Back again!

Hey everybody!

Apologies for the lack of updates, I’ve been busy, busy, busy for the past couple of weeks, so please excuse the neglect :)

I do have some updates for you, but I’ll not be doing that today.

I went over to the States and had a wonderful time with him. I through a six year old style stompy fit because I didn’t wanna leave, but he made me anyways lol.

He’s currently coming over in about 2 1/2 months time, and I’ve been trying to get stuff sorted out over here to make life a bit easier for both of us.

Other than that, we’ve set the date for the wedding which will be June 4th next year, just a few more bits and pieces to do and we’re all set :D

That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with something interesting or funny to share with you.

Loves

Jen

Update :)

Morning everyone :)

As you may have noticed, I’ve been absent for the past few days. I haven’t been very well, and now that I’m better again I’m leaving you :)

My wonderful other half has paid for flights for me to go and visit him for a bit *squee* and I’m flying out tomorrow morning *double squee*. I know this is a surprise to some of you (cause normally I’ve been ranting on about it for weeks) but as it was a last minute thing, I really haven’t been able to get excited about it (but I am now).

So I fly out tomorrow morning and I don’t return to Irish soil until the 22nd. Another of my friends is travelling down on Sunday evening to see me for a couple of days as well, so there’s loads going on and I’ve now got the super excited head on lol.

Tonight will comprise of unpacking and repacking my case at least another one time (the count on the last trip was 6 repackings) this will be the 3 time :( lol packing depresses me!!

Other than that, you’ll prolly not hear much from me while I’m away. I may squeeze in the odd article if I have some time to myself with the laptop, but when you only get to see your soulmate a couple of times a year, you tend to make the most of it ;)

With that, I’ll wish you goodbye for now. And to Brian, I’ll see you tomorrow, and Connie, I’ll see you on Sunday!!!

Loves

Jen

Marquees, Tents and Katas

You can obviously tell from this blog, that it’s pretty much about my wedding :)

As we’re working on an outside event at this time (well, I’m working on it!) we have to take into consideration that it might rain. When I say might, what I really mean is that it will rain because it’s Northern Ireland and we’ll all be drowned. So the alternative to soggy couture gowns and sandwiches swimming in rain water, is to hire a marquee. Ugh, even the thought makes me want to run away.

For the record, I HATE marquees lol. I used to work with a kids summer camp through the youth service and we spent a week away every year living out of tents and a marquee. This means that all my experiences of them are muddy, cold, windy and wet lol; much like my wedding will probably be!!

So I’ve been looking about for alternatives, and I was sorely disappointed as there really isn’t much out there that tickles my fancy. I’ve highlighted what I’ve found below and a bit about them.

North Down Marquees offer the traditional wedding fare. From billowing curtained walls to beautiful shiny floors, they’ll offer you a complete package of style and sophistication.

They’ll set up and take down, and bring everything with them that you’ll need for the evening (or the day). They can provide all your necessities, from the cutlery to the bathrooms is available.

On the other hand, who the hell wants what everyone else has?

I spoke a while back about Magnakata on my Wedding Journal post. As I’ve been looking into the whole need for cover, I keep going back to them as an idea. I don’t honestly think that my mum’s garden will be big enough for one of the big tents, but I’m going to discuss one of the smaller ones instead. After all, we’re only going to have a maximum of 40 people there, so I don’t think I need the room to sit 60.

They can also provide you with beautiful tables and benches, along with the likes of a fire pit and reindeer skins ;)

Anywho, go and visit their website, and also get in touch with them and head down and see them for their open day. They very accessible for Ireland and Northern Ireland and their open day is on the 18th April (I wanted to go and I had planned to, but with Brian flying me over to see him I won’t be able to).

So what have we learned from this?

Well, there is not a lot on offer in Northern Ireland for outside events, but you do have the choice of two, standard and sweet, or original and rustic.

Night guys ;)

Save the date – Postcards

This is a subject that when I start to talk to Brian about it, he simply glazes over LOL.

I know that save the date cards are kind of a new thing, so I figured I should do a bit of writing about them for anyone who hasn’t heard of them before. They are of course completely optional (as is everything), but I think they’re quite handy if inviting people from abroad.

So below is some information from Mozdex about it:

The Purpose of Save the Date Cards

Save the date cards serve as reminders or to give one a heads up that you are going to get married. More than that, they allow the recipients to clear their schedules and make travel arrangements way in advance.

Sending Wedding Save the Date Cards

Save the date cards are usually mailed out three to five months before the actual wedding date. But, some couples have been known to send them out as soon as they have confirmed their wedding date.

Couples that plan their weddings close to popular holidays like around Thanksgiving, Christmas and even Fourth of July should mail their cards several months in advance so their guests can avoid traffic and overbooked flights.

Types of Save the Date Cards

There are two types of Reserve the date cards that are currently sold in stationery stores: cards and magnets. The wording on most save the date cards is usually straight to the point regardless of the type you choose. Usually, it consists of the bride and groom’s name and the date and place where the wedding would take place.

The save the date cards with a magnetic backing are the most popular choice today. These are in great demand because they can be kept on the refrigerator door, and no one is likely to forget the wedding date if the card is stuck there.

While you can go get a few more words on the basic save the date cards that are not magnetic, the magnetic ones still allow you to say what you need to say within a space that is usually 3.5 x 2.

Choosing the Design and Style

Wedding save the date cards can be anything from formal to casual and could even be whimsical.

With a wide variety that is available on the market, a couple would not have difficulty choosing a card that they are best associated with. If you have always been perceived as a fun couple, for example, you may want to select cards with borders and graphics with vibrant colors that may represent this.

Tying it Into Your Wedding

Conveying your wedding theme on these cards is also a good idea if you already know what it will be. For instance, if you were having an African American wedding theme, save the date cards with Kente cloth-type borders or a watermark print of a couple jumping the broom would be ideal.

Are your wedding colors deep blue and silver or black and white? Those colors can be represented on your cards as well. It would not only give the recipient a sneak peak at your chosen colors, but the uniformity from the beginning to the end of the wedding would be more than impressive.

Making it Personal

The couples interests, their shared hobbies, and even a photo of the two would also be well received on these cards. Talk to your stationery store about personalizing your cards and magnets as much as possible. And, of course, remember to let your guests know via a footnote that their wedding invitation and directions are to follow.

The difference between elegance and casual or whimsical on your cards should come from the kind of card stock and fonts used. For elegance, think along the line of fonts that are similar to French and Brush script. And, casual and whimsical could include Sand, Kid Print and Comic Sans fonts. Ask your card dealer to show you a list of the fonts.

Few couples may not budget for save the date cards, but it is indeed a necessity in many cases. In addition, they make great keepsakes long after the reminder part of it has served its purpose.

Ok, so you can see from the couple of links above that there are all sorts of personalised stationery out there, and you can pay anything from quite a low amount to a very high price for them.

I on the other hand have other ideas :)

I did originally consider just making plain save the date cards myself, however that was going to be a lot of bother and time. SO..

Postcards.

See, I love my simple ideas :D Not the postcards with our faces on them (really, who actually wants to see that), but going with the 50s theme, I was thinking vintage postcards!

I was on ebay having a scout about and found some great examples of postcard lots of maybe 150 or more very cheap. When you factor in the simplicity of sitting and addressing these, and posting/hand delivering them, they hardly cost anything at all. My budget for save the date cards just went from $100 to about $20 :D

*jumps up and down with happy*

I will be doing a tent/marquee post later me thinks, I touched on Katas before in this post but I would like to go into a bit more detail with it.

Byes for now!

P.S. Keep scrolling, there are examples of cards below, cause I know how much you all like photos :D

Where do you stop?

I’ve been thinking about the whole nerdy bride idea, and it occurs to me that a wedding is like a piece of fine art. You have to know when to stand back and stop painting.

I’ve been considering a custom dress for a long time, and I really just don’t know if it’s me when I might be able to find a gown on-line without having to pay a fortune for it and it could be just what I want.

For this reason, I’ve included some of the custom sites I’ve come across over the last wee while when I haven’t been able to make my mind up about what I want.

Darkgarden.com offer a wonderful service for both custom corsets and full bridal ensembles called Le Jardin. They are however based in San Francisco, and for all things custom, meeting in person is essential.

Designs by Tara is something I came across by accident, and I was simply browsing through her stuff thinking how pretty some of the colours are! As you can see I’m sure on the example above.

swoons* I adore this site, Fairy Fashion is a very expensive website but they do have the most beautiful gowns. And it’s not just the traditional, they also have a modern take on all their traditional style gowns. Go, look, drool :)

Ok, don’t let that photo put you off in any way. Enchanted Costumes do all sorts of different dresses, from the medieval above to the beautiful and romantic Cinderella dress.

They also do fairy wings!!!!! *squee!!*

Want want want!!

This is from a company called Sew Original. I’m not sure about how different their work is, but it is definitely custom. The seem to specialise in making every little girl’s wedding dreams come true :)

I adore Etsy for anything different, so below are a few Etsy offerings, click on the photo to be taken to the seller’s site!!

Click the photos!! Click ‘em!!

That’s me for now, I might have a rant about postcards in a bit however ;)

Why??

This just baffles me.

These are the Chavs.

This is the wedding of a 16 year old girl in England.

And there’s more to come!!

This is a 25 stone dress, measuring 8 feet wide. Again, 16.

Now for my favourite :D and first featured in the “Unusual or Awful..?” post:

I know it doesn’t need to be said, but 16.

the happy couple

• stiffles laughter*

With her loving father

just, wow.

The Groom’s mum over on the left looks reeeeeaaaaly happy.

The happy couple with her family

Blueberries come to mind (and what’s going on with the skintight sliver sparkly get up on the left ahnd side…)

Some of the guests (They’ll regret that fashion choice in a few years).

And the last of the classy shots.

According to the Daily Mail UK -

What Daddy’s little girl wants Daddy’s little girl gets.

So when Missy Quinn insisted on a big white wedding with her boyfriend, her father said Yes. It didn’t matter that she was only 16 and the groom 17.

Daddy also said Yes to a £16,000 wedding dress (which looked suspiciously like a crop top and skirt) and Yes to 150 guests at the reception. Then there were the cars, the hotels, the tiara and the £500 bouquet.

the end, making Missy’s wedding dreams come true cost her father – who lives in a caravan and surfaces driveways for a living – a whopping £100,000.

But as his princess, who hasn’t been in a classroom since she was nine and wants to be a glamour model, posed for photographs, her father Simon, 35, declared it was worth every penny. ‘I’m very proud of her today,’ he said.

Missy was just happy to be the undisputed centre of attention.

Her dress, studded with Swarovski crystals, and with a 10ft wide train, was so heavy that it took ten guests to help her struggle out of the Rolls-Royce Phantom that brought her to the church.

‘It was huge. I wanted to outdo everyone else’s wedding dress,’ she said.

‘It was extremely heavy and just standing in the church was really difficult. But despite all that, I felt just like Cinderella.’

The bill was around five times the cost of the average British wedding.

Missy said: ‘It cost a fortune, but I’ve always wanted a big wedding and my dad has been saving for ages to pay for it.’ She met Thomas at Alton Towers theme park when she was 13.

They continued to date despite her traveller family leaving their caravan park in Stoke-on-Trent every summer to tour the UK while Thomas lived with his parents in Wolverhampton.

Missy said: ‘I just knew he was The One from the beginning. He’s perfect.’

Her mother Theresa, 33, who married Missy’s father at 16, said: ‘I was surprised they wanted to get married so young in this day and age. But we could see they were madly in love.’

The couple married six days after Missy turned 16 at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Congleton-Cheshire. After the ceremony-guests in feathers and crystals enjoyed champagne and an all-day buffet at the reception. Girls as young as nine showed off bikini tops, high heels and make-up.

Guest Victoria Docherty, 23, who wore a £700 hotpants and bra outfit, said: ‘This isn’t unusual – it’s just what we do at weddings. It’s all very extravagant. Everything is paid for by the bride’s daddy.’

Missy and Thomas honeymooned in Turkey before moving into their own £18,000 caravan – a wedding gift from her parents.

And I think that’s about all I have to say about that..

Unusual or awful..?

I’ve been busy today, so I figured I’d just do something quick to give you guys something to look at ;)

But when is anything that easy? Of course I thought the quickest thing to do would be dresses, however that was silly of me to think I could research dresses and not get sucked in.

So I present to you some of the most unusual and awful dresses for your consideration. All of these dresses are classed as wedding garments, they aren’t just dresses or gowns.

I hope you’re prepared for this…

Both of the above collections are from Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and are very lovey and floaty.

I have neither source nor words for this.

Could almost be overlooked if it wasn’t for that thing growing out of her hip.

With thanks to whoever on Flickr walked past a shop and got caught in this dress’ magnetic force.

Words escape me…

• opens and closes mouth like a fish*

As far as I can gather about the above, the bride is 16, and from the travelling community. It seems to be a sort of tradition that the travelling community kind of use a wedding as a show of wealth and that has definately been demonstrated here with a total cost of £100,000. More below.. I’ll dedicate an entire post to this one, I promise :D -  and it’s here!

Yum, so yeah. Boobs.

For those of you going “Awww, it’s not so bad! It’s kinda cute!” Stop it, stop it now.

Extremely patriotic.

Denim. Niiiiiiice.

Again, I can hear you all ooooohing and aaaaaaahing over this. *shakes head*

http://tackyweddings.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/russian_bride4.jpg

That’s it for me for this. I’m just gonna go and wash my eyes out to get this from my mind…

Themes

This may seem like a very obvious topic to post about, but for many people it’s a very prominent priority.

Themes can either make or break a wedding. Whether you are having an outlandish theme with costumes and such, or if you are just picking the colours you like, it’s an important decision that a couple have to make before going ahead with most plans.

For example, for our “garden party” (as it’s become known) B and I are currently discussing a 50s theme. I think he might go for it simply cause he gets to wear a bowling shirt and no tie, but I don’t mind as long as I get my dress :) I have no other want to decorate with 50s bits and pieces, but I would like guests to wear the garb. It’s not that different from now, and it’s easily accessible to all so there shouldn’t be a problem. Now, if we’d gone for an all out Star Wars theme, it may have been a different story ;)

Below are some different ideas, from the classy to the trashy and everything in between. As always, comments are very welcome and encouraged!!

This is a lovely crisp and clean theme. The blue, red and white all work really well together and it’s done so tastefully. A colour scheme like this might be a bit iffy in Northern Ireland (those who live here know why) but I think that if it’s planned well you could pull this off without most people noticing ;)

I actually really love these colours together. This was a very expensive wedding with the theme of “Tiffany & Co.” Any woman who has ever seen one of those little aqua boxes with the white ribbon will know why. This couple used the colour scheme and also had their cake shaped like Tiffany’s boxes and beautiful gifts for the guests from Tiffany and Co.

I love sunflowers, they’re like the happiest of all the flowers :) This is a bit over the top for my tastes, I think having something a little plainer with the sunflowers on the plates and in the centre would’ve been nicer.

This girl got married in Fiji, so this was obviously her entire theme. My worry about this, is I see 6 quite hot men (apparently “warriers” lol), and no husband…

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any more of this wedding. I think their wee flippers are cute though :) (are you noticing the introduction of the slightly more strange?)

I love, love, love this. :) *dreams* Brian won’t wear tights though (and I did tell him he didn’t have to) so I don’t get to dress up in a princess dress. :P But I like this cause it’s kinda more traditional, dresses weren’t always white, and those frilly shirts were once in fashion. I like to think that they got married in the graveyard that’s behind them, but it was more likely the church :)

Yeah, I’m hoping there’s another nerd out there somewhere (probably B :P) who can confirm that this is Star Trek. This couple supposedly got married at the Star Trek experience in Vegas, but are not trekkies, they just did it for the kick…

Ok, this looks a lil weird, but do you recognize those cups at the bottom? Yes, that’s right, it’s Taco Bell. Not only was this this couple’s theme, it was also the PLACE of their marriage. See below:

Paul and Caragh Brooks got married at a local Taco Bell fast food restaurant. The whole wedding cost only $200 including the brides $15 Hot Pink Dress. A friend of the grooms, Ryan Green of Normal, administered the vows wearing a very casual t-shirt. The bride, Caragh was from Australia and moved to the US when the two decided to meet in person after talking on-line for 9 months. The groom, Paul, said that getting married at Taco Bell was fitting because they have a very “offbeat relationship” and they like to hang out at the local Taco Bell together.

Courtesy of Sodahead.com

We’ve all seen this one before, but I can’t help but think that it’s the grooms choice to be dressed in a blue jumpsuit with his underwear on over the top. Not only that, but you’ve got a pretty scary sidekick there superman..

And last but not least! I love this photo, especially the two kids in front who haven’t a clue what the hell is going on. Not only that, but would it have killed the parents to stick them in a couple of Jedi robes?

I do actually quite like this idea, but it would take everyone to get involved to pull it off and unfortunately I don’t think we could get all the family into it ;)

My mum and my step dad and still rooting for a Monty Python and the Holy Grail type “Knights of the Round Table” theme, but I don’t think B will oblige them.. lol.

It’s what they say, marriage is all about compromise……..

Ribbon Veils!!

Hair is my problem for this big do i’m having :) I want so many different things, and I can’t have them all lol. I want a birdcage veil, and black roses sewn into my hair and a ribbon veil. See? This is my problem lol.

So we’ll start with the ribbon veil. This is a mainly new concept, or rather an old tradition renewed. This is the same sort of ritual as the ribbon bouquet, that the people at the wedding shower would sometimes made a ribbon veil for the bride to be to wear at the wedding rehearsal.

But I just want one ;)

I love this idea, it’s really raggy and fun, and matches the dress really well.

This one is so cute! If you aren’t wanting to go the whole hog with the ribbons then there’s no reason why you can’t funk up a lil plain veil like this one.

This one is very simple as well, it’s simply a flowered head wreath with the lengths of ribbon tied to the back of it.

Again, my favourite word : Simple. This bride piled her hair up on the back of her head (so it’s all tumbling down over her shoulders) and has pinned the ribbons in to lie over her hair.

This is a kinda ultimate ribbon veil! It’s comprised of tons of different colours and textures and of course there are the silk flowers and the peacock feathers :) She wore a burgandy dress, so this really stood out.

This bride has her hair pulled back and the ribbons again attached over the top. In the right photo she has added a wreath to finish it.

This is very similar to the traditional veil, and is a nice alternative for someone who doesn’t want to go too wild on their day.

That’s all I’ve got for now :)

Talk to y’all soon!

Table Centres and Settings

Table centres, here’s a topic of discussion I know you’ll all enjoy…

I really don’t have much of an opinion on this, so you’ll have to bear with me through the occasional sarcastic comment :)

On with the show! I’ve been back to my trusty friend Google Image Search to try and find you a weird and wacky collection of things that you can put on your table for your big day. There’s such a variety of ideas, that really anything is possible. Flowers, balloons, engine parts, false skulls, teddy bears etc. If I’m really honest, it all has to do with you choice of theme or colours. In my case, I don’t have either. I’m taking the cake as an inspiration and going with whatever is cool. So my table decorations will probably be bowls of Smarties and Jelly babies (links because they’re both British things!), and the odd bouquet of flowers and lollipops to add some sort of nature to the proceedings (even though we’ll be outside…!)

Right, examples and opinions below!

I thought traditional to start :)

No link on this photo, it’s really just a simple flower arrangement that 90% of florists could do this for you should you want it.

This one is cute! It’s simple to execute too with big flowers and simple colour co-ordinated jelly beans. You could add a couple of tea lights around this as well if you want.

This is a simple and effective idea, with the rose heads in votives. I don’t really see any sort of point with it though, it’s very plain. If you do this yourself you’re gonna end up with a ton of votives left over too.

There’s a lot to be said for balloons. They can be very tasteful and quite pretty, but they can also be completely horrific (see the pic below!)

Makes me want to run away.

This would so be my choice if we were going for something space age as the theme. Though I don’t know about the orchids in the fishbowl at the top :S

From the same people (click the photo) that brought you the green goblet above (see what I did there nerdy peeps??!) There is also this martini glass. Again, a casino or Bond theme would benefit most from this design.

Holy crap!! It’s the Disco Deathstar surrounded by Rubik’s cubes!!

I’ve seen a lot of these about. They are basically post boxes. The idea is that guests all get lil notepads and pens, and they can post anything they want into the box. Monetary gifts, notes of well wishing (pieces of their dinner, the odd bit of cutlery, possibly a button or two..) lol

Yes, that’s a fish that you see there. I don’t really know what to sat on this one. People attending were “encouraged tom take the plant and the fish home” but what happens if they don’t?? You’ll be stuck with like 30 fish. I don’t think I’d be able to take the responsibility !! Anyways, nice idea here, but I don’t think it’s overly practical unless you’ve made an agreement with people to take them after.

I nearly died of excitement when I saw this. All I could think of was “How can I sculpt with Twizzlers??” LOL I love this idea, and it’ll placate the big people as well as the littles.

SOCK MONKEY!!?! OMGZ?!?! lol can you sense the excitement I felt when I saw this, it was like the whole world fell into place, a Sock Monkey with Twizzlers *swoons* Anywho! I thought this was a fab idea, you could have a Sock Monkey per couple at your do (for me that’s not a lot so YAY) and twizzlers in tall vases and bowls of Smarites and Jelly babies! Ooooh, I’m so excited!!

Ok, so now that I’ve found something else to research (the price of 20 Sock Monkeys) and something else to scare the crap out of Brian with (*waves* hi baby!!) I’ll go :)

Contemplate and comment please!