Pretty shoes

Lovely wedding shoes. I'm not really a fan of peep-toe shoes, but I couldn't resist these. So feminine and classic. I really love them. They cost £110.

Appointments booked

Today I've been into central London and booked a couple of appointments for me and my mum, sister and friend to look at wedding dresses. I feel so excited!

I originally wanted to book appointments with London Brides, but they turned out to not exist. At the address given on their website was a shop selling sofas. I walked up and down the street and even ventured down a couple of side streets, but to no use. Such a shame. I have heard good reviews and the website seems good. Have they moved? Gone bankrupt?

I also wanted to, and did, book, an appointment with Collezione Sposa, but decided to cancel it. If was truly looking to buy a dress, I might have kept it, but the boutique looked horrible. Over-stocked with dresses, barely room for me and the shop keeper, never mind the people I wanted to bring along. They need a bigger shop.

I did end up booking an appointment with Browns Bride. I was not going to go to this shop, but I had it recommended by someone at my fiancés workplace, so I decided to drop in. Such a lovely shop. Large space taking up several rooms, beautiful decor, lovely seats for family+friends, great dresses (although they are probably too expensive for me, but I'm just trying stuff on for fun at the moment, so who cares!) and friendly staff. They did charge £25 for a consultation fee, but I thought that was okay, considering the amazing dresses I get to try on.

I also booked an appointment with House of Fraiser's Bridal Room on Oxford Street. Very strong department feeling, but I still found the staff nice and the dresses good enough to book an appointment.

Hopefully it will be a fun day. I can't wait. Bring on Thursday!

The Landmark Hotel

Last year in September, for David's birthday, me with support from my family gave David vouchers for a luxurious stay at The Landmark Hotel. He chose to use them the weekend before Valentine's Day, as a celebration for both of us. We were looking forward to it so much and couldn't wait to go. We'd booked everything over a month in advance, and the hotel had called us up to confirm. Everything was sorted. Our so we thought. The night before our stay, david decided to call up the hotel just to make sure everything was fine. Thank god he did. They had completely LOST our booking. There was no evidence of anything every being booked. After some trouble, and quite a bit of stressing on my part, David managed to sort it all out. Including the SPA treatment for himself and the dinner for the evening. That's my man!

So we arrived early next day, and stepped into the most amazing hotel reception. Everything was lush and you could tell it was very expensive. Certainly the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed in. We were given our keys and shown to the lifts. David had his SPA treatment first thing, so I went to the hotel room to unpack our bags. We stayed in a superior room and it was just amazing. About 35 square metres of luxury. Hugh closet, giant cupboard with minibar, tv, playstation, safe, drawers etc. Two very large round tables for nightstands, three lounge chairs. Amazing marble bathroom; with his and hers facilities, absolutely hugh bathtub/shower and separate WC. Simply the most amazing thing ever.

While David was at the SPA I had a bath and put on the complementary robes and slippers. Champagne was delivered to our room. When David came back, he changed into his robe and we ordered an "Afternoon Tea" from room service. I've never had room service before! It was amazing. Just the feeling of luxury.

We then went down to the SPA facilities where we had a day-pass and enjoyed the swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room and sanarium. Facilities was very clean and new although they had run out of bathrobes completely, we had to wait for out slippers, and as we left they had run out of towels as well. All i all though, very nice visit.

In the evening we had a three course dinner in the amazingly beautiful Winter Garden. Probably one of the prettiest restaurants I've ever been to. I had a crab salad with avocado mouse and saffron sauce for a starter which was absolutely gorgeous. Bit disappointed with the main and dessert, but that was because they were not to my exact taste. All the food was beautifully cooked and presented. We had a pianist playing music through out the meal and it was amazing. Very romantic.

The next day we had the breakfast which was, yet again, amazing. Full english + continental. Yum, yum, yum.

I'm very happy with our stay and would definitely want to go again.

While we were having our dinner, a wedding was taking place in the next room. If I had the budget, I would definitely look into having it at the Landmark Hotel.

For pictures of everything described, please visit: The Landmark

Valentine's Day is Our Anniversary

This past Monday was the 14th February and thus Valentine's Day. For me and David, this is a special day in more than one way. It was on this day, 4 years ago, that we shared our very first kiss. We have been together for four whole years now. It feels like forever and yet like no time has passed at all. The way it's suppose to feel when you know something will last forever. This Valentine's Day we stayed in, because we'd just spent the weekend at the wonderful Landmark Hotel in London (more about that to come), and felt we could do with an evening of cuddles at home. We didn't spend a lot of money as the hotel had been quite expensive, but it was a very good night anyway. I'd bought David chocolates and a card and he surprised me with little gifts and a big gift which meant I had some extra time to look for a new job. Thanks my love, I needed that.

4 years together and now we are planning our wedding. Much in our lives are far for perfect, but us two, together, that is perfect.

Budget Thoughts

Have been looking around online wedding forums for budget tips. It seems you can save money on practically anything. The reality is that you can get married for free, book a registrar and sign the papers. Done. But who wants a wedding like that? Not us. So, it's important that we decide what is worth spending money on and what is not. We haven't sat done and had a proper discussion about this yet, but I though I'd just jot down a few thoughts of mine here in the blog.

I wouldn't mind spending money on:

Wedding dress - Not huge amounts of money, but more than £30 on Ebay.

Accessories - Again, don't want to spend all the money we have, but I want something nice and definitely better than the £25 crap tiaras someone tried to sell us at the Wedding Show. Can definitely consider secondhand.

Photographer - I want great photos of our wedding day. Simple as that. Very important to me.

David's clothes - We both deserve to look amazing on our day.

Wedding rings - We'll be wearing them for the rest of our lives. It's worth the extra cash.

I could see us saving money on:

Food - Make it ourself? Have potluck? Cheaper caterer?

Flowers - How many do you really need? They even make synthetic wedding flowers?

Entertainment - People we know? Spotify? Art student?

Location - Probably will end up hiring a community hall or such.

Invites and stationary - Will make our own

Alcohol - I'm honestly not bothered. Will probably not have a lot. Maybe paid bar?

The Wedding Show

Last Sunday me and David went to the UK Wedding Show at London Excel. I could write an essay on what we saw and learnt, but to keep it short and accessible I will simply list my best and worst things about the wedding fair.

Best

• The Fashion Show. Amazing dresses on amazing models. I love to watch a show were you can tell that the models are having a good time and these models really did. Dancing, smiling and flirting with the audience. A real joy to watch. The dresses were mostly gorgeous even though there were some really bad ones too. Two in particular with one looking like it was made out of bubble wrap, and the other one covered with hideous flowers. But, like I said, mostly amazing dresses. The groom's wear was also amazing. My favourite clothes came from Couture Bride and Groom and Moss Bros.
• Ivory and Co Tiaras. Amazing selection of utterly gorgeous tiaras and I got all giddy trying them on. It truly made me feel very bridal indeed. I must also give a hugh thank you to the nice retail representative who lent me her hair clip in order to make my hair look more like I've planned it to on my wedding day. I really appreciated it. They also had a 50% sale on. If I had a wedding dress to match my tiara to I would have bought one at once.
• Anthony Formal Wear. Very friendly and helpful representatives. Gorgeous clothes for grooms. David's favourites.
• Ideas. Got some inspiration from table decorations and such. Very helful for future references.

Worst

• Uninterested retailers. At more than one stand we were met by people with no other interest than to make a sale. As soon as several retailers found out our wedding was 1.5 years away they lost all interest in serving us. That doesn't go for all the stands by any means, but it still made us feel unwanted. I understand that they want to push for a sale, but it's borderline rude and gives a very poor image of the company you are representing.
• Bollywood drummers. There was a stand for a group of Bollywood artist you were able to hire for your wedding reception. Throughout our visit, with the exception of the duration of the fashion show, they were drumming and making a lot of noise. Admittedly it's a clever tactic to make people notice you. However, it's very annoying for anyone who is uninterested in Bollywood music. Also there was no need to bang that drum as loudly as they did.
• Nothing to do with wedding stands. There was an energy company occupying one of the stands. WTF? Why? Not okay at a wedding show.

Just because

I'm not going to write about weddings today. Life is just not great at the moment. I'm a little ball of pain. My sinuses are exploding and my tummy is cramping. Job hunting is stressful. And I'm not the nicest person to be around. So thank you David. For being around me anyway. I love you.

Penguin Madness

I have a thing about penguins. I don't know why, but I find them absolutely adorable. At London Zoo I could stand for hours just watching them swim in their pool and waddle about. And don't get me started on cuddly toys. So when I typed "penguin cake toppers" into google I was happily surprised to find that many others seemed to share my love for the animals. Here are some pictures to tickle your fancy. Enjoy!

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fliepsiebieps/3156814406/in/photostream/

Found at: http://www.folksy.com/items/277077

Found at: http://www.charmorigin.com/18-custom-wedding-cake-toppers-handmade-penguins-wct005.html

Found at: http://home.valornet.com/angiehummingbird/penguincollectionwedding7.html

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fliepsiebieps/4346856376/in/photostream/

Bridal Magazines Reviewed

Wedding Ideas, Issue 91 February 2011

This was the first wedding magazine I ever bought. I love that its travel size and merely costs £2.99, which for a wedding magazine is a bargain price. It's easy to read, clearly divided into different sections. It covers everything from hairstyles to Real-Life Weddings. I particularly liked the section on themed receptions, where they had put together a collage of different things that would make the themes come to life. Items featured are clearly marked with provider details and, excluding high price objects like dresses, with retail price. I found this magazine very inspiring and will most likely keep buying it for more ideas and inspiration.

Brides, April/March 2011

Marketed as the "UK's no.1 best-selling bridal magazine" I could resist the urge to pick up this during a shopping trip. At £4.99 its fairly pricey for a magazine and unfortunately I can't say it's good value for money. It's extremely heavy. My arms started to hurt before I had even got half way through, so clearly you are meant to read this at a table, not on the sofa like I did. Its also large meaning it folds in on itself in an awkward way if you attempt to hold it up. So unless you read it on a flat surface, you have to support the magazine, straining your arms even more. 90% of the magazine focuses on dresses, the bride's and the bridesmaid's. Mainly designer clothes, so absolutely nothing I can afford. I did like the 12 month planning calendar and the "What's your wedding style" quiz. However I d don't think I'll be buying this magazine again any time soon. It's just not worth the money.

Photos taken from: http://www.weddingideasmag.com/ and http://www.bridesmagazine.co.uk/

Wedding Magazines

I've bought two wedding magazines now, Brides and Wedding Ideas. I've placed them next to a big bouquet of flowers someone sent me to say congratulations for getting engaged. It looks like still life for an art class. And it makes me feel very bridal. Like it's actually happening. Still haven't gotten over the feeling that it's all just a dream.

The entire bridal thing has been on hiatus for a while. I am currently looking for a new job and that seem to take up most of my thoughts at the moment. A budding, but inexperienced writer, I'm finding it extremely hard to get noticed in the industry. It's stressing me out. However, I will try to write at least one blog post a day. It's good for my writing, as well as for my wedding plans.

I'm planning to review the two bridal magazines I have bought tomorrow. Stay tuned.