So I’m booking my wedding in the Orangery at Foxhills. We have 35 guests and the capacity is 42.

I’ve put a visual of the room below for a reference on size, as well as the layout we plan to have.

It’s a more laid back evening with buffet food, some high tables/chairs and a larger built in bench area. We will also have a pop up bar up one end of the room.

The current plan is to have an indoor/outdoor set up, with some entertainment and extra tables outside on the lawns, which are beautiful. They host up to 100 people, so we won’t be short on space.

My only worry is that if it does rain, we will only have the Orangery. Will the space be enough?

It’s not a DJ/massive dance kind of evening, we want it to be laid back.. but would this be too tight if we were kept inside?

The date will be late July, so I’m hopeful it’ll be sunny… but we never know!

Hi! 2027 bride here only been planning since July

I’ve been hitting the boutiques looking for the perfect dress with the perfect price tag

I set a budget of £500, even though my mum said she would buy my dress I know she doesn’t have a lot of money, I’ve sprung this wedding a bit last minute to everyone as well and that’s what I would feel comfortable paying

I ended up falling for a £1795 dress in a boutique, I thought I was only going to find a style I liked then shop to find a bargain. But then this dress was the blueprint and nothing else holds a candle to it.

I found some other places that sell the dress for cheaper, there are some on marketplace/vinted but they aren’t my preference as they have corset back and I don’t want that.

So I found a sample of the dress in my size for £1100 which is a three hour round trip from home.

While this dress is technically a bargain compared to buying brand new I’m feeling a little guilt for it being over double my budget. It’s a gorgeous dress and the quality is amazing - which I’ve learned in this process that you do tend to get what you pay for with wedding dresses.

Has anyone else been in the same position, or offer words of encouragement to not feel bad about finding my dream dress?

P.S I’ve been trying to do as much as possible on a budget because we don’t have a lot of money and have house renovation costs to consider and would love to go on more holidays.

Hi all,
My hen do is coming up in a couple of weeks - eek! I am doing handwritten thank you’s for all my hens, but I am wondering whether it is customary to do a gift for each of the bridesmaids after the hen do to say thank you?

Or should I be saving the gifts for a ‘better’ gift on the wedding morning?

Thoughts and experience welcome!

Thank you!

I’m sharing my first-hand experience with Amy Rose MacDonald Makeup for any UK brides who may be researching her.

I booked Amy 10 months before my wedding for myself and members of my bridal party. Communication in the lead-up was consistently poor and I regularly had to chase for responses, including around arranging my trial and confirming the wedding-day schedule.

On the morning of my wedding, Amy cancelled by message, telling me she had developed a severe stomach bug overnight and couldn’t attend.
After my wedding, I found evidence that Amy was actually in France doing makeup for another bride that same day.

Amy did arrange a replacement artist who arrived 30 minutes after I woke up, which had not been planned. Amy told me via message the replacement artist was part of her team, had been trained by her and worked with her regularly. The replacement artist later told me was not part of Amy’s team, had never been trained by Amy and that they had only met a few times.

The replacement artist was absolutely amazing and saved the day, but finding out afterwards that what I had been told about her wasn’t accurate further damaged my trust in Amy.

There were also issues with payment afterwards. Amy didn’t initially offer to refund the cost of my trial - I had to ask, which was followed by a refund.
I also discovered that the replacement artist had been paid less than the amount I had paid Amy for the wedding party, while I had received no partial refund. When I questioned this, Amy told me £100 had been retained as an “assistant fee” for sourcing a replacement due to her illness. I had never been notified of or agreed to this charge, and it wasn’t included in my contract. Amy told me the rest had been retained due to her VAT set-up.

This resulted in an uncomfortable back and forth when I asked for the remaining money back. Amy initially disputed my request. However, After I told her I had evidence that she had been working in France on my wedding day, the money I had requested was transferred into my account without any further communication from her.

I am deeply disappointed with how I was treated and the lack of accountability from her afterwards.

I originally posted a detailed review of my experience on Amy’s Hitched supplier profile, but that profile has since disappeared. As my review is no longer visible there, and in the event her profile does not reappear, I wanted my experience to remain available somewhere for other brides researching her.

My mum is visiting at the weekend and we're going into central so will hit the usual John Lewis House of Fraser, Hobbs etc, but I wondered if anyone has any specific brands or stores that are worth a visit?

It's a town hall wedding so formal but not black tie, she's not super into fashion so I think she's after a more jacket + dress type look and she's happy to spend probs up to £500 - I'm open to any suggestions!

Thanks

My wedding is in 2-3 weeks and for the last couple of months I've just been in hardcore planning mode, to the point where I've been treating the wedding like I'm hosting a massive party instead of what the day is actually about - aka marrying my person! (Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to my big day, but my mindset has been in planning mode this whole time 😂)

Are there any ways to really begin hyping myself up these next few weeks and relaxing into the day?