Honeymooning

Well we're back and well and happy and deliciously loved up and all is right with the world. I kept a journal while away in South Africa so will be uploading the day to day notes I made along with pics once I've got through three loads of laundry and countless pieces of consolatory wedding cake!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this image...

Married bliss indeed. The coastline of Storms River at Tsitsikamma National Park will now forever be engraved into my mind as my new found 'happy place'...

Been and Gone

And the feeling that keeps coming back to me is that everything and nothing has changed all at once.
It was delicious, delirious and so quick! Full of weeping and laughing and a plethora of fabulous pockets!

We are now in Cape Town enjoying evening cocktails before going out in relatively smelly garments as our bags got lost en route but hey. Not a thing matters.

I am Mrs Burridge and I couldn't be happier in the whole wide world.

Jobs Jobbed

We're into the home straight and it's been pretty productive around here...I even managed to claim a moment at the Knitting & Stitching Show on work time...

Requiring cocktails in volume...and stitching in moderation

Bridesmaids Presents have been made and distributed so now you can see what the two gorgeous girls got...

A satchel decorated with yoyos/suffolk puffs (my new favourite crafty thing)

Notelets with their initial letter on with matching envelopes

Snuggly warm slippers

...the bookworm got a Booklovers' Journal...

...and the Sis got the fabulous I'm so Popular address book that I earmarked for her a very long time ago...

All wrapped in on-theme navy & cream wired vintage ribbon, courtesy of VV Rouleaux.

The other fabulous friends and family who have [been roped in]graciously offered to help us with our wedding preparations have their presents all wrapped and ready to give out on the day, but I can't tell you what they're getting quite yet...

The Sis has been over amassing the 130 mini jam jars into table allocations, labelling the different varieties (featuring strawberry, blackberry, redcurrant, raspberry and blackcurrant jams), covering the lids in on-theme fabric circles and tied on parcel labels of the names of each guest.

Then we packed them into boxes to go to the venue this week, arranged by table for ease of distribution.

And so of course, there was the table plan

   

And finally, the flower girl presents which, along with antique pearl-esque necklaces, they will be presented with on the morning.

Can you see the resemblance to the dolls and the gorgeous sisters?

T-minus five days. Am watching my skin and the weather with a close eye: two things I can fret about with absolutely no ability to alter the path of destiny, which surprisingly calms me down somewhat.

To every season...

The news is in!

The wonderful florists at Flowers!Flowers! St Albans have confirmed that the Viburnum Berries and Cream Ranunculus are a go!

Cinderella shall go to the wedding with the bouquet of her dreams!

Ok so maybe this just excites me, but at this time of spreadsheets, lists and coach transportation, a girl takes what she can get!

Irrelevant but pretty image of lush and gorgeous bouquets that I like but are not for me taken outside a hotel in Liverpool Street. Oh the hydrangeas!!

Extended Delay and imminent countdown!

Hello all and so many apologies for being absent for so very long!

It's been incredibly busy around here as you can imagine and it seems that today is 17 days to the wedding!!! OH MY GOODNESS.

That's all that I can say at the moment. On loop.

Crikey.

The end of September saw a beautifully civilised crafty Hen party with fascinator making followed by DIVINE dinner at a London restaurant

Delirious grins of silliness are due wholly to the fabulousness of the day and nothing at all to do with the scrumptious cocktails!

The Boy had his stag in the stunning Kent countryside on an incredibly sunny weekend in September. Shooting, Pubbing, Extreme tabletennis and Gin were the highlights of the weekend...

I think I enjoy most the token milk jug in the fridge. Oh and the Chateau Cardboard on the right.

This weekend it's pampering in Champneys, St Albans, then hair next week and we're into the home straight to 1 November.

Oh my goodness.

Table Planning

Has been surprisingly easy. God love my geek-chic Boy, of course he found a computer programme to make the whole episode run smoothly.

It takes a while to input all the information, but the pure wealth of detail that you can add to each individual (VIP, not to be sat near x, female, vegetarian etc etc) means it does most of the table planning calculations all by itself eventually. You can select the number, shape and location of all the tables with the easy to navigate buttons on the left.

Once one table is correct, you can lock it to protect it from later reshuffles and keep working on others.

It then produces lists, diagrams, place cards, RSVP records and even statistical success rates in pleasing as many guests as possible!

Can't recommend it highly enough.

And no, I'm not being paid to be so enthusiastic!

Crafty Crafty at Wedding Planning Central

Wow... it's been a busy old time here.

Went to stay at the cake maker's house (we are old family friends) and the Boy convinced us both that four tiers was the very minimum that he required on a cake! I volunteered to make the cake toppers (I had the brainwave of a piano and a dressmaking dummy to show the musician and seamstress relationship that we have) to recompense for the work we were piling on her!

Crafting this weekend was incredibly productive...

Two cake toppers out of oven-hardening clay:

One fascinator for my Mum modelled on the sweeping feathers spied elsewhere and created from a mix of VV Rouleaux feather rose, beads salvaged from the fabric she's using for her dress and feathers from an Ebay seller. It will have to remain a surprise, however - pictures to follow after the Big Day.

Less than 50 days now and counting!

The Countdown begins...

It's official. In two months' time, I will be a married woman. The final tick in the calendar list of prior engagements was a dear friends' wedding yesterday in the beautiful Fawsley Hall in Northamptonshire.
Now that they have been truly wed (and are being blessed at her local church today) we are on the home straight to the wedding of myself and The Boy. And I couldn't be more excited!


We are into the countdown now...

• The final dressfittings
• The hair appointments
• The endless manicures
• The Hen preparations
• The prevention of cookie & cake eating
• The menu selections
• The table plans

And I just absolutely can't wait!

South Africa Baby!!

I can't believe that I've not shared the biggest update yet... the gorgeous Boy has booked the honeymoon!!

I got to the point that I could not decide between the myriad options and locations and resorts and timezones and budgets and sent him off on a little research foray all his own. After much to-ing and fro-ing, googling and emailing, we have purchased the flights and he has confirmed the following itinerary:

3 days in Cape Town
2 day in Hermanus
2 days in Knysna
1 day in Port Elizabeth
2 days in Shamwari Nature Reserve: Bayethe Lodge
1 day in Cape Town

The only time we're really living it up 5* stylee is at the game reserve - well if you're going to be forced awake at 4.30am for a 5am safari you may as well do it in a posh bed!! Images taken from the Bayethe Lodge section of the Shamwari website - pretty swanky, eh??

 

We're flying into Cape Town on the Sunday evening after the nuptials so we will be able to have a leisurely breakfast with our guests, pick up our suitcases from home and get to the airport for an 8pm flight. Then it's four days in Cape Town to explore the sights, the vineyards and the wildlife, then driving the Garden Route via Hermanus and Knysna before stopping in Port Elizabeth and then onto a nature reserve for some animal spotting.

Then it's back to Cape Town for one night's dinner and fly out the following afternoon.

Although it would be fair to say that this is mostly the Boy's long-time dream and Africa would not have been first and foremost choice for me, I haven't stopped hearing good things about it since booking it a week ago. I'm actually quite excited now: stay tuned for safari fashion tips and explorations in beige linen...

Foliage

When walking the Inca Trail last year we developed a wonderful distraction technique when secretly requiring a minute's break from the hiking. Feigning an interest in some distant bloom, we'd shout 'FOLIAGE' and all stop to ponder the moment (or struggle for the aching in our lungs to abate)...

In the quiet of a deserted summer arts centre, I distract my snail-paced mind with images of foliage of a different order...

Mmmmm.... Pretty....

Upper image from Brides

Lower image from Wild At Heart

Kiss & Makeup

Following on from a highly successful evening project at work, I managed to sweet-talk a professional makeup artist into teaching me application techniques in advance of the W-Day. I have a good stash at home but as most of my tricks are adopted from Just 17 or watching my mum in the 80s I thought it may be a good idea to make sure I'm doing the 'right thing'.

I've been asked to compile a few images of looks that I like for us to trial... So far I have come up with these...
All images courtesy of Brides.com




Any thoughts? They're all pretty similar emphasis-on-eyes-pink-lips-subtle-cheeks type looks but I guess the difficulty is in making what's probably a pretty complicated technique look so simple.

And then staying on your face for 8 hours.

I will of course report back...

Radio Silence

So many apologies for the lack of bloggery action for the last long while. On return from holiday we were faced with the rather frantic news of our wedding list company going into administration!

Needless to say, it was a busy week here on the phone to credit card companies and thank goodness the Boy has had a week off to resurrect the list with another more stable company, The Bottom Drawer. We are back to all systems go and have even been able to add a few bits and pieces that were not going to be available through the former-list-company-that-shall-not-be-named.

Now that that has all been rectified, I will leave you with a pleasant picture of a recent wedding we were lucky enough to attend at Upwaltham Barns, Sussex. A gorgeous sunny day with the band comprising members of the West End cast of 'Buddy' which the Bride is currently appearing in. Talk about friends in high places!

Inspiration out and about

Flowers at an East London school

 

 

 

 

Bouquets in preparation for collection outside Wild At Heart, Liverpool Street. Loving the hydrangea and baby's breath.

It's never too early to stock up

Three and a half months until the wedding...

Estee Lauder Rose Apricot Nail Lacquer

Sitting happily in my makeup bag with nail tips poised.

Organised? Moi?

Stitching Away

Started making the flower girls' presents this weekend: rag dolls dressed miniature versions of their dresses...

I'll report back on progress as I get time to stitch 'n' stuff!

The Great Post

Has occurred...

Let's just hope someone wants to come see me get hitched!

A Boy In A Suit

A 6'3" boy.

A 37" chest

A 34" waist.

A Suit that Fits.

A bloody miracle.*

Can't recommend the service highly enough.

My thanks to the MOB for an amazing line in floral waistcoats and to Harlequin for the ties made to order in the Bridesmaids silk.

Don't look now, but I think the men might be getting in order too...

*Just in case you were worried, the suit will be pressed properly before D-Day. Well, it had better be or he'll get a beating rather than an exchange of vows...!!

Flower Girl Shoes

I've been having a rummage and have come up trumps, yet again.


Very excited indeed. Blue patent party shoes for little girls seem hard to find, particularly off-season in high summer - come the autumn I'm sure it will be easy peasy but now...


However, along strolls Panache in Hertfordshire and their delicious collection of 'traditional' children's clothes from Italy and Spain. Their range of Mary Janes is just staggering and we have booked into the diary a meeting of flower girls, mums and the all important bride, to get the fitting and sizing correct, about a month before W-Day.

I would have killed for these when I was a girl.

Still would, in fact.

The Hibernation Period...

One bridesmaid dress tacked to the point that I can leave it in hibernation...

My sister is back from her year studying in the US in September.

I will have 6 weeks to insert the netting, finalise the zip tacking, handstitch the hem and ensure the correct fit before the Big Day.

Easy peasy!

Right... off you go into your moth-proof bag...