**October 2012 Brides and Grooms**

double_mummy

hey ms shopper yes she is isnt she amazing!!!!

she is already doing my BM dresses for me we have the fitting for them in july and i really cant wait!

so are you local?

MsShopper

Nope, I'm in London, but happy to travel for great service like that. I never thought I could afford to get a bespoke dress designed and made exactly as I wanted – really glad I found her!

Good luck with your dress decision.

double_mummy

well the travel up here is not too bad im down to london on thursday

she is so lovely and im so glad that i got the reccomendation for her ..... was it from you?

i will make a decision by this time tomorrow!!! hehehehe

MsShopper

It was indeed, via Megan's FB group. Glad someone else is getting the benefit of Lisa's brilliance!

double_mummy

yay thank you so much!!!!!

Burlesque_Babe

finally posting to join you all
Been lurking on the thread for months!
OK, the low down......

Who: me and pepe2008
Wedding date: 9 October 2012
Time: 11.30am in local registry office with 4 guests (both sets of parents)
Afterwards: lunch for the 6 of us in a country pub we like
Wedding night: back home for the 2 of us. We live in a lovely village cottage and are happy to be curling up in front of an open fire together with something nice to drink

Then....

Handfasting blessing ceremony :12 Oct, mid afternoon (time to be finalised, hopefully about 3 or 3.30)
Guests: 20 (all family)
Location: small local hotel that means a lot to us with lovely staff we know well. The ceremony will take place in their gardens unless it is bad weather and then they will arrange our reception room into a ceremony room first
Reception: 3 course sit down meal, no disco etc, family can chat or use bar. Reception Room is being given to us for no charge
We are staying overnight there in our favourite room and then flying to Ireland for a week in a stunning cottage on the Giants Causeway. Extra night in Ireland in a hotel and then home.

Arranged so far....

Registry office: Notice given, need to pay ceremony fee

Honeymoon: flights, car hire, cottage, extra night hotel booked. Just need train from local town to airport when tickets available

Clothing: Pepe has shoes (bit of a story there with regards to cost! :eek::rotfl:) I have part of a head piece and 1 pair of shoes!

Wedding Rings: we have treated ourselves to handmade and designed by us rings and they are paid for and ready to collect. We aren't in the area the jeweller lives in for a few weeks but not a problem.
Flowers: I have the flowers, wire etc to make button holes for 5 (parents and OH) for registry, not going to bother with handfasting button holes

Reception: reception room reserved, food chosen, just need to pay for food and wine for the table. 'Wedding' night room booked in our favourite room in the hotel.

To arrange:

Invitations for the second ceremony. Mum is going to make them as she does card making. Will only need about a dozen as most family are part of a couple
Clothing: 2 outfits for me, 1 pair of shoes 2 shirts and 1 jacket for Pepe. Head pieces for me, probably a couple of ebay flower fascinators
Flowers (2 bouquets for me, probably silk flowers), considering making them myself plus flowers or a wand for my niece as flower girl/bridesmaid
Cake: in the 2 days between ceremonies we will make a 2 layer really rich chocolate cake and decorate with a chocolate frosting (break open the chocolate spread to add to the frosting ). Pepe's mum has been tasked with making autumn pieces for it such as ivy/berries/leaves etc in marzipan/sugar crafting, whatever it is :rotfl: We both love cookery and baking and we are really looking forward to doing this
Cars - low key, probably normal taxi to registry office and looking for unbranded taxi or nice branded taxi for handfasting ceremony. Don't see the point of paying for something posh nobody will see other than me getting in!!
Bridesmaid outfit: 1 - my niece who is 10. She lives in Canada and I'm going to let my sister decide on the dress and shoes for her and give her a set amount of money. She knows what colour to get and my niece is basically going to choose what she wants to wear
High Priestess for handfasting ceremony: I have recently contacted our local pagan group and enquiries have started for someone to officiate.
Music: choice of music for registry office and then to put together a few CDs of tracks for music whilst we eat at the reception

Not having/doing:

Table decorations
wedding favours
disco/after meal entertainment
save the date cards
Photographer (unless I find one on gumtree for free. We really aren't bothered about having lots of posed photographs that will sit in an album for years to come and are happy for family to take photos and videos etc)
make up and hair - I will dye my hair myself and have a trim the week before and do my own makeup on the day. Not bothering with tanning/nails etc as it isn't something I normally do and not into.
stag/hen night - neither of us are fussed
Pepe isn't planning to have a best man, but will have his Dad there


Biggest headache: what to wear. I am plus sized and don't want a standard style of dress (the kind sold on ebay by chinese sellers or the kind off the peg in wedding shops and definitely not white or ivory). I haven't tried anything on. There is a shop about 30 miles away that only sells 16+ size dresses and I really should grit my teeth and at least try on some for style if not the actual dress - part of the reticence is the fear of looking appallingly huge in everything and stopping myself buying random cheap Cherlone style dresses on ebay 'just in case' the shape is right to base the shape of an outfit ont. I've got my eye on a velvet and satin long skirt/ bodice/long jacket combo on a goth site and etsy for the registry office at a total cost of about 160 and know roughly what I want for my handfasting ceremony with roughly the same budget to spend. I'm going for black and sapphire blue for the registry office with peacock embroidery I am planning to add to the jacket and then an autumn coloured dress for the handfasting ceremony - if I can find a long, plain dress I will probably add some applique embroidery of autumn leaves or something similar and then looking to team it with a long velvet riding jacket in the same colour or a different autumn colour. I really should try some stuff on though....a couple of months ago I had a medieval dress made for me on ebay in green velvet to see what it looked like (I really thought it would look good!) and whilst it was just as ordered etc, it looked horrific on - think the Princess off Shrek.....



Total budget: no more than 3.5k.
Spend so far: about 1200 with reception cost of about 600 the only big outlay left to make.

Phew....off the top of my head, I think that's about it :rotfl:

double_mummy

hi burselque babes

i am also a larger lady (around a 26-30) and i went dress shopping today (literally just got back) and i didnt want the normal wedding dress

i found one that i adore (me and BM in floods of tears) that is not a regular dress at all

it is amazing i bought it then and there

so no more DM whinging that she hasnt got a dress YAY

Burlesque_Babe

hi double mummy....really? that sounds amazing - I am about a 24/26 at the moment. I was determined to be a 20 by October but I really can't see me getting into the diet 'thing', we eat far too much cake :rotfl: Can I ask where you went as you aren't far from me (was it the shop in Rugby?)

I know what I definitely don't want - sleeveless (I will have a jacket on), not a bolero jacket unless it is a gothic style one, not white or ivory and definitely not strapless, I can't handle a day of hoiking everything up! :rotfl:

double_mummy

it is a shop called about a bride in bletchley, just on the south side of MK

http://www.aboutabrideplussize.co.uk/

the ladies in there are lovely

all their dresses can be ordered in any colour so its looking at the style rather than the colour as in the shop most are white or ivory

i would email them first and have a chat about what you are looking for and see if they can help

cake is also my biggest weakness we have an amazing bakery literally 100 yards away it is my biggest enemy lol

there is a big fair every year at the centre mk with retro and gothicy stuff i just cant remember when it is, we also have the buzy a huge retro clothing store in the centre next to the train station

so maybe a days wander around here might be good

johannalf88

Oh what did u get?!? I have been wondering how u have been getting on all day?!

Welcome Burlesque Babe! :wave: