How to chose a Successful Wedding Venue in Covid Times

Photo by Jeremy Wong Weddings on Unsplash

{This is a collaborative post}

We all know this year has been one of the trickiest in recent decades, never before have we had our civil liberties curtailed in quite the same way, without there being widespread war. We're not out the woods yet though, the complete lockdown might be over, but we're seeing local lockdowns across the country and the World Health Organisation are warning us that there will be many differences, such as distancing and wearing face coverings for some time to come yet, maybe even a couple of years.

Having said all that, life can still go on for most of us and we're having to adapt to our new normal. People still wish to get married, celebrate their birthday or hold a wake for a lost loved one and we can do these things, we just have to make sure we are meeting the current Government guidance. 

This week we saw the introduction of the 'Rule of 6' in England and this means that right now social gatherings that you are organising as an individual can only be for 6 people, whether they are indoors or out. The good news is that when you move a wedding celebration or funeral wake to a COVID-secure venue provider, you can increase the number to 30 and there is hope within the event industry that this number will increase in October when new announcements are made by the Government. 

It's important that we still have things to look forward to and as such, I believe you should go ahead and still plan and book your celebrations for 2021, so here are my top tips for doing so -

1.  Think about what You really Want

You might have always imagined you'd have a winter wedding in a stately home with 200 guests but now is the time to really think that through. Could it be that an intimate outside tea party in spring with just 30 guests would suit you just as well and take away most of the stress of planning something so fancy? The great thing about our current situation is it frees you to think about what would really make you happy and to drop any expectations that family or others might have.  If you want your mum to hold the speeches and ceremony, it can be good to invest in Lecterns by Luminati to make the event more special and aesthetic. Whatever it is that you desire, you can still bring it to life through decoration and emotion.

Once you have decided what you want your event to look like, you need to agree your budget, choose the season/ date, set the attendance number and decide on the location. Basically, draw up a blueprint for the event and decide how hands-on you want to be. Do you need a dedicated event planner? Would the venue event organised be enough, or would you prefer to do everything yourself? The choice is yours!

The Best Christmas Present Ever for Under £10

Take a look at the photo.  Does that look like the best Christmas present ever?  Probably not. 

One your child would be happy to receive? Maybe not. 

Kids in the UK tend to expect big, expensive presents don't they?  This is not big and it certainly was not expensive but I still maintain that it is, in fact, one of the best presents for under £10 ever.

You know what though?  There are millions of children (literally, I am not exaggerating) who would think this is an awesome gift, one they would love to receive and would treasure.

You may have seen me post before about the Operation Christmas Child campaign which is run by Samaritans Purse.  Basically, you fill a covered shoebox with new but inexpensive gifts and pay £5 transport costs (it was £2.50 back in 2011) and Samaritans Purse transport this box to a child who would otherwise receive nothing. 

I won't go through all the information again about how to make a box and what to do with it, that is in this post and this post and of course, you can look at the OCC website but often I hear people say to me how expensive it is to make a box and I just wanted to show you how I do it for so little. You can also look into educational gift ideas, if you want something a little different. 

Here is a list of what I included in this box in 2011 (but I still manage to pack a box for around the same amount in 2020 too) -

• M&S Scarf - Bought last January in the sales for 80p
• Mint Humbugs - 79p at Pound Stretcher
• Pack of crayons and pencils - given to my kids at a party (they have too many already, so donated for the boxes)
• Tiger face cloth - blogging gift, so no cost
• Camay soap - (£1 for 4 from Poundstretcher) 25p
• Tambourine - was my girls but never really used, so like new, no cost
• Toothbrush and toothpaste - Lidl £1.58
• New McDonald's toy in the packet - no cost
• Notebook - (£1 for 4 from Poundstretcher) 25p
• Small dinosaur/ horse toys - from party bags my kids received, no cost
• Snap game - Received with a meal at the Rainforest cafe - no cost
• Ben 10 beach ball - Tesco 50p in the sale
• Pack of 3 biros - Tesco, 30p in the sale
• 2 pencils - £1 shop (£1 for 10) 20p
• Winnie the Pooh ball game - from a cracker last Christmas - no cost

Total cost for contents -  £4.67 plus £2.50 transport cost = £7.17 total box cost

The key is in the planning and the preparation.  All year round I keep my eyes open for bargains and I retain things that the kids are given. Rather than them have an abundance of stationary and things that will just get broken or binned I ask the kids if they want to donate them to the shoebox appeal.  Nine times out of ten I get a yes from my kids as they enjoy giving.  Isn't that something you want to say about your child?

Go on, make a box this October, I promise you will feel good for doing it.

Why not pin this post for later?