It’s never what you imagine!

As soon as I got engaged I was straight on the internet looking for wedding dresses. I quickly decided that a full lace fishtail dress would be perfect for my hourglass figure! I booked in for my first wedding dress appointment at Chameleon Brides in Pokesdown that was recommended to me by a friend. I informed the lady that I wanted to try on a lace fishtail dress and from looking me up and down she suggested that I perhaps try something different, but being as demanding as ever, I insisted that this would be my perfect style! I tried it on (not often am I wrong) but it was horrendous! My hour glass figure had doubled in size! I would defiantly recommend that there is no point at all looking on the internet until you start trying dresses on and work out what style suits you, as I can guarantee it will change a long the way.

This is what I thought I wanted:

 

 

She offered me an alternative style of dress that she thought would compliment my figure and in fact my dream dress was dress number 3 in shop number 1. It was perfect and I felt amazing! I carried on trying other dresses on but kept coming back to that number 3 dress. It was however £500 over my budget and as I had only started looking I thought that I would carry on looking for a while. 

I got a feel within the first 2 seconds of a dress if i liked it or not, some dresses didn’t even make the ‘zip me up’ stage and came straight off. Some I dithered with but they just didn’t feel the one! Over 50 dresses later I still came back to dress number 3! I knew I wouldn’t be happy with any other dress and I am proof that you can carry on looking for months but if you keep coming back to the same dress you just know! I’m writing this 10 months after purchasing the dress and even now I love it just as much and couldn’t be happier (you will all have to wait until the big day though to see it hehe 🙂 )

Sometimes money isn’t everything but everyone deserves to feel like a princess.

The WOW moment!

Then I found my dream venue! I walked in and had the WOW moment! Everything was perfect! I knew it was the one! The staff were friendly and offered us a cup of tea (this guarantee’s every deal when it comes to my mum!), it was clean, modern and most importantly UNIQUE!

It’s an old Georgian House which has only recently been refurbished to make it modern but still keep the old charm and character. The high ceilings, large rooms and heavily patterend wallpaper it was perfect! The room’s involved the cermony room, reception room overlooking the gardens, a cocktail bar and a snug! So you actually get more rooms than some of the other hotels so that guests can mingle between them all. It was the one! After winning Henry and my dad round the only thing left was to bargain with the price! I managed to knock £1000 off so it came in within budget and was quick to put down my deposit! Eeeeeeekkkkkk My first purchase! Now I could start planning knowing how the feel of my wedding was going to be!

First Things First……Money!

Before we did anything, the first thing we decided to do was look at our budget. This is really important to get some idea of the maximum you want to spend and work out how you will save/get this money together. I am in love with spreadsheets, so this was right up my street. Even just a handwritten copy would be fine but as a bride who is writing this slightly behind, make sure you stick to your budgets as its difficult to think ‘I’ll spend £50 over budget here and make it back somewhere else’ because trust me….the somewhere else doesn’t exist! 

Let the planning begin!

I was never a Bride who had her wedding planned out since she was a little girl. Instead I am a bride who is in love with spreadsheets! The budget was the first on my to-do list setting up tabs and formula’s this felt like my masterpiece! 

I didn’t want to be a ‘normal’ bride with a ‘normal’ summer wedding with a ‘normal’ vintage theme. Instead I went for December, winter wonderland and modern! The date would be:

28th December 2013

Planning had gone into the date as I figured most people would be off work during the period between xmas and new year and this tends to be the lull period….not anymore!!!!!!

 

Popping the question!

I’m a typical planner! Correction……I’m a crazy planner!

I take planning to the extreme and work my life out per week, month and year! As soon as I met Henry in 2008 and knew he was the one, our lives have been forever planned out! 

2011 for me was the year of the engagement! For ever big event, holiday or romantic get-away, I would wonder….is this it? Reaching into his pocket….is he going to ask me? Nope!

He knew that I had a love for Christmas, so I thought that Christmas Day 2011 would be my day! Instead it was my other friends who got engaged and I ended up secretly sulking after I found out! I only had days left until my plan of getting engaged in 2011 would be over! 

Waking up on boxing day, I found that I had a miserable stinking cold! This is the day that Henry chose to pop the question! We spent the day together shopping in the sales whilst I was probably the worst company being moody and snotty feeling sorry for myself! On the way back he asked if I would like to go out for a nice walk in the forest…..there was no chance! We were due to go round to my parents that evening, where the whole family would be, for a Murder Mystery evening. I was dressed in a multi-coloured evening gown, playing TAMARA FARA-BUCKTOOTH – Famous for being famous, she is a regular fixture on the London social scene and is somehow related to Lord Jagged. Henry was dressed in an elaborate suit with one of my flowery tops on, a flamboyant scarf and hat; playing TERENCE SHRIMP – An East End boy whose success as a photographer has taken him into the most fashionable social circles). As I was getting ready, he asked if I was missing something from my utterly terribly outfit….I replied “Nope, dont think so” to then turn round to him down on one knee!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!

Joining the rest of my family for the Murder Mystery Champagne Murders (where ironically, Champagne was already provided) couldn’t have been more special! What a great end to the year and start to the next!

 

Better late than never!

I wanted to keep a record and share my ideas and memories, unfortunately I’m a little slow getting started as I got engaged Boxing day 2011 but my story starts today and I shall play catch up!

So here we are….Kirsty & Henry! 🙂