Free wedding advice Archives

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

15th February 2018/0 Comments/in Event/by Paul

“You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” or “They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know’ is an expression that came on my radar back in 2011 when I was on a DJ training workshop. That day changed a lot for me and even today when I was talking to my colleague Stephen those words came up again.

“You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” is particularly relevant to couples planning their weddings – even if they’ve been married before – because there is so much that can impact on their big day that they’ve no idea about!

I’ve seen numerous weddings, trained and studied extensively, I’ve so much knowledge and experience that I try and share to help couples, I’ve even been recognised with a “Contribution To The Wedding Industry” award for my efforts.

I never really know what to call my role, what I do is so much more than just DJ/MC for my couples – I wouldn’t call myself a wedding planner but I do help all my couples with their planning, and not just my couples. My WOW events are open to anyone regardless of whether they book me or another DJ/MC.

My next event is this coming Tuesday (20th Feb) and it’s being held at The Ring Studio in Southampton. For full details CLICK HERE to go the event page. You will find out so much in less than a couple of hours, it’s free to attend and you’ll even get a free drink – it really is a “no brainer”.

Here’s one more link to look at with lots of bits and pieces to help you with your plans PLEASE CLICK HERE – this blog is jam-packed full of FREE advice!

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know … but you could know a lot more if you join me on Tuesday – reserve your places using the link above.

Photographs ~ WOW Countdown … 6

8th November 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

Photographs ~ they say “a picture is worth a thousand words”, so displaying photo’s is a great way of telling your story and engaging with your guests.

The first “W” in the “WOW” system is for “Weave” yourselves into the day – what better way than including your childhood photographs, your parents’ and grandparents’ wedding photos, shots from your hen and stag events, pictures of your pets ~ in fact anything you want! You can also add snaps from the day as you go along so that evening guests can get a real flavour of the whole day. You can display them in frames or on a screen or projected on a spare wall, is a great way to entertain your guests and help you weave YOU into the day.

If you are having a “destination wedding” abroad and having a party when you come back a photomontage of your trip and ceremony is an absolute essential!

If you haven’t already read “Your WOW Wedding” email me and I’ll forward a link to you ~ paul@thepartydj.co.uk

We are now one week away from the “creating Your WOW Wedding” event at Ampfield Golf Club when I’ll be running through a wedding day timeline and explaining how you can use use “WOW” to make yours the best wedding day ever! Tickets are £10 per couple with all proceeds going to The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity ~ CLICK HERE for more information. Reserve your places now ~ email me today ~ paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Bouquets and Buttonholes ~ Countdown … 13

1st November 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

Today’s tip in the Countdown to my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening is about flowers, specifically on Bouquets and Buttonholes. There is now just two weeks to go until Tuesday 15th November – reserve your places today – details below.

Here are a couple of top tips from my friend and fellow Hampshire Wedding Group member Carole Stables, owner of the Flower Stables based In Chandlers Ford Eastleigh (CLICK HERE).

“Whenever I deliver bouquets to the brides home or venue I also go through how to hold the bouquets correctly. If you hold a hand tied bouquet tilted forward slightly the photographs will show the true beauty of the flower heads and not from the side angle showing half the bouquet and stalks, a simple touch but this top tip will make all the difference to your photographs !”

“Never pin a buttonhole into the hole in the lapel of a man’s suit. The material will pucker and look untidy. Pin buttonholes onto the fabric and ignore the hole in the lapel. I always help pin on buttonholes whenever possible.”

That’s Bouquets and Buttonholes, there will be more great advice here tomorrow – and if you haven’t seen these before scroll back to see my previous blog posts.

My “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening is on Tuesday 15th November at Ampfield Golf & Country Club. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start. I will go through the typical wedding timeline sharing dozens of fabulous ideas to help create an unforgettable wedding full of love and fun that your friends and family will never forget. It is not a sales event for me and is open to all couples whether they have a DJ/MC booked or not – there is absolutely no pressure to book me.

Admission to the event is £10 per couple and you can also bring guests if you wish. All the admission money will go to The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity and there is also a full money-back guarantee where I will refund the £10 from my own pocket if anyone feels the evening wasn’t great value for money – the Charity will still get your £10 donation.

To reserve your seats today please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Wedding Insurance ~ Countdown … 14

31st October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

It’s Halloween – a day when we laugh about scary things – well here’s something scary that isn’t funny – sometimes things go wrong in the run-up to a wedding and that’s why I want to talk about Wedding Insurance today!

Over the weekend one of my friends from The Hampshire Wedding Group (CLICK HERE) told us about a horrendous situation regarding one of her clients. The Bride-to-be in question had just found out the hall she was holding her reception had been double-booked and she needed to find an alternative venue – her wedding is under a month away! All the invites have been sent out and she has to find a new venue that fit her requirements and make numerous new arrangements to get everything back on track … nightmare! Hopefully everything is getting sorted, certainly my friend from the Hampshire Wedding Group, Sue from Tie The Knot (CLICK HERE), was doing everything she could to help.

Now I have no idea if Wedding Insurance could have helped in this situation – I’m no expert in these matters – but it got me thinking so I turned to Google and Martin Lewis, The Money Saving Expert.

CLICK HERE for his/their excellent guide and the 10 need-to-knows
And guess what, Tip 2 … Insurance usually covers venue or supplier failure, key people falling ill, NOT cold feet!

So that’s todays tip about something I knew nothing about but knew where to look to find the answer. Unfortunately the Bride who has this nightmare doesn’t have insurance but at least she is working with a great supplier who was able to supple a list of alternative venues and a lot of great advice to help sort things out – remember what I’ve said numerous times already in these tips – get to know your suppliers and ask their advice, they can help in so many ways.

PLEASE REMEMBER … things don’t always go to plan in the run up to a wedding – make sure you’ve got good people around you AND insurance.

Don’t forget to reserve your tickets for my “Creating Your Wow Wedding” evening …

That Kiss ~ Creating Your WOW Wedding” Countdown ~ 16

29th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

“That Kiss” is todays tip for anyone planning their wedding. If you scroll back on this blog you’ll find I’ve been posting a tip everyday as I countdown to my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” event on Tuesday 15th November.

I think you are all going to like todays tip.

Your wedding is made up of many “firsts” and your first kiss is one of the most important. I did a video about this for Valentines Day in 2014 so I thought I’d share it with you again today.

Many of the kisses you share on your wedding day will be photographed, so make sure they look EPIC!

CLICK HERE to go to “Paul’s Bookcase” where you can find more great stuff. Whether you want to book me or not for your wedding I want you to benefit from the ideas I’ve developed, so please consider attending my event at Ampfield Golf Club on the evening of Tuesday 15th November. Tickets are just £10 per couple including up to 4 guests you want to bring – parents etc. If you don’t think the event was worth the £10 at the end I’ll give you a full refund. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30 start – the evening will be split into two halves with a break in the middle and there will be plenty of time to ask me questions and we should be done by 10pm at the latest. You will also be able to chat with a few of my expert friends – more details about who will be attending soon. Your £10 will go to The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity and if you get a refund it will come from my own pocket – so the charity still benefits.

Remember, practise makes perfect so take some time to rehearse that kiss!

Charity … The Countdown … 17

28th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

So we come to 17 on the countdown to my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” event and today I want to talk about charity.

This one is very simple … consider making a donation to, and / or arrange a collection for your favourite charity.

One of the things that I’ve become more and more involved in is helping couples acknowledge friends or family who haven’t been able to attend their wedding. Sometimes these people are very sick but frequently that have already died and the couples want to say something about their loss. A great way to do this is by donating to a charity supporting work in that area.

There are many ways you can do this, here are just a few …
Arrange an element of the hen or stag weekend that raises funds – maybe a sponsored event.
Make a personal donation of the amount you would have spent having that person at your wedding from just the two of you.
Make a donation for every guest instead of providing wedding favours.

Here’s an interesting one linked to one of the charities I support, the Green Seed Company supply wedding seed favours on behalf of Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity. CLICK HERE

I’m sure you can think of many others, you could just have a collection tin on your presents table.

I’ve seen couples collect for Cancer Research, Leukaemia charities and one for a charity that helped children with eyesight problems – their daughter had benefited from the work the charity had done.

What a lovely thing to do as you start your new life together.

My”Creating Your WOW Wedding” event is supporting The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity CLICK HERE plus, the evening comes with a full money-back guarantee where the Hospice will still get your money and the refund comes out of my pocket! To book your places please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

18 … Centrepiece Tip

27th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

18 days to go until my “Creating Your WOW Wedding ” evening at Ampfield Golf & Country Club. Today I have a couple of thoughts on Centrepiece ‘s

I get to see so many amazing Centrepiece creations! Really, all sorts of things, not just the amazing floral arrangements I’ve been featuring in these blogs – all kinds of things! Sometimes couples use personal decorations that will end up in their home, but often they are created just for the wedding day. Sweets or cakes often feature, but it’s the flowers I really had in mind when I wrote this post.

I love wedding flowers. The people who create these amazing arrangements are very talented but, more than that, they also are passionate about creating something special for their clients. They often put in days of work, sometimes working through the night, to produce the Bride’s vision. These displays won’t last forever but they will often remain good for up to a week (depending on the blooms chosen by the Bride).

My tip is this …
… think about what will be available to take away at the end of the night and who would you like to have them.

These arrangements are often in vases or elements that are hired from the florist (like giant martini glasses) but the flowers can often be removed in the oasis (that green, foam block stuff the florists use to build their creations), so think about it and make a “plan” so that nothing is just thrown away that could have been enjoyed for a few days more. Delegate the responsibility to execute the “plan” to one of your trusted Bridesmaids or family member and your flowers will bring even more joy!

The Centrepiece giveaway isn’t just about flowers, if you have balloons or anything that will be left over at the end of the day (or even cleared away in between the meal and the party) you can give them away as prizes in a dance competition or just allocate them to people. By planning this in advance you can add something extra to the evening which might otherwise have been wasted.

By the way, if you’d like my recommendations of great florists to speak to just email me paul@thepartydj.co.uk
Here are two …
Carol ~ The Flower Stables
Kay ~ Pomp & Petals

p.s. for details about the event email me or scroll back through my blog posts x

After Party ~ Countdown … 19

26th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

I’m counting down to my next “Creating Your WOW Wedding event and there are now 19 days to go! Every day I’m posting a new tip that may help you plan your wedding and today I’m looking at an “After Party”!

The “After Party” idea is something I’ve been suggesting for about six years, I’m not sure where the idea came from but I think I was one of the first to offer it. It’s particularly useful if yours is going to be a long wedding day, or if your favourite genre of music is … shall we say, not everyones cup of tea. The idea is to end the “formal/traditional” reception at, say, 10:30pm with a “last dance” and the usual big cheer or an archway, then you can pop out and come back for your “after party” where you can let your hair down for an hour or two more with friends and family who want to stay.

With weddings often starting around noon it can be such a long day and not everyone has the stamina to party all night – this gives them a chance to stay to the end and take part in the big party ending and slip away before they collapse of exhaustion. It also means guests with children might stay to the end rather than excusing themselves early.

As I say if you want to party to the music you like but feel it’s not suitable for nana and the little ones, this also gives you a way around that problem.

If you’d like more tips please stay tuned – I’m posting another tip every day right up to 15th November when the event takes place at Ampfield.
PLEASE NOTE ~ This is not a sales event for me,you will be under no pressure to book me, the event is just great advice to help you understand how your wedding day may run and how you can use the principles on “Your WOW Wedding” to make it even better. Please reserve your places now, email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Your Perfect Venue ~ WOW Countdown ~ Day 7

21st October 2016/0 Comments/in Event, Uncategorised, Wedding Tips/by Paul

Today we come to tip 7 in the Countdown To WOW which is 24 ~ confusing isn’t it, the tip numbers are going up while the countdown is going down (it seemed like a good idea at the time) :O ~ anyway, it’s about finding your perfect venue. You may find you need to scroll down to the previous posts to get a grip on what a “WOW Wedding” is

Choosing your perfect venue can be amazingly complex, just knowing where to start may seem like an impossible task.

Here’s a video and a few basic thoughts to get you started – tomorrow I’ll post on this topic again, so make sure you check back.

So, start with does then venue for your original “WOW” brief.

Whether you are having a church or civil ceremony and if that means you are looking for a venue that can do everything.

How many people do you need space for ~ both at the first part of the day (ceremony and meal) and then for the evening – can the venue accommodate this?

If you want help to find your perfect venue or any opinion on a particular venue please feel free to contact me – whether you are thinking bro using me as your DJ or not! paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Finally, don’t forget to reserve your seats at the Creating Your WOW Wedding evening – it’s the same email address.

HELP! ~ WOW Countdown ~ Day Five

19th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

It’s day five of my countdown to the “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening and today’s topic is … Help!

If you’ve been following this series from the beginning you’ll known I talk about getting others involved. Here are two videos from my ABC/123 series of wedding tips. The first is about getting help from your friends and family. Speak to the married ones and find out what they loved about their weddings and also about what they would do differently. You can also get people involved, some will be able to do things for you before the big day in planning and making things,

The second video is about choosing your suppliers. Working with suppliers you actually like, who understand exactly what you want, and really want to help you is the key to success when planning your wedding. Remember your suppliers have an incredible amount of knowledge through their experience. They will be able to make suggestions and recommend other suppliers. If you need help they are a very useful resource.

So, don’t try and do it all on your own, ask for help and get others involved in creating your WOW wedding.

For more details about the Creating You WOW Wedding event at Ampfield and to reserve your places please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk.

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