GIFTS Which List?

Where are you placing your gift list? WP has some essential questions to ask before registering with a gift list company!

So the golden rules are...

1. Make sure that the company you choose offers plenty of choice - having two lists is always confusing for guests and you end up not getting what you want from either list.

2. Choose a gift list service that allows you to keep your list open for as long as you want and to open it whenever you want it to go live.

3. Make sure the gift list service is flexible - if you put a fondue set on your list and someone bought you one independently, make sure that you can swap the list one for something else that hasn't been bought on the list.

4. These days it's important that guests can see your wedding gifts and buy online, but make sure that guests also have the opportunity to buy a gift over the phone if they don't have internet access.

5. Check out extra charges - you don't want guests to have to pay for the service and nor should you.

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Posted in category: Gift Lists

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VENUE Let's Play!

Lego is not only our favourite toy, it is a funtastic wedding hotspot with a fabulous mansion overlooking Legoland and Windsor Castle.

If you're a big kid at heart and want a bit of fun on your wedding day, check out St. Leonard’s Mansion, overlooking Legoland Windsor in Berkshire. Steeped in history dating back to the 18th century, the mansion provides the perfect elegant setting for your big day, while all the fun of Legoland lies spread below.

Only one wedding is ever held in a day, with all the guest rooms on the ground floor of The Mansion House at your disposal. Both the Windsor and JFK Suites are spacious and have great views overlooking the park, with double doors leading out onto a spacious terrace where pre-reception drinks may be served. The Windsor Suite is a beautiful oak panelled room. ideal as a play room, a quiet space for guests or even as an evening buffet area. The room has two sets of double doors leading out to the garden terrace with beautiful views over the park and Windsor Great Park.

Exclusive venue hire is from £1400 for the JFK Suite, Bar, Terrace and Foyer areas (Excludes Windsor Suite) of from £1800 for complete exclusive hire of the mansion (all ground floor rooms). Wedding packages start at £65 per head and include access to Legoland theme park for all guests during opening hours.

To find out more, call 01753 626209 or go to legoland.co.uk

Click to read more unusual venues:
Theatrical Touch - rooftop location and access to costume hire.
On the Farm - get married festival style in the countryside.
Love Train - Rachael and Ian's wedding at Kew Steam Museum

Click to download your venue fact sheet:
WP Venues Fact Sheet - everything you need to know and ask when choosing a venue

Posted in category: Venues

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PLANNING I'd Just Like to Say...

Making a speech can be nerve-wracking, but with a few good one-liners up your sleeve to break the ice you will soon have family and friends laughing. This week we review a handy new book.

Top speech writer Mitch Murray has put together the perfect gameplan for making a speech. Including his own tips and techniques and masses of one-liners to be lifted and adapted for your own in-the-spotlight moment.

Rather more than the title suggests, Mitch Murray’s One-Liners for Wedding Speeches (Foulsham £8.99) is a complete DIY kit for all those having to make a speech on the big day. It offers a rich selection of ideas, one-liners, quotations and quips you can adapt or import for the occasion. A successful speech depends very much on how the ideas are arranged and structured … it’s not what you say that counts, it’s the way that you say it!

Mitch includes the gags. He shows you how to deliver them. He shows you how to structure everything for pace. And most of all, he produces everyone's dream, the successful wedding speech.

click to read more on speech-making

Photo © Freeman Photographics

Posted in category: Planning

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