I am definitely one of those girls who has dreamed about getting married since I was little. Interestingly, I never thought about the big white meringue dress or all the sparkly jewellery, I was just always excited about the thought of having all my friends and family celebrating together. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to be surprised with a proposal from my (then) boyfriend David, back in September 2010.We were on a road-trip down the west-coast of America and, up until that point, had had the most amazing holiday, seeing so many great things. Friends had joked to us before we went that we would come back engaged and, although I wasn’t expecting it, it had crossed my mind! I thought that if he was going to propose, he would do so while we were in Palm Springs at a very romantic hotel, however nothing happened. I wasn’t disappointed as we had only been together a short amount of time so I didn’t think any more of it. Little did I know, just 2 days later (on the 1 year anniversary of our first date), he would surprise me by getting down on one knee at the Grand Canyon. This was always set to be an amazing trip, as we had planned a sunset champagne picnic after flying over the Canyon in a helicopter – however, being proposed to made it absolutely unforgettable. I remember being so excited flying back to Las Vegas and couldn’t wait to phone home and tell my Mum! After that, we waited to tell everyone until we got back home a couple of days after...although I was allowed to buy a wedding magazine at the airport!
So, 9 months later, we are well underway with our wedding planning. We both love Christmas and decided to be a little different and opt for a winter wedding, so we are getting married on December 16th at Rivervale Barn in Hampshire. We are planning to have about 90 people to the day for a civil-ceremony, drinks reception and sit-down meal, followed by an evening reception where we will have an additional 40-50 guests. I have found the most gorgeous dress which I absolutely love and we have also organised the men’s suits (we will be having 2 ushers and 2 best men) and the bridesmaids dresses (I am having 4 bridesmaids) simply because 3 of them have/are emigrating to Australia before December (luckily they are coming back for the big day!). There is still lots to do...sorting out the food and drink, hair and make-up, flowers/decor and the smaller details like fittings, favours and thank you gifts, amongst other things.
My parents are divorced so my biggest challenge has been keeping everyone happy! To save any arguments, I am doing a few things the ‘non-traditional’ way, so I am having my Mum give me away and both my Dad and my Step-Dad delivering speeches. As my husband-to-be couldn’t choose his best man, he is having 2 of his closest friends and his brother will be our MC. We really wanted to involve our close family as much as possible. I am so excited about creating a really rustic feel at our gorgeous venue with lots of candles, ivy and glitzy Christmas accessories! Only 192 days to go (but who’s counting?!)...
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