Claire & Paul at Brynkinalt Hall

This wedding is a great example of a fabulous marquee wedding at a stunning country house location. The bride thought of everything from flip flops & pashminas to toletries in the luxury portaloos!

The photography is courtesy of Dorset Wedding Photographer – Courtenay Photographic Ltd

Enjoy!

We ♥ This Website

It is so hard to keep up with all the wedding related websites and blogs these days because there are just soooooo many! But every now and again, I come across one that makes me smile and my heart flutter. And when I do, how rude would it be of me to keep it to myself?

So, if you like all things pretty with a touch of vintage (dahling) then you need to visit Hey Gorgeous Events.

I am sorry lovelies, she is in the US darn-it! But I am sure that you will find her work a true inspiration. Why not visit Rhiannon's (even better, she has a Welsh name!) Facebook Page too.

Happy Planning ♥

Wedding Planning Checklist

OK - so you are engaged. Now what?

Now you have some organising to do! But what? When?

Luckily we have already thought of that for you and here is handy wedding planning checklist for you. You can even download a paper copy to print off and keep with you in your wedding planning folder. No bride is complete without one!

Happy planning ♥

Fat is good for you!

Year ago the low fat diet was born and research shows that this diet is the one that seems to have done the most damage to people. You see we need fat in our diets and believe it or not some fat helps you to burn fat.

The problem with the low fat diet is that people now buy so called “low fat” products, what they don’t realise is if the fat has been removed from something then the manufacturers add all sorts of flavourings and sugar and basically whatever they can to still make that product taste nice.

There was a fantastic BBC 3 documentary recently with Zoe Salmon called “The big fat truth about low fat foods” she basically ate only low fat foods for 4 weeks. At the end of the 4 weeks I think she had lost 2 lbs in weight but her skin looked awful and she said that she felt awful always hungry and always tired. The show also showed you some of the ingredients which were used in things like Weight Watchers puddings and the ingredients definitely didn’t come from food. If you get the chance to watch it please do.

Margarine is a man made product and is only a few chemicals away from being plastic, so the information now is to eat butter – preferably organic butter, because at least that is a natural product. To cook we should be using coconut oil.

Coconut oil is really good for you, it was once believed to be a “bad fat” by doctors as it contains 90% of its fat from saturated fat. I need to tell you though not all saturated fats are the same. The saturated fat within coconut oil will not raise your cholesterol levels.

I am going to try and keep this simple, the saturated fat within coconut oil comes from Lauric acid and the only other place you will find this naturally is from breast milk. The human body converts this and it works as a fantastic defence against lots of common diseases.

Best of all coconut oil helps your metabolic chain and helps boost your thyroid. So in short it will help you lose weight and boost your immune system. Not bad eh!

So if you want a dollop of butter on your corn on the cob – go ahead, its fine. Dress your salads with olive oil and cook with coconut oil.

Remember we need fat in our diet, to make us healthy and glowing!

If you have any questions please get in touch I would love to hear from you.

Zara Groves

www.twitter.com/ZaraGroves
www.facebook.com/zaragroves1

A Match Made in Heaven!

We love these fabulous Save The Date cards created by Suzanne Osborne of Pretty Wild Design. Suzanne has used her obvious design talent along with a play on words to create these great "Match Made in Heaven" Save the Date cards and we know for a fact that if you received one you would put it in pride of place!
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For more information and to see more gorgeous wedding stationery designs visit www.prettywild.co.uk

Affected by the Llangollen Hotels Ltd collapse?

This has got to be every bride and grooms' nightmare. Your wedding venue goes into administration or worse - closes its doors completely before your wedding day.

There are a number of couples in and around Wrexham, North Wales, who have found themselves in this situation following Llangollen Hotels Ltd being placed into Administration. A number of the company's hotels including popular wedding venues Bodidris Hall Hotel, The Wild Pheasant Hotel & The Bryn Howell Hotel are now being run by the Administrators KPMG. Others such as The Wynnstay Hotel, Wrexham have shut their doors completely.

Hopefully, if you were planning on holding your wedding at The Wynnstay in Wrexham, you have wedding insurance that you can fall back on but even then this leaves you without a wedding venue.

A number of local hotels in the local area are keen to step in and help and one, The Lion Quays Waterside Resort, which also owns The Moreton Lodge has gone a step further and set up a special hotline number for couples to call and chat through what is available to them.
The number is: 01691 684 330.

Both hotels are conveniently placed, on the A483 a short distance from Wrexham.

Between the 2 hotels there is something to suit all budgets so why not give them a call today and see what they can do to help.

Best Wishes

Mrs2Be

Do You Need an Event Co-ordinator?

If you are not getting married or holding your wedding reception in a Hotel, then arranging your wedding is going to involve a whole lot more organisation than if you were.

There are a wide number of wedding venues around the country that provide you with the space to get married in, or the space to put up a marquee in, however these venues are often family homes or have another main uses and so the owners or managers have limited involvement and will simply provide you with the space you need.

Nicky from Blue Leaf Event Hire says:

“There are a number items that couples need to be aware of, so that if their supplier doesn’t mention them, they will know that they may still need them."

Read More......

Flash Mob Weddings - The latest craze?

If you love spontaneity then you are going to love watching the latest craze of Flash Mob Weddings! Though, in reality the whole thing will have been very well thought out, organised and choreographed.

Remember those amazing T-mobile adverts where the crowd at the train station burst into song? Well, it has gone a stage further. Now, they become a wedding congregation, a bride, a groom and a minister!!!

And then what happens? Yep - you guessed it - they get married!!

Originally an American craze - this fab way to tie the knot has now shown up on our own fair shores starting with a beautiful looking Flash Mob Wedding which took place in Netley Abbey near Southampton.

The bride and groom Sam & Daryll Low surprised visitors to the abbey, along with their 70 strong congregation who on an previously arranged cue arranged themselves, along with a chapel set up complete with pews and a Pastor!! All in under 90 seconds!

Five minutes later the couple had exchanged vows, the congregation had burst into song and the whole site was cleared leaving no evidence at all of what had just taken place!

Amazing!

For more images & info visit the Daily Mail Online

Not sure what a flash mob wedding is? See below:

Get Rid of those Bingo Wings and Show off your Arms!

Arms are yet another area of a ladies body that are often kept hidden, usually by totally covering up or wearing the trusty pashmina. How nice it would be, to have the choice, (when you are attending an occasion that requires dressing up in a gorgeous dress) – sleeves or no sleeves!

Ladies consistently state,( when I am asking them to lift weights) “I don’t want to get big muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger”. If you ladies knew just how hard you would have to train, how heavy your weights need to be and how strict your diet would have to be to even come close to having huge muscles you would never utter that sentence again.

What you need to remember is:

1. Your muscles grow – you look toned!
2. Your muscles shrink – you look flabby.
3. The more muscle mass your body has the faster your metabolism works at all times.

Do you want to use weights to tone your upper body? To get results with your muscles you need to push them. If you are using piddly weights believing massive repetitions is the way to go, you will need to change.

You need to use the correct weights! This is achieved by selecting weights which require you to push yourself. If you have been told to do 10 reps, by the time you are getting to number 6 you should be thinking that you are not going to be able to complete the 10, but with determination you achieve your goal. It is then you have got the correct weight to gain the results you are seeking.

In addition to training your arms and achieving the toned look, you have to train your chest (yes, the dreaded push) and also your back. In comparison to your arm muscles, your chest and back muscles are huge.

I have added a 10 minute workout for your upper body to help you below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOaprCkeb_M

Remember though if you are not eating healthy nutritious food then your body is not going to change. The saying “you are what you eat” is so true. So here are 5 easy healthy changes that you can make which will make a huge difference.

1. Swap your normal white potatoes for sweet potatoes.

2. Swap your orange cordial for water with slices of oranges – get a jug, slice the oranges and leave. The longer the oranges are left in the water the more flavor they create.

3. Swap your coffee/tea for fruit tea or red bush tea (this is tough to start but so rewarding)

4. Swap your cooking oil for coconut oil.

5. Swap your sugar for Sweet Freedom or Agave

These are all small changes and not noticeable (well apart from the caffeine) but they will have a massive impact on your nutrition.

If you have any questions you want to ask me please get in touch, the quickest way to get a response is via twitter and second is facebook.

Zara Groves
www.facebook.com/zaragroves1
www.twitter.com/ZaraGroves

Fresh Summer Wedding Palette

Summer is brought to life in this mood board with the use of these fabulous summer sunshine colours!