Looking back

Hello folks!

It's been a while, haven't posted in almost half a year - apologies for that :)  I've been off being married and whatnot.  And before you ask, no, it's still just the two of us for the moment! 

It's funny, people ask questions about your child bearing intentions as soon as you get back from honeymoon, but I heard a lesson before I got married from a colleague who put her foot in it quite badly, so I tend to avoid the jokes/digs.  She asked if there was going to be a pitter-patter, of another colleague who had got married around the same time as her.  Little did she know that all sorts of complications and difficulties were being experienced, and it all came flooding out.  Needless to say, colleague #1 was rather embarrassed and now carefully doesn't ask anyone, ever, if they have baby making plans.  On a happier note the difficulties for colleague #2 have been overcome and there is lots of pitter-patter since, but still. A lesson worth hearing. 

There are so many new websites out now, helping brides-to-be through their planning process.  I have found a few while helping others which I hadn't seen when preparing for my own wedding last year - well done to all who have taken the initiative.  I think B2B's need all the help they can get! 

Lots of trends in the DIY aspects of weddings this year, even more than in 2010.  Bring your own favourite music to give the DJ, make your own invites, your own cake, your own cake decorations, ask friends to do video/photography for the day - all great ideas.  It does obviously put pressure on your pals to get it right since it's your big day but once you are aware of that and don't expect perfection (or anything resembling a professional finish!) then you are totally sorted.  Looking back, sure who needs perfect *things* when all you really need is to commit to your new spouse - that's what it's all about! 

DIY weddings are just as beautiful, and in my opinion, even more so.  They hold that personal touch that you just can't get anywhere else.  YOU made the favours - over a glass of wine with your bridesmaids perhaps. YOU picked the flowers in your bouquet - from the garden you tended with your betrothed.  YOU helped your mum or favourite aunt bake your most favourite cake and got icing on your nose finishing it off.  YOU had a hand in what type of music would be played at your party.  I love it.  So much personal taste going into weddings.  It seems that the trend is far less the one-up-man-ship it was becoming during the naughties and much more about the creation of a solemn bond between two people, and the celebration of that union with the couple's nearest and dearest. 

I'm so happy to see this transition.  I have felt for so long that too much fuss was made of the wedding and not enough of the marriage.  Materialism does not a happy union make.  Well done 2011 brides :) you rock!

Advice

For the peeps who have got engaged recently, some tips!

1. Get yourself a good Wedding Planner Book.  A nice succinct one - some are over the top, some read like a magazine. This one here has really straightforward worksheets and reminders lists for what you should have done 12, 9, 6, 3, 2 and 1 month before the event itself. Check it over, tick stuff off, bob's your mother's brother.

2. Consider beautiful sillk flowers. Surprisingly inexpensive - same price as the real thing - and so much prettier for so much longer. I have dried my bouquet and it just doesn't look as good as these pretty samples I received some months ago...

3. Be organised and remember to thank the people who put so much into your special day - write lists of what people do for you in the run up, so that you can thank them in the personal cards after the event. It makes it so much nicer for people to receive, they really appreciate it!

4. When you get back from honeymoon, don't forget to send away for your marriage cert!  You will need to prove you are married if you are availing of tax benefits, applying for a new driving licence if you are changing your name - everything.  Plus, it's just nice to have ;)  Legally bound to another forever, woo. 

5. Enjoy your honeymoon, don't forget to take pictures!!  We took so few it's hilarious, the pair of us usually take bajillions of photos everywhere we go, but we were so relaxed just taking it all in that I only have some phone pictures to share!

And then we came home...

And it has been so lovely since we got home. The past three months have been blissful. Not just because we're in "The Honeymoon Zone" - after all we were Living in Sin(!) beforehand.  But because we have time to spend with friends, or just working in our little house, making it nice again after all the wedding madness.  Back to reality?  Back to normality more like.

And.

I.

Love it.

Les Fleurs

A wee fleur for the mums
A wee fleur for the bro's & sisters
A buttonhole for the dads, witness & my Handsome One
A wee BooKay for my witness

A wee BooKay for me

A splash of fleur-related colour on the alter, at the church door and the top pew ends

A wee splash of colour on the dining tables

An enormous number of flowers draped over as yet unfinished changes to function room (better to be prepared, in case they really don't finish in time)

Remember when I advised you to delegate?   Thank the gods I did just that.  When florists start talking about the fleur names in Latin my eyes glaze over.  All I want to say is "can't you just make it nice?" coz I really don't know what they're on about at all.  Thank goodness for having fleur-related people in the family.  Fleur-relations.  Phew.