Posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009
I went to look for my wedding outfit on Saturday. I want an outfit that will tone in with the theme, be smart and not get lost among the beautiful bridesmaids and stunning bride. At first i thought of purple, but I would end up getting lost among everyone else, being a bit vertically challenged. So as long as it didn’t clash went with no particular idea of colour.
I called in at The Collection, in Workington, just to see what they had and had a lovely experience! The two ladies there had a chat, and found lot of different styles for me to try on. I am a bit limited in that I am a size 8 and quite a small size 8, and collections for older ladies seem to be more aimed at larger sizes. However there were still about 6 different outfits for me to try in my size.
There was a lovely pink floaty outfit with a corset style top and a jacket, but I felt that was a bit informal. I tried a Chanel style outfit but to me it looked a bit dated, rather Queen Motherish. Then there was a grey silk dress with a floaty stole that looked elegant except it showed up the only plump part about me – my stomach.
By this time I had the two ladies in the shop commenting and adding accessories, pinning this in, draping that. Other customers were getting involved and telling me how it looked. I was tottering around on stunning silver heels, other half was taking photos, coffee was brought out to keep his spirits up as he had to go and keep re- parking the car.
Eventually I settled on a grey silk suit, and I was sat down with a cup of tea while we negotiated the price. It isn’t cheap, but it is being altered slightly, the buttons moved to make the Audrey Hepburn style jacket a better fit and the top straps altered. I am also hiring a stunning fascinator which will be boxed up for me a week before the wedding.
I had excellent personal service, and was never pressurised . It was helpful when the other customer gave her opinion, as she agreed with us! I won’t look like Audrey Hepburn (my style icon) but hopefully I will look smart leading Sadie down the aisle.
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Posted on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Since me and my fiancee started dating a few things have changed in my life, I started focussing on my career more and less on modelling and this meant although I wouldn’t say I was fat I am a lot bigger than when we first met. I have added a few inches to my waist and everything has got a bit more wobbly.
I don’t have a problem with my weight but for my wedding day I want to get in the best shape, especially for the honeymoon as well. It would be a good idea to do a bit more excercise as well and get fitter any way. I’ve got plenty of time to get in shape but I find if I ceep putting it off I won’t loose the weight at all!
My goal is to get a body like Jessica Alba! It may be a difficult goal but I have to aim for something. I don’t really need to loose weight but I do want to tone up and get in better shape so this goal is better than saying I am going to lose however many pounds etc.
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Posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Salma Heyak and multimillionaire boyfriend Francois-Henri Pinault got married on the most romantic of all dates, the 14th of February, but for this lavish couple this was not enough to mark the occassion therefore this weekend got married again.
Only the rich and famous can afford a beautiful wedding on Valentines day and then a fairytail wedding a few months later. I guess it was just in case some one (or some photographer) hadn’t seen the first wedding they had to make sure everyone in the world knew they were married.
I’m just jealous as I would love to have a wedding in Venice, Italy surrounded by A listers such as Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, Salma even got the chance to sing a long with Bono! The celebrations went on for two days and was covered by People magazine.
Renewing your vows is a lovely way to celebrate your marriage but did hey really need to renew them a mere 2 months after the original day?
Salma did have a beautiful gown, white Ballenciaga gown with a bouquet of orchids and looked stunning in front of the photograohers and 150 of her closest A list celebrity friends.
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Posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009
As the media is full of doom and gloom of the economy figures have shown that the cost of an average wedding is going down significantly. Its times like these that mean that anyone planning a wedding need to be even more careful with their wedding budget.
We are in the fortunate circumstances that despite the economy we are still likely to have lovely wedding, much more than I had ever imagined. Most of this is down to the generosity of my Mother and luckily we are both in good jobs in an industries that are thriving (touch wood). It seems that although people are spending less money on weddings, it is occasions like these that are actually helping the economy.
With unsurity ahead a lot of people don’t want to let go of the money they have, just in case, but a lot of people are seeing the value of being around friends and family and celebrating love. I guess it is a ray of sunshine for a lot of people and for this reason as more people get married it gives the economy just a little bit of a boost.
So what the government should be doing is trying tp get more people to marry, and renew their vows it will lift the mood of the nation and business wil benefit from dress makers, high streets as other guests want something to wear for the occassion, local hotels and accommodation, venues, cake makers, printers… the list is endless, as I am realising.
These occassions can really help boost local communities and celebrities who can afford flash in the pan marriages should be setting the example. Celebrities would be great as they ted to get married again, maybe even twice in one recession. So I put it out to all Big Brother stars, soap stars, X factor, who ever you are go to some TV or Music award meet someone you love right now and do your bit for the country.
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Posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Its easy to get so caught up in wedding plans that you loose sight of the real reason your getting married. Me and Luke are very happy together but lately I’ve been so caught up with wedding plans we haven’t been spending as much time together.
The past few months have been tough we’ve moving jobs and family stresses, the wedding has been a welcomed distraction. Its just hit home that its only 6 months to go and we need to start thinking about all the small details so when I’m not working I’m looking through wedding things and doing budgets.
I have felt as though I’ve neglected Luke a bit as I am preoccupied with guest lists and room plans. Last night we went on a date, its our first date in ages. We arranged to do a monthly date night ages ago but it never really got started for one reason or another. But now we have the same pay day we’ve started this again and last night was our first date.
It was really good to take time out from the norm and show each other how much we care. Its easy to get in a rut and just do the same old so it was nice to dress up and go out together. We went for a few drinks at Knutsford Wine bar and then for a meal at the Belle Epoque. We had considered the Belle Epoque as a wedding venue and had a look round but we decided it was a bit small for us. Although I really loved the purple walls and ornate decor.
I think it is important for couples to make time for each other and our date night is going to be a regular thing.
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Posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009
Although I am really keen on having a wedding pie I am still keen on the traditional cake, this way we can cut the cake as our first task together as husband and wife. I was recently at a wedding fair and I saw gorgeous little cupcakes that you can give out to all of your guests. This seems a lot nicer than a badly sliced piece of cake dumped on your plate sometime during the reception.
I love the idea of this as it means people have something to either eat on the day or take away, you don’t have to wrap up the cake in tissue which gets messy as they all come in their own little wrappers. To add a bit more sophistication than just the cheap white wrappers you can get personalised cupcake wrappers.
Paper orchid are a stationary company I found online whilst looking for wedding invitation ideas and looking through their site I found some great personalised cup cake holders. If I were more gophic I would definately go for the spiders web cup cakes. The detail is stunning and they have a great range to choose from.
I am looking through for some ideas but not sure what to go with just yet, it will probably be white or purple or a mixture of those colours.
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Posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
It is customary for a couple to put out a wedding list but after discussing this with Luke all we want is for our guests to come and enjoy the day. We appreciate that it is a long way for most of our friends and family to travel so to spend the day with our loved ones is enough for us… does that sound really cheesy?
Other people who are getting married have asked for kitchen appliances, and things for a house, including money towards a deposit. This is really good as it gives your guests the chance to give you something to help you start your new life together.
For me and Luke however, we have been living in sin for the past year. We don’t really need anything for the house (except perhaps time to tidy up and decorate), and we are already paying a mortgage so a deposit isn’t needed. We’re not greedy so as long as you turn up and enjoy yourselves we’re happy.
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Posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009
The average cost of a Wedding is about £11,000, this is no mean feat and I sometimes wonder if this kind of money would be better spent on a deposit for a house or something that the couple will see contribute to more than what is essentially just a big party. The fees for the ceremony are less than £500 on average, and registration is about £50 a couple so where does the rest of the money go?
Firstly the one of the biggest spends for most couples is the dress, this can cost anything from £100 to £5,000 for a designer wedding dress, this cost does not always include alterations to make it the perfect fit. I am not spending £5,000 on my dress but I still need to keep money aside for the alterations, this won’t be done until the last few weeks and I’ll be on a strict diet and wii fit excercise regime leading up to the wedding to make sure I look my best.
The most expensive factors to consider in the wedding is the reception and wedding breakfast, at half a bottle of wine per head and champagne the drinks alone can get quite expensive. The wedding breakfast usually consists of a 3 course menu and for up to 100 guests this is very expensive, so anyone who is not invited to the wedding breakfast please don’t take offense we’re just skint. For the wedding breakfast you are usually looking at an average of £100 a head, so for 100 guests you’ve spent £10,000 already.
The wedding party/reception afterward usually includes a buffet which can be anything from £10 to £50 per head depending on your deal and you have to look at the entertainment, which could be a band or a DJ each costing from £500 for the night going up to nearly £3,000.
There are various traditions over who pays for what, it is either down to the brides parents or the bridesmaids to pay for the bridesmaids dresses. I still haven’t decided on the dresses for my bridesmaids and flower girls but as I have 5 bridesmaids it will probably get expensive.
So we’ve covered the wedding dress the wedding breakfast, buffet and party, and bridemaids dresses and these costs alone are totaling up. You can get deals and if you get married this year you can get recession busting discounts, but you need to be prepared that these costs alone will be substantial. There are other costs not even mentioned like tux hire for the groom and groomsmen, flowers, photographers, wedding favours etc.
We are very lucky that my Mother has generously offered to pay for most of it and me and Luke are trying to get extra money for little extras like the entertainment and flowers. The best thing to do is plan your money carefully, I usually use an xcel spreadsheet to list everything I need then over estimate the budget and set money aside to allow for hidden costs or something you may not have thought about.
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Posted on Sunday, April 19th, 2009
Well my folks have been in France for the past fortnight and have been trying out lots of wines and champagnes for the wedding breakfast. It is traditional to call it the wedding breakfast but in reality it will probably be around 5pm after the ceremony and most of the photographs.
The wedding breakfast will be the time we have a bit of a laugh with speeches and toasts and lovely food and alcohol. We’ve been lucky to get corckage on the alcohol so we are choosing our own wines and buying them in bulk over in France where you can get a better quality wine for half the price.
My Mum has been taking her role of wine tasting very seriously whilst she has been in France and even taken the wines up to the bar for second opinions from the locals.We now have the champagne and red wine sorted and my folks drove back yesterday with a boot full of alcohol.
Looking forward to tasting the wines and champers but think we’ll have to wait till the wedding. 
Posted in Brides Blog, Wedding Reception | No Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
I’m not even married to Luke and I’m already a boxing widow! Luke has been getting ringside tickets for local Boxing fights in and aroound Manchester and the North West. This is curtosy of Andy Ball a boxing photographer Luke knows who is always ringside at these events and is first to get the best shots of the up and coming fighters.
I have been discussing this with other brides to be and they seem to have similar experiences although not all are boxing related. Some loose their partners every weekend for football and others Rugby or other sports. I thik I know the reason the peak of the wedding season is the end of the football season as many wives to be can’t get their menfolk to commit to any date that may mean they miss a match.
I suppose I am lucky that Luke is only really interested in Boxing so I only loose him at nights. Check out the photography on Box Pro as I have to admit people hitting each other in the face do make some amazing shots!
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