I do - my wedding blog

I updated the bridesmaid dress picture so it is the right colour. It'll have an ivory sash, but I'm not that good on photoshop! Also, do you ever have a day where you just search for a picture but you can't remember where you saw it!? Irritating...

I so want to look like this on the day... Image by Nancy Jagelka from (via A Practical Wedding)

This was a big weekend, with plenty of stuff getting crossed off the big to-do list: got final pattern and fabric etc for my dress discussed transport and logistics with my parents - we will definitely have a bus to transport people to the church and to/from the reception got them and my grandparents booked into a hotel decided on favours and bought some bits to go towards these (more soon) got started on invites (why are printers so irritating, why do they never print things the size you want and only run out of ink when you are doing something important?!) bought bridesmaid dresses (big yay!) This is it: From Hilary Morgan Not in this colour though, it will be blue with an ivory sash (so the opposite way round to mine). It was not too stressful getting the dresses, despite my concerns with both bridesmaids telling me they are not the easiest when it comes to clothes. I thought I was going to have some major self esteem issues on my hands. But, both girls, independent

I wasn't planning on spending this much on shoes, but these from Rachel Simpson are lovely. Needs some more thought... Image from Rachel Simpson via Rock my wedding

Very helpfully, our church runs a wedding prep day in January each year. This lets us sort out all the paperwork, meet the vicar (which wasn't so useful for us as we already know them, but for some people who don't usually attend this is very important), meet the musical director and have a bit of a marriage preparation session. It was also great to meet other couples from the local area who are getting married in the next few months. We even met the couple who are getting married right before us (i.e. at 12:30 on the same day) at our church. This means we can share the flowers in the church with them. Although we didn't actually sort out much, we came away feeling much more prepared - so the day fulfilled its purpose

It may appear that I have been thinking a lot and not actually doing anything - which is partly true! But I also have a 3 page to do list stuck on the back of the kitchen door, where I will see it everyday, telling me what I still have to do. We have managed to sort out quite a bit in the last couple of weeks though: favours - home made marmalade bridesmaid dress shopping - next weekend wedding prep day at church done - more about that shortly dress toile tried on (it's really getting there!) music and hymns for ceremony decided readers and readings decided meeting with vicar booked discussed my hair with hairdressers (so glad it is simple) organised date for tasting The main things left are making my dress, getting bridesmaids kitted out and getting all the guys to get theirs booked, plus the cake/ croquembouche, making the invites and flowers. So not that much?!!??!

I popped to the shops today to look round the sales, as I hadn't yet - waste of time. I should have known, as there was nothing good before Christmas. Nevertheless, it was slightly productive. I went to Debenhams to check out the colour of tie the boys are having. I didn't trust the colour in the brouchure to be realistic. But how to check the colour?! I took some paint swatches I had picked up a while back (for crafting) and luckily one matched. So this is it - not a bad match to reality. On left is catalogue colour and on right the paint chip.

My mum battled through the snow yesterday to come and see me and help to fit the toile of my wedding dress - the mockup which is key to making the pattern. It is already looking just like I imagined, even while it is made out of thin cotton and doesn't do up at the back. We got a bit over excited and I put on the hairband I had when a bridesmaid last year (which I might still use) plus mum's veil, which I'm planning on using.  It's a bit long and I'm sure I'll trip over it, but we got the idea. It all seems even more real now. I would post a picture, but I'm not ready to flash my underwear on the internet just yet!