Three months and counting!

Friday 19th November in the afternoon was spend with a large mug of tea and Lettie - one of the South Farm wedding planners and we went through all the little details about our big day - from the napkin choice to canapes to arrival times to disco details.  It was a really excellent opportunity for me and Tom to visualise our day, think about how things will work in terms of timings and feel reassured that we're on the right track and really getting there in terms of our plans.  We had one of our last sneak peaks inside the barn which is still so beautiful and then headed back to Ann and Tony's in the seriously foggy weather.

 

We left feeling really confident, happy that the South Farm team know what they are doing and on the day, we can leave all the worrying to them (and prob a bit for Iain too!)   We then had a bit of a break from Wedding Planning for the rest of the weekend and spent some lovely time together watching Harry Potter at the movies, enjoying some cheese and wine with Ann and Tony's wine club (A rock and rock finish at 2am!) and Chinese take away with a film on the Saturday night.   Here is me at Harry Potter with a VERY large tub of popcorn and drink!

 

I think that the planning meeting has put me into a bit of a detail frenzy as now I'm really thinking about the finer details like what to take on the day, what needs to be done the days before in the run up, what info we need to give to our bridesmaids and groomsmen and just thinking about the whole day as a whole, rather than each little bit in isolation, I'm really enjoying this bit as it makes me hugely excited to think what we'll be doing in the hours and days beforehand.

 

Invites going out before the end of November and I THINK that Tom's booked the honeymoon today - yay, yay, yay!

 

Other bits to now start thinking about are, table centres and decorations, other stationary items, My new 'Mrs Elliott' Passport (loving my new signature!)  timetables for the day and then a lot can be left until January - when we really get to the nitty gritty!

 

Love

 

Mrs Elliott to be

xx

My Very Original, Last Single Lady Birthday

It's 100 days to go today!

This time 100 days ago we were just getting home from our holiday where we got engaged. so we are half way though our engagement. I can't believe that in the same amount of time again we will be Mr and Mrs Elliott, it's quite scary, I'm feeling more and more excited as the days tick by and also have a strange nervous, excited and ohmygodimgettingmarried feeling in my tummy every time I think about the big day.

It was my birthday on Saturday, and what a gastronomic experience it was!  It was our menu tasting at South Farm, so a really original celebration for me this year.  Tom's lovely mum and dad drove us to the venue, we'd never seen the venue in the dark before, driving up the drive, the trees were all lit up with little sparkly fairy lights, it just looked beautiful.  We entered to Elderlini's and Canapes and sat down to talk to two other couples, lots to discuss, compare and contrast and the night started well.

We then moved on to the barn where it was all set up as if it was a real wedding.  It looked so welcoming, warm and friendly and we sat down to the first course.  The way that the evening worked was that each couple were given two tasting plates, each with four mini dishes on them, coupled with a glass of wine with each tasting plate.  At the back of the room were demonstration plates so that you could see how each dish would look in a full portion size.  So all in all, me and Tom sampled 8 different starters, 8 different mains, 4 different wines (as well as house wines on offer all night) and 8 different desserts.  As well as two buffet tables set up with lots of other bits and bobs so that you could see how a buffet table would look!

It was such a feast and some of the dishes were absolutely gorgeous, others were surprising and not what we would have thought or anticipated.  There were some that were not our thing (mainly the fish for Tom) and others that we loved but maybe were not right for a wedding party.  It probably gave us more questions than answers but in a really good way.    We have our planning meeting on Friday which should sort out a lot of our queries and we can nail down the finer details

We had a nice chat with a couple of the people round our table and really tried to get lots of people's opinions on the dishes, rather than just our own.  I had a couple of 'moments' being in the barn really made me think about our special day; the next time that we'll be doing that - I'll be married - scary stuff!  It was really lovely to spend the evening with Tom, we had such a laugh and mostly agreed on everything, which was helpful.  We bought a few of the potential wines at half price so that we can sample them later, we need to make a decision on wines and Champagnes: whether we get them from the venue, or source them ourselves and pay corkage - I don't think that will be too much of a chore!

Here is a picture of me; the birthday girl with my yummy cake, made by my mother-in-law to be!  My last birthday as a single lady.

Until next week 

Helen xx 

Another week ticks by

Happy Tuesday!

We had a lovely birthday weekend for Tom, which involved lots of family and friends, burst tires, 70th birthday celebrations, cheese and port, a fab Nigella recipe, a killer 31st hangover for Tom and two exhausted people by Sunday evening!

It also involved a little bit of wedding stuff as well (surprise surprise)  We bought Tom's wedding band, its a very simple palladium court ring.  It's a timeless, classic ring and I think it's beautiful.  I also bought Tom a very special wedding gift, which I can't talk too much about on here, but suffice to say that I really hope he likes it - I've been saving for a very long time to be able to get it for him and hopefully it will make up for all the gorgeous gifts that he's given me.

Our Invitations, Order of Service, Menus and Thank you Cards are currently with a fantastic printers that I know will do a great job.  They have been designed for us by Stu, who did our logo as well (his work is still not done but that's another story!)  Hopefully they will arrive in the next few weeks so that we can send them out to all you lovely people - then there really will be a wedding!

It's my birthday on Saturday and it's going to be one like no other that I've ever had.  Tinged with a touch of sadness as it will be my last one as Miss Helen Amos.  We've got the tasting evening to attend, where we get to see the venue set up for a wedding, see the Front of House staff in action, and taste all the yummy food and wine that we can choose from.  The venue have told us to arrive hungry as it's going to be a feast!

Next on the list to get ticked off is Honeymoon, sending out the invites, confirming final guest list and evening guest list, and then I think we might have to start thinking about Christmas - which we are hosting this year for Mum and Dad.  I don't want our wedding to spoil our Christmas celebrations and hopefully we'll have been very organised and up to speed with everything so that we can take a week off to relax and enjoy Santa.

Love Mrs Elliott to be
xx

I'm a little bit excited today...

Tom bought my wedding ring last night!  Its the most beautiful Pavé Diamond Ring in Platinum to match my engagement ring, it's got 18 little round cut diamonds around the top and I'm absolutely in love with it.  In the last year I've gone from no diamonds to quite a few now, I'm such a lucky girl - Thank you Tom xx

I also arrived into work this morning to a really exciting email from my big boss at work.  He often goes to Bangkok and Thailand and the only bit of the holiday that Tom is involving me in is this first part so I wanted to ensure that I get us somewhere really perfect for the start of our honeymoon.

He's pulled some strings at The Grand Hyatt hotel in Bangkok and managed to get us a fantastic rate, upgrades and VIP status at the hotel for three nights of our honeymoon!  It's got a magnificent Spa, outdoor pool on the rooftop, gorgeous views over Bangkok and we've got access to their club lounge which means we get canapes and evening drinks in the evening before we go out!

I'm looking forward to this bit so much now!

Coming up in the next few weeks; booking the rest of the honeymoon, purchasing Tom's wedding band, shirts and tie.  We have our tasting evening at South Farm as well as our planning meeting the week after.  We're getting ready to send the invitations out and we're starting to think about the remaining fiddly bits.

Love

A very happy Helen

xxx

Yay Yay Yay

Four. Months. Today. That is all I have to say.

The Journey Continues...

I thought I'd start with a favourite photo for me to remember my amazing engagement holiday.... no real reason except for that!

After a bit of a wedding lull, which was actually quite refreshing and gave us some time out, we've got back into it a bit more in the last few days, its becoming easier now that the big decisions are made, although still lots of fiddly bits to sort out and decide - but these are the good decisions like how many diamonds I'd like on my wedding band and what dessert we'd like to have!

Reality is starting to hit now and I'm getting really excited about the actual day.  I'm getting used to becoming Mrs Elliott - although that still looks very weird in print!  I'm walking myself through the day and many things are giving me big butterflies.  When my school friends booked their accommodation and when people talk about travelling up to the venue and what they are going to wear; it's really making me believe that this is actually happening and I'm getting married!  Its such a lovely, nerve-wracking, exciting, poo-in-my-pants scary feeling!

We've chosen the ties for the Groomsman which are really stylish,  We've got a good idea about what wedding rings we'd both like and we're moving forward with our invitations now ready for send out late November/early December. 

Tom is going to sort out the honeymoon details, as this is something that I would like to hand over to him and trust that he'll choose us somewhere fantastic, which I know he will.  He did an unbelievable job with the engagement so I know I'm in safe hands (Tom - no pressure!)  It's going to be so amazing just to get away from it all for a couple of weeks and totally relax as newly weds.  I'm going to change my passport before we go so that I can travel as Mrs Elliott - I can't wait!

We have our menu tasting on my birthday!  The venue have a really cool way of doing menu tastings as they invite everyone who is having a wedding in the next 6 months to the venue for an evening, where the barn is set up for a wedding so you can see what it will look like, decorated etc.  They then lay out lots of different dishes from canapes, starters to mains and desserts for us to look at and try.  The wine flows freely and you can buy any other wines on their list for half price to try at a later date.   They have warned us not to eat much beforehand as its a massive feast.  I can't wait for this birthday treat - very original this year.

Helen xxx

Woooooooooooowwwwoooh - my planning is on fire.....

We are on fire at the moment, with regards to planning that is! All the important things are booked or in progress - I think! My dress is being made as we speak, it’s going well and the clock is ticking away. Less than five months to go until our big day!

I got a beautiful invitation through the post yesterday from Rachael and Victoria for my Hen Party - I don't know any more details as I've just handed it over to them and left myself in their hands; I cannot wait!  It will be really nice to spend some girly time with my friends and family.

I've become the haggling queen and I don't think that me and Tom have booked anything yet without asking for a discount or added value and we've got some absolute bargains - It really is true that as soon as you say the W word that prices are just hiked up for some reason.  Asking for a discount isn't as bad as I thought it would be and Tom has given me some good tips on things to say and do.

We've found a lovely florist that will do the majority of our flowers.  Everyone seems to think that it's hilarious that I want a giant white pouffy ball bigger than my head.... but that's what I'd like and apparently as I'm the bride - that's what I can get!  Our flowers are going to be hot pink gerberas and white roses, we're not too sure in what combination yet but it's a definite work in progress.  Hair and Make up is also sorted.  Tom's found me one of his old school friends; Sam, who is a make up artist to the stars - I've had to cut down on hair budget to afford her but she looks great and I want my make up to last all day so hopefully she'll be good.

We went back to the Church and to the Venue and it reconfirmed our decisions; they are both so beautiful and its going to be magical spending our wedding day at them.  We tried some of their delicious canapes and had a chat to some of the staff at South Farm, everyone was really friendly.  We had a look round the cottages and the bridal suite took my breath away - gorgeous!

So left to do now:  Honeymoon, Men's suits, Rings, Flower girl dress, lingerie and honeymoon outfits, (of course!) Gift List, Invitations and then the fiddly organisational bits which can mostly be done in January - we are well and truly getting there.....

The nightmares have also begun!  Anyone who’s been through a wedding of their own will know what I mean. I can only imagine they’re going to get worse too! Others have been having them to apparently:  Vic told me that she dreamt that Tom's mobile rang during the ceremony and she got told off when she had a go at him for answering it - hilarious!

Love Helen xx