5 months

How was your bank holiday weekend?  I had fun spending it with family and friends.  We went to our friends wedding party on Saturday night, it was nice to be able to congratulate them properly and see them in their wedding outfits. We didn't get round to looking for our rings, so they'll be on next months list!

I had a bit of a "oh crap it's June, which means we have 5 months left" moment this weekend.  I don't have a weekend off now until the middle of August with various events so I'm going to have to call on the help of others to get things finished off.

Over the next few months we have 7 festivals/gigs, 2 weddings, 9 birthdays, a Race for Life and a craft market.  Busy!

I haven't crossed off everything from May's to do list.  I ordered the bridesmaid's dresses, painted the chalkboard hearts with a second coat, re-joined weight watchers (and lose 5lbs in total so far!).

I also ordered something for the bridesmaids from Yarwood-White for them to wear on the day and I tried out my camouflage make up.  The invitations have had a little more work done to them and are very close to being finished!

I do have quite a bit on in June, including the Download Festival next weekend, which I am super excited about, but I do have to get a wriggle on now, I was hoping to have all the DIY projects finished by September so I didn't have any last minutes battles with glue dots and ribbon.

Therefore in June I am hoping to...

• Finish day invites (Suzie and Hayley are coming to mine on the 16th armed with tweezers for attaching teeny pearls to the invites
• Print out and back evening invitations.
• Print out the Chrysler Building shapes on to card for the covers of the Order of Services.
• Think about the menus and table plans
• Go over guest lists for day and evening.
• Look for bridesmaids shoes.
• Speak with Deborah Stott about our pre-wedding shoot
• Purchase rings

This month I really want to focus on the invitations.  I don't want to be worrying about them next month when the deadline is getting tighter.

One minute I think it's still quite a way off, but then judging by how the months are flying by at the moment the day will be here in a heart beat!  Exciting and petrifying all at the same time!

6 months

source

A big squeeze for Has who hasn't been feeling himself lately... I hope you feel more like your huna self soon xxx

Where has the time gone!!?

It's May!  How did that happen?  I can remember sitting down over a year ago and thinking about the things I'd have to do at the 6 month mark.  It's scary to think how fast the months are disappearing.

We have managed to tick off quite a few things from our list in April.
We've found the Bridesmaid's dresses (and will be ordering them by the end of May).  We've booked two of our honeymoon hotels (New York and San Antonio).  Suzie and Hayley joined me for an evening of invitation making.  We're by no means finished but we're getting there! I've also done a mock up of the evening invitation and we've sent out an email to all of my friends asking them to join us in London for my Hen Party

Busy busy!

I had planned to do a lot more, but some of the projects required nicer weather so I could paint outside.  As soon as the weather perks up I'll be out there painting and spraying!

So jobs for this month will include

• Order and pay for the bridesmaid's dresses
• Finish the day invitations.
• Print the evening invitations
• Print the Chrysler Building covers for the order of service and making a start on cutting them out.
• As soon as the sun shines, apply another coat of chalkboard paint to the heart place cards.
• Start the ring hunt!  Now the football season has ended I'll be dragging Has around the shops in search for our bling.
• Chase responses for the hen party and start to work on a more detailed cost per person.
• I'm going to rejoin Weight Watchers tomorrow.... give me strength and will power please!!
• Finalise wedding day guest list and make sure we have addresses for everyone.
• Start looking for accessories for me and the bridesmaids.

Our friends were married yesterday in the Empire State Building in New York.  We couldn't fly out to be with them on their special day but they are having a party here when they return from their honeymoon at the end of May.

Two of our other friends have recently become engaged, unfortunately their engagement party falls in the same date.  Hopefully we'll be able to go and see them soon to offer our congratulations and celebrate properly!

It's really strange because November still feels very far away, there's still so much in between now and then.  But when I say it's 6 months away... woah does that sound close!!

T-minus 200 days!

Wow, that's come round fast!

April Fools!

Happy Easter

Of course I wasn't being serious when I said I'd found the bridesmaid's their dresses in fact I found the dresses here.  Lovely colour though!

So April is here and we've officially made it through winter.  Thank goodness, it feels like winter has been here for a long time!
I'm looking forward to summer barbecues, festivals, floaty dresses and driving with the windows down.   Warmer weather still feels far away though, especially seeing as I had to scrape SNOW from my car this morning!  I think Mother Nature was playing a little April Fool's herself!  Good one Momma, now bring the sunshine please?!

March wasn't a very productive month in terms of planning.  I haven't really had any motivation to get anything done.  I'm hoping April will work out better.

I did manage to cross off a few things from my list. I visited the National Wedding Fayre at the NEC, we booked the remaining honeymoon flights (yay!), we visited one bridesmaid dress shop and decided on a final design for our wedding invitations.

Taking in to account the jobs I didn't manage to do in March, April's list looks like this.

• Start making up the wedding invitations (Me, Suzie and Hayley have a date next wednesday!)
• Continue the search for bridesmaids dresses, whether that's shop bought or custom made.
• Work on finishing the chalk board place cards
• Research honeymoon hotels
• Start mocking up ideas for the evening invitations
• Work on secret bridesmaid gift project.
• Continue work on song choices for ceremony, wedding breakfast and reception
• Work on another little DIY painting project that will require some nicer weather.
• Start cutting out 160 Chrysler Buildings for the Order of the Day booklets......!
• Plan "Hen and the City"
• Get back on the diet wagon!!!  I've slipped big time, once I've gobbled up all my Easter eggs there'll be no more treats!

I'm looking forward to getting back into wedding mode.  We have 7, yes 7 months to go!  The other night I had a dream that we were 2 weeks away from getting married and I had done nothing.  I hadn't even sent the invitations out!  Maybe it was my subconscious giving me a kick up the bum and telling me to pull my finger out!

I'm postponing trying on my dress until May.  Hayley has a few days off coming up so the plan is for me, Suzie and Natalie to visit as many bridesmaids dress shops as we can and make a short list for when Hayley can join us.  We'll also all visit my dress so I can try her on and probably cry like an idiot!

Have a lovely Easter weekend! x

Spring time!

It feels like Spring has arrived this morning with beautiful blue skies and sunshine, I'm not sure how long this is going to last but it's nice to see the sun!

I can't believe March is here already... this year seems to be flying by, which is scary!  In January I made a list of things to do and said I would do this ever 3 months.  It really helped me to get a lot done, I work best when I have a schedule and I enjoy having something to tick off.

I have done most of the items on my list, the only thing I'm behind on is the Hen Party.  I'm not too worried about it, because we still have plenty of time to finalise details.

In February we have...

Registered with John Lewis and we have received our gift list cards to put in with our invitation (I may have also searched around on the John Lewis website making a mental list of things I'd like!)

We've obviously attended Suzie and Rob's wedding!

We have started to think about songs we can use during the ceremony and wedding breakfast, Has has put together a little play list of songs on his laptop.  We'll often have little chats about what songs to use during our journey to and from work and we have quite a few we'd like to hear down on our list now.

Honeymoon flights... well we're holding off for a little while to see if the price comes down.  I'm not convinced they will but Has keeps checking.  We'll hopefully have the flights from Honolulu to Anchorage, Anchorage to Seattle and Seattle to New York booked up soon.  Then it will just be a case of booking the coach from Dallas to San Antonio and then the flight from San Antonio to San Francisco.

I think there will be a lot going on in the next few months.

March (8 months to go)

• Attend the National Wedding Fayre at the NEC this weekend with the intention of looking for Bridesmaid dresses.
• Look into the possibility of having the bridesmaid dresses made and contact local dress makers.  (John Lewis provide a list of local dress makers, so I'll be calling a few of those)
• Start to make up our day invitations.  I still need to decide on an outer design but I shall be working on a few ideas and will hopefully start to make those up.
• Book remaining honeymoon flights.
• Try on MY dress! (It came in to the shop last September but I haven't tried it on yet!)
• Providing weather is nice work on chalk board place cards.

April (7 months to go)

• Finish work on the day invitations
• Work on design for evening invitations
• Work on Hen Party details
• Work on secret bridesmaid gift project.
• Continue work on song choices for ceremony, wedding breakfast and reception

May (6 months to go)

• Look for rings
• Make enquiries into men's suit hire
• Help Mom start the search for her outfit
• Buy 2 more Martini vases for table centre pieces (One got broken and we need a spare), We also need to buy a few rolls of organza for decorating the ceremony room.
• Make up boxes for popcorn on candy table - I bought a stencil to make small popcorn shaped boxes. They will probably take a while to make but once they're done they'll be easy to stack and store.

We also have 2 weddings to attend in April and May, we've been to more weddings in the past 6 months than   we have in our entire lives!  I love it though, they make me so excited for our day!

I want to try and get as many of my DIY projects done as soon as possible, I really don't want to be working on them last minute.  I'm sure I'll probably end up with a few more items on that list but at least it gives me something to work from.

February? Already!

Wow!  Time is flying by!

I've been looking at my "to do" list I made at the start of the year to make sure I'm on track.  So far I'm doing pretty well.
I've made my hair appointment for the wedding day, looked at potential hair styles for me and my bridesmaids, I met Sarah from Blue Door Bakery and spoke extensively about cupcakes, emailed my friends about "Hen and the City" and booked our flights from San Francisco to Oahu!

Well today I crossed off two more things from my list.

First of all I registered our gift list with John Lewis, we don't have to decide on what we want yet but at least it's all set up ready for us to zap our way around the shop!

Has: "What does this do?"
Laura: "I have no idea?  Lets get it!"
Zap!

Also today I sent off our deposit to Sarah at Blue Door Bakery to confirm our booking for our yummy wedding cupcake tower!

This is the tower we saw at the wedding fayre at Stone Manor Hotel.  Ours will look really similar but with a giant cupcake on top!

I want to try and make the chalkboard placecards this month too, I now have all the things I need after buying 4 more packs of wooden hearts from Hobbycraft this weekend, so there's nothing really stopping me!

Last night Has found the flights for Honolulu to Anchorage, Anchorage to Seattle and Seattle to New York so we should be able to get those booked up soon too!  Full steam ahead!

The year of the weddings!

Now Christmas has passed, it's time for serious wedding planning.

Not just for our wedding but Suzie's too!  She gets married in 47 days and there's a hen party to prepare for before then!

I need to be able to plan out what I need to do over the next few months and whilst I probably won't stick to it rigidly it's good to have it written down.

January

• Chase Jennie (Florist) for written confirmation of deposit received and timeline of important dates. 
• Book appointment with Leanne @ Natural Cupcake Kitchen to discuss the possibility of them supplying the cupcakes. 
• Go to the wedding fare at Stone Manor Wedding (24th) to speak to Sarah at Blue Door Bakery Kitchen to discuss the possibility of them supplying the cupcakes. 
• Hopefully secure a cupcake supplier! 
• At my next hair appointment, discuss with Jo about having our hair done at the hairdressers on the morning of the wedding. 
• Start to look at hair styles for me and bridesmaids 
• Work out potential available weekends for “Hen in the City!”
• Write out a guest list 
• Source hotels and activities to find an estimated cost based on everyone coming.
• Put ideas to hens! 

February - I doubt I'll plan very much in February as I'll be in full Bridesmaid mode!

• Register at John Lewis for Gift List.
• Think about songs for the ceremony. 
• Book remaining honeymoon flights. 
• Attend Suzie's wedding!

March 

• Start to make up day invitations. 
• Research bridesmaids dresses. Contact recommended dress makers for quotes and appointments. 
• 5 – 7th March National Wedding Fayre @ NEC. – Maybe go to look at bridesmaids dresses.

I think taking it 3 months at a time is probably best.  Any more than that and I could get seriously overwhelmed!  I want to make sure I'm not rushing at the last minute because I do tense up very easily!

I'm sure I won't get chance to do some of the above or other things will take priority but I find it helps to have things written down.  With 10 months and 1 day to go it's time to get my skates on!

"Cheers!"

To mark the occasion we celebrated with a chinese and bucks fizz!  Excuse the state of us we both have terrible colds!
The reality of it is we are both now in bed, tucked up with a hot water bottle and a mug of tea!  Romantic hey?  Let's hope we're both a little healthier this time next year!

This time next year...

Will be our wedding day!!

As I type the weather outside is miserable.  It's cold, windy and pouring with rain!  Looks like I might get to use my wellies after all!

Taken days after becoming Mr and Mrs Bride and Groom to be!

Bridezilla, Me? Never!

As our one year countdown gets closer, I can't help but think about what I'll be doing this time next year.

I wonder whether I'll be stressed, calm, excited, nervous?  All of the above?!

If all goes to plan my parents, brother, nan, aunt and uncle, cousins, godparents, bridesmaids and me should all be at Nailcote Hall.

My Dad is arranging a golf event on the morning of the 4th for all the men.  Nailcote boasts a 9 hole golf course and ever since we first visited my Dad's been itching to play it!

The ladies, however will be enjoying Nailcote's warmer facilities like the spa, pool and jacuzzi!

Has an I hope to be able to have lunch/afternoon tea with just our parents to be able to thank them for all their support and help.  This will be the last time I see Has before I make my way (carefully!) down those stairs the following morning.

A lot of my family and friends are staying over at Nailcote the night before the wedding, so I'd love for us all to meet up on the evening to have dinner in the Oak Room.  Then we can retire to the bar for a few drinks before bed.

I'm planning on giving my bridesmaids their gifts the night before, I have visions of us all sitting on my bed in our pyjamas giggling and drinking champagne... not too much though!  No one wants to see a bride with a hangover!

I hope by that point I'm relaxed, I shall be packing my Bach's Rescue Remedy with me (It helped me pass my driving test)  I know my stomach will be doing flips and I'll be super nervous I just hope I don't turn into the dreaded  "My knickers are the wrong shade of white!" Bridezilla!

Permission to slap me if I do!

1 year 1 Month

Bit of a weird weekend. Autumn arrived with a gust of wind as I waved Has off on Saturday morning when the Emirates driver came to pick him up.  I packed up most of my belongings in the car and headed back home. 

I purposely arranged a meeting with a florist, so I had something to keep me busy, mom and I drove over to meet Jenny in Sutton Coldfield.

I wasn’t feeling particularly wedding-y and would much rather have stayed at home in the warm, but we braved the wind and cold and I’m glad we did.

Unlike the other florists I’ve met she was interested in our wedding.  She wanted to know all kinds of little details and made loads of suggestions.  I think the most exciting thing to come out of this meeting was the idea for the bridesmaid bouquets.  We saw a bouquet made of roses and another bouquet made of freesias.  So we’ve decided to combine the two, light purple freesias with avalanche roses.  Beautiful!

Jenny also understood my ramblings about my bouquet not looking like a ball.  I said thing like “fluffy, messy, but neat” and “So it looks like you’ve just gathered up a handful of flowers”  She totally understood what I was after and we picked out a gorgeous picture in one of her books.  I’m actually annoyed with myself that I didn’t take a picture of the two bouquets I liked.  I’m just waiting on her quote now.  Hopefully it won’t be too expensive.  I’m going to see another shop on Saturday who I have high hopes for.  We shall see.

It’s also 1 year and 1 month to go today.  It’s nice to know that Has will be back before the 1 year count down arrives.

Only 26 more days to go :)

We've been engaged a year!!

This time last year we were in Las Vegas and Has was a bag of nerves!!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone! Only 408 days to go!!