With Love Gifts Blog- Personalised Gifts for Everyone - wedding tag

Personal Wedding Centrepieces

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:54:00 GMT

Sometimes planning our wedding can just seem overwhelming and it's at those times I step away from worrying about the big details, and spend a little time focusing on small things that will make our wedding all the more personal and that will make us happy even if no-one else realises how much thought has gone into them. After all what is a wedding if not about the couple getting married?

Unfortunately we are rather cash poor, but fortunately quite time rich, so I am spending my time handcrafting many items for our wedding. From creating all our venue decorations to making my bouquet featuring French Beaded roses - a new craft I learnt just for my wedding (picture attached). So when another attack of the "help will my wedding be as great as I hope" struck, instead or worrying about the venue/entertainment/food, I cleared my mind and turned to another decorative aspect that would allow me to unleash my creativity, de-stress and get something useful done.

I have a collection of jars that I really love and wanted to use them as the centre pieces on the tables at our venue. As nice as they are they need to be filled with something - after all that is their purpose in life! So I swapped my tiara for my thinking cap and set to work on some ideas for filling them.

The wind was blowing against the windows and the sun was fading. Cosy indoors I was thinking about the leaves falling from the trees and the abundance of "helicopters" that litter the ground beneath the Sycamore trees in the park. I had visions of jars full of acorns and conkers but our wedding is next spring, so autumnal themes aren't much help! Friends suggested all the best jars contain sweets, but as a diabetic buying lots of sweets could be one temptation to many for me when the wedding stress kicks in! So I went back to basics: What is a wedding if not about the couple getting married? Inspiration struck like a bolt of lighting, and I ran off to tell my fiance my idea... he thought it was great, and I hope you will like it too.

We won't be buying anything to go in the jars, or worrying about the contents matching our colour scheme. In each jar we are going to put one special object with a label explaining just why we chose it and how it is special to us. It will be rather an eclectic bunch of things but each one will bring a smile to our faces. Like the little brown teddy with one leg shorter than the other, which we found on a bus trip many years ago and adopted in pity. Or the dragon ornament in our collection, that has been broken and glued back together almost as many times as we have moved house together, but still has pride of place on the shelf. Small things with no intrinsic value, but with great stories and memories attached to them, that we will enjoy sharing with all our guests on our wedding day.

101 Worries + 109 Miles = 1 Perfect Day

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:45:00 GMT

The run up to any wedding is a stressful time to say the least but when your organising a wedding knowing full well the groom could be incapable of travelling to the venue, the word “stress” doesn't even begin to cover it. You may think that’s an exaggeration, that I'm just writing it for effect but to be totally honest it doesn't even cover the anxiety we were feeling at the time. From the moment we set the date one thing was constantly going through our mind's and that was simply we were either getting married or we were going to lose most if not all of our savings.

It may sound like a major risk and it was but I was so determined to somehow be there I didn't let myself think for a second that I wasn't going to make it because it was about making it as special as I could for my fiancée. The reason for all the dought surrounding attending my own wedding was due to being in an accident 2 years earlier that left me with a severely damaged back and had been housebound for almost a year at that point. We had been offered an amazing deal on Culloden House in Inverness as the venue for our wedding through a family member, not only did this include the function rooms but also discounted accommodation for our guests. It was truly a stunning venue but came with its own set of problems including having to travel over 100 miles only days before.

It wasn't the only hurdle either as my dad (who was also my best man) had accidentally booked the wrong day for the wedding, twice, yup you read that right. He originally booked it for a week where both him and my mum were away for work (clever eh) so we talked it over and finally decided on another date only for dad to forget the agreed date and book it for a week later. Unfortunately by the time we realised what he had done the second date was already spoken for so we had to change the date again (and have to tell everyone involved in the wedding the new date... yet again) but this time we made sure we made the booking ourselves.

A week before the wedding almost everything was organised but it was looking less likely that I was going to be able to make the journey as my back was as bad as it had ever been. I can't honestly remember much about the journey to Inverness apart from being on heavy duty pain killers and still feeling like I could pass out from the pain at any moment. The following 48 hours I did all I could to try and control the pain levels so when the day came I was torn between how I was feeling and making sure it was the best possible day for my future wife.

The moment I had been preparing for and we had been looking forward to for the last few months was here. I took my next lot of tablets, picked up my stick and headed towards the room where I would meet wife for the first time. Because we had scheduled tablet breaks and periods throughout the day were I could lie down to recuperate slightly I did actually manage to last the whole day. Even got to have a short but very satisfying first dance as husband and wife and another quick dance at the end of the night. It was a very special moment being on the dance floor with my wife even though I'm sure the dress was designed to trip me up with every step.

It was really an amazing day even with the pain, we got to get married in a stunning place surrounded by everyone we loved. My brother-in law flew in from Australia just in time to give her away which was as important to her as getting married to me was. My wife looked amazing wearing the wedding dress my mum made for her (with matching napkin so she didn't spill her soup on her dress) wearing my grandmother's wedding ring (which absolutely made my granddad’s day, seeing it being used again.

When your trying to get all the pieces to fall into place in the run up to the wedding day it can seam like an impossible task. Somehow you keep persevering because getting married to the person you love more than everything makes everything worth while (even if that includes having to track down the only bridesmaid dress in the UK that is still in stock and in our bridesmaid's size). I often thought the “happiest day of your life” thing was just something that was said but having been there myself I honestly wouldn't change a thing.

As It really was the happiest day of our life...

Bollywood Themed Wedding

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:24:00 GMT

I am of Indian descent but British born and therefore sometimes quite distanct from the Indian culture. I don't watch Bollywood movies or anything like that. But when it came to my wedding day, I wanted a Mughal Empire/ British Raj style wedding. I wanted to look like a Bollywood actress and a Mughal Princess from the 1800's all rolled into one. So I went about creating this scene.
Now, with am Indian wedding we create a stage/backdrop against which the bride and groom will sit, and mine was maroon and cream with flashing lights. My outfit was traditionally indian long cream swarovski skirt with a very heavily jeweled shawl draped over me. My jewellery was 1950s Bollywood.
But the best thing was my husband, he had a gold kurta on with pointy slippers. The whole thing was glamorous and really stylish. We looked like a Mughal king and queen from the days of the Raj. It was wonderful and I looked the way I always wanted to look. Loved it!

A Joyous Budget Wedding

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:20:00 GMT

I watched Four Weddings last week, and laughed at the budgets the brides set themselves! The "budget" bride was £3000.00, the most expensive bride was £17,000.

When we got married 20 years ago, our wedding was budget even by those standards! We got married in a hotel, by a minister who accepted a £30.00 donation to the Church. We had approximately 30 guests at the wedding catered at £5.00 for a meal and all toasts, and then a buffet later on for evening guests AND our Wedding night room! We had a film company come and video the event for £50.00, and they brought along a Trainee photographer, who offered to take photos for free! I wore my sisters wedding dress, she wore my cousin's bridesmaid dress. I had new shoes, and a fascinator, and my mum gave us £100.00 to take on honeymoon!

It was small, informal, with lots of laughter and a few tears (of joy). There was much dancing and lots of fun. My new husband and I had so much fun we didn't even leave - we were there to see the last guests go.

All we wanted was a celebration of our committment to each other - you don't need fancy cars, fancy dresses and the best of everything to do that. You just need love and we had that, and still do, in abundance!

Click here to enter our Wedding Competition, to win £100 to spend on With Love Gifts

Cruise Ship Wedding

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:15:00 GMT

I had the worst wedding in the world. Full Stop. No Questions Asked.

My (now) husband and I made the horrible error in entrusting our special day to the less than capable hands of a cruise ship. Because we lived so far away from each other, we believed this would be a great option.

We were promised greatness and got crap. Seriously.

From day 1, we requested 'no bars', we didn't want a bar for the ceremony cite, a bar for the photos, no bars.... we're religious people, we wanted a special day. So, what does the cruise line do?

They put us in a 'bar' cleverly described as 'lounge' - but not just any bar - our bar shared a common wall with the "Goth Party" next door. As a result, during our 'special' ceremony, we had goths walking into our room, and we could hear them cheering during our vows and prayers. This was after the cruise promised us that we 'wouldn't hear a thing'!

The people who were suppose to 'help' us that day were 45 minutes late in picking me up, as a result of their horrid tardiness our guests were kicked off the boat before the meal was completed. There was no toast to the bride, there was no 'welcomes' to the families. It was 'they have to leave, now, you're done'.

Our professional photos, (the professional photographer had to be provided by the cruise ship) were taken - in bars! Attached is one of the 'best' worst romantic pictures I have ever seen. The large hands and tattoos take away from my dress...

In dealing with the company in the time that followed we've been given nothing but the run around... no explanations just 'oh we're sorry'... as if a 'sorry' can make the wedding day any better.

Moral of my pathetic tale... stay on land and trust no one with wedding details.

Click here to enter our Wedding Competition, to win £100 to spend on With Love Gifts

The Perfect Civil Partnership Ceremony

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:40:00 GMT

My partner and I have been together now for about ten years, and we had our civil partnership ceremony a year ago on April 18 2009. We decided to have a relatively small affair and only invited 50 guests, so close family and friends only. It worked out really well, as a lot of them already knew each other, and those that didn't soon did, so that by the end of the night everyone was getting on like a house on fire.

In the weeks before the big day, I'd scoured our photo collection for shots of everyone who was coming (the more humiliating the better!). I then put all of the photos onto a dvd and had this playing on a widescreen tv in the main room of the wedding throughout the afternoon. It was a fantastic talking point, and all day there were cries of shock and laughter as the photos from the past came back to haunt our guests!

Just before we had our meal in the evening I had organised a surprise for my partner, Mauricio. He's latino, so is always going on about how great latin dancers are, so I brought in a troupe of dancers to perform a medley of salsa and meringue for us. The girls came in covered in capes, so people were a bit baffled, then his favourite song came on (Suavemente) and they threw off the capes and danced the night away. Everyone was up on the feet, cheering and dancing, and the atmosphere was electric.

My one big regret of the night was that I wanted to keep the dancers a complete secret from everybody that I forgot to ask somebody to video it. We have a couple of clips that guests recorded, but I suppose my one piece of advice would be that although you might not think that you will want something recorded beforehand, chances are afterwards you will, so always ask somebody to record parts of your day.

Click here to enter our Wedding Competition, to win £100 to spend on With Love Gifts

Great Value Wedding Car

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:18:00 GMT

We couldn't afford a proper wedding car for our big day (just over a week ago!) so we contacted an executive car company that also provided a taxi service. Instead of paying £300 for a 5 minute drive in a 'proper' wedding car from the hotel to our venue, we paid £7!!!!
The car we were provided with was a brand new silver Mercedes, with no hint of any taxi signs on it, not bad for such a bargain price! The company also let us give a car ribbon to them in advance which they put on the car for us and the driver was so smartly dressed, we couldnt' believe our luck.
No-one knew how much it cost and everyone thought the car and driver looked great, so it couldn't have been any better as our wedding was on a tight budget and this really helped!

Click here to enter our Wedding Competition, to win £100 to spend on With Love Gifts

Don't Marry in Haste

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:43:00 GMT

My worst ever wedding experince was my won at 16 years old. My then boyfriend was a secret gambler and i was pregnant (young and foolish. He decided we were getting married, but didnt ask me he told me!!
I was lucky to get a £40 ring from Argos that he gave me on the number 5 bus. We were married 3 weeks later at a registry office with a few guests and me wearing a horrible baggy blouse and my old school trousers. We then had a small party at my mums house. At the time i was really happy and thought it was the start of the rest of my life but looking back it was the worst mistake ever. Within weeks he had quit his job and my new baby and I had nothing as he even gambled away our benefits. We eventually split after 9 years (im stubborn adn didnt want to accept that everyone else was right about him) and he hasnt seen our 3 children since let alone contributed financially.

To anyone else thinking of getting married young I would suggest waiting a few years - if its gonna work it wont make any difference and if it all goes wrong then its much easier to carry on with your life.

Click here to enter our Wedding Competition, to win £100 to spend on With Love Gifts