Brighton Hen Do

The first of my 2 hen do's was an intimate affair in Brighton, starting with some afternoon tea in Metro-Deco 

Sarah and I had one of their beautiful blooming teas, Sofe stuck with Earl Gray.

We had little open sandwiches, ham and mustard, egg and cress, brie with chutney, and salmon and cucumber. 

All the old favourites.

Cakes!

We then had a layer of traditional scones with jam and clotted cream. 

At which point I was shocked to find out Sophie had never had one before. 

I know she's French but that is just crazy. I'm pretty sure it won't but her last though.

We then quickly devoured the tiny top layer cakes. 

My only disappointment was that all the tiny cakes were all different flavours, and as we were sharing I couldn't really try them all. 

The girls did give me first choice though, so I can't complain too much.

  

Cocktails

Next we moved on to the hard stuff, we found an interesting pub down the road and dived in for a few cocktails. 

I can't remember what we had but I do remember that they were good.

We had a few more cocktails in a couple more bars, then on to my final surprise a visit to the Dreamboys. 

Now I have to admit this is not really my cup of tea, and in fact I found it quite terrifying! 

Selfie!

All the hens and birthday girls were handed a Dreamboys sash, but once I realise this is what they looked for when dragging girls on stage it was very quickly scrunched into a tiny ball.

Public humiliation is not on my bucket list so no regrets.

We then met up with Wayne an honorary hen, and talked and danced into the wee hours before getting a cab home from The Rather Excellent Carriage Company.

After Wedded Bliss

We got married just over 3 weeks ago, it seems like forever ago and only yesterday all at the same time. It's sounds so cheesy but it really was the best day ever. We had so much fun and I couldn't have wished for a better day. The weather held out, and all our friends and family just made the day so special.

Things haven't really settled down yet either, we had a much needed week away in Paris after the wedding. We managed to cram in all the sights as well as making time, for plenty of down time in various coffee shops. Then we got home to hear we have had an offer on our flat!

We managed to get in a couple of viewings and have found the perfect home, so now it time to move.

2014 really has been a huge year for us, and it's not over yet. I am hoping to do a few catch up posts to cover the hen do's and honeymoon. And now wedding planning isn't taking up all my brain space I'm looking forward to revisiting all these recent memories. 

Keeping Tabs

On a whim whilst in TK Maxx I bought these little note books, I'm not sure why if I'm honest I was just really feeling drawn to them at the time. They are little leather bound books, each with a different theme and alphabetised tabs to make notes. I love the idea of making notes for different aspects of your life, a way to remember the important things.

But I'm ashamed to say that now I have them I'm a bit apprehensive to actually write in them. I don't want to ruin them, that's really silly isn't it. 
No point having them if I'm not going to use them, so I'm sure I'll get over it and put them to good use soon enough, especially the wedding one.

It made me think about all the other thing's I've bought just because they were pretty, and never used. Like  soap, milk jug or a fancy candle. I even have a whole tea set that's never been used, in my defence it was only £2 from a boot sale and it is orange. It seems quite sad that these things just sit looking pretty, I really should make a point of using these things, if only to prove their worth, we don't really have the space for frivolous items at the moment.  

So maybe now is the time for a huge spring overhaul, a use it or lose it type cleanse, maybe I'm brave enough? Or am I just too sentimental, I'll probably just fill the loft and kid myself that these pretty unused things will find a purpose when we move... 

  

Ring Bling

This is it, the ring I will wear for the rest of my life as of the 13th September. 

I didn't mean to pick one with quite so many diamonds, it just happened. We were just looking around local jewellers in Hastings for ideas and we stumbled upon this beauty. I didn't try it on straight away, first we had some lunch and a spot of window shopping, but this little sparkler just kept popping into my head. So I decided I wanted to try it on and see what I thought, get it out of my system as it were. So we walked into the friendly little family run jewellers, and pointed out the ring. The shop lady then told us that it was second hand, and because the diamonds go all the way round (yes, all the way round!!) if it didn't fit they couldn't resize. I held my breath as I slipped it on.... and would you believe, it fit like a glove. In my head that was fate giving me a sign that Adam needed to get out the credit card. 

So that's it, the story of how I got my bling. Cute ain't it?

Wedding Cake

I don't know how you feel about wedding cake, but personally I think they are overrated. I love cake as much as the next girl but seriously it's just a pretty cake, can you really justify the cost when weddings cost so much already?

So as I've mentioned before I'm taking the plunge and making it myself. I've done the cake decorating classes got all the kit, and now to pick a recipe.

We are both lovers of the traditional fruit cake so it makes sense to stick with that, it also means I can make it weeks in advance as they just get better with time. Preventing last minute cake related stress, see perfect. So far we have done dummy runs with The Fabulous Baker Boys and Nigella.

I think this was the Baker Boys recipe, and maybe Nigella's didn't last long enough for a picture. But ultimately Nigella won out, if only because she gives the quantities to cover 3 different sized cakes. Anything that makes the process as simple as possible is a winner for me. It was also a more suitable cake than the Baker Boys. As lovely as their cake was it was too cakey for us, what we were really after was a heavy, fruit laden, brandy soaked cake, which is what Nigella delivered.

So there we are, now I just have to find the time to bake the 3 different sizes (not eat them) and feed with bandy until it's time to decorate.

Invites

Finally we set aside some time to pick and order our wedding invites, after a quick to and fro with the vendor, our final design was received and ready to print. Yes you heard me right we opted to get a PDF design from a lovely lady on Etsy at Sweet D Stationary and print them out ourselves. I had originally hoped to design them myself, but after a couple of attempts I just couldn't get the look I wanted so admitted defeat and hit Etsy for inspiration. I originally picked out a load of designs and after days of going through them with Adam we finally decided on this one. 

Thankfully we are both really pleased with how they have come out, and at a fraction of the price of some other invites I've seen. We also asked for a blank border so we could fill in all the other necessary wedding info, to go with the invites, but I guess we could also use it for any other paper goods we need too, brilliant. We are just waiting for the card I ordered to come in and then we can start getting them out to people. 

A lot of the planning decisions left to make depend on who's coming so it will be a huge weight off once we get these out and the RSVP's start rolling in. We should be able to get everything else ordered, scheduled and planned out. Less than 6 months to go....

What do you think of our invites?

Practice Cupcakes

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Just threw together some basic vanilla cupcakes they weren't really the important part. I just needed something to practise my newly learnt skills, and ideas on.

The flowers are maybe a little big for cupcakes, but I wasn't going to buy 2 different sized cutters just for practising.

It also gave me a chance to have a play with the colouring, surprising how little you need, I might have a bit more fun with it next time though and make the flowers a bit darker in the middle.

The top 2 cakes on the right were done utilising a lattice stamp that gives a quilted effect, you are meant to rock it around the side of a big cake, but it gives a rough idea of what it should look like.

Overall I'm pleased with how they came out and feel pretty confident that I'll be able to decorate the final wedding cake without it looking too, ''homemade''. Think a little more practise is in order, but at least I can make some tasty mistakes.

Do you think I'm mad trying to make and decorate my own wedding cake?

Sugar Roses

I don't know if I've mentioned but I am planning to make my own wedding cake. They just seem so expensive and putting the word wedding in front of anything seems to bump up the price ten fold, so I though I would give it a bash. 

We had decided on a traditional fruit cake as this is on of our favourites, it can also be baked months in advance so that would take some of the pressure off. But I still wanted it to look a bit fancy so on Saturday I attended a cake decorating class with my mum and aunt to learn how to make sugar roses.

We started with a tear drop of icing and just started adding petals.

They shape up quite quick,

It can be fiddly and you have to remember to do things in the right order,

I was super pleased with how they came out, a little direction goes a long way.

Also had a quick bash at buttercream roses, they are crazy easy when you know how and have the right tools.

What do you think? Not bad for a first attempt.

We took the class at Dee's Creative Cakes she does do scheduled classed, but you can also book in for a private class if there is something specific you want to do, like we did.

2014 Already?

I can't believe we are1 week into 2014 already! Time is just whizzing by.

I've got my new diary, and as always I am going to attempt to be more organised this year. I always have the best of intentions. I don't tend to make resolutions just little deals with myself and targets. This year I am more determined than ever when it come to fitness goals. I do not want to be a fat bride, and I am getting married this year!!

Last year I gave up smoking, I stopped in February and haven't touched one since, which is pretty cool I don't usually have that much resolve so I'm quite proud of myself. Especially as my other half is was a smoker. (He is attempting to give up)

This year I would like to give up take aways. We have been quite bad in the past and anytime we can't be bothered to cook we turn to Just Eat, which shamefully wasn't all that rare. So we have made a pact to resit and for each month we manage it we will treat ourselves to a fancy dinner out. 

I also need to focus on my fitness, start taking my half marathon training seriously and keep signing up to organised runs so I can stay focused. Hopefully combined with eating better this will have the desired results when it comes to slimming down.

I would like to set small yoga targets too like nailing a specific pose, working my way up to a headstand by the end of the year. I know that doesn't sound particularly spectacular but I am no where near at the moment so it would be quite an achievement for me.

Sewing is also on my list, it's something I've had an interest in for a couple of years but never really done anything about, so inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee I am going to give it a go this year, first project to be some pyjama bottoms for Adam. I'll let you know how I get on.

Do you make targets and fresh starts at the start of a new year?

Planning for the Future

I'm not sure I have ever really planned for the future, just things I would like to do/achieve at some point in my life, buy a house, get married, get fit, start a family, you know the usual. It just seems that lately these things have to be added to a timeline, and given a slightly more specific deadline. Is that just part of getting older? Or is it just my current circumstances that are demanding a little more commitment that my usual meh if it happens it happens attitude.

I think it started when we fixed a date for the wedding, financial decisions have to be made to ensure we can cover everything, upto and after. This really hit home recently when I was offered a new job, when the offer was first made I was in no doubt I was ready for a new challenge, something different let's do it. This offer is only for a temporary position though, it would take us up to the wedding and then finish. Which in theory would be brilliant, but in actual fact what if I couldn't find another job after, that would really mess up our future plans. At which point I realised we had mapped out quite a chunk of our future already, scary!

Wedding - Honeymoon - Baby (Maternity) - Move to London (6 months) - Buy House

BIG financial commitments, the specific dates aren't set but I think we will have reached the end of the timeline in 2 -3 years, so can I really afford to take the risk at this time. Unfortunately I think the answer is no, so I guess I will have to stick it out in current job for a little while longer, unless my numbers come up on the lottery of course.  

Do you have a timeline for your future plans, am I the only one who finds it a little scary?

Collecting ''THE'' Dress

So Saturday I got up quite early, was picked up by my Ma and Pa and driven the hour it takes to get to the Wedding Dress shop that I used in Uckfield. I know that's quite a trek but it was the closest shop that had the dress I had fallen in love with online. (I didn't end up with that particular dress in the end as when I put it on it looked hideous, made me look really square like I was made out of duplo!)

I had received the call in the week that my dress was ready for collection. It's really real now, I think that was the moment when I realised this was really happening. When you book venues, caterers, photographers etc you don't really get something weddingy to hold that's yours, it's just a date in the calender. An amazing bejewelled princess dress, for the most extravagant day of my life is. I can touch it, try it on swoop around in it, but not too much, I don't want to ruin it before the big day. It is still yet to be altered to my particular specifications, and will have to live with my parents, but I can go visit anytime I want.

Obviously I'm not going to put a picture up, I want to save the big reveal for the day, but I was just wondering am I the only one who felt like this. Are you married/getting married, when did it seem really real to you?

I can really picture myself wearing it afterwards as well, on those nights when I get an evening in by myself in front of the T.V. big fancy dress on twirling around the living room....just me?

Sending Save The Dates

So I finally got around to sorting out my save the date cards. Designed them up at work (don't tell), and eventually got them printed  up after much faff with a temperamental printer. The are roughly the same size and layout of a postcard to save on envelopes. I'm quite pleased with how they came out it's just a shame my handwriting isn't very fancy... 

We can hand deliver most of them which is handy, but the ones I do have to post are proving tricky, I don't actually have a valid address book, and even if I did most things are done via Facebook, text and email. When was the last time you posted something to a friend, or even a relative? I don't even send out Christmas/Birthday cards anymore, if they are family friends my Mum still puts my name on their cards, how bad is that. 

Thing is I love getting post, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. Maybe once I have gatherd up all the addresses for the save the dates I will make more of an effort, at least with a Christmas card maybe even the odd note to a select few. Can't expect to get any letters if I don't send any right? 

How do you feel about post, do you still write letters, or have a pen pal? 

Save the Date

I can't believe September is over, where did it go?

September was the month I was supposed to send out save the date notes, but it just didn't happen! 
We gave notice of our marriage today though, so the countdown officially begins. Less than a year until M day. The big stuff is done, venue, food, registrar, photographer and dress, so now it's just the fiddly details. 

We keep changing our minds, with regards to save the date notes. Should we just call or send e-mails. Or is that too impersonal. Should we send cards, but then what style. Like a greetings card or just a postcard. So much to think about and they should have been done already!

Rustic Style Wedding Invitation by doodle love

nala save the date balloon by White Knot
Save the date Rubber Stamp with Border by English Stamp

All above save the date options available from Not on the High Street

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