Wedding Wednesday - Don't Tell The Bride.

First off, I know it's Wedding Wednesday, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to write it up, so here it is! Sorry it's late!

I was sitting down to dinner with my boyfriend and family, when my mum just happens to mention that Don't Tell The Bride are looking for contestants. 

I looked across to Andy and his face was a picture! It did get me thinking about a few things though. How would I feel if I was to hand over ALL the planning to Andy? And how would he cope? Would he get it right? How would he spend the money? So many thoughts about what he would do! 

Let's be honest, I enjoy watching the programme and if I'm honest I just think most of the men are just using it as a joke, but then on the other hand, some of the brides just expect so much! I said to Andy that I wouldn't mind too much about what he did, but one thing he'd have to get right; THE DRESS! I have had my heart set on a particular style of dress for the past year. To then discover that I had to wear something completely different I think I would be heartbroken. 

We did discuss going onto the show, but in the end we decided that we wanted it our way, together as a joint thing. Plus if I'm honest, I couldn't handle it! Three weeks, not knowing when I'm getting married, where or what I'm wearing, and not seeing him, it would drive me crazy! 

Would you ever go on a show like this? What are your thoughts?

Also, as from this week Bex at Futures has created a Link Up for all Wedding Planning posts, so go take a looksie! :) x

Emily xox

Wedding Wednesay - Invites

Who to invite the our wedding is a big talking point between us at the moment. We've been looking at venues who ask that you have a minimum of  50 people, which in hindsight  we know is not alot of people, but then we're starting to get further and further away from the small intimate wedding that we're after. 

The big questions for us are; 

1. Who do you invite?
2. And where is the line?

See, the Boyfriend is very close to his family, aunt's, uncles, cousins ect, where as I would prefer to keep it to my imediate family, with just a few of my aunts/uncles. But how do I invite Andy's cousins and not my own? Am I going to cause a rift? I think at some point, all bride will go through this big question and dilemma, my conclusion? Well it's our wedding. Simple as that, you're going to end up upsetting someone, so why not please the two people that this day is really about? 

What I think people will need to see, is we don't have an endless budget, and looking at some venues, it's costing nearly £100pp for a sit down meal. We're hoping to find it cheaper or do our own catering, but we will see. 

My point is, it's our day and we know what we want. If they don't come to the wedding, they come to the reception, which is what most people I know prefer anyway!

How did you tackle guest lists? Did you upset anyone? 

Emily xxx

Wedding Wednesday - Savings.

When it comes to my wedding, I want to be as prepared as possible, so in order to do that, I need a lot of saving! Me and the boyfriend are working extra hard to put the funds away. We have decided to buy a funds pot, purely because it'll be something we will see day and day out and a place to put our extra pennies. There are so many around that I can't decided what one to buy come payday. 

Personally I really like the 3rd one, it's pricey, a snip at £22.95, but it's personalized and a keepsake!  Your wedding is a special time for you and your partner, so why not have a few special things! 

I think the piggy bank is also a cute and has a 'classic, retro' feel to it! While writing this, I think I've decided which one I'm going to buy and the proper saving can finally start!

Which one do you like best? How did you save for your wedding? 

Emily xx

Wedding Wednesday - Planning

Although, I'm not officially engaged to be wed just yet, it's fair to say, it's certainly soon on the cards! Me and the boyfriend have been talking and talking and talking about our wedding, what we want, who we want, and where we want it. 

I have thought about when I want to get married and between the two of us we have decided on a date we'd like to 'work towards' as such, so it's by no means an official engagement or annoucement, and we've only casually mentioned it to family! (still waiting for the proper proposal hehe!). 

                So where do you start when you're planning a wedding? Well here are my top 3 priority things I'd sort out first.

Budget.

Budget, seems to be the thing that causes the most stress in planning a wedding. I know that we've already had a few bickers over how much to spend! It's also trying your hardest to not go over budget just as much. Reading through some bride magazines, it's amazing how much some people spend. I'm not by any means disrespecting peoples choices, but to me 30,000 on one day is just silly! We decided to set an amount of around 10,000 at the most. Ambitious I have been told, but what with all the help people have offered me, I'm hoping to pull in alot of favours! Just a quick tip that we found, it's your day, you have what you want, not what others want you to have!

Date.

I think letting people know the date asap, because they need to the time to book it off work and make sure that if they want to attend then they can. Although the date we've decided is 4 years away, we haven't told anyone yet, I think 2 years is more than enough! We've chosen a  date that is significant to us, and I think to us, that makes it more special. 

 Venue

I have put this in, because while looking at venues and availability, many venues are booked up years in advance! So although our date is 4 years away, places already have bookings for that year! It's crazy! Obviously this is not the case for all and I have found many will only book a year in advance so it's trying to find the balance. Hopefully we will book a place up next year, savings permitted and it will become all a bit more official! 

Image from Weheartit

This is just a rough guide on how i'm planning to tackle the mammoth task it is planning  a wedding. I have helped plan 2 previously and let me tell you, that was stressful enough! So with my wedding, I want to take a more relaxed approach to it all! Hope you enjoy my tips and thoughts and look out for more soon!

Lots Of Love; 

Emily xox

Baby Lips - Review

I've seen the words 'Baby Lips' thrown around quite alot on blogspher lately, and obviously, when I saw it at the checkout in Superdrug last week, I had to pick it up.

I got the flavour hydrate, as to my surprise, it was the only one left! I used it instantly thinking, 'whats all the fuss over' and was expecting it to be magical. My overall reaction? I just didn't understand. It was a lip balm? An over priced lip balm that tastes no different to a normal chapstick that would cost me 99p? 

I have continued to use it, hoping to fall in love with it. It's unfortunate to say, but I'm still unsure. I'm hoping that if I try a different flavour I might change my mind, but for now, I won't be reaching for it. 

I have to admit I'm gutted I didn't like it, I wanted to really love it like other bloggers have, but I'm afraid it's just not for me. 

Did you enjoy baby lips? What flavour should I try next? 

Lots Of Love

Emily xox

 

Life; Where have I been?

Hello all, and firstly I'm going to apoloigize for being away so long! I originally hadn't blogged as I had been so busy because of my parent's wedding and being a bridesmaid I had a lot to do! But once it was over I struggled to get back into blogging, and I have really missed it! 

So anyway, I thought I'd post a few pictures of posts to come, things I've been up too and a few wedding snaps! I have to respect the fact that most of my family didn't want to be included on the blog, so faces ect will be slightly blurred ect :)

 Enjoy! :) 

The wedding was such a lovely day, and I'll admit I shed a few tears as my mu & dad exchanged vows, my brothers walking her down the aisle and my dads speech. It was lovely. I had a slight dress malfunction towards the end, but nothing major! Me and my boyfriend have now started to talk more and more about getting married, so expect to see some wedding posts soon! 

Hope it won't be as long before I post again! 

Emily xox

#hertsbedsmeet - What did we get up too?

If you follow me on twitter (or any of the fellow bloggers) then you'll know that last Sunday was our first Herts/Beds blogger meet up! For some of us it was actually our first ever bloggers meet up, and can I just say, it was so much fun! 

After so much planning, prep, trying to finalize a date ect, we met up, chatted, shopped and it honestly felt like all of us had been friends forever! All these girls were so genuine and we had such a lovely time! 

We decided to meet in a central location for us, outside a lush shop. It was baking hot and we were all dressed up for the occasion! I have to admit that whilst walking from the car to Lush my heart was pounding and I was so nervous that people wouldn't like me ect ect, but once I saw the girls and started chatting, all those fears melted. 

After a mooch around shops such as TK Maxx, The Body Shop and New Look we headed over to Lush. We introduced ourselves as beauty bloggers and the staff were so friendly! They gave us demonstrations of products, talked us through different scents of there perfume range, where I did infact fall in love with one called The Sun, which as it happens I'm off to buy today! While we were in there making various purchases, a reporter from the local paper turned up to take photos for the Guinness World Record Attempt that Lush tried to do the day before, by trying to collect the most amount of kisses using their lip pouts! We got involved in the pictures, but sadly we did not feature. But it was all good fun anyway! We walked away from lush having had a lovely experience, and they had even thrown in a few samples for us! Which was really lovely of them!

Bex seriously has the cutest little boy ever! And he gives lovely cuddles!

We then went into Benifit, Bare Minerals, Boots and superdrug where we all swatched like crazy! I think by the end of the day my hand was so pink from all the lipsticks. We also popped into Clinton Cards, where I think we all fell in LOVE with the Yankee Candle range and most of us brought at least one candle. Again I'm off to buy one today! 

Now, you've heard of a bloggers hype? Well on this day, we created one! On a casual trip to Champneys, one of us picked up a lushcious body scrub, which was on special for just £2.50. Now when I say this smelt amazing. my god did it smell amazing! Review of this to come later, but 10 out of 12 of us picked this up! It is so good, so if your ever in a champneys, pick up the Distant Shore body scrub with passion fruit!

Space NK was next on the agenda, I have to admit I've never ever been into Space NK before and now I'm starting to wonder why! I fell in love with so many things! I have such a long wishlist now! 

After we had all tired out in the heat and shopped till we had dropped we went the our local pub/bar for a spot of lunch, of course picking the best spot for lighting and taking pictures! I can honestly say that I had a really good day, and it did feel like all of us girls had known each other for a long time, no awkwardness at all! We're planning another meet before christmas, and I cannot wait for this! 

Who went;

Bex At Futures
Shona At FreshBeautyxox

Jenny At Cardigans & Nails

Sarah At Sarah's Beauty Emporium

Amy At AmySarah

Courtney At CourtzMelv

Jess At JessiCull XO

Cat At What Cat Says

Sarah At Knickers & Nail Polish

Emily At Saving Emily

Hannah At Beginners Beauty

I really hope you go check all these girls out as they're so amazingly talented and kind! Also, get in touch if you do live in the herts/beds area as we're planning a few more meet ups in the near future! :)

Emily xox