Our Day by Design

Since there were only 30 of us out in Italy for their actual wedding , Helen & Nick held a reception in the UK the Saturday after we got back. This gave us a week to get our dresses cleaned before they were needed again! The reception was held at Orocco Pier in South Queensferry which overlooks the forth rail bridge. We all met there at lunchtime so we had time to get ready before the party started at 5pm. We all got ready in Helen & Nick's room then Nick was able to use the room me Graham were staying in. As we had done in Italy, Helen did our eye make-up and we finished the rest before a hairdresser did our hair. Once we were all made up and had had some lunch, it was time to get in to our dresses again.   Just before 5pm we went down to the function room where a photographer friend of Nick's took some photos as we waited for the guests to arrive. A projector had been set up on one wall so that everyone could see some of the professional photos from Italy.  ...

The reason we went to Italy was for the wedding of our friends Helen & Nick, where I was a bridesmaid. Helen was one of my bridesmaids too and I was honoured to be able to be there for her special day, especially since it was only four months after our wedding. The preparations started with us having a meeting at the hairdressers on the Tuesday, a drink in the main square in Siena before meeting all of the other wedding guests for dinner back near the villa. We had a gorgeous Italian meal before the members of the wedding party were presented with gifts; the bridesmaids all got a gorgeous necklace and matching earrings to wear at the wedding. They were all slightly different so mine had pearls alongside the silver design. Afterwards Helen, me, the other two bridesmaids Lucy & Nic, and Helen's mum went back to her room to enjoy a glass of champagne and make the last minute arrangements for the next morning. We ended up enjoying a couple of glasses before we went back to o...

Time for me to start filling you in on some of the destinations on our Travel Map ! Back in August last year we headed off to Italy for a week. One of my bridesmaids Helen was getting married and I was one of her 3 bridesmaids. The wedding was on the Wednesday so we went on the Saturday so we would have some time before and after the wedding. We flew from Edinburgh to Rome via Amsterdam then drove our hire car up to Siena in Tuscany. We stayed at Villa Catignano , an old Tuscan villa 8km north east of Siena, along with the rest of the wedding party and all of the other wedding guests. The villa has been split into apartments and we shared a 3 bedroom apartment with the other two bridesmaids Lucy & Nic, their partners and Lucy's daughter Emily. The villa had a pool to use as well but we only ended up going there one day; I didn't even go in for fear of the chlorine ruining my french manicure before the wedding. Since we didn’t have a lot of free time during the week, w...