Going Faster Than A Rollercoaster - A Whirlwind Romance- Our wedding report.

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The Christmas after we got engaged, we all got the ferry over to Northern Ireland to spend it with my sister and Colin and I were sleeping in one of her spare rooms. The first night there, we went up to bed and there was my bag. It was the same brand as my shoes and I was in love. I got on my phone there and then and looked it up; it was expensive so the next morning, I asked my sister if I could borrow it for the wedding and she said yes, of course! Done. I was ecstatic.
https://i46.tinypic.com/nn1yky.jpg

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The some for of cover up wasn't quite so easy... There were so few options that would look good with the dress, I only spent a few days total looking for something. I looked at cutesy cardigans, faux fur boleros... everything. Then it hit me. Why do I have to buy something in?

I've got a leather jacket. It's like my comfort blanket. Our dog at the time as a puppy had chewed one corner off but still, I wore it. I loved it. It was, quite possibly, one of my favourite things in the world (haha not quite... but close). So one day, I just decided that was it. Why the heck shouldn't I wear it?! The deal was done!

 

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HAIR AND MAKE UP

Again, I wasn't one of those people that had any expectations for our wedding pre-engagement. I also wasn't one of those ladies that gets engaged and immediately starts growing their hair. From the date of engagement to the wedding day, I'd had shoulder length hair, cut it all off, chin length, cut it all off. I had it black, blue, brown, white blonde. However my hair happened to be at the time was how my hair was going to be at the wedding. As it turns out, it was my usual short crop and my natural blonde. I really couldn't care less about hair... I actually couldn't tell you whether I bothered to brush it on the morning of the wedding or not!

Make up was another thing altogether. I used to be very, very into my make up and always had a full face on every day. I loved to experiment. Then I just sort of... stopped. And for years, it's not been much more than mascara and foundation unless I was going out. I always intended on getting back into it though, it was just one of those things I never quite got round to... until the wedding! The perfect excuse to start experimenting again. I was excited to do my make up myself. Like the dress, I was not forking out hundreds of pounds for someone to slap make up on my face. I can do it myself, get that satisfaction and save myself a lot of money.

I had so many elaborate ideas. So many pretty, bright, colourful, bold statement ideas. But then I wrote my speech and couldn't read it back to myself without balling like a baby. If I was like that during my own speech in front of no one, how was I going to hold up for the rest of the days events? That's what decided for me. I was going to go for something simple and classic but still very me. I wore this style of make up a lot just before I stopped making any effort whatsoever. And I'm so glad I went with this option. Looking back on the photos, it fit my outfit perfectly.

 

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BOUQUETS

I'm quite a big fan of flowers but I knew right from the start that I didn't want real flower bouquets. I wanted something myself and the girls could keep forever, something I could have on display after house. Nor did I want fake flowers... I like those too, I just wanted something a little fun. Something with a bit of personality.

That's when I stumbled on button bouquets.
https://i45.tinypic.com/2whqzj6.jpg

But something was holding me back. I absolutely LOVED them - I have a weird fascination with buttons - but they were a little... dull. A little boring. Then I thought of novelty buttons... I'll be the first to admit button bouquets are everywhere, especially ones with novelty buttons but back then, I wasn't even aware things like wedding blogs existed. The only button bouquets I knew of were the ones like the photo above.

Novelty buttons got me quite excited and I was immediately on ebay, searching out the bargain buttons I wanted and it was only a few days later that I had all the buttons I'd need plus the floral wire, ribbon and fabric to wrap around the wires to form the handle. But once it was all here, the steam had gone out of me again... it wasn't enough. That's when I stumbled on this.
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I absolutely loved it but it was too... fabric-y for me. So I decided to stop searching and made my way to hobbycraft. I probably could have got what I needed cheaper on ebay but I was SO excited about this, I had to start it TODAY. I came home with several different coloured bits of felt. Now the person who makes the bouquets in the photo above will have a fancy craft machine that cuts all those flower shapes out for her and all she has to do is sew it.... I don't have one of those. My bouquet consisted of 100 fabric flowers. Each flower consisted of 4 shapes. 400 small, fabric flowers.

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Cutting them out was a NIGHTMARE and many times I questioned whether it was actually worth it because I designed it in my head for the flowers to be barely visible. Barely visible but *there* all the same. Quite a few times, I decided it wasn't worth it but I pushed through anyway and, eventually, I was done. It took me about 3 or 4 weeks but would have been a lot quicker if I hadn't spent so many evenings staring in bitter disgust at the meager amount of work I'd already done!

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I did finish it. And the moment I could lift my tired hands off it, say "it's done!" and mean it? It was *all* worth it. I was so, so proud of myself and I absolutely loved what I'd done. I couldn't wait to show everyone! Thankfully, I contained myself to just showing Colin, my mum and the lovely ladies of the wedding group I mentioned before. And, of course, on here! But I saved it from everyone who would be at the wedding and I'm glad I did. I received a lot of compliments on it on the day.

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So I suppose the natural step to take after making my own fabric, paper and button bouquet would be to do something similar but on a smaller scale for my bridesmaids. That really wasn't what I wanted. I wanted something completely different from mine and I already had the idea in mind so no time was needed to be spent trawling the internet. I just had no idea if it would actually work or not! It's probably been done before, and much better than my final efforts were, but I hadn't - and still haven't - seen it before.

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I already had all the supplies needed for them and, one night, I sat on the couch with a good film and got started. It was very daunting because, like I said, I didn't have a clue whether it'd work or not.. I'd been thinking about this idea since I'd started making my own bouquet and I was worried that it wouldn't work. I wouldn't have been able to find something I liked as much as this, I thought.

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At the end of the evening, I had one finished bridesmaids bouquet. I was over. The. Moon. It had come out *exactly* as it'd looked in my had and I was actually a little bit jealous! I wished I'd done something similar but on a bigger scale for my own. It wasn't until I saw all three bouquets (2 bridesmaids and my own) that I realised just how amazingly they worked together and I was extremely happy, once again, with my own but still equally as happy with what I'd done for my girls. I loved them.

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COLIN'S OUTFIT

Colin had just as much, if not more, issues when it came to choosing what he was going to wear! There were so many options and so many epic combinations that it seemed almost impossible to find one that he could settle on. He liked the comfort factor of a short sleeved shirt but wanted to wear braces and preffered them with long sleeves. He wanted mismatched trousers and jacket but loved how smart jet black suits were. He wanted a bow tie but he struggled to find as much variation for a good price like there were with ties. He wanted epic shoes but there was almost no choice.

I only ever bought one dress. Colin bought, in total, 2 suits. The first was a black suit and white shirt. He hated the black and took it back. The second was a grey jacket and black trousers with a red, white and blue shirt. It did look pretty epic but the trousers were standard fit and he's a short guy... back to the shop it was and slim fit trousers were purchased. MUCH better!

When we'd bought the braces, it brought up a question in both of our minds: What would the suit look like with a plain white shirt? Back to the shops it was and we found a really nice white shirt with black buttons in Matalan and, when he tried it all on, we both knew it was the white shirt he was going with. His braces, buttonholes and bow tie produced enough pops of colour that his first shirt would just have been overkill.

His shoes, I found! I was casually browsing around looking for shoes for myself when I found them and about had a heart attack. I loved them!!! I actually waited 2 or 3 days before showing Colin because I was sure he was going to hate them so tried to put them out my mind. But I couldn't so I showed him. And he loved them just as much as I did, thankfully! His outfit was sorted.

 

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THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BIG DAY

This was something that was an issue but something we never really thought about... We knew we had to figure out who was going where and what was happening but never actually sat down and made decisions until 3 or 4 days before the wedding. Oops!

Initially, I wanted the typical "night before". I wanted Colin to disappear somewhere and to spend the night with my bridesmaids (and bridesmale!) and, if she'd like to, my mother. But there were issues with that. My bridesmale has health issues that meant he couldn't spend the night over here. One of my bridesmaids didn't want to spend the night away from her boyfriend. My other bridesmaid had a baby and was paranoid he'd keep everyone up all night. And space. We live in the tiniest of one bedroom flats and, should we all be here, no one would get a comfortable, undisturbed nights sleep.

So that was out of the question.

I even considered spending the night in our house on my own. Then I quickly realised I REALLY didn't want to do that. Colin was going to be spending the night at my Uncle's house with my Uncle and his 2 best men. That had been the plan from day 1 and there was no issues there whatsoever; he was easy!

So what the heck do I do?!

Well, it was pretty easy actually. Since the day Colin arrived from Northern Ireland, we've yet to spend a single night apart. Why change that now? There. Done. Decision made and dealt with! We would be spending the night before the wedding together. We were happy.

The best men were coming over from Northern Ireland and had already booked their accommodation, however it was through a website where no deposit was taken and you didn't pay until your arrival. Colin and I were talking and, ever conscious of our travelling guests and their expenses, we decided that we'd like to offer the 2 best men the option of staying with us from Thursday to Monday. Yep, that included the night before the wedding! They were over the moon to spend the time with us and to save a good amount of extra money!

Most people would probably be horrified at the suggestion of spending the night before your wedding with your almost-husband and his 2 best friends - even moreso when you've yet to meet those 2 best friends! - but I was actually really looking forward to it. Colin hadn't seen them since he left Northern Ireland and it made me really happy that he was going to have all that time to spend with them before the madness of the wedding ensued. On the morning of the wedding, the 3 of them got up before me, got their things together and left to go and get ready at my Uncle's; I never saw on the morning of the wedding and I liked that. I got to spend the night with him but still have the magic of the first time I saw him on the day would be when we were all made up and ready to get married.

I got up at 8am to an empty house. I wake up every morning to an empty house, Colin works, so it should have been pretty normal. But there was something very, very different in the air that day. Despite it being November and the weather up until then had been awful, it was like a summer's morning in my living room. The sun was shining and the air was electric. It just felt like huge things were about to happen.

I had a grand total of 2 hours completely and utterly alone before my bridesmaids/male and my mum arrived. I'd worked it out that way on purpose. I knew the entire day was going to be stuffed full of people and manic excitement; this was the only time of the day I'd be able to sit down and reflect on what the hell I was about to do.

Honestly? It was one of the best wedding decisions I'd made. It was a totally magical 2 hours and I can't even begin to describe the magic in the air that morning.

At 10am, my mum, my sister (bridesmaid), her son and my brother in law arrived. Within the next 30 minutes, my bridesmaid and male arrived, too. It was manic but relaxed. The excitement was immense but everyone was chilled out. I can't say it enough: it was just completely magical.

At 10:30, Sassy and her amazing Assassyn Katie arrived. And then the day exploded!

 

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THE VENUE

I've already mentioned our budget so I think you'll understand that this wasn't the easiest of jobs. But it's never one that stressed us out or upset us. We understood our budget so we looked solely at venues that supported this budget and that's as simple as it got, really. And it was pretty simple! We were initially going for the Holiday Inn package. And why the heck not?! It's just a building, what will happen inside that building on your wedding day is what's important. Plus, you provide the decoration... so where's the downside? We couldn't see one, really. There were plenty to choose from in Edinburgh in all sorts of locations so we were made up and had booked an appointment to go and see the one just up the road from where we were staying at the time and the one by the zoo.

Then my mum came to see me one day after work and told me she'd been speaking to a friend. This friend was also getting married but not until 2013, I think, and had found this venue. It offered the same package as the Holiday Inn but with a few added extras. Primarily, it's a fitness center and restaurant and I hadn't even seen a photo when we pulled up outside it a couple of days later for a tour and talk with the wedding co-ordinator.

I was in love.

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The ceremony room was absolutely stunning. Decorated in a more-blue-than-green teal and brown and with outstanding views out over the harbour, I was hooked. The room was large and light and airy and the colours were gorgeous.

The ceiling light fitting, even, was beautiful. The chairs were gorgeous (I was actually gutted when they replaced these!) and the setup was amazing.

Just off of this room is a little bar type area that would be the location for the drinks reception. It was part of the ceremony room but out of the way. It followed the same colour scheme. It was a good size. It was GORGEOUS.

I was so overwhelmed by how beautiful the ceremony room was especially that we never even considered decorating it in any extra way other than a few little things on the register signing table. I could see us standing at the top of the aisle, surrounded by family and friends the moment I entered the room. I could imagine us having our photo taken out on the harbour.

I was ridiculously happy and we had provisionally booked a date by the end of that visit. The Holiday Inn appointment wasn't held.

 

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THE MUSIC

The music was actually pretty easy. Colin and I have identical tastes in music so it really was one of the easiest wedding decisions. We were done in an hour or so! We had a couple of songs that played more than once during the day intentionally. It would have been very, very easy to have any song played more than once (our initial music list was over 500 songs long!) but the repeats were there for a reason; we LOVED them too much to play them just once!

Guests being seated
All I Want Is You - Barry Louis Polisar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHXau3zAe7E

You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00M1BDtC-jo

Grow Old With You - Adam Sandler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKs3bybeTO8

Wonderwall - Oasis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hzrDeceEKc

Brighter Than Sunshine - Aqualung
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpDNfwIrx1M

1,2,3,4 - Plain White T's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9x8Icrnswc

Brightest - Copeland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiymVDq4pyo

Mine & the bridesmaids entrance
Everyday - Buddy Holly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao-5mml5iEQ

Signing the register
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7ANqzV2liI

Grow Old With You - Adam Sandler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKs3bybeTO8

First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwFS69nA-1w

I'm Sticking With You - Velvet Underground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5je_eK0V1w

Earth Angel - Death Cab For Cutie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLK4eorLDBw

Our exit
I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipADNlW7yBM

Drinks reception
I Will Follow You into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am0IFwjPyYA

Earth Angel - Death Cab For Cutie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLK4eorLDBw

She is Love - Oasis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHeszfOsrPo

Brighter Than Sunshine - Aqualung
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpDNfwIrx1M

Wonderwall - Oasis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hzrDeceEKc

I'm Sticking With You - Velvet Underground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5je_eK0V1w

Grow Old With You - Adam Sandler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKs3bybeTO8

1,2,3,4 - Plain White T's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9x8Icrnswc

You & I - Ingrid Michaelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdEN1b-dwlw

As it turns out, both of us only recall really hearing two of the songs. My entrance - Every Day - and one of the register signing songs and one that was played during a fe times throughout the day- Grow Old With You. Both are enough to reduce the two of us to giggling, stomach-butterfly wrecks and we love it

 

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TRANSPORT, PHOTOGRAPHY & MEMORIAL.

Transport never really bothered me. We originally wanted a Classic like a VW camper or a Mini or a... something old and pretty. But then the logistics didn't really match up and it would be a hell of a lot more effort than it was worth and a lot of money for what would be an all of 15 or so minutes journey. Once we'd realised all of that, we didn't want anything at all. Taxi's would do for us!

In fact, Colin got the bus to our first look session in the morning HAHA! That really is how much of a eff you see kay we really did not give. That £200-£500 was a lot of money to save!

I, on the other hand, squeezed into my mum's teeny tiny car with Sassy and Katie and then, from there, we all got in a taxi. It was fab and it was money saving. Everyone was happy!

I've already mentioned Sassy a lot so I should probably talk about why I picked her!

We had https://assassynation.co.uk/
We went with Sassy because her photography style is very, very similar to mine were I to shoot weddings. Essentially the photographs I'd love to take myself. From the first contact we had, we got on like a house on fire and knew she would go above and beyond. She has the same photography ethos as I do. She approaches it the same way I do. The passion for her work was evident from the get go. The passion for her clients was evident from the get go. She doesn't just take photographs, she herself works to create amazing memories and that, too, was evident from the first point of contact. When I started talking to her and we were sharing plans and ideas, not only was a fire lit up inside of me, I could tell it was the same for her.
Now, after the wedding, she was the best wedding decision we made by far. There were a few points through the day where she stepped in and played wedding co-ordinator and literally saved the day for us. When something happened with a who-was-giving-a-speech-mix-up and it overwhelmed me, she played best-friend-shoulder-to-cry-on. She made such an impression on us that, when the reception started and it was time for us to go, we were *sad*. The next day, the both of us actually *missed* her. I was very, very sick on our wedding day and Sassy had all these plans for *amazing* photos but what came first was my health and how I was feeling and holding up. She spent the entire day making sure I was feeling okay and holding up well and let me know that at any time at all if something was too much, that's it; it's too much and we will stop. Each new photograph idea was only put across to us after asking if I felt up to it. With every idea she put forward, we felt very comfortable in the fact that we could say no, that idea wasn't for us. Not once did we have to... but we could! And Colin and I are very shy, very people-pleasing people. Sassy made us comfortable enough to tell her what was and wasn't working for us should we have needed to.
All that matters to Sassy is that her couples are happy, having fun, their day is going the way they wished, they're comfortable and they're stress free. If something happens that heightens the stress of the couple before the day AND during it, no matter what the issue, she will work to resolve it. If it's a problem with the venue on the day, she'll help out to fix it. Anything. Nothing is out of the question for her.

When we received our photos, I had to pretty much sit on my hands for hours and hours waiting for Colin to come home from work to look at them and the wait was MORE than worth it. Everytime we look at them, we're completely overwhelmed with how much we love them! Colin's mum is a very "typical mum" and we expected her to have her reservations; she, too, was completely over the moon with them. My mum thinks they're beautiful. Both of our families are amazed. Our friends, our parents friends, friends of our friends, people we've never met but have somehow seen them... everyone loves them! My sister's boss was questioning how to book Sassy for his own wedding after seeing our photos. I'm amazed by the reaction to them and how far they've got around the inner and outer circle of our lives but I am not in the least bit surprised. Sassy deserves this love from all of us and from complete strangers and SO MUCH more. I've had comments from other brides, who have seen more than enough wedding photos over the past few years, that ours are the best they've seen. And we wholeheartedly agree. So many people had so many expectations for our photographs and Sassy exceeded every single one of them.

Sassy isn't just a wedding photographer, she was our wedding necessity.

And now the gushing is over! Let's move onto the memorial.

Over on Rock n Roll Bride, Kat was wanting to write a post on name changes and who was taking whose name and why etc etc. I figured we had a pretty interesting story so I wrote ours out to share and sent it into her. She didn't end up using it but here was my email anyway!

"I've never felt my name is my own. From being able to understand and say my name when still a child, it's never been my name; I've always had some sort of detached feeling towards it. It wasn't my mother's surname. It wasn't my dads. It was my brothers dads name.

Growing up, my dad wasn't in my life. In fact, I only met him for the first time 4 years ago. And after meeting him, his name would not be mine either. He wasn't my dad - he was just my father, 2 entirely different roles in my eyes.

Your name has always been an incredibly proud thing to me. A real family thing. But how could I be proud of my name when it wasn't mine?

Growing up, my grandfather took the place of my dad. He was the one that was there on my first day of school and he was the one that kissed my scraped knees when I fell off my bike. It was my grandfather that picked me up, not my father.

My grandad passed away some years ago now. He always said he feared the family name wouldn't last long. Myself and my siblings had my brothers dad's name and my grandparents had just one son who only birthed daughters. A couple of years ago, a long time after my grandad had passed, my brother legally changed both his and his sons name to the family name. The pride I felt in him was immense. But it also saddened me; he was the last remaining Preston along with me and now I shared my name with no one. My sister had married. As had my mum, whose marriage sadly didn't last but she took the decision to keep her married name.

Cue meeting Colin and getting engaged. The thought of how to remember my grandfather on our day cropped up and it's probably been the thing I've put the most thought into because nothing ever seemed to be enough. And then, one day, it just came to me.

Less than a week later, my future husband had paid to legally change his surname and now, when we marry, I too will have the family name. White.

I know it's not a clear cut case of me not taking my future husbands name but I've never felt so proud of Colin nor has he done something for me that meant as much to me as this did. I didn't take his name and he didn't take mine, either; together, we're taking the same name and carrying on one of the last wishes of my grandfather. I can't think of a better way of keeping his memory alive not only on our wedding day but for the rest of our lives, too."

So that was that! However, as the wedding got closer, I had my doubts. We were doing this to preserve the family name in honour of my grandfather. But by doing this, we were "killing off" Colin's family name; he was the last Gamble after his father. I wasn't happy with that. I couldn't be comfortable with that. So, soon after, it was changed. Now? Now we're Gamble-White's. Now we're preserving the family name from both of our families and I'm ecstatic about that. It might not be the prettiest sounding name in the world but it means absolutely everything to me and I'm happy. We're happy.

 

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INVITATIONS

We spent a hell of a lot of time looking at invitations. They were quite important to us because they're what sets the tone of the rest of the wedding in the eyes of your guests. It was important to us to start off on the right foot and do our wedding justice.

There was nothing out there. Nothing affordable that would do any of our wedding, or ourselves, justice. We could have gone down the bespoke, designed-for-us route but we knew that would have ran into the hundreds of pounds zone and that was not something we were prepared to do so I got my creative head on. I opened up photoshop and I set to work.

In the end, I'd designed two or three sets of invitations and the one we went with was the very last one I had worked on; the first one or two just weren't doing anything for me and when I put the finishing touches on this last one, we both just knew. I didn't need to carry on with other designs in case I came up with something better; there would be nothing better. This one was perfect.

Then came the "how the hell do we get them from the computer into our hands?!" dilemma. I spent a lot of time on vistaprint trying to figure out the best and cheapest way but, again, it just wasn't working out. Nothing was perfect. They were already designed to our own specifications, not to vistaprints, so there was a little bit cropped here and a little bit cropped there and we weren't happy. I moaned and complained a lot. I almost wanted to cry from the frustration. Then my mum turned up a day or 2 later with a printer and ink. "Do it yourself," she said. "You've come this far."

So that's what I did.

I designed them, I printed them, I cut them all out and I assembled them all myself over 2 afternoons and, at the end of it, when they were all sitting on the floor in front of me, I was completely over the moon. I was so, so happy that my mum had pushed me to finish them myself. Like she said, I'd "come this far" with designing them myself, it would only be fair to myself to take the job right to the end myself and I'm so proud! A truly, 100% DIY job and EVERYONE loved them. My mum took hers in to work to show her colleagues - who I know! - and they were amazed by them. When everyone had received them, I got nothing but compliments. My family were amazed that I'd done it completely myself and a few just outright didn't believe me!

The evening invitations were a similar story. I designed, printed and assembled those too but I wasn't 100% happy with them. I could have done, and wanted to do, so much more with them but, by the time I got around to doing it, it was already 2 or 3 weeks before the wedding. What they are is what they are... I didn't have time for anything else! Thankfully, these received the same reception as the day invites. Everyone was happy so I was happy.

 

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YUMMY STUFF

Way at the beginning of wedding planning, we decided we were going for a small cupcake tower. Neither of us were hugely into cake but I have a love affair with cupcakes so it seemed like the obvious decision. An easy one! But, as time went on, we both changed our minds. We wanted a statement cake. Something epic! And that's when I found the Little Cherry Cake Company.

https://www.facebook.com/littlecherrycakecompany?fref=ts

This lady was amazing. But man, we could NEVER afford a cake from her. Then she put on a competition... and I won! A half price wedding cake would be ours! We talked and talked and, eventually, a digital mock up was sent over. I. Was. Blown. Away. It was AMAZING.

Things were good! But then they weren't... As usual! Nothing is ever as smooth as you plan for it to be, is it? Towards the time where the cake HAD to be paid for in full, we ran into a concrete wall. Not a brick wall, a concrete wall. It seemed we'd been a little bit too adventurous with a £3,000 budget and we just couldn't afford it anymore. It was horrible. I was sad. But then Colin pointed out to me that we're NOT cake people. That we were going with a big, elaborate cake for no reason other than it would look cool. The only time we would enjoy it would be in the photos. And he was right, I realised. So the sad faces were gone. Thankfully, she was incredibly understanding, and my win was given to someone that could use it now.

But we were without any form of cake now. It's okay, I thought, not the end of the world. It was a bit crap, yeah, but it really wasn't the end of the world! A cake doesn't make a wedding and we really weren't too fussed. But then my mum stepped in again and we were given what we'd initially wanted and MORE.

A lot of pretty cupcakes that tasted AMAZING and a pretty cake to look at. We were so happy! I immediately set to work creating little cupcake flags and cake bunting. We weren't having a first dance so this was the way I incorporated "our" song into our wedding.

The Maccabees - Toothpaste Kisses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdR0491gUSA

Then there was the sweetie table!

We didn't want a huge amount but we wanted *something*.

It was amazing! And just the right amount of sweets. All of our favourites and about 90% of them were gone by the end of the night. It was a big hit!

 

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THE TABLE/SEATING PLAN

This wasn't fun in the beginning. There was nothing to be seen that interested us. Nothing to be seen that didn't bore the life out of us. The rest of our wedding was fun and epic and amazing (to us, of course!) but this was just... falling short. It took a long, long time but eventually I fell on something we both absolutely loved.

Rather than going for a table plan, we were going for escort cards to some degree.

We knew none of our family or friends had been to a wedding where the seating plan wasn't a simple, pretty designed board with their names in a line next to their table so I created a sign to explain how to use it and put it in an epic frame on the table.

"Each pot represents a table. Please have a rummage through the pinwheels in the pots and find your very own pinwheel. Once you've find your pinwheel in its pot, look at the table name above the pot and take your pinwheel with you to your table. The table names are displayed on cameras on the table and you can choose your seat from there.

For those of you on the top table, please find your face and take that with you to the top table."

We had three tables for guests so three pots. Each pot was filled with pinwheels and each pinwheel had a name tag on it. I filled the pots with sand to weigh them down and hold the pinwheels in and made up SO MANY mini wool pom poms to cover up the sand.

However, we wanted something different for the top table. Something that would be that little bit more fun.

I bought a block of fimo clay, acrylic paints and a spray varnish and I set to work. I made a mini, child-like replica of each person that would be joining us at the top table and wrote their names on the back. I was happy with these! They were very amateur and, like I said, pretty child-like but that's the look we were going for. These in particular went down an absolute storm!

Colin's best men with their faces!

 

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THE GUEST BOOK AND THE CARD BOX

We wanted this to be a real "statement" table so a lot of thought went into what was going on this table. We wanted clutter and junk and lots of little things that were really us and things we loved. I'd attempted to create a "mock up" of this table a couple of times but absolutely NOTHING could prepare me for how it looked on the day. I was blown away! We, and all of our guests, absolutely loved it. There were more people checking out this table than were checking out the sweetie and cake table!

This wooden block was, and is, one of our favourite wedding purchases. It's just beautiful! It was quite expensive for our budget but very, very cheap for the quality of it and what is actually is.

The little "T" and "C" vases came all the way from China for the grand total of about 50p and we absolutely love them haha! They are so teeny tiny and just the most adorable thing.

Those little paper piles are the notes for the guestbook. I designed and printed those, also. The actual guestbook itself was the blue and white birdbox and the rules were simple: Write a message, roll it up and pop it through the hole!

 

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THE CEREMONY AND RECEPTION ROOM DECOR

As I mentioned before, we were in love with the ceremony room as it is and didn't need, nor did we want, to decorate it with much of anything. All we included were a couple of random pieces on the register signing table and we were extremely happy with that. Not only did the room not need anything, we knew there was a lot of things going on in the reception room and we didn't want that for the ceremony. We wanted the ceremony to speak for itself. To have no fancy decorations to fight for attention with. We wanted the main focus of the ceremony room to be us and that's exactly the way it was. It was perfect.

This was SO funny! You see the lantern IN the pot? Yeah, the pot was meant to be upside down with the lantern on top. Whoever setup the room obviously didn't understand that despite us providing photos hahaha!!

For the top table, we wanted a lot going on... but not over the entire table! We focused the attention towards the center of the table and, again, filled it with things that we liked and loved and that were 100% "us". We were both super happy with how it turned out!

We had a very small selection of my vintage camera's as the table names. I'd wanted to include them and managed to fit a couple of some of the tables but wanted to include a little bit more with 1 on each table. The idea for the table names came pretty quickly to me and we think they worked amazingly.

They worked really well with the centerpieces! The centerpieces were another thing that was a little hard work. We went through a million and one ideas before settling on the one we did and I'm so, so glad we went with what we did! The "cake stands" are actually white, plastic icing stands. They're used to stand cakes on whilst you ice them because they rotate! That's why we bought these particular ones. At the weddings I've been to, at least 2 or 3 people from a table would be touching and picking up the centerpieces to get a look at what was sitting where they couldn't see. This way, they wouldn't have to!

At the tables, we had records down in place of charger plates. Polka dot napkins. Jam jars with paper straws for their drinks from the bar. A small thank you note. Little details that we could have easily done without but that added that little finishing touch that we loved.

Our favours were a little Troll doll and a Russian Doll keyring.

And on the backs of the chairs, we had little toadstool hearts. I LOVED these SO much!!!

 

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Henri

I'm not sure if I mentioned the fact that I grew up in London. But I did! From the age of 8 to 15 years old, London was my home and it was both the best and worst time of my life. I suffered very severe mental health issues and was extremely bad but I had a great group of friends that helped keep my head *somewhat* above water.

Henri was one of those friends. The best. If it wasn't for her, I'm not quite sure where I would be right now.

As mentioned, I left London at 15 years old. I'm now almost 24 years old and I haven't seen her since. That's almost 9 years ago. From the start, I knew I wanted her there. I still thought about her a lot and I still loved her deeply. So, a few months before the wedding, I tentatively asked her for her address and she provided it. And she came. She was there.

During the ceremony, she was sitting where she should have been the first person I saw but, to be honest, I didn't see *anyone* but Colin. I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I didn't even see him until I got to the end of the aisle.

The first time I saw her was when she walked through the curtain into the drinks reception room and we immediately just threw our arms around each other and cried.

It was amazing. It made an amazing day even more amazing and I am so, so happy that she made it all the way and that she went to the effort to be with us on the day.

Despite it being nearly 9 years since we had seen each other, not a thing had changed. It felt like I'd seen her just a few days before the wedding.

It was magical.

 

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THE FIRST LOOK

When talking about our "first look session", I'm almost always asked what it is. Here, I found a pretty good explanation:
"So what exactly is a first look? Simply put – it’s when the bride & groom spend some time before the ceremony (yes, before) in a private moment where we get to capture the intimacy of them seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day… seriously private and seriously worth it. Typically, we’ll scout out a spot that is remote and away from guests. Then we’ll lead the groom over to wait anxiously for his bride to tap him on the shoulder so he can turn around and… WOW… see her in her glorious beauty, share true & intimate emotions, and admire who he is about to walk down the aisle with.

Not only does this make for some amazing memories & photos, but you get to share in a private moment just between the two of you! Most couples say that their nervousness is completely gone afterwards, and that despite having seen each other before the ceremony, they still feel equally special when they walk down the isle and see their bride/groom again. Why? Because both moments are completely different. Nothing can ever replace seeing your bride/groom at the end of the isle, locking eyes for the first time and realizing that in a few minutes you will officially be one anothers The first look, on the contrary, is more of a moment spent together, in privacy, in a slow pace – in what otherwise might be the hustle and bustle of your busy wedding day. It’s a chance for you both to soak it all in and enjoy one another
There are some circumstances that truly call out for a first look, such as:- You have an evening ceremony and you want to use natural light to capture your important photos.- You have a tight wedding schedule and you need to do all of your group/family photos before the ceremony.- You want to have plenty of time to venture out for your bride/groom photos.- You don’t mind trying out this new tradition.

Does it create some awesome memories? Yes. Can it improve your wedding day schedule? Yes. Is it for everyone? No!Only you can decide if this is the right choice for you & your groom! If you have a full day for your wedding and aren’t constricted on time, or if you have a day-time ceremony where you’ll have plenty of sunlight for your photos… maybe you can afford to wait until afterwards and not do a first look. It’s definitely a break from tradition! And it’s completely your choice!"

Our first look was one of the best times of our lives! We had the most fun ever and it was just amazing.

Why did we do a first look?

Photography is my main love. My biggest hobby. So you can imagine how important the photographs were to me! I work with natural light 99% of the time and it was important to me that we got the vast majority of our photos using natural light, too. Having a 3:30pm ceremony in a Scottish winter wouldn't have made that possible! Or it would have been... but it would have been rushed. We'd be lucky if we got so much as a 45 minute window for our photographs. Nope, not going to happen!

We also see the moment you first see the person you're about to marry as a private moment. Incredibly so! Not a moment we wanted to share with all of our friends and family. Yeah, our first look took place firstly in a busy city centre cafe and then out into the busy city centre town. But there IS a difference; we were surrounded by strangers. People that didn't matter to us. People that didn't even come into the equation. We could seperate them from the moment in the way that we couldn't seperate our friends and family from it. So despite being surrounded by people, it honestly felt like we were completely alone together.

It really was one of the best mornings I've ever had!

We started off in the City Cafe. Katie, Sassy and myself got out of my mum's car outside the building and Colin was already inside, waiting. Sassy disappeared for a bit to let him know we'd arrived, to get him into position and to explain to him how things were going to work; she'd already explained to me in the car! I was outside with Katie, my knees knocking! And when Sassy poked her head around the door and motioned that it was time... I was almost sick from nerves!! This was it!!

I got inside and there he was, sitting in a booth. Sassy gave him the thumbs up, he stood up, turned around and there I was! His face broke out into the biggest smile and the tears erupted from my eyes!! It was amazing. Such a beautiful, magical moment. He threw his arms around me and I could have stayed in that moment forever.

We sat down at the booth he was sitting at previously and that was it... we were just a ridiculously loved up couple sitting in a cool cafe spending time with each other. Sassy brought us a drink and then left us to it. For a few seconds! The next thing we know, the most amazing looking milkshakes were being placed down in front of us. On the house from the staff! Mmm, it was amazing but so, so sickly sweet. Nomnomnom!!

We were in the booth for what felt like no time at all, just lost in each other, when Sassy suggested moving along the cafe for more photos. The jukebox, the pool table, the bar!!

Then we moved over to the pool table at the back of the room. Sassy asked if I could sit on it and they were more than happy! So up I jumped but, before she could even start, a staff member was up there with us and removing stuff from the window. The windows were full of tea light holders (to be placed on the tables in the evenings!) and she offered to remove them all so they weren't distracting in the background. Amazing!

After that, we moved over to the bar seats. I LOVE those! It was a pretty hilarious effort from me to get into it in my dress but I managed it; I just didn't want to get back down, haha! Then another staff member appeared and SHE asked US if we'd like to get some photos sitting on the bar! The staff in this place were just absolutely Amazing! They were so accommodating and offering this and that before Sassy had the chance to ask. Major props to them.

Once I'd managed to get down, we had a cigarette break and came back into the booth to continue with our drinks and have a bit of "down time" before we moved on. As I mentioned earlier I was sick (flu and chest infection) on the day and I was very thankful for the chance to sit and catch my breath before we moved on again.

But! Before we moved on, we had to make use of the stairway! In the basement of the cafe is a nightclub but it's also the way to the toilets haha! So we were in a lot of peoples way and had to stop to let someone past every 2 or 3 photos but not a single person was arsey. It was lovely!

 

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After the cafe, it was time to move on.

It was time for our wedding day tattoos! I absolutely love this studio and love the people that work in it. I'm proud to call them my friends it really is a home away from home!

I was feeling a bit drained of energy - remember, I was sick! Not just lame haha - but a quick lollipop sorted that out. They always have a bowl full of them sitting out. Perfect! And Liz, bless her. She was getting work down that day too - hence the PJs! Comfort is paramount haha.

My tattoos are like a keepsake box of memories I can carry around forever but still have space in my handbag for everything else. When something big happens to me, it's almost instant that I think of something I can get permanently etched on my body to represent that moment in time. It was only natural that I'd want something from our wedding; everyone says one of the very few things that will last forever are your photos. Not for us. We have those AND this.

Colin is into tattoos but not quite as much as I am. I don't think they hold so much of an emotional feeling for him as they do for me, if that makes sense. If we both really like something, we'll get it... but for me, the recording of memories is ridiculously important. I need photographs. From everywhere. Of everyone. But what if something happens to those? Tattoos are my backup memories. No matter what happens to everything else, they will be there.

When it came to WHAT to get, it was quite easy for us. We wanted tattoos that would be matching but completely different. Something that, for others to look at, isn't automatically a matching, wedding tattoo. I chose a toadstool and he chose a pinwheel; 2 of the main "elements" of our wedding. It's actually my second toadstool tattoo! The first is on my ring figure which I find quite fitting!

The process of getting those tattoos ON the wedding day rather than just before or just after was really quite important to the both of us and, luckily, we've got 2 of the greatest friends in Nick and Steph at Old Town Tattoo. Along with an AMAZING photographer in Sassy, our need was allowed to become a reality and the process was almost as emotional as the ceremony itself. By getting these tattoos, it was almost like our very own personal set of vows are now etched on our skin forever.

We were stoked.

Once that was done, it was time to hit the streets of Edinburgh and just chill out... go where we wanted with no destination in mind and this was actually really fun! We were in my favourite part of Edinburgh and I had the best time ever. I love the resulting photos!

However, it did to start to rain right at this point! But that's okay! We took shelter whilst Katie - Sassy's Assassyn and all round amazing lady! - ran back to their hotel (just behind where we were standing thankfully!) to grab the umbrella. I've always said, "rain is just water.. it won't kill you." And that's the attitude we had. So many people worry themselves sick over rain on their wedding day... it's okay! Really, it's okay. Your photos will still be beautiful. Ours are.

And, before we knew it, it was time to head back to Sassy and Katie's hotel to meet the pre-booked taxi. It was show time!!!

 

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THE CEREMONY

Sassy, Katie, Colin and I turned up at the venue in our taxi. I instantly realised the mistake we'd made in not giving the driver clear instructions; he pulled up at the main door. The main door and walls either side of it our floor to ceiling glass. Every one of our guests saw us pulling up. Thankfully, I realised before the guests did! And I was promptly hidden by Sassy whilst Katie jumped out to help Colin get out without flashing any part of me! But whilst this was going on... all of our guests started coming outside! Clearly to greet the groom. Every one of them - aware we were having a first look - were obviously very eager to see us haha! It was really, really amusing although quite frantic; not a single soul had seen my dress. Not a single soul knew ANYTHING about it. Nope, not even the bridesmaids! Just my mother and myself. I wanted to keep it that way! So once Colin was inside, Katie jumped back in the taxi and the driver whipped us around to the back enterance! Here, we all got out and Sassy told Katie and I to wait behind the wall whilst she went inside to see if they were going to move the guests upstairs to the ceremony room or if they had an alternative way of getting me inside and sitting down somewhere without any of the guests seeing me. It was freezing outside whilst we waited but Katie really is awesome; we passed the 10 or so minutes just blabbering away to each other before Sassy motioned that it was safe to come inside.

And so we did! There, I was greeted by me bridesmaids, my bridesmale and my brother who was walking me down the aisle. He also had my darling little niece - our flower girl - in his arms. My sister also had my beautiful little nephew - our ring bearer - in her arms. They looked amazing! We were all led up to the bridal suite - an awesome dressing room - where I was able to put the umbrella and my bag down and make any last minute make up fixes - I didn't need to! Yay! Then it was time!!

Down to the ceremony room we went. We were ushered into the drinks reception part of the ceremony room and the most gorgeous teal coloured curtain was up, seperating us from the rest of the room and the guests. It was here I met the registrar and she was so, so lovely! But then the music started. At this point, I don't think I was fully aware of what was happening other than to think "man, I really do LOVE this song!" My sister and nephew walked through the curtain. I was good! My bridesmaid and bridesmale walked through the curtain. Awesome! I'm doing well! Then the instrumental part of the song started - I would be walking in when the vocals started back up - and that was it. I. Lost. My. Shit. I was in pieces. I was sobbing so hard, I started hyperventilating. My brother, bless him, was amazing and really helped me get myself together. By the time the vocals had started back up, I had stopped. But then I stepped into the room and saw everyone and started again! Luckily, I had more control this time and it was just a few tears. No hyperventilating this time! But then I saw Colin! And it took everything in me to not just dissolve. I was a wreck!!

When I spoke to people about a first look, one of the main reasons they wouldn't do one was always the same: they didn't want to take away from the emotion of seeing each other at the other end of the aisle for the first time. Well, ladies, I am the prime example that that does not happen! Yes, Colin and I had seen each other and spent time with each other that morning and seeing each other for the first time in the cafe was so emotional.

But this was different. At the cafe in the morning, we were both still in the "this is too good to be true" mind frame. Seeing each other at the other end of the aisle? There's no denying it then. It was the most emotional part of the day for the both of us and the first look made no impact on that special moment whatsoever.

The ceremony was beautiful and simple. We opted for the "middle" one so it wasn't too short but it wasn't too long. We also opted out of things like readings etc. It was just us, together. No decor distracting us. Nothing but the pair of us. And several other eyes watching from either side!

I spent most of the ceremony trying to control my tears and the completely and utterly ridiculous amount of outright trembling my entire body was doing! But, in the background, my 1 year old niece and nephew were babbling and giggling away to each and it helped the both of us focus, oddly enough. It was that that kept us both from literally falling to pieces!

And it was amazing. Just magical. She pronounced us husband and wife and everyone was cheering and clapping and before Colin got the chance to "kiss the bride", I'd flung my arms around him like it'd been a year since I last saw him! Magical. Every single moment of it. The best.