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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

picture from celebrateintimateweddings.com

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.

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.

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:

• Days to Go: 82
• Days to Go: 98
• Days to Go: 139
• Days to Go: 163
• Days to Go: 195

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

picture from To Love and Cherish.co.uk

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!