July 2013 Brides and Grooms

Spencer_Li

After quite a bit of looking, we've booked our photographer.

We've decided to spend a bit more than previously thought, as the photography is one of the most important things for us.
The main thing, apart from his photos, was his professionalism and confidence.

Glad it's out of the way as I hated telling the other photographers that we wouldn't be using them.

wendz86

No-one has posted here in a while but thought i would introduce myself.

I am getting married 26th july 2013. I was proposed to on christmas day and have so far booked the venue, which is for the ceremony and reception and have booked the registrar. Really need to start getting more organised soon.

MrsDrink

:T Congratulations to all the July 2013 brides (and grooms). Just think when you're in the final run up to your weddings, we'll be heading towards our first anniversary!! (We're getting married 17th July 2012). Scary to think how quick the last year has gone, and how quick your year of planning is going to go :T

lisajane8482

Hello fellow July 2013 brides. We have set our date for 6th July 2013.

So far we have:

• Paid the deposit for our civil ceremony
• Paid the deposit for the reception
• Made 2 fruit cakes
• Chosen the sponge cake
• Paid the deposit for the photographer
• Bought my dress, accessories, shoes and most of my makeup
• Bought the maid of honours and oldest bridesmaids dresses and accessories
• Picked the younger bridesmaids dresses (well we like 2 dresses so closer to the date will take them to try on and make our final choice)
• Paid the deposit for the cars (7 seater Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce silver shadow)
• Picked our florist and the flowers (just need to go see her and pay the deposit)
• Have all our stationary including stamps
• Bought cufflinks and socks for the men in the bridal party
• Bought most of the stuff for the favours (just need to buy the sweets closer to the date)
• Bought wedding insurance
• Started to buy thank you gifts
• Started choosing the music

I have my first bridal fayre next Thursday, to be honest I don't really think I really need to go but thought it would be worth a look, plus the lady who we will be getting to do our balloons will be there so it means I get the chance to have a chat with her.

How is everyone elses planning going?

laura_hoggle

Hi July 2013 brides! We are just in the process of finalising our bookings now, and are getting married on 20th July 2013. The date isn't significant to us (yet!) but it was the only date we could get the venue we wanted - where my dad works as a chef and where my parents had their wedding reception, 38 years ago.

So far we have:

-Booked the ceremony venue (just need to pay deposit and sign paperwork)

-Booked the reception venue (deposit to be paid at the end of the summer - bonus!)

-Booked the registrar

-Bought wedding insurance

-Bought bridesmaid dresses

-Bought stamps (although I think we should buy some more just in case before the price increases!)

-Probably picked photographer, just need to go and see him next week (have had good recommendations from friends, and LOVE the photos we've seen online)

We are going to meet with the head chef at the venue a week today to discuss our options, and hear some of his suggestions. Hopefully with it being where my dad has worked for over 40 years we will get some discounts (we already have reduced room hire and corkage fee) and at least we know the food will be good!!:rotfl:

Lisajane8482 you are doing fantastically with everything you have booked so far! I'm hoping we can start the ball rolling with everything else now the main things are booked. We are going to a wedding in the area we are getting married in next week so will be checking out their flowers, entertainment etc. to see what they are like!

lisajane8482

Hi laura, it's nice to meet another July 2013 bride

We (well I) started the ball rolling early as I am a natural born worrier and stress head so thought the earlier we book/arrange stuff the less there is to worry/stress over closer to the date.

Where abouts are you getting married?

Our ceremony is at Preston Hall (a local museum), it's being refurbished at the moment and reopens this summer so will be popping along to have a look, not that I can remember what it looked like before. The ceremony will be in the music room with photo opportunities in the victorian street, the winter gardens and the hall grounds.

I keep wishing it was this time next year but the way this year is flying by it will be here before we know it.

laura_hoggle

We are getting married in Oxford town centre, at a hotel called the Randolph which has appeared in Inspector Morse a lot (it was the only venue that we really liked which is big enough for our 105 day guests!) and the reception is at one of the oldest Oxford University colleges, St Edmund Hall. I really liked the idea of having part of the wedding at Oxford University, as a lot of people have never been inside one. Plus, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than people would think, even if you don't know anyone who works there! :rotfl: We just need to figure out how we are going to get 100 people between the venues, and are toying with different ideas at the moment!

Lisa your venue sounds lovely. I just had a sneaky peek at the website and it looks gorgeous! The Victorian street sounds like it will be fantastic for photos.

I'd love to have more things booked by now. We met with a photographer on Sunday, and OH and I agreed we needed to talk more about what we wanted, but haven't so far. The problem we will have is that I don't live in Oxford (it's where my parents live and I grew up) so most of our wedding planning will have to be done at weekends when I'm visiting. OH and I don't live together yet; in fact we don't even live in the same county! (he's in Oxfordshire and I'm in Hertfordshire) So trying to arrange to meet suppliers can be tricky!

We are quite lucky in that we have a few weddings to go to this year, so we will be able to get ideas on things (the one we are going to this weekend they are having a sweetie buffet and they have promised us we can have whatever jars, scoops etc. they have left over - yay!) but I'm worried that I'll just want everything I see!! :rotfl:

Well July 2013 will definitely be here before we know it! I still can't believe it's April already!!

johannalf88

Just wanted to say the Randolph is lovely! we stayed there when OH graduated... Soo posh, made us feel really on top! We (very quickly) looked at getting married at OHs college, but they get so many requests they only accept current students/ phd/ professors etc.

I don't know St Edmunds hall, but the classic Oxford transport is bike! :rotfl:

Oxford halls can be really spectacular, apart from all the old paintings of John bloggs on the wall! :rotfl:

It should be really cool!

laura_hoggle

Ah thank you! I'm not sure yet whether or not we will be staying at the Randolph on the night, or in a hotel on the High Street, closer to St Edmund Hall (there's 2 hotels almost directly opposite which would be perfect - and are cheaper!) The Randolph won't know what's hit it with our two families there!

We were looking into hiring an old fashioned red double decker bus to transport people, but not sure whether or not it's worth the money. Someone my dad works with suggested we hire a couple of tour guides to walk the guests around the back streets, past the Bodleian, under the Bridge of Sighs to the reception - but I'm working on the assumption that the weather will be wet, that way I won't be disappointed if it is, but will be really happy if it's nice! Someone else suggested Segways, although I don't want to spend my wedding night in A&E as most of my family have fallen off them...

Which college did your OH go to? Whenever I say to suppliers and people where we are having the reception, they assume that either OH or I studied there (probably thinking 'if they can afford to go there, we can charge them more') - I love seeing the look on their faces when I tell them no, it's because my dad is a chef there, and I did some waitressing there as a teenager! :rotfl:

johannalf88

He went to wadham. Tbh Oxford has so many sights that it may not be worth hiring transport etc, Esp if st Edmunds is near the high street, it's only down the road. I was there last weekend and there was a wedding party walking past the bodlean. It would be cool to see if someone does those bicycle cabs tho for you & OH!

De-lurking now before I start planning someone else's wedding! I have enough on my plate with my own! :rotfl::rotfl: