When I got engaged I was completely perplexed at the impetus put on choosing your wedding perfume. Sure, we all know smells are lovely and that scent is the strongest sense associated with memory so therefore nice perfume = nice wedding day memories all flooding back when you wear the same one again… But there were hundreds of articles about it seemingly everywhere I looked.

I like smelling good as much as the next regularly showering person, but do I think it’s the be all and end all of wedding memory perfection? I do not. HOWEVERRRRRR, I’m not a complete anarchist so I do have some (hopefully nice and realistic) pieces of advice for picking what you’re going smell like on your wedding day.

Know your tastes

My advice for choosing which perfume to wear is shockingly similar to pretty much all my advice surrounding planning your day your way, JUST PICK STUFF YOU LIKE.

But seriously, if you usually don’t wear any perfume at all there’s no reason why you now need to turn yourself into an expert perfumer just because you’re getting married. If you usually wear something quite masculine then this is where you ought to start (my go-to is Jo Malone’s Oud and Bergamot which is actually a unisex scent but I am OBSESSED with it) or if sweet, girly perfumes are your jam then check out Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue. I’m also a big fan of the body spray, not gonna lie. Impluse have just bought out a load of new fragrances and they’re cheap as anything. A great way for experimenting with scent without spending your entire wedding budget on it.

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It’s no massive surprise that the right music and entertainment at a wedding is CRUCIAL to have a party that goes off with a bang. However if you’re not the kind of people that go to a lot of gigs and you don’t happen to have a DJ BFF, it can be difficult to know how to find people to perform at your wedding. We had a terrible band at our wedding over a decade ago because we simply didn’t give the choosing of them enough time and attention (I actually think my parents went to a wedding where they played and said they were ‘alright’ so we we’re like “Sure, lets just book them and get it ticked off our list”. Big mistake, huge!)

However one party where the music absolutely did not suck was my book launch last month. We had my friend Paddy of Disco Wed play and he’s SO GREAT that I wanted to share him with you so bad wedding entertainment doesn’t have to happen to you too!

Paddy is only genuinely one of the nicest people I’ve met in this industry and he is super passionate about music so he’s just the kind of guy you’ll want to leave this important part of the to. Never intending to become a ‘wedding DJ’, he started his career playing festivals and nightclubs, bringing his trusty Disco Shed along for the party (and yes, it’s a real shed that he plays out of!) It was only a matter of time until someone asked him if he did weddings and so, Disco WED was born.

“My aim has always been to provide the perfect service for cool couples wanting something more credible and contemporary than the typically naff wedding DJ”, Paddy says. “We concentrate on:

– Playing great, accessible, non-cheesy or cliched wedding party music
– Mixing seamlessly as you would hear in a club and no cheesy mic chat
– Using great-looking and sounding kit, and no tacky looking set-ups
– Providing a friendly, relaxed, and straightforward service from beginning to end

We love working with couples on their music choices, and are happy to have as much or as little input as they want on their playlist. The aim is to help them know they can relax in the knowledge they’re in safe hands, and can trust us to give them a brilliant party to end the biggest day of their lives.

All our DJs are friends, so completely understand the level of service expected of them when playing for Disco Wed. Everyone has a background in the music business – in bands, running record labels, or as DJs and promoters – so we’re ‘proper’ DJs first and foremost, not just doing it as a hobby for some extra cash.”

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When it comes to keeping your guests happy, there’s one thing that will do the job more than anything else – jolly good grub. It’s no wonder that food and drink tends to be one of the most expensive parts of a wedding either, you’re literally buying dinner for 100 of your nearest and dearest (if ever you need inspiration to cull your guest list a bit, this is it right?!)

Unless you’re after a very specific style of catering such as kosher or food trucks, a lot of catering companies will be able to work with you to to provide exactly the sort of food you want. Today I wanted to introduce you properly to the amazing caterers that worked on my book launch party, Party Ingredients, and tell you all about them because they were quite frankly FANTASTIC. If you’re getting married in London or the Home Counties, you absolutely need to consider them for your day.

With over 40 years experience in event’s catering, nothing was too much trouble for Kate and her team. As we were having a casual party menu we went for an interactive canapé station, where the chefs prepared everything in front of us. We had the most delish mini sliders (venison, fish and vegetable) served in rainbow buns (!) and they even did gluten-free options especially for my GF husband. Next up was a raw and natural station serving tuna carpaccio, queen scallops, mushroom, truffle and white radish, spiralised courgette and baby vegetables all served on broad bean blinis or teardrop spoons (SO FANCY!) For dessert we were wowed by fruit, Turkish Delight, gin truffles and fudge dipped in chocolate and frozen in front of us on in dry ice!

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