Wedding Favours - charity

I know how hard it can be to settle on a wedding favour for your big day!  There are so many products out there to choose from whiskey miniatures to candles...  As well as a huge range of ideas, cost plays a big role!  When looking at your options its important to take into consideration the cost...  £3 each say may not seem a lot but multiplied by the number of guests it can soon mount up!

We decided to give charity wedding favours.  Our chosen charity was The British Heart Foundation.  We designed little cards (you need to ask permission to do this with any logo/branding of the charity) and attached the charity's pin badge.  Everyone loved them, and best of all a charity also benefits!

Many larger charity's already cater for this idea, providing the full wedding favour - but remember you can do this for any charity whether its a pin badge, merchandise for the cause or just a wee card printed to let your guests know.

Makes a lovely wedding favour, and a lovely gesture!

Pittodrie Football Stadium - Aberdeen

Aberdeen Football Club are offering a fantastic 2011 wedding package.  Here at The Blushing Blogger I love finding a venue that's just a bit out of the ordinary.  Pittodrie Stadium can hold wedding ceremonies in all suites, however the license must be obtained independently by the bride and groom.

Their wedding package; the perfect match costs only £2011 and includes:

• All inclusive wedding package for 50 guests at Pittodrie Stadium
• Your wedding ceremony in one of our suites
• 1 glass of sparkling wine per person on arrival
• Three course meal for 50 guests
• 1 glass of wine per person with dinner
• Your wedding meal and reception in one of our suites
• White linen table covers and linen napkins
• Cake table and knife
• Table plan, menus and table names

Additional services also available on request.

You can contact Pittodrie's expert team at:

Aberdeen Football Club,
Pittodrie Stadium,
Pittodrie Street,
Aberdeen.
AB24 5QH

Tel: 01224 650 445
Fax: 01224 644173

Website

Getting married in the Catholic church

Many people can find getting married in the Catholic faith confusing...  Being through it myself I thought it might be handy to take you through the steps.....

Firstly, either the Bride or Groom ideally needs to be Catholic - it is NOT the case that you both have to be.  The next thing you should do is speak to your local Priest.  He can help you set dates, and discuss your ceremony.  Our Priest was fantastic in helping us in the Order of Service etc....

If your partner is not Catholic you need to write to ask for a dispensation to marry a non-catholic.  This sounds scary but believe me it isn't.  I wrote to our Bishop, and again my local Priest helped me through-out.

Another necessary stage is to attend a marriage preparation course.  This is usually held locally to you, in our case it was held in the Cathedral in Aberdeen.   To be honest, I really wasn't sure what to expect.  However, it was really relaxed and more to my surprise I actually enjoyed it.  The course takes your through succeeding in marriage, listening to each other, as well as various other topics.  This is essential to complete if you wish to be married in the Catholic faith.

But your first step is to speak to your local parish Priest!

Find out more about marriage in the Catholic church here

Something a bit different - Dundee

So a good friend was asking my advice on a wedding venue in and around Dundee....  I absolutely adore looking at different venues and comparing their packages. 

It can be hard to find the venue that ticks all the boxes but sometimes we need to compromise (or cut the guest list !)

While searching around I came across the RRS Discovery docked at Dundee - yes you can get married on a ship!  And a beautiful ship at that!

The Discover is licensed for both civil and religious weddings, however the boat is still open to the public but staff will close off the wedding area during through your ceremony.

You have the choice of 2 areas on the ship which you can have your ceremony; The Bridge - can seat 30 guests or The Main Deck that can seat up to 60, with an additional 20 standing. 

The reception can be held in the Discovery Point centre back on land with a maximum of 120 guests.  If you are a planning a small and intimate wedding then the ships Officers Wardroom on board offers fine dining for up to 14 guests.


The package offered includes all the essentials and a few lovely touches to make your day that bit different and run smoothly.

More information is available on the  RRS Discovery website

I think you will agree that this venue would keep your guests talking for years to come!

The Ceilidh

So our Sandy's Supper ceilidh was amazing!!  Looks like we are going to raise over £7000 for Friends of ANCHOR, which is great news and makes all our hard work worthwhile....

OK so what does this have to do with weddings??  Well our Ceilidh band were absolutely fantastic!  Sporran Again provided the music on the evening which had everyone up dancing all night!  I have been to so many ceilidhs in the past, but there young, energetic sound to traditional Scottish music I loved!  I only wish I had heard them earlier!  They guided everyone through the dances, and made everyone relaxed and most of all enjoying themselves!

Not only are the band out of this world - they were amazing on helping me throughout the planning stages and took so much stress out of the event.  I really couldn't have asked for a better band.

I would highly recommend these guys for anyone wanted a ceilidh that's a bit different!

Sandy's Supper - charity ceilidh

In aid of Friends of ANCHOR I have organised a charity ceilidh evening in memory of a dear family friend Sandy Napier who sadly passed away with cancer.

Friends of ANCHOR is a registered charity formed in 1997, to raise funds for the ANCHOR unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.  The Aberdeen and North centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy (ANCHOR) Unit is a fully funded NHS department at the hospital.  The charity funds non-nhs funded equipment, additional care, comfort and support for its patients and vital, groundbreaking cancer research.

Every penny raised for Friends of ANCHOR goes directly to the charity!

The ceilidh is this coming weekend at Marykirk Village hall and all tickets are sold out which is an amazing achievement - its going to be a good night!

Our music for the evening is from  Sporran Again - who are a very popular wedding band - so review will be coming!

We have raised over £3000 so far, and can't wait to get the final total!

So you are getting married.....

Lets get stuck in!

Right first things first, have you picked your date?? Popular wedding venues get booked up years in advance - so you and your partner need to pick a date, and find the venue.

To apply for your wedding license you need to know the venue, as the registrar in that area needs to issue the license, this not necessarily being your local registrar. For a civil ceremony you need to make a provisional booking the registrar, they require the full names and addresses of the bride and groom, contact telephone number/email address, venue of wedding, time of the ceremony and which room/area the ceremony would be held.

If you decide on a church wedding and not a civil ceremony then you needs to speak to the Minister/Priest at your choosen church.  Check availability etc - but you still need to contact Registrar for license...  Check out the General Register office for Scotland for more information.

Welcome to the Blushing Blogger

Firstly congratulations on your engagement (assuming this is why you are here :) )

Ok so the plan is to build up a invaluable resource for brides to be in Aberdeenshire and Angus.  First steps will be what to do first when planning a wedding - it can be so confusing from registrars to licenses but the blushing blogger is here to help!

Also will do features on different wedding venues in the area, helping you find the most unique and perfect venue for your big day........

Thank you for visiting!

Gilly x