Saturday 29 November 2008

BUDGET POSTMORTEM

Well I think we have all got the results of this last Budget, and have had it analysed and full disected and how will it affect me.

My thoughts are it's not going to be beneficial to me, with what he has given on one hand he will take on the other hand.

With regard to salary's and earnings if you were earning over £18, 750 you were better off under the previous budget, now under this last one if you are earning over £18,750 and under £20,000 you are the winner, and everyone else is the losers.

With regard to the reduction in VAT, it's a saving of £1.28 in every £10 you spend. In my opinion nothing worth rushing home about. 15% is the lowest he can bring it down to as per EU rules, then next year it could be back to 17.5% or even 20% or 18%. He got to get that money back. The best hope would be on heating eg Gas and Electric, but again he can't do that, as again he can not go agains EU Rules. As for the Petrol price, for the last week we all have been enjoying Petrol at 89.9p per litre which is good, but with the VAT reduction on Monday 1st December 2008, and a 2p increase, we will not win there!!!!

Now I hear you cry we have not had a vote on the Referundum, I am sorry to inform you that Mr Gordon Brown signed the Lisbon Treaty on the 11th December 2007, for the full story (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3036419.ece), it was then ratified through Parliament in June 2008, full details at (http://news.scotsman.com/world/UK-ratifies-Lisbon-Treaty-despite.4200308.jp), and was finalised in September 2008.

The bad news is THE UK IS NOW CONTROL BY BRUSSELS, and not the UK.

How do you feel about being a European by default?

What does it mean for the UK - for more details cut and paste the following link (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-501645/What-does-new-EU-treaty-mean-Europe-Britain.html) this will give you all the in's and out's on what it means to us.

For more details on the GATWAY TO EUROPE (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm) copy and paste this link and it will give you all details on governance and policies.

Good read


That's all on that subject for now.
FLW

So what good has actually come out of this budget - I am still waiting to hear.

Cost of a UK Wedding

Having just updated FLW wedding news page, I was horrified to learn that the UK cost of a wedding now ranges from £15,000 to £25,000, but with the national average resting at around £18,500. Full article details at - ( http://www.weddingsday.co.uk/planning_weddingcosts/) or click on the link at FLW wedding news page.

I ask myself, howcome people are able to afford this type of cost, when we have been heading into a financial ecomonic crisis for the last 18 months and this current situation will continue for at least five years in my opinion and not until the second part of 2009 as per the Government thinking.

When I got married nearly four years ago, I was planning between a UK wedding or an overseas wedding. If I had continued with the UK wedding plans, I would have seen a cost of £16,000. Well the accountant in me, said no way am I spending that kind of money on a wedding, when it would have been a good down payment on a property. So we (Bride & Groom) considered an overseas wedding, and we got married in Cyprus.

We had the wedding abroad and then a couple months later we had another reception in the UK and we still had change out of £5,000.

Brides - this idea also gives you more opportunities to wear your wedding dress again, not just on one day.

Today, there are more idea and opportunities to get married in various places and this will help the wedding couple and the family enjoy the day, instead of paying these silly prices.

In light of this news, on the Fairyland Weddings & Event Planners website, I will be writing on Wedding Planning and helping to cut the cost of your wedding, whether it be a high society wedding or just a small gathering.

Also, as a helping hand at present, don't always go to a wedding supplier consider other suppliers outside the wedding industry to cater for your needs. Eg, Shoes for the wedding. When I was looking for my wedding shoes, I had seen a pair of ivory court shoes that matched the dress in a wedding shop costing £150. However, the pair I actually purchased in Evans at £30 were the same and did the same job and have been used on further occasions - so think outside the box.

Food for thought- as soon as your mention a WEDDING, the price goes up.

This information comes from you direct from a WEDDING PLANNER, I know I work in the industry and I have had to negiotate hard for the prices I get for my clients.

NEGIOTATE is the word.

That's all for now
Keep planning and think BUDGET with no DEBT
DEBT is a bad word.
Be DEBT Free.

Watch out for the Planner's Guide to Planning your wedding. It's coming soon.

Thanks all for now, better go and do this Christmas shopping list
FLW

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Where can we get married and have some family around, but not spending a fortune?

The other day whilst out shopping, I popped into one of the shops just to say hi and how are you. Thank goodness you have arrived the owner of the shop informed me. Why, I asked her. To which she responded, "One of the girls is doing my head in!" Why, I asked to which I was told, She can't settle on an idea where to get married and she does not want a church wedding", Right, I responded.

This is some of the ideas that I left to to think about and probably left my friend with another headache:-

Where is the main bulk of your family basis (consider if the family are based in Scotland, Ireland, Wales or even say in Devon etc, or if you want them to come to you, then accommodation has to be considered)

UK - a different venue from a hotel like
- Nostell Priory, Wakefield,
- Wentworth Castle, Barnsley
- Hazlewood Castle, Hazlewood, North Yorkshire

Scotland
- Gretna Green
- Edinburgh
- Auchen Castle, Moffat, Scotland

Wedding Abroad
- Excellent deals to be had in Mediterrean and Carribean but consider the strength of the Pound
Bride & Groom have a fortnights holiday and the wedding family and party come for a week around the time of the wedding.
- Consider having a wedding on board ship or wedding party on board ship and chose a location to have the wedding, eg Mediterrean cruise and marry in Rhodes, Greece.

Bungee Jump
Tandem Parachute Jump
Parasailing
Scuba Dive Wedding
Safari Wedding
Space Wedding - In time

Best advice at present in light of the credit crunch would be consider Wedding & honeymoon on board ship, but to have the wedding on location, eg one of the ports of call. This would keep your costs down and the wedding party would be there for the wedding and wedding reception (at no extra costs to you) the only downside to this would be they are in the same vacinity, however, if you choose a nice big ship, there is plenty to do and see and also keep everybody occupied and you could disappear onboard ship.

Hope that helps any of you would there wondering were to get married!

If you have any other ideas, lets hear them!

FLW
Military covering the cost of Wedding Outfits for Bride & Grooms

Having scrolled through the news items for the past few days, I notice that the US government are covering the cost of wedding dresses and grooms outfits for the soldiers who are serving abroad.

"http://www.wdsu.com/news/17964427/detail.html" (Copy and paste into a new window) is one article from one area of America were they are giving away Wedding Dresses to Military staff, after a bit more digging and found it is part of a scheme called "Brides of America" - http://www.bridesacrossamerica.com/ for more details.

Now what do the Armed Forces offer our services men and women on the wedding front for their services. It was Armistice Day just the other day, 11th November 2008, despite being in bed with Flu and a barking cough, I have not heard that the UK Military have offered anything to our service people.

What do you think?

Should our British Government offer something like the "Brides of America" scheme to our service men and women?

look forward to hearing your comments!

FLW

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Hello and welcome to the new

FAIRYLAND WEDDINGS & EVENT PLANNER'S BLOG SPOT

This is a new area to FLW and will be run is association to our website:-

www.fairylandweddings.co.uk

The team at FLW (Fairyland Weddings & Event Planners) look forward to hearing from you with regard to your comments on wedding matters or wedding topics.

Get writing,

FLW will be writing soon.

Regards from the team
FLW