More and more couples are looking for ethical options for their big day and charity wedding lists are becoming a popular choice.
Give It, a not-for-profit organisation working with more than 50 charities, operate a series of charitable gift lists including The African Wedding List, a simple to use online wedding list service, where instead of toasters and kettles, marrying couples can sign-up to a list that contains gifts of donations to a variety of charities that work across Africa.
Give It offer a service that mirrors a traditional wedding list – donations are wrapped up like gifts so users can see what a particular donation could fund for each charity and a gift list is made up of donations to a variety of charities.
Charities participating in The African Wedding Listinclude AfriKids, Save the Children, Sightsavers International, Street Child Africa, Tree Aid, War on Want and many others.
Couples select a group of charities so that guests can select a donation to the charity of their choice.
Everything’s been kept simple and online and it’s easy for couples to check up on donations made and messages left by guests.
There are no charges for couples, no minimum total expected and there are no hidden costs for guests. Every penny that guests spend goes to the charities, and all the costs of the service are covered by the Gift Aid reclaimed on donations made.
Are you planning a wedding of civil partnership between October 2009 and March 2010?
If you want to win a Five Star Luxury Honeymoon, then this is for you!
Four Weddings on Living TV is looking for couples to take part in the second series! Casting is on now.
If you want to apply, please contact Anna on:
020 7157 3750 or anna.hvinden@itv.com
Or you can see them at the Harrogate Wedding Show to apply or ask any questions you may have!
You will either love this, or it will make you feel a little bit sick, but this guy put a lot of effort into his marriage proposal, which involved the team at Disney World:
Propose using Google Maps
Very geeky, but very romantic. Michael Weiss-Malik works for Google, and with some insider knowledge, made sure he was prepared when the Google Street View team were in his area. He prepared a banner with the text “Proposal 2.0: Marry me Leslie!!”. His proposal was available for all to see on Google Maps. He then managed to get his girlfriend to go to the precise location on Google Maps to see his proposal… I wonder how he managed to crowbar that into a normal conversation!
Give her flowers
Aww… how cute! This is always a winning method.
You perhaps don’t need to hang from a branch though.
Propose Using Twitter
Grant Robertson, who is the Lead blogger at DownloadSquad proposed using Twitter. If you think proposal by text message is a little impersonal, this might not be for you, but if you’re brave and tech savvy, then this could be the perfect public romantic gesture.
Propose using the iPhone
Bryan Haggerty proposed by creating an iPhone application which guided his girlfriend on a treasure hunt which took her along a heart shaped trail and ultimately lead to the final romantic location, where he met her and proposed.
Each point on the map came with a video of him giving a clue on where to go next.
Hack her Nintendo
This guy hacked the Super Nintendo role-playing game Chrono Trigger while his girlfriend was playing it. He added her favourite song and some of their shared memories to the game and changed the role play dialogue to ask her to marry him.
The Bishop of Birmingham, Rt Revd David Urquhart, helped engaged couples slice a huge chunk off the cost of their wedding, at the National Wedding Show in Birmingham last weekend (NEC, March 13th-15th), when he introduced them to the ‘three V’s’ for choosing a church wedding: venue, vicar and vows.
With regard to venue, Bishop David explained that all you need for a legal church wedding – is one of the Church of England’s 16,000 places of worship – costs from as little as £350, and that couples can save even more by holding their reception at a church.
The other two V’s, vicar and vows, refer to how the Church is in a unique position to offer support up to and beyond the big day, and give couples the meaningful vows (“for richer for poorer…”) that are the ideal way to begin married life.
“The credit crunch has left us all reassessing our values and priorities, not just our financial situation,” says Rt Revd David Urquhart. “A church wedding reminds us that love is a priceless gift from God. That’s why I’m encouraging people to ‘think church’ when they are planning their wedding.”
Bishop David joined the team at the Church of England stand, on the afternoon of Sunday, March 15th, where the show’s visitors were able to plan their wedding online using the interactive website www.yourchurchwedding.org.
Around 1,000 couples a month are using the website, which contains 25 choices of popular hymns for weddings and 12 readings from the Bible; the planner merges the names of the bride and groom into the marriage service, which can be used as a discussion-starter when meeting the vicar to plan a church wedding.
Yes it’s official, we may be in the midst of a global recession but when it comes to saying ‘I do’ it seems we cannot wait to dash up the aisle, head to the altar and join in Holy matrimony. Whilst the UK economy takes a downturn it seems we are all in the mood for love and who could blame us. Infact, the wedding industry is growing at quite a rate with ceremonies up 10% across the UK compared to the previous year. When the Beatles said ‘All you need is love’, they weren’t half right; I just wish I could say the same about the best things in life being free!
I always say to couples, treat your wedding like Sarah Beeny treats a new development on Channel 4’s property ladder. Set a budget, allow 10% either way and do your absolute best to stick to it. Remember, your dream day does not have to cost the earth, in fact, every wedding I have ever been to has always been about the people. Without doubt your family and friends make the day, not the additional floral garland that could potentially bankrupt you! Do not get utterly bogged down in tiny detail because this is when the wedding becomes a chore and not a pleasure.
Initially of course, you need to work out how much cash you can allocate to the wedding itself and what your priorities are in terms of spending. For me, the dress, venue, cake and flowers are the most important elements in the order as listed. The dress has to be number one because it is essential you feel spectacular on your wedding day wherever you may be.
The UK is very lucky to boast some pretty incredible talent when it comes to the wedding industry so make sure you find them. When you head to the local florist for example, make sure you have done some research on the type of look you want to achieve for your wedding. Take magazines, colour samples and even invite the florist to your house so they can see your style. If the expert is good they will want to know. Please, do not be afraid to ask questions and push the florist to use cheaper buds and hunt out alternatives if you want the displays to go further for your cash. When it comes to the cake again, think about the ingredients. If you go for a sponge based interior, this is usually a cheaper option than fruit and may allow you to opt for the 4 tier you have always dreamed of!
It’s important to be creative when planning a wedding. Sit down and think about any family member or friend that may have connections with various experts and tap into their contacts. I always advise to use the professionals but remember, sometimes family and friends may have a hidden talent you don’t know about! Whatever the options open to you, just make sure you barter in true British style. I have seen couples knock thousands off their big day budget by just asking the venue so make sure you do to. Just tell the venue how much you have to spend and see what they can do. Perhaps look at a mid week option? This is often a cheaper alternative and perfect for making a saving on the budget. Don’t be embarrassed to ask, the wedding planners at hotels across the UK are used to it!
So, let’s summarise. The wedding is all about you so make sure your personality is stamped all over it. Stretch that big day budget to the max and make sure you are happy with what the expert is suggesting. If not, tell them! Once everything is in place, sit back relax and enjoy! Oh, and finally, if you want my top tip on what’s going to be hot in 2009 its a DIY wedding! We are all heading back to the village hall like a scene from war torn Britain for a jolly good ole fashioned knees up! So, if you have this in mind and want some expert support to make it happen 21st century stylee, check out my friends at Heading up the aisle for an a-z of everything for your big day!
CONDÉ NAST BRIDES have released their UK Wedding Industry survey results, and there are a number of positive figures showing. Here are some of the most interesting points:
The average overall cost of getting married is £22,858 (up from £21,901 in 2007)
Couples in London and the South East spend on average £23,932
Couples in Wales and the South West spend on average – £18,991
53% of couples pay for most of the wedding costs
35% of brides would consider cosmetic surgery for their wedding (an increase of 21% year on year)
5% couples in the UK will sign a pre-nuptual agreement (7% of Scotish couples,6% of Londoners, 5% of Welsh couples and 2% of those in the Midlands and North/North East)
88% of brides will take their husband’s surname once married. 3% will keep their own, while 7% of couples are combining surnames.
The average length of an engagement remains 18 months
93% of couples plan to live together, or are already doing so, prior to their wedding.
The average engagement ring costs £2,090 (a 6.1% increase from 2007)
61% of brides choose their own engagement ring
3% of grooms will not wear a wedding ring
45% of couples chose a religious ceremony
Brides in East Anglia spend most on flowers, at £750, spending 44% more than the UK average spend of £520.
Brides paid an average of £1,200 for their dress.
17% of couples have their honeymoon in Europe.
Couples spend an average of £3,860 on their honeymoon.
The average age to get married for a bride is 29 and that of a groom is 31
Channel 4 were filming at the latest UK Wedding Show at London ExCel, covering a story on how the economic crisis is affecting the UK Wedding Industry.
Although this video shows the negatives, there were a lot of positive comments which ended up on the cutting room floor.
We found that all our wedding shows in the last year have been incredibly popular, with registrations higher than ever.
Here are some other reassuring statistics for those in the business:
61% of businesses offering wedding goods and services believe that the industry has been unaffected by the credit crunch; with 31% saying that although it has been affected, people are still spending (source: Hitched.co.uk).
The bridalwear market has increased by 21 per cent between 2003 and 2008, despite the fact marriage rates are in decline (source: Mintel).
The cost of the average wedding has grown in the last five years from £14,643 to £20, 273 in 2008. The average of a wedding in 2009 is expected to cost £21,089 (source: Newstartscotland)
More and more couples are looking for ethical options for their big day and charity wedding lists are becoming a popular choice.
Give It offer a service that mirrors a traditional wedding list – donations are wrapped up like gifts so users can see what a particular donation could fund for each charity and a gift list is made up of donations to a variety of charities.
Everything’s been kept simple and online and it’s easy for couples to check up on donations made and messages left by guests.
Yes it’s official, we may be in the midst of a global recession but when it comes to saying ‘I do’ it seems we cannot wait to dash up the aisle, head to the altar and join in Holy matrimony. Whilst the UK economy takes a downturn it seems we are all in the mood for love and who could blame us. Infact, the wedding industry is growing at quite a rate with ceremonies up 10% across the UK compared to the previous year. When the Beatles said ‘All you need is love’, they weren’t half right; I just wish I could say the same about the best things in life being free!
