Its done...........!!!!

Well, I had an appointment today at a bridal shop about 1hr away from me....
Cant say i was really looking forward to it as i thought that i wouldnt be able to try anything on, that they would be horrible and that i wouldnt find anything i liked.

How wrong was i???

First of all, it was really easy to find the shop, and parking was absolutely no problem at all. The woman was a bit scatty, but pleasant enough. She seemed to have a wide range of dresses and wasnt pushy at all.
We went upstairs and she was really good with me being so self conscious. She passed a dress through and although it was nice, it didnt move me. Another dress came and again, it was lovely, but not me. A 3rd dress... and once i saw it in on me, well, i burst into tears..... guess thats the one then??

I tried on another 2, one was also lovely and is my second choice if something goes wrong with the first one. The final dress wasnt to my liking at all! She then asked me if i wanted to try on the one i loved... so i did, and it nearly made me cry again so i know its the right one for me!!

Deposit paid!!!

I feel so much better now - it was nice to see something that looked lovely on me, and i didnt want to criticise myself when i wore it, so its got to be pretty special eh? Its quite simple, but the detailing is amazing. The top of the bodice is covered with clear sequins, diamontes and small pearl like beads, which then scatter over the ruching and onto the a- line skirt. Its a lace up back, and the beading goes all down the side of the lace up.

I have ordered it in ivory, but this is the dress in silver as on the website of the designer (ALice James) :




I love it........ but now i am having wobbles about whether its special enough!! Thats probably cos its the most i have ever spent on a dress and its only natural!The woman was scatty, but totally lovely. She never made me feel ashamed of my size, or flab, and was really friendly without being over bearing.

Have booked an appointment to go back in Feb and get measured...... will need to go back before then and take my girls as they have got some lovely dresses in the emerald green colour for them to try on!!! xx

Outfits for the boys...... but what about me???

We went to a well known hire shop on monday and managed to sort out the groom's and groom-party suits!!
They have gone for the classic morning coat, sans top hat but with the striped trousers:






H2B has gone for a silver waistcoat that initially, i didnt like and thought it wouldnt look right, but when he put it on with the suit, it looked amazing:







We have decided on this for the Best Man and the Usher :










Dad has gone for a white waistcaot with small silver swirls on it similar to this one (they havent got his actual one on the website yet!)

I then came home and ordered the cravats and tie from www.thecravatcompany.co.uk - H2B and my dad will be in Emerald green, with the boys in Leaf green, and i am hoping it looks smashing together!


My dad very kindly paid for the suit hire, then gave us a fat wad of cash on top!! I was really amazed and grateful, but very overwhelmed as they havent got much money and it was really generous! Still, he wouldnt hear of us refusing or accepting it as a loan, so...... THANKS DAD!!!

So, thats the boys sorted.... .great, but i feel a little left out? My mum knows what she is wearing, and has it, H2B's mum also has her outfit, so its just me and my MOH's left with nothing to wear!!



I saw this lovely dress in Coast : (http://www.coast-stores.com///coast/fcp-product/2224682945#GBP)
I emailed both MOH's - one replied back virtually straight away saying she loved it, but i havent heard anything from the other one (are you surprised???) so thats an option.

As for me, well, nothing. I still feel to fat to go looking, but there is a part of me that is beginning to panic that i havent found anything yet? I know i have over 11 months left, but it seems everyone is ready except me and my MOH's?? I know that sounds really selfish, and of course, the marriage is the most important thing, but the dress is one of the main talking points isnt it?? And i cant bring myself to go and look. Thats probably cos of what happened the last time i went, and partly cos i am still heavier than i would want, but even so...... its not a helpful feeling!!

I feel a little resentful i guess and i am sure that will fade soon enough, but its still weighing on my mind. I have booked an appointment for October - hopefully i will have lost some more weight and be feeling a little more positive about things... I know there are some shops i can just walk into and try things on, so maybe i shall have to do that if i happen to be feeling more positive one day!??!

Still, at least I know the boys will look smart!!

Scary.... in more ways than one!!

Well, thats it.... its now official!!

H2B and I went over to the local registry office and gave notice on Monday!!
We were both intereviewed seperately and it was scary!! The woman seemed ok - a little bit dizzy but ok.
When Shane went in, he managed to forget my birthday - typical!! But the woman was ok as he got the right month and year and was only 1 day out!!

I didnt realise though that the Bride's father's name goes on the certificate and gets entered into the marriage book thing - i was horrified as I dont want him any near my day! Luckily, the registrar was happy to enter my (Step)Dad's name so its all good!!

After our single interviews, we went back in together. She said our music and readings were fine, and said a little more about what would happen on the day. She gave us a pack and a form to fill in and then we paid and that was that!!

So, its official. We are getting married on 13.8.11 @ 14.30!!

After the registrar, we went out for lunch to celebrate. Its funny, but i thought giving notice would make me feel that things were a bit more real, but it hasnt. It still doesnt seem real - like its happening to someone else? I dont think it will seem real until the actual day? Dont get me wrong, i am excited and everything and really pleased we have got the ok and everything is all done legal wise, but i thought it would make more of an impact??

MAybe it will hit home when i chose my dress & flowers???? Here's hoping!! Still, only 11 months and 26 days to go!!

xx

Hello again!!

Well, I cant believe its been so long since i last updated my blog - bad girl!!

So, where are we now? Well, its less than 12 months until the big day (I know,where did that time go???????) and so far:

I have managed to lose 15lb - thats over a stone!! Great, but i still have a long way to go yet! I am conscious that I need to begin looking again for wedding dresses and that I am no where near my target size! Hopefully, I will have lost another 10 lb before my first appointment in October - thats the plan so I best knuckle down and get back on the old cross trainer eh??

I have made an appointment with a couture boutique for the 8th October - I think this will be my first appointment following the previous disaster - I am hoping it restores my faith in bridal shops. I dont think i will be able to afford a dress from here as they make them to order and my budget is quite small, but i am hoping that their customer service lifts me enough to go to other shops. I have email a lot of shops in my area - the feedback from them has been mostly positive - a couple of shops say they dont stock anything over a size 16 but am welcome to come and see the dresses (is there much point if i cant try them on???), but the others seem ok. I have made a list in order of preference as to which ones i want to go to first...

Onto other news - I emailed my MOH's about dresses for them - one of my maids, Mandy, replied back within 4 days, the other hasnt and its been about 5 weeks now. I know she has a lot going on right now, but i need to know so we can book a date to get them together so we can go and have a look. Luckily, the dresses that Mandy said she likes are the same ones i like, and they are within the budget so thats lookiong promising. Hopefully, my other maid will come good soon - if needs be i will see if she thinks being a MOH will be too much for her with everything thats going on, in which case, i will increase the moh dress budget and just have Mandy. Will keep you posted. This is the dress we prefer:

We have also bought our wedding rings!! H2B got his from H. Samuel after deciding he didnt like the original one from Tesco (I know - Tesco do rings!!)!! Its heavier and obviously better quality than the Tesco one, and he says its comfortable and he is more likely to wear it (I know - WTF??? You WILL wear it!!LOL!!). Mine had to be especially made as my E ring has a shaped band.

We went to Roux Jewellers in Southampton, and they were lovely. They had templates of different band shapes as they recognised that a lot or rings (wedding and otherwise) are shaped and this saved a lot of time, and money in helping people to get a ring. So, we tried on some different shapes, and although none of the templates fitted exactly, one fitted in 4 places which i was happy with and so was David, the jeweller. I asked them to make it in 9ct white gold (to match my e ring), and flush set it with 3 diamonds on the head of the ring...... they said they could do this and it would take about 3 weeks....

2.5 weeks later, i had a call to say the ring was ready and i could come and collect it. I travelled back into Southampton, and picked up H2B's ring, then went and got mine. Well...... i nearly cried when i saw it and put it on! Its simple and elegant, and exactly what i asked for! Here it is:





We are going to see the registrar tomorrow and make it all official - we have provisionally booked the date with them, so tomorrow we are giving notice - woop woop!!

We have also chosen the menu for the day - we are going to have goats cheese, asparagus and something tartlet to start, follwoed by roast pork with calvados sauce, followed by white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake - yummy!

We are also going to go over and hire the suits next week so that will be all done.

We still have lots to do yet - get the dresses, flowers, gifts, cravats etc etc, decide on the honeymoon, finish the order of services and table plans and place names and menus, and of course, pay for everything!!

Still, with only 12 (sorry, 11months and 29 days to go) - I am sure we will make it...... maybe!!!

OOOO... new shoes????

Another loooong delay since my last post, but I have had nothing to report... until now!!!

I ordered some shoes about 8 weeks ago - a long time to wait, but the shoes are unique, in that I designed them myself!

Well, sort of! I had decided to go for green sparkly shoes (kind of like Dorothy's in 'The Wizard of Oz', only in green), but I couldnt find them anywhere. I posted on a wedding forum about my dilemma, and someone told me about a woman who makes them.

Her name is Rachel, and she has a website www.bespokebigday.com, where you can chose and design your own shoes!

I went on there, and found, to my eternal joy, that she could do something similar to my 'dorothy' idea. I told my fiance what I was planning as I began having second thoughts as to what the shoes might look like. To be honest, I was beginning to have my doubts as to whether they would look ok or not, and he agreed and said maybe all over green glitter would be a bit much??

Sooo, i went on bespoke and found that I could design a pair and have a different coloured heel... so I designed my own and they arrived today!!

Here they are::::







Hello wedding fans!!


I think maybe they would of looked better with a higher heel, but as I am already 2 inches taller than my fiance, I didnt think that would be a good look, and i want to be able to wear them all day!! They have good non slip soles as well so I wont be skidding on the dance floor!!

I am wondering about getting some shoe clips for the front to jazz them up a bit... maybe try and find a shamrock or something!!

Anyway, I love them, they are dead comfy and I cant wait to wear them!! My first wedding outfit purchase!!!

How amazing!!
xx

Gifts so far....

As its still a bit too early to buy anything major for our wedding, I thought it sensible to start buying gifts for the wedding party - (it also makes me feel i am actually doing something towards it as well as satisfying my spending urges!!)

I have bought these for my H2B:




I have also just got this lovely earrings and necklace set for my MOH's to wear on the day:



And finally, I bought this lovely pocket watch for my Dad:
I have had it engraved on the back as well. The company I bought it from, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats, were brilliant and its such good quality!

Now all I have to do is try to stop myself from giving them to the relevant people early!!

xx

Sparkly jewellery....... just window shopping at mo....

WEll, as I am being a little bit cautious with the ol' cash at the mo (spent to much on OOS/ Invite stuff this month - oops!!), thought I would go window shopping for some wedding jewellery!

I bought a wedding mag, and it had a Jon Roberts catalogue thing inside! He has some lovely stuff, and its all very reasonable too! These are my favourites though!

The top one is not by Jon Richards, but is available on vintage wedding jewellery.com!! Decisions, decisions!!