Stunning Italian Countryside Wedding - Bellissimo in association with Event Designer Italy

Well here at Bellissimo you could say that we are quite resourceful and not only do we get involved in weddings on the South Coast of the UK plus running the only venue in England & Wales where you can get married on the beach and have a marquee on the sand for your reception BUT we also work in conjunction with a wedding planner based in Tuscany and together we can assist from both the UK and in Italy for your desintation wedding. 

This year one of our couples chose to marry in the stunning Tuscan hills and we can now share a few images of their beautiful day with you.  Enjoy! x

The beautiful bride with her stunning bridesmaids 

The bride celebrating! 

 The gorgeous courtyard ceremony 

Stunning shot of the bride and groom surrounded by the beautiful Tuscan countryside 

Let the reception commence as the sun goes down

For any more information on destination weddings please contact us or contact Chiara at Event Designer Italy

x

Review of the year 2011 - wow what a year it has been!

Well where to start - this year truly has been an amazing year.  Year three for Bellissimo Weddings and Simply Events on the non wedding side of events which we plan.  

Frances was with us until half way through the year after completing her placement year from Bournemouth University with us and had been a huge help in moving the business forward.  2011 has seen us work on over 10 weddings in a mixture of full planning, partial planning and on the day co-ordination.   This really has been the year of the marquee!  Melanie has become known as somewhat of an "expert" on marquee weddings and no wedding had tested her more than a wedding in June where we were brought in very late in the day where the bride and groom were experiencing some difficulties with suppliers and pulling their marquee wedding together and to say there were quite a few challenges to get over is very much an understatement but we pulled it off and were thrilled to have some wonderful testimonials  from couples who really did "get" the value of what we do and what we offer - often not fully appreciating the extent of what we do until after the day when they get to see it in full.  

The early part of the year saw us working on numerous wedding shows which we organise for local venues which is hard work but fun at the same time.  We have had some wonderful shows including RNLI College in Poole which was a new venue for us this year and gave us the chance to offer a waterside venue with a great selection of local suppliers on board for couples to meet. 

The team at the RNLI show 

Guests at the RNLI show in March 2011

The year continued with a pace with lots of weddings and events to work on including various charity events and corporate events.  Then, we were nominated for a Langtry Manor Small Business of the Year Award - what a privilege to have someone nominate us for that and then to find that we had been short-listed as one of the three finalists.  It was a lovely awards dinner and whilst we didn't win it was such a great feeling to have been recognised so early in the our business.  

Melanie at the awards in May

We were short-listed as a finalist 

More recently, we were also nominated and short-listed for a regional award as Wedding Planner of the Year 2012 - its been the year for nominations!  Maybe next year we will get a little closer!

The weddings continued throughout the year and we have worked in some amazing venues including Lulworth Castle, The Italian Villa at Compton Acres, Exbury Gardens and some stunning marquee settings.  

Melanie helping one bride into her gown 

Melanie chatting with Father Bruce before a wedding this year 

We also started offering baby showers and the first was in the spring of this year - going into the home of the mum to be or a friend and setting out lovely food, cakes, and running the event with some great games and hosting the guests as they arrive - great way to welcome the new mum to be

In March Melanie took part in Wedding Planning Excellence and was asked to speak to fellow planners with both her planning and legal hat on and was pleased to do this. 

Melanie in a public speaking role 

Melanie and the fellow planners at WPE 2011

Moving into the warmer months we were really pleased under the Simply Events side of the business to work on a joint birthday and anniversary celebration for some wonderful clients in Dorset.  The theme was the Caribbean and we set up a small marquee in the grounds of their property and brought in Beales Gourmet to provide a sumptuous Caribbean themed menu for our clients and their guests.  

One of the tables at the Caribbean themed event complete with boat shaped napkin folds in  black, yellow table cloths for the Jamaican flat and tropical flower centre pieces.  

One of the most stunning weddings we worked on this year was over at Studland in a ti-pi!  Below are just two images we took on the day showing the ti-pi going up - more to follow on a full blog on this wedding in the New Year. 

And don't let anyone say that the life of a wedding planner is glamorous!  Scrubbing floors and cleaning or unblocking loos is often the order of the day at marquee weddings! 

We had a really hot spell at the end of the summer and sneaked in another wedding show...or two!

Winner of a floral prize at one of our shows 

Fashion show at The East Cliff Court 

We worked on several charity events this year - and the Sunflower Ball in aid of Lewis Manning was just one of them.  This was a fabulous event with auction and raffle and amazing big band music.  A great night was had and some great donations were made to enable a really good sum to be given to the charity. 

A huge and important part of 2011 was celebrating our third business birthday in September.  We were thrilled to take over The Italian Villa at Compton Acres and had the most beautiful balmy summer evening to entertain clients, suppliers, friends and family in the gardens with bubbles and canapes. 

Some sweet treats for our guests 

Vicky and Richard sing and play for us 

Our guests in the gardens of The Villa 

Melanie and some fellow wedding planners who helped celebrate the night with us

Melanie saying a few words of thanks and announcing the Beach Weddings contract!  More about this below

One of our last weddings of the year was a stunning marquee wedding in Dorchester which was an absolute pleasure to have worked on through 2011.  This is one of our favourite images from the wedding as the Bride and Groom emerge from the Church

Image courtesy of  Angela Ward Brown Photography

Image courtesy of Angela Ward Brown Photography

The Marquee at our Dorchester wedding all laid out waiting for the guests

End of October saw another wedding show - year two of us organising the Wedding & Lifestyle show at The Italian Villa at Compton  Acres 

Guests browsing through the stands at the Italian Villa 

Image courtesy of Ina Halsor Photography

Our models getting ready to hit the catwalk

I

Image courtesy of Digitally Different Photography

Melanie with twin page boy and flower girl from our last wedding of the year 

And so, as if that wasn't enough, in October we learned that we were successful in our bid to become the operators of www.beachweddingsbournemouth.co.uk.  What a hugely exciting project this is going to be.  We have a 5 year contract to be the operators of this unique beach wedding venue and its the only place in England & Wales were you can legally marry right on the sand.  This has proved so popular during the 2 months since we launched at the end of October.  We are very excited and thrilled to be part of this project.  Its hugely exciting for wedding world and for Bournemouth as a beach resort and will certainly bring some amazing weddings to the beach in 2012.  The bookings are filling up for the 2012 season and we are really excited to be getting everything prepared. 

Image courtesy of IanH Photography

Our launch weekend marquee set up on the beach

Early morning photoshoot for beach weddings - these images were featured all over the press - locally, nationally and internationally! 

The Beach Weddings crew in action!

Images courtesy of  IanH Photography

A collection of images from our hugely successful launch weekend for beach weddings. 

That just leaves us to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has worked with us and supported us in 2011.  The business really is flying now and its been a lot of hard work and long hours but 2012 is looking to be a very exciting year for us and we look forward to welcoming lots of Bellissimo Brides, Simply Events clients and Beach Weddings Bournemouth couples.  We will continue to work hard and create magic. 

A very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year to all our followers 

Melanie, Natasha and the team 

xxx

Delightfully elegant Dorchester Marquee Wedding

Well yes its been a few months since this wedding took place and we have been so keen to blog about it but where has the time gone!  So better late than never but here it is.  This was the beautifully elegant wedding of Sarah and Phil with buckets of fun - this was one of our favourite weddings of 2011 and the lead up and the day itself was filled with some of the most lovely people we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.  A wonderful family on both sides, truly wonderful bridal party and the best guests - a real joy to be part of this day.  The wedding took place in September on a stunning Dorchester estate surrounded by rolling hills of green.  And green was very much the theme of the day.  We went for a very natural and rustic but elegant feel for the day with different greens being used throughout from the bridesmaids dresses to the ribbons on the napkins for the wedding breakfast.  Here is how the day unfolded.  We are delighted to bring you these images courtesy of Angela Ward Brown Photography 

The bride with some pre-wedding mail - taking some time out 

The bow issue - the signal on the Estate was very poor and this was the point when the bridesmaids were trying the locate Melanie to help with a bow dilemma with Sarah's dress - see the mobile phone in the hand - I did eventually get the message that the bow tying was proving a problem and dashed over to finish that off! 

 Pre- wedding time with Mum 

Guests were treated to a little light refreshment on their way through the barn to the Chapel for the wedding ceremony - perfect idea

Now it would not be unkind to say that the boys were not the best at being where they needed to be and on time so this is the Best Man dashing off realising that despite reminders yes he had in fact left the rings in the house - bit of a quick run back to the house to get them! 

Cool and calm - the groom makes his way 

  

Here come the girls - in stunning contrasting sage green and pale gold dresses in a beautiful floating fabric they all looked beautiful and relaxed and ready for a wonderful day.  Now one of the challenges we faced with this wedding was the high number of guests in comparison to the tiny and beautiful old Chapel.  

This Chapel is so beautiful yet without power and no seating we had to come up with some ideas on how to seat nearly 200 people in a Chapel which really is meant for less than 100!  It was a challenge but it was achieved!  Some narrow folding chairs, some benches and standing room only at the back for the young ones.     The brass band were positioned on a specially made platform at the back of the Chapel. The bride chose a beautiful peace of music for her entrance to the Chapel which was played beautifully by the Sherborne Town Brass Band - a solo trumpter played The Prince of Denmarks March which gave the entrance a real regal feel to it - just one of the magic moments from this day.  

The guests and the groom eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bride 

Such a fun service - the bride and groom joke with the Best Man during the service 

This is one of my favourite images of the day - the bride and groom emerging from the Chapel after the service.  The florist  had created a stunning display of hops around the entrance to the Church to create this stunning vision 

 The confetti shot with the bride and groom on their way for their drinks reception 

 We had some really fabulous elements to this day - the bride and groom re-signed the Register after the service inside the House with guests watching on - so the contract was then sealed!

The marquee was a delight.  We had worked hard over the months before the wedding to create a natural colour palette of different shades of green incorporating green glass and shades of pale gold to complement the bridesmaids dresses.  The table linens were alternating between a pale green and a gold colour and the family had contributed home made favours - the groom's father with his own jars of Estate honey for the chaps and the bride's mother with Welsh cakes in gorgeous little bags for the ladies.  We were thrilled with the skills of florist Helen Ffoulkes - Jones and her team who created stunning displays throughout the marquee and in the Chapel and the bouquets for the bride and the bridesmaids.  The table centres had tall or low arrangements with all shades of green and the taller arrangements had crisp green apples and grapes decorating the base. 

Whilst the final preparations took place in the marquee the guests enjoyed delicious canapes served by the fabulous team at Creative Catering and ice cold champagne and plenty of it!  The countryside was a delight to  surround this outdoor drinks reception and the guests were treated to the sounds of the Sherborne Town Band who played a selection of brass band music chosen by the bride. 

The bride and groom make their entrance into the marquee for the first time as their guests await them.  Guests were served a sumptuous menu in elegant surroundings. 

Another magic moment - the bride's mother had prepared Grace in Welsh as a surprise for her daughter and you could say that it was a bit of an emotional and beautiful moment 

The bride and groom chose a savoury wedding cake of local cheeses - fabulous idea and very tasty - the Chef later broke this down and served on a colourful table with breads and chutneys and fruits and the guests all tucked in 

The groom's speech really was one of the best we had ever heard - delivered perfectly with elements of fun and emotion - the bride clearly enjoyed this and the groom did extremely well 

And so the evening began - the bride and groom took to the floor for a brilliant first dance to the joined by their guests who were enjoying an evening of freshly mixed cocktails all night (with lots of lychee martinis being served!) and they snacked on bacon rolls later on in the evening.  The band were amazing keeping guests entertained until the early hours with the DJ taking over too to keep the party going on well into the next day - the guests (and the bride and groom!) really did not want to leave the floor!  

The bride and a friend enjoy a cocktail from their bar!

 The marquee by night - the guests dancing away 

This wedding truly was a pleasure to work on and we thoroughly enjoyed it and the day itself.  The families were wonderful and opted for our full wedding planning service so we worked closely with the family for around 9 months to put this wedding together.  For more information on our full wedding planning packages please see our website on our wedding planning services.

Thank you to Angela Ward Brown for allowing us to feature these images in our blog and a pleasure to work with you again Angela. 

Congratulations to Sarah and Phil and thank you for asking us to help you plan your special day - the pleasure was all ours 

xx