Wedding Planning #4 – It's Actually Coming Together.

My last wedding update planning post came at the end of July, going into August and what a busy August it was. September has been much more quiet on the planning front, there’s not been a weekend where we’ve really had time to do anything wedding related, although we have made notes from other weddings we’ve been to of ideas that we wanted to steal!

Featured image credit

The Dress

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/127437864432340655/

Not the dress… or is it…

I guess the big thing that’s happened since my last update is the dress. I found it – and actually ended up being between two dresses in two different stores. I only took my mum and sister with me, I wanted opinions from them without being bombared or overwhelmed by too many, I’m guessing I tried on about 20 dresses during the day, and once I’d found the style that suited me I was really excited.

The day we went dress shopping it was thunderstorms and lightning and we literally was running down the high street in the rain to get to the shop and ran in the door without paying a second glance at anything in the front of the store. In the second shop I tried on two dresses, and there were things I liked about one, and things I liked about another, the sales assistant asked me if I’d seen the one in the window as the bits I liked from each were combined in that dress. Because we’d run in from out of the rain I’d paid no attention to it. She went and grabbed it from the mannequin and I was the first person to have tried it on, it was new in that week – when I tried it on there was no mirror in the room and once I was all strapped in and buttoned up the sales assistant said “I really don’t say this very often, but Wow”. I stepped out, looked in the mirror and knew it was the one, but wanted my mum and sisters opinion before I declared my undying love for it, both told me I had to choose and they wouldn’t tell me which I liked best, before forcing them into telling me they both liked it too.

I’m not going to tell you anything about it as it’s staying a big fat secret. But the dress I tried on was a blush pink which I did debate on getting as it suited my skintone, but my mum looked like she was about to have a meltdown so I decided to try on an ivory dress by the same designer to check I liked the shade as much against my skintone so ordered it in Ivory. I did try it one one more time before leaving as the sales assistant said it should be the last dress I try on before leaving. It should arrive some time just before or just after Christmas, I’m planning on going back to try it on once it arrives with my sister in law to be/bridesmaid/hairdresser who can get thinking about how she’ll be doing my hair!

Best thing about it, it was way under budget, so I’ve started looking at expensive shoes and I’m planning a trip to Bicester Village (a designer shopping outlet where there are a few designer shoe shops) to see if I can spot anything pre-christmas, otherwise I may wait until the January Sales. I know I’m looking for something dressy, but not a proper bridal shoe – something that’s glitzy, without being white as I want to wear them again… especially if I’m spending a chunk of money on them.

The Suits

I was happy to play no part in the suits, Ben had gone whilst I was away for the weekend in Valencia and when he came back he showed me some pictures, then wanted me to go for a second opinion and try on session. We tried a few different options and went around the houses before ending up back where we started.

The Car

In my last update we were planning on booking a car, but we’ve saved ourselves about £600-700, a friend of my Uncle’s who collects vintage cars offered to do it for us and didn’t want anything but a bottle of whisky! I was sold from that moment on, but Ben wanted to go and have a quick gander at the vehicles, we picked out a car which is the only one of it’s type in the UK, and is a bit different to the norm. It’s going to have a few restoration bits done on it over the winter so come June it’ll look super smart!

The Entertainment

It’s a weight off my mind that we finally have some entertainment sorted, we have a DJ booked for the whole night but are still on the look out for a band IF we can find one we like and is the style we’re looking for. We’re really struggling to find the type of music we’re looking for that isn’t going to cost a fortune, but we have a DJ booked who has come highly recommended, and his kit wasn’t too ‘Chavvy’ – that was a big no-no for a lot of people we were looking at for me!

The Makeup Artist

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/309904018092735593/

My current makeup inspiration

Initially I’d found a makeup artist at the start but she wasn’t taking any bookings for 2017 until August, I recontacted her several times and she never replied which sent alarm bells ringing. I decided to find someone new, and really, really struggled to find someone who did the type of makeup I wanted and who was available. I was seriously starting to look at getting a MUA from London up for the day which was going to cost big bucks. In the end I asked in a local beauty blogging group (thinking I’ll find people who are similarly minded/fussy as me), and someone came forward and said she was a MUA – I got in touch with her and turned out she’s getting married the same day, BUT gave me a list of people she’d recommend and I found someone who I was super happy with & is now booked! I was starting to get a bit panicky as for 3 weeks I was searching and couldn’t find what I was looking for!

The Florist

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/309904018092605195/

The style of flowers I’m after, but different colours

Another thing that was starting to become a struggle, I’d known for ages who I wanted to do my flowers, but on contacting her she was getting married the weekend before. I’d contacted a few others and found people were either crazily overpriced or already booked. I put out another plea on my personal facebook and several people recommended someone who was setting up her new business, I took a look at the pictures of the work she’d done so far and was reassured it was the style I wanted and was semi-reasonable and she was happy to accommodate the fact I’m hoping (weather permitting) to provide my own roses from my parents garden rose business.


So the next things on my list? The shoes, Bridemaid dresses & now I can start thinking about all the little things I want to finish off and start, e.g Invites/Wedding Favours & other DIY projects for the day. For the most part everything big is now ticked off and my main concern is Bridemaid dresses, I need to get them together for starting the hunt! We’ve still got to get our rings, but have been tipped off that you should wait until January Sales, as apparently that’s a thing.

If you’d like to catch up with other details such as cakes, our photographer, engagement shoot and what our venue looks like – you can catch up with my wedding series here!

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Helpless Whilst Drying

Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com

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27 Comments

  1. Shelleen
    October 10, 2016 / 8:35 am

    Sounds like its really coming along! When is it you get married? I’m getting married in May 2018, so I’ve still got a lot of things to do but like you I’m always on the look out for things. Entertainment, etc as we have a DJ but are considering a band too. Sounds like you’ve got a great deal with the car! x
    x

    • October 10, 2016 / 8:47 am

      June 3rd so we’re now under 8 months away! Scary as I know time always flies between now and my birthday (February!) think I might have to purposely schedule some diy weekends on the board and keep them free so I have time to do everything!

  2. October 10, 2016 / 1:55 pm

    I’m getting so excited for your wedding, I can’t wait to see all the pictures! AND your dress!!! You’re actually getting married the day after my sister’s birthday, so I’ll never ever forget the date now. xx

  3. October 10, 2016 / 6:00 pm

    I’m so glad you found the dress!!!
    But I have to say, this is the oldest trick in the book: the sales assistant said “I really don’t say this very often, but Wow”.
    I used to work in retail and I would say whatever necessary to close the deal! 😉 But at least you had your mom and sister there to provide their opinion.
    So glad everything is falling into place for you. 😀 Will you be doing a makeup trial with the MUA first?

  4. October 10, 2016 / 6:01 pm

    Wow you’ve sorted so much out. Your dress sounds amazing I bet it’s gorgeous! I think I’ll have to swerve getting married, I’m not sure I’d be as organised as you😊 x

  5. October 10, 2016 / 7:08 pm

    Awesome for all the wedding things you’ve accomplished in the last few months! Congrats on finding your dress! It feels nice to get things checked off of your checklist, doesn’t it?

  6. lizzgold
    October 10, 2016 / 8:07 pm

    As a bridal consultant, I have to see the dress! I will never get tired of nosing at wedding dresses!

  7. October 10, 2016 / 8:28 pm

    Sounds like everything is coming together!! Yay! So exciting! I kind of miss planning my wedding but I definitely still look back and remember the day and have a huge smile on my face!

    • October 10, 2016 / 9:35 pm

      I haven’t enjoyed doing lots of the big things I’ve found lots of the decisions stressful, but I’m looking forward to having all the fun DIY’s as winter projects now the big stuff is out the way!

  8. October 11, 2016 / 12:05 am

    Really sounds like you have this completely organized! Glad you got to save a bit here and there, as well! 😀 Definitely go all out on the shoes, haha!

    • October 11, 2016 / 7:46 am

      Yep I’m hoping to drive down to the designer outlet, at the start of next month, I think the jimmy choo that’s there will have lots of glitzy things for Christmas so hopefully something will be wedding appropriate!

  9. October 11, 2016 / 6:02 am

    Woo! How exciting to get the dress you want and under budget as well. It must all be starting to feel real now 🙂

  10. October 12, 2016 / 1:49 pm

    This is so exciting! 😀 I’ve been married for quite some time now and never had the wedding party. From your post, I feel that I’m missing out on something. Look forward to read more about your wedding stuff.

  11. Serendipity.
    March 10, 2017 / 8:47 pm

    I am also getting married this year (August 18th)! It creeps up so quickly!
    Reading this post has made me feel super excited about it all over again though! 🙂
    Good luck with your wedding plans x

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