Uncategorised Archives - Page 7 of 15

They’re coming from where! (A quickie)

7th August 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised, Wedding Tips/by Paul

They’re coming from where! This is the first in a possible series of quick tips / thoughts that I’m going to share with you. Generally these will just be things that have flashed through my head, or across my radar, that I think may help you. The first one came from a post I saw on FaceBook from a recent Bride who suggested “if there are a lot of out of town guests, have an event outside of the wedding”.

This resonated with me because at my daughters wedding we welcomed people from, among other places, Panama and China. That’s quite a trip for a one day event where there are a hundred other guests all hoping to spend time with the happy couple! It’s that same at most weddings that I attend, even if the guests live in another part of England it’s a shame if you don’t get a real chance to talk.

As a Bride and Groom to be consider how you can help these guests make the most of their visit. Do you have time to see them either before or after the wedding. In America they frequently have rehearsal diner where the families get together with speeches and other formalities – maybe that would work for you. At our daughters wedding her husbands parents invited us to meet their visiting family for a lovely Chinese restaurant meal a couple of days before the ceremony. Often I hear of family barbecues the following day so that everyone gets time to relax and catch up after the wedding. What could you do?

If they’ve never visited the area before what advice can you give them so they make the most of their visit. Do you have time to show them the New Forest, Stonehenge or take them to your favourite pub or restaurant – maybe if you don’t you could get a member of your wedding party (Bridesmaid or Groomsmen) to act as tour guide and show them around.

Make no mistake, the day will fly by and everything will be a blur unless you plan, delegate and organise in advance. Please don’t leave things to the last minute – get things done well in advance wherever possible.

They’re coming from where … wouldn’t it be great if you found time for them!

Fortunately I know some amazing people ~ 1. The Dress

27th June 2018/0 Comments/in Real Weddings, Uncategorised/by Paul

It’s now over two months since my daughters wedding! I did one quick post shortly after the big day CLICK HERE, now it’s time to look back and tell you about our experiences and fortunately I know some amazing people

When you work as a wedding supplier and your daughter asks you for recommendations, the pressure of being the Father of the Bride really clicks up a notch or two – especially when it comes to THE DRESS. Fortunately I know some amazing people, Fatma from Sofi Designs Bridal is one of them.

I’ve know Fatma and her husband Lance for a number of years, they are two of the nicest people you will ever meet, they genuinely care about their customers and love what they do.

Amy, my daughter, actually met them at a wedding fair she helped me with a few years back and so Sofi Bridal was our first choice to help with the dress.

When Amy and Ce, her mum, went to the showroom I had no doubt they were in safe hands and they had a wonderful time. Amy found THE DRESS on that first visit but Fatma insisted that Amy looked elsewhere just to make sure there wasn’t a dress she preferred at another shop. Nowhere else made her so welcome and nowhere else had a dress to top that first one she found at Sofi Designs Bridal.

The dress was ordered and when it arrived Amy went for her fitting. It was perfect, no need for any alterations and she brought it home to be kept safe in her old bedroom. Fatma also picked out and supplied Amy’s veil.

On the day of the wedding I was invited into Amy’s room where she had been getting ready with her bridesmaids to see her in the dress for the first time – there were tears. She looked stunning and I was the proudest dad on the planet as I walked her down the aisle to be married to Sean (pausing just before the ceremony as the bridesmaids entered to take this picture).

If you’re looking for a great selection wedding dresses and expert advice with no pressure from lovely people who really know what they are doing, Fatma, Lance and their team at Sofi Designs Bridal are well worth seeking out.

Fortunately I know some amazing people ~ if you’d like to find out more about Sofi Designs Bridal PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Here’s one more snap from my phone of Amy with Ce and her Aunties,

Did You Watch It, What Can You Learn From The Royal Wedding?

19th May 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

So, did you watch it, what can you learn from the Royal Wedding? Weddings like that don’t happen very often and when they do the World takes notice. I haven’t really commented much recently, we are still trying to catch up following our daughters wedding and busy with planning the move to our new home later this year, but Harry and Megan’s wedding was a must watch.

What a beautiful day, a truly WOW Wedding! What can you learn from the Royal Wedding … well, if you take just one thing, it’s all about the planning. The weather was fantastic but there will have been plans in place for all conditions.

The gathering of family and friends ~ seeing so many people make their way into the St George’s Chapel all being greeted and shown where to go, being made welcome. The provision for older guests … The Queen and Prince Phillip obviously get very very special treatment – but please consider the comfort of the elderly guests attending your big day.

The Dress ~ the first glimpse of the dress is always a huge moment at a Royal Wedding. The page boys and flower girls performing their roles so beautifully.

The Ceremony ~ and the Most Reverened Michael Curry address on the power of love “two people fell in love and we all showed up!”

The Music ~ what a great mix of solo, choral and congregational singing! The gospel choir singing “Stand By Me” and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing 3 pieces for the signing of the register were the highlights for me. You can chose music that is right for you.

The First Kiss on the steps as they left The Chapel … a perfect spotlight moment.

This was a Royal Wedding like no other. It had all the pomp, pageantry and ceremony that we are used to but it was also full of personal, modern touches. They truly did Weave themselves into the day, got Others involved and explained their Why (well the commentators did).

For the BBC news page please click here

Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, mug of tea raised to Harry and Meghan ~ cheers!

Steeple Court Manor Wedding Fayre

25th April 2018/0 Comments/in Event, Uncategorised/by Paul

This Sunday is the Steeple Court Manor Wedding Fayre with Hampshire Wedding Group. Steeple Court Manor is a stunning venue tucked away just off the Square in Botley and is well worth a look if you are looking for a place to get married or host your reception. Steeple Court Manor is a vineyard and we really love their medium white wine! Weddings are held in a beautiful marquee in the grounds of the house and vineyard.

Jim and Ann Firth, the owners at Steeple Court, provide an exclusive venue so you can relax in the knowledge that you and your wedding party are the only guests within the marquee and grounds on your special day.

CLICK HERE to go to the Steeple Court Manor website to find out more about this exceptional venue.

Once again there will be over £2,000 worth of discount vouchers to be won for the various suppliers in the Hampshire Wedding Group. For more information about The Hampshire Wedding Group CLICK HERE to go our website.

This Sunday’s event is FREE to enter and is open between 11am and 3pm and there is plenty of parking. The postcode for Steeple Court Manor is SO30 2EQ. Please come and see me at this event and say “Hello Paul, I claim my FREE GIFT” and you will!

CLICK HERE to go to the event page for Steeple Court Manor Wedding Fayre this Sunday.

Good Friday, Walk All Over Cancer Challenge.

Onwards And Upwards

25th April 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

Yesterday I posted about Amy’s wedding and mentioned my Walk All Over Cancer quest. I’ve been doing my best to move my totals onwards and upwards. The wedding was always the target but events on the day took an unexpected brilliant turn.

Obviously I got to walk my beautiful daughter down the aisle (see picture in the last blog post) but my other main responsibility, as Father of the Bride, was to make a speech and that’s where it started. Our DJ/MC for the day was my good friend Tony Winyard (more about Tony in future posts) and he suggested a sweepstake for the guests to guess the total length of the speeches. Participating guests put a £1 in the hat with the winner collecting all the money. My nephew Tom won the prize pot and very generously gave it to me for Cancer Research. Several other guests hearing about this put more money in the collection resulting in a total of £73.60.

Among the evening guests were our dear friends Sue and Steve who also slipped me an envelope with a donation for my challenge. So now my total raised has reached £573.60 +£100.00 Gift Aid.

Keeping everything moving onwards and upwards was quite a challenge in the last week as I was away at a conference on Sunday and Monday and then the wedding on Saturday and then up to Wembley on Sunday for the football but I still managed to average over 10,000 steps a day.

My numbers for April have been much better than March and, until last week, I’d managed over 10,000 steps every day. My total distance since the beginning of the Challenge is now over 225 miles.

So my walking and the funds raise go onwards and upwards – please CLICK HERE to go to my fund raising page

Where To Begin?

24th April 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

Where to begin … sounds like it’s going to be where to start on planning your wedding – well it is and it isn’t.

My daughter got married last Saturday. It was a beautiful day and words can’t describe how great everything felt. My head has been full of things I want to share with you and I’ll be using this new experience as inspiration over the coming weeks.

Where did Amy begin … she asked me for my advice because of my knowledge and contacts. We did it this way –

1 We found a wedding venue that could provide everything we wanted.

2 We found the dates that were available and worked for Amy and her fiancé Sean.

3 We confirmed availability and times with the Registrar’s office.

4 Amy and Sean wanted a band and a DJ, so we checked availability with them too.

… that gave them their date and they booked it. Then they went on to research their photographers, florist, venue dresser, cake maker, etc. I’ll blog extensively about this in the coming weeks with input from Amy too.

Where to begin here is also about what’s been happening with me since my last post. As you may remember I did the Walk All Over Cancer Challenge of 10,000 steps a day in March for Cancer Research. This was to awareness and funds for the charity but also to make sure I stayed fit and healthy in the run up to the wedding. So I kept it up in April too (and still am). See my next blog post for an update on the money raised 🙂

The most important steps of the whole thing were the fifty or so I took with Amy as I walked her down the aisle. Here we are in our final pre-ceremony moments as the music was playing and the Bridesmaids were on their way and we paused for one last selfie.

Where to begin … well I’ve started again and there will be more soon I promise.

We March On, Walk All Over Cancer.

2nd April 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

We March On, my 31 days are up. I did 316,991 recorded steps (any many more unrecorded), an average of 10,224 steps per day and walked over 120 miles in March, but the battle continues.

Thank you to everyone who has donated on my page – bless each and every one of you, your families and friends.

PLEASE CLICK HERE if you can spare a few quid to support the work of Cancer Research UK

Cancer has cast a huge shadow over my life since 2002 when Ce, my wife, was fist diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She was one of the lucky ones and we count our blessings every day. I remember that after she had surgery she was in a recovery ward with several other ladies – not all of them were as lucky as we were. Ce’s Cancer has returned as Secondary Bone Cancer.

The care and treatments she receives are fantastic and we count our blessings ever day. Research and development of new and improved treatments give us hope for a better future for our family and friends.

I had a brush with skin cancer a couple of years ago and received fantastic treatment and support too. The moment when a consultant sits you down and tells you that THIS IS SERIOUS changes everything and every day people are hearing it.

Cancer survival rates have doubled over the past 40 years. Consistent progress is being made but improvements to technology and ground-breaking work offer new opportunities to find different ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer and improve survival rates even further.

We have to fight, we have to win for future generations. Thanks for reading this, together we will beat Cancer, never give up the fight.

My original motivation was that I needed to get walking again and Cancer needs to be beaten – so by making the commitment to walk 10,000 steps every day I was hoping to get mobile and contribute some of my own cash to the fight. 31 days later what do I know?

Well as an Englishman my first observation has to be that the weather this March has to have been the most challenging in years! Parts of the Country have been brought to a standstill twice by snow, even down here on the South Coast things have been disrupted.

PLEASE CLICK HERE if you can spare a few quid to support the work of Cancer Research UK

We march on, I’m going to keep walking, giving and hoping.

Good Friday Walk All Over Cancer Challenge.

30th March 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

Good Friday Walk All Over Cancer Challenge day 30. When I was growing up Good Friday was always a holy day in our house, a day for quiet reflection and church. Yesterday evening a few people started to make donations to my page and I am truly humbled by their generosity PLEASE CLICK HERE. Cancer hits so many people, so many families and I believe every penny given helps as the fight to find better treatments and cures goes on. We’ve lived with Cancer in our lives for over sixteen years now and we’ve seen incredible steps forward, we’ve also lost dear friends along the way, so once again as I walked today my mind was filled with memories, love and hope.

My Good Friday Walk All Over Cancer was wet from start to finish as is illustrated by the pictures. It was raining as I left home and it was raining when I got back, I think it stopped for a while but it was a day when I had to stick to footpaths rather than venture off. The first and last pictures are from what I call the Foxhills underpass on my way out and then back to Ashurst. This middle picture below was from a house out that way where the residents made me smile with their sense of humour 🙂

My Good Friday Walk All Over Cancer Challenge soundtrack was more of the Ken Dashow Beatles Revolution podcast, some Beatles and finally a few tracks from Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly.

I was home before 11am having completed over 11,000 steps, now it’s time for a toasted hot cross bun and coffee. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this small challenge. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Still On Track, Walk All Over Cancer.

29th March 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

Two days left and I’m still on track … just! Since my last post about my brilliant walk with Ian two things have happened – first the blood blister on my heal has made walking very painful and secondly it rained … it rained a lot.

For anyone who doesn’t know, I’m doing the “Walk All Over Cancer” challenge to walk 10,000 steps every day during March. I’m now slightly ahead of the target with just two days left. I’m not making a huge thing about sponsorship, I’m making a few small donations to the charity as I go along, but if you would like to “raise a mug of tea” to my efforts then a couple of quid would be fantastic via my page PLEASE CLICK HERE.

So Wednesday was walking where walking was required. I didn’t get out for a proper walk but managed to hobble around Ikea and to the shops for milk and ended up still on track.

Today the foot felt a lot better so after I’d done my work for the day I ventured out in the rain for an hour or so.

As for the soundtrack, it was another Podcast day listening to Ken Dashow’s Beatles Revolution – highly recommend to music fans especially Beatles lovers. PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Two more days and I’m still on track – please keep everything crossed for me.

Tonne Up ~ Walk All Over Cancer

27th March 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

I can’t believe it, that’s the Tonne Up! A Tonne (or Tun) Up Kid was a biker who had done 100mph. Well, today I passed ONE HUNDRED MILES for the month in the Walk All Over Cancer Challenge!

AND I’m finally back ahead of schedule – that is to say I’ve now done over 270,000 steps in 27 days – BUT last time I boasted (I don’t think it was a boast, more a pat on the back) about being in control, it all went wrong. So as I type this, having just had a blood blister lanced, I’m really hoping these next four days go to plan and I can complete the challenge.

The Tonne Up was a result of going out twice today. The weather was wet when I woke up so I had some breakfast and then headed out for a 45 minute starter which went well. I then completed a few chores round the house and items from my “to do” list before venturing out again – and just as I was putting on my coat the doorbell rang and there was my friend Ian who said “I’ll come with you”. Bless him, I think he dragged me around the last two miles heading home!

Following on from yesterdays radio show my Tonne Up soundtrack for the first walk of the day was Deaf School‘s album from last year “Let’s Do This Again Next Year”. Then Ian joined me for the second trip and we talked all the way around – and while we stopped for lunch at The Happy Cheese.

If you’d like to make a small donation to Cancer Research UK please click here to go to my page.

By the way, I now have total respect for the Proclaimers. I used to think they were just a pair of funny Scottish blokes who could put a pop song together but walking 500 miles and then 500 more … flippin’ ‘eck!