Wedding fatigue
Effective blogging really needs to be a habit, and I have to admit, it’s a habit I seem to have fallen out of recently.
Part of the problem is definitely wedding fatigue;
Bored Bride
it’s felt like such a frenzy trying to get all the important bits sorted, but now all the key items are booked, it all the rest of it now seems a little less urgent.
As a blogger, I’m also rather shamed to admit that I was getting a little tired of the sound of my own voice. I do try to pepper the old blog with wedding themed stories from around the world, but I was starting to feel pretty sure that some people might be getting a bit bored of me droning on and on.
But now I’m determined to get back on the waggon, and refocus my efforts on both the blog, and the wedding plans.
My credentials as a blogging bride-to-be depend on it!
1 comment June 8, 2009
Tags: back on the waggon, blogger, Blogging, blogging bride to be, sound of my own voice, wedding fatigue, wedding plans, wedding themed stories
365 days and counting…
The sun is shining on a beautiful day in the Royal County this morning and I’ve just realised that it is exactly 365 days and counting until I finally tie the knot!
If the weather is anything like it is today in one year’s time, it is going to be truly gorgeous!
1 comment May 29, 2009
Tags: 365 days, beautiful day, Royal, Royal County, sun is shining, tie the knot, weather
Celebrity wedding planner
Apparently us mere mortals can afford wedding planners nowadays, but for those operating within the realm of the rich and famous, the planning of a celebrity wedding seems to reach a whole different planet of extravagance.
Jordan and Peter's fairy tale carriage
From fairy tale carriages, to wedding thrones, to lion tamers, live butterfly boxes and Westlife crooning at the reception, these celebrities seem to have it all,
But is it also cruel of me to suggest that the longevity of the marriage sits in direct proportion to the amount of cash the celebrity has splurged on said nuptials?
It doesn’t appear that many celebrity marriages seem to last much longer than the silk spun toilet paper they undoubtedly wipe their pampered peaches on (Jordan and poor Peter a perfect case in point) and those that do seem destined for a mixture of unfailing glumness and anorexia throughout most of their married life (Posh and Becks, Cheryl and Ashley, further illustrations…)
Posh and Becks - happy marriage?
I guess it can’t be easy to look past the glass slippers and fountains of Cristal to picture a time when Mrs Ashley Cole has simply done a bit too much pouting for one day to feel like getting her leg over, or Mr Katie Price has perhaps had one curry too many and is starting to get a little bit paunchy and the rosy glow starts fading from the paparazzo’s lens.
It’s called real life for you and I, and is part of being a couple and learning to love people for who they are, not just their appearances (primary school stuff, yes I know). But for our celebs, for whom image is everything, the realities of marriage must start to become quite a drag.
Add a comment May 23, 2009
Tags: anorexia, Ashley, Becks, being a couple, butterfly boxes, celebrities, celebrity, celebrity marriages, celebrity wedding planners, Cheryl, Cheryl and Ashley, Cristal, curry, fairy tale carriages, glass slippers, image is everything, Jordan, Jordan and Peter, learning to love, lion tamers, marriage, married life, Mr Katie Price, Mrs Ashley, Mrs Ashley Cole, nuptials, paparazzo's, Peter, Posh, Posh and Becks, primary school, real life, realities of marriage, silk spun, toilet papers, wedding planners, wedding thrones, Westlife
My big fat wedding
Over the weekend I watched a programme about Claire Richards (who used to be in Steps) and her endeavours to lose a whopping amount of weight in a really short amount of time before her wedding. Claire had found a beautiful dress for her big day and ordered it in a size 12 (she was I think around size 18 at the time) so had a mad panic to make sure she lost weight in time to fit in to it.
All brides worry about looking fabulous in their wedding dresses, but as Claire’s experience proved, some definitely face bigger challenges than others. Her determination was very impressive, working out from four and then to six times a week, cutting out junk food and keeping her calories to a minimum. Of course, she exceeded expectations for her big day and managed to squeeze in to a size 10 and looked stunning.
It definitely helped me to put my own weight loss/weight maintenance struggles into perspective. I’m fortunate enough to already fit the dress that I love, so I just need to ensure I keep stable for, oh yes, just the next year at least (god!). It’s doable though, and as Claire’s experience proved to me, it certainly could be much worse.
Add a comment May 22, 2009
Tags: beautiful dress, big day, calories, Claire, Claire Richards, junk food, lost weight, mad panic, My big fat wedding, size 10, size 12, size 18, Steps, wedding, wedding dresses, weight loss, weight maintenance, working out
Re-writing the wedding vows
Scott Mills is covering for the hideous (sorry Hannah!) Chris Moyles on his Radio One breakfast show at the moment, and ran a very funny phone in yesterday about people writing their own personal wedding vows.
H2B and I will be sticking to a reasonably traditional script – we’re not really into big showy displays of public affection so we’ll be keeping it pretty straight.
Some of the ideas from Scott Mills phone-in though were nothing short of hilarious!
- One couple apparently used the lyrics from the Baywatch theme, so think along the lines of ‘I’m always ready, I won’t let you out of my sight.’
- Another said ‘give me the dignity to be humble when I’m wrong and gracious when I’m right.’
- And the best, and perhaps the most outrageous, the groom said ‘I love you because you know when to stop eating.’
Priceless!!
2 comments May 21, 2009
Tags: Baywatch, breakfast show, Chris Moyles, groom, H2B, Hannah, personal wedding vows, phone in, public affection, Radio One, Radio One breakfast show, re-writing the wedding vows, Scott Mills, wedding vows
Wedding insurance
Now we’ve started paying deposits on venues, I keep reminding H2B that it’s time to start thinking about wedding insurance.
Apparently it’s quite a new phenomenon, but frankly I don’t know how couples used to do without it. With the average wedding costing anything from £10,000 to £20,000, it’s an awful lot of money to be spending without any protection against something going wrong.
You just need the bride to get a bit of food poisoning, or torrential rain to cause some flooding in the wrong places, and all of a sudden, the wedding you’ve shelled out your hard-earned on just can’t go ahead. Or most likely, in these horrible economic times, a supplier you are counting on to provide catering, or music, or a venue, goes bust – then, what do you do?
There’s a myriad of wedding insurance products out there – some with clever modular policies that help you adjust the cover depending on what you’ve spent on different elements of the wedding. Let’s face it, no two weddings will be the same, and there’s no point having huge amounts of cover on areas that perhaps you haven’t prioritised.
It’s H2B’s responsibility to get the wedding insurance sorted, let’s face it he needs to have at least one job! Anyway, he’s pretty good at sorting things like insurance, he just needs reminding to get them done!
Add a comment May 20, 2009
Tags: average wedding, bride, catering, deposits, economic times, flooding, food poisoning, H2B, hard-earned, insurance, music, supplier, torrential rain, venue, wedding insurance, weddings
Recession forces couples to cut costs
According to the Financial Mail on Sunday this weekend, the recession is forcing many prospective couples to cut costs at their wedding, or even put off the big day all together.
Wow. That’s incisive journalism. As much a shock to me as I’m sure it was to you!
I don’t personally think that the recession actually stops people doing what they really want to do. Our wedding is not going to be more expensive simply because we are planning it within a recession. In fact, we might even be lucky enough to get cheaper deals as suppliers struggle to secure our business.
I think it’s very easy to use the recession as an excuse for not doing particular things, when in actual fact you should perhaps just be saving money on that area of your life anyway. It’s not because you’ve got any more of a pressing need to do it now, just because ‘we’re in a recession’, than you had before.
It doesn’t make a blind bit of sense to start your married life ‘deep in debt‘ as the article states, so don’t be wasteful where a little tasteful restraint will actually do you more favours in the long run.
It is a very important and momentous day, but it is still only one day after all and not worth breaking the bank over.
Add a comment May 19, 2009
Tags: big day, cut costs, deep in debt, Financial Mail on Sunday, incisive journalism, journalism, Mail, Mail on Sunday, married life, prospective couples, recession, Sunday, the long run, wedding, weekend
Wedding food
Plans are moving along now, albeit gently, but we are getting there.
I’ve been getting receipts back from our bookings recently, for the registrar, the boat, and the ceremony, and now I’m starting to see how things are coming together.
Particularly exciting was to get the details of the afternoon tea at the Leander Club. (Is it really bad that I get so excited about food?)
- Selection of finger sandwiches, to include smoked salmon and watercress; roast beef and horseradish; cream cheese and cucumber
- Freshly made scones, with clotted cream and strawberry jam
- Strawberry tartlets
- Mini eclairs
- Tea
Yum-my!
Note to self – don’t drip jam down dress, you’ll have new guests to greet at the reception!
Add a comment May 18, 2009
Tags: afternoon tea, boat, ceremony, clotted cream, cream cheese, finger sandwiches, food, freshly made scones, Leander Club, mini eclairs, new guests, reception, Registrar, roast beef, smoked salmon, strawberry jam, strawberry tartlets, wedding food
In-flight weddings
As we’ve already learned from elsewhere on this blog, it’s notoriously difficult to get married in the UK in anything other than a church or licensed room in a standard building. So the revelation that easyJet is planning to launch an ‘in-flight wedding‘ service presents a whole new set of challenges to English law.
I think it would be a great idea to get married on an aeroplane, but to be honest with you easyJet really wouldn’t be my first choice. They would probably charge you £20 for the privilege of wearing a wedding dress, and if you didn’t arrive at least 20 minutes before the plane was due to depart, well that’s it, game over. No point even considering the tradition of the bride arriving late!
Add a comment May 13, 2009
Tags: aeroplane, blog, bride, church, easyJet, English law, get married, in-flight wedding, in-flight wedding service, licensed room, tradition, UK, Wedding dress
Personal bests
Not quite sure what’s got into me over the past week – I think I must be eating a lot of spinach or something. After about five years of plugging away at running, it seems like I’ve suddenly started to improve!!!
10k has been my most ‘regular’ distance over the last five years and I’ve always had aspirations to achieve a 50min time – H2B always told me I was capable of it, but the best I’d managed (more…)
2 comments May 11, 2009
Tags: 10k, 13.1 miles, do a 'Paula', fast, five years, flat course, H2B, half marathon, Monday, personal bests, Reading, regular distance, Richmond Half Marathon, running, Shinfield 10k, spinach, throw in the towel, Turbo X Trail, two hour mark, Wargrave 10k, Woodland 5 series
