Hello everyone!

My name is Emma Case and I would just like to introduce myself as the newest member of the Bridal Soup team and to say that I am so so excited and cannot wait to share all the delicious things that come our way!  As a ‘not yet married but engaged to a gorgeous guy’ lady I am really looking forward to finding all sorts of wonderful things that I would want to book for my own wedding and to share them with all of you!

So who am I?  Well I am a photographer who loves anything vintage and a girl who likes fake moustaches, photo booths, cupcakes and good music.  You can find me at www.emmacasephotography.co.uk

When I’m not taking photographs I do a bit of acting, sign language (which is my other passion), spend time with my fiance Pete, attempt to decorate my house and look after my two cats, Maximo and Nanna.

I hope you all enjoy my future posts and it’s an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance,

Emma x

If you have something that you would love us to feature or you simply want to say hello then email me at emma@bridalsoup.com

Wedding photographer Steve Gerrard shares with us the most over-used, and sometimes cringeworthy, Best Man jokes doing the rounds in the UK.

We advise keeping it personal to the groom and avoiding searching the internet for speech ideas.

A Best Man’s speech is certainly a nerve-wracking occasion. I don’t envy anyone who has to do it. I did it once, for my brother. I hated it! (sorry Paul)

We’ve seen many Best Man speeches. There have been fantastic ones. There have been painfully awful ones. And then there’s the one we dread most…. The Googled Best Man Speech!

Googling “Best Man speech” brings up plenty of sites with lists of jokes, some good, some completely unfunny. The problem is we hear the same jokes again and again. So, in the interests of wedding photographers’ sanity, I’ll list the Top 12 most over-used, and not even very good, Best Man jokes in the UK. If you’re going to be someone’s Best Man some time soon, we implore you to avoid them. Although some might have found this blog through Google and use all ten in their speech!

1. “Fornication!” (Then make an awkward face, squint and look at the paper again) “Oh, I’m sorry… For an occasion such as this…”

2. I’ve known John a long time and am considered a bit of a father figure to him. I have watched him crawl around on his knees, drink from a bottle and I’ve cleaned up after him… but enough about the stag do…

3. I must admit to feeling a little nervous. In fact it’s not the first time today I’ve stood up from a warm seat with a piece of paper in my hand.

4. I did feel a little nervous at first but John’s assured me, if i do a good job, I can be best man at his next wedding.

5. It’s been an emotional day, even the cake is in tiers.

6. John, she’s a lovely girl and deserves a good husband. Thank God you married her before she found one.

7. Now it gives me great pleasure to ask you all to raise your glasses for some very important people, without whom today would not be the same. Would you please raise your glasses to toast.. The bar staff.

8. It’s my job to give the groom the most uncomfortable few minutes of his life. The bride’s most uncomfortable few minutes will come later tonight when they get back to their room.

9. Marriage is a 3 ring circus: The engagement ring, the wedding ring and finally the suffering.

10. A man said his credit card was stolen but he decided not to report it because the thief was spending less than his wife did.

11. I’ve been told to keep my speech to the same amount of time it takes for John to make love. (Pause for a moment, and sit down).

12. Being asked to be the Best Man is like being asked to sleep with the Queen. It’s a great honour but nobody wants to do it.

Want to add any others to our list? Leave us a comment…

Brides need to know that they are going to get the best images possible from their day and they need their day to be relaxed and stress free. That’s why knowing you have the right photographer for you is so important.

You need to choose a photographer that you get on well with and that you know you can feel completely comfortable with on the big day. Check out their website, ask to see a whole wedding that they have taken and don’t be afraid to ask loads of questions. Most photographers love to talk about their passion.

If you love their work and like their personalities (after all they’ll be spending your wedding day with you!), book them and trust them to do their job. They get those images from doing what they do best, so let them do it. Have fun and be happy that you have found the photographer for you.

All that’s left for you to do is to start getting excited about your wedding day!

Look out for photographers offering a pre-wed shoot as this really helps you to get to know them and get an idea on how they work, so when it comes to the day you are more relaxed, resulting in better photographs.

The shoots normally take place on location. It can be quite daunting having a camera in front of you, but most of the time it’s fun and nice to get away from the stresses of organizing a wedding. And just knowing that you are going to get some amazing pictures as a result makes it all worthwhile.

It also gives you complete confidence you have chosen the right photographer when you see the images from the shoot.

Your wedding photographer should not just be your wedding photographer either. They should be able to turn up your wedding day like old friends - but with really good cameras!!

Kate and Craig from Craig Williams Photography have shot a video showing their brides about them and what they do, no hidden secrets or false pretenses, making sure their brides immediately feel at ease and confident that they are have chosen the best company.

Check out the video and the resulting images from a couple of their shoots…

Rachel from Planet Cake introduces us to her chickens and has some advice on choosing your perfect wedding cake.

I trained in Design and interiors but also have a love of the sweet and delicious. After years of creating beautiful rooms I decided to turn my hand to cake making. I have an eye for detail and my creativity knows no bounds.

Having now been in business for 5 years, my cakes have graced the pages of many top bridal magazines, as well as being devoured by over half of London.

I recently took on my own brood of lovely free range chickens. They lay the lovely eggs that go into my cakes. They get way too much love and attention from me and have even started to learn how to get through my catflap! I make them special dinners of broccoli with sunflower seeds to make the yolks extra yellow.

In the picture below is ‘Mable’.

I work from my home workshop in Streatham South London where I invite all potential clients to come and vist me and the chickens. We then taste cake and talk over designs. All of my cakes are bespoke to the client and designs are evloved in the studio by looking at the style, colours and theme of the Wedding.

When deciding the style and design of your cake, I would advise choosing an element that is current throughout the wedding. A colour, theme, flower or illustration. A good cake designer should be able to take that element and create a cake exactly for you.

I would say, never be afraid to experiment or go against tradition. The cake should make a statement and not only be a visual wonder, but taste good too.

My ‘Hint of the day’ would be, always taste the cake first before you book your cakemaker. It might look nice on the outside but what a waste if it tastes rubbish! And make sure the caterers serve the cake correctly. There is nothing worse than a big pile of crumbs on a platter. Laid out in individual pieces is so much more stylish…..that way it all gets eaten!

The wierdest cake I have ever been asked to make was for a couple who got engaged in New York wanted me to do the Statue of Liberty! I made the castle like base in the end and they supplied a large plastic person to go on top. Not a typically ‘pretty’ cake but they loved it!

I was also asked to make a five tier trifle cake which I decided was structurally impossible due to the nature of custard…..and I once did a cake with ‘Sponge Bob Square Pants’ on the top.

Every cake is a work of art and I am very passionate about what I do, exercising a strong attention to detail. It’s important to me that my service is extremely personal and it is me that deals with every detail, right down to the delivery.

Planet cake made it to the finals of the British Bakery Awards this year and are very proud of this acheivement, congratulations!

Visit www.planet-cake.com to see more of Rachels cakes and get in contact with her.

Do you have a fun/exciting/super romantic or utterly perfect proposal story to share - and do you have a picture of the moment/day/night?

Boots magazine are looking for five couples to tell us how they got engaged and share pics of their “down on one knee” (or not) moments. The more unusual the better.

We’d like to speak to both the bride and groom (or groom and groom or bride and bride) to find out about the proposal from both of your perspectives.

If you’d like the world to know just how amazing your proposal was get in touch by emailing beck_speechley@hotmail.com asap.

Photo - Steve Gerrard Photography

Photographer: Robert Burress
Wedding Venue: Buxted Park Hotel
Catering: Hotel
Jeweller: Bridal Jewellery bought from The Little Things In Life, engagement ring designed by groom and made in Israel
Wedding Cake: Cheese Tower from The Cheese Shed
Hair: Kirsty McCall
Reception Venue: Buxted Park Hotel
Wedding Dress: Bridal Rogue Gallery London
Florist: Bouquet by The Flower Shop Uckfield, Table centre pieces made by bride
Transportation: Our own legs!
Make-Up: Kirsty McCall

What Chrissy loves most about Arnon - How he makes me feel like i’m the only one in the universe, he is very chivalrous and caring.

What Arnon loves most about Chrissy - how adorable she is and how much more we are together then the sum of our individual parts.

How did the proposal happen?
It was our 1 year anniversary and we had a lovely picnic on Primrose hill on a warm sunny day on June 10th 2008. After eating some lovely food and finishing a bottle of champagne we went to get another from the off license. On the way back into the park Arnon said that we should walk around and choose a favourite tree. So here we are, walking around rather tipsy - me just holding a bottle of champagne and Arnon carrying 3 bags… over the top of the hill i saw a ‘family of trees’ - a mummy & daddy and 2 baby ones. So we went to explore. After checking them out i was ready to walk away when Arnon said, ‘Hang on, there’s something wrong with my shoe’, as he put all the bags down and got on one knee. He then produced a very unique ring from his sock and asked me to marry him. I cried, i said yes and we got a third bottle of champagne!

How did you choose the wedding venue?
We like the handpicked chain of hotels, so we looked for ones that were in close proximity of London. It was the gorgeous gardens of Buxted Park that made us go for it in the end.

The best moment of the day
Too many to choose from! Perhaps when we all went outside after dinner to light and release sky lanterns into a rather windy night and some got stuck in the tree! It was very funny…

The story of the dress
2 weeks after i got engaged, i went to look to see what i might like. I went to Chiltern Street in London and in Bridal Rogue Gallery i described the kind of dress that i like and they had exactly what i described, i tried on the sample and it was a perfect fit. I felt like a total princess in it. I proceeded to some other shops - Harrods etc and nothing compared. Another shop assistant said, ‘you know THE dress the moment you put it on…’ It was that moment i knew that i should go back to BRG and get THE dress. A few weeks later i returned and was offerred the sample dress half price. I offerred a couple of hundred pounds less and they agreed! I was a very happy bride to be after making this most expensive purchase of my life!!!

Why did you choose your photographer?
We looked and looked and looked. We had a budget which of course limited us. Then we found an amazing photographer and even though he was WAY over budget, we were willing to spend less elsewhere. That particular photographer was busy on the date of our wedding, but he recommended 4 friends. We checked them all out and found that Rob was just as good and cheaper! We got in contact with him and loved him and his work. The end result is simply spectacular.

What personal touches did you include in your wedding?
We hand wrote individual messages for each guest and had them rolled up with their names on them which doubled up as their name place. For favours, i made little glass trinkets which were fused and sandblasted. Also i painted on every bottom of the candle lanterns/votive holders our names and the date of our wedding - there were enough of these for all guests to take home. We also did the table decorations ourselves - flower ring with hurricane candle in the middle with rose petals and table diamond scatters. I probably saved half the money then if i had a florist do it, and it was so satisfying to do it myself (albeit a little stressful!)

What happened that wasn’t planned?
It was unfortunately too cold to have our Jewish ceremony outside, so we had to have it inside. The chupah was not decorated in time for the ceremony so it was 20mins late! Also the numerous function manager’s gaffs…

What advice would you give couples planning their own weddings?
Sort out as much as possible as far in advance so that you have no stress leading up to the wedding. We had little to do the weeks leading up the wedding which meant we were super relaxed. If you read about or see something unique from another wedding, take it and make it your own. Have fun!

All images - Rob Burress at ShootingHip

Philippa & Bob were married in August in the idyllic setting of Homme House near Ledbury in Herefordshire.

Photographer: Steve Gerrard Photography
Wedding Venue: St Bartholomew’s Church, Much Marcle, Herefordshire
Catering: Sisters Catering, Thruxton, Hereford
Wedding Cake: The Cup Cake Kitchen Company
Hair: Kate Kelvin
Reception Venue: Homme House, Much Marcle, Herefordshire
Wedding Dress: Ian Stuart – “Sancerre”.  Margot Raybould brides, Wolverhampton
Florist: Love Lily, Abergavenny
Transportation: K C Horse Rescue, Bodenham, Hereford
Make-Up: Kate Kelvin

What Philippa loves most about Bob…
he’s my rock

What Bob loves most about Philippa…
her adventurous side (and when she doesn’t drive his car over pot holes)

How did the proposal happen?    
While on holiday in Tobago.  One evening we were sat on the balcony of our lodge overlooking the bay & Bob popped the question.

How did you choose the wedding venue?  
We looked at lots of venues to weigh up pros and cons, but we specifically looked for a venue with good photo opportunities (considering both inside and outside in the event that the weather was bad).  The icing on the cake with the one we chose was that the owners were so welcoming and helpful.

The best moment of the day…
We can’t single out a moment, the whole day was just so fantastic.

The story of the dress…  
I saw it in a magazine and fell in love with it, but thought it would be too expensive or would only look good on a stick thin model. I tried on other dresses but kept thinking about that one as they just couldn’t compete.  Then I went to the wedding show at the NEC and tried it on. That was it – it was THE dress!  I just had to save a bit more money to pay for it, but it was definitely worth it!

How did you choose your photographer?
 Searched lots of websites specifically looking at the quality and creativity of the photos, and what wedding albums they produced.  A bad website was an immediate strike off the list!  Then when we met the photographer we had to get along with them.

What personal touches did you include in your wedding?   
We used individual picture frames for each table plan, and imposed the guest names over old wedding pictures of different family members.  I hand made all the wedding invites.

It’s ok, they’re both police officers!

What happened that wasn’t planned?  
We had to bring the dinner forward by ½ hour as we ran out of Pimms and orange juice.

What advice would you give couples planning their own weddings?   
Bob says – Let the missus do it.  I disagree!  It’s nice if the guys can help out where they can.  The last 6 months before the wedding fly by, so be especially organised – it’s all of the little things that suddenly catch up with you.  Take out wedding insurance (we broke an antique lamp at our wedding venue).   On the day, just enjoy every moment and savour it, as it flies by.  We bought a memory book for our wedding that we could fill in on our honeymoon, so we didn’t forget all the things that made us laugh on the day, what people said, those special moments, etc.

All images - Steve Gerrard Photography

The no-nonsense guide to stationery for the modern wedding and civil partnership

Suzanne from Prettywild Stationery lets us in on the secrets for great wedding stationery. Bridal Soup love her modern and contemporary style, so have a read and check out her stuff.

Save the dates

Following trends in the US, these have gained in popularity in recent years. Sent a year in advance, save the date cards are particularly useful to prepare guests if the Big Day falls at a peak holiday time, is weekday celebration that will require guests to book time from work or if the destination involves a significant journey and possible overnight accommodation for most guests. I recommend sending them to daytime guests only. Encourage the recipient to keep it handy by sending a fridge magnet style or a tie-on tag.

Invitations

I like to think of the invitation as the “ambassador” of the event. Not only will it inform the guests of the details but it should whet the appetite for the day you have planned, reflecting its tone and formality. They can provide the perfect link for a theme or colour scheme.

We advise sending them around 3-4 months before the wedding date. Traditional etiquette deemed it 6 weeks but realistically it will depend when your venue needs to know the final catering numbers by. Set an “RSVP by. . .” date or some guests may not reply till the last minute or not at all! Ensure you give one to each of the bridal party too – they are wonderful keepsakes.

We get many queries from couples who worry about choosing the correct wording style but like most stationery designers we will happily suggest suitable text to suit your circumstances. Traditionally weddings were hosted and financed by the parents of the Bride but modern weddings and partnerships often have different dynamics to consider - couples paying for the wedding themselves or joint contributions from both families, hosting from extended families – we can cater for all circumstances.

The fun part…

Long gone are the days when wedding stationery suppliers were restricted to a few dusty albums depicting hearts, rings and horseshoes – there is now a huge and gorgeous wealth of pattern and design to choose from. When researching stationery websites bear in mind that many individual designers and companies will happily adapt their styles to suit, particularly in colour, for example: we will print match to fabric swatches if requested and change embellishments. So don’t worry if you do not see the exact design at first look – tweaks can be made, we positively encourage customisation!

Often we are approached to create bespoke concepts for a celebration with an individual theme – a recent example was a wonderful Alice in Wonderland styled wedding we were commissioned to design for, resulting in a whimsical booklet invitation complete with intricate keyhole and silver-plated key detailing. We are currently working on a stationery suit portraying otters for a Scottish Loch venue!

Bear in mind when picking a format that it is relevant to the amount of information you need to send. If your guests require overnight accommodation or the venue is in an unfamiliar location consider providing your guests with a little information cards with the invitation - portfolio or booklet style is ideal. RSVP cards can be included too. Don’t forget to factor postage costs – anything thicker than 5mm will incur a large letter stamp.

Welcome to our celebration…

On the day stationery is a great way to continue a theme and bring together a whole look of a room. Colours from flowers or motifs can be picked out in details on place cards and menus.

An extravagant table plan can be both a talking point and a lovely keepsake. Think about ways the stationery can work for you and create interesting formats. An order of service booklet can be an opportunity to print a dedication to loved ones, thank the bridal party or provide a timetable of the day. Table numbers can double up with menus. Place names can be made as tags, to be tied to chairs and glasses. Perhaps use a wishing tree centrepiece – encourage your guests to write a special message on their tags to tie to the foliage and retrieved later for an album of memories.

http://www.prettywild.co.uk/

Wedding Venue: Lyveden New Bield near Oundle  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-lyvedennewbield

Photographer – Crash Taylor http://www.crashtaylor.com

Catering: We had a hog roast and BBQ from Trendall in Oundle

Jeweller: Monsoon/Accessorise - I wanted vintage but couldn’t find anything I liked!

Wedding Cake: A metre high summer fruit pavlova made by Katie at Couture Cakes - www.couturecakes.co.uk

Hair: and make-up by my good friend Sarah Jane Green of Teresa Fairminer Associates www.teresafairminer.com

Reception Venue: Lyveden New Bield - we hired a marquee from the Posh Tent Company www.theposhtentcompany.co.uk

Wedding Dress: Was made for me by Rachel Lamb because I couldn’t find anything I liked ready made - www.rachellambdesign.co.uk

Florist: My friend Simone Pickering of Miss Pickering of Stamford - because she does the best vintage country flowers in the world

Transportation: A morris minor convertible driven by my dad - we needed a self drive wedding car because we both get terribly car sick! http://www.selfdriveclassics.co.uk/index.html

We asked the couple to answer a few questions so you can get an insight into their day and why it was so special, and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

1. What Rebecca loves most about Tim…

His hugs and his reassuring logic which brings me back down to earth.

2. What Tim loves most about Rebecca…

Everything.

3. How did the proposal happen?

After eight years of waiting I was completely stunned when Tim took me to my favourite restaurant for my birthday and proposed. I was rendered momentarily speechless - which for those who know me would never have seemed possible.

4. How did you choose the wedding venue?

I’ve always wanted to get married outside, somewhere beautiful that has some history. I searched on the internet for stately homes and country hotels with nice gardens but nothing was right. Then I tried the National Trust website and came across Lyveden. We went to see it on a cold rainy day and loved it even though it was dark and wet. It has a fantastic atmosphere and loads of great backdrops. We knew it would be great for photos and it was something different - the perfect setting for our humanist outdoor ceremony.

5. The best moment of the day…

Other than the I dos - the best moment was everyone shouting for more when the DJ played the last song. No one would leave the dance floor - that’s when I knew everyone had had a great time and they didn’t want our wedding to end. We had one more track - Thriller - to end the night.

6. The story of the dress…

I knew I wanted lace - but it needed to be very English looking lace not French or Spanish like most of the ones in the shops. I knew I didn’t want strapless, that I wanted a v-neckline, a nipped in waist and an a-line skirt with a bit of a train. I tried on dress after dress and none of them were right - they were too French, too big, too sparkly, too Flamenco and just not me. When I tried on a sample dress in Rachel’s showroom in the fabric my dress was made from I knew it was perfect - and unlike other wedding dress designers who can be really snotty about changing their “design” she was happy to make me anything and sketched the perfect picture from my description. Having a dress made is nerve-wracking because you see how much work goes into it without knowing if you’re definitely going to like it in the end - but I loved my dress.

7. How did you choose your photographer?

A friend had seen Crash Taylor’s website and once I’d seen it we got in touch asap to book him up fast. We loved his dramatic images which we knew would suit our venue and we loved the idea of the engagement shoot too.

8. What personal touches did you include in your wedding?

Lots - I wanted our wedding to be about us and not just a generic wedding. Our humanist ceremony included our childhood stories, details of how we met and readings by close friends. We wrote our own vows - which were really special. My mum, sister and I made pretty much everything for the wedding from the bunting, tablecloths and pillows to the homemade cakes and scones. Tim hand stamped all of our place cards and we created a gallery of old picture frames filled with black and white pictures of us growing up and with all our friends and family. Each of our out of town guests got a goody bag when they arrived at their hotel full of nibbles, sweets and bottles of water to make them feel at home. I also kept a blog of the planning process and we had a wedding website which got our guests involved from the outset - http://becomingmrsjones.blogspot.com/ and http://www.beckandtim.com

9. What happened that wasn’t planned?

I’m a bit of a control freak so things ran pretty smoothly. Some of the candles didn’t get lit but I was having such a great time that I didn’t care. Our guests drank our welcome drinks dry in 30 minutes - so I’d definitely get more booze in from the start if I did it again! Oh and one of our ushers locked his car keys in his boot along with the video cameras for the wedding - which was a shame, but it was great fodder for the grooms speech.

10. Where did you choose for the honeymoon?

We went to Cape Town, on Safari and then to Zanzibar and it was amazing.

11. What advice would you give couples planning their own weddings?

Have a marquee wedding - they have a beautiful atmosphere that’s relaxed and intimate at the same time. Get great food, lots to drink and music that everyone will love. Make sure your bar is in the same room as the dancing - so many people came up to me to say that they’d never seen so many men on the dance floor and that was because we made it hard for them to escape the music. We chose to get married at 4pm rather than lunch time - it meant the day was shorter, but it also meant that our guests didn’t have the dead time between the ceremony and the evening reception for just hanging around - it worked really well. Enjoy yourself - it can be hard to let go when you’ve been planning something for months/years (29 in my case!) - and I was a nervous wreck before I walked up the aisle - but from then on it was brilliant. A few bits didn’t get done but no one but me (and mum) really knew about it so no one noticed. People are there to see you happily married - so smile and enjoy yourselves.

Thank you to Rebecca and Tim for sharing their wonderful day with Bridal Soup, and thank you to Crash Taylor for the brilliant images.

http://www.crashtaylor.com/

Next month sees the wedding of superstar wedding photographer Jessica Claire. When you’re career revolves around weddings you know that you have to raise the bar a little when planning your own big day. After seeing the photos of Jessica’s bridal shower and the gorgeous details, we at Bridal Soup are even more excited to see the photographs from the wedding itself.

Two of Jessica’s bridesmaids Chenin and Candice pretty much crafted everything here on their own. Great job girls!

The decorate-your-own cupcake bar.

Congratulations to Jessica and all the best for the wedding…

Photography (and invitation design!) by Chenin Boutwell