Check our mood board below for ideas. It can be as simple as going for a romantic walk in one of his favourite places or jetting him off somewhere. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Credits: Top L to R -  Boys Girls Mystery Blogspot, Wedding By Color, Penelope Oasis- Middle Row: – IFood TV, Angela Pereira, Manola Brides, Bottom L to R – Glamour, Cellar Tours, The Heart Bandits



You will soon start to look at how you will create the wedding of your dreams (if you haven’t started already) and as a destination wedding planner its only right for me to throw having a destination wedding into the mix, as it really is one to consider.

1. First up the world is your oyster; the possibilities to marrying abroad are endless. But so you don’t get overwhelmed just think of one country that you both loved whilst you were on holiday together.

2. If this thought excites you, then follow this through with some initial research to finding a good destination wedding planner. If you haven’t considered one before its well worth thinking about here as they will know the destination your thinking of well and save you a lot of time and hassle.

3. If you are after something different for your wedding the choice of stunning backdrops for a destination wedding will definitely make you stand out from your friends. Choose between an abundance of beaches, hill tops, yachts, forests, the choices really is endless.

4. If you are worried about the amount of people you will have to invite. A destination wedding really cuts your guest list down to only those who really want to come and those you actually want to be there.

5. Just give them enough time to book their flight and accommodation which is normally a year in advance or as soon as you picked your venue.

6. Finally if you are often disappointed when you hardly see the bride and groom at weddings. You won’t have to worry here, as a destination wedding is a great opportunity for you to enjoy your friends and family, as they’ll probably book at least three days to seven days holiday. So just think about all the things you could plan for your guests before and after the wedding to make their holiday and your wedding  memorable.

For more tips click this link

Click on this link for our New Year Card

All of their posts in my opinion gave insightful and helpful information which hopefully helped you with your wedding planning and is essentially what The Butterfly Journal, An Inspiring Wedding Guide is all about.

If you haven’t had the chance to read their inserts head to our archives starting from March this year or click on their names in this post. In the meantime Jemma Watts, Charlene Hutsebaut, Sarah Sowerby, Kathryn Reynolds, Tracey Denise and Jayne Denneny your support meant a lot.

And finally to our readers, we hope this year’s posts has been as good as the last and we ask you for just a moment of reflection.

What have you enjoyed reading on our blog? What would you like to see more of? Or what do you think needs improving? Because simply put in order for our blog to get better and better we really need your feedback. All we ask is just one minute of your time for your thoughts and suggestions, so please don’t be shy.

Merry Christmas and a prosperous, happy New Year. Enjoy yourselves and we’ll see you again in 2012.

With thoughts of starting a family or even saving up to buy a house, the year of planning is now over and with gorgeous photos, videos and happy memories to keep forever – the dress that took ages to find now tugs at the heart for a very different reason.

This dilemma is right at the top of one former bride and our final guest blogger for the year, Jayne Denneny, Sales Manager at catering company Payne & Gunter. Jayne got married two years ago and is now in a real quandary about what to do, so its only fitting for her to take centre stage and put her case to you to see if you can help her. Over to you Jayne.

‘Finding the right dress!

Most brides spend what seems like an eternity on this one element of their big day and then in 24 hours the moment has past, the dress has been worn, and its foreseeable resting place is locked away in a cupboard.

The dilemma now is, is that where it will stay or should I sell the dress to put towards our ‘future fund’ i.e. ‘babies and things’.  For a realistic bride this may be a no brainer however there is something that keeps holding me back from loading it onto a reputable site to help me sell it.

Essentially I LOVE my dress and as most brides believe, I looked my best in it. Memories of my celebration are locked into it and once it’s sold I’ll never be able to open up the wardrobe and look at it and let all the memories flood back. 

The other part of me thinks however – stop being so sentimental, it’s just a dress!

I’m torn. If I decide to keep the dress I love the thought that I may use it to make a christening gown for my first born or maybe it is purely the fact that it was the best day of my life and I want the memory to remain ‘hung in my wardrobe.’

On the other side I really believe that someone else would really like my Maggie Sottero, Adelaide dress. So why not give them the chance to have the perfect day in it just as I did.

So what do I do? I’m completely torn knowing that if I take the plunge I could regret it forever.

Jayne Denneny, Payne & Gunter

What do you think Jayne should do? We would love to hear your suggestions as you may provide the answer Jayne has been looking for.

2. It’s not a necessity to send out invitations, but if you have time it’s a good idea.

3. You can always invite other family members and out of town guests who are not part of the ceremony to join you, as it will be a great opportunity for you to spend time with them which you might not have on the day.

4. This is the ideal time to give gifts to your wedding party and thank them for their contribution in the wedding.

5. The wedding party can use this opportunity to show video clips of the couple when they were young. Some take baby pictures and enlarge them, but in all these make great ice breakers and are certainly lots of fun.

6. This is an great time to go over last minute details with relevant family members and the wedding party before the big day.

7. Finally, don’t drink a lot at the dinner and go home early so that you have lots of rest and look your best on your big day.

Well essentially it is a meal after the wedding rehearsal (but no longer exclusively), that takes place the night before the wedding. It’s a great opportunity for the wedding party and guests to get to know each other better and a chance for the bride and groom to say thank you to all those who have helped them with the planning and give informal toasts.

For us the couple tends to foot the bill but another scenario would be for the parents to host the evening.

Back in the day the rehearsal dinner was only for the wedding party and immediate family. But with out of town and destination weddings its always nice for guests to be included so they aren’t left at a loose end in a strange place the day before the wedding and a real opportunity to break the ice.

It doesn’t have to be a big formal affair some of the nice ones tend to be in an informal setting like a bbq on the beach (shown here). But more importantly the relaxed setting is perfect for the bride and groom to really mix and mingle with their guests when on the day they may not get the chance too.

Next time on the blog: Look out for our  tips for a great rehearsal dinner.

As an old romantic I love to watch how he goes about wooing the girls who compete for his affections in order to ultimately become his girlfriend. However I was more excited to find that some of the episodes were shot in the Caribbean on the gorgeous island of St Lucia.

Now as a lover of all things Caribbean I won’t hesitate to tell you that St Lucia as a wedding or honeymoon destination oozes romance with a capital R, thanks to its natural landscape of waterfalls, rainforest and majestic Piton Mountains. But more importantly the tourist industry has only begun to flock there in recent years so it’s not  become oversaturated and its become increasingly important to preserve the natural charm of the island and its people, which Gavin definitely appreciated, just listen to what he had to say.

So if you are looking for an unspoilt island – St Lucia is definitely one to consider and with five direct flights a week from London it’s very easy to get to. But don’t take my word for it – just take a look at what you could be enjoying.

Renowned for their exemplary travel service and attention to detail, what this means is that we can now offer clients the complete wedding destination service. With first class travel, an exclusive address book of worldwide destinations for honeymoons as well as our bespoke event management service, you will definitely be in safe hands.

Take a look at our  honeymoon and renewal of vows pages for more details.