****2017 Brides****Currently 166 Brides and 1 Groom****

I do this too Slink! I made all our neighbours cakes at Christmas as a thank you and they went down very well, even got cards back off ones we've never spoken to before which was really nice.

Very good song choice! It's actually how OH told me he loved me the first time (sort of) - he was on holiday with family for two weeks just after we got together, I sent him a text saying I missed him and had bought Complete Madness on vinyl. He told me to look at track 5 - I sat on my floor and cried haha.

That's so cute miss_conduct!!

Having a little 'one month to go' excitement freak out today. Slightly hysterical.

MadamRed I am very intrigued by these games now...!

I've been AWOL for quite some time but 1 MONTH TODAY eeeek!!! Still a part of me that thinks I'm planning someone elses day :') hen do this weekend so it's all go!

Random question, how is everyone printing their order of services?

1 month today for me! Seeing the videographers tonight

MrsJ_ToBe - we're not having them lmao. We weren't sure what we'd put in them as we aren't doing any readings etc.

Xx

Booked all our trips for the Honeymoon today!

It's starting to feel more real - I'm getting really excited!

Great choice of song Slink! MadamRed your games do sound intriguing. One thing I have noticed is that blokes need very little encouragement to put on a tutu, or any kind of frock actually. Give them the least bit of an opportunity and they are srtraight in there. Or maybe it's just the blokes I know?

I took my jewellery to visit my dress this week and they are BFF. Hooray!

Katie, I have noticed that about men "no, no I'm not wearing that dress.... well if you insist".

Four weeks yesterday for us!

This weekend has been a productive weekend, I boxed all my confetti up and started making the tissue paper pom poms. Sweets for the buffet are bought and I suspect I've gone OTT but when I showed the list to OH he okayed it and didn't die when I told him how much I spent, but I have spent less than we were quoted for a sweet cart and we'll be eating them for days after the wedding. It's been delivered to my future mother in laws house so I'm not tempted to crack it open in advance though.

I've sent all the details over to the lady who is making the table plan and name cards, luckily at the same time noticed that I sent the wrong information to the venue for food choices so had to send a very apologetic email today with the right details.

I have my second dress fitting on Friday but after what felt like a really productive week where lots was done and bought I'm once again not sure what needs doing or what I should be doing.

I was printing them from our home printer until it packed up today. I had a proper strop!

9 days to go and I think we're pretty much there. I've finished making and sorting the cranes for the ceremony room decorations, we've had our Orders of the Day printed (Vistaprint) and I've got the table names. Each table name is a different image, so I bought them as photos from Boots. I got a "new account" offer, so the photos were free and I only paid 99p for delivery - bargain! Just need to pick the table plan up this afternoon.

The card box is almost done, we just need to make the hole for cards to go in. OH is writing his speech, he assures me. I've printed off all of the documents we might need (venue's copy of the table plan with dietary requirements and numbers; contracts; timings; contact details for suppliers and wedding party; insurance; vows; readings) and put them into a wallet to pack in my case, and backed them all up onto my laptop as well. The music is backed up on CD, iPod, and laptop just in case.

Final things to do:

*drop off centrepiece containers at the florist (this is the bit I'm most worried about as I won't know how the centrepieces will look until the day before the wedding!)

*pick up my dress from the dress shop next Tuesday

*finish packing

*sort out the door games (for those interested, they're a Chinese tradition - fun challenges that the BMs set the groom and groomsmen to prove the groom's love for the bride)

*clean the Legend of Zelda sword which we are using for the cake-cutting

*buy some cheap umbrellas in case it rains on the day

Just checking in after a few weeks away from the wedding planning. It's all got a bit stressful with family stuff so we stepped away from it to relax.

Back with gusto now. Invitations are out and I've bought the bits and pieces for making our bouquets. The bridesmaids belts arrive in the next couple of weeks and I bought the gel nail polish so I can try it and see how it looks. I've ordered bridesmaid, groomsman and father's gifts. We get to pick my wedding ring up this week. Kilts have been fitted and ordered. Everyone has shoes. And the rooming list for the venue is nearly done.

I'm still having sweats about how much we still have to spend given it's less than three months away (eek!) but so far things are coming together nicely.

Lovely to see the weddings and almost there's going on. Makes it even more exciting for the rest of us!

Oh, btw, girls, can I get your views on these vows?

"Since the day I first met you, I’ve been dreaming of today. I’m sure there will be times when we disagree, and times when things don’t go well, but even if I am sad, if I have you I will not be unhappy. I don’t need anything else as long as I can make you smile. I cannot promise to obey you, but I can promise I will never lie to you. I will be your pawn and your knight, your supporter and your protector. I promise to make you a cup of tea at least half as often as you make them for me. Your Princess will never be in another castle. I will always be near you, and never leave your side. I promise this for eternity."

I love them MadamRed! xxx

Absolutely love your vows MadamRed- particularly the bit about the tea making....!!

Ok, lets see if I can catch up here haha

MadamRed - I love your vows They're really lovely I can't believe it's almost your Wedding Day, the time has really flown! It sounds like you're pretty much there with everything - I like the sound of your door games! Make sure to share pictures as your Wedding sounds like so much fun!

DreamsComeTrue2015 - it's best to have a couple of weeks off now and then, I totally get where you're coming from about family! Sounds like everything is coming together nicely now though

As for me...

* Put together a list of Song Requests and meet with the DJ

* Finish the favour boxes

* Meet the Cake Lady (tomorrow)

* Work out how we're getting to the Airport for our Honeymoon lol

* Give the photographer our group shot list.

* Pick up the Wedding clothes

* Pick up and pay for our Rings

I think that's about it, but I'm getting stressed now because I'm suddenly really busy at work training 2 new people as cover for when I'm away! It's disrupting my wedmin lol!

X

Just catching up with all the posts, with only a week to go now all seems organised at least.

We are having problems with our videographer but what will be will be, I'm not getting stressed out about it if they don't turn up I'm sure it won't ruin my day!

MadamRed love the vows!

That's a good attitude to have Emma!

I hope that it all gets sorted though

xx

ARGH!! One of my friends has told me her daughter will now be in London! No apology or explanation as to why she's suddenly going to be in London after knowing about the wedding for 6 months, just "if you want to fill the place you can" like she's doing me a favour or like it's so easy to fill a space for a weekday wedding with 2 days' notice!

? what is with people?! That's so frustrating MadamRed

Oh ffs.

Sorry to hear that MadamRed, what a pain!

Still... 2 days to go are you excited?

My dress is in! Eeeeeekkkkk! I am slightly nervous i won't like it or it wont fit - I am the same weight/size as when ordering so it should be fine I hope but ITS IN!!! ?

Well, I was until I had a message from another friend asking how strict our "no child" policy is because they don't want to leave their baby. They've known it's no preteens since the invitations went out in November, and they've had since January to decide that they'd rather not get a babysitter - why ask and stress me out 2 days before?!?!

Gone back to say I'll ask OH but it's a sensitive situation so the policy is pretty strict. OH still gets really upset about the fact that we're going to have to go through IVF and the last thing I want is him being depressed on the wedding day.

I'll pretend to be your wedding co-ordinator if you like and tell them

Could you tell them that the venue don't allow pre-teens?

X

Oh MadamRed, how bloody frustrating... we had someone drop out last week, but at least we had 6 weeks to go- I've filled her place with another friends Husband who we hadn't invited due to space so easily sorted for us.

As to the child question, I'd be inclined to stick to your plan of no pre teens... but if that means your friends won't come it leaves you between a rock and a hard place doesn't it? I don't envy you ☹️

MadamReed that is so frustrating on both fronts. Can the first person be made to eat two dinners? So it doesn;t get wasted? I think the person who asked to bring their baby is being a bit unfair too. There's a girl on another forum stressing like mad about her bridesmaids baby and a third party summed it up really well . . . you are not unreasonable in wanting to put you and OH first. She is not unreasonable in wanting to put her baby first. The problem arises when one is trying to force the other to their way of thinking.

I just called our venue to arrange our final meeting with our co ordinator... the one we have had all our meetings with so far and who we get on really well with...who we assumed would be the 'your co ordinator on hand throughout the day to ensure all your plans come together' promised to us.

Seems for 'your' co ordinator it should be 'A' co ordinator... the lady we have dealt with all this time won't be there on our big day- it's her weekend off. Someone else will be there. Someone we have yet to meet and who knows nothing about us or our plans. Wedding is just over three weeks away. We will get to meet our new co ordinator once before the day.

Gutted and feel feel a bit sick ?

I get you 2BMrsC - ours left this weekend!

We moaned at the venue and had a "handover" meeting set up a couple of weeks ago, it went well.

If you've been having regular meetings, then the co-ordinator should have everything written down - you'll be fine I'm sure

Would be nice if they didn't spring it on you so close though.

Xx

Sorry to hear you're having the same issue Stephi, but relieved to hear that it seems to be working out OK for you- thank you, you've given me hope that it will be OK!!

On the bright side, I guess we can always use it to our advantage on the day....'what do you mean no/you can't/ that's not allowed? How come when X promised me that would be OK...?! ?

I'll let you know if it all works out haha

I'm sure it'll be fine - I imagine it isn't the first weekend she's been off, so other Brides will have had this too. They'd have dragged the venue through the mud if something had gone wrong

If they've not got too much written down I think it could definitely be used to your advantage

Xx

The wedding co-ordinator has changed a number of times throughout our engagement (booked the wedding 19 months out and now on our 4th person). Each time the communication has just been awful and whilst is has been stressful, I have managed to use it to our advantage in the way you described! Silver lining to every cloud and all that!

I've worked in hotels for years and it happens all the time. They work as a team and everyone has the same access to what's written down. For the most part a lot of weddings follow the same schedule and anything different is usually highlighted so everyone knows. The coordinator you've been dealing with will likely meet with everyone who will be working on the day beforehand so don't worry - everyone will be properly briefed.

And if they've left they do handovers. Chances are she'd handed your wedding off before she left anyway. There's a surprisingly high turnover with events staff.

Don't panic. And remember you picked the venue not the staff. It'll all come together on the day.

Thanks for the reassurance folks, I've calmed down a bit and got things in perspective a bit more now!!

Our co ordinator isn't leaving, but she's reducing her hours and our wedding now falls on her weekend off, hence the change of co ordinator.

We have arranged a meeting for Saturday with BOTH of them, so hopefully that will put my mind at rest even more, and the 'new' lady isn't 'new' to the venue, just to us, so I'm sure it will all be fine!

I have however felt the need to 'micro manage' it all a bit more, so have spent today typing up all the 'instructions'/ reminders/ directions I can think of to take with me on Saturday ? I hope they won't be offended by that, but it's tough if they are- I feel the need to be more in control with the change of co ordinator!