*November 2011 Brides and Grooms* Time to Chat!

Bluespirit

Chrissy - I agree with losing patience about the cake - it doesn't sound right as I wouldn't expect it to fall apart. My sister makes cakes semi professionally, and she's never had one like that. I want everything booked too, but I think we all do have plenty of time. I just like to be super organised. My OH is working lots of overtime just now too which is making things difficult for us, but the extra money will definitely be very useful. Congratulations on getting the honeymoon booked too. Can you show us where you're going? I've fancied Cuba for ages, so its somewhere I definitely think we'll visit sometime in the future if we can (along with the others on the long list)

Losing patience - That is such good news about your bridesmaid, and getting the dresses. It must be a huge weight off your mind. Have a look at flower girl dresses in Debenhams too - I was looking yesterday for my flower girl and saw some lovely ones. The woman in the shop was very helpful and suggested that I get a debenhams card when I buy it as this would give me 20% off, and so long as I pay the card off right away and don't use it again there won't be any nasty interest problems. In terms of the photographer I would try and ask for any discounts from the one you love - we managed to get discounts and extras from our photographer because it is an out of season wedding, so i think it would be worth a try. Our view when it came to photographs was that it was worth paying extra for a photographer we loved because the wedding photos will last a lifetime and we want ones that will be the perfect reminders for us. We've ended up paying more than we could have done for photos, but we're really happy with our photographer and package. Good luck x

Swinstie73

Hi all, not been around for a while, although I'm sure I posted my list/budget for you to look at to see if I missed anything, but it seems to have disappeared, weird!

Anyway, I'm up-to-date with most things but there is obviously loads we can't do just now, I really can't understand how some brides plan their wedding starting 2 - 3 years before the actual day. I'm either feeling strangely relaxed about it all, or else I've missed something important but don't realise it. Maybe I better post my list after all, eh!

losingpatience

Well I sent an email to the photographer earlier. Basically said that it was between her and the other guy and I'd be honest and say he was charging the same but would provide the album as well so we were in a bit of a dilemma blah blah blah. Didn't ask for a discount but hinted that if she could offer us a better deal we'd go with her.

Got a response back, she'll give us a 10% discount on her service fee ( so saving £100 ) and will double the number of prints to 200 6x9 and 30 8x12 :j I'm really happy with that, especially as we were going to go with them regardless. She said she couldn't include the album for that price but would see what she could do one for but to be honest we aren't bothered about albums at the moment in any case.

Chrissy1981

Well done losingpatience, a bargain without being cheeky! You have to go with your gut instinct. We were lucky in that I contacted an old friend who has done photography and stationery for quite a few years now and we both loved his work. Also loved his 20% friends & family discount!

Bluespirit, I've never posted a link before, so here goes!

http://www.thomson.co.uk/destinations/caribbean/cuba/cuba-holguin/guardalavaca/hotels/paradisus-rio-de-oro-resort.html

We're so lucky in that my dad has paid for the honeymoon. He's paying for the venue, wedding breakfast and evening buffet as well so we're going to have to get him and my mum an amazing present!

Thanks for your comments about the cake. I spoke to my mum last night and she said the cake tasted lovely and it was probably the way I'd cut it?? (I was a wee bit squiffy, mind...) Think I'll arrange some tasting sessions before I order it though!

I was so pleased with the wedding cars when I went to see them on Wed night. If anyone is not sure after looking at websites, I thoroughly recommend going to see them as the photos just didn't do the cars justice! I was allowed to sit in them and everything! We paid them there and then. I was a bit worried about feeling silly but then I thought, hang on, I'm giving them my hard-earned money, so if I want to view the cars I will!

Can I just say, I'm loving having other November brides to "chat" to. And yes, I've started on my end-of-the-week wine! Happy weekend everyone!

Bluespirit

Losingpatience - that's brilliant about the photographer.

Chrissy - that place looks gorgeous, and that's so generous of your dad to pay for so much. Great about the cars too.

Well I'm feeling pretty down today as I thought I'd found the dress, and then discovered that its only available in plus sizes. I do still love the Maggie dress, but the price is more than I want to pay.

Chrissy1981

Oh dear Bluespirit. I just saw your other post about the dress. I don't understand why they would have let you try the dress on in the first place if it can't be altered to fit you?? Have you got any other appointments in other shops set up? Why don't you try another shop and some other dresses, see if you find another one you love? Don't be down, when you're wearing your amazing dress on your wedding day, you won't even remember this one! Hugs x

Bluespirit

Thanks Chrissy. I'm going to another shop next Saturday - it stocks 8 designers, none of which I've tried things on from before, and quite a few have nice dresses on their website, so I've got my fingers crossed for that! I can't believe they let me try it on, but apparently it was a mistake. I definitely won't be back there for BM dresses now!

Chrissy1981

I found my dress!! Went to one shop and I wasn't that impressed and then went to my second appointment and it was much friendlier in there. Tried on a million dresses and - guess what - my one was the first one I tried! Am so happy:

http://www.justinalexanderbridal.com/product-detail.php?id=770&entity_id=1129

Without the bolero though and it's ivory with silver beading, it looks a bit goldy in this picture. Feel very naughty as I'm not supposed to be telling anyone about my dress -- even told my mum not to tell my dad what it's like!

Bluespirit, how did you get on today? Hope you were as successful as me

losingpatience

Chrissy1981 - That dress is stunning! Don't worry, we'll keep it a secret though

Bluespirit - I'm sure you'll find another dress, if all else fails could you have the one you liked altered? Or possibly have someone make it for you?

Well my bridesmaids tried their dresses on and thankfully they all liked them so thats another thing to cross off my list. We're going to sort out the suits on Saturday and pay the deposit for those. My invitations have came and I'm really happy with them. Won't be sending them out just yet, but I'm trying to just get things ready. Also thinking about buying my stamps soon before the prices go up in April.

I've ordered some foam roses and diamante things from Ebay so me and my sis are going to have a play round with them on the weekend to see if we can make the buttonholes ourselves. I think I'm going to just have fake flowers to save on costs, though I have seen a pic of a gorgeous bouquet that I just love so might end up getting real flowers for me and artificial for the bridesmaids & buttonholes. This is the bouquet, though I've no idea how much it would cost so need to see some florists

http://www.w-weddingflowers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/burgundy-wedding-bouquets-2.jpg

Also booked a couple of 16 seater mini buses for the night to take immediate family home and the wedding party to a local hotel. They're only charging £27 for the hotel trip whereas taxis are £12 each and another coach company quoted me £95 for the same journey and same amount of people! So I think I've got myself a bargain there. I'm not taking everyone home though as I just can't afford it.

I went to a wedding fair and saw some beautiful wedding cakes. I was planning on just getting mine from M&S ( and I'm hoping they have their 3 for 2 offer on again ) but after seeing these cakes I was just blown away. The only thing is they start at around £350 and I just don't know if I can justify that much money for a cake, especially as I'm paying for other non-essential wedding things ( though it's what we want )in the form of a fun casino and chocolate fountain. I don't feel as though I'm being very MSE as my wedding budget is £12,000 ( though I made savings on this so it's currently coming in at around £11,000 ) which I know is a massive amount of money and part of me is thinking that I could pay a chunk of my mortgage off if I didn't spend so much, but another is saying that I'm only planning on doing this once and want to splash out a bit and have the wedding I've always dreamed of. Just nothing seems to be cheap when it comes to weddings!

Enchantica

Hello again all

Bluespirit - that is so odd about the Maggie dress, it's advertised on the website on a girl who isn't plus size so I would have thought it would be available in all sizes? Very strange. I hope you got on well with the other dresses though. It's hard when you find a dress you love and then there is a problem with it. Keep trying dresses on though, you will find something even more perfect I am sure.

Swinstie - feel free to post your list for us to look through, might help us all as well in case we have forgotten anything! There is so much to think about and plan that it does get a bit worrying in case you miss something important out. I have heard that most wedding days don't go 'perfectly' so I fully expect something to go wrong with mine lol. When my friend got married her music didn't work in the cd player, it kept sticking and skipping which was awful as she was trying to walk down the aisle. In the end her piper piped her down the aisle instead. I saw one of the wedding photos recently and said to her that I hadn't actually seen any of them yet (she got married last August) and she said she wasn't really bothered about them as her wedding hadn't gone perfectly and she didn't want to remember parts of it as it still upset her. Such a shame It was a MASSIVE flashy wedding. The wedding of the year where they live (smallish town).

Losingpatience - that's fab about the photographer! Well done for going and asking and getting that bit extra. It's great that you are having a photographer you love as you can be confident the photos will turn out beautiful. That's fab that your bridesmaids like their dresse, I always envisage a nightmare situation where one bridesmaid likes one style and another likes a different style and they can't agree! (that's why mine will all be different). That bouquet is GORGEOUS. Absolutely gorgeous. Good idea about having fake flowers for bridesmaids, the real ones get very expensive esp if you are buying multiples. You are sounding very organised The mini buses do indeed sound like a bargain, good idea. You could shop around for cakes and see what you can find, we are getting ours for around £225 with delivery and hire of cake stand. It's because it's not a company, just a lady who does wedding cakes on the side. But they are so tasty. Maybe you could find someone who does that? A local business perhaps? Worth a try. I sent a bunch of emails to local businesses here in Edinburgh and she was the one who replied first with lots of info and kept replying promptly so she got my business (after the tasting of course )

Chrissy1981 - your honeymoon looks totally idyllic and beautiful, bet you are looking forward to it. And that's fab that you have got your cars now and you got to view them. Another thing crossed off the list then! And your dress is stunning! I love it, it's really gorgeous. It's great when you finally find your dress and know what you are wearing. Exciting times!

Well the cake lady came back to us with her prices and it's coming to around £225 for it all incl delivery and hire of the cake stand. Not too bad for 110 little cheesecakes and a sponge with lots of wintery decorations So we have told her we are definitely wanting her to do our cakes. Also sent off the deposit and confirmation for the ceilidh band so that's a few more things done.

Slight changes for our favours though. Decided what I was thinking of doing was going to be too much so we are doing charity favours instead. A little card from Cancer Research saying money has been donated to the charity and it will also have a Cancer Research pin on it for each guest. It's a charity close to our hearts as we have lost family members to cancer on both.

Got a meeting with the venue next week on the 9th to discuss all the details and can ask some questions and then I think I will be ready to start making the invites and printing them out. I know it's really early but it's nice to be organised! When are you all sending yours out? I was thinking end of August with RSVPs for a week into September. That gives me about 5 weeks to collate everything together, get people's meal choices and send out extra invites if needs be. We have to confirm numbers and dinner choices a month before the wedding.

My next task is wooden roses for bouquets. I originally got some cheap silk roses but they were tiny when they arrived, I don't think I looked at the sizing properly. Found some lovely blue wooden roses in different shades though so I think I'm going to get them. With 5 bridesmaids I just can't face getting them all a £50 bouquet of real flowers! My mum is taking my dress to my auntie to get her to modify it for me and then it should be ready pretty much. Can't wait to try it on again. The skirt is so puffy and I feel like a princess!

Been looking up the honeymoon to Florida and found a deal on one of the posher Disney hotels. Showed it to OH and he doesn't like it because there are no Disney characters on the bed linen or on the walls etc. He loved the Disney value hotel we stayed in last time with all the sillyness around the room and when the maid would come in and make our towels into animals. So yeah, going to be Disney value hotel again for the honeymoon! It's fine though, the atmosphere is great and everyone is so happy around that place. Cheaper too Also found some combo Disneyworld/Universal Studio tickets much cheaper than I thought they would be so I'm a happy bunny! Love coming in under budget.