D-Day 5 more sleeps away!

Wow, what a difference a few days makes!

Things were going along swimmingly, everything coming together well, then kaboom a clusterf%*$ bomb goes off.

Don't want to go into too many details, as it's already doing my head in, and I just can't think about it any more. But needless to say alot of swearing, tears, and stress has been had since Friday, none of it of our doing!

1 family member doesn't want to stay in the same house as another because their voice annoys them (yes I'm being serious!), a couple of kids in the family have fallen ill, the illness means they should be isolated, the easy, and common sense answer is that one of the parents stays with the kids, while the other comes. But that's turned into a nightmare with people threatening not to come, even when we told them (1 family who have been sworn to secrecy) that it was our wedding, hoping they would be able to sort it.

Mr Mel and I had a sleepless weekend, trying to placate all parties, we spent most of our weekend calling/texting/emailing everyone trying to work out the best plan for the weekend, when we should have been us fine-tuning everything, and relaxing if possible! However it just didn't happen.

So now it's 5 sleeps till our big day, and we still have a bit to do:

• Bunting - or now known as Nemesis - everything is sewn up, ironed, just need to sew them all together into 15 metre lengths, that is my mission tonight and tomorrow before and after work
• Shoes - I dyed them however once fully dried they were too light, so I have gone over them with acrylic paint, which is in the process of drying, I will then spray them with a sealant
• Honeymoon Clothes - whoops, not a smart idea to try and go summer clothes shopping in middle of winter!  Have found a few bits an pieces that will work with our current clothes, thankfully even found some not too horrific bathers! Yay
• Payments - tonight have to make final payments to caterer, decorator, hire company, hall
• Flowers - I am heading to the Sydney Flower Market on Wednesday morning, leaving home at 3.15am!! with a lady who goes to the Curves I go to, and her daughter, who was a florist, and does some work on the side.  The plan is to go and see what catches the eye, run it by florist re how it could work, then buy them wholesale.  We're going to have a few arrangements, then a heap of single flowers in wine bottles & jars, at this stage!
• Ring - I am hoping I will have time to get my engagement ring polished/cleaned for the big day, if not, no big deal
• Photographer - we are meeting with our photographer at the hall on Wednesday afternoon to get an idea of where to get photos, what sort of light is around etc
• Music - I need to finish off saving music to my ipod and organising playlists
• Decorations - I need to write on a few blackboards & picture frames to go around the hall with info re food, wine, etc.
• Pom Poms - IF I get time I am going to make some pom poms, to hang around the hall, I have all the tissue paper, just need time to make them!
• Family issues - need to make sure I stand my ground for my big day and not get bullied into backing down, I only want to ensure all of our guests are safe and healthy, not infected by possibly sick kids on the day!
• Oh and work - tomorrow is my last day, yay, then I can concentrate properly on my to-do list, instead of squeezing it around my 10 hour work days!  Not mentioning all the work to get done before I leave tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

Weekend Schedule!

I have just got home after 5 days in Sydney working, I had plans of prepping all of the fabric for bunting, in the hotel room, each night, however it just didn't happen.  The first 2 nights I was treated out for dinner, night 1 with the boss, night 2 with the boss and the boss of another farm, then the other 2 nights I was absolutely knackered, after 12 hours walking the horses at the sale, I was asleep by 8pm, so no fabric work was done!

Seeings as it's a month yesterday till the big day, my schedule & to-do list is under the pump, so this weekend my plans are:

Friday

• 3pm - early mark from work, leaving at 3pm, to be at Newcastle by 4pm to buy bra & underwear for final dress fitting on Saturday!
• as long as I last - bunting work Friday night

Saturday

• 10am - hair & makeup trial
• 2pm - final dress fitting in Newcastle 
• 4pm (surely won't take more than 2 hours!) - crockery hunt for the soup station and dessert table, the rest of the food is finger food from waiters
• Sat night - bunting!
• 40 mins on treadmill

Sunday

• wine tasting to make final selections on wine & champagne for wedding
• dye shoes from ivory to green - wish me luck!
• meet with 'cake lady' to give her the cake stand, and recipe for ganache
• bunting!
• 40 mins on treadmill
• organise 2nd bedroom for installation of built in wardrobe next Wednesday! Heaps of boxes to sort/move!

(photo source)

As my Nan used to say, I'll be running around like a blue arsed fly :)

My Dress - The Tears and Triumph!

If the title seems a tad dramatic, believe me it's pretty spot on!

Seeings as our wedding is 3 and a 1/2 months away, I bit the bullet on Saturday and went dress shopping.  I was hoping to leave it a bit longer to give myself the chance to lose a bit more weight, and to be honest, to delay the agony!

On a good day I hate clothes shopping, anyone who has ever been clothes shopping in the size 18+ range will know what I'm talking about.  Going clothes shopping often makes me sad, sad that I'm not a 'normal' size, sad that I can rarely walk into a 'normal' store and buy off the rack.  Just about every time I leave feeling horrible about myself, I know it's a situation I caused, and only I can fix, and I'm on the way to that, but still, it's not something I think I'll ever look forward to.

So 9am Saturday I hit the road to Newcastle, some of the lovely ladies on Simple Savings had given me a list of shops to visit.  So armed with that list of 8 stores, I hit the road.

Arriving at Hunter Street Newcastle, I didn't realise that it was a bridal district, I parked in front of Calabro Bridal, but as I pulled up the store across the road - Newcastle Bridal House - caught my eye, so I headed there.

Entering the store was intimidating, I've never been in a bridal store, let alone tried anything on.  Luckily Angela at NBH was just lovely.  She asked me if I had any thoughts as to style, I showed her the photos I'd collected & printed, she told me she would pick a few out and I just had to go strip down to bra & knickers and she'd be with me (1st embarassment of the day).

So I strip down to bra & knickers, holding my tshirt over me (yes body image issues), then Angela came in, opened the curtains (hello embarassment) told me to drop the tshirt, turn around, arms in the air.  Luckily I only had about 10 seconds to think about it (and I'll be honest the option of pulling on pants, top and bolting to the car was high in the thought list).

The first dress was ok, but when I walked out to the mirror, I was popping out the top and my arms looked HUGE, and standing at the next mirror was a skinny mini size 6-8 who looked like a model in her white gown, my confidence immediately hit rock bottom, so I embarrassingly said no not this one.  She stripped it off me, said be back in a minute, and I stood there, almost in tears, feeling like a whale, and about to tell the lovely Angela to not worry about it.

Angela came in with another dress, I think she could tell I was feeling horrid, so started some smalltalk which got me out of the funk a little.  The next dress was better, lace ups sucked it in at the waist, and it fitted better at the bust, so the mirror image wasn't as horrifying.  But still not the exact right one.

I tried on 2 others, then Shizam I found the one.

One of the first dresses that caught my eye in my online search had rouching across the bust and waist.

One of the first dresses I liked online 

This dress had embroidery and bling on the bust over chiffon, then the chiffon fell in rouch style down across the waist and into the skirt.

Another dress I liked had a bit of bling on the shoulders, and back, I tried on a similar grecian style dress and the style really didn't do much for me, but the dress I tried on that I was warming to had a bit of bling on the skirt and the back.

Another I'd liked, with a bit of bling

The dress is a lace up and the cross overs under the bust really help bring the waist in, and made me feel secure across the bust.  It's made from chiffon, and I think the soft fall is really flattering, plus with the rouching, helps hide the bumps!

So all is going along swimmingly, I think I've found my dress, then Angela asks when my wedding is, I tell her 23 July, she replies 'oh excellent, that's plenty of time for alterations (the one I tried on was a little small, puckering at the back)', I'm thinking woohoo excellent, job done, then she says 'you're very organised having your dress sorted a year ahead of your wedding!

UHOH

I tell her no, it's not 23 July 2012, it's 23 July 2011, as in 3 and a bit months away.  The look on her face makes me feel sick straight away.

She says that all of their dresses are 6+ months minimum, even with a rush order (more expensive) you wouldn't have it before late August, early September.

So we're standing there looking at each other, me close to tears, she with a concerned look on her face.  Then she says head out to our Boolaroo store, they have more sizes and might have something similar.

So I leave NBH and heading to my car decide to have a look in Belles & Beaux, recalling the positive comments on Simple Savings.  The store was packed to the brim with deb dress hunters, brides and bridesmaids.  I had a look, found a couple, tried them on, but wasn't taken with them, plus they said 5-6 months to get anything made.

So I head to my car, I'm deflated and tempted to head home and forget it, Mr Mel calls to ask how I'm going, I try to keep it together so he can't tell I'm an inch away from crying, but he can tell.   He says 'chickadee go to Boolaroo, don't give up, your dress is out there'.  I call my sister, and she gives me a pep talk also.

So after I have a bit of a cry (due to Mr Mel's sweetness & the dress situation!)  I head to Boolaroo, with not a great deal of confidence.

The ladies there were lovely, I told them straight up that I was on a time crunch, so they knew from the get go I was a bit shall we say, emotional!

Again I went and stripped off while the ladies go picking dresses for me.

The first 2 were nos before they were zipped up.  The next one was very nice, but satin, and the shiny-ness (word?) was offputting, and not overly flattering on my figure.  I tried on a few grecian styles, nope, a 1 shoulder one, nope, a halter neck NO!  Then she brings in the chiffon dress I'd tried at the Hunter St store, in the next size up.

I try it on and I know straight away it's the one, one of the ladies comments that she'd never seen it on a girl before, that it was much nicer than on the hanger, the lass who was dressing me (yes I've forgotten her name!) had the biggest smile she'd had all day.

I tried on the satin one again, tossing up between the satin & chiffon, trying both with a chiffon bolero to cover the arms a bit.  And there's no competition, the chiffon dress is divine, I ask both ladies to give me their thoughts as I was flying solo, and wouldn't be able to have anyone come back with me. They both agreed the chiffon one, and seeings as it was cheaper than the satin I'm pretty sure they were being legit.

The next thing was the time crunch with getting one made in time.

While I was getting dressed the ladies had a bit of a pow-wow, then said that while they don't usually sell the samples, if I wanted the one I'd tried on, I could have it.  I could have kissed both of them.

I said yes please, I'll have the dress and bolero, and bonus Saturday was 15% off all in store, woohoo!

So I have my dress, yay, sigh of relief.  I am leaving the dress at the store, and will go back in 5-6 weeks for alterations/fitting, am considering having cap sleeves made out of chiffon, embroidery and bling added.

Between now and the fitting I need to sort underwear & shoes, compared to the dress shopping, it should be a breeze!

So now my spiel is over, this is my dress, it's not a great photo, it looks so much better in person, ivory chiffon, adding caplet type bits of chiffon, with an ivory chiffon bolero (very plain).

Not a great photo - but this is my dress!

Cap sleeve - probably going to add to my dress, similar to these

Extra warmth for winter wedding & to help hide arms! (couldn't find my exact bolero online)

And it goes without saying, when I rang Mr Mel to let him know I'd found my dress he was very relieved, he said if I'd not called in the next 1/2 hour he was going to ring my sister and ask what to do!  How sweet is he!

After calling Mr Mel, I rang my sister, and she said she'd been stressing since speaking to me, and was so happy to hear I'd found a dress I loved!

I would have loved to have had her with me for the dress shopping, but living in different states makes it very difficult, as soon as I got home I emailed her a photo from the website, and she loves it too.  She'll be the first one to see it, as she's my 1 and only bride slave.  Plus she needs to lace me up/in!

Another thing crossed of the to-do list, woohoo!!

The Countdown - 4 months!

Wow only 4 months to go!  Time is flying, this past month has gone supersonic speed!

Our to do list is getting done:

Engagement Ring - picked up 2 weeks ago, love love love it, going to get our wedding bands from same jeweller (25% minimum discount, yay!)

Venue - booked & deposit paid & revisted to measure up for decorations

Celebrant - booked & deposit paid - we'll meet with her in a couple of weeks

Caterer - booked & deposit paid - need to decide on which 12 canapes & boxed dish we'll go with

Photographer - booked

Hair & Makeup - booked & deposit paid

Bridal Party - we told my sister about the surprise wedding via Skype on Monday night, she was gobsmacked but ecstatic!  She'll be my maid of honour, not having bridesmaids.  

Invitations - after my failed DIY attempt, have been saved by a friend of Mr Mel's, I've designed the invite, he's printing it.  I'll still do RSVP & travel/accomm cards myself

Accommodation - partly done, have booked a 3 bedroom house for my family coming from Vic, we're inspecting more this weekend for Mr Mel's side, and other friends & family

Honeymoon - have quotes for Vanuatu, hopefully booking today!

And one of the big ones, the 'lose some kgs' challenge, I've been going to Curves for almost 2 weeks now, really enjoying it and the other ladies who do the circuit at my 6.30am timeslot

Start date - 28 Feb
Interim Goal weight loss - 10kg - final goal tba once we hit May!
Progress - 2.2kg, tba cm- day 24
Interim Goal date - 28 May - allowing 7 weeks for dress to be finetuned before wedding!
End Goal date - 23 July


We're ontrack so far to be under our budget, but still alot of things to get final prices on etc, we shall see!

The Kindness Of Curvy Strangers

As you could probably imagine, in having a surprise wedding, I have limited my available helpers to myself & Mr Mel, and have spent the last few weeks calling & emailing a long list of suppliers to get quotes on everything we need.

Not being a local for long and not knowing many (well any apart from boss & neighbours) in town, I wasn't able to rely on recommendations etc.

I joined Curves 2 weeks ago in an effort to ditch some kgs leading into the big day.  On Monday, after my failed DIY invitation attempt, I mentioned that I was craft challenged, when some of the other ladies were discussing their craft projects.  They asked what I was trying to do and as soon as the word 'wedding' left my mouth, it was on for young and old!

Within 3 minutes I had been offered:

• Florist services - a daughter of one of the ladies is a stay at home mum, but is a florist by trade
• Decoration services - a friend of one of the ladies does part time function/wedding decorating
• Cake - daughter in law of one of the ladies is a stay at home mum, works in a bakery part-time, and obsessed with cakes

I was taken aback by their kindness and generosity, by my quick calculations based on another 5 minute chat yesterday morning, on those 3 items alone we'll be saving around $800 - $1,000! Alot can happen in our Curves circle!

The ladies are bringing in email addresses & phone numbers to our Curves session tomorrow, so I can liaise directly.

So yay to me for speaking up (ok kind of whinging!), and yay to the Curvey ladies, after their kind offers I can no longer call them strangers!

Needless to say I am going to add them to the list to receive our 'thank you' photo/postcard after our day!  :)

To Do List

I've just added a new 'To Do List' page where I can keep track of what I've done and what's left to do (egads!)

We're slowly getting through the list:

• Venue - booked & deposit paid
• Celebrant - booked & deposit paid
• Caterer - booked & deposit paid

There's still a heap of things to check off the list, but we'll get there!

I have added a page link to the 'To Do List', for easy access.