Merry Christmas!

With Christmas just around the corner we thought we would create a Christmas inspired mood board to give you some ideas if you are busy planning a Christmas wedding for next year (Probably a bit late for any Christmas weddings for this year!) or to give you ideas of how to style your home this Christmastime.

We wish all of our clients, colleagues, friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Melanie, Nicolle, Hazel and Natasha
at
Bellissmo Weddings and Events, Simply Events and Beach Weddings Bournemouth

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Image credits
Christmas Tree Rockefeller Centre- nycinsidersguide.com
Christmas Pudding- itv.com
Branches and baubles- picasavadymguliysgallery.com
Christmas table setting- potterybarn.com
Wedding tables- Jeremy Enness Photography
Christmas cocktail shakers- potterybarn.com
Holly- woodlands.co.uk
Snowey Wedding- James Melia Photogrphy
Bridesmaids- Susan Jackson Photography
Bauble- wallcoo.net
Gingerbread Christmas Tree- dreamingofwinter.blogspot.co.uk
Candles- Jeremy Enness Photography
Fireplace- freechristmaswallpapers.net
Candy cane floral centre piece- myecochicwedding.com
Bauble Christmas Tree- CHS Creative Productions
Front Door- potterybarn.com
Sledge- potterybarn.com
Fireplace with stockings- Jeremy Enness Photography
Outdoor Christmas Tree- Jeremy Enness Photography
Pine cone place names- ehow.com
Christmas presents- debretts.com

Review of the year 2012

What a year 2012 has been for Bellissimo! It has been a really exciting year for Bellissimo along with Simply Events, the non-wedding event planning side of the Business and the first very spectacular season of Beach Weddings Bournemouth!

The year started with in January with a wedding show at the RNLI college in Poole, a beautiful modern waterside venue. This was the second successful wedding show we have organised at the RNLI college and we are looking forward to the third one coming up very soon this January.

Shortly after in February, ITV's Daybreak launched 'Here comes the tide', a competition for a viewer to win the first ever beach wedding! Melanie had great fun down on the beach filming the trailers for the competition and meeting Michael Underwood.

March brought Cupcake Camp, a charity fundraiser organised by the Simply Events part of the business. This year the Cupcake Camp was raising money for a fantastic local charity, Diverse Abilities plus and also Childline with Ester Rantzen being a celebrity judge! We were thrilled to raise over £3000 this year, double our total for last years event.

Image courtesy of Christian Lawson Photography

All throughout the first few months of the year we were keeping extremely busy with bookings and viewings of Beach Weddings Bournemouth.

Before we knew it, it was April which meant our very first Beach Wedding at our new and exciting beautiful beach venue. Just to add more pressure, it was LIVE on ITV's Daybreak! This meant a very early morning for all involved and for the Bride too! Although the weather wasn't perfect, the rain held off for the special day and the day went without a hitch! The viewers of Daybreak voted Kate and Frazer as the winning couple. The marquee was filled with cameras and microphones and Angelica Bell and Michael Underwood were there to talk to the television cameras. Unfortunately the camera's cut to an ad break at the vital moment of Kate and Frazer saying 'I do' however we can  vouch for the fact that it was a beautiful moment! We must say thank you again to everyone who worked very hard to make the 'Daybreak Wedding' a huge success!

Following our first Beach Weddings Bournemouth wedding, wedding season really got started! Simply Events also helped to organise the Great Dorset Bake Sale in aid of a great Dorset charity, Diverse Abilities Plus.

Image courtesy of Seeker Photography

Our first Bellissimo wedding of the year was Helen and Thomas's stunning Studland Bay wedding. Their wedding as a romantic seaside themed marquee wedding on the clifftop over looking Studland Bay. It was a beautiful sunny day and we loved working with Helen and Thomas.

Image courtesy of Big Bouquet Photography

The 1st June saw us welcome a new member to the team. Nicolle joined us from Bournemouth University to complete her placement. She was rather thrown in at the deep end with her first weekend consisting of the setup of two weddings, a Bellissimo marquee wedding and a beach wedding! It didn't put her off though!

The Bellissimo wedding was a stunning traditional country marquee wedding on a private property in Wimborne. The wedding was very chic and elegant and the crystal chandeliers were just stunning! And the Bride's Jimmy Choos were just to die for!

Image courtesy of Damien Bailey Photography

Image courtesy of Damien Bailey Photography

In June we also had the pleasure of working with the lovely ladies at Parallel Venues to style their wonderful venue Camms Hall to showcase it for weddings. Frances worked with us in 2011 and we welcomed her back to work on this event with us. The venue looked absolutely stunning and we welcomed lots of Brides and Grooms to the venue to have a look.

Image courtesy of EFC Photography

Images courtesy of EFC Photography

On the Simply Events side, we organised two amazing special birthday parties, one was a 70th Birthday party and the second was a surprise 30th Birthday party. The 70th Birthday party was an intimate family dinner with a black and ivory theme for a very special lady. She was bowled over by how stunning the venue looked and all the little finishing touches we added. The 30th Birthday party was held at the Branksome Dene community centre and we were contacted by a very generous lady who wanted the party organised for her boyfriend. Although he knew something was going on, she managed to keep the party a secret from him but he threw the biggest surprise when he proposed to her at the party!

Image courtesy of Columbia Photography

Melanie and Nicolle were also very excited to be invited for a day at the wonderful Goodwood House followed by and afternoon at Glorious Goodwood. We were spoilt with a delicious lunch and a wonderful private box and afternoon tea at the Race Course. Sadly we didn't win any money on our horses but we had a great day and it was wonderful to meet lots of other lovely wedding planners and event managers. Goodwood house is just stunning and we would love to plan a wedding there!

With August came the wedding of Mercedes and Chris at the stunning Bryanston School in Blandford. This was a tradition wedding with the chosen colours being midnight and pale blue. The venue speaks for itself and the guests enjoyed a sunny drinks reception over looking the tennis courts and Dorset countryside.

Image courtesy of Holly Marsh Photography

On the Simply Event's side we also organised a private post-wedding BBQ at the Mother of the Groom's house to continue the celebrations.

September was a busy month for us to say the least! During September we had 15 Beach Weddings Bournemouth weddings and a Bellissimo Wedding. We helped Chantal and Pascal plan their wedding after meeting them at Helen and Thomas' wedding earlier in the year. They realised after being to Helen and Thomas's wedding how much they still had left to do so asked for our help! Their day was a combination of English and French influences with a purple colour scheme.

Image courtesy of Amanda Clay Photography

October saw us welcome another new member to the team and Melanie's new business partner for Simply Events, Hazel Hatch who has come on board with a wealth of experience in the events industry.

In October, we also traveled to Earl's Court London with our Beach Weddings Bournemouth caterers Fish Face who were competing in the Event Caterers Team Challenge at the National Restaurant Show. Melanie helped Fish Face to present their menu and food and Nicolle was there as the unofficial photographer!

The day after, Melanie traveled to New York with the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners for their annual study tour.

In October Beach Weddings Bournemouth was announced as one of the finalists at the Dorset Business Awards. We were one of the three finalists in the tourism category and are absolutely thrilled to be recognised for all the work we have put in and all the visitors we have brought to the town.

The last weekend of October was extremely busy for us! The Thursday saw us celebrate the 1st Birthday of Beach Weddings Bournemouth and the fourth birthday for both Bellissimo and Simply Events. Our guests were invited for afternoon tea and bubbly on the beach! We were thrilled to have so many of our suppliers, friends, previous couples and business associates come to celebrate with us. Fish Face produce phenomenal food for us and Katie Francesca who had already sang at many of our weddings and events this summer wowed our guests with her beautiful voice. We even had our hair and make up done as a special treat by Laura from Hair by Laura and Tara from Make up by Tara and Lisa Notley made us a fabulous 1st Birthday cake! And of course a big thank you to the lovely ianH Photography for taking all the fabulous photos!

Image courtesy of ianH Photography

On the Saturday it was the last Beach Wedding of the season! And what a wedding it was! We had the lovely Ian Hamilton with us who had photographed both the first and the last weddings of season and the Bride and Groom, Kate and Tim were just great! The weather was stunning considering it was the last Saturday of October and the Big Red bus was probably the highlight of the day!

The next day was not only our wedding show at The Italian Villa, Compton Acres, but also our Beach Weddings Bournemouth Autumn Open Day. Both were a huge success so a big thank you to all those involved in both. Then to top it all off, that night we went out for our Beach Weddings Bournemouth end of season meal, needless to say none of us had much energy the following day!

Phew we were busy in October!

November brought a new and fresh Simply Events website, so do go and take a peek if you haven't already! Whilst November may have been quieter with weddings, it was full steam ahead with planning the weddings for next year- we have some fantastic weddings coming up next year which we just can't wait to share with you so keep your eyes peeled! We are very excited! Hazel and Melanie have also been very busy planning lots of corporate events for next year as well as sourcing lots of accommodation for our clients and planning those all important Christmas parties!

We also all got all glammed up to go to the Dorset Business Awards Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony at the Lighthouse, Poole. We all got our glad rags on and had our hair and make up done and got ourselves ready for our James Bond themed night. The evening was fantastic and the food that Beales Gourmet provided was just divine! Sadly we didn't win the Award but we are very proud to have been one of the three finalists in the Tourism category. We had tough competition being up against some long established businesses so we feel it was a huge achievement to get as far as we did.

We have worked with some great people this year and have absolutely loved every minute of it! It has been a lot of hard work but totally worth it! Launching Beach Weddings Bournemouth has been amazing and something really special to be a part of. Having Hazel on board for Simply Events has given the business a new lease of life and I'm sure we will be telling you lots more about our events over the coming months. We all love what we do and it is so amazing to be part of people's wedding days. A big thank you to everyone we have worked with this year and to everyone who has really got behind us and supported us in everything we have done this year. We are really looking forward to another year of amazing Bellissimo weddings, events, Beach weddings, wedding shows and more and sharing it all with you!

All thats left to say is Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Melanie, Nicolle, Hazel and Natasha

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British Meets French - The Wedding of Chantal and Pascal

This summer we had the pleasure of planning Chantal and Pascal's wedding. They were such a fun couple and with Chantal being British and Pascal being French they really wanted to incorporate the two nationalities into their day.

We met Chantal and Pascal at Helen and Thomas's wedding which we planned in Studland earlier this year. After attending Helen and Thomas's wedding as guests, Chantal and Pascal realised how much they still had left to do in a relatively short space of time so decided to hire Bellissimo for our "Final Three Months" including On The Day Co-ordination to motivate them and help them finalise plans and bring everything together for their big day. 

A special thank you must go to Amanda Clay Photography who was the photographer and has very kindly given us some of the beautiful images which she captured during the day for our blog and thank you to Chantal and Pascal for allowing us to share their day.

The ceremony was conducted in a beautiful church in Western Avenue in Poole which was filled with amazing purple and cream flowers by Simply Flowers.

Stunning pew ends

The guys looking really smart and getting ready for the arrival of the Bride

The first British treat of the day was awaiting guests outside the church to take them to the wedding reception- a Big London Red Bus! It was gorgeous and during the ceremony, Melanie and Nicolle were busy putting up Union Jack and French flag bunting. The bus made a great background for a confetti shot outside the church.

All of the guests loved going on the Big Red London bus- its such a novelty and a real treat for the French guests who see the Big Red bus as being a British icon. The bus driver was given French music to play for the guests to sing along to on the journey making the journey a truly British and French union.

The reception was held at Parkstone Golf Club where guests were greeted with Kir Royale on the sunny terrace over looking the beautiful Golf course. Chantal and Pascal were blessed with a wonderfully sunny and warm day and their guests were entertained on the Terrace by the wonderful voice of Katie Francesca who sang throughout the drinks reception.

For some more personal photos, Chantal and Pascal took a golf buggy across the golf course with a 'Just married' sign tied to the back!

Chantal and Pascal chose a lilac and purple colour scheme and Busy Bee Events provided the chair covers and sashes and Balloons which we helped set up before the guests arrived together with draping to create sections within the open plan style of the venue. 

There was a traditional British fruit wedding cake decorated with more beautiful flowers from Simply flower and a Croquembouche, a traditonal French dessert served at weddings so guests could decide which they wanted to have - or both!

 

The Croquembouche by Patisserie Angelique was spectacular! It had a real 'wow' factor when guests walked into the room and looked delicious.

The guests were treated to Smoked Salmon for starters, Chicken served with a mustard and cream sauce, potatoes and seasonal vegetables for main and then a selection of English and French desserts and French cheeses. Delicious macaroons and chocolates were served with the coffee after the meal.

Then it was time for the speeches which were just brilliant. The speech by the Father of the Bride was very emotional but also very funny and he even handed out lyrics for everyone to have a sing-a-long! He also did amazingly well to not only hand around translations of his speech in French for the French guests but also translated the speech into French himself. Pascal also made a very touching speech. Chantal also said a few words and had everyone in tears by the end of it!

Beautiful cream lanterns were lit after dark to light the terrace. It looked very romantic and magical!

When the evening guests arrived, it was time to cut the cakes and the first dance! Chantal and Pascal's first dance which they had choreographed beautifully. 

 

Chantal also had a first dance with her Dad to a medley of songs which they had also choreographed together.

In the evening, the guests were treated to the amazing Photo Lounge  which was themed with British and French props. We love this Photo Lounge because its not a booth but a big back screen so loads of guests can fit in each photo. You can also personalise it for your event and you get four photos printed on each postcard on the night.

 

It was lovely to see Helen and Thomas, one of our Bellissimo couples from earlier this year. They loved the photo lounge and they even won the award for 'Photo of the night'!

 

Melanie got in on the fun with Helen and Thomas too!

We had an amazing time helping Chantal and Pascal plan their wedding and we loved being part of their wedding on the day- they were so much fun! We loved worked with Amanda Clay again and with Katie Francesca and Simon from Final Cut Film who was great fun to have on the team.  Thanks so much to everyone who worked hard to make the wedding a truly wonderful day for everyone.  We wish Chantal and Pascal lots of love and happiness for their future together.

For more information on our wedding planning packages please visit our wedding page

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Suppliers for Chantal and Pascal's Wedding:

Wedding planning- Bellissimo Wedding Planning

Venue- Parkstone Golf Club

Photographer- Amanda Clay Photography

Videographer- Final Cut Film

Church- All Saint's Church, Branksome

Flowers- Simply Flower

Venue Dressing- Busy Bees Events

Drinks reception Entertainment- Katie Francesca

Photo Lounge- The Photo Lounge

Crouquembouche- Patisserie Angelique

How will you name your wedding tables

 If you look across wedding forums on the internet, it would seem that one of the most difficult decisions to make when planning your wedding is choosing the names for your tables. But picking your table names can be fun and allow you to be creative as a couple. Pick something personal and meaningful to you or something that fits into the theme of your day. We thought we would give you a helping hand and have come up with some ideas for you below.

Special places to the couple- places with special memories together or places of meaning to the couple e.g. names of street they grew up, where they went to uni etc

Image courtesy of Erin Hearts Court

Image courtesy of Hinkley Photo

The word 'love' in different languages- It might sound a little cheesy but can look really elegant and after all, it is a very romantic day!

Image courtesy of www.cutiecards-weddingwishes.com

Hollywood actors and actresses or Titles of Movies- This can work well if you're having a really glamorous theme or if you're both movie buffs. 

Image courtesy of www.inthetreehouse.co.uk

Names of beaches- This has been popular among our couples at our venue, Beach Weddings Bournemouth. Many of our couples have chosen beaches around the world as their table numbers and then displayed them on a map of the World for a table plan.

Image courtesy of www.inthetreehouse.co.uk

Flower names- Perfect for an English country wedding

Image courtesy of Tanja Lippert Photography

Cities or countries- choose cities you have traveled to together and therefore have a special meaning or if you haven't had the chance to travel together very much then the names of the Cities you want to travel to together, looking forward to your future married lives together.

Image courtesy of S6 Photography

 Song titles- choose songs that have meaning to you as a couple or your favourite songs. Or why not name each table after a different word in your first dance and keep your guests guessing as to what it will be!

Famous Landmarks of a favourite city or special place

Image courtesy of www.bunnydelicious.com

Traditional table numbers- these aren't so popular now but are perfect if you want the detail to be in the colour scheme and not the theme as such. You don't have to opt for the normal consecutive numbers 1-8. One of our couples had very bizarre table numbers- we were trying to work out what they were for ages but couldn't! There wasn't any correlation at all. It was a real talking point as none of the guests knew what they represented either, not even the Brides Father, who had made the table numbers knew what they meant! All was revealed in the Groom's speech. One was the number of their house, one the number of seconds they had been engaged, one the number of hours they had known each other, etc- each number had a special link to the couple.

Image courtesy of www.etsy.com

Take inspiration from your venue- e.g. if your venue is a castle, use names of Kings and Queens

Words associated with the season of your wedding- e.g. winter- snow, icicle, blizzard, for a Christmas wedding the 12 days of Christmas would make great festive table names

Cocktails- if you are a party couple then there are some great cocktail names

Titles of books- You would actually put books on the table as the table name rather than having a card with the table name on

Image courtesy of www.weddingfavours.wordpress.com

 

Famous partnerships- This could be a really fun one to create- it could be people or food, for example Ginger and Rogers or Fish and Chips!

What names did you choose for your tables? We would love to hear your thoughts or see some pictures!

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