The Final Lead-Up

It was a week to go! And a very strange week it was. With everything arranged, the seating plan finalised, the times and details of music, readings, table decorations and so on, all confirmed, and the remaining balances to suppliers paid, there was nothing much left to do but sit back and wait. J finished writing his speech, I practised walking in my sky-high heels, had a facial, printed off more information on things to see on our honeymoon, and packed. And waited some more! It was bizarre to think that everything was ready, all the build-up was over, no more research, arranging or discussion, and in a matter of mere days we would be man and wife!

As the wedding was on a Sunday, we both worked right up to the Friday before. So in amongst the lack of wedding-related jobs at home, there were plenty of day-job things to finish up before the three weeks that we would be off work after the wedding. Winding down, though, I was greeted with a desk decorated with balloons, confetti, and streamers on my last day; a lovely card and gift from my colleagues; and a fun lunch out with work friends. J was also presented with a thoughtful card, gift and well-wishes. I spent most of the Friday afternoon, evening and the following morning in a strange state of high adrenaline, nerves, excitement, joy and disbelief.

We travelled up to Cirencester on the Friday evening, to stay with J's parents. On the Saturday morning we picked up our cake from Marks & Spencer's, then went to a last, 'hand-over' meeting with the wedding co-ordinator and duty event manager for the day itself. We delivered the cake plus the table decorations and guest book, and went through step-by-step details of the day with the event manager and toast-master. This included finding out where we would be collected from to enter the hall, and where we would each meet with the Registrar prior to the wedding itself.

Following this meeting we took some much-needed time to ourselves and strolled the beautiful, wooded area of the hotel grounds, catching a breath and just being with each other. This, we felt, was very important. I certainly recommend this! And not only at the 11th hour, but at regular intervals during the lead-up to the big day. After all, this is why it's all happening! If you can't reconnect and remember why you're getting married, all the stress and chaos can carry you away. We had a lovely, relaxing couple of hours together before my parents, sister and aunt arrived, and J left to return to spend the night with his parents. My parents, sister, aunt and various other family members and family friends were all staying at the hotel with me on the Saturday night. J would be at his parents so that we would be spending the first night apart for over three years! We wanted to keep the tradition of spending the night before our wedding apart and not seeing each other on the day of the wedding, prior to the ceremony.

Myself, my parents and my sister checked in, unpacked and then all met up in the hotel bar for some food and a couple of drinks. It was a nice family evening, allowing everyone to catch up and wish me well for the following day. I actually expected to be more nervous than I was, but keeping an eye on everyone and making sure they were having fun meant I wasn't thinking too hard about the next day! It was only at one moment that it hit me hard, and I found my hands shaking as I was talking to my sister. Luckily that soon passed and I was more excited and happy than apprehensive!

And then it was an early night, in order to be up bright and early for hair, make-up and dressing for the big day!!

Hen Do's and Stag Nights

Hello All. Yes, it's been a while, and, as most of you are aware, J and I are now actually married. However, due to.. several reasons, this blog hasn't been updated for some time, so I'd like to catch up on some entries before we get to the day itself.

So, one important aspect of wedding preparation is the hen do and stag night. We had decided months ago that we would both have such celebrations, a few weeks prior to the big day. It seemed fairly obvious that it would be a bad idea to have hen and stag do's on the night before the wedding itself. Nothing worse than being hungover on your own wedding day!

J managed to arrange his stag night for August Bank Holiday weekend, and passed the job over to his brother, as best man, to finalise the details. Not being one for clubbing, strip joints, weekends in Amsterdam or even Bournemouth, J wanted a low-key yet fun evening with close family and friends. Luckily his brother respected that and no embarrassment took place - no tying to lamp-posts or dressing up in hilarious outfits. Instead, as far as I can gather, there was food, drink, music and a few laughs. He enjoyed the chance to connect and celebrate with his dad, brother, close friends, cousins and uncles, and even his future father-in-law! Myself, I was happy he had a fun night and acknowledged the ritual of male bonding! A last night of freedom indeed!

Of course, I can talk much more about my own celebration. Again, I set up the day and handed over the fine print to my so-called 'bubble of honour', my sister. Again, I didn't want anything too elaborate, or expensive. So I'd booked a function room in a pub. And for weeks before, friends teased me about embarrassing games, and my sister informed me she had organised something for the afternoon. I become equal parts excited and nervous!

It was a lovely day, of course. A wonderful mix of old and new friends, plus some family members, with whom I had a great laugh, good fun, and celebrated my over-all 'hen'-ness! It was rather embarrassing to be made to wear flashing bunny ears and a pink sash, but I survived. There then commenced a treasure hunt around Brighton, searching for all things wedding, hen and Brighton-related, including the need for photographic proof. Also including a visit to an erotica store, where we really couldn't contain our giggles!

Afterwards, we indulged in ice-cream, then onwards to the pub, for food, champagne, gossip, and then more fun and games. There was a Mr & Mrs style quiz, where I had to answer questions with the same answer J gave. I think I did pretty well, except for not remembering what would be the first thing he'd buy if he won the lottery! There were prizes for the winners of the treasure hunt, nostalgic stories, and of course, I had to make everyone take turns in wearing the bunny ears. Plus, plenty of alcohol!

In conclusion, I feel flattered to have been surrounded by such good family and friends, for them to have indulged me and celebrated with me. The memories of my hen do will stay with me for ever, just as the memories of my wedding day itself will. And thank you again to my sister for organising a unique and entertaining day, and for being a wonderful sister and maid of honour.

Even though neither J nor myself went too elaborate with our hen and stag do's, they were suitable for us, allowed us to spend time with people special to us, and to prepare for a change in our life in a fun way. As a ritual, as well as a chance for a good night out, I feel this is an important element of wedding preparation.

And then, it was only a matter of weeks until the big day...

Four weeks and counting!

It's been another month since my last update - sorry folks - so here's another quick update, finally! It's only four weeks to the big day and we can't believe how quickly the time has gone.

The dress was collected yesterday, and I now am in possession of the highest heeled shoes I have ever owned. Table plans are finalised, order of service planned, hair and make-up trialled, and hen and stag do's organised. The cake is ordered and the table decorations sitting in a pile of boxes in the bedroom. I have even arranged to change my name by deed-poll, as I will be double-barrelled.

So now, so long as nothing goes wrong, we can sit back, look forward to the big day and begin to get excited!

Here comes the... groom?!

It's almost too easy to forget about the groom when planning a wedding. Practically by default, the bride becomes the centre of attention. It's usually her dream, her big day - the big dress, the flowers, the lovely venue. But let's not forget about the poor groom. It is his big day, too. I have noticed as I attempt to find my way through this strange land of wedding preparation that I'm the one who gets asked how the plans are progressing, I'm the one all the wedding magazines and websites are aimed at. The amount of pages devoted to the groom is very slim. And it's a real shame. Traditionally, it's true, the groom might just sit back and let his beautiful wife to be organise everything, with his job being just to turn up to the church on time. But more and more often today you do find couples planning their wedding together, especially if they are paying for it themselves or are already living together.

I know I'm lucky that J is just as excited about our big day as I am, and he was very involved in the initial planning and research stage. He still is involved with the details and final preparations, although admittedly I am taking more responsibility. Probably because, as stated earlier, the groom is hardly mentioned. But I am endeavouring to keep J as included as possible, and he is glad of that. If I tend to over-do the organising and a hint of bridzilla-ness appears, he can pull me back, and then I can pass certain tasks over to him.

To me, the pinnacle of the down-playing of the groom is the attitude towards the outfits the happy couple wears. The bride will spend months searching for the perfect dress, choosing the right accessories, shoes, hair and make-up. There are fittings and further fittings, and a fortune is spent on an outfit that will only be worn once.

The groom, on the other hand, has to go to a good department store a few weeks before the wedding and order a suit. To hire. That then gets returned. The only decision might be the colour - black or grey, and the exact style - morning suit or not?

J, never one to just run with the crowd, has decided to put his own outfit together. He has therefore found a gorgeous Regency-style jacket and purple waistcoat (to match our colour scheme), and has bought trousers and a shirt he will wear again. In fact, he will likely wear the jacket and/or waistcoat again, perhaps on our honeymoon. It's original, it's flattering, it's very J, and he will have it for years to come. He will stand out on our big day as much as I will, he will hopefully feel somewhat special and unique, and the photographs should look brilliant!

Until next time...

Your presence is required...

A quick update this time.

The wedding invitations went out a couple of weeks ago, and now we are having fun awaiting all the replies. It's a funny in-between time. Although there's still plenty to do, there's not much to be done at the moment. Details of the day will be confirmed with the venue at the end of June, then monies to be paid and dresses to be collected, the table plan to be tweaked, and speeches to be written.

Meanwhile, we wait. We're loving seeing the acceptances come in, and are sad to say that some people we wish could attend, unfortunately can't. The invitations look wonderful - elegant and stylish, roughly designed by myself and produced and printed by my talented, artistic sister, using a photograph she took years ago. I'm incredibly happy with how they turned out. We've also received our first wedding card. Very exciting!

Until next time...

The Ring's The Thing

This weekend we went to collect my wedding ring from the jewellers. Yes, my ring. Not our rings. Because, unusually, J wanted his own engagement ring when we first got engaged. And I was more than happy to buy one for him. Previously to popping the question, we'd talked in vague terms about getting married, engagement, and looked at rings in shop windows. J had an idea of the sort of ring I'd like and dislike, and that was about it. He chose wisely, though, and my engagement ring is a very pretty white gold ring with two small diamonds and a slightly unusual twist to the band. It's very me.

When it came to J's engagement ring, we went and chose it together. He had already seen a couple of rings he liked, and wanted my opinion before we made a final decision together. The end result was a wide titanium band with a thin band of white gold running through the middle. Very stylish, and very J. It's original, slightly geeky and very strong (they couldn't adjust the metal but had to order one in his size especially).

Although I loved my engagement ring on sight and wanted to wear it immediately (I couldn't, it was too small!) it did take me some time to get used to wearing it. Now, I have my wedding ring waiting to be worn, and this, I feel, will take even longer to get used to, with all it's symbolism, and the fact that this is my wedding ring and what I shall wear for the rest of my life. With all that in mind, the idea of it is somewhat daunting. In addition, I wanted something that matches my personality, and that also matched J and I as a couple. I feel that we already have that in our engagement rings, and for many people, it seems, the engagement ring, although technically the less important, is the more expensive, flashy one. The one everyone notices.

I wanted to be slightly different, though. For a start, I don't wear yellow gold, usually silver. Therefore the traditional choice of a yellow gold band was out. We then made the decision that J would use his engagement ring as his wedding ring, as it is such a lovely ring and suits him so well that I wouldn't want him not to wear it anymore. But, being a rather wide band, there would be no space for that and a wedding band. So it would become the wedding band. I myself am very keen on the style of the titanium band, but it was rather wide. Would I be able to have something similar for myself, or would I have to opt for a white gold band?

In the end, as is often the case, the decision and logistics were amazingly easy. We inquired in the jewellers where we had bought J's ring, as to whether they made a thinner, women's version. In fact, they could just take the existing men's ring and order it to be made in a thinner, smaller size.

Four weeks later, I have an exact match for J's ring, only thinner and more feminine. All of the detail is still there, and it is much more interesting to me than a plain gold band. In addition, the two wedding rings now match. It's interesting how much thought can go into such things, and what your choices can say about you to other people. The range of engagement rings is immense, and the choice of wedding rings is now also growing. I know I've made the right choice, though, and I'm looking forward to being able to wear both rings together in three and a half months time, and get used to the feel of a wedding ring on my finger!


Until next time...

All the small things...

Coming up to the four-month mark, we now seem rather bogged down by all the small details. I'm not necessarily complaining, but I'm beginning to realise now just how much detail and organisation goes into a large wedding - and that's with the venue arranging much of it! The to-do lists get bigger, the pile of wedding magazines grow and then comes the time when you start waking up at 3am with a mental note to email or phone so-and-so, or the fact that a certain cousin has been left off the invite list! And, yes, this is with four months still to go. My admiration for anyone able to arrange a wedding within three to six months - start to finish - just grows and grows.

So, the table plans are roughed out, the invitations about to be sent, the dress and shoes bought, hair and make-up considered, flowers and music decided about, the ceremony details roughly arranged with registrar, and even the ring is on order. It really is down to the details, confirmations, crossing the t's and dotting the i's. As long as our guests turn up...

J has taken to calling me a bridezilla, and although I disagree, I can see myself getting carried away and I can, perhaps more worryingly, see how brides can get to the point of monstrosity. When it's all about the details, all the big decisions have been made, it's easy to focus on the somewhat inconsequential and begin to stop seeing the wood for the trees. The flowers have to be that exact shade, the shoes have to have that exact size heel, the table plan can't allow that aunt next to that cousin, the wording on the invitations and menu cards has to be formal yet warm... The list is almost endless.

And yet.

And yet details are important. Details are what make a whole, what make up life, and certainly can make the difference between a perfect day and just a lovely day. As a writer, and particularly as a poet, I recognise the importance of choice and detail - the change of just one word can change a whole poem. But that's not to say that the day, or poem, will be destroyed if one thing is not exactly as originally imagined. And in the end, the whole is more than the sum of it's parts, and the devil is in the details!!