10 Months To Go...the Date is set!

As today is officially 10 months until the wedding I thought I would do a little update on where we're up to.

I think we're doing pretty well so far, and T most definitely thinks that everything is done - to which I have to firmly tell him that it is not.

I was going to keep this in one post, but I rambled so much I've decided to split it up! And I've ended up spliiting it up quite a lot, so keep your eyes peeled for more posts, with more details!

Date

The date is set, we get married in just 10 short months! We decided on a Winter wedding, as I do love winter and the date is quite close to Christmas, so we can have a touch of sparkle! It was also cheaper to have winter rather than summer...every little helps ;)

Venue

It didn't actually take long to pick, it was the first place we visited and we'd basically ready to sign on the dotted line before we went to visit it. The place had a big tick next to it for everything we wanted - all in one place, manor house, nice gardens, lovely rooms, great package, good location, good transport links, bedrooms for guests etc.

It's set up just for conferences and weddings, so they definitely know what they're going. Even better, T used to work with their company and got us an extra discount through one of his contacts.
And to top all that off, the hotel is part of a small chain of conference hotels, the same group that own the hotel where we first met, and then (3 years later) where I actually caught on and realised that not only did T like me (I already knew that one), I liked him too! So we're continuing our tie with the hotel group by having our wedding with them too!

[Gorse Hill]

Ceremony

For us it was a no brainer to have this in the same place as the reception. We're not religious and so it would seem false to marry in a Church - plus neither of us like the stuffiness that assocaite, let along the singing (yuk!).

The hotel has a gorgeous Lounge, where I can walk up the aisle between two giant pillars and we can get married in front of a bay window with french windows overlooking the gardens. Plus the room will have a fire lit (in the fireplace of course) and a giant Christmas tree - hooray!

Registrar

Just a matter of finding out which was the one for the area, and then paying some pretty heavy fees to secure them. But hey, it's the most important bit of the day. What's a wedding without a ceremony?

Still to come...

Vendors

Outfits

Beauty

Food & Drink

Finishing Touches

Enjoying this Blog

I must say, I'm enjoying this blog much more than I ever have.

Before I felt pressured to post about certain things, to post lots of photos and to fit in.

Now it's so much more free.

I feel like I can post what I want, when I want and no one cares, it just doesn't matter.

I like rambling on about what's happening in my life, getting things off my chest if I need to.

And who cares if anyone reads it? (Thank you if you do!)

Wedding Dress Shopping: Mark 2

A week ago on Saturday I had my second experience of Wedding Dress shopping!

Accompanying me were my mother and my 3 bridesmaids. I picked two dress shops based on what designers and dresses I liked and which particular dresses they stocked. And spent a lot of the week before going through lots of pictures of dresses and deciding which I should try on!

I can a good idea of what dresses I wanted to try from my first trip, nearly 2 months before!

The shops I picked were rather fitting in their locations, as the first was less than 5 minutes from where I live, the closest shop to me, and it stocks loads of the deisgners I like, cannot believe it!

The second is in Islington in London, which is where I had my first date with my future husband, perfect!

The day started when I woke up 2 hours earlier than I was meant to...who knows what time I'll wake up on our Wedding day?

Shop one was Confetti & Couture in Romford, Essex. They were so lovely there and I felt totally comfortable and I wasn't rushed at all.

Shop two was Angelica Bridal in Islington, London. We were defiinitely more rushed there and didn't feel so relaxed, but they had some lovely dresses which I'd like to go back and try on.

Overall the day was sucessful, I didn't find THE dress, I did have that WOW moment, but I found a few dresses which I really like and are beautiful.

I'm going to carry on my search to try and find the one, wow dress...but I'm not sure I'm cut out for that moment!

And it means there's a lot more research to go!

I really wish I could post some of the few photos I was allowed to take, but it's probably better not to have them floating around for anyone to see. After all, I want everyone to be surprised by how fabulous I look on the day.

So exciting, nearly at 10 months to go!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Wedding Dress Shopping: Mark 1

This is a bit of a throwback to November when I went on my first dress shopping trip, how can it have been that long ago!

I was feeling pretty nervous and excited, I went with my mum to a shop near where she lives to try and get an idea of what I wanted.

I'd done quite a lot of looking at dresses in advance and I thought I knew the style I wanted, but why not go crazy and try on everything the shop has to offer.

Which is exactly what I did, I think I ended up trying on about 7 dresses!

Being a size 6-8 in the UK and 5ft, I was pretty sceptical about how they were going to make a dress that's size 12-14 fit me in anyway.

A little later when I was clipped and pinned into a dress, I could see what a fantastic job they could do! However due to the amount of clips on the backs of the dresses, I can never get a proper idea of what that'll look like.

The style of dresses I thought I wanted was exactly right, I tried on some of the big poofy ones, but looked totally ridiculous being so small.

Overall it was good, I didn't get any sort of 'wow' feeling, but we did some ground work!

Keep an eye out for the next installment of my Wedding Dress Shopping!

Wedding Dress Shopping: An Uphill Struggle

So would've thought that shopping for a Wedding dress would be SO STRESSFUL.

In my head it's all lovely, lunches out, floating into lovely shops where they give you glasses of fizz (or at least a cup of tea), coming out of the changing room to gasps of delight and swirling around in beautiful dresses.

The reality, lunches out cause me to eat too much and give me a tummy ache during the appointment, the shops all seem to run late and so you run out of time. I'm too small for all the dresses, so I have to be clipped, pegged and pinned into them, meaning I can't bend down to pick up the dress. And as I'm so short, the dresses are all far to long. Cue me tripping out of a changing room and stumbling into a block to make me look taller.

Galmorous!

All in all, that makes it sound a lot worse than it is, it is very fun (as long as you don't mind standing in your underwear in front of a total stranger!)

What I'm running the real stress and struggle is finding the right dress, and then once I've found a dress to try on finding somewhere that stocks that dress!

I've been on 2 trips, spanning 2 months and I haven't found the dress, I haven't had the wow moment. I'm not even sure I'll have that moment.

Everyone had a bigger and better reaction (bridesmaids, my mum and the ladies in the shop) than me to all the dresses I tried on.

I feel like I'm striving to find some perfection that isn't there, to find a better dress that won't exist. Because how would I find the dress that has everything perfect and within a budget?

I currently have 4 different spreadsheets open, all with multiple tabs, I've sent nearly 30 emails to dress shops in the last day and a half about designers, dresses and appointments.

To try on the dresses I want to I'm going to have to travel miles to try on just one dress. Then miles to somewhere else to try on one more dress.

Should I give up on that and settle for one I've found?

And meanwhile I've got the wedding timeline in my mind - must buy dress by 8 months.

I'm at 10 months now, that only gives me another 2 months to get this in the bag!
But my bridesmaids aren't free for another month, the dress shops are booked up for a month and a half.

How do I do this?
Why is it such a difficult task?

Am I the only one that has so much trouble?

I'm feeling so confused, stressed and overwhelmed by this.
I just don't know what to do next.

Photo Friday #9

A sneak peak at the florist I've booked for my wedding!

[Blush Floral Design]