July 2013 Brides and Grooms

lisajane8482

Thank you both, I'm over the moon with them. I'm not very arty but they are simple enough to make.

laura_hoggle wrote: »

They are really pretty Lisa! What are you making them with?

I got 40 mini foam roses off ebay for just over £8, the bud is around the size of a 50p piece. I got some ribbon and leaves from the craft section in Boyes and got some thin wire to wrap the bits together before wrapping the stems in self sealing florist tape (also from ebay).

How exciting to be moving in together Laura. OH and I moved in last year, I remember how excited I was, wandering round thinking this is our's (well almost, we rent too). I hope everything goes smoothly.

wendz86 wrote: »

Exciting about the giving notice. We need to book ours but my OH has had hardly any time off during the summer but more time off now so will hopefully do it in the next month.

My OH was busy over the summer too, works dying off now so took advantage and just booked it.

wendz86 wrote: »

The wedding savings are taking a hit at the moment for car stuff which is a pain buit hoping we can build them back up again.

Our savings may be taking a hit over the next few weeks/month as the job OH has is casual and the works coming to an end so he's looking for a more permentant job. I'm putting in overtime at work to hopefully soften the blow.

wendz86

That is good you can do some overtime.My OH gets to do overtime sometimes so definately helps.

I have ordered my bridesmaid dresses! Saw some nice ones in debenhams online and took my sister to try it on today and we really liked it. Even better they had 20% off for the next couple of days.

This is the dress :http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10001_10001_008010613206_-1?breadcrumb=Home%7EWomen

The ones i originally liked in coast were on sale as well for £99 down from £175 but we prefered these. If anyone was thinking of looking though Coast have a few on sale.

lisajane8482

Hope the planning is going well.

wendz the bridesmaid dresses are lovely, I love the colour.

I received my flowers last weekend and I absolutely love them.

My bouquet and H2B buttonhole


Bridesmaids bouquet, wand and men’s buttonhole


Close ups



All the flowers I got for less than £110 (My bouquet, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 3 wands and 8 button holes)


The bouquets and wands didn’t have diamantes in the centre of the roses so I bought some off eBay and have added them myself. I was asked if I wanted them and originally I didn’t until I saw them in the buttonholes. I am so pleased with them, they are much lovelier than I imaged they would be and for the price I paid a bargain in my eyes. I need to take a picture of the corsages that we bought (also off eBay but a different seller), they are also lovely but are made with silk flowers.

We also gave our notice to marry last Friday so it’s all starting to feel much more real now. We’ve done our finalised guest list... well finalised for now anyway and our final numbers are 85 for the day and 179 for the evening.

I’ve been having wobbles about my dress and can’t help but think I should have gone for something simpler, with a smaller/no train as we are having a civil ceremony. I absolutely love my dress but keep feeling that it’s maybe’s too extravagant for our wedding and I’ll just look silly and over dressed.

laura_hoggle

Lisa, those flowers are absolutely stunning! I was talking to my mum about our flowers earlier, we have booked a florist but things are flexible as to what we have from them, so I may take a look at something like this.. May I be cheeky and ask you to PM me the sellers details?? I'd love to compare the prices with the florist I have booked...

Giving notice is quite exciting isn't it!! It feels like we did it so long ago now!

Now OH and I are settled into our new house we are starting to think more about wedding stuff. We went to a wedding in Sardinia this weekend, and it was so different from a UK wedding! It was so much fun, and there was sooooo much yummy food! We still haven't really decided on our food yet, it's the evening buffet that we are struggling with! We are definitely having a cake made of cheese with biscuits, chutneys etc. and trying to decide what will go with that! Any thoughts?

There is a wedding fair at our ceremony venue this Sunday that we are going to. OH is coming along to check out the suit hire places then disappearing off to the pub! My mum, maid of honour, godmother and 18 year old goddaughter (who is also a bridesmaid) are coming along too. All we really have left to book is the suit hire and chair covers, but I still like to look around!

laura_hoggle

lisajane8482 wrote: »

I’ve been having wobbles about my dress and can’t help but think I should have gone for something simpler, with a smaller/no train as we are having a civil ceremony. I absolutely love my dress but keep feeling that it’s maybe’s too extravagant for our wedding and I’ll just look silly and over dressed.

Every now and again I think that about mine, especially as it's quite princessy in style and not what I wanted at all! Then I think 'Sod it! I love the dress and it's my day, so I'll wear what I like!' I'm sure you look amazing in it, and I've never heard anyone say that anyone (especially the bride!) was overdressed at a wedding - although I have heard (and witnessed!) the opposite!

lisajane8482

Thanks Laura, I'm glad that it's not just me. I wouldn't change my dress as I really do love it and I wouldn't be happy with a different one. I think I have a habit of over thinking at times

I've pm'd the sellers details to you.

We only have suit hire left to book and possibly a coach to transport the guests from the ceremony to the reception.

We (well I) don't know what to do about chair covers as our venue charge £2.75 and we'll need 155 as we won't be leaving the room between the day and evening. We can't bring in an external company either. I am going to try and haggle the price down as I really can't justify spending over £400. If we don't get them it's not too bad as the chairs are a burgundy colour so fit in with our scheme but the room looks so much nicer and brighter with them on.

laura_hoggle

Thanks for that, I'm just saving them to my favourite sellers list. Even if I just get a few things from there (like the ladies corsages and flower girls wand) rather than the florist it will save some money, and will last a lot longer!

We have been recommended a chair cover company by our reception venue, and to be honest I don't think we can get away with not having them. They are big wooden chairs which aren't the prettiest, and whenever we go to any other function there mum and I always end up snagging our tights on them! I'm hoping this company will be at the wedding fair this weekend and do some sort of deal for booking on the day!

My mum said she spoke to my cousin yesterday, who said she will do my hair and make up as a wedding gift, which I am quite relieved about! That's one less thing to pay for. I think I might go to a Boots make up counter soon and get them to recommend some products and start getting them when Boots have their Christmas extra points events.

wendz86

Hi ,

sounds like you are both getting on we'll.

Lisa those flowers are gorgeous ! Exciting for giving notice, we did it on Friday so feels more real now. I am sure you will look amazing in your dress and I'm sure you won't look/feel overdressed . It is your day after all !

Laura - hope the wedding fair goes ok . We are having a plough mans in the evening so breads, cheese , pickle etc . So maybe something like that would go with the cake?

We booked our honeymoon/ family holiday yesterday to st lucia . So excited ! We are taking our daughter and my parents to give us a couple of nights off so won't be a traditional honeymoon but I can't wait .

I have a meeting with a florist in a couple of weeks so hopefully we will get that sorted soon .

laura_hoggle

Hi everyone!

How's it all going? Wendz, have you had you meeting with the florist yet? Hope it went well if you have. St Lucia sounds AMAZING!! Good idea to take your parents with you too for a bit of time to yourselves.

Lisa, have you decided what to do about chair covers yet? I still don't have mine sorted, the chair cover company who were at the wedding fair I went to weren't the one which our venue recommended, and we didn't have the measurements of the chairs so couldn't book through them. I need to contact the company our venue recommended to get a quote from them really, as the figure I have on my spreadsheet is just an estimate, and I seem to have been underestimating things lately!

The wedding fair we went to was lovely, not very big and not very busy. The staff at the venue (which is our ceremony venue) were all really lovely. As you walked in, you were all given a glass of Prosecco, and they kept coming round with canapes, which were very yummy! If it wasn;t so pricey we would have had our drinks reception there, but we are getting so much more for our money at the reception venue.

I think OH has decided to hire the suits from Moss, as 3 of the men live in Manchester and the other 4 are Oxfordshire based, we couldn't really go with a local (cheaper) company as they wouldn't be able to get measured. We were told that the prices would increase in January, so if anyone else is using Moss it would be good to book the suits soon!

I completely fell in love with a string quartet at this wedding fair. They played the song I want to walk down the aisle to (Elbow, One Day Like This) and I was nearly in tears. We enquired about their prices, and were quoted £590 for 2 hours. To begin with we were ready to book it, then as I was filling in the booking form, they asked you to list the 3 songs you want (bride's arrival, signing register, couple leaving) and I realised that it is essentially nearly £600 for 3 songs. Not very MSE at all!!! I contacted another string quartet who have very good reviews and they quoted £420 for the same time. A lot cheaper, but still unsure. I REALLY REALLY want one but the sensible side of me keeps holding back!

We have started to buy the wine/bubbly for the day, and made use of Sainsburys 25% off 6 bottles offer when they had some prosecco for £6. It does say it is best drunk within 6 months of purchase and it was 9 months to go, but we have taken the risk! We decided to go for prosecco rather than champagne as a lot of weddings I have been to, the champagne hardly gets touched and I can't help but think what a waste it is. Plus, my parents much prefer prosecco as they find champagne too dry. I think 24 bottles worked out to be about £108, so quite pleased with that. The chef at our venue has offered to store it in the fridge for us to keep it at a constant temperature, which is nice.

I also have £80 in M&S vouchers saved to put towards the wedding cake, and am trying to do as many surveys as I can on a website which pays out in M&S vouchers! I'm hoping I'll not have too much to put towards it in the end.

Hope you are all getting on well, sorry I always seem to write an essay when I come on here! I feel like writing it all down makes me feel more productive than I actually have been!!!

wendz86

Hi,

Sounds like you are doing really well.

The string quartet sounds really good but is a bit cost but i keep thinking i dont want to regret not having things so is a difficult one for you i'm sure.

We are hiring from moss bross but dont think we will have time to go before christmas, will mention to OH though!

I am planning to save m and s vouchers for the cake too. I have an m and s card so get vouchers from that. Been saving all my vouchers for christmas but will go towards wedding stuff after.

The florist was really good and we went with them. The quote was around what i expected and they seemed to understand what i was looking for and they were very helpful.

Probably won't get much more done now this year but do need to print a prototype invitation for OH's grandparents as they won't book a flight from spain till we send them one. Might change it before we send out the rest though.