Hey!
Hello, how are
How was your, how was your Easter?
Oh, my Easter was good. I ate lots of chocolate.
Did ya?
Oh, yeah, I love
Did you, now you're a mum, did you basically, were you like, oh well we have a child so we need to do an Easter egg hunt, but actually she can't eat eggs, so it's all for us. Ha ha ha ha!
So we went to my sister in law's for Easter Sunday and she
Nice.
egg hunt and I'd like to say that I was really Good at it and sniffed out all the chocolate, but I was honestly the worst one there I found one, found one chocolate coin And then I've got the night they, they felt so bad for me. everyone else gave me one of theirs because I was rubbish.
Are you, were you playing against children? Or was this an adult thing?
adults doing it.
Oh, okay, well, I don't, I, it's not as bad.
Lily didn't join in because
No.
bit small, but.
But were you still like no, I need extra, because I have a child now. Even though she can't eat chocolate. I've been in Tesco today, looking at the old, I was looking out for the half priced eggs, but they didn't really have any, so, that was poor.
Yeah, I went into Tesco. To be fair, it was a couple of days before the bank holiday weekend and it was dire. There was nothing. The shelves were
No.
And
this is, I've been, I was having this conversation at the weekend, I've been caught out by this a couple of times, where I leave it till a couple of days before, then I panic, I go to panic shop, and actually I think they probably only buy a certain amount. Because, there's none left.
they're gone, they're gone.
Yeah. Yeah.
I was well sad, I was like, oh my god! What am I gonna do?
No eggs.
to buy some people some eggs and I felt really bad because I left it last minute which is unlike me actually. Normally I get the chocolate eggs in quite early but yeah. No, the
She ate them. Well, happy Easter guys. Shall we get started?
do it.
Hi, I'm Hannah.
And I'm Hayley,
And 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 of what happens on a wedding day,
With a few tips thrown in between.
and also just a chat between friends.
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And let's get you
you wedded! Woohoo!
Edward!
was better than last week. Last week was a bit ropey. We
we're getting better guys.
So you've enjoyed your bank holiday weekend.
I did, yeah, I did I actually had a weekend off for once yeah. I had worked on Friday, I was freelanced, and then working today, we're recording today, it's bank holiday Monday people, but I kept saying, I've said this about five times in the last week, like, Bank holidays aren't really a thing in our industry, are they?
not. If anything, people take advantage of the bank holidays with
Exactly.
married on a Sunday because it's bank holiday Monday. Then you're
That's what I'm doing.
yeah, exactly. Speak for yourself.
Also, the, one of the venues I work at does weekday wedding, or I freelance for them every now and again. I've got like, I'm doing like five dates this year. They they do weekday weddings. So this time of year for them is so busy because it's half time. So all the teachers want to get married in half term. So Yeah, so I've been doing a little bit of freelance for them, there's, I'm literally doing five dates this year, but I think four of them are in across the two week Easter holidays.
Yeah.
yes.
it's
Busy.
I always find that bank holidays, I used to actually dread them when they came up because I would be so
Yeah, so busy. I also think, I don't know if you agree on this, but, it's like, once Easter is out the way, that, for me, that's when wedding season kicks in. So, like, I've got two, like, event, like, events that we're planning coming up in April. So, it's like, go, go, go in a minute.
Same here. So normally my, yeah, wedding season starts. Like, being
Yeah.
Yeah, after.
isn't it, really?
It is.
Yeah.
and onwards. That's it.
Yeah. Exciting. But I could also now, officially, on the 1st of April, say, I get married next month.
my god. I know,
That actually makes my tummy go a bit funny. Yeah. Yeah, this
you ate. No, I'm joking.
What did you eat?
Oh, you're Hindus this month as well?
oh yeah, it is. Yes, it is. Yeah. Yeah. In four weeks. Is it four? In four weeks, we'll be coming back. Will it be, it'll be over? Yeah. So
Yeah.
it four? Yeah. My God. So it's less than four weeks till we go.
It's
amazing. That is insane. Insane. It's just gone so quickly. So yes, busy, busy times. And the question I have at the moment is, What during my wedding planning is why are bridesmaid pajamas so bloody expensive.
really?
like the stage I'm at, at the minute I'm looking at all the final little, the last little final bits Yeah, and like I bought a white jumpsuit yesterday for the hen, I was told yesterday I need to get an outfit So I said, okay. But yeah, what the hell? They're like 25 quid.
Have you looked at Primark? Yeah.
One of my bridesmaids looked I think probably for the hen, and she said, they're 15 quid, and, and they are the, why is all bridesmaid pajamas that horrible satin material?
Oh
They just make you hot, and then they had like really tacky diamantes on the back. Apologies, Primark, because I love you, Primark, but I feel like, I also love Primark pajamas, but I feel like you're really lacking in brides, bridal pajamas, Primark, because,
that same everything seems to be satin and satin
yes,
bigger it just clings to everywhere. You don't want it to cling to
It just feels horrible, unless you're actually getting real silk, which no one's gonna be paying for that for their bridesmaids. Like, it's just insane. I just want a nice cotton pair of pyjamas for the bridesmaids. But yeah,
do is buy a pair of cheap like cotton ones and then maybe get like, you know You can print out
yeah, the trans, yeah,
or
we were talking about that. But also, I just said, do you know what? As long as we're all matching, I'm just gonna get everyone matching. Who cares?
Well,
Doesn't need to say you're a bridesmaid on the back, does it?
Nah, I'd alright.
And then I was like
robes.
well, I was then gonna say it. Do you go pajamas or do you go robes?
I would just get robes and they can keep, like, I find that they're, I've had robes for people's weddings and I kept mine for my wedding as well.
Oh, okay.
can get them on Etsy and stuff, they're actually not that, if you're going to spend 25 quid on a set of pyjamas, I would go and just get a robe for
You'd go robes.
Yeah,
fair play. Fair play. Yes. There's a lot going on, isn't it? I'm
looking for.
That's that's what my current job is. Yeah, but I will say I'm very very excited because we have a big wedding next week Joey Haley that we're working on together
do. It's been very busy, all the prep in the lead
Yes
It's a, it's quite a big one for me. It's a
Yeah,
big one to go
first one, isn't it? Yeah, exciting.
about this the other day. So, obviously, like, I did my last wedding in Oct end of October.
Which was also with me. That's like the two we've had. We have two weddings together in a year. And the, yeah, October. Your last one and your first one.
how mad is that?
Yeah,
I was thinking like, oh my god, it's been ages since I've done a wedding But really normally I probably wouldn't do a wedding like between October and like
it's quite normal, isn't it?
And
Maybe the odd bouquet and Valentine's and Mother's Day and what in between.
and like
Yeah,
Day is a big one, Valentine's Day this year Obviously I had been on maternity. So I
yeah,
done that so it's also over christmas i was winding down didn't do as much as i normally would so i
yeah,
of going back into things it's got literally
yeah,
the frying pan into the fire it kind of is like a
yeah, Actually that is normally what you'd probably do anyway.
so it's going back
I too have a question for you.
oh
the hell, because obviously there's wedding next week, we've gone all out on the flowers. I've done their final meeting today. There was a couple of bits, we were like, I was a bit like, hmm, do they need it, do they not? And they were like, let's just have it all. Let's go the whole hog.
the
I did say to them, it's gonna look amazing and actually her mum said to me before the end of the meeting, Is it going to look amazing? Like just, you know, whatever flowers we need to make it look amazing. I was like, it's going to look amazing. Like there's a lot, isn't there? A lot of flowers,
flowered. Hehehehe. Yeah,
but
a main sort of part of the wedding I would say. They've
yeah. Oh, it's all about the look.
Yeah.
it's the aesthetics very important to them, but how the hell do you work out? Right? We've got flowers in the church. There's 11 tables with Senate pieces. There's a top table. There's there's all sorts going on, right? There's flower meadows and there's you know, there's urns and there's a lot. How do you work out how many stems to buy?
Okay. So
Because that baffles me.
Yeah. It used to baffle me to be fair, but I have a, I have a system now, a well oiled system.
Yeah, do you have like a spreadsheet? Like, if it's an urn, I need this. Do you? Oh, hey, I can't imagine you with a spreadsheet.
Oh, yeah, no, I don't look clever, but yeah,
No, but you're like a creative gal, aren't you? You're not an admin gal.
see, I wear many hats in this business.
Yeah, yeah, mm hmm.
So popping on my admin hat, I get my little spreadsheet out. It takes, this is, this is what I was saying, it's like, it's of planning that goes
Yeah, I bet.
yeah,
also it's last minute, isn't it? Like, we've confirmed our order of you today. You, you take final, you take final, final payment, final order like 10 to 14 days before, right? But, so actually, I'm guessing because it doesn't all come until like a day or so before, so it's fresh and alive, but then if you forget something or you haven't ordered enough, like, you're screwed, aren't you?
well, so we tend to do is you always over order
Right?
As well, so you have to make sure that you have enough obviously, I work on a spreadsheet so I work out how much I need but so for example, say if I needed like 15, I don't know, 17 stems right of roses They come in like packs of 25, so you end up with spares because you can only buy them in 25. Some stuff you can only buy in like 100s, some stuff in 50s, So you
I read hundreds. Yeah.
bit extra anyway, but you'd be silly if you just ordered exactly what you needed.
Yeah, of course. Yeah,
of 10, a bunch of 10. Sometimes a head or two heads might be broken. You'll have damaged stems. You have to like
true.
that as well. So you kind of want to order like, yeah, you order more than you need. And then also, I tend to work, so if I've got a wedding on the Saturday, we start having stock arriving from the Tuesday. Cutting and conditioning, you're going to have like three of us doing that because it takes a long time. If you've got roses, they all need to be de thorned, all of the
Oh yeah, didn't even think of that.
cut, conditioned in the fridge in storage and then you'll get more coming on the Wednesday, the Thursday, the Friday. So you're topping up the order as you need it. So if you
Yeah.
more. When it gets difficult is when you're ordering in special stuff. So special variety stuff that they don't perhaps keep in cash and carry. So like if they've ordered a certain color of rose it might be a certain variety that I need to order like specifically. Then you just need to make sure that you order More than enough so you're not caught
Enough. Yeah. Yeah.
But yeah,
Oh god, it sounds very complicated. So it tells you, so say you're doing like a bouquet, you know from your spreadsheet, I need that many. And has that just been trial and error over the years?
Yeah, so
To get that right.
Yeah, so you can't, sometimes I'll look back, say if I'm doing something similar to what I've done on a previous wedding, I'll look back at my, what I've previously
Yeah, what you ordered. Yeah.
I kind of know. Yeah. kind of work, work in, in like, odd numbers, so things tend to have 5s, 7s, 9s in them. You don't really, like, you wouldn't have like, if you're doing a round arrangement, you would have like, 4 or something, because
Yeah.
So, yeah, you kind of work it out like that, it, it just, I think, yeah, over the years, kind of, work out how much you
Learning. Experience, innit, I suppose.
yeah, you know, I've been doing it now since, well, since I left school, so, oh my
Yeah.
coming up 15 years. Oh,
It's one of those things, innit, but it's like, my job probably baffles you and your job baffles me. Like, I always just think like,
How
how you could do that. Yeah.
the scenes stuff.
Yeah.
don't, obviously don't really, well they don't need to know. They just obviously, I turn up. That's
Yeah.
it's funny when people are like, Oh my gosh, I would love to, like, Being a florist is lovely, obviously it's amazing you make these great
Yeah.
look on people's faces obviously it's creative, there's so many like, great things about it and that's why I love it and that's why I obviously do it. But, especially when you're working for yourself it's It's, it's actually quite complex. There's a lot
Yeah, it is. And daunting as well, like, to make sure everything's right and
down to even like the ordering process. So you need to order stuff in certain stages of how open it is.
Yeah.
you can order different grades. Yeah, it goes like beyond just like, Oh, I'll have a red rose. It's like you get different grade of rose, different length of
my god.
arrangements. And you just like, you work these things out over time.
cupboard, yeah. I bet that ordering system must be huge.
yeah,
Like, when you log on to it, it must be massive.
is, and it's all done on an auction so you can never guarantee the price either, so
Oh my god.
roughly, but I mean, things have changed since I've obviously been, my last wedding in October I haven't done, and
Things will change, yeah.
have gone up quite substantially since then, even. So, what's that, six
And now you've got to have juggle having Lily on your back as well.
that! No, I'm also a
Lovely!
But yeah, no, it is, it is, it's complex, but it's interesting, it is interesting. Like, I like it when people ask me about it, because I don't
Yeah.
It's nice
Yeah.
kind of, you know, explain.
you shoved some flowers to go with.
exactly. And that is why you should always go with a professional florist. Someone that
Yes, you heard it here.
because
Ask
will know what to do. Yeah.
term.
Every
But yeah, so that's, that's been my week, really, focused on my wedding, ready for next month.
size thing.
Easter freelancing and looking at expensive pajamas and then getting ready for the wedding next week.
But it's quite a nice, well actually I say it's quite a nice point for me, you know, like everything's kind of done now for me, but then it's kind of not because I need to go and pick up the order of service, I need to wrap a hundred napkins and tie them all with ribbon I need to get the stationary order in and then I need to put all the Place cards in order per table it's something like bits like that now, you know?
this is what I was talking about, weren't it? Well,
Yeah.
with the,
final bits.
us what it was you would do in the last kind of three months, but especially this month before, it'd be interesting each week to see
Yes.
for your wedding.
Yeah, cause I always,
lots
yeah, that's a good point actually, yeah, cause I always say the final month is the most stressful, hundred percent,
thing that make up that bigger picture
yeah.
you definitely, I know I found in that last month, especially the, well the last two weeks before, I was kind of running around doing all sorts of bits and pieces that obviously you don't realise but it'd be interesting for
Yeah,
each week just let us know what you're kind of doing
yeah, yeah, no, I will indeed, I mean a lot of it's blooming appointments. This Thursday I'm coming up, I'm having all my hair extensions pinned, cause I'm having extensions for the wedding, not for length, for thickness. And I've got my dress fitting, so, my first dress fitting,
That's really
so yeah.
I can't believe it's come around to that already. I know we were like talking a couple of months ago and you were saying about all these appointments. Now they're coming up. That's,
Yeah,
so exciting.
no, I'll keep note. I'll keep note of what I'm doing in the last month And I'll also keep note of what I say now I've got a lot to do for this wedding next week, but I'll keep note Do you know what it is as well in the last like 10 days is guest dropouts as well and having to sort that and then Yeah and then if the couple want to swap the person out you need to let the caterer know and then if it's a directory Requirement and then obviously the stationery gets messed up.
So you have to work that out And yeah, that's probably the biggest thing is is guest dropout
Yeah. You don't
annoyingly
but yeah, that is annoying. And you always get that though, don't you? It's always like
Yep,
people that just drop out and
exactly.
it. Obviously. I don't know,
No, we're not. It is normal. Like I think I see people stressing about it sometimes. I'm like, it honestly is very, very normal.
haven't
Yeah, you do. You do. How's your week been?
Yeah, it's been good, again, just, you know, enjoying Easter.
Yeah.
and, and also preparing for this wedding. I mean,
Yeah.
I say, it's like, obviously all the
It's coming around quick.
So I like to do a little, little schedule for myself and freelancers that I have helping. Just so we know what we're doing each day.
Yeah.
and get it done as much in advance as possible. Obviously, when it comes to, you know, Down to like the day to day work and we kind of like get done what needs to be done. But anything I can do to sort of organize myself in
Yeah. Get organized.
So, especially as it is my first one back, I just wanna
Yeah. I'm going to be on it.
So yeah, just been kind of doing that. And then I've got a couple of weddings in August that I've booked over the last couple of weeks they've confirmed. So just,
Amazing.
of finalizing a few details 'cause they're quite, they know what they want. So just getting measurements from the venues and things like that so I can send off quotes and things like that. So it has been
Nice.
been quite fun
Busy. You've got another one this month as well, haven't you? Another wedding.
yeah We've got a wedding at the end of the month.
Yeah. Nice. Yeah.
hampton way As well do a lot of weddings that kind of
Yeah.
really
My way.
Yeah, there's
neck of the woods.
there So
is actually, isn't there?
but yes, that's a nice one. It's not not too big and it'll but it's But yeah, it's it's just good
A big difference from a massive wedding. Your first one back, like,
chalk
boom.
cheese
Yeah, and, and they're, everything's quite big for their wedding as well, isn't it? Like, their centrepieces are big. They've got big urns. Yeah, they've,
big full arrangements,
yeah.
full of flower. Yeah,
yeah.
blooms, like, really, they've gone in with, like, the aesthetics, like I was saying,
Yeah.
really tall, tall centerpieces with yeah, tall, sorry, tall vases
Tall and big. Yeah. Yes.
so,
Which are my favourite.
so you'll have to, people, keep in touch with us on Instagram, because we'll be posting some photos at the end of the
Yeah?
what they
Definitely. 100%.
But yeah, so yeah, week's been good, just busy prepping to be honest with you, so, and enjoying chocolate.
And can you believe we're in April?
I can't, I'm sorry, this year is already like, how is my, my child is like, over two months old now.
That is mental.
by, it's weird.
It really has.
am pleased that, I mean, because the clocks went forward as well. If you're
Yeah.
you'll know that
They did. I lost an hour's sleep.
an
I'm not gonna lie.
Neither was I, especially when my baby was crying.
Oh, bad times. Yeah. Bad times.
nice to have lighter evenings. I find actually, it's nice.
I suppose
Yeah,
you are right there. Yeah, definitely. And actually I'm like, oh, but then darker mornings, but actually it was light quite early, so it's not too bad.
it's alright. But spring
Yeah.
It's not so
Yeah, it, well, the rain needs to stop though. But yeah. Then hope.
it? But then
Yeah, it's like sun, rain, sun, rain,
Yeah, March
typ. Typical British. Yeah. Talking about the blooming weather. Yeah. So, Hey, oh, I have got something right in front of me. Look at this. I'll show it to you. I've got a stamp made of my cat's face.
Oh my god!
Look at that.
Oh!
I've got like paper napkins for the evening. I'm gonna stamp them all with my cat head. I'm gonna literally stamp like 150 napkins.
I love that. Look her,
Just got it off
cute.
Etsy, how cute is that? Mitzi Moo.
Mitzi, that's it. Oh, so
bless her.
Oh, love
that was something I did this week for my wedding.
Got my cat's head on a stamp
Got the stamp done. Whether I'll make it to ordering an ink pad and actually stamping them all is another thing, but I've
sure you
got it.
that.
You can come round and help me.
Yeah, I don't mind.
So Hayley actually said to me a couple of weeks ago, listeners oh, we should talk about content creators, wedding content creators. And I was like, I don't, I don't really get it, if I'm honest.
Yeah.
and Hayley said, well, let's go away and research. Let's have a little look. So we've got another yay or nay for you this week. Last week it was kids, this week it's content creators. So yeah, we thought we'd, we'd, we'd, we'd talk about whether we think it's a yay or a nay.
So I think the biggest question here for me to start with was what actually is the difference between someone that's doing content creating
Yeah.
and a videographer? So if you don't know. Basically content creators, they, they kind of like doing all behind the scenes of your wedding footage, like getting ready. And they tend to come with like a, it's using their phone and like, they're just kind
Yeah.
and then they'll create like reels and it's all stuff that you can upload to social media and they sort of stay with you throughout the day so in the morning getting ready or up and obviously throughout the wedding, but
Yeah.
to know, like, I was kind of how they caught up. to basically what a photographer or
Yeah!
is
And I'm not gonna lie, I still am a little bit.
Yeah,
only thing I could really take from it, and actually I'm on a Martha Stewart article right now, and she says the biggest difference between a content creator and a photographer is the deliverables and when they are received.
yeah,
photographers shoot on like high end equipment, they edit the photos, they give them to you months later, whereas a content creator, the idea is that you get content. Instantly, but I do think like is that seriously what the world has come to that you can't wait like six to eight weeks for your photos
are, they are, I don't want to say impatient, but I think like, the way that people get their content these days, everything is instantly accessible,
mm hmm
are so concerned about how they kind of, you know, Look online, not everybody, but a lot of people, they, they want to, you know, everything's got to look the best and they want to be
Yeah,
everyone's turning everything into a real like I've done it. Don't get me wrong. Like I've done it with own online.
yeah
and I think they just kind of want. They can't wait because they want to be like look I got married look how amazing it was like
Yeah
and I think that's kind of that that to me seemed like the only like USP that they were kind of offering was that that
cuz
the content literally the next day like
Literally instantly,
six to eight weeks for it kind of thing
then your photographer always sends you a little like gallery like like You know like a snapshot shot
yeah
Yeah, like a few photos, like a couple of days later. I just think, yeah, I do think, like, personally, I think I'd rather wait six to eight weeks and have a nice edited picture than have one off an iPhone.
Well this
I just don't, I don't know, maybe if I actually, like, saw it, I haven't had any couples have one yet. This trend seems to have just gone mental, like, in the last, I feel like it's
Yeah.
gone in the last couple of months. So it'd be interesting to see if I start getting couples request to have one. But I think what's a real shame for me is, and like I say, I don't know if it's, like, our generation, or We're a bit older. Or,
for yourself, I'm not
Spoof it.
thanks.
I don't, from reading it, everything, when I'm reading ads from, so I looked at articles from photographers, I looked at articles from content creators, I looked at like wedding planner articles, comparing the two. But when you actually look at a content creator advertising themselves, a lot of it is very much down to you.
Oh, you know, we, we can make you go viral, and we can, you know, we know what people want to see online, and, you know, we, we give you content that, you know, can be in a reel, and is, is the right size for Instagram, and the right size for TikTok, and I just think, really? I just don't get
I
it.
why you would want your own wedding to be accessible for like the general public to view, you know? I can understand, like,
Yeah.
video for yourself,
Yeah?
want to keep that as your memories, you look back with your family and friends, but I don't know why you would feel the need to go
For randomers. Exactly, and why would you
to get
Because you want to go viral.
random, anonymous people
Why do you want to go viral?
I think it taps in to you say with this generation now where everybody is so concerned about what other people think of them and I don't think it's how I really don't think it's healthy
No, well then we should be promoting the service. Like what?
I know and this is why I think actually, if I'm honest, I don't really care. Know why it's become like a like
That's such a big thing.
Because they also say that it's to stop, like, family and friends having to be out with their phones and filming you themselves so they'll capture it all for you.
But you shouldn't have to anyway, if you've got a photographer and a videographer. Yeah. Yeah.
with that? And, well, I just think it's another way of, like, making money, but I really,
Yes.
don't know why, if you were having a photographer and a videographer, why you would seriously need somebody following you around with
No.
your face, like, like, can we just get this on the ground? Like,
No, yeah.
what it is, you know?
Yeah, and also, from some of the stuff that I saw people describing themselves as a content creator, they were like, you know, we cap the way that we're different to a photographer is we capture the back end, you know, the stuff with basically your guest's eyes.
Yeah,
then when it actually breaks it down, it's like, oh, yeah, we capture your first dance, your speeches, your and I'm like, that's what a photographer in a video like, what does the what do you want to see from your day The Your photographer and your videographer don't capture and the only thing that I can see is that it's an extra, it's an extra camera But then if you're that bothered just have an extra for sure You
pay for
know?
What's that going to cost you? Like 250 pounds to
Yes
pounds, something like that extra, because this is the other thing, they make it difficult for you to find out how much they are. So a lot of the time with, I've, I've found with photographers and videographers, you generally go on their website and they have packages and you
Yeah
see how much they charge. I actually struggled to find any of the content creators local to us. That that would put their
That put a price on it. Yeah
I think you said you'd found,
Yeah, I found when it was between like five and eight hundred pounds. And I've also seen quite a few people promoting this service on Facebook groups and that's a similar price. So I think that's quite, there's a lot of money and some actually, I was saying to you earlier that I've seen what I'm seeing more and more come in is when I'm getting quotes from photographers is when they send me their brochure for my client. They have an option in there to add on content creation.
So they obviously then use one of their team to get content creation. But some of them go up to like 1, 500, 2, 000. That's a lot of money just to try and get a viral Instagram post, isn't it? Like, wow.
know when we got married so our photographer put a reel on Instagram day or so and we really loved it. It was, it was really nice.
Yeah,
then
nice. But
with. Now she does offer it as, she obviously had an uptake and people say we love the reels, we love what you're doing, but I just don't
that's just part of your job.
But surely you could take the, like. Like clips of your, your video that you get from your videographer, clips of your photos, upload them yourselves and create your own reel. Or you create your
Exactly. But also, on that photographer, I do think that's a bit cheeky, because let's face it, yes, it's lovely for you to see, but the reason that she posted that reel the next day is for her own marketing. She wants people to go on her Instagram, she's tagged Stowe, they've probably shared it, anybody else who was involved in that day probably shared it, I probably shared it, she's then getting extra people that see it. That's helping her, so she shouldn't be charging
for that luxury, I will charge
Yeah, I'm gonna start doing that. Right guys, I will post a picture of your wedding on my Instagram if you pay me. Like, what?
it
just don't get it. I was quite we, me and Hayley were out for lunch actually with one of our very good friends who's a photographer recently and I kind of said to him like, does it, because if I was a photographer I'd be pissed off. because I'd think like a lot of these people are advertising themselves as you know we're bloggers, we're content creators because also they could write you a caption. I'll have you know, you know, that could help you go viral.
And I'd think like You know, when you look at, I could take a picture of someone's wedding on my iPhone and look at it and think, Oh, actually, that looks quite, that looks quite good. You put it next to the professional and it's, it's not good at all. So I think if I was a photographer, I mean, he straight away said, look, it's a completely different thing.
Yeah.
would think, like, if people are suddenly going to start going, Oh, actually, a content creator is half the price. I'm going to go for that. That, that would annoy me.
yeah, that would annoy me as well. I feel like it's, it's again, it goes down to like when, for me, if I was going to compare it to something, it's like when, You get venue decor people prop hire and things like that when they say they claim that they do like floral centerpieces and will decorate your, do your
Or they're on the day coordinators.
Yeah.
Yeah.
themselves that it's the same thing. It'd be like someone doing this content creation. That's like, Oh, like basically
Yeah.
from people that are, Professional
Yeah.
photographers, you know, it's the same
Yeah, and actually, saying that, I can kind of see why photographers are starting to offer it, because they probably are concerned that,
it. Yeah.
yeah, people are going to do that instead. But I also do think, Cri, and I was thinking about this again earlier, Is, if you cannot afford a wedding photographer in your budget, you're either budgeting wrong, or you're getting married way too soon before you can afford to. Because, 100%!
You
Or you're prioritizing shit that you don't need. Because, yeah, they, them photos, it sounds really corny, but they last a lifetime.
do.
you're gonna have them forever, and like, that's gonna mean something.
photos when I was
Oh,
you know, they got married 30 years ago and we were looking back at, you know,
I love that.
you have for forever. Obviously it's all
And you're gonna show your kids.
yeah, it's so
yeah.
So.
Like, Lily was not at their wedding. Well, you weren't at their wedding either, I'm guessing. But, you know, she'll be able to see them. Thirty years ago, you did tell me early on, you're not hit thirty yet.
no, I wasn't there. I
was not there! I'm not that old!
The other thing I noticed as well, when the content creators are advertising themselves, is they say that they treat you like the VIP that you are. We'll follow you around and it just makes me cringe hard, like my toes.
Yeah.
you can just I don't have to say, like, I don't want to go, I'm going to have to go in here, but I feel like you've got to kind of love yourself a little bit, like,
Yeah. No, I agree. Like
I just treat you like the VIP you are. What?
what? Like, your wedding planner will treat you like the VIP, get you your champagne and stuff, your photographer will make sure you've got the lovely shots, like, that's your, that's, that's the job of other people, I also feel like we're in the world, like, the day and age at the minute where all I ever hear people saying, I've said it to my own photographer, is I want very much fly on the wall. We don't want to stand to do the lined up shots, we don't want pose stuff.
But then, with a content creator, they're, like you say, it's the way they describe it, it's like they're in your face.
like,
So,
Oh my
yeah,
me get
let me get this will go viral on tiktok, baby
go viral
I captured this ran up on the on the flip side I would say perfect for businesses because when you're so busy like you next week, right? You're going to be absolutely slammed bring them flowers in and out But if you had somebody filming like what you actually do Like why you need a qualified florist like and then the con, you know Because you know what it's like, you're so knackered.
And like for me, once you've done that room next week and it looks incredible, it's going to be like all finished during the, you know, I'm going to be at the church, then it's going to be straight into the drinks reception. I'm going to be far too busy to get any kind of like content. So in that respect, amazing.
see that's a really good point actually mate because i've got a friend who's a florist And a wedding for us. And she actually pays a photographer to come and like take photos when she's done, she puts up and she
Yeah. Don't blame her.
quality photos that she can then use in a portfolio. And I think, yes. So, I mean, I went and got like one of these Google phones because the camera's meant to be really good, but it's all well and good having a great camera on your phone,
Yeah,
time you can't be
exactly. It is. Yeah, exactly. And also it's still never the same as a professional photographer, is it? And also, the thing is as well, is you can't guarantee you're gonna get the photos from your couple. And also, even if you do get them, they're not there to focus on getting photos for, for you, are they? They're there to focus on the couple. So, again, like, when the room's ready, yes, they'll come in and get a few photos of the room, but that's not their main priority.
so yeah, for a business point of view, it kind of makes sense, yeah, because, you, you know what it's like, you do this incredible wedding and you get the gallery back from the photographer and you're like, oh, there's not many of the, of the, the set up, you know. And that's, for us, that's our bread and butter, you know, that's, pfft, yeah.
Oh, I need that. Yeah, so
Yeah.
I can see how it would be useful for that situation in that scenario. Like, I just feel like if you're offering it for couples for a wedding, I just, I just don't know what it is, but I do kind of feel like it's an unnecessary spend for
And do you know what if that was, that was the the kind of cons consensus at the end of a lot of blogs. I read that Is this an unnecessary expense? But do you know if there's any content creators out there that wanna come on and tell us that we're wrong? Feel free.
Yeah. Feel free. But, you know,
Yeah. Yeah, for me, it's a nay. None of my couples have ever been that into Instagram. If anything, they're probably the opposite, and they're like, Oh, you know, can you not use pictures of us?
Because, you know, we're quite private people, and I just, whether that's, like I say, that's our generation, whether, like, the two of us, The early 20s people that are getting married, like, want that, but I just can't imagine it, like, oh yay, I'm gonna share all these pictures and videos I've paid a grand for to my 100 followers, like, what? Who do you think you are, Kim Kardashian? And if you actually are an influencer then yeah, fair play, but
okay. Yeah, so that's but then I suppose if you are an influencer You've probably got someone that's doing that for you
probably, yeah,
like you're probably
no.
it yourself, you know, I
I think the consensus is nay, make sure you've got budget for you to talk for a videographer.
Yeah, just spend
Lovely.
if you got an extra money in the pot and you're thinking of doing that, why don't you just for an extra shooter to get those, that extra
Yeah.
and then they'll sort it all out for you. I mean, I'm sure that your followers can wait for more than 24
Yeah. Get some extra flowers. Hey, Haley.
Spend more money with your florist, but obviously qualified florist.
Yeah, qualified. You know, should we go into the listeners questions?
yeah, let's do it.
Do you want to do the first one?
Yeah, so. We've got here, what is a useful and wanted bridesmaids gift?
This is a good one.
yeah,
is a good one because I've been a bridesmaid a few times. I'm not gonna lie. I probably never used what they got me.
yeah, oh, wow, oh god, I'm not drinking that.
Yeah, here first.
if,
No, but you know, nice, you know, personalised stuff that probably, you know, it's not, it's not like I'm like, Oh, amazing, I'm gonna use this.
again. well, so. With my bridesmaids, I actually got them the jewellery to wear on the day,
Perfect.
I bought them I think I bought them I can't remember if I got them with a swirly bow, I should remember, but I don't know if I got them bracelet or earring or something
Yeah,
it was a
nice.
that
they'll wear again.
told them all
Yeah.
buying anything I'm gonna get you this, like don't buy any
nice. I like that.
it and I got something else It was silver, it was generic, you know, they could wear it again
Yeah, yeah, no, I like that. Yeah, I think for mine, it's like, you know, I've paid, you know, they all said to me, I would love to have her makeup done, we'll pay for that. And I was like, no, absolutely fine, because I want you to have the experience. So I want them, I've paid for our accommodation the night before. I'm going to buy us all, like, you know, whatever we buy for dinner and breakfast, I'll pay for all of that. I've paid for.
I want them to come and have a nice experience, a nice relax, I'll buy a sort of face mask, all those kind of little bits and bobs. But, I, I, that to me is their gift, is their experience, they've come, they're part of it. And I think at most, you know, maybe you know, if you are like our couple next week, I said to them, you know, you've got 11 massive centerpieces to give away.
You are going on honeymoon two days later, so they've worked out and, you know, they're going to give one to all of their bridesmaids as a gift. You know, if it's flowers or something like that, that they can take home and be like, Oh yeah, that's nice, it reminds you of the wedding. But I don't actually think, I think there's so much unnecessary stuff out there as a gift.
And yes, it's nice to say, Thank you, especially as, you know, like the two of my bridesmaids have spent a lot of their time planning the hen do, and I'd like to send them something to say thank you, but yeah, I, I do think it's a lot of non necessary stuff.
end up buying like we said before that sort of tat, wedding
Yeah.
like
Wedding tat.
that's what it is I just
Mm hmm.
someone something either like you say pay for them like the meal Accommodation
Yeah.
don't then have to pay for
Exactly.
night things like that. I think that that definitely is more Appreciated, I would say.
Yeah, and do you know what makes me
use
laugh? When, well, I think it's ridiculous is when a couple get the couple, the, the, the bridesmaids to pay for their hair or makeup, but then they buy them a gift, and I'm like, just pay for their hair and makeup?
yeah. Because they would appreciate that more, I feel. Because they're not having
Definitely.
money out themselves, which they might not be able to perhaps afford. They're stretching themselves to kind of
Yeah, exactly. Then it's like, and then you're receiving some pajamas and some slippers. I think if you've got enough budget to pay for everything for them, their dress, their hair, their makeup, their accommodation, and then you want to buy them something as well, lovely, then go and buy them something that maybe they won't use.
Katie Loxton has some lovely stuff on there some like personalized bridesmaids bits, but yeah, I personally just Wouldn't go, if I was a bridesmaid and somebody didn't buy me something, but I had that experience with my hair and makeup and stuff, there's no, I wouldn't sit there and think, oh she haven't bought me nothing.
Yeah, I wouldn't expect anything.
No, I'd just feel grateful that they asked me to be part of their day.
they've probably paid for my dress as
Yeah,
that's the other thing. So, which, you know, we did say you should do if you're going to ask someone to
yeah,
But, yeah, I do agree. I think if you're sort of going to be staying somewhere the night before, like, just to pay for that accommodation and then like your dinner or something, I think that's absolutely more than
yeah. Have a nice night together. Do that. This is all about memories. Memories are so much better than presents.
yeah,
a true believer in that with everything. With Christmas, birthdays. I'm like, I'd much rather pay and do something with you than buy you something that you could just buy yourself.
absolutely. Yeah, I agree. I
Lovely. Next question Should we invite more people than we anticipate? We want a wedding guest count of 100. We are assuming some people will decline the invite. How many people on average will decline slash no show on the day? Is it better to just invite the exact amount or is there some wiggle room to be able to invite more people assuming, assuming some won't show up? I'm writing a tentative guest list and so far I'm at 120.
My fear is that If it will be a low crowd because a lot of people then don't show up or don't RSVP yes, but I'm also worried if they, let's say all of them do RSVP yes, we would be way out of budget. So, tricky.
Oh, yeah, that's quite interesting I've never would have invited more than I thought because some people might drop out
Completely agree.
Surely you're only inviting people that you want there not just for
And I've seen this badly go wrong, right? Me and Hayley did a wedding together actually in 2022. They did this. They over invited. They were like, it's fine. People have got to fly in. RSVP. Then people RSVP in. And we got to the point where we were like, no more people can fit in the room. And they was like, But it, my brother and, and, and like really close people to them still hadn't RSVP'd and it became a real issue.
Yeah.
my my thing is to always say, say you want a hundred people, invite a hundred people. When you start getting your RSVPs back, if people start declining, I mean, you send your invites out four to six months before is what we always say.
Yeah.
especially if you do a wedding website, they pretty much RSVP. pretty quickly, especially if they're not coming. If they know they can't come, we had a few people can't come to us because they're on holiday or whatever, they RSVP pretty
Yeah.
instantly because they're like, we know we can't come. So, yeah. Then send out. 'cause you don't then send your evening invites until a little bit later. So then put, you know, have a plan B list. That's what I always say, have a B list. So you add, then send someone off your B list, then a day invite. And then you know. And then, and then lovely. They wouldn't even known that they got bumped up. 'cause you probably at that point wouldn't even send out your evening invites anyway.
Exactly.
But yeah, I would, I'd be quite cautious, and I, and also I wouldn't overestimate, I wouldn't ever give a number of, like we were literally talking earlier, Oh yeah, you do have people drop out the week off, but I wouldn't want to put a number on that. I wouldn't want to say, oh yeah, you know, around five people normally drop out. Cause we do have weddings where nobody drops out. You know, the wedding next week might not have any, I'll report back, but they might not have anybody drop out.
So I would, those people are just a loss. It is what it is. You're never going to have like 10, 20 people drop out on the day you would like to think. So even if you drop down from like 100 to 96, like it's not the end of the world, is it?
And I do feel like maybe this is coming from a place where they don't want to look like they haven't got They want Like to bulk up
Yeah.
like they've got loads of people there, but I just think like for me, you're inviting, like, if I know 50 people, I'm going to invite 50 people. I'm not going to invite 60 cause I want. The
Because you want it to look busier. Yeah, no, I agree.
looks, but like,
Yeah.
can't magic up people and, you know, just make your
you seem very adamant on having a hundred people. I don't really understand that. Like, nine having 90 people doesn't feel much different to having a hundred people. Yeah, that's also a lot of people though. I don't know a hundred people. Yeah, I would and I I think it's Yeah, exactly.
I do think there's that whole concern as well of like, people feel like they can't invite someone to the evening and then be like, oh, somebody's, you know, a week before, someone's dropped out, like, we've invited you this evening, we'd love for you to now come to the day. People, I think, feel bad to do that, but I, I've had people say that to me and I'm like, yeah, great, lovely, if I can make it, I'll come.
to the day.
Lovely.
Yeah, exactly.
I wouldn't take that as an offence. That always was, I was on the reserves list. Because actually, I'd think, well, they've probably got another 50 people coming in the evening, and they've chose me to upgrade.
I'm a bit
It's like getting a flight upgrade, you know?
Exactly. Free meal. Nice.
Amazing. Amazing. So yeah, I wouldn't, I would invite you a hundred, start getting your RSVPs in, if you have five people say we can't come, invite another five. Keep doing that until you get to the point where you need to send out your evening invites, which is about three months before, and then yeah. Do you agree?
Yeah, I would agree. I honestly would never invite more people than I thought just to make up numbers
Yeah, cause that is, that is
drop
dangerous in the day. Evening's not as bad.
be way over budget
Yeah, the evening is a different kettle of fish because I always do say to people it's like when we do catering I always say only cater for 80 percent because when people say to me I'm going to have 100 in the evening I can guarantee I'll probably only count 80 to 85 on the night. They say they have them 50 in the day and another say somebody says to me I'm having an extra 50. 50 in the evening.
I guarantee only about 40 will turn up because there's always, you know, when you're an evening guest, you don't feel as bad to be like, oh, the kids are ill or the sitter's let me down or yeah, because everyone knows you're just turning up for a bit of buffet or bacon roll. Like, you're not, it's not like they're paid for a free course meal. So I would say when there's the evening, then yes, you can be a little bit more like, you know, flexible on on people.
And also you don't need to pay for all 100 percent for your food anyway in your budget, because it just ends up getting binned.
Oh a shame. I think we were lucky everybody came to the evening We only had I think one drop out in a day.
how many extra did you have though?
30? I think.
Oh, okay, that's quite good.
it was about
I'm really struggling getting an evening guest at RSVP. I do think, and I hear a lot of people say that. Yeah,
I suppose,
yeah, it's annoying.
guest, like, whether you feel like you need to RSVP. But if you've asked them to RSVP, then they should
Yes, I have.
But, yeah, I did I sent out separate, like, I did, I did exactly the same, I suppose you have as well, like, with the, we did exactly the same invite paper, like, the folded card and everything, really nice invite for day guests, and evening guests got the same one,
Yeah,
come to the evening.
Yeah, maybe it's because they just think, oh, they're leaving it till they know what they're doing or something. Because it's just the evening. But I don't know, it's still annoying.
it is
Hold on, I need to know how many pizzas I'm ordering. This is really bugging me.
people.
actually thinking of changing it because we were gonna do like, you know, you go up to the pizza van, you order your pizza and they give it to you in a box, but they actually also offer where they just lay them all out on a buffet. And I am actually tempted to do that just because it's so hard to know how many to cater for.
And then actually on the day, it's not too bad because you're not, like, say someone rocked up and they're like, oh, we've run out of pizza, so you can't have a whole pizza and everyone's had a whole one, you've had nothing. Whereas if it's a buffet, You know?
That's what my friends did at their wedding. They, they, the pizza van just made loads, kept making loads of pizzas, and just
Yeah,
them out, and
putting them out.
it out off of the, it was like a buffet, like you say, so.
Yeah, I might do that, just cause then I haven't got a
I
I'm like, well, if 60 people are coming, I need 60 pizzas, cause everyone's gonna have a pizza.
Yeah.
a pizza? Like, are you are you mad?
Yeah! Huh! No friend of
Also, yeah, also, I did also think, like, the amount of times I go round at weddings, and I did one the other day that had their even you know, their evening food, I thought about it then as well. People leave half of the pizza in the box and it just sits, and then it goes in the bin. So, yeah, you don't want that. Cool! Well, I think that's us for today. Keep sending in your questions, we love to answer them.
We also want some more Am I the Arseholes, because we like them You can email us at letsgetyouwedpodcast at gmail. com. Follow us on TikTok, follow us on Instagram, send us in your messages, send us in your questions. We want to hear funny messages as well, like funny things that have happened to you during your planning or on your wedding day. And yeah, we'll speak to you next week. Thanks guys. Bye.