The Holburne Museum, Bath, is the palatial setting for our summer wedding showcase; who chooses the guest list? Gowns galore from Catherine Walker & Co, Lambert Creations, Phase Eight; He will survive . . . tips for the groom; wonderful real wedding stories; Bristol Hotel and The Wedding Works.

Summer is high season for weddings – traditionally the time when every bride and groom, literally, wants their day in the sun. For many venues Saturdays in June and July will be booked up well in advance while anyone planning a wedding at short notice may well be advised to look at weekday or Sunday slots. What great news, then, that Bath has a new wedding venue, the palatial Holburne Museum, which threw its doors open to us to stage our summer showcase of wedding styles, bringing together some of the West’s most exciting experts, including our talented shoot photographer this issue, David J Brewin.

As ever, we have a packed issue with ideas, help and advice for every member of the wedding party. The bride, naturally, takes pride of place with a gorgeous array of gowns to choose from in our Gowns section, from the top end, high allure offerings of design houses like Catherine Walker & Co, Desada and Lambert Créations, to great value dresses available on the high street courtesy of Phase Eight (p.27-42). The section also has fantastic advice for the matriarchs of the family, headed up, of course by the mother of the bride (p.41), while even the littlest of the bridesmaids is catered for in our roundup of dresses for the bridal entourage (p.36).

Elsewhere we explore the art of summer flowers (p8), a day in the life of a wedding caterer (p.69) and some glorious destinations for your honeymoon (p.66), not to mention inspiration for grooms in our grooms survival guide (p.45).

Whether bride to be, groom or wedding party member, there should be something for everyone in this summer’s edition. And, if you contact anyone you see in these pages . . . remember to tell them you saw it in West Weddings.

Mike Gartside, editor