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Thursday 29 September 2011

I Am Over the Moon!

We Have Chosen a Florist!

(Again!)

As I said in a previous post, I was let down by a florist we had already chosen.

I suppose the problem wasn’t really a big deal. I’d asked for an updated quote and the florist took almost a year to send it. I felt that meant the florist was somewhat unreliable and I decided to cancel.

However! We have now found a florist who seems THE_FLOWER_SHOP_logo_129212205126880247fairly fantastic! And as a bonus, she had two really friendly Boarder Collie’s who were absolutely gorgeous and wanted lots of fuss! I’m definitely a dog person so that was a huge bonus!

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Quick Update

A Florist

Again!

Dad and I are off to see another florist tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.

I really liked this one, they were really friendly and they’re even on Facebook! They are right round the corner from my parent’s house so they’re on hand if I need to pop in with some questions.

Wish me luck!

It’s All in the Details

Stamp Your Personality

Lets face it, in principal, all weddings are the same. n633875067_5956196_6345

There’s a ceremony, be it civil, Christian, Islamic, Indian, Chinese, registry office or naturist. Then there’s a reception where you serve your guests a meal.

This is true for pretty much all weddings.

The interest is in the detail.

What will your guests be looking for?

The DressUnique-Wedding-Dresses21

While every bride wears a wedding dress of some description (or not in the case of a naturist bride) each dress is different. I haven’t been to a wedding yet where the bride was wearing exactly the same dress as another bride.

The male guests at your wedding may not notice that your dress is fantastically unique and special to you, but the female guests certainly will!

The Flowers

Every bride has different flowers because every florist is different. Guests will be looking to see what colours you’ve chosen, which flowers you’ve had and where you’ve put them.

Monday 26 September 2011

Sweet Tooth?

Little Lolli!

I received this email today from Little Lolli who do Bespoke Candy Buffets:

Hi Fran
We pride ourselves on being fair and honest with our clients and this is the underlying ethos behind our business.
We could sell you some eggs but it would mean us getting them from the wholesaler and then selling them on to you at a profit. 
You can purchase large 3kg bags of eggs from ebay for £23.95p  on the site pickandmixture.  This would be your best option and would be cheaper for you

I’d met Little Lolli at a wedding fayre and had asked Mini_Easter_Eggs_Gift_Jarabout having pink, white and lilac mini eggs for our Easter wedding. The lady I’d spoken to said she would price up and let me know.

I think it’s so nice! Not only did they tell me it would be cheaper to buy it myself but also set me on the right direction! How many people, in a recession, would be that honest and nice and show that much integrity in business?

It is for that reason that I recommend Little Lolli to all brides who are interested in candy buffets!

erin-candy-buffet99_sncsPlease please please, if you want a sweet bar at your wedding, email Little Lolli!

When you’re stressed about your wedding and you need a supplier that is reliable, full of integrity and just really really nice, Little Lolli is the place to go!

I’m just so impressed and touched and think that was so nice!

Little Lolli specialise in catering for all styles of weddings, christenings and funerals. The spread they did at the wedding fayre was certainly very impressive!

Book Little Lolli for a fantastic candy buffet!

Sunday 25 September 2011

The Best Wedding Fayre!

A Lovely Way to Spend a Saturday!

I went to the best wedding fayre I’ve been to DSCF9571yet at the church where our ceremony will be!

I think there were a number of reasons why it was the best wedding fayre:

  • The mock wedding
  • Talking to my suppliers (and getting something I’d wanted!)
  • Bumping into an old friend from Brownies and Guides
  • Magic by Mark

I came home raving about the fantastic wedding fayre I went to. It was really successful and I had heaps of ideas that I wanted!

Saturday 24 September 2011

It’s a Kind of Magic

Magic by Mark

Thinking of a bit of entertainment at your wedding? I recommend Magic by Mark.

I think I’m famously not a fan of magicians at weddings however I was really impressed with Magic by Mark.

close-up-card-magician

He was amazing! Mark specialises in close up magic, and he’s just brilliant with it!

Monday 19 September 2011

Mothers-in-Law

Communicate with Your Mother-in-Law

You might feel a bit shy around your Mother-of-the-Bridemother-in-law, or you may be very lucky and she’s like a second mother!

However, as wedding fever reaches it’s highest pitch it can be easy to forget to include your MIL.

To stay on her good side, as you marry her little boy, follow the tips below:

Lots of Updates

Whenever you get a quiet moment, give your MIL a quick ring to know what’s happening with the wedding plans Bride and Motherand let her know what’s going to be organised next.

If you don’t want to call, send her a text!

She’s going to be thinking about the day as much as your mother is so try to keep in touch with her.

Get Together

Start inviting your MIL out on shopping trips with your mum to buy your dress. Buying the wedding dress is serious bonding time and you could stop for a quick bite to eat along the way (and a glass of wine!).

Happy Hens

Pink penises and getting blind drunk isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time so try to include your MIL in something a bit more tame in your hen do.

Are you going out for a meal before hand? Are you doing some fun, non-alcoholic activities? Invite your mother-in-law!

Sunday 18 September 2011

Tips for Your Groom!

A Guide to the Groom’s Speech

Imagine sitting on the head table. Your face is aching from smiling for all the photos, and your belly is full of delicious food. You see the MC enter the room to announce the speeches and that’s it, you’re up!

The difference between being terrified about your speech, or being quietly confident will be the following tips!

Do the Research! Be Prepared!

Websites and books are a fantastic resource for nervous speech givers. Most groom’s speeches follow a typical pattern (the thank you’s, what a beautiful wife you have) so that there is an enormous amount of help on the internet and in books.

dad speech book

I’ve picked out Making the Father of the Bride’s Speech to buy for my dad to help him with his speech writing.

And, I also have Confetti’s Wedding Speech book, which I think is really good.

I cannot recommend iamstaggered.com enough! The quirky, fun way of writing on Staggered is fantastic inspiration for anyone wanting to give a speech.

I really like Wedding Speech Builder but you can only access 2 tips per section before you need to pay to use the website.

And, of course, I have heaps of tips on writing your wedding speech!

Saturday 17 September 2011

A History of Wedding Dresses

Where Do They Come From?

Your wedding dress is going to be one of the toughest decisions you make as you plan your wedding. I went famously went to seven wedding dress shops and tried on a whopping twenty-eight dresses before falling for The One!

Along with your christenings and funerals, your wedding is the one time you will be seen at a special public occasion. Historically, these kinds of public events have required special outfits.

Origins

Colour, style and ceremonial importance of the wedding dress varies from culture to culture.

The Middle Ages

Marriage in the Middle Ages was more to do with sealing the relationship between two families, towns or even countries. It was expected that the bride would dress in suitably as befit her position.

Brides were dressed in fine fabrics and amazing jewellery (given as part of their dowry) to display her family’s wealth and importance. Brides usually wore bright colours, velvets and furs, to display wealth.

The purpose of the wedding dress was to say, ‘I’m richer than you.’ The bride rarely chose her gown but was given it, sometimes in her family colours.

Over the Centuries

Brides continued to wear fine dresses made from expensive fabrics that followed the height of fashion. Brides from ordinary families wore their Sunday best.

Thursday 15 September 2011

Blog Posts to Come!

Keep Checking Back!

You may have noticed a lack of new blog posts… Unfortunately, with it being the beginning of term, things have been manic at school and my evenings have been filled with laminating, cutting9435067-young-woman-busy-using-laptop-computer-concentrating-on-screen-having-headphones-in-neck and sticking things for work.

Things have also been a bit lax on the wedding front. Dad is working on finding us a florist but other than that, there’s nothing else to report!

However, over the next few weeks we will be having some blog posts about

  • speeches
  • saving money
  • the history of wedding dresses
  • DIY design tips
  • mothers in Law
  • wedding faux-pas’s
  • beauty tips
  • questions for your stationer
  • miscellaneous questions
  • different venue pros and cons

and many more!

Keep checking back for more blog posts, and of course updates for my own wedding!

Only 6 months, 22 days to go! (29 weeks 1 day!)

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Your Comments

My Thanks

I just wanted to write a quick post saying a big thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments on the blog. It’s good to know that the post are helping brides and grooms with their weddings!

If you have any questions you’d like me to look into, or require further information about any subject I’ve written about, please feel free to leave a comment or write a question.

My dream is that every bride and groom have the wedding they want and if I could help, that would be fantastic!

If you would like any photos from your wedding to feature on my blog, feel free to get in touch. Make sure that you check who owns the copyright to your photos before you send them!

Good luck and best wishes for your weddings and many years of happy marriage!

Sunday 4 September 2011

Theme Weddings

Being Different

Some lucky people are able to go to a lot of goth weddingweddings! I haven’t been to as many as I’d like but those I have been to have followed the main traditions of that culture.

But what if you want to be different? What if you’ve had enough of white weddings and want to make a stand for individualism?

I think it is very important for every bride to have the wedding that she (and her h2b) wants. Forget convention, forget what other people want, just focus on what you (and h2b) want.

Here enters The Theme Wedding.

Theme Weddings

Theme weddings are unique in that they are all different, depending on your theme.

Saturday 3 September 2011

Inspiration

How to Get Your Spark

If you’re not the type of lass who has dreamt about her wedding for years and years, even before meeting h2b, finding inspiration for your wedding may be difficult.

All of your wedding suppliers will suggest looking to magazines for inspiration.

Literary InspirationWEDDING-IDEAS_DEC-10

Wedding magazines are fantastic for finding inspiration. Wedding Ideas Magazine features up to 9 or 10 real weddings with photos, as many of the wedding magazines do.

When looking at flowers magazines, try to choose the magazine that is showing flowers in the season of your wedding.

Make a scrap book of ideas, cut out pictures that spark your inspiration and glue them into your scrap book. Look at the colours and styles you’ve chosen.

Friday 2 September 2011

Checklists

My Two and a Half Year Check List

A check list will keep you on track and will put everything into perspective. Planning a wedding is a bit like keeping lots of plates in the air. And while juggling so many things, it’s easy to forget something that you want. My check list will help you to keep everything in order.

check list

[If you would like to download this checklist, left click on the image to see the full size check list, then right click on the enlarged image. Select Save As or Print to use this image.]

My Check List

As you all know, I famously planned my wedding two and a half years in advance. Consequently, my wedding check list is slightly different to the normal.

Thursday 1 September 2011

Update: 218 Days to Go

A Smile That Could Be Seen From Space!

I went to be measured today, for My Dress!

I was very excited, as I always am! My mum wanted to come along with me so I made an appointment with a different branch of Francesca’s than the one at which I had already bought my dress. mum

I had asked for my dress to be sent over so that I could have another try on, but they didn’t have it.

The lady measured me and she was really nice and super quick. We’d got completely and utterly lost and turned around finding the bridal shop, we spent more time finding it than we did being measured! It was all good though and the lady was really really friendly.

The only thing was, I really wanted to try my dress on again.

So, mum and I decided to drive over to the branch that had my dress just to check the sizing. (Also, I just wanted to try on my dress again!)

We found the next branch really easily and I got to try on my dress! It was even more perfect than I remembered! I just loved it! I didn’t want to take it off!

I was so happy, my smile was so huge it could have been seen from space! The ladies in the shop said I ‘beamed’!

I didn’t want to take it off! That’s how you know you’ve found The Dress, isn’t it? That you don’t want to take it off? It’s such a pretty dress! I feel like a princess when I’m wearing it!

Being Measured!

A Quick Post

It’s just a quick post this morning, I’ll write a longer post this afternoon but I’M BEING MEASURED FOR MY WEDDING DRESS TODAY!

As you can tell, I’m just a little bit excited about it. lose weight

In preparation, I have been avoiding any food that will make me bloated. So, yesterday after I had my breakfast I only ate salads and fruit to stop myself from being too wide.

Although I hate the idea of a wedding diet, as h2b asked you to marry him before the diet, and he loves you just the way you are, I have been wedding dieting.