3 Little Touches to Enhance Your Day

What makes a wedding ceremony one of the most special and memorable days of your life? Is it the beginning of a lifelong commitment to your chosen other half? Is it the gathering of all your loved ones in one place? Or is it actually because you get to realise your fairytale dreams and live a fantasy for one day. Obviously it’s the first two but the third is a pretty great perk. This blog is to inspire you to think about the little touches that you could add to your day to make it personal and memorable for you and your guests for years to come.

1. Restroom Basket

Weddings are often an all day affair. Lots of eating, drinking and subsequently … restroom visitation! It’s a nice moment when your guests walk into the bathroom to find a selection of goodies and useful items to get them through the day.

Our Suggestions:

Bobby pins/Hair grips, Hairspray, Dry hair shampoo, Hair gel, Double-sided (boob) tape, Feminine hygiene products, Clear nail varnish, Nail file, Nail glue, Lash glue, Vaseline, Deodorant, Hand lotion, Mints, Tooth picks, Wet wipes, Baby powder.

Tips for the execution of a restroom basket:

• When finding your basket, box or container consider the size of the counter or table it will be placed on.
• Collect sample products from your local drug store to keep costs low. They are also normally a handy travel size.
• If you’re full to the brim with wedding tasks and planning delegate this task to a bridesmaid or helpful friend.

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Planning Your Wedding Timeline 

Planning a wedding can take on average 12 – 18 months. There is so much to consider and often the big day itself can be hard to envisage so far in advance. In-between booking the venue, suppliers and thinking about all the little details the final picture of how it all fits together will be easily lost. Today’s blog will be all about a wedding timeline and things to consider when arranging the organisation of your day.

Below are the foundational timings that we work from as a venue to plan your big day. Once you’ve got these timings in place the rest will follow.

First things first

Allocate 1 – 2 hours

‘The moment I wake up before I put on my make up’ (Thank you Aretha) I spoke about this briefly in my previous blog Wedding Planning Made Simple it’s important to consider how you want to wake up on your big day. You want to start your day off  in the best possible way.  Whether that’s an hour doing yoga or time spent with your loved ones, it’s yours to spend however you see fit.

Time for that Makeup

Allocate 2 – 3 hours

We’ve covered the ‘before the makeup’ stage so now it’s time to co-ordinate the arrival of makeup artists and hair dressing. Although it’s not an essential part of getting married, in our experience, it’s common practice for a bride and her bridal party to get pampered for the day. Normally you will have had a trial with your chosen Makeup Artist and you’ll have an idea of how long the process is from start to finish. Be sure to allocate enough time so you’re not especially rushed. This can be a nice time to capture candid moments of the pre- wedding excitement and butterflies so be sure to coincide this with your photographers arrival.

 Behind the scenes – Allocated time to be determined by suppliers

Whilst you are hopefully blissfully unaware, your months of preparation are paying off. Any room dressing suppliers are tying your chair covers, centring your centre pieces, carefully placing the cake and arranging the flowers. It’s important to confirm arrival times of all suppliers and co-ordinate it with the venue so that everyone is aware of what time everythings is arriving and were it needs to be. It’s a good idea to nominate your most trusted accomplice to oversee this stage of preparation whilst you enjoy a delightful stress free morning.

Civil Ceremony – Allocate 30 minutes

Your officiate will of been booked well in advance, your music is prepared (guide lines for music coming up in our next blog) all you have to do is turn up. Then live happily ever after.

Arrival drinks, canapés and photographs – Allocate 1 – 1½ hours

The time spent at this stage is determined by the types of images you’d like of your wedding day and the size of your gathering. A mixture of group photographs and couple images posed and candid are recommended but this can be discussed before hand with your photographer. Whilst you are off doing your couple photographs your guests can enjoy your arrival drinks and canapés or if you decide against providing arrival drinks you may find them naturally congregating at the bar. This step is entirely optional and some ceremonies flow straight into the wedding breakfast.

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Civil Ceremony Music

Hi everbody, this weeks blog looks at the music you can, or, more importantly, can not play during your your civil ceremony.  Your choice of music is a personal choice  and you will have, I’m sure a favourite song or piece of music that instantly springs to mind.  It is the most personal part of the ceremony (besides the vows) but be warned, choosing your music can be a bit of a minefield!

According to UK law any reading, music, words or performance which forms part of a ceremony of marriage celebrated on the licensed premises must be secular in nature.  In other words there can be no religious connections.  So, if you were thing about Bach’s Wedding Cantata or Schubert’s Ave Maria its almost certanily a no!

It is up to registrars and local authorities to determine that the music played during your civil ceremony, from the arrival to the departure of the newly married couple, whether sung or instrumental, or performed live or on CD, must observe this guidance.  They are, in my experience, human and they want you and your guests to have a good time.  A few years ago Robbie Williams song ‘Angels’ and Shania Twains song ‘From this Moment’ were a no, however laws have relaxed a little so it is important to check.

The normal spots for music are as follows:

• Music to encourage your guests to take their seats
• The bride’s entrance
• The signing of the register
• The married couple and guests leave the ceremony

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Wedding Planning

It’s been a month since Martin and I have taken on our new roles and what a month it’s been. In-between meeting our existing Brides and Grooms (who have all been lovely) we’ve been getting ourselves up to speed on every aspect of the department. Luckily working side by side has meant time for lots of laughter whilst digging into endless paperwork. Anyone who meets Martin will know that he has always got time to find the lighter side of life, to share a joke and a smile which makes working with him a pleasure.

During my first month in this role I’ve listened to our future Bride’s and Groom’s talk about how daunting it can be to plan a wedding. There is a host of research, planning and decisions to be made – not forgetting of course budgeting!

As a wedding venue that is family owned and operated we guarantee a more personal approach to wedding planning.  We are empowered to help in whatever way we can to make wedding planning a little bit less stressful.

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Martin and Abbey – The Wedding Planners!

Being a wedding planner, for some, is a dream job.  As wedding co-ordinators here at Buckatree Hall Hotel, both Martin and Abbey take a great deal of joy in the job they do.  Planning a wedding can be great fun, stressful, tiring, inspiring and exciting all at the same time.  Our newly appointed co-ordinators are taking over from Kaya who will be shortly leaving us on maternity leave. We wish Kaya and the family all the very best and can’t wait to meet the new Buckatree Bambino!

So, what do we know about Martin and Abbey?  Let’s start with Martin as he has been an integral part of the Buckatree family for over 5 years.  Martin’s new role is Banqueting Manager.  He is responsible for the operational side of running all weddings & events and will be assisting Abbey with appointments, show rounds and admin duties.  Many of you will already know Martin.  When asked what he is most looking forward to in his new role he said;

“I have always enjoyed meeting and looking after our guests.  In my new role the key focus has to be flexibility and adaptability.  I firmly believe that when you are in a service industry you should make yourself available when the client needs you and not the other way around.  For me, it is important to listen and take on board the needs of the client.  I do not subscribe to a philosophy of ‘that’s how we do it’.

Along with Abbey I look forward to meeting the challenges of my new role and exceeding the expectations of all our existing and future brides and grooms”

Abbey is a recent addition to our team but has been working alongside Kaya since she joined us in October.  Originally from West Bromwich Abbey moved away to work on board a super yacht sailing the Mediterranean sea!  Her experience of dealing with the ‘super rich’ has nourished her understanding of true hospitality.  Abbey went on to tell us;

“When I moved back to the area I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.  I was looking for work and applied for a receptionist position at the hotel.  I quickly learnt the ropes and found myself being drawn into the Events department where I soon took on the role as a part time co-ordinator in addition to my main duties on reception.

I think a lot of people are drawn to wedding planning, particularly us girls with our dreams of fairy tale weddings to our prince charming, as they think it is a glamorous and romantic job.  It is most certainly both of those things, but a lot of hard work and application is also required. Working alongside Martin is a fantastic opportunity as he has built up a wealth of knowledge about both the hotel and also the aspirations of many a bride and groom”

I have seen the passion from Martin, for wedding planning grow every year. I am inspired by the various brides and grooms-to-be who trust in him to deliver their dreams, I can think of nothing more rewarding in the work place than to have been part of creating such a memorable day.

Answering the mountain of emails and inquiries that come in every day requires strong administration skills and this is where Martin and Abbey will work together to answer everything as quickly as possible.

Buckatree Hall is an independent hotel with the support of a great management and operational team.  We are not a big corporate hotel and therefore we can guarantee a more personal approach to wedding planning.  Wedding planning is a wonderful career and most definitely not a 9-5 job.  Both Martin and Abbey are available to discuss your special day, anytime, night or day (within reason!).

For more information about the Buckatree Hall Hotel, visit www.buckatreehallhotel.com or call 01952 641821