harder as Amanda did not meet the Bride until the rehearsal the night before the wedding which is most unusual for a photographer but this did not hinder her performance on the day or the beautiful images which she took.  Really lovely to work with Amanda and have her on board for this wedding.

Guests arriving for the Church service - outfits were a very welcome sea of colour

Guests traveled extremely long distances to attend this wedding - some as far as Zimbabwe.  The day began with a ceremony at the picturesque Holdenhurst Village Church, guests were transported from the hotel to the venue in minibuses shortly before the arrival of the bride. The wedding had such a family feel with Helen's daughters who were bridesmaids on the day carrying on the lime green theme in some truly stunning bridesmaids dresses. She was walked down the aisle to meet her groom by her son - what a lovely touch. The ceremony was very special with some very heartfelt readings from family and friends and even some African dancing in the Church! After the ceremony they were transported back to the reception venue in their beautiful wedding car.

The bride and groom leaving their Church service as newlyweds on their way to their reception

One of the lovely bridesmaids in the stunning lime green bridesmaids gowns - so lovely to have a bride who wanted to introduce striking and bold colours into her colour scheme - Helen obviously had a great eye for colour!

Back at the East Cliff Court guests enjoyed a drinks reception in the garden where they were entertained by Mosaic Jazz. after it was time to head to the Wedding Breakfast. A very informal buffet, which was exactly what the Bride and Groom wanted. Paul and Helen wanted something a little different and so decided to have a wedding breakfast with entertainment and dancing and then for the evening they and their guests changed into their non-wedding attire an went out locally for a relaxed meal - such a lovely idea and a few couples have followed suit with this since and its a great way not only of ensuring that your day does not have that all difficult dip which can sometimes happen between the day and the evening but there is no pressure on the bride and groom to have an evening reception if its not their preferred choice for their wedding day.  

The bride wore a stunning white strapless gown with bolero jacket and carried a simple yet striking bouquet of yellow Calla Lillies

After the Wedding breakfast, it was time for the speeches. With a lovely speech from Paul who talked about the very romantic love story of how they met! Mosaic jazz continued to play as guests enjoyed the beautiful surroundings overlooking the sea.

Stunning traditional fruit wedding cake from Speciality Cakes

finished with gloriosa to continue the bold colour theme of the day 

The happy couple arriving for their reception with the sea behind them - just as they wanted

We had a huge amount of pleasure working with all of the suppliers for this wedding but mostly with Paul and Helen and we wish them all the luck in the world for their future together -we were blessed to have been part of their very special day.  We provided a full  wedding planning service for Paul and Helen which was perfect as they needed assistance to locate a venue and all of their suppliers in an area where they do not live.  We also took care of RSVP management for their guests and transport and accomodation requirements and were there the day before for rehearsals and on the day for on the day coordination.  For more information about this package please give us a call on 01202 533014 to book your free consultation or take a look at our website

Wedding Fayres - East Cliff Court Hotel - 10th October 2010

Set at the wonderful Menzies East Cliff Court Hotel overlooking the beautiful Bournemouth Coast Bellissimo provided a wedding fair full of exciting exhibitors. Taking place on Sunday 10th October it was attended by a large crowd who enjoyed meeting our selection of local exhibitors and watching the two fashion shows.

As well as the exciting selection of exhibitors visited were treated to two lovely fashion shows throughout the day. The beautiful dresses were provided by Brides of Bournemouth and the boys were kitted out by Well Groomed, both shops have everything you need to make you look fabulous on your big day.

Before each show there was a real treat in store! a performance by The Jay T Singers who had everyone singing and laughing along to there very unique wedding entertainment. The perfect choice for a unique wedding entertainment package. A selection of dresses were displayed from wedding to bridesmaids and a delightful selection of suits were put on show.

Once again we were lucky to have the boys from South Coast Butlers (and Kai!) on board to model the mens attire - the boys are such fun to have on board at our fashion shows and do the suits complete justice!  South Coast Butlers are a private butler agency - perfect for your private event or hen party - the boys will come to you South Coast Butler semi naked butler agency

Before and during the fair visitors could sign up to win dinner bed and breakfast at the hotel along with a stunning bridal bouquet from the amazingly talented Lauren of The Travelling Florist.

Here the lucky winner meets the hotel General Manager Paul Clark to receive her prize

The final Wedding Fair for us this year is going to be on Sunday 31st October at the wonderful Italian Villa. A Wedding and Lifestyle Show with suppliers coming from not just the Wedding world but suppliers there to help you with home ideas. 11am-4pm free entry, come along for a fantastic day out at this stunning venue.

A huge thank you goes once again to our models who always make the show's such a wonderful success. Also to all those exhibitors who came along to display some superb things to the visitors.