Week 8 - The meeting of the two families.

What a weekend! So this weekend was our family engagement party for parents, grandparents and siblings.

This is the first irrational panic i have felt as a bride-to-be, please let everyone like each other. I'm not sure where this panic stemmed from but i have decided to blame Mr Shakespeare and his damned Montagues and Capulets.

I must stress the word 'irrational', as there were no problems and were never going to be. Both families got on like a house on fire and there was never a moments silence. A stupid fear for absolutely no reason.

We decided to go out for a meal to mark this occasion and though not all the food was good the ambiance of the meal was lovely. The room was decorated beautifully and i was one of the fortunate ones to enjoy scallops wrapped in bacon, and the delicious fish and chips.

There was an extra highlight of the evening though and this came after the toast. Luke did a speech! I knew nothing about this and he was amazing. The beautiful things he said left me trying to not look at anyone in the room and to restrain any blinking, as it may have lead to tears. I can't say the same for many of the other ladies in the room as i have heard since there was not a dry eye. Well done Luke, if you handle that then i have no fears about your speech at our wedding.

There was also another part to make the evening even more special. A phone call before my starter from my beautiful friend Laura came as a warning that a baby we believed to be 6 weeks away might be on her way, by the end of dessert i welcomed a call from her telling me my God daughter baby Isla Collins was born. I couldn't be happier from the Collins family a huge congratulations to you all.

So baby Isla's sudden arrival in the world meant a cancelled wedding fair at Barnsdale Hall today. So this trip to the Barnsdale Hall may have to be squeezed in to our viewings next Saturday.

So next week x3 viewings and a national wedding show - what damage can i do in a week?

http://www.barnsdalehotel.co.uk/

Week 7 - The devils in the details

I think the enjoyment with planning a wedding is the talking about the planning a wedding. This weekend was the perfect opportunity to do so. This weekend is the first weekend i have been home since the engagement was announced. Despite going home for a family engagement party next week this weekend we decided to venture home for Luke's birthday.

We spent afternoon and evening with his (and soon to be mine) family. The excitement surrounding weddings is going to last for the Ablard's as before ours there is going to be Luke's sisters in April this year.

All this means is that there are two engaged ladies and mother in law (to be) in one room where we can discuss everything!

It's the details that matter though and where do you start. This weekend i have discovered that you have to work out how certain family members get to the church. That the mother of the bride needs to make sure her outfit compliments the bridesmaids and that there really is a certain way to get out of the car.

I have also listened to what others have said though. Despite us planning every detail we will find ourselves compromising and there will be things that go wrong.

It's been a busy weekend and this one shall remain short and sweet - over and out !

Week 6 - The dreaded guest list

When you book a venue to view for your wedding the first question you get asked on the phone before you have even given your name is how many guests are you looking to have in the day and in the evening? You don't then want to be left blank with that awkward 's**t, i really don't know what i'm doing' silence.

This type of decision effects a lot of things. Is the venue big enough to fit everyone in? Do they have a minimum number of guests for booking? Can they cater for all of the evening guests? Would there be enough rooms for the guests to stay in?

Therefore, figuring out numbers is one of the first big decisions a bride and groom have to make. I assure you it's not an easy one. There's always the questions, do you have to invite every living blood relation? Every person has an Aunt Maud that they haven't seen since they were 7 years old and all that can be remembered about them was their funky perfume, do you invite them ? (Please note: that neither of us actually has an Aunt Maud) How far back do you go inviting friends? Then there is the day ceremony night ceremony debate. Does how far people are travelling influence this decision? Because we live so remote that hardly anyone is local. Both bride and groom have people they know from their lives before each other. Though i must say not many for us we did meet when i had just turned 16!

So as you can see a lot goes in to the planning, but i think we have nearly done it.

It must be acknowledged that there are disagreements and that's before you've even shown the family, oh Jesus we are going to have to show the list to the parents ! Fear not it's our day - that's all that matters. Or does it ?

Should you worry what the outcome will be if someone is not getting an invite, or would someone else secretly expect a day invitation rather than an evening invitation ? It's exhausting.

Alas, these are numbers you need to know and quite early on. So how is it looking for us - well ideally we are thinking somewhere around 70 day guests and 150 evening guests. (Not an extra 150 may i add , 150 total). At this moment in time it's around 84 day and  74 evening (totaling 158). People may drop out and your left pondering the question - Have i left someone really obvious out,better check i definitely put my sister on it!

Only joking Lis!!!!

The sheer drama of cutting the list down and being ruthless is quite odd. For those that know me i can be quite blunt when i need to be, but this is excruciating.

Despite all of this planning, we also have to consider that we are not likely to get 100% of our guests attending. So to all our future wedding guests that do attend - please note that we love you dearly and we really can't thank you enough for coming along to our special day.

Week 5 - Ummmm…. Cake!

I have been engaged a month ! Wow how time flies and we are already in February. That means only one more January to go, hahaha see how I like to look at things.

Before I continue with my usual wordy thoughts I thought I would give a quick update of the weddings progress. We have our second official booking at the Haycock Hotel in Peterborough (see link at the bottom for venue). It’s beautiful and we have heard great reviews, we are visiting it the same day as Orton Hall so it’s very exciting.

We have also been having a bit of a discussion on honeymoons but I think I will leave that till next week.

Yesterday we started our scrapbook. First page wedding cakes! This is a really interesting part of a wedding, though crucial (there always has to be a cake) I’m certainly not going to throw the type of money at it like the wedding magazines suggest. I could make one myself!
A wedding cake is somewhere I hope to save a few pennies. We have taken lots of pics and started having a look at size, style, decoration, colour and flavour. This leads me to ask what is the importance of a cake? It’s traditional, it looks good in the photographs and it’s that part where husband and wife come together to cut the cake. When I asked my fiancé his response was why do people have birthday cakes ? Touché !

After speaking to some of those around me I have discovered some things about the sweet treat commonly expected at a wedding. The wedding cake became tradition back in the medieval times, the décor used is supposed to represent good luck and fortune on the happy couple. This is also why you often see a husband and wife feeding cake to each other – to bring good luck to their future family, personally I much prefer to watch this on you’ve been framed when the man misjudges and ends up face planting his new wife into the cake. Luke – don’t you dare !

So the question moves to what makes our wedding cake, well it has to be at least three tiers. It has to have a topper. It has to taste good, – SOD the fruit cake, ok that’s harsh - maybe it can have one tier but my favourite is chocolate and I’m a sucker for lemon too, maybe a plain sponge if we have four layers. I like to have variety !

When it comes to décor I think we may stick to a chosen colour and use it as a theme. This might be through ribbon, flowers, the patterned icing – all those things that add to this grand tower that almost seems to be a pinnacle of that the wedding moves around.

My maid of honour once told me a story of how she had to transport a wedding cake to a wedding. The sheer trauma of getting the cake in the car transporting it to the venue and then it ending up looking like the leaning tower of Pisa is enough to put anyone off having a cake full stop. Would you want the stress of worrying about a cake ?! Well it’s certainly something I don’t want anyone worrying about getting one to my wedding so any ideas will be welcomed. Now for a cup of tea … and maybe a slice of cake!

  (http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/the-haycock-hotel/)