PRCo will be publishing their own summary soon, but we thought we’d compile some of the highlights as we saw them.

Our hosts kicked off the event…

Good afternoon and welcome to our #LuxVox chat talking #Honeymoons with @KuoniTravelUK and @101Honeymoons. Let’s get started….—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

Q1: 1/3 British couples would prefer to get married abroad than in the UK. Tell us the best wedding/honeymoon destination? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

Our response?

#LuxVox A1 — To be honest, we don't have that many couples use our service to help fund a destination wedding…—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A1 — …but the most popular honeymoon destination among our couples, by far, is the Maldives.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

A sentiment echoed by others!

@PRCoUK The Maldives is our no.1 honeymoon hotspot. Stunning islands oozing romance surrounded by crystal clear lagoons – perfect. #LuxVox—
Kuoni Travel (@KuoniTravelUK) May 09, 2013

A1: #LuxVox The Maldives is always v.popular for #honeymoons but we're hearing Greece is on the up – closer, cheaper and just as gorgeous!—
perfectminimoon.com (@perfectminimoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox Maldives is a great honeymoon destination but UK couples can't legally wed there. Try wed in Sri Lanka & honeymoon in Maldives—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

@101honeymoons — we're seeing a definite uptick this year too in couples going to Sri Lanka. #LuxVox—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

If you want a short haul wed, red tape is easy in Italy, Greece & Cyprus. #LuxVox—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A1 — Singapore, Hong Kong and South Africa are all also on the up this year, according to our stats.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

A small tangent…

@BuyOurHoneymoon Interesting that Paris isn't on the list #LuxVox – but seems that #Romance destinations remain the same through the yrs—
Luxury Travel Bible (@LuxTravelBible) May 09, 2013

@LuxTravelBible — we only really measure in terms of countries; but France in general is at number 13 for us! #LuxVox—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

Question 2 was right up our alley!

Q2: Many newlyweds now ask for a donation or use honeymoon registry services. Which ones do you recommend? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A2 — obviously, we’re biased, but we like to think we’re the best honeymoon gift list service in the UK. buy-our-honeymoon.com—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A2 — we've been finalists as the Best Wedding Gift List at the @WIMagazine awards for 4 years running now. buy-our-honeymoon.com—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox We love the idea of honeymoon registry services! If you're already living together, you probably have everything you need!—
Ultimate Wedding Mag (@UltimateWedMag) May 09, 2013

A great way to pay for luxury honeymoon is to set up a honeymoon registry service. #LuxVox—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

A2: #LuxVox #honeymoon registry services are great for budget savvy couples – we love @BuyOurHoneymoon & used them for our own wedding! #fab—
perfectminimoon.com (@perfectminimoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox Plus using a honeymoon registry service you won't get that blender you'll only use once —
Ultimate Wedding Mag (@UltimateWedMag) May 09, 2013

Question 3 was about useful sites and resources for honeymoon planning in general:

Q3: Honeymoon planning: what are your go-to websites and apps? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

@PRCoUK A3: @Pinterest and @Triptease come out on top for us #LuxVox—
  (@GraceHotels) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox Well I must admit that @TripAdvisorUK would be a big honeymoon hotel planning favourite! Reading actual bride reviews! —
Ultimate Wedding Mag (@UltimateWedMag) May 09, 2013

I haven't found a duff hotel on @smithhotels @iescape (bit cheaper!) or @chicretreat so if you're after hotel only, start with here! #LuxVox—
Amanda Statham (@Amanda_Statham) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A3 — I'm personally also a big fan of @Adioso for finding flights. adioso.com—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A3 — we offer a Helping Hand service to fill your honeymoon gift list with suggestions based on the ideas other couples have had.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

I must confess, Triptease was new to me — but looks incredibly useful, and beautifully made.

Hate to sound self-promotional, but we have a category specially dedicated to tripteases of romantic spots: triptease.com/tag/romance #LuxVox—
  (@Triptease) May 09, 2013

Onto question four…

Q4: Mini-moons: splurge or save for the real-thing? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A4 — sometimes couples need to leave for their honeymoon way after their wedding, to better suit the climate of where they're going.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A4 — and sometimes, couples need to keep their options open and book the honeymoon they can afford once their gift list closes.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

Mini moons are fab if you have limited time or it's not the right season for your chosen place which you're saving for later #LuxVox—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

@PRCoUK Depends how long you're waiting for your honeymoon after your #wedding. Every couple needs some pampering after the big day! #LuxVox—
Wedding magazine (@Weddingmagazine) May 09, 2013

A4: #LuxVox #minimoons are great because you can tailor them to exactly to what *you* want – country, beach, city… the list's endless!—
perfectminimoon.com (@perfectminimoon) May 09, 2013

A4 Here are our favourite minimoon ideas – kuoni.co.uk/honeymoons/min… #LuxVox http://t.co/GefsyUGiwK—
Kuoni Travel (@KuoniTravelUK) May 09, 2013

Question 5 was targeted at those providing services and accommodation to honeymooning couples:

Q5: How far should #hotels go in offering newlyweds a few extras to make their #honeymoon more special? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A5 — speaking from our own experience, I know that it can make a world of difference to your perception of the hotel!—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A5 — the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans treated us wonderfully, with a little gift pack and a room upgrade.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

@PRCoUK A5 The whole hog! This is a holiday couples will talk about for years to come, so best to make it as special as poss #luxvox—
A Luxury Travel Blog (@luxury__travel) May 09, 2013

Hotels should take honeymooners seriously. Everyone loves to be surprised by little touches. The best hotels use their imagination. #LuxVox—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A5 We got lovely champagne almost everywhere we went but got a bit fed up of cleaning up petals by the last hotel. #honeymoonprobs—
Jenny Mathieson (@JennyMathieson) May 09, 2013

While question 6 was addressed more to couples themselves…

Q6: Many couples look to combine both beach and adventure on honeymoon. A good mix? Or is it best not to try and fit too much in? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A6 — Well, how do you like to holiday in general? Are you a beach bum or a busy bee when you're away? Do what makes you happy.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A6 — It's good to make your honeymoon memorable, though. Do something special.—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

If you have the time & budget, two-centre honeymoons are fab. Good combos: New York & Caribbean, Africa safari & Indian Ocean beach. #LuxVox—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

@PRCoUK Or split it – adventure time spent exploring your location, relaxation spent lounging on the beach/by the pool. Bliss! #LuxVox—
Wedding magazine (@Weddingmagazine) May 09, 2013

A6. honeymoons tend to be long. i think there's nothing wrong with a little adventure plus time for R&R #LuxVox—
Lauren DiMarco (@LolaDiMarco) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox Who says it's bad to fit too much in? Go for it! Have a couple of days on the beach and some days exploring and creating memories!—
Ultimate Wedding Mag (@UltimateWedMag) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A6 — here are some of the unusual things our couples do on honeymoon: blog.buy-our-honeymoon.com/2011/06/22/unu…—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

The following two questions concerned trends and social responsibility:

Q7: Eco-honeymoons: is it the right time to go green? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

A7 #LuxVox – @PRCoUK It is always the right time to go green! If nothing else, find a resort that has #CSR high in its company values.—
Six Senses Zighy Bay (@ZighyBay) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A7 — there are online tools you can use to offset the carbon footprint of your flight. @ClimateCare have one: climatecare.org/home.aspx—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

Green doesn't have to break the bank though. Great ideas here greentraveller.co.uk
#LuxVox—
Jane Anderson (@101honeymoons) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox Being green isn't all about the travel either! Many hotels are doing their bit to be as eco as possible, ask them —
Ultimate Wedding Mag (@UltimateWedMag) May 09, 2013

I think this is about as exciting as it gets eco moon-wise: pikaialodgegalapagos.com A new lodge in the #Galapagos #LuxVox—
Amanda Statham (@Amanda_Statham) May 09, 2013

Q8: …So it looks like green honeymoons are on the up. What other trends are you noticing in the #luxury honeymoon sector? #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

A8 Travellers are looking for authentic experiences, such as salsa lessons in Havana or helping save pink dolphins along the Amazon! #LuxVox—
Kuoni Travel (@KuoniTravelUK) May 09, 2013

@PRCoUK 'healing' honeymoons are on the up – where couples can relax, enjoy treatments and unwind! #LuxVox—
Wedding magazine (@Weddingmagazine) May 09, 2013

A8 Glamping! #luxvox check out @kempinskihotels in Tanzania!! @PRCoUK—
A Beach A Day (@abeachaday) May 09, 2013

A8: Many couples now are choosing to go on #detox or #healing #honeymoons – sit back, relax and have a massage! Sounds blissful! #LuxVox—
perfectminimoon.com (@perfectminimoon) May 09, 2013

The penultimate question was directed at participants, like us, who are already married:

Q9: For all our #LuxVox participants that are already married: what was the stand out moment from your honeymoon?—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A9 — we went on a 3000-mile roadtrip of the southern US back in 2005. We set up our site to help fund it! #TeamHoneymoon—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A9 — one highlight was renting a log cabin high in the hills above Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. #TeamHoneymoon—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

#LuxVox A9 — or driving from Orlando to New Orleans in a single day! #TeamHoneymoon—
Buy Our Honeymoon (@BuyOurHoneymoon) May 09, 2013

A9: #LuxVox I know it sounds soppy but the stand out moment from our #honeymoon was checking in as Mrs – I kept giggling like a little girl!—
perfectminimoon.com (@perfectminimoon) May 09, 2013

And question 10 was directed at those who aren’t:

Q10: Our final question to our engaged tweeters – where are you going for your #honeymoon? We’d love to hear #LuxVox—
  (@PRCoUK) May 09, 2013

A10 India and Sri Lanka are our front runners #LuxVox—
Tiny Itchy Feet (@tinyitchyfeet) May 09, 2013

One final thought!

#LuxVox – This is how it goes… Destination Wedding, #Minimoon, #Honeymoon, Babymoon, Second #Honeymoon = a lifetime of #travel!—
Luxury Travel Bible (@LuxTravelBible) May 09, 2013

This was the first time we’d been asked to contribute to something like this, but we’re hoping it’s not the last! Thanks again to @PRCoUK and all the other participants!

(Update: And here’s the official run-down by @PRCoUK!)

We’ve now updated the design and taken the opportunity to change the way we deliver these. The new design includes the personal message left by your guest when they reserved the gift, and each certificate is now a downloadable PDF so that it’s easier for guests to keep a copy and print it.

There are a couple of little touches we’ve kept from the original design: the postmark is the date of your wedding, and the price on the stamp is the cost of the gift. We’ve also added one more. Can you find it?

The new gift certificate is in use as of now for any lists that haven’t already had gifts bought. If you’ve had some gifts reserved from your registry, we’ve kept you on the original design so that your certificates all match — but if you’d like to switch over to the new design anyway, that’s no problem at all: just let us know and we’ll be happy to sort that out for you.

What do you think of the new gift certificates? Let us know on Facebook!

Back on April 2, 2007, we opened the site we’d been building for months, and that we’d first begun for our own wedding almost two years earlier. Since then, we’ve had more than 11,000 couples from 60 different countries use us for their wedding registry, with nearly 250,000 gifts reserved, covering over 160 different honeymoon destinations. And we’re still growing, and still improving.

During the past year, we’ve become the world’s only wedding list service to offer gift payments by Direct Debit for couples based in the UK, we’ve re-organised and improved the Gift Review screen for guests, we’ve overhauled our password security, dropped advertising from the site, and introduced even more customisation options. In the past three months alone, we’ve improved the delivery of emails we send to you and your guests, introduced new travel partnerships, and we’ve been recommended by both The Mirror newspaper, and the Lonely Planet website. And, for the fourth year in a row, we were among the five finalists for Best Wedding Gift List at the annual Wedding Ideas Awards. It’s been an amazing year!

As always, we have loads of plans for the coming year. Soon, we’ll introduce some improvements to the Gift Certificates your guests can print out to give you on your big day, we’ll be making it easier to add items where your guests can contribute an amount of their choice, we’re working hard on some big changes to our themes, and we’re ramping up our upgrades to the infrastructure that we use to run the site. Watch this space!

We’re still as focussed now as we’ve ever been on providing the best honeymoon gift list service we possibly can. It’s always so fantastic to receive the great feedback and testimonials from couples who’ve used us, and to know that their guests have enjoyed the experience of choosing a gift. We’re truly grateful to all the couples who’ve chosen us and recommended us over the past six years, and we’re very much looking forward to our seventh. Thank-you all so much!

There are loads of great travel companies out there, though, who’ll help you make informed, economical and flexible decisions about your flights, accommodation and honeymoon itinerary.  And some of those companies can now offer their customers a substantial discount on a honeymoon gift list with us, as part of their service.

We’d like to introduce you to two of them.

The Tanzania Specialists are destination experts and safari guides to Tanzania, helping you design your ultimate Tanzania safari honeymoon. Almost 60% of visitors to Tanzania are on honeymoon, and The Tanzania Specialists have more than 10 years’ experience in providing the very best itineraries, guidance and ideas for your dream adventure in the heart of Africa.

Visit the Serengeti, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar; stay in preferred rooms at the most romantic hotels, and relax in the knowledge that all the suppliers they recommend have been carefully selected according to their community awareness, sustainability and code of conduct. We’re delighted to be working with them!

Travel Designers are a multi-award-winning independent agency, providing a personal, affordable and creative service. Kuoni specialists (and winners of the Kuoni Elite Specialist Agent award in 2012), Travel Designers can provide amazing offers on honeymoons to the Maldives, Seychelles, the Carribbean and many, many other destinations.

We spoke to Nick at the recent Wedding Fair at Bluewater, and we know how committed the team are to providing great value. If you’ve booked your honeymoon with Travel Designers, be sure to speak to them about getting your special discount code for your gift list on buy-our-honeymoon.com — you won’t be disappointed!

If you’re an independent travel specialist who’d like to work with us to offer your customers a discount on our branded, flexible honeymoon gift list service, we’d love to talk to you — just get in touch!

You don’t have to make your registry as full and detailed as our sample wedding lists — you can keep things simple and still offer your guests the opportunity to feel that their gift is meaningful and special, rather than just a contribution of money into a big, anonymous pot. Wherever you go, you’re going to have to travel there, you’re going to have to sleep somewhere, you’ll need to eat, and you’ll need some spending money.

Perhaps you’re not sure whether you’d prefer the Maldives or the Seychelles, but you do know you’d like some time in the sun. Or you’re looking to soak up some culture and romance in a big city, but you’re haven’t decided between New York or Rome. Either way, you can still invest some creativity into your list without having to commit to the specifics. Whether you’re staying in a beach hut or a boutique B&B, there’ll be a first night of your honeymoon, and a last night too. Those can make wonderful, romantic gifts!

What’s more, we give you plenty of space to describe your plans — or to talk about the options you might choose! If you want to, you can invite opinions on what to see and where to stay! We’re the only wedding list service to provide a full introductory page to guide your friends and family through to your list, and the only wedding list service to include an option for your guests to suggest a gift!

Ever since we launched Buy Our Honeymoon back in 2007, we’ve provided a handful of items and categories to start you off when you first sign up for your free trial. You can edit or delete these as you wish — they’re just a way of helping you begin the process of putting your own list together.

We’ve now updated these so they’re good-to-go as a simple, general list for pretty much any destination. There’s a mix of open contributions towards your flights and accommodation, together with a few meals, fun experiences and treats. We’ve included a picture for each item, so you don’t need to find your own, and the items cover a wide range of prices — you could have a perfectly functional honeymoon registry without editing a single item!

And if you’d like some extra ideas for your list, don’t forget about our unique Helping Hand service! With this, we’ll add a lot of items to your list on your behalf, and it’s then super-easy to customise the ones you like, or delete any you don’t.

As always, if you have any queries about our service, or how you can put together the best wedding gift list for your honeymoon, please do get in touch and we’ll be happy to help!

We don’t send very many messages (and we never send any pure marketing emails, either to you or your guests) — so our reputation with email providers like Gmail and Hotmail is excellent, and our messages aren’t often flagged in error as spam. But we’re always looking to improve the deliverability of what we do send.

So we recently switched over from sending out emails ourselves to using a third-party email delivery service: Mandrill, provided by the same company that built the Mailchimp marketing email platform. If there’s anyone who knows how to deliver email, it’s these guys.

We’re really pleased that since we switched, 99.6% of the messages we’ve sent have been successfully delivered to their intended recipient.

One of the great things about using Mandrill is that we’re now able to reliably track when a particular message can’t be delivered because there’s a problem with the email address it’s being sent to.  From now, if we encounter problems reaching you at the email address you’ve provided, we’ll highlight this the next time you log in.

Typically, this is simply because there’s a typo in the email address we have for you.  It’s then super-easy to resolve the problem, just by clicking the Your Details tab and amending the email address that’s causing trouble.  If you have any queries about the error that’s reported, just get in touch and we’ll be able to dig out the full details.

And of course, if you have any questions about our service, you can always reach us at enquiries@buy-our-honeymoon.com.

This is the third time the wedding fair has run at Glow, Bluewater’s new purpose-built exhibition venue, and there’ll be more than 150 quality wedding suppliers and experts to help you find inspiration and ideas for your big day. Although Bluewater’s just down the road from us here in Kent, this is the first time we’ll have exhibited there, and we’re really excited to be part of this event.

The fair opens on Friday 8 February with a special VIP preview evening, and continues through the weekend.  You can book 2-for-1 tickets using code SW35 — that’s two tickets to either the Saturday or Sunday for £12, or two tickets to the VIP preview evening for £20.

We don’t often attend shows like this (our last was the National Wedding Show at Earls Court in 2011) — but we always really enjoy them. It’s an amazing opportunity for us to talk to couples face-to-face, to demonstrate the features and flexibility of our honeymoon wedding list service, and to get ideas and feedback for further improvements we can make. We’ll also be providing a special discount to couples who come and see us — so if you’re thinking of attending, please do drop by stand U4 and say hello!

In other news, there’s a show we’d love to have been able to attend, but we’re delighted to be able to support (in a small way) in absentia.

The Fabulous Wedding Festival comes to Muddifords Court on Saturday 16 March, and promises to be quite unlike any other wedding show there’s ever been. The exhibitors are all hand-picked for their creative, alternative and fun approach to weddings — and the event includes an art gallery for photographers, a Rocks & Frocks catwalk, a wedding banquet, DIY workshops and a Boys’ Club for grooms, best men, and fathers of the bride.

Sadly, we’re not able to be there ourselves, but we’re thrilled to have been invited, and we’re very happy to be one of a select group of advertisers.  Tickets are £4 per person — and are on sale now!

By following an incredibly easy set-up process, you can now offer guests the option to pay for their gifts straight into your bank account using a one-off Direct Debit. They only need to enter a few details into a secure on-screen form — it’s as easy and safe as paying with a credit card.

We’ve been completely delighted with the results. Over half of the couples from the UK who have signed-up since the end of last year to use us have added gift payments by Direct Debit to their wedding lists — and there have already been hundreds of gifts paid for, totalling over £6000.  Remarkably, there haven’t been any teething problems for guests making payment — it’s clear they’ve found the process very easy.

The big advantage of Direct Debit payments over credit cards  is that GoCardless’s fees are considerably lower.  GoCardless charge a 1% fee, capped at £2, compared to PayPal’s typical fees of 3.4% + 20p per transaction.  Our couples using GoCardless have  already (collectively) saved hundreds of pounds in fees!

And, in thrilling news, GoCardless won, not one, but two awards this week — the Best UK Startup at The Europas, Europe’s most prestigious technology awards, and also Best Web App at The Next Web’s European startup awards! Many, many congratulations from us!

We have no hesitation in recommending to our UK couples that you add Direct Debit gift payments to your wedding list.  It’s easy and completely secure, for both you and your guests.

And if you’d like to offer your guests a choice on how to pay, you can set up both GoCardless payments and credit/debit card payments through PayPal.

Right now, you need to have a UK bank account to use the GoCardless system, either as a couple to receive gift funds, or as a guest to pay.  But GoCardless will be making Direct Debit payments available throughout Europe over the next few months.  As soon as it’s ready, naturally we’ll offer support for this too. We’ll keep you posted!

Unlike most other honeymoon registries, we don’t deduct a service fee from the gifts you’re given. We believe it’s better to have a simple, low, one-time payment instead. And we operate this in the same way that you’d take online payments as a couple — using PayPal or, now, as a one-off Direct Debit through GoCardless.  If you’re in the UK, you can choose either method of payment when you go through the checkout process on our site. It’s a great way of seeing how straightforward the process would be for your guests!

For more information on setting up gift payments by Direct Debit, take a look at our guide. And as always, if you have any queries, please just get in touch. We’ll be happy to help!

These are the most prestigious awards in the wedding calendar, and each year seem to get bigger and better! Last Friday, more than 350 of the UK’s top wedding suppliers gathered at The Tower Hotel in the heart of London to applaud the winners in 15 different categories.

Here was the shortlist this year for Best Wedding Gift List:

• John Lewis
• Debenhams
• Cancer Research
• Not On The High Street
• Buy Our Honeymoon (that’s us!)

As in 2012, the shortlist was compiled from a public vote, with the winners selected by a team of wedding industry professionals.

The winners in our category this year were once again John Lewis — one of the very biggest names in UK retail, whose wedding gift list service is used by thousands and thousands of couples every year.

It’s fantastic to see the diversity in the shortlist, and we’re immensely proud of our role in it.

There’s the 800lb gorillas of the High Street, the most popular gift list for charitable donations, a massively-popular website offering unusual products from a huge network of small, independent suppliers, and (we like to think), the UK’s top wedding gift list service for your dream honeymoon. In comparison to the other finalists, we’re minnows. For an alternative, indie company such as us to be recognised amongst such significant brands is genuinely a colossal honour.

We really want to thank all our couples from 2012 for putting us there. Hundreds of you took the time to vote for us, and we can’t express how much we appreciate it. Some of you even emailed us to wish us luck or to pass on some supportive comments from your guests — thank-you all so much!

It’s always fabulous to be able to spend some time with colleagues from the wedding world, and this year’s ceremony didn’t disappoint. It was great to be seated with the enormously talented Zoë Rusga from Bunny Delicious — whose love of fonts might exceed even my own — and the awesome Joanna Miller, whose Bespoke Verse offers custom-written, unique poetry that’s even been featured in Vogue! And, since we didn’t win, we can give nods to our friends Adam Leyton (whose Top Table Planner site is a godsend to couples struggling to construct their seating plan) and Alison Tinlin (Scotland’s very best wedding planner) — without danger of being accused of buttering-up the judges.

Thank-you to the team at Wedding Ideas — especially Rachel Southwood, Rachel Morgan and Martha Cooke — for the event, for their support, and for their ongoing dedication to providing an independent and individual voice on the newsstands. We have our eyes on the prize for 2014.

And thanks again to all our amazing couples. We promise again to do everything we can to deserve your support for next year!

Do people still want a full formal dinner service as part of their wedding gift list? Do people who get them use them, or store them away for fear of breaking them?

We were enormously thrilled when Rachel very kindly mentioned our service specifically as an alternative to the traditional wedding gift list:

People don’t end up with gifts they don’t want any more … some people have set up home already together now when they get married, so they haven’t the need for all the traditional things that you needed to do to set up home …

— Rachel Southwood

We’ve often said that we don’t really consider the traditional department store gift list to be our competition in the marketplace.  If you and your partner do need things to create a home together, or if gifts of a fine china tea set and formal silverware are something you’d appreciate and enjoy, that’s fabulous!

We’re here for people who are actively looking for an alternative. Perhaps there’s room in your life for vintage cups, but you’d rather they came from an antique shop instead of a department store. Or perhaps there simply isn’t room in your house, full stop.

Perhaps the best gifts you can imagine are the memories with which you’ll begin your married life together.

But you can’t serve soup out of a scuba diving holiday, can you?!

—Vanessa Feltz

No, but we think the attempt would probably go viral on YouTube!

If you’re in the UK, you can listen to the full show any time during the next week.  The segment as a whole begins at 2:31, and the discussion with Rachel starts at 2:42.