July 2013 Brides and Grooms

laura_hoggle

I think we have sent almost all of our day invites out now (just waiting for one address for a friend who is currently travelling!) and most of the evening ones.

We have also started to receive RSVP's, I get very excited when I see the postman has brought something! So far I think we have just over 20 confirmed in writing, with a few more have told us they are coming but will send an RSVP in the post. I have a feeling I know who will take their time in responding and will more than likely need chasing!

We had some really good news the other day, OH found out that he is getting a bonus from work, and he said that he could pay for the string quartet out of that! We still haven't discussed it properly yet as we havent seen a lot of each other in the last week due to various reasons so need to sit down and talk about it in the next few days.

My bridesmaids have been busy organising my hen do, which I am really excited about, but at the same time am hating it as I have no control!! We are going to Bath on the 14th June, and other that and where we are staying, I know nothing. I am normally the one who has everything planned out and organised, so I am finding it really hard!!! I have also been told that they will be covering my costs which I am touched about, but at the same time really would like to pay for myself as it is because of me that they will be spending money anyway!! So I will have to think of ways to get around that.

Anyone else have any ideas about what their final send offs might entail at all?

laura_hoggle

We had some fantastic news today, that I'm desperate to share....

My cousin (who is doing my hair and make up on the day) entered us in a competition on Facebook to win a wedding cake, and we found out today that we have won!!!! :j:j:T

So happy, it will save us some money! I was so excited when I read my name as the winner, I couldn't stop shaking! We were planning on getting our cake from Marks and Spencer, and had £140 in vouchers saved towards a £220 cake. It's much prettier than any of the M&S cakes too, and will be decorated so we don't have to worry about that. We are paying £40 to have it delivered as the lady making it isn't local and we don't really want the responsibility of transporting it on the day. So it has saved us £40 and we still have the vouchers. I am going to send some to my cousin with a thank you card for entering us, and will use some of the rest to buy thank you gifts for people (wanted to get photo frames for parents and they have some nice ones) and clothes for honeymoon.

We also attempted our pre-wedding photo shoot today, and visited our venue with the photographer. Didn't choose the best of days weather wise,as it was freezing and started snowing at one point! So he has suggested we have another one once it gets a bit warmer. Still managed to get a few nice shots, and really looking forward to seeing them when he emails us

I hope you are all getting on well, and would love to hear people's news!

wendz86

I thought I had replied to your last post but obviously hadn't!

Sounds like you have had the great news with your OH's bonus and the cake too. I would be really excited if i won as well! I think i should have entered some more competitions, you never know.

Your hen do sounds like it is going to be good. I have been organising mine with my sister. We are off to Brighton in May and doing a craft /afternoon tea thing on the sat afternoon. My sisters friend runs the place so they are doing us a discounted deal if we bring our own food and wine and they are providing the tea and the craft session. Then we are off out on a night out, leaving any more details to my sister.

Not much news here wedding wise we are on a hunt for a new place to live as they are selling the flat we rent so trying to get that sorted then can get more wedding stuff done.

laura_hoggle

Good luck finding somewhere to live Wend, OH and I had that task last year, and are hoping t buy somewhere later this year... I know it's not the easiest of tasks!!

Your hen sounds fun, and I'm very jealous that you at least know something you are doing!!! I have hinted that I would like to have some sort of spa thing while we are in Bath, and from what a couple of people have said (I'm not sure if they know it's meant to be kept a secret from me!) it sounds as though thats part of the plan.

We have started to decorate our placecards, Mum got some from Asda ridiculously cheap a while ago but I didn't like the sequin bell on the front, so have taken all those off, turned them inside out and are attaching ribbons to match our colourscheme. We had a little production line going last week, OH taking the bells off, Mum cutting ribbon to size and me gluing them on! We got about half done last weekend and will hopefully finish them off this weekend, ready to write nearer the time. I think the table plan is likely to be decorated in the same way, I suppose we could get started on that and again finalise them nearer the time.

We are just waiting for the booking form to come through the post from the string quartet and we will get that booked We need to organise airport parking and hotel for the night before our honeymoon, then I think that is pretty much everything booked that needs to be, with details to finalise nearer the time. I still keep feeling like we have forgotten something, so I think I'll need to go through the list with Mum and OH at the weekend and see what they think!

I do need to lose some weight before the wedding, so that's something to add to my 'to do list' - my dress fits, but I would like a bit more eating room for the day! :rotfl:I was doing quite well, had lost about 4lbs, and seem to have found them all again! We have had a few patients at work bring in chocolates this week and a student as well, which really hasn't helped - if I don't buy them, I can't eat them, but if they are in front of me all day I can't help myself

Pinzy

Wendz & Laura - thanks for agreeing with my food grumble! Nothing was written down electronically or otherwise, so we've just had to suck it up. On the plus side the new events co-ordinator is turning out good.

Laura - turns out that buying too many bridesmaid dresses has turned out well! String quartet and cake news is brilliant!

Just over 100 days to go, and we'll be making invitations this weekend! A friend was printing things for us but he had a bit of family drama which has delayed the invites, but we'll get them out this week.

We have two photographers booked! One for £350, and a freebie one from gumtree, so even if one person's memory cards all go wrong we have the second! Now of course worrying about allocating time to them both but I'll just have to figure out a strict schedule!
Rings have been ordered, we went with a shop in Birmingham's jewellery quarter so quite a lot cheaper than high street and also have our own design engraved on them

Will be getting on the fit wagon after Easter - my dress was snug when I ordered it and I've put on weight since then.. ooer.

This weekend I have mostly been trying to sort music for the ceremony. A song for the processional, another for the recessional, a couple of songs during for us all to sing during the ceremony, and two more batches both for while guests are waiting for it to start, and while we're signing the register. I think that's been the toughest job so far!

wendz86

Hi all,

Good news we have somewhere to live, but means the next 2-3 weeks will be consumed with packing and moving. Hopefully once that is all done we can get on with wedding stuff!

Laura - your hen do will be fab i'm sure. Would be nice for it to be a surprise but i am a bit too much of a control freak haha.
The placecards sound good. I need to start thinking about things like these.

Pinzy - Hope you manage to find some songs . I have the songs for ceremony but still need to decide on readings and who is doing them!

Will also be getting on the fit wagon after we have moved. Thankfully havent put any weight back on since i lost it at begining of year but wouldnt mind losing a couple more pounds.

We are doing well with our RSVP's, we have 50 back out of 100.

Took my little girl to try on flowergirl dresses on friday with my mum and sister. Was quite funny as she was very particular about which ones she tried on, she is only just coming up to 2 lol. Anyway found one i like and was going to order on debenhams online as they have money off but they dont have the size for the oldest one so hoping they will get more on and be on offer again.

74jax

I've just popped over for a nosy as my June thread is thin on the ground at the moment, but had to say OMG Laura that's fab regarding FB!! Its so nice to know someone who has actuallly won, you must be so happy.

Right I'll slope off back to June now.....

laura_hoggle

Wendz, good news on finding somewhere to live! And the packing and moving will definitely give you a good workout, the constant running backwards and forwards and lugging stuff around is a lot more physical than you first think!!

You've done well to get that many RSVP's back, I haven't counted ours up yet but I think we are somewhere around 35-40. I'll tally them up later, we are the in laws at the moment and will be driving back down south once the football has finished!!

Pinzy - I agree with you about music being a hard choice! So far the only song we have set in stone is for my arrival, and that's it! We need to have a look through the list that the string quartet have and decide on what others we want. We are still undecided on a first dance song as well, have discussed a few but still not set in stone!

We have about 80 of our placecards done now, with about another 20 to go. They are at my parents with most of the other wedding stuff so can only do them when I'm there - hopefully will get them done in the next couple of weeks.

Mum and I are picking up our dresses from the dressmaker on Thursday after being altered, I'm looking forward to putting it on again! I have already bought underwear, but should have waited as I saw some I liked even more in M&S and now want to get that... as we still have the M&S vouchers we originally had for the cake I thought I could! Just annoyed that they don't have my size in stock anywhere at the moment, but will keep looking!

I also dragged OH to M&S last week to get his shoes as they had an offer on, he really didn't want to go (he hates shopping!) But glad we got them and again, made use of the vouchers! So that's another think ticked off the list. My mum followed suit and did the same with my dad, so they both have their shoes now.

The next few months are so busy for us, we are being godparents to OH's nephew in May, have our gift list to set up, I'm off to Spain with my mum & cousins, OH has his stag in Glasgow, I have 2 hen dos in June (work and friends), feels like we are barely going to stop between now and the big day!! Not sure where I'm going to fit in time to exercise, but it has to be done!!

laura_hoggle

74jax wrote: »

I've just popped over for a nosy as my June thread is thin on the ground at the moment, but had to say OMG Laura that's fab regarding FB!! Its so nice to know someone who has actuallly won, you must be so happy.

Right I'll slope off back to June now.....

Thanks 74jax, it definitely was a lovely surprise!! And has really helped us save money elsewhere, as we have used the vouchers we had saved for the cake for other things.

I sent my cousin a thank you card with £20 of vouchers as we thought it was the least we could do to say thank you. She said we shouldn't have, and she was pleased that we won, but we couldn't let something like that go unnoticed! I'll make sure she gets thanked in the speeches on the day as well.

lisajane8482

Hi Everyone,

Seems I’ve missed loads since I last posted and everyone’s planning is going well.

Congratulations on winning the cake Laura :j

Well since I last posted we’ve had a few dramas and problems but after a heart to heart and some serious discussions and decisions everything has worked out so the last few weeks have been mayhem trying to get the wedding back on track.

We sent our day invites in the middle of March and have had 25 out of 42 RSVP’s returned all yes except one which is my great Aunt and Uncle. I didn’t really expect them to attend as my great Aunt is unwell but I didn’t want to leave them out.

I had my hair and make-up trial I was happy with the hair and was unsure about the make-up as it was completely different to what I would usually wear and the foundation felt greasy and made me look like I had a tan when in reality I am very pale. I’ve now decided to do my own again so am trying out mascara’s and buying some different lip sticks/glosses trying to find one that I am happy with. I’m struggling to decide on what to do regarding eye and lip colour so the next few weekends I’m going round my mum’s to play with my make-up and find something that I really like.

I tried my dress on last weekend and I absolutely love it and it fits perfectly. I’ve lost 10lb since Christmas so I just need to tone up my middle section and maintain my weight. I didn’t bother with the 30 day shred in the end as I’m just to tired when I get in from work.

My sister (maid of honour) and I have planned my hen do. We’re going on a river cruise on the Teesside Princess in June. It’s all inclusive, BBQ and drinks for £33 each nothing fancy but since money’s tight for most of us it seemed like the best option, so far it looks like there will be around 15 of us going. We haven’t decided on a “Theme”, I have no idea what to do, fancy dress, t-shirts colour, I was hoping MoH would decide but she’s left that up to me OH has decided to go to Sunderland dogs. One of his best men has stepped down as he won’t be attending the wedding now as it is apparently it is the same weekend as the stag do of a member of his family. OH was wanting him to step down anyway as he wanted everyone to go abroad and that wasn’t going to happen.

We also booked the suits, I gave in on the condition that we’d pay for them so used the credit card I have which I didn’t really want to but there is no way we could find £500 for suits.

Can’t remember if I told you all but my friends partner is going to ice the fruit cakes my Nana and daughter made and is going to make us a themed sponge cake, he sent us a sketch and we absolutely love it. It’s far from traditional and I think it may raise a few eyebrows but we love it.

This is what we have so far (or at least everything I can think of):

Done:
Ceremony (includes registrar) & reception (includes DJ) venues booked, deposits paid
Photographer booked and deposit paid
Flowers
Cars booked and deposit paid
Dress bought, just needs some beading sewing back on
Tiara, underwear & shoes bought
Wedding rings bought
Sent out day invitations
Booked and paid for men’s suits
Bridesmaid dresses and hair accessories bought
Thank you gifts bought (except groomsmen’s)
Favours
Cakes Booked just need to pay
Coach booked just need to pay
OH gift bought
Hair booked
Nails booked
Half evening invitations sent

Still to do
Choose ceremony music
Decide on chair covers (leaving until closer to the date)
Practice make-up
Buy gifts for men
Name Cards
Make table plan once have RSVP's
Make buttonholes for family guests (about half way through these)
Table Numbers
Pick balloon arrangements for the reception