Our Day by Design

While the girls were getting ready in Edinburgh, the boys were down at Grahams parents house in Haddington. After the rehearsal they had gone to the pub for a quick drink before all heading back to their own homes, and meeting up again in the morning, once they were all dressed. Once they got to Grahams parents, they put on their buttonholes. Then it was time for a champagne toast! Before they left the house, they also took a few group shots as Grahams aunt & uncle had also arrived {Grahams mum & aunt are twins which did confuse some people at the wedding} and also got one of Graham and his parents. Then it was time for them to get in the car and head to the church. Once they arrived at the church, they took some portraits of the boys together, before greeting the guests as they were arriving... (All images by Craig & Eva Sanders )

Once I was downstairs and everyone had seen my dress, it was time for some portraits before we had to leave. Eva had taken the bridesmaids shots when I was upstairs starting to get ready; don't they all look beautiful. L-R: My sister Ashleigh, Graham's sister Hazel, Lucy, Helen, Karen-Louise & Georgia Then it was time for a few of me on my own; in the first one I look SO nervous; I think it was just beginning to hit me then that we were about to leave to go to the church! We also got a couple of pics with me and my mum & dad {wish we had got one of me & my sis at this point too but the time seemed to go so fast!}. The cars had arrived by then so once we had collected everything we needed, it was time to get into the cars. The idea was that the bridesmaids car would come up to the drive first, then once they had left, my car would come up to make it easier to get in. So all the bridesmaids and my mum got into the Daimler and we put the umbrella's in the ba...

So although I told you all about my dress hunt and shared when I ordered it, I never showed or told you what it was like until the wedding pics I posted here . My dress is a Sassi Holford design called Hayley, which I got from the stockist in Edinburgh, Rachel Scott . Sassi {well her team} also made the 3/4 length sleeve bolero for me to match the top of the dress as I didn't want the short sleeve version that it is normally put with. I loved wearing it so much and think I need to find a new occasion to wear it for! Once mum & Ashleigh were dressed and looking fabulous, it was time for me to put my dress on. The other girls stayed downstairs {Hazel was the only other bridesmaid who had seen the dress already} as I wanted to them all to see me for the first time when I came downstairs. I put on another quick squirt of perfume, got my underwear on {knickers, stockings & garter - the fantastic internal corset in my dress meant no bra was needed}, then stepped into my dress...

I did manage to sleep fairly well the night before but we still had to get up early to get to the hairdressers. After a slightly lukewarm shower {something to think about if you have 10 people staying in 1 house with showers!}, me, mum, Lucy, Helen & Karen-Louise piled in the car and headed to the hairdressers for 8am, although it was more like 8.10am by then! The make-up ladies had already arrived by then too so they made a start on Ashleigh & Hazel. I hadn't managed to have any breakfast in my rush to leave the house & I was feeling quite nervous by then; I don't think I could believe it was actually happening! Georgia came down for 8.30am then Ashleigh & Hazel arrived at 9. My dad was providing a taxi service back and forward to the hairdressers bringing people then taking them home again when they were finished. Once I was done, I went back with Lucy and Ashleigh so that I could sort out my stuff to take to the hotel, before I got my make - up done. When w...

Before I start the actual wedding day recaps, with all of the pro photos; I wanted to show you the thank you cards I made for all my bridesmaids. I meant to show you when I posted about their gifts , but I had forgotten to take a photo before I sent them. I took a quick couple of shots of Ashleigh's one when we were down visiting . I bought this clear stamp set from Etsy seller My Cute Stamps as soon as I saw it back in August last year. (Image from here ) I used the main bridesmaid stamp on the right along with the wording 'Thanks for being my Bridesmaid' on the sparkly paper we used for the rest of the DIY items, which I then stuck onto grey card and then onto the purple folded card. I then used the same purple ribbon we used on the invites and the same grey ribbon we used on the other stationery to add a bit of interest. I wrote all of their cards the day after the wedding then posted them from Heathrow before we jetted off to Sri Lanka. The boys and our parents did g...