Planned for Perfection

Many people might think that hiring a wedding planner is just another expense on top of everything else for your big day. However wedding planners very often offer a range of services from full wedding planning to supplier sourcing or on the day co-ordination, and can sometimes save you money in the long run.

UK wedding planning company, Planned for Perfection has won the national award in the Best Wedding Planner (independent) category at The 2012 Wedding Industry Awards. The 2012 Wedding Industry Awards took place recently in London “recognising and rewarding excellence in the wedding industry.” Judges included Annabel Beeforth of prestigious wedding blog, Love My Dress, Editor of You & Your Wedding, Miranda Eason and Sky News Presenter, Sarah Hewson, along with an array of industry experts.

The award was presented to company owner, Jane Riddell, after a panel of industry experts and celebrity judges deemed the planning service to be the best in the country, based on feedback and votes from happy customers.

Planned for Perfection has been making dream wedding days a reality for six years. The company’s mission statement is: ““To provide a personal and flexible approach to wedding planning by helping couples to create their perfect day – with years of invaluable experience, every wedding really is PLANNED FOR PERFECTION….Affordable, Award Winning Wedding Planning!”

Company owner, Jane Riddell says: “I’m absolutely thrilled that Planned for Perfection has been recognised as a standard for excellence in the wedding industry. The fact that the decision was based solely on the feedback and votes from our clients is an incredible validation of the hard work we put in on a daily basis, and makes this award something to really be proud of. Reading the customer feedback was actually a very emotional and rewarding experience in itself, to win the best in the south west award was an honour but to win the national award was an amazing bonus.”

Jane’s extensive background in hotel senior management more than prepared her for founding Planned for Perfection six years ago, when her passion for weddings and events became a full-time occupation, and has earned her a coveted UKAWP (UK Alliance of Wedding Planners) membership. 

Jane feels it’s her ability to connect with couples and to deliver their dream day that has earned Planned for Perfection this latest award. She says: “The most important thing about planning someone else’s wedding is to make it theirs. It’s about being able to read people and understand their tastes and personalities. The wedding should say a lot about who our clients are as a couple and how they feel about each other, and there’s a lot of skill involved in narrowing down a list of suppliers that a couple will fall in love with.”

“We’re also very flexible and offer a range of packages to suit different budgets and needs. Our clients often give feedback about how personal our service is, whether it’s a full planning package, the finishing touches or on-the-day coordination.” Jane adds: “Couples need to have confidence that they’re going to have the day they want, without all the hassle of planning. I truly believe that a wedding planner isn’t a luxury; it can actually be a necessity for people with busy lives and a budget to stick to. Planned for Perfection has a policy of never working for commission from suppliers, we make sure our couples benefit from any savings. Instead we have a great network of contacts and we short list based on that’s right for each client.”

You can contact Jane through her website, find her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

RS Wedding Designs

Earlier in the year Rachyeta featured us on her lovely Shaadiesque blog and we are very proud to be featured in her Supplier Lounge there, so I am very pleased to be able to share with you news of her exciting new planning packages.

Think you can’t afford a wedding planner? Think again! RS WeddingDesigns  is offering pick-n-mix planning from just £280 with their Theme Design packages.

“No bride wants a cookie cutter wedding but all too often weddings try to foist a package wedding onto them that really doesn’t reflect their personality,” says Rachyeta Singh. “With a Theme Design package, it’s a small outlay that can really open your eyes to what else is out there.”

“It’s your opportunity to do something different and make your big day stand out.”

The package starts at £280 for design ideas, rising to just £395 if you would like RS Wedding Designs to recommend suppliers as well.

The idea for the Theme Design package came from customer demand. Rachyeta often updates her blog with gorgeous reception decor ideas and her eye for colour and attention to detail can turn a dreary hotel package wedding into something rather wonderful.

One bride who avoided a cookie cutter wedding, but ordered some gorgeous cookies, is Catherine, who booked a Theme Design package with Rachyeta.

“The theme Rachyeta chose for us was a paradise dream theme, because our love story was something out of a dream,” Catherine says.

“The place names were little puffy clouds, the set up was a light blue and pink infusion. Our favours were a mix of a thermometer shaped ginger biscuits and an aeroplane shaped biscuit, as I am a doctor and my husband is a pilot.”

“Her venue suggestion was spot on and everyone had a blast.”

So how does RS Wedding Designs come up with these special touches? The company takes an innovative approach to wedding planning, building up an online directory of preferred suppliers to add to the creative flair of Rachyeta and her team. As such, RS Wedding Designs brides not only get great ideas, they also get great discounts.

“Brides use Google a lot nowadays to research wedding ideas but it’s a real shot in the dark,” Rachyeta says. “You may find the supplier of a product you want, but how can you be assured of quality? There has to be a degree of trust and nothing beats a recommendation from those within the industry.

“Our suppliers are people who will deliver. There is a great deal of vetting going on before they are added to our directory. We want to get to know the company behind the business logo - and, in the wedding industry, the photographer behind the camera.”

You can contact Rachyeta through her website, follow her on Twitter and get gorgeous inspiration from her Shaadiesque blog and her Bridal Street, rs1 blog.

Marry Me In Somerset

Planning your wedding can be a stressful time.  You have so much to organise and it can be a daunting prospect! One thing that we hear from brides on a regular basis is that they worry about things going wrong on the day itself and even have nightmares or dreams about it during the planning process.

Marry Me in Somerset was set up by Abi & Lisa to help couples achieve the wedding of their dreams – as stress free as possible!

Our aim is to show couples who wish to get married in Somerset the very best of what Somerset has to offer from highly recommended suppliers to the fantastic choice of stunning, unique and quirky Venues throughout the County.

We believe Somerset is one of the most beautiful counties in England and possibly one of the greatest places to get married in the Country. Somerset is becoming increasingly popular with couples throughout the UK looking for that ‘special something’ as their choosen destination to host their Wedding!

With so many wedding directories online set up for profit purposes, we are passionate about promoting only the very best suppliers that Somerset has to offer. All of our suppliers are by invitation only and we thoroughly research all potential members before inviting them to join MMIS giving you the confidence that any supplier you contact in our directory will give you the high level of service we would expect you to receive.

We hope our site helps you with your Wedding planning!

If you work within the Wedding Industry and believe you offer a service to the standards we expect, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@marrymeinsomerset.co.uk. Likewise if you are a Somerset Wedding Venue and would like to be listed please contact us for further details.

Guest Blog from Your Wedding at Loch Lomond

Over the last year or so we have attended numerous wedding fairs. They are expensive for the exhibitor, and tiring for both exhibitor and attendee! Today we are very pleased to introduce Your Wedding at Loch Lomond and on Sunday there will be an on-line Wedding Fair organised by them - Register now to be able to chat on-line with wedding suppliers without leaving the comfort of your own home!

Whilst Lil'Guy is based in West Sussex we can supply to the whole of the UK - our latest booking has come from 40 miles north of Aberdeen!

Your Wedding at Loch Lomond is an on-line wedding directory for brides and grooms to be getting married at Loch Lomond in Scotland. We are free to use and free to advertise in (providing the supplier can provide to Loch Lomond).

The idea for our directory was born several years ago and we registered several domains then. We spent time meeting with local suppliers to find out what they wanted from a directory. We found that many new and small businesses in particular struggled to find customers due to very high advertising rates in magazines, newspapers and other websites. We came to the decision that our on-line directory would be free to advertise in, and that each interested advertiser would be offered the same advert. 

www.ciaphotography.co.uk

Our not for profit directory went live in June 2010 with just a few suppliers. Now, at the end of the year, we have grown to offer a wide variety of suppliers as well as regular discounts, a discussion forum and wedding fairs.

We also have a blog where we offer additional advice and support as well as interviews and submissions with a variety of wedding suppliers. We also keep our suppliers and brides to be updated through regular email newsletters, our Facebook page and Twitter account.

Our aim of making the directory 'everyone's directory' has been achieved. Its demonstrated by the fact that many advertising requests come from wedding suppliers who have been speaking to our listed suppliers. We do appreciate our suppliers spreading the word and helping with recruiting other suppliers! Many suppliers have become friends with each other, recommending each other, purchasing from each other etc. We love it!

 www.greatscotphotography.co.uk

We have made so many friends from our suppliers and received support from many experienced and respected wedding professionals and from other wedding directories

Highlights of 2010 have included being nominated for six awards, such as 'best business support' and 'best supplier directory'. We've been mentioned in local and national newspapers and bridal magazines. We are also currently on the list of “Top 100 Wedding Tweeters”.

This year, we are running a few wedding fairs to allow our brides and grooms to be to meet our suppliers face to face. We also have a second edition brochure with our suppliers' details which is available at our fairs and on our supplier premises.

www.ciaphotography.co.uk

We can be found at:
web: www.yourweddingatlochlomond.co.uk
blog: www.yourweddingatlochlomond.wordpress.com
facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3yslvlq
twitter: www.twitter.com/wedatlochlomond
email: info@yourweddingatlochlomond.co.uk

Please join us for the on-line Wedding Fair on Sunday 6th February and help to make it a memorable occasion for all involved!