Daryl Ross, wedding co-ordinator at the Lodore Falls Hotel, is passionate about helping brides create the perfect wedding day, Daryl know’s how stressful it can get on the day itself and wanted to share a few suggestions on how to stay organised on your big day!
You can organise a show round at the Lodore Falls Hotel with Daryl by calling 017687 77285
1: Use the day planner that Lodore Falls gives you to stay organised as much as possible. This includes the suppliers names, contact details, timings of the day, supplier arrival estimates, beauty appointments… any details that you may need. Photocopy this and give it to members of your party so everyone is on the same page. You may only need to give it to the important people as of course, you may have a running order for your guests to work from.
2: Due to Lodore Falls being surrounded by glorious landscapes, not everyone has phone signal here. Create a contact sheet of everyone in the wedding with their phone numbers and email addresses, then give this list to the Wedding Co-ordinator & reception. This will allow them to get a hold of anyone without having to bother you for information. You may also want to give this list to the maid of honour and bridesmaids.
3: Leading on from point 2, let Lodore Falls be your on site contact. The Wedding Co-ordinator or Duty Manager should be the person who your wedding party knows they can go to with any questions or concerns. Sometimes it is hard speaking to every guest as it is, and you want to make every minute count. Don’t use that time to answer queries about the day!
4: A lot of brides & grooms are too over excited or stressed so don’t drink enough water or eat enough food. Ensure you get a good breakfast, one way to do this is to have our lovely restaurant staff deliver breakfast to your room. Keep a jug of water in the Bridal suite & Groom’s quarters for easy access. If you’re not having your wedding breakfast until later in the day, let our chefs create some lovely little canapes that we can walk around with during the drinks reception.
5: Emergency fix-it-kits are a great idea, and we’ve seen some lovely packs in the ladies that are full of mini items just in case of any mishaps. Great items are hairspray, hair pins, paracetamol, chewing gum or mints, safety pins, travel sewing kit, cotton buds, tampons, deodorant, tights and plasters. It’s surprising how many of these items your guests will use! And for the gents? Try deodorant, plasters, some hair products, sewing kit, spare buttons, chewing gum or mints and paracetamol.
6: Decorations, favours and extra bits & bobs. Try to get any flowers, favours and cakes delivered to ourselves directly instead of bringing these with you. Utilise friends and families, they are trustworthy people who can bring extra items to us so you don’t have to. We can greet them on arrival to Lodore and lock all things away safely.
7: Another way Lodore can help you is to manage your gifts. We will always put out a card & gift table in the wedding breakfast room, then at the end of the night either lock them all away safely or take them to your room. You just need to tell us which you would prefer. This way you can enjoy the party and not have to worry about lugging boxes of gifts before leaving. Also let us know if you decide on having charity donations as gifts as we certainly need to lock these up safely in your bridal suite at the end of the night.
8: Make sure you have told us how much of the cake you would like cut up, and how much you would like to keep. This way, you both definitely get to eat some! What we can also do is to get our pastry chefs to wrap up individual slices of cake to be ready in the morning for your guests to take with them on check out. You won’t have huge amounts of cake to take away, everyone has then had a piece and you don’t need to worry about your guests getting hungry on the drive home!
9: Walking along the beautiful Cumbrian fells to get a fantastic photo opportunity is a great idea, however doing so in heels is not. Make sure you bring wellies for you and your guests, so nobody muddies up their shoes on the way to Derwentwater. Why not supply some warm blankets as well? Your guests will certainly appreciate it.
10: Remember that we are in the middle of the Lake District and not in a city. Taxis can be difficult to get on the night so let your guests know to utilise reception and book a taxi. Just in case some of your guests party a little too much, there will already be a taxi waiting for them to take them home with no problems.
These pointers will hopefully help you towards being a stress free bride on the day, because really, this is your wedding day and you should be enjoying it to your full potential! Make sure everyone takes lots of photos, and that you stay an extra day at Lodore to unwind, unwrap your gifts, read your cards and let married life sink in.
