What on earth is that? I hear you cry. What is a Wedmother, where do they come from and do I need one?

These are all questions to be answered right here so let’s get on with it!

I got married in 2014 and I was so lucky. I had the BEST venue that had the BEST staff but most of all I have the BEST friends and a majority of them have worked or still do work in either the events business or hospitality. They know how fussy I am and they took care of every little detail on my day. I didn’t have to worry, I knew it was going to get done.
They checked every glass, every table cloth, every piece of cutlery on the tables. They checked for muck under the tables and down the aisle. Now please remember I said I had the BEST venue, and so luckily my little helpers didn’t find anything to complain about!

(Just in case you’re wondering, I got married here Hotel Bannatyne in Darlington and I, my hubby and our guests can’t recommend it highly enough.)

What I didn’t account for is your make-up artist not turning up. Who also just happened to be singing our register-signing song and our first dance.
I feel I should say here – something will always go wrong on your wedding day, that’s wedding fact! How you deal with it determines how big a deal that problem is (and we Wedmothers have dealt with a LOT of crises that our couples don’t even know happened…).

In my case, my bridesmaid swung into action, calling the nearest make-up counter which happened to be in House of Fraser in Darlington Town Centre to see if someone could do my make-up right there and then. Now, I do claim that I was not at any point of the planning a Brideszilla, but for this I yelled that two certain brands, that I have a longstanding dislike of, would not do.

So Lancome came to my rescue and a lovely lady called Sandra cleared a space for me and my face to get me camera ready.
Now, I was not the only person let down. My other bridesmaid suffers from Psoriasis and was really looking forward to getting her face ‘done’ and ready for the cameras too.
So she drove me to House of Fraser and asked if Sandra could assist. Sadly there wasn’t going to be enough time to get us both done in time to get back, get dressed….Step up DIOR. Oh yes, all of the lovely ladies at HoF knew of our plight (and I do apologise to the ladies who work for the aforementioned companies, it’s the brand I dislike, not you!) and Dior stepped right up and took care of my bridesmaid. She was ecstatic. I would also like to say, we were not charged nor were any products forced upon us, such was their absolute desire to help a bride in need, but since then I use Lancome’s mascara all the time, I love it! They were so good, that even though I told them I had lipstick back at Bannatyne’s she wouldn’t let me walk through the town ‘incomplete’. Love those girls, they helped to save my day. My only other option was a trip to Sainsbury’s and to do it myself….

So I get back to the hotel and guess what…the manager (amazing Lucy) says to me…”We have a guy behind the bar who’s pretty good with an acoustic guitar and he’s offered to sing while you sign the register. What do you think?” I think Yes, Please, thank you very much.

Small problem. Said bar person is around 19, and our song – Groovy Kinda Love by Phil Collins – is from the 80s. Way before he was born, or even thought of. But you know what, he learned a song he’d never even heard of and sang it 2 hours later in front on 60 complete strangers. Our hero. (I told you we had the BEST venue!)
Sadly there was nothing we could do about our first dance. We were hoping for a slowed down version of Together Forever by the lovely deep voiced Rick Astley, and we ended up with Ellie Goulding and How Long Will I Love You. Thanks Ellie, for penning a song with amazing lyrics that saved our dance. It now has a special place in our hearts (don’t worry Rick, you’re in there too!).

Because I had to be out of the venue for around an hour, I didn’t get time to give my new dad-in-law and brother-in-law their gifts. And because I was in control and hadn’t told one person all my plans, no-one thought to ask. That one issue, of my make up artist not showing, created a bit of a hole in my day.

I should mention here, that my hairdresser was also stellar! She not only did my bridesmaids, me and my dad’s partner she also did my sister-in-law and helped to make all of my tissue paper pom-poms while I was out. Oh, and I completely changed my mind about my hair from the trial – not phased at all! You need a good hairdresser, brides!

So, there’s my wedding story. Pretty great with a fairytale happy ending. And that’s what I want YOU to have.

OK so I know I haven’t completely answered the original questions! I do tend to get carried away talking about my wedding, it was such fun!
Here we go:
Where do Wedmothers come from?  We come from a place so magical that even the….oh, ok. We come from Middlesbrough but we’re spreading our fairy wings!
Do you need one? Well…
Not everyone has friends who have my high standards. Are you willing to ask your friends or family to spend your wedding day looking at glasses and cutlery, herding guests and potentially cleaning toilets? Venues set up wedding after wedding and standards can slip.
Not everyone is great at coming up with solutions at a moments’ notice.
Not everyone knows the barman can sing!

And this is where a Wedmother comes in. We work for brides and venues. We’ll make sure you have nothing to complain to the venue about, or a venue has nothing to complain to their staff about! We’ll dress your space, turn it around from ceremony to dining – all the behind-the-scenes stuff that venues do but you will have to if you’re in a marquee.
You tell us what your day entails and we’ll make sure that’s what happens.

We are Wedmothers. Like Godmothers, only not permanent and we won’t leave a pink lippy stain on your cheek. You might, however, occasionally hear the odd ‘Bipetty Bopetty Boo’ as we go about your business ♥