No Going Back Now!

I've just returned from the Post Office where I paid and posted out some very special deliveries for our special family and friends.  It was a really nice moment, and I pushed the beautiful envelopes into the post box with a big smile on my face!  Lets hope they all arrive safely and the date is noted in everyones calendars.

Me and Tom have now spend quite a few hours going through all the bits and bobs - at this stage some key decisions have to be made and we seem to have a lot of admin and fiddly bits to confirm/sort out.  Its fun in stages but not so fun in others as it involves lots of reading and talking through and differences in opinions and I guess this bit is the tricky bit and after this we can concentrate on the more fun aspects.

Tom's been great though, I think at times my inner Bridezilla comes out and if I find that difficult to deal with then Tom has no chance!  I often think that Grooms get overlooked in this process and they are taught to say 'whatever you want dear' and I absolutely don't want that.  Hopefully there will be lots of little 'Tom touches' as well as 'Helen' ones too.  We're learning how each other makes key decisions and, just like buying a house, we differ quite a lot, but I also think we complement each other too.

We went to Sandown Wedding fair on Sunday with Karen and Ellie - it was really nice to see Ellie (and Karen!) so excited about different things and also really enjoyable to get them involved too.  We had lots of tastings of cake and chocolate fountains, saw a wonderful fashion show.  Ellie took round a little notepad and pen and even noted down a few dresses that she liked too - what an organised little flower girl she's going to be!

I'm now on the search for a good florist and hair and make up artist/s - seems to be a tricky process as how do I know if they are good or not when I'm not from that area - have to do a little bit more research on that one.

Another bit of lovely news is that the Amos family have booked their cottage for the wedding weekend!  It's where I will wake up on the morning of the wedding and rather than an impersonal hotel, we decided to try and find a cottage that we could rent for the seven of us (and Fred) so that we could relax all together the night before and do things the way that we wanted.

After much trawling (seven is a difficult number!) Rachael found this little gem for us: White House Cottage - a very cute cottage sleeping eight with a lounge, kitchen, four bedrooms with a family room and a nice outside area.  It looks perfect and will be really special to spend that time there with my family before the wedding and getting ready with them in the morning.

We're going back to South Farm this weekend as it's their open day.  It will be great to see the venue again now it's all booked and we can hopefully chat through some other bits with them too.  I'm also hoping to meet a florist there and also go to Church on the Sunday so that we can begin to form a little relationship with them which I think is important before the wedding.

Helen xx 

... and the winner is....

Drum roll please.....

 

Saturday 26th February, 2011 will be the date that I become Mrs Elliott and marry my wonderful and gorgeous fiance Tom!

 

We'll be married at 1pm in St Mary's Church, Buckden and have the reception at the glorious South Farm in Royston, South Cambridgeshire.  The venue really was part of my fairy-tale, with the rustic barn and the elegant house, stunning views and grounds and a great attitude to food and wine that was a must for us.

 

After a long few weeks of planning and a total of 21 venues in total it feels really good to have a date and a countdown to work towards. As you can see from the top of this blog - there is a countdown calendar which is currently at 155 days!!! and that does not sound long!

 

We've also main a few big decisions about photography and videography.  We found the most wonderful videographers ever - Gorgeous Film Productions - their videos look amazing and we're really excited at having them shoot our wedding day.  They will be providing us with a day of filming and then also 'stills' from their repertoire from the day for us to make into photographs.  We will have a photographer for a few hours during the drinks reception to take a selection of 'set' shots which leaves us the rest of the day to enjoy ourselves!  We've got a few excellent photographers amongst our guests so feel that we will have a really nice selection of photos throughout the day, without having to compromise on a videographer too.

 

Our DJ is also confirmed,  we've been told he is a great DJ for our evening reception.  For all our guests reading this - if you have any particular song requests then please comment below so that I can ensure that you are ALL up on the dance floor shaking it like a Polaroid picture!  Yes there will be Take That, Bon Jovi and a bit of Justin, you know what we are both like people!!

 

So now there feels like a plan in place, I already seem to be a bit embroiled in paperwork and admin but we've got a main chunk of the suppliers booked now and its beginning to take shape.

 

This weekend we're off to a Surrey wedding fair with my chief flower-girl and Karen, it will be good to take a look at some more suppliers, maybe get a few ideas and will be really nice to spend some time with everyone.

 

I think that's all to update you on for now.

 

Helen xxx

The Last Leg: Cambridgeshire

The third and last leg of our venue search was in Cambridgeshire and we had seven of them to see including a 'mystery' venue that Tom's mum and dad sorted out for us.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and had a lovely evening with Ann and Tony, some sparkling red wine, steak and lots of cheese - a great start to the weekend.  We chatted lots about the wedding and it was a really enjoyable evening.

Up early on Saturday morning to see the first batch.  We started with Hinchingbrooke House; Tom's old school.  It's a beautiful Tudor country house and homed Queen Elizabeth I, Richard and Oliver Cromwell and The Earl of Sandwich - well if it's good enough for them then it's good enough for the Elliott/Amos Wedding!

There was one problem and that was whether Tom could get over the fact that it was his school.  He was worried that throughout the day he's be distracted by memories - the place where we'd have the evening buffet was where he took his Maths A Level for example and it's hard to get past that fact I think.  So we put this to one side to make a decision on it once we'd visited everywhere.

Next up was Bassmead Manor, a rustic barn really near to Tom's mum and dads - I had high hopes for this, having really liked Cripps Barn in Gloucestershire but we felt let down by it to be honest.  The actual barn was gorgeous, a good shape and size but the gentleman showing us around really wasn't interested.  Basically they just hire you the barn and expect you to do everything else - which is fine, but would leave me feeling nervous and just not in control.  They also didn't have a bar licence for the evening which would mean we'd have to pay for all the guests food and drink - all day and night.  With our guests that may turn out to be costly! - so that one was out.

We then had a meeting with Revered Ally Barrett in the afternoon.  She is a really nice, a bit scatty, but friendly and approachable vicar.  I say approachable because when you are going for tea with the vicar you are never too sure what it's going to be like.  Was she going to grill us on our religious preferences?  Ask us why we don't attend church regularly?  Preach to us about the importance of marriage etc.. We didn't really know what to expect.  So we were a little bit relieved when she was really lovely - talked us through the marriage service, what we need to do next, we chatted about hymns and readings and music and it was a very pleasant hour.  She's penciled us in for the dates we requested and we'll take it from there.

The Old Bridge hotel at Huntingdon was our last venue visit of the day - better than I thought being a hotel but not right for us.

We had a lovely evening with Dave and Kim, they got married in July this year so it was great to catch up with them, get their thoughts on their special day and advice on the run up to our day.  They looked so happy as Mr and Mrs Sacker and it was very exciting to think that we'll be next!

Sunday came and was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for driving round Cambridgeshire.  South Farm in South Cambridge was our first visit and we were in for a treat!  A privately owned, beautifully restored country house and barn.  A working farm since the 19th Century, South Farm is a little bit different.  It really had the WOW factor as we drove up to the venue.  They grow, rear and catch, harvest vegetables, fruit, eggs and poultry, geese and pigs from their fertile gardens and paddocks, monster trout from the lake, and game from the surrounding estate!  Its a complete little gem and we both adored it!

I won't mention too much because we haven't decided yet but it's very high on our lists.  We left, veggie bag in tow, (how cool!) feeling very excited!

We still had three venues left to see.  Ann and Tony's mystery venue turned out to be one of the hotels that had cancelled on me earlier in the week and they had managed to get us in to have a look.  We saw this and another hotel and, although they were both lovely venues, I think it confirmed me and Tom's decision that we just wanted somewhere a bit different.

The last place we saw was Kimbolton Castle - another stunning country house!  For us however, it was a bit too school like, unlike Hinchingbrooke it was a bit too formal and school-esque.  Although how cool would it be to get married in a castle!!

So that concludes our venue search!  For us there are two clear leaders and now me and Tom have to sit down, glass of wine in hand preferably, and go through numbers and options - then we can finally book and have a date!

Helen xxx

The One

Don't want to say anymore really except that i've found my dress!  I went back with my mother in law-to-be on Saturday and she agreed that it was the one.

I love it so much, it's beautiful and I really hope that Tom likes it too.

I can't wait to wear it on my wedding day!

Wedding Dress: Done

Helen xx

Venue Hunting Leg 1: The Cotswolds

We travelled down to Mum and Dad's on a sunny Friday evening, had a yummy dinner (thanks Mum!) and then stayed up talking to Mum and Dad for a few hours. It was nice to talk to them about our wedding plans, let them know what sort of things we want and don't want and also to give them the opportunity to tell us their thoughts and expectations. I think by the end of the weekend, they both realised that it is going to be an expensive day for us but we want to do this right, to only compromise on the bits we need to, and that we will have something and somewhere special and that they will be a big part of that.

So Leg 1 started early Saturday morning with a visit to two Barns: both completely different - Cripps Barn and Kingscote Barn. Cripps Barn near Bibury is a gorgeous, rustic, traditional farm house barn, it had a great feel to it as soon as we walked in. Outside was a lit bonfire, cooking four whole lambs! It smelt amazing and I could really imagine myself there. The food sounded really nice and different and they don't charge corkage which means that we could pick and choose our own wines and bubbly for the day - a big advantage!

Kingscote Barn was completely different - still very pretty indeed, a beautiful Barn, very elegant, clean and modern, but it was this that put us off it a bit - it was almost too clean and modern for a barn - it lacked a bit of rustic-ness and charm. Still a possibility though as they do a great Winter Package.

What does everyone think about these two venues?  I've linked them to their websites - any comments gratefully received.

The other five venues we saw over the Friday and Saturday were just not right for one reason or another. Two of them looks stunning from the outside but quite old fashioned inside with gross carpets and just not right for us (seriously Emerald Green with white shields??!)  Another had the main reception room split into two parts so effectively, you'd be relegating half of your guests to a separate area which wasn't ideal.   One venue was so rude that we didn't even get as far as the function rooms so that one was out straight away.

So we've come away from Leg 1 with one definite possibility and one big maybe - not too bad really.

Onto Leg 2 - which is Surrey - we've seen two of these already and have another 3 to see on Saturday - then the following week is the final and third leg in Cambridgeshire and then it's decision time.

We're both really enjoying it so far, this weekend was great to drive through the Cotswolds in the sun and its all still very exciting.

Helen xx

Navy Blue and Hot Pink

Our Colour Scheme

We've decided on a Navy Blue and Hot Pink colour scheme for our wedding and I love it!  These colours will go really well with the grey suits for the men and white (obviously) as well.

There were a few reasons why we chose these two colours:

1) We wanted something a little bit different than the usual 'wedding' colours and these two really stood out, they are nice bright colours that reflect our personalities
2) I love pink!
3) They are remarkably similar to a certain football teams away colours....!

Bridesmaid Dresses

Now we have colours other things can start to take shape.  Rachael found two gorgeous Bridesmaid dresses for her and Vic - and they were in the sale so under budget!  They are not your typical bridesmaid dress which was also important to me so that they can wear them again afterwards.  The dresses fitted them both perfectly and they look gorgeous wearing them.  Teamed with a bright pink flowers they will look stunning!

Venue Search Update

We've seen two venues so far, both in Surrey:  Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking and Greyfriars House just outside Guildford.  Both venues were really interesting and both ticked our requirements of a 'different' kind of venue, rather than your chain hotel - working at The Ritz means that I'm not massively keen on a hotel wedding, unless the hotel is a little bit different.  We really want a venue with soul and character.

We're not sure that either venue is right for us just yet and have loads more to see so we'll keep searching and see what we come up with.  We want to get this booked up by mid September.  We're happy to define certain things like numbers and other elements by the venue so it's important that we get this right.

A date also means that we can start to source other suppliers like Photographer, Videographer, Florist and we can also book the church.  It also means that I can start counting down the days until I'm Mrs Elliott!

We've got a really busy Bank Holiday weekend back in Gloucestershire so I'll update after then.

Happy Friday!

Helen xx

Here Comes The Bride

I’m one of those girls who has dreamt about getting married probably since I was knew what a wedding was. I can specifically remember a discussion with my sisters when I was about six, where we discussed dresses, colour, shape, veil etc… We even used to play weddings and take it in turns to be the bride with tea towels on our heads! (I was usually the bride though – eldest child’s prerogative – or just bossy-ness!) So when Saturday 21st August – dress shopping day- approached, you can imagine how excited I was, coupled with massive expectations!

Rachael met me at 8:45 and I drove us to our first bridal store: Mamfii Bridal in Knaphill, Surrey. On a small digression, I felt it was really important for me to drive there. It’s the one part of the day that Tom can’t get involved with and therefore I wanted it to be about me and that meant driving too. I’ve not done a huge amount of driving since I passed in November last year, enough to become more confident but not a huge amount without Tom, so it was a big deal for me to drive Rachael and Victoria during the day and also to park the car too. I was really proud of myself for doing it and it was another one step on my journey of achievement in this area.

We arrived at Mamfii Bridal for my appointment and it was really surreal entering the shop, which was very white, pretty, and had lots of dresses lined up ready for me to try on.

Cheryl the lovely shop assistant came and sat with us and said:

‘So which one of you is The Bride?’

It still hadn’t really hit me that this was it – I was The Bride! It was my turn to try on these dresses and this meant that I was getting married – and to the most amazing man too!

Therefore I don’t think it was a big surprise that when I came out of the fitting room wearing the first of what must have been about thirty dresses that day, saw Victoria’s beaming face, that the tears started to fall, I couldn’t stop them.

My sisters were amazing, I just loved seeing their faces when I came out of the changing rooms, getting their opinions on elements of the dress and just spending some time with them was so nice. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Vic without Freddy and although I love him to death – it was nice to have her back for the morning as my sister rather than the mummy.

I can’t talk too much about the actual dresses here as currently my only follower is the one person who can’t know anything about it! Suffice to say that it was just amazing to try on lots of different styles, shapes, fits etc. I truly felt like a princess and I hope that the one that I eventually choose knocks Tom’s socks off!