Pay Day Spree

Well, I got paid this morning. Huzzah.

I have ordered my cherry tree branches, my wooden letters and something else, what was it now? Erm, I'm sure it was important ......... oh yes, two 6ft paper rose wreaths which are antiquey and lovely, and I'll use on the birdcage and maybe around the table plan!

So that's all that and I don't need to get anything else decorative now. I am done. The marquee will look lovely, and I will be poor again for a month, but I'm looking forward to getting it all on Ebay and earning some pennies back!!!

All that's left for me now is my silly old clinique blusher which is horribly expensive at £25 and I don't know whether I can justify that. But it was so lovely. But so pricey. Aarrgh.

Hmm, well, I may leave it for now, and just get Sarah and Amy's gifts tomorrow evening after work, as I'm heading to town to have a hair trim (it has been months so is quite urgent!) and get the Dad's port first. I think they are the priority, not an over priced blusher.

Although, I have to say, I bought a Soap and Glory eyebrow pencil, called Arch du Triomphe and it's fabulous! I don't need to spend £15 on a Clinique one at all. It has a pencil for the brows at one end, and a highlighter at the other, and being a blondie, my eyebrows often disappear from photographs, so I was determined to get an arch of classiness, and I think this pencil has done it! Most impressed I am indeed!! And half the price of Clinique. Highly recommended.

Veni Vidi Vici Vino

Dad and I went alcohol shopping last night. Man, we shopped!
We decided Pimms at £18 bottle was too pricey for us, so were trying supermarket own brands, 'Jeeves' from Tesco was our preferred substitute and at £5.99 a bottle, quite a saving.




Sarah had the bright idea of maybe offering two drinks, Pimms, and G&T. All very English and civilised. So we liked the idea and bought 4 litres of Gordon's Gin (on offer which makes it the same as Tesco prices) 4 litres of Jeeves, 2 litres of elderflower cordial (our chosen non-alcoholic beverage) and all the mixers, lemonade, tonic water and sparkling mineral water.

We filled up the boot and home we came, a bit poorer but getting there. Just the wedding wine to source now. We're going to have a red, white and rose on each table, and then a few spares if needed, and two schloer, and a jug of water. Getting closer!!! :)

Clashing Stags

Well, on Sunday night Wendy and Steve were chatting on the phone and he put me on to talk about wedding stuff, and she happended to mention it was Steve's stag do on the 10th April. "10th April" I said, "but that's when we're meeting with our photographer at 3.00pm"!

Turns out Steve omitted to inform Nick he had an appointment on that day and apparently the stag do was meant to be the 17th April but they'd changed it and brought it forward, and as Nick hasn't told Steve when it was going to be (which I'm not sure I believe, sorry Steve) and Steve had forgotten about our previously arranged appointment, I was in panic mode.

We couldn't change the dates, the only other one was this coming Easter weekend and Steve's in Exeter anyhow, so I'm going to have to pull him away from his Stag for a couple of hours on the Saturday. It's the only solution! Typical.

37 Days To Go!

With only 37 days to go until the BIG day, you'd think I'd be feeling a bit more stressed, but in all honesty, I'm not yet. I think it's because Steve isn't really bothered at any of the preceedings, and as we don't really discuss it at home, it's not on my mind here! And not forgetting that most things are organised and sorted now.

I'm thinking more about it at work, and that's where folk keep commenting on how many days left there are!! And that's where I'm chatting about stuff to folk.

Don't get me wrong, Steve is excited about being married. Apparently, but is more looking forward to Mexico. And just getting the day over with. He did ask me yesterday to give him a brief on how his speech goes which is cool. I can at least ensure he ticks the correct boxes.

Hmm, speech writing. From a website -

The job of the groom to do most of the official thanking on the day, in particular he should say:

• Thank you to the bride's father for his kind words, blessings and (where appropriate) his enormous generosity in paying for the wedding.
• Thank you to anyone else (perhaps his own family) for their financial contribution.
• Thank you to his own parents for, well, bringing him up to be an upstanding citizen.
• Thank you to everyone for accepting their invitation to the wedding and for their kind gifts.
• Thank you to his best man.
• Thank you to any ushers and other key helpers.
• A special toast on behalf of the bride and groom to the bridesmaids and pageboys.

Ok, I can work with that!

The Birdcage is Bought...

I've thrown caution to the wind and purchased a birdcage. I shall wait until payday for the cherry branches and the wooden letters and the rose wreath, but the birdcage I just had to have.

I like it because the lid lifts off entirely and letters and cards will fit in neatly! I should think it'll be big enough and even if larger items don't fit in, they can prop against it. It's the fact it's a vintagey feature as well!! And only £10. =D Bargain. It'll look lovely with the roses and pearls :)

Week Five - Wedding Class Finale

In this week, we had to look at strengths and qualities we admired in our partner. I was looking forward to this one, to see what Steve had to say about me. And his number one thought was: cooking. Apparently he likes my cooking him meals, and this is a strength! I thought it would have been something more about my character, but no. Cooking and laundry! How domesticated.

Then we had to write down six jobs we'd expect our partner to do around the house, six jobs we would do around the house and six to share.

I put washing up as a sharing job, taking the rubbish out as a Steve job, and laundry as a me job. I also said I'd be the handy DIY person, as Steve isn't the handiest with tools. (He's good with electrics though).

Steve put most girly jobs down to me, cooking, laundry and washing up (erm, I don't think so!) and didn't even think of six for himself. This could get ugly. *rolls up sleeves, ready for a fight!*

I'm just determined not to let him slack off. I know he's working at home, but he has to learn to make time for household jobs as well. He could get up ten minutes earlier to wash up, or do it during his lunch. I often do clean the kitchen before or after work. He's still quite happy to ignore it as my responsibility at the moment though. Grrr.

Gift List - Now Open

It's sooo exciting. Our gift list opened yesterday and people have already bought things! We've had the cups and saucers, and mugs, and bread maker, a mirror, cutlery and two photo frames bought already! It's ace!

RSVP's

Had most of them back now.

Not as many 'no's' as we'd thought, but hey ho. I think we're at 135 now which is much better than the 158 we had to invite!!

Cousin Simon, girlfriend Mandy and baby Robyn have said no, so the table plans are going to have to be shunted around again, but the less the better!!

Anyway, onto thinking of things left to sort again, (sorry, these posts have really become a sounding board) I'm watching a few bits in Ebay!

1 birdcage which is only £10, and would I think be large enough for cards,
1 rose wreath for £10 which would be a nice decorative thing
1 set of wooden letters saying Mr & Mrs which would stand by the bird cage on a table with the poem - £15
2 cherry branches £26
1 cake topper - £17

so it's not too much. It's really coming together in my mind now, and I've got some lilac fairy lights which we could use somewhere!

Hmmmm. Ponder ponder.

Wedding Wishes

I've been mulling over my wedding message tree as I like the idea of it rather than a typical guest book.

This is what I've written to go by the tree which will be on sparkly paper in a frame:

On this our special wedding day
We’d love for you to take a moment to say
Something that has helped you through,
A glean of advice, or a hint or two
Or maybe just an amusing thing
To remember the day we exchanged rings
We’ll keep them safe and read them soon
Once we’re returned from our honeymoon!

We’ll have a basket or dish of ready done tags, (cards with a hole punch and ribbon tied) with Kate and Steve, Wedding Wishes on one side, and an empty text box on the other side.

Then in a frame, the poem standing by the branches in a tall vase or something.

And this is what I've found on Ebay for £13, and I think I'd need maybe two:

So again, pay day waiting time, but I think that would work quite well. I could hang some butterflies amongst it too, and it's a feature too!!

Photograph Thoughts

Well, I'm at work, and it's quiet and everyone else is going/has gone home so I'm thinking about photographs!

Here's what I've thought I'd like on the day:

Photographs

At Home

1. Kate
2. Kate with Hazel
3. Kate with Geoff
4. Kate with Hazel and Geoff
5. Kate with Sarah
6. Kate with Amy
7. Kate with Sarah and Amy
8. Kate, Sarah, Amy, Hazel and Geoff
9. Kate, Sarah, Amy, Hazel, Geoff, Theo, Isaac
10. Kate, Sarah, Amy, Hazel, Geoff, Theo, Isaac,
Karl, Aaron
11. Amy and Karl
12. Hazel and Geoff
13. Sarah and Aaron, Theo and Isaac
14. Sarah and Aaron

At Church

1. Steve
2. Steve with Wendy
3. Steve with Chris
4. Steve with Wendy and Chris
5. Steve with Nick
6. Steve with Richard
7. Steve with Paul
8. Steve, Wendy, Chris, Nick, Paul, Richard
9. Chris and Wendy
10. Nick and Louise
11. Paul and Richard

12. Large group shot of all in Church

13. Pictures with Guard of Honour (Guides)

At Littywood

1. Steve, Kate, Hazel, Geoff, Sarah, Aaron, Karl,
Amy, Theo, Isaac
2. Steve, Kate and Biggin, Riley Family

3. Steve, Kate, Wendy, Chris, Nick, Louise, Paul,
Richard
4. Steve, Kate and Cranston, Thomson Family

5. Steve, Kate and Grandparents, Great
aunts/uncles

6. Steve, Kate and friends
7. Steve and Boys
8. Kate and Girls

At Reception

1. Group shots of all seated at tables

I know Steve will likely be gurning at the end of all this lot, but these are important photos to me, and it could be so much worse!! I don't think these are too many!!

More Costing Thoughts...

Money money money.

Makes the world go round, and makes my head spin.

There's always something else to buy, which could be the perfect thing in keeping with the wedding, but in all honesty who would miss it but me? And on the day, would I be fussed if I didn't have a lace doily on the table with a card box? Or rather than a bird cage, I have a home made card box I've wrapped up in paper? Not really! Who will know but me, and ideas are not set in stone.

So, in short, I'm finding it difficult to draw a line between essentials and luxuries.

I guess according to our menu, essentials are the wedding cakes, as they're being served as dessert, and fudge, served with tea and coffee. Rather than spend £50 on home made Devon fudge (which would be nice, but £50!!!) we can buy it from Asda for less than £10.

So we have:

Essentials to Buy:

Cakes - £260 (yes, I wanted to make my own, but much less stress this way and guaranteed delicious)
Fudge - £10
10 more pearl necklaces - £20
Gifts for Sarah and Amy - £40
Flowers for Mums - £40
Port for Dads - £25
Table Plan card - £2!!

and I think for essentials that's about it.

Now, luxuries, don't get me started! I've suddenly decided silver trays would be fabulous with the jam jars on, but expensive to hire, more expensive to buy, it's not going to happen.

Birdcage, may look into this, but a prettily wrapped box would not be a bad second.

Bunting, I discarded the idea previously, but it's still floating around there!

Banners, still haven't got the fabric yet, but at least I have a plan and I think it's doable. The intricate beading isn't doable, but lets keep it simple Kate.

My message tree I've not thought of properly yet either! I bought a load of mini pegs which are cute, but possible essentially useless. What to do about that, I don't know? Maybe a message line? How to work this all out? I do not know.

Still considering an aisle runner, and petal confetti, and oh so many other things, but at the end of the day, it won't matter. My head is swimming with just one more pay day, and this month's has mainly gone now :(

Oh, and not to mention make up. I bought Clinique foundation today, £20! Eek. At least Amy's given me the eye-shadow, and I have the eyeliner and lipstick. I just so want the blusher, and concealer. And I got the mascara free in the bonus gift thing. Can I really justify £40 for two items? Not really, but I probably will. But after pay day.

I can't wait for pay day now.

The Dress is Home!!

I've just got back from the seamstress, and the dress is now hanging at Mum and Dads! I'm going to pop in after work for a try on with the shoes and all. I'm so pleased and happy with how it's turned out. It's different, and special and I think, very me!

I just now have to resist the temptation to call in every day to try it on! Oh, and maintain my weight at the moment.

I seem to have lost weight without really trying which makes me worry it'll look too big on me, but then these past couple of weeks, I've eaten quite badly, which makes me worry it won't do up. Plus with having a car again, I've driven to work rather than walked which means I'm not exercising as much.

It's a delicate balance!

If You Go Down To The Woods.....

The bears for Theo and Isaac arrived today and they are cute and soft as anything! They have lovely faces, and personalised t-shirts with embroidered words on!

I hope they like them! I'd keep them if I could!

The Hair Trial - Order Order!

I was really excited about this element. I couldn't envisage myself all bridal with hair and make-up. So I went off to Boots for 9.00am for the make-up, and then Essalon for 10.00am for the hair.

And I was once again very happy with the make-up. And the hair was brilliant too! Here's some pics:

Helloooo, Nora Batty! I had to have my hair set in rollers and sit under a hot dryer like an alien queen for 30 minutes. That wasn't fun and made me realise make-up after the hair would be a better solution as I went ever so red! It was incredibly hot and boring under there let me tell you. But the hair dresser (Jenny) said she had a portable dryer thing she'd bring with her on the Sunday morning so joy, I can be an alien queen then too!

And here's the contraption with me under it. Bizarrely old fashioned aren't they. Right from the sixties, and to cap it all off (excuse the pun!) the on switch had fallen off and they had to use pliers to turn the knob. Fills one with confidence it does! The things ones grandma had to go through for a set!!

But I think the alien queen thing was worth it, because I loved the look! It was just what I wanted, soft, romantic, not too fussy, and a bit bouffant, but simple at the same time!

Week Four - Keeping Love Alive

Aargh, there's always a sex talk :(

Tonight was week four and we had to discuss sex and all that jazz. To make it worse, rather than turn the CD on loudly which is what Chris and Sue had been doing along, they left the room! So we could talk about sex!

There's not really a lot to talk about on that front really. Steve knows how I feel and I know how Steve feels and there is a bit of difference on opinion.

What I did find interesting was comments about past relationships, and closure. Steve observed that as I'd been single for 6 years before meeting him, I was in a better place than he was when we met, as he actually had a girlfriend (who it turned out he'd propsed to as well!) and it took him a while to sort though emotional issues that raised.

He also didn't hold any value on things she'd given him, whereas I don't like the idea of her love letters sitting in my shed. He's now agreed to get rid of those, as even though he can't see where I'm coming from, he can appricate I don't like having those things around to remind me he was in love before. Of sorts! I want to know and be reassured that things are different with me to the point of wonderfullness!!

Superparents to the Cake Stand Rescue

Well, my housemate Samira moved to London yesterday and my Dad knows a courier who drives students and their stuff, so he took her to London, and then Dad had asked him to go to find a shop somewhere in London called 'Tyger' as Mum had found them on the internet selling white china two tier cake stands with a silver handle for £3 each!

Yes, that is correct. £3 each!

And he did! He bought 18 of them which are now stored in the spare room at my parents house.

So I have matching beautiful china two tier cake stands which is so wonderful!

I can see them now with fairy cakes and fruit cakes and the tea-party will be complete!

My parents are very good to me!

And the best part is we can sell them on Ebay afterwards!

The Hen Dooooo!

What a wonderful weekend I had!

I felt so special, it was lovely, all my close friends and family were there.

Here's me in my veil and sash, and I was excited at this point!

We had lunch first at Mum's, she did a bit of a buffet with lots of fizz going around, and then we headed by mini bus over to Stratford for a shop and mooch.

The bus ride was fun, and made it quite special, all piling in together and heading off. Dad even wore a hat, with a little sign saying 'Hen Party Chauffeaur' on it! Oh, and Benjy came along too for company!

Then we snuck into the bathroom at the Holiday Inn hotel by the boat place in Stratford, and got changed into our Georgian costumes. Everyone had gone to so much trouble, it was fantastic, and they all looked brilliant!

Here's me and Carly, Keily and Sally and Louise and Samira on the boat with our fizz!

And into the castle for dinner, in our fancy costumes!

We had a serving wench doling out soup for starters, lamb casserole for main, apple crumble for pudding, a huge cheese board, and then fudge and coffee for after! It was fab, and then we all piled back onto the bus and got home for about 12.30 - 1.00 in the morning. A really different, but fabulous night!

Banners Planners

I've sketched out in my head what I think I'd like to do for Church banners to decorate the walls. I really like a couple that I found on google, which were simple, with words and viney leavse.

The words were taken from the Book of Ruth:

Where you go, I will go

and

Where you stay, I will stay

Which I think are lovely, and full of faithfulness, and love. I've typed it out in a nice font, blown it up on A3 so I can cut around the letters, and then cut them out of black or dark green felt. I've then used heart shapes to make leaves and will find a trim of cord to make the stalks and I can add a purple butterfly and heart like flowers too.

I'm going to reserve the Easter weekend for the sewing, and keeping it simple should mean it's achievable. Hopefully! I hope I'm not going to wear myself out with all the craftiness?! I still have to do another count for the favours, and stuff them and sew them up, but I've decided for the men, mint imperials in organza will be fine, so will get some circles and ribbon to make those up soon.

Week Three - Resolving Conflict

Steve and I had to do week three of our marriage course at home. Worship group was cancelled tonight, so we used the free evening to sit down and go through it.

The session was entitled 'Resolving Conflict' and we had to go through our differences, compare notes, and discuss finances which cause more arguments than any other matter, which was highly appropriate as we are in the midst of negotiations about buying a car together, which Steve will stump up money for as I'm poor. Well, not poor as such, I don't have savings or money coming in int he same manner as Steve (i.e. thousands at one go) my income is regular and enough to live on so we have differing opinions on how it should be.

Anyway, Steve moans about having to do the course, but I really think we both are getting a lot out of it. It's making us talk and open up about things and getting us to resolve things that could become an issue later on. It's been helpful :)

Organisation

I have felt super organised this past week and off the previous list have also got kiddie bags sorted, and the men's gifts. Feeling pleased with progress.

Starting to think about church wedding banners and whether I could feasibly make two matching ones with meaningful bible verses and simple yet beautifully elegant decorative art. Hmm. Might be a tall order! We'll see. I still have seven weekends to go.

Shopping for Stuff

TWO MONTHS TODAY!!!! TWO MONTHS!!!

Well, I got paid last week, and have been busy buying on Ebay.

I've bought:

12 metres of lavender organza for the Beacon windows.
1 roll of ivory organza
1 5 tier cake stand
2 snorkal sets
1 make-up pallet to take to Mexico

I still have to buy:

Fudge
Lavender
Three more photo frames
Possibly more paper
Gifts for Amy and Sarah
Gifts for Nick, Paul and Richard
Something for Isaac and Theo
Colouring books for kiddie bags
Gift bags for kiddies

Is there more to buy? I can't think?

Two more pay days.