Thursday 28 October 2010

Care Fairies for the little guests

As previously mentioned, we've booked The Care Fairies to provide Childcare services at our wedding. We feel that it's important to share some information about the founder and owner, Lucie Worth, and her company for the benefit of the guests attending with children.

If you are considering childcare facilities at your own wedding, make sure you find out plenty of information about the company before you book and give your guests as much information as possible in advance, they'll want to know who's looking after their children!

Care Fairies was set up after recognising the need for imaginative, fun and uncompromising childcare. After repeatedly being asked to help out at events for family and friends, there was an obvious need and a niche in the market for such a service and from there Care Fairies continues to develop and blossom with their reputation. They have now worked at events such as Corporate events, Conferences, Festivals, Children Centres, Parent Workshops, Weddings, Parties, Music studios and Charity events.

We asked Lucie a few important questions...

What training and qualifications do you and your staff have?
I  have a 10 years experience in Childcare. A BSc honours in Psychology and counselling specialising in modules such as Child development. A level 3 NVQ in Childcare. I have first aid training in the early years and I am qualified to administer the Epipen for allergies. I have undertaken a number of courses over recent years related to Safe Guarding children and working with children with special needs. 

All the Fairies have a Criminal records check, first aid training and a variety of childcare related qualifications and vast experience. Some of these include, NVQ level 3 in Childcare, teachers, trainee teachers, teaching assistants and nursery nurse assistants. I personally hand pick all the Care Fairies to ensure they are fully equipped to look after the little guests. 

What age range can you cater for? 
We look after tiny tots to early teens!

What ratio of Children to Carers do you provide?
We do comply to the ratios set by Ofsted and would never have fewer than a ratio of 1 adult to 3 children, however we do tailor each event to the individual requirements and specific needs of the little guests which means we may have more fairies than they deemed necessary by Ofsted. 

How long are you normally present at a wedding and what part of the day do you normally cover? 
The duration and time slot completely varies based on the individual needs of each client, some people like to have childcare throughout the ceremony or reception or wedding breakfast or leading into the evening with a Night-time crèche or a simply babysitting service, or all of the above, whatever the needs we can tailor our service to meet the requirements to ensure the day runs smoothly and the little guests have as much fun as the adults.

What Industry Standards do you have to meet to be able to provide your services?
Care fairies comply with all health and safety regulations and do their utmost to ensure that each crèche has a risk assessment and that all matters are dealt with prior to the event. All the staff have all the necessary checks (such as CRB and references) carried out before they work at a Care Fairies event. Care Fairies has comprehensive liability and employer insurance. 

Do we need to provide any toys or games?
With one wave of our magic wand, (and hour or so of our time!!!), Care Fairies can flutter their wings and transform any room for any occasion into a fully equipped, safe, stimulating and child friendly event. Our mobile crèche service can be located anywhere.

What kind of entertainment can you provide for the children? 
We provide comprehensive childcare age appropriate toys and games, art and crafts, chill out area for the tired guests with books and DVD's, music and dancing, outdoor activities weather permitting, meal supervision if required and chaperone to photos. 

Can you theme the entertainment if required? 
We tailor each event to the individual requirements so if this means themed entertainment that is what we provide!! 

How do you encourage the children to join in rather than staying with their parents?
The environment that we create our Care Fairies crèches is stimulating and fun combined with approachable and experienced staff that are skilled in settling children into the crèche and making them feel comfortable with us. Our main aim is to ensure that the children are safe and happy and have a memorable and enjoyable experience with us which leaves the adults free to have fun with the knowledge that their children are in safe hands

Business aside, what’s your best piece of advice for The Bride & Groom on their Wedding Day?
Enjoy the day, safe in the knowledge all your guests are catered for.

We highly recommend the services of The Care Fairies... get in touch with Lucie for more information or a quote to provide childcare services at your own event!

Tuesday 26 October 2010

Blogged Again!

It's been a difficult week so far... but having our Save-the-Date cards blogged by Inspired Celebration has certainly put a smile on my face!

This is yet another great Blog for Brides and Grooms to be (and anyone hosting a party for that matter) to scourer for inspiration and ideas...
Take a look at the Save-the-Date card blog post here.

Thursday 21 October 2010

We've been blogged!

What a lovely compliment to wake up to today... Jim from Aardvark Wedding Films has blogged about us!

"I look forward to every wedding I film, eager to see how the couple have made their day special, how the families come together and celebrate, and how the vendors work together behind the scenes to make everything run perfectly. I don’t think I’ve looked forward to one as much, however, as Emma and Ed’s wedding, which I became a part of on Tuesday night. And the day itself isn’t until next July!" ... read more here.
Thanks Jim! Lovely words from a lovely guy!

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Wine, Websites, SEO & an Aardvark!

With Ed back working full-time in a kitchen (as Head Chef at The Cork House in Stansted... visit highly recommended!) the opportunity to meet up with potential suppliers is drastically reduced. So, when Jim Cliff of Aardvark Wedding Films said he'd be quite happy to come along for a chat at the end of an evening service (10pm!) we were rather chuffed (I guess the fact that Jim is also a friend of ours assisted in getting him out so late!)! With one late meeting scheduled I quickly set up another with Steve Hooper of UK Wedding SEO for a chat about my website. Thus giving me the perfect opportunity to spend another evening in The Cork House, sample some more of my fiance's fabulous Tapas and have a sneaky few glasses of wine (oh ok... maybe more than a few...).

Meeting #1
My "SEO Dude" Steve decided to keep me waiting (he says he "got lost")... so there I was... "Billy no mates"... sitting in the bar on my own, fiddling with my phone while everyone looked pityingly at me... the only way to console myself, and the thought that I'd been stood up, was of course to have a cheeky glass of wine... Anyway, Steve FINALLY arrived (2nd glass of wine...).

Steve's a bit of a genius when it comes to SEO & websites. The fact that he completely tore my website apart did not bother me (3rd Glass of wine)... there's lots to be improved on! The overall look and feel is fine, it's more a case of how Search Engines trawl through the site, the keywords, the use of pictures instead of text etc... Additionally, the team I currently use to host my website wont allow me the option of making updates myself, I can't have a blog attached to it, and it costs me the earth! So, with Steve's help... I'll soon have a shiny new Wordpress Website which will be SEO'd to the max! Hoorah!

I can't recommend Steve highly enough... get in touch with him!

(4th Glass of wine) Running a little behind on SEO & Website chat... going off on a tangent as always... and Jim arrived to join the party. The boys chatted video for a while, while Ed delivered some Tapas for me (YUM!), a very late dinner (effect of glass 4, taking its grip)...

Meeting #2
Ed finally finished in the Kitchen, Steve departed and we were onto discussing video coverage of our wedding! With the amount of "stuff" we have planned for our day Jim (Aardvark Wedding Films) recommended a double shooter package... we don't wany anything to be missed and he can't be in two places at once!

Our photographer Hayley Ruth, and her sidekick on the day, will be capturing some amazing shots and "works of art". But to get the real "feel" of the day captured... nothing can beat a video... Having "been there and done it before" I know that we will miss a lot of what's going on as we'll be pulled from pillar to post. We want the opportunity to see what each other gets up to during the morning preparing for the ceremony, the arrival of our guests (in our absense) at the morning reception, the childrens entertainment while we're sitting for the Wedding Breakfast and a whole host of other bits... (mouth tightly zipped).

Basically, we want to be able to re-live the emotion, atmosphere and spirit of the day over and over again. Thanks to Jim we'll be able to do so just by pressing the play button on our DVD...

So, we're officially booked with Jim... and looking forward to "Lights, Camera, Action" at the pre-wedding video shoot and again on 16th July 2011!!!

We've know Jim for approximately a year (yep, he's another local twitter find) and have great admiration for his work. He's a fellow member of The Wedding Partners and has already filmed both of us... take a look at our Showreels... A Bespoke Design and Feed Me Dining.

Glass number 5 down the hatch... enough said!

Tuesday 19 October 2010

The answer.... find yourself an Ethical Wedding Supplier!

Okay, so I've given you the answer to the question... but what is the question?!?!?

Last week English Wedding posted a Blog entitled "Weddings Have Spiralled Out of Control. Who's fault is it?" which sparked discussion and interest across the Wedding "Tweeter" world. The article is great... it's to the point and thought provoking... take a look here.

At the end of the day, the cost of a wedding is entirely at the discretion of the couple getting married... the amount they want to spend is entirely their own decision... Admittedly, it's VERY easy to get carried away by "wanting" more and more and therefore just as easy to forget what the day is actually about... BUT it's the most important day of your life, you want it to be special and talked about for years to come, don't you?

So to avoid "Spiralling out of control", give yourself an initial brief i.e. decide what's important about your day and have a clear picture of what you want to achieve (without deviating from the guidelines you set yourself). Then, possibly the more difficult & challenging part is finding the right suppliers to help you achieve this...  
BUT (here's the question) do industry suppliers really take advantage when the word "wedding" is mentioned? Sadly, yes... this is the case in some situations! I quite often hear horror stories from my own clients... and occasionally a comment which tars all industry suppliers with the same brush! It's infuriating...
... that's why you should choose an "Ethical Wedding Supplier".

I was over-the-moon to see that Claire (the face behind the blog), had decided to set up an Ethical Wedding Supplier List. To be on the list, suppliers sign the "Pledge" which does not only focus on the cost element of supplying to clients in the industry. It also includes "industry standard" type content... i.e. maintaining respect & intellectual property of other businesses which is an extremely important part of the pledge (many of us are constantly agitated by the copying of designs etc... of other inferior businesses). I didn't hesitate... I was in there like a shot, getting myself signed up and suggesting that others should do the same!

So, when you're looking for a supplier...
  • consider the "Pledge" and all that it stands for...
  • If your supplier is not on the list at present, dont panic... you should be able to tell if they are "worthy" of being on the list by taking the time to talk to them and question them!
  • REMEMBER, just because the product or service you after is expensive it does not necessarily mean you're getting ripped off... take a good look at what's on offer... if you're after quality, you'll be paying for it!
What's the Pledge?
Who's signed the Pledge?

Thanks to Claire from English Wedding for setting a standard!

Monday 18 October 2010

Magpies love Sparkles (and Sparklies)

I don't wear much in the way of jewellery, but that doesn't mean I'm not a Magpie! I love sparkly things...especially beautifully creative sparkly things... So, when a group of "sparklies" that I follow on Twitter (yes, I mentioned twitter again... it's a MUST for brides to be and businesses alike) started promoting their new blog about sparkles I was in there like a shot having a look at the collaborative blog... "Sparkles & Secrets" IT'S FABULOUS! A great source of advice, inspiration and above all... a Magpie's dream... stacks and stacks of beautiful sparkles made by some of the country's leading designers!

"Sparkles & Secrets is a new cooperative venture. Several designers have got together to launch a blog aimed to provide information and help in their field of expertise: wedding jewellery and wedding hair accessories. 

The blog will feature many questions which the designers have found are asked time and time again as brides and grooms-to-be try to find out how to choose the perfect jewellery accessories for their big day. They say "this is something people have little or no experience of and so it is difficult. It is something we aim to address and help couples with.

There will be regular blog posts from each member on a wide variety of subjects, a section to ask advice, special offers AND Christmas Shopping made easy for blokes with gift suggestions made by the team!"

So, who's behind "Sparkles & Secrets"?
7 top industry suppliers, that's who!!!!


   

From Left to Right (twitter user name also shown):
Kerri Miller of Starstruck Designs @StarstruckTiara
Jane Carter of Beady Eyes Designs
April Browne of Crystal Jewels @Crystal_jewels1
Kerry Brearley of Kerry Blu @KerryBlu
Kelly Scully of Tantrums and Tiaras @Tantrums_Tiaras
Diana Evans of Rose Garden Accessories @RoseGardenAcs
Tracey Phillips of Bridal Designs Wedding Jewellery @BridalDesigns

Friday 1 October 2010

Wedding without a Roof!

We both come from farming backgrounds (our parents run neighbouring farms) so, how perfect would it be to be able to say our vows in the middle of a corn field?!? Unfortunately English & Welsh laws don't allow open air weddings. The law states that a marriage ceremony venue must have a roof, be moored to its foundations, and be licenced by the local registrar. Outdated nonsense in my view!

So, now you know we're not getting married in a field... but why am I even bothering to share this information with you? Well, today I made a discovery on twitter in the form of @TheAnyCampaign who have set up a web petition to try and convince the government to relax the "no wedding without a roof" laws. As soon as I discovered them, I followed the link to their website and immediately signed the petition. So, if you or anyone you know wants something a bit different on their wedding day, go sign the petition!


If the laws are relaxed us Brits will finally be able to achieve the wedding day that we truly want instead of just drooling over the amazing weddings we see blogged about so often... Here's a few snippets of what we're missing out on...

Style Me Pretty
Photography www.stephaniecristalli.com

Ruffled
Oh, Darling! Photography
 
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Rock n Roll Bride
Photography www.fromagephotography.com



These are just a few snippets... check out these blogs for more inspirational weddings: