So I barely slept last night as I couldn't keep myself from reading the diaries of all the previous winners and catching up on everyone's tips and suggestions on here. I am still in a state of shock but i think the reality of it all is starting to hit home! It looks like I should probably create a blog on here...no idea how to do that exactly, but I will!
The only thing we have confirmed so far is our venue, and possibly a photographer, though it is hard to pass up a free one! I'm seriously holding my breath for Monday when I hear from the UKBride staff about all the next steps for us! They were amazing yesterday. I was barely functional and they talked me through everything really well! (as you can tell from that video!!!!)
Between making a new blog, posting on here, and finishing up our wedding website (using this so that we can send out invites and have people RSVP using the site and saving us postage as a lot of my family will be coming from America) I am gonna be stuck to my computer ha!
I think the thing I'm most nervous about is probably my dress...though I really like a few on the Eternity Bridal website. I'm hoping they will let me choose from a pretty wide selection.
AND OMG! Ryan and I were looking at the Kuoni website last night..seriously in heaven. We were definitely not going to take a honeymoon as there was no way we could afford it. We had decided we'd just come back to the flat on our wedding night to save money, and maybe take a city break somewhere after saving up for a year. I cannot WAIT to hear where we are going to go!!!! Just hoping it is somewhere warm and beachy and beautiful where we can relax!
Everyone has been so sweet and supportive on here!!! Makes me really excited to share all the details!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorElizabethF49
Congratulations again.
I love this site and would be lost without it at times.
Xx
After 7 years and 11 months he proposed to me 18.10.13
Our son is 5 years old and our world
Getting married 15.08.15.
Life hasnt been easy but we have each other :)
CommentAuthorAna40
congratulations , its a wonderful prize to win . x
CommentAuthoralmost a year wife!!
Well done! I'm wel Jel lol and your a noob!!! Lady Luck is on your side! U got a date? X
Ill marry my hero
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Hahah we are insanely lucky. Believe me, I know that! Yup! Our date is 18 June 2015...we were trying to give ourselves 1.5 years to save. Feels so far away though!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
It' will fly in, we get married 18months exactly and with everything else going on it will be here before I know it. X
After 7 years and 11 months he proposed to me 18.10.13
Our son is 5 years old and our world
Getting married 15.08.15.
Life hasnt been easy but we have each other :)
CommentAuthorDonnaH39
Congrats on winning :) I can't imagine how excited you must be.
We get married in August next year, so you'll be just beating us down the aisle ;) will be nice seeing how your plans progress as we plan our wedding as well
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
Congratulations again :-) xx happy planning x
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
I've uploaded a few Venue photos to my profile album!!! Thanks!!!! I'm loving the planning right now...it was really kind of stressful before but now I just feel excited!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorInDreamland
Congratulations! What a fantastic prize x
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorWhovianbride
congrats hun, you know as a PU you can add photos right here on your thread! June next year is not that far away, ours is in july 2015, If you wanted to could see how much it would cost to change the date x
Met June 2009 on my Birthday,Met again July 2009 and got
together, May 2010 Moved in,Jan 2011 got pregnant,
August 2011 Got our own place, 2011 Had our Baby Girl,
Dec 2011 Got engaged, July 2015 Getting married! Yay!
CommentAuthorGemmaB596
Congratulations! It must be such a weight off your shoulders now! Enjoy the planning and keep us updated on how you're doing!
CommentAuthorBethanyS
Congratulations. Trust me, once you start planning the time will fly by for you! x
CommentAuthor*The NewMrsMalin*
Congrats; very jealous ;); especially since you are new to the site; very lucky!
Have a great time planning and enjoy your prize :D
Met in 2009
Got together on12th May 2011, proposed on the 12th May 2013
When you get knocked down; smile and pick yourself up again!
Fight for what you believe in!
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
First planning meeting with our venue today!!! Feeling really excited but oddly nervous!? Not sure what that's about! I have no idea what gets talked about at one of these...hopefully I've thought through everything enough to start giving them an idea of what we want!!!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
There is a thread on hear 'what questions to ask your venue' ill bump it up for you xx
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14
CommentAuthorDonnaH39
Let us know how it goes...
Do the venue's arrange these meetings or do we have to get in contact with them?
Could do with letting my venue know what time we've booked the Church for so they know what time we'll be there and they can give us an idea about the wedding breakfast
CommentAuthorFernP61
Well done Rebecca wow 25k to spend I wouldnt know where to start happy planning look forward to your thread too xx
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
SOOOO the first meeting with the venue/caterers was fantastic!!! They are so helpful and we discussed all the colours, the schedule, the food, and the drinks. Cannot wait for the tasting at the end of the summer as well! Our tasting will be almost a year before our wedding, but they want us to try all the fresh summer food so we get to do it sooner, and taste all the liquor as well!!!
Ryan and I were having trouble deciding on linens (we're so early on this I know) but I think we've found a champagne silk for the tablecloths that we love!!!!!
Fern, we don't actually have 25k to spend just a ton of amazing wedding add ons! Ry and I are still paying for our venue and our catering, but we get a gorgeous cake, a dress, a spa day, honeymoon, shoes, etc!!!! It is all really exciting and makes the planning a lot more fun!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorHelenW
Congratulations to you both! Must be an amazing feeling! It will fly round trust me. I started off with two years,now just under 7 weeks! X
"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary
life, love gives us a fairy tale"
CommentAuthorMrsThomson2B
Congratulations. I am so jealous lol. your venue looks stunning and you get married exactly on eyear before we do xx
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
oooo thank you. I found it on a blog of 'cheap' London venues. I thought it had to be a mistake when I went to see it!!!
Loved the planning meeting...they made me feel sooo special. One thing I've been really worried about is liquor costs because they do a small corkage and then source the liquor for you at distribution cost. I did some research and it came out much cheaper but I still wasn't sure what to except when they estimated the liquor costs. They were so great yesterday though, because they know money for catering is an issue for us so they told me to do wine, beer, prosecco, and then a signature cocktail. That way the bar only stocks vodka, the cocktail mixers, and diet coke, coke, tonic. Took hundreds off of the costs. She was like, we can use tap water but spruce it up in jugs with cut fruit and make it look fancy and we'll create a signature non-alcoholic drink too so you don't need to stock tons of juices.
Feeling insanely excited. I am definitely going to be pestering Ryan to finish the invites even though we aren't sending them out for months! Our venue has a wedding fayre coming up in April so at least that will quench my planning thirst a little!!!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorMattsBride
Congratulations hun ^_^ Looking forward to reading your blog!
CommentAuthorUKBride Editor
This thread is fantastic Rebecca. It will be great to keep up to date with your wedding planning :)
Excited to read your next post!
Ceri x
Rob Davis
UKbride Editor
CommentAuthorx~Hails~x
CONGRATULATIONS again hunni!
LOVING this so far hehehe
UKBride moderator both on here and on facebook
For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart
It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Well, got the most exciting and AMAZING email back from Kuoni today!!!! We are off to St Vincent and the Buccament Bay Resort!!!! 7 nights all-inclusive!!!!!! It is like a dream come true. Ryan and I can't get over it...I mean, all-inclusive and there is a sushi restaurant! We are literally going to be so full of sushi (something we love but never ever buy here in London because it is sooo darn expensive!)
Going to do a bunch of research on the island and I'll post any really cool excursions that I find on here! On a side note, Ryan is really excited about the fitness centre at the resort...clearly I'll be expected to do more than lay on the beach, drink, kayak and eat sushi. I'm hoping to be a reaaaally bad influence on him!
I'll post more resort pics on my profile a bit later as well the link for the resort!!
St Vincents 4.jpg
St Vincents 2.jpg
St vincent 1.jpg
St Vincent.jpg
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorx~Hails~x
WOW looks amazing!
Very very exciting hehe
UKBride moderator both on here and on facebook
For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart
It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.
CommentAuthor*The NewMrsMalin*
Wow looks amazing; sure you'll have a great time :)
Met in 2009
Got together on12th May 2011, proposed on the 12th May 2013
When you get knocked down; smile and pick yourself up again!
Fight for what you believe in!
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
Wow looks lovely !! think the honeymoon is the best part of a weeding (apart from the marriage) its when you get to take it all in and spend 1to1 time with your other half. Looks like you will be having the honeymoon of a lifetime =D
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Yeah...Ry and I were debating about the idea of going right after the wedding or waiting a couple of months. A bunch of friends advised us to wait but I think waiting to go here might feel like torture because even waiting until next June feels impossible!
What are other people doing??? Honeymoon right away or taking time between??
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorLittle Kettle
We were on our honeymoon whilst getting married, kind of, as we got married in Vegas! I'd say go after the wedding - you need the time and space to unwind after all the organising.
Vegas baby!
Moderator
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
I get wed Friday do down to London on Saturday as we fly Sunday morning. We pick right after for a number of reasons. 1) Mat wonted to take a few weeks off work after the wedding and he only gets 4 weeks a year so he will be using 2.5 for the wedding and honeymoon, 2) I finish uni in May so soon after I'll have to be going into work so though if we go on holiday right away then I'll be ready to start work when we get back, 3) I'm a quite anxious person and can feel that the wedding day will go by so fast that I'll be a bit overwhelmed so waking up the next day and knowing I'm going to get 1to1 time with mat will help with that and we can take in all the wedding while on our honeymoon. You heard of any other suppliers yet? X
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Thanks for the input!!! I think we'll go right after. It will be good to get some alone time after the wedding. Everyone says that the wedding just flies by and they don't remember everything...maybe if we are alone in St. Vincents for 7 nights we can help fill in the gaps for each other! :)
We've heard back from most of the suppliers but Kuoni was the first to give us some concrete news about things! (still...still jumping up and down). We do, however, get our watches from Tic Watches today!!!!! Ryan chose a black Braun watch and I went for a white Armani. I'll definitely post pics when we have them!
I also have emailed a bit with our Sophisticake, our cake maker. She's been so lovely over email and after looking at her website discovered she's made a lot of cakes for the Royal Family. Had to tell my family that, and they squealed appropriately. The cake was the first thing taking a hit when we looked at the 'suggested wedding budget' so it will be incredible to have one! She's up in Lincolnshire which makes heading up for the tasting in the spring a bit of a trek, but Ry and I figure we'll approach it like a mini-break from London life, and it is OBVIOUSLY totally worth the travel.
Post more details when I have them!!! Anxiously waiting for our venue to send over their finalised spreadsheet for our liquor costs....
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorNataleeM
JUST WOW!!!!! xxx
Can not wait until I marry the man of my DREAMS <3
CommentAuthorLauraF89
Awww wow hun! Sounds incredible! I'm so happy for you and ultra jealous at the same time lol!!
Looking forward to all your updates and seeing how it's all going!
xxx
October 31st 2015
I will be Mrs. Henry
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CommentAuthorMrsRobson2Be
I thought the venue & food were included in the prize?
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
edited
Hi Keira,
Unfortunately our venue and food aren't covered so we're still having to save quite a large chunk of cash to cover London catering costs. We'll still need to save quite a lot.
That said, all the extras we've won are amazing and making things a lot more fun!!! got a STUNNING watch in the mail from Tic Watches on Thursday!!!!! Ryan was lucky enough to score one as well.
photo.JPG
It's only been a week and so far we have a honeymoon that we could never afford on our own and two gorgeous new watches. Also, it is worth mentioning that we told Tic Watches what we wanted on Wednesday and it was delivered by 1 pm on Thursday. Pretty incredible service! I didn't expect that especially with a prize win!
Trying to decide on a signature cocktail for the wedding...the venue is recommending a mojito as Ryan and I both want something fresh, clean, and not too sweet. Seems a bit too standard though I feel?
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
edited
oooops! Forgot to post a pic of my watch! Here it is!!
mine.JPG
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorNataleeM
gorjus x
Can not wait until I marry the man of my DREAMS <3
CommentAuthorMrsRobson2Be
edited
Hmm, I asked because when the countdown thread (to announce the winner) was on people were saying the amounts don't add up to 25k & the bossman replied saying that the venue was included, so I think you should look into that. The watches are very nice & i'm very very jealous of your honeymoon, it looks gorgeous.
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
Love the watches :-) and had a look online at your honeymoon wow wow wow !!! I got nervous waiting to hear back from some of them but when I did and got that email saying what they are offering its ace. Any news on what wedding dresses yet?
KeiraH51 UK bride get suppliers to put in for the wedding so if the venue is not going to put in then it is not free, as a lot of brides pick/book there venue 1st they wait to see who has won then work with them and there venue to try get it free or get it at a discounted price. I won last year and got my venue discounted.
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Hey all,
Like Leah said, they definitely tried with our venue but they just weren't having it! UKBride did everything they could but my venue just wouldn't really budge. But seriously, I've started hearing back from most of my suppliers and its like insane amounts of awesomeness coming into my inbox on the daily!
Leah, I've spoken with the contact at Eternity Bridal...I'll be going up to the showroom in June when my family is here and can choose from any of the dresses in the line! Which is just like, amazing. I was a bit cheeky and asked about the dresses in their Art Couture line as well as there is one I LOVE, and the rep was lovely. Said that really it is just the one line included but that we can talk about it when I get up there. But will have to wait until June for that update really because I didn't want to go dress shopping without my mom.
Still waiting to hear back from a few different people...really want to hear back from the rep for the shoes and the bouquet especially!!!
Honeymoon wise I feel insanely lucky. Yours looks amazing too..I think it is safe to say that Kuoni is just pretty fabulous. I need to get them my booking form with our dates so it can all be finalised!!!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
I love Kuoni wish I could book with them all the time hehe (a girl can dream). Wow you will defo find a dress for you then as there is many different styles for you to try on. You going to the show room near York? If so it's very big so many dresses there. I found that I had to get hold of some of them through Facebook or going on there website to the contact us part (where it gives you a box to email them, think it goes straight to a dif email lol). Did you see the picks of the bouquet I got?
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Just commented on this...the bouquet is very cool.. a bit more modern than I was imagining! I think if you are able to make one then that is amaaaazing and you should def go for it. What you wanted originally is a very different kind of feeling.
SO excited about the dress bit. And yea, going to travel up to York..make a bit of an excursion out of it. It feels really really good to get out of London sometimes. I'm still waiting on the shoes, the bouquet, Marks & Spencers, Picture Perfect, Sienna X, and Champneys. I'll follow up later this week if I don't hear back!
These are two of the dresses I'm looking forward to trying on up at the showroom!!!
dress 2.jpg
Dress.jpg
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorx~Hails~x
LOVE that first one but they are both beautiful!
Love reading your threads girls hehehe Very exciting for you both :D
UKBride moderator both on here and on facebook
For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart
It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
Today Ryan and I ventured into Aurus, the jeweller providing our rings! We only went in to talk with them about my engagement ring...switching the band to white gold, but I left with a wedding band on order as well! They were absolutely fabulous! Ryan really wants a simple titanium band, which Aurus doesn't carry, so they are handling my engagement ring change and my band instead. I ended up getting a shaped band to accommodate my engagement ring setting which is quite wide...I didn't think I'd go for that, but they talked me through it, were really patient with my hemming and hawing, and it ended up looking fabulous!
I'll definitely post a picture when I have them both, but it won't be for a month or two! Cannot wait to finally get my engagement ring resized to fit my finger!!! I've been wearing a placeholder ring for ages.
I also heard from Champneys today with some amazing news...so I thought that spa prize was just for me, but NOPE! Ryan gets to come with me! 3 nights at any one of the Champneys spas with all food and classes included, as well as a massage and facial! I think Ry was pretty jealous of that prize so he's been really excited all day. Made the mistake of ordering celebratory pizza and now we're both laying on the couch with a food coma and pepperoni dehydration...
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorangel830609
awww congratulations again hun, it all sounds amazing, both dresses are beautiful and so are the watches, very jealous ;) xx
it's been a long hard road, but hopefully we're getting
somewhere :) xx
CommentAuthorRebeccaH100
So one of the prizes that we won are Ice Sculptures! Very very cool, but Ry and I are struggling to figure out how to fit them in to our Vintage French Provencal summer wedding!! We definitely want to use them... so far I'm thinking drinks luge?! We are doing Mojitos for a special wedding cocktail though and those definitely can't go down a luge (its all gotta be muddled together really!?)
Another thought..I just had, was maybe doing large ice bowls to hold wrapped ice creams?? That could be nice though not sure when to have them... post ceremony with canapés? Post dinner and pre-cake?
Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!!
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2014....Rebecca and Ryan
'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you,
did my heart fly to your service.'
Met 03/2013: Engaged 12/2013: Married 06/2015
CommentAuthorLinzi-jo
Maybe you could have two sculptures either side of the aisle? Or could use them as your centrepieces? Or maybe you could have your table plan put into the ice if you are having one? Xx
Got together 14.02.2008
Got engaged 31.12.2010
Will become a Mrs on 30.08.2014 xxxxxx
CommentAuthorLeahAmy
I like the idea of using them for coolers for the wine ect.. Did you hear back from your venue on how much it's going to cost to take your drinks in? X
WIN A WEDDING WINNER 2013....Leah and Matthew....
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love
and be loved in return...
Got together 20/04/07, Engaged 20/06/12, Wedding 27/06/14