Hello I'm Lynne Scott the owner of Wedding Whispers which is 6 years old in 2011 and I have been involved in the bridal industry for 10 years. Wedding Whispers started in 2005 after my experience of running a wedding business. Before this I had studied business and marketing full time with the University West of England and then part time with The Chartered Institute of Marketing.

The magazine is read by brides who want to know how to put their own wedding together without too much fuss. As well as the seasonal magazine, there is a website, we attend events to talk to brides and also organise selected events for brides to meet other bridal services. People that know me understand that I care for my customers, do a good job and provide a genuine and honest service. But I am not a wedding planner. I simply connect brides with services they need through the Wedding Whispers channel. I also visit many services around the west country and connect one wedding service to another, because we are all influenced by a recommendation.  

Here's a little bit about a real life wedding in the 70's. Mine! But it was very different then!

My wedding reception cost my Dad £60 - it was £1 per head. My wedding dress was hired for £30 from Pronuptia in Birmingham, (I only tried one on as well) my Mum, bless her, had fun doing all the invitations and organised practically everything including the flowers and we borrowed a Rover to travel to the church from the next door neighbour. 

My contribution was finding a caterer from my workplace at the time who charged £1 a head! There were no approved venues or grand stately homes to get married in then and so like many couples at the time, it was the parish church and a wedding reception in the local village hall. Wedding shows didn't exist or at least I had never heard about them and I cannot remember reading any bridal magazines. And as for researching wedding services online, the internet hadn't been invented!

We had the most wonderful day; the sun shone, the guests were happy and my Mum was happy because she loved getting the family together. What's more we never had a cloud hanging over us about going over our budget, in fact we didn't have one. The wedding was typical of weddings in the 70's where family and friends helped out and Mum and Dad still paid. I expect that if you ask your Mum, she will tell you that her wedding was much the same. 

Fast forward to 2011 and weddings are all very different. Grand stately homes to get hitched in, civil marriages and partnerships and an overwhelming amount of information telling couples how much the 'perfect' wedding can cost them. Some sources put this as high as £22K. It is a fact though that couples are now waiting longer for their big day, if they do it at all. With student loans, rent and finding a deposit for a mortgage, buying a home, and not the wedding, is now the dream. We did not have these worries in the '70's. 

The idea for Wedding Whispers arrived in 2005 and it aimed to challenge the  'bridal industry' who did not appear at the time to forsee the reality of couples who wanted to make a commitment of marriage but whose priorities were changing. Its aim was, and continues to be, to make it easier for couples to have the wedding they want, to find good locally recommended services, have the reassurance of updated services, and meet suppliers at wedding shows and events around the region.

Our philsophy is to keep it simple. Organising even a small wedding means you could be looking to book at least 12-15 wedding services, so you'll be pleased to know that we've done some legwork for you so you can plan your wedding without too much hassle. We update our service list and keep an eye out for wedding services at shows and events at wedding fairs around Bristol, Devon and Somerset. You can view our current list of featured wedding services here

Weddings don't have to cost a fortune and you don't need to go into debt. Depending on your budget you can spend as little as a few hundred pounds on the essentials; the wedding rings, register office fees and marriage certificate, up to several thousand pounds for a full blown celebration in a stately home that lasts the whole weekend, and everything in between. Almost anything goes these days so don't worry about sources that claim it costs over £22k or more. It's all about having the wedding you both want rather than spending a fortune. It's all possible.

Over 70% of couples in the UK now pay for their own wedding and are creative and resourceful with their cash. You may want to spend less on the day so you can spend more on an exotic honeymoon or perhaps a simple ceremony with a few chosen guests and a meal at a great restaurant afterwards is more your style.

Some couples prefer to book the local church and then onto a village hall for their wedding and have it 'dressed up' to reflect their personal taste and style. Many village halls can be hired for as little as £50 for the day it's a great cost saving though you have to do more. Amazing Weddings in Somerset are a good contact to have for theming and managing weddings that take place outside of regular wedding venues. Visit their website www.amazingweddings.co.uk

To help we post a new issue of Wedding Whispers direct to you on request. Just register for the magazine and tell us the date of your wedding so we know how long to send it for.

You can have access to information all year round with the Wedding Whispers magazine and our wedding shows and event. See us at our main event, The Wedding and Fine Events Show at Sherborne Castle visit www.weddingandfineeventsshow.co.uk. For more details on the wedding shows and events we visit around Bristol and Somerset, visit the Shows and Events page here

It's so much easier with Wedding Whispers!

Wedding Whispers is owned by Rainmaker Publications Ltd, registered in England and Wales number 5483082. Wedding Whispers is a registered trademark with the IPO. Telephone 01934 751120 or write to us at 5 The Boundaries, Lympsham. Somerset.BS24 0DF.