Friday 30 October 2009

Friday's Photo


from here

Happy Halloween!

Thursday 29 October 2009

Purple Cocktails

For a while now I've been thinking about the idea of serving a purple cocktail or drink at the wedding.

It's quite an American thing to do but I think it looks really fun!

After the ceremony our guests will be served a glass of sparking wine/punch/bucks fizz (which ever we decide!) but I thought it would be nice to have a purple tint to those drinks.  Failing that Nailcote have a fully stocked bar so I could ask if they'd be willing to make a purple cocktail on the evening.

How tasty do these look!


1, 2, 3, 4

Wedding Weight Loss


Lost 2 1/2 lbs!!!

Woo hoo!  Back on track baby!

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Ho Ho Ho!

Yes I know I'm early and Christmas isn't for another 58 sleeps but I can't help myself!  Christmas is the best time of year!!

I love the build up and excitement of Christmas.  The baking, decorating, watching classic Christmas films, (credit card, you got it!)  wrapping up presents whilst listening to cheesy Christmas songs, eating mince pies and drinking hot chocolate!  I am aware my idea of Christmas sounds like it came straight out of Hollywood, but it really is how I see Christmas!  I can't get enough of it!

Another thing I love about this time of year is John Lewis.  Every year I spend a small fortune on new decorations for when Has and I eventually move in to our own home (We currently live with Has' parents but are looking to rent somewhere next summer.)  I've been collecting Christmas decorations for the last 4 years!  Forget pots, pans and dishes at least we have a 2 foot ceramic snowman!

Last year Hayley got a job at John Lewisand her discount is finally kicking in next week.  I went to visit her at work this weekend and walked round the shop saying "Oh can you put me one of those aside, I sooo need one of those!"  Hayley's reserve shelf now looks like a mini Santa's Grotto!

I have been saying for a while that when we set up our wedding gift list at John Lewis I'm going to add a few Christmas items.  People think I'm joking! But in all honesty I would absolutely love a Christmas dinner set.  I have to confess to already owning a few Christmas themed serving plates and dishes, but I would love a matching dinner set!

I bought these place mats on Saturday.  They were far too cute to pass by.  Christmas is my weakness!

from here

The most exciting thing of all is next Christmas Has and I will be married and living in our own home!  And let me tell you something, Chevy Chase ain't got nothing on me!

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Dear Santa...

I've been a good girl this year, so pretty please with a cherry on top may I have a digital SLR camera for Christmas?

I don't even want you to buy all of it!  Just some towards it and I'll buy the rest!

I have been lusting over a digital SLR camera for a while now, ever since I went to New York with my friend Ian and saw some of the amazing, jaw dropping photos he took.  Some of my favourite photos of New York are the ones he took.

I would love to be able to make gorgeous photos of my own and seeing as we are going to some fabulous places on our Honeymoon I'd love to be able to capture those memories in the highest quality.

See, it would be an investment!

Yours thankfully
Laura x

Ian's amazing NYC shots.













Ok, so Ian didn't take this last picture (he's in it, on the right!) but it was still done using his camera.  It's one of my favourite photos from the whole trip.

Signature Squares

The other weekend Hayley came round to help out with ideas for the outer wallet of our invites.

We sat at the dining room table eating copious amounts of treats, (could explain why it was a maintain that week!) sticking, cutting and embossing, trying to find something that looked good.

Hayley came up with a fab idea that I loved, and I've now added a little something to it.  I ordered extra ribbon from eBay and did the first set of mock ups last night.

What do you think?

Idea 1


Idea 2



Idea 3


The organza ribbon I bought is a pain to work with, so I may have to find a different type, failing that I could palm that job off to someone else! ;)

I took a picture of all three signature squares



Obviously these are only very rough as I just wanted to see what it would look like.  I shall be backing the signature squares onto darker purple card and will probably print the squares themselves on the same pearlised paper I've used for the inside invitation sheets.

I can't really decide which one looks best though.  I do have a slight favourite but it would be interesting to see which one is your favourite...
So Idea 1, 2 or 3?

I've added a poll, oh it's just like X Factor!!

Monday 26 October 2009

I bought these...



Cute, and a little cheesy at the same time!

'Ush!

Originally we were never going to have Ushers, but the more we thought about it, the more we really liked the idea.
Our choices were easy.

My little brother, Paul.

Paul and I get on so well, we never fight.  We have so many little in jokes that set us off giggling.  I shall be sharing a room with Paul the night before the wedding.  I couldn't think of anyone better.  He's so laid back so I know some of that will have to rub off on me!

Our friend Tom



Has and Tom went to senior school together and I met Tom when I met Has in college. Here we all are in New York at Madison Square Gardens watching the Knicks and at the Reading Festival last year.

I'm glad we can involve these two very special people into the day, I hope it shows how much they mean to us!

Saturday 24 October 2009

This time next week...

Has will be home!



Friday 23 October 2009

The Best Men for the job!

Typically the Groom has one best man to help him out on the day, embarrass him during the speeches and organise a stag do the Bride doesn't want to know anything about!  However Has has two brothers.  Mos and Taz.


Mos is on the left, Taz is on the right

As you can probably tell Mos is the "entertainer" he has a rather special party piece, which I hear he's going to reveal at the wedding.  I won't spoil the surprise!

Mos also teases Has and I A LOT about the speeches.  Has has actually banned Mos from doing a speech he's that worried! hahaha!  I know both of them will do an amazing job as Best Man.  (Taz is an old pro now he's been Best Man sooo many times!)

Friday's Photo


from here
I love how there is a circle of calm around the Bride and Groom in this picture.  I think it stands for how fast your wedding day can go by and how you should stop and take a step back from it all to enjoy it.

Flower Fuss

Ok so it's been two weeks since I saw Flower Fayre and I still haven't received a quote from them.  Yeah I know people are busy and the postal services are on strike (which has only been since yesterday!) but you'd have thought I would have heard from them by now?

Ever since I started planning this wedding I made a little note to myself, that if someone took too long to answer me I wouldn't bother with them.  I think it's just rude and not a great impression to give off to a potential customer.

Meanwhile last weekend Jennie, the lady who I saw first, rang me to double check I had received her quote and to ask whether I had any questions.  I expressed my worry about her being on her own and asked what would happen if she were to fall ill and not be able to fulfil the order.  She reassured me that she has plenty of capable florist friends who would gladly step in to help.  I told Jennie I was waiting for another quote before making up my mind, but in all honesty I think I already have.

This is the bouquet I saw in Jennie's book and fell in love with.  Apologies for the bad quality, I took the picture using my phone.

Instead of the dark calla lilies, I want Ivory avalanche roses.  I think the calla lilies are too dark and almost make the bouquet look like it has gaps in it!

Thursday 22 October 2009

Cute, cute hearts!

Our wedding day will be held in two rooms at Nailcote Hotel. Ceremony in the room with the staircase and the reception in the marquee.  As part of the package Nailcote Hall will supply chair covers, for one room only.  We've decided that as we will only spend a small amount of time in the staircase room we'd rather have the chair covers in the marquee.

That said, the chairs in the staircase room are... nasty!  As seen here...


So instead of forking out loads of money for more chair covers I'm taking the DIY approach!

I'm going to wrap the chairs in a white/ivory/cream organza sash, similar to this

from here
I also saw an idea from another wedding, where the bride and groom hung wooden hearts from the aisle chairs.  I mentioned this to Sue, Has' very talented mom, and she has made me over 80 fabric hearts (and counting!)

The idea is we'll hang these hearts from the organza sash, and collect them up after the ceremony so people can take them home with them!  The problem is I keep seeing ones I like and saying "Oh I think this will be the one I keep!"  No one will be taking home any hearts at this rate!

Wedding Weight Loss


Maintained... Again! Boooooo!!

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Chalkboard Menus

I've seen this idea a few times and I think it looks amazing!

Nailcote Hall do provide us with printed menus for each table, but I'm pretty sure they're not going to match our theme.  I was always going to do my own menus but how cool would it look if they were on chalkboards?!

I just need someone with nice hand writting to write them all out... Hayley? :)


1,2,3,4,5

Laura has found...

Etsy

I'm not sure whether this is a good or bad thing!  I've already made my first purchase (I only registered yesterday!)

Etsy is where clever people sell their amazingly beautiful handmade goodies, and people like me buy them! eBay is soooo last week!

Unfortunately and frustratingly I can't tell you what I've brought!  Too many Bridesmaids read this! ;)

Here are a few of my favourite Etsy things at the moment.



Bird Clutch Purse from the Print Tree Shop. Alice in Wonderland Paper Cut Quote from Mr Yen.
Little red Christmas hearts Framed picture from Sarah and Bendrix. And They Lived Happily Ever After Sign from The Back Porch Shoppe.  Fancy a Brew? Tea Towel from Mr PS Shop

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Our Epic Honeymoon


Another big and very exciting job we have to sort out when Has gets home is our honeymoon!  We know flights are at their very cheapest once they are first realised, which is typically a year in advance, so come the end of November/beginning of December we'll be booking them up!

Has and I love America, especially New York but during our years together we've visited other places like Orlando and Las Vegas.  When ever we look to go on holiday it's always to America.  So you'd expect nothing less from us to spend our honeymoon there.

Our idea at the moment is to spend 3 weeks travelling around the USA.  Starting in Seattle and ending up in New York, just in time for Thanks Giving.

We hope to leave the Sunday after the wedding with a direct flight to Seattle.  Spend a few nights there exploring the 90's grunge music scene, where we can visit venues that bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Sound Garden or Temple of the Dog played, visiting the first ever Starbucks Coffee Shop and admiring the views from the Space Needle.



Next to visit would be Anchorage in Alaska.  I have wanted to go to Alaska for a long time, it looks so breathtakingly beautiful.  We plan on taking a few trips to get us out of the city and in to the wild!  One of the tours I'd looked at was a Winter Sleigh Ride.  We would be taken through the snow laden forest in a horse drawn sleigh to a cabin where we can enjoy hot drinks and food.  It sounds very romantic!  Hopefully, if we're lucky, we will also be able to see the Aurora Borealis! (The Northern Lights)



After all that cold we'd need warming up!  So we want to head off to Honolulu in Oahu!  After researching Oahu I have found us some amazing things to do, such as climbing Diamond Head!  An extinct volcano that dominates the island and provides spectacular views!  Another thing which looks amazing is Hanauma Bay.  There we can snorkel with tropical fish amongst the coral.



We then intend to fly off to Las Vegas and spend a few more nights at the Bellagio Hotel in a fountain view room!  When we were in Las Vegas last we said that when we came back we would almost definitely stay at the Bellagio.  I remember walking up the Strip to the hotel to see the fountains.  It was like they had waited for us, as about 30 seconds after we got there they started performing to "Viva Las Vegas"  Seriously the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I had goose pimples all over my body.  It was such a impressive site!



Has has always had a love of the Southern States and in particular Texas, therefore it only seems fitting that we visit on our Honeymoon.  Another obsession of Has' is films.  He enjoys most genres but his utmost favourite is Horror.  Therefore whilst we are there we want to visit the Alamo Drafthouse.


from here
Once we've finished in Austin we're going to fly over to Orlando and spend a few nights at Universal Studios. I absolutely ♥ Harry Potter in a big way, so when they announced the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter World  we had to visit on our Honeymoon.  Has loves Orlando as much as I do especially Universal Studios so it seems perfect to include it into our plans.


from here
After all that travelling and sightseeing we want to end our Honeymoon in the best city we know.  New York City.  The plan is to arrive the day before Thanks Giving so we can get up early to watch the Macy's Day Parade.  Something we've both always wanted to do.


from here
The thought of this trip has me smiling.  Exploring the USA has been on my agenda since I was given my Grandad's old Atlas and I would sit staring and memorising the States.  I love how diverse the country is, how California is completely different from New York or Alaska.  How the landscape, wildlife and climate can change so dramatically!  I could seriously talk for hours about the USA and the places I want to visit.  Which is why it's been so hard to select those few places for our Honeymoon.  If we had our way we would spend months travelling.

I suppose we'll just have to book more trips in the future as husband and wife!

Only 11 days to go :)

Map Happy

I wasn't going to include a map with my invitations. Nailcote Hall is in the middle of nowhere so it was going to be hard to scale a map to show the details of the country lanes around the hotel and where it was in comparison to the M42.

I have written down a series of directions for people and I know most guests will be using a Sat Nav, but the more I thought about it the more I really wanted to include a map. I spent most of the afternoon yesterday drawing this up to go on the back of the directions.



I'm quite happy with this!

Monday 19 October 2009

I ♥..

these earrings!

They are from Yarwood-White and are part of the same collection as my brooch.



Surprises, Secrets and Keeping Schtum!

I love giving presents, but I'm terrible with keeping a secret. I'm usually like this:

"Oh I'm excited! I've brought you something, but I can't tell you what it is!"

Both Suzie and Hayley are rubbish with surprises too. Hayley is always asking me what happens in Lost and is constantly reading the spoilers. Suzie is just as bad and made me tell her the ending to the new Harry Potter film.

So with my inability to keep schtum and their impatience for surprises I wonder whether their Bridesmaid presents will in fact be a surprise?!

This weekend I have decided on a big project for my Bridesmaids and I've told both of them about it without actually telling them what it is. As you can imagine they have tried their very best to get it out of me!

To help me with my secret keeping I've decided I can share what I have brought Sophie, my youngest Bridesmaid, as she won't read the Blog.




This is a really cute book that Sophie can fill in.  It has spaces for her to add her own pictures and comments about her experience as a Bridesmaid.  It also has little pockets on the inside pages where she can collect things from the day like confetti, table gems or her name place.  I going to get her a little camera to go with it and probably a few extras.

P.S. Suzie, Hayley... give up now!  You'll never get it out of me! x

Friday 16 October 2009

Friday's Photo


from here

If we weren't getting married here... I would have done it in New York.  Imagine the photo album!

Hey!  Maybe Has and I can take our wedding outfits with us on honeymoon and get a few shots done... ;)

Keeping the Kids Quiet!

We have 7 maybe 8 (My cousin is expecting this December!) children coming to our wedding for the whole day, all of which are family and we wouldn't dream of not inviting them.

That said we also realise that children get bored very easily.  As well as the little jars of sweets for the children we want to give them a bag of treats to keep them occupied.

I've brought white gift bags from eBay, they are quite big and really sturdy.  I've designed my own labels to go on the bags, and I'm thinking of replacing the white cord handles with purple ones.

This is an example of the labels


I intend to put the bags at their place on the tables and fill the bags with things to colour, make and play.  I'm going to be keeping my eyes open in the Christmas sales this year to see if there are any bargains to be had!

Fireworks!



Unfortunately Nailcote Hall will not allow us to have fireworks at our wedding.  The one part of the building is quite old and could easily catch fire if a rouge firework were to land on it.  Also they neighbour with a farm and we don't want to scare the cows!

However being the 5th November - Bonfire Night we can't allow it to pass without a little firework action.

Therefore (providing Nailcote allow us) we shall be supplying sparklers!  Hopefully our guests will join us outside, as cold as it will be, to wave their arms around and make pretty shapes with their sparklers.  Imagine the photographs!

Cups are here!

And look how cute they are!


Thank you again Starbucks and a HUGE thank you to Moo!

Thursday 15 October 2009

One wish...


An absolutely gorgeous poem by Courtney Kuchta.  I'd love to use it somehow, I think it's perfect.

Only 16 days to go. :)

Time Frames

I love this idea, I'm definitely going to do this for our home.




from here

I'm just having a look round now for photos of a "5" an "11" and a "10".  Not as easy as it sounds!

What our wedding colour says about us.



Wedding Weight Loss


I maintained... a little disappointed but at least it wasn't a gain. To be honest I was expecting to put on after eating cheesecakes and cupcakes with Hayley and Suzie last week!

Hopefully I'll do better next week!

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Don't Stop Believing

Not only is this a fantastic song by an amazing band, but "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey is a special song to us and will definitely be played at our wedding!

I came across this made by a very talented blogger.


I want it!  Do you think she will make one for me? :)

Don't Stop Believing - Journey

Just a small town girl, livin in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south detroit
He took the midnight train goin anywhere

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Don't stop believin
Hold on to the feelin
Streetlight people



We were there!
Only 17 days to go :)

Hugs, Kisses and Milk Duds

A girl at work has just come back from a trip to New York and as is customary in our office she brought back some treats for us all to enjoy.

Even though I should be dieting I couldn't help going to see what she had brought back.

Miniature Hershey Chocolates!!



Seriously, how amazingly cute and perfect are these!  There was (yes I ate them!) about 6 or 7 Milk Duds in this box and would be ideal for our candy table.

I love these too, from The Knot.  Personalised Hershey's Hugs & Kisses!



But I don't live in America and they don't ship internationally... plus I'm not sure they would travel so well!  $19.99 for a box of melted mush!?

There's only one thing for it, I'm just going to have to go to New York myself and source my American chocolates! ;)

Related Posts with Thumbnails