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

Don't miss the chance to experience a January wellness retreat at Barnsley House

Experience an exclusive retreat, hosted by Madeleine Shaw, at Barnsley House from the 21st to the 22nd of January. This retreat promises pilates and yoga sessions, expertly guided by Madeleine herself. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage with Madeleine and chat with her about wellness, skincare and her Get the Glow philosophy. Throughout the year, Get the Glow with PoB Hotels invites guests to embark on a journey towards radiant beauty, embracing transformation from the inside out. The PoB chefs have meticulously curated recipes showcasing a selection of skin-focused ingredients selected by Madeleine that are renowned for properties linked to skin health. To complement these dishes, select hotels will offer exclusive spa treatments, working harmoniously to enable guests to exude an irresistible glow.

Wedding gifting etiquette - your guide from the experts

When it comes to wedding planning, there is so much to think about, the same goes for wedding gift lists! That's why we are here to help with your guide to wedding gift list etiquette! We have spoken to The Wedding Shop, the UK's leading gift list provider to bring you everything you need to know about wedding registries. In short, we advise adding 2-3 gifts per wedding guest invited. Adding a variety of gifts to your wedding list caters to the differing budgets and preferences of your guests. It's a thoughtful approach to include a wide range of items, from smaller, more affordable pieces to a few higher-end gifts. The key is balance and variety. Typically, having slightly more gifts than the number of guests or households invited allows for enough choice without overwhelming your guests.

Ice Swimming Championships take place in Cheltenham this weekend

Cold water swimming, wild swimming and ice dips have been gaining in popularity over the past few years and ice swimming takes things further and is not for the faint-hearted! This coming weekend, on the 6th and 7th of January, Cheltenham is set to host what will be the 8th International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) GB Champs. The rules for the champs, run under the auspices of the IISA (International Ice Swimming Association), require swimmers to swim in water that's 5 degrees celsius or under, wearing only a regular swimming costume, a pair of goggles and a swim hat.

Big-day gifting ideas from Yvonne Ellen

With careful eyes on tight-budgets, it's easy to forget the charm of gift-giving but with careful planning and your eye in the right place you can still find wedding gifts for loved ones. Based in London, Yvonne Ellen is an independent British home and lifestyle brand specialising in home and giftware that is quirky yet timeless. Bringing her passion for home design to life in 2017, award-winning designer Yvonne Ellen hand paints her illustrations on a wide range of fine china home and lifestyle products that's inspired by her love of travelling, fashion and London, bringing a colourful and bold statement either on its own or as part of an eclectic assortment of goodies.

2024's biggest gifting wedding trends revealed with The Wedding Shop

Gifting Guru, Liza Baucher from The Wedding Shop, reveals the 2024 wedding gifting trends that are set to be huge next year. According to The Wedding Shop's recent gifting survey, 99% of wedding guests will still give a gift in 2024 and the average price of a gift is higher. Which means, despite the cost of living - people are still spending more on wedding gifts. Liza adds, "In an era of rising costs, it's inspiring to see wedding guests prioritise the joy of giving. The significance of being part of someone's special day hasn't diminished, in fact it has grown stronger!

Make New Year's Eve a Cocktail Society celebration

The Cocktail Society makes bar-quality cocktails accessible to everyone. The Oxford-based team have developed their range, working closely with top spirit and drink producers. Every Bottled Cocktail and Cocktail Pouch is made using premium ingredients with no additives and The Cocktail Society also offers smaller 500ml and 200ml Bottled Cocktails, serving five or two drinks with the cost of these cocktails starting from just £7. The range includes a Coconut and Kaffir Lime Leaf Daiquiri, a Hibiscus and Elderflower Martini and a Salted Caramel Espresso Martini Bottled Cocktail. New for 2023 is The Cocktail Society's Spiced Tommy's Margarita Bottled Cocktail and Cocktail Pouch.

Launch of SpeechyAI - a new wedding speech writing tool

SpeechyAI, the first (genuinely decent) wedding speech writing tool has launched, giving you plenty of help and inspiration for planning your big-day speech whether you're the bride, groom, bestman or any member of the bridal party that's volunteered or this all-important role. Heidi, the founder of Speechy (the wedding speech ghostwriting team who were featured on The Drew Barrymore Show & The New York Times), has spent the last nine months working with an innovation company and, using Speechy's speechwriting techniques and tips, has developed something they're now proud to launch. As writers themselves, the team were very sceptical that AI would ever be able to produce a witty, coherent, and original speech, but through extensive testing we realised the AI, despite ongoing rumours to the contrary, can be very funny. Heidi adds, "So, with our 'secret Speechy recipe' we've now developed SpeechyAI and we hope the speeches created will surprise the majority of people who are still sceptical about AI's ability!"

The Cotswolds Distillery unveil festive cocktails ideal for New Year's Eve

The Cotswolds Distillery unveil festive cocktails perfect Boxing Day and New Year's Eve. I'll be drinking Cotswold Cloudy Christmas Gin this New Year. It's made with a combination of nine botanicals, with a festive core of clementine and piney juniper alongside the likes of cardamom, lavender, grapefruit, bay leaf, black pepper, coriander, and angelica. As with the classic Cotswolds Dry Gin, the distillers use plenty of botanicals, meaning the gin has a lot of botanical oils in it, so when it's mixed with gin, it'll turn cloudy. It's priced at £34.95 for 70cl and available directly from the Cotswolds Distillery.

Get an extra night’s sleep with Young’s rooms this January

Two nights are always better than one, and with 1,000 nights to giveaway, cosy up in the comfort of the pub with Young's Rooms this winter. To redeem, simply book your two-night stay online between 3rd January – 15th February 2024 (for stays up to 29th February 2024) and use the code ONEMORESLEEP to receive 50% off your booking.Whether you fancy a city break in the capital, a getaway in the glorious British countryside or a seaside escape, make your stay count with 42 pubs with rooms in London and in the South of England to choose from. Ranging from snug stays for solo travellers to family bedrooms and one-of-a-kind feature rooms, complete with plush furnishings, uber-comfy Hypnos beds and Bramley toiletries, there is no better place to unwind than the cosy surrounds of the great British pub this winter.

Tips for keeping your 2024 New Year’s Resolutions

As 2024 approaches, many of our thoughts will turn to self-improvement and how we make the New Year as successful, satisfying, and productive as possible. Whether it's improving our health, focusing on professional advancement, learning a new skill, or exploring something totally unique, we typically create our list of goals during this time of year. To help ensure that 2024 is the year that your resolutions are kept, Toastmasters International offers these 8 tips that will help you to achieve your goals. Be realistic. Having lofty goals is commendable, however, it's important to make sure they are realistic, or you may end up feeling frustrated that they are too difficult to achieve.

Intimate Weddings are in for 2024: Venue expert offers tips

Micro weddings are on the rise, with a 100% increase in searches for 'intimate wedding venues' recorded in the past 12 months alone worldwide. In the UK specifically, searches for 'micro wedding venues near me' have risen by 100% in the past two years, and searches for 'intimate wedding venues UK' by 50% in the past 12 months. Forced small gatherings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have clearly rubbed off as scaled-back nuptials have stuck around, offering couples the opportunity to be in the moment, create memories with their closest loved ones, and eliminate the feeling for couples that they may need to gain approval from or impress guests on their big day.

The Ashmolean Museum Oxford offers Christmas hampers

Looking for a last-minute gift for Christmas or New Year's Eve? The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is offering Christmas hampers, a carefully curated collection of hand-picked boxes including a selection of sustainably sourced, British-made products from local artisans. The Ashmolean Oxford Artisan Distillery Gift Box, £62 features Ashmolean Dry Gin and plum and dinger dark chocolate while the Ashmolean Gibsons Crabapple Liqueur Gift Box, £40 is filled with goodies such as gingerbread oat mill chocolate and items from the Oxford Cheese Co. The Ashmolean Pantry Gift Box, £25 contains strawberry & Marc de Champagne preserve and tasty caramelised onion chutney.

5 ways to make your bridesmaids feel special

On average, it costs a bridesmaid around £408 to have the privilege to stand by their dearest friend as they tie the knot. In fact, from organising a memorable hen to booking accommodation and buying the right accessories for their dress, the expenses can slowly creep up. But even if the role comes with pressing responsibilities, the reality is that bridesmaids are more than delighted to support you during the preparations and celebrations. As the bride, it's only right to thank your bride tribe for all their dedication, as they are likely to have been through all your highs and lows.

Blossoming love on a budget - top tips from YouFloria

Wedding albums can be a garden of memories with the enchanting presence of flowers seen in every snapshot. Flowers can play an integral part of a wedding narrative, adding a tapestry of texture and colour into photos, bringing out personality and creating an overall feel to a wedding. From bouquets to table centres, pew ends and buttonholes, flowers are incorporated into every wedding memory... Creating your own wedding floral displays and bouquets can be an easy way to cut the cost, and the perfect way to make your wedding a little more personal - also, super fun and easy to do! You don't have to have a good track record of keeping house plants alive to be able to throw together a show-worthy, eye-catching floral masterpiece, no matter how big or small.

Ultimate festive campervan road trip unveiled covering nine locations

Quirky Campers, a unique British campervan hire service providing beautiful, hand-crafted campers, has unveiled Southern England's ultimate campervan Christmas road trip with nine locations and five Christmas markets featuring on the 400-mile circular route. Salisbury and Mompesson House, Richmond, Kew Gardens, Hever Castle and Mousehole have all been highlighted. Get ready for Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol brought to life. Mompesson House in Salisbury is decorated every year for Christmas, as you enter the house you're taken through the tale of a Christmas carol, starting at Marley's front door and ending with the Cratchit's Christmas feast. Once you've satiated your literary appetite head to Salisbury Town for Christmas markets, live music, Christmas fairs and their Christmas on the square pop-up event.

The groom's guide to wedding planning

Matthew Shaw is founder and creative director at sauveur. a renowned event planning and management company based in London. Here, Matthew shares his groom's guide to wedding planning...

More often than not, the bulk of wedding planning lands up being the work of the bride with the groom being delegated select tasks but, wedding planning should be the work of a team and there may also be two grooms involved in the planning. Today's grooms are often much more involved with all aspects of the planning, something we very much encourage!

Giftlist predictions for 2024

As 2023 is drawing to a close, wedding gift list company Prezola, has pulled together their best-selling wedding gifts of 2023, whilst looking at predictions for 2024. Despite being in a cost-of-living crisis, it appears people are getting MORE generous when it comes to weddings. In a recent survey*, 99% of guests confirmed they would give a wedding gift, with 93% saying they find having a list to choose from helpful. Experiences continue to be front of mind for the adventurous Prezola couple, but they are also combining this with big home upgrades, including coffee machines, pizza ovens and more. The likes of Airbnb, Mr & Mrs Smith and Lastminute.com are extremely popular, alongside honeymoon funds, with 59% of guests giving cash for honeymoons and 39% of them donating towards a honeymoon through a fund like Prezola.

Christmas gifts for the bride to be

The Christmas countdown is on – and if this isn't the only big day on the horizon, it's the perfect excuse to pull out all the stops If you're got a friend, sister or loved one who's about to celebrate their last Christmas as a Miss, mark it in style with a thoughtful and stylish gift from Team Hen. Responsible for giving hen parties across the world a serious glow-up, Team Hen is the ultimate go-to destination for fabulous accessories that are modern hen party goals. Forget the tacky L-plates or garish flashing tiaras, Team Hen is doing things differently – and in style. From fun festive goodies to super-stylish accessories, Team Hen has got all of your nearly-wed Christmas gifting sorted this year. The bride is going to love you for it!

Unwrap the magic of Willy Wonka with Haute Dolci

This Christmas, Haute Dolci introduces their delicious Belgian milk chocolate Dolci Bar, that's not just a delectable sweet treat but also a golden opportunity! Inspired by the whimsical world of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and timed perfectly with the release of the much-anticipated WONKA film, Haute Dolci is excited to bring the enchantment of golden tickets to life...Recreating the magic of this Roald Dahl children's classic, each Dolci Bar comes with the exciting opportunity of discovering a Golden Ticket concealed inside and winning one of their fantastic prizes. Not every customer will discover one, but those who do will be in for a delightful surprise. Prizes range from free teasers of Dolci's finest creations to tickle your taste buds, a free drink to quench your thirst, a free dessert from their exquisite range, to charms which will give you from anything from 5% - 40% discount off purchases for an entire year, or the ultimate exclusive key, which will grant a year of free desserts.

Enjoy a cosy Christmas stay with Sutton Hotel Collection

The Sutton Hotel Collection extends a warm invitation to guests to celebrate Christmas in their three distinctive and quintessentially British hotels, The Queens Hotel Cheltenham, The Castle Hotel Windsor and The Francis Hotel Bath. Experience stylish settings, the enchantment of Christmas traditions, captivating entertainment, and exceptional cuisine as each hotel adds its unique touch of elegance to this cherished day in the calendar. Celebrate good times at the iconic Queens Hotel Cheltenham. Step back in time in this Grade II listed building, whilst enjoying all the modern comforts of an exquisite boutique hotel. From parties to a festive afternoon tea, there's something for everyone. Enjoy delicious food and a cosy, warm welcome.