Sneaky Peek!

13 Months, 11 Days to Go!

We have booked the wedding party suits! How many brides book the suits before the bridesmaid dresses? What’s going on there?!

We walk past the tailors on our way into town so I just went in and made an appointment. At the very least, it gives me something to tick off our list. We went with Blooms in Wolverhampton as it’s in a very convenient place and the service was so good!

The gentleman who looked after us, Roger, is just absolutely brilliant. I first spoke to him at a wedding fayre about a year ago and the amount of time he spent chatting to us was just brilliant. He really gave us a feel of what we wanted and what our choices were for our wedding. And he’s a jolly nice bloke too!

We booked an appointment for yesterday as they are very busy on Saturdays. Luckily, for the hour we’d booked we had pretty much the whole of the wedding area to ourselves and it wasn’t until we left that it got busier.

H2b tried on an Edwardian jacket with stripy suit trousers, tails with stripy trousers and a normal suit jacket. A frock coat was mentioned but as that is what undertakers wear, we decided not to go that route!

The stripy trousers added definite height to the over all look however the Edwardian suit made h2b  look a bit short. A transformation took place when h2b swapped his jacket to a tails jacket, he suddenly seemed to grow four inches! H2b isn’t short, although he is under 6 feet tall. I’ve seen friends of mine over 6 feet tall wearing an Edwardian jacket and he looked fab but on your slightly shorter men it doesn’t look as good, I think.

H2b looked absolutely gorgeous in the tails! The stripy trousers made him look really smart and the whole look really suited him. Choosing the colour of the cravat and handkerchief was a little harder. They have a fantastic selection at  Blooms, but I liked the mat colour the best.

Dad came with us. Dad tried on the tails with the stripy trousers but he wore a lilac cravat and lilac handkerchief as this is what I’m planning on having the grooms men wear. Standing next to my h2b it really gave  me a real feel of the day and let me see what suited the men. I first chose a dark purple cravat for h2b but none of the colours in our wedding are dark purple so then Roger suggested dark lilac, as featured in the picture above of h2b.

I’m not a fan of the shiny, satin-like ties, I prefer the matt ones but I’m not sure what the fabric is called.

Looking at h2b all dressed up in his wedding suit was just amazing. It was like a flash forward preview of our day and I could picture him waiting at the end of the aisle for me. It was a lovely day and Roget at Blooms helped us to make the right decisions.

And it’s one more thing ticked off our list! :o)

Photo Albums

I have already posted that I believe photos are one of the most important aspects of a wedding. This is why my h2b and I chose Clive Blair to be our photographer. I may have mentioned that h2b and I were absolutely inspired by all his pictures. I honestly cannot recommend Clive enough but this post is about wedding albums.

Since we booked Clive he’s introduced Queensbury albums. They look spectacular! They appear similar to photo books but with the quality of a traditional album. My sister-in-law and my brother have this tome, I call it, a huge wedding album in a traditional style. I wanted a tome, but I like the style of the photo books. It appears that Queensbury albums combine the quality of a traditional album with the modern chic of a photo book. This is what I want for my wedding album, something that we could keep for the rest of our lives as a reflection of the most wonderful day we spent together, and the start of our married life.

However, that’s just the one album for you and your hubby to keep, what about the rest of your family who want an album. Clive does offer parent albums, but perhaps your sister would like a picture because your niece was a bridesmaid.  Many photographers out there offer a CD only service, where they take a lot of photos and put them on a disk for you to order your own wedding album. This is a cheaper and quicker way of seeing your wedding photos but which photo album should you choose?

There are so many websites out there that offer photo books by uploading your own photos and making a book, printed with a hard cover. As I’m a bit obsessed with photos, I do make quite a few photo books. My h2b takes some brilliant photos and I make them up into books so I have used a few of the photo book websites.

Photobox
User friendly, easy to use, fantastic templates and plenty of choice, Photobox was the first photo book making company that I started to use. This picture here is of me holding the first photo book that I made for my fiancé and I to celebrate seven years together.

There are a variety of covers available in a variety of colours. I chose a black cover because I thought that would be more manly for my h2b. I would have liked a pink cover!

Photobox offers a variety of different products. My friends bought their thank you cards from Photobox, they looked fantastic and they’re a memento from the day. I will be doing the same. Other products include calendars and diaries, wall decor, photo mugs, prints and home gifts. The photo book I received was very high quality. One of the pictures I used was from the camera I had in 2003 which was barely 3 mega pixels, when I put that photo into the album they told me that the photo wasn’t print quality. That kind of help is invaluable! (I used it anyway, it was an important picture!)

The photo books come in different sizes and shapes. It depends on which photo album you’d like. It’s completely online, there’s nothing to download and it’s all easy to use. You can even preview your creation online before you print. My dad so loved the album I had from Photobox that we made a funeral album for my Granddad’s funeral. It was filled with photos from my Granddad’s life and everyone at the funeral said it was lovely and deeply touching. See, photos are for any occasion.

Blurb
Blurb is a website I’ve only just started using and I like the look of it. They have a variety of methods for creating a photo book.  You can use a pdf book, if you’ve taken the time to make one, download their book making program, or make a book online. I have tried both in the interest of giving you a full review – and wow!

I first tried making a book using the BookSmart program that is downloadable from the Blurb website. There is a fairly clear user guide, some interesting templates and the option to edit layout. To me, an amateur, I think this is amazing! I get the feeling that some of the elements of BookSmart are aimed at marketing or advertising companies, as they are very customisable. You can add photo boxes, text boxes, resize these boxes and move them around the page in any layout that you’d like. Imagine working on your wedding pictures, creating an album for a friend and you can design the layout into any format you like.
I am fairly computer savvy but I did find this program very easy and simple to use. I was just bashing about pressing buttons to see what happens but I achieved a fairly nice effect using this program.

I’ve added a photo here to show what the photos looked like when I added them to the template. Pretty nifty if I do say so myself. I just quickly added some photos from my computer (there’s also the option to add from online albums) and messed about slotting the pictures into the spaces.

It really depends how much time you would like to put into your photo album. If this was the only option I had for my wedding album I might spend a bit more time making it. As it stands, this is the kind of thing I would enjoy spending my time making as I’m that sort of person, so I would really use this type of program.

The Bookify option doesn’t seem to have as many templates. I chose a small square album as I would if were making an album for my parents to have and there was a set format that I couldn’t change, although I could alter colours of backgrounds and so forth. This could give the less computer savvy person the option of using a simpler book builder. The BookSmart option does give you a lot more control over what your final book will look like.

Boots
Just to demonstrate how good Photobox is, Boot’s online photo book maker is in partnership with Photobox! I was about to type that I thought the Boots books were very similar to the Photobox ones, and then when I click on the website I see that they are made by the very same company! It goes to show that not only do Photobox provide an excellent professional service, but they are also used by a nation wide chain of shops – a brand that we all visit and use from time to time.

Jessops
Jessops use CEWE to make their photo books. There doesn’t appear to be an online photo book making function, but the program is easy to download and install. However, I didn’t find the program as easy to use as the Photobox and Blurb programs.

I’m not sure if I clicked on anything wrong but the pictures I’d selected (randomly from my pictures folder) filled into the album without me indicating where I wanted them to go. Once you get the hang of it, it is possible to customise the backgrounds, photo layout, and add additional photos to the page. It takes a bit of fiddling and experimentation, but there is a fairly decent customisable element to the program.

Kodak
Kodak’s photo book maker is online, where you can upload your photos to their website and  then edit them into your photo album book. I like the function that you can add yourself as a guest, you don’t necessarily have to sign in or register to use their website. Always a bonus if you’re in a rush.

Depending on the size of your photos and on your internet speed, the uploader is fairly speedy. I uploaded a few pictures from my computer to use with the album and it was fairly speedy.

There is the option to change the layout of the photos if chosen from a set layout, but it seems like the background colours aren’t customisable. It is quick and easy to use, just a drag and drop system, but for me I’d rather use a much more personalised layout than simply using the set layouts.

My Conclusion

Which ever website you decide to use, remember you could always ask your photographer for his or her recommendation. I think it’s important to weigh up cost with the product you receive in the end, and to think about how you want the photos from one of the most important days of your life to be presented. Think about how much time you have, and how much computer know how. Each of the websites have their own positives and negatives, I’ve tried to give you a fair appraisal of all the main ones that I use so that you can decide from a bride’s opinion.

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.

Wedding Arguments

picture from Info Barrel website

My h2b and I had a disagreement! Well we had a discussion and the problem is that we both think we're right. When I tell our friends that we've bickered they roll their eyes because it's true, our disagreements are trivial. 

This one is about attendants. My h2b (hubby-to-be) is Chinese and Canadian so he's not familiar with your traditional wedding customs. Those north Americans add a twist to their weddings that makes them slightly different to your traditional protestant wedding. 

More about that another time. 

Our disagreement was about attendants, as I've said. H2b said that he probably shouldn't have asked his best man to be his best man because his best man is already married. When h2b's sister got married, h2b was best man because he was the only unmarried man that they knew. Traditionally, it doesn't matter if the best man is already married, as long as he is a man who is very close to the groom either as a friend or a brother. 

It's traditionally the bridesmaids who are unmarried. They are maids, which in the olden days meant unmarried woman, and also meant virgins! One of my bridesmaids is married because she's my best friend and I wanted her as a bridesmaid, and I'm fairly sure the rest of the adult bridesmaids aren't maids at all, but that was the olden days. My married friend should be my 'matron of honour' as this is what traditionally would be the married bridesmaid. However, the only matron of honour I've ever seen was my Aunt's friend at her second wedding. My aunt was in her 50's when she remarried, as was her friend. The matron of honour (my mum) wasn't dressed like the bridesmaids as one was me, and I was 10 at the time. 

I think that nowadays, it's up to the bride and groom to choose their attendants. Married or not married I think that's by the by. Personally, I might think twice about having an attendant who was divorced, but that's just me. If my best friend was divorced, she'd still be a bridesmaid, but if it was someone not so close to me, I'd really have to think about it. 

Bottom line is: it doesn't  matter if the best man or groomsmen are already married or not! 
So there, h2b! :oP