he got down on one knee

And finally...

2011-06-14T11:14:00.000+01:00

For those of you who read this post and wondered what I decided to do...

The Reception and After Party

2011-06-14T11:13:00.000+01:00

When the guests arrived they were greeted with a drinks reception with shortbread. Everyone was directed outside where tables and chairs had been arranged on the lawn for guests to enjoy the sun while we had our portraits taken.

(Angel Photography)

The meal was very traditional to suit the tastes of all our guests and the portions were extra large! Everyone raved about the quality of the food and service and we were more than pleased with that.

Later in the evening we had a live band, The Hootenannys, play a selection of favourites for 2 hours and then we had a DJ pump some dance tracks out until 1am and the dance floor was filled all night. This was another favourite part of the day for me.

The night ended at 3.30am in the residents' bar when Mr M and I retired to the bridal suite for some reflection.

The Speeches

2011-06-14T11:12:00.000+01:00

The speeches to be honest are a bit of a blur to me. At the time I thought our guests weren’t laughing at the jokes and were a bit bored but in hindsight I think I wasn’t able to hear properly because he were raised a little bit and also because I was in my own world. When I look at the photos the photographer has taken, they seem hilarious so that is how I am going to remember them!

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Little Details

2011-06-14T11:11:00.000+01:00

I have to admit that I probably spent far more time, effort and worry on the smaller details than was necessary. Most of this brain power was used to think of what to do and what would work. There is lots of inspiration on the wedding blogs and sometimes it’s easy to think that you need to have all these extras to make it special. In reality though, what looks good at an outdoor, barnyard, sunny California wedding might not look good indoors in a hotel in rainy Northern Ireland. You want to personalise your wedding but not make it look weird. Will all those black card moustache holding brides look back in 20 years and think “What were we doing?”.

In the end we didn’t have a harpist, nor a string quartet, nor surprise opera singing waiters, nor caricaturists. I gathered up things I had at home – a birdcage, a gold crown, teacups and we put flowers in them, plain and simple. And it looked just like a wanted.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Ceremony

2011-06-14T11:10:00.000+01:00

We married in my family church, deep in the Northern Irish countryside, which is also where my mum and dad married in 1977. It has close links to family who have attended there for several generations and I couldn’t have imagined getting married anywhere else. Our minister is a very liberal and modern Presbyterian (who knew there was such a thing!) and he made the service very special and relaxed for us.

We asked a neighbour, a very talented pianist, to play at our wedding. Choosing the music was a real labour of love and in the end we chose Canon in D Major by Pachelbel to be played during my entrance and Mendelssohn's Wedding March on our exit. During the service we sang As The Deer Pants For the Water and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling and the piano was beautiful for both these hymns. While we were off signing the wedding licence and church's register the congregation enjoyed Le Onde by Ludovico Einaudi, Loves Lifts Us Up Where We Belong and Moon River.

Mr M's two sisters read during the service which meant that every member of our two families was involved directly in the wedding in some way. One read Psalm 100 and the other a poem, The Meaning of Love (unknown).

I was absolutely delighted when our guests burst into spontaneous applause when we were pronounced husband and wife and had our first kiss as a married couple. I was so happy and turned around to look at the congregation and give a cheeky smile of thanks and the photographer caught the moment afterwards when everyone was laughing and smiling and these are some of my favourite photos of the day.

I didn't want to stop looking at Mr M and I wanted to soak up every moment of that ceremony, to try to imprint it on my mind so I would never forget how lovely it was to stand there with Mr M and promise to love each other forever.

The ceremony was my favourite part of the day and I felt so relaxed, happy and confident. I’d love to do that part all over again.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

Arriving at the church

2011-06-14T11:09:00.000+01:00

When we were all ready to leave for the church we realised that the car for me and dad which had arrived really early had suddenly gone and there were no cars for us there. (It turns out the limo got stuck up a lane after taking a wrong turn and had to be helped into a field to turn and do a 16-point turn out of the gate to get out.) That meant that we had a few minutes to take some photos ourselves before we left the house.

On the way, we stopped off to visit my granny at her home who was too ill to come to the wedding. Her face was a picture when we went in to her bedroom, I'll never forget it. We had beautiful photos taken with her and I'll treasure these forever as she died just 6 weeks later on 9 June, Mr M's birthday. Of course we weren't to know at that stage they would be the last photographs taken of her.

All back into the cars and off we headed to the church. The driver told me I was beautiful and dooted the horn the whole way down the street in our local town so everyone was turning to look at us. I got really excited and any nervous butterflies I had in my stomach started slipping away.

When the limo with the bridal party pulled up outside the church, the wedding car with Dad and I waited down the road just a little bit. I seen some well wishers getting out of their cars and walking up through the gates to wait for us.

Before going into the church I stopped at the top of the steps and looked back at the people who had come to see me arrive. Our minister was standing in the foyer and he asked was I ready. I said I was and turned to ask the girls if they were ready. He opened the other door and the clunk made some people look round and see me. I stood there for a moment looking at everyone from behind while our minister gave the nod to the pianist to play the entrance music.

I took a deep breath and off I went up the aisle.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Stationery

2011-06-14T11:08:00.000+01:00

The stationery was a real labour of love for me. I designed and made the invitations, table plan, place cards/menu cards, order of service, table numbers and the guest book.

The Photographer

2011-06-14T11:07:00.000+01:00

I couldn’t have been happier with our photographer, Andrea Morrissey of Angel Photography. She was such a relaxed and soothing character to have around us, with no fuss while getting the job done at a pace we were happy with.

The end result is so much more than I could have hoped for. I love every one of the photos she took for us and have looked at them around 40 times in just week or so since we got them.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Cars

2011-06-14T11:06:00.000+01:00

This was another thing that Mr M had very firm ideas on. This was the car and all obstacles were unimportant. Even the fact that I couldn’t get in or out of the car at the beginning was disregarded. It was to be the car and that was that. We overcame the obstacle of getting in and out by having a step made and when I look at the photos now I’m so glad we (ok, he) chose it.

We also had a black stretch Crysler limo for the bridal party, both hired from Island Limousines, Coalisland

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Bridesmaids

2011-06-14T11:05:00.000+01:00

The bridesmaids were my sister and niece, who are actually mother and daughter although no-one ever believes that. Nicola was quite young when Hayley was born and they are very close as a result. Hayley is more like a sister to me than a niece and there was never any question that these two would be my girls. Their dresses were by Sophia Tolli from Chantilly Lace in Lurgan in Blush which, if any of you have been reading from the start of this blog, it was beginning to look pretty obvious that was my colour of choice. I thought it would be difficult to find the right dress in the right colour and may have to resort to having dresses made but I was very pleased with that we found.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Groom

2011-06-14T11:04:00.000+01:00

Mr M looked very hot. But that’s just my opinion.

He knew exactly what he was looking for in suits. We hired them from Groom Formal Hire in Banbridge and the shoes were from River Island. They looked great and complimented our colour scheme perfectly.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue

2011-06-14T11:03:00.000+01:00

Having spent a small fortune on my dress I felt that this suitably constituted my something new.

The night before the wedding I still didn’t have something old, borrowed or blue and was beginning to despair. Mum remembered an old charm bracelet she had from she was a teenager and she hunted it out to see if there was anything on there that would fit the bill. I went through each charm one by one until I discovered a little birdcage with a blue bird perched inside and I knew it was perfect. We decided that it would be lovely sewn onto the lace wrapped around my bouquet. Unfortunately the little charm got lost somewhere on the day as it wasn’t on the bouquet when it was taken from the reception and my sister assumed that I had taken it off. I am still devastated to have lost it because it was so old and I never got to return it to mum, the loan outstanding.

The Flowers

2011-06-14T11:02:00.003+01:00

The flowers were a mixture of all my favourites with a country chic look. Our florist was a friend of Mr M’s who was more amazingly talented than I had realised when I booked her. I was delighted with what she came up with and was so proud of our flowers.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

The Dress and Accessories

2011-06-14T11:01:00.000+01:00

Having thought I’d found the dress I would wear on my wedding day, I went to “one more shop”, Joshua Thomas Bridal Emporium in Lurgan, just to be certain. As soon as I walked through the door the owner said she had an Amanda Wyatt dress perfect for my shape which, in fairness, isn’t always the easiest to complement.

When she brought it out I wasn’t certain – too satiny and a sort of “big girl” dress but I did like that it was plain and it had a certain timeless, classy elegance about it.

As soon as I put it on I felt a million dollars. It done all the right things in all the right places and that was the decision made.

I wanted to go for a modern chic vintage look and decided to customise the dress a little to make it mine (as a born crafter you just have to) and added a halter neck strap and a vintage brooch. I teamed it up with a birdcage veil, also from Amanda Wyatt which was designed for me at the bridal shop’s request and which has now been added to Amanda Wyatt’s collection of accessories.

I got great compliments all day about how I looked like a 1950s glam movie star which made me feel amazingly beautiful and special.

For the reception I changed the headpiece to one bought on Etsy.com from FloralWorld which I loved.

My shoes were called Jaynie from Brianna Leigh which I bought from shoebuy.com in the US which were just the right height for me and very comfortable.

My bracelet was from Debenhams and my earrings were from Coast.

(all photos courtesy of Angel Photography apart from self-portrait)

The make-up and hair

2011-06-14T11:00:00.000+01:00

We wanted our hair to look fairly relaxed, nothing too stiff but still look “done”. Ciara and Grace at Petra’s House of Colour in Armagh done our hair in the salon on the morning where I also had my veil put on. Ciara almost freaked out when I told her I planned on putting it on myself when I got home and so I had my brother drive it over to us so she could secure it properly!

Our make-up was done by Stacey, director of SAK Designs. Everyone was to have their own look, to their own taste and Stacey was great fun and put us at ease all morning. I was really pleased with our make-up and it lasted all day.

I wanted to accentuate my eyes with a little extra lash and some slick black liner for a glam look.

(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)

Coming soon...

2011-06-06T15:52:00.003+01:00

Today is two years from we got engaged. And I cant believe we are married and all at this stage. Mr M says we don't need to celebrate this anniversary any more given we are hitched but I think I might anyway.

The official photographs have been delivered by our photographer and they are stunning if I do say so myself. I'm so so over-the-moon-can't-stop-looking-pleased with them :)

So watch this space - now the photos are in, the details will be coming soon...

Reader, I married him...

2011-05-17T13:10:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone, I'm now a married woman.

The big day has come and gone and I have to say everything was perfect and everything I wanted it to be. I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm planning to do full posts on all the details but for now, here's a few sneak peeks.

Trust me, there will be more to come.

15 days...

2011-04-12T14:11:00.008+01:00

(Photo by Northern Ireland photographer Sarah Fyffe whose website can be found here)

As W day approaches everyone I meet asks me if I'm nervous. And that in itself is making me nervous. I don't think the nerves will hit me until the night before. I'm feeling lots of other things though – excited to see it all coming together, very sad to lose my surname but looking forward to practising a new signature, wishing my granny was still here with us to see me married, a little stressed when suppliers mix things up 2 weeks before amongst other things.

The only thing that I am nervous about is how I will look.

This week has been quite busy with a few added appointments that weren't planned when I last blogged.

Hair trials... mine went well and I just have to decide whether I want an up or down style. Lots of factors to consider here:

How it will look on the day

How practical each will be

How I will look in the photos afterwards

Which will look best with my dress and hairpiece

Which fits our theme of romantic vintage chic (please don't laugh).

One bridesmaid (14 year old niece with attitude) who I thought would be a nightmare to please was sorted in 10 minutes flat with a hairdo she would die for. The other (my sister) who is very laidback and will do whatever pleases me was another matter as nothing just seemed to look "right". We're still not sure what to do with her hair but she is easy to please and has found a photo of a 'do she likes so hopefully that will work out.

St Tropez tan trial... Can I start by saying that I had a St Tropez spray tan done circa 10 years ago and had a reaction to it, upon which the beautician gave me my money back because she hadn't done a skin test but then it cleared up the next day and I loved it. All other tans I have tried in the meantime have looked too orange on me so I decided to have a skin test done to check if I would still be allergic to St Tropez spray (I'm fine with their Every Day lotion) which was clear. The day after the tan I woke up with a quite itchy rash all over my tummy, sides, chest, inside forearms and a beetroot red and puffy face. However believe it or not I am going to book this tan for W Day because after taking antihistamine it all settled down and I do think I was to blame for the red and puffy face because I look my make-up off just before the tan was applied. (Too vain to drive down the motorway with no make-up on. I know what you're thinking.)

I love the colour and so I think it's worth the risk even though Mr M hit the roof when he seen me and I got a lecture about vanity, putting myself through hell, him not liking tan anyway and me looking fine without it.

Meeting with photographer... Poor girl wasn't prepared for me, coming to her with my lists and 'inspirational wedding photos from online that would show what I love'. Thank goodness quite a few of hers were on there, which might saved me from getting a slap. This meeting that I was quite nervous about went well and I think I'll get on just fine with Andrea on the day. Mr M wasn't with me because he was on his stag do in Dublin where he lost his wallet with 160 euro to a pickpocket, wore a mankini (voluntarily) and came home yesterday at 6pm still full of the joys of Jägermeister.

Meeting with pianist... We met at the church and we (ok I) decided that the whole ceremony will be done with the piano rather than the organ. Much more romantic I thought. Decisions were made on entrance song (with a little timing practice), hymns, interlude while we sign the register and exit song.

Meeting with minister after church on Sunday... I chatted to our minister about having the piano played, asking permission to use classical music, substituting a bible reading for a poem and changing a hymn choice – all of which he agreed to and with a sincere hand on forearm gesture told me, "It's your service. You do what you want." He gave me a copy of the vows and we are to decide whether we want the long, "repeat after me" version or the short, "I do" version.

The "getting ready" room at mum's house, which is my old bedroom but has had many uses since, seen a start to its redecoration and face lift. Happy with results so far though was closely monitored by my mum. I tried to reassure her that bigger doofises than us have managed to a paint a ceiling and not make a hash of it.

It was a busy week.

This week sees me:

Making a start on printing Order of Service booklets and place cards,

gathering final RSVPs,

having a final hair colour and cut,

finishing decorating the bedroom,

making final payments to most suppliers,

having my final fitting and

giving final numbers to the venue.

Finishing work on Friday for 1 whole month.

15 days to go and no "doin'" to date.

4 weeks to go...

2011-03-30T14:20:00.002+01:00

How on earth 8 weeks to go, got to 4 weeks to go I'll never know. I don't even know where to start to tell you what has been happening and what still has to be done but want you to know I'm still here. In some shape or form! All the invites have gone out and I've got great feedback on them which I'm so pleased about because really they have been my babies - 15 months in the making and tweaking. We've had dress fittings and I have fallen in love with my dress all over again. I did have some reservations about its niceness, its fit and how it fitted in with all the other elements of the day but when I seen it again and had it all pinned into the right places it was blissful. I'm so happy with how it looks. And I even got to customise it, something I've been thinking about for a long time. The next week will see me and the bridesmaids getting hair trials, me having a St Tropez spray tan skin test and a final meeting with our photographer. At the moment some of my extended family are threatening a "doin'". This entails being tied to a trailor with farming twine - nakedness being optional - and then driven around the nearby villages and countryside while people you know throw rotten concoctions at you. This could include rotten eggs, flour, manure, washing up liquid, dish water, custard. Basically anything that stinks. It may be just an Irish thing, but its supposed to mean that they love you. Definitely not my scene.

8 weeks to go...

2011-02-28T10:49:00.002Z

With just over 8 weeks to go to the big day the “Done” items far outweigh the “To Do” on The List. I never thought I’d see that day. On Saturday I met our florist and it was there that it hit me - this is really happening! The last time I spoke to her I was very vague about something that was happening at some point in the future and on Saturday I had to make some more definite decisions and talk times for the day. She assured me that all the random bits and pieces I have gathered to personalise the wedding will indeed not look like a dog’s dinner which I have worried about in the past!

Mr M is getting very nervous about the day itself. He assures me that he still wants to be married but is thinking about his speech and the fact that people will be looking at him all day.

Funnily I haven’t had any nerves at all yet. I guess at this stage I’m still on autopilot, getting the organising done and my diary is filling up quickly with appointments and reminders.

We still don’t have our rings and I my dress still hasn’t arrived, but apart from a few bits and pieces, most of the leg work is done. When I say my dress hasn’t arrived, it did but I sent it back because there was a flaw in the fabric so a new one had to be made. I’m not sure whether to stress about this or not.

When mum and dad were helping my granda sort through my granny’s things they came across some of her jewellery, which granda gave to dad. In the box was a pair of pearl earrings and I am planning to wear this as my “something old” on the day to honour her since she won’t be there.

So much is going on, I don’t know what to share with you all, so if you have any questions, please ask!

The fortnight from hell...

2011-02-22T14:12:00.001Z

Life around these parts has been tough of late.

My poor granny died. She was getting treatment for cancer - her tumour had gone but the chemo continued. As far as I was concerned she was on the mend and had been transferred to a rehabilitation ward in another hospital so that she could get home and come in for outpatient chemo. Then a week later she died peacefully in her sleep after days of restlessness and morphine. I was her first grandchild to get married and she couldn’t wait.

Our landlord, it turns out, had a dodgy mortgage and shouldn’t have been letting to us. Hence his bank found out and we were given one month’s notice to get out, 2 months before the big day. We gave ourselves two weeks to find somewhere and get out, to avoid having to pay another month’s rent. The wedding invitations are packed away at various stages of development and at this point in time it feels like they’ll never be finished. They are due out on 2 March.
We found out yesterday from neighbours that he had been visiting the house and letting himself in while we were out at work.

Money concerns continue. Having to move house didn’t exactly help the situation. We are several thousand pounds short of what we need and I’m praying every night for a miracle.

I had to attend court to support my sister who had to give evidence against an uncle who physically assaulted her last summer. That was so crap. And scary. We both dreaded it to the point of wanting to throw up for months. Any finally it is over. For us that is, not him.

My car broke down and I was left stranded 50 miles from home. Luckily Mr M came to my rescue – he left work, drove the whole way there, jump started me and got me a part and installed it himself. I love him so much.

I have high blood pressure. The practice nurse and GP feel I might need to go on blood pressure medication. You tell me – is it any wonder I have high blood pressure?

I had a get together with friends which I thought would cheer me up but it ended up just making me feel boring and crap. Mr M tells me it’s because I’ve been under so much pressure and haven’t been able to be myself, that I’ve lost myself and I need to get back into my hobbies to feel Me. He tells me I’m funny and intriguing. To him anyway.

And there you have it folks – the fortnight from hell.

The minister said “Ass”…

2011-01-31T15:04:00.000Z

Mr M and I have opted for a religious ceremony in my church which is also where my Mum and Dad got married in 1977.

Neither of us are particularly religious but as I mentioned earlier Mr M is a traditionalist and I personally couldn’t imagine myself getting married anywhere but in church.

Most Presbyterian ministers are very very strict in their views and I’ve known lots of couples who have been refused permission to marry in the church and have babies baptised, so I was prepared for an interrogation on our religious views, our living arrangements (and hence sleeping arrangements) and our enrolment in a pre-marriage course.

Traditionally you meet with your minister at the Manse to discuss these issues and so after putting off the phone call, I built up the courage to contact my minister to arrange a meeting with him. Unexpectedly, he quite casually said “Some day after Church will do”. I couldn’t believe it!

We met with him on Sunday after service (when there was a baby’s baptism and I got very emotional) and were so surprised by his laid-back and down to earth attitude. We felt very much at ease with him, although I already knew he was a lovely, friendly man I hadn’t needed his services personally before. We talked through what we would like and he told us what was normal practice. He told us what other couples had done and then said “But they did things ass about face”.

Ass about face! I almost choked!

We came away looking forward to having him marry us – a man who we could be relaxed with and happily share that special moment with.

Planning for Baby M...

2011-01-27T12:48:00.000Z

About 6 weeks after Mr M and I started dating we talked about marriage. I think we both knew right from the start that that was where it was heading. I had learnt from all my past relationships what the good and the bad things were to have in relationships and he had all the good ones.

And so we coasted along knowing that it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when. The when became more of an issue when we both realised we were in our 30s and we needed to get a move on. Mr M really felt broody and longed for kiddies but we both wanted to be married before we opened that chapter.

When Mr M popped the question the plan was that we wouldn’t have a very long engagement, the waiting had been done, and we wanted the babies quickly.

There has been many a joke and comment that we will be having a honeymoon baby and Mr M encouraged it!

Now that money is tight and we’ve had to take a loan to cover some of the cost of the wedding, it’s looking like we might have to postpone the baby making. (And that’s assuming that all would go smoothly anyway.)

It seems very ironic that the one thing we needed in order to have babies – marriage – is now going to make us have to wait for them.

In the words of Simply Red, money's too tight to mention...

2011-01-25T11:22:00.008Z

We are now faced with the realisation that in the words of Simply Red, money's too tight to mention. With only a few things left to organise I am now re-evaluating what is really important and what we can get rid of. Otherwise there will have to be a postponement. And I really don't want that.

So... cake.

In the beginning I didn't even want a cake - all that cake-cutting palaver seemed a bit of a nonsense to me and besides I don't even really like cake, but Mr M is a traditionalist (this is something new I learned about him through the planning process) and insisted it did indeed have to be cut. We decided to get the cheapest cake we could get as long as there was one there, but then the old mentality of "if you are going to do it, do it right" came into play and all of a sudden I'm off having tasting sessions and commissioning sketches of bespoke cakes with very un-Irish double layers, like this...

which I just love. (credit unknown - if anyone knows, please let me know)

I went to see Julie and Linsey at the Vanilla Cake Company and had such great fun I forgot I was potentially spending money. And the samples I requested (when I say samples, I mean huge whole cupcakes) were to die for - Zingy Lemon, White Chocolate and Raspberry and Chocolate Fudge Cake. I actually came away wishing I was their real life friend.

A few weeks later the sketches and prices came through and I got a bit excited. These girls really "got me", we were on the same page and it felt good.

(courtesy of Vanilla Cake Company)

The problem is that now I'm having to prioritise the spending, I'm faced with the possibility that I might not get any of these dream cakes. While they are by no means expensive in the grand scheme of wedding spending, and believe me I have seen less cake for a lot more £££, I have to ask myself, given I didn't want a cake in the first place, whether to just go for a Marks and Spencer cake which can also look great but isn't all that creative.

(photo credit)

Any advice to offer a poor bride?

I think I'm in love...

2011-01-18T14:10:00.000Z

I think I'm in love with our wedding stationery. Can you be in love with stationery?

I've spent the last few days designing and making our guestbook which will be made up of 4x6 cards guests can write on with little prompts in case the mind goes blank, which can be slotted into a photo album and this will be filled out with photos of the day.

I've guillotined like a ninja and printed the cards and really, I just can't stop looking at them.

Here's a little sneak peek...

In other news...

2011-01-07T22:51:00.002Z

Please tell me not to freak out when the new girlfriend of one of your hubby to be's groomsmen comes up to you at a party and announces "I'm going to your wedding".

You may have already noted from this blog that I am the type to do the opposite of what I am told so there could be trouble if she keeps this up.

Yes, in all likelihood they will be together at the time and of course, she will be invited if that is the case. But please, should you not politely just not mention it until the bride or groom does, and then you can gush about how pleased you are?

Please tell me not to freak out...

My response to her "Are you indeed?". Catty or not, I don't even think she noticed!

The flower girls...

2011-01-05T16:03:00.006Z

Choosing the flower girl dresses had been put off until recently due to the fact that one is 4 years and the other 6. And kids tend to grow.

I happened to notice a beauty of a dress in Debenhams a few months before Christmas but knew it was much to early to guess what size they would be in April, so left it behind. It was different to the others - soft, floaty and designer.

As luck would have it when I went back after Christmas, the dresses were in the sale. Bingo! When I say dresses, there was only one but the other is on order and fingers crossed there won't be any problems with this.

So we had a fashion show with the girls.

We had the chat on the way to my mum's house for the big try-on about what a secret was and what they were to tell "people" when they asked what the dresses looked like. They loved the fact that we all had a special secret and told me they would say "I don't know" to everything they were asked! They had to be warned especially about Aunty Jennifer who didn't seem to understand the whole "the dresses are a surprise"-thing and was actually rather upset that I wouldn't allow her to see them in advance.

The girls done exactly what all flower girls do - what I did myself when I was one - hold out their dress and twirl. They couldn't stop swishing them about and it was so sweet.

So that's another thing crossed off the list and I'm so glad I decided to let Mr M's two nieces do this job for us.

Famous last words eh? I'm sure on the day they'll be less angelic and will be running wild, jumping in puddles with chocolate dropped down the front of them.

photo with permission of the fabulously talented Janine Walker

The sweet things stats show you... and Happy Christmas!

2010-12-25T19:19:00.004Z

Yes I know I haven't blogged for weeks and now I'm doing it on Christmas Day, of all days... Happy Christmas everybody!

Boringly, I checked my stats. I was online anyway and just thought I'd check...

Someone visited who I don't think will visit again - it was more of an accident I think. Because what they searched for was "words to say when you get down on one knee" and they found me.

And I'm so happy for whoever they are preparing to ask! Made me smile.

A planning update...

2010-12-14T12:09:00.005Z

A little bit of a wedding update for you today.

I’ve been losing a bit of interest in the wedding planning but I’m glad that that level of intensity has passed me by. It really takes over your life and consumes all your thoughts – well it did mine anyway. And what really grounded me in the end was the wedding in Tuscany. It made me realise that, no, I wasn’t the only person ever to get married and other people have lives too!

Bought my wedding shoes which I adored. I would love to share these with you because they are the prettiest darn things I have ever seen but I have readers who are guests and they are top colour secret. (Hence the beautiful shoes photo above instead!) The nerdy ‘To Do’ list and geeky budget spreadsheet were adjusted but after getting very excited when they arrived, I tried them on and just didn’t feel it. They were gorgeous to look at but just didn’t look as good on. In the end I sent them back because they didn’t give me ‘the feeling’. Yes, they are only shoes and I’m not even a big shoe fan but they had to feel good.

I love adjusting the To Do list and the budget spreadsheet and wish there was more I could get on/off it.

The lovely flower lady has been booked and I’m looking forward to meeting with her again to go over our plans.

I went along to a cake tasting appointment with my sister when the time came to book a baker. We had a brilliant brain storming session as well as some divine cake to taste! Chocolate Fudge Cake, White Chocolate and Raspberry and Zingy Lemon were the three flavours I chose to sample – all three were delicious and we’re currently waiting on sketches of what our cake could look like.

The bridesmaid dresses are due in at the end of January so getting a bit impatient about that because I expected them before Christmas.

Waiting to be called back for a second measuring session for my dress. This was due to happen just before they started making mine so the fact that this hasn’t happened yet is stressing me a bit because I also expected it to be in just before Christmas.

Card has been bought for the stationery and final draft of all invites etc has been settled.

Hairdressing and beauty appointments have all been made.

Wow when I look at this it makes me feel quite satisfied!

I’m hoping to enjoy Christmas and then let the mania start in the New Year at which stage we can say “We are getting married in April!” instead of “next year” which was a big turning point when we entered 2010.

Photo above by the fabulous NI photographer Paula O'Hara.

Please go check out her website for some seriously inspirational wedding photography.

One for the scrapbookers...

2010-11-20T09:13:00.007Z

At last I managed to do a layout - the first of the Tuscany ones. Well if they can't inspire me nothing can!

I actually really enjoyed playing with paper again and it was all down to Mr M. At dinner one night this week he asked why I don't do it anymore. He told me how much he loved it and thought they were beautiful no matter what I felt about them not being as good as other people's. And then he told me he wants me to scrapbook an album of our wedding photos and that put the fear in me. We'll see whether this actually happens but I'd need to find my mojo to do that!

Wedding-wise, this week we have been to that place called "Should We Postpone The Wedding To 2012?" and back.

Snapshots of Tuscany... (photo heavy!)

2010-11-03T15:19:00.011Z

Well, I knew I would have a fabulous time.
Really, the best trip ever, and Mr M was nowhere in sight. If I could have shipped him over I would never have left.
It was a great chance for me to catch up with my girlfriends, who haven’t all been together for over 2 years and I realised how much I miss and need my friends more in my life. I’ve been dreaming about us all being back there together again every night since!
I want to share with you some photos from the trip. I did rather rashly buy a new lens for this trip, thinking that I couldn’t go without it and in the end never even took it out of its little case. Shame on me.

The town of San Gimignano is so pretty, rustic and photogenic…

The wedding, bride and groom absolutely gorgeous...

Mmm, would put you in the mood to get married yourself ;)

Talking Italian...

2010-10-19T10:35:00.000+01:00

Mr M made me laugh last night.
We were lying in bed, just about to fall asleep when I started talking, as I always do. I was jibbering on about how I needed to find out about some Italian phrases to get by when I'm away and how I could find them out, did I know any already etc etc etc etc (be quiet and go to sleep already!). I asked Mr M did he know any Italian and after a short pause he said "You talkin' to me?" from Taxi Driver.
Just reminded me why I love him.

Hello Tuscany...

2010-10-18T09:58:00.000+01:00

The posts are coming thick and fast these days eh! Don't get carried away. I'm going to be missing for a little while (not that you'd usually notice by the general lack of posts!) to travel to Tuscany, Italy for one of my best friends' weddings. This is something I just had to borrow some money from the wedding pot for so I could join her and her lovely guy for their big day.

She is marrying a fabulous photographer, Mark McCormick. Mark is a very successful Northern Ireland based photographer who shoots weddings as well as travel, press and fashion to name a few. He has launched a website after much badgering from everyone he knows to share his work. There are some stunning images on his site, markmccormickphotography.com, and I recommend you have a look, if only for a little daydream about the places he has been!

I’m sure there will be beauty and inspiration overload in Tuscany and my little camera friend will definitely be joining me so hopefully I’ll have some photos to share with you afterwards.

photo from here

The one where Mr M asserts his independence...

2010-10-17T12:02:00.001+01:00

As a follow up to this post, Mr M carried through with his intention to pick the suits himself and took a whole day off work to dedicate to the task. He 'Googled' some local firms he had heard off and made an appointment for that afternoon at one chosen shop - solo. No best man.

He confessed to me afterwards that

a) he found when he got there that the staff/owner expected his other half to be with him and said something to the effect of "You're a brave man!"

b) he wanted me to go with him again so I could help him decide on ties and pay a deposit.

So off we went to met with Aaron at Groom Formal Hire in Banbridge - who was really lovely, absolutely knew his stuff and greeted me as "The Boss". At one point he tried to tell me that there was something I couldn't do but I had to warn him not to use those words or I would be determined that that was exactly what I wanted.

I had a fab time dressing up someone else and them loving it! Mr M looked really hot and after trying on a few looks I told him which I thought he looked most fanciable in.

The deal was done and Aaron reassured me that I could bring Mr M back anytime to dress him up and fancy him!

Another job ticked off the list.

photo from here

6 years with Mr M...

2010-10-16T09:52:00.000+01:00

Today it is 6 whole years since I got together with my Mr M and I can barely believe it.
Neither of us had been with anyone longer than 8 months before we met each other and after 2, 3, 4 years we would be so surprised that we had managed to be with each other for so long. Now I’m not surprised any more.
I never imagined when we were first dating that I could love him more and more every year, I thought we would run out of things to talk about or grow bored of each other but in fact it’s the opposite.
I love him more now than I ever did. And I think living together has done that. We are a team now and we have to stick together and get things sorted out.
It’s funny, over the last few weeks I’ve been told by 3 different people that we are perfect for each other and that we have the perfect relationship. It’s definitely far from that but I’m more than happy with my lot.
He told me just the other night that he loves me for “how I get on” (hmm think that means I’m a bit of a doofus), that he loves my humour (even though it’s weird) and my laugh and crazy ideas.
I love him for his kindness, his affection and how me makes me feel confident to be my true self.
If you’re reading, Happy Anniversary baby x

UK National Chocolate Week...

2010-10-14T11:39:00.004+01:00

I heard today that 11-17 October 2010 is National Chocolate Week in the UK so I thought I’d share my favourite chocolate recipe with you. This is from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook but I found it in Easy Living Magazine about a year ago.

Things can get messy as the mixture is pretty runny but you will get the most moist, fluffy and delicious cupcakes ever!

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 – Preparation 20 mins – Cooking 25 mins, plus cooling and icing time

100g (3 ½ oz) plain flour
20g (¾ oz) cocoa powder
140g (4 ½ oz) caster sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
40g (1 ¼ oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
120ml (4 fl oz) whole milk
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 quality of chocolate frosting (see recipe below)
Chocolate vermicelli or edible silver balls to decorate

1. Heat the oven to 170ºC (gas mark 3). Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper cases.
2. Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld whisk) and beat on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency. Don’t overbeat the mixture, as the sponge will be too heavy.
3. Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a jug, then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture. Beat to combine and turn the mixer up to high to get rid of any lumps.
4. Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until smooth. Do not over-mix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two thirds full and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touched and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. When the cupcakes are cold, decorate!

Chocolate Frosting

300g (10 oz) icing sugar, sifted
100g (3 ½ oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
40g (1 ¼ oz) cocoa powder, sifted
40ml (1 fl oz) whole milk

1. Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on a medium/slow speed until the mixture comes together.
2. Turn the mixer down to slow and add the milk a couple of tablespoons at a time. Once all the milk has been incorporated turn the mixer up to high. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer it’s beaten, the fluffier it becomes.

My last batch ended up looking like this:

Enjoy!

Irish talent...

2010-10-04T11:27:00.004+01:00

Today I’d like to give a shout out to all the lovely Irish bride bloggers who have sent readers my way! They are such a talented bunch that if you haven’t actually arrived with me directly from them, you should definitely make a virtual trip over their way.

First up is Lust Covet Envy. Marie is a graphic designer from Dublin so you can just imagine the level of detail she would go into for her wedding. She showcases all the things she, well… lusts, covets and envies!

Bride and Joy is my latest find who shares her wedding planning fun and other great ideas with us brides to be. She has a great DIY and Downloadables section which I know will be very popular.

Beating Myself Into A Dress is one sassy bride. She says it how it is and has some honest and witty insights into the wedding industry. She’ll have you laughing, nodding your head and cringing all at once!

Sweet Kinds of Everything shares a real mix of her interests, from fashion to renovating her cottage as well as her plans and finds for her wedding in June 2011.

Tinkerbelle Bride is literally newly wed this weekend past! She is always bringing us visual goodies and lots of wedding inspiration from around the web as well guest posts from Irish wedding suppliers.

Happy reading everyone!

photo found here

What makes a great photo...?

2010-09-24T14:26:00.001+01:00

Today I came to a realisation. Great photography doesn’t always depend on the photographer. Sometimes it depends on how beautiful the subject is. Well that is how I found myself perceiving great photography today.
And that is a little scary because if my wedding or I don’t turn out as beautiful as I imagined, does that mean my photos won’t be either?
I’m really hoping that I don’t see my wedding photos and rather than the gorgeous wedding I expected to see I just see plain ole’ me and a few pretty things.

Vintage finds...

2010-09-23T12:50:00.003+01:00

There is probably quite a bit of stuff that I have now organised for the big day but forgotten to tell you about so I’ve had a little look through my colossal “To Do” list and see what I have checked off.

- Book videographer
- Order of Service designed
- Bridesmaid dresses ordered
- Save the Dates printed and sent
- Honeymoon flights and hotel booked

And of course not only are they added to the “Done” list they are struck off the “To Do” list. Double listing. Love it. It’s amazing how this list has changed my outlook on planning for our wedding. I feel so much more in control now that I have it all written down.

(Note to self: Actually you’ve something more to add to the “To Do” list – Update wedding planning scrapbook.)

The cutest shop opened closeby to where we live, the first of its kind in these parts – It’s Vintage Darling. I went along last week and scooped up this gorgeous china tea set and gold photo frame.
I’ll be using both in the wedding décor in some way. I’m thinking maybe teacup centrepieces with strings of pearls tumbling out of them.

The frame I want to use as a sign for our guest book. I was giving this some thought the other day and think I have decided that rather than a traditional guestbook we may have 4x6 sheets of card, printed similar to our other stationery, where guests can write us a message/wish and then insert them into a pretty photo album and we’ll add photos from the day at a later stage. Of course the idea of wedding wish trees etc are very appealing but more DIY than I can manage at the minute. My mum is starting to worry about all the work I am giving myself but I think it will be worth it in the end. That’s what it’s all about after all – making it personal to us.

In the meantime the frame has pride of place in my dining room with my favourite quote from Mary Jean Iron in:

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Still loving those normal days.

Getting busy with the digi...

2010-09-08T15:06:00.003+01:00

In the early days of this blog most of my readers were scrapbookers who came to visit through Shimelle's Blogging For Scrapbookers class. Sadly I think most, if not all, of these people are now gone and now I don't know who my readers are.

(By the way, I know you are out there, I've seen you visit, but no-one says hello. Don't be shy.)

In case there are any scrapbookers still out there, I want to show you what I have been up to today. Digi scrapping!

I read on Donna's blog - Button Garden - that she was taking part in a course by Jessica Sprague called Up & Running With Photoshop - Beginning Digital Scrapbooking. At first I was considering taking part myself and then I realised that over the last few months I have probably already picked up the skills to digi scrap but hadn't realised. So today I downloaded two kits - one free from Shabby Princess and one from Jessica Sprague - and got to business. It was much easier than I thought and a year a go there is no way I would have contemplated even trying this.

These are definitely created in my favourite graphic look (I'm going back to my roots here!) and it felt great to be doing simple pages again with no fuss or pressure to use all the latest trendy bits and pieces. I think digi scrapping may be the way forward for me if I could find a printer to do them justice. (As a side, I know drop shadows would be wonderful here but I seem to have lost them from my menu in Photoshop.)

Are there any scrapbooking friends still out there?

Wish it luck...

2010-09-07T16:03:00.001+01:00

There’s been some more progress on the wedding front in so far as the bridesmaid dresses have now been ordered. I searched bridal shops high and low to find a stockist of the designer I wanted who had a dress in the colour I wanted but alas, to no avail. Therefore I have taken a huge leap of faith and ordered dresses that I have no idea how they will look. (Such bad English I know.) This is major for a control freak like me. I had a little swatch of course but it could look completely different when the dresses arrive. In the end I decided that it was the colour I wanted all along and so no other would do.
I’m dying to show you all what they look like but know that some guests do/may read from time to time and so I’m keeping it under my hat. You’ll have to wait until April to find out what they are like!

Mr M announced the other night that, for want of better words, it is not my business to accompany him to get his and his attendants’ suits! Needless to say at first I wasn’t best pleased with this as the best man had planted this idea in his head but after some thought I came around to the idea. After all I know what kind of suit he is looking for and so trust him completely that they will look good. I’m just a little nervous about the fact that he doesn’t know what we will look like and now I don’t know what they will look like so what if it all looks like a dog’s dinner when its put together. Ok, breathe… Choose your battles Angela.

I stumbled across a new-to-me wedding blog today – a UK one! I’m sure some of you more savvy brides-to-be might already be aware of the fab Rock My Wedding but I ended up searching through 29 pages before I decided that was enough stalking done for the day. I just couldn’t help myself clicking on “Older Entries”. Fabulous photography to be found over there as well as good detailed information to accompany it so I was able to find out where everyone got their gorgeous shoes etc.

In other news I bought a gym ball. I don’t mind admitting I’m on the “meaty” side. I like to reassure myself that if we all get diseased I’ll last the longest. But I was introduced to someone the other day – I came across The Cherry Blossom Girl (who recently got married and posted her wedding photo) and she has been the thorn in my side ever since. You see, she made me realise that I want to be a wife that Mr M is proud of. And right now even I’m not proud of me, so I have to start somewhere and so the gym ball is going to get it.

Wish it luck…

Project 365: 8/12

2010-08-29T19:00:00.006+01:00

Hello lovelies,

Looking back, two posts in one month is pure rubbish.

To try to squeeze in another in the nick of time I thought I would share with you some photos from the last month or so from my Project 365 or what I have come to call "my photo a day" when I am begging my loved ones to allow me to take a pick snap.

I hope those of you who are doing a similar project are still managing to get your photos taken. I have missed quite a few days but no biggie I say.

So without further ado:

I had a dream...

2010-08-09T11:30:00.002+01:00

Last night I had a dream about my wedding dress... or rather lack of it.

It was my wedding day, 15 until I left the house and I was getting dressed alone. I put on my underwear and looked down and knew I hadn't picked it but thought it was prettier than mine.
I put on my dress and looked in the mirror and it wasn't my dress.
It was a dark biscuit colour with broderie anglaise and huge buttons on the front.
I screamed like a child "Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, its not my dress".
Poor mum told me it looked lovely on me anyway but I insisted I wasn't leaving the house until my own dress was picked up from the shop - no matter how late that made me for the church!

The most important purchase of all...

2010-08-05T11:49:00.003+01:00

Yes, that's right the wedding gown has been bought! And the dress is so new (2011 collection) the designer herself hasn't got a photograph yet - believe me I've asked her - so unfortunately I won't be able to share.

I will say though that it has a classic, timeless look which gives a great hourglass figure and will lend itself beautifully to a vintage style wedding. Oh I'm getting excited just typing that!

Also on the wedding front our honeymoon hotel has been booked. We are going to Florida for 2 weeks for a bit of a road trip with a base in Orlando where Mr M's parents have an apartment. So although we have been before, we will hopefully be avoiding the Disney parks this time and exploring other parts of the state.

I am really looking forward to our honeymoon and have great memories of a holiday together in Florida, cruising down the I4 in the car with George Strait singing "How Bout Them Cowgirls" on the radio, a song no band or DJ in Northern Ireland ever has when I request it!

(Edited to add: If anyone has any suggestions of great places to visit in the Orlando or general Florida area, don't be shy about getting in touch. I'd like to see "real" Florida.)

Life in a series of little film montages...

2010-07-28T11:56:00.000+01:00

Wouldn’t life be great if the bad bits were nothing but a series of film montages? You know the bits in the movies where Rocky is in training really it is condensed into 3 minutes or when Doris Day in Calamity Jane gives her house a makeover in a total of about 2.34 minutes?

I usually approach the difficult stuff in life with the belief that it will pass by like this and then when it doesn’t, I get very disappointed.

Imagine how great it would be if a year of losing weight - all that going to the gym, eating lettuce for dinner and running the roads – could be condensed into 1.5 minutes of film.

Same goes I guess for raising difficult children, making curtains and cleaning the house.

That’s the kind of life I’d love.

Centre stage...

2010-07-22T09:28:00.006+01:00

I've been spending way too much time thinking about tablecentres when I should really be making a decision about which dress I am going to order.

Two dresses - one with a top I want the other a bottom. Since that is not at all possible I'm going to have to choose one but really its a win-win situation. And I'm excited.

My maids also tried some dresses yesterday and we found one that made both of them look fabulous! Now I understand why some brides put their maids in naff dresses - I fear they may look better than me!

I've been thinking about dresses so much that last night I dreamt Mr M left me the day I was to order it. He is away to England working this week so I guess that's also factoring in my dreaming.

Anyway this morning all I want to think about it tablecentres. On a day trip to Bangor, Co Down at the beginning of the week I found pretty lanterns I could imagine on my tables. In Ikea that afternoon I picked up 30 tealight holders the same as I have at home, for only 39p each - 39p!

So hey presto with a little lace tape there and a paper flower here I came up with this:

And although it needs a lot of tweaking, tidying up and refining, it's looking like something I could love. That makes me very happy. And what's even better is that this little set up (at a grand total of £36.70 for candles and lanterns on 10 tables - yes that's £3.67 per table) would save us around £300 in flowers.

Pretty wedding buys...

2010-07-20T14:00:00.001+01:00

Today I wanted to share with you some things I've been buying for the wedding.

The stationery has been a permanent fixture in my thoughts since the day I got engaged (and a little before!) and I've been designing and redesigning for the last year even though I have no decision yet on colour scheme. I came across this Etsy seller - Swann and Smerlin - from Ireland via Tinkerbelle's blog and fell in love with some of the things she had on sale. And with everything at a good price I couldn't resist.

I've loved the idea of binding my Order of Service (ceremony programme) with twine and so ordered some black and white to have a play with the samples.

I also ordered lace tape which was more beautiful in my hand that I imagined it would be. This was to be put on the front of the envelopes but now I've seen how pretty it is I don't know if I want to part with it.

The parcel, when it arrived, was so pretty and beautifully wrapped that it was an occasion in itself to open it. My family were watching me oooh-ing and ahh-ing with amusement - my Mum even called me a geek! It came with a lovely personal message and I'll happily buy from Odette again.

The next of the purchases was these padded hangers for my wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses for getting ready photo taking. I read some advice that I should have pretty hangers for the photos or I would regret having plastic hangers in my photos for ever. I'm so happy with these and they only cost £1.50 each, with the 3rd one free when I bought 2. (Found here on ebay.)

And the most exciting of all - the Anthropologie mugs I've been lusting after for longer that I care to admit! At only £6 each I know they aren't overly expensive but every time I went to click on "buy" I told myself it was silly. But after seeing more and more pics on the web of them in other people's weddings I decided to go for it.

This is where they are also popped up and how they will hopefully look:

(Source: Ken Kienow)

(Source: Zofia Waig)

Save the dates...

2010-07-15T11:34:00.003+01:00

I hadn't ever really meant to have save the dates for our guests because they might cause some confusion over who was invited and who wasn't. In our family only the aunts and uncles are invited to family weddings because there are so many cousins (my mum has 10 brothers and sisters and I have 30 full cousins on that side alone, never mind their partners and children) and that's the way its always been. However there may be 1 or 2 I want to invite who I am closest to and so save the dates were just going to be too controversial.

However Mr M has quite a few family members in USA who we wanted to invite and they would definitely need more than the standard 6-8 weeks' notice to book flights etc. Of course I was more than happy to design even more stationery so got to work.

This has obviously been anonomised so my apologies for any "feeling" that takes away from it.

They have definitely been inspired by stationery designers such as Wedding Paper Divas and Chocolate Butterbean who are both amazing and inspirational, so I want to make that clear from the start and they are for my personal use only. The bunting is a free template from The Wedding Chicks who have some amazing stationery templates available on their site.

I'd love to know what you think of them.

My "shake" came last night...

2010-07-02T10:53:00.003+01:00

The "shake" I needed came last night when I went to visit my granny who is so ill at the moment that we, like her, are hoping she doesnt have to suffer for very much longer.
And it really puts it all in perspective doesn't it?

I've reassured myself that none of my guests will be at my parallel universe weddings and so will never know what they are missing out on. I've decided to be like Pamela Anderson who once said that she didn't like people to expect too much of her so that when they met her they would be suitably impressed by her intellect. I'm going to have to keep hush about all the things I plan in my head so my guests don't expect anything too impressive.

Tomorrow is my last day wedding dress shopping and thereafter a decision will be made and a return visit to one of the lucky shops.
My mum is my granny's full-time carer and these last few appointments have been made for her sake if nothing else, for if she weren't leaving to come with me she wouldn't ever take a break from caring.

I'll be happy when this decision is made so that I can move forward on the little details I love so much which can't be planned until a colour scheme and "feel" has been established.

My mum - who knows me all too well - has warned me that when the dress decision is made, I have forget about all others.

My weddings in my parallel universes...

2010-07-01T16:09:00.001+01:00

I’ve always been an over-thinker.
Everything I enjoy gets thought about and thought about until it becomes a bit of a chore. So when I discover something new I research it to death and then it loses all its appeal.
This is what happened with my scrapbooking. I read so many blogs and searched through so many galleries that I lost confidence in what I was doing myself and it just didn’t compare to other people’s work.
Now I’m afraid it is starting with the wedding. I’ve always found it difficult to make decisions (this is where the researching comes in again) and the wedding ones have been the hardest. I’m trying to get the best suppliers I can get and then I’m having to compromise to fit the budget. Then I have regrets about settling. Then I reassure myself that when it is all over I’ll be glad I didn’t spend £2000 on a wedding DVD and then I panic that it would have been the best DVD ever.
I sort of wish I could start from scratch with my bookings.
I’m seeing all my weddings in my parallel universes and they don’t look like the one I’ve booked.
{sigh}
Will someone please give me a shake?

I am having sensory overload from all the wedding blogs at the moment and yet I can’t stop myself looking. I’m afraid I’m going to want to give up planning this wedding and yet I can’t stop myself looking.

Hello again...

2010-06-18T15:27:00.005+01:00

Ok it’s about time I brought everyone up to speed on what has been going on. Don’t get excited – there has been no drama: just everyday life.

Dress shopping has commenced. It’s amazing how the experience varied from shop to shop. I know where I definitely won’t buy a dress, where I’d love to buy a dress but didn’t find “the one” and where I want to buy “the one”, whether this is the cheapest place I can find it or not! I have had so much fun dress shopping – much more than I thought I would. I took my sis, 13 year old niece (2 BMs) and Mum and had prepped everyone well before we went and warned them if they weren’t in the best form that day or weren’t overly enthusiastic they had to pretend to be for my sake. Diva, moi?
So I think the one has been found. I fell in love with the first dress I tried on in Chantilly Lace and got so excited I could have squealed with joy! A few dresses later I put on what was perfect on the hanger and looked fab on, but for me didn’t have the same specialness that the first did, even though my helpers preferred this one. So for the last 2 weeks I have been looking at the same online photos of these two dresses over and over again.
Just a couple more shops I want to go to before I commit but I’m fairly happy and certain that one of these will be ordered.

I’ve been busy researching videographers and watching sample DVDs. The one I want is £1650 and that is a specially reduced price because I grovelled. Mr M refuses to even discuss paying this for a wedding video!

I'll share this photo with you:

I've been playing around and trying to find things I can do myself rather than paying out for them. This was made using a £2 bunch of flowers from Tesco and some florist wire I got on ebay for about £1. I was pretty happy with how this turned out and it lasted a good 3 days before wilting.

I’ve been busy building our wedding website which has been right up my street. I did fancy having a go at using Mr Site and waited to hear from the lovely Loulabelle about how she got on with it. (Loulabelle, as well as being a fellow bride to be, fab blogger and sweet lady, is launching her new wedding planning business Loulabelle’s Wedding Belles and I’m so excited for her.)

Before I managed to buy the Mr Site software I discovered that gorgeous stationery designers Wedding Paper Divas had a special offer for a year’s free hosting in conjunction with Nearly Weds worth $49. How lucky was that! I’m so pleased with it and can’t wait to finish and launch it for all my guests to nosy at.

Thanks for hanging around to the end, I know its been a longer than usual post. For all who still leave me comments, thank you so much. I know I’m a lazy blogger and I appreciate that you still visit!

I'm very excited...!!

2010-05-29T08:43:00.005+01:00

I just have to quickly share my excitement with you all today!

As if I wasn't already v. excited today to go wedding dress shopping for the very first time ever (and I've been thinking this morning already about how emotional I will probably feel when I put that first one on), while doing my usual blog cruise around my favourites, what do I see.....?

My face on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog, Dear Lizzie! A scrapbooking goddess! Get out!

I took part in her Shades of Summer European leg, facilitated by Kristen Reinhard and took my snap one day on a trip to the Irish seaside at Kilkeel, Co Down. The idea is that the shades make their way around Europe before making it back to Kristen, unfortunately they got lost somewhere in around Scandinavia I believe, but my snap made it all the way back to Lizzie in the US.

Its going to be a good day I think :)

An epic to do list...

2010-05-20T15:18:00.006+01:00

This is the dress that put me in the mood for wedding dress shopping.

An Oleg Cassini number (discovered on Style Me Pretty) that doesn't seem able to be found anywhere in the whole of Ireland which is just my luck. It's got everything going for it in my eyes - soft and pretty, tulle, no train and with corsage detailing.
I've made two appointments for 5 June and I have to admit that now the appointments are made I am so excited.

In fact, the whole wedding of this gorgeous bride was so pretty in colour and detail that I bookmarked it for future reference. If you want an insight into what I am currently obsessing over look here.

A band has been booked. Let me hear you say it... Hallelujah! This has been an ongoing saga since last October and the one thing I dreaded organising from the day we got engaged. (We have yet to see them play live but the booking is made subject to that viewing.)

Today I made a "Done" and "To Do" list. The good news is that there are 9 things on the "Done" list, and the bad news is that there are 93 things on the "To Do" list. Rather than freak me out though, I find some comfort in this and hope it will keep me focused. It is *very* detailed and as long as I have a list I'm a happy girl.

I'm counting on this list to keep me sane!

photo credit

A cupcake story...

2010-05-12T20:55:00.002+01:00

Today I was off work as I had some work to get done on my car and after a lazy morning I got to baking some cupcakes for visitors who cancelled in the end. Now we are going to eat them and that is not in any way good for the pre-marital figure.

Of course I had to take a photo to share with you and I tried out some tips from the lovely Ishtar Olivera who is currently doing a series of photography tutorials on how to style your own photoshoot. I think I've a long way to go but had fun anyway. (Ok I admit this is the only reason you are getting to hear about the cupcakes otherwise I would have secretly scoffed them like I usually do! Don't judge me.)

The simple things...

2010-05-10T20:50:00.002+01:00

Isn't it funny how the simplest things can make you happy? Yesterday evening I went to bed with the biggest smile on my face because Mr M and I had had our first barbeque at home. After years of talking about getting one, he eventually splashed out on Saturday and after a few false starts with the gas cylinder (yes, you may say its cheating) we had a meat feast of smoked hickory ribs and vintage cheddar and chive burgers. It was so lovely to eat outside, just the two of us, relaxed and happy.

I told you I was a cheap date.

And because I didn't take a photo, you get to enjoy Mr M's Lennox and his huge tongue :)

One year from today...

2010-04-27T10:21:00.006+01:00

One year from today I will be becoming Mrs Marshall. Exciting isn't it?!

The sky is grey, threatening rain, so not the bright morning I was hoping for that would inspire me with confidence.

I booked my make-up artist this week, a local girl who was so sweet when I met her and I'm meeting with the florist, a friend of Mr M's, on Saturday. God help her - she let me know she would be bringing along photos of her past work so I could get ideas but little does she know I have practically a full folder of flower photos I want to show her. She'll not know what has hit her!

Looking over all the inspiring pictures I have kept since I got engaged, I noticed that at the start there isn't one photo of flowers and at that stage I would have said they weren't important to me at all, but recently nearly every one I've kept is of floral centrepieces and bouquets. Funny.
At the beginning I mostly collected screenshots of colour palettes, but now I'm focusing on a specific colour scheme there is definitely a recurring theme in what I collect. Here's hoping my bridesmaids suit the colours I have in mind!

I've got a contact for my card and envelopes for the stationery I'm doing myself so I'm making some progress with the small stuff and it feels good. Still no dress shopping yet though! I'm dreading it.

We're going to see a band play at our venue on Friday night and hopefully we'll be happy with what we see to move that forward.

I have such trouble making decisions and then when they are finally made, I reconsider and reconsider them until I drive myself mental instead of letting go and moving on to the next thing. That's the hardest part of wedding planning for lil' over-thinker me!

photo credit

My new favourite blog...

2010-04-15T12:55:00.005+01:00

Today I discovered what is officially my new favourite blog... THXTHXTHX, where Leah Dieterich writes thank you notes to everything. These are some of my favourites.

Dear Benign Objects,

Thank you for introducing me to THXTHXTHX and brightening my day. I love when you do that.

Until next time, Angela

Say hello to my little friend...

2010-04-13T21:04:00.006+01:00

I have a new friend, well more like a little baby for me. At last I got my hands on a Canon 450D! I've been very fussy about what I wanted and waited patiently until the right deal came along for me.

We (we being my camera and I) went out today at lunchtime for a dander around St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh for some happy snapping. Of course I made the mistake of having my white balance settings wrong but thankfully it shoots in RAW so I was able to correct it later. Listen to me, like I know what I'm talking about!!

Here's just a few for your viewing pleasure. Next time, when I know all the settings a little better I'll venture inside. It's amazing in there but I was afraid of my flash going off and giving me away!

There's been another new member to our wider family since this month - Theodore The Hamster. This was my niece's 13th birthday present from her mum and I love him just as much as she does.

In other news, this month so far has seen sunny days spent in the garden and a day trip to Newcastle, Co. Down with Mr M.

Honey, my parents' dog is very suspicious of the camera and absolutely refuses to look at me when I have it out unless I say the word "sweeties" and then she wants to know me.

This day trip to Newcastle took place on "Easter Wednesday", the day we get married next year. What a pity I didn't realise it at the time - it would have felt all the more romantic!

Note to Angela: Easter is over...

2010-04-08T22:13:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post for you today because I remembered I had this photo even though Easter is over and gone, being back to work and all. This is how many Easter eggs my sister and I got every year from family and neighbours. Mum says we would still have chocolate eggs left to eat in the summertime but judging by the rate I am able to consume chocolate now I don't know how true this is!

This year I got one egg - from my mum, who had one for Mr M too. He woke up on Easter Sunday and promptly announced that he had forgotten to get me an egg. I made him feel guilty for a few minutes before I confessed that I hadn't bought him one either. He was further disgusted later in the day when he realised his mum had bought him an egg and hadn't got one for me. I think she decided it was the last thing I needed, her being obsessed with weight and me obviously needing to lose half of mine before the big day.

I guess as this is supposed to be a wedding blog it might be interesting to point out that in 2011 we get married on the Wednesday after Easter, so even though the date will be totally different, going by its relation to Easter means that this time next year I will be a married woman!

Just what I've been looking for...

2010-03-25T12:39:00.006Z

I was so excited to see these pictures posted on Divine Twine's blog after being so disappointed when I discovered their site about 6 months ago, to find that they didn't do their pretty twine in any colours I had in mind for my wedding theme. Now I just have to wait patiently on their release mid-June-ish.

I'm planning to bind the wedding service programmes with baker's twine and was trying to decide what colour would suit best and these could be the answer to my prayers.

It would seem that there is one more new colour to come.

I can hardly contain my excitement - if it's cream or peach I will burst.

An open letter to scrapbooking Me...

2010-03-24T10:03:00.002Z

It’s funny how when you first discovered scrapbooking in January 2008 you couldn’t get enough of it. It coincided with your discovery of blogs and you became addicted to finding new scrapping blogs for your Favourites list. You would devour every word on them and keep copies of layouts to recreate yourself. You spent a small fortune on supplies and would spend most of your free time browsing the online shops and checking out the latest products. You spent every free moment you had scrapping and your family loved seeing your new pages although you were always a bit shy to show them.
Then you joined Scrapagogo, a kit club, so that you could get a good variety of embellishments that you couldn’t afford to buy otherwise and your other online purchases slowed down and eventually stopped.
When you moved into your first home together with Mr M, he allowed you to use a whole bedroom to devote to scrapping which you turned into an office and you thought you were the luckiest girl.
When you treated myself to a lovely laptop, having had an old dog of a PC you bought from work when they had replaced theirs, you discovered digital products and Photoshop. It was around this time you got broadband into the house as well. I know some of your scrapping time transferred to this and it’s not that you were scrapping digitally, you were just “messing around”, creating logos, designing cards, editing photos and that’s ok.
You joined some online groups on UK Scrappers and really felt part of the “scrapping community” for a short time. In February 2009 you entered one of your pages for the first time to a UK scrapbooking magazine, Scrapbook Inspirations, for publication and could not believe it when you received an email to say they wanted to include it! It was published in June 2009 this was definitely a high point for you.
In February 2009 your aunt also asked you to do an album for her daughter’s 18th birthday in the space of one month and gave you photos she wanted included that meant over 40 pages needed to be done. I know some serious scrappers would think nothing of doing 40 pages in a month but when you have to have it done, and it’s not just because you are on a roll, that’s a different story. I think it’s at this point that you really stopped enjoying it so much. Would you agree?
You continued to subscribe to Scrapagogo and every month would get excited about it arriving but in the end you weren’t even lifting the goodies out of the box again after looking at them.
Scrapbook Inspirations folded and I am sensing that for a lot of UK scrappers, without the possibility of getting published, the motivation to make great pages just wasn’t there anymore. Well it seemed that way for you anyway.
Now quite a few of the scrapbookers in the blogs you devoured have moved on a little too. Stacy, Laura, SJ, Rachel who write blogs you were addicted to, barely mention scrapbooking now. Maybe they still do just as much and don’t mention it now.
Angela, you definitely seem to take really strong interests in something and become engrossed in them and then they pass and you move on to something else. Now it’s designing your wedding stationery, wedding blogs, photography blogs and cameras, cameras, cameras. You are driving yourself crazy thinking about wanting/needing a DLSR! Just wait, you will get it when you can.
This month you cancelled your subscription to Scrapagogo and definitely felt very torn about it, knowing that it is unlikely you will buy many more goodies for yourself and it’s like saying a final goodbye to scrapbooking really.
You recently logged in again to UK Scrappers and seen that 6 people had left new comments on your gallery and this excited you and you thought maybe it would motivate you to scrap over St Patrick’s Day when you were off work but alas, no pages.
I’m so so sad that you’re not in full swing to record all your wedding plans although you have a small album you keep updated when you make bookings and record some feelings in.
I really hope that you do come back to scrapbooking in the future when you have babies, but having babies just to re-spark the scrapping bug is out of the question. Right?
At that stage no doubt you’ll be addicted to baby blogs.

Reception decor/tablescape love...

2010-03-20T19:10:00.004Z

Today I thought I'd share with you the chairs that we have booked for our reception.

This was taken at a wedding fair and the tablecloths will be a little shorter, just skimming the ground and hopefully the seat pads will be on the seats more firmly!

I'm getting really excited about the whole cream/ivory and gold base colours and I hope to add to it with peachy pinks for a splash of colour. Our venue's ballroom is ivory coloured with gold mirrors and a wooden floor so I think it will fab all together. This is a picture of it with the chivari chairs instead of ours. I can just imagine ours there instead though and get really excited when I think about this.

I came across these fab photos this evening on 100 Layer Cake. I would love something like this :)

All credits here

I hope you enjoyed some reception decor/tablescape love!

Camera, photo and paparazzi chat...

2010-03-10T14:21:00.007Z

Being the busy researcher that I am, I've spent the last few weeks obsessively reading reviews on DSLRs before making a decision on which one I actually want. I've finally decided it has to be the Canon EOS 450D (XSi in the US) for various reasons. And that's the end of that stage. Now I have to actually find one at the right price that I want to buy. There are some good bargains to be had on ebay but to be honest, they're still out of my price range and I'm finding it hard to justify the cost to myself, let alone Mr M or anyone else! Anyone know of any secret places to bag a bargain?!

I've always been more than a bit fascinated by photos with photographers in them. Like these:

photo credits: Angel NI, Jasmine Star, photographer in photo 4 is Janine Walker

I guess they are never in photos because they are the ones taking them really and any with them featuring are considered "rejects" or "outtakes". The reason I love them is because I want to see what the scene will look like in real life. Its easy to imagine when you see wedding photos that there is no actual person there taking the photo, you think only of the people/things that have been captured. This makes it all more real and helps me visualise what my day will look like. Does this sound like nonsense? Surely someone understands me?

This leads me to a thought that I've been wary to mention to anyone to spare me having to hear "Are you nuts?" and the likes - I think I want to bring my camera with me to my own wedding.

The way I see it is that no-one is going to see what I see with my eyes. I want photos like these showing what really happened and not just the staged ones and to be honest I don't think there is anyone amongst the wedding guest paparazzi who I can rely on to get them for me - they will all be wanting to take exactly what the professional takes. I want photos of what it looks like standing posing for a shot and seeing the guests all lined up with their cameras taking photos of me. Something like this:

photo credit

Have any of you ever seen a bride take a camera to her own wedding?

Marshmallow Grove...

2010-03-02T22:35:00.004Z

Sunday past we went along to the wedding fair in the King's Hall in Belfast at Mr M's request where we finally resolved the chairs and tablecloths issue (yes I am still banging on about that!). There were a few things that caught our eye like a photobooth which Mr M loved the idea of and he finally seems to be coming round to the idea of a cinematic wedding video.

I'm not really that fussed on the idea of a cake at all although I know they look nice and I really have seen some great ones. Its just not a priority for me when we are trying to fit everything we want into the budget. Being a fan of silhouettes, when I think of what my cake might look like, I think of this:

photo credit

But then I discovered Marshmallow Grove. Their stand was offering samples of the most delicious mini cupcakes I have ever tasted. Usually I'm reluctant to try samples but I knew by looking at them they were going to be good! So moist, soft and delicate, I wasn't very happy when Mr M asked for a bite of mine instead of picking up one of his own. It was miniature for goodness sake! On the day there were so many people flocking around the genius cupcake creator that I didn't stand a chance so I picked up a leaflet and tenderly looked back.

photos from Marshmallow Grove

They come in, dear me, about 17 different flavours and that is just the sponge (if that is the right word for it!). Don't even get me started on the frosting flavours.

This has given me some food for thought and I'll have to think some more about the cupcakes and whether they are in fact what I want to cut!

Chairs, tablecloths and other stories...

2010-02-26T12:19:00.004Z

Well thank goodness today I am having a semi-normal day and I don’t like leaving a negative post at the top of my page so I’m moving on.

On the wedding front we are heading to a wedding fair in Belfast on Sunday to suss out some tablecloths. Yes tablecloths. That big important decision when it comes to wedding planning. Would you believe that the bane of my life at the moment is deciding whether to go with hiring beautiful chairs for the venue and therefore also extra-long tablecloths to hide table legs, or just good old chair covers with short tablecloths (and therein saving ££s).

Mr M begged me on Saturday night when we were out for dinner not to have a wedding related conversation all night! Do you know how hard that was for me? To have his undivided attention all night – no Call of Duty on PS3, no quarry-blowing-up documentaries on Quest – and not thrash out all the nonsense in my head with him? V. hard lol!

Today I found (via We Met in a Bar) Ashley’s blog, Under the Sycamore. In the last hour of going through her archives I have been inspired, smiled, cried and wished for kiddos (and a new camera). You should go see.

No weddings there at all – Mr M would love it!

photo credit

Normal day...

2010-02-25T10:01:00.007Z

Things have been a bit crazy around here.
Between family illnesses of the leukemia, depression and final days of old age type we've been busy fretting and doing what we can to help these three lovely people. Mix in continued 'debates' about wedding plans and work demands and I'm crying out for a normal day.
I came across this quote (by Mary Jean Iron) a few months back and over the last few days I've been reciting the bits I can remember off the top of my head every time I feel the pressure and try to remember it's not always like it is now.

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are… Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect Tomorrow. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."- Mary Jean Iron

I definitely treasure my normal, boring, simple days.

Snaps from 365...

2010-02-17T19:28:00.005Z

In the absence of having anything else newsworthy I want to share some photos from my Project 365 so far. Mr M and my family have got used to me lurking around with a camera now every.time.they.see.me. I've only missed one day so far and I'm ok with that.

Some days there is gorgeous light and are so many things to snap and other days there are just dark clouds and nothing inspiring at all. These are some of my favourites - other days include snaps of a mouldy orange and a portable hard-drive. See what I mean about non-inspiring days? :)

I hope you like them.

How is everyone else getting on with 365? Still inspired?

Happy Valentines Day...!

2010-02-14T19:25:00.005Z

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you are getting some loving over in your corner of the world, wherever that may be.

Over at our place Valentine's Day came early with a celebration on Friday due to the fact that Mr M is in Dublin working this weekend. Mr M always cooks for me on Valentine's but this year the lovely people at Marks and Spencer made it altogether too easy for him with their £20 for a complete romantic meal deal - rose cava, rose et al. It was gorgeous though - thank you my lovely.

I've shared a few personal photos of our special evening with you today. I have learnt from these photos that a) I seem to take a lot of photos at the same angle, b) I need new plates, c) I have a "best side" and this one doesn't show it.

Today, sans Valentine, I went to see some wedding bands at a bridal fayre showcasing some of "the best in Ireland". One in particular, with a super brilliant reputation, really disappointed me - the room filled fast when they were due on but they went round the crowd making embarrassing remarks most of the time commenting on people's weight etc instead of just singing. I was one of the unfortunate victims when they tried to get me to sing but really I just wanted to say into the mic, "You're totally overrated sonny". I did like one in particular though which will mean we'll have to stretch the budget - as in double it - if we are to go for them. Wish me luck with raising that subject with Mr M!!

Highs and lows...

2010-02-09T15:52:00.005Z

Sometimes I think to myself "Oh my goodness - I'm engaged"! It hit me again today and I took a moment to think about what that means. I never imagined that I would ever find someone who would want to marry me and that doesn't mean that I didn't have boyfriends, I just never thought someone would like me that much. I thought about the fact that "engaged" is for grown-ups and that must mean that I'm a grown-up. The fact that it lasts such a short time and within a flash we'll have moved on to the next stage. I think I want to start saying it more - "I'm engaged".

Sometimes it can be stressful though and that can put a bit of a dampener on it. I thought making all these decisions would be fun but its a lot of pressure on a girl. I'm afraid that in the end all the bits I've chosen won't go well together and it will look one big awful mess instead of the beautiful day I have planned in my head. When Mr Marshall and I have "debates", over for example wedding cars, I have to try and remember the reason why we are discussing them in the first place - we want to be married. It brings you back down to earth a bit. However cars are indeed a bit of an issue because the bridal car Mr Marshall has set his heart on is one that I physically cannot get in to (low roof/high step). Hmm.

I do have a very romantic view of how this time should be for us - all loving and blissful and well, romantic. But at the end of the day life passes by as ever doesn't it and things still have to be got on with?

I think I'm feeling sorry for myself today because I fell down the stairs last night. Nothing broken but my pride and arm are badly bruised.

Send me happy thoughts everyone, please!!

photo by James Christianson via Style Me Pretty

I found the answer...

2010-02-05T23:02:00.005Z

Friends, I have been obsessively researching chair hire companies, wedding DJs/bands and vintage cars and that is what has been keeping me away from you. We are going to see some gorgeous cars on Sunday and I can't wait.

I'm finding more and more photography blogs are getting added to my Google Reader and when I went to fill in Deal Or No Deal's contestant application form I found myself answer the question "What is your dream job?" with "Photographer!"

I am absolutely loving Project 365 and since I learned how to use Photoshop actions in Elements I am in my glory! I might share some of my better pics at a later date if I find the courage.

For anyone who is intersted, I found the answer to my earlier question about Jose Villa - How can he manage to do it every single time? It's film. Simple. The man himself answered it on his blog a few days later (he must have read my mind) and after browsing London-based photographer Polly Alexandre's blog, whose photos have a similar look, this was confirmed when she also professed a love for film. She produces beauties like this...

Oh my goodness, if I don't get a nice bright light on my own big day I'll be so disappointed. Andrea - if you are reading - I think I might turn out to be a diva!! I hope you're ready for me!

Swoon...

2010-01-22T22:48:00.008Z

Trying not to sound like an ad, I just had to post these pictures from the ab fab Jose Villa courtesy of Style Me Pretty. I.Love.Them.

And there are plenty more where they came from - anyone who loves weddings or photos will love it there. The light in these photos is just amazing and they seem dreamy and romantic...mmm. How can he manage to do it every single time? That's what I want to know.

Don't even get me started on the chandeliers...

I like to boogie...

2010-01-20T16:16:00.003Z

Photo by Melissa Schollaert via Green Wedding Shoes

Perhaps quite ashamedly, I’ve been collecting photographs of wedding bits and pieces that I loved since before I was even engaged and kept them in a folder on my PC. Yesterday I decided to take the plunge and actually print them out. It was quite amazing actually to find how many I no longer liked as a lot of them were 'trendy'.
I took them to my Mum’s and she and my sister had a little look over them to see what they thought. (Funnily I didn’t show Mr Marshall – Note to self: consult hubby-to-be on wedding ideas.) The problem was that Mum and Sis haven’t been reading wedding blogs to know what is ‘trendy’ and I really should have taken this into consideration and prepared myself for some of the “Are you crazy? People don’t do that!” looks.
After deciding that I want the day to be a little bit different, read: trendy (in the true sense), I now think that maybe it should have a timeless look. Because I read that somewhere. I’m so fickle and easy led. Problem is that if it’s timeless then it just looks like everyone else’s and not “timeless” how it is in my head. Overthinking, moi?
At this stage we are no farther on with the plans, the next major decision to be made being evening entertainment. A band or DJ? That is the question. Mr Marshall is holding firm on his choice for the first dance song but other than that we are lost.
I know that it’s one of the most important decisions as it can set the mood for the evening and have an influence on whether people get up and dance or not, but I just don’t want to think about it. The problem is that there is a real mix of people going – people who love country-style waltzes and jives and people who don’t; people who love lively dance music and people who don’t. I love a good boogie myself but only at other people’s parties. The thought of throwing a party terrifies me.
I’m much happier in the blissful safety of planning tablescapes, flowers and stationery suites to be honest.
So everyone I need your help – what is your experience of wedding parties and what works best – a band or a DJ?

Smiling inside...

2010-01-08T23:48:00.003Z

This is the stuff that makes me smile inside...

photo credit

specifically gorgeous prints - be they on paper, fabric or china.

Elizabeth Kartchner has teamed up with American Crafts to design a line - Dear Lizzy - to be showcased at CHA in Anaheim - where all the major scrapbooking companies tease us with what is to come in the way of loveliness.

Its been a loooong time since I have bought scrapping goodies, apart from my Scrapagogo kit each month which survived the purge-of-all-things-not-required-for-basic-living. The above pics though mean that this drought is now over and as soon as these babies become available I'm going to have to treat myself. The pink ruffle ribbon is more than I think I can bear and don't get me started on adhesive backed fabric! Watch out bank account!

Moving on to Springtime and sunshine...

2010-01-05T11:36:00.009Z

photo credit

Pantone's 2010 Colour of the Year has been announced as Turquoise - my birth stone. I'm hoping that there will be some luck for me in 2010 in that somewhere. In honour of turquoise I hoped you would enjoy the above pic which isn't at all seasonal but leads me to the next point in my train of thought!

This is the time of year when I get really restless and my mind starts to go into overdrive thinking of all the possibilities ahead of me. The last two whole days I've done nothing but daydream about

new cars
new cameras
holidays (I'm thinking The Netherlands this year)
mini-breaks
Springtime
country roads and gardens in the sunshine (after watching too much Escape to the Country on BBC2 over the holidays)

I'm so ready for the cold and ice to be gone. We woke this morning to another layer of snow and it doesn't ususally bother me but I'm still driving the courtesy car after my bash and I'm not so confident in first gear, being used to a diesel car and relying heavily on my clutch.

This weekend seen the start of the last series of Celebrity Big Brother and although I don't usually watch it anyway, Mr Marshall forbade me to have it on in the house. I had to tell him Claudia Schiffer was going in to the house to get him to watch it with me. I do like some of the people in there this year so I'll prob watch. My faves so far are Stephen Baldwin and Basshunter - a real gent it would seem.

So far I've kept up to date with my project 365 - all 5 days of it! Already I'm putting pressure on myself to come up with professional-looking, thought-provoking arty snaps, all the while trying to reassure myself that normal, every-day look-what-I-done-today pics will thrill me just as much as arty ones in 2020!

Today I came across the The Annual Weblog Awards where you can vote for your favourite blog to win in 2010. I've already voted for my faves and thought all you blog readers would like a chance to nominate your own favourite blogs too. Hop over and have a look. While you're there check out the past winners - there are some great links to fab blogs there!

Happy Tuesday everyone x

2009 in summary...

2010-01-01T20:53:00.005Z

For the last two years I have done a 'summary of the year' page for my scrapbook and looking back on 2009 I think I squeezed quite a bit in! This year it reads:

I got engaged to 'Mr Marshall'

Was published in Scrapbook Inspirations

Went to Edinburgh with 'Mr Marshall'

Went to Paris and Disneyland with Nicola, Andrew and Hayley

Started a blog (!!)

Celebrated 5 years with 'Mr Marshall'

Took 3 online classes

Decorated our living room

Got Adobe Photoshop

Got engagement photos taken

Booked the venue, church and photographer for our wedding in April 2011

Turned 31

Crashed my car in show/ice at Mum and Dad's house (that's another story!)

Back at the start of 2009 I had a bad feeling about the year ahead and I done this page for my scrapbook for some self-therapy. The journalling reads:

"I've got such a feeling of impending doom. I've got a bad feeling about what this year is going to bring. It's not that I know if anything horrible that is definitely due to happen but I've had so many 'good years' in a row that I think they have to run out soon. Sooner or later there has to be a bad one. I want so badly to make loads of lovely plans and things to look forward to, just to prove me wrong - to THINK POSITIVE. I'm afraid that if I even say it, it will attract bad karma. I don't want to be thinking negatively but I just can't shake it. I need a sign that it's going to be another good year."

Unfortunately no sign came and the year started out dreadful with quite a bit of family heartache and tears shed. By Spring though things were looking up and its actually turned out to be a great year for me. Spring always makes me feel good - hence the reason I chose to get married in April :)

Thank you 2009 for a great time (in the end) - lets hope 2010 is another great one.

Happy New Year to you all and I truly hope it brings you great things x

The one where I sit in pyjamas and think about photos, stories and next year...

2009-12-28T18:09:00.006Z

Our Christmas Day is always busy with an early start to open presents at home with Mr Marshall, a journey together to mum and dad's house where I spend the day, Mr Marshall leaves to go to his parents' house and then returns in the evening; in the afternoon my family visit my little granny and then I go back to Mr Marshall's parents' for Christmas buffet tea and Wii fun. This year I loved every minute of it though. There was a lovely happy feeling in our house and it was relaxed and calm (unlike other years!!). I got some lovely gifts and hopefully gave some too.

Yesterday was mostly spent in the cinema watching Avatar and all day today I sat in my jammies taking a free online photography course for compact cameras here in preparation for my project in the New Year to take a photo every day. I think 2010 will be a perfect year to try this out as we make more plans for our wedding, to record all the decision making and visits we make (I'm thinking wedding dress shops here in particular!!).

Every year Ali Edwards chooses a word to focus on throughout the year - a short of mantra. You can read more here if you like about her choices. This year she has chosen 'story'. I'm thinking 'story' might also be a perfect choice for me to focus on. I'm finding more and more I'm journalling my thoughts on little snippets of paper to remember conversations, comments, feelings and moments. I think this, combined with daily photo taking will make for an interesting year to look back on.

Has anyone taken part in Project 365 before and can share any tips to help me stay motivated?!

Christmases past...

2009-12-22T09:47:00.006Z

I've been off work and in bed sick yesterday and today with a cold and dizziness and just this morning realised it is 3 days to Christmas! I've all my shopping done, presents wrapped, cards sent and Christmas cake made but still have baking and food shopping to do. I started looking at photos of Christmases when I was little (in the early 80s) and had a good chuckle at these which cheered me up no end. I thought I'd share a few in case you need a laugh too!

Oh my goodness, look at this tree! It's the only year we had a real tree and mum said we'd never have another one because of the needles falling. I always had a romantic memory of this tree until I came across these photos and seen the shape of it!! I've got a sneaky suspicion my dad pulled this out of the garden.

Pictures from my world...

2009-12-20T18:52:00.006Z

Hi everyone :) Today I'm sharing with you some pictures from what is going on in my world these days - well, this weekend anyway!

Yesterday was my birthday and although I was laid up with a bad cold I managed to take my annual self-portrait on the morning of my birthday. Note the sore, red lips and cupid's bow :(

These are some of the gorgeous pressie's I got - all of which I love. My friends/family know me so well!

Mr Marshall took me out to dinner, watch a movie and then we headed to the local pub for a few drinks. When we woke this morning we found snow outside so I had to take a few shots from the bedroom window.

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday evening. I'm updating my wedding scrapbook while Mr Marshall plucks a pheasant and makes soup! That makes him sound domesticated - but that he is not!

oh Christmas tree...

2009-12-15T13:51:00.007Z

Our Christmas tree is finally up and although all of the pressies are bought, very few are wrapped and sitting underneath. I'm not too sure what to think about our Christmas decorations this year, they don't seem very, well... Christmassy!

I realised the night before last that there are very few photos of Mr Marshall and I, at least ones you would want to look at. I was personalising this little calendar in Photoshop that I found on the fab blog Shutter Sisters (which is free to download if you want to have a little play!) and struggled to find 12 photos of us that I loved! Isn't that awful - that someone who loves photos hasn't got enough to fill a calendar after 5 and a bit years together. Something needs to be done about that. So I have warned him that the camera will be out this Christmas and to be ready for it!

Font love...

2009-12-10T16:03:00.005Z

It seems kind of popular these days to say you love fonts, given we are exposed to so many as a way of branding and of making you feel a certain way. I actually do love fonts but if you wanted me to give you a list of my favourites, we'd be here all day!

Today I took a quiz here (which I found at Ordinary Courage) to find out which font I am. The answer was Edwardian Script (above) - which backs up my claim to be a die-hard romantic!

For those of you who would like to have fun creating your own font with your handwriting, you can do so at http://www.yourfonts.com/.

Enjoy!

Be still my beating heart...

2009-12-08T14:27:00.006Z

Have you ever seen anything so pretty? In my dreams this is how I want my wedding to look - if only the weather here in N. Ireland wasn't so predictable to be rainy. This morning I've closed my eyes and been carried back to my uncle's hay field where we would spend summer days when I was little, turning the hay and breaking for a picnic out of a wicker basket. I can see this wedding taking place there...

I've been told more than a few times before that I'm a hopeless romantic so this won't surprise you folk! Luckily for me, I see the romance in everything so when Mr Marshall brought me a glass of water to bed last night without me having to ask, I gushed from ear to ear and told him he was the best boyfriend I had!! I'm the easiest person in the world to please, a cheap date and the smallest gesture lights me up.

Like your comments. I can't thank those of you enough who read my jabberings and leave me comments. I have kept every single email I have received letting me know someone was kind enough to leave me a message - just in case I ever forget how good it felt.

Photos courtesy of Ian Grant via Style Me Pretty (designer and florist credits here)

Angela (and Mr Marshall) meets Angel...

2009-12-07T12:10:00.009Z

It seems only fitting that someone who was a Christmas baby and named after the Christmas angels would (along with Mr Marshall!) choose Angel Photography to take the most important photos of her life - the day she marries her man for life! Yes, Angel Photography is the wedding photographer of choice and we will have two lovely ladies joining us on the day.

At our first meeting with Andrea we felt relaxed and welcome as well as suitably impressed by Angel's approach and work and I definitely think she has a good understanding of my style and what I like, which is really important. (We both share a love for painted doors so you can't go far wrong with that!) Their photos have a lovely feel to them - modern but romantic, natural but not left to chance. The album design was exactly to my taste and I was glad to hear Mr Marshall say that he loved it too, trying to convince me we need one! Photography isn't high on his list of priorities in life so that was definitely a good sign.

They also have a fab blog which I am obsessively keeping up to date with to see the latest weddings they have done.

As a sign of how much he must love me, I was humoured while we priced a pretty well-known photographer in USA to come over to take our photos. But it wasn't to be and I'm more than happy to give the job to Angel NI, who is def my no.1 choice in N.Ireland.

Photos courtesy of Angel NI

A present to myself...?

2009-12-04T09:21:00.003Z

Oh my gosh, this morning I have found something beautiful I want/need to have. I visited Paris for the first time in July this year with family and fell in love with the atmosphere and buildings. Unfortunately we only seen the city itself one day as we were staying at Disneyland but I managed to fit as many photographs in as possible. However, these photos of the city are on another level - just magical!

irenesuchocki's shop on Etsy (which I found through ishtar olivera's blog) is full of gorgeous prints and this particular calendar has a 'pretty' for every month of the year. If you want to see the other months click here.

I always feel bad about buying myself something nice at this time of the year when so many presents have to be bought, but maybe I should buy a present for me, right?

Are you buying yourself something nice for Christmas this year?

Getting old...?

2009-12-03T11:46:00.007Z

Last night my sis and I took my niece and her friends to the Clubland show in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast (with Agness, Cascada, N-Dubz and the likes) and grabbed some food and a movie to pass the time while we waited.

We went to see these cool kids in New Moon and although I'm still only halfway through the book, I decided to go ahead and see the movie anyway and I loved it!

While we waited for our kids to come out of the show we suddenly realised we were getting old when we found ourselves saying things like, "Look at all that child has on her!"; "She doesn't look old enough to smoke!"; "How do they walk in those shoes?!".

Oh dear.

The Happenings...

2009-12-01T10:01:00.008Z

Things have been fairly quiet around here. Some of the things I've been up to are:

Shopping on my day off work last Friday with family
Babysitting a 3-year-old all day Saturday and loving acting mummy
Trying to come up with fundraising ideas for our new church hall
Finding new inspiration at Designing Moms - even though I'm not a mum
Trying to reassure myself that the photographer we have decided to go with is the right one for us (I'm not good at decisions)
Visiting my little granny who isn't very well at the moment
Considering all the nice things I want to bake for Christmas
Reading Twilight and New Moon before I see the movies
Searching for cute red and green packaging to sell my baked goodies in for the church sale (for said church hall)

Life is good, quiet and simple. And that's not to say that there are other things lurking in the background but I'm making a conscious decision to focus on the good and be happy.

What is making you happy at the minute?

Photo love from Shannen Natasha via Green Wedding Shoes

The official photograph...

2009-11-23T13:38:00.005Z

For those of you who expressed an interest, this one's for you...

Although there were lots of them taken on the day, I think this photo is fast becoming my favourite photo from our engagement session a few weeks back and I am now declaring it our Official Photograph (much in the same way that royals and celebrities have official photographs!).

Extra special thanks to Annette Burke at 4ever Photos who was great at making us feel relaxed enough to get natural shots, who made us laugh and who fell in love with Mr Marshall's tattoos! The word on the street is that 4ever Photos have won a very special award this year - all will be revealed after the official announcement!

crash, bang, wallop, what a picture...

2009-11-22T10:53:00.003Z

This weekend we went wedding photographer "shopping". I thought I would love this bit, and I did, but now I have the difficult job of choosing just one to do the job. This decision, to me as a photo lover, is probably the biggest of all the wedding decisions that have to be made and it needs to be the right decision... nothing like putting extra pressure on yourself!

What to do, what to do?

Mr Marshall says I have tossed and turned in bed for 2 whole nights, talking in my sleep about photographers and weddings. I'll be glad when the decision is made and I can put it to rest for a little while.

Unless of course I start worrying whether I have made the right decision ;)

photo courtesy of Tec Petaja's blog

And the award goes to...

2009-11-20T21:59:00.005Z

Thank you so much to Melissa for presenting me with "Making Smiles on Faces" Award! I've never had an award before and I'm so pleased she seen me fit to have it. You're a pretty inspiring blog-writing star Melissa! Check her blog out if you get a chance.

It would seem that I have to expose myself with 5 random facts before I can accept and pass on this award, so here you are:

I can't resist pressing the cancel button on the toaster before it finishes.
I am a hair twirler and twiddler.
I always worry about what to wear.
I need to starting dealing with the fact that life will not be perfect like it is in TV ads and movies.
I can't stop looking at my engagement ring - 5 months down the line!

The lovely folk I would like to pass this award on to are:

All very much deserved ladies!

Divine inspiration...

2009-11-12T22:39:00.006Z

Today I am finding inspiration at Green Wedding Shoes from Tec Petaja and Jonas Peterson. Just look at those dresses.

And then I found this...

Man alive!

And now for something completely different...

2009-11-09T13:34:00.004Z

Just a few of my favourite purchases from the last few months and a little layout that took up my Saturday morning when I should have been doing the cleaning. Hope you enjoy!

A change of scenery

2009-11-05T13:07:00.009Z

Well, anyone who has visited my little corner of the web before will have noticed that we have had a bit of a makeover. I decided it was time, having been impressed by the look of my fellow classmates' blogs - in other words, I was shamed into it.

This being the highlight of my day, I thought it might be quite fitting to mention it given Shimelle's prompt for the day! My pretty background is from House of 3 blog couture and I'll tell you it took quite a few attempts to get it uploaded (my fault). I did follow their very good online tutorial and in the process opened an account with Photobucket which I'll explore another time, but their guide varied a bit from Shimelle's.

Now I feel all pretty and girly and arty and smart. For a little while anyway he he!

As a side note I haven't scrapped one single page since I started Shimelle's class but just because you should always have a photo, here's one I made earlier.

Oh My Wow...

2009-11-03T14:55:00.003Z

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog since I started Shimelle’s class. It was like Christmas morning opening my email to find little presents telling me that someone had left me a message! I’ve had a great time rummaging through your blogs – there are some talented bloggers in my class I can tell you. And Donna, what can I say… I will love you forever for finding me worthy of a link!

Yesterday I registered for one of Jessica Sprague’s classes – which just happens to be free (!) – Holidays in Hand. The only requirement for this class is that you have holiday stories to tell, and while I’m not sure how particularly exciting mine may be, what I do have a real need for are Jessica’s fab free downloads and tutorials. I’ve taken a couple of her classes before – Frame-Ups and Special Effects and Brush Abilities – and I promise she doesn’t disappoint. If you fancy taking part in Holidays in Hand, registration is unlimited and the class runs from 16-23 November.

Talking of Christmas, last year was the first in 30 that Santa didn’t officially visit to my mum and dad’s (where we celebrate the day) because the youngest in the family was then 12 - and I think we done well to last that long. I have to say it’s just not the same and I can’t wait until we have little ones to bring back the magic of Christmas. More and more I am finding myself looking forward to having little ones and thinking that they will make outings etc so much more special. (Is it wrong to want kids so I have great material to scrapbook? I think yes.)

In other news, and on the wedding front, I am patiently waiting to see the online proofs of the engagement photo session we had last Saturday. I am calling these our unofficial photos because we got a free portrait voucher and I am hoping that our chosen wedding photographer will include an e-session for us as part of the deal with him/her. This was a great opportunity for Mr Marshall to practice not using his fake smile which he is already stressing about when he thinks of the big day. I have tried to reassure him that on the day he will be filled with so much love and joy that he won’t be able to stop himself smiling from ear to ear every time he looks at me. But he’s not buying it and neither am I!!

First day in class

2009-11-02T18:14:00.002Z

The first of Shimelle’s classes that I have signed up for – Blogging for Scrapbookers – started today and my motivational levels are high! I’m hoping the class will inspire me to create layouts because I just haven’t been “feeling it” for several months now. I think what happened is that I’ve had inspiration overload from all the gorgeous crafty blogs I read and my mojo just curled up and died in the face of the ‘competition’. In the meantime I developed a love for wedding blogs/magazines and scrapping took a back seat.
As I’m just new to this blogging malarkey I thought some prompts from the master might help me along and increase the number of readers I have. (I usually clap with glee when I see someone has visited.)
To all my fellow classmates, I look forward to reading your fab blogs and thanks in advance to anyone who visits mine :)

Over the space of the next 3 weeks I promise not to:
· beat myself up if I don’t post
· think that my life isn’t interesting enough to blog about
· compare my blog to others’ and feel inferior.
(oh dear!)

I did it!

2009-10-20T21:48:00.006+01:00

I did it! I actually did it! For the first time since June I actually scrapped. It was October's Scrapagogo kit that done it. Its 'easy to use' papers and bits and pieces really inspired me out of my scrap-less funk. So this is what I created:

And this, although not from this month's kit:

Yes, I know this was supposed to be a wedding blog but you know how it is... there isn't always a lot happening in the world of wedding planning so in the interim you will be getting more of the paper and digital creations that I get so excited about.

Thanks for looking x

Calendar 2010

2009-10-18T17:47:00.008+01:00

Another Sunday afternoon playing in Photoshop Elements on my laptop resulted in this which will be printed back to back. Necessity is the mother of all invention and as I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for I decided to have a try myself. I'm beginning to enjoy this digital creating malarky!

Credits:

Calendar brush from http://www.coolestbrushes.com/ via Cocktail Mum

Font from Famous Fonts.
Brushes from House of 3 sample pack courtesy of Jessica Sprague Frame-Ups and Special Effects class.

What do you think?!

Blush

2009-10-12T13:16:00.012+01:00

On doing my rounds of the many gorgeous US wedding blogs I have noticed there is quite a bit of peach and I love it. I know it has a bit of a bad rep of being naff but the pics I am seeing lately are to die for:

courtesy of Once Wed

courtesy of Flights of Fancy

courtesy of Snippet and Ink

courtesy of Polka Dot Bride

I like to call it 'blush'.

Oh dear, maybe I love this look too:

courtesy of Snippet and Ink

These inspiration boards are so... well, inspiring! Every new one I see, I fall in love and decide that it is the one... until the next time. I think it's fair to say that my mind will be changed on a colour scheme many times from now to April 2011!

Playing in Photoshop

2009-10-11T08:48:00.006+01:00

Yesterday, for the first time in ages I done a little scrapping. I seem to have lost my mojo big time and haven't touched my last three gorgeous Scrapagogo kits because I just haven't felt the urge. I haven't been happy with the last few pages I done and so didn't want to force my creativity.

Anyway, I updated my little wedding planning scrapbook and decided then to have a little play in Photoshop Elements to create some bits and pieces.

While I was at it I thought I would try to create my own version of Naomi Murrell's gorgeous picture below. What do you think of my effort?!

To do list

2009-10-09T09:02:00.004+01:00

Mr Marshall is keen to push forward with all this planning and while he is in the mood I won't complain. He asked what we can be doing while we are waiting for money to build up so, as a lover of lists, I'm making a 'to do' list:

Shortlist (another list!) and visit photographers

Find and go hear/see bands

Visit car companies

Contact catch cinematography again for a quote for our needs.

Today just for the heck of it I am going to make my evening invite list even though it is really early. Having such a large family on my side, few are invited to the wedding - it's always been that way at my family weddings - and the whole herd are then invited to the party. The total number of guests could more than double by 8pm!

As a side note, I came across this sweetie about a month ago and have been searching for her ever since. In the end I had to email SJ (a very talented scrapper and blogger) who posted about her in order to find out where she could be bought. I've found the seller, Naomi Murrell but alas my sweetie has been sold (in this background colour). Can I justify ordering a custom-made one? Surely not.

It's a date!

2009-10-05T20:26:00.004+01:00

So, 4 months after our engagement, the date has been set for the big day!

On 27 April 2011 I will officially become Mrs Marshall.

In the end we went for hotel no.1 and after a second visit we are happy that we have made the right choice. We've since booked the church and the next thing we need to book is our photographer. The photos are the most important part for me after the dress and venue so I already have a shortlist!

We have been to a couple of wedding fairs which scared the life out of us and we came home exhausted with hundreds of leaflets to sort through. It was good though to get rough prices for things which we had no idea about and so we can work out our budget much better.

£24,000 Wedding

2009-08-28T15:07:00.004+01:00

Every year Northern Ireland's Wedding Journal magazine has a competition to win a dream wedding - this year it is worth £24,000. Automatically I assume that a big fairytale story will win that is full of woe and love conquering all. Obviously Mr Marshall and I can't compete with that because we are just a normal couple but have decided to enter anyway and take the approach of letting them know we are just a normal couple but deserve to win just as much as the next couple.

I didn't think Mr Marshall would go for it at all but he says you have to be in it to win it and so our entry will be submitted over the next few days when I am sure that I have edited it to death! Entries close on 12 September 2009 so watch this space.