Purple & Gold Planning Thread!

How we met:

We met in 2012, when we were both babies! I was 17 and OH was 21.

We were at a local skate park because he was a keen skateboarder and I was there with friends. We first spoke on his 21st birthday when a group of us went to tesco to get him some cheap fairy cakes to celebrate!! That was 27th June 2012.

I think the first words he said to me were "who are you?" - great introduction to each other ?

We got closer but I wa convinced we were just good friends, friend zoned! Then one night in September we had our first kiss. I was freaked out and didn't speak to him for weeks afterwards. It all became official on 22nd November 2012 (nearly 3 years ago now!!) when he came to my house and stood in my kitchen and text me asking me to be his girlfriend!

The Proposal:

After a rough year, including a miscarriage and the loss of my Grandma, I thought we needed something positive to look forward to.. I went on and on at OH about proposing but he always said the time isn't right. I decided to take matters into my own hands (you'll get from this thread that we aren't a traditional couple). We went on a walk through the woods and I popped out an engagement ring for OH! Proposing to him wasn't how I imagined it would happen but I'm really glad I did it. He cried a lot and said of course he would marry me. I carried on walking and ended up wondering why he wasn't following, when I turned round he was on one knee proposing to me with a ring! We had both planned to do it on the same day! ?

Loving this. Keep it coming I will pour a glass of wine. How amazing you both proposed on the same day!

Setting a date:

OH had always wanted to have a long engagement. He was convinced we would get married in 2019!! I told him it was too long to wait. After argument and argument about the date I said why not leave it 2 years, that gives us enough time to plan and save money. We're also planning on moving in together during that time - I'm at university so we aren't in a financial position to get a house yet.

We agreed on 2017 but had to work on choosing a specific date. I was sure I wanted to use a date that means something to us, so I said about his birthday. His birthday is in June so I thought that the weather would be perfect and we could plan a lot around the summer months (outdoor ceremony etc). We were really excited and thought it would be a great idea.

Unfortunately, our best friends decided to get engaged the month after us! They set their date for 21st June 2017 - 6 days before we wanted our wedding. Although this wasn't a problem to start with, they then decided to get married in Turkey and ask my OH to be their best man!! There was no way we could get married 6 days after their wedding in a different country.

Back to the drawing board.

We sat and thought about it and realised the most important day for us as a couple was our anniversary. So why not getting married then?

It was all set to be the 22nd November 2017. Until we realised it was a Wednesday and people will have to take the time off work and children would need an authorised absence from school ☹️

So!! Our wedding is now booked for Sunday 26th November 2017 - only 4 days after our anniversary!

I'm ready. Anyone else for wine?

Cup of tea and I'm in.

Where does the purple and gold come from?

Kettles on. Wedding colours purple and gold? Pics shortly I hope.

Venue:

So, before we even got engaged I knew where I wanted to get married - where I had my high school prom.

OH didn't like it from the pictures, so we went to look around other places.

Firstly, starting with the Cottonwood Boutique Hotel, Bournemouth.

We were going to put the deposit down on this place. The price was good, the location is right by the beach and the staff were really friendly. OH wasn't too keen on the pink decor but we liked the fact we could have the ceremony in one room and the evening reception in a different room.

The other place we looked at was the Salterns Harbourisde Hotel - not going to go into this one because it wasn't even a contender! The staff were really rude and didn't seem interested in showing us around. Inside the hotel was rather small and the only thing we did like about it was the outdoor ceremony option. However it wasn't really a positive as we're getting married in Nocember so definitely wouldn't have been outside. Plus, when having photographs outside, we didn't have exclusivity so would have had some random people in our photos!

So, the day of booking the hotel came around and I just wasn't 100% sure about the place. I still had my heart set on my prom venue. I booked a viewing there without OH knowing so and drove him there regardless. As soon as we pulled up I had butterflies and knew this was the venue for us!

The staff there are so lovely and helpful, the food is amazing and just the whole venue I love it!

Here are pictures:

The venue is called the Italian Villa in Poole, Dorset. It's about 20 minutes from where we live.

OH fell in love with it straight away! We cancelled our appointment at the hotel to book the wedding, and set our hearts on here instead. I can now finally confirm our deposit has been put down and this is our wedding venue!

That's a gorgeous venue. How lucky to have that close to you

The pink one looks quite surreal!

Loving the thread - and the fact we're in the same area! We're getting married at Parley Manor, over by Hurn, but I do love Compton Acres

Next up is our bridal party.

i must say to anyone getting married in 2 years don't choose your bridal party until nearer the time! You will definitely regret it.

Unfortunately, OH and I got too excited and asked our friends too early.

My OH is having 2 best men. He's having his longest friend - the one who's getting married in Turkey! And he's also having his closest friend. The longest friend is loud, confident and has a great sense of humour. He will be responsible for organising the stag do and doing the speech. The closest friend is quieter and a lot more laid back. He will be the emotional support. We're tackling the ring issue by having our page big carry the rings. OH then has 2 ushers - my step brother and another friend that he hasn't known as long and isn't as close to.

in terms of bridesmaids, this is where we made a mistake. We've started off with 7 bridesmaids and are now down to 5. I'll start with the ones were no longer having.

the first one is the bride of the Turkey wedding. My OH and I have been friends with the bride and groom for a while. OH is his best man and he is our longest loud best man. He's been with his partner for 2 years - that's how long we've known her now. I thought we were really close and got on well. We went wedding dress shopping together etc. then as soon as she booked her wedding, she stopped being interested in our wedding and completely shut us out of her plans. Long story short, she asked me to be her bridesmaid and then kicked me out of the wedding and decided she didn't want me anymore. We haven't spoken since and subsequently she isn't being my bridesmaid anymore (her choice not mine!)

second bridesmaid who were not having is future SIL. I asked her originally to make her feel involved and hopefully bring us closer together. She lives an hour away and we rarely see her so I thought why not I don't mind her being a bridesmaid if it makes her and my OH happy. Anyway, 2 days ago OH and I had an argument - just my luck SIL was down for the weekend. He told her and his mum what happened. Later on that day SIL was texting his slagging me off saying I'm childish and no one is taking the wedding seriously.. Is she still being involved? Absolutely not. I sound like I a bridezilla already but I feel I don't owe these people anything and if they can't be happy with us then they don't deserve a special role in our day!

So now bridesmaids are:

M - my younger sister. She will be my maid of honour

B - my friend of 4 years now. Love her to pieces and she's currently pregnant so hoping it will be a little girl so I can have another flower girl!

J - my longest friend of 8 years. She lives hours away but has been very supportive already

B - another B. Friend of 1 year who I've met through uni and were very close! Her partner is my OH usher.

C - Oldest step sister. She will be 14 at the time so were classing her as a bridesmaid.

flower girls:

R - my other step sister. She will be 10 at the time

E - OH half sister. She will also be 10.

page boys:

S - OH half brother. He will be 11 and will be be one carrying the rings

H - best man and demoted bridesmaids son. He will be 3 and will walk down with one of the flower girls (hopefully!)

Thank you for all your nice comments already! :-)

What an amazing venue! It looks like it could be in Tuscany!

So next up is colour scheme (where the purple and gold comes from!)

We originally wanted purple and orange but I found some lovely bridesmaid dresses I fell in love with so we had to change the colour scheme! Getting my own way already ;-)

Our chosen colour scheme is purple and gold! Mainly purple with hints of gold. I'm really hoping the day is going to come together nicely.

So! My favourite part! The bridesmaid/flower girl outfits.

The bridesmaid dresses are my absolute favourite and are the reason we changed the whole colour theme. I am so in love with them, my mum always says "that's an ebony dress!" (Ebony is my name haha).

And our flower girl dresses:

Purple and Gold!

Ive also done some collages of make up etc.

Bridesmaids will be something like this -

I love the sparkle! Some may think it's over the top but bridesmaids are all happy with it and I love it! Like the classic up do for them as well.

flower girls will be younger so will only have a bit of make up and will have their nails painted. This kind of thing:

Ooh I'm intrigued by the bridesmaid that is no longer involved, was she feeling like you were competition?

Love the dresses esp, flower girl. I would totally wear that and I'm 35!

Love the bridesmaid dresses, do you mind my asking where you're getting them from/who makes them? I've still got to find dresses for mine!

I'm intrigued too @Chaffinch I've no idea what it was! She just decided she didn't want me anymore. I asked her if she still wanted to be my bridesmaid and she said she didn't mind either way. So I took that as a no tbh!

I love them too. I'm such a girly girl I look sparkles and puff!

Thanks @ExpensivePinkCars201, they're actually from eBay! £15 from China. They're great quality and look absolutely amazing - only downside is the delivery time.

Wow. Wow. Wow. A visitor came and I've just had to have a catch up. I love absolutely everything about your wedding and please can I be a bridesmaid and have that dress. Have I got a posh do coming up! I might need to buy one. Love the purple and gold and your photos on those venue steps will be amazing.

As for SIL has she not learned the cardinal rule don't get involved as the couple will make up and you won't? Good riddance to her and your probably jeleaous friend.

Stunning. It's all stunning.

Thank you very much @JayneE! I love how different our plans are to "traditional" weddings. Also about SIL that's my exact point. We will always make up after an argument but won't ever forget her words and opinions.

Next important part. My dress!! Ahhhh!!

Like the venue, I already knew where I was getting my dress from.

The shop is called Pascali in Poole. The staff are lovely and the dresses are stunning!!

I was dead set on a particular dress but when I went to the shop to put my deposit down on the dress, I decided to be weirdly spontaneous and put my deposit down on a completely different dress?!

This is that dress:

Honestly, I've no idea why I changed my mind suddenly but I did!!

Anyway, after a few days, I started to doubt the dress. I went in a few times and tried it on but I just didn't feel right. I got quite upset actually and ended up speaking to the women in the shop. They said if I was sure I could swap my deposit over to my original dress - so I did this. I really do believe that once you find your dress you know it!! So my wedding dress is Mori Lee 2674

Here's the pictures and me in it!

I still find it weird seeing myself in an actual wedding dress! I'm sure it makes me look young (I am only 20!!) haha.

Both lovely dresses but your first and final choice is my preference. It goes with your venue perfectly. It's stunning.

I think you made the right choice, your final choice is my fave.

I'm loving this thread! I love reading what others are planning and it's a great read after a hard days slog at work! It all looks beautiful. You are very organised! Mine is next October and you seem far more organised than me!

Your dress is BEEEEEEAAAUUUUTIFULLL!

Totally it so awesome. I want to eat it!

Oh my gosh i love it all! Definitely made the right decision going for the mori lee!! x

Thank you everyone!

Love reading about your plans

x

A quick update. I have bad anxiety and OCD so have to be organised!!

So far we have:

Booked the venue

Paid the deposit on my dress

Got the bridesmaid dresses

Got the flower girl dresses

Got the suits

Booked the DJ

Booked the registrar

Booked the florist

Booked a caricature

Booked a singer

------------------------

Seems like so much has been done! I always say to OH if we had the funds then we could get married next year haha. So 2 years tomorrow until we're getting married and nearly everything is sorted! I'm currently in my 2nd year at University so very busy and OH and I are paying for majority of the wedding ourselves so we've figured if we pay the deposits now we can spread the rest of the costs over the 2 years.

Update on the bridesmaid dresses. Pregnant bridesmaid tried the sparkly dress on and she didn't like it. It was very tight fitting and she was worried about losing baby weight etc. So we have changed the dresses.

The dress and petticoat are from Lindy Bop.

The dress is gold and the petticoat is purple (same purple as the flower girl dresses!)

The style is really nice and will suit all my girls' body shapes.

(Please excuse the pictures - it's me wearing the dress and it's massive on me!!)

Oh are you selling those beautiful long sparkly dresses? I love them. I want one lol.