Our Day by Design

After around a 40 minute drive, we arrived at our reception venue, Norton House Hotel. Our car must have been fairly fast as we were out of the car before the photographers arrived so we did have to jump back in for a couple of photos first! After we properly got out of the car, we were greeted by the piper and a glass of bubbly! The other cars had arrived by this time so mum and Ashleigh helped to lift my train and we made our way inside. The hotel wanted to show us the reception room all set up before anyone else got to see it so we went to have a look and everything looked great, with just a minor layout change needed to the top table. By then the rest of the guests had arrived and we spoke to a few more that we hadnt seen at the church, while they also got their welcome drink and some canapes. Then it was time to head outside for the first of the photos, the guest group shot... (All images by Craig & Eva Sanders )

Just before I start my recaps, one of the last things I wanted to tell you about was what I was up to the week before the wedding. I ended up being busy every single day and the week involved lots of shopping for last minute stuff; I think I was at Ocean Terminal, my local shopping centre, every day! Sunday 28th March: Honeymoon shopping in Edinburgh {sunglasses, sun hat, 2 dresses, 2 tops, a skirt, 3 books & a DS game}. Monday 29th March: Picked up our marriage schedule ; had lunch with bridesmaid Lucy; some shopping {pens for guestbook, plastic wallets for the stuff for each table, toothbrush, tissues & contact lens drops for honeymoon, glue pens, blotting tissues & underwear}; ordered a couple of umbrella's {post to follow about the terrible weather all week} and had a meeting at our venue. {While we were at the venue, we also booked to stay on the Sunday night too, rather than having to come home before we left for honeymoon on the Monday.} Tuesday 30th March: Spoke...

I picked up our marriage schedule at the registrars this morning; which means we can definitely get married! When I was there I had to sign to say I had picked it up in a fountain pen, the same thing we will use on Saturday and they are hard to use! Maybe I should practice beforehand! He also reminded me that I have to sign my name as it just now and not my new surname! We will take the schedule to the rehearsal on Friday to give to the minister before Saturday. After the service he is going to deliver it to the registrars so we don't need to worry about it at the reception. After lunch with bridesmaid Lucy and her daughter Emily, I picked up a few more things we needed; coloured pens for the guest book & plastic wallets to put the hings for each table in, as well as some toothbrushes, tissues & contact lens drops to take on honeymoon. On my way back to Edinburgh I had to go to HobbyCraft AGAIN to get more glue, then into the Body Shop to get some blotting tissues before ge...

On Thursday last week, we went through to Kilmarnock to to meet our photographers . We ran through what times they are going to arrive and when we would take the group photos as well as the order we will do them in and which ones we would get taken. It was lovely to see them again, and it was great to get the order of the day sorted out a bit more as well. On the way home we popped in to the large Hobbycraft at the Glasgow Fort so that I could pick up 9 of the square wooden frames that I'm planning to paint then use to put the table names in since we are having tall centrepieces on each table. I had got one in the Hobbycraft near us last week and once I had decided they were the correct size, I wanted to make sure I could get them. Once we got home, I had an email from our venue coordinator with the additional menu price attached. Lets just say it was way more than we were willing to pay and following a bit of back and forward emailing, it turns out they had put the wrong main co...

Last night we had our food and wine tasting at our venue, Norton House. We had given our coordinator our choices last week so we knew what we were going to try before we arrived. We tried 2 options for each course along with 2 white wines, 2 red wines and 1 rose wine. Here is what we tasted: Starters Galia Melon, Lemon & Basil Sorbet, Pink Peppercorn & Cointreau Syrup Roasted Fig with Parma Ham, Parmesan Shavings & Pesto L-R: Galia Melon & Sorbet; Fig & Parma Ham Main Course Pan-Fried Fillet of Scottish Beef with Banana Shallots, Horseradish Potato Cake, Thyme Jus Breast of Chicken Stuffed with a Smoked Applewood Cheese Mousse wrapped in Paper Pastry with an Arran Mustard & Tarragon Sauce L-R: Fillet of Scottish Beef; Chicken wrapped in Paper Pastry Desserts Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce & Vanilla Ice Cream White Chocolate Mousse, Roast Satsumas & Star Anise Syrup L-R: Sticky Toffee Pudding; White Chocolate Mousse White Wines: Palena Sauvign...

When we booked our photographers back in March last year they mentioned that they were going to be photographing another wedding at our reception venue in October. I have been keeping an eye on their blog and they posted the pics last Friday . I love the pictures and hope that the sun is also shining in April! The bride had also chosen the same bridesmaids dresses as we have, although in a different colour. (Both images from here )

We had a really busy weekend, which was, of course, all wedding related! Every minute I was in the flat, when I wasn't eating or sleeping, I was progressing with the invites, however, we did manage to get out and do other things! We started off on Saturday with a meeting with our coordinator at our venue. We ran through what was going to happen on the day, the approximate timings and what will happen next. We were able to confirm which tiers of the cake they should cut and which tier they should keep and we also discussed getting a piper to play when the guests arrive and when we go into the room for dinner, which they are going to provide a quote for. We will have a tasting at the end of the month or the start of march to choose both our menu and our wine. We are also choosing to upgrade our package to include canapes when the guests arrive, champagne for the toasts and better wine. Before we have the tasting we will need to decide what to offer for the evening buffet and whether ...

Last weekend I went shopping with my parents to look for my mums outfit for the wedding. We went to Catherines of Partick in Glasgow as we had heard they had a large selection. The shop was busy but they were really helpful and mum was able to try on loads of different styles and colours. The trip was a success and mum managed to find a stunning outfit from the Condici collection in a colour called thistle which should look great with the bridesmaids in purple. Grahams mum still has to get her outfit and she is going to continue her search this weekend, also at Catherines. She did find an outfit in Chique in Edinburgh last Saturday, which she reserved, but unfortunately we discovered when we returned from Glasgow that it was the exact same outfit as mum had just bought, in a different colour! They are obviously not going to wear the same thing so it was lucky that she hadn't also bought it! They both must have the same taste! While I was shopping with my parents, Graham ...

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few weeks, things have been quite busy as you will see from the update below: I ordered more card samples to start thinking about the order of service', placecards, menu's and table name design. I ordered more grey ribbon to use on the order of service' and for the favour boxes. I paid for the rest of our honeymoon. I paid 50% of whats left to pay for our venue and arranged to meet our coordinator on Sat 30th Jan. We paid for and picked up our wedding rings; I love how mine turned out! {A separate post will follow with more detail!} I bought my shoes! {A separate post will follow!} I ordered some samples of veil fabric to look at the different colours. I booked the hairdresser; they have another wedding that morning too so they are going to open at 8am for us! I booked my hair trial for the 6th of March. My mum spoke to the women who does the flowers at the church who will arrange all of that for us with a mixture of white, purpl...

Following our lovely week in the Cotswolds we returned home on Saturday evening. I spent the rest of the evening with bridesmaids Lucy and Karen-Louise then we went to the wedding fair at our reception venue yesterday. We went with very specific objectives in mind which were to book the florist, the chair covers and look at cakes. We had a very productive hour and managed to accomplish each item which was great and it takes care of the major remaining items on our list. The florist we booked is Val Hamilton , whose arrangements we had previously seen at the last wedding fair and open day we attended at Norton House and really liked, especially the tall table centres. The arrangements she was showing yesterday were also really nice and she had plenty of examples of bouquets to look at as well. As she doesn't have a shop, and only concentrates on wedding flowers, she is able to keep her prices reasonable and it means that any appointments can also be made at weekends or in the evenin...

Yesterday we went for lunch at our reception venue with two of my bridesmaids, Helen & Lucy, as well as their fiance's and Lucy's new baby Emily. L-R: Nick, Helen, Emily, Lucy, Sam & Me The food was lovely as usual and was great to all spend the day together. Lucy & Helen had not seen the house so they were also able to take a look at the ballroom. We were also able to take a look at one of the accessible bedrooms so we could make sure it will be suitable for my aunt.

Yesterday morning we went to the wedding open day at our reception venue . They hold them a couple of times a year when they allow people to come and look at the rooms set up for either an actual ceremony or wedding breakfast, depending on what is taking place that day. It wasn't like a wedding fair when there are suppliers and examples of layouts etc but you saw the actual wedding preparations. Obviously you aren't able to wander round the tables when the staff / florists are laying stuff out but you are able to look from the open doors at the end. They did let me take a couple of pictures of the ballroom we are having our reception in {since we had already booked the venue}, just so we could remember how many tables they had set up. The wedding below was set for 112 people which is more than we will have and I was relieved to see it didn't look cramped at all and at the same time, no table seemed to be too far away from the top table in the centre. They had 9 guest tables...

We had to pay another bit of our reception venue cost today, since we had just passed the 9 month mark. While its never great to be paying out more money, its good to feel we are getting something achieved! It also spreads the payments out and means that including this payment and our original deposit, we have probably paid about half of the reception cost (although this doesn't include the additional evening reception). Once we have finalised the details with the hotel, we will receive a more detailed costing and will have to pay 50% of the total cost around 3 months before. The remainder will then be paid 3 weeks before. Plenty time till then though!

Since my facial at the Norton House Spa with mum in April, I decided to start a new skincare regime leading up to the wedding (and hopefully from then on if I feel it works). My skin has never been great and has been quite dry lately, so I thought this would be a good time to start taking care of it properly! I loved the Espa products the spa used, they smelt gorgeous and felt great, so I bought an introductory pack to try them out at home. Now that's its almost finished, I took the plunge and purchased* the cleanser, toner and moisturiser. My plan is to keep having regular facials leading up to the wedding (if the budget permits) and since the Norton House spa is fairly close and a reasonable price, it makes sense to continue using the same products at home. L-R: Hydrating Cleansing Milk; Floral Spafresh; 24 Hour Moisturising Complex (Images from here ) *Although when I say I purchased them, what I actually mean is that Graham bought me the moisturiser for an anniversary gift...

Yesterday, for Father's Day, we went for lunch at our reception venue with both my parents and Grahams parents, as well as Grahams sister Hazel and her boyfriend Jake. L-R: Grahams dad; Hazel; my mum; my dad; Grahams mum; Graham; Jake The food was lovely as usual and was great to all spend the day together. Hazel and Jake had not seen the house so they were also able to take a look at the ballroom. While we were there I managed to get a few photos of the exterior of the house: Norton House Hotel

So with the church decided we started thinking about venues for the reception. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted and there was one hotel near the airport (Norton House) that I had always thought would be perfect and that was added to the top of the list. However, in the spirit of wanting to make sure we had the perfect place, we searched around and made a list. We then spent some time gathering lots of brochures & information and taking a drive round some of the venues. The list included the following: Norton House Hotel - Top of the list especially when the brochure arrived. Marriott Dalmahoy - Other possibility. George Hotel - Centre of city, too big & expensive. Dalmeny Estate - Too far away from church. Hopetoun House - Too far away from church. Dundas Castle - Would need marquee for amount of guests which we didn't want. Melville Castle - Would need marquee for amount of guests which we didn't want. Dalhousie Castle - Too expensive and one of my ...