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Manchester Evening News

Entertainment

Paige Oldfield

Camel rides and £4k chandeliers: Confessions of a wedding planner who has seen it all - she says nothing is off limits

Greater Manchester Lowry Hotel (Organization) Marvel

Ever wanted a camel ride at your wedding? How about a huge ice sculpture of two cats? Welcome to the crazy world of life as a wedding planner, where it seems NOTHING is off limits.

Debbie Marks, who has worked in the industry for 23 years, has seen it all – and there’s never a task too outrageous for her to take on.

The mum-of-two owns Qube Events & Productions, a company which specialises in planning and styling weddings, parties, corporate events and bar and bat mitzvahs. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the 41-year-old, from Whitefield, says it’s “very rare” that she organises a boring wedding or event – and has shared what she’s learnt from two decades of dealing with picky brides and grooms with a taste for the extravagant.

1. Ice sculpture of two cats

Merrydale Manor, Cheshire

The ice cats were a hit with guests (Jack Valentine Photography)

“We created a £600 ice sculpture for a wedding made to look like our clients’ two cats,” Debbie said. “The cats are called Holly and Fearne. We asked the clients to send us a photo of their cats, then the ice sculptor used that to copy the likeness as close as possible to create the ice cats.”

2. Comic superfan

Last Drop Village Hotel, Bolton

The groom was a huge comic book fan (Debbie Marks)

“The groom at one of our weddings was a huge Marvel fan, so the buttonholes for the groom and the groomsmen all included mini Marvel characters entwined within the florals,” Debbie said.

3. Middle Eastern theme

Whitefield Synagogue

“A local client was having a middle eastern theme for their event,” Debbie said. “There were quite a lot of kids involved so I was asked if I could arrange some camel rides to give the kids rides up and down the residential road outside their venue. This never went ahead as they decided being responsible for poo shovelling on the main road wasn't a good idea.”

4. Disco fan

Titanic Hotel, Liverpool

“This client liked to party and was a huge disco fan,” Debbie explained. “We took the meaning of disco to another level.

“Suspended over their dancefloor was a giant circular floral chandelier adorned with tonnes of hanging florals and disco balls. The £4k chandelier was over 4m wide and included 20 giant hanging disco balls.

Disco balls hung from the ceiling (Debbie Marks)

“There was also giant 6ft light up DISCO light up letters, disco balls in the top table displays, centrepieces, cake table and even around the table plan.”

5. Pug ring bearer

Victoria Warehouse

“I've had a client who was insistent on having their pug be the ring bearer for their wedding,” Debbie said. “Dressed in a white wedding dress, with pearls around its neck and rings attached, their super cute pug ran down the wedding aisle on cue.”

6. All about the 80s

The Lowry Hotel

“I have to take a little bit of responsibility for this one,” Debbie explained, “But this client wanted something unique.

“We created over the dancefloor a free-standing structure at the Lowry Hotel that housed hundreds of hanging slinkies. This was about four years ago but the staff there still remember the slinky ceiling we created.”

7. Huge snow globe

Heaton House Farm, Macclesfield

"There was a wedding where guests entered the wedding breakfast to find a giant snow globe in the centre of the dancefloor,” Debbie said. “Inside there were two fabulous acrobatic ballerinas putting on a show for all the guests. This unusual request went down a huge hit!”

8. Christmas markets

Heaton House Farm

The client wanted their wedding to be exactly like the Christmas markets (Debbie Marks)

“I was asked to re-enact the Christmas markets for a wedding,” Debbie said. “This was for the evening guests and was a surprise.

“During the meal, in came the Christmas chalets and wintry props including an 8ft polar bear, giant penguins and a giant sleigh for guests to have photos in.”