18 Things Wedding Suppliers REALLY Want You To Know

Hello gorgeous Love My Dress readers and welcome to the next in our series of articles featuring advice from the exceptionally talented wedding suppliers that you’ll find in our Little Book Wedding Directory.

We work hard to support and showcase the creative and hard-working suppliers we recommend through our Little Book, because we believe they are amazing at what they do.

For this instalment, we asked these wedding professionals to share with us the one thing that they would really love couples to know. Their answers are insightful, illuminating and really informative – you’re going to want to bookmark this one peeps and make sure you take note, so that you can rest assured your faces will be looking like the ones above from morning until midnight on your wedding day**

So, here are 18 things that suppliers would love you to know and may these gems make wedding planning a whole lot lovelier for you:

1. “Go with your gut, don’t be swayed by other people. If you have a love for interiors or fashion then let that be your inspiration. Your wedding should reflect you as a couple. If you don’t want white tablecloths, then don’t have them!” Katie, The Vintage House That Could.
2. “The majority of the couples coming to us are first timers to organising an event.  We are a marquee venue which couples can find daunting with regard to organisation and weather. I always say that once you have organised who the marquee provider and caterer is going to be, they will do much of the logistics for you leaving yourself to just consider the design aspects, flowers, colours and so on. So my message would be – don’t be daunted because by choosing a marquee wedding you are creating a day that is bespoke and unique to you. The marquee company and the caterer will take away all the stress and manage all the logistics for you.” Jane, Stonor Park.
3. “If you’re hosting a winter wedding, really take into consideration what time your ceremony will be. It gets dark a lot quicker which means those all-important family group shots and couple shots have a very limited window of time. Make sure there’s room in your schedule.” Rebecca, Rebecca Carpenter Photography.
4. “Your wedding day will fly by in a whirlwind of events and celebrations with friends and family. The one thing that lasts from your day is your photographs. We recommend to make sure you have at least a handful of family and friend group shots built into your day. It doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out process; simply 15 minutes of organised groups will be a beautiful memory of your day for decades to come.” Stephanie, Summers Photography.
5. “To ensure your invitations look elegant, try to keep the amount of text to a minimum. Include a separate information card with the finer details such as your venue address, directions and gift requests. Be selective about what you include about the day itself – it’s nice to keep a few surprises!” Wendy, The Foil Invite Company.
6. “Couples shots can be nerve wracking for a couple on their wedding day, but that’s where a good wedding photographer comes in. We’ll have ideas we’ll be creative, we will use our surroundings to get the pretty shots, the WOW shots, but most of all, we will be able to put you at ease. Speaking from experience, stress always shows and awkwardness does not a great picture make! So, let’s go for a walk! It’s as simple as that, just a little stroll hand in hand (with a great background) makes for a perfect shot. I always tell my couples to have a chat and interact, they have so much to talk about of course, it’s their wedding day!” Natalie, Natalie Martinez Photography.
7. “Please give yourself enough time to order your dream wedding dress! We advise 6-8 months in terms of ordering and accommodating fittings. Dresses generally take 4 months to make, and whilst some designers can offer brides priority orders and shorter timescales, others cannot and that can be heart-breaking when you have your heart set on a dress.” Zoey, White Closet Studios.
8. “Take advantage of the cold winter months to get your planning done as the summer is when the industry is busiest! We are always quieter in the winter so this is the ideal time to start planning – especially if you are after something bespoke!” Luna, Britten Weddings.
9. “There will be a lot of obstacles on the way to your day but don’t give up! There’s a silver lining in every cloud and before you know it you and your partner will be dancing away on your big day so make sure to have A LOT of fun – it’s a magical day in both your lives!” Pooja, Threaded by Pooja.
10. “Checking your stationery proofs might actually be the most tedious wedding job (nobody’s vision of wedding planning involves checking hymns for typos!), but taking the time to do it properly will save the stress and cost of last-minute reprints. I would always suggest having someone else do a final check as it’s surprisingly easy to see what you expect to. As well as the text, double check you’re happy with the layout – it’s the last opportunity you’ll have to make any little changes.” Rosie, Ink Flower Press.
11. “When it comes to bridesmaid shopping, try not to have a very specific colour or style in mind. If there is one shade that you are searching high and low for you are sure to be disappointed and you may find it an almost impossible task – instead try to be a little more open minded and have a couple of tones/colours in mind. Similarly when it comes to style, your dream dress may be another girl’s hell and so it’s unusual that your band of best girls will feel as happy in your favourite style as you think they might! Trust us, a bit of flexibility will go a long way when picking bridesmaids dresses.” Kate Arnott and Frances Cookson, founders of Rewritten London.
12. “Bespoke designers produce only one dress to suit your needs, they do not mass produce therefore supporting the ideologies of slow fashion. If you choose to get your dress from a bridal boutique, ask how and where the dresses are made and read the fabric composition on the clothes label. Some dresses are lined with satin made from polyester, a fabric which is non bio-degradable and a contributor to micro-plastic pollution.” Jess, Jessica Turner Designs.
13. “Booking early is the best way to secure your first choice in wedding entertainment at a competitive price. Wedding bands and DJs are booked up further in advance than you might think so don’t let the right one slip away! Most professional wedding bands only ever play private events. This means that seeing them live before you book is very difficult, so pay close attention to real reviews from real couples to help you make the right decision!” Joey, Warble Entertainment.
14. “Not every bride gets ‘The Feeling’ when finding their bridal gown. It can take time to come a decision yet bridal shows in the media portray the perfect moment when you walk out and your loved ones cry with happiness, and you just know it’s ‘the one. This is not the case for every bride so don’t feel pressured or overwhelmed that you’ve not had ‘the moment’. Selecting a bridal gown is, for most brides, one of the most important decisions about the wedding so don’t let other people’s experiences dampen your journey. If you need time, take it and ‘Be the Perfect You’.” Stephanie, Stephanie Moran Couture.
15. “Enjoy yourselves! This might sound obvious, however I have been to many a wedding where the couple are so focused on everything going exactly to plan, they spend time worrying whether the caterers will turn up or if the car will break down or if it might rain instead of stepping back and enjoying the fruits of those years and months of planning. The planning is done, everyone has a role to play, it is time to step back and enjoy every second, and this will shine through in your photos. Even if there are hiccups, your family, friends and suppliers will always bend over backwards to make things run smoothly, without you even noticing. You’ve worked hard for this, live the moment.” Robin, Robin Goodlad Photography.
16. “My advice would be don’t lose focus of the marriage by overthinking the wedding. Keep your perspective. I always tell my brides that only they know what is supposed to happen and when, if something doesn’t go to plan don’t worry… no one was expecting it any other way.” Emma, Perfect Daze Bridal Boutique.
17. “If anyone tells you that it’s bad luck to see your future husband/wife before the ceremony, ignore them. It’s a total myth. A lot of couples choose now to have a ‘first look’. This is where you meet together before the ceremony to have 10 minutes alone or with your photographer before the ceremony starts. It’s just the best time to have 10 minutes with your loved one alone, with no one around. It helps settle those nerves and certainly adds to the excitement.” Paul, Paul Joseph Photography.
18. “My final tip is to not wait until you’ve lost weight. If I had a fiver for every bride who says ‘I’m dropping two dress sizes before my wedding’, I would be sipping Bolly in Bermuda rather than writing this in Blighty! Even if you do drop from a 14 to a 10, your basic body shape will be the same but just smaller i.e. ‘once a pear shape always a pear shape’. Waiting until you’ve said goodbye to your weight could mean kissing goodbye to your most pinned gown because you’ve left it too late.” Maria, The Pantiles Bride.

And there we have it – 18 tips that should make sure you feel a whole lot more knowledgeable, prepared and in control with your wedding planning. 2019 is looking better already!

If you’d like to find out more about the superb suppliers who can all make your big day that bit more amazing, visit Little Book, our carefully curated directory where you’ll find a brilliant selection of wedding suppliers, all of whom are waiting to hear from you.

We have new suppliers being added every week (if you follow @lovemydress on Instagram, we tend to share our new members on our Instagram Stories). If you might be interested in joining our Little Book ahead of Christmas (because we’re going to be showing our members a whole lot of love to all our newly engaged readers throughout January), please visit this page.

Love,

Annabel x

 

** The couple pictured in the main image are Sarah and Conor, and we’re sharing their wedding on Love My Dress on Tuesday 15th January 2019 – credits below.