tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214535032024-02-19T02:48:15.629-08:00Amy Elizabeth - Our Year 'Til the Wedding (A Northern Irish Wedding Blog)On 17th May 2014 I married my best friend. It was the best day of my life so far.
I began this blog to record the year of planning in the lead up to our wedding but I'm hoping to continue blogging now we're married as I've really enjoyed the experience and connected with lots of lovely people. I'm not sure what direction my blog will take but hopefully some of you continue to find it interesting.
Mrs D
xAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-66506676862258879172014-07-22T05:13:00.000-07:002014-07-22T05:13:15.578-07:0066 Days Married : Food Glorious Food!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Being a vegan & a vegetarian it was important for us to have wedding meal that didn't contradict our values so we chose to have a completely vegan day. All the food and drink served at the wedding was vegan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the ceremony our guests enjoyed tortilla chips and salsa accompanied by Apple and Elderflower Collins cocktails.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We asked the venue to stock vegan beer from a local brewery, <a href="http://www.farmageddonbrewery.com/">Farmageddon</a>, a co-op that our friend is involved with, and not to serve the beers that didn't contain or use animal products in the production (they ended up serving these anyway, unfortunately - <i>nearly </i>a vegan wedding then...). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The wine served with dinner was Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc and Yellow Tail Shiraz. This, along with the prosecco for toasts were also vegan - you'd be surprised how many bottles of wine we've come across that contain egg or milk!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our wedding meal was so delicious. After a morning of being busy and not really eating a lot it was just what I needed. While the speeches took places guests enjoyed a vegan mezze. This is my favourite starter/snack. I love nibbling lots of different bits and pieces. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our main course to follow was vegan sausage and mash. We had huge portions smothered with an amazing onion gravy. </span>Dessert was almost too much for my tummy to handle! Vegan cupcakes, chocolate ice cream and mixed berries. I missed out on getting a cupcake as Jim and I were chatting with friends and family but I'm pretty sure I couldn't have squeezed one in anyway!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our vegan cake, as I've mentioned before,was baked, iced and decorated by my extremely talented bridesmaid and new sister-in-law Fiona. It looked gorgeous and tasted amazing! It had three layers - lemon and poppyseed, Victoria sponge and chocolate. Fiona made her own coconut butter to make the frosting then decorated it with roses and rosemary from her mum's garden. It looked perfect and was exactly what we'd described to her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During our evening reception the guests enjoyed rustic chip butties on artisan breads. We had normal and sweet potato chips. I LOVE sweet potato chips! Chips are exactly what I crave after a couple of drinks and hopefully our guests felt the same way!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Having a vegan wedding was important to us and our guests were so supportive. We saw lots of empty plates heading back to the kitchen and even friends with the largest of appetites said they were very much satiated. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some research online and a recommendation by my lovely friend Sara led me to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ashley-Morhej-Make-Up-Artist/135197273173226?fref=ts">Ashley Morhej</a>. I'd seen Ashley's work before at fashion shows and fashion shoots and was sure she'd give me the soft and pretty look I wanted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a trial in March and was very happy! Ashley did my make-up early in the morning which was a great way to see how it lasted. On the day of our wedding Ashley was so lovely to have there. She was really chatty which kept my nerves at bay and had an amazing kit which even included some useful non-make-up bits that the girls took advantage of!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She started with mum who is naturally gorgeous but a bit nervous with applying eye make up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then followed Fiona and Jenny - both absolutely stunning without make-up so Ashley just had to accentuate this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And finally tackled me - a much tougher task!! </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After chatting with me she'd chosen gorgeous purples for my eyes and I had a few little individual false lashes on the outer edges of my eyes to really open them up. Ashley chose a natural blush colour for my cheeks and a
gorgeous pinky lip colour. She did mention that tweaks could be made on
my wedding day if I wanted a stronger lip or cheek colour when I
was in my wedding dress and had my hair done but I felt really happy with the make-up she applied. She is extremely talented. I still looked like me but with pretty, fluttery eyelashes, flawless skin and nice cheek bones! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPZ5M3nNSA5VM_OSwWIqAuCW05AOZSJXlnyPQ4yMlTRZ1Dzdk62TbJXIQBNlRQi3MH4kgycoMSofzbY4SAWha0Wt4bdZahRQdXflBx26-vXfiiPzMk-Jj9gwUOefaSdFA_j2u/s1600/me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPZ5M3nNSA5VM_OSwWIqAuCW05AOZSJXlnyPQ4yMlTRZ1Dzdk62TbJXIQBNlRQi3MH4kgycoMSofzbY4SAWha0Wt4bdZahRQdXflBx26-vXfiiPzMk-Jj9gwUOefaSdFA_j2u/s1600/me.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Having a Make-up Artist gave me one less thing to worry about on the morning of our wedding. I didn't have to spend hours in front of the mirror correcting crooked eyeliner or worrying throughout the day about my nose getting shiny. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My make-up lasted all day with only lip gloss top-ups and a bit of powder before the evening party started.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thank you so much Ashley!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-88832096598965560952014-07-07T23:37:00.000-07:002014-07-07T23:44:29.711-07:0052 Days Married - Bridesmaid & Flower Girl Dresses <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mean seriously... on a scale of 1-10 how gorgeous are my bridesmaids!! I think at least a 12! If you missed my post on who these lovely girls are you can read it <a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2013/06/341-days-my-bridesmaids.html">here </a>but to cut a long story short let me introduce Jim's sisters, Fiona and Jenny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I blogged about our <a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2014/01/119-days-bridesmaids-1-irish-sea-0.html">bridesmaids dress hunt</a> back in January when we'd found gorgeous Dessy dresses in Ti Amo Bridal in Limavady. Adele was so accommodating, fitting us in for a trial on a day that she is usually closed and keeping in touch with the girls and I fittings and the collection of the dresses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dresses we chose were the <a href="http://www.dessy.com/dresses/bridesmaid/2888/#.U7qW6PldX5M">Dessy Collection (Style 2888)</a> and I chose them in Rose which as you can see is a beautiful soft vintagey pink.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylfPjq2oJc4PmPCmyTa88BfBwPWRQUU1RgUotpprRIwfg9KK2gVzFv0dp8zX8UZlM8CwMnKQdyC-3JN92ftLmromlglFboSJfk4_u9C0GELczo21QuDkKrjIJEoozD7JCTYUz/s1600/2014-07-08+07.16.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylfPjq2oJc4PmPCmyTa88BfBwPWRQUU1RgUotpprRIwfg9KK2gVzFv0dp8zX8UZlM8CwMnKQdyC-3JN92ftLmromlglFboSJfk4_u9C0GELczo21QuDkKrjIJEoozD7JCTYUz/s1600/2014-07-08+07.16.21.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never imagined picking a bridesmaid dress with a sequinned bodice but because of the soft colour the sequins weren't super blingy and with the sheer chiffon over the top you barely noticed the sequins. In fact I bet you didn't notice 'til I mentioned it!!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The gorgeous floor length chiffon dresses tied at the waist to accentuate the girls already stunning figures.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0qmkJOjpJ6OlesOhJUypesSjmh2gmp_NTRIY7-T38wEWCD93unlN7mTbjlWMl0LzVrvL8otiYRDGS2E8i2_9dl6b-BQWeKUPQRTaGmDq7xYu1Q5IStvnuHX7OaArrQbAF6W_/s1600/LR1_AmyJim-47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0qmkJOjpJ6OlesOhJUypesSjmh2gmp_NTRIY7-T38wEWCD93unlN7mTbjlWMl0LzVrvL8otiYRDGS2E8i2_9dl6b-BQWeKUPQRTaGmDq7xYu1Q5IStvnuHX7OaArrQbAF6W_/s1600/LR1_AmyJim-47.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyiU_eKdADjXRagGHHCX67tm_EHaXqu0Ug7IWeSXzoCxjBKmmFHNLBdeSic2N0wcoFsPAUl6LBhQhVxZLkyhzCnA2w4imJhb5UijYyT2FlDhsuw3ayLr69jRkMQD7qMKMcpGx/s1600/LR1_AmyJim-49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyiU_eKdADjXRagGHHCX67tm_EHaXqu0Ug7IWeSXzoCxjBKmmFHNLBdeSic2N0wcoFsPAUl6LBhQhVxZLkyhzCnA2w4imJhb5UijYyT2FlDhsuw3ayLr69jRkMQD7qMKMcpGx/s1600/LR1_AmyJim-49.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our gorgeous Flower girl had a dress and cardigan from Monsoon. The dress was the <a href="http://uk.monsoon.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/mon_3,mon_3.1,mon_3.1.1/6580663209">Estella</a> in pink (but I can only find it in gold on the website). She looked absolutely adorable, and completely stole the show! Her dress</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was pretty much a mini version of mine with a gorgeous lace top with a tulle skirt. It</span> was the perfect link between the dusky pink bridesmaids dresses and my dress.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-ddhD800XEfFuZWAmaBK5NSb52a_o6iHIlBAFxFva1hGljIGzdnSV6fYDe64VpItnLwQfJm2tOX3_agCPg89jDlwYYXrJ5JkHQ2Chvf7O1QYQVBQY1ZVCE8gk4waNnZhriOJ/s1600/LR3_AmyJim-29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-ddhD800XEfFuZWAmaBK5NSb52a_o6iHIlBAFxFva1hGljIGzdnSV6fYDe64VpItnLwQfJm2tOX3_agCPg89jDlwYYXrJ5JkHQ2Chvf7O1QYQVBQY1ZVCE8gk4waNnZhriOJ/s1600/LR3_AmyJim-29.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her little shoes are by Start Rite and I was reliably informed (Thanks Wendy) that they are called '<a href="http://www.startriteshoes.com/girls-shoes/first-walking-shoes/sr-super-soft-amy-pink-leather-girls-riptape-first-walking-shoes">Amy</a>', cute! <br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Marrying Jim was amazing, but now getting to call these girls my sisters is the icing on the cake (vegan, of course)!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amy </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">x</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-32209791062504096992014-07-03T10:16:00.001-07:002014-07-04T05:35:00.165-07:0047 Days Married - The Dress: Diana - Raimon Bundo<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My dress was by Raimon Bundo. <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"> </span>Raimon Bundo is a Spanish designer and their gowns are all hand-made by a team of artisans in Barcelona. Each year they create 4 different collections. My dress was part of the Hacia la Luz collection. They've only been available in the UK since 2012. It is very clear that a lot of love and pride goes into each design and dress created. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">They also allow changes to styles (depending on the change requested) and will custom-make matching jackets or add more boning to dresses if requested.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Their wedding gowns are simply gorgeous!! </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbBjO6CaS3RXZaT1sx8jLWVuqgGen9Mcxsj1HkyXkc6s8_b6Sw5LZA5doDduLo2_cc4guDNpSlBTDja-wWsTInoo5qcTAs9Sb3AGWg7mU7B42RPYvMes4MOGV6B1otQymZtlI/s1600/1_615_6153diana28-17363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbBjO6CaS3RXZaT1sx8jLWVuqgGen9Mcxsj1HkyXkc6s8_b6Sw5LZA5doDduLo2_cc4guDNpSlBTDja-wWsTInoo5qcTAs9Sb3AGWg7mU7B42RPYvMes4MOGV6B1otQymZtlI/s1600/1_615_6153diana28-17363.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglN7uUKV_kqy0fRKDRLYaEQGULUP4qf14VDjr7l2_lcE94VmVVcIGntUpIc8X2T4cSBAhgMb_sWTbmvmmtcqb55latbgkkFLPfeHZBhYHZIfWVcTmMa8e5B4Jz567AueJY5-8w/s1600/2014-06-21+10.13.37.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">My Dress was purchased from </span><a href="http://foreverbridal.me.uk/" style="line-height: 20px;">Forever Bridal</a><span style="line-height: 20px;"> in Belfast and altered by Patricia Eastwood. Leondra and Patricia couldn't have been more wonderful with trials, fittings and the collection of my dress. Leondra was so helpful and not at all pushy when I was trying dresses. She was very up-to-date on popular looks for the season and had loads of recommendations for where to look for inspiration for my hair and accessories. Patricia came in on Mothers Day to measure a very tired and grey looking post-hen-party Amy, as I was due to fly back to England that afternoon. She was so accommodating and she fitted the dress perfectly to me, which makes such a difference to the over all look.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">I wore the Diana. It was a stunning ivory A-line dress. It had a sweetheart neckline and gorgeous lace detailing on the bodice with a delicate lace cap sleeve. The bodice was boned but it was s</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">o soft and really comfortable to wear and nipped in at my waist.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkveKamSVaaaFYaQe3Qn6oCWS7utPP9n8Hts7BjT5fzPJgKr6kHXo_0KcLWe1NySSD9fAaA7FlQImieVkAtylebUI0fAy3ixqDj9Ul1OEbuMwv0rcm75kR_bDl4GzIA6ZJZiIi/s1600/LR1_AmyJim-93.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkveKamSVaaaFYaQe3Qn6oCWS7utPP9n8Hts7BjT5fzPJgKr6kHXo_0KcLWe1NySSD9fAaA7FlQImieVkAtylebUI0fAy3ixqDj9Ul1OEbuMwv0rcm75kR_bDl4GzIA6ZJZiIi/s1600/LR1_AmyJim-93.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">It had a zip to make it easy to get into but this was hidden by gorgeous little buttons right down the back. My mum had lots of fun with these on our wedding day!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt so elegant as I walked up the aisle with my dad, and the train of the dress flowed so beautifully behind me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patricia had altered the dress in such a way that it kicked out as I walked so I didn't have to worry about tripping over it and could gaze up the aisle waiting for Jim to turn round!!</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6Qn27HGh_G5mhZRrj3M2H8V66kRZjVewh5_vQFlxvhNvYjQM-wUOJbOYp0-CgmqdMK6MIX5hqISqDaou2mYWIfIwkliZU3x-7KSrI0NsBnn3MgLcoqJNhqOdTrJs84rtHEi-/s1600/LR2_AmyJim-94.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6Qn27HGh_G5mhZRrj3M2H8V66kRZjVewh5_vQFlxvhNvYjQM-wUOJbOYp0-CgmqdMK6MIX5hqISqDaou2mYWIfIwkliZU3x-7KSrI0NsBnn3MgLcoqJNhqOdTrJs84rtHEi-/s1600/LR2_AmyJim-94.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">I think Jim liked my dress!</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Last year I wrote a blog post on some things I found helpful in </span><a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2013/07/307-days-finding-my-wedding-dress.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">the hunt for my wedding dress</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">. </span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.5px;">If you are still looking for your wedding dress I highly recommend finding a Raimon Bundo stockist. They say a </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Raimon Bundo bride </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">values style, quality and feeling good on her big day and my dress gave me all these things and more! </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmjhQhFNFWqKrh-HyYgxcNwsxfsaFeEqwdQ2tv15aGMC5B82p1iBwB4okjXRTiwocfuBdUgD8YMYm_ajmM1FcXxoRsSZwrrnb0KDhMG80Z-FtJnGc0yYj1tNISoNEr-l8cx-V/s1600/LR5_AmyJim-133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmjhQhFNFWqKrh-HyYgxcNwsxfsaFeEqwdQ2tv15aGMC5B82p1iBwB4okjXRTiwocfuBdUgD8YMYm_ajmM1FcXxoRsSZwrrnb0KDhMG80Z-FtJnGc0yYj1tNISoNEr-l8cx-V/s1600/LR5_AmyJim-133.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">This dress was made to skank in! </span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666;"></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Amy</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">x</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-40017955970739143032014-06-15T04:01:00.000-07:002014-07-13T13:47:18.620-07:0029 Days Married - DIY Flowers & Decorations<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My Aunt and I came up with our wedding decor theme name very shortly after Jim and I got engaged over coffee in a John Lewis Cafe. We were flicking through some wedding magazines and noticed similarities in all the decoration-y things I like. It was what we affectionately referred to as 'Potting Shed". I think it summed it up pretty well - Recycle/upcycled, rustic-y, lots of glass and pretty but handpicked looking flowers and no sparkly bits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Flowers & Jars</u></span><span style="font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We pretty much started saving Jam jars the moment we got engaged so after 2 and a bit years we had enough (with some to spare) to create all our table centres, window sill decorations and coffee table decorations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We spent a lot of time removing labels from jars (worst part of DIY jar table centres) but once they were all clean we began the upcycling. Through my excessive Pinterest-ing (is that a verb yet?) I had seen a few simple yet effective looking DIY jar tutorials, so with these in mind, I sourced some brown garden twine, vintage-y looking lace, ribbon and raffia. We thought about buying a glue gun but instead decided to go down the less messy and extremely convenient route of double sided tape. The stuff we had was super industrial and quite wide so worked perfectly - </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the jars only had to last a day after all!</span> I just applied double sided tape to the jars and then wrapped the different decorative bits and pieces round them, so simple!! I tried to decorate each jar slightly differently - the twine and the raffia ones where my favourites.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJVIAFQBaTlfJCLneQGDaixTUiPUOv-J-A87sDklZbgNr-k_JA-K5j4s09B8En-UZ41E7-PIhVKlFnBfSAkPsRHHjo2ODqEL_XBB6OP3fp2VlZ1pO8HYNB-CYcnXfT2tmdiLE/s1600/2014-05-02+14.42.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJVIAFQBaTlfJCLneQGDaixTUiPUOv-J-A87sDklZbgNr-k_JA-K5j4s09B8En-UZ41E7-PIhVKlFnBfSAkPsRHHjo2ODqEL_XBB6OP3fp2VlZ1pO8HYNB-CYcnXfT2tmdiLE/s1600/2014-05-02+14.42.00.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once we'd decorated all the jars, we boxed them up for the long drive to N. Ireland. Most survived but those that ended up slightly dishevelled were really easy to fix.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Thursday before our wedding <a href="http://www.occasionsfloraldesign.co.uk/">Occasions Floral Design</a> delivered our flowers, plus some gorgeous pieces of foliage from Jim's mum's garden, to Riverdale. Sharon had brought a flower food type solution to be added to the water so the flowers would still look gorgeous by the weekend. The flower had been perfectly conditioned to be at the peak for the wedding! Sharon's advice and guidance had been invaluable. As we had nice weather we sat outside at Riverdale to arranging the flowers and despite having no experience in flower arranging, I found it very relaxing and was pretty happy with the results. I'd written down some arrangement ideas before we got there, and thankfully they looked pretty good in the jars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our pre-decided arrangements were:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/97861/Gypsophila-paniculata-Bristol-Fairy-%28d%29/Details">Gypsophila</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- 1 stem of Gypsophila, 2 soft pink <a href="http://pristinehomes.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/carnation_pink.jpg">carnations</a>, 2 white <a href="http://www.fiftyflowers.com/site_files/FiftyFlowers/Image/Product/Veronica_White_Flower_300.jpg">Veronica</a> and some foliage. (We had wanted <a href="http://sierraflowerfinder.blob.core.windows.net/medias/FlowerPictures/5826/Antigua.jpg">Carnation Antigua</a> but they'd not been available) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- 1 stem of <a href="http://www.jrroses.com/images/wax_flowers_white.jpg?685">waxflower</a>, 2 white <a href="http://www.newplantsandflowers.com/wp-content/uploads/Eustoma-Lisianthus-Cessna-White-Improved-%E2%80%93-photo-Evanthia.jpg">Lisianthus</a> and some foliage. (The Lisianthus were absolutely gorgeous, I think this was my favourite arrangement)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ds_jVGn5115jskaQAm5wIa5Xc1i6so-v_MUQDm55o37ygGmDYthikNrJp3OYtJA6zpImSR3WBFGtEWtJicyKhJRkdZhE4gusTivHhyphenhyphenv9Y3yhDEkjwgCdVIGnPtNabnDV4h37/s1600/2014-05-15+16.18.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ds_jVGn5115jskaQAm5wIa5Xc1i6so-v_MUQDm55o37ygGmDYthikNrJp3OYtJA6zpImSR3WBFGtEWtJicyKhJRkdZhE4gusTivHhyphenhyphenv9Y3yhDEkjwgCdVIGnPtNabnDV4h37/s1600/2014-05-15+16.18.33.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- 1 <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Ornithogalum_arabicum_JPG1b.jpg">Ornithogalum</a>, 2 <a href="http://woodlaneflowers.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/len-busch-gracia-spray-rose.jpg">Pink spray Roses</a> and some foliage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.idoblooms.com/images/Green%20and%20White%20Hydrangea.jpg">White/green Hydrangeas </a>(these were huge and so beautiful!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After we'd arranged these jars for the tables we created some other arrangements with the remaining flowers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBsmx5rTUvOCV4rCejxkL40PMHk59g_6Az-6QBXoDslma0i-46iDXKFyu0Q4lxW2JHXvQKLzc-Q_VuMC7a5pfmYfevtlkIrb0AtY_XdUKVbFiwjrRv9rmna04wlKnf8fbh4FF/s1600/2014-06-14+11.06.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBsmx5rTUvOCV4rCejxkL40PMHk59g_6Az-6QBXoDslma0i-46iDXKFyu0Q4lxW2JHXvQKLzc-Q_VuMC7a5pfmYfevtlkIrb0AtY_XdUKVbFiwjrRv9rmna04wlKnf8fbh4FF/s1600/2014-06-14+11.06.03.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We started to arrange them on the tables along with our scattered hearts, (hand punched by my mum from old books). Along side the mismatched cups and saucers we thought they looked great and slowly everything started to come together.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hwPO3cLdD0lQHcfCjcIXtw186h387tvWINSCDkcBPCrROY96fDO2ryJxFVb1rXe8FbMjwK4nniB3NedGBFZ7B0eHhleEmvunX6jeUt_MtpSGJLD3FYRNfGZR4nlkR8BIY2jP/s1600/2014-06-14+11.07.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hwPO3cLdD0lQHcfCjcIXtw186h387tvWINSCDkcBPCrROY96fDO2ryJxFVb1rXe8FbMjwK4nniB3NedGBFZ7B0eHhleEmvunX6jeUt_MtpSGJLD3FYRNfGZR4nlkR8BIY2jP/s1600/2014-06-14+11.07.11.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jim's mum and his brother had constructed the most beautiful arch for us to stand in front of during the ceremony. It was made from twisted sticks withrustic style half barrel pots as a base. Once on site, the mums decorated it with some of the same flowers we were using on the tables. </span><br />
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<u><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Table Plan & Other Bits</span></span></u></h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As well as the flowers we also painted some old pictures frames we had to dot round the venue with directions or instructions inside them. I applied a base coat with some left over paint we had then my brother Richard finished them with some spray paint. Richard also got a bit crafty with some bottles, a glue gun and some spray paint (bottom central image below).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0S00LEIIHMRO5xapZvs-gWsk3792hmOluGgbAaUYQweovVZn1-l6zwX_GP8XhiUfmwVQz-FMcn0qC-Lpx0iJFoYgOecFyQ3juIQxgi0qCqhJpD1tCTSeAlhe1EyzfZAqSyO3/s1600/2014-06-15+11.11.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0S00LEIIHMRO5xapZvs-gWsk3792hmOluGgbAaUYQweovVZn1-l6zwX_GP8XhiUfmwVQz-FMcn0qC-Lpx0iJFoYgOecFyQ3juIQxgi0qCqhJpD1tCTSeAlhe1EyzfZAqSyO3/s1600/2014-06-15+11.11.49.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our table plan (above) was an oldish shabby chic looking frame that we removed the back from. We then used some garden twine to create two lines to hang table plan details on. Jim designed and printed these. Disappointingly the frame has disappeared and Jim and I really wanted to use it to create a wedding collage for our house. We're hoping it turns up, it's not like anyone could fit it in their clutch bag!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Although I'm sad the wedding it over we now have some amazing memories that will stay with us for life. I think I'll continue to post about our day, now that our plans are no longer a secret and as we have some lovely pictures from the day. I think it will be lovely to be able to relive our day through through these blog posts</span></span>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">x</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-64673063451905269912014-05-31T01:57:00.001-07:002014-05-31T01:58:06.228-07:00 2 Weeks Married - Thank You!<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2riYs92qb34U1INMfto9JIpg6aXmdatF7BWxNUs2xWHlLvuc3qQtHa8ae8wTnIQR_Kw6O8NFbN3S2cON-cWPavSy0LUp1CzksEWpbnDPnHWtSMRPFR-lhyphenhyphenOB878Wwk2FJxqJ/s1600/2014-05-19+21.16.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2riYs92qb34U1INMfto9JIpg6aXmdatF7BWxNUs2xWHlLvuc3qQtHa8ae8wTnIQR_Kw6O8NFbN3S2cON-cWPavSy0LUp1CzksEWpbnDPnHWtSMRPFR-lhyphenhyphenOB878Wwk2FJxqJ/s1600/2014-05-19+21.16.31.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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It has been two weeks since Jim and I joined friends and family at <a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2013/06/321-days-riverdale-barn-aghagallon.html">Riverdale Barn</a> for our wedding. We still haven't come back down to earth after a day that was more than we could ever have hoped for. </div>
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In the lead up to our wedding our families couldn't do enough to help finalise our plans, including last minute shopping, delivering bits and pieces to Riverdale, flower arranging and venue decoration. They gave tirelessly of themselves that week and the resulting day was perfect. :)<br />
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We were really lucky with the weather on our wedding day - it stayed dry and warm all day, with not too much sun, so hopefully I didn't squint in too many pictures.</div>
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The response to our ceremony has been completely overwhelming! Initially friends and family were unsure about what to expect from our slightly unconventional ceremony and some even felt that we should have just gone down the traditional registrar route, but we knew what was important to us and how we wanted the ceremony to feel. So many people have commented that it was so full of love, so unique and so us. A resounding success if you ask me!!<br />
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A huge thank you to our friend Paul who agreed, with little information, to be the celebrant for our ceremony. It meant so much to us to have him there.<br />
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Our completely vegan menu was also well recieved and we noticed lots of empty plates going back to the kitchen after the main course. The cupcakes and vegan ice cream seemed popular too! A massive thank you to my sister-in-law Fiona, who made our vegan wedding cake. I didn't get the chance to sample any at the wedding, but made sure to get a few huge slices the next day - it looked gorgeous and tasted amazing!!<br />
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Lots of friends and family have commented on how relaxed
the wedding day felt. Riverdale was the perfect location for us, and
other couples fortunate enough to have their wedding celebrations there
are extremely lucky! Thank you to Oonagh, Davy & Diane for their
part in our big day.<br />
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Our friends <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aggressors-BC/310434925895">Aggressors BC</a> very kindly agreed to play at our wedding party and opened the evening with Madness - It Must Be Love for our first dance. It was perfect. They played a mix of originals and covers - the dance floor was packed! Thank you Marty, Patreece, Sauce, Steeky, Cormac, Dan & Elaine! We love you!! (Their album The Tone of The Times is available for download on their bandcamp site <a href="http://aggressorsbc1.bandcamp.com/album/the-tone-of-the-times-2">http://aggressorsbc1.bandcamp.com/album/the-tone-of-the-times-2</a> - I highly recommend checking them out!)<br />
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<a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2013/07/290-days-another-happy-development.html">Lauren</a> our photographer posted the image below the day after our wedding. Riverdale pretty much has no phone signal so I didn't have my phone on me all day, plus I have a really rubbish camera so this was the first picture I saw from our wedding. Lauren was unobtrusive and very professional and after having this preview I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. She is extremely talented, very patient and vegan :). She was an absolutely delight to work with.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN0SzzKlUHiw6aeQ8HoJuuh9io1qTGkYxtkXiJCuQZOvzMFzg-D9O4ablOPSGnJVHrjRYg1ryU0_E30NjWZSkQyaTYsDxVcXygvahilkAcInBS7XQmlMP4cXy1qY5YbPWxkC_/s1600/2014-05-18+14.40.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN0SzzKlUHiw6aeQ8HoJuuh9io1qTGkYxtkXiJCuQZOvzMFzg-D9O4ablOPSGnJVHrjRYg1ryU0_E30NjWZSkQyaTYsDxVcXygvahilkAcInBS7XQmlMP4cXy1qY5YbPWxkC_/s1600/2014-05-18+14.40.25.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photocredit Lauren Rutherford</td></tr>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
To everyone who helped with the organisation, attended our wedding, sent cards/gifts and well wishes - Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!</div>
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Love</div>
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The New Mrs D</div>
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xx</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-11181558589527897602014-05-07T06:19:00.001-07:002014-05-07T06:20:41.897-07:0010 Days : Flowers #marriedmay<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seemed only fitting that today, as party of <a href="http://www.soyouregettingmarried.com/2014/04/28/please-take-part-marriedmay-uk-wedding-blog/">#marriedmay</a> (a lovely hashtag created by <a href="https://twitter.com/PhoebeWedding">Phoebe</a> over at <a href="http://www.soyouregettingmarried.com/">So You're Getting Married</a>) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I share an update on our flowers.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-brScKIbSQUtVQ7We8ujoeX9HL2qnuao06C16r7d8uwlC6rOYhm8PpLwCTAvZgnHEINEkT1b3XbtPjDevl1goUaRGXG0nanTR8RkkaXSsxylE46vKptZi5A6-oryO2CtHgLp/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-brScKIbSQUtVQ7We8ujoeX9HL2qnuao06C16r7d8uwlC6rOYhm8PpLwCTAvZgnHEINEkT1b3XbtPjDevl1goUaRGXG0nanTR8RkkaXSsxylE46vKptZi5A6-oryO2CtHgLp/s1600/photo1.jpg" height="304" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I share my favourite flower with Blair Waldorf - Peonies.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few months back, I wrote a post about my struggle with all things floral for our wedding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully my mother-in-law to be, Marie came to our rescue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She recommended a fantastic florist and friend Sharon at <a href="http://www.occasionsfloraldesign.co.uk/">Occasions Floral Design</a>, who we met with at the start of March.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sharon listened to our ideas for the wedding and was happy to make suggestions but ultimate take our lead on the flowers. I'd drawn some sketches of what I'd like the arrangements to look like, not the easiest way to select flowers for your wedding!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we really wanted to do the flowers ourselves, but we were going to struggle with executing this successful, so she agreed help us by doing as much or as little as we wanted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided that Sharon (and Joan) would create some hand tied bouquets for Fiona, Jenny and I. These bouquets will be photographed a lot and we wanted them to look beautiful for the whole day. They are also going to provide flowers for us to arrange on the tables. They've been a fantastic help at guiding my quantities and suggesting the best flowers to create the soft natural, hand picked looks we wanted. They are going to prep and condition the flowers for us and deliver them to the venue where we will still have the opportunity to arrange for the tables.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the types of flowers we are using are;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peonies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roses</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carnations</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gypsophila</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wax flower</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ornithagalum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lisinathus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hydrangea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Veronica</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't wait to see the final arrangements!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">X</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-11661781924058088762014-05-03T03:59:00.000-07:002014-05-03T03:59:07.256-07:0014 Days: Thank You gifts for my Bridesmaids <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have only been a bridesmaid once. My cousins and I (ranging in age from 4-11) were bridesmaids for my Dad's sister Anne, the summer I turned 10. The wedding was in Cambridge and I felt so grown up being part of the wedding party, getting to walk up and down the aisle following the bride. There are some gorgeous pictures of the day, but not being very photogenic, I'm screwing my face up in most of them!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a Thank you gift for being a bridesmaid, Anne gave us gorgeous matching bracelets which we wore on the day. I still love mine and it still fits!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmQJ8qC6rTwMEBRTAbnD9gBOOj-aiDi7KgACIEdIW0AjzSn3TGSCrHFM89iXrjwPLHYOB1IufbLGpd2p_bvDqF88LFZWMj3iUmNCFFpb1wsKzfVzfspzGrNTxhCGZXespef1aQ/s1600/bracelet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmQJ8qC6rTwMEBRTAbnD9gBOOj-aiDi7KgACIEdIW0AjzSn3TGSCrHFM89iXrjwPLHYOB1IufbLGpd2p_bvDqF88LFZWMj3iUmNCFFpb1wsKzfVzfspzGrNTxhCGZXespef1aQ/s1600/bracelet.jpg" height="178" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When looking for the perfect gift to say 'Thank you' to my bridesmaids I
wanted to find something, like this bracelet from my aunt, that would remind them of our wedding for years to come. With this in mind I decided that jewellery was a good idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm a fan of the Pandora range and it immediate jumped into my head as
an option. Two of my bestfriends bought me a white leather Pandora bracelet before I moved to Leicester and I love it! I've been lucky enough to receive some charms as gifts from friends, family and Jim - most recently Jim bought me an Eiffel Tower charm when we were in Paris.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4278GnQ2pYE5-5Z252B7gcGJZ0PMyRROQ0dwMiV0OLNiMlUAO3qn9D6vFaHSnLnDByAx7WeRRhJey4VofDpRsnc_nir5ez-A1I0aSmx57Z_h0uWYAtf4ufXmj6i6fBY0nvv3/s1600/2014-03-05+12.21.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4278GnQ2pYE5-5Z252B7gcGJZ0PMyRROQ0dwMiV0OLNiMlUAO3qn9D6vFaHSnLnDByAx7WeRRhJey4VofDpRsnc_nir5ez-A1I0aSmx57Z_h0uWYAtf4ufXmj6i6fBY0nvv3/s1600/2014-03-05+12.21.59.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My Pandora Bracelet.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With Pandora bracelets as a possiblity I began my hunt to make sure there wasn't something out there I liked even more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I really loved <a href="http://www.kirstinash.com/">Kirstin Ash</a>'s bespoke charm pieces. You can chose between a gold or silver necklace or bracelet length chain and then customise each piece with charms for your bridesmaid. Unfortunately the silver bracelet chain has been sold out for ages and I wasn't so keen on the gold for the girls.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kirstinash.com/gallery/bespoke-lookbook&ref=lookbook" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyamMKz_i60PASwR7pGIyf7nJPOBMQ6aQ9fmklsmBSIXhzPccZvQ-Jl1QYMbDmtV3MiiTGezxODSUbdXXGKLV9Ll4zp6twkKgw6Ec31jO9qkDlEQ5Zah3Uj2bYholHIVOFuGWR/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-02+at+15.51.07.png" height="184" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kirstinash.com/gallery/bespoke-lookbook&ref=lookbook"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Image Credit: Kirstin Ash Website</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Right through our wedding planning I've spent a lot of time browsing on <a href="http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/">Not On The High Street</a>. There are some really fantastic brands featured on the site and I've purchased lots of lovely cards and gifts from it. I love this heart locket by <a href="http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/hurleyburley">Hurley Burley </a>and thought it could be a lovely thank you gift for bridesmaids but I was more keen on a bracelet than a necklace.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MOZVr4pV-81mhdVuXRgBCd9lqgKm8siuJ1AFtG66Di7NA9TeV3pE4FloUiqHyN8yeKYpVErCt6-3ZiVlAJbnMq1hUwBDAuuBVWHDChLWGZKMXmvMb8HDVtga74xfiXAj0pHQ/s1600/-heart-locket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MOZVr4pV-81mhdVuXRgBCd9lqgKm8siuJ1AFtG66Di7NA9TeV3pE4FloUiqHyN8yeKYpVErCt6-3ZiVlAJbnMq1hUwBDAuuBVWHDChLWGZKMXmvMb8HDVtga74xfiXAj0pHQ/s1600/-heart-locket.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/hurleyburley/product/personalised-heart-locket">Image Credit: Hurley Burley</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While browsing in Highcross I notived that <a href="http://www.thomassabo.com/GB-en/">Thomas Sabo</a> have started a new range called 'Karma Beads' similar to the idea of the Pandora bracelets. I love Thomas Sabo jewllery but don't like their bracelet chains as much as the Pandora ones but they do have some absolutely gorgeous rose gold beads.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://shop.thomassabo.com/GB-en/sterling-silver/karma-beads" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WURYlQnR9wFRfi1Gi1q7zsleLEHORQkSdHwjhFTY5tDGTujiAIhg16Zhd-y7Wkv6ZP-fDhfL4CjwF5Yzga79YZtEVX3JaQTQ87yw_qk94TB2mvB1qNu2c64tp4R8gUXSEdda/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-02+at+12.29.13.png" height="158" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://shop.thomassabo.com/GB-en/sterling-silver/karma-beads">Image Credit: Thomas Sabo website</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After <i>a lot </i>of research I couldn't find anything I liked more than the <a href="http://estore-uk.pandora.net/PANDORA-eSTORE-UK">Pandora</a> Bracelets. As they don't have a specific bridesmaid charm (they would probably sell a lot of them if they did!) and their 'Super Sister' charm didn't jump out at me, I thought I'd pick something that they could wear on our wedding day with their bridesmaid dresses. I chose these gorgeous <a href="http://www.pandora.net/en-gb/explore/products/charms/791068">pink faceted Murano glass beads </a>on a silver Pandora bracelet. I love that the girls can add beads to these bracelets to celebrate other special occasions or memories. I hope they love them as much as I love mine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA54O4vCkt_AuML0C4FIKxTpj_qb22CiUO-dmH5C9x6HPACBPz12Afe9e-Pc5220_-BZuvGZ9EbvuGwrq7fzzC1UzApeaEOY7E8N651wCixRfO4FZITqHQ3fFNZ1ttEjXBhlH6/s1600/2014-04-17+23.43.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA54O4vCkt_AuML0C4FIKxTpj_qb22CiUO-dmH5C9x6HPACBPz12Afe9e-Pc5220_-BZuvGZ9EbvuGwrq7fzzC1UzApeaEOY7E8N651wCixRfO4FZITqHQ3fFNZ1ttEjXBhlH6/s1600/2014-04-17+23.43.40.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">p.s. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I gave the girls their gifts when we had afternoon tea at The Merchant over Easter as I wanted to make sure they were happy with them so I've not ruined any surprises here :)</span> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-28055623356946780142014-05-01T03:12:00.004-07:002014-05-01T03:14:09.926-07:0016 Days: Wedding Nightmare - My spell in LRI (Leicester Royal Infirmary)<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">25 days before our wedding I imagined I'd be knee deep in spa treatments, finalising floral arrangements and practising my vows in front of the mirror.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The reality, unfortunately, was far from this.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've been feeling unwell for the last 3 or 4 weeks and had had a course of antibiotics from my GP. For one reason or another</span>, after a week the antibiotics didn't cure me completely, but the GP assured me that a few days later I should be feeling 100%. While I was in Northern Ireland over Easter I experience a couple of nights of horrific headaches, high temperatures and lower back pain. My heightened <span class="st">hypochondriasis screamed kidney stones, kidney failure, or worse, but it wasn't until I returned to work last Tuesday that I realised I needed to see doctor, ASAP.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">I managed to get an emergency appointment after work. Jim half carried me to the health centre and propped me while we waited to see the doctor. I believe the doctor told me I had a temperature of 39.5 and that he thought my temperature was affecting my kidneys, but it felt like an out of body experience. He said that he was going to have to admit me to hospital that night. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"> I burst into tears. He asked 'Are you feeling a bit emotional?' (... no duh!) Through tears I said 'I can't go to hospital, I'm getting married'. My health is of course important, always, but particularly in the lead up to our big day, so dutifully I packed an overnight bag and went to A&E at Leicester Royal Infirmary, but not before a distraught call to my mum - the best person I know in a medical emergency.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">I was seen by a couple of doctor and lots of nurses, who re-confirmed that my body was indeed, almost on fire, they took some blood, administered some intravenous antibiotics and paracetamol and hooked me up to a drip. Unfortunately, like in many hospitals at the moment due to attempts to privatise the NHS, there wasn't a bed on a ward for me that night but the nurses made me comfortable while I waited. This was the eve of Jim's birthday, he sat/slept beside me 'til 4 am. I did apparently sing Happy Birthday (the NoFX version, which is sweary) just after midnight while in a temperature induced high. At 4am-ish they moved me from a curtained area out to the main floor of the ward so I convinced Jim to go home as there was no longer a chair for him to sit on, and although he looked tired enough to sleep standing up, I didn't want to ruin his birthday any more.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">At 6am I got a bed on a ward. Exhausted, feverish and emotional, I was so pleased to be off the trolley and to finally try to get some sleep.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">I was in hospital for 4 days, and as much as I didn't enjoy it I knew it was the best place to be. They took very good care of me and finally my fever broke and my temperature returned to almost normal on Thursday/Friday. I started to feel almost human again. I had a scan of my kidney on Friday afternoon/evening which thankfully showed my kidneys were fine and there was no scarring as a result of the infection. I'm was happy to hear this as pyelonephritis can cause lasting damage to the kidney. I felt very lucky to be discharged to Jim on Friday evening and come home to my own bed.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">My mum has been amazing for the last few days, taking on some of the wedding organising which felt like a literal weight off my shoulders and has meant I can just focus on getting better. I'm not sure why I hadn't asked for help before now but I guess I've been trying so hard to cope, to do this ourselves and not to bother anyone. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">I'm really testing this 'in sickness and in health' promise, but thankfully, it looks like Jim's gonna stand by me no matter what life throws at me. He was at the hospital almost instantly when I needed him and came to see me during every visiting hour even if I was asleep and only needed my hair stroked.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">I don't think I've ever felt so lucky to have him, or so loved. He really is my rock.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">Now,
with 16 days to go 'til our wedding I'm getting lots of rest, fluids
and trying to make sure I'm fully recovered so I don't relapse. </span></span></span></span>I'm
petrified of ending up back in hospital and missing the wedding.
Trying to re-arrange the day we've spent the last 2 years organising
would be heart breaking. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">Amy </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">x</span></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-59364352701009803152014-04-14T06:15:00.002-07:002014-05-01T03:14:54.197-07:0033 Days : Hen Party <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The trip to Ireland for my Hen party didn't start quite as planned. After over two hours delayed at the airport, I was beginning to think the girls would have to go on without me. *sob sob* Thankfully Easyjet <i>finally </i>managed to get me to Belfast where Fiona collected me and we went to her house and had some amazing homemade peanut butter stack cake - unbelievably tasty, and it wasn't long before I was fast asleep!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saturday morning we were up early as I had my make-up trial with the wonderful Ashley Morhej before getting ready to meet some of the girls at the Ivory for lunch. Lunch was lovely and we took the opportunity to start on the cocktails - it seemed only right. Fiona & Jenny had put together some amazing gift bags for everyone with hen party bits and pieces including one of Fiona's pink sparkly cake pops, dare scratch cards, glow sticks, tube shots and some rosettes I'd made. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> During </span><a href="https://twitter.com/weddinghour" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#weddinghour</a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on Twitter, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd been introduced to </span><a href="http://www.vintagehenhouse.co.uk/index.php/shop" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vintage Hen House</a><a href="https://twitter.com/weddinghour" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and loved the idea of the girls and I wearing rosettes at the hen party but I didn't think their vintage patterns went with our SATC theme, so decided I'd make my own out of old copies of Elle and Vogue. I was relatively impressed with my crafting skills and they just about stayed together all night! (I may do a tutorial post at some stage.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After a yummuy lunch in the Ivory (with guest of honour Miss Kiki), a quick dash to the bus station and some of Jen's charm, we were on our way to Dublin to meet the others. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After
the Premier Inn, our first stop was Temple Bar Hotel for a cocktail class.
As some of the girls didn't know each other, the cocktail class was the
perfect way to break the ice. </span></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm pretty sure I had a cocktail in each hand at all times - special mention to SJ for her awesome Strawberry Daiquiri!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Nicky T</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Rachel B</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next was dinner, a large plate of pasta followed by chocolate fudge cake - fuel for the dancing - before heading to the Wright Venue.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had the New York room, complete with retro Smeg fridge, great view of the dance floor, and a pole... </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THANK YOU Nicky, Sami-Jo, Rachael, Jen, Aislinn, Nadine, Rachel and Caoimhe for coming along and making it a memorable night!! (Thank you Caoimhe for my post-Hen-Party care package - I wouldn't have made it back in time for my dress fitting without it!)</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidW33B_pQYMIBmNsO3U2h3llX-kmMcyJQ0iaKvNSuwaoHKPCt1TusJ1ZI0tsqwJj761EHNOBlQJcWHc08WLRMOO-4HyKRBXlJm5HulXpfnaLvEEKhTDciZUn-F0sQaMSlvq4uv/s1600/2014-03-29+23.55.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And a massive MASSIVE thank you for Fiona & Jenny, my lovely bridesmaids and sisters-to-be, for organising a great party :) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-17378985988989103792014-04-05T09:55:00.000-07:002014-04-05T09:55:31.219-07:0042 Days : Paris Pre-wedding Moon #2<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Paris Je t’aime! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the end of February Jim and I went to Paris. This was my Christmas present to Jim as he'd never been before. We had the most fabulous time despite the chilly and rather grey weather. We were there over the anniversary of our engagement and that day we climbed la Tour Eiffel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pretty good view despite the clouds!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We were pleasantly surprised to find Paris had several vegan restaurants and so managed to try a different place every meal. If you're vegan and visiting Paris we'd recommend <a href="http://www.lepotagerdumarais.fr/Potager_du_Marais/Le_Potager_du_Marais.html">Le Potager du Marais </a>(Jim had a lovely <span class="st">Seitan Bourguignon), </span><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.saveursvegethalles.fr/">Saveurs Végét’Halles</a> (I had a yummy mushroom rosti). One of my favourites was <a href="http://www.mob-usa.com/">MOB Burger</a>. The burgers are made of mushrooms, tomatoes and rice, which are all finely chopped and smoked - It was really tasty!! They were all kind of expensive but I think that's just because Paris generally is pretty expensive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There was also a great falafel take away near the </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pompidou Centre which unfortunately we only discovered on our last day - great cheap on-the-go food and vegan!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As well as <i>lots</i> of eating and drinking we also trekked the length and breadth of Paris being tourists!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pont de l'Archevêche</span></span></span> </h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Notre Dame & a grumpy looking Jim</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="st">Sacré-Cœur</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was a bit disappointed when we arrived at the Moulin Rouge. </span>Baz Lurhman’s film had me ready for a spectacular building with lots of lights and colour, Nicole Kidman hanging from a trapeze in a corset and a giant elephant, and instead it was a pretty grimly painted red windmill on top of a building in a neighbourhood of sex shops. I am reliably informed that the shows at the Moulin Rouge are spectacular but a set of fairy lights wouldn't have gone a miss!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We were pleasantly surprised to find that a few of the museums have free entry on the first <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_146005191" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Sunday</span></span> of the month so we managed a trip to The Louvre and the <a href="http://www.centrepompidou.fr/en">Pompidou Centre</a> (where we experienced some very bizarre live art about dance.) before grabbing a quick bite in a pure veggie Indian restaurant near the station, and boarding the Eurostar to head back to old Blighty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-72949086923013098202014-03-24T14:07:00.001-07:002014-03-24T14:08:31.900-07:0053 Days: Be Our Guest<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I believe wedding invitations are important. They create a bit of excitement for the day and makes sure guests have all the important 'What-Where-&-When's. It can often can give guests an idea of the type of wedding they'll be attending. We did consider e-vites but decided against them as we felt there was nothing nicer than receiving actual post. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our wedding invites were posted just over 2 weeks ago and we've already had some RSVPs from friends and family, each has made me more and more excited for our Wedding day. We've asked for RSVPs by email as we thought this would be most convenient for everyone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I got the inspiration for our wedding invites in the lift at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London when I was there last October. They'd taken a page from a book and printed the information about their restaurant over the top. I thought the style was perfect for our wedding so sent Jim and picture to get his opinion - he approved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We wanted to have a quote on the front that wasn't too cringey but was romantic and meant something to us. The quote we chose was from a book that we'd both read while I'd been in Edinburgh which we thought suited our wedding. I'd written it in my diary when I'd read the story and stumbled across it while rummaging through bits and pieces in my room at mum and dad's house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;"><b>'Having's wrong, sharing's right and what more can you share than your whole self, your whole life, all the nights and all the days.'</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This delightful quote is from The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. It's a sci-fi novel (but don't let that put you off), and the action takes place in an anarchist society. We found it really interesting to see how Le Guin envisioned personal relationships in this fictional world, and how personal relationships like love and family might behave without the attachments of property and state interference. It's a really good book and generated a lot conversation points.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuKayKXUZxRpq4WS5cLHGWRECLMZaLz0RMiC8rUjhQwIHUcMYK0IpvvhncQvwG7peNLW9M4gQ4FPgbFSn1yva2PrOFZeADsaVWL_XG3ofvK90szzMwshFPtWbIuqxxaNc-vEK/s1600/2014-03-24+20.33.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuKayKXUZxRpq4WS5cLHGWRECLMZaLz0RMiC8rUjhQwIHUcMYK0IpvvhncQvwG7peNLW9M4gQ4FPgbFSn1yva2PrOFZeADsaVWL_XG3ofvK90szzMwshFPtWbIuqxxaNc-vEK/s1600/2014-03-24+20.33.24.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you read my post on <a href="http://hitched.ie/">Hitched.ie</a> back in September, on our <a href="http://www.hitched.ie/chat/blogs/guestbloggerofthemonth/page/20130918/a-gift-less-wedding.aspx">Our Gift-less Wedding</a> you'll remember we were struggling over how to word this on our invites without sounded rude or offending anyone. We have gone for;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;"><b>'We are fortunate enough to have all of the customary items needed to fill a home. The very best present we can receive is your presence at our wedding and your love and support on our adventure together.' </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We know our invites aren't maybe as traditional as some people might expect but we felt these better represented us and what we want to celebrate in a couple of months!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-83003611315337945602014-03-20T13:12:00.002-07:002014-03-20T13:23:27.622-07:0057 Days : A Stomach Bug & A Wedding Band (no, not the guitar kind)<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last weekend I was rather ill with a stomach bug/food poisoning that left me stuck in bed from Thursday night pretty much 'til Sunday evening. I was so disappointed to be sick as I had a really busy and exciting weekend planned with two particular highlights - my first Irish Dance performance and wedding ring shopping with Jim in Birmingham.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As I struggled to sit up and walk without feeling nauseous, I thought that bouncing around to a jig was out of the question so sadly text my apologies to Bernie my dance teacher. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As Jim had already booked our trains and because this was the only weekend we both had free before the wedding, we made the trip to Birmingham loaded with anti-nausea tablets and water. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had planned to visit some shops in the city centre, have lunch, then hit the Jewellery Quarter, followed by some drinks before getting the train back. I'd read online that some couples had made a great saving on their wedding bands by purchasing them in the Jewellery Quarter and ever-economical we thought we'd definitely have to pay a visit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafo_WHDinjfyR3ZiNIK2HeYKAMzYYsX0IS5a0u3TzNlp7PU5yokh986ra9rldlQP9zkAqolm1xhqPufI4ADRDzjs-XPRBH48G6eL1oNW0OV_OCm7GcNWIyn92XeSyi0b8TPY3/s1600/JQ+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafo_WHDinjfyR3ZiNIK2HeYKAMzYYsX0IS5a0u3TzNlp7PU5yokh986ra9rldlQP9zkAqolm1xhqPufI4ADRDzjs-XPRBH48G6eL1oNW0OV_OCm7GcNWIyn92XeSyi0b8TPY3/s1600/JQ+Logo.png" height="134" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I wanted a plain platinum band, which needed to be quite thin to match my engagement ring and Jim priced one in the Jewellers in Leicester where he had purchased my ring. Based on that price we headed to Birmingham to find a bargain. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, we didn't manage a trip round the city centre, or a boozy lunch but instead headed pretty much straight to the <a href="http://www.jewelleryquarter.net/">Jewellery Quarter</a>. We had great plans to shop around and make sure we were definitely getting the best for our money. Trying to decide which shop to visit first was nearly impossible. There were so many shops selling wedding bands but a large sign on a wall of <a href="http://www.marlows-diamonds.co.uk/">Marlow's </a>advertising 'Platinum wedding bands at unbeatable prices' was the encouragement we needed and we made it our first stop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I would love to say we stuck to our plan and trawled the Jewellery Quarter for hours bargaining and bartering but feeling as I did (very very ill by this point), we left Marlow's with a ring... and a complete bargain!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My ring is a 2mm platinum ring. I believe it's the heavier weight and it looks perfect alongside my engagement ring. The ring Jim priced in Leicester had been a medium weight and our trip to Birmingham had definitely been worth it as we saved £200!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you are getting married (or planning to propose) and want to get the best for your money I highly recommend a visit to the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham (or London).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amy </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">x </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-12721222834279562692014-02-24T13:22:00.000-08:002014-02-25T05:43:38.338-08:0081 Days: Hen Party Planning<div class="MsoSubtitle">
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been really excited
about my Hen Party since we got engaged. I’ve only been to two other Hen Parties; one was a family friend
and the other was for one of my best friends Rachael (you can read her blog <a href="http://tallulahboo.blogspot.co.uk/">here</a>,
and see some marriage tips she gave us in my post for <a href="http://www.hitched.ie/chat/blogs/guestbloggerofthemonth/page/20130924/laugh-til-it-hurts.aspx">Hitched.ie</a>). Rachael’s Hen Party was so much fun; cocktails,
hot tub, games, horse riding, pampering, dinner, more cocktails, dancing and
lots of sore heads by the end of the weekend! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Hen Party is particularly exciting for me as we’ve moved away from a lot of our friends so girlie nights out with my bestfriends don’t happen as often as they used too.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was confident that my Bridesmaids would come up with a good plan for the Hen Party, and they haven’t
let me down!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQh7soyv_T33jMY4K7RyFE2ytPO_KRFZsaPImUauha0_HwDyT8B8sYEwW6X1i3ULOMFuFFuUIcjloY8soS0fb72KYrSXxQPEyeBxYk1It7pNoDSvHGHGUNVcbWwiVa22jTYcL/s1600/templebar+hotel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQh7soyv_T33jMY4K7RyFE2ytPO_KRFZsaPImUauha0_HwDyT8B8sYEwW6X1i3ULOMFuFFuUIcjloY8soS0fb72KYrSXxQPEyeBxYk1It7pNoDSvHGHGUNVcbWwiVa22jTYcL/s1600/templebar+hotel.png" height="211" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">Buskers Bar at Temple Bar Hotel, Dublin</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;">Photo from Temple Bar Website</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of March a group
of lovely ladies will be joining me as we head to Dublin, for a cocktail making
class at the </span><a href="http://www.templebarhotel.com/cocktail-lessons-dublin.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Temple Bar Hotel</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, dinner and a night out at the <a href="http://thewrightvenue.ie/">Wright Venue </a> for a sort of Sex and the City
themed Hen Party. I’ve heard really good
things about the Wright Venue so I’m really looking forward dancing the night
away! A lot of what I miss is getting ready together with my friends, (sometimes Jim comes and
sits with me while I do my make-up but it’s not the same) so we’ve booked into
a hotel for some girlie pampering before we go out. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5sg8Px4aANXgsjydSjqmRQULuXYh_7Y30ZsR34elrV5JJOwxiK0g23r3Ze9ibN4fJJe2jXIYSLDy3rG_FhOGQ7yh7QHJOp-DqCQkw5JvG-KupFTucI6xZMI05zFr3n_grctU/s1600/wright+venue+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5sg8Px4aANXgsjydSjqmRQULuXYh_7Y30ZsR34elrV5JJOwxiK0g23r3Ze9ibN4fJJe2jXIYSLDy3rG_FhOGQ7yh7QHJOp-DqCQkw5JvG-KupFTucI6xZMI05zFr3n_grctU/s1600/wright+venue+1.png" height="161" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">City Themed Rooms at the Wright Venue</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;">Photo from Wright Venue Website</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wanted something chic and
not too stereotypically ‘Hen Party’ so the girls are all going in Little Black Dresses and my
bridesmaids suggested I wear a different colour so I’ve started looking for a dress
but it’s proving almost as difficult as finding a wedding dress!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My favourites so far are
below (Spring/floral theme).</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj81lbPeapQZ23g7ah5GCQTH2rLyV5SDyOrLEPoKtYfNh1prh78GFrc9dxhOFbVD7GyWySVM9Lze5yIJg5_J4jIWPTGvGs1RvIUBoqG0vZuhp5QYWVpOLjxGhmMFMpw6o1LLU/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-24+at+20.26.21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj81lbPeapQZ23g7ah5GCQTH2rLyV5SDyOrLEPoKtYfNh1prh78GFrc9dxhOFbVD7GyWySVM9Lze5yIJg5_J4jIWPTGvGs1RvIUBoqG0vZuhp5QYWVpOLjxGhmMFMpw6o1LLU/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-24+at+20.26.21.png" height="320" width="168" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span id="goog_1505215222"></span></span><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="http://www.warehouse.co.uk///warehouse/fcp-product/316058#GBP"><span id="goog_1505215214"></span>Warehouse</a><span id="goog_1505215215"></span></span><span style="color: #999999;"><span id="goog_1505215223"></span> - £65 (currently 20% off)</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXjvOQOpV3-FSKT8scBfLuF7AKzJgc1VIZWTrocc-R4FtXb2dV4eCyURmzn2-AIJuv53JHrkRLeFLTS-t_xS33WklY-P697QmrrUA5ej17kfTTiRJxYaMalytp3bQfQORX4mN/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-24+at+20.58.47.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXjvOQOpV3-FSKT8scBfLuF7AKzJgc1VIZWTrocc-R4FtXb2dV4eCyURmzn2-AIJuv53JHrkRLeFLTS-t_xS33WklY-P697QmrrUA5ej17kfTTiRJxYaMalytp3bQfQORX4mN/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-24+at+20.58.47.png" height="320" width="193" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="http://www.whistles.co.uk/fcp/categorylist/dept/new_in-dresses?resetFilters=true#product=903000061646">Whistles</a> - £165<span id="goog_1505215200"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><br /></a><span id="goog_1505215201"></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDoTVfY3g-uJnRXn6h5RteQJeDIwj9CGUyolBQlj__BaAKlsZ6JonOVDyfLC59wknSNKewxpGZvU1qniiIWp9avDMmei3u11PqwJqkEyWhz8c7oPCOslAchPRcZJZOzLse5mC0/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-24+at+20.30.47.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDoTVfY3g-uJnRXn6h5RteQJeDIwj9CGUyolBQlj__BaAKlsZ6JonOVDyfLC59wknSNKewxpGZvU1qniiIWp9avDMmei3u11PqwJqkEyWhz8c7oPCOslAchPRcZJZOzLse5mC0/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-24+at+20.30.47.png" height="320" width="201" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="http://www.tedbaker.com/uk/Womens/Explore/New-Season/ROZIEY-Rose-on-canvas-print-dress-Bright-Pink/p/111448-56-BRIGHT-PINK">Ted Baker </a>- £139</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We're going to put together some goodie bags for all the guests which I'm very excited about and I'm going to make some badges/rosettes on the Sex & The City Theme, possibly from old copies of Elle & Vogue - we'll see how that goes...</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0PrLWk7WrN70EiUKX74pGH_MhxkkSt5Ux1GJGKAWm3zE11aDuWxmcXYJZ2lIodYbK9qCCl4XrpR5ZDU5J_plJ7Ry0vkB_QDbaU2xk4u39KgGe9ZcZwGpw_dJGSFQluCCweFK/s1600/2014-02-24+20.19.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0PrLWk7WrN70EiUKX74pGH_MhxkkSt5Ux1GJGKAWm3zE11aDuWxmcXYJZ2lIodYbK9qCCl4XrpR5ZDU5J_plJ7Ry0vkB_QDbaU2xk4u39KgGe9ZcZwGpw_dJGSFQluCCweFK/s1600/2014-02-24+20.19.27.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">Very Rough Trial Run</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x</span></span><br />
<span id="goog_1505215113"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1505215114"><span id="goog_1505215137"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1505215138"></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-69158096069928769552014-02-13T05:11:00.000-08:002014-02-13T05:11:17.141-08:0092 Days: Pre-Weddingmoon - Greece Part 2<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a few days in Athens we traveled north to Volos (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Βόλος) a beautiful coastal city backed by mountains - mountains which were topped with snow!! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TKha7HlmHOLbXcoIvbDNX12eUhSAceHCIgmUnpMRuk6d6CBqlzp-9zZPBWyWRAbjwq7NU48ZBvbeHWQaU0yBVFSxtgqThx57UYd9r8h70qxNrCUfKgUO2iHarNdoXWRHIv32/s1600/P2024000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TKha7HlmHOLbXcoIvbDNX12eUhSAceHCIgmUnpMRuk6d6CBqlzp-9zZPBWyWRAbjwq7NU48ZBvbeHWQaU0yBVFSxtgqThx57UYd9r8h70qxNrCUfKgUO2iHarNdoXWRHIv32/s1600/P2024000.JPG" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Snowy trees</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">The day that we went exploring up the mountains we hit some pretty icy terrain, on our way to the Ski resort at the top, and decided to turn back and visit a village called </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Makrynitsa</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">, less high up, less snowy, but still bitterly cold. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgjVjoklkgOacyUFXeoXE1O3ccw84R5P5MtxtWpmuSvMkcPJhdzghQqUnjuHDDYkSrz_G11QhynoxECvnm8tD6DSKyxmam9uyzhOnMXl2I_wpsIddBgzqPTyBEjr6Fb-6m0vh/s1600/2014-02-02+16.24.50-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgjVjoklkgOacyUFXeoXE1O3ccw84R5P5MtxtWpmuSvMkcPJhdzghQqUnjuHDDYkSrz_G11QhynoxECvnm8tD6DSKyxmam9uyzhOnMXl2I_wpsIddBgzqPTyBEjr6Fb-6m0vh/s1600/2014-02-02+16.24.50-1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One of the many cats of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: start;">Makrynitsa </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">The view of Volos from </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Makrynitsa was magnificent and I imagine looks even better on a sunny day.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNRkVWjBce87QudR0kNATM2ANcbdKiXgtGz3hoVgIAnciLAdIdBX_ildaArLTSekWUZ-i9X6fITO8d5SLxGHogEv_xL07ukX-bVH5Rtstc-_Mg6tTWUkgVOhBwWT5gnWpOWWE/s1600/view+of+volos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNRkVWjBce87QudR0kNATM2ANcbdKiXgtGz3hoVgIAnciLAdIdBX_ildaArLTSekWUZ-i9X6fITO8d5SLxGHogEv_xL07ukX-bVH5Rtstc-_Mg6tTWUkgVOhBwWT5gnWpOWWE/s1600/view+of+volos.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gCmREJxne6bLC-hxR1EkIWCEcDrm13J7h5H3anqKQ7sgoFloqt0t1CAy0ciiWnFc8YtBPeWmRbfCv56RGTjBF0bacSZ7B7L6-21AqzoQb84Ait3IE578PFhH4y9-D-IfVM-I/s1600/2014-02-02+16.26.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gCmREJxne6bLC-hxR1EkIWCEcDrm13J7h5H3anqKQ7sgoFloqt0t1CAy0ciiWnFc8YtBPeWmRbfCv56RGTjBF0bacSZ7B7L6-21AqzoQb84Ait3IE578PFhH4y9-D-IfVM-I/s1600/2014-02-02+16.26.55.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Standard Jim in a tree picture</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">We found the most gorgeous little coffee shop to defrost in and it served the best hot chocolate and chocolate souffle I've ever had - It didn't last long!!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkOcf0A7yLUJIMlm8kxbzJ0e8RieYfPomY7y-tQhkAcYC0MoAu4MCkVSgyDl9upaCW88-YoO5AF0PIJPN4R1Wo6HUasIcHUeJytgBg7IZUMNvkxeusppcnalW6l645WjeXdHs/s1600/2014-02-02+16.54.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkOcf0A7yLUJIMlm8kxbzJ0e8RieYfPomY7y-tQhkAcYC0MoAu4MCkVSgyDl9upaCW88-YoO5AF0PIJPN4R1Wo6HUasIcHUeJytgBg7IZUMNvkxeusppcnalW6l645WjeXdHs/s1600/2014-02-02+16.54.43.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNLCOptSl8sY8-rl01piQx9uL86FjfOTSG4ecSQn_M93gaQKWqe91PM5pK3QGlO-iC8HSNEAEFR1CD4m9lnoqTyE5kW0A9FrnUY_CDjT6f5AS0W3jGbtqesrWn5W8kBui3tEI/s1600/2014-02-02+17.25.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNLCOptSl8sY8-rl01piQx9uL86FjfOTSG4ecSQn_M93gaQKWqe91PM5pK3QGlO-iC8HSNEAEFR1CD4m9lnoqTyE5kW0A9FrnUY_CDjT6f5AS0W3jGbtqesrWn5W8kBui3tEI/s1600/2014-02-02+17.25.14.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">We also had a lovely coastal walk exploring the lengths of the Volos seafront, which ended in some </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">traditional Mezze and locally distilled </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Tsipouro</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Tsipouro is a Greek Spirit and comes flavoured with or without </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">anise. I prefered the Tsipouro with anise and was fascinated watching it change from clear to cloudy when you added ice (still not sure of the science behind this - could be magic).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing I think we’ll remember the most from our trip to Greece is the hospitality. From our hosts, to their friends and the people we met in the bars and taverns, every person we spoke with made us feel so welcome. We even sat for 6 hours in one tavern having dinner and no one hurried us out, even when we were the last table left.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People seemed genuinely interested in chatting to us and put our very minimal Greek vocabulary to shame with their very impressive conversational English! Our shouts of</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 38.400001525878906px;">'</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 38.400001525878906px;">γειά σου</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 38.400001525878906px;">' (Helllo)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> '</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 38.400001525878906px;"><b>παρακαλώ</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">' (Please) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 38.400001525878906px;"><b>ευχαριστώ</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">’ (Thanks)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">shouldn’t have impressed anyone but they seem pleased with our attempts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giannis and Stefania were so kind and considerate while we were there. They were fantastic tour guides and I definitely felt that we came away knowing more about Greek culture and history. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just hope we have the opportunity to show them the hospitality of the Irish soon!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These posts have been a bit different for my blog, I hope you enjoyed them. We are also visiting Paris at the end of this month, my Christmas present to Jim, so there may be another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d highly recommend a pre-weddingmoon trip to any couple planning a wedding. It was so lovely to put our planning and daily life to the back of our minds. Wedding planning can be stressful and with less than 100 days to go (?!) it was nice to take some time out and enjoy just being Jim & Amy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-35312053584618278302014-02-12T11:23:00.000-08:002014-02-12T11:23:09.512-08:0093 Days: Pre-Weddingmoon - Greece Part 1<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel like I was at
the airport a lot last year. It was mostly wedding planning trips back to
Northern Ireland which were lovely since we got to catch up with friends and
family. But it had been a really long time since we had a holiday somewhere, to just relax and explore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In December, Jim surprised me with
a trip to Greece as my Christmas present.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had never been in mainland Greece before so it was going to be
an adventure for both of us. Also, two friends,
Giannis and Stefania who we'd met in Leicester had returned to Greece after Stefania had finished university and we'd spent the last year and a half
telling them how much we wanted to visit. Greece was the perfect
destination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greece is beautiful!
As it was January the weather wasn’t exactly cocktails and swimsuits on the beach (hottest we had was 16
degrees, down as far as a brisk 5 degrees at night) but it definitely felt less wintery
and was much brighter than the weather we'd left back in England.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Athens was
wonderful. Our friend’s sister and her
partner were kind enough to let us stay with them and we quickly learned how to
negotiate the 3 line underground system in and out of the city centre. We spent a lot of our time in an area called
Exharia where there were lots of great places to eat (all happy to cater for
vegans) and some great bars. It was also full of book shops! We met some lovely new people who were all
really interested in chatting with us and recommended places to visit and
different local delicacies to try.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We visited the brand new
<a href="http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en">Acropolis Museum</a> on our first full day in Athens (and got told off for taking
pictures in a no picture area - the illicit snaps are below...). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzlv0-e52hyphenhyphentUqZzR31IGEVxs3qZRZscgTFkFpGIjOA7pRWKmBJBHTx74kyGDgaxENXyhXm_qByDTMf1ERgQzjBYWeuDcjfiMvpmdT_mx-639XH6h5DuXN1cJweElbKBLcuRD/s1600/2014-01-30+12.07.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzlv0-e52hyphenhyphentUqZzR31IGEVxs3qZRZscgTFkFpGIjOA7pRWKmBJBHTx74kyGDgaxENXyhXm_qByDTMf1ERgQzjBYWeuDcjfiMvpmdT_mx-639XH6h5DuXN1cJweElbKBLcuRD/s1600/2014-01-30+12.07.02.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a walk way
right round the Acropolis (but outside the actual pay-in bit). After our visit to the museum and some
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souvlaki">Souvalki </a>(tasty and veggie, of course) we walked the whole way round and up some tiny steep
pedestrian streets that wound their way up between little houses. We kept thinking we’d reached a
dead end, and we’d almost get ready to turn round and climb down, only to find
another, almost hidden, tiny path. When we
got to the top we climbed up a big piece of rock and admired the view as the
sun set.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After being so close
to the Acropolis but not inside I was pretty excited to get there the next
day. I thought it was pretty reasonably
priced at 12 Euros per person, and Jim got in free as a PHD student. It was spectacular!! Annoyingly my phone died so I couldn’t take
any pictures so all Acropolis pictures are by my lovely friend Stefania and she takes much better pictures than I
ever could!! (She did get a bit frustrated by the construction work that was going on, and all the photos feature just a hint of scaffolding - ancient scaffolding of course.)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcY9_vu9rcy4cNox75lg0XI7MQ0BW67FOxxru2wU4kVbJEpKB0rtyPAlGHkULaeaCnSiGBvmBTscWNpVhKVNPG4OKLrTtUqyPD9wgKbi6kAh0La8Yzkq7lIavU9gDkro3b9Rwf/s1600/P1313840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcY9_vu9rcy4cNox75lg0XI7MQ0BW67FOxxru2wU4kVbJEpKB0rtyPAlGHkULaeaCnSiGBvmBTscWNpVhKVNPG4OKLrTtUqyPD9wgKbi6kAh0La8Yzkq7lIavU9gDkro3b9Rwf/s1600/P1313840.JPG" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 16.895999908447266px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odeon_of_Herodes_Atticus">Odeon of Herodes Atticus</a></span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQNxBajvHWKZ5saKy4uRoUUSo-0VnZg4SFjaW0gePYY4SehNKFoOjUz4LyjOQnO9WSWjiD-g2AIeqDmTTHVuFDZkEVJsY_7-cWfSGiF1F65Y_j_2-4EpJ37eL0fOW2sgA3yB5/s1600/P1313870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQNxBajvHWKZ5saKy4uRoUUSo-0VnZg4SFjaW0gePYY4SehNKFoOjUz4LyjOQnO9WSWjiD-g2AIeqDmTTHVuFDZkEVJsY_7-cWfSGiF1F65Y_j_2-4EpJ37eL0fOW2sgA3yB5/s1600/P1313870.JPG" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7Ay7NjcY_7QJ1EyRL7n9oRGK2wBm7p4rs1Ph0vRE4blQeQRTP1VBcW_rLdAy7Ld5Sl94fEYQemIx8wzZXHbvDtF0H_kuou81t9Rse_ToJynKsijbwSwh0VbuiDDcYyftES01/s1600/P1313879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7Ay7NjcY_7QJ1EyRL7n9oRGK2wBm7p4rs1Ph0vRE4blQeQRTP1VBcW_rLdAy7Ld5Sl94fEYQemIx8wzZXHbvDtF0H_kuou81t9Rse_ToJynKsijbwSwh0VbuiDDcYyftES01/s1600/P1313879.JPG" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erechtheum"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Erechtheion</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon">Parthenon</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-48526925141234877972014-01-17T12:32:00.003-08:002014-01-17T12:32:39.440-08:00119 Days: Bridesmaids - 1 : Irish Sea - 0<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Metanarrative: This has been an interesting post to write as I'm excited that we've chosen some beautiful Bridesmaids dresses, but as per <i>ridiculous </i>secretive wedding traditions, I am meant to keep colours and styles a surprise for guests on the day... So this post will be somewhat cryptic and won't finish with a brilliant revelation, but it's been part of our journey so I'd love you to keep reading regardless.)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My hunt for bridesmaid dresses started slowly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The problems began when I mistakenly dreamt up a colour which I could not find a name for!! After booking our venue I became fixated on finding a colour that wouldn't clash with the red detailing at <a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2013/06/321-days-riverdale-barn-aghagallon.html">Riverdale </a>and also wanted something that was different to other bridesmaids' dress colours I'd seen at weddings of family and friends. After a bit more research (and realising the red at Riverdale wasn't going to dominate our photos and matching with it didn't really matter) I changed my mind and I have picked a <i>completely different colour</i> which I think will be much nicer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have two very beautiful <a href="http://www.alwaysamyelizabeth.com/2013/06/341-days-my-bridesmaids.html">bridesmaids</a> who both, unlike me, have great style. Trying to choose a dress for them was going to be tough so I decided very early on that I wanted Fiona and Jenny to be involved in the decision making. They have been wonderful! They've had ideas and opinions, and have been very supportive as I've flitted between colours and styles! Their guidance in what they'd be happy wearing has also been so useful. We all thought long dresses would be best since my dress is floor length, and we had a similar idea on what style we thought would match well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Irish Sea has been the biggest obstacle in the hunt for bridesmaids' dresses. Unlike brides-to-be and bridesmaids who live the the same country, we weren't always able to pop to a dress shop on a Saturday afternoon or even meet up to flick through wedding magazines with bottle of vino. This meant our bridesmaids' dress shopping has been like a blockbuster casino heist: a long time in the planning and perfectly executed in minimum time! My visits home have been short and infrequent because of work but after a lot of online research we'd picked a few different shops we wanted to visit that stocked a selection of different designs for us to try.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The three shops we visited were <a href="http://www.thebridallounge.com/">Bridal Lounge</a>, <a href="http://www.tiamobridal.co.uk/">Ti Amo</a> and <a href="http://www.dreamweddings.uk.com/">Dream Weddings</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bridal Lounge</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We chose to visit the Bridal Lounge because they had a particular Dessy dress that we'd all liked (which turned out not to be as nice on as it looked in pictures). This was my first experience of the <a href="http://www.dessy.com/">Dessy</a> dresses. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven't heard of Dessy
and are hunting for bridesmaid dresses - check them out!! They provide
brides-to-be with a fantastic and varied range of dress styles and
materials, all available in a huge selection of colours and shades. I had heard that in some cases the price of certain Dessy dresses wasn't reflected in the quality but the dresses we saw were lovely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ti Amo </b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSixIILcZ0uuBJmj8VQq7yMmV9Dbn8mSL7T3iNIULgc8rSSQBKN03ZC1BREnAcjCloxX7p6wS3EIyN9FaibY2_4P9k-tnYk2NN0k263ucYikiSOd6o4o7719BFVrKTahU_nZ-P/s1600/tiamo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSixIILcZ0uuBJmj8VQq7yMmV9Dbn8mSL7T3iNIULgc8rSSQBKN03ZC1BREnAcjCloxX7p6wS3EIyN9FaibY2_4P9k-tnYk2NN0k263ucYikiSOd6o4o7719BFVrKTahU_nZ-P/s1600/tiamo1.jpg" height="320" width="235" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG161DCaDA2eQJGUH8ccLck_vfCpH5HTXwGf9nmO1s8PzqstB4N-cPrT9p2-2d6k8R_jCCOCA51FqIOc8flcj1VDaPXGePbgWeYV0w_V2EhwJ8UYSLKlm2xpXiwUFRWd4NJMK_/s1600/photo_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG161DCaDA2eQJGUH8ccLck_vfCpH5HTXwGf9nmO1s8PzqstB4N-cPrT9p2-2d6k8R_jCCOCA51FqIOc8flcj1VDaPXGePbgWeYV0w_V2EhwJ8UYSLKlm2xpXiwUFRWd4NJMK_/s1600/photo_1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After getting slightly lost in Limavady, we finally arrived with Adele, excited and aprehensive to try dresses. By now it was January 2014, and Jim and I were getting married in less than 5 months so the pressure was on! We went to the appointment with no particular dress in mind and selected some floaty chiffony styles to try and Adele recommended a few as well. I'm always keen to take recommendations because the dresses can look so different on a hanger. The girls each tried on a different dress and came out together to let me scrutinise them. The first dress Fiona steped out it was absolutely gourgeous. She looked so elegant! I also loved Jenny's first dress, a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">strapless number, which we'd pretty much decided against - but my eye was constantly drawn back to Fiona's. As the girls came out again and again I kept comparing what I saw with the first 2 dresses, particulary Fiona's. The combination of those two dresses was perfect. The style of Fiona's was exactly the elegant shape I'd imagined for them, and Jenny's was the perfect colour.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dream Weddings</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd often walked past Dream Weddings before I was engaged and admired the dresses in the window and was looking forward to attending our appointment there. They had a very different selection of dresses to the other two shops, which was great, and the girls tried on some beautiful dresses. One in particular had the most beautiful lace detailing on the back, but unfortunately it wasn't as striking from the front and didn't come in a colour close enough to what I was looking for. I think the lady in the shop was surprised at how quickly we worked through the dresses - but after all our research and the other appointments, we knew pretty quickly if a dress was a Yes, No or Maybe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We took details of a couple of dresses and collapsed in a cafe to discuss what we'd seen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dresses we've selected are from Ti Amo. I think I can safely tell you that they are by <a href="http://www.dessy.com/">Dessy </a> - they have hundreds of styles so our secret is safe ;) Will you be surprised by the colour? Possibly. Possibly not! :) I love them and the girls will look as stunning as ever!! I'm just excited now for the morning of the wedding and getting all dressed up together!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-38383280048003185972014-01-01T09:10:00.003-08:002014-03-05T13:46:25.029-08:00135 Days: Happy New Year & An Apology!<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe I'm officially the worst blogger ever! But... I have an excuse... honest!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Work has been very busy over the last 2 months. Our parties started at the end of November and in the lead up to that, I was busy in the office. The week before we spent lots of long days setting up on site. Our first party was on the 22nd November and I've been working most nights in December, with a short (but lovely) break home for Christmas. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTUXB0Fq8V3e2hsVZyNTx-azR8dLMmYWhtLXr13DwwjOKjltc6kER1SYKS271WTCFgp9OjF5xPnJ9rbZp5qwVzLUzkbEnhoM85_BUp7llEza1UfsDIgQdJow6DyCvuR_z1VZL/s1600/derby+parties+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTUXB0Fq8V3e2hsVZyNTx-azR8dLMmYWhtLXr13DwwjOKjltc6kER1SYKS271WTCFgp9OjF5xPnJ9rbZp5qwVzLUzkbEnhoM85_BUp7llEza1UfsDIgQdJow6DyCvuR_z1VZL/s320/derby+parties+1.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Arty Shot from bar area</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvq7A3WMSmlCKOnQnk8UjQuMTX_x_SF4tLme33RjVtL6IGZli9J1jKlye_UpgfPbzY5itjiJLAe8Jp3snos-DApr307slWBs9VRp69Wc_FVBiall-VyNmw_YP3i8dppGa-WoQ/s1600/derby+parties+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvq7A3WMSmlCKOnQnk8UjQuMTX_x_SF4tLme33RjVtL6IGZli9J1jKlye_UpgfPbzY5itjiJLAe8Jp3snos-DApr307slWBs9VRp69Wc_FVBiall-VyNmw_YP3i8dppGa-WoQ/s320/derby+parties+2.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Final set up in restaurant</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXdSLLm55DVeMP2m9EB49KV5JB6uoRdnhNbhZjzBc5Kvo3LJ6FTKLe-4HYm03FdEF_u4zVxgOTlk4uQmMWI7fQgtb5YtXVKgipCfxG8uZrQOQ6e9kBuBwKVVfPYWNDCUspdGP/s1600/Jim+and+Amy+At+Athena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXdSLLm55DVeMP2m9EB49KV5JB6uoRdnhNbhZjzBc5Kvo3LJ6FTKLe-4HYm03FdEF_u4zVxgOTlk4uQmMWI7fQgtb5YtXVKgipCfxG8uZrQOQ6e9kBuBwKVVfPYWNDCUspdGP/s320/Jim+and+Amy+At+Athena.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rare Night off - Jim & I got to enjoy a night at our Zulu Sundance Party</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love being busy and have had lots of fun with the team this year but when I got home late my brain barely functioned enough to brush my teeth let alone write anything semi-interesting for my blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I've been so busy, major wedding planning decisions have been put on hold 'til now, although we have done some little bits and pieces which I thought I'd write a short update about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hair</b> - It took 10 months, once I'd moved to Leicester, for me to muster up the courage to try a hairdresser here. The result ,unfortunately, was very far from what I'd hoped and since then I've flown back to Northern Ireland as I only trust Andrew/Sheena and Lizzy at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://andrewmulvenna.com/">Andrew Mulvenna's Hair Spa </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to cut and colour my hair. I started getting my hair cut and coloured in Andrew Mulvenna's in 2007 and I think they have some of the best stylist and colourists around. I have asked if Sheena will style my hair on our wedding day. I'm really excited to chat with her over next few weeks. I've been growing it as long as I can while trying to keep it in good condition. I love this Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Intense Rescue Melting Balm (which is regularly on 3 for 2 in Boots! I definitely recommend checking it out if you have mid-long length hair). </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.boots.com/en/Charles-Worthington-Salon-at-Home-Secrets-Collection-Moisture-Seal-Intense-Rescue-Melting-Balm-100ml_1281955/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q89bph96X2e6y05CnHgfcIF65QjGsB5Aybt9OV0NdmooxC5iHZ_9zDFQHixKjyuYUhGZpJj5LqYsn_3wJ157sFNOQgfNgCJmX8hCEkEqNBZRK3mKDUjkRk4Zb4YK9g29CiWg/s400/try-charles-worthingtons-new-intense-rescue-melting-balm.jpg" height="232" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture sourced from Boots Website</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Make up</b> - When I lived in Belfast I was fortunate enough to help backstage at some Style Academy fashion shows and see first-hand the work of some of Northern Ireland's top Make-up Artists. I've decided not to attempt my own make up on our wedding day and after much research and a recommendation from the fabulous <a href="http://www.saras-designs.co.uk/">Sara O'Neill</a> I have asked <a href="http://www.ashleymorhej.com/">Ashley Morhej</a> do my make-up, and make-up for my mum and bridesmaids. This is another appointment I'm looking forward to attending in January/February. I know I want something soft and pretty, and I generally don't wear a lot of make up. Hopefully Ashley can transform me into a swan for one day :). As well as eating well and drinking lots of water I've been using this Michael Todd Pumpkin Face Mask every couple of weeks. I purchased this after watching <a href="http://youtu.be/wlPRAqIm0uU">Skincare: My Holy Grail Products, Routine and Haul</a> video posted by <a href="http://fleurdeforce.blogspot.co.uk/">Fleur de Force</a>. I love this mask. After using it my skin feels really nourished. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="http://www.michaeltoddtrueorganics.com/product-type/masks-peels/pumpkin-nutrient-rich-facial-mask.html#prettyPhoto" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGM4wY2_Eh3YgTyVlBDsBiSSVdPW-kVo-Qiw_LPWF5lIkKvbDTCGOAqv0JJFnCSMtUp1qWZbzFko0GGp-lDbffD_1nrVo4JBiY1mniM0HOVRKnyU7TlpePfk98r3uCiPwFxhv/s320/pumpkin-facial-mask---cont-_1.jpg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="226" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture sourced from Michael Todd Website</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bridesmaid Dresses</b> - The hunt continues. I've got an idea of a colour I'd like but we're yet to find the perfect dresses. It's been so difficult being far away from the girls as I have to fly to N.Ireland if we want to go dress shopping, and little trips home haven't been possibly recently. We have done lots of online research, imessaging each other the nicest dresses we've found and luckily we all have a similar idea on the dresses. We are off to Ti Amo in Limavady on Monday to try some dresses and hopefully we'll find something soon as some dresses take 6-8 weeks to be made!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Invitations</b> - Randomly I got the idea for our invitation in a lift in the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. We are going to make the invites ourselves and thankfully our provisional design doesn't have too many fiddly bits. Finding the perfect wording is next on our list but we're taking inspiration from some of our favourite books and songs. Jim knows of a great screen printer who we're going to ask to print some bits and pieces and I'm exciting for the cutting and sticking! (I may be less enthusiastic by invite number 50!!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Food</b> - Food is Jim's favourite part of any day so we've spent a long time trying to come up with an ideal menu. All the food on the day will be vegan and we're excited to show our friends and family just how varied and extremely tasty a vegan diet can be. I will have a full post on our menu once we've finalised the little details, but we're having lots of fun testing recipes!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Running Order </b>- As our wedding will be state and god free, we've got the opportunity to be really creative with the running order for the day. One of our best friends has agreed to do some co-ordinating for us on the day introducing bits and pieces and we're hoping some of our extremely talented friends will lend of themselves that day to entertain the guests. We are working on a skeleton running order for the ceremony and event plan that I can hand to all suppliers and the venue to make sure our day runs as we'd like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lots of these aspects of our wedding deserve their own post and I am looking forward to getting back to writing now the New Year is here! That will be my top New Years resolution - Don't neglect my Blog! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I hope you've had a wonderful festive season and I wish lots of love and laughter for 2014!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-75824410637662211502013-12-02T05:18:00.000-08:002013-12-02T05:18:24.501-08:00Dresses they wore to say 'I Do!' - Charlene & Scott ' <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This post is not really about 'the dress' but I felt I couldn't talk about my favourite fictional weddings and not mention Aussie sweet hearts Scott and Charlene aka Jason and Kylie. I'm not sure if
I actually remember watching that episode (I was quite small) but it
was definitely an iconic wedding. A bit of a Romeo and Juliet story of young love bringing two feuding families together. Their wedding was the same year Kylie and
Jason released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGuNsiSZ9RI">'Especially for You'</a> - 25 years ago on 28th November - which makes me feel so very old!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">'Especially for You'</span> holds a special place in my heart and Jim thinks it's particularly weird that I have it on 7inch vinyl (charity shop find) but when I explained it all made sense. As tiny 3 year old Amy, I used to make my Dad dance
with me to this song in our living room. Our signature move was when a ran from the
fireplace and jumped and he lifted me and spun me round - we'd show those Strictly
dancers a thing or two!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not sure we'll have a father-daughter dance but if we did this would be our song!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-16228737509676333002013-11-17T01:10:00.001-08:002014-01-01T08:27:40.182-08:00The Dresses they wore to say 'I Do!' - Maria Von Trapp<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5JejNDEk-IrDZxEp1qsA3Yd6Hmy8LaKoRZjcXzqkg3nrjboqAj1igtKN9zOPd3r_x91lNzZXj1KBVYC6V-zf3ZOygM0FuNzMNkV1Bo5giL5BBWcKGXGe8r6YsjaaX96agiwV/s1600/Movie-Bride-Maria-Julie-Andrews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5JejNDEk-IrDZxEp1qsA3Yd6Hmy8LaKoRZjcXzqkg3nrjboqAj1igtKN9zOPd3r_x91lNzZXj1KBVYC6V-zf3ZOygM0FuNzMNkV1Bo5giL5BBWcKGXGe8r6YsjaaX96agiwV/s320/Movie-Bride-Maria-Julie-Andrews.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
I was little Julie Andrews was the star of 2 of my favourite films - Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Sound of Music was never far from our video player and I could often be found swooshing round the living room imagining I was at a ball in the Von Trapp's chateau or dancing in the summer house with Rolf as the rain poured down outside.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
still cry when Maria and Captain Von Trapp have their first kiss. Their wedding was so beautiful and Julie Andrews looked
so graceful in Maria's wedding dress. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The real Maria wore a floral garland in her hair on her wedding day similar to the one chosen for Julie Andrews.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Until my wedding dress arrives I haven't made any firm decisions on what way I will have my hair styled. Will I have a veil or some flowers incorporated into my hair like Maria? Possibly... I think flowers would probably look better with my dress than something really sparkly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved the delicate string of white flowers that Natalie Portman wore on her wedding day (incidentally her whole wedding was also entirely vegan) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://cdn01.cdnwp.celebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/06/06/FFN_Portman_Wedding_EXC_PRCP_080412_50850957-1024x744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://cdn01.cdnwp.celebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/06/06/FFN_Portman_Wedding_EXC_PRCP_080412_50850957-1024x744.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Having a browse </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/165506229/bridal-fascinator-bridal-head-piece?ref=sr_gallery_4&sref=sr_70f208af1d94a3ca4d657f463bb9efb99df4221a8cce83533d97a6be3ef1c31d_1383574580_14090654_flower&ga_search_query=flower+headdress&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=GB&ga_color=ffffff&ga_includes[]=tags&ga_search_type=all">Etsy</a> I found this gorg</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eous Bridal Fascinator which would be a lovely alternative to fresh flowers. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-6075556351735183802013-11-04T23:36:00.000-08:002013-11-19T13:37:02.664-08:00Dresses they wore to say 'I Do!' - Carrie Bradshaw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've always
been a massive Sex & the City fan, I even dragged my brother on the tour
when we went to NYC in 2006.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Like a lot of SATC fans I was over the moon when Mr
Big flew to Paris to finally sweep Carrie off her feet for good! The
first SATC movie is one of my favourites and I love the Vogue wedding fashion
shoot. It's a fantastic montage of gorgeous haute couture gowns which must have
been incredible to film (although I guess SJP is used to rocking designer
dresses).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Vivienne
Westwood dress that Carrie is gifted is gorgeous with its very structured
corseted bodice and the fabulous volume in the skirt. I love how it was styled
for her actual wedding day. When Carrie thought Big wasn't coming, I
was heartbroken for her. The wedding machine had taken over and the whole
occasion has become too big for Big (an important lesson, I feel).<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When I first
started looking at dresses I really wanted something that stood out like
Carrie's dress did. I wanted something that would be memorable and so looked
online at some more high fashion, unusual design wedding dresses. I've always
wanted to be a 'Carrie' but I've never been brave enough with fashion and
quickly decided our wedding day probably shouldn't be the day I start! The dress
I've chosen couldn't really be any more different from Carrie's extremely
striking Vivienne Westwood dress, and my wedding day 'look' will be
much softer. I've gone for something more classic and definitely more me. I'm
pretty sure all the magazine quizzes I took told me I'm a 'Charlotte' anyway...I'm
happy with that, look how stunning she looked at her wedding to Harry. </span></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-66089437637359055532013-10-28T15:30:00.001-07:002013-11-19T13:36:23.344-08:00The Dresses they wore to say 'I do!' - Audrey Hepburn - 'Funny Face'<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am working on a little series of short posts on wedding moments and wedding dresses that have been iconic for me. This is the first in this series. I hope you enjoy it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today's Google Doodle celebrates the birthday of Edith Head. She died in 1981 but would have been 116 today. Edith was the creative mind behind the wardrobes for many leading ladies (and gents) including my favourite actress, Audrey Hepburn. One of my favourite Audrey Hepburn films that Edith worked on is Funny Face and the outfit that stands out in my mind is the gorgeous wedding dress she wears.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love the neckline of Audrey's dress, it's the perfect ballerina style skirt for Audrey's delicate frame and shows off her tiny waist. On my wedding dress hunt I tried lots of dresses with a similar neckline to this dress and nearly chose one which was almost identical, except floor length.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm sure this dress inspired many brides-to-be at that time, as it continues too. I love the dress (below) by Belfast designer <a href="http://www.lizzieagnew.co.uk/bridal/">Lizzie Agnew</a>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqN6KeI53vVLHGIOICE6DJOynCXGQs5qXPztX7I3IMY6OF_eUpUln1x_3ElhlfrDuKjE80fj8kfRHTbnIaaysxGcPfYsFiYR8gI4euzIfKUN8Q4QgqA7J-PD0cHCy_MKNyeF2/s1600/jackie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqN6KeI53vVLHGIOICE6DJOynCXGQs5qXPztX7I3IMY6OF_eUpUln1x_3ElhlfrDuKjE80fj8kfRHTbnIaaysxGcPfYsFiYR8gI4euzIfKUN8Q4QgqA7J-PD0cHCy_MKNyeF2/s320/jackie.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Jackie' Picture from <a href="http://lizzieagnew.co.uk/">Lizzieagnew.co.uk</a></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-8451511832565021522013-10-21T06:10:00.002-07:002014-01-01T09:34:04.577-08:00208 Days: Our 11th Anniversary - The Story of How We Met<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's 11 years since Jim and I first started going out and althought that seems like a stupidly long time ago, I still remember the night we first met.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the summer of 2002 my best friend Nicky and I went to a WTSS gig in the Yacht Club, Portrush. I think this was one of the first gigs we'd been to there but that summer spent a lot of our time in Portrush.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That night a punk band called MellowDramatic we're playing. As far as I can remember they played some NoFX covers and some Nirvana, and had a guitarist who sat down and played off a music stand. But it was the drummer, who I very shortly learned was Jim, who caught my eye. I thought he was gorgeous, and seemed really 'cool' and funny. There was just something about him (check out the blurry pic below heehee)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very blurry teenage Jim</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A few weeks after the gig, in an attempt to get his attention I added him on MSN Messenger. As a pretty shy almost 17 year old I was terrified he'd ask a) who are you? Or b) why have you added me? Thank</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fully he asked neither, and we started chatting semi regularly online where Jim would recommend CDs and bands and I'd 'borrow' Mum's Amazon account details to order them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I saw Jim again at a couple of gigs over the summer but he was often "on route to the bar". He says he was 'playing it cool', I </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">just thought he didn't seem that interested.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It wasn't until October that we met up again properly and spent the evening hanging out at a mutual friend's birthday party. I'd recently bought 2 CDs he'd recommended The Unravelling - Rise Against and Detailed Instructions for the Self-Involved - Pinhead Circus so we chatted about that for a bit and ending up spending most of the night together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This was also the night we first kissed...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It wasn't terribly romantic. Jim had asked where the bathroom was in the house and I'd offered to show him. After he'd finished in the bathroom we had a random discussion, in the bathroom ,about how it was weird to have carpet in there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then he kissed me. (he will tell you I kissed him, but he was definitelly the instigator!!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can still remember the butterflies I got in my stomach when we first kissed :) It was all very exciting and fast...then our friend's mum walked in (awkward!!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We both left the party and went home. I remember thinking Jim was so grown up as he got a taxi home, where as Nicky and I usually walked home or got collected by my parents. When we got home we both got straight on MSN Messenger. He asked for my mobile number then proceeded to call me to check I'd given him my real number.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A couple of nights late I was chatting with my friend Katie on MSN Messenger (it's clear I spent a lot of time on MSN!) We were gossiping about boys and she asked if there was anyone I liked and I told her about Jim. She got very excited and said she would subtly ask him if he liked me. Little did I know she was about as subtle as a brick when she sent him a message.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>'Amy likes you do you like her?'</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He didn't respond to her but instead he sent me a message saying</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>'I like you too.'</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>'Will you go out with me?'</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And the rest, as they say, is history!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our 11 years together he has run across town to rescue me from a spider in my car
(which crawled up my neck – clearly an emergency!!) and has driven an hour to collect
me in the middle of the night after my handbag was stolen, he has spoiled me
with trips to London, Edinburgh, and Barcelona.
He cooks for me, surprises me with chocolate and hugs me when I need cheered up. He loves my family and my family love
him. Knowing he’s with me (or at the end
of the phone) makes me feel brave. I
love him with every ounce of my being and feel like the luckiest person in the
world that I get to go on adventures and grow old with the best person I know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Anniversary Jim!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-25194374556392046212013-10-07T13:59:00.002-07:002013-10-09T23:02:56.602-07:00219 Days: Haughty Culture*<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have an app on my phone called 'WeddingHappy'. I downloaded it after watching this PopSugar Video on <a href="http://www.geeksugar.com/Best-Wedding-Planning-Apps-Video-30459237">Best Wedding Planning Apps</a>. It's not an app I use religiously but it is useful. It creates a personal timeline of tasks based on your wedding date. It has a great 'countdown to the wedding' function (which is useful for titling blog posts) and would be handy for brides-to-be on the go to keep track of supplier details and appointments. You can even add a certain number of your own tasks and deadlines on the free version. Once you've completed a task you mark it 'done' and it drops off the list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top of its list of things I should have done by now is 'Book Florist' which is <i>way </i>past it's deadline and is now marked, in bright red letters as 'Complete as soon as possible'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So...I guess it's about time that I share with you some ideas we've had on flowers and foliage for our wedding. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Jim and I lived in
Belfast we didn't have a garden. We did have a 'beautiful' communal
alley, full of bins, which overlooked a train line but this surprisingly
didn't inspire us to be particularly horticultural. We did grow a
chilli plant indoors, but as we lived in an end terrace there was a
ridiculous daily ritual of moving the pot from the front of the house to the back to maximise its time in the sun!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim has always been more
interested in gardening than I have and, ever practical, he grew lots of
vegetables in a local community garden - mostly potatoes and red
lettuce as the slugs seem to leave those alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out the back of our new house
in Leicester we have a little paved sun trap which means we have no
excuse not to grow something! This year, alongside some particularly
vigorous mint (for mojitos obviously) I planted some freesia and some
gladioli. The freesias never appeared (Jim's mum informed me they are
quite hard to grow) but at the end of August these beautiful pink galdioli appeared.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D0logt9Uqg_kD-GHnZwxEQK0aAn2UtFynSb9HN8knHU4hDWbUcUL2Qm-rWuTngOJ0rwRjAuXyl2qJcWNMJhkAo0ZrHRZmX29BvamA809aAYCM1Jv0LRzDxm2R74lV77Jv-Wj/s1600/photo_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D0logt9Uqg_kD-GHnZwxEQK0aAn2UtFynSb9HN8knHU4hDWbUcUL2Qm-rWuTngOJ0rwRjAuXyl2qJcWNMJhkAo0ZrHRZmX29BvamA809aAYCM1Jv0LRzDxm2R74lV77Jv-Wj/s320/photo_8.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the weekend I spent some time weeding some of our flower beds and I've planted some
heather in what I hope will become a sort of wild flower bed. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXaxKZajnfSeE0Lbx2nsJrg1MZHrR9eLwSy2etsYvdfSod45BaGVEbh-gxXzEJw9d6w0nKqeNXGhlnnG3ZOnmFns_dZYNSukVD91smY746Gl8boeKIdizi5UXAr7VsX0d0kO0/s1600/weeding.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXaxKZajnfSeE0Lbx2nsJrg1MZHrR9eLwSy2etsYvdfSod45BaGVEbh-gxXzEJw9d6w0nKqeNXGhlnnG3ZOnmFns_dZYNSukVD91smY746Gl8boeKIdizi5UXAr7VsX0d0kO0/s640/weeding.png" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With most other aspects of our wedding I feel completely comfortable but I know next to nothing about flowers and floral arranging. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So although WeddingHappy (and I) felt a post on flowers was due, I have really struggled to write it.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I can definitely appreciate beautiful floral arrangements and have a few favourite flowers but because we would prefer to arrange the flowers ourselves I'm searching for the right place to start. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far we think we'd like to avoid anything too formal or arranged, preferring the natural, more hand picked arrangements. I love gypsophila (Jim also likes this as he read somewhere that it is pretty cheap!), lavender, white and green hydrangeas, and peonies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm really lucky to have Jim's mum to advise on what's in season and recognise all the random flowers I photograph and send to her. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We like the idea of mixing potted plants in amount the arrangements and where possible sourcing in season flowers from the local area rather and than shipping in a million frozen tulips from Amsterdam. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our spare room currently houses our extensive recycled glassware collection and a few friends and family members have also started a similar collection on our behalf. We'd like to use as many recycled and upcycled pieces in our wedding decorations as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below are some pictures from our floral mood board.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">So although we're not totally decided on what flowers we will, writing this post has definitely helped and has shown us that maybe, we have more of an idea of what we would like that we thought!</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />*Haughty Culture...Horticulture lol</span><br /><br />** some pictures my own, others from magazines or online searches.</span></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21453503.post-31942555764861192252013-10-07T12:00:00.001-07:002013-10-07T12:00:19.650-07:00Leicester Bloggers Meet-up - 28-Sept-13<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've only been blogging for 4 1/2 months and was definitely still finding my feet when the Zatchels Factory store launched at the end of the July and all of a sudden my Twitter time line was filled with RTs of Midlands based fashion and beauty bloggers who'd attended the event! There were some brilliant blogs that up 'til that point I'd been missing out on, and I was in heaven as I chain-read their blogging back catalogue!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of these was Hareem (<a href="http://www.iheartmexo.com/">Iheartmexo</a>) who was organising a Leicester Bloggers Meet up. Most of the girls attending were Fashion Beauty and Lifestyle Bloggers but I tweeted to say I'd definitely be interested in going along. It was a bit scary as I didn't know anyone and also I'm not a fashion or beauty blogger, just a massive fan of reading those kinds of blogs. I was also excited and having up sticks and moved to Leicester I felt well rehearsed in going new places and meeting new people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We all met at Highcross in the morning for the first show in their Autumn Fashion Fix.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90MlCKkpLsJ1UvgJKthUf5aEZvlseH-IIt730Mu05D0j1xfQD1W6N0Rq3c6KwOFsjSy-Blm1c9rTiBYJbtwgGWWLhojvbUddbV-FzFCPCLWHoncWLQCukW1lR_b6AIeV821jj/s1600/photo_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90MlCKkpLsJ1UvgJKthUf5aEZvlseH-IIt730Mu05D0j1xfQD1W6N0Rq3c6KwOFsjSy-Blm1c9rTiBYJbtwgGWWLhojvbUddbV-FzFCPCLWHoncWLQCukW1lR_b6AIeV821jj/s200/photo_2.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-APXtrJl_Hq6majGUK-nCA0ONh1H3W3ewoHNZp1RnB7JTn2pEmIRFzp31HQAisa0KtM8cEP-y9qUw7H9-xblswkloGNRNcePDWpKFMX9reF57X5tXWdUakPD2Lt9_gDfIUgtV/s1600/photo_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-APXtrJl_Hq6majGUK-nCA0ONh1H3W3ewoHNZp1RnB7JTn2pEmIRFzp31HQAisa0KtM8cEP-y9qUw7H9-xblswkloGNRNcePDWpKFMX9reF57X5tXWdUakPD2Lt9_gDfIUgtV/s200/photo_1.jpg" width="150" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGTEzkcMgCmcfgzPNHiZhCpAYgCum9MpPMBru3_ZyqvbP6VwjnN09Noipo-p_i_ZCbJ-qjShcVVdf_hqL7Pzse776zokJN_QZLRpyYYHgArlqNysLIgXrOYGPxEfKtTJALl90/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGTEzkcMgCmcfgzPNHiZhCpAYgCum9MpPMBru3_ZyqvbP6VwjnN09Noipo-p_i_ZCbJ-qjShcVVdf_hqL7Pzse776zokJN_QZLRpyYYHgArlqNysLIgXrOYGPxEfKtTJALl90/s200/photo.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This was followed by breakfast and some beauty browsing, then we all met back up at Bella Italia for lunch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_44mDeTBac8Z9m8iaTe4wZR94qyYsoWOzK8A4xRASp-XrKmXXW5iWGe3XzVF5r2HCjL10tLcvdYgL7Fu_DeqZU8H67I-Lkpo9JU9s-3lH58t6S8xdS6Y6vbQ0WyElvCzqqKk/s1600/photo_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_44mDeTBac8Z9m8iaTe4wZR94qyYsoWOzK8A4xRASp-XrKmXXW5iWGe3XzVF5r2HCjL10tLcvdYgL7Fu_DeqZU8H67I-Lkpo9JU9s-3lH58t6S8xdS6Y6vbQ0WyElvCzqqKk/s320/photo_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was really lovely to chat with other people who blog and I made sure to take advantage of their beauty knowledge when we went shopping after lunch! (Thanks to recommendations by the lovely Sophia of <a href="http://www.tattooedtealady.com/">Tattooed Tea Lady</a> - I went back to get the Bobbi Brown eye cream!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm looking forward to meeting up with the girls again soon! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">x </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808480755963356587noreply@blogger.com0