The seasonal Wed & Prosper Round Up for 2023!

So now that we have had a chance to breathe after a truly hectic 2023 wedding season, we figured it was about time to shed light on exactly just what we have been up to over the last 6 months and give you the seasonal Wed & Prosper round up for 2023!

But first we want to give all our couples (all 73 of them!)  a huge shout out and congratulations again- wow what weddings you all had, some epic moments and memories made!

So, the break down, here it goes….

We worked on 73 weddings in total, of which included:

16 weddings fully planned from start to finish, including every single logistic, layout, cutlery counts, power outlet, supplier, timetable, zoom meeting, you name it. If a wedding needs it, then we organised it!

Bamboo Shoots Photography

23 couples employed us for our on the day coordination service- we made sure every couples dream day went to plan. Which allowed them and their families to fully invest in the day, enjoy every second and therefore make more memories! Just ask the couples- it’s worth every penny!

26 of them had us for set up and styling. We made sure the couple’s vision and Pinterest board came to life, that everything looked perfect and ready to go, even when the weather took a turn! Have you thought about who will be setting things up the morning of your wedding, whilst you’re getting ready?

26 weddings fully set up and styled!

From moving tables and chairs into place, to laying tables, decorating the aisle and more, we loved getting to see the individual style of each of our couples.

52 weddings hired our props, from the green velvet sofa to gold candlestick holders, archways, and backdrops. All delivered and picked up again! Who needs a gym during wedding season huh!

3 weddings we provided full floristry for, from credit card buttonholes to huge installations and everything in-between. We did a lot more floristry across other weddings, but these 3 were our big ones! We hope to grow this area for 2024.

Bouquets & buttonholes

From making credit card button holes to larger installations, church flowers and everything in-between.

We can’t wait to create more floral in 2024!

These figures don’t include our Final Countdown service where we tied everything together in the last 6 weeks leading up to weddings, so that the couples could fully relax knowing everything was taken care of.

We also provided stationery design for 12 weddings- personalised menu cards for guests, table plans, signage, banners and more, all designed by Rachel and sent over to Ravenprint for printing.

So what are some of our favourite moments from this season (though we literally loved every single wedding we worked!)

Making large installations- Rachel loved balancing on ladders, making trees, chandeliers, ginormous hanging floral hoops and transforming venues, even if Carrie hated watching her being up so high! We can’t wait to get involved with more installations over the 2024 season, flower clouds, greenery everywhere and massive broken archways!

Brides and Grooms conducting speeches together…and including shots! A memorable speech for Carrie was when the Bride and Groom called out the suppliers-including the chef David Rogers from All About Catering out of the kitchen and then Carrie. The couple said thankyous to them personally and then joined them knocking back a shot! They did this to every supplier on site at that time! It made some great photos and got the guests going, ready for the evening celebrations to start.

 A huge jamon carved in front of the guests as they arrived, by Kev Hendy from Seasoned Kitchen and his chefs, teamed with sherry and a variety of fresh Island produce, and a DJ playing Ibiza vibes was a seriously cool moment within the historical ruins of Appldurcombe House. It was great to see this venue used in a different way from the norm. The lighting Provided by StageGear also set the tone of the evening perfectly.

Rain didn’t stop our play- one of our first weddings of the season was, well to be honest, a total washout! But… it ended up being so beautiful, with extra candles and lighting everywhere. We managed to solve all issues- at one point the catering tent was totally flooded and the poor staff were literally wading through water up to their knees!  And emergency call to SDC Marquees who provided extra covers and matting to keep the guests safe and dry ensured we could hide all this from the guests! The couple and guests still had the best day ever, even if we had to contend with many room changes and extra logistics!

under the ruins at appldurcombe

We are strong believers that lighting is an important part in creating the right atmosphere and vibe.

So, some points to mention from this season…

What we’ve learnt- Having an experienced caterer is possibly one of the most important parts to ensuring a successful wedding day. Cooking and plating food, for 100 plus people, at the same time, keeping it hot, to a high standard, often in a tent, in a field, in the middle of nowhere is quite a hard task- leave it to the pros sit back, sip your drink, concentrate on your speeches, and enjoy!

Our biggest advice- Always, always have a plan B!! This summer more than ever has shown that the British weather doesn’t always play ball.  If you have in your head what could happen then it won’t come as a shock or a surprise when it’s put into place. We also suggest you have an experienced on the day coordinator to put the plan b into place for you. Making it much more stress free for not only yourself and family, but also the suppliers on site that day.

What we hope for 2024- We would love to see some more beautiful venues become available for the island- especially venues perfect for the winter months with onsite accommodation-that’s not too much to ask for right? We also hope to meet and work with new suppliers – if there is anyone we haven’t met yet then please get in touch as we are always looking to expand our suppliers list for our clients. We should also mention that we are completely independent planners- what does this mean, I hear you say?! This means that we never take commission from any of our suppliers, we work for you as the couple to get you the best rates, the best service and the best fit for your day.

Trends to watch out for-

Local, seasonal, fresh cut, colourful flowers- we will be using local suppliers such as Carisbrooke flower farm for our fresh stems- follow us on this over the next season, I’m sure Rachel will be making it her 2nd home-she loves being in the flower fields.

Black chairs- we have been begging Isle of Wight Suppliers for clean cut elegant black chairs to hire for a cool monochrome look and we have heard on the grapevine that Coast and Country have taken this on board and will have them available for 2024 season- we can’t wait to see them in situ in their tri tent!

Artisan ice cream- Island Ices, the perfect cool (literally) addition to your welcome drinks or cocktail hour. Hand made to order rolled ice cream right in front of you, gives the added theatrical twist and entertainment value-guests can even give it a go themselves! Delicious and who doesn’t like an ice cream in one hand and a cocktail in the other! Apparently, they may be able to do Frosé (frozen rosé) as well! We are sold!

Wedding weekenders- We see this with our planning clients more and more. You have your whole family and closest friends on the beautiful Isle of Wight- so why not party all weekend! Friday night drinks and meet and greet at your accommodation? A restaurant for the boys and a separate one for the girls? Sunday brunch on a beach and sea dip? Boat hire? Private yoga session the morning of your wedding? Mini Sunday festival? Private chef? So many possibilities and we can help with it all! Hook up with The Smoking Lobster, The Compass Bar, The Hut, Isle of Wight Pilates or boat charters like EML Charters.

The dress- we see bows, pockets and splits in the skirts being big for 2024 and still staying as a strong vibe is the change up for brides, buy a dress which has 2 looks, a removable skirt or topper, taking your look from day to night.

Which takes us on perfectly to a major development in 2023, the opening of our sister company 1840 by Wed & Prosper, which opened its doors on the 17th September, which we’ve only just realised was the exact same date we started our wedding business 6 years ago! The new company being a 3am idea by Carrie which has now become a reality with a beautiful luxury bridal boutique.

a new bridal boutique has come to the isle of wight

So now we head to autumn and winter when the time comes to put all the plans together for 2024 and 2025 couples, get props spick and span, visit our venues and spend time reviewing the plans for the business.

We thank you for being on this journey with us, we are literally doing our dream job, it requires blood sweat and tears but we love it and look forward to 2024 season and beyond.

We need to thank our team, both our freelancers and staff for all their hard work this season, we couldn’t do it without them all.

 Carrie & Rachel

Harry Bradley Photography

A Marquee Wedding, what does it involve?

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We recently planned a very large marquee set up at Nunwell House with Grays Marquees and were onsite from the first peg going into the ground right through to the final lining going into place. We learnt a lot! Firstly, erecting a marquee is really hard work and takes a lot of man power. Secondly the weather is very important!

Make it stand out

Marquees allow you to really personalise your wedding day, the style, layout and décor can be bespoke to you.

A marquee wedding takes a lot of logistical planning, have you got the right size and shape for your day, what lighting do you want (we strongly recommend Stage Gear for all your lighting and power needs), furniture choices and layout, do you have the space to have a dining zone, a bar zone and a dance floor set up for the whole day, if not who is going to move furniture to get the dance floor ready? What power does your entertainment, caterer, and lighting need – getting the right size generator is crucial. Then there is the order that the set up will happen, you can’t have furniture set up before lighting and you need a generator onsite before the lighting. There is a lot to think about.

Marquees allow you to really personalise your wedding day, the style, layout and décor can be bespoke to you, whether you go traditional or clearspan any colour scheme will work. We have been involved in a few larger scale marquee wedding set ups this season and its been super fun working on site ,setting them up and coordinating them. Creating a completely tailor made wedding venue for each couple, wanting to put their own individual stamp on their big day.

For this most recent wedding we spent 2 full days up ladders dressing lights with 400m of ivy and building a tree in the middle of the bar, a very labour-intensive job but stepping back to see what we had achieved was amazing. Then when you add in the furniture, coloured glassware, personalised touches like menu cards and hand printed napkins it really brings it all to life. Going back to the furniture and tables-who will be getting it all in place and laying the tables and playing items around the marquee, its not like other venues were there maybe a venue manager on duty. But Guess what-we can help with all of this!

Who is helping you?

Who will help you with furniture set up and movement through out the day?

It blows our mind how our fabulous local caterers work so effectively in basically just a tent in a field next to the marquee and produce such exceptional food. For this set up we worked with All About Catering and they really know what they’re doing, serving high end restaurant food piping hot to 165 guests in a marquee in October is certainly not easy. The guests were over the moon with their meals and the perks of the job is when we also get to taste the delicious food!

Do you need extra staff for the bar if you are stocking it yourselves?

Who will help you with pack down the next day? Do you really want to wake up as newlyweds after all the excitement (and probably with some kind of hangover!) to then have to dismantle everything and clean up and get rid of rubbish. We can offer pack down services and employee the correct services such as a clean up crew for you.

Marquee weddings are hard work, they take time to plan, but with the right suppliers they are so very worth the effort.

Adam Jervis Photography

We work with a number of marquee suppliers and other local suppliers who know how to make your wedding day successful.

If you need help planning, a bit of guidance along the way, some props or a stylist to make it look amazing or a coordinator who will make sure your day runs how you want it and looks after you and your guests then drop us an email at hello@wedandprosper.co.uk

2021 Wedding Season Round Up

Wow, since coming out of various lockdowns, we suddenly blinked and came to the end of the 2021 wedding season. Somehow completing 61 weddings between May and November. 21 of those involved on the day coordination, 18 fully styled and set up, 3 fully planned, 7 bell tent set ups, and nearly all 61 wanting hire items….it still amazes me that we’ve managed to work part time jobs through super stressful times and juggle young children, family, and general life!

61 weddings!

Completed between May-November 2021

We have been resting up a little and catching up with paperwork and planning for our 2022 season! But we suddenly realised we haven’t written a single blog post about any of these awesome weddings or shared any images. So, let’s do a quick 2021 round up shall we?! (click on images to take you to the photographer)

Wild bright flowers filling our archways in huge converted barns full of fairy lights, haybales and rustic tables. Neon pink signs from Neon Junki and gold edgy modern vibes with graphic prints in old historical ruins. A Gothic 80’s alternative wedding, which included a super cool dip dyed Lucy Can’t Dance wedding dress, black jumpsuits for the bridesmaids and cans of Corona to sip during the ceremony in a boutique self-sufficient Manor House.

We’ve covered most bases and themes this season and we have loved watching couples put they’re own stamp on the various venues across the Island-we’ve even had gold dinosaurs and leafy botanicals making an appearance in centrepieces! It’s refreshing to see just how different each wedding day can be.

It’s safe to say that the most popular colourway choice was natural greens and crisp whites with foliage lined tables, hanging floral installations providing the added wow factor, teamed with clean elegant white linens and cut-glass candle sticks holders. Perspex signage also made a big appearance. A modern take on the more traditional set up, with a touch of Bridgerton vibes.

Private houses and grounds have been popular on the Island this year with Marquees from Coast and Country or Yurts from Island Yurts going up to set the scene. We were also lucky enough to fully plan a wedding (within 7 weeks start to finish!) at Gatcombe House. Unfortunately, shortly after the house went up for sale so there wont be any more weddings held there for some time. East Afton Farmhouse has been our second home, its new events barn has been such a fantastic edition to go alongside the beautiful house and rustic barn.

Archways went out on nearly every hire list. With a growing trend of more couples getting legally married before the day to then be blessed in front of family and friends at their venue. We also grew our stock to accommodate and introduced a new hexagonal arch to our list. Our triangle, and vintage ladder archway stayed popular, and we saw them dressed in various ways. The handmade macramé backdrop featured behind many couples blessings and ceremonies as well.

Chilled seating areas, kids’ zones, and photo backdrops we are here for, this trend is definitely here to stay for the next few seasons. So much so that we have purchased more vintage sofas and seating which will be ready for hire for the 2022 season.

Weddings are a long day and though fun for adults-mainly due to the alcohol consumption! They can be a bit overwhelming and somewhat boring for the kids- we’ve loved setting up kids areas this season and making kids activity packs for them whilst they sit at the tables for food. We can also highly recommend The Sleepover Club for kids bell tents totally set up, providing a safe area for the kids to play, have fun and well just be kids! We unfortunately said goodbye to our bell tents at the end of the season to make room for more hire items in our storage! The adult kids certainly loved our Bride vs Groom football tables and garden games! If there are any games or ideas you have seen that you think we should add to our stock then please drop us a message.

With the lockdowns giving some couples more time away from work and more time to plan smaller details of their big day it meant that we saw a bigger trend in home made favours for guests to take home with them. From handmade soy candles that smelt amazing filling venues with decadent scents. Sloe gins, spirits and home brewed beers bottled and personalised with name tags. Packets of seeds to grow the same wedding flowers at home to remind loved ones of the day. These are just a few ideas we saw in action, but these little touches were so thought out and helped to create that extra little special touch.

Did someone say Cocktails?! Cocktail hour seemed to be a big trend on the Island this year. The perfect way to get the guests out of the way whilst staff cleared down tables and re arranged the venue ready for the evening party antics. With the introduction of The Isle of Wight Cocktail Co throughout lockdown delivering delicious cocktails to doorsteps Island wide, we thought let’s get them involved in Island Weddings! The cocktails not only taste amazing but also look bang on trend. Screen printed amber brown bottles and handmade on the Island-it makes a great talking point for guests while chatting with a martini glass in hand. It also creates a bit of extra theatre with either staff shaking cocktails and pouring the perfect tipple or getting guests involved to shake it  themselves. SHAKE IT, POUR IT, DRINK IT! We set up some awesome insta worthy cocktail displays and they certainly became a talking point-people always congregate around bars or booze-so why not make them stand out and look epic.

did someone say cocktail hour?!

Shake it, Pour it, Drink it!

Isle of Wight Cocktail Co can provide pre mixed cocktails.

We loved coordinating one wedding which did a “bring a bottle of spirit instead of a wedding gift”. It’s different, fun and cost effective. The couple then provided all mixers and staff to serve up the drinks-it meant that there was no left-over warm table wine and needless to say the party definitely got started-there is always one that pushes the limits and cracks open the shots!

We’ve actually supplied a lot of bar staff to this year’s weddings-so if you’re wanting to stock your own bar, but need the staff to serve-message us, Rach is also cocktail trained and has been in the hospitality game for many years so can give plenty of advice. She even had Carrie pulling pints and mixing up the drinks this year whilst coordinating-talk about multi tasking!

Food glorious food…. We have been spoilt this wedding season with the caterers feeding us the most delicious food while working 15-hour straight shifts nibbling our way through all the menus! From sit down elegant 3 course meals, buffets, food trucks, platters, grazing tables, charcuterie cones, snack stations-we’ve seen it all. Couples are really starting to work the food around their guests and think about what people would most appreciate at what time in the day. But also, what will work around the vibe they are trying to achieve over the day and throughout the venue. We love a good snack station set up-so simple cheap and always goes down a treat. Who doesn’t love a hamper filled with childhood crisps-the perfect solution for soaking up some alcohol? Staff at one summer wedding walked about with mini ice cream pots and homemade boozy ice lollies to cool the guests down! An ice pole strawberry daiquiri is a win from us!

Cake Cake Cake! We love cake! We safe to say have some super talented bakers here on our little Island. They cleverly created a vast array of different cake designs this year. We loved the challenge of displaying the wedding cakes in different ways, making sure they took centre stage. From balancing them on barrels to dressing tables and crates. Our vintage gold tea trolley was used and abused lots this past season and the standard log slice cake base was dressed up in numerous ways. Once again, the donut walls remain a firm favourite -Rachel actually had to make another one for the collection as so many people wanted to hire them out! Teamed with our collection of glass jars and plates to set up sweet stations, cookie and party ring platters and even providing Colin the Caterpillar somewhere to rest-Colin made many appearances this year!

We have worked in some brilliant venues and the most gorgeous private households' and grounds this year. We have seen just how hard the suppliers have worked to bounce back after lockdowns and how they have overloaded their schedules to fit all the Covid couples into their diary’s without disappointing anyone. We’ve worked with some amazing suppliers and photographers and met some new ones who have become our friends. We are super proud of the Isle of Wight wedding world this year and cant wait for next year.

We wish all our couples, future clients and amazing suppliers a very Merry Christmas and look out for our next blog - What will 2022 look like.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND Happy new year!

Lets see what 2022 brings in the Isle Of Wight wedding world!