Firstly, a big thank you to all who attended the 11th Cape Town Wedding Festival, which Celebration House hosted at the beginning of September in the beautiful Chattels marquee on Market Square at the V&A Waterfront, and in the Forum of the Victoria & Alfred Hotel alongside.

We trust you all enjoyed the Festival and that you left inspired by many new and interesting ideas.

Festival Competition
The lucky winners of the wonderful prizes offered in our Festival Competition have been announced and their names may be found on our website www.celebrationhouse.co.za. Thank you to all who entered this exciting competition and also to our generous sponsors.

Were you caught on camera?
Our roving cameraman, Clifford Alexander, captured photos of some of the visitors to The Cape Town Wedding Festival. Visitors whose faces are ringed in the photographs will receive a copy of our latest publication, The really useful WEDDING BOOK for South Africa. To check whether you were one of those captured, please visit our website www.celebrationhouse.co.za and look under The Cape Town Wedding Festival review.

The Inspiration Zone
A new feature of our Festival, The Inspiration Zone was an instant hit and received many compliments. We will soon be featuring photos of the various table displays at Celebration House, so if you were disappointed at not having a camera with you at the Festival, you are welcome to come and view the beautiful photos taken by Alexander Photography.

Wedding trends seen at the Festival
It was interesting to note that black-and-white was one of the most popular colour combinations at this year’s Festival. From wedding stationery to table décor, black-and-white elegance was a winner, followed closely by white-and-green. Judging from the wedding dresses on display, laced-up, figure-hugging bodices are still popular, as are dresses with a slightly ruched skirt exposing a small amount of net underlay on one side.

Choosing a wedding dress
Many brides-to-be took advantage of the opportunity to try on dresses at our popular Dressing-up Box, which gave them a wonderful chance to experiment. One bride told me that, after trying on many of the designer gowns and listening to the stylist’s advice, she was now considering a completely different style of dress to the one she had originally had in mind!

Are you a Disney fan?
A recent report in The Guardian newspaper (among others) confirmed that Disney is now targeting the bridal market. The Disney Fairy Tale Weddings Collection, with garments by couturier Kirstie Kelly, recently went on sale in America. The gowns – which are priced between $1,100 and $3500 (R 7 700 - R24 500) - are inspired by Disney princesses, including Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White. According to the article, Disney is looking for ways to capture new markets and also to appeal to adults who just love Disney and want to be able to buy a product associated with the brand.

Planning a ‘destination wedding’ in Venice?
A word of warning if you are planning to marry in romantic Venice: According to a report in The Scotsman, in an attempt to tackle their pigeon population problem, rice-throwing is to be banned at weddings in Venice. The report went on to say that, whilst traditionally in Italy rice is thrown at weddings as a symbol of fertility and good luck, according to officials the grains are being pounced on by the pigeons, thereby creating problems. The birds’ droppings erode building fascias, and a study has now also revealed that the pigeons are pecking at the stonework to sharpen their beaks. The article points out that Venice attracts millions of visitors annually, including many who wish to marry in what has become known as the world’s most romantic city. Picturesque St Mark’s Square is the resting place of many of the city's estimated 40 000 pigeons and Venice has spent more than £591 000 (over R8 million) on controlling the pigeon population. (I was amused to discover that one of the more unusual methods employed is to lace seed with contraceptives!)

The really useful WEDDING BOOK for South Africa
by Pam Black

Copies of this popular book are available at leading bookstores in South Africa and also at Celebration House. We have been receiving great feedback from those who have invested in the book and would like to share a few of their comments with you:

Pam Black's book is a delightful and invaluable find. From her very practical advice to her charming quotes, it's a huge delight. (I've already bought and given away 4 more copies.)

The task of arranging a wedding, when the couple are not present, is always going to be a challenge, but after visiting Celebration House and the Festival and reading The Really Useful Wedding Book, we feel that you have turned our challenge into a pleasant and exciting one.

To read more reviews, visit www.celebrationhouse.co.za.

This month’s interesting question
Q. We are two weeks away from our daughter’s wedding. The groom is from another part of the country and a large number of his family and friends were invited. We cut down our side to accommodate them, but now find that many of them are not able to attend. Would it be in order to now (only two weeks before the wedding), send out invitations to two couples we had not invited? We would really like them to be with us! Especially now that we don’t have as many guests attending.

A. I see no reason why you can't send out invitations to the two couples in question, depending on your relationship with them and provided that you are honest as to the reason why you are inviting them at this late stage. (Maybe you could hand deliver the invitations to save time?) I think guests who receive an invitation two weeks before the wedding know that for some reason or another they were not on the original list, so I feel the honesty aspect is important. Most folk today realise that due to budget and size constraints, it is not always possible to invite everyone you would like to a wedding.

Celebration House
At Celebration House in Claremont, in addition to the vast array of displays to view, we also have a good collection of imported wedding books and the latest imported wedding magazines, which visitors are welcome to spend as much time as they like browsing through. Remember, too, that although we are not wedding or event planners, we will provide you, at no cost, with all the tools you need to do it successfully yourself.

This month’s ‘green tip’
Cut back on the quantity of flowers used in your décor, and hire potted plants instead to create ambience. Your flowers should preferably also be grown locally and not flown in from foreign shores.

Top tip from Celebration House
Check your seating plan to make sure no one has been left off – and then check it again!

Until next time

Take care

Pam Black