Wedding Forum - August 2015 Brides unite ;)...

I spent this weekend with one of my BMs in Sheffield, it was really nice to have some time together and have a proper catch up.

Whilst in Meadowhall I got my tiara! And for the first time ever I picked and loved the cheapest option of something! haha. The lady in the shop was great, they grabbed a veil of similar length and they let me restyle my hair a bit to get an idea of how it will looks with the veil and volume I want for the day. It's lovely!

Also decided on my outfit and theme for the Saturday of the hen do. I'm going as Ace Ventura, and my BM will be Cruella DeVille.
Rather looking forward to it now! :) x

My chief BM technically 15 years, but we only got close 10 years ago. My other two are my best friend from uni (graduated 4 years ago and did a 4 year course) so known her 8 years, and my step-sister who I've know since my mum and her dad got together around 7 years ago. So actually quite a while for all of them :) I wouldn't have anything against bringing in someone who I had only got to know recently but had a good connection with if that's what made me happy :)

I've been best friends with one BM for about 14 years, since we got close in secondary school *gulp - I'm so old!*
My other adult BM I have known for 9 years, and been best friends for about 5 of those.
I will have known my niece (technically H2B's niece) 3.5 years by the time we are married.

I agree though, it doesn't matter how long you have been friends with them, but how close you are to them and how much they mean to you.

One of my bridesmaids is my sister so knower get all my life, the other 2 are Dave's nieces one who will be 13 I knower her since pretty early on in our relationship. My 3rd one is my flower girl she will be 2 so known her all her life lol ;).
Appy89- I have done the same, a lot of my family have already booked there room but I have send a message to my friends and family that haven to do so. The venu have set aside 30 rooms for my guests to book at a cheaper ratie I don't want them all to go and some people to be left out! Xx

I went to see my new wedding coordinator yesterday and had afternoon tea at the venue.

I can honestly say that it was better than I imagined the new girl is so down to earth and I got on with her so well, she done a run through of the day and I'm so excited woohoo, actually feel so organised and not as stressed now :-)

I'd have to just make sure I didn't offend my two bridesmaids I already have as well to be fair, as they both have already done so much in helping me and they are amazing. I couldn't ask for two better bridesmaids. I wouldn't want them to think it was anything against them.

I'm going to hold off a little on asking anyway, as long as I ask before we need to order dresses it should be fine.

Ahhhhhhhhhh hoping to book our wedding next week and if I can it's going to be August 2015! Depending on what they have available! Just making me realise I've got shed loads to do!! :-/

Good luck Sprucey! Hope you get your August date :)

What about sweetie trees Appy?

I would seriously get on with the big things as soon as physically possible because I booked our ice-cream tricycle last week and there was only ONE left in my area for our August date.... So I would say DEFINITELY dress, photographer, videographer, hair, make-up, flowers and cake (depending what you are having out of that list of course!) because you are an August bride so the majority of these things will be getting booked up if not completely booked up already! :)

As Donna said - depends on what you want at your day really but either way, I'd get looking :)

Awwww, poor you :( I'm not really surprised though as in Scotland, I doubt there's much scope for ice-cream carts?? x

Woops, sorry! For some strange reason I thought you were Scotland!

Oh ice cream I want ice cream! That list isn't too bad for me actually, my dad is a photographer so it's him and his photographer friend, not having video, transportation I won't need as I'll stay at the venue the night before, dress I'm sure I can't sort as I'll start looking the second it's booked! Hoping as we are looking mid week that not totally everything's booked up! There's a florist on site with the venue so I'm sure they can sort me out as I'm not looking for anything too big and chair covers sashes dj disco are all included in the package so that'll be done. And cake I've been looking at M&S ones...

Owl and the butterfly i do like the sweet trees but again once they are empty its just a stick in the middle of the table so i wasnt keen.

Ive booked everything straight away as i found things were booking up quick, the one thing we couldnt get was the photobooth we wanted they had already booked up but they are gong to let us know if theres a cancelation..

i wanted to ask everyones opinions. ive invited a few mums to the wedding reception as i see them everyday but do you think its rude not to invite their husbands?? i do want to keep numbers down but dont know where to stand on this?? i know 2 of their husbands well but dont really know the other 5 well and if i invited 2 i would have to invite the other 5 really

I am only inviting my old best friend, my uncle andco and cousin and co to the evening and they live in Nottingham and the wedding is in Cumbria. I've only invited them to the evening so they have plenty of time to travel and won't need to book a room the night before as they will probably have to book a hotel for the night and didn't want their cost to escalate

People are prepared to do a lot when it comes to weddings so I wouldn't worry. I've worried a lot about accommodation and travel it for family and they just keep saying stop worrying we will sort ourselves

just say to him ive put a deposit down on the videographer and see what he says, if hes calm about it them go a head do it if he reacts then he will prob be honest and tell you what he wants/feels.

I did it to my h2b he doesnt seem good at making decisions i kept reminding him in going to put deposit on venue and he said nothing, i delayed it as i wanted to know he was 100% sure on the place then one day said oh thought you had already done it.
He was the same with the photographer then it came to the chocolate fountain which i wanted. he still didnt make a decision so i told him id put the deposit down on it he said 'oh well thats a waste of money' and finally came honest that he didnt want one or see the point, he kind of made me realise that as much as i wanted one it wasnt worth the money (least i finally got an opinion out of him)

Mine is being the same about an ice-cream trike, I really want it and we have a great offer but now I'm worried they're going to get booked for our date :(

Thank you for the kind words Appy,
Sine my last post my Dad has had a further 2 lots of brain surgery(the last one at the weekend) However it has had an amazing affect although he is weak he can stand and walk with a frame :) Fingers crossed he will now not have any more set backs and be able to walk me down the isle.

I still am undecided about my dress so im going on the 22nd to try some more on and some different styles as I was quite narrow minded last time.

Apart from bouncy castle and outdoor games like croquet and Jenna what else can I put outside to keep kids and adults entertained whilst pics are done?

Mrs hurren hope your dads doing well, good luck with the dress shopping, deffo go open minded and try it all on!

Hi everyone.

It's been a while since I have been on so I have just skimmed through the recent posts.
I see someone mentioned ice cream though. I love ice cream and have just about convinced h2b that we could do that instead of canapés as it would cost approx the same. We were at a wedding fair a few weeks ago and there was a really nice wedding bike man there. He was just starting out so doesn't gave many booking yet so might book with him.

As bad as it sounds I actually came on here for a little rant coz I know you lovely ladies will understand.

So as a quick recap, the church in the village that h2b grew up in didn't have a vicar at the start of the year when we started planning the wedding. We filled in all the forms and have been dealing with a lady in the village that has been dealing with church bookings.
When we first got the forms back to her we asked about having a Sunday wedding and she told us that it was the vicar decision and we would have to wait until the new vicar was in post to ask. Fair enough, they were interviewing for vicars that week, but she would let us know when she had any more info. Fine, we would wait to hear.
A few months later fMIL tells us that the local village magazine has announced that the new vicar would be starting in October. We hadn't heard anything from the church lady at this point so we called her to ask. Yes they have a new vicar and she was in contact with him by phone just about every week and she would ask on our behalf next time she spoke to him. Ok then, we would wait to hear from her.
Weeks passed and still nothing so we call her again. No she doesn't have any news for us but would call us in a few days.
Still we hear nothing and h2b asks me to call her as he was getting nowhere. (I had asked him to deal with church as he is the one with the affiliation)

So finally I called her last night to ask for any news and she tells me that the vicar doesn't mind having weddings on a Sunday - great weight lifted from shoulders feel much happier - BUT there is another couple that wants the same date!

WHAT!?! Suddenly so upset, not that another couple wants the date but that we have been asking and asking for that date for MONTHS and now she mentions a second couple! So I asked her how they decide who gets the date -is it first come first served? and she says they can do 2 weddings on the same day just have one at 1.30pm and one at 3pm. (I assumed with a Sunday he would only fit one in)
So she asks what time I would want and I said my preference is for 1.30pm and she tells me that is the time the other couple want but she will go back to them and see if they are flexible and will call me back in a few days!

I am so annoyed, when I asked about if it was first come first served, she then said we both asked at about the same time! If that is the case, why is she only just now mentioning it to us when she could have told us months ago.

What annoys me most is that we have had to do all the chasing. Not once has she picked up the phone to call us and give us an update, but she has obviously been speaking to this other couple quite recently. Also there is always a reason why she has been too busy to call us. Last night it was because her husband has been re-admitted to hospital following a hip replacement and I feel really bad for her but this excuse on top of all the others almost makes me doubt their legitimacy. (That sounds really bad, and I feel bad for writing it) and I doubt very much that we will get any phone call at all.
If she really is having a tough time, why doesn't she ask someone else to take over for her?

I'm sorry, is it really selfish of me to feel that way and expect to be kept in the loop?

In other brighter news: we have a wedding ring company coming to us on Monday to show us some rings and give a quote, and a second company next week.
We also have a cake consultation booked for December 10th.

I still feel like I can't book anything for the date we want without actually speaking to the vicar. Luckily the venue and photographer have been so understanding and are still holding both Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th for us until we can properly confirm the date.
I want to get save the dates and invites out ASAP but am hesitant to do so at this point.

I hope you ladies are having and easier time of it at the moment.

Now I have finished ranting, I might go back and read all the previous posts I missed!

i find it very hard to believe that both couples were asking around the same time or like you said she would of said then!
i would be arguing the toss to have the 1.30pm slot but like sprucey said at least you know you can still have that day plus if its a little later at least you get to have more time to get ready in the morning etc xx

Particularly if the other couple aren't attending church if you are, they might be more willing to give you the date over them ;)

Sorry I am randomly commenting but just seen that you are in Aylesbury - I used to live there! Which church is it? I used to worship in that area too :) x

Our CofE wedding is at 4pm the wedding before ours is at 2pm, the vicar didn't seem worried about the timings. I hope they don't overlap!!

We haven't paid anything off the wedding this month as we've had stag/hen doos to attend & a wedding this weekend, we're throwing a halloween party so have been buying party decorations/supplies. Then there's Christmas & our car insurance is due for renewal next month!! Thank god we have paid off a lot more than we had expected to by now.

I still need to go dress shopping again, my bridesmaids can only do weekends but I'm busy weekends for the next few weeks, hopefully I'll have picked a dress before Xmas.

Thanks for all your comments. I do have a kind of update now.

So when I left the conversation on Wednesday night, the lady said to me she would go back to the other couple to see if they were flexible on timings.

Shock horror, I actually got a phone call today at work and she has spoken to the other couple and they definitely want 1.30pm. She also said it would gave to be a minimum of 1.5hours between ceremonies so the second one may not even be able to start until 3.30pm. I kind of got the feeling that it would be up to the vicar for the actual times.

She said the first ceremony would have to be 1.30pm because the morning service will finish at 11 and then by the time everyone leaves it will be closer to 12 so the vicar will obviously need lunch and it will take time to get the choir back.
I didn't click onto that last bit until after the phone call but do you have to have the choir? And does it cost extra? That's the impression I had and I am not that fussed on having a choir and don't need the extra expense.

Anyway, I left today's conversation saying I would speak to H2B and get back to her.

So I spoke to h2b, we work together and he luckily came to my office about half an hour later, and he rung her straight back and told her we wanted the 1.30pm and that she had told him when we first enquired about the dates that no one else had that date so we know that we were the first to ask and that should count for something. My family are travelling from New Zealand to attend this wedding and we don't want to cut the day short by starting later.

She kind of agreed but said she wanted to resolve amicably, which we totally get but I am not going to move from the time we want when we got in and asked first.

So still waiting. The vicar starts next week so I think I might go to church next Sunday and meet him. I guess nothing is set in stone until he says so anyway.

Oh dear, I think I am starting to sound like a bit of a bridezilla, might tone that down a little once this is sorted.
I wonder if the other couple would consider going halves on church decorations? Do you think it is worth asking?

Also, I would bring up the NZ travelling because you don't want them travelling for only a half day event especially when you were already promised that time! If there's really no leeway on the time, would you consider changing churches or the day before?