Your Glos and Wilts Wedding news and ideas from around the area

Sous Chef leuan Davies at The Castle Inn, Wiltshire Appears On Masterchef

The Castle Inn in Castle Coombe, Wiltshire reveals that sous chef leuan Davies, made it onto MasterChef: The Professionals as a Quarter Finalist. Finding his passion for cooking at an early age, leuan embarked on his culinary journey at the age of 16, accumulating diverse experiences at renowned establishments across the UK. Motivated by a desire for personal growth and a love for the culinary arts, leuan chose to participate in MasterChef: The Professionals. Competitions, for him, are not only a measure of his skills but also a source of excitement in his daily culinary pursuits. MasterChef: The Professionals is on Tuesday and Thursdays at 9pm on BBC One and the series is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Winter wedding inspiration from leading wedding planner

Matthew Shaw, founder & creative director at sauveur. shares his winter wedding inspiration for those looking to tie the knot at this time of year. Winter weddings have grown hugely in popularity. The festive season can be a truly magical time of year to host a wedding and stand out from the crowd but it does bring its own set of considerations for the planning. Whilst the key areas of your wedding planning will be the same as a wedding in any other month, there are a few different elements to consider to create an incredible winter wedding celebration.

How to kick-start your wedding planning

Samantha Gilchrist, Co-Founder and CEO of the UK's largest wedding venue collection, The Gilchrist Collection, shares her top tips on how to kick-start your wedding plans, taking away any unnecessary stress and disappointment in preparation for that special day. Set a Date - possibly the most important aspect of planning as getting this date in the diary will allow you to move forward with your plans. When choosing a date, it's worth carrying out a simple checklist to help you nail that day down such as: Think if there is a time of year you both always wanted to get married in? A season you both love or a month that is special to you is a great starting point.

5 unique winter wedding trends for 2023

From décor inspired by the season's natural beauty to creative ways to keep your guests warm, wedding supply experts Aura Print have searched TikTok to bring you the top five quirky winter wedding trends for 2023.While traditional wedding fayre often includes champagne toasts and wine, a hot chocolate bar offers a warm, decadent, and customisable alternative for the colder months. As the evening progresses and temperatures drop, guests can enjoy a sweet treat to keep them going on the dance floor. For younger guests or for those who don't drink alcohol, a hot chocolate bar also provides a great non-alcoholic option. With over 112.7 million TikTok hashtag views, the hot chocolate wedding bar trend is set to take the winter wedding season by storm!

A more sustainable, ethical, and zero-waste approach to weddings

Reports suggest that 4,910 tonnes of unrecyclable plastic was used up and left behind at British weddings last year, with this in mind, 77 Diamonds has released a planning guide to promote a more sustainable, ethical, and zero-waste approach to weddings. Individually, one wedding can produce as much as 20kg of plastic waste. What's more, the black bags used to collect the rubbish are themselves potentially harmful. They can take as many as 90 years to break down under the ground. But it's not just plastic which has an impact. Food wastage is also a common theme for most weddings.

Find County Wedding Magazines on YouTube

We're never satisfied when it comes to providing our readers with enough wedspiration, which is why we've created our very own County Wedding Magazine YouTube channel! You'll find tons of big-day ideas, from venue tours to dream dresses, then take a peek behind the scenes of styled shoots featured in our titles past and present. We're adding more content all the time, so why not hit SUBSCRIBE so you never miss a thing? Simply head to YouTube and search for 'County Wedding Magazines' now

Book a festive seasonal break at The Manor House

Book a festive seasonal break at The Manor House in Castle Combe, Wiltshire with a three-night package from £3,180 or a four-night package priced from £3,520. Guests will be swept off their feet in the fairytale-inspired setting in this historic hotel nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds. This idyllic retreat offers a refined festive experience with welcoming roaring fires and plenty of cosy nooks to curl up in. An enchanting Christmas Eve dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant Bybrook awaits, with the option to head to midnight mass, before being welcomed back with hot chocolate and warm mince pies. The main event, the Christmas Day lunch, will be served in Bybrook where culinary excellence meets holiday magic.

AI creates the ultimate first dance song

There are over 217,000 first dances in the UK every year (1,950,000 in the US) yet couples usually pick the same handful of songs. Have you ever wondered why tracks like Etta James' At Last and Just You And I by Tom Walker are so popular at weddings? And what makes them so timeless? Function Central, a platform for finding and hiring musicians and bands for events, have answered exactly that! By analysing the most popular first dance songs to find the top 10 that couples choose, they have used AI to create the world's ultimate first dance song based on their findings, showing couples that they can have a timeless first dance song that is unique to their wedding.

PoB Hotels unveil Black Friday Special Offers with luxury stays

PoB Hotels unveil Black Friday Special Offers with luxury stays in their exquisite properties in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall. The finest collection of independent hotels across the British Isles unveils an exclusive special offer. Running from now until the 2nd of December, any guest purchasing a PoB gift voucher exceeding £250 will be gifted a Gusbourne Estate voucher worth £100. PoB Hotels' Gift Vouchers are available to buy online and can be personalised as part of a luxury gift pack including a reusable travel bag, a copy of The Handle – PoB Hotels' elegant print magazine - and a stylish gift wallet. The voucher can be sent digitally to guests getting to embark on a staycation, dining experience, or spa retreat.

How to make your engagement ring shine for wedding day

Between shampoo, hairspray, moisturiser and hand cream – we can all agree that our beautiful engagement rings go through a lot on a daily basis. After all, many of us wear them every day without ever taking them off! But if your big day is just around the corner, it's crucial to keep your ring looking its best for those all-important wedding photos and to ensure your nearest and dearest see it in all its glory. With this in mind, experts at family-owned jewellers and diamond merchants, Chisholm Hunter, offer their specialist advice on how to get your ring gleaming before your big day... Max Brown, Retail Director at Chisholm Hunter, shares their top tips for ensuring your engagement ring is sparkling ahead of your wedding day: "If you want your precious jewellery to look its best on the big day, we recommend taking your ring to a professional jewellers for both ultrasonic and steam cleaning and using fine emery paper followed by a full polish to remove any surface scratching.

Venues for the perfect autumnal ceremony

New research conducted by ethical jewellery brand Sacet has revealed the top country wedding venues across the UK that would make the perfect location for an autumnal ceremony. By analysing a number of factors (including guest capacity, number of reviews, professionalism, quality of service and value for money) of over 30 wedding venues that offer barn, country and forest-style weddings in the UK, the top 10 were revealed. Brinsop Court Manor House and Barn, in Hereford, has been crowned the overall winner, with top ratings across all factors (quality of service, response time, professionalism, value for money flexibility and average rating). It also had the most number of reviews and can hold between 30 to 250 guests.

Cheltenham-based Kingsley Leather is the perfect pick this Xmas

Are you searching for the perfect gift to spoil your groom-to-be with this Christmas, or on the morning of the wedding? Or, you might want to thank your groomsmen or fathers with something special. Kingsley Leather based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire has the perfect pick, from bespoke leather wallets and belts to other hand-crafted men's accessories. The personalised leather cufflinks, £55 per pair are a thoughtful way to express your love and thanks, and will be something that can be treasured forever and the handmade leather bow tie, £80 offers a distinctive, dapper choice for the groom and members of the male bridal party.

Are these popular 2023 wedding song cursed?

Research from wedding entertainment providers Function Central shows couples are taking risks choosing songs for their weddings with shockingly high divorce rates. Function Central used existing data on the songs most likely to end in divorce to see whether couples were still taking risks by adding these songs to their upcoming nuptials. This data was then cross-referenced against existing wedding playlists of engaged couples to see whether couples were still choosing these songs for their weddings. The results were concerning for any superstitious couples worried about whether certain tracks were deemed bad luck for long lasting marriages.

Wiltshire-based beauty brand Bramley launches Bramley Skin

Wiltshire-based Bramley bottles nature's most active, science-backed skincare with its latest launch, Bramley Skin. With nature as their foundation, Bramley has combined the knowledge of expert plant-smiths and therapists with ingredients from native flowers and herbs found in wild British meadows to create powerful, natural skincare. Bramley Skin offers a complete range of treatment-led, 100% natural skincare. The new 22-piece collection features products specially developed to help support the skin's natural function with a blend of vitamins, antioxidants, and powerful botanicals. Designed to deliver long-lasting results, every step in the skincare collection combines Bramley's unique apple extract with essential oils and nature's most active, science-backed ingredients.

5 reasons couples fail at sticking to their wedding budget

With the cost of living on everyone's minds, budget expert Isabel Smith, offers some insight into how couples can set (and stick to!) their wedding budget. The number of couples who are going overbudget on their wedding is dropping, from around 2/3 in 2018 to somewhere around 50% this year. This may be due to savvier couples setting more realistic budgets, or people simply refusing spend a penny more than planned owing to future financial uncertainty, but either way, I am all for it! I've never been an advocate for getting in debt over your big day, no matter how special you want it to be.

The perfect couples advent calendar

Couples looking for that x-factor idea to get them in the Christmassy mood this festive season need look no further than A Twist Of Date's personalised couples' advent calendar. This personalised QR-code collection of romantic, fun and creative couples' activities adds a spark of magic that is sure to make 2023 a December to remember. Perfect for long-term busy couples looking to reconnect through heart-warming moments, it's a no-brainer alternative to the typical chocolate-filled Christmas countdown. Whether it's an impromptu trip to your local ice rink, engaging in an act of kindness together or writing each other a romantic letter to be opened on Christmas, each day brings something new and exciting to share together.

How to master taking the perfect engagement ring photo

Proposals are often one of the most memorable, special and magical moments in a couples life, so it's only natural they want to share this joyous news with their friends, family and colleagues. In 2023, one of the most common ways for couples to share the news of their engagement is through social media. Couples often post gorgeous pictures in real time of themselves along with the dazzling engagement ring. Sharing the news via social media is a quick and easy way of telling your loved ones the news without having to individually call everyone, which can be overwhelming and time consuming. However, taking the perfect photo can be a bit of a challenge. Whilst it's not a competition to see who has the biggest ring and whose ring sparkles the most, a lot of people want their ring to look as desirable and shimmering as possible.

BS3 Santa to bring Christmas entertainment to Tewkesbury

Bristol-based actor Stewart Wright is coming to Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire on the 8th of December, offering families the opportunity to make this festive season an unforgettable one. Wright will bring Father Christmas to life as he brings his ever-popular production of BS3 Santa to Tewkesbury for the very first time. Experienced at entertaining all ages with his own brand of improvisation and audience involvement, theatre meets 'An Audience with Father Christmas' in this 50-minute interactive show. Created by Wright, one of Bristol's top comic theatre performers, in 2020, BS3 Santa was originally produced to be performed on people's doorsteps during the pandemic. For 2023, BS3 Santa has transformed into an enchanting, interactive show which will be performed outdoors at Tewkesbury Garden Centre this festive season.

Sober hen parties are on the rise

While hen parties are often characterised by celebratory cocktails, drinking games and wild night outs, the hen-do could soon be shrugging off its booze-fueled persona. Global searches for 'sober hen do ideas' have doubled over the past year while 'sober bachelorette party games' has also seen a 50% increase. On TikTok, #soberliving has seen a surge in popularity, with videos including the hashtag boasting over 650 million views. If you're a bride-to-be looking to celebrate your 'last night of freedom' tee-total-style, party planning expert, Amy Greenshields at cardfactory has shared her four top tips.

Cheltenham's Imperial Haus Wins Muddy Stilettos Award 2023

Congratulations go to Imperial Haus boutique cocktail bar in Cheltenham which recently won best National Bar at The Muddy Stilettos Awards 2023. It's It's an independent business that opened in 2021, founded by owner Sophie Wilding, who appeared on the BBC One television show The Apprentice. It was inspired by her love of cocktails, passion for interior design and the need for traditional service. The venue was recently granted a change of license to allow under-18s in with an adult, allowing families to enjoy the venue together – there's even a specific kids' mocktail menu on offer!