More than 60 workers at a Bassett sweet factory in Sheffield attended the wedding ceremony of the famous Liquorice Allsorts character Bertie Basset tie the knot with bride, Betty.

Betty Bassett is the new face of the Bassett’s new product of Red Liquorice Allsorts and is the newest character that has been introduced into the organisation for 80 years.

Shaun Wagstaff, Factory Manager and Bertie’s best man, said: “Bertie’s been a big hit since he stepped into our lives back in 1929 swinging that liquorice cane and charming the ladies. I’ve only known him for eight of those years but it’s good to see old Bertie finally settle down - he certainly looked extra sweet for his big day.”

Craig Hitchen and David Golland, two other factory workers were the ushers and Kayla and Emma -the daughters of the staff member Tyana Owen were the bridesmaids for Betty.

Martin Driver, Bassett’s marketing director said: “Betty has already won a place in Bertie’s heart but we’re expecting her to be a big hit with the public too. We’re confident that Bertie fans will approve of his new bride and wish them both the very best.”

Bassett’s Red Liquorice Allsorts are to replace their Fruit Allsorts.

The firm, owned by Cadbury Schweppes, began in 1842 in Sheffield and came about by complete accident in 1899 when Charlie Thompson a salesman tripped up and mixed all the sweets he had been carrying.

Nearly 50% of brides under the age of 35 years are still set to spend a minimum of £1,500 on a wedding dress for their wedding.

Mintel, the market analysts have just released figures showing that the bridal wear market is estimated to be worth £128 million which is an increase of 21% across the 5 years between 2003 - 2008.

Mintel also predict that even despite the economic crisis, the sales of wedding dresses will continue to grow as Britain’s brides will not compromise on cost.

Mintel predict that by 2013 brides will be splashing over £153 million on wedding dresses alone which will be an increase of 20% from todays spend.

Since 2004, the number of marriages has dropped by 1.8% to 263,000 in 2008.

Senior Fashion Analyst at Mintel, Katrin Magnussen said: “Over the years, women have become more and more extravagant with their choice of bridalwear. Buying the wedding dress is often seen as a once-in-a-lifetime purchase and is invariably an emotional event. With this in mind, it is very unlikely we will see brides prepared to sacrifice that perfect dress in light of a tighter budget. In their eyes, there will always be other areas where money can be saved.”

Susanne Turner, a market researcher in Surrey is getting married in April 2009 and has confirmed that most brides cared more about their dress and how they look on the big day rather than the cost.

She said: “I saw my dream dress in a magazine. It was an Essence of Australia dress and did not give me much change out of £1,000. I had sort of set myself a budget, but that went out the window when I saw this one.”

Rising unemployment and the global economic downturn has meant that many British couples are thinking twice before they go ahead and tie the knot this year.

Nearly 80% of British couples who are currently living together and want to get married are re-thinking their wedding plans as unemployment figures rise in the current climate.

Director of family/education at Civitas, Anastasia de Waal commented “As the recession bites it’s going to be harder for partners to make that commitment - without financial stability and jobs they won’t have the confidence to say ‘I do’,”

The recent study looked at 1,560 adults who were aged between 20 years old to 35 years old found that 50% of people who wanted to get married wanted to make their commitment final in the eyes of the law whilst another 2% were considering marriage for the tax advantages.

An employee in London’s CBD, Jenny Brown said; “If my boyfriend asked me now, then I would still say ‘yes’, but I wouldn’t waste my money for a high-profile wedding.”

Anastasia de Waal commented that the recession was going to have a serious impact on couples who were planning their life together, she said:

“This is not about being able to afford a fancy wedding dress for 10,000 pounds or not.”

A January survey from the British Social Attitudes revealed that younger people were showing a far less traditional attitude towards their marriage and are now considering their careers first.

40% of people between the ages of 18 years and 34 years of age stated that marriage was the “best kind of relationship,” in comparison to 84% of people who were aged over 65 years and over who said the same.

During early February, Roy and Val Worthington decided to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary by throwing a special Wild West themed party in Leicestershire, however, party goers were left stunned when police stormed into the couple’s celebrations with guns.

Val and Roy’s silver wedding guests were all dressed up for the Wild West hoedown in Castle Donnington and the majority of men had turned up dressed as cowboys with plastic rifles and guns.

However, one particular guest decided to go for a wander down the street and was spotted by an alarmed resident who saw the plastic rifle over the guests shoulder and mistook it for a real weapon. Police and helicopters were immediately called in to stop the man from making a getaway, at which point Mr and Mrs Worthington and their gun slinging guests found themselves surrounded by police.

The Guardian interviewed Mrs Worthington who stated; “We’d just come out of the church after renewing our vows and my husband said ‘I bought you a helicopter’ as a joke, because there was this one overhead, but when we got to the bottom of the road there were all these police cars stopped outside. There was an armed police unit and a police dog.”

A surprised Mrs Worthington said to the newspaper that she had already contacted the local police force in November 2008 to warn them that there would be cowboy and Indian guests with toy weapons who would be attending the celebrations.

She added “I suppose they were right to have responded but it was a little bit over the top.”

Here are more great tips for keeping the wedding day budget manageable:

Dress – the flowing white gown is still popular today but many have started to vary it with a suit or dress that can be worn on other occasions. If you are still steadfastly traditional then hire your dress instead and get the bridesmaids to pay for their dress. Children’s outfits can be reasonably priced at around £20.00.

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The magazines are full of all the glitz, glamour and decadence of celebrity weddings and the shocking price tags that go with it. However if you are a couple saving up to get married in the UK the thought of clocking up a £10,000 bill by the time the big day is over might be enough to put you off.

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It’s always one of the more stressful parts of arranging a wedding. I’m not talking about the flowers or the dresses and suits. I’m talking about the food. There’s just so much to think about, varying diets, who’s going to cook the food, any catering equipment that has to be rented and much more.

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Following on from our previous article and looking great for the big day we focused on diet and exercise but this isn’t the full picture.  According to beauty therapist Joanne Leah:

“It’s important to cleanse, tone and moisturise every day to get rid of any impurities.”

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No matter where you are up to in the planning of your wedding there are steps you can put in place to improve how radiant you will look on the big day.  These include general improvements to diet, skin cleansing and your lifestyle.  With a few tweaks you can make sure you really are the centre of attention that day!

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When organising your wedding there are a multitude of things to consider and the entertainment for your guests is a major one.  If you want to create a focal point for your guests to meet and relax at then a chocolate fountain is a great choice. 

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