May 2012 Brides (and Grooms) + Diary of a 2012 Bride

stationaryace

just got the invoice through for our reception venue today. one part :j meets one part :eek:


I'm thinking the balance due date of 5th January was not such a good idea!

Cleverclogs

I haven't been on in a while but it seems everyone has been busy with the planning! I'm slightly panicked knowing Christmas is so close which will be closely followed by New Year and then it'll be 2012. It seemed like I had so much time left...but now it's going fast! My diary from March-May next year looks crowded already!
We don't have many invitations to send out (we chose early on to keep it to immediate family & friends - I have a huge number of cousins and just can't afford to have them all!) but we are doing it in two tranches, just in case we get some apologies. But we should be getting our second proofs through this week and we're hoping to send out the first tranch at the end of January.
We randomly bought our wedding rings last week which was very impulsive but very exciting! We were doing a bit of Christmas shopping away from our usual shopping haunts and came across a jewellers that had exactly the ring I'd been searching for! I have ridiculously small fingers so it has to be ordered in from the manufacturer & delivery could take up to 8 weeks so it'll be a while before I get to try it on. OH chose one on the spot and took it home the same day so at least he's sorted!
I also met with our hotel wedding co-ordinator last week to discuss the run through for the day. Made it all feel real! Thankfully, all is sorted with our hotel (back in Sept time, we got told their head office was in administration and they were up for sale) and they have been bought out. We just have to hope that there is no building work during our reception!
Anyway, I think the focus is to get Christmas out of the way. You've reminded me Clairus - I need to talk to a lady about bonsai trees for the table centrepieces! What's on everyone else's list of things to do next?

stationaryace

decided that since all the other months for the first half of next year are on page 1 we should join them too!

just applied for my credit card which I am using to pay for our honeymoon and other wedding bits that we still need to get :T it's my second credit card, the first one was withdrawn by my bank 4ish years ago due to non-use.

we're meeting with the caterers on Thursday which will be fun. we have slightly different ideas about the menu but I'm confident I will win the invites have been delayed a little but not stressing about it this week (this is our week off EVERYTHING, bar the caterers!).

think I must be on a festive high, feeling very non-stressed despite my ridiculously MASSIVE to do list!

clairus

Boo, I just wrote a huge reply, and then lost it.

Still to do:
Write out invites
Get suits
Complete brooch bouquets
Pay everyone
Hair and makeup trials
Find something for flower girls to hold

Bought bridesmaid dresses this week...or rather me and one of them bought dresses which should fit them, fingers crossed they like them. Coast in debenhams had some 'exclusive' dresses, only in Store, not online, £100 off in the sale. We went back after our day of shopping to pick up one for the bm I was with as she works away, and another set of bridesmaids were buying OUR dresses! So we panic-ordered the dresses, should be arriving today. Hope we still love them, and that we weren't swayed by them flying off the shelves, or the face that the style name is the same as one of the BMs.

Has everyone planned their honeymoon/post wedding break? Would be funny if some of us were off to the same place.
We have treated ourselves to a two week trip to Hong Kong, Bali and Kuala Lumpur, leaving on the Monday after the wedding, really excited, and OH got travel guides for Christmas

MsShopper

Hello ladies! I can't quite believe how close it is now - four months, three weeks for me! Eek!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year's Eve. I've had a blissful two weeks off work, which has meant I could finally finish off our wedding website, which goes 'live' this week, and (four versions later) I've completed an invite design that I'm really happy with. Once I get some printed, I'll post some pics.

I'm also excited to see our Alfred Sung bridesmaid dresses this week, which my work colleague should be bringing back from his trip home to the US. I'm just hoping they all fit!

Clairus, it sounds like you're coming along well - hope you still love your BM dresses. And your honeymoon sounds amazing. We haven't booked anything yet, but I'm hoping we can afford a week somewhere warm near the sea.

Stationary ace, we're also thinking about getting a credit card to pay off the final bits and pieces. Our budget is likely to be short by a few hundred pounds, even with saving all we possibly can. So I'm thinking an interest-free card would be a good idea...

skyvicky123

Hi all, I did post on here briefly when I first got engaged but have been super slack with all the wedding stuff ever since. I have just about managed to book church, venue, caterers, bought my dress, and material for BM dresses. Plus some bowls from Ikea for centre pieces. This week I have planned my hen do.

However the big task I have been totally avoiding is the invitations. Having tried scouring the net for months for the right design, and had a go at making my own (disaster!) I now have no time left and will have to just buy some blank ones from Clinton cards and write them out. I have about 40 day invites to do and about the same for the evening do.

I am now reaching panic levels about them and have become totally paralysed with fear by the amount I have to do. The more I feel like this, the more I ignore everything. Consequently I haven't done anything (bar the hen do) since October!!

HELP ME!! I have so much to do, my friends have written me a list of stuff I must do but I am too frightened to open the email and face it.

I work full time, and have a 3 year old and I just don't enjoy planning weddings!

MsShopper

skyvicky, you sound exactly how I felt a couple of months ago - ie totally overwhelmed! I also ducked my head in the sand for a while, hoping it would all sort itself out.

But don't worry, it will pass. A to do list is a great idea - and it sounds like you have great friends who are trying to help, so that's a massive bonus. Open that list and take it one task at a time, ticking it off as you go. It will soon add up, I promise.

The good news is you have pretty much sorted the big things (and you're ahead of me on the hen do!). You also have plenty of time to sort your invites - we're not sending ours out for another month or so. You can always get someone else to do it - there are eBay sellers like this one who will put together invites in your colour scheme and print them with guest names as well.

Also, one other thing that helped me when I felt like it was all too much - I gave my H2B a bunch of jobs to do! It's not a massive amount in the big scheme of things, but it helps knowing he's taking some of the load.

Hope that helps, and that you feel better about it all soon.

Olokia

Woohoo we can finally say we are getting married this year!

Had a busy day on New Years Day, sorted and ordered the invitations, worked out the ceremony wording choices and sorted out all the music and alcohol. Going to get my shoes and my ring on the 14th Jan.

Only 4 months and 4 days for me! It's going really quickly and I am starting to panic as there is so many things to do.

bride2be2012

happy new year to you all!

Well I'm currently spending the last day of my hols in my PJ's in front of the computer sorting our invites on Vistaprint! I had meant to do so much wedding stuff during the hols but we've both been full of the cold and couldn't be bothered doing much, so nothing's been done!

Things I plan to do in the next few weeks:
Finish our invites and order of the day
Waiting for my next lot of clubcard points so I can exchange them for Goldsmith vouchers for our wedding rings
Get OH's kilt outfit hired, or possibly buy him one if we can find a bargain
Visit my mums friend who is making our wedding cake to decide on what we are having
And hopefully find someone to do alterations for our dresses, but have to wait until my sister is fitted with her new back brace first, so waiting on her appointment for that at the moment.

I'm gonna have a busy few weeks! Also, my OH is starting a new job next Monday, which is fab as he was having lots of hassle at his old one, fingers crossed this one works out for him!!

stationaryace

4 months and 2 days!!!!

so far this year I have written out three replies for this thread, none of which have posted! hoping it's not a sign.

skyvicky, I have heaps to do as well. my lifeline is my to do list, which I have broken down into chunks to tackle each week. Found out yesterday that my dressmaker is away until 12th February but instead of panicking (okay, maybe a little iffy :eek:) I'm using it as a deadline to get my crafty projects finished by. Just won my first ever Ebay auction with my invite embellishments, soooo excited! :j

OH is playing on our wedding website this evening - he has the chance to put down a framework that he likes and tomorrow is my time for revisions. go live date by the end of the month when the invitations are out...

My shiny new plastic should arrive tomorrow so we can finally book the honeymoon flights! only using this for additional protection incase our airline/other travel related companies decide to go bust. now just have to remember to pay it off in time.

bride2be - fingers crosssed, you've had enough drama for one wedding!