Any 2013 Brides

younganddumb_2

Hope i'm not gatecrashing... but me!

We're planning on November 2013, so quite a bit later in the year than some people!

We've been engaged 2 years come Christmas, and together for 4 years gone July .

We've already costed the wedding with the Church, and we're hoping to go and book it sometime in the next couple of weeks (eeek!! )... I'm getting so excited!

Decided on a budget of around £5k, the less the better!

I'm only going to be 22, almost 23, but I've always wanted to get married before children, and i'd like to have kids around 25, so hopefully things will go to plan!

It's good to see that i'm not starting to think about things too early, as some people think! (More time to get excited & organised if you ask me!), hopefully i'll get some (more) brilliant ideas off the lovely people here on MSE!

Just a quick question...

How long before the wedding date you have planned would you send out your "save the dates"?? I'm pondering on this as a lot of people won't have plans yet for 2013, but at the same time, I'd like people to know early enough incase they decide to book holidays or anything like that!!

Thanks!

Looking forward to all the fellow wedding gossip!

Young&Dumb!X

abi-em-mum83

Hi all, hows the planning going?

wow rablovesroo sounds like you've got some brilliant bargains! I havent managed to get to our boot sale yet, ours is a 45 min drive away and with 4 kids here at weekends its a nightmare getting out on a sunday! Hopefully I'll be passing my driving test on Tuesday so that I can just drive out myself early sunday mornings and leave the brats with h2b!!
Can I ask though, whats a photo corner?

Younganddumb, we are getting married may 2013 but Im planning on sending out our save the dates in October this year. We are looking at getting magnets made up so that they dont go astray!
This week Ive been making lists upon lists! Guest lists,budget lists,lists of things to book,lists of things to make and lists of things to buy! Between this and my test Ive had 3 hours sleep in the last 2 days! Im not the craftiest of people, and to save money Ive set myself up to make so much for this wedding (all the stationery, button holes,kids goodie bags,favours for men and women, gift bags,confetti cones, flowergirl baskets for petals). Trying to do all this on a budget, as well as a full time college course, building up my party plan business,and being a mum to two toddlers may make me crazy in the next 22 months!!!
AND to make things worse I found a MASSIVE grey hair this morning! Im only 28!! In fact it was more white than grey! had to hold back the tears! booooo hooooo!!!

wifeforlife

Oh abi-em-mum83 I feel your pain, I found my first lighter hair colour last year at 28 too and it pains me to pay ridiculous hairdressing prices to get it covered but I do

Haven't been on this thread since we set our date in June (1st April 2013)

So far I've booked

Chapel
Hotel for full 5 course meal and evening do! Deposit is paid
Comedian - it's April fools day Deposit paid
Singing surprise waiters Deposit will be paid this month

I decided to spend my budget on the things people remember of a wedding, the food and the craic:rotfl:

I've just my dress, shoes and stuff
2 Bridesmaid dresses
My daughters flowergirl outfit
& bouquets

OH is getting his and the boys Kilts

I've made my invitations on microsoft powerpoint and will send them to vistaprint or something for printing - doing a funny postcard invite

I'm not having transport - my dad has a nice merc, will get an uncle to drive us in it
No Church flowers needed as it'll be Easter Monday
No favours
No photographer
No videographer

Pretty much on track - very little else I can do except sit on my hands and save the money. Spending alot of time on OS to keep me on budget and saving form.

Can believe some of you have got your dresses, I darent look at anything as I'll buy something then will be a cert to change my mind 10 times before the wedding!

Great reading all the progress and seeing how well your all doing

SherlockFan85

Morning to All!

Just thought I'd have a little pop on here while at work. I'm stuck on my school's reception and there is no-one here but me and cleaners! Plus I can't do any work until everyone else gets back from their hols! At least i get plenty of time to mooch around the internet drooling over wedding stuff

OMG, you all must look at the beautiful things on eatdrinkchic.com website, there's some great free templates for labels, placecards, etc. I insist!!

younganddumb, who is definitely not so dumb for starting your wedding prep early, I'm sending out my save the dates approx 11 months before the day. I'm concerned that any sooner and it may lie forgotten in a drawer. Plus it will be two months after OH's brother's wedding so it gives time for the hype to die down from theirs.

Abi-em-mum83, our photo corner is a DIY version of a photo booth, which can evilly cost over £500!! We're going to put our SLR camera on a tall tripod, facing what I'm hoping to be a pretty canvas backdrop, and next to it will be a dressing up box containing items such as fake moustaches, singlasses, wigs, empty picture frames, etc. and a sign will encourage guests to strike a pose or three with the props and take the pictures themselves of each other. I may ask our only usher to keep an eye on it and try to get people to give it a go! Another idea I had was, if a guest did strike a pose on it, to give them a copy of the funny picture along with their thank-you card as a memento.

Found a beautiful reading for our civil service from Captain Correlli's Mandolin. It's probably been done a million times, but I don't care. I had this book for my GCSE English lessons at school and adored it then, so it has a special meaning. I'm also planning to walk down the aisle to the "Portugese Love Theme" from Love Actually, as it's one of our favourite films ever (and yes that does include OH! Really!) and the music makes me misty eyed.

rubysmummy_2

Hey everyone,

Well we went and seen the church on friday night and had a meeting with the priest - i cant describe how beautiful it was - i got very teary when he asked if i could vision myself walking down the aisle - i think it he would allowed it i would have got married there and then - it was just perfect - its made all my fears of tripping up down the aisle and all the faces looking at me disappear - i just hope they do on the day ha ha!!

Anyway we were expecting to pay a big sum for it as we wanted the bells ringing, the organist etc and i had spoken to a few friends and they all paid between £500-£750 for their weddings - anyway all in all it is going to cost us approx £150 including our marriage licence etc. It is a catholic church so all they require is a donation - there was a figure he had wrote down which is the average amount people pay and this was £75!! I think we will be giving a bit more as it is absolutely stunning and we budgeted a lot more for it. Also they need a new roof and he was telling us that it would probably take over 10 years to get the money so my H2B has offered to sponsor them in his yearly 3 day bike ride he does - every little helps i suppose.

Anyway my cheeky H2B asked whether we could see the bells which ended up in all 3 of us walking to the top of the tower (no one had been up there in about 15 years he said) - it was like something out of the movies - and we saw the top of the church from a great view along with the bells and all the mechanical bits for the organ. I was on such a high all evening when we got home!!

So with the extra money we had budgeted for that we are now having an entertainment company coming to our venue from 3pm right through to the end of the night. they are going to bring bouncy castles and outdoor games for the kids and keep them entertained in a different room whilst the speeches are going on and then bring them back in for the meal, they are going to act as toastmaster and all other extra bits.

It all finally feels real now we have booked the church!!

i dont know what to do next now lol - i do still need to decide on a colour theme - im so undecisive i cant chose and my H2b doesnt help he just wants whatever i decide!!

Dolly<3

Awww Rubysmummy, your church sounds like a dream!! And what an amazing price I bet you are made up! I think it's lovely that you are paying more than expected too, I'm sure it will be really appreciated!

Do you have any colours in mind? Favourite colours or a colour that would link in to the time of year? I'm a little worried about my colour theme :S

Reading this thread I feel a little behind on my wedding plans now, I really should get thinking. I went to a friends wedding on Friday, it was beautiful and it gave me lots of things to think about.

I think I maybe just need to get my planning folder out and get doing some research!!!

xxxx

rubysmummy_2

i originally wanted lemon - but after mentioning this to a few people they said they didnt like it - my bridesmaids did though - then OH said we should have something a bit more colourful - so i thought maybe fuschia. Its so difficult - dolly do you have a vivid colour scheme?? i also like blue and red - like tiffany blue and i wanted to incorporate red into it because our daughter is called Ruby and i was going to have Ruby crystals scattered on the tables and ive found seeds for doing seed paper as favour with the flowers called ruby... or ...ruby flower - but nobody seems to like this idea either - it looks a lot better on paper than said outloud. I have been tending to do a bit each month to try and spread it out - i get way tooo excited though lol. Im sure your not behind on your wedding plans - remember we have lots and lots of time left!!

Dolly<3

I love the tiffany blue colour, I think its beautiful! I saw somewhere the other day a whole wedding with a Tiffany theme, can't remember if it was on here or not. I also think adding the ruby red is lovely, I love the idea that it is personal to you and has a specific meaning. Its difficult when you have something in your head and others don't quite agree but remember to go with what you love.

I was originally thinking of a cadbury's purple theme, purple is my favourite colour and I like the idea of having something quite bright.
I'm just worried about the overall 'theme' of my wedding, having spoke to a few engaged friends and going to a wedding last week, they all have ideas that flow throughout the whole wedding. I'm not sure if im explaining myself very well so I'll give an example lol!! Like a light blue colourscheme, with a sea theme so shells on the cakes, vases with shells in that have blue flowers at the top, table names after different Caribbean islands and gingerbread favours in the shape of dolphins and starfish.

I'm just struggling to think of ways to tie all of mine in but I suppose I've got time for that and I'm wondering do I have to tie it all in?

xxxxx

rubysmummy_2

i had the same problem - i couldnt think of a theme as such - my H2b and i like different things - people keep saying to us surely there is something that you must both love but other than our daughter we love different things we i think is great!! i toyed with loads of ideas of having a theme running throughout it all but honestly i couldnt think of one thing - we dont really have hobbies as such or special places we have been, we work hard and we enjoy spending days out together with our daughter but we dont have any special places we love to go to or anything like that!! That was when i thought about incorporating Ruby into it all and luckily her name is a colour but honestly i wouldnt worry about it all, it will all look lovely when you have your colour scheme. Do you have maybe a flower you both like you could incorporate or butterflies - i know they seem to be quite popular - depends if you wanted something original i suppose.

actually i looked into our birth flowers - and i am having these in my bouqeut, maybe you could find something like this, looking up your names or birth flowers and incorporating them - it doesnt have to be significant to anyone else but just you two. also im getting seeds from flowers with Ruby in thier name and making seed paper for the favours, maybe you could do the same with your birth flowers??

Or maybe have cadbury chocolates?? Cadburys do the big purple chocolate things dont they - maybe use those as favours?? Or mini dairy milk in the purple wrappers.

Dolly<3

Yeah I agree its healthy to have different interests! I love the idea of putting ruby around, its a beautiful colour and has such a lovely meaning!

The birth flowers is a good idea too, hadn't thought of that! Will have a look.

We are hoping to have cupcakes as favours, as we are both quite cupcake obsessed and this got me to thinking if we could just have a theme of things we love or things that people associate with us. I think you're right though I'm going to go back to focusing on things that are significant to us rather than a 'theme' that people will pick up on!

Thanks