on my way

Well it's nearly midnight, my packing is done, each bag within 0.3 of a pound of my allowence. It's weird, these are suitcases 4, 5 and 6 being taken over, there really isn't too much more to take and yet my romm still looks pretty full, I guess my closet is kind of empty but still, so many books and art supplies and files and albums and pictures and paintings that can't be fitted in. I'm sat here in the middle of it all right now and it kind of reminds me of that bit in Fathr of the Bride, where it's the night before her wedding and she's just finished packing up her room and has packed everything, even her old retainer.......that would totally be me if I didn't have a luggage limit, every bit of sentiment would be being pushed and squeezed into our little house, a thousand things I'll never need, I'm sure even with a luggage limit I have a thousand things I'll never need.

Today was good, I had my haircut, ahad lunch with my mum, had a pedicure, a trial make up bridal run at Bobbi Brown, found a couple of great sale bargins, ate chinese take out for tea.

The big negative in my day was this. When I got my pedire she says at the end "well, they're touch dry but wait 45 minutes before putting shoes on" so I followed those instructions and then some, I waited an hour and a half before putting shoes on AND THEY STILL WRECKED MY NAILS I don't know what crazy kind of polish this girl used that took forever and a day to dry but now my pretty toes aren't pretty and I am frustrated about the waste of money....BUT my feet ARE clean, soft nd neatly manicured, it's only the polish that is messy and I can do something about SO I guess it's not so bad after all.

3 weeks tomorrow

well........the day at capernwray went well yesterday...planning all the finer details like head counts for meals and sleeping and stuff and what rooms need how many microphones and what size tables I need for things such as the guest book, which roof and tower the photographer can climb up, where to put cones so the horse and carriage can get through, who is ordering what napkins and how many, how much more organza needs to be ordered, where EXACTLY I can put thumb tacks (drawing pins) all those kind of fun things. I arrive there with my plans and lists a plenty, all printed and I feel all professional and within 2 minutes I feel like a ditz because I missed my parents off the sleeping list, forgot I had to feed the jazz band and chair cover people and hadn't even thought to think about what microphones I would need where and how many. Thankfully there are people to make me aware of the need to consider these things.

This morning, around 8 a HUGE box (literally the size of half our hall way) arrives filled with oasis blocks, florist tape, wir, baskets and a sample of the flowers I am ordering for the wedding. I am ordering the flowers wholesale, they will come direct from the huge flower auctions in Holland which means I can have zillions of flowers. Today I made a rose bridesmaids bouquet which cost 6-8pounds but all 5 of the florists I checked out would have charged 65 for the exact same thing. It has been really fun playing around with flowers today, I made test runs of 2 table centres, my bouquet, the grown up bridesmaids rose bouquets and the younger bridesmaids calla lilly bouquets.

I think being a florist would be really fun.

We bought some vacumn seal bags today and then shrunk my big duvet and pillows and stuff into them. It was pretty crzy seeing them shrink down so fast. I am half way through packing.

ALSO TODAY my Mum and I went to see the new movie 'No Reservations" I really liked it, I am looking forward to seeing it with Andy I think he'll like it a lot. It is a romantic comedy set in a restaurant kitchen.

22 days

This picture describes how I am feeling tonight. A fragile bubble in a stormy sky.

it's monday night, not tonnes to report, I have been working on covers for orders of service, seating plans, place cards, seating chart and doing schedules as well as the normal lots of e-mailing and stuff. Things are coming together.

Just 3 days now till I can go be with Andy, 4 days till I'm with him. Just that thought makes me sigh with a deep breath and relax. Although it has been good to be home, I've got to see people and it's been super productive, it's been a week now and that is defnitly long enough to be apart. I'm tired and my head's spinning with so many things I can't sleep at night, I'm so busy I am forgetting to chew my food and I just know that when I see him in a few days all that will stop because he'll just hug me and tell me that it's all good and it's all going to be ok and it will be. I miss him a lot!

I go up to Capernwray tomorrow to finalise a bunch of stuff, armed with a million peoples hundred's of questions, hopefully that will go well, I'm sure it will, all the times and places and details tend to make my head spin right now and just when I finally thought I had all the pieces of this complex puzzle worked out, it all gets thrown up in the air again....it's these details that keep me awake at night. Trying to work out when girls can get their hair done, who can drive who where, when we can eat, where the photographer should be, what time to ride where in the carriage, where and what time to get dressed, and who can help my Dad (who is immodbile with a broken leg) when I need my Mum to help, who when and what vehcle to collect people from airports, train and bus stations. Figuring out how to get this up, this down, this moved, this made and let everyone know their role . This is where I realise the reasons why people have one or two bridesmaids and a wedding planner instead of a bridal party of 19 and no wedding planner.

The thing is it IS going well, it will work out and be wonderful, it will be what it will be. I am thankful I am away so much and just get to wedding plan for short bursts of time because wedding planning is a surreal little bubble of a world which is wonderfully fun but unhealthily self absorbed and a week at a time (The Lord knows) is long enough for me to exist in such a bubble.

24 days

Well, this post has a slightly more meloncholy tone in this diary of a bride to be. Today I got to spend most the day with my nephews and neice, Jacob, Emilia, Zachary and Elijah. I also saw Adam and rachel a bit but they spent most the day in Manchester with their friends.

Apart from the wedding day this is the last time I'll spend with them before moving to Canada and it just brought the realities of the goodbyes I am facing over these next few weeks into view.

I am anticipating with great excitement the joys ahead of me in marriage and in life on Thetis island but the sting of not seeing my family so often makes it bitter sweet.

I really hope most of my family make it out to visit soon while we're in Canada and I know we intend to come here as often as possible, but still, I can't stop crying as I thik about all the family I have to say good byes to over the next few weeks.

25 days

this is where I went today...3 floors of chocolate decadence. A floor for buying (and watching them make) a floor for eating and a floor for learning. It is a pretty amazing place...I tasted their chocolate cake!!!!!!! All in a days work for a bride to be!!!

Apart from that I also had to go to Castco and the mall today and I worked on bride-to-be-stuff such as seating plans, place cards and order's of service.

Seating plans, people always say it's the worst bit of wedding planning, as I embark on it I am definitly sensing that potential. It's like doing a really difficult jigsaw puzzle if you imagine each piece of that jigsaw puzzle had feelings, emotions, opinions and a history and if you can imagine that each piece is able to talk and can give you a hard time about the pices you put them near. Also, unlike a jigsaw puzzle, there is no picture on the front of the box to match, no guarenteed right answer and you can't tell if the pieces are going to fit until they're all in place...and then it's too late...so actually, it's really nothing like a jigsaw puzzle after all...hu.

I also updated the wedding website today for people (such as yourselves) to check out

26 days

The countdown continues but, honestly, 26 days seems like a long time and the to do list appears do-able to me, even with a 10 day jet out to Canada and all the painting/decorating of our new home thrown in there.

A lot goes into planning a wedding and I can't imagine doing it without the internet but people did. Isn't it funny, the things we can't imagine how we lived without but really are oh so recent, I wonder what wedding planning will be like when it's my daughters turn (if Andy and I ever even have daughters)

daughters is kind of a funny word if you say it over and over

So wedding planning on day 26 has gone as follows.......

cabin for me and bridesmaids for hen night...booked
groomsmen gifts...bought
jazz bands..contacted
dance floor hire......discovered is actually very expensive
pre order of flowers for pre wedding trial run....arranged
craft supplies for order of service.....purchased
chasing up people who haven't R.S.V.P'ed yet......done
pre wedding hair and makeup trials.......booked
table number card holders....purchased
goodies and toys to keep children occupied.....purchased
pretty chocolate brown wire butterflies....purchased
coffe, cake and chat with Mum.....enjoyed
grocery shopping at morrissons and negotiating that death hole of a car park....survived
place card/order of service/seating plan making....started
trying on of veil just because I can.......done....twice

all in all a pretty successful day, and it's only supper time,

27 days

Today I got to meet my dress. It was finished while I was gone so today I had my first fitting, it was made to measure but I guess I lost a little weight so it has to be taken in still. It is very beautiful, I tried it on with my jewelery, underwear, shoes, tiara, veil and saw the whole thing...I'm very excited. I'll try it on again when I get back on September 11th.

I watched a thing on how my dress was made and stuff. It made me happy to know my beautiful dress didn't come out of some horrific sweat shop. THe fabric was spun in a mill by lake como in Italy and the dress made in London, the veil was made in Wales.

It is so exciting, I brought home the wrap/shawl thing, the veil and some accessories from the dress.

I met with the photographer today, it took an hour and a half and was so great, I really like her, she makes me feel very confident and relaxed, talking through the timing of the day with her made it all seem more real and made me feel increasingly excited. I think she will do a very beautiful job, this is her website...

www.camillewesser.co.uk

This evening I did some shopping and took the macbook to visit the apple genius who gave it a new battery...now the mac book is much happier

28 days

well, 60 days later I finally blog again. I just got back from Canada today, I have been there the last 7 weeks and now am home for 10 days, back there for 10 days, home for 10 days then it's the wedding, in just 30 days.

These pictures were taken on Sunday in Summerland, i was a really great weekend and good to get to spend some time with Andy's family, we got to drive a pretty sweet car for the weekend too which was fun.

So I intend to blog more now I am home for a few days and have better internet access.

The wedding stuff started pretty much as soon as I landed, catching up with e-mails and making decisions, I had to go right up to see the decorator who has wowed us with the lengths she has gone to. She has matched the chocolate brown of the dresses to fabric which she is having chair covers made from for us, she has also managed to get hold of the exact chair they have at the Hall so that the chair covers will fit exactly as they are made to measure, she had set up a chair for me to check she had understood and is having made just what I want and it's perfect, chocolate brown silk chair covers with ivory organza sashes tied round a 2 antique pink, fresh roses tucked in the back, ...oh it's going to be pretty, I am excited.

My travels were great, I really enjoyed the flight and now I am very, very, very ready for bed