April 2016 Brides

Ktb30 for gifts we've got our flower girls personalised money boxes, adult bridesmaids have got jewellery for day & im having dressing gown kimonos made. The best man has got a personalised glass & our usher a personalised hip flask & our florist is doing bouquets for our mums.

For our favours we've got a combination with our placecards by having macaroon stack like this

But along side those we're having cancer research pin badges as unfortunately it has effected far too many members of our families.

Kaz87 I think I'd have a rethink about your makeup, you need to feel 100% happy and comfortable with who's doing your make up and what they're doing. I know it's difficult as I'm having problems with mine, but it's a big part of your day & you want to be totally comfortable with it all.

Nikkijj86 - really love those wedding favours, they are so different ? I am having the MacMillian badges as place cards, as lost my dad to it, really think they are a nice idea. Oh and couldn't resist little champagne bottles with bubbles in them for the tables.

You are right, need to be 100% happy, might go to Mac & debenhams & get a few trials & tips, might need to do the make up myself!

Nikkijj86- those look lovely ?

I love the idea of doing something for a charity- we've suffered with quite a few losses to cancer over the years- so will def have a think x

Kkaz- I'm not having a profesional MUA, but my hairdresser is doing it- iv'e had her doing my hair for nearly 15 years, she can also do nails,eyebrows, eyelashes. She always looks amazing, so iv'e asked her to do it. When my sister got married 10 years ago- her friend who works for mac in Debenham's did it us, and i just didn't feel right all day, i felt like it was plastered on! I know my hairdresser would not let me go out looking ridiculous- and she's the only one i can imagine myself feeling comfortable with. I really hope you find someone who works for you ☺ just keep trying till you do.

Nikkijj86 - I know, 6 months really isn't a long time. I keep getting jealous at everyone who's getting married in the next few months and then realising pretty swiftly that I need the half year to organise the rest of my stuff. Our days will come soon.

Glad the meeting with your hotel went well. Upgrade sounds like a nice idea and those cake flavours are making me feel very hungry right now! Chocolate guiness?? - wow!!

I think another MUA might be sensible, especially if you're so worried about the other one. Fingers crossed this goes well!

Your gifts and placecards are so thoughtful - and the macaroon stack is amazing

ktb30 - good plan on the suits. We were thinking of hiring, but OH needed a new one and all our guys will make use of theirs (with the exception of my brother, but that doesn't matter too much) so decided to buy. Such a nice idea having your son as the best man.

Getting goodies from a supermarket is a very sensible option IMO

I've heard lots of good things about slimming world - and this is yet another success story!

Will you have a make up trial with your hairdresser before the big day?

Kaz87 - congratulations and welcome to the party! I have added your name to the list on the first page and lo and behold - we are date twins (well, triplets to be exact but I've not seen the other person on this forum at all... )

Shame about your initial trial, although there's always hope you can hunt down some better make up elsewhere. I'm actually having my trial at the end of January - apparently my skin tone will be much more similar to what it will be in April so they'll have a better idea about colouring. Something like that... I don't know anything about make up so just smiled and nodded!

Talking about gifts, I've started thinking about them in passing as well, although I don't think we'll do a whole presentation thing at the reception. I imagine we'll be spending the day before the wedding with both sets of close family, so will say a few words and give out some stuff then... although lord knows what we're actually going to be getting people ?

I'm still waiting for the quote for flowers and decorations... scared everytime I see an email pop up! Has anyone else had the flowers quotes come in? I have 1x bouquet for me, 1x smaller bouquet for bridesmaid, 5x buttonholes and 2x corsages an no idea how much it will come to. Eeek.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Just been to look at the suits- picked the suits but its between 2 waistcoats, one looks better under the jacket one looks better without the jacket!! Aarrrggghhh, but have a while to decide i suppose.

She'll be trialling my make up when she does my hair trial- thought of it as a bonus as il get to see the full effect together rather than just on the day ?

My sister MIL is doing my flowers, she did my sisters and she's amazing, but i only want white tulips tbh- very simple like the whole day tbh- maybe with some pearl pins in them- pearl is part of my theme.

My gift list seems to be growing, i want to do original thinks- for my 2 smallest flower girl/bridesmaid, who will be 1 + 3, iv'e got build a bears with the wedding dresses on- i just thought they were a nice keepsake x we also wont be doing a presentation with them il just give when i feel is appropriate x

Ktb30 - Can i ask where you are looking at for Suits? We need to start looking soon, but as we need to get 13, i have a feeling that its going to be mammoth task

Ideally we want a nice 3 piece navy/blue suit xx

Hi- yes of course, they're from formal affair, we live in sheffield, but i believe theres a few dotted around- im not sure where though- but theres a website x

Tbh i went to a wedding fayre a few weeks ago, the lady was lovely- she did me a really good deal as well- i got the 2 children's for £59 and men's for £69 for full package- plus she let me add the more expensive tweed waistcoats which are usually extra- she put my h2b as free plus she threw in his shoes too ? so i got a bargain really! There's 7 of them wearing suits.(i know tweed can be old fashioned but these are quite modern and as we're getting married in a barn they really go with the theme)

hope that helps x

Just out of interest- have many if you been going to wedding fayres? I've only been to two, am i missing out?! Lol x

So glad I discovered this forum you ladies are all so helpful ? I'm in major freak out mode about the wedding now, if I'm honest I'm not a big planner at all & suffer a bit from anxiety so trying to keep calm at times is difficult. But I guess as long as my hubby to be & I show up on the day that's the main thing haha.

ive not been to one wedding fayre I must definetly be missing out haha, although I am having a very small wedding, 30 people max so a bit less planning is needed! X

Oh im sure it will all work out just perfectly ?

I must admit im a big planner and a bit ocd too, i like to know exactly what's going on and when- i think that's why im doing my own invites! I wasn't having a stylist for the venue - again i like things just the way i like them, but she does the barn loads and all the photo's ive seen are beautiful.Maybe all us brides should stop stressing about the little (and realistically) un-important things and learn to enjoy it all x

I think your right Ktb30 ? I just got my invitations from eBay but they were very cute, sent them out at the end of April so was very organised on that front but that was because the venue is quite far away from where a lot of my family live so wanted to give them lots of notice, have family coming from OZ so they needed lots of notice!

Oh wow that will be lovely a reunion with a special occasion too ?

I was thinking of sending mine around xmas time for the day guests (but i know for certain 90% off them will be there as im only having around 40to the day) but im not sure when to send evening ones- anyone any ideas?

Ive had the rsvp's printed with the 28.3 as a respond by date so it gives me a month to sort numbers.

X

Hello! Another April Bride here - 30 April 2016 (wow, there's a few of us)!

I'm also feeling a bit behind! Currently sorting suits for the groom/groomsmen/bridesmen at the moment! Otherwise we've sorted venue, dress, photographer, shoes, cake (m&s, too early to book, but know what we want), photo booth, STDs, registrar, guest list, registry, wedding website, hotels, hair and make up artist. Almost there on honeymoon and invites. We're going to get taxis for transport as it's all one venue and we're not fussed, but I'm hoping to find a friend who can drive me for less stress.

The things driving me mad at the moment are outfits for the groom, groomsmen, bridesmaids, bridesmen and flower girls! How to make it all work?!

Also how has everyone found matching their dress to tiara, veil and jewellery, or even deciding which if these you want? It's not like you can take the dress to jewellery/veil shops - I have no idea what will work.

Lovely to have this thread!

Ktb30 we're sending our day invites out the first week in January, but like you I have no idea when to send out the evening invites. Anyone got any advice on that one?

Pooba we're paying £600 for our flowers, but I'm having calla lilies which did bump the price up a little. However that does include my bouquet, 2 bridesmaid bouquets, 4 buttonholes, 2 corsages, 2 thank you bouquets, chair covers, centrepieces and a hire package of artificial flowers for the church.

Thanks all for your lovely comments on my macaroons, I fell in love with them & thought they were worth finding room in the budget for! Much to my H2B's dismay!

Glad everyones planning is coming together

It's been a while since I posted on this thread and it has been a busy few weeks!

I am currently half way through making our invitations which I hope to send out shortly after christmas. I am not artisitic in the slightest so all this making stuff has been quite a challenge for me!

We are doing flavoured vodka (strawberry and peach) for our wedding favours and we finished the first batch of these at the weekend. I think we will probably have enough but we may have to do another small batch.

OH has been busy booking our honeymoon this week and we have booked all our flights and accomodation. We are doing 2.5 weeks touring round the US. We are starting in New York, taking a train to Washington, then off to Orlando for Disney World and Universal Studios. We then are flying to San Fransisco and driving through Yosemite, Death Valley and then onto Vegas to finish. Can't wait! (This time in 6 months we will be in Disney!!)

I had quite a wobble with one of my bridesmaids a while back which was very stressful but touch wood that has all been resolved.

I am going on holiday to South Africa at the weekend and when I get back we are off to speak to florists, book cars, taking bridesmaids to dressmaker for alterations and finish invites etc.

I can never get my head around quite how much there is to organise and every time I think I am ontop of it all I get overwhelmed with how much is left to do!

Ktb30 – good luck with choosing the waistcoats! Is there really that much of a difference between the two? Is it easier to hide stains on one in case dinner falls down?! Ha ha, trying to think of ways to differentiate. Fantastic prices though, can't believe the savings you've made!

Good plan with the make up, hair and flowers. Nice to keep in the family/friends circle J

I guess the gifts I want to get are parents, best man and bridesmaid. Will get thinking cap on nearer the time...

Wedding fayres – I have been to none. In fairness, I got most of my suppliers sorted through the venue and the hustle and bustle of a fayre scares me a little.

Invites – I think I've decided on the 31st January for RSVP deadline. I have nightmares about late responses, so thought I'd try and give myself some time to chase people angrily! When do you need to give final numbers to the venue?

HM2016 – 13 suits?! Wow! I think the obvious suit hiring company is Moss Bros, although they don't seem to have very good reviews on here. I'm in Bournemouth and before OH decided he was going to buy, I did a scope of shops and Beales, Debenhams, Austin Reed and a couple of independents were able to help.

Kaz87 – this site is absolutely amazing. I feel as though I can get all my wedding vibes out here and then appear normal to everyone else, ha ha.

I would try to not let it stress you out. I keep telling myself we have all the time in the world and as long as the legal bits are done – giving notice, registrar booked, etc. then the rest is just icing on the cake.

Well done on getting your invites sent out so early! We only got engaged in May so been playing catch up on everything to sort, but I'm hoping we've given people enough time to book day's off work. The important people will definitely be there and that's the main thing!

BridalBear – congratulations and welcome to the forum! I've added you to the list on the first page, lots of you having your special day on the 30th!

Sounds like you've actually got most things planned – certainly more organised than me J

I already knew I didn't want a veil and I'm umming and ahhing about whether I want a headpiece or just stick some flowers in my hair! I need to remind myself of the design of the detachable belt I've got for my dress, but otherwise I'm not that fussed to make everything match 100%. Have you got photos you can work from? Otherwise, try and source everything through your wedding dress shop (if that's an option) – they should know what works and what doesn't and if you get everything through them, they might offer a discount?!

Nikkijj86 – evening invites we'll probably send at the beginning of January, after sending day invites at beginning of December. I don't think there are any visitors we're particularly fussed about 'bumping up' if people cancel for the day, so there's no major rush or panic.

Thanks for the idea of quote on flowers. We had the dreaded email come through this morning but the flowers themselves weren't so bad – my bouquet will be ~£70, bridesmaid will be ~£35 and the buttonholes will be ~£4 each. Our reception flowers will be much more of an expense – about £600. I think it will be worth it though. I was | | this close to going for calla lilies as well (!!) but have decided with sunflowers instead. I like bright colours!

*Nik* - hello! This thread has suddenly sprouted, it's so good to speak to lots of people in the same boat!

Your post just has 'awesome' written all over it – vodka?! Honeymoon in the US?! Sorting out issues?! South Africa?! Nice, nice nice!!!

Afm, as I said above, I've received the quote from our florist/venue decorator and while it's a little more expensive than I'd hoped, I think there's some wiggle room and at least we know everything will look lovely. I've also had an email confirming our meeting with the caterers on Monday. Very excited to finally decide on chicken or beef!!!

Very, very wedding-minded today and not enjoying work. 174 days, 22 hours and counting!

Pooba - Thanks for your reassurance with the planning! I've been off sick with the most horrendous food poisoning for two weeks and now I'm finally on the mend I think I'm starting to over think! Just aware we haven't booked things like the honeymoon, although we're quite flexible on dates and where we stay so should be OK.

With your flowers - we have a budget of £550 for flowers, my bouquet is £85, BM's is £40, button holes £5.50. Our venue flowers are now about £300, but initially they were over £500. I was completely upfront with the florist and explained our budget and they were great. They were initially suggesting c.10 vases per table, but we're planning on having golden dinosaurs and origami cranes (780/1000 done! Some are for venue decorations) as well, so decided to cut down on the amount of flowers. A good florist should be able to work with your budget, they could go for less expensive flowers or use more foliage if need be. I'm sure your flowers will look lovely either way. For us they're not a priority, but if you love them I'm sure they'll be worth splurging for!

Ktb30 - I went to the national wedding fair just too see what it was like. It was a bit overwhelming and I didn't really find anything to be honest, but it was still fun and there was quite a but of free champers! It looked like other brides were finding things, but seemed more geared towards venues and dresses. Sounds like you got an awesome deal though! Wow! Maybe I should give them another go!

*Nik* - we're planning a similar honeymoon across the West coast, including San Francisco and a flight to New York, though it's not booked yet. Yours sounds great! We're going to road trip across the West coast mostly. I feel the exact way about the organisation though, I swing from 'I've got this' to 'argh, pressure'.

*Nik* can I ask how you sorted your bridesmaid wobble? I'm having a trauma with one of mine and it's getting me down. Your honeymoon sounds absolutely incredible, I love Florida so I'm sure you'll have an amazing time. We want to do the west coast on our first anniversary but H2B is torn between that and going back to Florida.

Glad your planning seems to be on track.

Pooba, glad you've got your quote even if it's on the expensive side. Think it's always good to have piece of mind and if your florist gives you that it's worth a little extra.

we had some good news yesterday as my H2B received a tax rebate that has covered most of what we had left to pay. So much so he has finally let me order a twinkle back drop for the wedding breakfast which I'm very excited about. It's also a massive weight off our mind.

Finally I just want to echo others comments, I'm loving this forum & especially this thread. It's so nice to have other people to be excited with.

Hi all, hope everyone had a good weekend! Once again, we didn't get round to ordering our invitations although I think we're decided on design and wording so it's just a case of double-checking and then clicking the button!

We have a meeting with our caterers tonight which is quite exciting and I bought some more shoes over the weekend - I'd got some previously that were too small so bit the bullet and got exactly the same shoes but a size bigger. If you know anyone who may be interested in some Rainbow Club - Britt Size 4 (UK) shoes, let me know!

Personals:

BridalBear - wow, that food poisoning sounds horrific! Hope you're back to normal now! Thanks for the idea on your flower budget, I've managed to get it down to a round £700 which I'm okay with! The only thing I'm struggling with is the thought of having so many flowers to take home afterwards - although the florist suggested giving them away to people as they leave, which I might do!

Dinosaurs and cranes sound really interesting! Are you making them yourselves?!

Mikkijj86 - sorry to hear you're having issues with a bridesmaid as well Anything we can help with?

Great news on the tax rebate! Twinkle back drop sounds amazing - any photos?!

Thanks for asking Pooba, not sure what to do re the bridesmaid situation. It's my best friend & chief bridesmaid that's causing the issue. She's a bridesmaid at a few weddings next year at it appears that she has no interest in my wedding yet can't wait for everyone else's. I just feel a bit hurt about the whole thing. So if anyone has any advice I'm all ears.

Not the best picture but this is the twinkle backdrop

hope your meeting goes well!

Interesting about your best friend. How do you know she's excited about the other weddings - has she mentioned them to you at all? It could be that she thinks she's helping you out, de-stress, talk about other ideas? Does she talk to you about yours? Has she made it to dress meetings and things like that?!

Stunning backdrop ?

Our meeting last night went well, thanks. We were there for an hour and have now confirmed we'll be having beef as main meal. It was quite good going through everything with them - while they're mainly caterers, they also run the wedding day and make sure it's going smoothly so we were going through all of our suppliers, timings, that sort of thing. It was nice to be able to feel quite well-organised; we had an answer for most things and seemed quite knowledgeable!

Pooba - I'm glad your meeting went well. Beef sounds like a good option, out of our options I wanted pork but H2B is a chef and wouldn't let me lol. Does it feel a bit more real now you've gone through timings and everything? It's nice that things are failing into place.

As for the bridesmaid issues, good old Facebook has been the cause of some of it. She's put lovely status' on saying how proud and honoured she is to be a part of their big day and that she can't wait for it. Yet mine hasn't even had a mention. Also we can be talking about it and she'll change the subject but she'll talk about the others. I want to think I'm been paranoid but other people have even started noticing how distant she seems from the whole thing. I'm just sad because even though I don't expect anyone to be as excited about my wedding as I am, she is the one person I expected to be able to share things with.

As I said on my last post any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Picked up my dress today it's now in mums wardrobe till the first fitting in Feb!

Hi All! New to this forum, getting married April 30th 2016... See there's a few others with that date too

MrsRees2B I've commented on your dress thread, your dress really is stunning. I'm like you and my dress is been stored at my mums, I can't wait till February so I get to try it on again as I haven't seen it since August!

Galadrielfinch- welcome to the forum and congratulations on getting married. How far have you got with your planning?

Nikkijj86 - definitely feeling more real the more money we throw at it. Need to pay deposits for the flowers/decorations and catering, which in themselves aren't a huge amount but a prerequisite for roughly £2,500 to pay at beginning of April ?

Wow. Just had to stop a moment at that value. Dear me, these things are expensive.

Really sorry that your friend seems so distant and unfortunately can't really think of much advice to give. Initially wondered if she was jealous of you - how is her love life? Does it hit a raw nerve that you're married before her? Maybe sit down and talk to her about it? Not sure...!

MrsRees2B - wow, exciting about your dress! I don't think I actually take my dress home until a few days before the wedding which is good - I'd live in it otherwise Do you think much will need to be done to it?

Galadrielfinch - welcome and congratulations! I've added your name to the list on the first page, lots of you getting married on the 30th.

How's your planning coming along?

It's nearly the weekend!!!!!!

Pooba I think it's only the length and bustle that will need doing. The rest is a little snug si I need to lose a little bit of weight maybe 7lbs just to make it comfortable

That's not too bad... and hopefully the weight loss won't be too tricky. My biggest issue will be Christmas ?

Same here my plan is to loose it before Xmas then put some back on over Xmas and lose the smaller amount after lol fingers crossed my plan works.

Oh my goodness, time really has flown by. Can't believe we're less than 6 months away now! I should probably get back on some planning :/

Pooba - thanks I'm hoping that the friend issue will be one of those that works itself out. I can but hope as I really don't want us to fall out.

I know what you mean about paying things making it seem real, we paid a lot of our balances last week and it's more than a little scary when you add it all together. But that said I'm sure when we all hit our big days they will be worth every penny.

Also glad to see I'm not the only one struggling with losing weight! I aimed to lose a stone before my first fitting, so far I've put half a stone on and lost that again so I'm doing really well lol.

Cant believe we're heading for the 5 month mark, time really is flying. Is everyone enjoying the planning or is it getting a bit stressful the closer you get?

On a nice note I've been struggling to break in my wedding shoes as they just weren't comfortable & had confessed to my mum that I might need to buy some more, anyway we've just been on a shopping weekend to Bicester village and my lovely mum surprised me by buying me this lovely pair of Jimmy Choo's.

I feel like a very lucky lady at the moment!!

I know, HCBao, time is going so fast!

Nikkijj86 - really hope things get better with your friend.

I had such grand plans that this week would be the beginning of a new, healthy me... and then had pizza for lunch ? In fairness, it's not my weight so much, I just want to tone up. Especially my bingo wings. I just love food and chilling out ☹️

I go through fits and starts enjoying/despairing at the amount of things to do. We had a productive Christmas/wedding weekend just gone, though so I'm back at being excited. It really helps at my OH is a lot keener to get stuff organised now - when we were first engaged it was all on me, but it's much more of a joint effort now which is nice.

How are you finding it?

Those shoes are stunning! Wow. Well done your mum!

Pooba - I know what you mean, I love my food too and the fact my other half is a chef really doesn't help matters!

As for planning I feel pretty organised in the sense of all the big things are booked and sorted, we've also paid off a fair bit so that helps. It's the little things that are stressing me out, things like how the day all fits together & how the timings all work. Doesn't help that H2B keeps saying we have loads of time so don't have to worry about things yet! We might have had when we booked it 2 years ago but we're getting down to the nitty gritty and he's too laid back for my liking!!

i know I'm biased but I think my mum has done very good on shoes ?

Think for all of us the closer we get the more panics we might be having! Exciting times ahead though.