Claire's Wedding Diary #9

May 2008:

So, at the time of writing this there is 142 days to go until our big day! Still can’t quite believe it…and still amazed at just where the time has gone, it’s flown by!

Since my last entry we have sorted out the bridesmaids outfits. I found a great company called Galmourous Gowns, www.glamourousgowns.co.uk  The 3 girls and I visited a couple of shops to get an idea of what they all liked. I then did a search and found this website, after searching on there we found a style that the three girls liked, made an appointment with Alex and went to visit her to try on a few dresses. I fell in love with the chocolate brown colour, and got quite excited when alex showed me, it looked good enough to eat!!! Each of the three girls tried on a different dress, this made it easier to decide on which one we all liked! Eventually we decided on one that each bridesmaid liked. So, we ordered them and they’ll be delivered to me in July!!! Any alterations that we may need to do we’ll have to sort out ourselves as GG do not offer an alteration service however I don’t think there will be a probelm. The girls, and I, are really excited about their dresses and they can’t wait to wear them. We just need to sort out their shoes now, they can have whatever they like (within reason!).

Our invites have also been sent out to almost everyone now. The response has been great, I’m really pleased with them so I thought I’d post some photos of them…

They are so simple, just a piece of satin ribbon with a diamante buckle attached. The colour of the ribbon is obviously in-keeping with our ‘theme’ and the diamante adds a bit of ‘bling’ – essential at any wedding I think!!
Inside the invitation I included two information sheets listing accomodation, directions and local taxi companies, a card detailing our gift list information and the essential RSVP card with self addressed envelope…including a stamp!!! I included everything that I thought our guests would need however one thing I didn’t think about carefully was the stamp! Yep, the good old English stamp was stuck on each RSVP envelope by my dutiful chief bridesmaid….including the invitations that were sent to our family in Ireland. Until we received our first RSVP back from Ireland, with a Euro stamp attached, I felt slightly annoyed with myself for not thinking about that! However, one RSVP did come back from one aunt in Ireland with the Queen’s head stuck in the top right corner which made me giggle! So, that’s something to think about if your sending your RSVP’s abroad, put the relevant stamp on any RSVP’s.

The guest list has caused some sleepless nights and has been one of the hardest things so far. Unfortunately we are restricted on numbers so therefore we unfortuantely cannot invite our friend’s children to the wedding so in our friend’s invitations I also included a card with a little verse explaining that we couldn’t invite their children. I’m pleased to say that our friends have all been great about it and are looking forward to a day without their children where they can relax and enjoy themselves.

I now need to make the rest of the stationary, the order of ceremony and the menus however I can’t make the order of ceremony until we finalise the ceremony with the registrar – which is done around 6 weeks before the wedding. Nothing like a bit of pressure to get things done!!!
6 weeks before I will probably start to panic because this is when the boys all need to have their suit fittings, the girls dresses will have arrived so any alterations will need to be done, the table plan will hopefully have started as we already have quite a few RSVP’s back and all the little final things will have to be done.

The big thing that has happened since my last entry is that I’ve changed my mind of my choice of outfit!!!! I had a little niggle in the back of my mind for a while but it was actually confirmed after I helped out a photographer friend, Mark, modelling for a photo shoot in bridal wear!! After the shoot Mark sent me a photo of me in one of the dresses and despite me moaning about how heavy it was when I was wearing it when I compared it to a photo of me in my chosen ‘outfit’ I hated it and much preferred what I was wearing in Mark’s photo!!! So, I called Kelly at Collezione Sposa and told her. We made an appointment for me to go and see her which I did and I have to say she has been brillaint! On the day that I went to see her I had my make up trial with Mel beforehand and also a fake spray tan, which I had done a few days before, so I had a good idea of how I’d look on the day. We tried on a variety of dresses and eventually I found one that I love however it’s £1000 over budget!!!!!!!!! Typical! I’m going back next week to have another look and make a definite decision.

Until next time….

x