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Monday 25 June 2012

I'm Still Here

Hubby and I still don't have the Internet at home, do I haven't been able to make any blog posts. I'm blogging from my iPad at the moment and as you can see I can't post any photos. I will blog again once I've got the Internet! Please stay posted!!

Thursday 14 June 2012

The First Dance

This is Who We Are

I think a first dance is a very important part of a wedding and shouldn’t be overlooked.

It is easy for a bride and groom to think that the first dance is just an embarrassing part of the wedding where everyone watches you swaying around the dance floor for two and a half minutes.

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But it doesn’t have to be. There are lots of ways to make your first wedding dance much more interesting!

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Our Wedding Video

A Spot of DIY

I wanted to post this video because I want to stress the point that you don’t have to spend zillions of pennies on an expensive wedding videographer.

I put this video together using a track I had from a CD I bought, Window Movie Maker, our professional photographers photos and a friend’s photos, and some video my little brother shot for us.

Together with the price of the CD, the video camera and using the professional photos we have already paid for, this video cost barely a fraction of the cost of some videographers.

Let me know what you think:

Saturday 9 June 2012

The Little Touches

It’s All in the Details

Every bride spends hours and hours pouring over the tiny details in her wedding: the colour of the chair sashes, the twinkly flowers on the table names, the diamante scatters across the table – it all has to match and coordinate.

The logo’d photographs were taken by Clive Blair and they are utterly amazing!

My poor husband was dragged from Hobby Craft to Confetti, from wedding shop to flower shop to make sure that we coordinated all our tiny details.

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My bridal shoes are probably one of the tiny touches that no one really saw, so here they are! I bought them in 2007 from China, they were custom made and I even designed them myself!

And my tiara, one of my favourite pieces from the wedding. I think I’ll keep it forever and wear it when I feel sad just to cheer myself up. It’s so beautiful!

Thursday 7 June 2012

More from the Wong Wedding

Our Wedding Reception

From the big, red bus to our first dance, every moment was wonderful!

We arrived at the reception venue before all our other guests which gave our fantastic photographer, Clive Blair, the opportunity to take some beautiful photographs of us.

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Tuesday 5 June 2012

What You’ve Been Waiting For

Our Wedding

On a wet Saturday in April, I married my husband. After nine years of relationship and two and a half years of planning, we tied the knot!

And it was the most magical day of our lives.

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Before I continue, I want to say a big thank you to Clive Blair, our amazing photographer for letting me use these photos in my blog. I was totally blown away by the photos and am really looking forward to sharing them with you.

Thursday 10 May 2012

there will be more!!

My new husband and I have moves house! And our new house doesn't have the Internet!! As soon as I can, a blog post with all the armature pics on it will be appearing right here so please keep checking back!!

Wednesday 25 April 2012

We Had a Beautiful Wedding

A few weeks ago I married the most wonderful man in the world on the most perfect day I've ever had. More photos and details to follow!

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Our Wedding Rehearsal

We Got Pretend Married! Twice!

It was really surreal going to the church and getting married. For a start, we had a double wedding!

Our church is a very busy church, there are two weddings at our church on our wedding day. (We’re first!) So to save time, our vicar pretend married two of us at once.

2 couples

I’ll start from the beginning.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Marrying a Vampire

Necrophilia?

I’m not the biggest fan of the Twilight saga, but with a wedding featuring in the latest movie I am inclined to take notice.

I actually lasted twenty minutes into the first film, the hormones and teen angst made me reach for my remote. I didn’t enjoy it when I was a teenager and don’t really want to watch films with it in, but the films became very popular.

twilight movie

picture from twilightmovies.org/wallpaper.php

The only thing is, would you really want to marry a vampire?

I Wouldn’t

For this discussion, lets assume vampires are real. Right, got that out the way, now lets remember that vampires are human predators.

lost boys vampires

picture from uk.gamespy.com/articles/116/1168324p1.html

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Days to Go: 10

On Top of It All : –)

The world mainly. I’m so happy, so excited, so over the moon! Everything is progressing nicely and it’s all coming together!

It is really hard to realise that our wedding is only 10 days away. I can still remember telling everyone on Facebook that our wedding was 300 days away! It feels like yesterday!!

So much has happened since over the last few years: lots of my friends have got married, lots of my friends have had babies! I started a new job and had an Ofsted. We’ve had our hen and stag do’s and made a few more friends.

The whole experience has been a roller coaster ride and it’s not even finished yet!

I’ll update you with what’s been going on recently.

Just today…

I used Blurb to make a scrap book about our wedding. I included the photos I have of h2b in his suits, me in all the wedding dresses I tried on, photos of my hen do and h2b’s stag do, as a memory of our wedding preparation.

scrap book

Monday 19 March 2012

Days to Go: 18

The Countdown Continues

It has been quite a while since my last blog post because we have been so busy! I have a rather busy job as well, so trying to do that and prepare for the wedding is making me super busy!

stressed bride

Picture from spaweekblog.com/tag/bridal/

(The post it notes are so so so true! My colleagues know! lol)

So many things have been done! It’s really exciting!

I can’t believe that it’s only 18 days away! I’m so excited,  I’m going to pop!

H2b and I have been a rather excited team, tackling all our tasks together. H2b is taking over from me when I need to do my day job and we’re working together to see what needs to be done, which is really nice.

It’s a very strange feeling to think I’m going to be a married woman in a few days! I mean, nothing will really change, except my name and my legal status, but it seems like such a huge thing to be married.

We have got loads of tasks for the wedding done….

Friday 9 March 2012

Your Wedding Dress

To Sell or Not to Sell?

This is a very difficult and personal question: After your wedding, will you sell on your wedding dress?

It an be quite a touchy subject, there are lots of opinions either side of the argument, but which answer is best for you?

This question came up when a friend of mine recently sold her wedding dress. In this economic climate, can we afford not to sell our dresses?

sell your dress

Wednesday 7 March 2012

30 Days to Go

Checking the To Do List

As the days are ticking closer and closer to our big day, I’m getting more and more concerned that we have got everything ready.

Like most brides, I want our wedding to be perfect. I don’t want anything to go wrong or be forgotten, so with a month to go, I am checking and rechecking my To Do List.

to do

picture from ohsobeautifulpaper.com

Going over my To Do list really helps me to calm down and realised that everything we have to do is manageable.

Sunday 4 March 2012

A Guest Book

Little Messages for the Bride and Groom

I’ve been looking for a guest book for our wedding for quite a while. I was after something really different and while wandering around looking for table name stands, I managed to find the perfect one!

guest book

It’s made from wood and has about 80 pages inside. It’s actually really heavy but I really liked it.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Getting the Buggar to Bustle

My Wedding Dress is Awkward

I love love love my dress. Every time I wear it I think it’s more and more beautiful: It squeezes me in, it’s sparkly, it’s got a fantastic skirt (in my opinion), I just think it’s amazing!

The only problem is, can I dance in it?

Every time I went out to look at a wedding dress, the one thing that h2b said to me was, “Make sure you can dance in it.” Now, I have blogged before about how difficult it was to find a wedding dress. I’m going to admit that being able to dance in the dress wasn’t the highest priority after the first 15 dresses.

All I wanted to do at that point was find a dress I liked!

unhappy bride

picture from www.mydaily.com

Saturday 25 February 2012

Finished at Last

A Rather Successful Making Day

In short, progress has been made on the photo booth and the table plan is done!

It took 9 hours of hard work, but we made it!

H2b and I had some words about the wall but now I think he’s all on top of it. We have finalised the design and h2b knows where he’s going with the idea.

day 2

H2b has been working so hard on the booth, I really can’t wait to see what it looks like!

Friday 24 February 2012

Feeling a Little Stressed

Although Things are Ticking Along

It is only six weeks until my h2b and I tie the knot. He seems very calm. I am not very calm.

I think I feel as if I’ve got all this wedding stuff to do and it’s not being done. I feel like one of those brides on Wedding SOS who get to three days before the wedding and still haven’t bought a dress or something ridiculous like that.

wedding sos

It’s not until I write a blog post like this that I realise I’m actually on top of most things.

Monday 20 February 2012

My First Fitting

An Hour and a Half in my Wedding Dress

The title of this post is the best thing about today! I had to stand in my wedding dress for an hour and a half!

dress fitting

This isn’t me in the picture, but I was picking up the layers of my wedding dress so that the seamstress could make adjustments to the dress.

I can not express how different my dress looks now that it’s been shortened. It is as if the dress is MY dress, the length of the dress is perfect! The seamstress had only pinned up my dress to adjust it later but it felt so different.

The only problem was the bustle.

Saturday 18 February 2012

49 Days to Go!

Our Wedding is Right Around the Corner

When I saw that it is only 49 days until our wedding, my heart choked in my stomach a little bit.

I can’t believe it’s so close! Lots of things have been happening on the lead up to the wedding: the first thing is, I went on my hen do!

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We went to York, in the snow and the freezing cold and we had the most amazing time!

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Happy St Valentine’s Day!

A Very Happy St. Valentine’s Day to All My Lovely Readers!

When you’re planning your wedding, it’s always important to take some time out for romance, and what better day than Valentine’s day?

The card companies, shops and television will be encouraging you to spend heaps of money on gushy cards, cute teddies and expensive flowers.

Can you tell I’m not a fan of Valentine’s day?

not a fan

Monday 6 February 2012

Marrying a Foreign National

The Legal Bit

This is an unusual one. Out of all the British friends I have, I’m the only one marrying a foreign national (at the moment!).

Things are a lot different from marrying a British citizen, and I’ll tell you all about it!

thelegalbit

Church of England Ceremony

If you are getting married at an Anglican church in England, like h2b to and I, then hopefully this will help you to know what to do. I hope our experiences will help other people.

A Common Licence

If you are getting married at an Anglican church (and possibly any other church, mosque or temple) and you are marrying a foreign national, you will need a common licence.

Saturday 4 February 2012

Days to Go: 63

Nerves!

I’m starting to worry! With only 63 days to go, I’m not going to have time to lose weight, there’s so much to be done, are we going to get everything done?

H2b on the other hand seems rather calm!

Bridezilla_main

Still to do is:

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Marriage Classes

Getting to Know Your H2b

We have just got back from our third marriage class at the church. It definitely makes us giggle. It does make it hard to participate because h2b and I have been together for 9 years.

Not every couple getting married these days has been together as long as h2b and I have been. We met and fell in love in 2003, at the end of university, so that by the time we’re walking down the aisle, we’ll have been a couple for 9 years and a week!

sarah-church

There are a number of things h2b and I know about each other after being together for so long:

  1. Conflict occurs when h2b feels he isn’t being listened to
  2. If h2b wants me to pay attention to what he’s saying when I’m reading or using the computer, he has to shout ‘Fran!’ before he starts talking
  3. If I want new shoes (or anything expensive) I have to check with h2b that we have enough money
  4. I am awful with money

And lots of other wonderful things. H2b is cautious (or as I call it, indecisive) and I’m impulsive. But we also have lots of things in common. We both like watching TV and we’d both like a relaxing but interesting holiday.

Friday 27 January 2012

10 Weeks to Go!

The Big Day is Almost Here!

There are only 70 more days until mine and h2b’s wedding. It’s like a dream! I can’t believe the wedding is almost here!

There is still so much to be done!

H2b has had to stop making the photo booth because of his awful cough. He can’t be outside working in the cold while he’s not feeling well.

booth 5

The photo booth is currently just the frame, but that’s ok.

We are continuing our dance lessons. H2b is a street dancer, and I didn’t want to look like an idiot dancing with him so we’re having a few lessons to make our wedding dance more than swaying around the dance floor.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

For the Kiddies

I May Use This at Work

We only have a few children at our wedding but we wanted to keep them entertained.

Unfortunately, our funds couldn’t stretch to a magician or a child’s entertainer but we could buy some really lovely books!

I didn’t go to many weddings as a child, but I can imagine that they can get a bit dull for children. At one family wedding I attended as an 11 yr old, I remember documenting in my diary how drunk everyone was behaving!

kids book 1

Sunday 22 January 2012

The Table Plan

The Table Plan is Done!

(subject to change)

I had decided that this weekend was the weekend that the table plan was going to be done!

H2b and I made the decision to place our friends and family with people that they know. It’s quite traditional for weddings to mix up the guests so that your friends could be sitting with your cousins or with other people they don’t know.

H2b and I quickly decided we didn’t want that. A number of our friends and family don’t see each other very often and our wedding will be a chance for our guests to have a bit of a catch up, so we’ve decided to put people who know each other together, as much as we can.

Personally, I’m more likely to relax and have fun if I’m on a table with people I know.

Our Table Plan

I’m a very tactile person, and I just wasn’t able to visualise the table plan using the online software. I scrapped the computer and went old school. We started with cutting out the tables.

Friday 20 January 2012

Cake Topper

It Looks Just Like Us!

For a wedding present, my little brother has bought our cake topper. I’m really looking forward to it because the lady who makes them is fantastic!

The cake toppers can look exactly like you and your h2b. There are many different cake toppers. At the cheaper end of the market, Hobby Craft has a few that you could personalise, or if you’re after something a bit more unique, the better cake toppers can cost up to £140.

ART3

Wednesday 18 January 2012

The Day of Your Nightmares

Wedding Dreams and Their Meanings

I’ve posted a few times about my wedding nightmares. I’ll be quite happily enjoying a dream, fast asleep, when suddenly I’m getting married. But it’s all going wrong!

I’ve only had one dream about our wedding that I liked, but that’s probably because it only lasted a second.

sleepingbride

picture from celebrateintimateweddings.com

Monday 16 January 2012

Wedding Rings

A Recent Purchase

When h2b and I got engaged, he gave me a blue Tiffany box to keep my ring in. I really want my ring to stay clean and nice so I keep it in it’s box.

I was thinking about the wedding rings and I wanted to put them in a little box to keep them safe and clean and nice, too.

ring box

I’ve been looking around for different ring boxes. The exact one I wanted was in the back of a wedding magazine but I haven’t managed to see it again! The lid could be engraved with your names and the date of your wedding but I haven’t managed to see that one again since.

Sunday 15 January 2012

English Wedding

Recent Posts

As regular readers will know, I also post on English Wedding blog. I was really excited to be asked to be a Blogger Bride, but with little progress in the wedding, I haven’t had a lot to blog about.

Recently, with some more updates, I’ve been able to blog a little bit more. Sometimes I post the same as I’ve posted on my blog, but other times I write something a bit different.

If you would like to see my English Wedding posts, they are:

As you can see, I thought of very imaginative post titles! lol

The lady who runs the website, Claire, has really fantastic real bride stories, stunning photos and amazing inspiration.  It’s my favourite blog!

Saturday 14 January 2012

Weight Worries

I’m Not Petite

All the brides that feature on wedding blogs Real Weddings and most of the brides in wedding magazines are all slim and petite and beautiful, so that now I’m worrying about our wedding photos.

I am not slim, nor petite, nor particularly beautiful. I’d say I’m pretty, and definitely curvy.

many faces of me

I am working hard to lose weight, just so I’m a comfortable size 12. I accept that I’m not one of these beautifully slim girls who can wear anything but I’d like to look fabulous in my wedding photos.

I’m not suggesting that anyone else needs to lose weight or that I’m too big, all I’m saying is that I’m not happy and a bit worried that I won’t be happy with how I look in our wedding photos.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Bridal Fitness

The Wedding Dress Diet

I didn’t want to be one of those brides who loses weight for her wedding dress. My feelings are, he proposed to me when I was chubby, he can marry me while I’m chubby.

But now I’m thinking of the photos.

H2b says he loves me just the way I am, that I’m beautiful and all that blar blar blar. But he is helping me to lose weight.

I’m never going to suggest that the way I’m losing weight is healthy or the best way to lose weight, but what I’ve been doing so far seems to have worked for me.

me lost weight

These are passport photos taken 8 months apart. While obviously you can’t smile in a passport photo, and in one I’m wearing make up and in the other I’m not, it’s still clear to see I’ve lost a bit of weight.

And here’s how I did it!

Tuesday 10 January 2012

The Groom

Your Groom and Your Day

H2b and I have been discussing how the day would go, and he was asking me where people would need to stand, what time he needs to arrive because he’s not been involved in a British wedding before.

my wedding inspiration

While h2b and I have attended a lot of weddings, and I’ve been a bridesmaid in a few, the actual logistics of who goes where hasn’t really come up before.

So, in a typical British wedding, who does what?

In this post, I’m going to be focusing on the groom but I’ll do a post later in the year detailing what bridesmaids and ushers and even the bride needs to be doing at a certain time.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Wedding Arch Ideas

A Grand Entrance

I always wanted an arch of flowers as our entrance to the ceremony. I thought it would look beautiful, dramatic and add a touch of romance and magic to our wedding day.

I also thought that we couldn’t afford it.

However, a floral arch could be cheaper than you think. The church flower lady offered us a floral arch at a fraction of the price I expected it to be.

The floral arch could have any flowers you want on it, although remember that the more expensive the flowers are the more the arch will cost.

floral arch 1

picture from To Love and Cherish.co.uk

Friday 6 January 2012

Double Happiness Paper Stamp

DIY Confetti

I’ve always wanted to make my own table decorations for the wedding. It was a money saving idea but it’s also a bit of a personal touch.

My h2b is Chinese so I wanted to incorporate that into our very British wedding. The symbol for a lucky Chinese wedding is Double Happiness. As I’ve been to more Chinese weddings than British weddings at this point, I’m fairly familiar with the symbol so it was that symbol I wanted to have at our wedding.

I couldn’t find lilac Double Happiness confetti anywhere so I decided to make my own.

double happiness stamp 2

Thursday 5 January 2012

What Exactly Is Going to Happen?

Our Wedding: The Guests

A friend of mine, a guest to our wedding, asked me today what was going to happen at our wedding. She’s not been to a British wedding before (and I say British because American and Australian weddings are different) so I thought it might be a good idea to tell you all what happens at your average British Wedding.

What to Wear

The first thing most wedding guests think about is what to wear. For men, it’s easy, a suit and a tie. Men should avoid tails or Edwardian suits unless asked to wear them.

guest suits

For more informal weddings such as beach weddings or forest weddings, you may not need to wear a tie but it can’t hurt.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

A Spot of DIY

My Personal Touches

Many brides make lots of their elements of their own weddings and I am no different.

I went to a stationary lady to make our wedding invitations and orders of service, because it’s so difficult to get the printing in exactly the right place, and when it comes to the wedding, I’m not very patient.

But I did want to make some elements of the wedding that I was sure I wouldn’t be able to ruin.

diy

I’m also making the table plan but I haven’t started that yet as I’m still waiting for all the RSVP’s to come in.

Favours

I didn’t make but I did buy the favours myself, and I am going to fill them with mini eggs.

Monday 2 January 2012

Our Photo Booth

The Construction Begins!

This is very exciting, h2b has started building the photo booth! He’s collected together all the parts for his booth and construction began yesterday!

I have said before how important I feel photos are of a wedding. They are something you can keep for generations to show your children and your grandchildren. Photographs are a time capsule, they show everyone what it was like when we got married.

So, for a few extra photos h2b is making the booth! It was a fantastic success at my friend’s wedding.

photobooth 1

Sunday 1 January 2012

2012 - A Big Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’d just like to take a moment to say a very Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope you all got a bit squiffy and had a wonderful New Year with friends and family.

happy 2012

2012 is going to be a big year for most of my readers: we’re getting married!

I almost can’t believe it’s finally here! H2b and I got engaged in October 2009, so it has been a long time coming – two and a half years! It does mean that we had a long time to shop around and get everything we want, but 2012 has been this far away year for such a long time.

I almost can’t believe it’s actually here.

So, a very happy new year from me and the best of luck to all the brides getting married in 2012, where ever you are!

2012 is going to be a very big year!