I'm getting married! Eeek!

[GypsyDancer]

I'm so rubbish at updating this

Anywho - big update! The wedding is now BOOKED! November 29th 2013

We are getting married and having our reception etc here.

They gave us such a good deal. The package they originally had on offer was 45 guests for the daytime and 70 for the evening (red carpet arrival, 2 course carvery, dessert, coffee and mints plus glass of wine at the table and sparkling wine for toast, and then a hog roast and DJ in the evening) and that would have cost $2013 (my pound sign doesnt work haha) so my mum and I went to view it with that offer as our starting point.

We asked the lady how much it would cost with 70 day time guests with 15 children then no extra in the evening and she came back at just over $3k. That was way out of our budget so my mum started haggling she said "if you can come back to me with $2500 on that piece of paper you'll have a deal and we'll book it today" so 20 mins later she came back and said yes!

THEN she asked if we wanted to get married there. I wasn't sure cause of the extra cost but she offered to show me the ceremony room and I agreed. It was gorgeous I asked her how much she'd charge for the room and she said "We won't charge you for this, I think your mum would kill me"

THEN she offered us all our chair covers and ribbons for FREE as well. They were originally gonna cost us just over 200 at $3 a head.

AND THEN! she said I could have a room there for FREE the night before the wedding too! And they'll provide us with a sort of chill out room where I can get ready

So in summary for $2500 we got:

A room the night before for me to stay in
A room for me and the bridesmaids to get ready in
70 day time guests, and 15 children (we're allowed extra in the evening if they don't eat haha)
2 course carvery for adults and separate childrens meals
dessert
coffee and mints
glass of wine at the table
glass of sparkling wine for the toast
DJ for the evening
Hog roast
Room on the wedding night for Matt and I

And breathe!

The colour scheme is still red and gold though Save the dates have gone out, and we're just waiting for our driving licenses to be sent back with our new address on it so we can book the registrar!

Wow thats a really good price! Were paying nearly 4 x that for almost the same! Granted were having 80 day guests and 180-200 evening but geeze im feeling slightly robbed now!! Welldone for haggling down!

 

[Smile181c]

Well done to my mum if I'd have gone on my own I'd have left after hearing the first price as we couldn't afford it!

hurry up driving license! I want to book the registrar! Anyone know how I go about doing that actually?

 

[EmmyReece]

What we did is got in touch with the registrar at the council and explained that we wanted to give notice for a wedding. They'll tell you the documents that you need (passport or driving licence, proof of address that sort of thing) and give you an appointment. Are you getting married in the same county that you live in? We aren't and once we'd collected the notices we then had to arrange an appointment with the registrar for the county that we'd be getting married in

 

[Smile181c]

I think it's classed as the same county. Well, it's under my county on the councils webpage of approved wedding venues! I'll give them a call as soon as my license comes back

 

[EmmyReece]

They should be able to fit you in fairly quickly, but I'd still give them a call to maybe arrange something for in a few weeks time when you know you'll have your license. Because that way they can get you pencilled in so that nobody can nab the time that you want xx

 

[Smile181c]

Good plan! I'll give them a call later today. I'm panicking that there will be no registrars available on the wedding date!

 

[EmmyReece]

I'm pretty sure there will still be registrars available, but it's best to get in touch, have a choice of times and get pencilled in x

 

[aly888]

Wow that venue is amazing, but that price is even better!!! Can your mum come with me when we start house hunting? She sounds like a good person to have at your side

As for registrar, deffo call them today and get your date pencilled in, then it doesn't matter if you can't give official notice for another week or two. There should be a contact number on your councils website for you to call x

 

[Smile181c]

Rang the council, the wedding co-ordinator will call me back

In my diet/weight loss news I did my first stint at the gym today since getting pregnant...don't think i'll be able to walk tomorrow!

 

[Smile181c]

Registrar is booked I had no idea they were so expensive! £375 then £35 each to give notice! anyway, my mum has offered to pay for it so that's a weight off

Also, the photographer is booked we have got another amazing bargain with this as he was having a half price offer! So we got the following for only £495 :happy dance:

- the grooms party getting ready
- the brides preparation
- guests arriving
- the brides procession in
- the ceremony
- the bride and grooms presentation and procession out
- posed and group shots
- the reception
- speeches
- the cake cutting
- informal shots
- the evening event
- the first dance

I'm getting so excited now

In the middle of making invites and this is my mock one:

https://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m506/clo_bags/A35F982F-05E0-4353-99A5-EEE08DC2212E-771-0000005F2BB6B4A8.jpg

https://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m506/clo_bags/7A23A285-7818-44CF-89F0-3B127A7B72E2-771-0000005F21735F8A.jpg

 

[aly888]

Woooo you got the deal?? That's fab news.

Invites look good hun. Your handwriting looks lovely but I'm sure printed up they'll be even better haha x

 

[Smile181c]

We did! I had to sweet talk the OH but i got my own way but come on, £495 for a whole day? You can't pass it up! The only reason we weren't gonna have a pro photographer was because it was so expensive lol

Yeah I had some problems re printing (in that I forgot printers don't print with white ink so brought red card in error!) so I printed one just to see what the blank ink looked like and I don't think it was that bad

 

[EmmyReece]

awwww your invites look so pretty

so pleased that you've got the photographer AND the registrar sorted

 

[4magpies]

Here to stalk!

x

 

[FayDanielle]

Going to read your journal from start to finish

Link to your dress takes me to 6 pages of dresses Hope theres a picture amongst these pages! xx

 

[FayDanielle]

Wow your wedding took a drastic turn but its going to be amazing! Love your venue!

Are you going to keep the dress you fell in love with?

Would have loved to have seen Hawaii wedding pictures xx

 

[Smile181c]

Thanks bec!

And yeah Fay, the plans have changed a lot in the past couple of years!

I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep the dress or not "/ it's SO big for me, and I know I can get it altered but I just can't see what it's gonna look like on me if that makes sense? My MIL has offered to buy me another though so I'm gonna go look at a few styles and see what I think.

Potential bridesmaid dress?
https://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m506/clo_bags/D3C9E5C0-1A02-4357-8EF6-E72A52BF50B4-1030-000000AC6070C5B4.jpg
I don't want the bridesmaids in long dresses and this is the nicest I've seen so far

 

[EmmyReece]

that bridesmaid dress is STUNNING!!!!!!!

 

[4magpies]

I love that. See I wanted them all in long and had a nightmare finding what I wanted. Haha!

xx

 

[Smile181c]

Thats always the way isnt it! Becca, do you have a wedding journal for me to stalk back?

It's the dress I keep going back to (and Matt likes it too which is a bonus) and its not too expensive. On eBay and from a Chinese seller.