It's good to TAWC!

Me and my friend Katie from Ethical Weddings and my newer friend Lou, an ethical stylist are running a new support group for brides called 'tawc'-The Authentic Wedding Connection.That's Katie on the left with the hat and Lou's looking cute in green. We wanted to create a real life community for like minded brides to get together and share their wedding journey experience because we all know how lonely it can be when it gets a bit tough and there are many, many brides who just don't feel like they can relate to the more conventional online wedding forums.

So tawc is for those who want a more personal experience of getting married and planning their wedding. One that honours their values and is honestly aligned with who they are as people rather than one that ticks all the boxes of a big budget extravaganza. Of course, our ethical girls will be showing how easy it is to be just a little bit greener,more thoughtful and conscious of the community and the environment and I will be there to coach and support on the emotional issues of getting married.

We invite brides to come and share their stories, their ups and downs and swap their ideas and we will also ask different suppliers and services to come in and share their knowledge and expertise. All in all it will be relaxed, friendly and fun and a special little sanctuary for brides to be really upront and honest about what they are experiencing.

The first meeting is on Monday 15th September in Brighton and it's FREE! We'll hold a meeting once a month and eventually we hope to have tawc pods all over the country. If you fancy it you can sign up here or contact me or if you aren't local to Brighton but are interested in the idea call me for a chat about it. The brides revolution starts here!

Sweet & Low-Your Fabulous Small Budget Wedding

Oh I'm so bored of the daily stories about credit crunch brides having to compromise on their fairytale jamboree and all those couples cancelling until they can afford what they had always dreamed of. Their woe and despair is captured by the media to illustrate the severity of the economic downturn exagerrating the situation and making those in the wedding loop feel it's the end of the world.

Well, in this arena I think that financial constraint is not such a bad thing at all. It will take the pressure of some couples who feel that they have to wow the crowds to keep up with everyone else. Now it's a case of spending what you can afford and that's a very comfortable, sensible thing. It's time for compromise, creativity, thought, resourcefulness-all things that normally go right out the window when wedding madness takes over.

I welcome this and think it could be just what some couples need to make them have a good old think about what they are doing and what really matters to them.

I say go with the flow. Accept it-embrace it and turn the situation to your adavatage. It's not an obstacle but an opportunity to put together a wedding of real depth and significance. Here are some of my top suggestions to help you cut the cost and love doing it at the same time.

1. Marry midweek
2. Have the ceremony and reception/celebration in the same place-so much less fuss
3. Revisit and revise your original guest list-who do you REALLY want to be there?
4. Buy retro/ charity/ebay for clothes and accessories-do you have to be in white-be vivacious!
5. Round up friends and family and use their talent and skills for photography/filming, music both live and DJ, catering, flowers, designing skills, organisational skills
6. Use local, in season flowers and produce
7. Use alternaive transport like buses, bikes, on foot, friends cars-how funky can you be?
8. Adopt less is more attitude-no need to over do decs and flowers or include all that conventional wedding paraphernalia
9. Do you really need to buy all these wedding party presents that have become de rigeur?
10. Do you really need to have an engagement ring? Buy a special ring later into your marriage.

Think grass roots, home grown , homemade -HEART and SOUL-it'll make you feel sooo GOOD!!

Ain't Misbehaving

What's one of the most common things that brides to be fret about? Besides being too fat, tripping up or not being able to speak because of nerves. Yes, the guests. Will they behave themselves? Will families get on with each other or friends complain about being sat so far away they are almost in another room. Will great grandma be rude/fall asleep/get drunk and aunty Mona embarass everyone by flirting widly with the best man and try and seduce him in the toilets. How many of these ridiculous scenarios play over and over in the mind of those on the nuptial parapet and torment them unneccessarily so that their stress levels zoom off the scale.

A session coaching with me would soon eliminate all of that! We can't control other peoples behaviour can we? Not really-not en masse. Nor should we wish too. Once you come around to letting go of control and allow things to develop naturally, life becomes much simpler and much more enjoyable.

On your wedding day, you are going to have to place some trust in your guests and believe that, on the whole they are all there for you to support you and celeberate with you. Nobody has turned up to sabotage your day but at the end of it-the day that is-people are human and will make mistakes. That's just life and what makes it fun, enjoyable, unpredicatable and worth living.

Your wedding doesn't need to be perfect-it needs to be rich and real and full of meaning. The happenings of the day add personality and colour and you will have the best time if you just go with the flow, open your mind, open your heart, open your arms and embrace it all as your wonderful, imperfect, unforgettable day.

Like Nothing on Earth

If you really do want a wedding that's out of this world then if you have 1.1million to spare you can literally have it. A Japanese company called First Advantage has teamed up with American aerospace firm Rocketplane to offer the first space weddings.

If you dream of saying your vows while orbiting the earth, 100km up in the sky, you can sign up now for the first voyages which will begin in 2011. Time to start saving!

Personally, I prefer something a little bit more down to earth, with my feet on the ground-in every sense. Wedding vows are hard enough to grasp and fully take in at the best of times. What chance do you have of fully being in the moment with all that going on. And, won't the wedding party be just a little bit distracted knowing that they can glance out the window and get a bird's eye view of our beautiful world below them.

I think it's a great idea -I do, but there is a very real danger of the wedding ceremony being eclipsed by the actual trip into space-know what I mean? Why not save such mind blowing adventure until the honeymoon stage or at least the wedding equivalent of the after party.

Certainly doesn't agree with my keep it simple mantra does it?!

Bloomin' Lovely!

There's poppies in my front garden. Wild, crepe paper- like, dark sugar pink with purple centres. Just one plant - in the corner, catches my eye as soon as I come out of our front door and again when I return. I mention it because the individual flowers that come and go in a day are simply beautiful and having them there just makes me love life.

Flowers do that don't they? If you look at them long enough-they kind of blow your mind with their natural beauty and the point here is that there doesn't need to be bountiful amounts of them to make an impact.

Each season presents a different offering. Hues and scents that evoke memories of balmy summer evenings or crisp spring mornings and there's something for everyone for every personality and style.

Choosing the flowers for your wedding is exciting because you can identify your unique character with them and include memories from your life too. There is no need to over indulge, to spend too much or try to impress by having hundreds-in some cases thousands of pounds worth of blooms that will only have the effect of being overdone-overdressed, over embellished on the floral front. For some reason massive dispays of flowers are just not heart warming -it's like they aren't real-they don't touch you. Whereas single stems, rustic bunches, or dramtic combinations of two or three colours/types will add another soul-lifting dimension to your wedding that will positively affect everyone.

Choose local, if poss- in season and use a scent, colour and variety that draws something from you. Use your wedding flowers to capture your essence and complement the spirit of the day. Just another reason to delve below the surface and discover more about your individual self so that you can be even more authentic, artistic, creative. Just another way to break with the formula prescribed by the wedding industry and instead of being a stepford bride with your generic wedding flowers, you can really, honestly truly be a bride that gets married from the inside out!