The Bride Diaries. Charlie has 8 Sleeps To Go - Whimsical...
The Bride Diaries. Charlie has 8 Sleeps To Go - Whimsical...
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Hello WWW!
First of all, on behalf of everyone that reads the WWW blog I want to say congratulations to Lou and her family. I've been staying away from the WWW blog recently for fear of seeing something that I simply HAD TO HAVE, with less than a fortnight to go, I'm not changing a thing, so best to keep in the dark. Therefore I've only just stumbled across the news after having a crafty look this morning! It is fantastic news, I am so pleased for you and a bit envious that you have only 4 weeks to plan a reception, no time to over-thinkssssss the details! A total blessing, believe me!
OK. So I've started this blog post about 10 times now. It turns out I've got lots left to say and as this looks like it will be my last post before our Big Day I'm finding it hard to work out what I want to write! So much has been going on and my emotions have been all over the place! The photo above is of Rob and I when we realised we were a month away from the wedding, best not show you a picture of what we look like with 10 days to go!
I'll start with what I've been up to in the last few very hectic weeks!
Today I picked up my wedding dress after my alterations fitting. I literally bounced out of the shop I was so happy!! It fits and if I say so myself I look pretty fit in it as well! I went to David's Bridal in Westfield Stratford. There were 2 reasons for this, 1) the dresses are all sub £1500 2) I wasn't ready for the whole intimate boutique buying experience. Too much pressure! David's Bridal is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It shouldn't have been mine either, but I can't praise them highly enough. Sure they have some crazy selling techniques from the USA (you can only try on 3 dresses and when you've found your dress you have to ring a bell and make a wish, think "Say Yes to the Dress" but worse.) But, if you can buy into that and are ready to share the huge changing rooms with 10 other Brides and their entourages then you should go for it! Their alterations team are fab as well (if not a tad expensive, but what in wedding land isn't expensive) but I don't care, the dress looks amazing, I feel amazing, every penny was worth it!
I've been DIY wedding details crazy with help from my sister (also Maid of Honour no 1) who saved the day and stepped up as Graphic Designer. I'm so pleased with how everything looks. Although it is all pink (how I ended up with pink I'll never know) I think it looks fantastic!
We went for double favours in the end - almond bombonieres for the day and then a suitcase of jams that we'll dish out in the evening. Sure it might be overkill, but I went through a bacon jam phase a few years ago and it seemed only right I bought that recipe out to play again. Bacon Jam is the best. Slap it on a fried egg sandwich and try not to drool! Bacon is expensive and I had 120 jars to fill, so I made an industrial amount of red onion and port chutney as well. Nom Nom.
I've been on endless shopping trips with family and friends for their hats, shoes, outfits in general. It seems my decision is very important in what they wear! All I say is that as long as they are happy and not wearing a massive white dress and a veil then I'm happy!
My Mum and a I went to see our florist, Katie. Cue Bridal Cliché..... I'm a bit in awe of Katie, I love her ideas and how she presents them on a bespoke pinterest board for you (who doesn't love pinterest) I bought a load of vases and candelabras from my last job and Kempton Antiques market (OMG, you have to go, but get up early and be the first in, if you get there at 11 all the good stuff is gone) She was brilliant in not letting me get carried away and saying what will and won't work with the theme I am after. That she will be at the venue in the morning setting up fills me with confidence, I know I'm in safe hands and the place will look incredible!
The Cake! My Step-Mum and I decided early on that we would tackle the cake and after months of talk and no action we finally did a test run. Rob's Mum can't eat gluten and cow dairy so I wanted to make sure we had at least one tier that she could eat, in the end the recipe we found is so good that have made all three tiers in the same recipe. Lou, I know you are looking for a GF cake... well look no further... the recipe is a Mary Berry classic from her Baking Bible - The American Chocolate Wedding cake. We found chocolate that didn't contain any extra dairy and are going to ice it with a buttercream made with goats butter and stabilized by trex (adapted from a recipe in The Contemporary Buttercream Bible), sounds a bit gross but is super delicious! A Free From cake without any compromise on taste!
My hen do! Holy Moly! It was very surreal in the lead up, I couldn't really believe that I was going on my actual hen weekend.... Which means I'm actually getting married! Eeek! Katie (Maid of Honour no 2) did a fantastic job and whisked me to Centreparcs for the weekend. I've never laughed so hard in all my life as ten 20-30 year olds screamed their way round the rapids! That night they dressed my up as Carlos, the Mexican Bride to Be and fed me tequila, it was fabulous! Spa Sunday saved my hangover! I wish I could repeat the weekend, but alas, I only get to do it once. Sad face.
Rob and I wizzed to Mallorca for a long weekend with my Dad and Stepmum last weekend which is the best decision we could have made! I had come out in nervous hives for 3 weeks before and had been waking up in the morning covered in red weals. Not a strong look, literally the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully a tiny bit of sunshine, excellent food and time away from wedding planning fixed me up and the hives are gone. PHEW!
I've spent today sticking labels on the mini jam jar favours reminiscing of life before wedding planning and how different our wedding will be from the first ideas we had.
It's been a family running joke that I won't now have anything to talk about after the wedding and I'm a bit worried they are right! It wasn't my intention for the wedding to be so all encompassing, in fact the first thing I said to my family is that I wanted a small wedding that didn't cost a penny over 10 grand. A marquee wedding, in a field near my Dad's house, to be specific. The realisation of how much work would be involved if we were to DIY everything to keep the cost down soon put a stop to that idea, a decision I am very pleased we made! I am in awe of the DIY venue weddings that I've seen on WWW, the work involved must be absolutely massive! Our wedding is in a venue that has a wedding every week and all of my spare time and most of the floor space in our spare room is taken up with stuff we are taking with us for the reception! And well, the 10 grand budget went out of the window pretty quickly as well, weddings are anything but cheap! This led me to thinking about what I've learnt about wedding planning in the last 12 months and what advice I'll be dishing out to friends and family that become engaged.
So here it is a little list of things I'd do differently and tips I've worked out along the way. What a year!
Enjoy being engaged. I remember like I was walking on air for the first month or so of our engagement, it was such a happy time!
Cling on to that happiness when planning your wedding. Remember that all of this preparation is for the day when and your beloved get wed and start the next chapter of your lives together forever, nothing is more important than that. It will help put the guest list argument into perspective.
All you really need is each other and 2 rings. Everything else is just stuff to spend your money on.
Don't sweat the small stuff.
Don't get so stressed you develop nervous hives 3 weeks before the wedding; it is not a strong look.
Boring, but true...Factor in a 20% contingency into your budget. You will go over. The last few weeks will be like a nightmare Christmas Eve, where you are present-less and throwing money around to solve problems. Allow for that.
Always ask for a discount, from every vendor, every shop, everyone. I hated asking, but it worked almost every time (even in high street shops). Every fiver saved is winner in my eyes.
Make a to do list. At 6 months to go mine was about 6 pages long, which made me want to do a little cry. Then split the to do list into things to do each month, much more manageable and slightly less overwhelming.
Start the DIY early. Like now if you can. If you know you want to make your own confetti bags get on with it and make them. It doesn't matter if they are sat in a drawer for months, it's a thing ticked off the list.
Buy a proper guillotine, not a cheap one. Otherwise you'll just end up having to buy another one when it breaks mid DIY project.
Remember that there is no such thing as a new idea. Look up the Mark Twain quote. Don't stress if the wedding isn't going to be "original" enough. Of course it is going to be original, you are marrying your beloved and s/he is marrying you, which is original in itself.
Hopefully this will help someone else a little as they start out with their planning, trust me, nervous hives are not fun. (But thankfully gone now!)
Ok. An admission. I've only told about half a dozen people that I am part of The Bride Diaries. I'm not sure why I've been so shy, I'm easily embarrassed and I suppose that is why I wanted to keep these cards to my chest. Perhaps after the wedding I'll send everyone the link, perhaps I'll be outed in the speeches, we'll see. Nonetheless I'm going to take this opportunity to thank my nearest and dearest who have put up with my during my less than finest Bridezilla moments. Thank you to both of both of our families, I promise I'll stop talking about the wedding on the 11th October! A few special thank yous to some people I couldn't have got through it without. Thank you to Katie B, my Hen do was killer, I couldn't have asked for more (Well maybe less tequila). Thank you to my sister, who saved the day mid hives break out with her fine photoshop skills and excellent calligraphy work on the mirror table plan. Thank you to my Mum, always ready with her sage advice and primed to kick me under the table when I'm being a madam. But most of all, thank you to my Beloved, a man patient beyond belief, kind, generous, funny, Captain of the Team Awesome ship and most importantly prepared to love me forever, even when I'm being a total nightmare.
And Finally.... Thank you Lou and the WWW community, it has been a privilege to share my wedding planning with you and I can't wait to show you all the photos of the big day in a few months time.
ONLY 8 MORE SLEEPS TO GO!
