Editor loves and inspiration

If you want your wedding to be truly unique, we have some great news for you! Somerset Registration Service is introducing a new range of ceremony enhancements to allow you to personalise your day. As well as your choice of readings, music and personal vows, from April you'll be able to add a special unity element to your ceremony. The options on offer are a sand-blending ritual, romantic hand-joining vows, a fun knot-tying ceremony or you can create a meaningful memory box with letters to open on a future anniversary. The Registration Service has been working hard to create exciting new scripts after looking at hundreds of responses to their 2022 ceremony survey. You said you wanted more fun, more personalisation, more ways to make it really unique, and they've come up with the goods!
Check out the new ceremony packages, available at Somerset and North Somerset venues, at www.somersetweddingservice.org.uk
Read more local news in the latest issue available now. Read Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine for free!

Bags of ideas for your local, hen, stag or sten do whatever your vibe! We've all been on hen and stag dos where only half the group know each other and if you're not part of that half, it can become an awkward social situation. Not so, if your best guys and gals are able to engage in a hands-on activity such as cooking, while enjoying a few drinks. Any tension melts away and by the time you start eating, the noise and laughter will be cacophonous!
Cooking It is based just a five-minute drive from the centre of Bristol on Chandos Road (often known as Foodie Street) with plenty of parking around the kitchen. It's also mere minutes walk from Whiteladies Road and Gloucester Road where you can carry on the party afterwards. You're welcome to bring your own drinks as a prelude to your cookery session where, with a glass of wine in hand, you'll work through a menu designed to embrace any dietary requirements. With music in the background and under the guidance of the chef, you prepare the whole dish, dishes, feast or afternoon tea. An atmosphere of relaxed laughter and fun is assured. A variety of cook-off activities with varying prices, times and challenges are available, and most group sizes are accommodated. 

Find out about more exciting ideas in the latest issue available now. Read Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine for free!

Admit it, whose mind hasn't immediately leapt to food whenever a wedding invitation arrives in the post. Or is that just us? For many of us, when we're not eating, we're thinking about it! So, it's reasonable to assume that your wedding breakfast will be one of the most highly anticipated elements of your day – no pressure. What you might not have considered though is that it's another medium through which you can express your personalities, thus making your big day uniquely you. The food should match your vibe, from formal, seated, three-course affairs, to chilled grazing spreads. And It's not only the way you eat that can speak volumes but also what you eat. Perhaps you met at a pub for your first date: opt for a menu of pub grub classics. Maybe you got engaged in a far-flung exotic location: give your menu an international twist. The options are endless and if you pick the correct caterer, they'll creatively work with you to come up with your dream menu, sure to keep guests satisfied and remembering your day for all the right reasons. Read on as we introduce you to some local folk who can help in the latest issue available now Read Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine for free!

“The trend seems, to me at least, to be couples opting for complete coverage cakes as opposed to the semi-naked look, which has been so huge in the cake world for a few years now,” says Bridget Essam from Baked by Bridget. Indeed, it's the increasing demand for fondant-iced showstoppers that are creating an increased surge in more symbolic sweet centrepieces. Joanna from Joanna Pyda Cake Studio says, “Fondant cakes open up the possibility for a huge variety of techniques to be used through texture and decoration, which make creating superunique, personalised designs with wow factor reflecting you as a couple so much easier. Sugar flowers matching the bride's bouquet will appear in many designs next year, as well as wafer paper textures and flowers. I'm so looking forward to creating all those gorgeous designs!”

Claire from Claire Hansen Cakes is on the same page: “Couples are using an image design-led approach to bring in those personalised elements to their big-day bake. The cake of mine pictured, for example, was inspired by vintage botanical journals and features an abstract, textured layering effect evoking pages from the books that inspired it. Movement of the fondant, layering of the pages and the textured ganache moss all combine to bring the whole theme together. Imagine the personalised possibilities you can create with your cake designer!”

Read the full wedding cakes feature in the latest issue available now. Read Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine for free!

Emily met Joe at a gin bar while she was in her final year of college. There was an instant attraction from both sides. Joe credits the cobbled streets of Bath, at least in part, for the success of their first date. When walking Emily to bus stop she was wobbling around on them in her high heels and he was able to offer his arm to assist her – “And that was really where our love story began,” Emily says.

You can read all about their big day, celebrated at Old Oak Farm (https://oldoakfarm.co.uk), in the Dec23/Jan24 issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding, free to download at www.yourbristolsomerset.wedding/free-download

Real bride Hannah looked stunning in her Ronald Joyce gown from Exclusively Yours Bridal Boutique (www.exclusivelyyoursbridalboutique.co.uk). She didn't have any idea of style or shape when she started shopping, and tried on more than 20 gowns before she was able to narrow it down. Her dress was the last she tried on and she fell instantly in love, although it did require some tweaks to adapt it more to her taste.

Find out all about Hannah and Ben's big day at Old Bridge (www.old-bridge.co.uk) in the Dec23/Jan24 issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding, free to download at www.yourbristolsomerset.wedding/free-download

Choosing your big-day photographer can be a tricky business. So, our photography feature in the Oct/Nov23 issue is here to help you navigate the minefield, filled with advice from the region's wedding photographers.

Em and Woz (https://emwoz.co) say, “When it's time to chat with your potentials, note whether they're listening to your requirements – do you gel and are you both reading off the same page? Wedding photographers aren't there to dominate you or your day, they're there to document it as it unfolds without causing stress or being obtrusive. So, meetings are an ideal way to get a feel for whether you're going to get along. Also, find out what you're getting for your money. Do they include an engagement shoot or is there any extra cost? Is travel included? How many photographers do they provide? How long will it take for your photos to be processed?”

Find out more in the Oct/Nov23 issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding, free to download at www.yourbristolsomerset.wedding/free-download

When the Bath Weddings team got the opportunity to work with Bath Registry Office at their prime venue, Guildhall, all involved jumped at the chance. With such a spectacular location, it demanded a team of the very best wedding suppliers in Bath and Somerset. With that settled, a palette of bright pastels emerged, coupled with an elegant vibe, and a modern fashion edge.

Along with some long standing members, the Bath Weddings team also got to work with some new suppliers, including musical duo Skarlette, bringing both beautiful vocal harmony and youthful charm. Featuring award-winning stationery design, an incredible wedding cake, plus hair accessories and jewellery to complement the theme, it was all up to the team behind the cameras to capture the hard work as creatively as they could.

Discover the full shoot, catpured by South West Wedding Photography (www.southwestweddingphotography.co.uk) at Guildhall Bath (https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/guildhall-bath) in the Oct/Nov23 issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding, free to download now at www.yourbristolsomerset.wedding/free-download

Real wedding couple Michelle and Paul descended the stairs at Leigh Court separately with Paul waiting at the bottom for Michelle. They then walked down the aisle together. Michelle says, "It was so special and we were so pleased we did it the way we envisioned."

Find out more about their big day at Leigh Court (www.leighcourt.co.uk), photographed by Interlace Photography (www.interlacephotography.co.uk) in the Oct/Nov23 issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding, free to download now at www.yourbristolsomerset.wedding/free-download

Shoot coordinator and wedding planner Samantha Smart from Wedding Regency (www.weddingregency.com), had a vision of a dressed table in the middle of a flower meadow with the newlyweds raising a toast to each other. Luckily, Aizel Finch from Yalham Hayes (www.yalhamhayes.com) owns a flower farm and was on board with the idea. “She planted a beautiful summery meadow,” Samantha says. “But thanks to the British weather, we were unable to spend too much time outside and were forced to rethink the whole thing.” The team quickly agreed to use the barn instead, and the result was a great success.

Flowers from the farm were used in the models' hair, as well as on the cake and tables. Meanwhile, the tablescape and tree were styled like a dream, and the complementary stationery worked beautifully with the theme.

Discover the full shoot in the Oct/Nov23 issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding, free to download now at www.yourbristolsomerset.wedding/free-download