The importance of a wedding rehearsal

Having attended another wedding rehearsal yesterday for one of our couples who are getting married this month it got me thinking that a little blog on the subject could be helpful for couples when thinking about their own ceremonies.  Should you have a wedding rehearsal?  Well in our opinion - yes you should and you should use it as an opportunity to do several things before your wedding day:

Image credit - Practically Ever After

 - Get comfortable.  You won't be walking down an aisle every day (one hopes!) so its not something that people are generally familiar with and having the opportunity to go over the entrance and the walk and who is where and who stands on which sides etc. is a great ice breaker so that you feel a little more comfortable about the day itself.  The emotion or nerves will usually get you on the day itself so its good to have had a little run through of this before the day.  Think about bridesmaids in front or behind the bride and where the position any little ones in the procession.  Personally I think it works best with bridesmaids to the front of the bride so that the bride makes her entrance last - make sure there is sufficient gap though between the bridesmaids and the bride so that the photographer can get a clear shot of the bride walking in.  The only time you may want to consider having 1 or 2 bridesmaids behind the bride is if her dress/train may need fixing as she walks down the aisle.  With the little ones it works well having them in front with older bridesmaids behind to nudge and guide them if they need it! 

 - Allow your bridal party to get familiar with what their duties are.  Your Vicar or Priest (or civil ceremony venue) will run through where all of your bridal party fit into the day itself and what is expected of them so they know a little more about where they should be and what they should be doing - if they turn up on the day without any rehearsal yes of course you and your day will survive but your wedding party will be a little "blind" on what they are meant to be doing! 

 - Allows you to try music (depending on your ceremony venue) and agree the volumes and test your processional and recessional songs to ensure that they are the right length and you know when during the song the bridesmaids and most importantly the bride should begin her walk down the aisle.  I don't think that Kate Middleton would have attempted her wedding without having a little "go" at her mammoth walk down that stunning aisle and it should not be any different for any other bride! 

 - You will get a chance to read some of your vows to each other which should help to combat some nerves on the day and also to check your own volume for the ceremony - you do want everyone to be able to hear you! 

 - Get people who are conducting readings for you to come along and have a practice.  They may not be used to public speaking or may not be used to standing at the front of a Church and speaking into a microphone so again its a good chance for them to see what it will sound like and how to conduct their voices. 

 - Try to get all of your main bridal party at the rehearsal if possible - its not always possible because of distances to travel and work etc but if you can have the following people there: Bride and Groom (of course!) both sets of parents, person giving away the bride if different, best man (men), all the bridesmaids, all the ushers and anyone doing a reading or singing or any other kind of performance during the ceremony.  Even the little members of the bridal party ie flower girls and page boys as it will really make it clear to them what they will be doing on the day and most little ones will take it in and it will make them more excited and less nervous about it all too. 

 - Try to have your Order of Service printed and take at least one copy with you to the rehearsal so that the person conducting your ceremony can have a copy in advance and you can run through it with him/her at that time.  Make sure you then arrange to get the Orders of Service to the Church in good time for the wedding day itself so that your Ushers can distribute them on the day. 

 - If you have a wedding planner or have a wedding co-ordinator for your day then your co-ordinator should come along to your rehearsal too as it is a good opportunity for your bridal party to meet the planner/co-ordinator and for her/him to go through some plans for the day and then on the day your planner will be there to remind and prompt your bridal party with the duties they have so they don't have to stress and worry about not remembering all they have to do!  Its so common as a planner to see Ushers and the bridal party get nervous and excited before the ceremony and forget where they are meant to be and when and all the little details they were asked to remember at the rehearsal!  Don't worry - planners will be there taking notes and will point those things out where important on the day!  

 - You may be thinking that if you are having a civil ceremony that you have not been offered a rehearsal and we do find this a lot because Registrars do not traditionally offer a rehearsal service which is a real shame.  However, some civil ceremony venues will still offer a rehearsal without the Registrar being present and it gives you an opportunity to have a run through even though a civil ceremony is shorter and not so full or formalities.  Even still, its just as important to make yourselves familiar and comfortable so do ask your wedding venue for a civil ceremony if its possible.  We find that if your wedding is a Saturday then a Friday evening rehearsal works best as a lot of your guests if not local will have travelled to stay the night before the wedding - so maybe a 5pm or 6pm rehearsal and then the bride and groom can part and be traditional and spend the night apart as they should! 

 - If your civil ceremony venue does not offer a rehearsal then here's a few tips for you.  You may not be told that the bride and groom will need to be seen separately by the Registrar before the ceremony to confirm identity, address etc.  Also, did you know that in this area the Registrar will usually ask the groom to pay, in cash for a copy of the marriage certificate before the ceremony.  The fee is normally £3.50 and why that cannot be paid in advance when you pay for your Notices of Marriage and the Registrar's fees I don't know but have some cash handy on the day!  When the bride arrives at the ceremony make sure that groom is well hidden as the Registrar will also wish to check identity with the bride before the ceremony begins so have somewhere where this can be conducted away from the guests and the groom. 

 - Its also a good opportunity to make sure that all the important people know where they are going for the wedding ceremony if they have not been there before!  If they come along to the rehearsal it gives them less opportunity to get lost on the day! 

 - It is a really good chance for your photographer and videographer to get familiar with the ceremony venue as well - particularly if they have not shot or filmed in that location before.  As a planner I will always ask the photographer and videographer to attend the rehearsal - its not always possible again because of distance and other prior commitments but I do always like them be present.  They get to check out the light and space and liaise with the person conducting the ceremony to see where they will be permitted to be during the ceremony.  Every Registrar and Vicar/Priest is different and will have different rules and likes and dislikes about where they will permit the videographer and photographer to stand during the ceremony and if they will permit film and photographs at all during the ceremony so its best to get that agreed before the day itself so that there is not so much of a rush on the day.  The Church may also ask your videographer for the special Licence they should provide to be able to video the service and again its best to do that before the day of the wedding itself.  Check with your photographer and videographer before you book if they will attend your rehearsal

 - If you are having a ceremony conducted by a civil celebrant such as Diana Saxby from Grace the Day   then Diana will always arrange a rehearsal for your ceremony wherever its possible to do so.  This is another great way to enhance  your wedding day so consider having the legal ceremony perhaps the day before which can literally be just the bride, groom and witnesses in jeans at the Register Office and then a beautiful and bespoke ceremony written just for you with a full rehearsal whenever you like before the day itself to make you feel entirely comfortable. 

Finally - if you are having your rehearsal perhaps the evening before the wedding day itself or maybe a few days before - what about doing things the American way and having a rehearsal dinner afterwards - what a lovely way to bring the families together prior to the wedding.  Arrange a nice meal for all of the close family and bridal party and have a chance to all get excited together.  

xx

All that glitz and glamour - of the Sunflower Ball

OK so its taken us a few weeks more than it should to report on this event but we are thrilled to at last get a few minutes to write an article for our blog on this event.  Even the appalling weather and lots of other challenges could not stop these wonderful guests having a the most amazing time a few weeks ago at the Sunflower Ball at the RNLI College, Poole. We were very pleased to be asked to come on board under our sister company brand of Simply Events, which specialises in corporate and private event planning, to help with the organising and co-ordination of this event which was hosted by Jacqui Frampton of WIBN South & South West  in aid of Lewis Manning Hospice based in Poole, Dorset.

We worked for a few months on this with a team of committed people who were confident from the outset that we would be able, even during these tough economic times, to get the lovely ladies of WIBN and their contacts, friends and family on board to support this cause and buy all of the tickets to make it a fantastic event.  And that they did!  In fact, we could have sold more tickets - we just didn't have the room!  There was a lot of love and support for the event and the committee who worked on this event worked tirelessly to get sponsorship behind the event and get support with some great auction and raffle prizes to make sure that the evening went with a real swing! 

The very kind sponsors for the event were Float The Boat, creative marketing and design, Simply Eloquent Mortgages, Tops Day Nurseries and Acquit Debt Recovery

One of the sponsors from the event - Emma Burt from Simply Eloquent

When we first looked at waterside venues in Poole and Bournemouth who could host this for up to 150 people we have to say its not easy and with Lewis Manning Hospice being a Poole based charity it was felt that a Poole based venue was needed so RNLI College ticked all the boxes.

We transformed the room from a fairly blank palette with black chair covers and bright yellow organza sashes topped off with miniature sunflowers on the back of each chair to run along with the theme.  The table centres were striking fresh sunflower arrangements and it was great to see that so many of the guests added sunflowers to their outfits in one way or another - lapel or wrist corsages or sunflowers in their hair! 

Girls looking very glam! 

Guests were treated to a delicious three course summer menu following which Max our MC and auctioneer got straight into the business of auctioning off some amazing prizes including a golf day with a pro golfer and some rather fetching ladies handbags and accessories!

Max in action on the auction 

Maria from Lewis Manning "doing her bit" with the auction items - well done Maria! 

Also featuring another sponsor Diane Banten from Acquit Debt Recovery 

Following the auction we had a quick and swiftly organised raffle which went down well so that guests could move on to the most important part of the evening - the entertainment and the DANCING!  Get your dancing shoes on guys and girls! 

We were very lucky to have secured the most amazing swing band Swing Unlimited comprising of 18 very talented musicians and what a night of music we had - well done everyone - you had all of our guests up dancing so much so that they did not want the night to end! 

Do you think they might be having some fun? 

The night would not be complete without some casino fun which came courtesy of our friends at Absolute Fun Casino who did a brilliant job of getting all of the guests into the mood to win the great prizes on offer and raise more money for the charity - guests purchased fun money to join in on the casino.  

So, you could say that a great night was had by all and over £3,000 was raised for Lewis Manning Hospice and the guests really did not want to go home!  Some guests stayed over for the night at the RNLI College and their night went on till...well the small hours you could say and then a breakfast was enjoyed in the morning to chat over the events of the night before.  We have already had requests for another BIGGER and better event soon so watch this space!

A HUGE thank you goes to all who sponsored and took part in some way and came along to support the event and helped to make it not only such a success and raise so much money but make it so much fun!  Thank you also to those lovely people over at Seeker who kindly covered the event for us and took these fabulous images and gave us permission to use them in this blog.  Please contact Seeker if you wish to purchase any of the images here or any other which they feature on their site from this event. 

Simply Events 

Real Wedding Feature - Kate and Ben - Magical Fairytale Marquee Wedding

Having just received the images from the wedding of Kate and Ben I was thrilled to see that the photographer  Sally Adams, freelance photographer has captured the fun of the couple and their family and friends perfectly.  This day was one which Kate had planned for so well and had been so involved in the creative side of the wedding.  Such a talented and beautiful bride, Kate had gone to such detail in making and creating so many of the decorations which adorned the tables in her marquee - right down to printing hundreds of miniature photographs of family and friends which were then hung with ribbons on the trees which she made as the table centres for the marquee. 

Kate getting ready for her wedding day and looking beautiful 

We were asked to come on board as Kate could see that bringing together her months and months of hard work would need someone else on hand on the day to ensure that she could enjoy the build up of the day and the day itself and there is a lot to think about and do for a marquee wedding.  We worked closely alongside Kate to make sure that the marquee ended up looking how she wanted it to look.  The marquee was built to such high standards by the team at Pole to Pole Marquees and Jason one of the owners of the business ensures that he is on site all day for his marquees and all evening to oversee the power situation - what a godsend with a marquee wedding running on a generator! 

Kate wanted the marquee and the day to have a magical, fairytale feel about it and it was full of decorations with that theme - fairies and goblins and pretty decorations in shades of purple. 

A view of the marquee from the top table 

The napkin table settings with pretty jewelled bracelets and garden leaves for decoration all within Kate's theme 

The bride arrived at the Church in a fun and funky Cadillac - this wedding was full of unique twists and turns which helped to bring out the personalities of the bride and groom and it was great to see a couple being brave and bold in their choices and not following the norm!  

Here comes the bride!

The bridesmaids looking amazing in deep purple greeting the bride as she arrives for the ceremony - simple posies of lillies for their bouquets 

The happy couple in the Church during the service 

Lovely image of the bride and groom after the service - grabbing some time for some personal shots before heading back to the Marquee to greet their guests 

The confetti shot at the gate of the Church 

Back at the marquee, the guests were treated to a drinks reception of rum cocktails and canapes on the lawn whilst waiting for their bride and groom to arrive.  The inside of the marquee had been kept a complete secret from the guests with the window walls draped from the inside so that guests could not see in!  Inside the marquee we had a reception area where the guests were received on a receiving line but the main section of the marquee was still sectioned off with drapes so that Kate got to do a complete "reveal" of all her hard work so that her guests all saw the finished look at the same time as her - it was a really great moment! 

One of the younger guests enjoying the outside before going into the marquee for the wedding breakfast

The most obvious thing about this wedding was how much fun all the guests were and how much fun they had!  This is really reflected in the photographs and captured so brilliantly.  Guests had an amazing time all day and all night! 

Go girls!  Girls just want to have fun! 

The groom making a really heart felt speech - had a few tears with the guests going thats for sure!

The guests were treated to a relaxed family style wedding breakfast of salmon and meats and delicious salads followed by the most sumptuous desserts which had been made by the groom's Mum and they all looked amazing!  Yes we did have some rain on this day as you can see from the back of the marquee in this shot but it really did not dampen the spirits of this wedding - the guests were having such a great time!  A few of our appropriately coloured wedding umbrellas just made it all the more fun for guests when dashing for the loo or having piccies outside on the lawn!  The rain didn't hang around for long and this left time for outdoor activities for the guests after the meal - especially the bride and groom! 

I LOVE this shot!  Well done to Kate and Ben for getting up there and having so much fun! 

It was a real pleasure being involved in this wedding day and helping it to go with such a swing!  Kate is so talented with her design of the day and her creative skills that I may be offering her a job in the not too distant future if she would like one!  The guests were all such a pleasure to deal with.  

There is a lovely video highlights about this day which was filmed by Ollie of  7876 Films which you can access via this link http://www.7876films.blogspot.com so do take a look as its beautiful and just adds to these lovely images. 

Many congratulations Katie and Ben and lots of love for the future 

x