One stop shop for the wedding of your dreams – in a box

CALLING all cash-strapped couples keen not to compromise on quality for their big day!

The credit crunch might be making us look after the pennies in a way that would put a smile on our granny’s face, but it doesn’t mean going without when it comes to your wedding.

A Cardiff-based wedding planner has come up with a package which provides all the essentials, from handmade stationery to a stunning top class venue – at discounted prices.

Marina Lois, Managing Director of Marina Lois Events, has done all the hard work for the bride and groom-to-be by negotiating with key suppliers for a unique all inclusive offering she’s calling “Wedding in a Box”.

She’s thought of everything: venue; bridal transport, stationery; photographer and album; flowers; wedding cake; wedding breakfast; overnight accommodation for the bride and groom; even chair covers with co-ordinating sashes.

”Remember when you were a child and you took your pocket money into the sweetshop and spent it in one go on all the nice things your fancied? Well, the Wedding in a Box is a bit like that!” explained the 32 year old.

“Having recently married, I’ve done a lot of personal research into what’s on offer in south Wales and as an events manager I know how important it is to secure the whole package at the right price.

“Wedding in a box comes self contained. Everything you need for the perfect day – without all the hassle of having to trawl venues and cake makers and florists and stationers and photographers, etc, etc.

“The packages I’ve put together are not only really competitive, but they provide the bride and groom with the chance to focus on enjoying the build up to their big day, and it means I can help them fulfil their dreams without going over their budgets!”

Venues available in the package include The New House Hotel in the Vale of Glamorgan, Alice Springs Hotel in the Vale of Usk, Coed-y-Mwstwr Hotel near Bridgend and Thistle Parc Hotel in the centre of Cardiff, Insole Court and the Park House Club.

Further details of the Wedding in a Box package at www.marinaloisevents.co.uk

http://marinaloisevents.blogspot.com

Time

The whole experience of getting engaged and married is a very happy, but unfortunately fleeting, whirlwind and one that you should squeeze every special minute out of. Planning a wedding takes on average 250 hours and with today’s hectic pace of life; holding down jobs / raising a family / keeping in touch with friends and family, a wedding planner gives you back that precious gift – time. Time so that you can take control of the aspects of the wedding that you want to (like making the decisions!) and leaving all the running around to them so that you can enjoy the build up to your day.

Ideas, inspiration & leg work

A wedding planner can help you pull ideas together for your wedding, make it stand out from the crowd and most importantly, give you the confidence to bring out both of your personalities. From their experience, they can tell you what will work, and search high and low until they find they items and suppliers that you need.

Save you money

One of the biggest areas of stress and strain in planning a wedding comes from the budget, or more often, lack of it. Costs can so easily spiral out of control but your wedding planner will sit you both down at the beginning of the process, find out your hopes and dreams for the day and most importantly, what you would like to spend on it, and then work out a budget that you can stick to. Best of all though, because weddings are their business, your wedding planner should be able to help negotiate you a saving from your suppliers which will mean that your money will stretch further, and quite often cover most, if not all, of the cost of hiring your wedding planner in the first place. Now that can’t be bad!

Contracts & quotes

It’s a sign of times, but you should always ask for a quote and read all terms & conditions / contracts associated with the service before you sign for it or pay a deposit. This stops you being stung for items that you did not originally think you would have to pay for, or penalty clauses, or price rises etc. Because of their familiarity with wedding contracts, your planner will be able to ask all the right questions of your supplier and also scan the contract / quotes for any hidden nasties and flag them before they are a problem.

A good time for all

When the day arrives, you will want to have an amazing time with all of your friends and family, and why not?!! You’ve been gearing up for this for ages! There is a lot that happens on the day of the wedding, from co-ordinating the arrival of suppliers, to setting up the venue to making sure that everyone is in the right place at the right time, and, to be fair, this is the last thing you, your soon-to-be other half or your family / friends should have to worry about. You’re all there to enjoy this wonderful day. Luckily, your wedding planner will be the one calmly and quietly running around behind the scenes to make sure that everything goes according to plan and they’ll be sorting out any mishaps as they occur without anybody noticing. So sit back, relax and enjoy yourself!

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A ring is as individual as the person that’s wearing, so how do you make sure you get the right ring for you or your soon-to-be fiancee?

1. To pick or not to pick?

We’ve all seen the movies – boy plans elaborate ruse and surprises the love of his life with a ring that’s perfect (amazing how that happens every time!), but times are a-changing. Some girls like to pick out their own ring, others prefer just to wear a wedding band so if you think your girlfriend would prefer one of these options but you still want to make a grand entrance why not try a ‘stop gap ring’ – something funny like a jelly sweet ring or something you picked up from an accessory store until you can both go shopping together. However, if you know a ring is the needed for that big moment, read on!

2. Pick up the clues and enlist the help of a cohort!
Have a look at the jewellery and accessories that your girlfriend has bought for herself. Keep an eye out for the colour. For example, if all your girlfriend’s jewellery is silver, you should probably stay clear of yellow gold as the metal! Other things to look out for. Is her jewellery large / chunky / modern / classic / small / understated / with stones / plain etc etc. The clues are there for the taking. Also, pick one of her friends that you can absolutely trust to keep a secret and get their opinion.

3. How much should you spend?

The jewellery industry has done an excellent job in telling the world that you should spend about 2 months salary on an engagement ring, but here’s the thing – it’s in their interests that you do, so we may have to question that advice! You should a) only spend what you can afford and b) spend it on something that suits your partner even if it goes against conventional wisdom. After all, she’ll be wearing it for a very long time.

4. Types of metal & stone

Here are a few of the favourites. Again, the main thing here is to go for a look you know your girlfriend will like. Tell the jeweller if you have a budget to see if they can achieve that look for you by adjusting the metal / stone – they are, after all, the experts! Your main metals are: Silver, Gold (yellow & white), Pladinum, Platinum, Titanium. Stones and gems come in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes and cuts so again, pick something that you know suits your lady! If diamonds are the way forward for you, bear in mind the 4c’s: Colour, Clarity, Cut, Carat. Sometimes going down a little in carat weight will afford you the luxury of upping the clarity of the stone.

5. Interview the jeweller

Will you get a certificate of authenticity if with your ring if it contains diamonds? Will the jeweller alter the size of the ring free of charge if it needs changing (you can help out here by taking one of your girlfriends rings to the store with you)? Will they give you and your fiancée a discount on your wedding bands if you buy them at the same store?

Marina has now contributed her expertise to BBC One Wales’ X-Ray programme.

The consumer team wanted advice on ensuring brides and grooms do all they can to minimise the risks of anything going wrong on their big day.

“When you plan a wedding you involve lots of other people, from photographers to caterers, dress fitters to car hire companies,” explained Marina.

“But you have to be meticulous in making sure you get everything down in writing and you agree a payment method which means, if possible, you are able to approve everything before parting with your hard earned cash.

“The X-Ray team are putting together a cautionary tale. It was great to be able to pass on a lot of the information I’ve gleaned and hopefully it will help others too.”

X-Ray is on BBC One Wales on Monday September 21 at 7.30pm.
Details of Monday’s X-Ray programme on BBC One Wales can be found at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mwrfm