T minus 1 week

And so the final countdown begins. Instead of spending the day doing wedding projects, I spent the day selling cakes with the WI and helping small children decorate cupcakes.

The to-do list gets shorter and shorter thankfully:

*Make bridesmaids earrings
*Make labels for the napkins
*Make seating chart and have signed off by my Mother
*Finish cake toppers.
*Make bouquets and buttonholes (this will happen the evening before)
*Ensure logistics for PA system and equipment are in place.
*Purchase beer, soft drinks, water, breadsticks and fruit.

Hopefully the first three will be done tomorrow and the fourth on Monday. The others can't be done until we get there and we leave for there in 5 days time!

T minus 1 month

And so this girl and her Boy reached the last of the monthly mile stones and with it this girl felt a little, no, a lot overwhelmed. And rather cross. Although that may have just been PMT. Yes, through some great poor planning, her period is due on the first day of their honeymoon. {I just mis-typed honeymoon as horneymoon. I hope that is not prophetic}.

Whilst it was true that the to-do list had shrunk in the last 10 months, there were rather a lot of things left. Including but not limited to: chasing guests who haven't sent back their RSVP cards or been in contact in any way; sorting out shoe issues which the bridesmaids have encountered and lots of other boring things...

*finish confirming details for the service and make the orders of services;
*finish all bridesmaids present projects (more nearly finished than they were, but not actually finished)
*Make Bride's accessories & veil.
*Make labels for the napkins
*Make seating chart and have signed off by my Mother
*Finish cake toppers.
*Scan childhood photos. Make photo display.
*Sort out glasses. Hire them?
*Ensure purchases shirt.
*Ensure groom purchases tie for BestMan.
*Flowers and buttonholes (all decisions made, just need to place final order).
*Delegate the design for the poster to advertise band and DJ.
*Ensure logistics for PA system and equipment are in place.
*Purchase presents for wedding party.
*Book hair cuts (both bride and groom) and general bride grooming including manicure and waxing.

She also wanted to add, that she has loved planning this wedding, their wedding, but there were some days when talk of shoes and water jugs and guest logistics just made her want to SCREAM.

T minus 5 weeks

{M - on the off chance you're reading, don't scroll any further down}

So, 5 weeks left and just a couple more things to do... mainly logistic at this point to be honest. I am thinking that if law doesn't work out, wedding planning may just be my calling. Any takers?

Hhhm. The to-do list:

*Choose readings
*Finalise music to be played during the signing of the register.
*Finalise order of service and have printed.
*Make Bride's accessories & veil.
*Make bridesmaids' jewellery (components ordered & have arrived). Finish off their presents.
*Make labels for the napkins. Make seating chart. Assemble table decorations from peacock feathers (ordered) and wine bottles (collected).
*Finish cake toppers.
*Fill in details in guestbook and arrange for someone to ensure people sign it. Scan childhood photos. Make photo display.
*Finish making bunting to decorate marquee.
*Book transport for guests between church and reception.
*Taste and choose wine, champagne and beer. Sort out glasses.
*Ensure groom alters suit and purchases shirt.
*Ensure groom purchases ties for ushers and BestMan.
*Flowers and buttonholes (all decisions made, just need to place final order).
*Design poster to advertise band and DJ. Ensure logistics for PA system and equipment are in place.
*Purchase presents for wedding party.
*Choose and purchase wedding bands.
*Book hair cuts (both bride and groom) and general bride grooming including manicure and waxing.

And just because I took these (exceptionally poor quality photos) yesterday:

{Image from Author's personal collection}

you know, for those who may have been wondering whether it fitted or not...

T minus 2 months

Doesn't time fly. In only 2 months this girl will marry her boy. And only 2 weeks until his stag party and 6 weeks to her hen party.



Looking at the to-do-list from a month ago, it doesn't seem like much progress has been made, although it must have been, as the past month has been surprisingly busy.


In fact, the to-do-list still reads:


*Choose readings
*Finalise music to be played during the signing of the register.
*Finalise order of service and have printed.
*Collect bride's dress from the alterations lady. Make accessories & veil.
*Make bridesmaids' jewellery (components ordered & have arrived). Finish off their presents.
*Finish collecting crockery including tea trays and vases. Purchase cutlery and water jugs.
*Make labels for the napkins. Make seating chart. Assemble table decorations from peacock feathers (ordered) and wine bottles (collected). Order match boxes.
*Taste cheese for the cake. Finish cake toppers.
*Fill in details in guestbook and arrange for someone to ensure people sign it. Finish selecting brides photos (groom's photos already selected). Make photo display.
*Collect material from family and friends and make into bunting to decorate marquee.
*Book transport for guests between church and reception.
*Taste and choose wine, champagne and beer. Sort out glasses.
*Ensure groom alters suit and purchases suit and shoes.
*Ensure groom purchases ties for ushers and BestMan.
*Flowers and buttonholes (all decisions made, just need to place final order).
*Design poster to advertise band and DJ. Ensure logistics for PA system and equipment are in place.
*Purchase presents for wedding party.
*Choose and purchase wedding bands.
*Book hair cuts (both bride and groom) and general bride grooming including manicure and waxing.

Is it me or does it seem like there is still rather a lot to do...

T Minus 3 Months

I could scarcely believe it when I opened my desk diary this morning and realised that there were exactly three months to go until our wedding day. [More pressing in my mind is the fact that I have precisely 41 days until I am made redundant. With no job to go to. Yet I digress.]

This week we decided that hand-writing all our invitations was no longer practical. I had a go at the weekend and it just didn't look right. I couldn't get the calligraphy to look like I wanted and I don't have enough time to perfect it and then write it out 75 times. So we have started to look into other options. There is no money in the budget to get them printed professionally (i.e. letterpress, thermography etc) and, or perhaps but, regardless of budget I don't think that would suit the ethos of the wedding. So, home-made they will remain, just less home-made than writing them out myself.

Potential Brother-in-Law the graphic designer has already been asked/pleaded with to design the order of service and the posters so it made sense to ask him to do the invitation as well. I think it will just be text and our peacock motif, printed by computer printer onto the cards that I have already bought. With a map and an RSVP card, when we can agree the wording. Sending an invitation to our wedding, hosted by my parents, to several different generations of guests throws up more issues regarding the RSVP cards than one would have thought possible...

I have also made good inroads into "project diy bridesmaid present" (which I will photograph, write and then pre-upload for publishing whilst we are on our honeymoon so as not to ruin the surprise in the -admittedly unlikely- event that As 1 or 2 or T is reading). I have made two parts of their presents, commissioned a third and then will be adding another part when I have chosen it. I just hope that they like them...

The "great plate search" still continues, quite literally in fact as we have managed to purchase over 100 cups & saucers and tea plates. It is just the dinner plates which are harder to come by. We have also decided to purchase the cutlery for the occasion, as it seemed a pointless expense to spend £40 delivery hire charge on cutlery which we can buy from Ikea for less money. Afterwards all sisters and cousins who have houses/are off to university etc can have a set or twelve and the rest we shall donate to a homeless shelter or similar.

T minus 3 and a half months (or 105 days to go...)

In November I posted my to-do-list. Three and a half months on, with exactly three and a half months to go, it thankfully looks a bit more manageable. Which is a good job since wedding planning is not the only thing on my mind...

*Make and send the invitations including calligraphy maps and RSVP card inserts.

*Choose readings and the people to read them

*Finalise music to be played during the signing of the register and ensure accompanist is happy.

*Finalise order of service and have printed.

*Collect my dress from the alterations lady. Make accessories & veil.

*Make bridesmaid's jewellery (components ordered & have arrived). Finish diy projects/presents/etc.

*Finish collecting crockery including tea trays and vases.

*Send colour sample to ribbon supplier and finalise order. Make labels for the napkins. Make seating chart. Assemble table decorations from peacock feathers (ordered) and wine bottles (collected). Order match boxes.

*Taste cheese for the cake. Finish cake toppers.

*Fill in details in guestbook and arrange for someone to ensure people sign it. Make photo display

*Collect material from family and friends and make into bunting to decorate marquee.

*Book transport for guests between church and reception.

*Taste and choose wine, champagne and beer. Sort out glasses.

*Ensure groom purchases clothes for him and ushers and BestMan

*Flowers and buttonholes

*Pay balance on honeymoon, book extras.

*Design poster to advertise band and DJ. Ensure logistics for PA system and equipment are in place.

*Purchase presents for wedding party.

*Choose and purchase wedding bands

Inspiration Board: T minus 4 months

{Image credits:

Top row - Venue (from Author's personal collection), shoes from Rupert Sanderson website, petals from Real Flower Company, marquee by Really Good Marquees;

Second Row - Photo by Robyn Kessler, crockery by The English Tea Party;

Third Row - Photo by Jose Villa, venue (from Author's personal collection), photo from US Vogue June 2008;

Bottom Row: Car by Damian Hall Photography, peacock from Stylemepretty.com, flowers by Love Life Images}

T Minus 6 Months

To be completely honest with you, I suffered a crisis of confidence this weekend. I have verged from being extremely happy to doubting everything right down to the jumper I wore for a night out. As you might have noticed from the few photos I have posted, I am pretty slim and have never had 'body' issues. I have however been suffering from image issues, feeling old and frumpy in whatever I wear, hating my hair and buying black framed glasses to hide behind.

I went to a dinner last night, with friends and friends of friends. The friends asked how the wedding planning was going and I didn't know how to answer. I didn't want to sound like a boring bridezilla and waffle on and on about napkins and so on, so I responded that we had planned the outline but were in the process of filling in the details. Which sounded even more boring to my ears than it must have been to hers. She changed the subject and I felt even more boring than I did before.

We spent some time going through the budgets for the wedding. My parents are putting in some money and M's parents have given us some money and M and I are putting in the rest. After having problems finding a suitable venue cheaply which would let us do our own wine and catering and allow us exclusive use of the premises for the weekend, we have ended up spending a third of our budget on the venue. This means every other decision is having to be made so carefully and it is starting to get exhausting. Perhaps this is just six-month-to-the-day worries.

I hope next week is better. And even if it isn't, I will try and stop moaning on!