Bride To Be Diaries

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Our Spring Bride Ali tells us about all the life adventures she has planned as well as planning a wedding! There is nothing like doing all at everything at once.

Our Spring Bride Ali

All Or Nothing

Ladies, how are we?

Where do I begin?

Weddings, are, stressful. Fact.

Tell you what’s more stressful?
Thinking it’s a good idea to change jobs, plan a wedding and sell and buy a new house all in the same 6 months.

Yeah. So, our lives have become even crazier recently.

We decided at the beginning of the month to look in to the Help To Buy Wales scheme and a New Build property near our current house. At first, it was purely out of interest. We wondered how much it would cost, and how far in the future a move could be realistic.
It turned out it was doable, well, now.
So of course, we decided to go for it.

So, our house sold for the full asking price after a week on the market, the mortgage for the new house is agreed, and the house will be ready in January… just under 3 months before I Do’s. As if moving house isn’t stressful enough.

But, it is ridiculously exciting. And I need to remind myself of that.

Also, I decided a few months back to start focusing on looking for a new job, as the commute to my current base is slowly driving me insane. Anyone who’s ever done the West to East or vice versa will know how mind numbing and soul destroying that stretch of the M4 is.
I applied for the perfect role, much closer to home, and am overjoyed to have been offered the job. Super exciting. Of course that meant a hoohah with the new mortgage. It is all sorted now but it was a bit manic.

Again, changing jobs is quite stressful in its self….

Wedding things… I did have all in hand. And I felt much more on top of it all when it was the only thing I was dealing with.
Finding it a little more difficult now that the house and the job are factors too!

But…

I managed to get a little crafting done!
I’ve made out guest book frame…
Had a play about with calligraphy for our place cards…
We’re booked in to register intent…
And today I’ve contacted the venue to try to work out timings for the day so I can send out invites and schedules.

Has anyone moved house close to their wedding day before? (I mean of you ladies reading as oppose to ever in the history of mankind haha)When we change address, it will be after we’ve registered intent etc. We’ll be in the same county, but will we need to contact the Registrar to change address?

I really do need to keep remembering that this is all very exciting. And try not to label it as stressful/ scary etc… I’m prone to anxiety so keeping my head above the water with all this is going to be a challenge… any coping strategies welcome.

At least I’m getting it all out of the way in one go hey?Babies next… haha!

Wow I think you will agree that Our Spring Bride has taken quite a lot on. You can do it Ali! If you missed Ali’s last post click here .

We all love this post – its brilliantly helpful when you’re looking for some inspiration on readings for your wedding that aren’t Corinthians! So here you go. First posted in 2013, our previous bride-to-be Charlie , now married and with a baby on the way, talked about picking readings for a non-religious ceremony. Over once again, to you Charlie…..x

Throw Back Thursday: A Selection of Non-Religious Readings

Hello lovely readers!

This week I am sharing with you some non-religious readings, a simple way of making a civil ceremony a lot more personal. Before I start, I almost feel like I should put a disclaimer on this post for those of you who have already selected your readings because of what happened to me!

Mark and I had chosen three readings, confirmed them with the registrar, found readers to read them and printed off our orders of ceremony and then about three nights before the wedding I came across this reading from Stardust (which was the first film Mark and I saw together- him under duress!) and I nearly cried because I loved it so much and couldn’t have it, so proceed with caution!

The Stardust reading

Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn’t true. I know a lot about love. I’ve seen it; I’ve seen centuries and centuries of it. It’s the only thing that made watching your world bearable.

All the wars, pain, lies, and hate, made me want to turn away and never look down again. But to see the way that mankind loves! I mean you could search the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful.

So, yes I know that love is unconditional, but I also know it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable, and strangely easy to mistake for loathing. And, well, what I’m trying to say, Tristan, is.. I think I love you.

My heart it feels like my chest can barely contain it, like it doesn’t belong to me anymore; it belongs to you, and if you wanted it, I’d wish for nothing in exchange: no gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion, nothing, but knowing you love me, too. Just your heart in exchange for mine.

Sigh!

As I mentioned above, we had three readings and I think they worked really well – we had a lot of comments about how personal our ceremony was and that was what I was hoping for. Deciding who will do the readings for you can be difficult! It is a daunting thing for some people to get up and speak in front of a room full of people and I know some people have found it hard to find willing volunteers!

Mark knew he wanted to ask his best man and as he’s a confident guy that was no problem, that left us with two. Initially I tested the water with my bridesmaids but as suspected they were all quite hesitant and I didn’t want anyone to do anything they weren’t totally comfortable with. I then thought about two other people close to me, my two cousins Jade and Amy. What with Amy being a teacher I was pretty sure that she would be fine, but Jade hates being the centre of attention so I was cautious about asking her but to my delight they both said yes and did an amazing job!

These were the readings we had:

He’s not perfect (by Bob Marley) Read by Mark’s best man Wayne.

I love you means… Read by Jade

Apache marriage blessing Read by Amy. There are several versions of this, poor Amy got stuck with the long one!

But if those don’t float your boat (don’t worry I won’t be offended!) I have plenty more inspiration for you. This one comes from the lovely Budget-bride Sarah’s wedding: I love you much (most beautiful darling) by ee cummings and it is a beauty.

Dr Seuss fan’s this one is for you! Oh the places you’ll go makes a beautiful but light hearted reading, it is quite long though so you may want to have it abridged!

Do we have any couples with a Scottish connection? This is a great two person reading, with one person reading the application and one the appointment, preferably a married couple in my humble opinion:

Bidie-in by Diana Hendry and Hamish Whyte

Application

O Let me be your bidie-in

And keep you close within

As dearest kith and kin

I promise I’d be tidy in

Whatever bed or bunk you’re in

I’d never ever drink your gin

I’d be your multi-vitamin

I’d wear my sexy tiger-skin

And play my love-sick mandolin

It cannot be a mortal sin

To be in such a dizzy spin

I’d like to get inside your skin

I’d even be your concubine

I hope you know I’m genuine

O let me be your bidie-in

Appointment

Of course, you may be my bidie-in

You didn’t need to apply within

A braw new world’s about to begin

We’ll gang thegether through thick and thin

We’ll walk unscathed through burr & whin

If you’re to be my porcupin

I’ll just have to bear it and grin

I’ll be your sheik,your djinn

I’ll be yang to your yin

You’ll be my kitten,my mitten,my terrapin.

All night long we’ll make love’s sweet din

And never mind the wheelie-bin

In our romantic cinema there’ll be no FIN

And so I say again – you’re in- You’ve got the job of bidie in!

I absolutely love this one by Coulson Macleod , his typography prints are so beautiful! I also love this poem by Joyce Ebrecht , it makes me think of being an old married couple :) With that in mind I also found this one which brings tears to my eyes: The beauty of love.

If you are a book lover why not take an extract from your favourite book as a child? Even better if both of you have a favourite book and you can take a reading from each, I have seen it done with books such as Winnie the Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit and I think it works so well.

I hope that by now you have found some inspiration but just in case you haven’t (as we are indeed a WELSH wedding blog!) I will leave you with the lovely Mi gerddi gyda thi complete with translation!

“Mi gerddaf gyda thi dros lwybrau maith
A blodau can a breuddwyd ar ein taith
I’th lygaid syllaf a dal dy law
Mi gerddaf gyda thi beth bynnag ddaw”.

“I will walk with you across distant paths
Flowers and dreams will bless our journey
Into your eyes I will gaze and holding your hand
I will walk with you whatever may come”.

Have you found readings that you love? Have you decided not to have readings? If you have any readings that I haven’t included (I know there are bound to be loads!) please share them in the comments box, I would love to read them and I’m sure our readers will too :)

Charlie x

We have the pleasure of having the wonderful Lucie Jones join us with her bride to be diaries. Lucie first found fame during her X-Factor stint, becoming an immediate favourite of us all. She can now add treading the boards as Elle Woods in Curves Award Winning and wonderfully pink ‘Legally Blonde’.

Not only has she managed all this, and more, but she recently got engaged and is fabulously sharing her wedding planning stories with us.

So, without further ado, I shall hand over to the lovely Lucie who is telling us all about how to handle all those questions!!

Introducing Lucie: Handling all those questions!

WE’RE ENGAGED!

You’re probably here because you just got engaged and are starting to plan your wedding. So first of all, CONGRATULATIONS! As a recently engaged and wedding obsessed new bride to be myself, I totally share your excitement. Since November 21st 2015 I have been floating around happily accepting the free champagne and well wishes that come with our big news. However, with these well wishes come… (dun dun duuun) THE QUESTIONS! Oh the questions. Not only questions from our nearest and dearest but from the mail mans daughters brother in law who seems to have an invested interest in our upcoming nuptials.

It’s not only the questions that I have found a constant source of intrigue, but the opinions. Again the opinion of my primary school diner ladies’ next door neighbour may be one that she feels inclined to give but its not necessarily the one I feel compelled to take. “What venue have you picked?”… “Obviously you’ll be having a church ceremony, you’re not a tart”… “Go on, tell me you’ve picked your bridesmaids. I didn’t make the cut did I?”

And so I have started wondering, why do I feel guilty about having made decisions without consulting my entire Facebook networks opinion first? Of course my highly opinionated self quickly squashes said thoughts and continues browsing pinterest for the wonderful, the obscure and of course- the beautiful.

It is a time in our lives when people suddenly blow our relationship levels out of proportion. It isn’t selfish and it isn’t because they’re angling for an invite (OK- it might be a little bit about the invite thing). People see you happy and they want to be involved.

Everybody has their own stuff going on and sometimes it is nice to cling to someone else’s happiness in order to forget their own woes for a little while. We as the supposed happy shiny engaged ones must take said clingers under our wings and let them cling for a little while before politely finding the words to swat them away. “Your ideas are so great, thanks for your input!”- this is not good enough. Be strong my band of beautiful brides! “Thanks for your thoughts but my husband and I have already made most decisions”. There. Done. Swift, polite and they’ll think you’re a wedding planning goddess instead of the maniacal juggler you feel you are metaphorically turning in to.

Its a bit more difficult with your close pals and of course, the wedding parentals. I am very lucky in that my taste is very similar to my mum and my mother in law to be (shout out to both- you rock!). I have however seen friends weddings been totally taken over by bossy parents and opinionated friends and family members. Each case of this differs from the next so there is no blanket advice to give here. All I will say is this is YOUR and your intended’s day. These are people who you know very well. Find ways of having them involved but keeping them at arms length. Offer them the job of browsing for interesting invitation templates. Ask them to seek out the best value florists in the area of your wedding venue. Chances are, if they really are as keen as you thought, you will get them off your case AND get some great research done in the process.

So there’s no need to panic. You are not being selfish and rude by asking these “wedding pushers” to respectfully back off. Where there is a will there is almost always a way.

Share your ways of keeping monster mother in laws and unwanted snoopers at arms length below.

Thanks for reading Brides… may the love be with you!

We totally agree Lucie! Its a tricky one trying to keep your own ideas alive or a secret, when so many people are getting involved. When we ask our ‘Real Weddings’ brides, do they have any advice for future bride and grooms, they 90% of the time always answer with ‘its your day, do it your way regardless of what anyone else wants’. Its not mean, it IS your day!

Is ‘DATE NIGHT’ coming up soon? Do you need somewhere to entertain the future in-laws? or maybe you’d just like to treat your mum to a lovely meal on Friday night? If so, did you know that the Celtic Manor have recently opened three new restaurants at the resort? Yes, THREE! They can even cater for intimate weddings too!

Steak on Six, The Epicure Experience by Richard Davies and Cen.

I was lucky enough to be invited to an event called #nightatthemanor a few weeks ago. Alongside some of Wales & Bristols’ leading bloggers, I was treated to a tour of each restaurant, served divine cocktails and sampled a selection of lavish food from each of the restaurants (I was one lucky and very FULL girl afterwards haha).

All images in this post by me: Maria Farrelly Photography

Signature Lounge

The evening started with cocktails and canapés in the recently opened Signature Lounge.

Diners at Steak on Six can enjoy drinks before lunch or dinner here which boasts spectacular, elevated views across Coldra Woods.

I was pretty fascinated with this hand carved cured ham, it tasted incredible.

Each of these canapés were a delight and i think if you were considering hosting a small intimate wedding here, the food would certainly wow your guests. I just don’t think one of each canapé would be enough for my friends… they’d LOVE all of this and i’m pretty sure they’d happily of taken the tray off the waiter.

Steak on Six

In a spectacular elevated setting on the sixth floor of the Resort Hotel, this recent addition serves succulent steaks from around the British Isles and has already earned the coveted accolade of two AA Rosettes!

Most of the tables in this restaurant were laid out for two which instantly made me feel this was an intimate couples restaurant rather than somewhere a family/large group would dine. I really liked that. Their website does state they will accommodate a maximum of 6 per table. Its also worth noting there is a dress code. I’m afraid you’ll have to leave your flip-flops where they firmly belong (at the beach).

Alongside signature cuts of the finest steaks from around the British Isles, diners can also take their pick from an array of other fine meats and fresh fish, all grilled to perfection.

This unique setting with its spectacular views over Coldra Woods and breathtaking combination of stunning surroundings and exciting, creative culinary concept, are fast making The Signature dining destination a popular choice.

The Epicure Experience by Richard Davies

The Epicure Experience by Richard Davies promises a memorable and exciting, modern restaurant experience sure to impress the most discerning of gourmets.

Formerly of Gordon Ramsay London, Sawyards in West Sussex and the Manor House at Castle Combe, award-winning chef Richard Davies returns to The Celtic Manor Resort.

Richard’s intricate menus reflect seasonality with a strong emphasis on the use of locally sourced ingredients, producing fresh, intense flavours for an unforgettable dining experience.

It was such a pleasure to meet Richard, he was lovely and clearly passionate about his craft. He welcomed us with an introduction to his food as well as sharing a few trade secrets (my lips are sealed Richard) but all I will say is that I now have another use for my crinkle cutter!

CEN

At Cen, you can discover fresh, unique and truly inspired Asian fusion cuisine by Larkin Cen, 2013 finalist of BBC’s MasterChef UK.

Offering a deliciously different dining concept, this striking new restaurant features an exciting menu of fresh, contemporary Asian cuisine created by one of the UK’s most up-and-coming talents.

Before we dined at Cen, we were treated to an exclusive masterclass from Larkin himself where he showed us how he creates his mouth-watering Duck dish.

From delicious fluffy steamed bao buns to slow cooked oriental pork belly and succulent sharing platters of Cantonese duck, savour this sociable dining experience bursting with authentic pan-Asian flavours.

And there we have it! I bet I’ve made you all hungry now! ~ Maria x

Oh my… this time last month the biggest wedding festival to hit Wales took place at The Glanusk Estate and we organised it! #Cwtchfest2016 was a huge success! I’m so happy the day itself went without a hitch.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

The sun shone, over a thousand attended, Cwtch Workshops were full, couples found & booked many of their wedding suppliers, live music by The iGency played throughout, lots of food and drink was consumed but most of all… a good time was had by all! That alone, makes it all worth while ~ Maria Farrelly (founder of Cwtch The Bride & Cwtchfest)

All photographs in this post are by the fabulous Owen Mathias Photography

Its fair to say, after months of planning we accomplished what was a truly magnificent day for engaged couples and Welsh Wedding businesses. My team and I are over the moon with the feedback we’ve received and cannot wait to get started on our next one… which is coming sooner than you may think :)

As you can imagine, putting on an event like this is impossible to do alone and I have a lot of people & businesses to thank.

My Cwtch Girls

(Myself and Lindsey grabbing a quick moment together during Cwtchfest)

A special shout out goes to Lindsey . I was only ever going to do another Cwtchfest if Lindsey did it with me. She’s my wing girl and when we get together, stuff happens :) She project managed the event which freed me up to push my ideas further and develop this event. She is a complete warrior, professional, all round superb human being and one of my good friends.

Now these ladies… are my cwtch girls. They are very special to me and I love them all dearly. Most of them were originally clients of mine (yes, I’ve photographed their weddings!) but we just couldn’t say goodbye afterwards. We’ve become such good friends over the years. They give up a lot of their personal time to work with me on Cwtch The Bride and collectively we are an awesome team. ALWAYS so much fun working together. If I was to ever get married again, I think i’ve found my bridesmaids!

Oh… and this year, we have an honorary Cwtch boy, Owen Mathias . Owen stepped in to photograph the whole event for us after we were let down at the last moment. I’d never worked with Owen before but what a man! not only was he professional but he was awesome throughout the day. His images are great, he fitted in with my team perfectly and oh how we all laughed so much! He joins the secret ‘Cwtch Boy’ team which is made up of all the awesome men that volunteered their time to cwtchfest. You’d have seen these guys mainly as parking attendants, security and stewarding. They are also mainly the husbands of The Cwtch Girls! My boys were also there (always eternally grateful for their help). My son Joe in particular, insisted on being part of the security team.

The Glanusk Estate

WOW. Working with The team at Glanusk has been nothing but a pleasure. I’ve loved every moment. I literally cannot fault this venue in any way. Not only is the Estate breathtaking from sunrise to sunset but the staff were just as excited as us in the lead up to the event. True professionals! Its also worth bearing in mind that it is also home to a lot of the staff and Family of Glanusk and I cannot thank them enough for their warm hospitality. I’m just trying to think up ways to go back! haha

These two images were taken by me the morning of Cwtchfest and then at sunset, after the event had finished. Such a beautiful place.

And this fabulous piece of drone footage was taken by Bears and Butterflies. It really does give you an incredible view of this beautiful Estate.

http://wordpress.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CwtchFest_Drone.mp4

County Marquees

I’ve worked with County Marquees on a number of occasions now and each time it solidifies my opinion that they are quite simply THE BEST marquee company I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The speed in which the team erected the marquees amazed us, the size and quality of the tents themselves wowed everyone. But not only that, they were incredibly supportive throughout the whole planning of Cwtchfest and provided us with the magnificent huge marquee which allowed us to fill it with all the wonderful exhibitors. Take a look…

They also showcased a spectacular clearspan marquee. As the sunset, it just made it even more beautiful.

Tipi Events, Stretch Events, Herf Yurts, Bears & Butterflies and Goodyhoo Glamping

To all those brides that have things go wrong… seriously we know how you feel. when you are planning a big outdoor event thats very important to you, and the structures you’re depending on disappear… its not pleasant.

None of you will know that eight days before our event one of our major partners that were providing the Tipi, Stretch Tent and Bell Tents pulled out for personal reasons. ARGHH!! 8 DAYS BEFORE! I kid you not. Our stress levels hit a new high and panic well and truly set in. The three days that followed were nothing short of a world of stress that my team and I never want to revisit.

BUT WE DID IT! We pulled it off without you all knowing. After numerous phone calls and waiting patiently to see if anyone could help, the most incredible businesses we’d never worked with stepped in and saved the day. We cannot thank you Tipi Events , Stretch Event , Herf Yurts , Bears and Butterflies , Goodyhoo Glamping enough! You literally all saved the day!

An event such as Cwtchfest is only possible when great businesses collaborate and invest in a crazy idea.

There are many more thank you’s still to come but for now, take a look at the wonderful images captured throughout #Cwtchfest2016 by Owen Mathias Photography and I think you’ll agree, it was a flipping awesome day!