One Year To Go Giveaway!

Happy Friday everyone! Today officially marks our one-year-to-the-day milestone and I'm so excited! I feel like I can properly start counting down now and keep thinking about what I'll be doing this time next year. To celebrate the day (and our 4 year anniversary) my fiancé and I are off to our venue tonight for dinner, we are getting married in the restaurant of the hotel so it will be even more special. I'm looking forward to seeing what the grounds look like at this time of year and hope that all the leaves will be turning for a proper autumnal feel. It's a beautiful day here in Birmingham, sunshine and blue skies and I'm keeping everything crossed that it will be the same this time next year!

via Wikipedia
Sadly most of us 2012 brides have an extra day to wait with the leap year!

So to celebrate our one year mark I am delighted to announce our first giveaway! I have two tickets to The Luxury Wedding Show at the Saatchi Gallery in Knightsbridge, London on Sunday 23rd October worth £100 for one lucky reader! This is sure to be a fantastic event and the tickets include reserved seating at a catwalk show, a glass of champagne and a goody bag worth £30! There are going to be over 100 experts on hand to give you advice on your big day including floral experts from McQueens who will be giving mini-masterclasses in making bouquets, centrepieces and buttonholes and hair stylist to the stars Errol Douglas who will be giving consultations. So it's worth going to for the tips, advice and goodies alone! Full details of the show can be found at the official website here.

via The Luxury Wedding Show

So if you would like to go all you have to do is leave a comment under this blog post and if you are not a member of blogger or the associated websites and you are selecting the name/anonymous option to leave your comment then please also provide some form of contact details like your e-mail or twitter handle so I can contact you if you win. If you are a member I'd appreciate it if you would also follow my blog :) Competition closes at 7pm on Tuesday 18th October and a winner will be picked at random using a random number generator. Good luck!

The National Wedding Show and Some Good Advice!

Hello lovely people, can't believe we are halfway through the week already, scary stuff! I thought I would do a quick re-cap of The National Wedding Show that I went to last Friday in Birmingham mainly because I picked up a few tips and ideas I would like to share.

via Ocean Media Group

The National Wedding Show is the UK's largest wedding fair and it takes place twice a year in London and Birmingham. There were hundreds of exhibitors as well as regular catwalk shows and talks from people in the wedding industry. I would really recommend it to any bride especially if you are in the early stages of planning as they have such a large range of suppliers there and many giving discounts. I would especially recommend it if you want a bargain on a wedding dress, there were literally hundreds of gorgeous dresses with hundreds off the price! 

It's also worth going for the goody bags and free stuff!! I got a whole bag of treats including cereal, cereal bars, toothpaste, conditioner, tissues and samples of body lotion and perfume. There were also people giving away Galaxy chocolate bars (much needed to keep the energy levels up!) and I got a free copy of Wedding Ideas Magazine which I love. Here are the goodies minus the chocolate and some cereal bars which I've eaten (sorry!)

Also for £3 I bought a goody bag containing copies of You & Your Wedding Magazine and Cosmo Bride (which on their own were worth £10), some fake lashes, lash enhancing serum, lipgloss and a nail file; what a bargain!!

Even though I have most of my main suppliers sorted it was still worthwhile going; I saw a lot of beautiful accessories and picked up details for a few suppliers my favourite being Ivory & Co who had some stunning pieces. I also talked to some stores about guest lists and picked up some info from Debenhams which included a book of discount vouchers. Virgin holidays were there so I talked to one of their representatives about honeymoons and they had all their brochures available.

The one supplier I was most excited to meet was Flowers Forever who preserve your wedding bouquet in a number of different ways be it the whole bouquet or just a few flowers, the top of the bouquet or half of it, they had some great examples on display and I'd recommend checking them out if you are thinking of doing this. I loved this frame that they had and managed to secure a 10% discount at the show:

via Flowers Forever

One of the best parts for me was the advice given by bridal coach Michele Paradise, she did four different talks and I wish I could have caught all of them but I only managed to listen to the ones she did on shoes and staying calm on your wedding day. Michelle is a model turned life/style coach and so had some good advice on choosing your wedding shoes, how to walk in heels, how to pose etc. She is on twitter (@BridalCoackUK) and gives tips each day, definitely worth a follow. Here are some tips to share:

• Always get your feet measured before buying your wedding shoes. Your feet have changed since the age of 6!
• Always buy new shoes in the afternoon or early evening when your feet are at their largest. Feet swell during the day.
• Cover new shoes with cut off tights, wear them everyday for 15/30 mins to break them in at least a month before the wedding.
• Before the photo shake out your hands, gently place them on your hip or bouquet so that they look beautiful, not like a claw!
• In photos, stand at an angle with one foot slightly in front of the other. If feet are together you will look flat and wide.
• Perfection doesn’t exist so stop striving for the perfect wedding. Celebrate, have fun, eat, laugh and enjoy the ride!.
• Wearing a veil makes you feel different and requires a bit of practice. So put one on and practice now. It will pay off!
• Clean, shaped eyebrows open the eyes and create a wider eye they look better in the photos and you look rested and relaxed.
• Choose a creamy white dress so that it doesn’t create glare when photographed and it’s kinder to the skin tone.
• Don’t follow make up trends for your bridal make up. Stick to a classic look and your photos will be timeless.
• In photos don’t keep both arms entirely straight, bend one or both to create space between the arm and body.
• In photos rest most of your weight on one foot or the other. This looks less posey and gives a slight slimming effect.
• Focus on what you want to happen on your wedding day, not what you don’t want to happen. You get what you wish for.
• When walking up the aisle please, please, please look up at your guests and your fiancé. Smile and they will smile back at you.

I thought that the tip on getting a pair of black tights and cutting off the feet and covering your shoes with them and then wear them around the house for 30 mins every day was a really good one. That way they don't get dirty and your groom won't be able to see what they look like! And you break them in so they will be comfy on the day. Michele also said to look at the tops of everyone's head whilst you are walking down the aisle which gives the illusion that you are looking at them, good if you are nervous and don't want to look at people!

Her tips on keeping calm on your wedding day were all about engaging your senses:

• Make a playlist of upbeat, happy songs that you love to play whilst you are getting ready.
• Have your favourite scented candles burning too.
• Eat/drink something that you really enjoy in the morning.
• When choosing bridesmaids make sure you pick wisely, you don't want people around you who will be getting stressed on the day.
• Have as few people as possible with you when you are getting ready and make sure those people won't stress you out.
• Just before you walk down the aisle take three long, deep breaths breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth and on the last one hold your bouquet up to your nose so you take in the fragrance.

That's about all I can remember but check her out on Twitter or on her website and you can get some more tips. She also does DVDs which might be useful.

Well that's about it from me, must go and do some work! Until next time xx

Back and Blogging!

Hello! I hope you are all well and have had a fantastic few weeks, it seems like I have been away ages and I'm dying to catch up on everyone's blogs and see what you've all been up to! I actually got back a few days ago but have been really busy so I'm glad to finally have some time to sit down with a nice cup of tea and have a good read as well as update my own blog!

My fiancé and I had a wonderful time in Mexico, it was so nice to chill out and do nothing for two whole weeks! We've never had a chill out holiday in the 4 years we've been together as we both like to go to places where we can see the sights so this was a bit different for us but boy did we enjoy it! We stayed in the Grand Riviera Princess just north of Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean coast. The resort was fantastic; great food, lovely beach, lots of swimming pools, excellent entertainment and friendly staff. It was really hot so we did spend most of our time chilling by the pool but we did get out to see some of the Mayan sites which were well worth it. In fact I'd thoroughly recommend it as a honeymoon destination because the beaches are just beautiful but there is also lots to do and see if you want the best of both worlds. Here are some of my favourite snaps :)

Pyramid at Chichen Itza

Beach at Tulum

Pool at the resort

Us at Tulum

And at the bar on my Birthday!

Since we've been back I've attended the National Wedding Show and we've ordered our cake so much to catch up on in upcoming posts! For now though it's good to be back :)

On Vacation!

Just a quick post to say I'm going on holiday for two weeks tomorrow so won't be posting for a while. I'm off for a chilled out beach holiday in Mexico with my lovely fiancé and can't wait to do nothing for two whole weeks! Look forward to reading all your posts when I get back!

Karen xx

Adventures in Dress Shopping

*** Wedding Dress Spoiler Alert!***

I finally ordered my beautiful Maggie Sottero gown last week and booked in my first fitting for September next year! So exciting! It took a few dresses though until I found 'the one' so I thought I'd do a recap of all the options.

I didn't go to one salon and try on a selection of dresses and chose my favourite, I had a look through a number of designers online and picked out my favourites and then tracked them down to different dress shops. The first dress I fell in love with was Chelsea by Ronald Joyce:

Chelsea - Ronald Joyce

I particularly liked the little jacket that came with this as I didn't really want a strapless dress. However, when I tried it on I didn't like the detail in the beading, a lot of it was moonstone and it wasn't really what I wanted. I also tried on some other dresses in the shop including a gorgeous princess dress that had sequins all over the top that went down into the skirt, beautiful but not me, I knew I wanted something a little more A-line.

I think out of all of these I liked the middle one best but wasn't so sure about the detail going all the way down the side. After thinking about it quite a lot I decided that none of the dresses I tried on were quite what I wanted. So I found another dress I liked and went to try it on:

Alfred Angelo 2181

Sadly this one did nothing for my figure! So I decided to have a look at what designers the wedding dress shop that is just down the road from me sold and that is when I came across Maggie Sottero. I had a look at the website and saw two dresses that I liked and to my amazement my local shop stocked samples of them both! The first was Asha:

Maggie Sottero - Asha

This dress was absolutely beautiful but it wasn't very weddingy if you know what I mean! I think it would have been wonderful for a destination wedding but didn't think it was quite right for mine. But then I tried on Mona and new instantly that she was the one!

Maggie Sottero - Mona

The fit of the dress was absolutely amazing, it made me look two sizes smaller and if it was made for my body shape! I never thought I would end up with a one shoulder gown but I love it, it looks so elegant. I also always wanted satin but this is chiffon but it hangs so beautifully, I'm so pleased with it. Sadly I don't have any photos of me in it but here's a close up of the hip detail that I took:

I'm hoping to make a matching cuff, will let you know how I get on! So what do you think of my choice?

Feeling Better :)

So I've had a few days to get over loosing my chief bridesmaid and I'm feeling a whole lot better about things. It's been such a busy week and so much has happened wedding wise!

On Tuesday I went to have my boudoir photo shoot that I won. I have to say I was quite nervous but the girls at For Your Eyes Only Portraits were amazing and I would thoroughly recommend them if you are thinking about having something like this done. I had to do my make-up as if I was going on a night out and take a variety of items with me like jewellery, heels, boots, underwear and negligee. When I got there I was whisked into the make-up room and one of their make-up artists then made me 'camera ready' by adding more make-up to what I had done myself. I was then taken in to the studio where I had to lay out all of my items and the photographer went through what she was going to ask me to do. I was in there for about an hour and she put me in all different poses and in all of the different things that I brought. I could hardly move the next day my muscles ached so much! The idea was that they got you looking your absolute best by the angle they shot you at and the position you were in so there was a lot of back arching to stretch the stomach flat and things like that. It really did work as the photos were amazing, I barely recognise myself! I guess it's just so different to see myself in that context though. I get one free picture from the shoot and it has been really difficult to chose but hopefully my fiancé will love it and I think it will make a great grooms gift!

On Wednesday I finally ordered my wedding dress but I'm going to save all the details of this for my next post as I think it deserves one to itself! I also won tickets to the Luxury Wedding Show in London on 23rd October which I'm super excited about! I doubt I'll be able to afford anything there but it will be nice to go and I'm taking my Mom so it will be a nice day out for us.

Today my fiancé and I have been to a local wedding show which has been very productive. I wanted to go to see a lady whose cakes I have been admiring for a while. What really attracted me to her were her flavours; lemon drizzle with limoncello buttercream, chocolate orange with cointreau swirl, cherry and amaretto are a few examples! We got to try the lemon and a chocolate and cherry cake with chocolate and rum frosting and they were absolutely delicious! I know it's probably all kinds of wrong to have alcohol infused cakes but we both love this idea so it works well that we are only having adults at the wedding! Here are a few examples of her work:

Elite Cake Designs

I think it's going to be really hard to chose a design, I love the alternate hearts and stripes, think this is really fun but I also love the simplicity of the cake decorated with ribbons and diamantés. We've booked an appointment for a cake tasting in October, can't wait!

We also might have found a videographer and a florist at the fair too! The videographer was offering a 25% discount and her prices seemed very reasonable so we are waiting for more information from her and the florist. Feels like everything is coming together slowly!

So quite a productive week which is good as we are going on vacation for two weeks on Tuesday so will be having a break from all the planning. Hope you are having a good weekend!

Football Cupcakes

And in other news... It was my soon to be brother-in-law's Birthday yesterday and I made him some cupcakes based on his favourite football team, Liverpool. It was a great chance for me to try out my grass nozzle that I had bought a few months ago but hadn't had the opportunity to use. I was really pleased with the result.