Hey, hey, how are we?
I'm good. Thank you. I'm here again with a guest guest of
Oh guest appearance, she's
if you hear any any background noise any little grizzles, it's it's
It's lilybear And if you haven't seen her, please hop on over to tiktok and like our video of lily introducing her and also
getting
I was thinking this this morning, please guys if you're loving it We're getting quite a few messages lately people saying how much they love the podcast. Please like rate us leave a review
a review
Introduce your mates
it really helps, really does help get us seen and yeah we're getting some like, messages coming through quite often now,
yeah
we know, we know you're out there, we know you're listening
Yeah,
if you
also if you If you're on one of these, like, Facebook groups, like Brides 2024, 2025, 2020, 10, 2020, 30, please write on there, say, Is anyone else listening to this podcast? Because it's immense.
because it's, the actual bollocks.
It is so freaking good.
You won't regret it.
Should we get started with the brilliant podcast? Hi,
Let's do it.
I'm Hannah,
And I'm Hayley.
we are your wedding planning experts!
Here to spill the tea on the inside of wedding planning and everything that goes with it.
Expect our honest opinions, the real juice on what happens on a wedding day,
With a few tips thrown in between.
and also just a chat between friends.
And of course, make sure you hit that subscribe button. And
And let's get you
wet! Woo hoo
Woo!
She just
Your baby's giving me evils.
most enormous burp during that intro.
Oh, I didn't hear her. Oh, bless her.
Oh, it's
in. Leave it in.
ladylike.
God, Lily! How's your week been anyway? Baby and all up and everything?
it's been good. It's been good.
Good.
been doing more wedmin for a couple. So we've been putting together a proposal. I like to call it a proposal because it sounds more posh than a
It is a proposal. Yeah. Yeah. I call it a proposal.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just wanted to sort of say how actually how much time it takes for me and probably every supplier to
Yeah.
together
percent.
it's not just picking prices out and sticking them into like a pre made format. Each wedding is different, obviously. Each couple has a different
Yeah.
different flowers they want, different kind of arrangements. So it takes a long time to go through and I have to write that up
Yeah,
and
especially for you, mine's more templated and obviously my cost is dependent on what like service they're going for and like what planning they've done so far, etc. But I have a rough guide of what I charge and the templates are all pretty much the same. Like, I've got bits on there with like my work, so they're all the same. Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't need to do those. But for you, I imagine it's a lot.
it isn't each obviously depending on what somebody wants and the flowers The varieties change
Yeah.
price. I have to go and get a price of the wholesalers
I bet.
yeah, so
do you deal with, if you've got like, a quote for like 2025, like, that must be hard because what about if it completely changes?
so basically what I have to do is I have to kind of allow for like the inflation,
Right.
and the time of year,
Yeah.
in my contract I do sort of state that if something's gone up by, you know,
Yeah.
obviously I do have to allow for that,
100%. Or they change the flower.
But I do have to say, like, I've said before, it works on like an auction, so if something happens and the inflation is ridiculous, or, you know,
Yeah.
things can change
Exactly.
I just have to cover myself in
Yeah. Definitely.
sometimes, but Generally tends to be all right year on year you don't get too much of a
Mm.
But yeah, so it is it is a case of it takes me up to a week Sometimes to get back if i'm waiting for prices because I
of course. Yeah. Yeah, and I, I think this is, maybe that's why we are seeing, I think we've discussed this before, but so many florists now are trying to go more like, and I think that kind of wild flower vibe is very much in now anyway, like seasonal, you know, really random, all just random flowers and stuff.
it to us to use
Literally, yeah, so,
you want that
exactly, here's your colours, yeah, this is the ideas of what I like, rock with it. Yeah, I think that's definitely best.
yeah, cost effective for the couple as
Yeah, definitely.
But, but yeah, so I've just been doing that this week, and uh, because I've got a few larger scale weddings coming up, I've had to book in, like, I have to hire a van
Oh, the good old vans.
It's my fleet of vans that I end up turning up with. It's not very discreet, like when, that wedding in October, Where I was parking outside
Literally.
great big van,
How you drive them things, Eva? Oh, honestly, sometimes I drive our van, but rare.
I feel great when I'm like driving. I'm like,
You're like,
just feel
get out the way.
way. You know, I'm going like really slow.
And how the hell like you keep obviously like when I've seen you do big weddings everything's wedged in but like if you have If you need a big vamp, it's not completely full things must just like float around in there like
yeah. So, honestly, like, I'm not looking forward to getting back to that stress, let me tell you
Yeah, I bet yeah Yes
things are packed in the van properly and nothing's gonna fall
Like Tetris
delicate flowers, it's it's another, it's a whole other ball game but it's yeah, you just have to be But you have to organise yourself, basically,
yeah
all fine,
nice You know, being a mum.
you know how it is.
I don't know how it is. No, I don't.
Just casually throwing that in there, you know, just being a mother. No, I'm joking.
It's a full time job.
Yeah, it's a full time, I'm a full time mummy on Facebook. No, I'm joking. I hate when people put that
Oh dear.
makes me cringe. Anyway, how's your week
Yeah, good, yeah in the podcast about, like, final three months. A lot of my couples are coming up to that, so it's kind of doing catch up meetings, reminding them of all these things, like, have you got these appointments booked? Have you got these appointments booked? I've got some that are like, yep, done, done, done. And there are others that are like Yeah, I will get around to doing that. So,
oops
Yeah, and just like making final choices on things like on stationary proofs are coming through. So if they're happy with that you know, the bands are contacting cause they want, you know, the, the band will normally ask you for like a list of from that. They'll give you a repertoire and they'll say, what do you like? What don't you like? So it can really give them an idea of like the kind of stuff that you like. And so
Yeah.
like that. Also all the site visits that back in January I was booking in and now we're rolling around. So I've been doing some site visits and stuff with people.
Like a list of do, what you do like and what you don't
Yeah.
You got anyone, cause I did with the DJ, we had like a don't play list, you
Yes.
Have you, have you got anything like that?
I need to put mine together but, 100%, like, all the classic,
don't play.
all the classic wedding songs say like, Mr. Brightside, absolutely not. Sweet Caroline, absolutely not. Like, I hear them week in, week out. Waa, waa,
I actually really like that song,
waa But you know what, people love it, but because I hear it every And to be fair, it does, every time those kind of classics play, It does get, like, everyone is up like, But I'm just like, no I don't know, I just, we just want like really current stuff. Especially after, we'll probably do a bit, because I love the 80s, so we'll probably do a bit of 80s to start with. Bit, gotta get a little bit of 90s 90s garage in that as well. Frickin love it. 90s classics, 90s garage.
And then we're quite into like, you know, the current music. Little bit of like the classic indie songs. And then you know, a bit of hip hop, R& B, you know. Yeah, so, but we've got a band as well, so they'll do like the classics anyway, the band will. But yeah, I do need to check the old repertoire.
always
And like,
what's on their don't play. I
yeah, any of them classic, anything that you overly hear at a wedding,
Yeah,
off the list. That I think I wanna marry you, no.
I
What's the other one that's popular? Anything like your sex is on fire, like no, absolutely not. So yeah. There you go.
I have a funny story actually because, Our DJ, who is amazing by the
Fab. Love, Mark.
had a don't play list, but no, I didn't think, I just did not think to put on, to say to him, don't play Michael Bublé. I, I, no
Oh.
to Michael Bublé,
Yeah. AHH!
it. Not, not a big fan.
Christmas, and maybe like, walking down the aisle, first dance songs, maybe?
yeah,
it's a bit, not really night time, is it? Vibes.
and so, I didn't say anything. So, I basically, this is how, like, I don't want to say anal, because that's how anal I am. But I had, like, our first dance, then I had a song I wanted to play in, like, next.
did. Yeah, no, that's because I always suggest that you should do that.
yeah.
that was me that taught you to do that.
our first dance
Yeah,
by Earth, Wind and
yeah, yeah.
don't know. He played a different song.
Did he?
actually, he actually played
Remember, the
Little Thing Called Love and I just remember it like, I remember the song starting. I was like, what's, what's, this isn't, this isn't like, you know, you know, you know, September when it starts, you just know it, don't you? Do you remember? It was said it was like, it's like Michael
21st night of September. By the way, that song's not on the list as well. My wedding's in May anyway, but again, every September wedding, and if it's actually on the 21st, oh my god. I'm like,
just love a bit of earth, wind and fire. I'm not gonna lie, it
fair play, I don't really know what they are. Yeah, it's But yeah, actually, little tip there, that's what I always advise to do that. So, pick your first dance and then pick a second dance, whether that's your like, dad and daughter dance, which actually Hayley did a few songs later, which works well. But if you don't want to do that dance, still pick a next song.
Because, It's either that you want them people to go into like hardcore party mode so you know your guests So, you know what kind of song they want to do Also always pick your last song of the night as well because i'll never forget On my 30th birthday. I actually gave them a list. I gave them my last four songs that I wanted to play him And but they had messed up.
I didn't organize this party, by the way but I don't know what happened but To be fair, no, because my mum planned it, but she booked the DJ through the venue, so you think that they would all be on the same page. But anyway, the DJ thought that the last song of the night was, was 15 minutes later than it actually was, so the pub came up to him and were like, you need, you need to stop playing now. And he was like, oh, I thought I had 15 more minutes.
Anyway, Long story short, my birthday's three days before Christmas. I don't appreciate Christmas songs being played on my birthday. I don't really like Christmas songs. And
Oh.
of December is Mariah bloody Carey. So what did he play as the last song of the night? Mariah Carey.
that's
What's it called again? Chris, you know the christmas one. Yeah
the classic. Oh, oh god. All I want for Christmas
Yeah, oh go away i'm like it's not christmas it's my birthday mate,
Yeah.
so yeah,
dear.
that's what I always say Always pick the last song of the night because if you I always think it's so naff when You hate the last song of the night You know? Like, I've never forgot that. In the last, in five years later, I'm still running my brains. I'm still raging! Yeah,
you annoyed,
DJ bit.
totally.
Stay away from me, Nadja.
It's funny.
So yeah, catch up meetings, lots going on, lots of planning at the minute. There's a lot going on which is good. And also I'm just trying to really be on top of everything. Get all, the thing is you think like, you know, I'm going off in like, I've got a week off at the start of May.
My first wedding then i'm off for three weeks for the second wedding So actually when you look at how many weeks i've got left to fit in like Any other site visits for like weddings that are booking in still we still got weddings booking We've got two consultations today actually one for june this year. And one for September this year, so they're still coming in.
We have to get those site visits booked in so yeah, just trying to fit all the meetings in final meetings and stuff like Before I go away, just, yeah, really trying to manage the old diary, you know. I'm being quite strict on myself. I'm being quite good and being like saying no to things, saying to people like, you know, I'm not going to, I just don't want to commit to anything in the next couple of months. Like if I can come, I'll come. If I can't, I can't.
I know it's a bit flaky, but it's what it is. And I'm also scheduling in days off. Yeah. Because I need like time to do my own stuff as well, you know? So.
No, totally.
Yeah, it's a story in Balamory for us over at Hannah Rose Weddings and Events, yes. Also, I did release a little TikTok video the other day all about the top thing that couples always forget to think about. So head on over, Hannah Rose Weddings and Events. Weddings on TikTok. Shayna Spank. I thought, I'm not gonna lie, I thought it'd do better than it did. I think TikTok's punishing me because I've been a bit naff on it this year and I think it's punishing me.
As well, you know.
Yeah, yours is like dyed off a cliff. You need to put up a picture of your baby or something in like a, I don't know,
It's
of flowers.
DMing me. So if you head over to my page, it's at Bingfield's Flowers, you'll notice I haven't posted for some time, but I've been busy birthing a child.
but you need to post that up and say guys, but you didn't really the thing is I felt like a lot of Businesses or people will be like right. I'm now from maternity. This is a day. I'm back You didn't really have that like end date start date. No exactly.
I didn't want people to think I just dropped off the
Yeah, and that's the thing
and
Yeah
kept
Whereas actually, if you do post up and say I've just had a baby, bear with me, people will, yeah, people think, oh, she's yeah,
so
doing it.
It
She'll be starting to book Christmas soon, won't ya?
Oh, Jesus.
The dreaded C word. Literally, we're like, at the end of the first quarter of the year, like, what the hell. No.
know what the times are. I was thinking we started, this was November, wasn't it?
Yeah, we've been to the podcast for like, yeah, four months.
it's crazy, it's gone so
us!
Yes! Amazing.
Fab! So, we was having a little chat. Well, we was talking recently, weren't we, about like, recycled environmentally friendly, re loved, recycling kind of vibe, weren't we? So we were chatting about it earlier. And, yeah, we thought we'd just like, breeze over some tips and stuff for people.
it's hard, I think people don't really know, like, how you can be
Yes.
like, when you're planning a
Yeah,
there's, if you are really obviously, we're all trying to do our bit for the environment, some people more than others, and if you are quite conscious about what you're doing, there, there are things that you can, you can
hundred percent and also
to
for the pocket at the minute as well like everything's going up I also think like, you know, we're talking about like wedding outfits Mainly, but you know, I think there is that perception and I did it as well. Like actually when I think about it, I I am a like massive believer in Like, you shouldn't just keep a wedding dress in a cupboard. Like, I don't, it doesn't make sense to me that you wear a wedding dress and it just sits there.
it
So actually, I do think there's that mindset of you get engaged and the first thing, you know, one of the first things you do is go to a dress shop. And I just think it's an automatic reaction. And actually, when I look at it now, I'm like, I could have probably gone pre loved. Because it wouldn't bother me to hand that back afterwards. I wouldn't, I don't have that kind of, like,
attachment
yes.
Yeah. So I'm not very much like that either. I'm, I will like, I'll happily sell things on vintage or regift, not, not regift, sounds
Re gift my clothes.
you know what I
Yeah.
or give them to charity shops
Yeah, me too.
hold emotional value into,
No.
things I do that are like, actually are sentimental things, but I like materialistic things.
No.
like if I'm
would be like, the photos.
I'll just.
You've got the photos in that dress then, so I'm never gonna wear it again. You know, I do like the ideas you had before though, where you can like, if you do have a baby, you can turn the dress into like, blankets and stuff. Yeah.
like I say, for me, that was something I wanted to do. But, honestly, like, if I had to give it away, or if I did
Yeah.
you know, it wouldn't actually bother me that
No.
to be
Also, let's face it, Lily's already like six weeks old and I don't see this blanket being made out of your dress. So, is it ever gonna actually happen?
it'd be like a first birthday dress or like,
Well, you bet you better
a
get cracking this out.
like, I don't know,
You better get this
might
sorted.
it for her wedding. Might be a bit out of fashion then.
I think it might, mate. You need to yeah, it, but yeah, they, and I, and, but it never even really, even being in the industry, and I know some great people that do this stuff, I just didn't really think about it. I just went out to a dress shop, tried some on, and bought one.
Do you know I forget this, but the shop I got my dress from
Yeah.
not the first shop I went to. The first company I went to was Was a company that actually they were secondhand.
Oh, okay.
dresses and they were like pre loved and also like ones that you hired. And they were kind of like individual pieces. It was almost like off a rack and
Yeah.
different. Very, very unique. And me and my mum went in. It was a tiny little, it was like a boutique in North, it was just outside Northampton.
Oh, do you, can you remember what it's called?
It was something Bridal Flamingo.
Oh, there you go.
They were
Bridal Flamingo, guys.
and and they were really good and it was like this little room and it was all sort of Like vintage and they
Yeah.
rugs and
Nice.
It just it was a it was a whole vibe
Yeah.
I just didn't find anything that I felt suited me in there That was all but I feel like if you can maybe maybe just go somewhere like that to
Yeah, definitely.
are places out there if you if you google search,
Hundred percent.
I don't know You know if you want to actually try someone because there's lots of companies online that you obviously you've got like bride or relove vintage recycle my dress recycle my wedding and you look online so you
Oh, okay. Yeah.
try so
yeah, yeah.
but
Also, the charity shops do them now as well, don't they? They have like whole wedding sections.
Will and hospice, which is milton keynes based
Yeah. Do they? Oh!
And it's, yeah, it's all, it's all dedicated to wedding wear.
That's great.
I've been at some of the wedding fairs I've done in the past.
Yeah.
and I tried on one of their wedding dresses before I was even engaged. It was a bit weird. But
Fair point.
like, why
As you do.
were
truth's coming out now.
I'm married now. I can let it
Yeah, see, this is the thing though, I have been to like, I think, when I'm just looking around in like Oxfam or something, like, just cause I, oh I love a charity shop shop, and I've seen a rail and they're always a bit like, oh, don't know about that. Do you know what I mean? And actually, sometimes they're not actually that cheap. Because I actually looked I tell you why I was looking for one once. Yeah, I was looking for one once because I wanted to be like a dead bride at Halloween.
And I looked and they were like 100 to 200 pounds and I was like, I'm not paying that for a Halloween costume. Do you know what I might do though? Cause another place that you can obviously look is like Facebook. Like these Facebook groups now are huge. Like you have thousands of people in them.
Yeah and you can just literally say like, you know, I mean some people post at their southern address, but I guarantee if you post it in their, is anyone's southern address, like loads of people will send you stuff.
much
But I might actually, when I've had my wedding, I might actually just say, on like Facebook, if anyone is struggling, the only thing we do in this is you never know if people actually tell the truth, but if someone's struggling and cannot afford their wedding dress or whatever, and loves this dress, put up a picture of me in it, like you can have it, because it's gonna do no good to me sitting in my wardrobe. At all.
Yeah,
Yeah,
gathering dust. That's
what's the point? Oh
all of my stuff. I mean certain things of mine, like I say, like the dress I've kept for now, but like my jewellery and things, like I offered it to my, my friend was getting married and I
yeah.
of this? You can have it,
Yeah.
borrow it. you know, you can have, you can have what you like.
Yeah.
of what I had. Well, she came to my wedding anyway, so she would have
I mean, if you're not afraid of that over here, then how annoying that we worked out afterwards that we have, I've bought the veil that you had and I could have just had yours.
my God, she should have sent it back.
Yeah. I know, but I feel like we had the conversation, like, way after. I could have, I could, like, it was too late. Yeah.
after.
But stuff like Veil and that you could sell, like, a hundred percent. Those Veils are so popular now.
Yeah, they are definitely like they've because they've come way, like, is it Cathedral Vale, isn't
Yeah.
the big,
yours got, is yours
one.
Actually, don't say, because I don't want people to know what my veil's like. But, ahaha,
Oh, yeah.
breeze past that. But anyhow.
I mean,
the thing is, you could whip that up on Vinted or Facebook Marketplace. Get yourself 50 quid. But you're also doing someone else a favour, because they're like a few hundred pounds. Yeah,
expensive. Mine was like 300 quid.
that's ridiculous because mine was not that price.
Yeah.
I got mine a lot cheaper. so yeah, I might have to have a little hunt in your jewellery collection, but again, you're so right, like, all the jewellery I've bought for both weddings, I've got two different sets as well, I'll probably, I don't know, maybe the bracelets I'll wear again, but I don't feel like I, I don't, I don't know if I would wear it again. Have you worn yours again?
I've worn it many times, the
nice.
Earrings I wear regularly because,
Yeah,
They're not anything like
yeah, you can wear them.
the necklace and I bought actually I went on to Etsy and found some likes I bought them from like a small The earrings I got from like a small supplier. Whereas I went to F Heinz I think I said the other week we
Yeah,
like go to Warren James or something because like it's not You don't need to spend a lot of
no
like I said it's a shame to spend loads of money on something that you might just wear once because it's like a statement
percent I got mine
than once then great but if not then
Yeah,
a waste of money for one day
it is. But actually if you go online there are a lot of shops that do just do like the wedding stuff but actually I Mean, yeah I suppose it depends but actually go in and buy and pre love stuff from like vintage Facebook marketplace Facebook groups is your better option because Actually, if somebody's only worn their earrings for one day like just give them a clean up the necklace
that like cleaner can't you I've
Yeah.
it's like a sterling silver like a
Yeah.
like it's so
But actually, you're so right. If you can share jewellery between like family and friends, like it's then like you're something borrowed, it means something. And
exactly.
no one's gonna notice.
wear my mum's jewellery.
Yeah.
Because it, it had in it the gem that I wanted to use.
Yeah.
actually just didn't suit me.
Yeah, fair play.
would have had, I would have used
Yeah.
would have had, rather than even buy anything,
Braver than buying it. Yeah.
go down that road
Yeah.
like spending out like even like If you want to spend money on jewelry, like it's it soon adds up You're gonna be looking at spending 100 150 pounds on just like a necklace and earrings
Yeah, so true. Which, like, if you know you're going to use it, fine. But, yeah, I think if you're trying to cut back in places, or you're trying to be a bit more environmentally friendly, and not just buy stuff that you're going to use once and potentially go to landfill, then, yeah. Yeah, look at, look at going second hand because there's so many, the thing is there's so many wedding items It's like these bride jumpers, right?
I really wanted a bride jumper for like the hen do for like when we got on the honeymoon on the flight But actually in my head I was like, hang on There's going to be a lot of people out there that have bought these jumpers and will only have ever used them For the hen do and for their flight so they've used them like twice So I went on vinted and bought one from there for like a quarter of the price.
So it saved me some money You Because they're not cheap, again and also, like, like, it's just helping, again, it's just more stuff that goes to landfill.
fast fashion, isn't it? Where you're
Yeah,
and like,
massively.
was like first, last Christmas is a miss.
Yeah, I got one of them as well. I got mine off Vintage, yeah.
yeah, it's probably, probably got off of me. I know.
so true, but anything like that, and like, hen doos, like, if your friends are planning hen doos, like, you know, you get, like, the fake veil, or, you know, the bridesmaid pyjamas, like, all those kind of things, like, is it, you know, is it something you can buy? I don't know about second hand pyjamas, but, you know, like, bridesmaid t shirts, or hen party t shirts, all those kind of things.
literally, it's, it's like, So full of things like
Yeah.
good. And also another idea you could do, say if you're engaged and your wedding's upcoming and you've got. Christmas or a birthday before that if you could maybe ask for like Well, obviously you could ask for some jewelry or something like that But you could ask for like, you know, these experiences where you go and you make your own jewelry
Definitely.
like that might be quite cool So you make something for yourself like you can
Definitely.
and things like that or earrings and then it's sort of a Little bit more special but you probably end up making something that you'd wear again.
Yeah, exactly. I did exactly what you said. I asked for it for my Christmas presents this last year. I was like, please only get me stuff that I want to use for the wedding.
the wedding, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
a good idea.
Definitely.
But, and also like buying things second hand and maybe like, I was gonna say not vajazzle, but bejazzle? Bedazzle?
Like
been
what's upcycle? Upcycle. Wait, I don't know, you say upcycle for furniture, I don't know if you say that for outfits. But yeah, like,
Revamp.
yeah, repurposing.
Because then you buy like, if you want a little bag or something, like you go on vintage how easy would it be to find a plain white bag or
Yeah
same for bridesmaids, if you want to buy like a bag or something. And then you could just take it home and like stick on some like, if you're going for that whole like the white with the pearl
yeah, put
like
your pearls on.
pearls and
Yeah.
stick them on like
Although, only if you're creative, because don't make it look shit.
Oh, yeah.
You know, you don't, sometimes I feel like, is it borderline to like, DIY?
imagine being like, Look at my bag I made. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Looks like a five year old's done it.
Ha
did your, did your
ha
make that for you? Oh no, I did it myself.
old child do that for you? Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh dear.
Oh god, how funny. But yeah, there's, there is, there is, Ways of yeah, making it more for you. And even if that's a dress that you buy secondhand and you have the alterations done, so you buy it cheap and
on
Exactly. You have straps added or like, this dress I've bought is quite simple and I'm having like some bits added and stuff. So it's making it more like for me, essentially. So if somebody else had the same dress, you probably wouldn't know because there's these little bits that are different.
Yeah, and also keeping your eye out if there's a bridal shop you particularly like that you pass by often or you've been following them on Instagram, Facebook, they often have
Oh, yes, definitely.
they're really, sometimes like the discounts are really, really
So good.
up a designer dress for like 500 pounds, which is a
insane.
you think about wedding dresses
Yeah.
well, you can smell what you like,
Yeah.
tend to be like between 1, 500 and 3,
Yeah. That's quite, I'd say that's the average. Yeah.
so, 500 and a wedding dress is, great.
Yeah. A hundred percent. And also, yeah, I kind of like, after I got my dress, I kept seeing loads of sales. I feel like they come like from September time to like that wintery kind of period, you know, when
to
the new trends are going to start coming in and, you know,
kind of do like a,
a restock. And yeah. And I was like, damn it. Cause I bought mine in like May. And I was like, oh damn, like I should have, but I'm also not a much of a sales shopper. I'm like very much like I want to go in and get what I want to get, go home, done.
love a sale. I love having a route
Do ya? I feel like just to tangle the patience and also that would have been, I still would have had plenty of time before the wedding. But yeah, I did go in a couple of shops when we were looking for bridesmaids dresses.
Another little thing that I've been seeing a lot lately, I don't know if it's because I've liked it and it keeps coming up on my Instagram, but is that where, when you have bits of your dress cut off, is have them turned into like, if you want a bow in your hair, or like hair scrunchies, like little stuff like that.
That's really
Yeah,
a little hack like
yeah.
great.
I might have a look at what I can have, yeah, I might have a look at what I can have my dress turned into, you know.
I suggest to couples when they come to me, if they're having any off cuts of their dress or their bridesmaids dresses because a lot of the time people want me to match the ribbon on the bouquets with their dresses.
such a good idea.
if you're having any alterations done, keep the off
Yes.
it. And I have
I'm gonna do that for mine.
Yeah. So I'll just use the off cuts and, and wrap it
Round all your bouquets.
the finishing
I love that.
and that is
That's a brilliant idea. Love it. I mean, I don't know how much is being cut off this dress, but
You only need a little bit, you know, if you've got like a couple of centimeters all the way
Yeah.
that's enough for me to
I'm doing all my bouquets, I'm making loads of scrunchies, I'm making bows, I've got everything going on. Ha ha!
god, what's happened to you?
I didn't realise
Why
were wearing a knee length dress. Well, I wasn't, but I really wanted to repurpose it, so.
it's a play suit now. That's
Oh,
though, to be fair.
yeah, can I get that done in 24 hours so I can take it on the hen do?
do
be a thing, they come at the end of the wedding, cut it up for you and just take it off on the old hen do. We actually also had a question come in recently, which I thought was quite interesting, and it's not to do with like, repurposing, saving money, saving the environment on wedding attire, but on flowers, so obviously, your domain.
My domain.
So I thought we'll slip it in at this stage. This section. So my venue has said there is a wedding the day before mine. I'm thinking, could we share flowers? How would I get in touch with them?
Hmm.
was like, you do know what? The amount of times that I do weddings with people that spend. a lot of money on their flowers, right? So they spend thousands on their flowers. And I
Yeah.
afterwards, every time, because it's always that battle at the end of the night, I always say to my couples, little tip as well here, always pre plan who's going to have flowers at the end of the night. So things like, you know, Do you want bouquets for the parents? And I'm always like, Just give them, you know, if you're having beautiful flower arrangements, give them one of those arrangements.
So at the end of the night, I have a list, say they've got 10 tables, I know those 10 people are having one of the centerpieces. Because let's face it, 9 times out of 10, the couple go on honeymoon the next day, they're not taking any flowers home. And you just end up wasting stuff. And sometimes, I am really like, we did a wedding last year, where they were all American, so no one could take the flowers. So
take
Yeah, they're all flying home the next day. And I just think sometimes it's such a shame when there's people in the world that cannot afford any flowers, would love to have flowers, are going through maybe situations where they're really ill. You know, we see that a lot in the wedding industry there, where they're doing rush weddings because they're ill. And I just think like, you know, should this be a thing?
Like, should we be, you know, and I've, I've heard of some great places in, in London where they're taking them to like care homes and stuff afterwards.
that a few times, taking stuff around the next day to care
Yeah.
And places like that, and hospices, and anywhere they'll allow you to have them, but like,
Yeah.
joy to somebody else, because like you say, if they are, if in that situation, where they're not being given
Yeah.
to family to take home, then somebody else should
Should, yeah, 100%. But what about this, you know, if you're doing a Friday, Saturday wedding, them guys teaming up and saying, right, I mean, it's not going to work if you've got a bridezilla, is it? But if you're both pretty chilled.
you are, know what? So so this used to be quite a popular thing to do 30 years ago.
Did it? Yeah.
generally you'd have a discussion with that, cause they obviously have more than one wedding
Yeah,
sometimes. You'd have a discussion with the other couple and you would literally come to an agreement and you would share
no way That's brilliant though 100
quite a thing, but that's all I know from churches. If you're doing, if you're having obviously like with Becomes more difficult when it's in a venue and things like that and obviously like normally I would
Yeah.
you get you're moving them A lot generally what happens on a wedding is we use the flowers at their peak So
Yeah,
on the they will last obviously perfectly for your day But they're like on the cusp of like,
right. Yeah, because you've got to cut them Haven't you and then it's like how long do they last after they cut?
weddings.
Yeah.
for the day Probably not going to last much into the like
No Yeah.
Let's be honest because you want them perfect on the day and that's what your aim
Yeah, of course
them to their most open point, especially things like peonies and roses
Yeah,
almost close to blowing That's what we call it when they go over but or being like really in bloom So
yeah,
think you if you are going to do something like that, you need to like you need to discuss it You
yeah.
but you might have to compromise on some other things
I think if it's your, if it's in your budget to have flowers 100 percent order them yourself, but if you, if it's not and yeah, I mean you are struggling and I do think it's definitely something you could look into. Like I say, you just can't be fussy.
I'd rather somebody did that than someone did their own flowers
100%.
with
Yeah,
gonna get yeah Don't if you haven't got the budget or you're you know, you really want to cut back
or using faux. The bane of my life. No, yeah, but you know people are going these old Sheen and Tee movies. Oh, don't get me started. No, no, no Shall we go on to the old listeners questions?
Yes,
I think we just got one today. We got a quite big one today. Do you want to read it out?
Yeah,
Go for it
So, I'm getting married in March 2025 in the UK, but I live abroad. I've booked my venue, but never seen it in person. We sent our parents to look at it on our behalf, and we did a virtual tour. Luckily, we are coming back to the UK in September, so we'll finally be able to see it in person before the big day. is, what supplies do you recommend booking before having seen it in person? And what should I wait to book until we have seen it in September?
Should I, I should just mention it's a dry hire venue.
All right, good question, isn't it? And straight away we thought of So a couple that I worked with as a planner last year She actually, she was the couple that flew in America. She actually never saw her venue until the wedding day.
Yeah, see
mental is that?
It's quite
yeah. Her dad went and viewed it. She looked at it online, did a little virtual tour and that was it. And to be honest, I'll be really honest and this is not me just saying it because I'm a planner. But, because you don't have to use me, you can use whoever you want.
Yeah.
I would highly recommend if you're not living in the UK to save that and also you're popping you're coming back But are you coming back to live?
I mean it doesn't say if you're coming back to live here or and but to have that trust in the suppliers to find, you know, the right people and To know exactly what you need at this point I would say, like, hiring a planner is just gonna, because, for example, like, with the couple that I worked with in America, like, I did so much for them because they couldn't do it because they're in the UK. Even down to, like, a cake tasting, they were like, do you know what? We'll leave it to you.
Like, we trust your judgment, and if you've got someone on, on board that, that you can, that you can trust and also knows the area, knows the supplies, it's, like, worth its weight in gold if you don't live in, in the country.
Well, your job essentially is to find all, so the question they have asked, your job,
Yeah,
it, to
exactly. She wouldn't even need to worry about it.
suppliers that you know
exactly.
you can
Yeah, because as a planner, we would do a meeting of exact, we would know, we ask the right questions to know exactly what you want. And then we then say, and you would trust us to be like, look, this person's going to be perfect for you, for example. So we put an amazing crew. together for the wedding last year for the, for the American couple. And she was very much like, I trust you, I trust your judgment.
And even down to things like the suits, like I went into the store because they could have come into the store. I had all the groomsmen's measurements and I was like, look, let's get this order done because it was too difficult to do online. But at the same time, it might not be in your budget. Absolutely fine.
So what I would say is, For your caterer, wait till September before you've done a tasting, unless you, sometimes at a dry hire venue they do stipulate the, the caterer that you have to use.
their, from their list,
I would also, it'd be interesting to know what the venue is, but I would start looking at like, florists, at Bloomfields Flowers.
deco or anything.
And Dekel.
Flowers. We travel the UK.
Yeah, we, we, we travel all over. She does
I do.
She's like, actually I'm getting married in Scotland or Ireland. You're like, nah.
fine. We've been up that
Have ya? That's mental.
year. Well, not as far as that. But we've been as far as
She'll go.
That's,
She'll go. But yeah, so, and, and recruiting these people and getting them to go and look at the venue, and they will give you their expertise on what's gonna work, essentially. Because me and you did that, didn't we, for the wedding we did last year. We went up, we were like, look, you should have x, y, z, and she was like, yeah, great, that's, that's what I'll do.
And she trusted us and we like and the beauty today is that you can do a zoom call you can do a
Yes, exactly.
can actually do
Mood boards, yeah.
supplier say with me like a florist i can go there i can get on
Yeah,
say you should have this here i could
yeah,
for you things like that
But I would say the only things that you have to actually meet and see in person is like trying the food. Trying a cake is always, is always good. But you know, you can have samples sent to your parents for them to try for you for your cake. I'd say try and get your tasting done. But like I say a lot of people tell you the caterer that you have to use anyway or you only have a couple to choose from. So
so you're
those ones. You have to choose from, get a quote, see the kind of vibe that they are, and you'll probably find one, that one of them sticks out to you anyway, and then do your tastings when you get back. But I would say anything you've got to try, but like Photographer, 100%, get them booked now, because it doesn't make any difference.
At the end of the day with with a photographer if you go on their Instagram You're literally gonna see what their pictures are
Yeah, exactly.
So really it doesn't matter
Yeah,
gonna be photographing obviously what they're photographing is gonna
exactly, yeah.
just want to see the filter
Yeah,
isn't in
yeah, the style that they do, photographer, videographer, and again, I always say make sure you do a consultation with them because you want to obviously pick someone that you click with personality wise. But yeah, hair and makeup you can still book now, you don't need to be able to meet them. The one thing I would say is if you I mean, you've said you're coming back in September.
I don't know if that's to live, but if it's not to live, make sure that you're also booking in some time like a couple of months before to do things like menu tastings for your final menu choices and your hair and makeup trials, all those kind of bits and bobs. So make sure you are putting a couple of trips in. You're going to need to give your notice of marriage as well. So I would, yeah, make sure that, you know,
yeah
end of the year really.
yeah if
actually,
back
you're coming back September, your wedding's in March, actually. Yeah, so you could actually, if you get a hair and makeup artist book now, you could do your trials in September. Yeah,
it's worth them looking around, doing the research
getting the book now. Yeah,
booking these appointments in for when you're getting
yeah,
all done. So if you are going back to where you're from, like, you
yeah.
back abroad, then
It's done. Yes, lovely. Ticked off the list.
and, lovely,
I was going to say, if you're nervous about booking, like, your venue, your caterer. March isn't a, isn't a hugely like, wedding popular time. Like, I planned a whole wedding for February, for a February date in seven weeks. And I didn't struggle to find supplies. I don't think you're going to struggle to find people on a March date. Do you know what I mean? So don't feel, yeah, don't feel panicked. Like, if it was a Saturday in June, July, August, I'd be like, you need to get them booked.
Yeah. You
but if you want to wait till you're back, it's not going to be the end of the world as well.
no. Yeah, totally agree.
Also, she mentions it's a dry hire venue. Please get a coordinator. Doesn't need to be me.
couple of episodes
Honestly, you need A coordinator. One thousand percent. That should be top of your list. Get booking one now.
You really do.
do you a little let's get you a deal. A little, a little I'll throw something in for you.
Yeah. Little discount.
She'll message me up and I'll be like, what? Who agreed that? No, I'm joking. Get in touch. But yeah, so yeah, a little, I would say there's a lot of things that you can get done virtually. And get it and just get it done and crossed off your list and then you know go in do Taste ins trials, etc in september. I think you ain't got to panic. You can have a lovely christmas
Yeah.
You know brilliant. No panic
to the podcast for all
Yeah. Also your dress. You don't need to buy that in the UK stationary. You don't need to buy in the uk. You can if you are then flying, if you, if you are living outta the uk. The wedding that we did of the Americans last year, she bought all the, she bought her dress in America. They bought the bridesmaids dresses in America. They bought suits in America. No they didn't.
They bought suits in the uk but I did all the ordering for them and they did a stationary in America and she just flew it back because she just felt. She just wanted it. She knew people in America that she wanted to do it. The dress shop was across the road from her workplace. She loved the dresses in there. So, you know, anything's possible nowadays, you know? Yeah,
it really
yeah,
can, it's amazing what you can do, and in a short space of time if
exactly. But yeah, I hope that helped. That's us for today, isn't it?
That's it. Yeah, so hopefully you've enjoyed this episode of let's get you wed the wedding planning podcast
buddy.
leave us a review. We we really do appreciate
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Get in touch with us. You can send your questions to. Let's get You We [email protected]. Follow us on socials TikTok, Instagram is at. Let's Get You We podcast and you can also follow us separately. So Hannah's at Hannah Rose Weddings and I'm at Bloomfield's Flowers. Yeah, get in touch. We'd love to hear from
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