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

Cleverclogs

Welcome MrsErtas! A barn sounds lovely! Enjoy the total planning absorption - I kinda miss that bit! We used gettingmarried.co.uk for our website too and the guests love it!
Hmm, haven't got to the dad's gifts yet MsShopper. Any suggestions greatly received!!!
Try not to panic katini. When I ordered my dress, they took my measurements and cos the dresses are made to certain sizes (like the high street!), they had to order in a size 10 (debate over an 8 or 10) simply so the dress would accommodate my lady lumps! They can then take in the waist if needed. You'll need to check but they may have done similar in your case?

stationaryace

I think I have found our photographer and it's less than half of what I expected! We are meeting this week with a local guy first to see what he has to offer - he doesn't "do" packages but tailors a set up to each couple - but I am not sure if he will be able to compete and if not I will definitely book this other one. It's a two hour drive away but they are happy travelling and I can visit my sister on the same day AND we can pop past the kilt maker to submit my OH's measurements for his kilt.

Bought the invitation materials today so we're making them with my mum tomorrow. MsShopper I LOVE your invitations, they look so snazzy.

We have a gettingmarried site which I must finish this weekend. So much more to type but my OH has just made food and all this excitement is making me hungry!

clairus

MsShopper-your invites are gorgeous!

We have had a super productive weekend:

Suits chosen! Deposits paid.
Met my make-up girl to discuss make-up for me
Trip to wedding fair to look at outfits for mum-think that is a few weekends worth of shopping!
AND
We had a meeting with the (new) priest. I was a little nervous as it was the first time we had sat down properly with him. Mum had been told he was super strict so we were worried that with us only attending church 1-2/month (don't actually live in the parish either) and living together could be a problem with him. But, meeting went really well, another one next week, then 2 more in May.
We do have to find out about a catholic wedding prep course, and get a 'notice of freedom' from each parish we have lived in since we were 16...can't imagine that being easy...:(

stationaryace

clairus wrote: »

We do have to find out about a catholic wedding prep course, and get a 'notice of freedom' from each parish we have lived in since we were 16...can't imagine that being easy...:(

:rotfl: been there, done that. boy are you guys in for some fun it's not bad. I don't agree with half of what they tell you but it's an Alpha course so you sit there, listen to a video and then discuss with your partner at certain parts. not hard, just one evening and a full day of fun - at least that's what we had to do up our way.

I need to get a renewed baptismal certificate. Apparently when you get married in the church it is recorded on there so it proves it we have been/are married or not. This is the third priest I am now in communication with in regards to the wedding - my local one who does our classes, the one where we are getting married and now this one from the parish where I was baptised decades ago! Unfortunately the last one is not techy savvy so I think I will have to bite the bullet and call him. Never had so many conversations with so many priests before...

MrsErtasToBe

We had our first marriage preparation session in the Church last Wednesday - lesson 1 was all about Communication. My fiance just sat there looking aghast! Very funny! We have our next one on 23rd Feb.
We have 4 venues booked to view for over the next 2 weeks, im getting very excited now! x

MsShopper

Thanks for your lovely comments about the invites. I just need to chase up a couple of 'plus one' names (is it very wrong that I don't know all my cousins' partners names??) and then I can send them to the printer. :j

I'm relieved to see I'm not the only one doing the whole Catholic wedding thing! We had our wedding prep back in November, and it was relatively painless. Half a day doing workshop exercises with other couples and no mention of the G word until the parish priest came in at the end for a chat.

There was no mention, however, of the 'notice of freedom' thing – only that we need to have our full baptism certificate. What's helpful, I hope, is that I'm getting married in the same church as the one I was baptised in, by the same priest – my uncle! He's arranged a chat with me and H2B in Feb to go through things, so hopefully I'll know then if I need to contact the seven (!!) parishes I've lived in since I was 16. Hopefully not…

My only other news is that (on the recommendation of another MSEer) we've decided to buy H2B, the best man and the two ushers suits from Slaters. It works out around the same cost as hiring, and the boys get to keep their suits – bonus! Plus the overall look will be much sharper than the morning suit-type stuff my OH had originally veered towards, and will fit in better with our vaguely Mad Men theme.

Hope all's going well with you all. MrsErtasToBe, keep us posted on your venue search. Hope you find something lovely!

Cleverclogs

How did your invitation making go stationaryace?

All this talk of church workshops - we're getting married in a CofE church and just got the call from the Reverend inviting us to our marriage workshop at the beginning of February. So far, the Reverend has been very relaxed - I thought we may have to jump through some hoops to get married as it's not in our local parish (I lived there and went to the neighbouring primary school when I was younger) - and he said it would be a group session with lots of other couples so I'm hoping it won't be too intense!

I managed to finish the bunting over the weekend. Huge sigh of relief! We also had a fun couple of hours on Sunday painting our own wooden cake toppers. OH did the groom, I did the bride. I was surprised how expensive they were to buy so I bought some plain dolls and we painted them ourselves. I think it cost about £10 and that's including a spare set of dolls in case we ballsed it up but didn't need to use. I am really pleased with them!

MrsErtasToBe

^ Oh wow, i love those, they are amazing!

Thanks MsShopper, ill keep you posted. I am super excited and its finally starting to feel like things are happening! :T x

MsShopper

Cleverclogs, you really are a cleverclogs! They're fab! Where did you buy the plain dolls?

Cleverclogs

Thanks! Both me & my OH are quite crafty when we get going. He really enjoyed the painting. Not so much help with the needlecraft though!

I just googled them & got them from somewhere online. I've got a pair going spare if you want them MsShopper? I got them in case we made a mistake but we didn't need them, so happy to spread the joy & put them in the post!

You do need to let us know how you get on MrsErtas! The venue decision was the biggest one we made!