Your Midlands Wedding news and ideas from around the region

‘The Speech Surgery’ with Speechy's Heidi Ellert McDermott

'The Speech Surgery' with Heidi Ellert McDermott, founder of Speechy & author of The Modern Couple's Guide to Wedding Speeches' We're planning on having five speakers at our wedding. How do we make sure the speeches don't take over the whole day? Great speeches can add so much fun and meaning to a wedding day – but you can have too much of a good thing. Guests don't want to feel like they're sat at a conference, so firstly, think about how you schedule the speakers. Perhaps have a couple before the meal, two before the dessert and one (funny speech) after everyone's finished eating. You want your guests to interact with each other on a regular basis, rather than listening to a succession of speakers for an hour!

The Office for National Statistics: journeying through modern life

The Office for National Statistics has published an article exploring life's most important milestones and how they have changed over time. Using a range of data sources, the article looks at key life events such when people enter the workforce, get married, and earn the most money. Kerry Gadsdon, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said: "Everyone's journey through adulthood is different, but we can use a range of data to explore key events in life. We've examined how these milestones of adulthood have changed over the past decade and can see how society is shifting. "In England and Wales, people are doing many things later in life; like leaving their parent's home, getting married, and retiring. But not everything has changed. Most people still enter the workforce at 23-24 years old and make the most money in their 30s to 50s."

Discover Champagne & Lace's new bridal store

The team at Champagne & Lace are excited to announce their new bridal store in Louth, Lincolnshire! The motherand-daughter-run business has outstanding knowledge and understanding of brides, ensuring everybody has the most enjoyable appointment! The new space will allow the team to continue offering a fantastic service to clients, who will have the whole store to themselves for two hours with their undivided attention, but now on a more extensive and grander scale! It will be a truly personal shopping experience with extra personal touches. Original features like the staircase have been lovingly restored along with the original signage under the new sign, so history is always kept.

These are the UK’s most popular manor house wedding venues for Bridgerton-inspired ceremonies!

As we all wait in anticipation for tonight's first episode of season three of Bridgerton to hit our screens, we're ready to immerse ourselves in Regency splendour once again. If you're engaged, in the throws of wedding planning, there's so much to be inspired by when watching this hit series. New data collected by ethical jewellery brand Sacet has revealed the top manor house wedding venues across the UK that would make the perfect location for a Bridgerton-inspired ceremony. By analysing a number of factors, including number of reviews, professionalism, quality of service and value for money, of over 230 wedding venues that offer manor house weddings in the UK, the top 20 were revealed.

Make sure your big day is protected

A wedding is a special day for a couple, but it can also be an expensive one. Between venues, caterers, photographers, dresses, and entertainment, the costs can add up. For those planning a wedding, it's important you insure yourself against anything that could go awry just before, or on the big day. For those aiming to tie the knot this year, Alex Cross, Insurance Director at Tesco Bank shares his top tips on things to consider for your wedding day to make sure you're covered so things can run as smoothly as possible.

Tie the knot at The Barn at Drovers

The Barn at Drovers is a 16th-century venue situated on a working organic farm. The farm's food is sourced directly from the fields and foraged from the hedgerows and there are stunning courtyards and gardens with 150 acres to explore. The venue is made up of two barns. The Rustic Barn has a wagon wheel and wooden ladders suspended by steel beams, old potato box slats for walls and plenty of straw bales. While the Industrial Chic Barn has wooden beams, a corrugated ceiling and wonderful old olive buckets as lights suspended from the beams. Al fresco celebrations are held in the field or charming woodland. All the venue's food is cooked on open fires and there are lots of outdoor spaces for summer weddings.