Hello!
Another week on the pod.
Another week.
And, uh, it's been a bit of a busy week. We're getting We're getting a lot of, uh, a lot of listeners.
Yes!
A lot of, uh,
exciting, so
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Hi, I'm Hannah.
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.
also just a chat between friends.
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at the time recording tomorrow is our live virtual podcast.
Exciting!
would have happened by
Yeah.
to this. We are very excited.
We are excited. We hope you enjoyed it. Yeah,
I mean, I'm a bit worried about the tech, but there, there we go. Um, but if not, hopefully we can do these on a regular basis
I think that would be a really good idea.
because what
Like a monthly meet.
Yeah, we feel like obviously we advertise our pod as being like, you know, we're giving the real juice to honest stuff but there are some things that we do have to be really careful about talking about because obviously this is our business and
Livelihoods.
yeah, and like some things
is real life.
yeah, like we want to talk about about like our own weddings
Yeah.
Families listen and whatever. So we were like, do you know what on the lives we can just say
Just let loose, mate. Unless they buy a ticket, in which case I No, I'm joking.
pass their own fault for getting a ticket
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So yeah, so we've got some interesting stories planned haven't
We have, yeah. Exciting, very exciting. Yeah, we hope you joined. Yeah, get involved. Yeah, exactly. Don't record us.
when this is a huge podcast, they can't use it against us. Oh dear, oh dear. How was your week this week? Well I saw
You did.
we're going to see a lot of each other this
We really are. We're, we're, we're, we're gonna see each other tomorrow when we do the, uh, the live. And then we're going to Cornwall together, aren't we?
are!
At the weekend. I know
like, hmm, and Martin didn't really want to come, he was like, I was so far, and we'd only just been in December for a site visit, so I was like, I wonder if Hayley will want to come? So I was like, look, I know you've got like, got a family and stuff, but
you have responsibilities, but you don't really.
go for a couple of days, make a weekend of it, and then I'll hop off to my tasting, and then you can just like, have a look around the venue, and blah blah blah blah. And she was like, yeah. I
Absolutely.
And the funniest
That took a lot of persuading.
was like, uh, you should go, and you were like, I am.
Yeah, well I am. I will actually, I will. I'm excited.
left Lily though?
Um, I don't know. Yeah, I think so. I don't know, how long was I, Oh well no, because I was um, But I did leave her with Richard at your, when it comes to your hen do. That was probably about the same time, same amount of time.
it?
Yeah, it's always you, pulling me away from my child. Thank god. No, I'm joking.
she's so she was so little there
She was tiny, now Richard's gonna have his hands full.
Now though she's like fully aware
Yeah.
she's like I remember her being like the easiest baby. I remember at my wedding her Like, you were sitting down, the flowers, and
Yeah.
her around, people were feeding her, and like,
Yeah.
of a time. Now, she's like, if her mother is not in her
Uh, she does get a bit, yeah. Yeah, yesterday I took her with me to the dentist.
Hmm.
And uh, obviously I brought her in in a like, car seat or whatever, I carried her in. And as soon as they see, you know they like lay you back, don't they? So I'm like slowly going backwards. Like, knee, knee, and she's just like, eh, eh, eh. And I was like, oh for god's sake. But actually, do you know what? She was actually fine. She was fine.
Yeah.
was quiet the whole time, because you know what it's like when you go to the dentist. They keep you waiting for like
Yeah, they
minutes, and like, dentist is running behind. It's like, I was so running so late I was rushing around trying to lug, Lily's like freaking 12 kilos, and I've got the car seat I didn't know where my keys had gone. I thought, oh well if someone nicks my van, so be it I need to get to my appointment. Keys have gone. I was like, I need to go, come in there, and they're like, oh, dentist's running 20 minutes late. I hope that's okay. I was like How dare you!
Oh, the worst bit is when they just don't tell you,
Yeah, you just sat there like a lemon.
and then 20 minutes later, I had that happen to me at the doctor's the other week. I was like, hmm, are they going to be ready
Yeah, that's happened to me.
No apology or
Yeah, like, don't let you know, so you think, Oh, have I missed my appointment? Or has that mean I've done something wrong?
honestly.
it's annoying. Um, but yeah, so, yeah, no, my, my week then, it was very good, actually. It was, so it was Lily's first birthday at the weekend, just gone. So, um, we had a great time celebrating. Obviously, you came to the party. You, you made some incredible brownies. I've never seen anything like it. This, Hannah turned up with this board of brownies. It was literally like, I don't know, it was massive. It was like a mountain.
Yeah.
Oh, there's like hundreds of brownies on there. It was insane. It was incredible. It was incredible and we're slating them now, so it was
glad you
so good.
I had a few people, and then, do you know what I love? Is when I was like standing in the queue for the buffet, and then I could hear people like, Oh, these brownies are brilliant, and I'm like,
Yeah, that's right.
I know.
I know, I made them.
And our friend Kelly was there, and our husband was there, and I said, Oh, make sure you get a brownie, and he was like, Are they the brownies you had at your wedding? Like, and do you know what? I love stuff like that. And he remembered, obviously, like, he's our friend's husband. Like, I don't really know him that, that well. He's our friend's husband. And, uh, she, but like, I love it when it's like, people you don't really know that well that are at your wedding that still remember stuff.
So he was like, yeah, at your wedding you had pizza and brownies. And I was
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, pizza and brownies.
Lily seemed to have an amazing time. She, uh, was asleep halfway through. And Hayley freaked out because she wanted to cut the
I needed to do the cake. People were like getting ready and wanting to go Well, not wanting to go but, well I guess they did That's why they were leaving but It was the end of the, uh, party
yeah.
people were starting to leave And I was like, well, well, we've not done the cake yet Um, but Lily was asleep But actually, she did wake up Um, just in time Haha Yeah,
So, literally went over to the pushchair, pulled her straight out, and everyone's like, Happy birthday! And she's literally like, What the hell is
going on?
Am I in a dream?
Yeah, she was a bit like, what the hell?
poor
her. But yeah, it was really good. It was really good.
this whole, like, soft place shenanigans and she
Oh my
in the
god, she hated it, but the other kids loved it. So that was worth it just to keep them entertained, I think. But,
have to pick, did you pick that up,
yeah. Yeah, so actually it's quite good if you're If you've got like a wedding or another party where you need to entertain, if you're having kids and you want something. It was pretty big, it was like two meters square.
huge.
And it came with like all the mats and then like the block things that they climb on and slide down. And then it had like a tunnel and a ball pit and then like little rocking horses and things like that. Um, and then I just bought some of her toys and stuff. And uh, literally it kept the kids entertained the whole time and the party was on for like, Well, it was on for four hours, but they were playing it the whole time.
Yeah.
if you're having like a wedding where you've got kids, something like that, it's pretty cool. And it, I mean, it cost me 60 pounds higher.
That's so
Yeah, I know. That's what I thought. So I've picked it up on Friday.
Yeah.
and then I'm dropping it back today.
was it local to you? To
Yeah, so it's in late and buzzard so sunshine soft play Yeah, it was so it's really good. I just literally yeah turned up they popped it in my van for me and off I went
I suppose it's alright, like, just making 60 quid for, not, I suppose all they have to do is clean it down
Yeah, literally
Yeah.
Yeah, it's fine
delivering it or
Well, I would say is that if you haven't got a van it would be a tight squeeze in a car. I think
estate car
You need it. Yeah, I need a state or two cars. I think it would you'd struggle getting in Yeah
situ.
Yeah. But no, my week was good. Busy. How,
the balloons.
I did, yeah, I was wearing bright pink.
Yeah,
it was all pink themed.
Yeah.
can't go wrong.
get many photos?
Um, not really, but other people did, so they've sent them to me, which is nice. Like, you sent me some.
have got a photographer, just for now? Like, I know that sounds a bit overkill, but.
Um,
I sometimes
I think
term, you know when you say photographer,
yeah.
But then saying that, Richard was waltzing around with
This camera, yeah, I think, um, it would have been nice to capture some memories because obviously I was so busy, like, going around, like, you just don't have a chance to,
No.
it's the same at your wedding, like, you'd never be, if you didn't have a photographer, you'd never capture it or you'd just be relying on other people taking photos because there's just so much, you're just everywhere, aren't you? Um, yeah.
a bit over the top, but actually we had some really nice
Yeah, well, yeah, that's what I mean. It would have been nice to get some photos of Probably would have been nice, but I just rely on other people sending me pictures at the moment. So, I've got quite a few. I've got loads of those Polaroids, which is cute.
Yeah. They were
Um,
idea.
yeah, so So, yeah, it's alright, but I'll probably Maybe, yeah, I probably would have
Yeah,
did it again.
there we go.
But yeah, so that was, that was, yeah, the next one.
the bar high.
That was my week, basically. I did some quotes, I did do some quotes and uh, flowery things, but mainly it was Lily's birthday.
Yeah,
How's your week been? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
like, tasting season. So, um, One of my couples came back from America for like three days, four days, four days, and we had to fit in. So they're having a two day wedding. First day's Indian, second day's Western American. And, uh, we had to fit in four tastings cause they wanted to try two different cuisines too, I think I mentioned this before, so they wouldn't, you obviously want to, the thing is they didn't want to cut shortlist one.
Get here not enjoy the tasting and then they're not back before the wedding. So
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
of each.
Understand that, yeah.
four tastings, a makeup trial and then a site visit of both the venues So there's two different venues
That's insane.
Yeah, it was
busy.
guy and also I don't think I mentioned this again before because when I was doing the plan I was trying to work it all out. We were having to drive like So their venue's like more down south kind of way and then Some of the tastings were in London because a lot of caterers based in London.
Yeah.
to go like back and forth.
Oh, no.
There was one day we had to drive literally from, I can't even think of what it's called now, but down south somewhere to London and it was said in like just two hours 15 on Google and took us three hours.
Oh.
were then like late for the next one. Then they had to get back to Heathrow, it was all like, Wow! But it was good, it was worthwhile, and we got so much done. There was, on the, um, Monday, we did a tasting, and then I went back to my hotel,
Yeah.
um, and then they picked me up a couple hours later, and we literally sat there from like 5 o'clock to like 10 o'clock at night, just talking about the wedding.
Wow.
Had dinner. was pretty nuts,
That's full on, but I suppose you've got a lot done though, I guess. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, we, we, got
And they're happy, and they're sort of like, feel like they're on top of, like, their planning, so.
huge afterwards, and there's, it still is.
Yeah.
Because there was just so much, you know, when things come up and
Yeah.
talking about that,
So, so did they go away from that weekend knowing what cuisine they wanted to go with, or?
they, I mean, they've got a go, they'll have an Indian caterer one day, and then the next day will be, caterer.
So yeah at the minute we're still kind of getting re quotes because that's the thing is with your tasting, things come up, you might want to swap things out, you might want to have discussions about like, oh we need bar staff or, you know, Actually, we want to include this or we want to include, you know, there's might be things that you try at the tasting where you're like, you know, especially like sharing stuff, you know, if you try a few options, then you're like, actually, we like the more
we want the more, you know, all those kinds of things. It changes the price,
Yeah, okay.
of a tasting really. So, um, yeah, we're just kind of really going through re quotes and some came back and then we've gone back on them and then, but I think they've pretty much got the gist of what they're going to do. So.
That's good.
Yeah, it
I, I don't, I'm always, um, like I get anxious about the thought of like a sharing. You know like when you have sharing boards at a wedding when they bring it out because it just takes up so much room on the table.
up a lot of room. I actually was having a chat with one of my couples about this the other day because we had a meeting with their florist and we was obviously talking about what they can do and blah blah
Yeah.
bride was like, Oh, um, by the way, we are having sharing and I was like honestly don't worry about it because I wouldn't be agreeing to any of the stuff that you're talking
No.
if you didn't have space and a lot of the time now a lot of sharing is done lot of people are having banqueting tables,
Yeah.
the time caterers are just passing people stuff to almost pass along.
I'm okay.
know what you mean. Fitting it on the table is an
Yeah, because I remember I did, I did one wedding and they never told me that they were having sharing.
What?
Because I'm not being funny, but it's not really something I ask. Someone orders a centerpiece. Someone orders a centerpiece from me. I presume they have room for it.
Yeah, you
You know?
probably
It's not really, I don't really think, hmm, are you having a sharing start? Are you having a sharing, uh, main?
yeah,
Um,
on the
Yeah,
um.
always think to myself like if you're having something low and like then we don't go too big and stuff and Um, because obviously with wine and stuff it just gets in the way But I remember they wanted him and I was I kept saying, you know, there'll be enough room. Yeah They wanted them low big like wreaths with candles in the middle. So that's what I did
yeah, that's some
Anyway, i've set it all up and then the caterer come like appears. Oh, well, they have to go underneath the tables The flowers have to go off the tables underneath because they're having like sharing
Oh
or something or serve yourself things And I was like, sorry, sorry what I just like said it all out Obviously I didn't do I was like, well, they can move it under the table. I'm moving it
No, if that's what they've paid you to put the
Honestly, I was like, what are you joking? Like they've spent all this money on flowers and you're gonna shove them under the table It's like is there not any way you could put them? There's not underneath a table
caterer
What? Yeah Yeah
do think, though, that Sharon, I feel like, A couple of years ago, when it started coming in, caterers were panicking about it.
Yeah
it is so normal
the done thing.
yeah, I kind of feel like people have just got used to it now. And they kind of just make use of space, they use smaller platters. And you've always got that gap in between people, haven't you? So you put, use those spaces. But
yeah,
and tables and sharing ain't really the one. But if that's what you want, we can do, we make it work, you know.
Yeah, that's it. Ah, okay, yeah,
last year. Yeah. is long banqueting tables sharing food, but down the centers you have the high rises
yeah.
there must be like, I don't know, 15, 20 minute, 20 meters, 15, 20 centimeters wide and they go all the way down the center of your table. They're almost like wooden planks
Yeah, I know what you mean, Yeah,
and then, so underneath it you have loads of foliage and like little tea lights or something. And then All down the center, then put all your food on there, and that your decoration, is your
your food.
looks frickin cool. Frippin
just, frippin frippin I flippin love a grazing board. I love them.
kind
Yeah,
charcuterie,
looks,
yeah.
the eye, isn't it? It's not like a, it doesn't, yeah, so it actually does work, because although it's not, it, it's like decoration, isn't it? Because it's done really nice, yeah.
roses
Yeah.
tomatoes and stuff in there
Lovely. Yeah. Yeah,
they call them Then they'll take those boards away and then they'll bring out your next one So you can have like meats and salads and potatoes and stuff like that. So and then you could do like a then a dessert like little mini dessert ones
it's a good idea. Minimum decoration, maximum food.
Literally, yeah,
It's my kind of thing.
but yeah, we're fully in fully in tasting seasons and i've got a another couple coming So they have booked me to plan their wedding for 2026. So we're currently planning their venue So i've done their venue quotes. They've shortlisted four venues that they want to view
Okay.
so they're coming back from california For literally three days in and out to,
That's amazing. Do you know what, I always think that's a massive thing, isn't it? It must be like, oh my god, they're flying another country. But actually, living in America, like, America's so big, like, they have to fly just to get from like, um, state to state. It's probably no big deal just to hop on a plane over here.
And they, uh, well I was having this chat with them because her best friend lives like the other side of America and she was saying how it's quicker for them to meet in England than it is to go to each other's
Crazy, that's crazy.
it is. It's actually quicker to
Mental.
that's
Wow. Yeah.
their, uh, when I was doing their venue. So basically we always have an initial consultation, we go through the requirements, and I then put together a list of venues, um, I get the availability quotes, all that kind of bits and bobs, and then I kind of thing it all down, because you get loads of gump from venues, so I always
Yeah.
stuff in. I actually, uh, I did inquire with, because they very much wanted British quintessential, I think I've mentioned this before, but, um, I thought I'm gonna have to, they did one, um, England, but I thought go, I'm gonna show, I like to throw in a wild card in
Oh, a little wildcard, eh?
wild card and I thought my wild card is going to be Scotland. I did
Oh.
Traitor's
Did you? Oh my god.
I did.
That's cool. That is so cool.
They were fully booked till 2027.
You're joking. Wow. Yeah. Yep. This
to me, they want a castle, quintessential, you know, all the pictures, you know, like grand staircase. And when I was watching it, I was like,
is the one.
would work. this would
Love the traitors, by the way.
can't book till 2028. Fully booked till
Blimey.
So,
Oh, that's cool though, that you can get married there. Obviously, I suppose it's a proper venue. Yeah.
venue. A lot of a lot of wedding venues are used for filming. Sometimes you just don't notice,
I know the heads there is, isn't it? It's so stow.
Yeah, a lot a lot of these kind of houses are wedding venue and castles, wedding venues, and you'll see on their website they'll have a whole section for filming. My wedding venue's used for filming. Yeah,
yeah. yeah.
And sometimes you just don't even notice, do you? And then I'll go and they'll be like, Oh yeah, did you see us? Or I'll say on their Instagram, Oh we was in Bridgerton or something And you're like, Oh!
Whoa! Yeah, oh my god,
in the
I'm famous! It's famous!
is when it's like Maid and Chelsea And they're having a party And it comes up with where they're
Yeah, and you're like, oh my god!
And
I've been
I did a
there!
last year Maid and Chelsea were there. And I rang the woman, and I was watching an episode, and I was like,
That's so cool. Oh, that's cool, isn't it?
I was like, were they a nightmare? She was like, no, they were actually brilliant. I was like, oh.
Wow, but you have to say that.
yeah, I wanted the goss. So yeah, I thought that was a little interesting one for you there.
Yeah, what a
we didn't get that far because,
shame. Oh, that's so cool though.
yeah.
you do another venue in Scotland instead?
No, we didn't in the end because I
Oh.
know what, it's not gonna work, and I thought it was only been cool if it was
If it was there.
the traders.
Yeah.
the US, it's huge in the UK. So I thought I might just be a bit like, I don't think they'd have gone for it. It's too much of a ball ache to get people to fly. A lot of Americans do go Scotland though. But getting people to, think it depends where you're from in. I've never really done Scotland weddings. I only really do London surrounding. But I imagine you can probably fly direct to Scotland. But where they're coming from in California, I think they need to fly to Heathrow.
And then
getting them to
Yeah.
would have been a ball lake and then going from Inverness to the castle. Like it, it would have been long, you know,
Lol. I've been to Scot to Inverness. Love it.
just thinking of myself.
Yeah. Just little, little old me.
for your bloody tasting.
Yeah but oh hey, do you fancy coming to Scotland with me this weekend for a tasting? Yeah,
just like, that's just too long for me. Imagine
all that travel.
for Italy for a tasting. Like, nah, like, yeah, sounds lovely.
It sounds good but reality, yeah.
one of those things like Martin used to work away a lot. Like, Um, is he works in airports, and he'd be like traveling, be like, oh, that's so fun, like, you're going to Miami for three weeks, like, yeah, to work.
Yeah.
I don't see you outside the airport. You know, it's one of them, isn't
Yeah, it's not, it's not as good as it sounds, I suppose. But, yeah, I've never really, well, I've never really travelled, not for floristry, I've not travelled out of the country. I've gone around, like, probably the furthest I've been is the Lake District. Up, that's north. South I've been
Mate,
to
would not be able to handle it. Mine couldn't, so yours definitely couldn't. Imagine, you'd be
Oh my god. Yeah,
don't open? Imagine if you're there,
I just know.
because you're not, I'm getting, I'm assuming,
Well, it's out of your control, right? So I just feel like you, you don't know, you don't know. So normally you have a bit of a rapport with your, um, wholesaler. So you can ring them. Look, you've sent me this. It's not very good. You need to sort it out, whatever. Or I need you. Can you find me this? I need it, you know, this sort of price. Or what can you do? Suggest an alternative, right? So you can just ring them. How you, you cannot liaise with.
a foreign, like, not foreign, that's not the right word.
barrier?
can't, you can't liaise with, with someone abroad like as easily and you don't know them. Exactly, language barrier and also you just, you don't know how they work either.
No,
Um, and I just feel like unless you're doing it off, I just don't know, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it.
That's
I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it.
play to people that do
Yeah, totally. Yeah.
it all the time, but it's not for me. Maybe I'll change my mind in a couple years. I did have an inquiry the other day for late como in Italy, and I was like,
Oh, yeah. Oh, I'll come and help you.
But anyway, kind of going back to the subject of tastings, I mean, we've got to talk about it because what a fun part of the planning process.
my God. The best bit if, if, if I do say so myself.
you have one for your wedding?
Yeah. I had a tasting in, so me and Richard went with, uh, my mum and dad and Richard's mum. Yeah, we we made it into like a little evening out. Yeah. It was Nice.
So I actually normally advise against doing
Do you?
unless they're like heavily involved or it's like, Oh, the parents are real foodies or whinies and they need to like, get it
Yeah.
I think, but I think it also depends how into food you are.
Yeah.
sometimes you can just get too, I've seen tastings before. I used to work in catering and I've seen tastings before where it's like, Chaos
Really?
like oh you should have this and dad's like well you should have this and then
Oh, oh my goodness.
Well, you should have this and they're all like no, but what is everybody else gonna want? And yeah, there's too many opinions
Yeah, I can imagine it might get a bit like that. I guess it depends on how they are. But my, I mean, my family, we're into like, don't get me wrong, we love our food, but it was kind of like
that
No, it was more like come for the experience, you know,
Yeah. Yeah.
sort of and and we did like between us all have like What would you know everyone's putting their teeth was it two pence in or whatever? But but it was fine. It wasn't like Yeah, it was it was just I like this and I like I'm not too sure in that but it was fine I mean, we're all kind of on the same page. That was quite nice actually Yeah, yeah
to having other opinions,
Yeah, exactly exactly
and was yours a private tasting?
Yeah, it was. So, um, it was just us, literally, on this round table. Set up in, um, I think it's just, there's like one of the other rooms in the
Yeah,
It's really nice. It's a proper ornate room, like,
okay,
really pretty. And it was just us, yeah.
Yes, interesting
Sit there, laid out the table.
Just to give the listeners an insight if you are waiting for your tasting or are not at that point yet But yeah, it kind of works in a couple of different ways. A lot of caterers do them private But that's normally if they're a caterer. So you go to their unit, you'll be put in a room with a table set They've normally got other tables set with like Glassware you can upgrade to, and napkin colours,
Oh,
We actually went to one last weekend, one of my couples, and it was, there was so much set up. They had all pictures on the wall of weddings. They're done with all different colour
wow.
ideas. I thought it was brilliant.
That's really cool, actually. Yeah, I like that.
and like, you know, you can upgrade to these glasses and all these different bits and bobs.
Oh, wow.
and pick what you want,
I always forget that that caterers off, like the, like obviously table wear and decor, decor sort of thing.
come from them. It comes from their suppliers. Um, but yeah, normally the supplier will give them a load of stock
yeah,
what they can. Obviously it helps that supplier, doesn't it?
yeah, exactly.
Um, but yeah, and then a lot of venues, So with the venues doing your catering, a lot of them do what we call kind of like group tasting.
Yeah.
that I've worked at, again, I mean, they might do private ones, it depends how their restaurant works. If they actually have a restaurant, then it's probably easy to do private, but if not, it's quite difficult for them to do by one if they're not cooking that often, if
Yeah.
unless they're doing it in time slots. But one of my couples, uh, went recently, and one of their tastings was private, and one of it was group.
Ah,
it to be
oh, really? Oh, that's interesting. yeah.
confirmation, it said private tasting, so I didn't think anything of it,
yeah.
I've never worked with that caterer before, so I wouldn't know. they turned up, and then, apparently it was very chaotic.
no.
And the thing is, is you're not them choosing, they were just given like, little bits of like, all, and they just said the food just kept
Come in. Too much.
and coming, and they had this sheet. But then you, there's no one to like, really speak to.
because it's
tasting, it works really
Yeah, you can really, someone will take your details, so like, with us, we could like, we were like, telling them what we liked, what we didn't like, or perhaps what we'd like to change around, but, and they were listening to us, and we felt like they were taking it in, and, It was quite, yeah, like, intimate, is that the right word? Yeah, and it was,
and beneficial
yeah,
you're not just sitting there eating like you would in a restaurant You're actually thinking about the dishes
exactly,
because I think that's what's really important again I've seen this a lot in my catering years But feel like on the tasting you need to be really prepared that you're not just going out to eat for dinner
yeah,
to be like Making notes and like, that's why I go to all my tasters and my couples. I'm like, keep talking at me, keep talking at me and I'm taking the notes. So like, you know, if they're like, this is a bit too true or this is a bit overdone or not keen on this, keep telling me, or I love this, I
yeah,
like this color. Just keep talking at what you're feeling. Um, which is why it always helps when someone's not in the room. We did a tasting recently and the one of the caterer
oh, awkward. Awkward.
in the room the
Yeah, yeah, you'd feel like you had to say it was nice, wouldn't you? Yeah.
ah,
Imagine if you're like, sorry,
out
chewy and overdone. It's just awkward.
know what I mean? As soon as she dipped out I'd be like, right, come on. Tell me tell me Tell me
Yeah, yeah, quick, honest opinions here. Yeah, that's jokes.
Because you just feel awkward But yeah I felt like um, so one of the things that I always tell my couples to do is to rate out of like five so each dish like What did you like that? And then at the end, it's easier for me to see. Say they've tried like three different meat mains and they've got to pick one. I'm like, well buy both your scores, that's your top one.
Yeah,
Which I think
that's a good idea, yeah.
also just thinking about exactly like you've said there, about swapping things out. Think about like, oh yeah we loved the beef but we preferred the potatoes that came with the
Yeah.
Like write that kind of notes down. And then what I always do is I get all of my notes and I send that to the caterer. And then on the actual wedding plan that we do, I then add the important notes in red italics. So
okay, yeah.
They,
It's like,
right.
This is what you said. This is what you want.
I feel like it's so, that's the point of a tasting, isn't it?
Yeah.
feel like
Oh yeah, exactly.
before about like hair trials and stuff, like, you have to be honest with people because all the caterer wants to do is get it right.
that's it. Yeah. The whole point of the tasting is that they're expecting you and they're not expecting you to come there and like, enjoy everything.
No,
that's, yeah, otherwise what's the point? There's no point in having a tasting. They would just serve you what they think's Good on the day, wouldn't they? So the idea of you coming there is to have an honest discussion about what you want. And that's, yeah, and you're paying a lot of money for the food. Um, yeah.
tasting, which I think is quite interesting that I've seen before is, you know, how things are presented and things like the plates that is served on the cutlery and even like your canapes, like how many are coming out, what
Yeah.
on, things like that are important.
Yes. Yep. Hehe.
How are they going to fit on the tables? You know,
Yeah, totally. And also, actually, you make a good point there about canapes, because I feel like they're an overlooked part of the day, but actually a very important part of the day, because
true.
feel like people definitely, for a start, to start with, people need a little bit of sustenance, depending on the time of your wedding. But if you're having like, I don't know, a one o'clock ceremony, um, so people have missed lunch then, and then they've done this ceremony, and then afterwards, and then you've got to wait till like four, five o'clock for their, um, Evening food, like reception, wedding breakfast. That's the word I was looking for. We'll get there again in the end.
Um, and I feel like you need to actually spend a bit of time thinking about what people are going to have. And I think it's really important to have canapes because people get grumpy. They get hungry and they get grumpy.
They
And, um, and also there's not, I think it looks so nice when they come out with like these, like really nice. Sometimes you get like a slate board of like all the little food on and it's,
yeah,
I think that's important.
I feel a bit like with our canapes, I don't know if we went a little bit wrong, I loved our canapes
canapés were delicious, yeah.
I'm glad,
Yeah, I enjoyed them.
that
Don't worry, I did. I chowed down.
But I don't know if a few of our some of our guests were a little bit scared of the canapes
Sometimes I don't know whether it's like etiquette to like, just down in one or whether you're meant to like, because they're meant to be like a mouthful, aren't they? Dunno what, dunno, I'm scared, I don't want to touch it. Yeah.
know what like, you know And I was a little bit afterwards like oh, maybe we should have done a little bit more I don't know like mini sliders or but then I suppose they're a bit bigger and messier and you know what? I'm very much a gal of You If that's what I want, that's what I'm
That's what I'm having, yeah, totally understand that, yeah, yeah.
the little, the traditional little mini canapes,
Do you know what I love is a tiny, tiny Yorkshire with beef and horseradish.
yeah,
is, that is my top choice.
eat beef, so I
Ah, so I did that at Christmas one year. I did, I had everyone here, well first Christmas here.
before,
first, first Christmas in our house we had um, quite a few people over. And um, I did like little canapes. So I did like Yorkshire with the beef and horseradish. And then I did like salmon, cream cheese, dill, all that sort of thing. I went to town.
Yeah, that sounds
Love, love the canapé.
on toast one,
Oh yeah,
so
they were good.
uh, the little frittatas are my
Yeah.
Oh,
yeah.
ate about 10 of them,
When we went to that networking event in London, they had these tiny little chocolate tarts, didn't they? Do you remember?
tarts,
I was like, yeah, me too. He was like, do you want any more? I would, but you should keep it coming, keep it coming.
Keep on coming. So yeah, look, how we just spent five minutes talking about canapes. Very important.
Very important.
is with your caterer is if you are doing like buffet sharing food, if they do a tasting for it, a lot of places don't. We did, Matt, we did get a tasting for our barbecue actually, which was quite good because I wanted to see like, all the colours and the salads
Yeah, I remember you saying it was important how it was like visually, how it looked.
Yeah, because
Obviously. Yeah.
I wanted it displayed. And I was showing them videos, and how I wanted the linen. I was actually gonna do dark green linen on the table, but then the caterer was like, but you've got all these dark green leaves, it's gonna like, not pop as much, it'll pop better on white, and like, things like, kind of conversations like that, which might sound ridiculous now, but They might be important to you.
Yeah, yeah. It's all in the detail.
all in the detail, if you're having street food, one of the things we did was, um, so we had a pizza van in the evening, is we just went and got pizza from them one night.
Yeah, good idea.
you might not necessarily, but if you messaged them and said, oh, we've booked you for our wedding, can we come and try some food? Like, where are you gonna next be at? I'm sure they'd be like, yeah, come and grab some food,
Yeah, defo.
Yeah,
love that. I just, honestly, it was one of my favourite things about our wedding, was the tasting. I love food. I really do.
that and the cake tasting,
Oh, yes, a cake tasting.
makers, but I feel like cake is really, really important
Yep.
if you're gonna have a cake. If it's important to you, it's important. So, don't feel bad to go and get a couple of different sample boxes. They normally
Yeah.
quid. They'll put it in the post. Go to a cup, get, get two, three quotes, get two, three sample boxes and you enjoy them sample boxes.
Our cake maker was so generous with the portions, so basically we chose six flavours,
Yes.
like proper like miniature cakes,
cute.
a little bit like sponges, so they were obviously like, they were like, had buttercream and then the,
Oh,
jam or whatever curd in them that,
Yeah.
meant to go with it and oh my god, I just remember being like this is the best day ever I remember picking it up. I was like the most excited. I was more excited about that than I was when I got engaged I think I was like bloody. Oh Richard. I'm on my way home with the cake
Got the
Get the get the kettle on
Oh yeah! But, and again, it's important because, and people think six flavors, 4 tier,
Yeah
different
Yeah, and actually I probably would have gone for more flavors if I if I could have I love it
the couple that I'm going to do the tasting with this weekend in Cornwall, we just arranged their cake, so they're gonna drop it off at the venue for
Oh exciting
And, um, she sent a list of all these cake flavors. Honestly, it
Oh,
30
make your mouth water.
like cocktail inspired, traditional inspired. Oh, there was all, and I think there was like school days inspired,
Oh my gosh.
know!
That's cool.
like, this is really
What flavours have they decided to try?
Shall I get them
Yeah, I'd love, I love knowing things like this. This is,
all the important
it is food.
And I wonder if, I wonder, listeners, if anyone is listening now thinking, didn't even know that that's a thing, because I don't, I don't always think cake makers always necessarily tell you, like, oh, we can send you a sample box. Do you know what I
Yeah, and also they can send it in the post as well, so it doesn't matter if they're not local.
I guess if you think to yourself, well, Two things, I don't know, you wouldn't be going for a cake maker that was like miles and miles and miles away from your venue I guess, because they wouldn't be, I don't know, I don't know, but like obviously you don't need to, what I'm saying is you don't necessarily need to travel somewhere, They can just send it to you in the post, so if you're busy, like they come in like a letterbox in the time, they're like in the little
Yeah,
wedges aren't they? Like the little, yeah, so.
and I like this couple They don't live anywhere near their venue.
yeah,
it helps. So they've gone with vanilla with jam and cream. Classic. Love that. Salted caramel with homemade caramel
yeah.
Banging. Funfetti.
Yes! I love a funfetti cake! I nearly did that for Lily!
think that's the school inspired
love that.
Coffee and walnut, uh,
again.
ganache,
Mmm.
and red velvet.
Ooh, yeah.
but it has to be a good chocolate
Yeah.
like it can be a bit dry and not, you know like when it's like not, it needs to be like
Proper chocolate. Love that.
stodgy.
like the chocolate cake we all want is the chocolate cake that Bruce eats in Matilda.
I was just thinking of when I said
Do you know you can order that cake online? There's a company that does it, it's called like Bruce Cake or something. Or this company that does a, like, and it literally looks like it. It looks incredible. It's like, I would say it would be like a hot fudge, chocolate fudge cake, you know? Yeah, it's like, gotta be, oh god, my mouth's watering.
a bit of lemon on there though. I love a
Oh, I do like a lemon. A little citrus number.
Yeah so they've got this, the, the, the, the sections where popular drinks inspired Which there's like raspberry, p prosecco, champagne, mocha.
Oh.
fruity, sweet tooth, savoury. And childhood favourites, which is your funfetti. Savouries like, oh, carrot cake, ginger and cinnamon.
Oh.
and pistachio. Oh, lavender. I love a lavender
Yeah. I like, um, you know you can do like an Earl Grey and Lavender flavour cake.
I
It's quite nice.
the earl
Oh, I do like a tea loaf. Well, It's like bergamot, innit? Flavour, so it's similar. It's quite Fragrant.
Flagrant,
It's nice. I made a cake, didn't I, for Lily's birthday.
it looked amazing.
a little, little Oh my gosh, it cut it, it cut it.
cut It
It cut really well, it did. I just went for it in the end. I got, I got confident and I just did it how you're meant to cut a cake.
Yeah.
know, like into the It's not like a wedge, basically.
do that because she
Yeah.
seriously before I left, like, so you cut down, yeah? And then
Yeah.
I was like,
I had to cut my friend's wedding cake, I told you that, didn't I? Yeah, so, it was like I was getting PTSD from that.
they inch by inch slices?
Yeah, they were pretty good.
Were people taking the brownies home as well?
Yeah, we got people took brownies. They had a slice of cake in their party bag. Yeah, it went really well. The cake tastes good as well. I did, I did a three tier ombre pink sponge. And then I covered it in pink buttercream and put macaroons and stuff.
it.
sure she did. I'm sure she did. She did. She loved it. She loved it.
bless her,
Yeah, so, good times.
So yeah, I hope that gives you a bit of insight into
The most important part of your day.
Did you swap much then on your tasting in the
Um, we didn't swap much so much as we just basically chose the three courses.
Yeah,
so I don't think we swapped anything around. I think perhaps we might have, I think we asked for a little bit more like gravy like on like,
yeah.
you can't go wrong with a bit of gravy.
no, You
Um, yeah and but we had like dauphinoise potatoes as well and um, things like that. So yeah, no it was good.
able to make those decisions
Yeah.
a lot of decisions out the
And they're really accommodating about it as well. So you don't feel like you're asking for too much or whatever. So,
anyone that's panicking like, Oh my god, I haven't done a tasting! They're normally about four to six months before. So don't
yeah, yeah. Mine was in April and I got married in September. So
That's right.
that's, yeah, yeah.
But if you are doing a choice menu, you need to put it on your invite speechy caterer. Because
Hmm.
need it a bit earlier.
Although I was, what do you reckon? You say don't do a choice.
Yeah.
Yeah.
menu all the
Set menu.
I'm loving sharing at the
Yeah. Fair enough.
Love a share.
Love a share.
Anyway, shall we go on to the listeners questions and messages? Woo!
one here, um, I've been binge listening to you since getting engaged and getting a puppy in December. Woohoo!
Oh, puppy!
that's cute. And have been taking you on my many evening and morning walks each day.
Nice.
so sad that I've almost caught up to your most recent release.
well there's
Sorry.
to
Yeah, don't worry. A question I've been wondering as you've been talking trends, how do you plan so far in advance, but also have a wedding that doesn't look out of style by the time it comes around? I'm thinking of an October wedding in 2026 or 27, so I'm afraid if I start planning or booking now that I'll not like what we've chosen this year. Any advice? Thanks.
Well. So, well, my first reaction to that would be And I'm sure Hayley will agree with me. When you book, like, so, if for example you're booking a florist at Deckel Company,
Yeah.
they wouldn't expect, like, you wouldn't expect that final information until closer to the time would you really? You can talk ideas,
Yeah, I don't think so.
once, didn't we? That was 2023, and when we started she wanted navy blue and burnt
Yeah, I remember.
of the wedding we had plum.
Yeah, completely different.
it.
Yeah.
as well.
I do feel like sometimes when it is a long, like, from, not even from booking, but I guess, especially with things like your dress and things like that,
Yeah.
go looking for that this early and like making those final decisions like on design, style, colours, I don't feel like you need to make those decisions on booking.
Yeah.
don't feel like if you choose a venue, I really don't feel like in a couple of years you'll be like no I want a different venue because I've changed what I like because actually a venue is kind of in some ways like a blank canvas, you can kind of decorate it how you want and I just, I don't, I don't.
Yeah, so I wouldn't be worried too much about that, but I feel like things like, in terms of designs, like, I don't know, your table decor, your dress, colour scheme, flowers, like, things like that, I mean, I just don't say to people to get in touch with me for, like, six to nine months before, so, you know, I don't think.
with you on that. I think, do you know what though? All I'm seeing at the minute is Again, the joyous Facebook groups.
Yeah.
people are, like, majorly planned in advance. So, like, there's people that are like, I'm getting married in 2027, and, so say someone will write on this Facebook group, I'm getting married in 2027, feel like I'm really behind, what's everyone else done? And then
Yeah.
like, of books. Like, they'll list everything.
Crazy.
florist, decor company, linen, caterer. Like, and you're like, and then they just make the other people feel I feel like there's this big thing going on at the minute. Everyone feels like they need to be uber organized, but
Yeah.
gonna sting yourself because in the end, if you do change your mind,
You're stuck.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's too late.
again, I feel like, say you book your linen, for example, in blush pink and then you decide, actually, I want dark plum. Like. feel like the linen company, as long as they've got the availability, they will just swap it
Yeah, it's not.
wouldn't, I wouldn't worry too much, because I feel like anything is changeable,
If you've got your Yeah.
gonna expect that.
If you've got your heart set on a venue, then for sure, book it, pay the deposit, and get that sorted so that's done, because I do feel like these days, The way things are with financials and things I feel like people are definitely getting engaged and then they're booking a venue like a couple years in advance or like setting a date at least so they've got time to pay
Yeah.
like you get your venue down and then that's it I wouldn't even send out save the dates until
I wouldn't until 12 months
yeah you know so I think that's that's the big one but then everything else that that can be done within the year
put it on the back burner a
yeah just get that sorted and
as well
Yeah,
12
I, I did mine like nine months before and I was thinking of changing mine You know, I mean last nine months
actually
Yeah
a year before but only because I wasn't expecting to get my dress when I did I literally got it on my first trip out and I thought I was gonna I was gonna take a few
Yeah,
yeah
you just surprised yourself
of started early. But yeah Yeah, I think you're so right. You, 2027 is a quote. Also, with an October wedding, I feel like it is kind of, you're going that autumnal vibe. like with your, it kind of doesn't go out. I feel like trends don't change. I know we talk about trends changing, but when we
Yeah
trends changing, we're like, we were laughing at those weddings from like 2010. Like that
Yeah, yeah
that long ago, but the, the, the likelihood of trends changing from now to 2027, that's not going to change
Not not like so it'd be yeah
A lot of the trends we're talking about, right, when you go in the press or on Pinterest or wherever and you see the top wedding trends of 2025, I'm going to be really honest with you now, most people just make it up.
Yeah
it up. I go, right, what's everyone been talking about? What am I seeing on social media? What are my couples asking for? That to me is a trend.
Yeah
people's opinion.
Yeah, that's very true.
much. Like, look at the whole bow trend. How long has that been in
I was, yeah, I was just thinking like when I got married in, in 2022, a lot of what hap was happening then is now still
Yeah,
like what I'm seeing people ask for now.
doesn't change
No,
not that much stuff that stuff can
no.
It's like pattern tablecloths have started to like eke in, but that's more because they're huge in America and in Europe. We don't have them in the UK. UK suppliers are now starting to cotton on to the fact that they're popular on Pinterest. So they're starting to buy them. So that's why we're seeing them in the UK more. So we're more probably led by what we can get. But if you go by. What you actually want, and what you like the look of, is probably not going to change in the next two, three
no, no, you're totally right.
is just keep it timeless, because then,
White and green, can't go wrong.
Ha ha ha! Like, for me, I've always loved my deep colours, we had like, more deeper
Yeah, yeah.
like, always loved greens, so I went with green. You know, if you do stuff that you have generally always liked, then you're not going to probably go off
No, yeah, I agree.
it, then it don't
What's it matter? Yeah, well, exactly, yeah.
sometimes I see wedding dresses right and I look at it and I think that is so nice and then I think gonna be the kind of dress that you're not gonna like in five years time, right?
Yeah, some of them are, yeah, some of them are quite statement, aren't they?
You
They, they are, yeah.
whoa,
Puff sleeves.
who listens to this? Hello, auntie Mary. She, um, sent me a picture of her and her wedding dress and that's the, it was the kind of dress where you're like, that is really nice.
Yeah.
dress.
That's good.
you think that's never going to go out of style. And sometimes I think we go a bit OTT nowadays with all the frills and the, all this and that and the
Yes, I'm not a big fan.
years
I feel like, I feel like our dresses were quite, I mean mine was a, mine was maybe a little bit different because it had, it wasn't, it wasn't white was it? It was the pink underneath and glittery. I say that but it was subtle
Yeah. It
and I do feel like it would be fine in like 10 years time and the same, your dress was really lovely, really timeless, classic. I just feel like both of them wouldn't be out of place and
No.
yeah.
time, do you think, if you did look back at your wedding in 10 years and think, that looks old, does it matter? I don't
Well, no, that's the idea. I mean, time, time passes and things aren't meant to stay the same.
No.
move along, so. Yeah, exactly. yeah, Yeah, so.
Okay guys, well that's us for that one this week. Hope that helped,
hopefully. Hopefully.
writing into us though
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