Part of my role as an event planner is to allocate clients budget to the relevant areas of their wedding/party, i.e from our initial consultation I will have an idea of how much the flowers, entertainment, stationery should cost. I’m normally pretty accurate with my estimations but then I have been doing this for 10 years.

At times however it can be confusing for clients to understand ‘why’ a certain supplier is charging x, y, z. They see the product, in this instance, say a bouquet, but don’t think about what influences the price to charge. A bit later in this post I will explain this to you and I will continue this series with explanations on entertainment, mobile bars and stationery.

 

If you have viewed my gallery of past events you will notice flowers feature quite heavily in my designs, this is because many of my events have a traditional country garden feel and/or are in marquees thus we need to fill the space.

 *it is my opinion that if you want to make the most of your marquee you either have to ensure the floral displays are large enough to make a statement or you use other décor tricks like Chinese lanterns, buntings, ribbon hanging from the framework or poles. I feel jugs and teacups of flowers on its own in a marquee just get lost.

If you want to create something like this Autumnal party or bohemian wedding , you need to ensure your budget reflects just what the flowers will cost. I’m not saying you have to spend thousands on flowers, but you do need to be realistic, not all wedding designs need a lot of flowers but if your dream is to fill your venue with peonies then you have to be realistic, £500 is just not going to suffice.

“Most of our prospective clients now come to us with a fairly good idea of what they want in terms of flowers, but not always what they cost. It is rare to have a bride who has absolutely no idea of what she wants. Our brides are internet savvy, they use social media, they bring THEIR Pinterest boards to US! They also read the wedding blogs and the bridal magazines which are chock full of gorgeous American weddings which have been photographed in Californian vineyards or New England gardens. The photographs are always stuffed full of flowers!! The magazine and blog suggested prices are usually wrong!!” Simon & Victoria, Euphoric Flowers

One of my pet hates is photoshoots filled to the brim with flowers on a table, yes it looks wonderful but brides, multiply that design by the number of tables you will have, being extravagent on one table is all well and good but what about when there are 11, 13 or even 20 tables to do?

With the type of weddings I design I find brides want beautiful Peonies, hydrangeas and garden style roses (a fact attested by Euphoric) but they come at a premium price. Likewise some brides want the “wildflower’ look, that’s great, but that’s a lot of flowers and creating that “I’ve just picked this” look isn’t cheap.

I’ve had many discussions with my florists recently who all tell me that making a profit is getting harder, they are unable to charge more for their services due to the economic climate but at the same time, wholesale flower prices have soared. So what is a realistic budget for wedding flowers?

Let’s look at some scenarios ………..

A Central London venue for the ceremony and reception with a total of 80 guests (as quoted by Euphoric Flowers in 2013)

Bridal Bouquet – hand tied bouquet £75.00

Bridesmaids x 3 – hand tied bouquets at £35.00 each – £105.00

Buttonholes x 6 at £6.00 each – £36.00

Corsages x 2 at £15.00 each – £30.00

Ceremony Flowers – 2 large vase arrangements – £100.00 each – £200.00

Registrar’s Table – 1 small arrangement – £40.00

Reception Flowers – 8 tables at £60.00 each – £480.00

Cake Flowers – £30.00

Total -£996.00
VAT -£199.20

Delivery, installation and clearance £100.00

Grand Total – £1,295.20

Now lets compare this to a flower quotation from one of my earlier weddings in 2005 (Jades Flowers)

Bridal Flowers

Bride’s Bouquet (based on Phalanopsis Bouquet) – £ 80.00

Bridesmaid’s Bouquet (to match) – £30.00

6 Orchid Buttonholes @ £3.00 each – £18.00

3 Orchid Corsages @ £10.00 each – £30.00

Ceremony Flowers

1 Candelabra Arrangement  - £120.00

Fireplace Arrangement - £50.00

Arrangement for Registrar’s Table – £45.00

Ivy for Gallery  - £80.00

Reception Flowers

8 Table Arrangements @ £70.00 each (560.00)

7 Table Arrangements @ £70.00 each (490.00)

Fireplace Arrangement  £50.00

Grand Total – £1,553

It’s amazing to see how ‘little’ prices have increased over 8 years despite the fact florists labour & flower costs have increased.

“There are always going to be factors that influence what florists charge. Certain flowers are always more expensive, more elaborate designs are more labour intensive and there are always the additional costs such as hire items, transport, petrol (a killer), wages and most importantly our time. We can spend many months preparing for a wedding. Months of site visits, design meetings, quotes, re quotes and mock ups of final designs. But it doesn’t end there, our work doesn’t finish when we deliver the bridal bouquet. If we are lucky, we will be allowed to clear a job on a Monday morning, if not it can be a midnight or early Sunday morning call followed by returning all the hire items that are frequently requested.” Simon & Victoria, Euphoric Flowers

 

It’s not just the flowers……

When it comes to charging you the client for the flowers, its not a simple matter of a rose costs £2 so they will charge £2.50, there are many other factors to consider to ensure the business costs are met:

• General running costs like marketing materials, telephone line, rent, utilities, vehicles etc
• Wages inc. freelance staff for larger weddings (circa £15 ph)
• Their TIME! You’re paying for their professionalism in creating the right bouquet or table design + the time it takes to set it all up, it’s not unusual for my florists to be on site all day on the Friday + part of the wedding day itself, multiply that by the number of staff the florist has…………and you can almost see the profit diminish
• Collection of the vases, containers, removal of flowers not wanted on the Sunday or Monday after the wedding
• 1-3 meetings per client to ensure the wedding design is perfect
• Consultations with those clients that don’t book
• Numerous phone calls and emails with potential clients
• Then of course in the world of social media its not enough for a florist to attend open days at local venues they have to blog – tweet – facebook and pin their ideas for potential clients to see!

Break the flower budget down

Sometimes when you say a figure that you are allocating to flowers it can seem high, can seem plenty, until you start breaking it down. `Remember when working out your budget to ensure you have enough for:

Bridal Flowers

Bridal Bouquet

Bridesmaids/flowergirl bouquets

Buttonholes & corsages

Ceremony

Registrar/altar flowers

Entrance flowers (i.e bay trees, urns, pedestals)

Pew ends

Reception

Entrance flowers (i.e bay trees, urns, pedestals)

Top Table

Guest tables

Feature flowers (fireplaces, beams, poles)

Misc

Occasional tables in courtyards or lounge areas

Thank you flowers

Finally

Not every wedding has to be filled with flowers, it depends on the design you have chosen and as mentioned earlier you can complement flowers by using candles, bunting, lanterns and pom poms to add colour in DIY ways – i.e you’ll need to buy or hire the items but then allocate some of your time to implement the design the day before the wedding.

Also, if you have chosen a venue that is stunning before you even start with flowers, then its best to choose simple displays to complement the room, not fight against it.

Photo Credits

Kerry Morgan, Mydas Photography, Mark Bothwell

 

 

 

 

 

On the 6^th October I was in London running a training course for the UKAWP, whilst there I received a call from a lady asking if I was free to organise a party for her 50^th  birthday on the 20^th October. I arranged to see her on the 7^th  where I showed her lots of images to get an understanding of her likes/dislikes, this was no formal consultation and I wouldn’t be sending a proposal. With such a short timescale there was no time for various meetings or phone calls, especially considering I would be in New York 10^th – 15^th October! We decided on a party theme of Autumn so wonderfully seasonal.

The party was to take place at their home in Suffolk in a hanger/barn, thus I arranged for James to line & light the space for me, Mark from American Marquees carpeted the hanger and added a small frame marquee for the entrance. On the day it was hard to tell where the hanger started as the connection was seamless.

I hired Caroline from Endless Love to be my lady on the ground when I was in New York and co-ordinate the party on the day as I was at a wedding. I trained Caroline many years ago and she is one of our fabulous members at the UKAWP. At breakfast before heading out for meetings in N.Y I would email Caroline for a catch up! We had a lot of fun setting the party up on the Friday and I am grateful she was there on my behalf on the Saturday.

I consider myself lucky I have so many fabulous suppliers at my disposal meaning I was able to organise the party in such a short time. For example the table plan & guest list was finalised on the 17^th October, I was proofing the stationery with Emma at A Bespoke Design at gone midnight so goodness knows what time she finished printing! She understood the brief so the end result blended with the flowers & linen perfectly. She designed some autumn leaves for the stationery which included escort cards for garlic and a napkin band for the place cards.

The night before I flew to New York I briefed 2 top florists in London, my client confirmed Euphoric Flowers on the 12^th October meaning they had a week to order all the flowers & accessories. I’ve worked with Euphoric many times via the UKAWP events but this was the first function they have done for Dream Occasions. I loved the end result, the trees were just outstanding – the colours were complete gorgeousness.

In terms of entertainment we had a pianist for the cocktail hour, fireworks just before dinner, an aerial performer during dinner and The Kitts band to dance to.

There were no fewer then 22 suppliers at the party and all did an amazing job, my thanks to them all, I’m lucky to work with such talented people. The main suppliers are listed below.

Roll Call

Photographer – Mark Bothwell

Lighting – Wedding Creative

Marquee – American Marqees

Stationery – A Bespoke Design

Bar – Intents Effects

Flowers – Euphoric

Furniture – Great Hire

Linen – Northfields

Pianist & Evening Band – The Kitts

Aerial Performer – Contraband Events

 

 

Some of my some design tips can be seen in An Essex Wedding magazine , the magazine wanted some ideas on ‘Country Vintage’ and ‘Asian Flair’ and I was delighted to help them. I think An Essex Wedding is great at showcasing local weddings and frequently have brilliant wedding theme ideas.

 

Over the last few years I have noticed a huge interest in using wedding signage as part of the design. Sometimes luxurious made by the stationer and sometimes rustic and made by the couples themselves. I think they make a great addition to any wedding design and it doesn’t have to cost a lot, the small blackboard below was bought from a pound high street shop, after doing a rough sketch using the chalks provided my clients and I then used marker pens to create bolder colours.

 

Mr & Mrs

Directing guests to the car park, toilets and ceremony

Food glorious food, what’s on the menu

Instructing guests, put your wedding cards here!

Love quotations

Credits:

Dream Occasions events photography by Kerry Morgan & Mark Bothwell  & Will Strange

Love Quotations available from Not on the High Street sellers Maggie Wood , Potting Shed Designs, Seagirl & Magpie

Photobooth Sign Hush Baby Sleeping 

Guest Book Sign A Bespoke Design 

Mr & Mrs sign via Etsy 

N&N Chalkboard available from Muddy Creek Signs

Recently I was contacted by Suzy from Muddy Creek Signs about her range of signs suitable for the wedding market. Now, signs have been popular over the last few years and we even have some in our hire stock, so I wasn’t expecting to be ‘wowed’ by what she was offering. I therefore was delighted when I viewed he products as I ADORED them, I especially loved her chalkboards & signs using the pointing finger. Watch this space as I will buy some for Dream Occasions Hire.

When I spoke to Suzy about what makes her stand out she said “My background is in fine art, so I’m able to combine beautiful lettering with stunning visual imagery whilst using traditional sign writing techniques”

Heart chalkboard (30x30cm): £10 + £2.50 p&p.

Scrolls: “Just Married” or “True Love”: £25.

Personalised with couples’ names and wedding date: £30 + £2.50 p&p.

Big heart and scroll sign (90×90 cm): £65 + p&p £5.00

Chalkboard “pointy” (either sign written with “Wedding” or left blank for your own words 30 x 45cm) : £12.00, or 6 for £60.

Elaborate, Victorian- style wedding sign: (70 x 20 cm)£45.00 + p&p £3.00

Just before Christmas I was invited on air again with Etholle George to discuss Christmas entertaining. As always I research the internet to discuss new hot trends with BBC Essex listeners. It was during this research I came across a U.S blog I have fallen deeply in love with, Hostess with the Mostess . I could spend hours looking at this blog for unique and vibrant ideas, the blog is run by Jenn  who is able to put her past skills as a graphic designer to good use when designing events. I love the fact you can browse different themes or holiday seasons for parties. And do check out her templates , this is such an easy way to bring an individual design to your event and what a great way to save money by making some items yourself! When planning a Tim Burton wedding last July I used a simple template to create the menus, order of service, banners and place cards – the end result was stunning and it cost us peanuts.

 

The one feature I loved on this blog when preparing for the winter radio show was the ‘Hot Drink Station’, I promised listeners I would post instructions on my blog so sorry it’s taken me a few weeks to do it! Most weddings have some form of candy or dessert tables now but how great to expand on this to create a hot drink station. And no I don’t mean just put an urn of water down with tea cups and leave it at that! The pictures of the hot drink stations below were designed by Rebecca at This Nest is Best who used the templates from HWTM Blog. Like with the candy or dessert stations you should use colours that incorporate the theme and think about how display in each item, increasing height where appropriate. So if you were going to recreate something similar for a party or wedding you are organising, here are the key items I think you need.

o Dress the table with coloured linen to ensure it stands out, or buy some fabric from long enough that it hangs to the floor. This way you don’t need to worry about hot chocolate stains on white linen!
o Hire a couple of tiered cake stands and use to display items like choc chips, mini cookies or marshmallows.
o Have a small tumbler or container with chocolate spirals

o Buy some shakers and have loose powder of cinnamon and coco
o Include a couple of liquors for those guests that like their coffee with a ‘kick’. Think baileys………
o Have a thermos with warm cream and have a bowl of whipped cream for guests who like a bit of indulgence with their coffee or hot chocolate
o Display teacups with little printable messages using templates from HWTM
o Have an urn of hot water then display some coffee & teabags in clear jars again using little tags to add some design to them.

 

 If you were organising a drink station, what would you include?

Credits: Mark Bothwell, HWTM, The Nest is Best

Once you have the key elements organised for your wedding like venue and all main suppliers you will begin to think about what colours to use on your wedding. For some brides choosing a theme/colour is so easy and something they have been thinking about secretly for years. But for others, it takes a little investigation to find a style that is right for you.

Do your research

First thing first, go back to the venue and look at the walls, floor and general décor – you don’t want to pick a theme of lilac in a red gothic building. Then speak with the venue about what colours looks great in their building. Think about what colours suit your bridesmaids, not everyone can wear baby pink after all! If unsure book a session with a colour stylist. Meet with a florist and look at flower choices, not every flower comes in a range of colours so if you have a favourite flower you might be limited to the colours it comes in.

Colour Palettes

Be brave with your colour combinations, there are some amazing choices available if you are willing to go for it and not be swayed by outside influences. Look at some of the palettes on The Perfect Palette blog   to give you some inspiration. Use a colour wheel to see easily how opposites attract or play it safe ‘side by side’! Have the courage to be imaginative – don’t just team a colour with ivory or white, think about what other colours blend well to make a gorgeous combination. Visit interior designer blogs to see what fabrics and colour are on trend as frequently interior design and wedding design cross over.

Design Consultations

If you are having difficulty choosing the perfect colour and design many planners will offer a design consultation whereby after asking lots of questions on you and the venue they will suggest a design and colour for you.

Predicted Colour Trends 2012

1. Chocolate brown and turquoise is a very modern look equally luscious in a modern hotel or country barn
2. Pear green & light tangerine teamed with gold for a soft and romantic feeling
3. Hot Colours are a huge trend for 2012, combine shades of orange, red and pink to make a real statement
4. Teal and Coral is incredibly elegant and look gorgeous together
5. Purple and Sky Blue very vibrant but fresh combination colour, team blue table cloths with purple flowers
6. Pink is still a favourite amongst brides but now brides are using different shades together from baby pink up to a hot pink to make the design more modern
7. Sky blue and Yellow make a very modern and clean combination
8. Black and White is still popular a-la Hollywood glamour both in weddings and on the catwalk. Team with turquoise to soften the look or stand out with fuchsia pink.

Credit

Interior Design Colour for the colourwheel

Recently I talked about the 5 senses at functions and why they are important. One of the senses I use is SMELL. I frequently use scented candles and know from personal experience it is important to buy a good quality candle. In fact I did a little experiment recently when we had friends over for a little soiree.

I lit my ‘Blushing Rose’ candle (£25) from Sandy Bay London  in the kitchen, I’ve had this for a few months and light it every weekend to relax. Then I lit ‘Orchid & Sweet Coconut’ from Sainsburys (£4.50).

The candle from Sandy Bay is very nearly finished, I have lit this candle numerous times. The smell is very gentle and relaxing, the container is a white gloss glass which I like so you can’t ‘see’ the candle inside. And for me most importantly, the candle has been burning evenly everytime, there is no wastage. I hate spending money on a candle then seeing all this wax unused!

The candle from Sainsburys was a very fresh smell, it is in a modern clear glass BUT I only had it lit for 5 hours and already you can see it is not burning evenly. So instead of the promised 45 hours I suspect I will get only half that time as I anticipate a thick rim of wax left behind.

So is this one of those times when ‘you get what you paid for’? Would I every use a cheap scented candle at one of my events? Not likely! Would I use Sandy Bay or other well known suppliers of scented candles? Absolutely. I think in my mind if the candle is under £15 I would be suspicious it would last.

What are your views? What candles have you used before that are good or not so good?

Back in May I did a feature on Escort Cards which included a vintage frame from my friend Kate Fletcher at Vintage Style Hire.  I contacted Kate in July to see if it was free for me to use at a wedding , sadly all her frames were already out. So I started sourcing some alternatives and decided vintage wasn’t really the right style of frame for my ‘Tim Burton’ theme wedding!

I spent hours looking for the right frame and eventually found this gorgeous black frame just perfect for our theme. I decided to keep for Dream Occasions Hire as I felt it would be ideal for other clients whose theme encorporates black.

What can you use it for?

1. To hang escort cards

2. To use in a photo booth

3. To frame a welcome sign

4. To frame a table plan

If you are interested in hiring the frame it is £15. The dimensions are 23″ x 27″. For more information contact Paul on poat@dreamoccasions-hire.co.uk

Photo Credit: Escort Card image via Mark Bothwell

Recently I was showing a client images of Escort Cards (no not the variety you find in phone booths across the UK!) to explain their function, I’m enthusiastic about Escort Cards as I think you can be far more imaginative with them. I’ve been using them at my weddings since 2005 and I’m astonished at how popular they are now. I thought I would share some of my findings with you today, I concentrated on rural outside escort cards.

But firstly a quick explanation on their function, an escort card (or seating card) is as a replacement for a table plan. You display little cards (normally) with the guest name printed on it and the table name/number. It can be fun for the guest whilst searching for their name – far more exciting then a table plan! I’ve used them displayed on pianos,  trestle tables, in a giant fountain & hanging from willows.

 

Hanging Cards

Photo Credits

Vintage Frame – The Stock Mandiaries

Moss Escort Cards – featured on Wedding Dress Blog & photographed by Katherine O’Brien

Rustic Hanging Cards – featured on Cedarwood Weddings & Photographed by Krystal Mann

Hugging the tree – featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs & Photographed by Grise Photography

Hanging Cards featured on The Knot