Here I am finally typing away about my Leicestershire wedding from last year. It's not really stopped for both my husband and I since it all happened, but I thought whilst I'm still young (ish) and have my memory it might be wise to share! Plus we got so caught up in the run up I didn't have a chance to share my journey.
Nick and I have been together nearly 9 years, which is really crazy to think of but I can hand on heart say I've married my soul mate. We love each other so much and we're best friends too... good job really because we're stuck together now! The date was the 26th July 2015, a date that approached so fast both of us were rather stressed in the run up! However they say if you can get through planning your wedding, you can get through anything and I couldn't agree more!
The Venue //
We got engaged the night after my big triathlon at Blenheim Palace at Heythrop Park. It was the perfect end to an amazing day. We soon were quick off the mark hunting for a venue and finally set our sights on up and coming venue, The Griffin Inn, Swithland, Leicestershire. It wasn't exactly plain sailing with communication from the venue, but they were becoming more and more popular and with lack of staff we seemed to get caught up in the cross over period between new staff. It just meant we got missed a few times. Slightly frustrating initially but all I can say is on the day they were absolutely amazing and I can't thank them enough. The venue was exactly what we wanted and I hear they are now one of the most popular wedding venue in Leicestershire.
The whole run up to the day was of course crazy - like every ones wedding. Having quit my full time job and juggling freelance work; with non stop invoice chasing and panicking about hitting mortgage payments, to say I was stressed was an understatement. I look back now and ask myself should I of even quit that job? In a word yes! I don't regret that at all. Regardless of not having a lot of money we managed to do it and we still have a roof over our heads!
Favours and Invites //
I like to do things on a budget and find the excitement of getting a bargain rather exhilarating. We started by hitting The Range for all our favour boxes, where we spotted the exact same thing was on Etsy for three times the price. Oh yeah, Etsy and Pinterest about broke us, it is the most distracting part of planning a wedding! It's one major ideas factory when you sometimes just need to focus, and Etsy is good but ridiculously overpriced. My table names were my own paintings of my favorite Muppet characters on mini easels I got from The Works! So basically we decided to get crafting! A word that still haunts my husband to this day.
Flowers //
My Mummy and my God Mother were in charge of our real flowers, but we decided to actually have false flowers on all the tables. Off we went to good old Dunelm to select the colours for our vases. We picked up clear jar style glass vases from Ikea and added those flowers! You couldn't really tell unless you were really looking for it, but more importantly it saved us a small fortune!
My dress //
I actually hated wedding dress shopping with a passion. If there is one thing to make you feel iffy about how you look, it's wedding dress shopping. I didn't enjoy it one bit so I basically chose my dress within the first day and ordered it. I got it from Berketex Brides in the end from their Nottingham branch. I never really knew what I'd of wanted style wise, so I had nothing fixated in my mind. If I were to do it again I'd potentially look at second hand dresses to be honest.
Bridesmaids //
I had my bestest girls as my bridesmaids - I couldn't of wanted any better! They all were absolute legends throughout and also gave me an amazing hen party too. Their dresses were all from F&F clothing believe it or not for £40! I wanted a style that each girl felt comfy in as I know some bridesmaids dresses can be a nightmare, but I really think they each looked beautiful.
Groom Party //
For the suits we decided to go with suit hire from Debenhams. Often you don't wear the suits or dresses bought for weddings afterwards, so hiring seemed a cheaper and better option for all. I went with Nick for his suit fitting and the selecting of style/colours. Debenhams were amazing and I would highly recommend it. Check out the video of his experience on Youtube.
Hair and Make - Up //
I had my hair done by my home hairdresser, Hair by Emma Claire. She did a cracking job and was super reasonable too. She's very professional and easy to adapt to what you want. I had my make up done by Claire Of Charnwood based in Loughborough, she used airbrush foundation which was a lifesaver! It basically meant I didn't need to retouch my make up all day. Just like Emma she was really reasonable as well.
Guests //
I spent hours and hours looking at the guest list. Posit notes with names on them dominated our dining room table for weeks, working out who could sit with who, and how many we could afford to have.
What started as a large name trail slowly started to be chopped down. Only those we loved most were invited and of course we'd of liked to have had so many more but we just couldn't afford it. I remember having a few younger friends sending me unhappy emojis because they wouldn't be coming to the day! I did feel like saying 'wait until you need to plan a wedding!', but I simply replied being honest and saying it was so expensive to have one person there for the entire day. Those who did come knew they were special because we didn't have much money to be splash about. In the end those who we wanted to be there were there to share our special day, and even though it was quite small it was perfect.
Cake //
I cannot take credit for this at all! My best friend Chloe is such a fantastic baker... as her hobby might I add! Although looking at that cake she really needs to quit her day job! I asked if she wouldn't mind baking me a cake as our wedding present. She made a lemon curd naked cake with my two vintage Sylvanian Family hedgehogs on top. My sister made us her famous gin & tonic cupcakes, and we did a cheese and pork pie run to the local Leicester markets for those with a savoury tooth!
Photos //
My gorgeous photos were taken by Bloom Weddings. My friend Anneka, (who previously used to take some of my blog pictures) took them for us. They were amazing! Both Anneka and her partner Chris split themselves up over the course of the day to get loads of images from all different angles... not to mention 'that' photo in the rain. They were worth every penny - I cannot recommend these two enough.
Rain on my wedding day //
Last but not least I have got to mention the weather. Yes it was July, yes it rained and yes it rained a lot. It was in fact the only blasted weekend it rained too! Initially I was gutted but thanks to the quick thinking of my photographers we got so many unique photos, if it had been sunny we perhaps wouldn't of had the chance to get them. It also meant the entire event was intimate - people didn't wander off and we all stayed together. So if you're expecting rain on your day it isn't bad at all, in fact it is meant to be good luck!
1 year on //
We are now nearly 1 year on! Have we changed? Have we heck. If anything it's made us even better than before. Looking back I wondered what I would of done differently, perhaps a few tweaks here and there but nothing major. I got to spend the best day of my life with all those people I love, and I know love me and Nick. To celebrate we're heading out for a meal tomorrow, but we have actually frozen the bottom tier of our wedding cake so that is likely to come out later on this summer!
If you're getting married soon and reading this because you're worried about the weather or getting hitched in Leicestershire, leave me a comment and I'll happily leave my advice for any queries.
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