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Topics: Wedding, Food and Drink, Real Life
Lucy Devine
Topics: Wedding, Food and Drink, Real Life
When you think about planning your wedding, you might imagine a tribe of your best and oldest mates, all lined up in identical dresses, with matching braided updos, floral bouquets and personalised champagne flutes.
But one celebrity wedding planner has spoken out about having bridesmaids on your big day, telling Tyla why brides should 'get rid' of their girl gang altogether.
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Top wedding planner Mark Niemierko has arranged some of the most lavish, high profile - and expensive - weddings across the globe.
With budgets starting at £250,000, these brides and grooms can pretty much afford anything they want on their big day.
But according to Mark, there are some big dos and don'ts - and one tradition that needs to be ditched - in his expert opinion - is the bridesmaids.
"I'd rather have six children than six adult bridesmaids walking down the aisle," Mark tells Tyla.
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"Get rid of the bridesmaids. I'm yet to meet one without an agenda. I think they all have an opinion and it's not their wedding quite frankly.
"They can have an opinion when it's their wedding."
Mark specifically dislikes the idea of bridesmaids all wearing the same dress - a huge no-no in his opinion.
"It's really common that whole line up," he added.
"I'm not a fan of it. People wearing the same dress... I like one bridesmaid, like Pippa and Kate [Middleton]. That was very chic.
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"If you are going to force it upon yourself, it's quite nice to say go out and get your own [dress] but it has to be this colour. That's alright, but ultimately, I just think don't have them."
Mark has teamed up with insurer Direct Line to raise awareness about post-wedding drink driving.
According to the campaign, one in six guests admit to driving the morning after a wedding when they could still be over the limit.
Meanwhile, 18-34-year-olds are the biggest offenders - with a quarter admitting to having done so in the last year.
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To address this, Mark explained that there are a few things couples can do to help guests with the logistics of getting home and drinking responsibly.
For one, having accommodation on site is always a good idea - or if that's not possible, then Mark recommends organising transport ahead of the big day.
Food is also key, with the planner emphasising the importance of evening food to help 'soak up' a day of boozing.
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And if you notice that one party guest getting too drunk? Simply ask bar staff to start serving them G&Ts without the G.
When it comes to wedding food, Mark has some interesting opinions on other aspects of the catering, too - such as the cake cutting.
He recommends not bothering at all, explaining that guests 'find it boring'.
Mark even said he often spots guests rolling their eyes when the cutting is about to take place.
"The eye rolls that I see when the cutting of the cake is announced," said Mark.
"If I had a pound for every eye roll I have counted... I tell my clients not to do that.
"Let's cut it but not make a thing of it or not have one at all. People find the formalities boring. They just want to chat and gossip."
Despite Mark organising some hugely extravagant weddings, he's still shocked about just how much debt couples will get into ahead of their big day.
He says it's one of the biggest mistakes couples can make, explaining: "It's about doing what you can afford, I'm appalled at the amount of people who get into debt for weddings.
"Do not get into debt."