Our Planning Blog

Even before I fell in love with organising luxurious weddings throughout the Caribbean and around the world, destination weddings and elopements had my heart. Watching a couple get married is always special but celebrating with them in an incredible location takes things to another level.

There’s a quote by Maya Angelou that perfectly embodies my approach to planning weddings. ‘I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’

On average, couples in the UK spend around about a year planning their big day.

You’re engaged! Congratulations! Whether you've been dreaming of your wedding day for as long as you can remember or you can barely wrap your head around all the wedding vocabulary, the first few weeks and months of being engaged are fun and exciting. Then wedding planning reality sets in...

If you were due to get married in 2020, I probably don’t need to tell you how stressful a last-minute change of plans can be. You’ve weathered one of the biggest crises the wedding industry has ever experienced and likely dealt with numerous curveballs. However, a global pandemic isn’t the only thing that can throw things off course when you’re planning a wedding. Life happens, and even the most organised couples sometimes encounter bumps in the road.

I’m writing this post in the midst of the UK’s second lockdown. COVID-19 has certainly kept us on our toes this year. As I type, wedding and civil partnership receptions and celebrations are not permitted to take place in the UK. Once lockdown is lifted and weddings can go ahead, the restrictions on numbers will remain in place. Whatever happens in the next few weeks and months, it seems small, intimate weddings will be the norm for the foreseeable future.

Your wedding day is bound to be one of the most memorable experiences of your life. Declaring your commitment to one another in front of the people you love most is definitely worth celebrating. But that celebration doesn’t have to be traditional in order to feel meaningful and sincere. A Wedding Celebrant can help you create a ceremony that’s completely personal and tailored to you.

Now, more than ever before, couples have a very good reason to make their marriage official before holding a big celebration at a later date. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many to postpone their weddings until later this year or next. I’ve seen the heartache this has caused first-hand, and I know the situation is far from ideal. Now lockdown restrictions are being eased, couples at least have the option to hold a small civil ceremony, perhaps followed by a small reception. It might seem like a compromise, but it doesn’t have to be.

Why do we spend money on music concerts and festivals when we can download the same music straight onto our phones? It’s because music is inextricably linked to emotion. You don’t just hear music – you feel it and those feelings evoke emotions like no other.

Not often do you experience that perfect mix of historic grandeur and romantic intimacy, yet that is exactly what I discovered at Sutton Bonington Hall. This beautiful country house tucked away in rural Nottinghamshire offers you a splendid retreat, nestled in beautifully manicured gardens and adorned with pleasing features throughout.