Well, the time has flown since my last entry here -- and with it, a lot of things on our to-do list have been achieved. Still got loads to do, and at times I don't know how we'll get it all done, but it's all in progress and we'll just continue with the planning as much as we can. Hopefully it'll all smoothe out before the Big Day. :-)
In any case, we have accomplished a huge amount of things recently. At the back-end of October we had a fantastic meeting with our wedding stylist,
Hannah, where we got together over tea and coffee (and, in
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ajv's case, fruit juice) to discuss the rest of our stationery. Hannah created our fabulous save-the-date cards and we wanted her to continue working with us to create our invites and on-the-day stationery. This meeting was the start of that, and by the end of it we had detailed a list of what we needed and also made a start on our invites themselves.
The next few months saw emails and telephone calls galore, as Hannah and ourselves finalised ideas, exchanged electronic proofs and sample papers and so on, and finally we approved our invites in January. Dad and I went to collect them from Hannah last week and they are as wonderful and professional as we'd hoped for!
While all that was going on, my chief bridesmaid (
darkest_starlet, aka Jo) and I went on some bridesmaid-reconnaissance trips to hunt out potential dress(es). We had seen one style, back in July, that everyone liked -- but we were unable to find it in any of the local bridal shops -- even driving up to an hour away! So we trekked to shops which offered the same designer to see if there was anything similar, and in the end we found a lovely dress with a more mature trim, not to mention embroidery that echoes my own dress. What's more, the pricing was very reasonable!
In November, Jo and I returned to that store with my other bridesmaids -- Helen V. and Charlotte (and Charlotte's mum, Helen W.) -- to get them all measured up and the dresses ordered. We had a lovely girlie day out which culminated in cream cakes and tea in a local café, where we discussed accessories, shoes and the like. The dresses should come in around end February/early March so we've plenty of time at that stage to sort out fittings and alternations.
In December
ajv and I went to Herefordshire to meet with the
jeweller who designed and created my engagement ring. The appointment took about an hour, and meant that both
ajv and I got to talk through our ideas for wedding rings with the designer (a lovely lady named Alice, who loves garnets so she and I got along like a house on fire! LOL). As we worked through styles of rings, metals, decor, sizes and the likes, Alice sketched out some ideas for our wedding rings and quoted us for our favourite designs. And, by ther end of it all, we put down a deposit and commissioned our wedding rings! Whoo!
The rings should take around six-eight weeks to be made. Both are 18ct white gold, to match my engagement ring. Sadly, though, we have to return to the jewellers in January and leave my engagement ring with them so that they can shape my wedding ring to fit around the engagement ring -- the latter's garnet stands out some, so the former will be curved appopriately. It does mean that I will be without my engagement ring for about two months, which upsets me. I know why it must be done, of course!
However,
ajv later made up for this -- for just after the new year, he surprised me by placing a ring box on the dining table, just before we had dessert one night. And inside was a silver ring, set with a single garnet. Nothing as opulent and amazing as my engagement ring -- but similar enough for me to see garnet-and-white whenever I looked down at my hand. A temporary ring, he explained, for while my ring is with the jeweller.
Of course, he made me cry -- but in a good way. Isn't my man just the best?! :)
Also in January, we visited our venue and had our menu tasting. We'd had the menu since a visit in September (when we'd visited as they were preparing for a wedding, so we could see things like table layouts and decor, and oh wow, we definitely made the right choice here!)... Anyway, we chose two starters, mains and desserts from the menu to sample and went across to the venue on
ajv's birthday to enjoy the meal.
It truly was an amazing night as no-one else was booked into the hotel or restaurant, so we had the whole place to ourselves -- just us and the staff who were very attentive and understanding about everything. The entire meal -- from canapés through to dessert -- was delicious, and beautifully presented.
ajv and I shared each course, comparing notes on each other's dishes to see what we both thought -- and I also sampled some wine with the meal too.
A lovely finishing touch to the meal was that Craig, the chef, had decorated
ajv's plate with a birthday message -- a delightful and unexpected surprise. He certainly loved it, and it definitely shows the calibre of the establishment -- after all, most eateries one visits would make do with a candle or sparkler stuck in the top of the dessert and an out-of-tune rendition/bad recording of "Happy Birthday"... So this was very subtle and much appreciated -- many thanks go to our wedding planners for slipping a hint to the venue. :)
So where does all that leave us now...? Well, we have just about finalised the meal choices now and have also started looking at rooms at the venue -- we have hired the entire place so we get to allocate bedrooms to our guests before the week of the wedding, so we are familiarising ourselves with the floorplans and room options, as well as picking out rooms for those who have already booked. We have yet to pick out a red wine but that shouldn't be too hard, and then we just need to confirm the food and drink choices with the chef and sommelier.
My engagement ring went back to the jewellers last weekend, and now the temporary one is in place. It's taking some time to get used to as it feel so very different -- but as
ajv has said, I'll probably get used to it just as mine returns! LOL
We have made plans for
ajv's stag night and my hen party, and while his seems virtually sorted mine still requires a bit of work. I hope that I can get details finalised with Jo soon!
Oh, and thanks to
ajv's organised Best Man, Ian, we have suits booked and all the ushers, dads and
ajv need to do now is go to their local branch of the chain we're hiring them from and get themselves measured. Then the suits will be ready for collection just before the day. Another weight off my mind!
I think this weekend's plans include deciding on cake, researching my change-of-name, booking appointments for various things and also starting to buy bits and pieces for the venue décor... And next week I have my first wedding dress fitting, so between now and then I need to buy my bra and shoes! All this, and we're getting nearer to the 100-days-to-go mark... *squee*
There's loads more to do, but at least we're getting there -- together. And that's the important thing -- so many couples find wedding planning so stresful (and yes, it can be!), but
ajv and I are keeping at the core of things the reason why we are doing this, and that alone is making us smile and enjoy ourselves. It's amazing and it's wonderful and neither of us can wait!
-- Heathwitch
pentacleandpiano.com 
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