I'm just so happy!!

So, with 5 and a half weeks left I still have quite a bit to do, i'm stressing that I won't get everything done, and i'm also worried that other people may not like our theme, but, I still can't smiling everytime I think about our day!!

We still have to complete the table plan, complete my pew ends for the ceremony, buy the flowergirl shoes and get the bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses altered.  Buy brown converse for Tom and his best men and other little jobs that I really need to make a list for.  Trouble is how am I going to fit it all in??  I have my NVQ that needs to be completed, I have enrolled in bootcamp to lose those few extra pounds before the big day and I also have to spend time with Ty let alone finish off jobs for the wedding!! I feel a little stressed (the ulcers in my mouth prove that!) but I am still smiling lol..!!

Also, it is my hen weekend in just over a week.  All I know is that I am going on a plane!!!!!! Eeeeeek how bloody exciting, I will do a new blog when I get back I may even include some photos depending on what they do to me lol..!

My Dress!!

Well after the palava of my dress coming in at the beginning of the year and being too short my new dress turned up on Friday.  Me, mum, Jess and Laura went down to try it on yesterday and IT FITS!!!!!

I don't need any alterations everything is perfect with it.  I would post photos but i'm afraid of Tom looking so i think it's probably better if i didn't.

There is no feeling like when trying on your dress.  When you slide it on you get an excitement like never before, your heart races, my hands starting shaking and you can't stop smiling!!!

7 weeks and 6 days left to go!!! So bloody exciting!!! xxx

Things are coming together!!

Awww, yesterday I was so excited! We got so much organised for the wedding.  I managed to get hold of my amazing chair cover lady as I had seen some rustic burlap chair sashes and wanted to see if she stocked them.  SHE DOES!!!!!!  We were originally having alternate chocolate brown and ivory sashes on white chair covers but thank the lord she is going to change to the burlap sashes for no extra cost!!!

The original chocolate brown sash

The new burlap sash!!

I absolutely love them!!  I think the new ones go with our rustic autumnal theme much better and now we can have a burlap table runner too which will help tie everything in nicely.

We have also bought about a million ferrero rocher's today to stick to the sweet tree that my brother used for his wedding.  We have 2 trees and finished one yesterday, it looks absolutely gorgeous.  Much cheaper sourcing a used sweet tree stand than buying one made up.  We have spent £15 on sweets whereas to buy the made up ferrero rocher ones they are £35 each!!!!!

Loads more to do today!!! xx

Finalising the day!!!

We had our appointment at the venue yesterday to sort out everything for the day including the timings, food, ceremony and table layout.  It is all so real now! I am actually getting married!!!

The reception room was all set out for a wedding today and looked so gorgeous it actually bought tears to my eyes.  It is such a gorgeous place, everything to the toilets is immaculate and in excellent condition.  The main reason why I chose the Plas Maenan was because of the owners, James and Caroline Burt.  As soon as I met them I knew that I wanted them to help organise our day.  James was an old butler to the queen, he retired from duty and they both bought the Plas Maenan when it was deralict and run down.  They have transformed it into the most beautiful venue!!

Outside the Plas Maenan

The top of the stairs leading to the Bridal Suite

The gorgeous ceremony room

The bar!!!

Caroline is going to send us the final balance, unless anything changes, in the next week.  I'm excited to see it but also scared to see if comes to what I have calculated it to.  I hope so!!!

Wedding Ring!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! I'm so excited!!!

My wedding ring has just arrived.. I'm so bloody happy, it's lovely, fits perfectly and is gorgeous!!  I just had to share with everyone!!!

Eeeeeeeeek, i'm so happy :) xxx

Eeeeeeeek 89 days to go!!!

I'm so excited, with 89 days left until our day we have finally ordered our wedding rings!!! They are traditional bands although Tom has a black edging on his.  I absolutely love them!!!!  I'm not going to post pictures of them as I want them to be a surprise!

Not only have we ordered the rings but i have made all of the place name cards, the most tedious and boring jobs ever but I love how they have turned out.

These will stand in the tops of the pine cones that we are going to cut into.

So what do you think??  I have loads more DIY wedding decorations to do :(  I'm sure I will start to love making things by the time I have finished lol.

I feel so grown up all of a sudden.  Not a horrible grown up but a grown up that is happy with where her life is.  I'm so flipping excited!!!

Bridesmaid dresses!!

Well today, a Sunday(!) we took a trip to Manchester to find our new bridesmaid dresses.  We did originally have some beautiful dresses but there was something that just wasn't quite right with them!!

I found this lady on my favourite site, Ebay, and loved the dresses that i saw and instead of getting her to send out the dresses and send them back if they weren't right we decided to go down to try them all on.  So after 1 1/2 hours in the car me and 2 of my bridesmaids, Laura and Jo, found ourselves at this ladies house.  We walked in and i completely fell inlove with a different dress to the one we originally went down to see!!

What do you think????

I think it looks absolutely gorgeous. We are having it in a darker colour, more of a gold/mocha colour but i love it!!

One more job done, yey!

Introducing our wedding party!!

A wedding wouldn't be a wedding without the bridal party.  My beautiful friends and family will complete the day and make it even more special.  So...

Jessica (Bridesmaid) and Laura (Bridesmaid)... I love these girls like sisters! They are truly my 2 best friends and i couldn't imagine my life without them in it.  We have laughed together and cried together and they are both there whenever I need them and vice versa!! I have known Jess since the day I was born and she was 2 days old, I have known Laura since I was 13.  They are both beautiful and hilarious, we know exactly what each other is thinking just by looking at each other and we can giggle for hours on end.  We all treat each others children as we treat our own which is what I love about these girls.  They aren't afraid to speak their minds either, which is a great help when planning a wedding!!

Joanne (Bridesmaid)  I don't know what to say about Jo apart from I love her! She is the more daring and more fun version of me! We can hilariously laugh together and I am always there for her and I know she is always there for me too!

Jessica, Laura and me

Me and JoJo

Ella (Flowergirl)  The day wouldn't be complete without flowergirls and we have 2 of them.  The first Ella is my brothers wife's daughter but she is my neice.  I love this little girl.  She is so funny and has so much energy it is unreal.  She loves all things girly, disney princesses, ballet lessons, the complete opposite of what I was like at her age lol.

Eva (Flowergirl)  My beautiful little cousin.  I love this little girl so much.  She brings so much happiness to my Uncle.  She can be funny and serious and she is at an age where she knows what she wants!  Eva and Tyler, my little boy, get on so well.  It is amazing to think that when Ty was little Eva couldn't stand him because he was so rough lol.

Ella dressed in Disney!!

Eva, my beautiful cousin

They are the girls.  Now for the boys! The best men are Toms best friends. He couldn't chose between either of them so he had them both!! Ian and Adam.  They are both completely different.  Ian is small and funny. Adam is big and loud!! Both of them are there for Tom like my girls are there for me and that is why I love them!!

Adam and Tom

Tom and Ian

Then come my pageboys...
Jake, he is the cutest boy, cheeky, funny, and sensitive.  He is my godson and the biggest thing I regret is not being able to be there for his christening.  I had already booked a holiday so was unable to go. Jake and Tyler are best friends always giggling and fighting in equal measure, I am definately going to have to split them up walking down the aisle lol.!!  I still even now make him call me Auntie Memma, Memma was his first word, before mum and dad he chose my name lol!!!

Then there is my boy.  My beautiful, funny, cocky, gorgeous, clever, sensitive and amazing little man.  I love him with all my heart. My proudest achievement in life is my little man.  He has the ability to make me happy when i'm feeling down and turn even the worst moods into the happiest days.  I love Tyler more than life itself.

Tyler (my boy) and Jake.

So, now you know our bridal party.  These are just a few of the people who i love and who are included in our day.  Eeeeeeek, i'm getting so excited now!!!! :)

What would I do without Ebay!

Without Ebay my wedding would have come in a lot over my budget.  I have scoured for hours on end for things that normally cost a fortune!!  I think I am slightly addicted to the site, even though I am on it most days I always find something new and have to restrain myself from buying it.  A lot of willpower is required when searching Ebay!!!

A few months ago I would never have believed that I would have got both our wedding rings including free engraving for £70.

We have also found a memorial candle that has been personalised to include my Grandad and Auntie Wendy  who i will miss very much on my special day!! We have got some bridal party gifts from this site too that are again personalised, and alot of DIY materials as most of my wedding will be put together by me and my partner, both our mums and our bridesmaids.

I think having a more personalised wedding will mean more to us in the future when we are looking back on pictures of our day and instead of having the same decor that we have seen at other weddings we have been to we will have our own individual style which has been made with love!!

Another of my best buys from Ebay has been my bridesmaid dresses.  We are buying them from an Ebay shop but going to the ladies house in Manchester (only and hour and half away!) to get measured instead of buying them and having to send them back if they are not correct.  Such a bargain at only £35 each!!!

I think these will look amazing in a champagne colour (you can choose any colour from about 50 different swatches) with either a small orange bouquet or wrist corsage, I haven't quite chosen which the bridesmaids will have yet.

Also off Ebay is my thumbprint tree guest book.  Instead of having a normal guestbook, which in my opinion everyone will possibly write the same thing, we have decided to have a thumbprint tree.  It comes with 3 different coloured washable inks so people can 'leaf' a print and sign their name.  They look absolutely amazing when completed, and we are going to hang ours on our wall after the wedding.

Our inks will be in red, orange and gold!

So now i'm off to have another search ;)  xx

Well this is new!!!

So with 106 days to go until our big day I have decided to now do a blog.  Why? I have no idea but i think it will be nice to look back on when we get further along in our marriage and see how much hard work, time, effort and love went into making our day perfect!!

I'll introduce us first, i'm Gemma and I am a childminder by day and wedding planner (lol!!) by night!! I feel utterly stressed out and tired doing all this planning but i'm absolutely loving it!! It is taking over my life, i eat, sleep and breathe our wedding.  I'm sure my friends and family have had enough of talking about it and hearing what new things i have for it, even i get sick of talking about and know i'm probably boring people to tears but i just can't help it!!  My fiance Tom is much more laid back, in fact any more laid back and he'd be lying on the floor :)  We equal each other out i think! I motivate him to do things (nag!!) and he chills me out when I get so stressed about things I could cry.  He has had a bit of input into the wedding but all in all he trusts me and he knows how much love is going into our day so he is happy with most things that I chose although if he doesn't like something he will tell me until i eventually  have to give in lol.

Well up to now I have done most things, venue (Plas Maenan) is all booked, the photographer, cake, suits, bridesmaid dresses, and flowers are booked and of course my dress is booked.

The Plas Maenan!!

To give you a background on the wedding we have chosen an Autumn theme, we're getting married in October!! So lots of pine cones, pumpkins and bark. Our table centres aren't the usual glass mirrors we are having tree slices instead with our bark candle holder in the centre surrounded with pinecones, rosehip berries, mini pumpkins and candle votives.

The name place cards!

I am actually inlove with my candle holders...

Our suits are brown and our bridesmaid dresses are champagne, my flowers are mainly going to be orange with hints of chocolate although i'm not too sure how the florist is going to do that!?!  

So far everything has run quite smoothly apart from having a few dress wobbles and thinking that I have changed my mind when I have seen another dress I like! I did have a major stress in the bridal shop when my dress arrived and it was too short(!) They have had to order me in a longer dress, at more expense, and now it won't be in until August so it will come in and I will have my first dress fitting as soon as i see it.  It had better be perfect!  

So, now i've bored you with my wedding plans too lol...

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