Hi All,

As promised I will be introducing our first guest blogger today! James Lord runs the UK's largest dedicated fully European wedding planning agency and has spent the best part of 15 years travelling the UK and continental Europe searching for the best wedding venues. Love & Lord offers either full wedding planning or highly tailored pan-European venue searches.

So without further ado, I will hand over to James...

The newspaper headlines for the past few days have been equivocal in their prediction of the biblical events ahead this weekend. A month’s rain will fall in 2 days and the subsequent floods will wash away most of the Cotswolds and the South Coast leaving a vast reservoir behind the size of Yorkshire (ok I made that last bit up). This follows three months of seemingly unrelenting rain that would put Noah permanently out to sea following the ironic imposition of a hose pipe ban that is mostly still in place! It’s July for Gods sake! The height of the British summer and the middle of the traditional English wedding season. With the meteorologists in meltdown and flood defences being strengthened why on earth would anyone want to hold their wedding in England and run the risk of it turning into a Glastoburyesque quagmire. It’s part of the traditional British stiff upper lip to expect (or should I say grin and bear) rain on your wedding day. Indeed we have even invented a tradition that it's actually lucky to rain on your big day. What tosh - why do we tolerate it!

The Mediterranean from May to September is a virtually a rain free zone. The low cost airlines (and now even national carriers are low cost) enable you to get there in 2 hours from most UK airports. The venues are less likely to be the rules based wedding factories we have to endure here in the UK, the food and drink in these countries is invariably superior, you can have the whole event outside and you get a lot more bang for your buck with the euro at 1.25 to a pound. If you don't want anything quintessentially English about your wedding and if you don't want rain then it really is a no brainer. In July and August you sometimes find that the opposite situation occurs abroad in that it is too hot so you plump for June or September instead. Why on earth would you even consider the English countryside for the most important day of your life when there's a good chance your marquee with guests within will last be seen heading down the Thames to Tilbury. Bruce Oldfield dresses don't really go with Hunter wellies – it’s not a good look girls......

I wrote the above on Friday and I now return to finish this on the Monday following the aquatic armageddon. In the interregnum however I visited Blenheim Palace, Aynhoe Park and Belcome Court to view for clients. I take it all back. What on earth was I writing about above. The Cotswolds is the British Tuscany, these venues are phenomenal for size, history and quintessential Britishness come rain or shine (or should it be rain or hail). You do probably need to be a slightly eccentric Englishman rather than a europhile to appreciate this fully however. Like most people, my favourite restaurant is the one that I had a good meal in just recently, my best friend is the one I saw last week and my favourite wedding venue is the one I saw yesterday that blew my socks off, replacing the one I saw last week that had made my jaw hit the floor. A favourite is usually the last one you experienced. This is particularly pertinent when viewing wedding venues (especially those at the high end of the market). The opinion of a wise independent soul in such circumstances cannot be underestimated.

I'm off to Sardinia next week venue hunting so expect my report soon, featuring swathes of Pecorino cheese drenched in honey and a broad statement from me saying that it's the best location for a wedding in the Mediterranean. The best (at least for week) before I visit the Amalfi Coast and start the circle again.

James Lord

www.loveandlord.com

So, should we be going to sunnier climes or can you not beat a British wedding for it's charm. Let us know your thoughts....

xx