< PreviousLincolnshire Today Wedding Guide VENUES 20 Our erfect Venue, For Your erfect Day cubicle when that is all that is available onsite! The last piece of advice we can give is to be open to new ideas and to advice. The venues you visit will have held many more weddings than you will ever visit in your life, and while they won’t try and take control away from you, they will have some interesting anecdotes and examples of weddings in the past that might surprise you. Don’t be afraid to ask for photos of an outdoor party to see what that looked like, or to consider a different wing or suite if they think it might suit your needs. Be firm to what you want, but don’t be afraid to explore new ideas – because you might just be pleasantly surprised. © stock.adobe.com/Nina L/peopleimages.com For all enquiries please contact events on 01526 352411 or email events@petwood.co.uk@renaissance_kelham @renaissancekelhamhall Kelham, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG23 5QX | www.renaissance-kelham.com The Renaissance at Kelham Hall is a stunning 19th-century stately home set in 42 acres of picturesque gardens and manicured lawns, providing the perfect backdrop for all weddings & events. From the most intimate events of 30 people to the larger ! PJJ! Ġ$ % %! vision, whatever you imagine. 9 ! $ " % % 01636 390 500 or emailing events@renaissance-kelham.com Luxury Nottinghamshire Wedding Venue Intimate Weddings from £5,800 Bespoke Weddings from £7,150 Brand New Menus!Lincolnshire Today Wedding Guide FINISHING TOUCHES 22 Small things make for excellent finishing touches, so make sure to engage your creative side and make the wedding really yours. W eddings have often been very traditional things but that doesn’t mean you can’t, or shouldn’t, add a touch of your own character. While it may not be wise to do away with flowers or the cake or the dancefloor, you can add things to them that make them your own – perhaps certain combinations of flowers, a cake made of fruit or veg, or an odd twist to the dancefloor and music to reflect your shared passion for reggae. A very common touch nowadays is to give out sweets and little treats at the tables that represent something about your relationship. Maybe it’s favourite sweets of the bride and groom, or maybe it’s an inside joke, or some other reference to a shared moment in the past. Weddings around April might have small chocolate eggs at tables, whereas those in winter might have custom-made Christmas crackers with the couple’s faces on. Little touches like that can add an element of personality to an event which can otherwise feel very by the book. That said, there are also finishing touches that can help make the event run smoother as well. Directions from parking to the venue can be helpful if you’re renting a single wing or a stately home, or the event is taking place outside, and coming up with a seating plan ahead of time can spare a lot of headaches at the event. Just make sure you consider seating The final touch The final touch www.lincolnshiretoday.net FINISHING TOUCHES 23 arrangements carefully, because no one wants squabbling in-laws fighting in the background. You might also put some thought to children (if any are attending) and how they can be kept entertained and away from what, to them, will seem like a boring event. A playpen area, or even a hired magician, will help keep them distracted while the adults mingle, and that can be a welcome relief to those who would rather take the event seriously and not have children running about underfoot. It can also be a kind gesture to friends who do have children, for there is sometimes nothing worse than your childless friend inviting you to their multi-day wedding but adding on a big red “no children” sticker. It’s not always possible to find someone to look after the kids and you can risk alienating good friends with such treatment. © stock.adobe.com/triocean © stock.adobe.com/Yasin © stock.adobe.com/ pressmaster We are a family run business based in Revesby, Lincolnshire, Bar and Away Ltd is an on-the-go beverage business for weddings, birthdays, and private events. Whether you desire a devoted team by your side or chilled refreshments, we offer you the best of both worlds. Our bartenders strive to make every event as spectacular as possible with our refined horse box bar. l We have many different packages available to suit your event l We offer cocktail classes for Hen dos, Garden Parties etc l We can also provide Bar staff or Mixologists for your own Bar where you provide the alcohol, or we do. Whatever your requirements we can work with you to make your event perfect. Best Family Owned Mobile Bar – Eastern England 2023’ Mobile Bar Service of the Year 2024 For further details call 07488 262597 or visit www.barandaway.co.uk Lincolnshire Today Wedding Guide ENTERTAINMENT 24 While everyone will be at your wedding with the purpose of celebrating your special day, providing something to keep them entertained after the formalities are over will be welcomed. W edding entertainment will vary depending on the venue and theme, but perhaps the most common choice is to incorporate a dancefloor and a DJ to take care of the music for you. You will of course want to talk in advance about what music is desired, because there’s a lot of very common romantic songs and popular party crowd pleasers, but you are bound to have your own songs that are special to the two of you. It’s also worth offering people the opportunity to request their own songs, perhaps in their RSVPs, which will open up and attract people to the dancefloor, to minimise the number of guests sat on the sidelines. If you’re interested in a proper band, be it rock or an orchestra of some sort, then it’s worth talking with them ahead of time on what songs they’re comfortable with. They’ll have certain songs they’re better at than others, and while many will be willing to learn a favoured song of yours for the big event, you shouldn’t take too many liberties. Asking them to learn one or two songs is likely to be fine, but demanding they change their whole style because you’re an obsessive fan of an obscure indie band no one has ever heard of isn’t going to go down well. With live bands, it’s also well worth keeping track of them on the day because accidents do happen and it’s all too common for the live music to not show up. That’s why it can be a good idea to get a DJ even if you hire a band, because the band can’t play all night long and having someone else who can step up is perfect for when things go wrong – be it a late arrival, equipment troubles, or no arrival at all. Dance the night away © stock.adobe.com/Africa Studiowww.lincolnshiretoday.net ENTERTAINMENT 25 01522 214966 The Perfect End to your Perfect Day Our award winning team of fireworks specials will create a bespoke firework display that will light up the sky, or simply choose from one of our predesigned packages. One aspect to consider is entertainment for children. A lot of weddings try to remove kids from the equation, and we understand why, but with more second weddings than ever, and people often getting married after starting a family together, it’s not always possible. Having entertainment especially for the kids frees up guests to enjoy themselves without distraction. It’s worth keeping that in mind because not everyone wants to have to navigate children, and not everyone is going to be able to find people to look after theirs on the night. It can be tempting to overdo it and try to bombard attendees with things to keep them distracted, but that can be a risk of its own. You need to give people time to rest and not have them suffer from sensory overload. A wedding planner can be valuable here for giving advice on how much is too much, and how to proof your reception against the possibility of problems on the night. They’ve seen it all before after all, and they’ll have plenty of experience to draw from. © stock.adobe.com/wideonetLincolnshire Today Wedding Guide BRIDALWEAR 26 Perfection doesn’t come easy Picking the right dress is a monumental decision and it’s hard to match the perfect image you might have in your head. Make sure to shop around but also to speak to specialists, because they might be able to help more than you know. 29 Áwww.lincolnshiretoday.net BRIDALWEAR 27 © stock.adobe.com/ alipkoLincolnshire Today Wedding Guide BRIDALWEAR 28 © stock.adobe.com/ Александр Малюковwww.lincolnshiretoday.net BRIDALWEAR 29 Finding the perfect dress can be stressful. That’s something to know in advance and keep in mind. It involves visiting a lot of places, being measured, trying dresses on and constantly facing the feeling of “not quite good enough”. What a bride needs to keep in mind more than anything else is that not only is this not unusual, but it’s a part of the process. That’s why our first tip for any bride out there is to spread out your dress shopping! If you try and get it done in a day or a week, you’ll be driven to wits end after a few days and will start wanting to “settle” for a less-perfect dress, and that’s a decision that will come back to haunt you. Knowing in advance that this is going to take a lot of time and plenty of frustration, take a deep breath and prepare for the long haul. Accept that you won’t find the perfect dress in a day or maybe even a week, and that if you somehow do find it on your very first shopping trip, then every other bride in the country has the legal right to hate you for it. For everyone who isn’t so lucky, don’t be put off if you can’t find your dress in the first few attempts. That’s totally normal. Our second bit of advice is not only to do your research ahead of time but to read reviews. Bridal dresses may not be like Amazon but there are specialist websites and magazines that will rate and review them, and it’s well worth checking ahead on what is good and what is bad about them. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll be happy to “put up” with a little discomfort for a nice looking or cheap dress, as the wedding day will be a lot of work and you don’t want to spend it feeling uncomfortable. While you’re at it, talk to boutiques ahead of visiting both to set aside time for your visit but also to check what they have in. You don’t want to show up assuming they’d have a certain dress or style only to find they don’t. Photo courtesy of www.sugarandspicebridal.co.uk 30 Á Photo courtesy of www.sugarandspicebridal.co.ukNext >