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The State Apartments at Kensington Palace were recently licensed to host civil ceremonies for the very first time. To mark the occasion, a showcase was held which proved that you really can hold your own royal wedding!

Decorated with floral plinths by Hayford & Rhodes, guests took in their surroundings whilst enjoying drinks and canapes served by Blue Strawberry, including prosciutto cannelloni with crispy ham, mushroom and truffle & pea mousse and roasted pumpkin & mandarin ice-cream lollipop.

As the wedding season officially kicks off, so does the hunt for unique wedding favour ideas to give to your guests. We’re a long way from the traditional wedding favour of sugared almonds, today, couples are splashing the cash on everything from personalised scented candles to miniature bottles of their favourite tipples. Finding wedding favours that are unique has become a quest in itself, with many a disheartened future bride or groom finding themselves sitting at a wedding faced with their own ‘great idea’ next to their place card. 

So what can you do in order to make your favours stand out from the crowd? The answer is to go custom. 

Brides at the ready! Forget Hen Parties, instead host a ‘Duck Do’ at Duck & Dry. Takeover one of our salons with your gal pals and create the ultimate, instagramable hen party.

Visit one of our prime locations and take advantage of our pretty and chic decor and leave with not only the most glamorous hairstyle but with ducking great memories too.

Check out our Chelsea and Oxford Street salons for dedicated group styling areas and crank up the volume at the Prosecco bar with your own personalised playlist hooked up to our sound system.

Low key or fancy, we can cater for all types of Hens Ducks. Have the freedom to decorate the space and bring all your party desires; butlers in the buff, cupcakes and games, we can work with you to create your dream party!

Say 'I do' at The Beech Hill Hotel & Spa and experience a venue that gives you a beautiful setting and years of professional experience that will ensure that this most special of days remains not only memorable, but is also tailored exactly to your requirements.

Let us make organising your wedding day as stress-free as possible. We’ll assign you a dedicated Wedding Co-ordinator, and we can take care of the accommodation, the menus, the wedding cake, the balloons, the photographer, the flower arrangements, the entertainment, the fireworks, lake cruises and much more to make sure you can enjoy every moment of your special day!

The Hotel’s lakeside setting & gardens provide a unique & beautiful backdrop for your wedding photographs.

Rachel Warren, head of creative at London’s leading catering company, Rocket, offers on-trend ideas for your wedding.

1. Bringing nature indoors:

Use our seasonal British plants with roots, fragrance and native beauty. From tangled foliage and fresh greenery to potted herbs incorporated with dried poppy heads, cotton branch, willow  – all these ingredients make for a gorgeous table centre or canape tray decoration. Pots can display geographic reference or personal designs / place names or table numbers. They can even be a favour for guests to replant in their garden for memories of their own happy day.

2. Personalisation:

Is Wedding planning taking up all of your time? Are you constantly on the rush between work, home life and wedding commitments? 

The stress and time consumption of planning a wedding isn’t always easy – especially as we want to to be getting our beauty regime ready for the big day ?

Look no further than these quick fix beauty products to help you get ready in record time. Now we can cut your beauty regime in half whilst still getting maximum benefits so you can get back to planning your big day.

By Caterina Alves, Head of Venues at RIBA

Did you get engaged recently? Congratulations!

We love hosting a wedding here at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and this year is going to be no exception. Our team is already looking ahead to the wedding season and we have been pondering on what we think this year’s nuptials will look like. 

So, without further “I do” (see what we did there?), here are our top three wedding trends for 2019 and beyond…

Themed weddings

Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that looks after the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, is to host luxury wedding summit Engage! for the first time this autumn alongside Rosewood London and Sarah Haywood Weddings.

Taking place on 28-31st October, the summit will bring together the best in the international luxury events industry for a series of exclusive events at Tower of London, Banqueting House and Kensington Palace.

Did you get asked the big question over Valentines Day, and are you now starting to think about the day itself? It might seem daunting, but here Annabel Schwier at the Museum of London offers her insights into the four key elements you need to think about: the guestlist, venue, theme and catering. Annabel’s top tip? Keep it simple and planning will be a piece of cake!

The Guestlist: