Friday 30 April 2010

Some Things for the Weekend

Yippee another lovely long weekend!

How will you be spending your May Day bank holiday?


It's my Dad's birthday tomorrow so we're celebrating with a barbecue on Sunday with all the family.  Tomorrow morning I'm meeting up with an old school friend for a catch up.  She got married last September and for one reason or another I haven't really seen her since!  I'm sure the topic of conversation will be weddings, as it always is when we get together.

Then I'm dragging Suzie and Natalie to yet another bridesmaid shop to try on more dresses.  After my initial stress over bridesmaids dresses I'm actually really looking forward to it.  Wedding Belles stocks most of the Dessy dresses I like so hopefully we'll all come away feeling a little more positive.

As long as the idea of lazing around and watching films doesn't tempt us too much I'm hoping to do a big spring clean on Monday.  We have far too much stuff for our little room and really need to sort a few things out.

~ Engagement photos in San Francisco, can you imagine having this sort of back drop!

London meets Brooklyn wedding

Cherry Blossom engagement shoot

A really cute gift for bridesmaids

Absolutely stunning wedding, complete with streamers!

I need a closet like this please

Mexico in Polaroids - Photos taken on a Fuji film Instax Mini Camera  could be a cool idea for a personalised guest book!?

Really sweet illustrations from Jana Magalhães

Cupcakes and bicycles a really dreamy engagement shoot

~ Buttercup yellow buffet table


Have a fab weekend x

Thursday 29 April 2010

We're on a roll! San Antonio: Done!

Yes, we booked another hotel last night - this time in San Antonio, Texas.  Our second stop on our Honeymoon.


We have booked the Drury Plaza Hotel Riverwalk and managed to bag a 2 room jacuzzi and terrace suite with a king size bed! Nice!


The hotel used to be the Alamo Bank and when it was renovated they kept a lot of the building's old characteristics.  The lobby looks amazing!


The location is pretty awesome.  It sits right on the Riverwalk so we'll be really close to loads of different restaurants and shops.  We also close to the Alamo, I can't work out whether we'll be able to walk it but a taxi certainly won't cost that much.


There is a pool on the roof and they serve complimentary food and drink every evening.  In fact I had to giggle when I received the confirmation email.

"Join us for free hot food and cold beverages at the 5:30 Kickback. Sunday through Thursday, enjoy a rotating menu of chicken strips, egg rolls, hot dogs, charbroiled meatballs and more. Start a great Friday or Saturday night with hot dogs and chili. And every night, you will find baked potatoes, salad, beer, wine and mixed drinks available."

It sounds so Texan!


I'm so excited about visiting San Antonio I don't think either of us have to anywhere like it before.  I'm looking forward to strolling around the Riverwalk, trying the local food and picking up little souvenirs from the shops.  Hopefully the weather will still be nice enough for us to sit outside sipping our drinks as we watch the world go by.  Sounds like heaven!

Wednesday 28 April 2010

New York: Done

We booked our first hotel for the honeymoon last night!  Yay!

We felt a degree of urgency around booking our hotel in New York as we'll be staying over Thanks Giving.  We're aware it's a busy time and really didn't fancy the struggle of finding a decent hotel because we'd left it too late.

So we picked the Wyndham Garden Hotel Times Square South.


The hotel is situated close to Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, and a few blocks from the Empire State Building.  I believe some rooms in the hotel provide wonderful views of the Empire State Building.


The rooms look comfortable and the beds look huge!


We always thought we would stay at the Casablanca Hotel for our honeymoon and as nice as that hotel is, we felt that our money was going to go a little further at the Wyndham Gardens.  We obviously want to stay in nice hotels on our honeymoon but we also recognise that whilst in New York we really won't be spending much time there.  We'd much rather save our money and splurge a little in Hawaii.

Having been to New York a few times before we have already done most of the famous sites.  But there are still a few favourites we have to do, including Rockefeller Center.  I love the views from up there.  In my opinion it's the best way to see the city.  You have an amazing view of the Empire State, Central Park and on a clear day the Statue of Liberty.

We also - without a shadow of a doubt - have to visit Virgil's.  When any body asks me my recommendations on things to do in New York I always say "Visit Virgil's"  We've eaten there every time we've been, at least twice on every trip.  It's nearly always busy but it's definitely worth waiting for.
It's a laid back restaurant and bar that delivers the most mouth watering food I have ever tasted.  Their macaroni cheese is to die for!  We always end up ordering far too much and come away with bellies double the size than when we walked in, but it's worth it.

Every time we go to New York we always take in a game of some sort.  Usually the Knicks (basketball).  We're planning this time to get tickets to see the New York Giants (American Football).  Tickets will be realised soon so we'll hopefully get our hands on a pair.

If we're not watching a game, our evenings are usually spent on Broadway.  We've seen some amazing shows, such as Spamalot, Beauty and the Beast, The Phantom of the Opera, Evil Dead the Musical and Young Frankenstein

This time we reeeeally want to see Rock of Ages, Green Day's American Idiot (problem being at the moment these two are only running until September - they need to do well for them to continue longer) and Spiderman.

There are a couple of other things I'd like to do whilst in New York that we haven't done before.  I want a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery.   This is non negotiable!  I need one!  I'd also really like to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.  I'm not sure how likely this is seeing as New York is our last stop and we'll probably be exhausted but I've heard the views from the Brooklyn side of Manhattan are amazing (plus there is a really nice ice cream stand just off the bridge) I suppose we could always take the train across but I should imagine there is something quite satisfying in saying you've walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

We'll also have the opportunity to see the Macy's Day Parade.  This is something I have always wanted to see.  It will mean we have to get up relatively early to get a good spot but I don't mind as long as we see it!  I believe a lot of attractions are closed on Thanks Giving, so we'll have to plan our day so we have plenty to see and do.  We'll also have to book a table quite a way in advance I've heard Opentable.com is quite a good resource.

The Friday after Thanks Giving is also known as Black Friday a date hard core shoppers will know well!  It marks the first day of Christmas shopping, retailers often open early and reduce goods heavily.  I'm sure we'll get involved and hopefully pick up a few bargains!

Our honeymoon all seems to be coming together quite nicely now.  We're pretty certain on our Honolulu hotel and have found options for our other stops. We're both getting pretty excited now and can't help but talk about things we want to see and do whilst we're away.

Has has worked so hard on planning of our honeymoon, making it the best he possibly can.  It's going to be awesome! I can't wait - our first holiday as husband and wife!

Hen and the City


Yesterday I emailed 22 of my closest friends and family and invited them to my hen weekend in London.

It went a little something like this...

"The plans so far are as followed.
Friday - Go to London mid afternoon on the train. Grab something to eat, maybe see a show or a night in a bar...

Saturday - Flight on the London Eye, followed by Afternoon Tea. Back to the hotel to freshen up then out to some bars for the night - possibly the Vodka Ice Bar!

Sunday - Train back home early afternoon. Morning is free for recovering/shopping/what ever you fancy!!...



I'm aware that some people may find it difficult to get the time off work or will struggle to afford the whole weekend, but a few people have already told me that they will be joining us on the Saturday so if that works better for you, there is always that option."

So far I've had 12 replies.

2x "I'm your bridesmaid of course I'll be there"
4x "Definitely count me in!"
1x "Maybe... let me get back to you"
3x "Yes I'll come up on the Saturday"
2x "Sorry I can't make it"

I'm really excited about it now!  Including me there are 7 confirmed all weekend and 3 for the Saturday, with another 10 people yet to get back to me.  I really hope it'll be a good weekend!

Suzie and Hayley are arranging a surprise hen party sometime in September.  It's a compromise, I've put my bridezilla foot down and said over my dead body, no way jose, not on your nelly will there be any L plates, willies, sashes or plastic blow up 80's dolls (Hayley, I'm looking at you!!) making an appearance whilst we're in London.
They gave me their "try and stop us" eyes so I caved in and gave them freedom to organise a party in the privacy of my own home which I have no control over.  God help me!  (I'd rather that than walking around London with flashing badges and a veil!!)

Tuesday 27 April 2010

The ways of the wife…

I asked Suzie if she would mind doing a little update on how she's finding married life.  It's nice to hear what it's like on the other side.

Over to Suzie...

We’ll hasn’t time flown by! Rob and I have now been married just over 2 months, I really can’t believe that it’s been 2 months since I wore that amazing dress and married that amazing man. All of my married friends warned me that the post-wedding blues would kick in and it was normal to feel sad about the end of the planning and wedding related chat.

I don’t think I really suffered with the post-wedding blues, don’t get me wrong I miss it all and had the most amazing day of my life but THANK GOODNESS it’s all over!

I think both Rob and I suffered more with the post honeymoon blues! We had such a fabulous time in Thailand, the food was amazing and the weather was great it was quite a crash back to earth returning to our cold flat! But all in all I haven’t suffered greatly.

Soooooo have things changed since marriage I hear you ask?

Well not really to be honest, Rob and I have lived together for over 5 years so we are quite used to the home life. We knew long before we got married all of each others little annoying habits like the way Rob always leaves pull-off lid from the new milk on the side and never puts it in the bin or always leaving the lid of the toothpaste and the way I leave undies on the bathroom floor and cover the bathroom in hair dye!! These little niggles are nothing new to us, we are more than aware that neither of us is perfect but we see each other imperfections perfectly which is what’s important.

I can imagine that couples that have wed in the traditional way (however rare this might be these days) have a bit of a shocker when they move in together after they are married. It is only when you live with your partner you are truly exposed to all their little habits….. So be warned – if your having a nice relaxing bubble bath and he needs to go – be under no illusion he will come in and go either get used to it have engage in some bathroom chatter or get a good lock on the door!



Enough about bad habits – what about the good stuff….

I ♥ living with Rob even more so now we are husband and wife, I can see that we are both making more of an effort around the house, sharing the chores and the workload. We love nothing more that to snuggle up on our super comfy Elephant Beanbag and watch some TV.

Last week I surprised Rob by blitzing the flat top to bottom so we wouldn’t have to do chores over the weekend and he surprised me with a meal out.

For my Hen party the girls put together a perfect housewife kit – I’ve used most of the things in it – the oven cleaner is yet to see the light of day but im sure it will one day!  They have all helped me to be a good wife, to conclude i’ve been married 2 wonderful months so far – so until next time, Cheerio!

If you need any hints and tips on being the perfect wife try this website! The Perfect House Wife

Monday 26 April 2010

I'm going to admit something.

It all got too much.  Things got too much.


It's odd because wedding planning has actually slowed down a lot recently, but I've also been faced with a few decisions.  Nothing major but I panicked.

The first time was over our invitations.  This one has been bubbling for a while now.  I feel this enormous pressure when it comes to the invites.  I'm a Graphic Designer by trade and I've also been known to design my own gift cards.  I feel like they need to be outstanding otherwise people will be disappointed.  I realise how crazy this sounds and in truth the only person who will really notice any faults is me.  But unfortunately this is who I am and I can't help feel this way.  I've reached a point with the invitations and now I'm stuck, I can't decide the best way forward, my solution for this is to ignore it.  Yeah I know not a great idea but it's best for me to take a step back and approach it again with a clear head.

The second thing is the bridesmaid's dresses.  How on earth am I meant to choose a dress that suits all 4 girls without actually seeing the dress they'll wear?  The dresses they've tried on either don't fit or are the wrong colour.  It's impossible and I seem to lack the imagination to picture them in their finished state.  All the girls are wonderful and offer their opinions, but I still feel very alone in this decision.  I have to admit that I haven't fallen for any of the dresses they've tried on and I can't figure out whether it's because they're not right or it's because I can't picture them the way they're suppose to be.
I worry that I'm asking too much of the girls to give up their weekends to follow me around bridal shops, especially as I'm so indecisive.   We have another appointment this Saturday to try on a few Dessy dresses including the one on my previous post which everyone seemed to like (2749). Hopefully we'll find the right one soon, until then we'll continue the search.  Sorry girls.

I'm sensitive and I'm a worrier.  They're innate qualities that I acknowledge but really can't do anything about. I upset myself more because I kept thinking that things aren't even that stressful yet.  I've still got 6 more months of decisions and planning to go - how will I cope?!

I also did the worst thing possible.  I kept it to myself.  I thought people would think I was being silly and over-sensitive.  In truth the enormity of the situation hit me.  The thought that I have to make decisions for a date 6 months away and to commit large sums of money, time and effort in to something that I can't change if it's wrong blew me away.

I've spoken to my Mom and I've spoken to Suzie - who tell me this is all totally normal and I'm not losing my mind.  The reason I'm writing about this on the blog is because above all else this is my wedding journey diary.  I'm using this post as a form of closure.  I'm acknowledging that not everything will be perfect on the day but by that point will I really care?  It's very easy to get caught up in the small things - I've never forgotten the real reason for the day and throughout all my tearful moments Has has been there for me.  I don't really want to admit to wobbling but I also want to say "It's ok"  When faced with something as important like this we're bound to feel overwhelmed.  It's hard to have everyone looking to you for the answers but I'm stepping up to the plate.  Yes I'm going to wobble again and yes I'm sure there will be more tearful moments but I'm going to try my hardest to not let the little things bother me.

Sunday 25 April 2010

Happy Birthday Nan!

Today is my Nan's 70th birthday.

We celebrated yesterday by going out for a meal with family and friends and then back to my parents house for a surprise party!

We had arranged for more family and friends to surprise my Nan once we got back from the restaurant.  She was definitely surprised!


It was lovely to see my Nan catch up with everyone.


Seeing as it was St George's day on Friday and how my Nan is very patriotic we had a red, white and blue theme for the party.  All the party food and even the cake, which was made by Sarah at Blue Door Bakery  was in keeping with the theme.




The cake was gorgeous, everyone loved it!  Thank you Sarah!

Together with all my beautiful bridesmaids

We borrowed an idea from the girls at "Rock my Wedding" and printed off a few signs we could use during photos.  Dressed in fancy dress and looking the fool everyone posed for pictures.  It was such good fun!



My Nan had a wonderful night and said today she can't remember smiling so much!


Happy 70th Birthday Nan.  Love you always x

Friday 23 April 2010

Some Things for the Weekend

Happy St George's Day!

Does anyone still celebrate today?  It always reminds me of my Grandad.  He always used to say he had two birthdays.  His official birthday and today.  You see his name was George... not quite a saint though!

Busy weekend planned.  My Nan turns 70 on Sunday so we are going out for a meal tomorrow to celebrate her birthday.  Sunday is a very important day if you like football and live in the Midlands.  It's the Aston Villa, Birmingham City Derby.  A date in my diary I always dread!  Has is a Blues supporter and my family support Villa.  I'm sure there's going to be plenty of healthy banter on Saturday!



~ Alice in Wonderland themed invitations

~ Vintage Wedding, the bride is wearing an absolutely gorgeous headband

Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches - I'm craving ice cream sooo bad right now!

Danni from Oh Hello Friend shares her beautiful engagement photos

I'm loving these coordinate posters - especially the New York one

Good advice on being the best wedding guest

Stunning backyard wedding... and it's purple!

Jessi's Rainbow Party

Modern wedding in  New York

Sarah at Blue Door Bakery got a mention on Rock my Wedding

Spectacular headbands and fascinators from Lo Boheme

A super cute desert engagement shoot

A really pretty cake.  I can't believe the work that goes in to it!

I ♥ this picture

Enjoy the sunshine and have a fabulous weekend!! x

Thursday 22 April 2010

Seattle

It's funny because Seattle only became an option when we had planned to go to Alaska.  It was one of the only places we could get a direct to or from within the mainland USA.  During the early stages of planning we looked in to the city just enough to decide whether or not it would suit us.  Has mentioned to me this morning he didn't really know what we were going to do once we were there.

We are both aware of the cities musical background as some of our favourite bands came straight out of Seattle.  We'd love to do a grunge tour and see the venues that had bands such as Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains play.  I could be wrong but I don't think there is an organised tour, we would have to put in a lot of research and create our own, which could be a lot of fun!  Notable places would probably include The Crocodile and The Central Saloon.  We could also visit the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum which is dedicated to the history of both music and science fiction.

We couldn't travel all that way without visiting the Space Needle, 184 metres high the Space Needle is probably Seattle's most famous landmark.  At the top sits the Sky Cafe, which rotates 360 degrees as you eat!  The menu is a little on the pricey side but hey you're only on honeymoon once!


Pike Place Market is home to the first ever Starbucks Cafe.  If you know me and Has you'll know that Starbucks (however cheesy) played rather a large part in our relationship.  It seems fitting to visit this store on our honeymoon.  As well as the famous coffee chain Pike Place also has plenty of restaurants, stalls, shops and bars to keep us busy.  If we're peckish I've heard good things about the Three Girls Bakery, mmmmm cake!

 (Mine's a tall hot chocolate with whipped cream, Has' is a grande cappuccino!)

Seattle has a secret world right underneath the streets! After the Great Seattle Fire in 1889, city leaders decided that they would rebuild the city 2 stories above the previous level. In 1965, Bill Speidel established Bill Speidel's Underground Tour  You can now take tours underneath the city and learn about Seattle's history.  It gets mixed reviews on Trip Advisor but it may be a fun way to spend a few hours.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Seattle has to offer.  We'll be arriving into the city on the red eye from Oahu, where we'll obviously have been taking things very easy, so I think it's a great way for us to get back into the swing before moving on to New York.

Wednesday 21 April 2010

NFL fixtures - What games will we see?

The NFL fixtures came out last night.  We were hoping that Has' team the Oakland Raiders would play at home when we were in San Francisco.  Unfortunately the Sunday we are there is their "day off" (typical!) However the San Francisco 49ers will be playing the St Louis Rams.  The cool thing about seeing the 49ers play at home is a week before our wedding we will be going to Wembley to watch them play the Denver Broncos.

Also my team the New York Giants are playing at home on Sunday 28th November.  The day we leave to come home.  Our flight isn't until late so we'll try and get tickets to see the Giants play the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Providing we get tickets I'll be able to cross off number 16 on my 30 before 30 list

In other Honeymoon news - it looks like we'll be making a decision and booking our New York hotel by the end of the week!  Eek!


Tuesday 20 April 2010

Macron Mania

Friday night Suzie and tried our hand at making macarons.  We followed a recipe we found on Bakerella

90 grams of aged egg whites.  (We used 4 eggs and had some left over)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
110 grams of ground almonds
200 grams powdered sugar

Whip the egg whites until foamy then gradually add the granulated sugar until it looks like a glossy meringue.  Be careful not to over beat

Place the almonds and powdered sugar into a bowl.  Add the whipped egg white mixture and gently fold.  If you want to add colouring now is the time.  All the recipes I've seen say powdered colouring but seeing as we didn't have any we added a tiny splash of red liquid colouring.
The recipes say not to over fold and because we'd never made these before we were very cautious.  We could probably have folding the colouring in a little better, but hey these were only a test run!

Pipe the mixture on to greaseproof paper and leave to harden.  We left ours for about an hour whilst we had dinner.  Most recipes say between half and hour to an hour.


The bake for 18 to 20 minutes at 140º or gas mark 1-2.

Then leave to cool


We filled ours with a white chocolate ganache.

We melted 100g of white chocolate and then stirred in 150ml of double cream.  We left for a few minutes until the mixture became thick then spooned on to one half of the macaron then sandwiched another on top to complete the look.


Having never tried a macaron before we have NO idea whether they turned out right or not!  They are weirdly addictive.  When I asked Has to try one, he couldn't decide whether he liked them or not, calling them weird.  Our friends gave the same verdict.  Weird but nice.  They soon polished them off though!

They have a strange texture, almost like meringue.  Ours were quite sweet but we think that had to do with the filling.  I'm currently on the hunt for powdered food colouring to have another go, maybe this time with a different filling.


Monday 19 April 2010

T-minus 200 days!

Wow, that's come round fast!



More Bridesmaid dress shopping.

Good Morning!  Good weekends?

I dragged my poor bridesmaids around shopping again on Saturday.  We visited Bridal Gowns of Droitwich.  They have a really good offer on at the moment which would mean we'd get a dress free.

We found one dress by Hillary Morgan that impressed everyone.  It's a little different to the styles the girls have tried on before and I have to be honest that I wasn't particularly enamoured with it when I saw it on the hanger.  Once the girls had it on it looked completely different.

The pictures I've found of it don't really do it any justice.  It's so difficult trying to envisage how a dress will look when it fits or when it's been made in the right colour.

The original picture of the dress can be found here.  I've made very crude mock ups of the dresses in the similar colours we would have just to get you're opinions.


Similar colours to what the older two bridesmaids would wear


Similar colours to what the younger two bridesmaids would wear.

They do offer a younger style dress with straps for my youngest cousin Sophie to wear.  She did look very sweet, swooshing around in her dress.

So what do you think to these?  Yay or Nay?  Love it or hate it?  Not sure?  Either way I'd love to know!



Friday 16 April 2010

Some Things for the Weekend

Yay, Friday's here!  The week after a bank holiday always seems harder, I've been spoilt with only working for 4 day for 2 weeks and it just seems very unfair to ask me to go back to working 5 days! *Strop*

BUT the weekend is here!  Doing anything nice?  Mine will consist of baking, bridesmaid dress shopping (again),  catching up with Lost, seeing friends and sleeping in.  Perfect!



~ I'm pretty much in love with this cute bedside table

~ A fun engagement shoot

~ The DIY do's and don'ts

~ Five kinds of Love

~ DIY gift candles - I really want to have a go at these!

~ Cupcakes + Purple = Happy

~ I adore the bunting in this cake from this ranch wedding via Green Wedding Shoes.  P.S Check out the bride's shoes!! A.mazing!

~ All UK flights have been grounded - this is why

~ Mouth-wateringly good Individual chocolate cakes

~ We may be approaching summer but this Christmas wedding is stunning

~ Save the date map envelope liners

~ Surprise - We got married!

Happy Weekend xxx

Thursday 15 April 2010

Macarons

Suzie and I are going to attempt to make Macarons tomorrow evening.


Wish us luck!  We're going to be following this recipe from Bakerella.  I hear they are difficult to get right so any handy tips and advice would be appreciated!

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Wedding Discounts

One of the first things I did after getting engaged (and continue to do so) is sign up to every wedding related newsletter I can find.

Gail's List - White Wedding Pages is specifically for brides and grooms in West Midlands.  She lets me know about any local fayres and today I received these offers and thought someone may find them useful.

If you then please quote Gail's List Wedding Discount Vouchers when calling.



Magician - 2 hours of close-up magic - normally £350 now just £295. Russ Stokes 07773 803933

Transport - 25% discount, free bottle of bubbly and the quote inc all mileage. Beetlebugs 07565 426381

Photography - £125 off my photography package price until July 2010. Jon Thorne 07734 459 708

Videoography - £100 off any package – call by 31/03/10 to get this offer. Lucid Moments 01384 821381

Bridesmaids Dress - £100 off, when having your bridal gown made. Greensleeves 01386 446242

Please note I am not affiliated with Gail's List or any of the companies offering discounts.  I'm just being nice and passing along the offers!

An Evening of Invitation Making

The other evening when Suzie and Hayley came round to help make up our wedding invitations we made a little video.


I love the cameo from my dad!

Thank you Suzie, Hayley and Mom for all your help.  Big kisses to Has who helped me edit the video (disclaimer: It was my shaky and inexperienced hand holding the camera for the close ups not the boy with the degree in video production!)

Music is the Banana Splits by the Dickies.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

The Moana

One of my jobs for April was to research honeymoon hotels.  So, what do you think of this one?


The Moana Surfrider in Honolulu. Also known as "The First Lady of Waikiki" the first beach front resort opened in 1901, the re-opened in 2007 as a Westin hotel.


The location is perfect for us, it's central without being too busy.  We won't be renting a car for our stay as I've heard parking in Waikiki is a nightmare and expensive.  The buses will suit us just fine.
I love the colonial style furnishings, it all looks so grand and elegant.


Another plus point is that this hotel is a Westin,  which means it comes with Heavenly Beds!!  We stayed in a Westin when we went to Orlando a few years ago, and I seriously can't tell you how amazingly comfortable they are.  They really do live up to their name!  When I win the lottery I'm getting one of these bad boys!


Although we won't be slumming it on our honeymoon, we have a budget to keep to. However Honolulu is somewhere we've both decided we'd like to really treat ourselves.  
Ideally we want an ocean view room with a balcony.  I can envisage us ordering room service for breakfast (french toast for me please!) and sitting in the morning sun on our balcony planning out the rest of the day.  Bliss.

We're pretty sure this will be our Honolulu honeymoon hotel, we should be able to book the majority of our hotels by the end of the month.  Once that's done there'll be no stopping us!  How real will it all feel then!

Evening Invitations

Even though our day invitations are not yet finished, I've made a start on our evening invites.  I wanted to keep them as simple as possible.

I've carried over the purple swirls and created a document just shy of A5.  I shall print them out on the same ivory pearl paper as the day invitations and back them with a lilac pearl card.


What do you think? Also my next question is... Should I include a map and directions in with the evening invites?

Monday 12 April 2010

Spare Change

We're terrible with spare change. Has hates carrying any thing lower than a 50 pence piece as it bulks out his wallet and I always put my "twos and ones" in a pot by my desk for the same reason.

I bought us a small wooden bowl to keep our spare change in but that didn't seem to contain it.  We would still end up with a sock drawer full of "coppers."  We also started to keep it in large pint glasses in a cupboard, until they started to over flow.  It was around this time last year that we took 3 pint glasses full of small change to Tesco to use their coin machines.  It takes a small fee but we found that depositing nothing larger than a 20 pence piece we had over £60 in change.

At Christmas, Has' Mom Sue bought us a large jar with an electronic coin counter on the top.  So now when ever we see a rouge 5p lying around it goes straight in the jar.  Our aim is to fill it and change it into dollars for a treat on our honeymoon.


Since Christmas we've managed to save over £50 in small change. We never put anything above 20p in the jar (we have a separate pot for 50p's, £1 and £2 coins) it feels good to see our change grow, and to know it has a purpose instead of just sitting around with our socks!


Sunday 11 April 2010

Saturday's Wedding

A little different to any of the weddings I had been to before.  Let me start by telling you a little background.  The bride who works with Has is Indian and the groom is from a Japanese family.  Last weekend they had their Indian ceremony and this weekend was the actual legal wedding.

Their ceremony began at 3.  A few close friends and family members were invited to witness the marriage then at 6 the evening guests arrived for a sit down meal.  I say "sit down" our starter was served, then we had to go to a buffet style set up to get our main meal.  The food was traditional Indian style food, I wasn't keen on the starter, which was a cold pakora served with chick peas and yoghurt. The main meal was a selection of curries, rice and naan breads, they were delicious.  I could easily have gone back for seconds!

It wasn't until our strawberry cheesecake was being served that I realised there were no chair covers.  Has and I both thought it proved that the minor details are sometimes not as important as you think.  Small details that can cost a lot of money are not always appreciated.

It was a lovely wedding, and we both really enjoyed ourselves.... someone enjoyed himself a little too much!



The bride and groom

Saturday 10 April 2010

Perfect day for wedding


We're off to the wedding of one of Has' work colleagues this evening.  The weather is gorgeous and the sun has been shining all morning.  Perfect day for a wedding!

Friday 9 April 2010

Some Things for the Weekend

Friday again!  I love 4 day weeks.
We have an evening reception to go to on Saturday, that makes only 3 more weddings before it's our turn!

from here

What about you - what do you have planned?

Things I've been loving this week...

~ I've been noticing a lot of purple weddings around lately. All gorgeous but my favourites are this Texan wedding, this stunning wedding in the wine county Napa and this really beautiful wedding in Sydney

A disposible two hours in New York

A really cool idea for Save the Date

I absolutely love the light in this engagement shoot. I don't know whether it's natural or created during the editing stages... anyone know?

Beautiful pancake breakfast

A bride from one of the blogs I read got married last Saturday, congratulations!

Cupcake liners + pipe cleaners = pretty!

A pretty Hawaiian wedding

Bryant Park in bloom

Good advice from the Wedding Genie

The Blue Apartment


Cute as a button


Win a £2000 home make over from John Lewis

Have a happy weekend! xxx

Thursday 8 April 2010

Invitation Pocket folds Part 3

This was the scene from last night


Ribbon, double sided tape, circle punches and purple card can only mean one thing...   Part 3 of operation pocket fold invitation was under way.

After ensuring the troops (Mom, Hayley and Suzie) were fed and supplied with tea we started the task of attaching the purple ribbon to the border of the flap.


Using 3mm double sided tape I had bought from eBay, we lined the edge.

The carefully stuck the ribbon down.  In our testing stages we had done this using two pieces of ribbon.  Suzie suggested we try doing it using one long piece with a tiny fold in the middle.


It looked a lot neater and has reduced the risk of the ribbon fraying in the middle.


We also punched out the circles for the band that goes around the outside.


The circles punched out are smaller than the one we used on our mock up, (as modelled by Hayley!) so we are struggling to find a way to attach the ribbon.


Instead of rushing into anything it was decided we would leave that part until we could find the best way of achieving the look I want.


So, these are invitations at the end of part 3.  Thank you Mom, Suzie and Hayley for all your help x

If you're interested you can also read about part 1 and part 2 of operation pocket fold invitation.

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