Category Archives: Industry News

TWIA - Best Wedding Planner

26 March, 2015

In January the UKAWP had the pleasure of attending The Wedding Industry Awards national awards ceremony in London. As judges since its inception this is always a vibrant evening to attend. This year was especially sweet as we had 4 members amongst the national finalists competing for the “Best Wedding Planner” award.

It’s a strange moment indeed rooting for all 4 members to win but of course there can only be *one winner which in this case was the lovely Caroline Gould. *Valerie was awarded highly commended which was lovely especially as one of her sisters flew in from New York for the ceremony! We would like to say a huge well done to all the regional winners, members and non members alike, the standard of which was phenomenal and made us proud to be part of the wedding industry.

But for now we’d like to introduce you to the lovely Caroline.

Full name - Caroline Gould
Company Name - Caroline Gould Weddings
Position within UKAWP - Member
Member of the UKAWP since what date - September 2009 (when I launched my business!)

Prize awarded by TWIA

East of England Regional Winner and National Winner in the Best Independent Wedding Planner category.

Why did you decide to put yourself and your business forward to TWIA?

I was lucky enough to win the regional award in my category in 2014 so decided it was only right to come back and defend my title! I was encouraged to enter the awards by fellow wedding suppliers and just thought why not?! I am so pleased that in both years of entering every single one of my clients has voted for me…

How and when were you notified about your TWIA achievement?

It was very surreal. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the awards ceremony as my 6 year old daughter had chicken pox (how unorganised!). I was following the awards on Twitter and saw that my colleague and fellow UKAWP member Val from Benessemy Events was highly commended, I was so thrilled for her and busy tweeting my congratulations when I saw a new tweet come in announcing the news that I had won.

How did you feel when you found out?

I just had time to let out a little yelp before my good friend Helen from Amelie’s Kitchen who was at the awards ceremony phoned me and we had a little scream down the phone at each other (she also won a national award!). I spent the rest of the evening on social media and phoning friends and family to spread the news! Thrilled doesn’t even cover it!

What does it mean to you getting this award status?

It’s such a fantastic accolade. To know that what I’m doing for my clients is appreciated and valued – there’s no better reward! The wedding planning industry is not subject to legislation, so this award will not only encourage confidence in my skills and expertise but help establish my company as one which offers quality and a completely professional, bespoke service. It’s brilliant to get recognition within the industry as well. The judges are people I really respect so to have their seal of approval as well is fantastic!

How will you use this award status in your business?

The logo is on my website and the trophy sits proudly on my desk! I’ve had my busiest year yet for enquiries! January and February are always a busy time for new clients, but this year has been a bit crazy, I seem to always be out meeting potential clients for consultations, writing up proposals or creating the initial files for new clients. I also seem to have developed a niche with clients from Australia getting married in Suffolk - I’m currently working on three!

Any words of advice to other planners out there looking to be the best in their field?

Just keep doing what you’re doing. Sometimes it can feel quite isolating when, as a wedding planner, you are working alone a lot of the time. Surround yourself with great people, there’s a reason why I’ve continued to be a UKAWP member every since I started my business - they’re a really supportive group and whilst we don’t see each other as often as i’d like, I know that I could call any one of them if there was anything I needed. I’m also really lucky to have a fabulous network of suppliers locally that I can meet up with more regularly for some much needed company and support. I think i’m also lucky to work with such genuinely lovely clients - it makes my job an absolute joy!

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Wedding Coffee Club March - May

13 March, 2015

Since its launch in 2014 our Wedding Coffee Clubs are still proving popular and we have received wonderful feedback from previous attendees, you have been telling us how lovely it was to meet and chat with fellow wedding professionals in an informal manner. Those in Northamptonshire even had the luxury of a limo taxi ride back home! Sadly we can’t promise this every time…

We know that working in the wedding industry can be isolating, we understand there are days when you want to meet fellow wedding professionals just to talk through the lows and highs of being in this fast paced industry. Of course with the introduction of social media, it can feel like we have colleagues sitting right next to us, but at times we need some face to face chats – not to mention the caffeine!

The idea is simple….. no fee, no booking form, just a series of informal sessions across the country for wedding industry folks to get together, network, ‘put the world to rights’ and, oh yes, grab a coffee or two.

No need to be a UKAWP member or student, just a wedding business interested in socialising and networking with other, local, like minded business people.

These are held in various locations across the UK, normally attended by a director, regional ambassador or member of the UKAWP. If you plan to attend a date please use #ukawp on social media leading up to the coffee date so we can gauge how many people are expected or drop us an email on info@ukawp.com.

Confirmed Dates

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Changes to marriage and civil preliminary notifications - Changes from March 2015

26 November, 2014

For anyone who has not already seen the upcoming changes, please note this release from the Home Office….

The Government has announced changes to the process for giving notice of marriage or civil partnership to come into effect from Monday 2 March 2015. From this date, the notice period for all couples wishing to marry following civil preliminaries or form a civil partnership in England and Wales will be extended from 15 days to 28 days.The changes, which are part of the Immigration Act 2014, will ensure that the Home Office has more time to identify and investigate suspected sham marriages and civil partnerships.For couples involving a non-EEA (European Economic Area) national, where the Home Office suspects the couple are not genuine the notice period may be extended to 70 days to enable the Home Office to interview the couple and take further action as necessary.

As well as the increase in the notice period registration officials have additional powers to share information to make sure appropriate action can be taken against couples suspected of being involved in a sham marriage.

Couples seeking to get married in the Anglican Church where one or both is from outside the EEA will need to undertake civil preliminaries and give notice at a register office.

Couples who give notice of a marriage or civil partnership before 2 March 2015 will not be affected by the changes.

We would be grateful for your help in raising awareness of these new requirements by utilising your communication channels to ensure your stakeholders, members and clients are aware.

To find out further information about the changes please visit the following address: https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/giving-notice-at-your-local-register-office

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The UK Wedding Venues Marketing Conference

13 October, 2014

We are very pleased to have been asked to speak at the very first UK Wedding Venues Marketing Conference which is to be held at York Racecourse on November 27th this year.

If you are a wedding venue, keen to understand how to attract more wedding business, do consider attending. The conference is open to anyone responsible for wedding marketing and sales.

The two of us will be talking all about the UKAWP, how wedding planners work and opportunities for wedding venues to market themselves to and work best with wedding planners.

You can see the full list of speakers and subjects here.

You can follow the conference organisers on @weddingvenues14 and the official conference hashtag is #weddingsconf14.

 

 

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The 2015 Wedding Industry Awards

1 October, 2014

As many of you will know, entries for this year’s The Wedding Industry Awards (TWIA) come to an end on 17th of this month (goodness, we can hardly believe it’s October already).

However, we know that Summer is the busiest, craziest time for our lovely industry and that therefore some great suppliers out there may simply not have got around to entering yet. If you haven’t, please, please do…

The UKAWP Directors have been on the judging panel since the outset (TWIA 2012) and have watched the awards grow and remain the truly independent regional and national awards the organisers always set out to run.

This year we are even more excited as all three founder Directors/ members are on the panel..

Sandy Moretta, Membership Director, sits on the panel on behalf of the UKAWP, however from this year Bernadette Chapman, Education Director of the UKAWP and Owner of Dream Occasions, plus Kelly Chandler, former Director, UKAWP Ambassador and Owner of The Bespoke Wedding Company join the panel too.

Really - you haven’t entered yet? Let us remind you of just a few reasons why you should consider it:

  1. TWIA has integrity, credibility and reliability
  2. TWIA is based on client-voting
  3. TWIA gives wedding suppliers greater profile and visibility in the industry
  4. TWIA offers entrants differentiation from their competitors
  5. Just being involved in TWIA is good for business let alone being shortlisted or winning and award

You have ONLY until Friday 17th October to enter, so what are you waiting for?

Remember, if you are a recent bride or groom and would like to nominate one or more of your wedding suppliers please do so here.

To find out more please look at www.facebook.com/theweddingindustryawards, follow the awards on Twitter @TWIA_official or go to their site.

 

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