So today I have made time to update you on all that has been happening! It may take a while!

Well there are only 6 weeks to go until our big day! Things are hotting up and getting very excited and also very busy!

Mother and I have written the list to end all lists! Well in fact it is 6 lists! One list for every week left before the wedding! On each list is a collection of jobs/tasks/things that must be done on a certain day or in a certain week! Mother and I are both very organised people and once we have things written down we can generally relax and enjoy what is to come! That is our agreement, we are not going to get stressed, anxious, or any of those kinds of feelings. We are going to enjoy the run up to the big day and savour every job we have to do as we know it will go all too quickly!

Now is also the time that payments have to be made. By the end of this current week all our honeymoon accommodation costs will be paid for! And other things like venue dressers, flowers, cakes, dj, bartenders etc will be gradually paid off over the coming weeks! One good thing is that our venue does not invoice us until after the wedding so we will have 30 days to make sure we have the funds!

Outfits start to arrive over the next few weeks, all the men have been measured for their suits and the bridesmaids dresses will arrive in a couple of weeks. Both Mothers have got their outfits just about sorted too!

Work is also helping to keep me busy! Only 4 and a half weeks left at work and Summer term is one of the busiest, with end of year trips, performances, parents evening and leavers day to keep my diary full to the brim! Also OH is graduating in July! He got a FIRST in his degree and we will be celebrating in style!

My Hen Weekend passed at the end of May and was a totally amazing weekend. It was great to spend lots of quality time with my very good friends and family and I enjoyed every minute and wish we could do it all again!

OH’s stag weekend is at the end of July – 2 weeks before the wedding! I hope he and his friends all have just as much fun as we did on my Hen night!

Well the list is endless but time is not – so I better get a move on with some of my jobs!

Much Love! xxxxx

The countdown is getting ever closer to that 100 days to go milestone. This milestone happens to fall on quite a significant day. The Royal Wedding! Prince William and Catherine Middleton will be getting married exactly 100 days before me and my OH! And then I am sure the days will just fly by.

We have had all replies back from the Wedding Reception guests and are currently in the middle of filling the spaces that we have left. It is worrying to think you may offend someone you are ‘upgrading’ but I hope they take it in the manner it is intended.

The table seating plan is sorted. A bit of juggling around was needed but it is all in place and currently on our living room coffee table. I don’t want to move all the little slips of paper – I quite like it being there!

All the children’s favours are now sorted too. Each child will be very pleased with what we have planned for them – I hope! It took Mum and I quite a while to sort them all out! But we enjoyed every minute!

Last weekend saw the wedding of a very dear friend. The whole family was invited to share their special day and what a wonderful day it was! The weather was beautiful and bright and sunny. The day was perfect for the happy couple. They had a very personal service and all the elements were very ‘them’. We all enjoyed the day and the Bride looked stunning. I just hope I look half as good!

OH at the moment is very busy finishing his degree, I have hardly seen him over the past few weeks! But he has built an amazing wedding website! If you are an invited guest to any part of the wedding then let me or the OH know and we can let you have a log in for the wedding site! I hope you like it.

The second half of the holidays was spent planning and organising Mum and Sister’s joint birthday party. It was a big event. Mum turned 60 in March and my sister turns 30 in May! We had about 70 guests at the party and it all went really well – If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you can see the pictures there!

We managed to fit in a couple of days out. One to Southport the day after the wedding and one to Blackpool on Good Friday. Both days were glorious and I have some wonderful memories of both trips. It was such a shame OH could not join us for those trips but it will be worth all the hard work when he passes his degree with flying colours!

One important development was meeting our photographer. I am always nervous about things like this but it was great to finally meet the man who would be documenting our special day. I have a thing about photos – I love taking them! I love to have memories of people, places and events. I take my camera everywhere with me and if that is not with me then I have my phone! My laptop is packed full of photos and anyone who has seen my Facebook page knows a new album appears every time I have been somewhere or done something!

The photographer was really nice and had a good idea of what will happen on the day. We went through the timings of the day and he was pleased we have left so much time between the wedding ceremony and the reception so we have plenty of time to take all the photos I want. I took him my long list of shots I want taken and he will incorporate this into his usual regime of pictures. We will go back to see him in June to have our Signature Framed photo taken, not looking forward to that! However much we love to have photos of things we have done, we don’t really like pictures of ourselves! How ironic!!!

Oh well a busy few days behind me and more weeks of planning and pulling together of details to come!

Looking forward to the Royal Wedding – then we are down to double figures!!!!

To Be Continued …..

Nearly all wedding reception replies have come in, just waiting for the last couple of stragglers. Now all we need to do is sort out final seating arrangements and fill the declined seats – 4 so far!

It is now the Easter holidays and I will have lots to do to fill the 2 weeks I have off. Also a couple of big events to enjoy too.

This week my sister and her family are away so I will not have them to distract me! The weather is glorious! Spending a day sorting out little house bits and bobs and then off shopping with Mother! We can never resist a trip into town or wherever to buy any little bits and bobs we need, whether it is for the wedding or not!

Also we need to sort out the goodie bags for the kids! I have bought lots of little goodies and a load of gift bags. All we need to do now is sort them all out and label them, then they will be ready.

Service invites are the next job. There are so many friends that I want to invite but do not have the room at the receptions so we are doing special invites for people we would love to have at the ceremony to watch us get married! Hopefully this will encourage them to come and share our happy day.

First big event of the holidays is another wedding. My brother’s very good friend Sarah gets married next weekend. We are all invited as a family and we cannot wait to share their special day with them! I need to sort out which of my two dresses to wear! I am hoping the more summery dress will still fit me! I have all the accessories ready, a fascinator, shoes, bag etc it is just the dress that needs to be chosen! I cannot wait to see them get married, it will be a very special day!

I hope this glorious weather carries on for their wedding and also for the whole of the holidays so I can get out for extra walks to keep to my regime!

To Be Continued …..

As you will recall, all the invitations for the main reception and the evening reception have now gone out, including the ones at work!

It has been very exciting getting replies in the post and there have been daily texts between my Mother, Father and myself over who has replied for what!

Currently about half of the main reception guests have replied! Some family still to get back to us! 2 weeks left until the RSVP date is up! They better get a move on or I will have to chase them up! We have made it very simple to reply! We gave them stamped, addressed envelopes!

Not much else has been going on really – ordered some little details. A wishing well for the wedding gifts and also some white cameras for guests to take lots of pictures for us!

I have been working hard on my diet, I have had a few treats but have tried hard to balance that out with healthy lunches and more exercise. Had a couple of nice weekends spent with lovely friends and have another couple planned.

Not been well this week so have been able to catch up on some TV hahahaha! Other than that life goes on as normal – only just over 2 weeks until the Easter holidays and as Easter is so late this year the Summer term after it will fly by!

Less than 140 days to go!

To Be Continued …..

As a postscript to the last blog entry, I forgot to mention events from last Saturday (day 54) because I was so excited about telling you all about the dress!

I finally got my underwear on Saturday – was not as traumatic as I thought it was going to be. Due to my weight loss my bra size has also come down and I was therefore able to try on and take away my underwear on the same day instead of having to wait for it to be ordered and delivered!

Now back to this week.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the wedding invitations went out on Saturday. This has begun the most exciting chapter so far of the wedding planning journey!

The replies have already started to come back, due to our very organised and easy system – we included an easy to complete reply card and a stamped addressed envelope in each invitation!

Both Dad and myself have a guest list to check off each time a reply comes back – so far no declines!

Everyone has loved the invitations themselves, and the little surprise we put inside! That is testament to the hard work of my Mother who made each one with love and care!

Last Sunday was my Mother’s 60th Birthday and we enjoyed a lovely day out with the family. We went to a lovely place called Glasson Docks near Lancaster and the weather was amazing. Dry, clear and sunny. The day was wonderful. A tasty lunch in a little pub, then a walk down to the docks along an unused railway line and then ice creams! A walk back to the starting point followed by a nice slice of cake in the cafe! Not good for the diet but a great way to celebrate my wonderful Mother’s birthday!

This week OH has been off work but very busy with his Uni work. He is coming towards the end of his final year and has a lot of important work to do. As well as this he is also sorting out details for the evening reception which have come to a crisis point this week! All will be sorted soon thanks to the diligence and logical mind of my OH! One of the many reasons why I love him!

The evening reception invites were posted out yesterday and also we are handing out invites to our friends from work tomorrow! So exciting!

My hen night invites are also going out this week – I hope plenty of girlies can make it and that we have a great time!!

We have booked a meeting at our wedding reception venue for the end of May, which also happens to be the day of my Hen Do!

Next week is our first meeting with the Vicar! We are also meeting him with my Brother and his wife to be so at least we are not alone! Will report on here next week about that!

Last night was my good friend’s hen do – an amazing evening of drinking, food and fun which has got me all excited about my hen do in May. Her wedding in April will get me all excited again for our wedding! It’s all getting so exciting and close! less than 150 days to go!!!!!

To Be Continued …..

Last weekend OH and I finished all of the printing ready for the invitations to go out. I planned with my Mother and Sister to get together on two nights this week to get all of the invitations packed and ready to go.

Week started well, back at work after the half term holidays and all has been great. Managed to just about stick to my eating and exercise regime.

On Wednesday things took a different turn. On my way home from work I had a text from my Mother asking if I was busy that night and would I like a chat? I was up for that so we arranged for her to come round. My new shoes had arrived so I was able to try them on and see how they were and if they were contenders to become The Wedding Shoes!

Mum arrived with the shoes and I tried them on – they are not the most exciting of shoes. I do not wear heels AT ALL! I live in my flats and my trainers. So when I was told I would definitely need heeled shoes for the wedding my heart sank. I bought a sparkly pair last year but the heel is way too high and I cannot walk in them, not even across the room! So I have been searching ever since to find the perfect height of heel and the other important factor – comfort. So I ended up ordering two pairs of pretty white sandals with 2 1/2 inch heels – nice solid heels, no stilettos for me!

So I tried the pairs on and they were both very comfortable and not too high. I could walk across the room in them and the insoles were very cushioned and soft – BONUS!

After the shoe session we started to talk about the wedding invites and how Mum still had a few bits to do – I said to her not to worry as we have two nights to get them sorted and we had plenty of time! Mum smiled and went quiet. Then said ‘We have somewhere to go tomorrow so we cannot make invites’ I was confused! She continued ‘We are going to go and see your wedding dress and try it on – it has arrived!’

AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I was not expecting my dress until April and was planning on going to try it on for the first time in the Easter holidays, still a good 5 or so weeks away. I have been working hard on my diet and exercise but had the end date of April in my head and it still seemed so far away and still a lot to do!

Apparently my Mum and Sister had been keeping me in the dark about my dress to avoid stressing me out! It had arrived in the country in December and the lady at the shop had noticed a bad seam and so sent it straight back. So my Mother and Sister had been secretly stressing about the return of this dress since Christmas and I was completely unaware!

My Sister got the call last week saying it was in and could we go to try it on and take it away! And as Mum and Sister knew I was free on the Thursday night (for invite packing) they arranged the appointment for then!

I was scared and very excited all at once! I could think of nothing else for the next 24 hours!

The time came to go and try it on. I put on the underwear I had so far and took my shoes and went to the shop. The dress was hung there looking so pretty and beautiful. The assistant put the dress over my head and began to do it up.

‘Oh’ she said.

OH? oh? What do you mean? And then she continued,

‘You must have lost some weight – it’s quite big at the back, it will need taking in a good 2 inches or so!’

I felt amazing – all the work so far has been paying off!

She continued to do up the dress as well as she could. we could not get the full effect as she could not do it tight enough but it looked AMAZING!

Mum and Sister then entered the room and tears began to flow! The dress was so beautiful. We then added the veil and tiara and finally the shoes. The dress was the perfect length so will not need hemming – which can be very expensive!

I did not want to take it off – I felt so pretty! I cannot wait to wear it again.

The beautiful dress was packed up along with the veil and tiara and we paid the balance and we took her away.

She will be living at my Mothers house and she is hung up in the spare room – I will visit her and take a peek every now and again. All cooking of curries has been banned in their house until the dress has gone! Hahahaha!

After that surprise, we had to get back to the original plan. On Friday night Mum, Sister and I set up our conveyor belt to pack the invitations into their boxes. Each element added with care and love and attention to detail. They look great and I wish I could be there when each person opens theirs!

They were posted out this morning so will start arriving on people’s doormats in the next few days!

So excited! I can’t wait!

To Be Continued …..

We have done so much and my feet have hardly touched the ground! I thought I would be able to blog more often this week but I have been so busy I have not had time!

The invitations are nearly ready to be sent out, all we need are the RSVP envelopes printing and then the invitation boxes packing and then they are done. That is a job for me, Mum and Sister next week one evening! Post day is next Saturday when my Dad will take the first 50 invitations to the post office to be sent and then the race is on!

Who will be the first to reply? Who will be the first to decline? Who will be the last to reply? I cannot wait to start receiving all the RSVP cards back in the post and checking off names on the list and the whole event finally taking shape!

We had a very productive week including a couple of treats – I took Mum to the cinema for a big thank you treat for all the hard work she has done over the past few weeks to get these invites ready – she will deserve a much bigger treat after the wedding!

We had a Bridesmaid excursion on Friday into town. My smallest bridesmaid needed measuring for her dress and the other bridesmaids had some dress fitting issues to sort out, but all done now! Can’t wait until they all come in and the girls can try them on!

Done a final bit of invite printing today and all things are ready apart from the things I mentioned earlier.

I am back to work tomorrow so the weeks will start to fly by. Only 6 weeks until the Easter holidays. My dress will come in April and I will need to go and try it on! Exciting yet very scary! OH will need to go to be measured for his suit and we should have had most of the replies by then too – The evening invites will have probably gone out and we will definitely have to hold this wedding!

Scared or excited? These two emotions are very close at the moment, I am not sure which one I am feeling at any one time!

To Be Continued …..

Valentines day was lovely, as we had already celebrated it at the weekend. OH surprised me with a small box of chocolates and a lovely card.

The final week at work before half term passed quite quickly with lots of things to do, mainly planning how to spend the half term holiday. I wanted to keep as busy as possible so that I was less likely to snack if I got bored.

The weekend was my Nephew’s 3rd birthday celebrations. On the Saturday morning OH and I finally finalised the wording and layout for the invitations. I did cave in and let him buy the font he really liked and I must admit it looks really special! We managed to fit a lot into the morning and we sorted the samples for the main wedding invitations, the evening invitations, the service invites, the gift list cards and the RSVP cards!

On the Saturday afternoon was the party for my nephew and we were surprised by a visit from our relatives from Bristol way! None of us were expecting it and it made a special day even more perfect. There was a lot of party food around but I was very good and did not eat too much.

On the Sunday OH and I printed the inserts for the invitations and we attempted to print the RSVP cards. OH is a bit of a professional geek and sorted a very clever mail merge to make each RSVP card personalised! But the printer did not appreciate the hammered card that we were using and OH had to practically feed each piece of card in one by one! But finally they were all printed and they look amazing!

Monday was my nephew’s actual birthday and I was lucky enough to spend the day with him and his family! We spent the morning in a wacky warehouse where the kids let off a lot of steam and ran off all of their energy. Then it was lunch and we ended up in pizza hut! Not ideal for the diet but luckily it was lunchtime buffet so I could have as much or little as I wanted! I was very sensible and made sure I did not overdo it! Hahahaha!

Today was a trip into town for some wedding bits and bobs! We are planning a little surprise for all the children who are at the wedding reception so had to go and get all the bits for that. We were very successful and got all that we needed.

Tomorrow is a trip to the florist to make final details about the bouquets and buttonholes. At lunchtime I am meeting a very good friend I have not seen for a long time, hopefully she will be singing at the wedding! Thursday is another day with my Mum. We are going to be doing more invite stuff so they will be ready to send out next week! Finally Friday is the day my Niece has her measurements taken for her bridesmaid dress! It’s all go and its all exciting!

To Be Continued …..

Wedding plans have had another spurt forwards this week. Mum has started work on the invites and within a week she has very nearly completed the first phase – full wedding invites! All we need now are the printed inserts to be printed and written and then they can be sent. Deadline for the start of March is on track!

The only setback to this is the choice of font for the printed inserts – we just cannot agree! I have chosen a nice simple font that we already have yet OH has found a very similar font that we would have to pay £10 for! I know it does not sound a lot of money but – we already have a very similar font for free!

Half term is fast approaching and my free time is being eaten away with wedding plans! So many things to do! Bridesmaid bouquets, corsages and buttonholes to finalise, wedding goodie bags to fill, invites to write and send, etc!

Diet wise I have felt very positive this week. OH and I celebrated Valentines day early this year and had a night off the diet! We had a nice home cooked Mexican meal – full of naughty things like cheese! Then we had popcorn and chocolate while we watched some films. It was nice to have some relaxing time together and to eat things that we had not eaten for a while!

One more week left before the hols – hope I can maintain my routine while on holiday from work – but I think I will be so busy I will not have time to notice!

To Be Continued …..

Mum and I have a lot of work to do in getting the invites ready and they are going out at the beginning of March. Relatives have already started asking questions about accommodation and details like gift lists.  It will be major when the invites start going out and we start getting replies! It will be so exciting! I just hope everyone can come!

Diet wise things have been going well this week. Have stuck to my routine of eating and exercise and feel very good about myself. Mum has noticed a bit of weight disappearing and I am hoping it will only continue.

Mum and I were babysitting last night and this would normally mean naughty snacks like on a girly night. But this time I was well prepared. I cooked a homemade risotto. I left a portion behind for OH and took two portions with me for Mum and I. It was really nice to tuck into that after putting Niece and Nephew to bed!

Also planning all my half term activities. I am hoping to meet up with my very good friend who will be singing in the wedding ceremony! I really hope she is still able to do it and it will be lovely to catch up with her again!

Lots of loose ends coming together. Both OH and I are getting excited. Even midnight chats in bed! Although I wish they would happen at weekends and not on school nights!!!

Will have so much more to fill you all in on as it happens!

To Be Continued …..