London Wedding Planner :: Planning A Destination Wedding in London

Nicole recently returned from a wedding planning trip in London! Emily and Tom are getting married outside of London later this year, and they, along with Emily’s mom, decided to spend a few days in the area meeting with vendors and getting the lay of the land.  We were lucky enough to travel with Nicole’s hubby and destination wedding photographer, Ian, who documented not only the couple, but some of the planning as well.  More on their shoots around London to come!

Since this was Nicole’s first on site experience as a London wedding planner, we asked her for a list of things that she had learned about travel and planning a wedding overseas.

image by Shoots the World

image by Shoots the World

 

Nicole’s Fun Facts:

Travel a few days early! The bride and groom’s plane filled with smoke mid-flight while en route to London, and they ended up being delayed by a full day!

I like to take a piece of home with me… There’s a lot of things you don’t mess with – and coffee is one of them.  We traveled with splenda and creamer… Don’t judge.

image by Shoots the World

Receptions are called  wedding breakfasts. (You should check out that wiki link, because the history behind why they call it a wedding breakfast is super interesting!)  The tasting we had at Caper and Berry was beyond wonderful, and at their super cute tasting cottage!

They didn’t know what a rehearsal was!  Apparently they are not a standard there. Who knew?!

Make sure to verify a GPS address before you give it to your guests! Just like in the states, sometimes the hotel does not pop up. You never want your guests to feel lost, especially in a different country.

Make sure international roaming is activated on your phone.

It is very common for planners to be paid a commission on everything! We had to specify we didn’t work this way, and to pass any discounts, if applicable, to our couple.
English bridal bouquets are structured differently than traditional American ones.  They are more forward-facing, with no stems showing.  We had a blast at Lavender and Green… which we were grateful for the meeting on Valentine’s Day!
Here are a few of our favorites from touring Hedsor House… one of the most beautiful venues I have seen!

image by Shoots the World

image by Shoots the World

Travel with medicines.  Being sick and far from home is never a good thing.  We keep a little bag of cold medicines, pepto, and advil on hand.  In this bag we also keep hand sanitizer and lysol wipes… better to be safe than sorry!
Last but most certainly not least…
A combination of Dramamine and champagne works great for the plane headed over!  Book a late flight – dose up and have a drink to wind down… works like a charm.
And don’t forget to have fun!  We had a moment to catch some of the sites.  Loving the royals, I was excited to see Buckingham Palace!

image by Shoots the World

 

London, we cannot wait to be back to you in July!

xoxo

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