HOT TOPIC

from Your Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Wedding - February/March 2022 (Issue 31)

by County Wedding Magazines

COMPETITION

www.gettyimages.co.uk EXPERT ADVICE

Our experts answer your big-day questions

A WAY WITH WORDS

How does my hubby-to-be and our best man prepare an engaging speech for our wedding?

Meet the expert: Jackie Graybill is a member of Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit organisation providing communication and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs that includes Salisbury Speakers and Thamesdown Speakers Club in Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, plus Gloucester Speakers, Cheltenham Speakers and Malvern Speakers in Gloucestershire. Jackie is currently involved with the Gloucester, Cheltenham and Malvern areas.

Jackie says: For a momerable wedding speech, you’ll need plenty of great stories to tell to keep everyone entertained and laughing and bring the odd sentimental tear to their eyes. Here are some tips for great wedding storytelling: ❤ Keep your stories short and sweet - if you feel like you’re adding too much detail, you probably are.

❤ Add some mystery - begin with a mystery and include them throughout your story, it will keep your listeners intrigued. A great start might be,

“I have a confession to make…” or “Let me share something you’ve never heard before…”

❤ Rather than reporting what people in your story said, become those characters as they have a dialogue. Step into their physical space by shifting slightly where you stand and where you’re looking.

❤ Our five senses have a powerful effect on our experiences. You could describe a delicious recipe that the happy couple makes, or a nature walk they love.

Toastmasters International, www.toastmasters.org

LET’S EAT CAKE

We want a showstopping wedding cake – what do you suggest?

Meet the experts: Cathie Sanders and Annie Drew are the talented duo behind The Flying Pig Cake Emporium based in Calne, Wiltshire. They created this mouth-watering wedding cake, pictured left, featuring a large chocolate and salted caramel layer with a raspberry and white chocolate tier, a vanilla-flavoured layer iced with fresh berry buttercream and a traditional fruit cake as the top tier for the real wedding of Alex and Nick at Bowood featured on page 31.

Cathie and Annie tell us: We design and create bespoke celebration and wedding cakes using high-quality, fresh ingredients including free range eggs sourced from Bubbas Barn in Cherhill. Why not consider a multi-tiered cake to add some wow-factor, or some cute cupcakes displayed on a vintage-style stand or quirky iced biscuits that double up as favours? We also provide one-to-one cake decorating or sugarcraft lessons so that you can surprise your guests with your own designs and we host cupcake decorating parties for all ages and abilities which is a great idea for a hen gathering.

The Flying Pig Cake Emporium, 01249 817 225, www.flyingpigcakeemporium.co.uk

HOT WHEELS

Please can you give us some unusual hen and stag ideas?

Meet the expert: DrivingExperience.com offers a diverse range of cars and vehicles available to book for driving experiences at racetracks and other venues across the UK including Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud and Chippenham in Wiltshire. Models available to drive range from supercars and other high-performance to off-road vehicles, rally cars, classic cars, motorcycles, tanks and trucks. Junior driving experiences, for youngsters between the ages of 10 and 17, are also available.

The easing of restrictions has seen stag and hen parties racing back to the track for Supercar Driving Experiences with bookings having increased by 75% and the two most popular being the Double Supercar Blast for Two. The package offers lovers the chance to get behind the wheel of speedy and stylish vehicles such as a Ferrari or a Lamborghini.

Alex MacGregor at DrivingExperience.com, commented, “Such a sharp increase in bookings show us that lovers have vowed to leave lockdown behind as they zoom into marriage with a high-octane, adrenaline-fuelled driving experience.”

Alex added, “The popularity of our Supercar Blast for Two suggests that, perhaps surprisingly, couples are actually opting to spend their final moments not apart but together.”

www.drivingexperience.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

I am a professional photographer based in Salisbury and cover the South of England. I capture natural but refined moments in a relaxed and stylish way.

I love emotive, natural photography and want to give you something a little bit more. I was always the friend or family member with the camera that everyone relied on to document parties and outings.

Day to day I am an Occupational Therapist in a busy acute hospital, helping the elderly get back home and participate in what is meaningful to them. I feel so incredibly lucky to have found something else, at the other end of the spectrum, which allows me to get creative and express myself in a completely different way.

www.sarahgrace-photography.co.uk

Contact: sarah.falconer@hotmail.co.uk 07899 781 514 18 CASTLE STREET, CIRENCESTER, GLOS, GL7 1QH 01285656994 | 07709244470 donna@posyandpearl.co.uk | www.posyandpearl.co.uk