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

bride2be2012

lol cleverclogs, that was like me and my shoes - first pair were fairly plain, as I had decided as they were going to be under my dress it wouldn't really matter - then when they arrived I decided I wanted a bit more sparkle, so ordered a second pair! Which reminds me, pair 1 still need to go back on ebay!!

We've decided on the following for our food:
Starters - Lentil and Bacon Soup or Haggis with Red Onion Chutney
Mains - Roast Beef with trimmings or Veggie Lasagna or Chicken Salad
Puddings - Syrup Sponge with Custard or Trio of Ice Cream (but having Vanilla, Chocolate and Mint Choc Chip, as neither of us are keen on Strawberry)

And for the evening buffet we are having bacon rolls and chips - YUM!!

Not totally convinced on our starter, it was very tasty, but means we don't have a veggie option - though as far as I know we don't have any vegetarians coming.

We are very lucky in that the venue is totally flexible - we can have what we want for the wedding breakfast (as long as we meet the minimum spend, £27.50 a head), and no need to take drinks packages or evening buffet.

For drinks, we are just going to have a bottle of red and a bottle of white on each table for the meal, then put money behind the bar and people can order what they want for welcome and toast drinks (bar staff will be told no doubles or expensive malts though!)

stationaryace

after finding our wedding rings last weekend we finally got the quote back - it was definitely more than the stickered price in my case :eek: everything was in OH's name so he went down and managed to haggle them, managing to reduce the price of my ring by the cost of him. i'm so proud of my little MSE nearly-hubby :money:

invites have now been out for 10 days and so far we've had 3 actually and 5 electronic rsvps back (we sent 38).... need the rsvps for any dietry issues and the chances are if you just tell me that bit will get missed out. already had one guest (OH's aunt I've never met) forget to mention how her IBS has her on a very restricted diet. my crystal ball is a little foggy so how on earth she thought we would know without actually telling us I have no idea!

still haven't actually been inside the church we're getting married in, so for now it's all still in my head. need to go out either this weekend or next to see what we're working with.

and still no responses from OH's lot that have another wedding on at the same time so not sure how many yes'. urgh, reply already!

katini

Cleverclogs wrote: »

I'm putting together a box of little gifts for my OH to open the night before and I now have socks, cufflinks and a pocketwatch. I'm starting on a scrapbook this weekend (as he's away) with some notes and pics from our relationship so far.

This is a lovely idea- I have bought cufflinks for my OH (in rose gold to match his wedding ring, I love you eBay!) but I think the socks idea is even better to ensure no disasters on the day. He's the sort of person who'd turn up in all his finery with a pair of non-matching ski socks on...

bride2be2012 wrote: »

For drinks, we are just going to have a bottle of red and a bottle of white on each table for the meal, then put money behind the bar and people can order what they want for welcome and toast drinks (bar staff will be told no doubles or expensive malts though!)

That's a good idea, our venue suggested saying no one can order shots from the tab as that's a very easy way of spending a lot of money very quickly!

stationaryace wrote: »

invites have now been out for 10 days and so far we've had 3 actually and 5 electronic rsvps back (we sent 38).... need the rsvps for any dietry issues and the chances are if you just tell me that bit will get missed out. already had one guest (OH's aunt I've never met) forget to mention how her IBS has her on a very restricted diet. my crystal ball is a little foggy so how on earth she thought we would know without actually telling us I have no idea!

We sent our first lot of invites out today and I can't wait to get the RSVPs back! Although I am dreading the dietary requirements as I am sure there will be a long list. We've not included the menu in the invitation and there's no choices so it should in theory be quite simple but I know for a fact that there is a vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables but will eat KFC popcorn chicken...

I am having a bit of an ongoing saga with the bridesmaids' dresses. I ordered them from a shop near me and they've been made in China and sent over to them. They did all of the measuring and the dresses took one month to get here. All four dresses are far too small. The shop won't give me a refund, nor will they remake them as they say that my bridesmaids must have all put on weight over Christmas. I've been back and forward three times to the shop and just ended up arguing each time. I took one bridesmaid with me yesterday to demonstrate the fact that the two size 12 dresses are completely different to EACH OTHER let alone far too small to be size 12s. She ended up arguing with the staff as well: they just steadfastly refuse to do anything unless we pay to have them remade. They've plucked a figure out of thin air of £15 per dress, which obviously doesn't seem like a lot but I am not happy to pay it when they were wrong in the first place. They are saying it is because the dresses are handmade and therefore there may be size discrepancies. I am also concerned that if I did pay to have them remade, they may still end up not fitting only it would be April and too late to do anything else.

Complete nightmare, I don't really know what to do as I've spent £291 on these 4 dresses and don't want to lose it, but equally don't want to pay more and then be in the same position in two months time. I am looking for alternative dresses to have on the back-burner but need to make a decision whether to pay the £15x4 or cut my losses and buy again elsewhere.

dee342

hello Ladies,

I've not posted in the May 2012 thread before.

I'm getting married on the 12th May in Cambridgeshire and I[m starting to panic now as I'm not sure I'm organised at all. We were originally meant to get married ast year but had to postpone it as my fiance was ill and had to go into hospital. All ok now and let the organising commence!! ha ha

I bought my dress ages ago but am trying to lose weight, 1 stone down but would like to lost some more.

Venue is all sorted as is Church, photographer. videographer and invitations are out!

Need to sort out flowers, men suits, and centrepieces!

Look forward to hearing all your planning xxx

stationaryace

katini wrote: »

We've not included the menu in the invitation and there's no choices so it should in theory be quite simple but I know for a fact that there is a vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables but will eat KFC popcorn chicken...

:rotfl: Katini, we have a veggie who doesn't like vegetable but he doesn't eat KFC chicken :rotfl: actually i don't think he eats much of anything so he can just pick at the veggie option. Our menus aren't included in the menus either, so it'll be a surprise on the day. Told OH's folks what it'll be and already they were going "X won't eat this" and "Y won't eat that" so I have now banned all menu of the menu to anyone not going to the tasting! :cool:

As for the dress quandry, you need to make a decision if you are going to pursue this or just look for dresses elsewhere, then stick to it. Do you have a copy of the original measurements taken by the dress shop? Also, do you have the money to buy replacement dresses from elsewhere? If you are going to go up against the dress shop it may be a while until you get your money back. It's a crappy situation and definitely one you don't need, but you don't want it hanging over you for the next 3 months either.

Hi Dee :wave: welcome to May brides!

bride2be2012

Katini, hope you get your dresses sorted, that sounds like terrible service from the shop.

Stationaryace, we are also dreading getting back some of our RSVP's! OH had to point out to his mum at the weekend that not liking something is NOT the same as having an allergy!!

Weekend at the future inlaws went OK (apart from above conversation!). MIL2B did go in a bit of a strop, as she was out when we arrived and by the time she got back FIL2B, OH and myself were watching the football and FIL2B wouldn't turn it off so she could quiz us on wedding plans! (we didn't even prompt him or anything, it was just a case of good timing lol!). Then yesterday went to SIL2B's so OH niece could try on her flower girl dress, which is just gorgeous but will need to be taken in a bit. Will need to phone the girl doing our alterations, as don't want it done too soon in case she grows into it (as 6 year olds do have a habit of growing quite quickly!)

Just approved our proofs for the invites, so they should arrive this week!:j

And need to chase up our cake person this week to, as I emailed her some pics of what we are after, and not heard back from her. Hoping my mum would see her yesterday, but they didn't meet up.

Cleverclogs

Welcome Dee :wave:. Sounds like you have most of it in hand! I still need to sort centrepieces - argh. I've got a couple of days off next week so I WILL sort them then!

We've not included the menu in the invitation and there's no choices so it should in theory be quite simple but I know for a fact that there is a vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables but will eat KFC popcorn chicken...

Haha, this made me laugh a lot! I hadn't given a lot of thought to what people might come back with. We have two selections for each course so the details will be going out with the invites and guests can select which option they want. We've just said that kids and veggies will get an alternative, but as yet, we haven't agreed what that alternative is so they will get a surprise! As far as I know there aren't any veggies coming though...

Your dress saga sounds awful Katini and I can see your dilemma. I suppose the only thing you can do is have a look around and see if there is an alternative out there, and then make a decision. Personally, I would fight them for every penny back and take my business elsewhere, as the trust has been lost, and their service is appalling - but as stationaryace says, it might take a while for you to get your money back. What a horrible, stressful situation to be put in.

i'm so proud of my little MSE nearly-hubby

Well done to your H2B stationaryace - he did good!

Your menu sounds lovely B2B. I'm glad you survived the weekend in tact and without drama!

I'm so jealous of everyone and their invites! I'm desperate to get ours sent out and despite my nagging, our inserts still haven't appeared. I'm getting worried that we'll only have a month or so to ask for RSVPs by the time we get ours. I'm sure it'll be fine (there aren't that many guests), but I want the excitement of receiving RSVPs like everyone else - I feel left out!!!

I very nearly finished my groom scrapbook at the weekend so that's one less job done and I'm glad I managed it all while H2B was out of the way! As I was doing it, I got a bit anxious that he might think it was a bit soppy and cheesy - well, I suppose it is! But I've done it now and it took me hours so at least it was made with love - hah!

I now need to start thinking about finding a seamstress to take in the bridesmaids' dresses - does anyone have an idea how to go about finding one?!!

stationaryace

bride2be2012 wrote: »

Stationaryace, we are also dreading getting back some of our RSVP's! OH had to point out to his mum at the weekend that not liking something is NOT the same as having an allergy!!

oooh yeah, I know this one! I don't care if great aunty sally doesn't like red meat, she's still getting duck unless she indicates that she is a veggie. I also don't want to know about all the bad experiences you may have had with the various elements in our menu, the only thing that will change our menu and our minds is the actual tasting itself!

Getting the invites out is a bit weight off your shoulders - in my case it stops the nagging

Cleverclogs - have you tried asking around or looking for local wedding forums? or you could ask at the shop where you're getting your wedding dress from? as a back up there's always good old yellow pages.

bride2be2012

quick question! For those who have sent out your invites, what RSVP date did you put on them? I'm just designing our RSVP cards to go out with the invites, hopefully will be sending them out this weekend.

katini

bride2be2012 wrote: »

quick question! For those who have sent out your invites, what RSVP date did you put on them? I'm just designing our RSVP cards to go out with the invites, hopefully will be sending them out this weekend.

I put 10th March as 12th March is the date I need to give numbers to the venue. I've got to get them out tomorrow otherwise it doesn't give people long!!

(Printing envelopes as I type...)