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WEDDING SPECIAL

BLAKE HALL WEDDING

SHOW

September 19th

Stoney Lane, Ongar

CM5 0DG

10.30am-3.30pm

THE BRENTWOOD

WEDDING SHOW

September 19th

Holiday Inn, Brentwood

CM14 5NF

11am-4pm

0844 884 9202

PARTYFAVOURZ

WEDDING FAYRE AT

WALTHAM ABBEY

MARRIOTT

September 19th

Old Shire Lane, Waltham Abbey

EN9 3LX

11am-3.30pm

01992 451199

Wedding Special sponsored by

THE EXCEPTIONAL

EVENTS WEDDING

FAYRE

MULBERRY HOUSE

September 26th

Chelmsford Road

High Ongar CM5 9NL

11am-4pm

01621 843689

London east

wedding show

October 3rd

City Pavilion, Collier Row

11am-4pm

020 8504 7606

THE PACKFORDS HOTEL

BRIDAL FASHION SHOW

In partnership with

Pronuptia

October 13th

7.30-9.30pm

020 8504 2642 to book

Forthcoming

Wedding Fayres & Events

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Close to both tranquil Epping Forest and bustling central London, the stylish and contemporary Packfords Hotel offers a unique range of profes-sional and personalised hospitality and event services.

Established as a hotel over fifty years ago, Packfords remains a family concern with Debra Packford being the proprietor for the last ten years. Having overseen a programme of continuous investment in renovation and redecoration Debra has slowly transformed the hotel to offer modern surroundings without sacrificing the attractive architectural features of the Edwardian building.

The two function suites help provide the perfect venue for a host of events from Wedding ceremonies & receptions to corporate meetings, dinner parties, christenings, funerals and after-noon teas. Packfords offers an intimate and stylish setting for your Wedding with many years experience helping brides and grooms to organise their special day. The hotel was one of the first venues in the area to be licensed to hold mar-riage ceremonies and civil partnerships. The Hardy Room provides a stylish setting for up to 50 seated guests attending the ceremony.

Community Times WEDDING SPECIAL

Packfords Hotel

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The Garden Room, which benefited from a stunning makeover in May, has a charming Victorian Style conservatory leading onto attractive mature gardens, providing a beautiful backdrop for photography. During the winter, open fires provide a cosy and warm environment. The bar area is immediately adjacent to the main room. The suite is able to accommodate between 35-90 people for a formal meal and up to 140 for a buffet. The hotel's nine individually designed guest rooms maintain the property's period charm while providing modern amenities. Room rates include a full traditional English breakfast each morning. In August Packfords Hotel opened its doors for an Afternoon Tea Day, offering guests the opportunity to enjoy an array of tasty scones, cakes, pastries, freshly made finger sandwiches, tea, coffee and bubbly house champagne. The day was a great success and Packfords is now open regularly for Afternoon Tea Days. Our next dates are Sunday September 26th and Sunday October 10th which is also part of the Woodford Festival. Please visit our new website for details of forthcoming dates. Other upcoming events include ‘A Catwalk Showcase’ on Thursday September 16th at 7.30pm. Tickets are £25 with all proceeds going to various children’s charities. To book please contact ROCK on 0208 508 7372. Packfords Hotel is also hosting a Bridal Fashion Show in partnership with Pronuptia who will be showing their 2011 designs on Wednesday 13th October from 7.30 to 9.30pm.

For more information please go to the website at

www.packfordshotel.co.uk

Email: enquiries@packfordshotel.co.uk

Telephone 0208 504 2642.

Packfords Hotel 16 Snakes Lane West,

Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0BS

SPONSORED BY PACKFORDS HOTEL

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Best-Man Speech Nerves?

Being asked to be a best man is a great honour and it comes with many privileges like being the one to decide on the fun and frolics of the stag do and the (hopefully) pleasurable experience of being surrounded for the day by one or more lovely bridesmaids!

It does however carry a certain amount of pressure and stress and of course there is the much anticipated, and often dreaded by the ‘chosen one’, best-man’s speech.

If you have recently been granted the honour of a best-man role but dread giving the speech, take heart that you are not alone in your fears and be assured there is a way to conquer those nerves, plan for a successful experience and even enjoy yourself in the process!

Personal development coach and special event coaching expert, Julie Clements (pictured below right), provides the following tips to help get you through the day with confidence, calm and style…

The preparation stage

Face your fears and accept them! It is ok to face your fear. Be honest with yourself, admit what your fear is. It is a natural emotion and one best dealt with when confronted, accepted and alternative solutions found to overcome it.

Now, change your focus - focus on success! Create a picture in your mind of having successfully completed the speech – what sort of events will you witness in the aftermath of your speech? Applause, laughter, cheers? Include images of everything you will see, hear and feel once you have given the speech of your life. Focus on that picture constantly. If the fear enters your mind – acknowledge it, but immediately change your focus to those successful images.

Create positive self-talk! Your mind, emotions and your body stress levels react to the thoughts you have day by day. Keep telling your- self you are an amazing presenter and that people really enjoy listening to your engaging speeches. Keep telling yourself you can do this and you will even enjoy it.

On the day confidence techniques

Breathe easily and smile! Deep breathing is a brilliant way to calm nerves and stay centred. Take in three deep breaths – in through the mouth, out through the nose – then smile the biggest smile you can. Do this as many times as you need to and at least twice just before your big moment.

Increase your ‘Confident Energy’! Silently imagine your body filling with a nourishing and radiant energy. Name the energy as confidence – imagine the energy entering your body at the top of your head and filling your entire body from the head right down to your toes. Keep imagining this and you will move through the day with confidence, grace and style. Create a personal mantra and believe in yourself! Create a positive personal mantra for on-the-day nerves. Something like “I am calm, confident and at ease. I am a brilliant public performer. I am calm, confident and full of style”. Keep repeating it to yourself and you will soon begin to believe it. So too will other people!

Special Offer to the Readers of

Community Times! One hour’s coaching for free!

Do you have a special event or big presenta-tion that you would like help preparing for? Contact Julie on 0844 815 8465 for details – with a little personal coaching and a few confidence building techniques, you can guarantee a successful event.

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Afternoon Teas

Sunday September 26th & Sunday October 10th from 2pm onwards

Bridal Fashion Show in partnership with Pronuptia showing their 2011 designs

Wednesday October 13th, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Please book by calling Sarah on 020 8504 2642 or email sarah@packfordshotel.co.uk

t: 020 8504 2642 e: enquiries@packfordshotel.co.uk

w: www.packfordshotel.co.uk 16 Snakes Lane West, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0BS

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THE GATE HOUSE

BED & BREAKFAST

The Gate House is a privately-owned, family run guest house situated next to the Forest Gate Inn on Bell Common, Epping.

THE PERFECT WEDDING ACCOMMODATION

Ideal for families who wish to book all rooms and have free run of the place!

There are four bedrooms all with en-suite facilities, one of which is a fully disabled facility.

All rooms are decorated to a very high standard and include a flat screen TV and tea/coffee making facilities. As well as a breakfast room there is a guests’ lounge with books, board

games and local area information.

THE GATE HOUSE

113 Bell Common, Epping, Essex. CM16 4DZ

Tel. 01992 578052

E. info@stayinepping.co.uk www.stayinepping.co.uk

Make a statement with your wedding stationery

Epping-based Card Nation is a card and station-ery business that creates wedding stationery with a real wow factor.

“We approach each project by really getting to understand what the special day is all about for the couple – so that whatever we design for them is totally personal, totally unique and is a lasting memento of their wedding day” explains designer Jodie Newman. “We love to do things that are out of the ordinary for our customers.”

Which is why past wedding invites have included anything from Subbuteo players, cinnamon sticks and hand-drawn illustrations of the actual church. So for fun, funky and fabulous wedding stationery, email Card Nation on info@cardnation.biz for a friendly chat - or check out www.cardnation.biz

Cupcakes made for any special occasion

Bespoke cupcakes Tiered cupcake towers * Giant cupcakes Individually boxed for wedding favours

Butterfly Cakes 07976 923126

The prices look good too Free local delivery 07854 879458 01992 812295

Flowers & Flowers & Flowers & Flowers & BalloonsBalloonsBalloonsBalloons

by Karen Collins

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Eating right for your wedding day By Rosalind Clay, A-Star Nutrition

Flicking through some bridal magazines recently, I noticed that there is always a beauty section but little on how to eat to help yourself look your best on your wedding day. This is crazy to me. Adopting some healthy lifestyle habits so that your skin, hair and nails looks great could do more for you than an expensive series of beauty treatments, potions and lotions. Luckily, diet-wise, what is good for your looks is likely to help you also reach or maintain your healthy weight.

For a whole host of reasons too numerous to mention here, I’m certainly going to recommend you stop smoking. However of particular relevance at this time is that smoking blocks oxygen from getting to the skin so that it looks grey, dull and tired.

Consuming a diet high in fatty, fried or processes foods and/or copious amounts of alcohol or caffeine is also a real no-no in the six months prior to your wedding. They can play havoc with the state of your skin leading to spots, blotches or redness. However, furthermore, the toxins put added pressure on your body at a time when you definitely don’t need additional stress. Whereas a healthy diet could help you deal with the stress levels which usually rise at some point at least in the build up to the Big Day. Try to limit your coffee intake. Replace your morning caffeine with a cup of hot water and lemon which in itself is good

for the detoxification process. Plenty of water helps to detoxify the body giving your skin a clearer, healthy look. If water gets boring, add some drops of lemon or lime juice.

Remember that hair, skin and nails will often take second place to vital organs which receive nutrients as a priority. Local varieties of seasonal fruits and vegetables are likely to contain the highest amount of vitamins and minerals. Eating oily fish twice a week, perhaps as part of a main meal or on some wholemeal toast for a quick lunch or snack, is another great option. Wholemeal grains in place of refined pastas and breads are also highly recommended.

I always advocate allowing yourself some treats here and there and unlike one magazine which recommend sticking to a regime on honeymoon too, I would definitely see this as a time to stop worrying and enjoy! But with your wed-ding day and honeymoon still on the horizon right now, what better time for stopping the overindulging and adopt-ing instead some healthy eating habits to last a lifetime.

Rosalind Clay, A-Star Nutrition 07535 209025

A-Star Nutrition has recently launched a programme for brides-to-be. Please contact Rosalind for further details.

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Who’s the

Wedding and events planner Kim

Rix explains what you can expect

from a Master of Ceremonies and

how to negotiate with suppliers

Master?

The Art of Negotiating Contracts Kim’s foolproof guide for brides and grooms

I know that some of you will have read the title and panicked already. I find that generally speaking, a lot of people are afraid of negotiation. Fist of all….everyone can negotiate. It is all about knowing what you want, what you are willing to back down on and how to arm yourself for success. Think about it. You negotiate with your partner all the time. It might be about the destination of your holiday, the date of your wedding or which restaurant you want to go to that weekend. Consider these simple things when you are negotiating a contract and you will be cool, confident and come out with what you want.

Prepare! • Make a list of exactly what you want from the supplier (as

much detail as you can) • Make a list of a few that you would be happy compromise

on if it came to it (a change in delivery time, one less vegetarian option, for example)

• Set a limit to how much you are willing to spend • Shop around and get a few separate quotes and recommendations • Shortlist your favourite suppliers and arrange meetings

Discuss • Take your notes with you to the meeting • Take plenty of notes about what they tell you and discuss any comparisons with other companies and suppliers with them. They will work hard to secure your bbbusiness—especially if it’s over a small price difference • Don’t be taken in by any incentives to ‘sign on the day’.

Make it clear you are speaking to a number of people and you will make a decision when you have spoken to every-one you wish to

• Do not compromise on anything that is on your ‘must have’ list. If they can’t or won’t provide this, walk away. Or if they say they can but there are conditions

attached, be clear that you would rather go with a company that can assure you of delivery • Listen. Remember, they are the experts. They may be

able to offer you insightful input to make things easier for you

Sign Contact your favourite supplier and have them draw up a quote or contract stipulating all of your preferences and the terms you have agreed upon.

That’s it. You negotiated your contracts without fuss or pain! Kim Rix is a social events organiser and wedding and events planner. Log on to

yourlondonweddingplanner.com

for more details.

W hen you are starting to think about the schedule of your wedding day you may be asked whether you would like the services

of a Master of Ceremonies. I have seen some wonderful examples of Masters….and some pretty awful ones too, so do have a think about the following before you make a decision.

The Master of Ceremonies is the person who will be leading you and your guests through your wedding day from the front end (this is different to the wedding planner/coordinator who will be dealing with the scheduling behind the scenes). They will usually announce the cutting of the cake and first dance. They are on the front line personality of your wedding. This person will be seen as the main contact for any guests with a query or special request.

Your Master of Ceremonies should have a good com-mand of the space, a welcoming and friendly demeanour, excellent customer service skills….and a bit of personality. When a venue provides a Master of Ceremonies they are usually excellent at accommodat-ing guests, keeping everything running along nicely and informing everyone about what is happening but they may lack a little confidence if they are not a natural public speaker.

You could choose an alternative, independent Master of Ceremonies—they are available to hire and I would always advise an ‘interview’ process to find your match. The other place to look is within your family and friends. Is there anyone that you think you would be able to manage the challenge of guiding everyone through the day, charm your aunties and answer your granddad’s awkward questions? If so then they could be your man—or woman!