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!

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….

Letters of Love

Fun Photo Wedding Gifts

I was reading a Hitched.co.uk twitter post by Fran (not me). I thought I would repost as it’s a very cool wedding gift! Alphabet photography!

If you are buying for a couple who have lived together for a while, or for a couple who didn’t give a wedding list, this would be a really nice idea. Often, guests feel uncomfortable giving money as a gift, this would be a fantastic alternative. (Even if they did give a wedding list this seems really special gift.)

The picture frame was spotted at The National Wedding show in London and Fran thought it was one of the most unique exhibitors she’d seen. I definitely think it’s a really unique idea however I’ve found at least two different companies that offer this service when I googled the idea.

The idea is that they take photos of objects everywhere, in architecture, in nature, in anything you can think of and use those pictures to make words. It’s very effective and a bit quirky, really unique.

This photo above is from Alphabet Photography. Their website says, ‘The Alphabet Photography team is proud to provide superior customer service and high quality craftsmanship.’ Their website seems fairly user friendly and I easily chose the pictures I wanted. If I didn’t like the pictures that appeared in the picture then I could click on each letter to change the picture. I thought that was a really nice idea.

This picture would set me back £45, which is an average price for a wedding gift. You can make all sorts of different words, and they offer different materials such as letters, posters and inspirational pictures.

The other company I found that provides this service is the  Letter Art Company. On their website, they say ‘An amazing gift concept that uses pictures of real world objects that resemble letters of the alphabet; Combining them to create truly unique, personalised gifts.’ They offer letter graphs, frames, mounts and custom framed letter art. A very similar service to Alphabet Photography, they ask you to type in a word and they will find pictures to match the letters in that word.

Like alphabet Photography, they offer to let you change the photos that it generates by clicking on the picture you want to change, and you probably will want to change the pictures.  It came out quite nicely, a similar standard to that from Alphabet Photography.

This picture would again cost me £45.

Personally I think this is a fantastic idea for a gift, not just for a wedding but for a Christening or a birthday. Wonderfully unique, which ever company you use as they are both very user friendly, you would find a lovely gift for anyone!

Gifts the Bride and Groom Can Give

picture from Wedding Guru website

If you prefer money or gifts for your wedding gifts, it's still typical for the bride and groom to present gifts to the people who have helped in their wedding. 

Traditionally, the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom receive gifts, usually of flowers, and the bridesmaids receive gifts, sometimes jewellery. The mothers are presented with their flowers during the groom's speech and the bridesmaids may be given their gifts while preparing in the morning or during the groom's speech. 

Thing is, my h2b's mother is coming from Hong Kong and she won't want to carry some flowers all the way back to Hong Kong, so I thought it might be nice to buy her a Swarovski brooch. But then, if I buy my MIL a brooch I think I should get my mother a brooch as well! So, my mothers of the bride and groom will receive a small bunch of flowers and a small piece of jewellery. My father has been incredibly supportive both financially and with advice in the wedding that I'd like to buy him a gift too. I've spotted this gift which I thought was pretty cool considering that Dad is a gardener. And something like this for my FIL. It's not traditional to buy the fathers a gift but as my father has been so involved in the wedding I think it would be a crime not to get him anything. My best friend booked and paid for a weekend away at a posh hotel for the parents to go on together. That's only a good idea if your parents get along with your h2b's parents as well as hers do.

Typically, brides will buy their bridesmaids some jewellery, a necklace or a bracelet, all identical to wear on the wedding day. I'm going to this farm to buy my gifts for my bridesmaids. I saw Julia Usher who makes the jewellery at two wedding fayres and I thought the jewellery and the tiaras (which I'm also going to get) were just amazing.
However, my best friend, who got married last summer, gave us some wonderful gifts of picture frames and chocolates during the groom's speech. If you have an idea of something wonderful you'd like to buy your bridesmaids then do that instead. Or as well. 

Groomsmen don't always have gifts, however if they have made an effort for your wedding and been there for you when you need them it might be reasonable to buy them a gift. We are giving our groomsmen a gift from the personalised momento company. Our groomsmen are really involved in h2b's stag do and are helping around with the wedding so we want to show them we appreciate their time. 


Whomever you choose to buy gifts for, remember to buy them something they will use again when your wedding is over.

Confetti the Shop

Much has been in the news about shops going bust since we entered the recession. One of those shops was Confetti, a wedding supplier. I think they are fab and I was really disappointed when their shop closed down in Birmingham. Now that I have some wedding savings saved up, I was going to spend a lot of it on favours at Confetti. I was delighted when I found the website was still going. 

Hobby Craft

You can order online!


I was looking for wedding favours. I'd been to Hobby Craft, willing to make the favours myself. There's some beautiful ideas from Hobby Craft but not everyone has the time to sit and make wedding favours for 100 guests!


I was on the Confetti website, looking at comparing prices, and I found the favour boxes I wanted in the colours I wanted them for half their regular price! Confetti often do sales or discounts so it's worth keeping your eyes open for a good bargain. I ordered the boxes right there on the spot. I wanted to do a mix of boxes and bags, so that not everyone gets the same wedding favour. I bought the bags from Hobby Craft but I bought the boxes from Confetti. When they arrived, they were absolutely fantastic! 

The favours for my wedding.

The boxes I ordered were already assembled with the ribbons on them and they cost less than it would have to buy the boxes unassembled and the ribbon separately. Like I say, they were reduced so I got quite a bargain! 


One of the features I like on the Confetti website is that you can search by colour scheme. My colour is lilac, as you can see from the ribbons on the boxes I ordered and I was able to look up other items that were along the same colours. 


If you're into photography as much as I am, Confetti has a good deal on disposable cameras for the tables. (Actually, the way I'm going for my wedding, I'm thinking of putting so many things on the tables there won't be any room for the food!) Often disposable cameras don't turn up a lot of good photos, but for me I wouldn't want to miss out on a spontaneous photo that really captures the mood of the day.

Bubbles!

I also like the idea of bubbles on the tables. Not sure how many adults are into bubbles, but if you have a few children at your wedding they will be entertained by a bottle of bubbles. I was at a christening recently and the children were all captivated by bubbles. it's a fantastic way to keep kids entertained during a long day. 


A increasingly popular trend in recent weddings are tea lights on the tables. When the lights go down, while the venue are preparing the evening tables, the little candles are lit and set a really wonderful atmosphere for the evening. I've included a photo from my best friend's wedding that my fiancé took to demonstrate how effective tea lights can be. 

My best friend's wedding

I'm also including a link to Confetti's special offers. I found the boxes I'm using just by chance in the special offers section of the website so I think it's worth a look to see if something you really want for your wedding is available there. 


I'm not on commission for Confetti, but I see a good idea and I think that, bride to bride, we could really benefit from using a service that provides so much at a reasonable price. Weddings cost so much, if you can get a bargain anywhere I think it's best to pass on those tips. 


If you have any money saving tips, please leave a comment and I will blog about it.