The All Important Music

Posted on September 1, 2011 by itam

So, I realise I haven’t done a musical post and since I’m sat here burning the CDs for ceremony music and ambient music for the guests to be seated to, I thought I’d link to our ceremony music and do a bit fo explaining…

Walking-In Music

This is a song that we both like, but since Mr W is so choosy with his music, it’s unusual!! Although people will probably be familiar with the Metal version of this song, I love this acoustic version because it’s just beautiful. Of course the aisle is so short we won’t hear even half of this over five-minute song, but never mind!


Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

Signing The Register 1

I was informed that I would probably need two songs for the time it takes to sign the register, so this is the first. I first heard it on Grey’s Anatomy and I really loved it – those guys can really pick their music! The lyrics are lovely – and I really like the video, even though clowns freak me out…


The Way I Am – Ingrid Michaelson

Signing The Register 2

We may not get to hear this song, but it’s another favourite of mine – I definitely makes my top five. We’re back to Metallica again…


Mama Said – Metallica

Walking Out Music

This is a song again where the lyrics are lovely, but it’s also a nod to Mr W’s Liverpool heritage!


In My Life – The Beatles

First Song of the Evening

We aren’t having a ‘first dance’ so I’ve asked for this to be played as our first song – it’s what I’ve always considered to be ‘our song’ so I think it’s a bit special.


Foo Fighters – Walking After You

So there we are. Love to know what you think?

Also, for the ambient music, I’m just putting together loads of film and TV themes that I think are brilliant – to my guests: If you hear Star Trek, yes you did hear it, just carry on as you were… :0)

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Not Long Now!!!

Posted on August 28, 2011 by itam

Just a quick hop on to say arrrgghhhh! Less than a week to go!!!

Still so much to do in that week, but there is loads done already. I’ve finished my cake figures and they came out pretty well – they’ve been dropped off with my cake lady who will be setting up on the day.

We collected the suits today, so they can now be tried to make sure everything is ok.

The photographer and sweetie stand are paid off, and the photographer has our listed of poses that we want photographed.

The gorgeous button bouquets and buttonholes arrived safely – thank you Royal Mail!!!

So now, I just need to get the table plan, table names and place cards finished and thankfully I have a trusty band of friends to help me, so they should be done by Tuesday evening to be taken with the wine and other various items on Friday.

So there we are – busy, busy, busy! I did, however take time out on Saturday to have a relaxing facial and on Friday morning I shall be having a manicure and pedicure too, so I shall be thoroughly spruced and ready to go.

Not long now, pics to follow I promise!!!

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Invitations are Out! Finally…

Posted on July 21, 2011 by itam

Phew! Invitations have been posted, so I’m skipping from foot to foot by the letterbox most days now, waiting for replies!! I have already had some replies by email and verbally (my nan – no computer!) so that’s ok – there WILL be people there!

This is a pic of the invitations (excuse my ratty fingernails!):

This is the dummy, so the real ones had a small banner across the bottom of the green part saying ‘wedding invitation’. I was really happy with them – I had an idea to do fancy pocketfold invitations, but when I actually thought about it I realised that that would take far too long and probably not come out as I had hoped.

As I think I’ve said before I was inspired to make my wedding stationery by my friend Catherin, the Crafty Little Blogger, as she is the craft Queen but, sadly, she was unable to help make them as she lives too far away :0(. Nevertheless, three of my friends and I gathered and they organised me to make the 31 invitations required – in hindsight, I should have made 32, as I don’t think I’ve saved one! I might have saved the dummy though, hmmm.

The instructions for making this invitation are as follows:

For one invitation you will need:

1x A6 card
1x length of ribbon (of your colour choice)
1x rectangle of card/paper (as above)
1x smaller rectangle of card, the same colour as your A6 card
1x banner embellishment stating ‘wedding invitation’
1/2 embellishment(s) of your choice – we chose silver hearts
1x folded insert with wording
double sided tape
sticky foam pads

1. Take the smaller rectangle of card and mat it onto the coloured card
2. Wrap the ribbon round the card and secure with double sided tape inside the card
3. Stick the rectangles of card on the top
4. Stick the folded paper with the wording on inside the card, securing it with double sided tape where is hides the ends of the ribbon
5. Affix your embellishments as you choose.

Bob’s yer uncle! It really is easy to make one, a little harder to make 31, but that’s where your good friends and cups of tea come in handy!!

I also hope to make the table place cards and the table plan to a similar design – just need to get those replies coming back!!

If you don’t have the time, or don’t fancy making your stationery, then there are a few suppliers that I have heard good things about that can do it for you. These are:

Scrapbookerry – Kerry is a lovely and very talented lady who makes all manner of papercrafty things, but has recently posted some pics of her wedding stationery and they are really pretty.
Kate Kelly – Kate is actually the sister of the lady who is making my cakes (more on that another day) and she is a Graphic Designer who creates some beautiful designs on one-offs and collections.
Bee-Mine – Bee-Mine are local to me in Poole, but they can take orders through their website. I have seen some of their designs at various wedding fairs and they do some really cute things.

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Some Gorgeous Dress Choices from Alfred Angelo

Posted on July 19, 2011 by itam

I’ve been doing lots of wedding stuff this week, after all it IS only 6 weeks away *faints*. Chiefly, Bridesmaid and I went for the first alteration fitting and. luckily for my wedding budget, the bridesmaid dress fits like the proverbial glove and I only need a half inch of the bottom, an evening hook and a tuck or two around the bosoms – yay!

As I’ve said, my dress is Alfred Angelo and I’d pretty much already chosen it when I went to the bridal shop, but if I hadn’t chosen, I may well have been swayed by the Alfred Angelo Disney range.

The collection is designed around seven on Disney’s most iconic ladies, including Belle, Cinderella and Princess Jasmine and the finished articles are really beautiful. This one (above) is based on Belle from Beauty and the Beast (hence the rose – see what they did there?) and although the pictures are lovely, when you’ve actually seen them in the bridal shop I think you actually get the full idea of just how gorgeous and glamorous they are.

The whole range comes in sizes 6 to 34 so there really is a dress to suit everyone. Prices start at £599 but with a well-known name such as Alfred Angelo you really do get what you paid for – as I said, my dress is Alfred Angelo and the quality of the workmanship is excellent – there’s not a stitch out of place and everything is as you would expect for the price.

To see more of the Disney range and to find your nearest Alfred Angelo stockist visit their website, or catch up with them on Twitter.

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Hair today, gone tomorrow…

Posted on July 10, 2011 by itam

Ok, I know I’ve been totally remiss in not updating Mr wedding blog for an eon (slapped wrists) but I have exciting stuff to write about today so I shall!

Yesterday was my hair trial day and after two hours in the chair, and two attempts, we both had something we were happy with and it was this:

and this:

My hairdresser is Vanessa at Soda Beauty & Blow Dry Bar in Bournemouth and I found her when I was (pardon my French) dicked about by several people on the hair/makeup area so I asked my Makeup lady, Zoe whether any of her ladies did wedding hair, In actual fact I’m quite pleased those other people let me down as I was really happy with what Vanessa did and she is a lovely lady and I’m confident it will look lovely on the day.

And also in the photo is the debut of my headband, which is the Darcy by Rosie Willett Designs – I think you’ll agree that it is lovely (until I put my head in it, d’oh!).

Obviously this is just the trial, so more lovely pics from the actual day – not long now!!

Ooh PS!! If you look in the mirror in the second photo, you’ll see a print out of a Katherine Heigl hairdo, which was my example – I think mine looks better!

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To Veil or Not To Veil?

Posted on May 11, 2011 by itam

This is a question I’ve thought long about – you picture a bride and automatically picture a veil with it, right? The now Duchess of Cambridge went for a very long, traditional veil like this:

but given some features of my dress I was drawn to thinking that a long veil would be unnecessary for me.

I did look at short veils, birdcage veils and headpieces without veils and wanted to find something a bit unique. The only thing I did know was that I didn’t like any of the tiaras I had seen. They were just too fussy for me and actually seemed a bit expensive for what you actually get, so I pondered what to wear on my head for ages!

One item I found that I really liked was this:

a bridal fascinator by Topperhats on the Folksy website. I did think about this one for a while – it made it in and out of my favourites, until I decided after talking with a few people that although cute it really was too fussy for me and not in keeping with my dress.

I looked at loads of thing but none really seemed right – I’ll post some links below of some of the suppliers I looked at but rest assured I have chosen – finally! The one I went for is:

Not pictured here! I’ll post a pic after the day – I do need some secrets. All I’ll say is that it’s a design by Rosie Willetts.

Some More Options:

ChezBec have some lovely items, including a range of birdcage veils that are quite cute.
Folksy have some lovely items listed with them for brides, including bridal fascinators, veils and quirky headpieces.
Jewellery By Jo have some pretty tiaras and other bridal jewellery.

Other places I looked were at the two wedding fairs I went to, where there were several exhibitors with handmade items or some of the dress suppliers had tiara displays, and also at my bridal shop when I went to collect the dress.

This is only a small word about my decisions in choosing headwear – there are so many options out there for veils or no veils, or half veils etc, so whatever you look at there will always be something that leaps out at you – it just took be a bit longer that I thought to find ‘the one’!

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Silent Sunday

Posted on April 24, 2011 by itam

Silent Sunday

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THE DRESS!

Posted on April 23, 2011 by itam

This is a really quick post and also there are no pictures, because it’s to say I PICKED UP THE DRESS TODAY! I actually tried it on and it didn’t make me look like a pile of crap, so yay! It still needs alterations, so I’ve got until July to get that crosstrainer really working for me!

I can’t tell you how much I love it – and I hate all things about fashion, clothes shopping etc etc. It’s just gorgeous and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one (so sickening). I tried it on to make sure it didn’t make me look hideous, and I was pleasantly surprised – turns out I do have a waist (all be it a large one…).

I ordered my dress from Cloud Nine Bridal in Locks Heath, near Southampton and although it’s a long way to go for a dress they are an authorised Alfred Angelo supplier and I wanted to make sure they had the full range of dresses for me to try when I went in. The experience of shopping with them has been an absolute dream – I was worried that I might have a bad experience, being a fat bride, but from choosing what I wanted to try on, to being laced up, to ordering, to trying on the actual dress today has been wonderful – they couldn’t have been more nice and helpful to me and my bridesmaid.

The dress is now at my bridesmaid’s house, and I’m a little disappointed with this as I want to keep looking at it, but it’s best away from prying eyes and sticky little fingers!

Obviously after the big day I shall post a zillion pictures on here, but for now I shall keep shh!

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Folksy – A Must for Brides

Posted on April 20, 2011 by itam

As a bride choosing the right kind of accessories, headpieces and jewellery can be a major challenge. There are so many style guides, suppliers and magazines to look at that it can be so difficult to pick things that are ‘you’ and also reasonably priced.

I stumbled across Folksy as it was recommended to me from a completely different angle – I am currently a member of Be a Mumpreneur and Folksy was one of the recommended ways to make a few bob if you are crafty. The site is basically a catalogue for people to list their handmade crafts (from those worth a few pounds to hundreds of pounds),so the range of things you can buy is huge. I am not crafty enough myself to list any items to sell, but I had a look anyway as I quite like quirky little gifts and I was really impressed by the range of things advertised on there for brides.

As I said in my Button Bouquet post, I discovered that on there and just had to order! The bouquet was by Blue Button Bride and you can have a look at their shop.

I also, this week purchased a watch to wear on the day from Auntie Trace’s Emporium. This is it:

and I really, really love it. It was so reasonable at £15 and is handmade. She’s got some really nice things in her shop, so please do have a browse…

I’ve not yet exhausted Folksy for my bridal supplies – I’m still not sure what to wear on my head – if anything, and there are some lovely shops selling handmade birdcage veils, tiaras, or bridal fascinators – choosing just one will be the hard part!

Folksy is not just for brides – have a look around a major event such as Mothers’ Day and Easter and you will find loads of unique gift ideas to suit any budget. Also, if you come across anything that might suit my head then please do let me know!

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Read This – Then Eat It!!

Posted on April 19, 2011 by itam

Psst!! I’ve got a secret… I’m not having any flowers at my wedding.

Recovered? Good, then I shall explain. Since starting to plan the wedding and looking at the various lists of things to do, flowers have been on my mind and I’ve not really known what I want and I also begrudged paying good money for something that is going to wilt by the end of the day and be dead by the end of the week. I do think that wedding bouquets can look beautiful and having looked at loads of pictures for ideas, there are some really innovative things being done with flowers but the issue of price does rear its head again…

I happened to chance upon a wedding giveaway on the Inspired Celebration website and one of the prizes, while I’d previously had no idea, was exactly is what I had been looking for. I fell in love with this:

This is a button bouquet made by Tanya at Blue Button Bride and as soon as the competition ended (I had to see if I had won, right!?) I contacted her about making my bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquet and buttonholes. All of those items were advertised at her Folksy shop, but I also asked if she might be able to create a corsage-style arrangement for my mum and Mr W’s mum, and she’s come up with a great idea for that.

Obviously all of the designs are totally unique so, although I love the purple, my bouquet will be in my colour scheme of dark green and ivory and I’m really excited to see it!

The bouquet is priced at £70 for 40 button stems which is quite competitive with flowers and quite reasonable when you consider that it won’t die and you can display it forever if you wish.

Tanya has just published some more gorgeous photos of her work on Facebook, including a gorgeous aquamarine and lemon arrangement so do go and have a look!

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