Purple and Pearls

Before our wedding day I used to worry about the silliest of things, obviously to me then they were not silly and did indeed warrant stressing over.  I’m sure I’m not the only bride to get herself in a tizz about things that other people wouldn’t even bat their eyes about, so here is my list of worries I had and the outcome.

Worry: I’ll cry/fall/make an arse of myself walking down the aisle.

I had stairs to walk down so I was even more nervous about walking down the aisle than I possibly should have been.  In fact this was probably one of my biggest worries in the run up to the wedding.  I knew I’d be nervous and a combination of wobbly knees and heels didn’t bode well for me.

Truth: I didn’t fall and I didn’t make (too much) of an arse of myself.  I was incredibly nervous but I clung on to my Dad and managed the stairs perfectly.  Almost like my legs went on auto pilot whilst the rest of my body concentrated on essential functions like breathing!  I can’t remember if I cried or not but my body did freak out a little with the nerves.  I shook uncontrollably and I couldn’t catch my breath, I managed to gain control of myself and barely took my eyes of Has, the photos show I smiled as I walked but to be honest the little details are blurry.

Worry: I’d mess up my vows or cry through them

Getting your tongue around words like “Impediment” and “Solemnly” can be tricky enough but with 80 plus people staring at you it feels like you may as well have to say the entire verse of “Peter Piper picked a pepper!”

Truth: Cliché but when I reached Has I completely forgot there were other people watching me.  I carefully listened to our registrar and repeated slowly after her as clearly as I could.  I was a bizarre feeling but at that moment it really did only feel like the two of us.

Worry: Our guests would be waiting around for too long after the ceremony

We didn’t serve canapés after our ceremony so I was worried that our guests would be really hungry.  I also worried that whilst we had our photos taken people would be standing around for ages waiting for the next stage of the day

Truth: Yes, there was a small amount of waiting around but luckily for us our guests mingled drank their Kir Royale and even took the opportunity to take photos themselves.  By the time the meal was served I think our guests were just the right amount of hungry to enjoy their food.

Worry: No one will dance and the marquee will look empty

The maximum capacity for the marquee is 250 and we invited just over 180.  I was concerned that if our guests drifted out to the other rooms in the hotel the room would look empty and no one would be dancing whilst the band were performing or the DJ was playing

Truth: At no point in the evening did I look around and think it looked empty.  Our band were so entertaining the place was packed with dancers!  Yes a few people drifted off the hotel’s other bar or into a quieter room but honestly it didn’t make a difference.

Worry: It’s going to rain

With a November wedding this was always a possibility.  I don’t mind the rain but I really didn’t want it to have a negative effect on the day

Truth: It rained.  During the day it was on and off.  Luckily it stayed dry long enough for us to have our photos outside however, during the evening it really really rained.  I had bought sparklers (what with it being bonfire night and all!) but it was just too heavy to even attempt it.  At that point of the day I didn’t even mind, everything else had gone so perfectly that not even rain could put a dampener on our day… sorry terrible joke!

I think it’s normal to worry about things during the run up to your wedding day, but not even a mix up with our chair covers just hours before the ceremony began phased me.  At that point I had done all I could and my intention was to thoroughly enjoy it.

What’s it like?  More hectic than I ever imagined!

I really thought that after the wedding things would calm down, but since returning home from our honeymoon we’ve been incredibly busy.

We’ve been (understandably) catching up with family and friends, showing off our wedding and holiday photos and reliving the day.

I’m still desperately looking for a new job, and since I have had no luck I’ve had to restart my claim for job seekers allowance where I had my first experience of hearing someone mispronounce my new surname.  When I told Has, he rolled his eyes and said “Get used to that!”

I’ve managed to change my name with all of my banks.  I was completely caught off guard when I was asked to sign my new name, Ok so I know most girls practise their new signature the minute they become engaged but I have honestly never thought about it!  With the introduction of Chip and Pin I’d almost forgot my maiden name signature, so when it comes to signing my new name it changes every time.

We’re also in the middle of securing our new home.  It’s a little more stressful than I had thought it would be and seeing as things are not yet finalised I’m not going to go into too much detail.  We just need positive thoughts that things are going to go out way!

I’m also struggling to get my head around the fact that Christmas is only 2 weeks away, by this time I’ve usually bought, wrapped and packed away my gifts and Christmas cards, well they would have been sent weeks ago!

Then there are our Thank You cards.  I did an incredibly dim thing and bought all the materials I need to complete them apart from… the envelopes!  *slaps forehead*

Needless to say my wedding recaps are coming along slowly, when I publish my account of our day I want it to be perfect therefore I won’t be rushing it.  Hopefully you’ll stick with me whilst I struggle to get back down to Earth from my cloud!

“Loving what I know of you
Trusting in what I do not yet know
I am looking forward to the chance
To grow old with you
And to love you a little more each day…”

Today I will be saying these words to you.  Believing and meaning them with everything I have.

Today you’ll make me your wife and the happiest girl alive.

I love you more than I can ever explain.  You’re my best friend.

All my love always and forever

xxx

Source

This is me signing off!  My last post as Miss F.

I have organised a few guest posts and other scheduled treats so the blog isn’t completely neglected whilst I’m away.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone on twitter and in blog land who have added a little something extra to the fun of planning a wedding.  I loved documenting our wedding journey on Purple and Pearls and I’ve loved sharing the excitement with so many different people on twitter and even on the comments on this blog.  I’ve had so many emails and messages  from people I’ve never actually met all wishing Has and I the best for our wedding day which completely overwhelms me.  You’re all fabulous!!

Also Fliss from Any Other Wedding is getting married on Saturday 6th.  Massive congratulations to you!  I hope your day is everything you’d dreamed it would be!

It’s show time… see you on the other side!!!

or at least that’s what it feels like!

and this is just one room of the house!!!

Posting from me may be a little sporadic over the next few days, but I promise to pop in frequently to keep you updated.

The last few days have had us reconfirming details with our suppliers.  I’ve emailed a list of group shots over to our photographer Deborah Stott, who said “I’m really looking forward to your day now, I can’t wait!”. I spoke to the DJ after sending him our suggested play list… his words were “This is going to be awesome!” and I emailed our venue with additional numbers for guests and to also ask for buckets of water to be placed outside so we can extinguish our sparklers correctly.  My Dad laughed at me for doing this, saying I was thinking in too much detail… isn’t that the point!?  I don’t want people to be standing around with finished sparklers asking me what they do with them!  Anyway Michelle at Nailcote Hall replied straight away saying everything would be sorted and signed off her email “Not long now!!!!!!”  I love it when our suppliers are as excited as we are!

Tonight we went to see our florist Jennie Cooke to make payment, discuss the plans and to deliver one of our vases for her to practise with and the ribbon we want used to wrap the bouquets.  All went well and Jennie told us she’d call us next week just to check in.

Yesterday Hayley came round and we finished the order of service!!! Yay!!  It wasn’t without incident though Hayley has gone away with two tiny staple holes in her fingers…  I’ll be doing a separate post for the unveiling of the fiddliest wedding project ever!

I’ll also be taking on a few more (yes I know I’m a sucker for punishment!) projects – they’re only small and shouldn’t take me long but will hopefully make a big impact.  I will of course blog about them in due course.

Suzie dress fitting went very well and now all of the girls dresses are with the shop waiting to be steamed ready for me to pick them up on Tuesday.

All very exciting stuff, next week is going to start out very relaxing with nail, hair, facial and body smoother appointments.  I can’t believe we’re approaching the 1 week countdown!

Things have been more than hectic lately and my daily blogging has suffered for it.

The last few weeks have been nothing like I had expected them to be. I have actually felt very overwhelmed, very pressured and tearful. I had expected the last few weeks to be nothing but excitement and girlie giggles but on the contrary it’s all started to weigh on me.

Quite a lot has happened over the last few months, my company went into administration and I was made redundant. I still haven’t received any of my wages, redundancy or notice pay. I’m sure you can imagine with a wedding just days away money is tight enough as it is.

Then sadly we had to say goodbye to our family dog Meg. To lose someone who has been in your life for over 17 years is a huge adjustment, I still forget myself and find myself thinking she’s still with us.

This week thanks to the support of many fabulous friends and family I’m feeling a lot brighter, I want to enjoy the run up as I’ll never experience anything like this again. I’ve been told it’s normal to feel like this, so I should probably stop feeling so guilty about it – which I’ve been worrying about and in turn enhancing the problem!
The way I’ve been feeling completely took me by surprise. Never in a million years would I have guessed I’d feel like this.

The next 10 days are mine to enjoy and cherish, I’ve got a new outlook no more stressing, worrying or fretting. I’m getting married and as long as on the day me, Has and the registrar turn up who cares what else happens!

I’ll miss the planning.  I’ll miss being the bride-to-be.  I’m sure it’s more than normal to feel like this, with 2 weeks to go until our wedding day I’m starting to think about what “normal” life will be life.  Life without the wedding being just around the corner.

I’ll miss

• Being the bride-to-be
• The excitement of knowing something really big is about to happen.
• The DIY evenings with Suzie, Hayley and my Mom.
• Gossiping with Has about how we think things will go on the day
• Having a project to plan and coming up with new ideas to make our wedding day extra special.
• The facials and pampering sessions!
• Reading wedding blogs and magazines with a purpose.

But I’m really looking forward to…

• Hearing the words “I now pronounce you husband and wife!”
• Being Mrs S!
• Saying the phrase “My Husband”
• Our amazing honeymoon
• Having an air of calm and peace.  No more jobs on my to do list.
• Having more money!!
• Our first Christmas as Mr & Mrs
• Seeing our Wedding Day photos and reliving the entire day again and again.

Things have been a little manic lately, I’m sure you’ll all forgive my lack of online presence I do have a good excuse.  Promise!

I thought I would do a little catch up post for those of you that are interested.

I went for my second facial over the weekend and I’m now addicted, I seriously hope I will win the lottery soon so I can keep up my luxurious habits.  I’ve actually booked myself in for an all over skin smoother just days before the wedding.  I have eared enough points on my Clarins Bonus Card to get the treatment for free.  So not only will be face look radiant but my skin will shine too!

The two youngest bridesmaids have been to their final fitting.  They both look so beautiful!  My youngest cousin Sophie didn’t stop smiling when she had the dress on – she’s adorable.    I can’t believe Natalie is only 14, she looks so much older in this picture! (If not a little moody – she’s convinced her hips look big!?)

We’ve booked several more trips and shows for our honeymoon including the Audio Tour of Alcatraz, a basketball game in Dallas (Celtics vs The Mavericks – which means we’ll get to see Shaquille O’neal play!) and possibly the most exciting event we’ve booked is getting to see Bret Michaels in Atlantic City!

I’m still working on our order of service…(!)  But the table plan is coming along quite nicely!  All the pieces are slowly coming together.

I have my final dress fitting on Thursday and Suzie has hers the following week.  I have quite a few bits and bobs left to buy (including my underwear!) and we’re slowly running out of time.  We only have TWO weekends left.  This weekend we’re travelling down to our friend’s wedding which we are both super excited about and the weekend after we’re going to Wembley for the NFL game.  Despite only working part time I feel like I don’t have enough hours in the day to finish everything off!

One Month.  31 days.  Cripes!

It’s now crunch time, the option to say “I’ll do it later” is no more.  I have 4 weeks in which to finish off everything before the wedding.

Since my last monthly to do list we’ve really cranked it up a notch and have ticked quite a few things off our list.  We’ve met with our venue Nailcote Hall to discuss the order of the day, our menu preferences and other small details.  I had my first dress fitting, we’ve paid for the majority of our suppliers, Natalie and Sophie had their dress fittings, some of the male members of our wedding party have been fitted for their suits.  We ordered and received our wedding rings and have confirmed readings, vows and music with the registry office.

I have also designed our table names, made a start on the table plan and finished the chalkboard place cards.

We still have a fair few jobs left to finish before we can relax.  The order of services have probably been, along with the invitations, one of our biggest projects.  They are still a work in progress but I can see a (just about!) a light at the end of the tunnel!

I’ve also had to find a new seamstress to wok on my dress (you can read about all the fuss here) thankfully my friends mom has stepped in offering her help – hooray!

The two older bridesmaids Hayley and Suzie have their first fittings on Thursday and I’ve visiting Costco tomorrow to buy the favours and sweets for our candy tables.  I’ve made a start on the favour boxes but once I have the chocolate favours I can finish them off.

I have a few more bits and pieces to work on and errands to run, like picking the stickers off all our centrepieces vases (!) collecting, fetching, fitting, sticking, and paying.  You know the usual stuff!  I also want to write up a few scheduled posts so the blog isn’t neglected over the wedding/honeymoon stretch.  Thankfully I also have a further 2 heavenly facials booked in, so if it does get a little too hectic I have the perfect way to unwind.