A Chinese bride has attempted to break the world record for the longest wedding dress by walking down the aisle in a 2,162m-long (7,083ft) gown.

Lin Rong's dress was made for her by her husband-to-be, Zhao Peng, and his family in eastern Jilin province. It took their 200 wedding guests three hours to unroll the fabric and decorate the train with 9,999 silk roses. Mr Zhao's mother said she knew her son was trying to express his love, but she thought the dress was a waste of money.

"I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet," China's Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Zhao as saying.

So instead, he decided he would use his nuptials to challenge the current wedding dress world record of 1,579m (5,180ft), set in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on 1 April 2009. Mr Zhao enlisted most of his family to pitch in with his idea, bringing materials, choosing patterns, making silk roses and stitching on jewels on the day, Xinhua said. His aunt, who conveniently is a dressmaker, had agreed to make the design.

Romantic gesture

And Mr Zhao's feat did not end once he had tied the knot.

After the event, he cut the dress down to 1,984.1022m, to represent his bride's date of birth, and added 608 crystals, one for every day they had dated. Mr Zhao said he had submitted his attempt to Guinness World Records in London and would also be sending video footage.

"Both the length of the dress and the number of silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," he said, but added that it did not matter to him whether he was successful or not.

The whole effort cost Mr Zhao about 40,000 yuan ($5,800; £3,470), but his schoolteacher bride was reported to have "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture".
Mr Zhao's mother appeared less impressed.

"It is a waste of money in my opinion," she told Xinhua.
"Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day."

Wedding Idea's Magazine

In this month's Wedding Ideas Magazine Jennie & Paul's wedding is featured in the Real Wedding Section.

See more beautiful photographs of the couple on their special day.

Jennie & Paul's Wedding

Jennie & Paul met on the Internet and it was the start of a beautiful relationship.

Exactly 12 months after they first met Paul took Jennie away for a romantic weekend and popped the question and Jennie immediately said yes!

The couple picked Gatton Manor Golf & Country Club for the wedding ceremony and reception. It had lovely grounds and hidden gardens that were just perfect for their special day.

Jennie had decided on red as her main theme colour and her four bridesmaids has stunning strapless full length satin dresses with matching shoes.

Jennie's gown was embellished with tiny seed pearls and diamond beads it was truly beautiful.

Jennie decided on Grand Prix red roses as her main flower for both the bridal party flowers and the reception decoration. Jennie's bouquet was stunning made up of red roses and diamante pins whilst the bridesmaids had cream roses hand tied with red organza.

After an emotional civil ceremony Jennie & Paul exchanged vows and made their way out to their drinks reception to Signed Sealed Delivered by Steve Wonder!

During the drinks reception whilst the happy couple went off to have photographs their Guests enjoyed drinks, canapes and were entertained by magician Hugh Nightingale.

We held the drinks reception on the terrace which we dressed with rose petals, rose trees that we brought in especially and red heart shaped balloons.

This lovely little arch was one of the pictures that Jennie really wanted unfortunately all the tiny roses had died by August but we made small red and ivory organza ones and wired them to the frame to give the same effect, we were all really pleased with the results.

The couple were back just in time to hear Andy Wilsher start his performance as a surprise to the Guests Andy had been hired to perform his Frank Sinatra Tribute Act which was just fantastic for a sunny afternoon in Surrey.

It didn't take long for Paul to get in on the act and before long he was dueting with Frank which every one loved.

Then as a complete surprise instead of a first dance Paul sang solo to Jennie. He sang Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars and Jennie was just blown away.

The Guests were then asked to take their seats for dinner, after speeches, the Guests enjoyed a 5 course meal.

The dinning room was dressed to match the couples theme and the tables were dressed with rows of small glass votive holding a red rose head decorated with diamante.

Each table was named after a Disney character so each table had a Disney character attached to the table name holder (which the couple kept as keepsakes).

Jennie and Paul sat on a small 'sweetheart' table.

It was soon time to cut the cake. The cake was fabulous, three tiers with each tier decorated with red roses and diamante. Jennie & Paul's initials were engraved in icing on each side and it looked stunning.

Kate at Sophisticakes had done an amazing job which included setting it up and using a spirit level!

The DJ arrived and it was time for dancing and everyone took to

the dance floor including the New Mr & Mrs Chappell.

As dusk set in we had time for two more photographs - this amazing one on the bridge (which I had to test out to make sure it was safe first!) and my favourite photograph of Jennie & Paul with one of their heart shaped balloons.

In fact I loved it so much it is my new advert.

Race for Life -Hyde Park

Firstly a big thank you to all of you who sponsored me - between us we managed to raise over £1000.00 which is just fantastic!


Sarah (my sister) Amy (my niece) and I arrived in Hyde Park at around 10.30 am on Sunday with approximately 17,000 other walkers/runners. It was a great atmosphere and even a sudden down pour at 10.45 am didn't dampen spirits.


Gloria Hunniford gave a small speech and then we had a minutes silence to remember those who had passed away and those who are still fighting cancer.


Once the race started it was an amazing sight, ladies were singing, cheering and laughing.

It was very moving seeing ladies in front of us with their signs on their backs showing those they had lost and it made you so glad that you were doing something to help.


We completed our 5k walk in just under an hour and considering Sarah & I are far from athletes - we were really pleased.

We have already promised to do the 10k.

Feel inspired? Take a look at website www.raceforlife.org. Hopefully see you there next time!

XinMei & Bruce Anniversary Party

XinMei & Bruce

After being the bestman at Julia & Ian's Wedding the year before, Bruce decided that his wife XinMei deserved the Wedding Reception that she never had when they got married 5 year's before and I was lucky enough to be asked to plan the whole event. We had so much fun!

The party was to be held at the couples home and we were going to build a marquee over the tennis court. Sounds easy but it took a whole week to do so!

First we had to put up the main marquee & as you can see I was a great help?!

The marquee started from the back of the house, down to the swimming pool and then down to the tennis court - the couple were worried about rain but it turned out to be the hottest day of the year & it was actually lovely to have so much shade!

Once the marquee was up it was time to dress the venue & XinMei had a clear theme in mind - all white with some touches of Chinese red in places

We started at the front gates which we decorated with red Gerber and ivy, we also placed Gerber heads in all the shrubs & bushes in the front garden - giving a warm welcome to all the guests.

Around the pool area we scattered silk Chinese cushions & flower decorations made from oriental orchids and bamboo set in a row of red roses, finished off with beautiful lanterns the pool area looked stunning.

We also created these fantastic floral decorations for the pool using children's floats - they were worked a treat & looked brilliant. The pool bar and walk way was decorated with Chinese Lanterns for the oriental touch.

Inside the marquee everything was white & it look amazing & very classic including the Baby Grand Piano.

We also created a country garden inside the marquee just under the marquee windows to bring the outside in....................

We had Guests flying from all over the world & had to keep a constant check on airport collections & hotel drop offs and of course there was those last minute changes to the place names to contend with as well.

Guests starting arriving almost an hour early but we were ready and so were the caterers, Chapter One. As the Guests enjoyed Chinese canapes and champagne Lion Dancers made a surprise appearance dancing around the reception area & gardens it was a spectacular sight.

Guests were soon called in to dinner and were treated to a 5 course meal and some amazing wines from Bruce's own collection. Hugh Nightingale entertained each table with his marvellous magic whilst we seated 165 Guests.

Once dinner was over the couples daughter performed a 30 minutes show singing and playing the piano - some of her Father's favourite songs. It was then over to Carl Joseph to entertain on the piano and then dancing the night away to the DJ or chilling by the pool reception area.

The reception area had been redecorated to give a beautiful atmospheric glow just perfect for a summer evening................

Guests were treated to a fantastic firework show that was show stopping!!

4 in the morning the last Guest has left - time to go home!

The May/June 2009 Issue of Your Kent Wedding ran an article about Wedding Planners.

They interviewed one of our wonderful couples and this is the testimonial we are proud to tell you about.

Annya & Colin's Kind Words

From our initial meeting with Toni it was clear that here was a very organised, straightforward individual who was calming and comforting, practical and imaginative. I felt that a weight had been lifted and after our first meeting I felt I had someone who I could turn to with the wedding minutiae. I was extremely happy to be able to hand over the responsibility for the day.

Having a wedding saved my sanity, and probably my job and my marriage! Toni was available for everything. She met and interviewed caterers, attended the venues on numerous occasions, liaised with the florist and the photographer, organised invitations and took on the acceptance list and questions – of which there were many – from the guests, organised travel to and from the venue, found hotels for our out-of-town guests………..you name it, she organised it for us.

Most importantly however, Toni kept control of our budget. Would I recommend the services of ISIS Events as wedding planners I can wholeheartedly say that I do!

Annya's Stunning Bouquet