from waht i know you can apply for a new passport in a new name and it will be delivered 3/4 weeks before the wedding but is not valid till the day of the wedding when your name changes. x

Im going to look into it, just love the idea of being Mrs Wright on my passport and flight etc! its the little things!!! Well done mrsmalin

I also LOVE the idea of having my wedding date on my passport too as it will be dated from the wedding day :D

Awww, that sucks :( do you need to go abroad for the hen? x

I'm still in a bit of shock....

So this year I'm starting my degree and doing 90 credits a year, working full time, have my family and would like some sort of social life....however, today I found out that I also have a place in the London marathon.


I entered the ballot after the last one thinking that it might be my last chance as we might have a baby after the wedding, but never thought I'd get a place and sort of forgot about it and signed up for uni ect.... I'm just so glad I didn't sign up for the sky dive I was planning on doing in March

Wow Donna that's amazing. You could always defer the place for a year if doing it in 2015 is going to be too much?

Depends on where in ireland, if its northen ireland, i don't think you need one as its part of uk, you don't need one to go wales. but you will need a photo id like a driving license.

Deferring the place for London would be no good as I'll be busier next year with uni as I'll be doing a level 2 module instead of a level one and also may be pregnant.... unless you meant deferring uni and then I suppose I could, but I have already signed up to an extra module as I want to get uni done in 4 or 5 years instead of 6 years so deferring it for a year because of the marathon seems a bit silly, especially when like I say uni is my priority. Yeah I am going to still go to uni Catherine, I know London is a once in a life time thing for me, but uni is more important.

I'm going to :) happy birthday! I've never had a girlfriend card lol!

What are you going to do then Donna?

Happy birthday Elizabeth!

It says on the gov website regarding passports that you must have a new passport when you change you name!

I'm going to do it, but my uni work is going to come first so I'm not going to be training as hard as I did when I did the York marathon and I'm not aiming for a time (although you never know I might get a better time as I actually hurt my knee when training for York)


Catherine, can I be nosy and ask how much you are paying for your ice-cream trike? We have a few quotes and I really want to book but want to make sure we're not being ripped off.

I've took this from the website direct about passports

1. Overview
To travel overseas, you must renew your passport and send additional documents with your application if you change:

your name - by marriage, civil partnership, deed poll, go back to your maiden name or add middle names
gender - even if your name remains the same
how you spell your name, eg changing from Brian to Bryan
You get up to 9 months’ extra time on a new passport to cover time left on your old one.

Follow the process for renewing a passport - but send the appropriate documents with your application.

Getting married or entering a civil partnership
Decide whether to change your name before or after the ceremony. The name on your passport must be the same one you use when you book your travel.

Before the ceremony
You can change the name on your passport up to 3 months before the ceremony. Your old passport will be cancelled.

The new passport is ‘post-dated’ - this means you can’t use it before the ceremony.

Some countries won’t issue visas for post-dated passports - check with the country’s consulate.

You must send a ‘passports for newly weds and civil partners’ form signed by the religious minister or registrar who will conduct the ceremony, with your application.

Read the guidance notes for help.

After the ceremony
Send the marriage or civil partnership certificate with your application.

Unexpired visas in your old passport may become invalid - check with the country’s consulate.

I have emailed the Passport Office and got this back:

Thank you for your enquiry.

You may have your passport post dated to your married/partnership name up to 3 months prior to the date of marriage. You will need to get a passport application form and a PD1/PD2 form which you can obtain from selected Post Office branches, or download one from the website *******************************************

LINK REMOVED

When you travel, you should ensure that all tickets and travel documents (e.g. travellers cheques), are in the same name as that on your passport. This is because some countries might not accept an un-amended passport even if you carry your marriage or Civil Partnership certificate (you can check this with your travel agent or the country's consulate).

You will need the following documents:

1. Passport Application Form completed in black ink, capital letters (signed in married name/civil ceremony name).
2. Sections 1,2,3,4,5 and 9 need to be completed.
3. Section 10 may need to be completed if your features have changed.
4. Two recent identical passport sized photographs these must comply with our NEW guidance; see the photo standards pages in the guidance booklet within your application pack for full details. Only one must be countersigned on the back if section 10 is completed.
5. Completed PD2 form, signed by the person performing the marriage/Civil Partnership ceremony.
6. Fee of £72.50.
7. Current undamaged passport.

We would advise you not make any travel arrangements until you receive your passport. Your passport will be dated from date of marriage/Civil Partnership ceremony and cannot be used until then.

You will be able to use the one week Fast Track service.

So basically do that and you'll be all set to go!

Donna - I'm glad you are putting uni as a priority. Having an education will help you through your entire life and if you put it off it could be years before you can do it, especially if baby is next on the list. Marathon you can do anytime!

Re ice-cream tricycle - we are paying £275 for 70 guests and that includes ice-cream for everyone, up to 2hrs of his time (too long and the ice-cream melts!) and a table filled with waffle cones, sprinkles, flakes, sauces and anything else we want.. We found on average we were looking at anyway between £250-£400 for our amount of guests :) how much have you been charged/found?

Exciting though - we've sorted out some gorgeous pew ends for our CHURCH!! Sorry, still can't get used to saying that word lol. Great for recently or hopefully recently graduated music degrees!

Oh, and happy last birthday as a miss Elizabeth!! x

Yeah, it's only (I saw only lol) £72.50 per person.. Obviously we have to change both of ours so it's double the cost for us :( but you should only have to pay £72.50 as hubby won't need anything changing to his! x

Thanks Catherine had a great day, Off out with my sister and some friends for dinner tonight making the most of it lol
Pew ends are gorgeous.

Passport wise im right in thinking I can sent this away 15th May 2015 3 months before wedding? Have you decided on your new married name Catherine?

April it used to be £90 but they brought the fee down a bit. How much extra is the one week fast track?

Beautiful pew ends Catherine. We've been quoted just under £400 for 120 guests, so that's not bad considering you got some quotes of the same for 70.


Haha I know what you mean Elizabeth, I didn't realise how hard it would be to decide on chair sashes.

It includes 7 flavours of ice-cream, 3 they choose we get to choose 4, waffle cones, flakes, fudge fingers, tubs and toppings, 2 hours and guests can have more then one ice-cream. I'm very very tempted, need to just figure out if we can afford it.... although wouldn't want our date to get booked up.


Wow fab that your saving on postage as well. Love a bargain.


Wedding planning has been a bit dry for us lately, but been busy with other things, my course started today and we went out last night with a couple I know from work, that was nice. It's awkward as we have most things booked now, I don't want to forget anything but I don't think there is much we can do right now

That's good thatyou get to choose and all the extras with fudges and things!

I also never thought about how the sashes will be tied haha!

Hope you had a good first day Donna!

We've officially licked and sealed all out invites and some stamped! Ready to go out! So then I have the job of building the spares and fixing a couple that we've swapped round for the day to night and vice versa.

good evening all,

ive not been on for ages, ive just been so busy, i had loads of time over the holidays as the children were of school and i was off work, now im back and i never get a spare minute,
ive been busy planning too!
we are still designing our invites, getting there though :)
ive bought some beautiful necklaces for my bridesmaids and our mums from W4rr3n j4m35 really good price,
my friend is organising my hen weekend, we are going to a beautiful place in Exeter called woodbury park, it does spa days and spa stays we are staying over, its a bit pricey but it is gonna be lush, i can not wait :)
ive also booked a videographer after much deliberating, i wasnt going to have one to begin with and now, im really pleased we have chosen to have one :)

hope everyone is well, i havnt been able to catch up on everything as its been so long xx

I can't quite remember Catherine, did Debbie change her mind on her dress and sell it or was it because she lost weight? I remember what happened when you were trying to sell though!

Sounds like you've been busy Teresa. I got my BMs jewellery from there too :)

We have officially started handing our invitations out :) first one was to OHs parents and told them if they didn't RSVP they weren't coming lol. X

Someone i know (not overly well) is getting married tomorrow at my venue. so excited for her, but i think im more excited just to see the photos from it of my venue set out for more people. the pictures i have seen have only ever been of about 30/40 guests, shes having 200, im having 90ish. hope it stays nice for her.

Flipping marvellous.... Email today saying that our wedding car have been SOLD and they aren't replacing it!!!

We lost about £100 so all in all, not too bad thankfully!

Not really.. We are quite rural and it's either too expensive, not practical or people won't travel that far :( been trying to sort it all morning and still no joy!! x

what kind of car were you after Catherine? we were let down too, we wanted a Chevy Impala like on supernatural, for OH's as hes a big fan as is his BM. but when i called to book, they have sold the 2 chevys they had (would of settled for the white one if need be) but no there sold to someone private that they can't give us the details of! annoyed.com