I do - my wedding blog

Merry Christmas! I am away now until mid-Janary and then it will be all systems go on the wedding front, starting with our appointment with the dream venue!

Yay - they have finally uploaded pictures of the new Martina Liana collection of dresses, one of which was the one I really liked when I went to the store . Martina is a new designer for Essence, and the first dresses of the collection are now online. Keep your eyes open for the range, when I went to the preview the shop I thought it was lovely and the marketing guy from the company were very excited about them (they could be biased though!). It is shown in ivory dupioni as I would like it, and has a diamante belt (removable) and trim round the bottom of the skirt. Apart from that it is quite plain, which is what I am looking for. I would however have straps (I was told you can choose to have any of the dresses with straps). Photo from Martina Liana I also spotted this dress I really liked on Randall Photography , a UK based wedding photographer. Maybe I can try to combine these two dresses somehow?! And with a blue sash too?!?! The beauty of designing your own...I think I will have ...

I was very lucky to be out with some friends the other day, both of whom were able to give me some great leads. One of them can get me a pattern cutter who is a student (cheap!) and specialising in wedding dresses! I was also told to go to try on dresses everywhere even if I'm having my dress made, as this is my only chance. Also if I know I don't need to buy there's no pressure. Here I come Vera Wang and Liberty bridal room ! The other interesting thing was our discussion about hen nights, as they had recently been on one which was no more than ok, something I could agree with from the recent trip I made, due to a mismatched group of people and activities (to summarise: fancy dress in pubs with people you don't know). So the advice was to have something your mum can come to and then something to let your hair down at. Make sure everyone will feel comfortable in whatever you do. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do all of which are in or near London: Afternoon...

Everywhere I go, I keep seeing cake stands. Not just multi layered afternoon tea types, but also lovely raised platters and domes. A few lovely examples: Pottery Barn The White Company I think this is my current favourite, although the picture doesn't do it justice. Habitat Pottery Barn Habitat Signature now and then - it comes in various colours both bright and pastel Habitat Laura Ashley - enamel with punched butterflies Clara French Laura Ashley Potluck studios on Give simple Laura Ashley

My shopping trip today gave me a new wish list of things I would love to put in my home - yes, I should have been Christmas shopping, but I'm easily distracted! Zara home Bubble bathroom accessories Jug - less than £6! Marks and Spencer (classic!) candlabra - I saw this ages ago and I don't think they still do it, but as I'm writing about homewares, I thought I should mention! Habitat Some of the stuff in here is really retro at the moment, it looks like the kind of stuff my mum has at the back of her cupboards from her younger days! - but that's not a bad thing. Palma wine glasses (champagne glasses also available) If I had somewhere to put a screen, I would want it to be like this one Laura Ashley is somewhere I have grown into. It's all very girly. Butterfly glass Avignon drawers MMM! I guess that's enough for now - there was plenty more.

I picked up the bridesmaid dress for my friend's wedding today. The weather was filthy, and I had to go Christmas shopping after, so I'm surprised it is not more crushed! I had to take a picture to send to her as she has not seen them yet. It fits really well so I don't know if I'll need any major alterations, however the wedding is still 4 months away, and I've been eating like there's going to be a shortage recently (what with being stressed at work and eating out a lot for various reasons), so maybe not at my slimmest! The colour combination works really well; the base colour 'raisin' is a soft purply-bronze, while the pink trim brings out the pink in the base colour. It will be a good colour to suit all three bridesmaids who are all have very different complexions. I wasn't exactly sure what it was going to be like and am very pleased with it. We are getting shoes dyed to match from the Rainbow club as it would be impossible to get any the sam...

I sent this pic to J (H2B) at work today as he was commenting on how he had been complimented on his smart-casual outfit for his office Christmas do, including his Cons. He suggested maybe he would wear them to the next wedding we are going to, so I suggested there was another one he could maybe think about... I'm still loving brightly coloured (and co-ordinated) shoes on the bride too. Picture from Snippet & Ink showing off the lovely wedding of Lisanne and Anthony.

I've been spending quite a bit of time trying to find patterns for a basic dress which we (i.e. my mum and I) could adapt. The sooner we start the better, even though we don't even have a target date yet! I have had a bit more luck than previously, and so thought I would list some of the places which might be worth a try. I'll keep you posted on where I get to. Weddingpatterns.com Weddingpatterns.co.uk (I know, the names are obvious, maybe should have tried these before!) This one custom makes the patterns for your measurements Or there's Marfy - not quite my style but still a good choice. However, even apart from these, there is plenty to inspire me at the moment, like Celine who made her dress and has put up a great step by step here . I'm also going to be closely watching A Practical Wedding where the dressmaking project has just started