Purple and Pearls

Is it me or is it rude to ask some one that?

From the very first thing we booked, people have asked “So how much is that costing you?”  The first time this happened I was a little taken aback but told them a figure.  ”Oh!  When my friend got married she paid a lot less than that!”

How am I meant to take that?  Are you implying I am being over extravagant with my wedding plans?  That I have been conned into spending too much?  Or I should I not want the best for my wedding day?  The comment upset and angered me a little because it’s not really anyone’s business how much our wedding is costing us.

I’ve learnt since that first encounter to never discuss figures with people.

I’m not even sure why they ask?  I would never dream of asking someone how much their wedding day or particular elements have set them back, it’s nosey!
I can appreciate the question coming from someone who is genuinely interested because they are in a similar situation.  I wouldn’t mind sharing information with a friend – in fact Suzie and I used to regularly share how much we’ve spent on things, as a way to ensure we were getting the best deals.  But to ask out of pure noseyness is just rude in my opinion.

I was asked again very recently how much something was going to cost.  I declined to answer, but I was polite.  I said I wasn’t sure because I hadn’t worked it, but it was pushed and I was asked again.  I’m really bad in these sorts of situations because I don’t like to be rude and I could never say “Mind your own business nosey parker!” no matter how much I was screaming it inside my head!

I guess it’s just another one of those things you have to take in your stride as you plan a wedding, along with “When I/my friend/sister/daughter/etc got married….(fill in the blank)“, “I would have done it this way” and “Oh are you not inviting my sisters, son’s, daughter’s boyfriend?”

And so not to end this post on a rant, here is a cute picture of a kitten, because you know what they say about curiosity…

I asked Suzie if she would mind doing a little update on how she’s finding married life.  It’s nice to hear what it’s like on the other side.

We’ll hasn’t time flown by! Rob and I have now been married just over 2 months, I really can’t believe that it’s been 2 months since I wore that amazing dress and married that amazing man. All of my married friends warned me that the post-wedding blues would kick in and it was normal to feel sad about the end of the planning and wedding related chat.

I don’t think I really suffered with the post-wedding blues, don’t get me wrong I miss it all and had the most amazing day of my life but THANK GOODNESS it’s all over!

I think both Rob and I suffered more with the post honeymoon blues! We had such a fabulous time in Thailand, the food was amazing and the weather was great it was quite a crash back to earth returning to our cold flat! But all in all I haven’t suffered greatly.

Soooooo have things changed since marriage I hear you ask?

Well not really to be honest, Rob and I have lived together for over 5 years so we are quite used to the home life. We knew long before we got married all of each others little annoying habits like the way Rob always leaves pull-off lid from the new milk on the side and never puts it in the bin or always leaving the lid of the toothpaste and the way I leave undies on the bathroom floor and cover the bathroom in hair dye!! These little niggles are nothing new to us, we are more than aware that neither of us is perfect but we see each other imperfections perfectly which is what’s important.

I can imagine that couples that have wed in the traditional way (however rare this might be these days) have a bit of a shocker when they move in together after they are married. It is only when you live with your partner you are truly exposed to all their little habits….. So be warned – if your having a nice relaxing bubble bath and he needs to go – be under no illusion he will come in and go either get used to it have engage in some bathroom chatter or get a good lock on the door!

Enough about bad habits – what about the good stuff….

I ♥ living with Rob even more so now we are husband and wife, I can see that we are both making more of an effort around the house, sharing the chores and the workload. We love nothing more that to snuggle up on our super comfy Elephant Beanbag and watch some TV.

Last week I surprised Rob by blitzing the flat top to bottom so we wouldn’t have to do chores over the weekend and he surprised me with a meal out.

For my Hen party the girls put together a perfect housewife kit – I’ve used most of the things in it – the oven cleaner is yet to see the light of day but im sure it will one day!  They have all helped me to be a good wife, to conclude i’ve been married 2 wonderful months so far – so until next time, Cheerio!

If you need any hints and tips on being the perfect wife try this website! The Perfect House Wife

One of the first things I did after getting engaged (and continue to do so) is sign up to every wedding related newsletter I can find.

We’re terrible with spare change. Has hates carrying any thing lower than a 50 pence piece as it bulks out his wallet and I always put my “twos and ones” in a pot by my desk for the same reason.

I bought us a small wooden bowl to keep our spare change in but that didn’t seem to contain it.  We would still end up with a sock drawer full of “coppers.”  We also started to keep it in large pint glasses in a cupboard, until they started to over flow.  It was around this time last year that we took 3 pint glasses full of small change to Tesco to use their coin machines.  It takes a small fee but we found that depositing nothing larger than a 20 pence piece we had over £60 in change.

At Christmas, Has’ Mom Sue bought us a large jar with an electronic coin counter on the top.  So now when ever we see a rouge 5p lying around it goes straight in the jar.  Our aim is to fill it and change it into dollars for a treat on our honeymoon.

I may have mentioned this before but Has’ Mom Sue is very creative.  She regularly sells her work at craft fairs which I help out at.  We’ve finally gotten round to setting her up with a Folksy account, where she is selling her Worry Bears.

These little guys are available now from her Folksy shop

I love my engagement ring, seriously love it but every now and again it loses it’s sparkle.  The first time I noticed I used some jewellery cleaner my Nan had spare.  It did a wonderful job and my ring was super sparkly again.

Since Has gave me my ring in September 2008 I’ve only needed to clean it 3 times.  I noticed last week that it’s sparkle was fading so tried to find some jewellery cleaner at the weekend.  Not having any luck I turned to the Internet to see if there was a cheaper and easier way to clean my engagement ring.

Of course the Internet came up trumps and I found out that toothpaste does just a good a job as jewellery cleaner!

So last night armed with a soft bristle toothbrush and a tube of Colgate, I plugged up the sink (I can’t even bare to think about a ring down plug hole situation!) and brushed the diamond carefully with a tiny bit of toothpaste.  Sparkle!!  My ring looks as good as new!

It’s nice to know that something as simple as toothpaste can have my ring back to bling in no time!

Have you had pancakes today?

For a spreadsheet geek like me the news that Style Me Pretty and Google have created new Google Docs Wedding Templates is rather exciting!

I’m a list girl, I like things organised and feel I can’t really do a good job unless I have lists to help me, so the new templates are ideal for people like me.  I’m using one at the moment which allows people to update their address and contact details which I’m sure will make it easier for us to send out our invitations.

There are loads to choose from including templates for budgeting, guest list, table plans and timings on the day.  So if you’re in need of some organisation help, check them out!

Hope you have a lovely loved up Valentine’s day with your sweetheart.

Big smooches! ♥