When it comes to creating a wedding that is one people will remember the key lies in those small personal touches.  They don’t have to be costly; being creative can be a cheap, fun and effective way of spicing up your wedding.

Firstly you need to generate your idea.  If you have a passion and a strong sense of what you like, then this won’t be difficult.  However, if you don’t, then spend some time thinking about what you love and have a passion for.  It could be a colour or a film; it could be a country or piece of music. 

For example; if you enjoy classical music, could you call upon any musical friends you have that play an instrument to play at your reception.  How about if you love Audrey Hepburn?  How about getting your friends to dress up in the 50s style and serving canapés?  If you love the jazz age, why not get some musicians in and get people to dress in the flapper style?

Also think about blending your heritage together; a friend of mine is Chinese and married a Dutch man; the bride’s aunt made egg tarts and the groom’s family made speculaas (almond cookies) to give as favours.  Think about making your own cupcakes as favours too; they are simple and cost effective to make (flour, egg, milk) and adding some simple icing and sprinkles will produce some expensive looking cakes.  You can ice all kinds writing on them too; your names or even words that you feel describe your relationship.

You can also name the cocktails!  You can hire a bartender or ask the venue to help you mix up some new concoctions and give them names!  You can add small touches to the glasses like small flowers, paper butterflies etc. to add a touch of glamour.

As well as looking at bridal websites, go to haberdashery and craft stores for ideas since they have lots of decorations.  Paperchase has a specific wedding stationary section full of unusual goodies.  B&Q is another good place for colour ideas; on the paint section!  The small strips of paint samples on card are a great way of deciding on the colour scheme for your wedding reception – also look at www.pantone.com which is full of colour combinations. 

No matter what you decide to go for make it personal, make it creative and everyone will enjoy the day as much as you do.

Every bride wants to provide their guests with a delicious menu that doesn’t cost the earth and provides everyone with something they can eat.  But it is getting harder – vegetarians, vegans, people with nut/seafood/dairy/wheat allergies – finding something for all can be hard work!  Here are some great ideas for catering for all your wedding guests. 

Consider a wedding buffet or think of tasty canapés, a barbeque or even different food stations for example, one with sushi, one with meat and one for vegetarians and vegans.  That way, people can help themselves and can eat to their hearts content.  With a barbeque (great outdoors) guests can pick what they want on to cook and it will get them talking and mixing with each other if you prefer the casual, friendly feel.  Sushi bars are becoming increasingly popular, especially as there are hundreds of varieties.  Hiring some sushi chefs for the day to continually make fresh sushi is an extremely cool way of serving your guests if you have many to feed.

You could also consider the types of food you want to serve; for some people, curries or Chinese food may be a natural choice due to ethnic background but its worth considering the variety of  serving multicultural cuisine.

Italian food for example caters well for vegetarians because of the choice of salads; tarts made of vegetables and goat’s cheese, vegetarian pasta dishes etc.  On the other hand, Chinese food, or pan Asian style food works well with meat lovers.  Japanese food works extremely well with seafood – fresh seared tuna and miso soup.   Japanese and Chinese food are also very low (if not completely free) of dairy.

Thai food is generally spicy and can be a refreshing change to the usual wedding menus; it’s also a great choice for a low gluten diet.  Consider a spiced vermicelli salad to begin with (great with meat or with vegetables).

If you have your heart set of your three course set wedding menu, but you aren’t sure if it will suit all your guests then talk to your chef and let them know of any allergies or potential problems.  It isn’t usually a problem to order some vegetarian plates or some vegan ones.  Remember that you need catering staff that are clued up and will let guests know what is in the food being served; the last thing you need is someone being rushed to the hospital due to an allergy.

Wherever you decide to get married, it is always worth trying to negotiate cost-saving options into each and every contract you sign. Here are some great places to get started:

Provide your own alcohol: Clubs and hotels that require you to purchase their alcohol do it for a reason - selling booze is their bread and butter. If you were to buy in bulk at your local supermarket or wine warehouse, not only would you get substantially better prices, but you should also be able to return unopened bottles after the event. Supplying your own booze for the reception and the toasts is definitely something to explore. In practice, most places that will agree to this will charge you a “corkage” fee (usually between £5 - £10 per bottle). Even with a corkage fee, it’s worth running the numbers, as the potential savings could still be quite large.

Choose an all-inclusive caterer: If you can get your caterer to includes china, tablecloths, and silverware in their price quotes, this can also be a real cost saver in the long run. Unless you’re obsessed with tabletop designs, it’s best to stick with what they have to offer instead of dealing with hiring outside rental vendors and coordinating the whole thing yourself. When all is said and done, do you really care about the difference between moss- or seafoam-colored tablecloths?

Be aggressive with your negotiations: It’s tempting, especially when you are going through a quote with a different vendor for the 5^th time, but don’t just say OK when a vendor quotes a price. There are two types of negotiation techniques. Position based and value based. Most people only consider position based negotiation. That is to say, the vendor wants £100 but you are only prepared to pay £50. There is a lot of research that shows position-based bargaining will usually end up in the middle if a deal is struck is at all, so if you take this route, go in much lower than what you actually want to pay. Be advised though, position-based negotiation is really hard work and wears you down quite quickly. Value-based negotiations are always to be preferred as they are about creating win-win situations and creating value for both parties in the process. For example, the vendor may want £100 but only because it will cost them £25 to get someone to deliver and pick up the items. If you can get someone you know to take care of this, the vendor may well be a lot more willing to give you the discount. In practice, value-based negotiations involve coming up with creative solutions. In order to be successful you need to trade off what is valuable to you with what is valuable to the vendor. Where the value is not equal, there is room for negotiation.

Always read the fine print: You’re in the moment, everyone is dancing and you’re feeling the love. And the clock is ticking. When you signed the contract, you figured four hours would be plenty of time, but now the party isn’t nearly over. Don’t get stuck in that situation. Read the fine print well ahead of time and find out how much extra hours will cost you (if you’re allowed them at all). Some venues charge as much as £500 per hour if you go over your allotted time, not to mention service charges to keep people around. If you have your wedding at an off-time, perhaps negotiate an extra buffer hour as a “value added,” an option or service which is included for free in lieu of discounts on the services you’ve already requested.

Taken individually, the fact that you’ll usually end up paying extra for tablecloths, silverware, table rentals and glassware does not seem like such a big deal. But every single one of these items (multiplied by a hundred or two hundred, depending on how large your guest list is) can send shockwaves through your system. Just how much will all this cost? here is an illustrative breakdown:

ITEM PRICE TOTAL (PER 100 GUESTS)

Wow. Those prices can add up fast! If you choose a venue that doesn’t include full place settings, tables, chairs, and glassware, you can figure on adding an additional £700 to your total venue budget. Remember, these numbers are for the low-end of the rental scale. It’s very easy to get carried away with more expensive options! These added charges provide some real incentive to opt for “all inclusive” venues such as a restaurant or a private club, which include all dinnerware in the price. Your final total will be far less than it would be if you rent out that blank space that would require you to furnish it from top to bottom.

If you are not getting married in a church, bundling the location of the ceremony and reception can be a beautiful thing in more ways than one. For a start, your floral budget will benefit, because you will be able to move arrangements from one end of the room to another when you move from the ceremony to the reception.