It's been a while but I am now back! Back from honeymoon and back to blogging! Our honeymoon was amazing and I will do a full report eventually. We went to Zanzibar first for a few days chilling out after the wedding followed by some diving, then on to main land Tanzania for 5 days of safari in Tarangire Park, Ngorongoro Crater and The Serengeti, absolutely fantastic experience and 2000+ photos! We then went to Kenya for the last few days to stay with Nik's family and I got to meet his 91 year old grandmother who was unable to travel to the wedding.
So, yes, we got married! Woohoo! Here's a sneak peek until we get the professional pictures through! I've been loving all the images from all our friends and family appearing on facebook while we've been away!
Our day was absolutely amazing and I will get to that too (with more pictures!) when I have recorded all the other things that happened in the last 4 weeks before the big day which I just didn't have time to write about during that crazy time!
A quick run down of posts to come (to remind myself more than anything)...
The MAJOR outfit disaster following the minor ones already discussed!
And many busy busy hours spent...
making paper poms,
making photo booth props,
trying to sort out above mentioned disaster (literally got sorted ON the morning of the wedding!! OMG that was stressful!),
finishing all the stationary with Mum,
making the table plan,
making 120 jars of jams (had planned on doing that way early on in March but again had problems with that plan forcing a delay and muchos stress the weekend of Nik's graduation a week before the wedding! Talk about busy time!),
making biscuits,
some rather last minute but very fun dance lessons,
rolling and tying and attaching mini dragonflies to 141 napkins (had to be last minute as we couldn't get them from the hire place any earlier!),
trying to find a last minute replacement 2nd photographer,
getting waxed (eeek),
an emergency nail appointment after mine all broke while making various things...,
buying lots of yummy cheeses for our cheese table,
a last minute flower panic the day before the wedding when the displays weren't working and I had to make an extra 30 wired pebbles in one afternoon (the previous 50 had taken me a week!) Thank god the family had started arriving by that point - 5 each and it was done, phew!
endless meetings and collecting of various things...
I think that's it!
So you shall eventually be hearing about all of these things in much more detail, like it or not as I want everything recorded in this wee diary of my planning so I can look back on it in years to come and say - what was I thinking!?
My initial thoughts on the wedding...
Even now I realise I tried to do too much, too late and despite thinking I was organised, I really wasn't and should have done a lot of that stuff before the last 4 weeks! I have to say at this point and will probably repeat myself, my Mum is a GODSEND! I literally couldn't have done it and coped with everything leading up to the wedding without her. She knew I was trying to do too much but still helped me carry on when I was refusing to give up on my plans even though it was silly to try and get it all done! Although we did manage and I am glad because it all looked fab on the day and everyone has since been commenting on how lovely the day was and the attention to detail that went into it. At least it was noticed and appreciated which is nice :)
Other than trying to get stuff done much earlier on in the planning stakes, my two major regrets are not having a printed list of all the photos I wanted and having my dress adjusted to add a halter-neck.
I had sent a photo list to our photographer and friend, Matt a week or so before the day and he said it looked fine and he would print a copy to bring. Unfortunately on the day he had forgotten it and we ended up with no time to print one before leaving as by the time he arrived, we had to rush to get my hair and make up done as he didn't want me done before he got there. We ended up being about 30 minutes late - everyone kept telling me not to worry I was allowed to be late, but I hate being late and really had tried to be on time, although it really didn't matter in the end! So anyway, at the time I wasn't worried about it as I thought I would remember all the ones I wanted and Matt had the list on his phone. Even during the day I never thought about it, I actually surprised myself how I managed just to let everything go and fully enjoy the day despite the few wee problems we had!
We had our fun box of props (remember the wellies) and got all those shots after dinner. It was only when we got on honeymoon I suddenly thought, 'oh, we didn't get a veil shot with me & Nik' and we didn't get just a straight romantic shot of us, only the fun posed ones and family shots and did he get the shots of all the details and flowers I wanted while we were busy eating or mingling or were they forgotten without the list too? We had all (including Matt) wanted to get a picture of the rings on our wee lego people but forgot that too, even the next morning when Matt came to get a photo of the rings as they had been with Nik and the other photographer in the morning. I don't even know whether Matt has received all his photos taken of Nik getting ready and the ceremony. I am concerned since he just disappeared during the champagne reception without saying anything to us after we rejected his idea to go to another venue to have photos taken. I'm trying not to worry about it (too scared to ask!) and we haven't even got the professional photos yet so maybe it's fine and Matt has all those photos and I am just forgetting that we did get romantic shots of us or maybe Matt has some sneaky candid romantic ones of us, I really need to stop worrying!!
Regarding my dress, I LOVE my dress although it was initially a strapless dress which was what I definitely didn't want as it's so commonly seen at the moment in magazines and at other weddings I've been to. I wanted something a bit different. It turns out the dress I fell in love with was different with the embroidery and beading and I loved it enough anyway but we decided we could use a 2" wide piece of ribbon which was a perfect match to the faded silk to add a 50s style wide set thick halter-neck which really suited me. Unfortunately, when we measured it before it was stitched on, I wasn't wearing my shoes which I think might be why it ended up being a bit too tight as the dress was being supported by the floor at the time instead of hanging. It therefore ended up bunching up all thin and presented two problems whenever I leaned forward, signing the register and cutting the cake for example. The ribbon ended up digging into me making my chest and arms look bulgy (not a good look!) and eventually leaving me with big red marks. It also made the front of the dress move forward and look baggy over the bust, also not a good look! In retrospect, I should have just left the dress as it was. I still think it was stunning, I absolutely fell in love with the detail and the soft ivory/mushroom/oyster faded silk colour!
Oh dear, I sound so negative and critical when I actually really did love our wedding day. All in all, only having two regrets isn't too bad and they are really only minor things, I suppose it's funny what you think about after the day after all the months of thinking about how it's going to go and all the planning that went into it. We were incredibly lucky in many more respects, especially the weather after pretty much five weeks of rain!! In the grand scheme of things it could have been a lot worse and we really had such an amazing day with everyone, who all seemed to enjoy it, plus we actually got married, the whole point of everything and the best thing I have ever done!! I am loving being a wife, Nik's wife, Mrs M(although that still sounds weird at the moment)!!
So, yes, we got married! Woohoo! Here's a sneak peek until we get the professional pictures through! I've been loving all the images from all our friends and family appearing on facebook while we've been away!
 |
| My favourite picture of us so far! (although I really should Photoshop that bruise on my arm!) |
Our day was absolutely amazing and I will get to that too (with more pictures!) when I have recorded all the other things that happened in the last 4 weeks before the big day which I just didn't have time to write about during that crazy time!
A quick run down of posts to come (to remind myself more than anything)...
The MAJOR outfit disaster following the minor ones already discussed!
And many busy busy hours spent...
making paper poms,
making photo booth props,
trying to sort out above mentioned disaster (literally got sorted ON the morning of the wedding!! OMG that was stressful!),
finishing all the stationary with Mum,
making the table plan,
making 120 jars of jams (had planned on doing that way early on in March but again had problems with that plan forcing a delay and muchos stress the weekend of Nik's graduation a week before the wedding! Talk about busy time!),
making biscuits,
some rather last minute but very fun dance lessons,
rolling and tying and attaching mini dragonflies to 141 napkins (had to be last minute as we couldn't get them from the hire place any earlier!),
trying to find a last minute replacement 2nd photographer,
getting waxed (eeek),
an emergency nail appointment after mine all broke while making various things...,
buying lots of yummy cheeses for our cheese table,
a last minute flower panic the day before the wedding when the displays weren't working and I had to make an extra 30 wired pebbles in one afternoon (the previous 50 had taken me a week!) Thank god the family had started arriving by that point - 5 each and it was done, phew!
endless meetings and collecting of various things...
I think that's it!
So you shall eventually be hearing about all of these things in much more detail, like it or not as I want everything recorded in this wee diary of my planning so I can look back on it in years to come and say - what was I thinking!?
My initial thoughts on the wedding...
Even now I realise I tried to do too much, too late and despite thinking I was organised, I really wasn't and should have done a lot of that stuff before the last 4 weeks! I have to say at this point and will probably repeat myself, my Mum is a GODSEND! I literally couldn't have done it and coped with everything leading up to the wedding without her. She knew I was trying to do too much but still helped me carry on when I was refusing to give up on my plans even though it was silly to try and get it all done! Although we did manage and I am glad because it all looked fab on the day and everyone has since been commenting on how lovely the day was and the attention to detail that went into it. At least it was noticed and appreciated which is nice :)
Other than trying to get stuff done much earlier on in the planning stakes, my two major regrets are not having a printed list of all the photos I wanted and having my dress adjusted to add a halter-neck.
I had sent a photo list to our photographer and friend, Matt a week or so before the day and he said it looked fine and he would print a copy to bring. Unfortunately on the day he had forgotten it and we ended up with no time to print one before leaving as by the time he arrived, we had to rush to get my hair and make up done as he didn't want me done before he got there. We ended up being about 30 minutes late - everyone kept telling me not to worry I was allowed to be late, but I hate being late and really had tried to be on time, although it really didn't matter in the end! So anyway, at the time I wasn't worried about it as I thought I would remember all the ones I wanted and Matt had the list on his phone. Even during the day I never thought about it, I actually surprised myself how I managed just to let everything go and fully enjoy the day despite the few wee problems we had!
We had our fun box of props (remember the wellies) and got all those shots after dinner. It was only when we got on honeymoon I suddenly thought, 'oh, we didn't get a veil shot with me & Nik' and we didn't get just a straight romantic shot of us, only the fun posed ones and family shots and did he get the shots of all the details and flowers I wanted while we were busy eating or mingling or were they forgotten without the list too? We had all (including Matt) wanted to get a picture of the rings on our wee lego people but forgot that too, even the next morning when Matt came to get a photo of the rings as they had been with Nik and the other photographer in the morning. I don't even know whether Matt has received all his photos taken of Nik getting ready and the ceremony. I am concerned since he just disappeared during the champagne reception without saying anything to us after we rejected his idea to go to another venue to have photos taken. I'm trying not to worry about it (too scared to ask!) and we haven't even got the professional photos yet so maybe it's fine and Matt has all those photos and I am just forgetting that we did get romantic shots of us or maybe Matt has some sneaky candid romantic ones of us, I really need to stop worrying!!
Regarding my dress, I LOVE my dress although it was initially a strapless dress which was what I definitely didn't want as it's so commonly seen at the moment in magazines and at other weddings I've been to. I wanted something a bit different. It turns out the dress I fell in love with was different with the embroidery and beading and I loved it enough anyway but we decided we could use a 2" wide piece of ribbon which was a perfect match to the faded silk to add a 50s style wide set thick halter-neck which really suited me. Unfortunately, when we measured it before it was stitched on, I wasn't wearing my shoes which I think might be why it ended up being a bit too tight as the dress was being supported by the floor at the time instead of hanging. It therefore ended up bunching up all thin and presented two problems whenever I leaned forward, signing the register and cutting the cake for example. The ribbon ended up digging into me making my chest and arms look bulgy (not a good look!) and eventually leaving me with big red marks. It also made the front of the dress move forward and look baggy over the bust, also not a good look! In retrospect, I should have just left the dress as it was. I still think it was stunning, I absolutely fell in love with the detail and the soft ivory/mushroom/oyster faded silk colour!
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| How it was supposed to look - perfectly matching ribbon just draped over at this point! |
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| Bulgy arm/chest region (and my fabulous Mum behind!) |
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| Saggy dress across bust |
