Good morning! To brighten this miserable rainy week I bring you a little bit of sunshine on my blog today..............
I'm super excited to be introducing today's Wedding Wonder of the Week.....the very lovely Chris from No News No Shoes who will arrange your most idyllic honeymoon ever! And I can vouch for that from personal experience!
- Tell me a bit about yourself and your company.
Me: a ‘Geordie’, married to Philip with two boys, Matthew 17 and Thomas 14. I am a qualified chartered accountant and spent my early career working in the pharmaceutical industry as a Management Accountant. But I have always been passionate about travel and have been lucky enough to experience some truly wonderful places in the world. Once the children arrived, I decided to set up my own business to give me more flexibility and to concentrate on something that I was truly passionate about. The Maldives had always been a dream destination for me but when I came to book our first family holiday there, I couldn’t find a company that were able to offer the advice I was looking for. We fell in love with the Maldives and decided there was a business opportunity for a company that could offer a more personal service based on first hand experience.
The company: No News No Shoes Ltd organise fabulous Honeymoons and holidays to the idyllic Maldives and incredible India. We have stayed at around 40 resorts in the Maldives and have travelled extensively throughout India. We use this experience to advise clients and put together an itinerary that meets their personal requirements. We were established in 2004 and are ATOL bonded with the Civil Aviation Authority which provides financial security to all our clients. We have now expanded the business to include certain areas of India, particularly Kerala which can be visited either independently or as a Kerala/Maldives combination.
- Are you married? If so will you share some of your details?
Yep – ivory silk dress, white trumpet lilies with sweet peas and the best party ever at a Northumberland Country House. Followed by a Honeymoon in the Seychelles.
- What attracted you to working in the wedding industry?
A Honeymoon should be the most magical holiday ever. I genuinely want to organise something special and share some of my passion for these wonderful destinations.
- What is your favourite part of working with bride & grooms (to-be)?
Planning an itinerary – especially in India where there is such a diverse range of things to experience such as treehouses in the rainforest, spice plantations, houseboat cruises through the backwaters of Kerala and tranquil beach retreats.
- What is your most favourite wedding theme at the moment?
I love the natural theme – the trees in the church at the Royal Wedding were stunning.
Lists, lists and more lists.
- What do you think the next big wedding trends might be?
WedFest: a wedding in festival style with bell tents, live music and floral wellies. Love it!
- Where can we find your fabulous company?
On the phone at 01670 510580
In person at Morpeth, Northumberland – always happy to share ideas over a bottle of wine :)
- What are your plans for the future?
To expand the business into other areas of India and possibly Sri Lanka.
I also want to develop a volunteer programme in India. My son and I recently spent some time volunteering with street children in Dharavi slum, Mumbai which was incredible. I would like to organise a similar experience for others on a not for profit basis – it really does make a difference to the lives of the children.
I'd like to say a massive thank you to Chris not only for sharing this on my blog, but also for organizing our wonderful honeymoon to the Maldives (a few years ago now) it was everything we'd hoped it would be and more! Chris even arranged a gift voucher system so our guests could contribute to our honeymoon as their present to us! Now that's top class customer service for you :)
If you're looking to go to the Maldives for either a honeymoon or just for a holiday No News No Shoes is a MUST, they will arrange everything for you and are so thorough and very friendly!
Love Kate x
