Last week the team here at Wish Lantern donated 30 of our sky lanterns to the Newlove Foundation, in case you don’t know who they are and what they do this blog will tell you. The Newlove Foundation was set up by Helen Newlove and her three daughters Zoe, Danielle and Amy on the 8th of November 2008, Helen is the widow of tragically murdered Gary Newlove who was killed outside of there home after confronting a gang of youths. Helen spotted thetrend of bored young people from the Warrington area turning to crime and decided it was time to give them something to do.

Not only does Helen and the rest of the good people at the Newlove Foundation try to inspire people to lead a more purposeful life,  motivate people to enrich their lives, provide opportunities for positive interaction with communities they also offer support and guidence to victims of similar tragadies. The sky lanterns that we have donated are designanted for the secret garden themed first Newlove anniversy ball which is taking place on the 7th of November 2009 at Warrington town hall. If you want to attend or even just find out more about this extremely good cause the have a look at the Newlove Foundation’s website.

We are hoping that the donated lanterns will add a little magic to an already special occassion and that support for the Newlove Foundationm continues to grows. Our new relationship with the foundation is one that we will strive to keep for many years and I’m sure there will be future donations of our sky lanterns.

Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of wish Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk

The Wish Lantern Team recently donated 20 lanterns to the Children’s outpatient department of  City Hospitals Sunderland.

All the staff do fantastic work in ensuring that the children they care for are made as happy and as comfortable as possible. Many of these children are suffering from terminal illnesses and have a greatly reduced life expectancy, and it is the role of the community nursery nurses provide support for the families of these children during the final stages of their lives, making it possible for the child to die at home if this is the family’s wish. It is a crucial and admirable role. It is so important that families are given adequate support in such deeply dsitressing times, and whatever can be done to alleviate just a tiny proportion of the trauma, is well worth the effort

In recent months a number of children have passed away and wish lanterns have been asked to play a part in paying tribute to their’s (and many other’s) lives. Twenty Lanterns of varying colours have been donated to the community nursery nurse team in order to be used to celebrate the children’s birthdays or to remember them on the first anniversary of their passing. Releasing a lantern is a lovely way of honouring someone after death, and we are delighted to be part (even in a very small way) of such an important cause.

Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of wish Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk

The Wish Lantern team were thrilled to see sky lanterns not only being the star attraction of a young couple’s wedding, but also providing the muse for the award winning photographer James Davidson.

These photographs of Scheugnet and Nick’s wedding, were taken on July 18th this year, and are some of the best images of wish lanterns in action I’ve seen in a while. There’s no doubt about it, Davidson knows how to take a good photo!

The key to getting an impressive shot is to find the point of focus and to do something interesting with it. People’s animated and complex facial expressions when caught unawares are always a fail safe way of getting a unique and intriguing image (see image 6- middle of bottom row). You can also find a multitude of interesting angles to exploit which can have breathtaking reults.

Imperfection is also beautiful, and ‘mistakes’ made when taking a photograph are often the very thing that breathes life into the static image.  Everyone knows what a wish lantern looks like head on, but do all of us know what the sense of it rising feels like? A blurred image of a lone lantern (see image 9-bottom right), or a cluttered sky line with some lanterns obscuring others and creating indefineable shapes, can take you right into the heart of the experience…which is after all, what a photograph should do.

Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of wish Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk

Bunyip State Forest Feb 2009

As August 2009 came to a close, consumer affairs minister in Australia, Craig Emerson, issued a ban on the supply and sale of Chinese Lanterns (or Sky Lanterns) as a preventative measure to reduce the risk of bush fires in the region.

No one could forget the horrific fires in february of this year- now referred to as ‘Black Saturday‘- which claimed the lives of almost 200 people and caused injury to over 400, in the state of Victoria, Australia. These fires were down to a number of unfortunate factors colliding all at the same instant; a group of arsonists allegedly started some of the fires, SP AusNet- a company which provides electricity to areas of Victoria were also investigated as one of their power lines collapsed, and finally weather conditions (of which global warming is partially to blame) were extreme, with temperatures reaching a record breaking 38 degrees.

None of these factors in isolation would have been enough to reap the havoc that took place on that blackest of days, but together they were a recipe for absolute catastrophe. It is of course only right that every step possible  should be taken to alleviate any unnecessary fire risk, like banning chinese lanterns. But, we would like to stress that used in the kind of climate we have here in the United Kingdom, our wish lanterns are perfectly safe and shouldn’t be a cause for concern, as long as they are handled with care. And that’s all they require;- like ovens, like matches, like balloons, or any other potentially hazardous object (most things)- a little care and caution.

Here are a few reminders to make sure that your lantern remains a source of joy and delight, and not a potential threat:

- Make sure weather conditions are good- no blustery winds, no showers, no unpredictability.

- Check the wind direction- again to avert the unexpected.

- light your lantern in an open space- not near or in a built up forest area or bush, airport, or any other place where their flight path could be obstructed or where they could cause a distraction.

Handle with Care

- Light your lantern with the help of a partner- this prevents any possibility of scorching the rice paper body of the lantern.

- Don’t smoke or drink whilst lighting the lantern- and don’t be intoxicated when handling it (never a good idea!)

- It’s probably best not to allow young children to handle them either.

Many of these points are just common sense, and precautions you’d take when going about most activities. You wouldn’t drive a car in extreme weather conditions, when drunk, when there are obstacles in the way, and you certainly wouldn’t let young children get behind the wheel. That doesn’t mean you should abstain from driving altogether though…

Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Chinese Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. To find out more about safety precautions to take when handling the lanterns, simply follow the link or call 0845 500 1215 or email the team on sales@wishlantern.co.uk for further advice.

At the Wish Lantern Headquarters, we were thrilled when we were approached to take part in an interview with Essex based photographer, Hayley Ruth.

Every Wednesday she has featured a Q&A session with a wedding supplier on her blog site (a very nice idea I think), and this week it’s none other than wishlantern.co.uk! We can now count ourselves amongst the amazing Biscuiteers- a unique cookie-making outfit, whose unique selling point is that they supply detailed and perfectly iced miniature biscuits for absolutely every occassion. Next time you want to send a card, send a biscuit instead!

Last week, Hayley interviewed Mark from Lenik Media Wedding Films, who offered some great tips on how to get the best out of your wedding film, and advice on how to negotiate your photographer and your filmmaker on the big day. Click here to read the interview.

Check out some of Hayley Ruth’s stunning photgraphs:

Just imagine the sorts of breathtaking images a group of ascending wish lanterns would make through Hayley Ruth’s camara lens…

Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of wish Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk

Summer’s in full swing, the steaks are sizzling on the grill and common’s the country over are a flurry with social cricket, picnics and sunbathing. The Wish Lantern team want you to be a hit at your next garden party so we have compiled a list of must have accessories and clever catering ideas to leave a lasting impression on guests as well as avoiding any unforgiveable garden faux-pas.

1.    Leave yourself more time to mingle with guests and enjoy the sunshine by employing a hog roasting company to cater to your culinary requirements. We recommend the fabulous BigRoast team whom cook, serve and even collect the dirty plates and cutlery for cleaning offsite. It really couldn’t get easier than that!

2.    A Boom Boom Boom, let me hear you say Wah Oh… WAY OH! No party is complete without some speakers to blast out the hits and this funky portable soundsystem is perfect. The Alesis Transactive for iPod found at Chemicaluk.com fits the bills with up to 12hr battery life, enough grunt to annoy the neighbours as well as an iPod dock and included microphone in case you get the urge to belt out some karaoke favourites.

3.    Once the food has settled and the suns dipped down for the evening we recommend our Chinese Lanterns as a novel way to entertain guests. People love setting them off and a succession of lanterns cascading into the night sky is nothing short of spectacular.

4.    Fill a shallow bucket with ice then add one of these mini-kegs from Heineken and you’ll be the envy of your friends with no fuss icy cold drinks good for 5 Litres. That should keep you going for at least the afternoon and when your done you can visit Instructables site which gives help on recycling the keg into a rubbish bin, money box or even flower pot.

Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Chinese Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk

Luck favours the lucky – and it certainly favours those Inni. The entourage gathered for a celebration of the working lives of Dave and Jean, and wisely chose Wish lanterns to provide the highlight of the evening. From three year olds all the way through to ninety year olds – they held their wish lanterns aloft and set them free in the beautiful grounds of London Welsh Rugby club – the Old Deer Park.

The photos below are a few of the better shots and we hope they’ll be enjoyed by the Innes’s extended family – there are also a whole selection of videos that have been loaded onto our You Tube Wish Lantern channel for your enjoyment.

“A life with Wish Lanterns is a better life.” David Innes, 22nd August 2009 @ 8.04pm

Sky Lanterns have come to be associated with times of joy, celebration and festivity. Rightly so. They create a dazzling display and are highly theatrical and dramatic, so it’s no wonder they have become such popular party accessories. But, a single sky lantern can also be a wonderful way of commemorating the passing of a loved one.

Loss is something every person, young and old, has to face at some point in their lives. It is part of the human condition to have to experience that sort of pain and trauma, just as it is written into our makeup that we should feel love and  hunger. It is often very difficult to digest death, and many struggle to understand the finality of it, and its strange and overwhelming enigma. People also have very different ways of coping with it, some block it out, others immerse themselves in their grief, others experience delayed grief, and find themselves mourning many years later (for more information about grieving a loss, follow the link).

All this seems a terribly morbid and sombre topic for a blog post, but there is a point to it. Though I wouldn’t for a minute suggest that sky lanterns, or wish lanterns, make death more bearable, they do however bring people together, and afford them the space and time to quietly contemplate their pain.

Releasing a single sky lantern after a memorial service or funeral, really is a wonderful way of paying tribute to a life that has been lost, and furthermore, it is the physical representation of an emotional release. It is as though you are letting go a small part of your grief, or a small part of the person you are mourning, as you let the lantern go. This cleansing effect is, after all,  part of the sky lantern’s history.

A sky lantern will not cut grief short, but it will offer an opportunity to face it head on and to begin- very slowly and very surely- to come to terms with it, and to-in a very small way- let it go.

If you have used Sky lanterns or Wish lanterns in a time of great pain or distress, do feel free to share your experiences with us by submitting your comments.