Eeeeeek! Now we have only 4 months to go, its coming so quick!
We had a really busy month in November! Our G & G letters arrived and we bought purple and grey paint for them. I went to meet the florist, got an idea of the flowers then paid the deposit. I also started guest blogging on Little Miss Wedding. We ordered our wedding rings, Grahams kilt & set up our gift list at John Lewis and we finally got some wedding insurance. I also started making the day invites, booked & paid the deposit for a coach for our guests and spoke to the minister at the church.
Since we have been in Florida I have also bought a few more things including an edge punch for the table names or table plan; a corner punch for the order of service’, menus or placecards; purple beverage napkins for the welcome drinks or cake and I also ordered mini gable boxes for the favours which should arrive tomorrow.
So next month {as well as still being on holiday for the next 9 days} I want to get the rest of the day invites and the evening ones made so that I can send them all out in January. We will be putting our decorations up on Sunday 13th when we return from Florida then the rest of the month will be busy with Christmas & New Year, all the preparations and seeing family & friends. My sister Ashleigh & nephew Enzo are coming up to Edinburgh on the 19th and I cant wait to see how much he has changed since we last saw them in October.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Its my Birthday!
Today we are at Epcot as I was able to get in free to a Disney park on my Birthday.
Although Magic Kingdom is probably my favourite theme park, we are already going on Tuesday for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, so we decided to go to Epcot today, as it’s also a fabulous park! Hopefully just now we are flying high on Soarin', helping launch a shuttle on Mission Space or buying a Christmas decoration from each country in the World Showcase!
I think this is a great way to spend my 28th Birthday and certainly beats my 27th when I was in the middle of sitting a 3 day exam!
ps. Another reason I love our wedding date, and what will make it easy to remember, is that its also the 3rd like my Birthday!
Although Magic Kingdom is probably my favourite theme park, we are already going on Tuesday for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, so we decided to go to Epcot today, as it’s also a fabulous park! Hopefully just now we are flying high on Soarin', helping launch a shuttle on Mission Space or buying a Christmas decoration from each country in the World Showcase!
I think this is a great way to spend my 28th Birthday and certainly beats my 27th when I was in the middle of sitting a 3 day exam!
ps. Another reason I love our wedding date, and what will make it easy to remember, is that its also the 3rd like my Birthday!
Friday, 27 November 2009
Holiday!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
We are off to Florida tomorrow morning and I'm currently trying to decide how many pairs of shoes & handbags to take with me!
I'm so looking forward to a lovely couple of weeks in the sun and we have plenty things planned to do while we are there {including lots of shopping!} Although we will have computer access, there wont be many posts over the next couple of weeks but I'm hoping I can keep up with all my other blogs in my google reader!
We are off to Florida tomorrow morning and I'm currently trying to decide how many pairs of shoes & handbags to take with me!
I'm so looking forward to a lovely couple of weeks in the sun and we have plenty things planned to do while we are there {including lots of shopping!} Although we will have computer access, there wont be many posts over the next couple of weeks but I'm hoping I can keep up with all my other blogs in my google reader!
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
All booked up!
I paid the deposit for the final item we had to book today! I'm really pleased we managed to get everything sorted before going on holiday.
We booked a 70 seater coach, from Prentice Coaches in Haddington, to take our guests from the church to the reception venue and it will return to Haddington after the reception. Not all of our guests will need the coach as many of our family and bridal party are staying over at the hotel but it should be big enough for the rest. It will also mean our evening guests from Haddington will be able to get the bus home! It was only £40 more to get the bigger coach, rather than a 57 seater, so we just booked it as we can always change to a smaller one later if required.
Once I had received a quote or response from all of the 7 companies I contacted, the 3 quotes we received were roughly within the same price bracket. We booked the cheapest one since the company is actually based where we are getting married and we have heard good reports about them. We may want the bus to do a drop-off in Edinburgh on the return to Haddington and they were the only company who wouldn't charge more for it. The coach was definitely more expensive than I expected but its something we wanted to provide since the church and reception venue are around 40 minutes apart. The ushers are going to be charged with getting the guests onto the bus and up to the hotel, since the rest of the bridal party, including our parents, will be in the cars we have booked.
This afternoon I requested my holidays for the wedding and honeymoon at work and they got approved quickly {obviously they all knew when I was getting married and that I had already booked our honeymoon!} I'm taking 17 days off in total which includes 2 days before the wedding, then the 3 weeks after. We get back from our honeymoon on the Wednesday of the last week but I didn't want to go back to work on the Thursday or Friday! It will be lovely to have a few more days to enjoy before everything goes back to normal! If necessary I can take more time off before the wedding but hopefully I will be organised enough beforehand!
Then when I got home, the swatches of my dress fabric had arrived from the dress shop! I requested it last week so that I can start looking for shoes and other accessories when we are in Florida. As there are 3 different materials in my dress, they sent a piece of each which is great. I cant wait to see my proper dress when it arrives next year.
We booked a 70 seater coach, from Prentice Coaches in Haddington, to take our guests from the church to the reception venue and it will return to Haddington after the reception. Not all of our guests will need the coach as many of our family and bridal party are staying over at the hotel but it should be big enough for the rest. It will also mean our evening guests from Haddington will be able to get the bus home! It was only £40 more to get the bigger coach, rather than a 57 seater, so we just booked it as we can always change to a smaller one later if required.
Once I had received a quote or response from all of the 7 companies I contacted, the 3 quotes we received were roughly within the same price bracket. We booked the cheapest one since the company is actually based where we are getting married and we have heard good reports about them. We may want the bus to do a drop-off in Edinburgh on the return to Haddington and they were the only company who wouldn't charge more for it. The coach was definitely more expensive than I expected but its something we wanted to provide since the church and reception venue are around 40 minutes apart. The ushers are going to be charged with getting the guests onto the bus and up to the hotel, since the rest of the bridal party, including our parents, will be in the cars we have booked.
This afternoon I requested my holidays for the wedding and honeymoon at work and they got approved quickly {obviously they all knew when I was getting married and that I had already booked our honeymoon!} I'm taking 17 days off in total which includes 2 days before the wedding, then the 3 weeks after. We get back from our honeymoon on the Wednesday of the last week but I didn't want to go back to work on the Thursday or Friday! It will be lovely to have a few more days to enjoy before everything goes back to normal! If necessary I can take more time off before the wedding but hopefully I will be organised enough beforehand!
Then when I got home, the swatches of my dress fabric had arrived from the dress shop! I requested it last week so that I can start looking for shoes and other accessories when we are in Florida. As there are 3 different materials in my dress, they sent a piece of each which is great. I cant wait to see my proper dress when it arrives next year.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Ribbon swatch card & progress!
I mentioned here that I wanted to get some 70mm purple satin ribbon, the same colour as the bridesmaids dresses, to use as a sash on the flowergirls dress. That way she will tie in with other bridesmaids.
I thought that Berisfords would have a similar colour, as they have a massive range, so I had a look in Hobbycraft and bought 1m of their Liberty colour, which turned out to be too bright against the dark purple. I managed to find a ribbon swatch card from Berisfords at Jaycotts, for the tiny sum of 45p, which I ordered then received a couple of weeks ago.
Otherwise, here is a quick update of what else we have been up to in the last week or so:
I thought that Berisfords would have a similar colour, as they have a massive range, so I had a look in Hobbycraft and bought 1m of their Liberty colour, which turned out to be too bright against the dark purple. I managed to find a ribbon swatch card from Berisfords at Jaycotts, for the tiny sum of 45p, which I ordered then received a couple of weeks ago.
Otherwise, here is a quick update of what else we have been up to in the last week or so:
- I confirmed & paid the florist deposit.
- Graham tried his ring when it arrived at the jewellers; we will pick it up and pay for both rings when mine arrives.
- Im making progress with the invitations; 36 of the day invites are done & I have another 12 printed and ready to stamp / ribbon / stick etc. I have also ordered another small stamp which I may use on the inserts or RSVP card. {A separate post will follow with more detail!}
- I received quotes / responses from 5 of the 7 coach companies I contacted; 2 were already fully booked and one of the others is quite a bit cheaper which we will probably end up booking. I would like to get it arranged before we go away.
- I have requested written confirmation from our cake maker we booked last month.
- We spoke to the minister at the church on Sunday to discuss going to meet him in January to finalise the ceremony. He confirmed that we can get married at 1pm {which is just as well seeing as I have already printed most of the day invites!}, that he would prefer 3 hymns like my mum and a couple of readings but that it wont last any longer than 45 minutes.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Wedding insurance
We finally got round to purchasing some wedding insurance tonight!
This was definitely the most unexciting purchase we have made so far, but it was something we felt we should get since we have now paid deposits for almost everything. Most of the larger deposits / payments have been made using a credit card {a Tesco one as we are collecting clubcard points to turn into Airmiles}, which gives us additional protection, but some have been paid in cash or by cheque so the insurance gives us some piece of mind in the current climate.
We opted for a policy from Weddingplan as it was quite reasonably priced but also covered the items we wanted. We did make sure that the policy covered all deposits we have paid prior to purchasing the insurance and that we would be covered if any of our suppliers goes into liquidation.
Lets hope its the only thing we buy that we don't have to use!
This was definitely the most unexciting purchase we have made so far, but it was something we felt we should get since we have now paid deposits for almost everything. Most of the larger deposits / payments have been made using a credit card {a Tesco one as we are collecting clubcard points to turn into Airmiles}, which gives us additional protection, but some have been paid in cash or by cheque so the insurance gives us some piece of mind in the current climate.
We opted for a policy from Weddingplan as it was quite reasonably priced but also covered the items we wanted. We did make sure that the policy covered all deposits we have paid prior to purchasing the insurance and that we would be covered if any of our suppliers goes into liquidation.
Lets hope its the only thing we buy that we don't have to use!
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Flowers
Last Monday I went to meet the florist, Val Hamilton, at her studio in Linlithgow. Graham didn't come with me as he isn't really that bothered about the flowers and the florist had suggested that it would be better as we could properly discuss my dress as well.
I quickly put together a couple of pages of pictures to take with me showing the types & colours of flowers I liked as well as another couple of pages showing my dress since I don't have a fabric swatch yet. I had some ideas about the type of flowers I wanted including orchids and tulips but I wasn't sure what else would tie in.
Val was really helpful and together we went through lots of different ideas and looked at what would be in season. As we had thought, the sweet peas that both my mum and granny had in their bouquets, are not available in April so I wont be having any in my bouquet. Val suggested she could get fake ones if I really wanted them but I only want fresh flowers, which she was happy about as she prefers not to use them.
We came up with a plan for all the bouquets, buttonholes and table centres which I think will be fabulous:
My bouquet: Purple Vanda Orchids {hand tied}.
Bridesmaids bouquets: Purple Tulips, Lime Green Viburnum & Ivory Bouvardia {hand tied x 6}
Top table: Purple Tulips, Lime Green Viburnum & Ivory / Pink Singapore Orchids {in 3 low glass cube vases}.
Table centres: Purple Tulips, Lime Green Viburnum & Ivory / Pink Singapore Orchids {in tall thin glass vases x 9}.
Grahams buttonhole: Purple Vanda Orchid.
Other buttonholes: Ivory Orchid {x 6}.
Corsages: TBC {depending on both mums outfit colours x 2}.
After our meeting, Val typed it up and then provided a quote for all of the flowers including delivery, set-up and dismantling, which we received on Friday. We are happy with the price she quoted as it is slightly under the figure we had in mind and I am aware that I haven't exactly chosen the cheapest flowers with all the orchids! So now we are going to pay the £50 deposit which will secure our date. We still have plenty time if we want to change anything as she wont be ordering the flowers until two weeks before the wedding.
So now we just need to find out about the church flowers. My parents know the women who provide & arrange the flowers for the services every Sunday and they offered to do the flowers for the wedding as well. This should work out cheaper than getting Val to do them as we will only have to pay for the actual flower cost and not the arranging. Mum is going to find out in the next couple of weeks what it might cost and what sort of flowers they can get. I'm hoping they will just be able to get flowers in the same colour scheme.
I quickly put together a couple of pages of pictures to take with me showing the types & colours of flowers I liked as well as another couple of pages showing my dress since I don't have a fabric swatch yet. I had some ideas about the type of flowers I wanted including orchids and tulips but I wasn't sure what else would tie in.
Val was really helpful and together we went through lots of different ideas and looked at what would be in season. As we had thought, the sweet peas that both my mum and granny had in their bouquets, are not available in April so I wont be having any in my bouquet. Val suggested she could get fake ones if I really wanted them but I only want fresh flowers, which she was happy about as she prefers not to use them.
We came up with a plan for all the bouquets, buttonholes and table centres which I think will be fabulous:
My bouquet: Purple Vanda Orchids {hand tied}.
Bridesmaids bouquets: Purple Tulips, Lime Green Viburnum & Ivory Bouvardia {hand tied x 6}
Top table: Purple Tulips, Lime Green Viburnum & Ivory / Pink Singapore Orchids {in 3 low glass cube vases}.
Table centres: Purple Tulips, Lime Green Viburnum & Ivory / Pink Singapore Orchids {in tall thin glass vases x 9}.
Grahams buttonhole: Purple Vanda Orchid.
Other buttonholes: Ivory Orchid {x 6}.
Corsages: TBC {depending on both mums outfit colours x 2}.
After our meeting, Val typed it up and then provided a quote for all of the flowers including delivery, set-up and dismantling, which we received on Friday. We are happy with the price she quoted as it is slightly under the figure we had in mind and I am aware that I haven't exactly chosen the cheapest flowers with all the orchids! So now we are going to pay the £50 deposit which will secure our date. We still have plenty time if we want to change anything as she wont be ordering the flowers until two weeks before the wedding.
So now we just need to find out about the church flowers. My parents know the women who provide & arrange the flowers for the services every Sunday and they offered to do the flowers for the wedding as well. This should work out cheaper than getting Val to do them as we will only have to pay for the actual flower cost and not the arranging. Mum is going to find out in the next couple of weeks what it might cost and what sort of flowers they can get. I'm hoping they will just be able to get flowers in the same colour scheme.
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Paint!
Last Sunday we made the trip to our nearest B&Q {a DIY superstore} to get some paint for our G & G letters. As I mentioned when they arrived, I hoped that we would be able to find shades that would match, or at least be similar, from their large range. There were a couple of colours that we thought would match but the sales assistant offered to scan my pieces of purple and grey card so that we could get an exact match mixed up.
We got a tester pot of each and since they are 250ml, it should be plenty to do the 3 letters and means we will have loads left if we can think of any other projects to paint! Each tester pot was only £2.48 so it was really cheap to get the exact colour we wanted, even though no one else is really going to notice. I didn't bother telling the assistant that we only wanted the paint for wooden letters as I think she thought it was really important that we get an exact match!
We got a tester pot of each and since they are 250ml, it should be plenty to do the 3 letters and means we will have loads left if we can think of any other projects to paint! Each tester pot was only £2.48 so it was really cheap to get the exact colour we wanted, even though no one else is really going to notice. I didn't bother telling the assistant that we only wanted the paint for wooden letters as I think she thought it was really important that we get an exact match!
So now we just need to paint them but I don't think we will get a chance to do it until we are off at Christmas as we have lots to do before we go to Florida!
WW Week 43...
...another 1.5lbs lost!
Current Weight [14.11.09] - 9st 12lbs
Total Loss = 36.5lbs
I went to our WW meeting again yesterday with mum, just to check my maintenance plan is working. I had lost a bit more, even though I wasn't really trying too, which will help when we are in Florida!
After the meeting we went to have a first look at some mother of the bride outfits then we went back to the kilt shop to see Graham's tartan properly since it had come in from the mill already. We then had lunch with my parents before Graham bought me some lovely new boots and I got some shoes to take on holiday. We finished off the day by having dinner with Graham's parents then went out for my bridesmaid Helen's birthday at night. Today we had a lovely lunch with Grahams parents, aunt & uncle and grandparents before heading home to catch up with X Factor.
Current Weight [14.11.09] - 9st 12lbs
Total Loss = 36.5lbs
I went to our WW meeting again yesterday with mum, just to check my maintenance plan is working. I had lost a bit more, even though I wasn't really trying too, which will help when we are in Florida!
After the meeting we went to have a first look at some mother of the bride outfits then we went back to the kilt shop to see Graham's tartan properly since it had come in from the mill already. We then had lunch with my parents before Graham bought me some lovely new boots and I got some shoes to take on holiday. We finished off the day by having dinner with Graham's parents then went out for my bridesmaid Helen's birthday at night. Today we had a lovely lunch with Grahams parents, aunt & uncle and grandparents before heading home to catch up with X Factor.
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