Flowers, Decor & Pizza.

On Thursday night I had an "appointment" with my florist/mother for flower talk, wedding talk, girl talk, wine and pizza.  Which, lets be honest, are the best kinds of appointments. I'd hoped to be joined by both of my "bridesmaids" (yep, we're still using the air quotations) but Megan wasn't able to make it so it was just Mum, Laura and I this time. 

How lucky am I that my Mum is in the wedding business! Laura and I have watched our Mum hold countless appointments with excited brides since we were little girls. As kids we knew the importance of keeping the TV low because "Mum has a bride in", we expected our teenage Saturday morning lie-ins to be ruined by a shrieking bride downstairs and having our family dinners interrupted by a Bride-zilla who placed her wedding flowers in higher regard than Mum's need to eat was considered normal. We spent our sick-days off school in churches watching Mum decorate alters (we've both boked in many a church hall), we've spent hours standing in the kitchen while Mum used our heads as dummies for shaping flower girl headbands, we've been dressed up in bridesmaids dresses and marched down catwalks at Bridal Shows and been shouted at on numerous occasions for playing with the glue gun... 

Laura and I lived and breathed weddings all our lives, without really even noticing it. Weddings were just a normal part of our lives growing up and it isn't until we look back that we realise just how much we picked up on.  As a result, my sister and I are hyper-critical over wedding details and, in some way, have been trained to pick up on details no one else would likely notice.  It's likely the reason the both of us aren't really into the traditional wedding - having seen hundreds of weddings over the years, they all pretty much look the same - and is probably why I've been so keen to do something a little different.  The three of us keep using the phrase "but would anyone else notice that?" when one of us picks up on a ridiculous little detail that our floristry superpowers have noticed.

Prior to our "appointment" I had sent Mum a couple photographs of floral styles that I like, and in typical Wendy style she had some centerpieces made up for me to look at. I can't tell if she's delighted or disappointed that I've chosen something really simple and minimal for my Reception (probably a bit of both?!) but I'm really, really pleased with her ideas. Based on our numbers at the moment I think we'll have 10 tables, 5 of which I would like Mum to create centerpieces for.  We will have various other tables dotted around the room that will have Wendy creations too and the table for our main meal will have flowers on too.  I'm toying with the idea of wearing a wrist corsage,getting Laura and Megan to wear one too and getting Michael to wear a button hole.  

I'm still battling with making the reception "too wedding-y" as, lets be honest, Michael and I will be 2 weeks married by this point and we're worried it will feel a bit strange.  It's a post-wedding party after all, and it's easy to get carried away and treat it like a normal wedding reception. I just want the room to look nice and the bottom line is that I want our guests to feel like they're celebrating our marriage, not just a random party.  It's been a strange thing to plan and I'm glad Mum and Laura have been so honest and good at keeping me grounded so far.  On Thursday they helped me change my mind about a few things and make some cut backs.  It's sometimes hard not to feel a bit deflated, but after a couple days considering their advice it's clear that they're right and it spurs me on again.

I think we're pretty  much decided on our flowers and decor now - just a little bit more shopping to do for bits and pieces but I'm really happy with how it's all working out. I know Michael loves the ideas too - I've run a couple past him that he hasn't really liked, so those will be scrapped but apart from that we're pretty much on the same page.  He's just raging he didn't get to have pizza on Thursday....Thanks Mum and Lo for all your help :)

It's All In The Music...

 
Michael and I are beyond delighted with our choice of wedding DJ's for the reception party!  Music was (and is) very important to us, and we were so chuffed to come across these two guys who share the same attitudes to us when it comes to tastes and the kind of music generally played at wedding receptions.  We've listened to a pile of their mixes, and we were dancing around our living room to each one - exactly what we were hoping for and more.  No wedding cheese here, thanks!  All booked and ready to rock!

"We are record collectors and music obsessives as well as being professional DJs. Not only do we use top of the range equipment but we believe that record turntables are musical instruments and each record should be creatively mixed together, for you and your guests. We have won several international mixing competitions and played alongside some of the most respected DJs in the world. We believe that as well as reading the crowd and giving them the best party possible, a good DJ should avoid gaps between records, not to mention talking over them. If you’ve been to events where the wedding DJ seemed to talk more than play music, then you can understand our policy of being “tastefully interactive.”

We are fully aware that our job is to get everybody dancing by playing music that they love. We love and play music from all genres, so you can expect to hear everything from pop, rock, indie, dance, funk, soul and disco on a typical night. We just avoid the tired old novelty songs that would inevitably turn your wedding reception into a generic wedding disco. Why would you want any single part of your wedding day to be anything other than completely unique? Our aim is to create an atmosphere like the best house party you've ever been at."

Very excited.

NYC Ceremony Dilemma

I've been humming that old Kelly Rowland & Nelly song for the past few days because I have uncovered quite the dilemma after speaking to many, many New Yorkers this week. 

We have been scouring the interweb for elopement photographers in the City - so many to choose from - and have got chatting to quite a few who have been more than willing to listen to our plans and make suggestions.  All but one suggested, to our initial despair, that we scrap the idea of getting married in City Hall. As we had suspected all along, the queues are likely to be insane as Christmas Eve is an incredibly popular date to get married in New York.  The idea of City Hall being super busy put us off a little bit - we want something more quiet, private and less of a fuss than that.

We're still very much of the opinion that a marriage ceremony is between two people, our vows are for us and between us, and we don't feel the need for anyone else to be there.  We do, of course, want our loved ones there to celebrate with us afterwards - but I love the idea that the ceremony is just between Michael and I.  No fuss, just us.

We were also a bit concerned about only having 2 days in which to have our ceremony, and the thought of something cropping up while we're there which means the City Hall option isn't going to work gives us both major anxiety!  With the City Hall option, it's very much turn up, take a ticket, and wait in line until you're called.  The idea of having a date and time booked is very appealing with this new insight!

After speaking to many different photographers, we're getting more and more excited about the different locations and backdrops available to us for our photographs.  As two very un-photogenic and awkward people when it comes to getting our photo taken, we are looking for someone who can make us feel really relaxed and who can snap a few candid shots where we don't have to stand and pose!  We feel it's important to have a few shots of the actual ceremony, and a video too so that we can show our family and friends.

A few of the photographers were really focused on the fact that we're getting married on Christmas Eve - and were looking to charge us a premium for it being a holiday - they also rambled on about photos being taken in front of Christmas Trees and various other Christmas themed shoots - and this is totally not what we want.  Yes, we know we're getting married on Christmas Eve, but no, it is not a Christmas themed wedding.  We picked Christmas Eve as we were engaged on Christmas Eve, and New York is completely magical at that time of year.  It was important for us that there was a bit of a buzz about the place, an added bit of excitement in the air - to help dispel any anticlimactic feelings following the ceremony when the realisation hits that no one will be there to celebrate  with us immediately after, which, we know, is a possibility.  We plan to have a full day planned after the ceremony to avoid this - possibly a Broadway show or something fun after a really lovely dinner. 

So with all this in mind, we've had to narrow it down and pick a photographer and celebrant for our little ceremony.  Once this is booked - we're over half way there!  Exciting!

I can't say "I Do" without these two.

I always knew at the back of my mind who I would want standing beside me when I marry Michael. However, when our plans changed and we decided to elope we both decided we weren't going to have all the traditional wedding "nonsense" - including a bridal party.  We weren't sure there was a point in "appointing" a bridal party when we were getting married on our own and they wouldn't be there.  As we continued to plan, it became evident that I needed (and wanted) a couple of my closest family and friends to help with plans, to bounce ideas off, to drag to bridal fairs, dress fittings and cake testings.  I also needed someone to be in charge of a bridal shower or Hen party of course! Planning a wedding is quite a girly thing to do and while Michael is really helpful and enthusiastic about the whole thing, I'm super conscious of boring the life out of him with bridetalk.

I later decided that I needed "sort of" bridesmaids to help me through the journey. Plus, the thinly disguised looks of disappointment on two particular little faces when I told them I wasn't having bridesmaids left me feeling guilty as sin...

It was a no brainer that I would have my sister, Laura.  She's the Tia to my Tamara. The sensible little sister that forever keeps me grounded when I get a little goofy and stupid, who shares the exact same sense of humour as me, who keeps a whole mental catalogue of the most ridiculous little memories of our childhood together. We have a sometimes extremely creepy "sista sista" (as we call it) brain link that only the 2 of us can vouch for. She knows me inside out while still managing to keep an air of mystery about herself. She's the "pretty sister" who carries herself with a level of class and sophistication (sans wine) that I've never quite managed and I need her to steer me in the right directions when it comes to wedding stuff. For sure. Even though she works unbelieveably hard and we don't see eachother as often as I'd like she's forever just a whatsapp away when I need to run something past her. I always feel ridiculously self-indulgent bombarding her with pictures of dresses and cakes and candles when she has a thousand more important things to worry about but she always responds with her honest opinion and to be honest, if Laura says "no" you can guarantee the idea will be scrapped immediately. If we were given a spare ticket to New York with us, I'd give it to Laura.

When Michael and I first began dating, I obviously indulged in the obligitory Facebook stalk of his friends and family. (We all do it, behave yourself.) And there was one family member that scared the living daylights right out of me.  The vampiric Miss Megan Archer. On our dates we used to walk past the shop that she worked in and I would beg Michael not to introduce us. I'd heard stories about her ripping mens hearts out and feeding them to her Jack Russell (only joking) but as Michael's ballsy little sister, I was petrified of her. I think all I wanted was for her to like me and it seemed like we were worlds apart personality-wise. This story always has the two of us in kinks nowadays - we couldn't have got on better.  It's rare that a day goes by where we haven't been in contact. In just a few years we've had some amazing ups and horrendous downs but I couldn't imagine not having her as part of this. She's as goofy as I am and our conversations about the wedding often escalate into the ridiculous (last week we were discussing how cool it would be to have Michael ride into the reception on a Polar Bear) but she's enthusiastic when I need her to be and happily accompanied us to the wedding fair, reveled in telling everyone she was a bridesmaid, let me use her back as a writing desk when filling in details forms as well as springing to action by offering to carry all the leaflets and books I was collecting as we went. Her ability to keep me excited about wedding stuff is much needed and appreciated. I'm really excited to be gaining another little sister.

So, keeping 'er casual as always, I just wanted to write a little card and a letter to both girls to ask them for their help throughout the planning process and to take the opportunity to let them know how much they mean to me. I had some silly pictures of us together printed on the front for banters sakes and wrote a letter inside. What's life without a little cheese, eh?

The Quirky Weddings Fair

I had stumbled upon a flyer for The Quirky Wedding's Alternative Fair a couple months ago and made a mental note to stop by and take a look. We ended up making a bit of a day of it as I was joined by Michael, Megan (Michael's sister and my bridesmaid), my mum (Wendy) and Tracey (Michael's mum). It was the first time our motherbears got to meet, so it was a nice distraction from any awkwardness - not that there was any - everyone got on just fine! Both mums are very artistic with my mum being a florist and Tracey being a keen crafter so their input was very welcome (and important to us!) 

So we all piled into Mum's car and journeyed to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.  We were among the first 500 there so we got in half price - yay!  Once we'd been given our luminous pink wristbands, much to Michael's despair, we were off!  The place was so loud - we were greeted by one of the singing waiters I've seen advertised.  Opera singing his heart out as he waltzed around the foyer of the Waterfront - pretty annoying if you ask me - and everyone else judging by the looks on everyone's faces. It took us a while to get into the swing of things.  It was so busy and it was difficult getting anywhere near close to each exhibition. 

Mum loved having a good creep at the various florists who had turned up to exhibit their work and Tracey loved looking at all the invitations and other wedding-y crafts.  Megan was getting heavily involved most of the cakes exhibits - she fell head over heels (rather like Alice did...) in love with a giant Alice in Wonderland themed cake.  Michael was accosted by a man who tried to get him talking about suits and it dawned on me how little I'm looking forward to getting him suited and booted as he's so incredibly fussy when it comes to clothing.  We had a few photographers ask us what our photography plans are - and we explained that we haven't quite decided if we should have photos taken or not at the reception party.

The reactions we had to our New York plans were great - everyone thought it sounded magical. In all honesty, there weren't too many exhibits that were relevant to our wedding plans.  Everyone seems to be going for the rustic themed wedding, which makes us glad that we're going down a different route. It seems that every wedding in the next year or two will be adorned with bird cages, rusty bicycles, bunting and cupcakes! The fair helped secure in our minds that we're doing the right thing being that little bit different from most.

Exhibitors that stuck in my mind included a lady who makes bespoke pearl jewellery and head bands.  I would love a custom pearl brooch made for my dress - and I can't wait to discuss it with them. Michael and I also spoke to a lady who made amazing homemade marshmallows - flavours I've never seen before.  Gin and Tonic being a fave!  She was really into the New York theme and was firing ideas at us that we loved! Marshmallows are Michael's ultimate favourites, so would maybe be a nice touch somewhere.  Who knows.  We also got a few ideas for the Hen party too. Leaving that one up to Laura (my sister/Maid of Honour) and Megan! 

We also tried on wedding bands for the first time.  Michael has this look of pure pride and excitement on his face when he tried one on.  We'd both never seen him with a ring on before, so it was strange to see and made it seem even more real.  As it turns out, I may have to get a custom made band made especially for my engagement ring.  But that's okay.  Something very simple and classic will suit me just fine!

There was an exhibit for casino tables etc. Michael got particular excited about having a Roulette table at our wedding to represent the Vegas part of our honeymoon. I, however, was not so keen! His excitement soon dwindled when he realised he hadn't a clue how Roulette works and his attention was quickly diverted when something else caught his eye instead. Probably cake. We met our wedding coordinator Lisa Marie at the Malone Lodge Hotel exhibit and had a good natter with her. Looking forward to taking Megan and everyone else down for a nosey at the hotel and the suite to give them all an idea of what we're working with as we're planning the décor.

We managed to pick up lots of flyer's, business cards and catalogues along the way and we entered some competitions too.  Big thanks to Megan who entered me into a competition to win some of the worlds ugliest balloons for my wedding.  As someone who can't stand balloons at weddings, this wasn't much appreciated!!  Once we'd seen everything the 5 of us went for a late lunch/dinner together for a glass or two of wine and a chat before home. It turned out to be a really great day and Michael and I felt even more secure in choosing to elope.  Weddings are cringey as hell - being referred to as "the bride and groom" all day was so strange - we're really not into the whole wedding thing! We still enjoyed having a look around and grabbing some tips. 

Definitely worthwhile!

New York, New York!

Firstly, Happy Valentine's Day from both of us!  

We've had a fantastic day so far.  Michael thankfully has the weekend off so we were able to wake up together and exchange our gifts.  We're both self-confessed "haters" of Valentine's Day, but somehow always manage to spoil each other every year!  We started the day off on a high with bunches of red roses, red velvet cake and chocolates for breakfast and Michael announced that he'd bought us steaks for dinner and that he'd be cooking - yay!

We wanted to do something a little special to mark our first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple - so figured we'd do something related to the wedding. We decided to head out into the cold and visit a few travel agents to get some quotes for flights to New York. The plan was to shop around a little and get some quotes and maybe put down a deposit and come back later to pay them off.  Our plans were dashed a little when the first travel agent broke the news to us that if we were booking flights only we would have to pay the whole amount upon time of booking. Annoying.

The first quote we got was great, about £200 cheaper than I had priced myself online, but we were still a little short on the whole amount so we had to walk away.  The second travel agent however was able to offer us an even cheaper deal on the flights - and as luck would have it - we had exactly enough cash with us and we were able to pay them off straight away.  

So, it's official - we're going to NEW YORK and LAS VEGAS this DECEMBER! 

No going back now - we have our seats booked on the plane and we're officially getting married in New York City!!  

We have our hotels booked provisionally on booking.com and we're really happy with the hotels we've chosen.  I'll probably still keep an eye out on deals coming out throughout the year, so can change hotels if and when we want as our bookings are all free to cancel or change.  We managed to get the exact dates we wanted so we're spending Christmas in New York City and flying out to Las Vegas to celebrate our honeymoon over New Years Eve.

We'll be leaving for NYC on the 21st December 2015 and will be returning to Belfast on 3rd January 2016 (my Motherbear's birthday - her new son-in-law can be her present HA)  We'll have just less than a week to prepare ourselves for our Reception in Malone Lodge Hotel on 9th January before settling into married life as Mr and Mrs Archer :) Champagne to celebrate tonight! We've been jumping for joy all day - can't believe we're booked!!

Finding The Venue.

This weekend Michael and I spent the day at the venue that we'll be hosting our post wedding celebration - and we absolutely love it. It ticks all the right boxes for us as a couple. It's clean, modern with lovely, smiley staff and large comfortable spaces for everyone to relax in. Location is a big factor too; we wanted it close to home that our guests can get to really easily. We wanted somewhere a bit chilled out and effortless with a nice bar and hotel rooms either on site or nearby for ourselves and our guests. The price also had to be right as we want to put the majority of our budget into our trip. We wanted somewhere that could host a 3 course dinner for close family in a comfortable but luxurious setting followed by a function room with a bar and dance floor for our 80-90 guests.

I first visited it a couple weeks ago while out venue-scouting with my lovely Motherbear, Wendy. We had a real girlie day as she chauffeured me around half the country to look at various hotels, restaurants, stately homes and castles! We had a lovely afternoon tea break in Brownlow House in Lurgan.

Brownlow House is a really lovely building, with huge windows and doors. I knew it wasn't for me though when I discovered that it was jam-packed with Taxidermy! With both of us being animal lovers from a young age -and having a pet rabbit ourselves - I wasn't sure we'd be all the comfortable with the amount of dead rabbit heads adorning the walls. It's quite grand too, and I know we'd feel a little out of place there with our rowdy lot! They made me a lovely lunch though and Mum and I were able to have a good natter by the open fire.

After Brownlow we took a drive out to The Dunadry Hotel in Country Antrim. Mum was the obvious choice to take with me on such adventures - as I've mentioned before she has worked as a florist for her entire adult life and she's worked in the wedding industry in Northern Ireland since before I was even born. Check out her Facebook here. She has contacts left, right and centre and has worked in most of the venues around NI - she's my number one contact for anything wedding related! An invaluable resource - plus, it means I get to spend even more time with her than usual - she's my favourite person in the world!

The Dunadry is another grand hotel - very spacious with large rooms and halls. The staff are all dressed really well, and are polite and courteous. The Dunadry Hotel lives for weddings. They have glass cabinets all around the building filled with champagne corks signed by all the couples that have been married there. A nice touch! We were greeted by one of the wedding coordinators who, despite us not having an appointment, took us for a tour of the suites and answered some of our questions (all the while doing slight-of-hand magic tricks as he spoke. Wendy didn't even notice.)

I really liked the Dunadry, but there was something just not quite right about these old-style hotels that I didn't think suited Michael and I. I began to think that these hotels would be more suited for couples having a full day wedding there. As ours was just a party, it made more sense to focus on function rooms alone. There had to be something out there that suited us! 

In the beginning we had our hearts set on - and it still pains me to say it - Riverdale Barn. Riverdale is this fantastic rustic barn near Aghnagallon and Mum had it earmarked as my perfect venue long before Michael popped the question. I always had it in my head that I wanted a gorgeous rustic barn wedding, lots of candles and handmade bits and bobs. Very Pinterest. Infact, between Mum, my sister Laura and my sister-in-law-to-be Maygen we had the entire thing planned in one night. I had emailed Riverdale Barn on Boxing Day to register my interest and ask for a quote. It was decided, this is where I was having my wedding reception and I was buzzing to hear back from them.

As it was the Christmas holidays, they were closed and my impatience was getting the better of me. I finally decided to pick up the phone and call them and on New Years Eve I eventually received a text message with a brief quote. And my heart absolutely sank. They were quoting £3700+VAT for room hire alone, with an additional £37.00 per person. This price didn't include décor, or furniture or even HEATING. There is no way that was within our budget and my disappointment soon gave way to anger. How could they ask so much money for just a few hours in the evening? I didn't even reply. Riverdale Barn dream over. Moving on. After a few days of huffing "I don't even want a reception now" I shook myself and took Mum up on her offer to go and look at other places.

Focusing now on function rooms, we began to consider Gowdy's at the Racecourse. Both my Mum and my Uncle Andrew had held wedding receptions there before it was refurbished and both were really relaxed and rustic. I could probably still hold my rustic barn theme there. So we went for dinner (fantastic food by the way!) and had a peak in at the function space. It wasn't much to look at but I knew that with Mum's talents we could make it into a really beautiful setting for our reception, plus the price was shockingly cheap (FREE to rent - can't do much better than that). The huge open log fire in the foyer sold it.

However, Gowdy's was second only to the venue I had spotted and fallen in love with earlier in the day. A 4* hotel in Belfast. I was waiting on a quote back from them, and if it turned out to be absolutely ridiculous, we had Gowdy's to fall back on.

Mum had me well coached that the hotel may come back and be out of our budget - she'd learnt well after the Riverdale Barn fiasco. When we were being shown around I remember looking at Mum all glassy-eyed and she was like "I knew you'd like this..." in an oh-crap-what-have-I-done voice, clearly petrified that she'd set me up for a fall again. She needn't have worried. When the wedding co-ordinator emailed me with a price list I almost cried - it was so much more affordable than we even imagined and they had the date we wanted available. When I told Mum the price she texted back two words "book it."

Michael still hadn't seen the venue, so the two of us went to see it on Sunday. He was, thankfully, as enthusiastic as I was and he whipped out his card and paid the deposit right then and there. We have our date! The hotel is perfect for our needs and we're really excited. It took us a bit of coaxing to abandon our rustic barn wedding idea, it just wouldn't work in the hotel we've booked, but we've chosen a new theme that is absolutely perfect for both the hotel and for us and our wedding adventure. Can't wait to tell all!

-Rachel

Elopement

We decided that we were going to elope before we were even engaged.  The very idea of a traditional wedding gave (and still gives) both of us major anxiety.  The idea of being the center of attention for a whole day - photographs, speeches, walking down the aisle...it just isn't us and we made the decision that our wedding day would be completely "us" and that we'd do whatever it is that we're most comfortable with.

Months before our engagement we had begun to plan a "last hurrah" before "growing up".  On our very first date in 2010, sitting in a nervous-drunken stupor in a dark corner of Auntie Annies in Belfast, we were talking about my up-coming trip to the USA, New Zealand and Australia.  I remember asking Michael where in the world he would love to go if he had the chance and he answered, without skipping a beat, New York City.  Ever since then, I've always inwardly made it my mission to go back there and take him with me.  

So, we planned a trip for Christmas 2015 where we would spend the holidays exploring the city and experiencing a "Home Alone" Christmas in New York.  In addition to this, we thought we could fly out to Las Vegas and spend New Years there and really go all out.  So the plan was/is to spend all of 2015 working our butts off to save as much as we can in order to make the most of our trip.  This being the plan, I had figured there was absolutely no way we were going to get engaged before the trip, so it was an even bigger surprise when we did!

I think it was Christmas Night (24 hours post-engagement) when we decided we would get married in New York while we're out there and treat Las Vegas as our honeymoon. The more research that we've put into it, the more perfect a decision it has been for us.  We're so, so excited to be getting married on Christmas Eve, exactly one year from our engagement, in the most magical city in the world.  

We have decided to cut all the traditional wedding stuff - no bridal party, no big ceremony, no big dresses and photography - and wake up Christmas Eve, travel to City Hall in Lower Manhattan and have the smallest, most intimate 30-second ceremony possible!  Just the two of us (and some random witnesses we'll grab from the foyer, probably). I always feared growing up that I would get sucked into the craziness of a massive wedding.  I never wanted that, and neither does Michael.  Weddings often distract from the real meaning of and reason for a couple committing to marriage.  We're committed to keeping a clear head; always being aware of the huge decision we're making and the true and real meaning of our vows.  Our whole wedding will be centered around just the two of us.

Once the ceremony is over and we're officially husband and wife (eeep!) we plan to go for cocktails at The Plaza and take a walk around Central Park for some photos before a lovely dinner somewhere special.  We'd love there to be a bit of snow too!

We are umming and aahing over whether to spend our wedding night/Christmas Eve in a nice hotel or whether we should rent our own apartment for the week.  We actually have a Hilton apartment suite in Central Manhattan provisionally booked - it would be nice to be able to cook our own Christmas dinner there!  Flights aren't available until February so we're itching to get them booked so that we can really start to plan.

Thankfully, our family have been really supportive of our plans to get married away.  Of course, if it was possible, we'd love them all to come with us but it just wouldn't be.  This is why we have booked and confirmed a post-wedding reception party for when we return! 

Engagement

After 4 years of being together and surviving some pretty tough times it's been pretty clear to us for quite some time that we're in it for the long haul.  
 
We've created two very happy homes together and adopted a kitten and a bunny that we (lets be honest here) treat as if they are our babies. We've supported each other through all our ups and downs; 2013 was a particularly trying year where we both lost our jobs at the same time and believe me, if we made it through that we can make it through anything!  I even took off for 8 months traveling around the world at the very beginning of our relationship and we were in contact every single day by whatever means we could. £200 phone bill included!  We can honestly say that we're best buds and after so long together we're still as excited to see each other than we were when we first got together. We're beyond delighted that we're engaged and are really looking forward to being husband and wife.

The proposal was lovely.  He got down on one knee in our new home on Christmas Eve while we were sitting in front of the Christmas Tree and the open fire, sipping on mulled wine and watching the 1985 version of The Santa Claus - so cosy and relaxed and perfect.

I don't think I've ever drank as much Cava and Champagne in all my life than I did this Christmas.  Definitely not complaining though.

Everyone has been so kind and thoughtful - we didn't expect any gifts or cards especially as it was so close to Christmas but everyone really spoiled us.  Thank you to all our family and friends who texted, messaged, called or stopped by to congratulate us.

Beginnings.

Like millions of newly engaged couples in this day and age, we quite fancied the idea of beginning a diary to keep track of our wedding planning. Our wedding will be something a little bit different from the norm  - we're planning an elopement!  

 

I (Rachel) am no stranger to keeping track of experiences and milestones throughout my life whether it's on Facebook, Twitter or on blogging sites (some public, most private).  As a committed "memory collector" I take photos of absolutely everything and I write about them too.  There's something so lovely about being able to look back on what your thoughts and feelings were at a certain time.  Through this diary we'll be able to track our plans and see how much they've evolved and changed throughout the planning process - the things that went right, the things that went wrong and the things that happened differently than expected.

My main aim in life has always been to spend my present making sure that my past is worth looking back on.  I'm a self-confessed over-document-er and proud.  On Christmas Eve 2014 my partner of 4 years (Michael) got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of his life with him - one of the most special moments of my life - and we've since been launched at full-speed towards marriage and I want to record every moment. 

Having been surrounded by weddings my entire life thanks to my Mum being the best wedding florist/planner around, I'm not your typical Bridezilla (yet..) and I am taking a more chilled out, non-traditional approach to the Big Day.

If wedding stuff isn't for you - look away now - why are you even here?! 

- Rachel