Sunday 31 January 2010

Suzie's Hen Party Plans

As one of Suzie's bridesmaids one of my duties was to organise the fun and games for the hen party.  We came up with a few ideas to make Suzie's hen party special.

All the girls created a few scrapbook pages full of advice, photos and memories.


These were my pages.

Another idea we had was the Perfect Wife box.  All the hens bought, made or donated something to the box that they thought would help Suzie become the perfect wife.


My contribution was an apron, I created a design and had it printed by Zazzle.  I sewed a few buttons on the pockets to make it look a little prettier.  Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm the worlds worst sewer so it's a miracle that the buttons stayed on at all!


We played a few games Who am I?" a game where each hen fills in a sheet with answers and Suzie had to guess who it was and "Mr and Mrs"  I had asked Suzie's fiancĂ© Rob a few questions before the party and on the day Suzie had to match her answer to Rob's.


Another game we played was a naughty pass the parcel!  The presents weren't too rude but did include "advice" books *wink, wink*, naughty snap, a naughty word search, the whistles pictured below (from Confetti) and shot glasses.


I think everyone enjoyed the games!  We had a really fun day, stay tuned for the photos!

Oh! We're going to Oahu!!

Aloha!

After all the problems we initially had with booking our flights to Oahu we thought that we might not make it.  Tonight we managed to book our flights from San Francisco to Honolulu! Yay!  We used Travelocity.com and managed to get the flights at a really reasonable price!

I'm so excited!

Mahalo Travelocity!

Laula & Hakana x

Our Hawaiian names!

Friday 29 January 2010

Purple Nails

I treated myself today to a manicure at Nails Inc.

The colour is actually purple not blue like it looks on the photo.

I've already managed to chip my thumb nail, which is usually what happens when I pay to have them done!  I rarely wear nail polish but when I do get a manicure it's usually of the French kind, I have to say I'm quite liking the dark purple colour... maybe an idea for the wedding?!

Friday's Photo

Making the most of the weather with this amazing black and white photo

Tie Guy or Cravat Chap?

There's nothing better than a gorgeous man in a gorgeous suit, I'm sure most girls will agree!

I'm very excited about suit shopping for Has, much more than I was about sorting out my own togs for the wedding.

I want to try and stay away from the traditional wedding look and go for something a little different.  For starters I'm not a huge fan of cravats, don't get me wrong I think it looks really smart but I'd much rather Has wore a tie. To be honest I think he's much more of a tie guy than a cravat chap.

I seems we are both on the same page, when it comes to the suits.  We both like dark charcoal grey suit, with a dark waist coat and purple tie to match the colour scheme.  Obviously the colours are wrong but this is the style I like.


I also really like the look of a dark waistcoat once the suit jacket comes off.



I can't wait to suit shop!

Wedding Style Guide

Australia’s answer to Martha Stewart

I found this website this morning and have spent the last few hours browsing the blog and the back issues.  I've decided it's far too fabulous to keep to myself.

The great things about this website is that they offer gorgeous FREE downloads!  I've already downloaded the Rock Chic labels!


If you love the website as much as I do you may even consider downloading their current issue for just $11.95 or an earlier addition for $4.95, which is, as we speak sitting in my shopping basket!

Thursday 28 January 2010

Light Writing Proposal


Light Writing Proposal from Derick Childress on Vimeo.


An amazing video of a very unique proposal!

"The most common question so far about the proposal video is “How did you do it?” The technique is most commonly known as ‘light writing.’ A light source is moved (in this case, a 3 million candlepower spotlight) while the shutter of a DSLR camera is left open, creating a streak of light in the final exposure.

Here’s the story of this particular video...
"

Honeymoon Wardrobe

I bought two new tops today from Oasis my absolute favourite clothes shop.  I have had my eye on one of the tops for a while now and tried to ignore it.  However today my Oasis urge got the better of me and I walked out of the store a very happy lady, all be it with a lighter purse!

To rationalise these purchases I decided that they will be perfect for the honeymoon.  Of course I'll need to wear them beforehand just to "try them out!"






Wednesday 27 January 2010

Poster List Love



From The Poster List.  Seriously considering getting a few posters for our future nest.  Loving the new spin on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" craze!

Simply Beautiful - Gorgeous Purple Table Inspiration



Love, love, love!

The flowers in the back of the chair, the colours, the votive holders, the feeling of being in a field on a spring day, everything is so soft and simple.  Absolutely stunning.

I'm a Wuss

It all started so well. 

I had every intention of getting myself weighed and fighting the fat at body combat but then 4 things happened.  Number 1, a text from Hayley saying she wouldn't be able to make body combat as she hadn't finished her university assignment.  
2, Mom said she didn't think she had time to go get weighed because she's going out. 
3, I'm a wuss and hate going to gym classes and getting weighed on my own.  Yes I know I'm 25 and I realise how pathetic I am. And Number 4 I was tempted home by this.



The complete opposite to body combat.  You don't have to tell me I feel bad enough!

Body Punishment!

You may or may not have noticed my lack of wedding weight loss updates.  The reason for this is because, well I haven't been going to my meetings!

In fact I haven't been since the end of November.  Oops!

Tonight I'm getting back into it, hard!  After my weigh in (please, don't let it be too bad!) I'm off to body combat.  Obviously I have never been before otherwise I don't think I would be considering it.



If I don't post tomorrow it's because I can't actually move!

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Back in Black!

Uh Oh!

I've had a terrible accident with a bottle of hair die and look what's happened!!



I joke!

I've been playing about with some brown, black and white hair extensions for Suzie's pirate themed party on Saturday.  I'm going to wear a bandanna and crimp and plait sections of my hair.  What do you think?  Do I look Long John Silver enough?

The Tale of the Purple Kitten Heel Shoes

Last week I won a pair of Coast purple kitten heel shoes.  Suzie saw them on eBay and sent me the link.  I won them for the bargain price of £13.  Their retail value is over £60.

This is the story of the purple kitten heel shoes.

It started with a box...



and a promise...



and then, there they were.







The End.

I'm not 100% sure I'll use them for the wedding.  I don't think they are perfect, they rub my toes a little but for £13 I can't grumble, I've got myself a stunning pair of purple kitten heel shoes!

P.S is it me or is one of the flowers miles bigger than the other?!

Ahoy Me Hearties!

This Saturday I shall be dressed in my piratey best aboard the good ship "Hen Party"

It's Suzie's swashbucklin' single life send off and the theme of the day?  Pirates!  (In case you hadn't figured that bit out!)  We're all off to a photography studio armed with inflatable palm trees, monkey's and bottles 'o rum to have lots of crazy photos taken.  Then it's back to Cap'in Suzie's quarters for fun and games!

Because I'm feeling rather mischievous today I'm going to share a sneak peak of some of the goodies and surprises we have in store for our hen...



Sorry Suzie!  Only 4 more days until you find out!

After the party I shall share everything we had planned and if they're not too bad, maybe even some photos!

Monday 25 January 2010

Bride of the Year

Every year our venue Nailcote Hall gives one lucky, lucky couple the chance to win £5000 towards the cost of their wedding.
We have been invited to attend their Bride of the Year Champagne and CanapĂ© evening on the 11th February.  If picked we could win £5000 off the cost of our wedding and be featured in the hotels promotional material.  We'd even be in the local paper!

Obviously it's a long shot but someone has to win it!  Keep your fingers and toes crossed for us! x



Chalkboard Placecards

As planned I took a trip to Hobby Crafts on Saturday to buy everything I needed to experiment with my chalkboard heart placecards.

I bought a pack of 17 wooden hearts for £2.69 and a can of chalkboard spray paint for £8. The whole project should cost me about £20

My chalkboard placecard kit



I took all the bits outside and made sure I covered the area I was going to work on well.  Each wooden heart is about 4.5cm by 4cm so it doesn't take much to fully coat it.  This is what it looks like after 1 coat



Although it was still a little wet here, I think it will need at least two coats as you can still see the wood grain and I'd like it to look a little smoother.
Before I spray the rest of the hearts I'm going to drill a small hole so I can attach a piece of jute twine.  They really shouldn't take very long to do, I can cover about 20 in one go with the spray can, it's now just a case of buying around 68 more hearts and hoping for good weather!

Suzie's Surprise!

So on Friday I said I had a little surprise for Suzie...



I made up a little bag of honeymoon goodies!
I started to collect what I thought were essential items (yes Haribo is an essential!) for a honeymoon, including the super cute Goodworks bath products like "Good Riddance Body Scrub" and Good Looking Body Lotion so she can smell delicious!  I also bought a little hand fan so she can keep herself cool by the pool.  I found some gorgeous "Apple and Dots" hair bands from Baubles N Bows.  A bites and stings kit, antibacterial hand sanitiser and nail clippers, file and scissors!  Hopefully these little things will all come in handy!

I also gave her a little photo album they can keep their honeymoon snaps in.



Suzie isn't going on honeymoon for another few weeks yet, but I know she'll be getting organised about now, hopefully my little pack will help her out a bit!

Note: Photos are a bit rubbish because I took them minutes before rushing out the door on my way to Suzie's  and I only had my little camera with me!

Sunday 24 January 2010

Blue Door Delicious!

Today I met Sarah from Blue Door Bakery at Stone Manor Hotel's Wedding Fayre.  I got to see her gorgeous cupcakes in the flesh and let me tell you they we're amazing!  Just standing by the stall talking to her we could smell them!
Sarah had two arrangements one was an 80 vanilla cupcake tower with purple embellishments, including purple and laser cut cake cases and another made entirely from chocolate, crowning the chocolatey tower was a rather impressive giant cupcake.  The presentation of each cake is perfect.  You can tell Sarah obviously puts in a lot of care and effort.

After I had introduced myself to Sarah she said "Oh I have something for you!" and pulled out a little cupcake gift box from under the table!  So sweet!



Not only do they look and smell absolutely delicious they taste incredible!  The cakes are so light and fluffy and the frosting is heavenly!  My words seriously can not do these cakes justice.  You really have to try them for yourselves!



Needless to say the first thing I did when I got home, aside from devouring the cakes, was to email Sarah with the nitty gritty details of ordering these for our wedding.  Our guests really are in for a tasty treat!

It was lovely to meet you Sarah and thanks again for the scrummy cakes!  x


Friday 22 January 2010

Busy busy busy!

I have a rather wedding packed weekend on the cards!  Tomorrow I shall be visiting Hobby Crafts to see if I can find the materials to make chalkboard place names. If I get time I'll also have a go at putting one together.

The it's off to Suzie's house to drop off something special... what could it be!?  Not telling!  If Suzie spies this post the surprise will be ruined!  I promise to post about it once she has it!

I'm also out with some friends tomorrow night for pizza, drinks and dancing so I may as well kill two birds so to speak and curl my hair and play around with some wedding styles.

Then Sunday bright and early (depending on hangovers) we shall be eating cake from Blue Door Bakery.  The lovely Sarah will be at the Stone Manor Hotel Wedding Fair.  Hopefully I'll be able to cross off another "to do" item from my January list.  I'm really looking forward to meeting her, we've chatted over email and twitter so it'll be nice to put a face to the tweets!


Jealous?  You should be!!

Happy Weekend! x

Do You Ever Rationalise A Spontaneous Purchase?

Why when I should be saving hard for a wedding, honeymoon and new flat am I buying a vase?  It couldn't even be classed as an essential bottom drawer contribution...  Unless... you take into account all the "New Home" flowers we'll be getting, or that I got it in the sale, or even the fact that it's g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s!


Yes, this was how I rationalised this purchase and most other things I buy.  I have a habit of seeing something, falling for it and then trying to justify why I absolutely need it in my life.

"It will go with so many of my existing outfits"  - Necklace, I've worn twice.  "I have so many weddings to go to this year it'll be the perfect accessory" - a little sequinned purse, which I took to one wedding and had to carry my camera separate as it wouldn't fit in.  "Oh it's been reduced to £6.50, a very reasonable price, and look it's a good make.  Will last us for years!" - Baking tray (I do occasionally buy essential bottom drawer items!)  "Half off!  And look at the cute storage bag it comes with I can organise all my nail varnishes now!"  A French Manicure set.  I have yet to give myself a manicure but I have used the bag to store all the other nail varnishes I don't wear.

But I do love my new vase!

Please tell me I'm not the only one?!

Friday's Photo


W.O.W!  To see more amazing photos from the underwater shoot visit Jessica Peterson's blog

Thursday 21 January 2010

Hey Look!

My "I Do" shoe stickers in action!



A fabulous photo taken by the super talented San Francisco based husband and wife team Paco and Betty.  The whole wedding looks like it would have been such a fun day! Check out these crazy photos!



Curly Wurly



I love the soft waves and swept fringe.  Very elegant, obviously this lady is a bridesmaid but I could possibly make it look a little more bridal with some hair candy in the form of grips, clips or slides.



I also love the gorgeous Blossom Comb and the Modern Heirloom Pins from Yarwood-White


and this cute crystal and pearl comb from Hair Comes The Bride





Maybe this weekend I'll have a go at styling my hair so I can see just what hair piece would be needed.


Wednesday 20 January 2010

My Problem Is...

I keep thinking up new DIY projects to take on before the wedding.

I was speaking to Hayley yesterday and she said to lower the risk of the last minute cutting sticking and painting panic we should tackle a DIY project every month.  Last night I made a quick list of projects I had planned and I clocked up 10.
  1. Invitations Day
  2. Invitations Evening
  3. Order of service
  4. Favour boxes
  5. Table names photos & frames
  6. Place names
  7. Chalkboard menus
  8. Table plan
  9. Sweet table signs
  10. Children's gift packs

We have 9 months, 2 weeks until the wedding... We best get cracking!  I have a feeling, come the summer this is what we'll be doing most weekends!


Me and Hayley making our save the dates

The question is, have I taken on too much!?

The Places We Have Been

I love travelling, I love collecting travel guides and I love framing my favourite photos from our favourite places.  I love looking at the photos and remembering the fantastic places we've visited.

One of my favourite photos was taken when we were in New York with our friends.  Our friend Ian took the photo whilst we were resting on a Central Park bench. I happened to peek round Has to look at Ian.  In that split second he took our photo.  That photo has now gone on to be used on our Save the Date magnets.


Looking at that photo, tonnes of memories and "you had to be there" giggles hit me and make me smile.  When ever I'm feeling a little blue I look at my photos and I'm instantly cheered up.

For a while now I've been thinking about buying or making our very own "Places We've Been Map"
A map to hang on our wall and place pins in when we've travelled somewhere new together.  Similar to this


This one is from Getting Personal.  Personally I like the vintage looking maps and I wouldn't want it that big!  All the vintage maps I've seen are huge and could possibly look a little boastful.  I would want ours to be small and discreet.
Another alternative is to pay for a stock photo and print it out myself.  I'd mount it on a nice pin board and use little pins to mark our holiday locations.  It looks as though I would have to spend around £25 to complete this project, a little cheaper buying one ready made.  I shall let you know how I get on.

I was thinking how cute this idea would be to give as a wedding gift.  A map to mark past and future vacations together and at £25 handmade it's affordable too!

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Vintage Love

Lately I've been spending a lot of time on Vintage Amethyst, a totally gorgeous online shop that sells beautiful decorative items for your home and really sweet gift ideas.

At the moment I'm loving:




Everything is so reasonably priced, I would love to use the chalkboard tags as name places for our wedding, they would look so cute!  
Not only would these pieces look amazing featured within a wedding, they'd make excellent wedding gifts too!

My Feet Hate Me

I live in flat shoes, the reason for this is that I can barely stand in anything over an inch high let alone walk.  To rectify this situation I have bought a pair of medium height, chunky heels to wear to work.
I need to get used to wearing some sort of heel before Suzie's and my own wedding else I'm going to be limping down the aisle!

I bought these ruffle heels from New Look yesterday, for a bargain £10


...and today?  Today my feet are screaming at me!  I did do quite a bit of walking at lunch today but my little toes are so sore!  Looks like Operation Get Used To Heels is going to be a long and painful one!

My Girls

I've mentioned before that my bridesmaids are all very different.  I don't want to dress or style them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.  I know deep down they would all wear a peach taffeta fru-fru dress for me, but why would I put them through that?!

I've done little mood boards and "fact sheets" to describe each of their personalities and what sort of bridesmaid I think they'll be.

Name: Suzie/Moo/Squish
Age: 25
Favourite Colours: Black, Pink
Star Sign: Cancer
Favourite Bands/Music: Incubus, Rage Against The Machine, Less Than Jake, Green Day
Favourite TV:  Peep Show, Big train, Sex and the City, American Dad, Black Books, Young Ones, Bottom, Alan Partridge, Miami / La Ink,
Five words to describe Suzie: Loony, Funny, Loyal, Smiley, Quirky




Name: Hayley/Hay/Miss Hayley
Age: 23
Favourite Colours: Yellow, Purple (Good job too!)
Star Sign: Scorpio
Favourite Bands/Music:  All sorts, but she has a thing about 90's boy bands!
Favourite TV:  Lost, Glee
Five words to describe Hayley: Girly, Clumsy, Loyal, Happy, Generous



Name: Natalie/Nats/Snats
Age: 13
Star Sign: Taurus
Favourite Bands/Music: JLS
Favourite TV:  The Hills
Five words to describe Hayley: Loving, Excitable, Scatty, Thoughtful, Sweet




Name: Sophie/Soph/Sophums
Age: 8
Star Sign: Scorpio
Five words to describe Sophie: Bubbly, Energetic, Angelic, Cheeky, Independent



I wonder if my assessments of the girls is how they would view themselves?  Care to comment?

Related Posts with Thumbnails