How to Have a Wedding That Guests Will Love

Your wedding will, of course, primarily be about you. This is, after all, your special day, and it’s important that your happiness is given priority. However, it’s not as if you can’t think of other people whatsoever. If you’re going to have a wedding that everyone enjoys, then it’s important to think about the guest experience. If you get it right, then you’ll have a wedding day that lives long in the memories of everyone who is there, for all the right reasons. 

But how can you do this? We’ll take a look at some useful tips below.

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Keep Costs Down

You’ll know that your wedding day is going to cost you a lot of money. But it shouldn’t cost your guests a lot of money. It’s unlikely that yours will be the only wedding that they’re going to this year. You’ll be making things much, much easier for them if they don’t have to spend the earth to attend your special day. Be particularly mindful of having weddings overseas. They can be cheaper for the people getting married, but much more expensive for guests. So while it might look cheaper for you, remember that you’ll essentially just be passing on the costs to your friends and family!

A Smooth Day

You’ll likely have a detailed understanding of everything that’s going to happen on your wedding day. But your guests will not have this information. They’ll want to settle in and have a good time with the other guests, but if they’re continually thinking about where they should be, then they won’t be able to do that. It is recommended to work with a wedding planner so that everything flows as smoothly as possible on the big day. It’s just a lot easier to have fun when you’re not wondering if you’re in the right place or you think you need to be somewhere else! 

Think About the Kids

Your guests with kids will want to have a good time, but they’ll always have to think about the happiness of their children. You can help them by having a plan for the kids. For example, could you hire a children’s entertainer? Or perhaps you could hire a babysitter so that the parents can spend the evening on the dancefloor, secure in the knowledge that their children are being well looked after.

Midnight Snacks and Chill Zones

Everyone will be in party mode, but it’s important to remember that some of your guests won’t be able to spend all night on the dance floor without taking a break. While you’ll want to ensure that your dancing area is on fire, you should also put together a chill zone. This is a space away from the music where people can relax and talk. Once they’ve built up their energy, they’ll go back to dancing. Also -- be sure to order some midnight snacks. People get hungry when they dance; a little bit of food can go a long way to keeping the party on all night! 

Designing Your Bathroom To Fit Your Life

I still remember my family's bathroom in the mid 1980s.  A tiny room that had atypical of the period avocado green bathroom suite crammed into the small space.  The bath was functional, but not somewhere you could lie back and relax and the hair washing facilities were either in the form of leaning over the bath with a jug of water at the ready, or an unreliable rubber tube that you attached to the taps.

Size aside, it was pretty much standard for bathrooms back then.  Luxuries did not need to extend to bathrooms.  

A house move gave us a slightly bigger bathroom, upgraded down to a proper shower, albeit whilst standing in the bath.  I used to dream of a huge bathroom with a bath and a separate shower.  A double sink that had storage facility for my makeup.

Modern living has opened up and redesigned our bathroom spaces and depending on the size of the room, you can have anything that you want.  I am still dreaming about having a double sink one day however.

As our lives become busier and our working hours longer, what people frequently want out of their bathrooms is practicality, mixed with luxury.  The invention of luxury shower cabins have revolutionized bathrooms and given us all the speed of a shower but with added luxuries that make all the difference.  

When my partner and I renovated our bathroom last year, one thing that we both wanted was a high tech shower cabin that combines both functionality with luxury add ons that make showering an enjoyable experience.

You can now invigorate yourself with music in the mornings thanks to Bluetooth, allowing you to connect your phone and play the music of your choice while you shower (90s dance is my preference).  Things like mood lighting can also help to inspire your mood.  

Looking at Insignia Steam Showers, you can even have aromatherapy steam in your shower to calm and relax you, readying you for a good night's sleep.  

Added accessories such as shower seats can add to the experience further.  From the practicality of sitting down whilst shaving your legs to simply luxuriating in steam after a stressful day at the office whilst listening to calming music (Chopin's Spring Waltz is a favourite of mine).

What is your dream bathroom?

5 Ways to Save Money for the Non Saver!

 There are so many phrases that are flung around when it comes to talking about money and saving.  None of them sound much fun, which I think is half the problem when it comes to needing to save up or cut down on your spending.

Tightening your purse strings, cutting corners, every penny counts, waste not want not.  I’m bored just by typing them out.  

I think it was Sophia Amoruso who said “Money looks better in your bank than on your feet”.  Clearly she has never owned a pair of Louboutins.  (Never have I TBH, but one day…….)

What I wanted to do today is share some tips that you can incorporate into your everyday life that will save you money and also cut down on your spending in the long run.   

So let’s start with the fun tip to begin:

Go shopping to save more

Yes. I did tell you to go shopping in order to save money.  

Every day on my lunch break I walk into town to look around the shops.  

Whoever you are, there are always things in your life that are the staples that you use time and time.  Skincare, haircare, makeup.  It can be anything really that you use on a regular basis.  The rule is simple, regardless of whether you need one or not, if it is on sale at a great price, buy it.  But only if it is something that you use regularly.

That does not mean that new shade of nail varnish that Sally Hansen brought out that you are convinced you will wear all the time.  This means the moisturiser that works for your skin that you use every day.  The BB cream that brightens up a tired work day face.  The expensive shampoo/conditioner that you love but is now on three for two.

This will not only save you money in the long run.  It also enables you to continue using the products that you love, keeping that extra luxury, but at a more affordable price.

For example, I love John Frieda products (not a recommendation, everyone’s hair works better with different products.  I like the range for what it does to my hair, but also that there are a wide range of products).

So, my staples from the range are the regular shampoo, conditioner, the blonde shampoo and conditioner, the hair serum and the frizz ease product (I do recommend that last one for anybody, I love it).

All of that costs £37.00.  Not cheap.  Buying them in bulk on three for two means I buy two of everything (£74.00).  Averaging the price of each item at £6.17, knocking four products off I get for free, means the price goes down to an average of £4.11, £49.16 total.  A saving of nearly £25.00.

I can justify a price of £4.11 per product much more than £6.17.

Store Advantage Cards

Get them.  Get them all and use them.  But don’t just get the card, download the app.  Stores like Boots regularly have an offer such as extra points when you spend a certain amount of money, or things like double points on certain products.

But again, only buy what you need and ideally, try to use these offers in conjunction with the offers already on in store, such as three for two.  

I try my best to save these points for Christmas year which I can then use to buy presents, perfume, that Clinique moisturiser I love that is NEVER on sale.  Last year I had saved £90.00 worth of points.

Go Through a Cashback Site Online

Every time I go online now, even when I am not intending to purchase something; I open up a tab with my go to cashback site provider, in my case, TopCashBack.  A lot of the cashback you get can be minimal, like 2% on purchases at a clothing store; but it does add to your total.

What you can really make money on are the larger purchases that you need to buy every day.  Home insurance, car insurance, holidays.  Everything you buy on the internet, you can usually get some form of cashback on.

Recently I needed to renew my VPN.  Instead of paying £120.00, I ended up paying £60.00 with the offer, plus 55% cash back.  Meaning that instead of paying £120.00, I will have spent around £36.00.

Over the past couple of years, even with forgetting sometimes to use the site, I have got £275.00 in cashback.  That’s nearly one Louboutin right there.  Or a good payment towards a holiday (whenever we get to go away again).

Save Your Change

When I first thought about saving the cash in my purse, I started with saving pound coins and fifty pence pieces.  Don’t do this.  Because at the end of the month I inevitably opened up my savings jar to raid the money to pay for my lunches for the week before payday.

Instead, do this.  Save only silver.  Every few days when you come home from work, open your purse and spread out your coins.  Put back the pound coins and the fifty pence pieces (unless you have a lot).  Put away in your savings any tens, twenties and fives.

Today I put away 85p.  Not a lot, but it adds up.  Every few months I accumulate around £40 - 50.00.

For the Product Lovers

Again, another fun one.  Subscribe to a beauty box.  There are many out there, I am currently with Glossybox and pay £11.75 a month.  

Most boxes have a minimum value of £50.00 worth of products, sometimes I have had a box worth over £100.00.  Last month I got a face serum worth £43.  Another month I received an Illamasqua highlighter worth £27.00.  

My skincare has definitely improved with the products that I have received and saves you buying items at the regular price.  I can’t remember the last time for example I needed to buy face serum.

What I love is that they also put up regular short surveys for the products that you receive. which then gives you credit to spend.  Again, it all adds up.

Click on this link to subscribe (if you wish, I am not pushing you) and you will receive £5 credit which you can then spend on the Look Fantastic site.

I know that this has been a long post, but I hope that it helps someone like me who likes the nice products in life, but would like to cut down on spending.

If you use all of these tips in your life, you will save a decent amount of money in the long run.  That first pair of Louboutins may not be that far away!

I was not paid to write this piece, all comments and suggestions are my own