Event Planning

It is so easy to say thank you, and yet we rarely do it. But thanking someone makes both you and the recipient feel good. I felt inspired to write this blog after a concert I sang in last week. I sing with a Ladies Close Harmony choir and we perform perhaps a dozen concerts per year. We are usually thanked verbally by the host at the end, but last week was different. Last week each member of the choir was given a thank you card with the following note on the back:

“Thank you for coming to our ladies evening and blessing us with your singing.

‘It is a good thing to sing praise to our God’

Psalm 147 v1”

Both the musical director and the master of ceremonies were also presented with flowers. I sing because I love it, but this simple gesture really made me feel appreciated. It is not just in our social life that “thank you” goes a long way. Peter Bregman works with Chief Executives to develop their teams, he writes about how important thanks are in the workplace:, "... saying “thank you” is mostly an emotional act. It connects one person to another. Saying “thank you” doesn’t just acknowledge someone’s effort, thoughtfulness, intent, or action. It acknowledges the person himself." Everyone likes to feel appreciated, whether it be at work, at home or socially. We seem to live in a society where complaints are forthcoming, but compliments and thank yous are forgotten. We can convey our thanks in many different ways: by email, phone, social media, face-to-face and written. The method you use will depend on the circumstances. In the last year not only have I received thank you cards for singing, but also for hosting a dinner party and for recommending someone’s business. I have kept all these cards on top of the piano and then moved them to a keepsake box. They are treasured in a way that an email or telephone conversation never can be. Etiquette dictates that following a wedding, christening or other occasion you should always send out a thank you note. If you want to make the thank you note a bit special you can personalise it with photographs of the day or with a special message. But I want to show my appreciation more often, so I am going to:

• give more positive mentions to friends and business colleagues on social media
• write testimonials for people who I work with
• send a present to people who refer business to me
• thank my family verbally for the wonderful things they do all the time
• stock up my desk drawer with cards and send out nice hand written thank you notes to people who I appreciate.

Saying thank you is easy, go on, give it a try.

For many couples their wedding day is the fairytale, where you are the Prince and Princess for the day. But what happens after the honeymoon, when the memory of the day has faded? How do you live happily ever after? In any marriage the wedding is just the start of the story, there will be a lot of hard work ahead. The musical “Into The Woods”, due to be released as a film in December, gives a twisted view of what happens after the fairytale ending, but the reality can be so different. In February it was National Marriage Week, where individuals and organisations were challenged to focus on how the relationship can grow and flourish into a healthy marriage. Marriage is good for us – research in both the UK and Australia shows that married people are happier than singles, so it really is worth making the marriage work. All couples start out with good intentions and very few will imagine that their marriage will be one of the estimated 42% that end in divorce. There will be times, however, when the strongest marriage comes under stress. Typically it is when children arrive, when the children leave home or at retirement, but stress in the relationships can come from unemployment, change of job, caring for relatives, ill-health, financial concerns and a myriad of other issues. Before you know it that person who was your best friend and soul mate has become someone distant and unrecognisable. So here are some of the things you need to think about to make your marriage survive: • Tolerance and acceptance – nobody is perfect and you have to accept your partner for what they are. If you want things to change, change yourself and your partner may well follow. Say you are sorry if things go wrong. • Commitment – marriage should be approached as a life-long commitment. You owe that to your spouse, your family and yourself. • Good manners – don’t take each other for granted and appreciate your other half. Thank them for the things they do, tell them you love them and respect their feelings. • Care for each other by being attentive to each other, sharing hugs and holding hands. • Listen to what your partner is saying and pay attention to how they are saying it. Keep on communicating and don’t get defensive. Try to sit down with a cup of tea regularly to talk over issues before they get to breaking point. • Allow each other space to develop interests, but support your partner in those interests. Self-fulfilment allows you to love yourself and let other people love you. • Laugh together, make sure your life is fun where possible and have your own little jokes • Plan things together – make a list of what you would like to do together such as holidays, hobbies, walks, meals. Talk about what you can to do together when the children leave home or when you retire. Have things to look forward to. • Celebrate – your love for each other is a wonderful thing. Make sure you celebrate it by going out on dates regularly, writing love letters, making unexpected gestures. Build up the happy memories you have together, because these can help you through the harder times. As part of the celebration you should share your achievement with family and friends. Anniversaries, particularly Silver weddings (25 years), Ruby Weddings (40), Golden (50) and Diamond (60), are popular milestones. As people live longer new milestones are coming up: I know someone who has now celebrated two silver weddings and another couple approaching their 65th (blue sapphire) wedding anniversary. Surely a cause for celebration.

It’s that time of year when Spring is round the corner and soft pastels adorn our shops to get us in the mood for the warmer brighter weather. I love Easter and all the colours it brings to our high street, here I have put together an Easter pastels mood board to give you some ideas and inspiration for planning an Easter wedding.

Setting the theme

For an Easter inspired wedding focus on light tones of blue, pink, green, lilac, yellow, aqua and peach – thus creating a wonderful array of soft candy colours. Look at introducing a mixture of these colours to your bouquet, for example use a selection of different pastel coloured roses complimented with delicate green foliage to add depth. Also look at using different coloured bridesmaid dresses rather than selecting one single colour, this will really make a statement and reinforce your pastel theme. Introduce your colour palette into your venue by using complimenting stationery, sugared almonds for wedding favours, homemade pink lemonade and pink champagne for welcome drinks accompanied with vanilla and rosewater marshmallows to add a fun element. Think about moving away from a traditional wedding cake and have cake pops! These can be iced in a selection of colours and decorated with ribbons to add a luxury feel. You can even try following the pastel theme through to your wedding car, here I have shown an example of a pale yellow vintage car decorated with delicate blue flowers which I am sure you agree is a bit more exciting than your typical white wedding car.

Wedding Invitations

Wedding Invitations and Save The Date Cards are often the first snippet that your guests will get of your wedding so it’s important to get it right if you want to use these to set the mood or theme of your big day. Creating a mood board in the very early stages of your wedding planning helps you create a look or theme for your big day. If you are unsure about a colour scheme then why not try creating several mood boards and see which idea comes together the best. Once you have set your colour scheme then shop around for stationery to fit with your theme. Here I have chosen Shabby Chic Bunting from The Card Gallery to compliment my Easter Pastels theme. This fun and quirky bunting design says ‘spring’ to me and is created using a range of soft pastels against a distressed neutral background – I love this muted and understated design for an Easter Wedding. You can then follow the Shabby Chic bunting range throughout your wedding with matching order of service, table plan, table numbers, place cards, menus, lottery ticket holders and wine bottle labels, all of which can be personalised with your own unique wording.

Alternative Wedding Invitation Ideas

With an extensive colour palette then it really does open up so many options regarding wedding invitations. Here I have put together some alternative ideas that would all compliment an Easter pastels wedding. Please note that some invitations are shown in different colours on The Card Gallery website but can be changed using the colour palette option (see website for details).

1. Summer Butterlies – a simple but elegant design printed in mint, wisteria, and candyfloss
2. Vintage Peony – I love the way tou can add your names to the tag to create a bespoke look on this design
3. Monotone Love Birds – this designs appears in black on the website but here it has been recreated using blush, apple and daffodil
4. Shabby Chic Polka Dot Roses – this pastel design is complimented with it’s hot pink element to add vibrance to its soft muted pattern
5. Wedding Polka Dots – shown here in wisteria, this design can be changed to a mixture of pastels to fit with your theme
6. Vintage Bunting and Love Birds – I love the way you can personalised the ‘jam jars’ on this design as well as change the colour to fit with your theme

Free samples are available of all the designs featured on this article, please click here to order your free samples now.

Happy National Marriage Week! Did you know that every year national marriage week is celebrated? This year it’s from the 7^th February 2014 to the 14^th February 2014, concluding on yes, we’re sure you’ve remembered it, Valentine’s Day! 'Marriage Week' was launched in 2009, encompassing various events to celebrate the love and commitment of those 2 little words which mean so much... ‘I do’. The week, which always encompasses St Valentine’s Day, is supported both in the UK and around the world, and last year a whopping 1.5 million people took part in a Marriage Week event worldwide, with 15 countries celebrating the event. Marriage Week is part of a registered UK charity which aims to spread the word, locally and across the world. Are you going to celebrate? We think it’s a good excuse to take some time out and reminisce on how you got together...how far you’ve come and why you fell in love! The organisers of the week, marriage-week.org.uk say celebrations can be anything from a special dinner to reaffirming your marriage vows and making promises to each other. This year, event organisers are hoping to set a new Guinness World Record for the number of couples reaffirming their marriage vows and making promises to each other. The event, ‘Big Promise’ will take place on Saturday 8^th February at 5.15pm when couples will attempt to break the record of 1089 couples reaffirming their vows, set in Ohio, USA in 2009. Venues across the UK where couples will be simultaneously reaffirming their marriage vows are shown on www.BIGPromise.org.uk We would love to hear from you, if you or someone you know is getting involved in the ‘Big Promise’ event and to see some of your lovely pics.

As we enter into the Chinese New Year (31st January), I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how Chinese style has influenced British Design. When we think of Chinese New Year we think of dragons and bright colours, mainly red and yellow. If we go back over 250 years the dragon was one of the main motifs of the Chinoiserie style that was at its height from 1750 to 1765. This style looked at everything that was exotic and fanciful, often from the imagination of the designer rather than any first-hand observation. Architect William Chambers designed the pagoda at Kew Gardens, completed in 1762, and he inspired a real interest in Chinese-style gardening. The Victorians also admired Chinese design, particularly in ceramics and it is these images of blossom trees, pagodas and bridges that still influence our ideas of Chinese design. Throughout the 20th Century we see Chinese influences in fashion, particularly in the art décor style.

Today with so many Chinese people living in Europe and the USA we see a real mix and match of western and Oriental style. Traditionally Chinese weddings were steeped in ceremony and superstition. Marriages were arranged between the parents via a matchmaker. The matchmaker would match the birthdates of the couple and if these were auspicious a dowry would be discussed. Once this had been agreed the couple would be betrothed. The date of the wedding would be set for a lucky day.

The traditional Chinese wedding dress is red, but many Chinese couples are opting to get married in the white dress and suit of the West. But they are keeping many of their traditions at the wedding, such as the tea-ceremony and styling their weddings in red, so that they have beautifully rich table settings and cake designs. The banquet is viewed as more important than the ceremony itself and brides will sometimes wear the traditional red just for the banquet. The dragon does appear in the Chinese wedding as the dragon represents the groom and a phoenix the bride.

British brides may not realise it, but they are using more subtle Chinese influences for their weddings. Orange or cherry blossoms often influence the overall wedding style and orchids appear in many bouquets and buttonholes. Chinese lanterns appear in marquees and gardens. Fans and parasols are often part of the bridesmaids’ outfit and fortune cookie favours are now making an appearance.

2014 is the Chinese year of the horse. People born in the year of the horse are cheerful, skilful with money, perceptive, witty, talented and good with their hands. Read more: Chinese New Year: 2014 | Infoplease.com

We are really excited to announce our new vintage range is now available to order! We have launched 9 stunning designs all of which have a handmade look but are completely printed – so there’s no fuss, there’s no spending hours assembling your cards, they are ready to go and look amazing too! The collections comprise of; Vintage Peony Shabby Chic Flowers Vintage Nautical Shabby Chic Bunting Vintage Damask Vintage Snowflakes Vintage Bunting and Love Birds Shabby Chic Polka Dot Roses Vintage Orchid Vintage Peony and Shabby Chic Flowers are probably my most favourite designs - although I love the others too! The Vintage Peony was created using a beautiful rustic image of a single peony and comes finished with twine and a hessian tag on which you can have your names printed in a vintage typewriter font to complete the look. The Vintage Flowers design is made up using a soft, delicate floral print and is finished with a heart shaped tag, cream twill ribbon, white lace and twine which runs around the centre. I think these designs are versatile and will compliment a vintage themed wedding very well. The next two designs were created using many different elements. They are both fun but stylish and unique in design. The Vintage Nautical is perfect for an overseas wedding or a UK coastal wedding. I love the way the subtle beach theme and the femininity of this design complement each other so well. The nautical theme was created using whitewash wood, sand, floral fabric, brass buttons, vintage brooch, grosgrain ribbon and a brass plate. Shabby Chic Bunting is fun and is bang on trend. The design comprises of a neutral textured background, ditsy print bunting, cream twill ribbon, fabric brooch, buttons, polka dot lace and vintage paper. The perfect choice for a vintage inspired summer wedding. Vintage Damask and Vintage Snowflakes were created with the colder, more wintery months in mind. The Vintage Damask was put together using old damask wallpaper, silver ribbon, lace, buttons and a vintage brooch consisting of a large smoky amethyst surrounded in diamonds. The Vintage Snowflakes is a very subtle winter inspired design. It oozes elegance and was created using a muted snowflake background, a luxury black satin ribbon, lace and a gold and pearl button to complete the look. I think they will both add a touch of glamour to any vintage winter wedding. Vintage Bunting and Love Birds was created in a way so that customers can change the colour to suit their colour scheme. The coral colour which runs along the bottom and the bride and grooms initials that appear on the tea light jars can both be changed to any colour off our colour palette (this can be seen in the additional images underneath the main image on the website). I love the intricate details of this design, like the small love birds that sit discreetly on the bunting at the top and the initials on the tea light jars that are suspended with string and the white bunting which gives it an understated look whilst maintaining the vintage feel. Shabby Chic Polka Dot Roses combine a mixture of colours and textures. It is made up using a subtle blue floral fabric, blue and pink organza ribbon, polka dot paper and a vintage tag which you can personalise with your names. It is a pretty design that would compliment a pale pink, hot pink or blue colour scheme – or a combination of all 3! Last but not least is the Vintage Orchid design. Purple, lilac and orchids have always been popular amongst our wedding customers which is why we came up with a vintage style orchid range. The invitation was created using a distressed orchid print, twine and a hessian tag of which can be personalised with your initials and a love heart adding that final touch. It is an elegant design that would suit a purple or lilac vintage style wedding throughout the different seasons. Free samples are available to order of all the designs shown above, click here to order now. Items in the Vintage range include; Save The Date Cards Save The Date Magnets Wedding Invitations Evening Invitations RSVP Cards Guest Information Cards Poem cards Envelope Seals Order Of Service Table Plans Table Names Menus Place Cards Personalised Wine Labels Favour Tags Lottery Ticket Holders Guest Book Thank You Cards I hope you love the designs as much as I do. I would love to see any photographs from your wedding displaying our new vintage range so please e-mail them in!

With Christmas and New Year being the most popular time for getting engaged, some of you ladies out there have no doubt been left disappointed if you didn’t get the big sparkly ring you’d hoped for over the festive period! Don’t worry, there’s still hope … Valentine’s Day is on the horizon and that is the second most popular time for popping the question. Although we like the surprise of our man getting down on one knee with a ring of our dreams, a whopping 61% of us like to choose our own engagement ring! Celebrating your engagement Getting engaged is one of the happiest times of our life. It is when two people make a commitment to get married and spend the rest of their lives together. Although this is a personal commitment between two people it is also a public one, often being celebrated with an engagement party. If you are thinking about celebrating your engagement with a party then why not check out these Personalised Engagement Party Invitations from The Card Gallery priced 80p each and includes envelopes, free online proof and free delivery … wow what a bargain! With 18 months being the average time of an engagement, it won’t be long before you start planning your wedding. Save the Date cards are often the first thing you will buy for your wedding and are usually sent out around a year in advance. You've set the date so what next? As soon as you’ve set the date, start shopping around and order samples. Most good wedding stationery company’s offer a free sample service and some will charge a small fee. Samples allow you to see and feel the quality of the stationery before you commit to buy. Please click here to order your free samples from The Card Gallery.

Here at The Card Gallery I have been working on a new and exciting vintage inspired stationery collection and I just can’t wait to share it with you! My aim was to create a range that looked handmade but wasn’t if that makes sense! All of the designs will be completely printed onto luxury 300gram Conqueror card so there will be no assembly and no fiddly bits to stick on. To create this look I put together vintage flower prints with ditsy fabrics, rustic twine, pretty ribbons, delicate lace, shiny buttons and much more and I hope you agree I have created some lovely vintage style designs. My personal favourites My personal favourite is the ‘Vintage Peony’ design. I love the way the twine and cute linen tag appears to wrap around the rustic print giving it a handmade feel. The tag can also be personalised with your names giving that added finishing touch. My other personal favourite is the ‘Vintage Nautical’ design. Here I have combined a whitewash wood effect background with sand, pretty fabric, a fabric brooch, buttons (one of which has an anchor on it), cross grain ribbon and an old brass plate on which the text appears. The full range will be launched in 2014, please follow us on facebook and twitter for up to date information on the range.

Pink is an all year round popular wedding colour – using dusky pink, cool greys and mauve can really help create a more wintery feel to your winter wedding. Here I have put together a collection of lovely ideas to create a beautiful ‘winter pinks wonderland’.

Wedding Invitations

Wedding invitations or save the date cards are often the first snippet your guests will get of your wedding so it’s important to get it right! With a wide range of beautiful stationery out there it is really hard to make that final decision. Ordering free samples can often help as they will allow you to see the shade of pink so you can determine if it’s right for your big day. Here I have selected ‘Pink English Roses’ by The Card Gallery which is a traditional design with a modern twist.

Pink Flowers

Team up pink and cream roses with a splash of greenery to create your perfect winter pinks bouquet. Use hypericum berries, pine sprigs, skimmia to add texture and diamantes to add some winter sparkle.Foliage and flower decorations can take a pale less colourful bouquet to another level if you feel it looks washed out. Greenery is particularly important for your floral displays as it can give your flowers a more seasonal feel.

Bridesmaid

Dusky pink is an elegant winter wedding colour, plus there are lots of choices of dusky pink styles to choose from. This particular one I came across on www.pinkbridesmaid.co.uk is available in 9 different shades of pink and will include inch wide straps for younger bridesmaids. Just remember that bridesmaids don’t have to be dressed the same. You could try dressing the little ones in a contrasting ivory dress which contains a hint of dusky pink like this one I found on www.justdresses.co.uk

Decorating your venue

Accessories help set the mood and help create a winter wonderland for your special day. Try adding items like; Tea lights in frosted glass holders to add warmth and romance. Lanterns add a soft glow. Tall statement centrepieces filled with pink roses, ivy, white branches and hanging crystals to reflect the candle light. Ice carvings to bring the frosty outdoors inside. Luxury white table cloths with dusky pink napkins fastened with a large diamante embellishment. Follow your winter pinks theme through with matching table plan, table names, place cards, menus, favours, and guest book. Here are items from the ‘Pink English Roses’ range by The Card Gallery.

Rebecca Jones and Martin Rowley officially became Mr & Mrs Rowley on 13th November 2013 after tying the knot in Las Vegas. They opted for a destination wedding as they both wanted a small intimate wedding, inviting very close family only. They both quickly agreed that Las Vegas was going to be their chosen destination after holidaying there previously holding special memories for them. How they met They met through mutual friends and had previously been to the same secondary school (although never coming into contact before). Rebecca knew Martin was the one as soon as they had been introduced as there was so much chemistry between them. Length of Engagement They had been together twelve years before Martin decided to pop the question. He proposed in February over a romantic candlelit meal at their home in Telford, and Rebecca instantly said ‘Yes’! They had previously chosen her ‘diamond cluster’ ring together but the proposal date was a surprise … they wed 8 months later. Why Las Vegas? They decided they wanted to get married abroad as the cost was a lot cheaper than getting married in the UK. They chose Las Vegas as it was a place they had visited before and it held special memories for them. It was also quite straight forward to get married there with no minimum residency order required, all they needed was a wedding licence. The wedding ceremony could also be broadcast live over the internet which meant that their family and friends back home could also watch them get married … the whole thing seemed to come together perfectly, it was like a dream come true. Wedding Invitations Rebecca set her heart on having 'Vegas themed wedding stationery' so was delighted to find that The Card Gallery did a whole range of destination wedding invitations. Rebecca’s wedding dress Rebecca decided to go to the charity shop Barnados for her wedding dress as she had been told that they sold sample and end of line wedding dresses at the fraction of the price. She was amazed by how many beautiful dresses they had available and tried on several until she came across the ‘one’ (priced £150!). Wedding flowers & photographer Rebecca arranged her wedding flowers and photography through the Chapel Of The Flowers where her ceremony was to be held. She opted for a small elegant bouquet of pink and white roses. The photography package they selected was an onsite photo session with a professional photographer for the bride, groom and bridal party. Wedding Cake Their wedding cake was organised by the chapel also. They selected a red velvet single tier heart shaped cake decorated with elegant icing dots. Ceremony Rebecca and Martin were picked up from their hotel in a white limousine and were driven to the Chapel Of The Flowers in time for their ceremony which was to be held at 2.00pm. They had a 'regal ceremony' which was a non-religious ceremony and Rebecca was walked up the aisle by her father Trevor. Reception Their reception was held in a private dining room in the Canaletto Restaurant overlooking the action of the piazza at St Mark’s Square. They celebrated with a beautiful Italian inspired three course meal and Champagne. Rebecca’s advice to other brides If you decide you want to get married abroad don’t use a wedding company as you can quite easily book everything yourself once you have done your research on the internet. By doing this you can save money and it can also be less stressful as you are in complete control of your own wedding.

We are really proud to announce that Lisa Forde our company director has been asked to become www.weddingplanner.co.uk's expert advisor. Wedding Planner is an online company that has been established since 1989 and has helped over 250,000 wedding couples over the years. They have recently rebranded and relaunched their website giving it a whole new look and currently have around 10,500 registered brides. Lisa was truly honoured when she was asked to become Wedding Planner’s leading wedding industry expert for invitations and stationery – Congratulations Lisa! So what does all this mean? Lisa will be writing monthly articles offering help and advice on wedding invitations and other wedding stationery which will be found under Wedding Planner’s ‘inspiration’ section. She will be sharing tips from her knowledge and experience gained from running The Card Gallery for the past 10 years, which I am sure many brides will find useful. To read some of the articles that Lisa has written so far, click here.