Our favourite venues

As you know over the last 12 months Isabella Weddings have grown from strength to strength and along the way we have begun working with some fabulous venues, some we support fully and some we work with on a series of weddings throughout the season. All of these stunning venues are ones that we fully recommend and love, tell us what you think.

Hill Place, Swanmore, Hampshire













www.hillplace.co.uk

This is the success story of 2011, this lovely old house with a fabulous family offer a wedding venue with history, relaxed surroundings and a home from home promise. They have been featured on Channel 4's Country House Rescue and have recently won the award for Best Regional Wedding Venue in the South East by the Wedding Industry Awards and it is easy to see why.

No other venue is like this, it is relaxed, comfortable but luxury with home comforts. Rebecca and Will have it right and offer a wonderful wedding experience with just the right amount of support.






We work with Hill Place closely and are considered part of the team, we can also provide an 'all inclusive' offer to couples, guaranteeing them excellent suppliers and a stress free wedding planning journey.

Old Alresford House, nr Winchester






www.oldalresfordhouse.com

This stunning mansion is a luxury wedding venue waiting to be taken advantage of, the owners are a wonderful family who have put heart and soul into renovating this lovely house to ensure every wedding is swathed in luxury and glamour. The house is situated on the outskirts of Winchester so it's ideal for city couples, it can house up to 120 guests in the ballroom and offers an outdoor marquee for that choice of location for your event.






Every couple booking their wedding with Old Alresford House are offered some time with an Isabella Weddings planner as part of their package, a wedding gift from the owners. We will also be there on your day to co-ordinate and help from start to finish.

Newclose County Cricket Ground, Isle of Wight






www.newcloseiowweddings.co.uk

This is a fairly new venue of ours, we are working closely with the owners to provide a package that offers couples a choice as well as a fully support wedding planning journey. The club has room for smaller weddings of up to 90 within the clubhouse and the huge, luxury marquee can provide space for 320 guests with a fully stocked bar and all you need for a wonderful Island wedding.






Do get in touch with us if you would like to know more about this wonderful, relaxed wedding venue with fabulous views of the Island.

Portsmouth Heritage Sites

We also work with some lovely venues in and around Portsmouth, there is so much history in this city and a chance to really have a unique wedding. We are organising a wedding and home event in the city this summer to showcase some of these lovely venues, we hope you can come along and say Hi.

Here are two of our favourites in Portsmouth ...

The Square Tower







The Guildhall




















Our list of venues we love and work with is growing all the time so if you would like some help with your venue search or if you are a venue and feel that some external help might be worth a chat then get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

Thank you to all the venues above who have welcomed us and where we now feel part of the family, we do enjoy working with you all.

Marie x


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Wedding Workshops

How does any new bride begin to think about planning a wedding? For some it is easy, for others it can be a really scary time. Either way you should always ask for help at any sticking points so that you don't get lost or worst still, disheartened.




(Dr Christine Fernandez .com)
It doesn't have to be scary, of course I could say this is where a wedding planner would help but that isn't the only way to get prepared, not everyone wants a planner and many girls nowadays want to feel they have control (we do promise at IW that all our brides have full control!) so from this Autumn we will be offering a series of 'Wedding Workshop Weekends' for those ladies and their girlfriends / families that wish to have a heads up on planning tips and wish to go it alone without the full support of a professional.




The gorgeous Hill Place
So what is a Wedding Workshop??
It is simply a chance to get ahead with your planning, talk everything through with the professionals and have a fab weekend away!
We invite you to join us for a weekend in Hampshire, bring your bridesmaid/sister/mum and relax for the weekend, maybe you could make this your hen weekend!




(ragdalehall.co.uk)
You will enjoy a range of activities (nothing too stress-full we promise) see some excellent supplier demonstrations, enjoy some fun exercises and take home tips from Isabella Weddings planners on how to make the most of your budget, timeline, plans and suppliers.




(www.luellasboudoir.co.uk)
Supplier demos can range from cake making, photography, invitation design, how to make your own bouquet, dress design ... Lots to give any bride inspiration and focus to create her own day.




(sarahtreble.co.uk)
The evening is yours to enjoy dinner with us or why not explore the local area yourself and reflect on your day, then after a relaxing night at our hotel we enjoy another light hearted, fun day together swapping ideas and meeting some great suppliers before heading home with hopefully a clear head and the tools to get your wedding planned!
Of course we are always at the end of the phone (or email!) to answer any questions and to help at any stage, Isabella Weddings specialises in affordable support as and when a bride needs us, we can attend on your wedding day to ensure your day is perfect and you can relax and enjoy everything without the worry of having to co-ordinate it yourselves.
We can also step in to help with small projects or to give a little support when you need it, without you feeling like someone else has taken over your day, we never do that.




(little-lillies.co.uk)

The choices are yours, we are here to give you the tools and you enjoy a fab weekend away with the girls at the same time!
Why not register your interest together with the area and time of year you'd prefer to enquiries@isabellaweddings.co.uk and when we begin booking this year's classes we will be sure to get in touch. We only need around 10-12 ladies to make this a success!
Chat soon, happy planning!
Find out more at www.isabellaweddings.co.uk
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Buttoned up ... On the Isle of Wight

Now for those of you that know me you will understand my love of all things different. (my ever changing hair colour testifies to that) I adore the weird, wonderful, whacky and unique. We are always looking for ways to help a bride make her wedding special and different but also within budget ... and this week I met a lady who showed me some amazing creations and I fell I love - Button bouquets from I Heart Buttons on the Isle of Wight.



Images are kindly supplied by Lesa, owner of I Heart Buttons and some are shot by Chris Cowley, www.isleofwightweddingphotographer.co.uk I hope you enjoy them as much as I do ..



Beautiful and personal, Lesa can incorporate items of jewellery, buttons and broaches from family members to really enhance your bespoke bouquet.




Thank you Chris for this wonderful shot, simply stunning work.




This is my favourite. So colourful and lots to look at, I want to have this if I ever renew my vows ... Hmmm when can I book that in for ?!




Button (what else!) holes too .... Fabulous and perfect for those allergy sufferers.









Plenty of ideas for the little ones too ..


And the home ..



Use all your favourite colours ..




And when the wedding is over, why not break it down and have it transformed into perfect button jewellery to give as gifts to your bridal party.

I love this idea and hope to see much more of Lesa's work in the future. To visit her website pop over to www.iheartbuttons.co.uk or visit her shop on the Isle of Wight soon.

Now I'm off to convince hubby to renew our vows .... Needs must!

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, see you in January with lots of news and projects at many of our favourite venues.

Marie

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Location:Isle of Wight

Kev & Vicks Happy Country Wedding

In October we were lucky enough to be part of Kevin and Victoria's wedding at the gorgeous Hill Place in Hampshire. Below are some of the images their fabulous photographer Andrew Squires captured for them.








It is easy to see how Hill Place won the recent award for Best Regional Wedding Venue, it truly is a stunning house and lovingly looked after by a fabulous team, Isabella Weddings are proud to be part of that team.










The feel for this wedding was fun, with classic children's stories as table names and a touch of scrabble here and there the house looked excellent.










Victoria had out together some amazing personal touches, which suits this venue perfectly, it is a real home from home.










Everyone enjoyed this wonderfully warm October day and made the most of the grounds that surround the house, Vanilla caterers served some delicious treats and the feel all day was relaxed and chilled.













So despite the Channel 4 film crew being there (!), the day went smoothly and calmly, we thoroughly enjoyed being part of their day and I'm glad to say I have personally gained some fabulous friends from this day.






Enjoy more of Andrew's work at http://www.andrewjrsquires.blogspot.com/

See our website for more information on how we can help on your day www.isabellaweddings.co.uk or drop us an email to marie@isabellaweddings.co.uk

Do also pop over to see Hill Place and read about our exclusive packages and offers www.hillpace.co.uk

Have a lovely weekend :-)

Location:Hill Place, Swanmore

Inspiration

Good evening, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year? Doesn't it feel like ages ago now? I feel back into full work mode and I'm amazed how quickly the festivities have been long forgotten, ah well it might just snow and that will make us all excited again!

I am often asked what inspires me and more often than not I am also asked what a bride can do to 'be inspired'. Be it for a theme or maybe a style of dress, some ladies find it hard to decide or to indeed choose between styles, colours, themes and trends. I don't think I have a particular style or love of one specific genre or theme, in my home we have some vintage pieces (my current fav), some bright orange retro and some gorgeous bright modern pinks and of course the obligatory 70's fireplace ... So nothing we have fits one style, we just like to surround ourselves with items we love and enjoy.






So how does a bride find her own style for her wedding, there is a risk of having to spend a fortune starting from scratch buying everything to 'fill' your wedding venue and then what do you do with 25 cake stands afterwards? Like us many people like different things at different times, so what's to say that although in the winter you love warm, cosy, browns but by the time your summer wedding comes you may be totally in love with soft satiny summer blues?






You may like vintage and modern, country and city, how do you combine these? What if you like the deep reds and oranges but would love a soft, lace dress? Will this work, do you have to be loyal to just one theme?

Well my golden rules are these :

1) Don't feel pressured into choosing just one 'theme' and sticking with it, you can mix and match ... A vintage bouquet might work well with deep colours if you choose the right flowers, or a vase of country garden flowers can still be housed in modern tin drums. You just have to be a little creative!






2) If you still don't know what you truly love the most try this test ... Imagine you have been given a blank cheque and are allowed to decorate your home with anything you wish with no limit on spending ... What would you do? This will show your true styles through....all you have to do is mix them both (yours and your partners!) and adapt them to fit your wedding.

A mood board is ideal, this can be created by yourself or even better ask a trusted wedding planner (like us!) to put one together with some good value and budget - worthy ideas to decorate your room.







(flourish studios.co.uk)







(flickriver.com)







(the wedding community blog)

There are lots of ideas out there, a recent bride of ours was so worried that her theme wasn't taking shape that we decided between us to scrap the theme and just buy things that she loved, her 'theme' was what we now call country retro ... It was a hit in Brides magazine that month!

Enjoy your creative time , see you soon

Remember you can contact us anytime, we offer lots of affordable help without the pressure x
www.isabellaweddings.co.uk
marie@isabellaweddings.co.uk

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A different ceremony - the world is waiting

In the UK to get married under civil licence you have to exchange your vows within the boundaries of a licensed room, venue or space, this space must be of permanent structure so in other words you cannot marry legally in an unlicensed venue, outside or in the open air .... Or can you.



In many other countries like America it is the celebrant who is licensed not the venue, so as long as you have one of those he or she may marry you wherever and whenever you wish (I was married in California in a garden for this exact reason). In the UK we don't have this luxury, not that we would want it sometimes with our unpredictable weather and wet summers.



However it is now a totally possible thing thanks to independent celebrants offering freedom of choice and a chance to take our nuptials outside (or in the forest, up a mountain, down by a lake ...). How does this work? There are 3 important factors you must consider before deciding to get married outside in the UK....

1) You MUST do the legal bit! Your ceremony with an independent celebrant will not be legal no matter how authentic. However this is simple, simply pop along to your local registry office (appointments etc are of course needed) and sign the legal paperwork, there is no need to dress up, exchange rings, say vows or anything that would make it feel like a real ceremony, you can wear jeans, take just your witnesses (these can even be the staff at the office!) and as long as you say one particular sentence and sign in the right place you are then legally married!

This lasts around 15 minutes and is very informal, you can do this before or after your ceremony and totally in secret so your family and friends don't feel like the service has already happened - it hasn't, it's just signing of papers.

Alternatively if you find a lovely licensed venue that perhaps isn't big enough or suitable for your wedding ceremony, you can have the legal part carried out within the licensed area inside and take your actual ceremony outside, making the most of the venue!



2) You should have somewhere indoors or under cover should the great British weather play unfair. In other words if you want to get married on the beach, have somewhere nearby indoors or have wet weather gear lined up for you and your guests (and your celebrant) just in case. A row of gorgeous umbrellas look fab in the photos!



Remember also to always gain permission from the person/company/organisation that own the land you wish to marry on.


3) Find a good independent celebrant. These should come recommended by someone you know well (we happily recommend the following two) and meet with them to chat through your day. The freedom of choice is wonderful, they will talk you through your options (of which there are loads!) help to design a service that looks and feels just like the real thing. You will still be pronounced husband and wife and you can have readings, songs, traditions etc anything that you wish to include is usually no trouble.

We love Orchid ceremonies and have worked with them in one of our venues in Alresford, Hampshire. They are so accommodating and experienced registrars so they know exactly how a ceremony can be performed to ensure you have the day of your dreams.
http://www.orchidceremonies.co.uk


Also Tailor Made ceremonies are excellent at understanding a couples needs and helping them to achieve a truly wonderful ceremony for themselves and their guests.
http://www.tailormadeceremonies.co.uk



These guys (and there are more and more now) will also be able to offer baby naming ceremonies, funeral services and renewal of vows plus much more.

So if you are struggling to find a venue, a fan of the outdoors and secretly wish you could be a little different, why not have an independent celebrant and get married at a place of your choosing! That stunning house, castle, gallery, mountain ... That you wish were licensed can now be a reality for your dream wedding.

At Isabella Weddings we have lots of experience of organising unique and unusual weddings using independent celebrants so why not meet us for a coffee soon to find your perfect location.



www.isabellaweddings.co.uk
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