Hag Night

So lastnight was our joint Stag and Hen party (Hag) at the Ivory Room in Billericay it was another chance for us to have a bit of a party before the wedding and for family and friends that did not come on the stag and hen weekends to celebrate with us.

The place was very nice and everyone had a great night, the drink was flowing and the people that did make the effort to bring a hat did a good job! there were some wicked ones!

1 week to go!
the count down is now on just one week left before we get mairred. Amanda has a busy week ahead just sorting out the last few things while i will still be at work

Stag and Hen Weekends

The stag weekend in Prague was wicked well done to Steve and Matt (and Maria) for sorting it out. I have to say the shooting was the best thing i have done in my life so good in fact we did it twice! and i am sure everyone else that was on the trip would agree.
Thanks to everyone that came you all made it a weekend to remember (or not as most of the time we was all very dunk especially on the last night), all of the pictures are on facebook.

The hen weekend was also brilliant and the girls all made sure i had a fab weekend. We went to Jongleurs comedy club on the Friday night, then Saturday we did cocktail making and karaoke which was hilarious and we all got very drunk!

Hen and Stag do's are next week!

Wow, its the hen and stag weekends next week and we are so excited! The girls have got something planned for me on Thursday night and Beth has told me that i have got to leave the house for an hour! I dread to think what they are going to do to me but im sure it will be fab and involve wine!

I cant believe that this time in 6 weeks i will be married!!! Ive gone past excitement and into shock now, this time last year i didnt even think i would be engaged let alone getting married!!

The men got all measured up for their suits and i LOVE them! They look so smart (Smart, geddit!) and the colours are perfect. Matt said he felt good in the suit and i hope the others do too. Its really nice to see men all dressed up at weddings as we dont get to see them looking smart like that very often!

We also went to Crondon Park and had our planning meeting which was a bit crazy and i think we were both in disbelief that we are actually getting married,and soon! They talked through how the day will go and every little step of the way etc and i thought i was either going to cry or laugh hysterically. As it turned out i laughed! They probably thought i wasnt taking it very seriously but believe me, i was!

I also had my dress fitting which was AMAZING!!! i hadnt seen my dress January when i bought it so it was so good to see it again. I love it just as much, if not more, than i did then and i cant wait to wear it and see Dans face. The weight loss has helped a lot and it fits like a glove now so im very happy about that :-)
I have got a final fitting on 26th October and Beth has to come with me so that they can show her how to dress me! I wanted to lose a few more pounds by then but with the hen weekend in between im not holding out much hope for that!

The other thing i have had is my makeup trial. It is with Raechel from Betty Blush and she is fabulous!! I wasnt going to have the bridesmaids makeup done due to cost but she is so reasonable that i am now having all the girls done as i thought it would be nice for us all to be getting pampered having our hair and makeup done. I had my trial and she done exactly what i wanted which i was so pleased about because i am fussy about my makeup. She is a really lovely girl too and we had a giggle which im sure will be a benefit on the day! You can look her up on Facebook under Betty Blush or White Buttafly.

Well its all go now, hair trials on 20th and then go, go, go!! After the hen weekend i have got 2 weeks at work, one week of nights and then im off until the big day!!!!

Hi everyone this is our new wedding list , which is replacing the house of fraser wedding list
Please remember to contact the phone number at the bottom if you are thinking of buying anything

We have now decided to do our own list as we feel it will be better for everybody and these are things that we actually want and not just put on here for the sake of it! Also this way it means you actually get to see what you have bought.

Please don’t be put off by the bigger and more expensive items but we wanted to make sure there is plenty of variety on here and something for everyone who wants to buy us a gift. We have found things at the cheapest prices so although you may be able to get them elsewhere we have done the bargain hunting for you!

Also, remember, it’s your presence and not your presents that count!!!


Available in Argos:

Brita Elemaris Meter Water Filter
Cat no 842/3438 £24.99

Ken Hom 31cm non-stick wok
Cat no 860/3753 £19.99

Linx 8in interchangeable photo frame
Cat no 570/1995 £77.99

Hanson Electronic Chrome Effect Scale with Audible Timer
Cat no 840/2040 £19.99


Available in House of Fraser

Linea waisted glass vase
£8.00

Fotofalls, Umbra, Photo Umbrella
£20.00


Available in Next

Fitted Sheet Double, White x 2
938-960-X44 £12 each

Pillowcase, Housewife Pair x 2
105-787-X44 £6 each


Available at Amazon

Philips ID9372B/05 XD Sound Cordless Telephone Twin with Answer Machine
£74.99

Olde Thompson 16 jar Revolving Spice Rack
£40.00


Available at ecookshop.co.uk

Jamie Oliver Pukka Plate x 2
£8.80 each

Jamie Oliver Little Tinker Bowl x 3
£8.08 each

Jamie Oliver Side Kick plate x 2
£7.20 each

Jamie Oliver All Rounder Bowl
£12.80

Jamie Oliver Small Sorts jug
£15.78


Available in Debenhams

Jamie Oliver 30 Piece Cutlery Set
2754002051 £100.00

Jamie Oliver Stainless Steel Five Piece Knife Block
£120.00

Bamboo Chopping Board with mini boards
£30.00

Debenhams Silver Slotted Spoon
£4.50

Debenhams Silver Solid Spoon
£4.50

Debenhams Silver Spaghetti Server
£4.50

Debenhams Silver Slotted Turner
£4.50

All of the above utensils are currently in the sale for £3.37 each but we have put the full price in case you miss the sale.

Also available from various places are Red Letter Days if you wanted to get us something different. We particularly like the London Meal and Top Price Theatre Tickets for 2 which is around £125 but if you look on places such as lastminute.com you can probably find it much cheaper.

Please contact Maria on 07590 549252 either by text or phone call before making a purchase to ensure that this item is still available and has not been bought by somebody else. She will be able to help you out and tell you what is left on the list.

10 weeks to go!!!!

Well, it all getting a bit crazy again now! I had been warned after the initial burst of busyness it would go quiet and then mad again and thats exactly what has happened!!

I had last week off work and spent most of it getting organised but i loved every minute of it :-) We have our planning meeting at the venue on 19th where we will finalise all our numbers and discuss how the day will go. The day before that, the 18th, i have arranged for the majority of the men to go and be fitted for their suits. I cant wait to see them on and hope they look ok with the waistcoats we have picked. Dan still says i cant see him in his suit so i will have to go away when he tries his on! Im sooooooo excited about seeing them though :-)

We have completed our forms to be sent to the registrar which is all our vows, readings and music and we finalised our music for the ceremony with Glen and im pretty sure its going to sound fab.

Also, the weirdest thing happened when i was emailing Scott, our photographer.......i found out he is friends with Racheal (VERY small world!) and so he has done us a very good deal ;-) He is doing portrait sessions now for £70 and you get all the pictures on a CD so im thinking of having that done with the bridesmaids but it just depends if we can fit it in as i just dont have any time at the moment!! Definitely recommend Scott though, he is very friendly and most importantly he always replies to emails etc really quickly. I hate it when people take forever to reply!!

We went to House of Fraser to do our wedding list and to cut a very long story short we are not having it now! I am going to try and close it but if i cant please ignore the list!!!! Basically we were really disappointed as a lot of the stuff we wanted we couldn't add to the list and we felt really pressured to put things on it that we didnt want. They insisted we have at least £1500 worth of stuff on our list so we ended up putting on a digital camera and photo frame for about £300 each just to get it done and get out of there! I dont want people to look on our list and think we are asking for expensive items because we are not! So we are doing our own list now with a few bits and pieces that can be bought if people dont want to give the Lakeside vouchers. This is still in the pipeline and i have delegated it to Dan so he will keep you updated on that one! Hehe

Me and Maria also organised our HAG do which is a joint Hen/Stag do mainly for family and people that cant get to the main hen and stag do's. We are going to the Ivory Rooms in Billericay on 7th November which is ONE WEEK before the wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really looking forward to it as its a chance for family to celebrate with us before the big day and also the girls from work will be coming so that will be nice. Full details on this are on Facebook.
The main hen and stag do's are only 5 weeks away now, i cant wait!! I keep getting little bursts of excitement about everything :-))

Well im sure there will be more posts on here now as things are starting to happen now!

Wedding Rings

Yesterday we went to Lakeside and picked our wedding rings up!!!!!!!!!!! Mine is so much better than i remembered and makes a huge difference trying it on when it fits properly. I think Dan is pleased with his too although he is trying not to show his excitement over a ring, that wouldn't be very manly would it! We noticed Dans ring had gone in the sale and was £125 cheaper than when we bought it so we mentioned it and they refunded us the difference! Result! I have to say Ernest Jones have been so helpful, i would definitely recommend them if you are lookng for any rings. The only thing is their engraving is quite expensive so i think we are going to go elsewhere for that.

I sent out the last few evening invitations this week so just the work ones to do now. Dont panic people, you will get them soon!!

Other news is, im joining fat club this week :-( lol Gotta start taking the diet seriously now.

18 weeks to go........................!!!!!!!!!!

We have spent a lot of money today!!!

Today we both had the day off so we made the most of it and went to Lakeside to get a few more bits done. The main thing we got out of the way is buying our rings. We have been searching for months for something we both love ,seeing as we will be wearing it forever, but we both liked too many and they were all so expensive. In the end i decided on mine and Dan made his final decision today so we ordered them before we changed our minds again!! I have to admit it is the one thing we have really smashed the budget on, everything else has stayed more or less within budget. We got them both from Ernest Jones and the girl that served us was excellent, she even remembered us from last time we went in there ( mind you we have tried on most rings in the shop!!!!). She was very helpful and in the end we thought it was worth spending more money on our rings if we are still going to like them in 10 years from now and they will last.
It was a good job we went in today as Dans ring is going to take 99 days to arrive which means it should arrive around the end of September!!!

The other thing we have done now is ordered the mens suits. In the end we went with Youngs as they were slightly cheaper than Moss Bross and every little helps! They offer a really good service and we can pick the suits up 10 days before the wedding and return them 2-3 days after. We are having grey tails and pink cravats. Dan will wear a very pale pink waiscoat and the others will have the same pattern in white. The men all need to go in to be measured about 6 weeks before the wedding and then they will try them on again when they arrive, just to make sure everything is ok.
I am trying to persuade Dan to go for top hats aswell as i think it would be excellent but hes not sure. I am going to keep trying, it would be so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also this week i have got my shoes and the bridesmaids shoes. Mine came from BHS and the bridesmaids ones are from good old E-Bay. I have got the kiddies favours aswell from a really good website called allaboutpartybags.co.uk where you can select what you want in each bag according to the childrens age. They are really good and should keep them all occupied!

Its getting closer!

Well, less than 6 months now until i will be Mrs Smart :-) I cant believe how quick the time is going. Last week i went to the wedding shop to pay the rest of my dress off and i tried my dress on again. I was soooo excited and i had thought i didnt lke it anymore but i am still in love with it, its amazing and i cant wait to wear it. I dont think i am going to take it off once i have it on!! Dan doesnt seem to be showing any interest in it and i keep wondering what he will think when he sees it.

Our next job is to order the mens suits but they dont need to try them on until closer to the time, we just need to order them. Dan has said im not allowed to see him in his which is fair enough i guess as he cant see me in my dress! We also need to decide on favours and other small things like a guest book and things for the kids to keep them quiet!
We are going to be writing our own vows aswell so we really should get to work on that as i can see it taking some time!

The venue is nearly paid for now and they said they will contact us mid September for a planning meeting where we will discuss the entire running of the day, that is going to be very exciting :-)

Invitations are out!

Well, we haven't had time to update our blog for ages but then theres not really that much to say a the moment! All of the day invitations have been sent out now and i have made a start on the evening ones. I really need to get on with doing those soon! I put the RSVP as 1st August incase people don't know if they can make it or not yet but most people have replied already which is great.

After much thought we have decided that we are going to stay at Greenwoods on the wedding night. We didn't want people to think we were expecting them to stay somewhere so expensive because we really don't but it makes sense to stay there. Its next door to Crondon Park and the bonus is you get breakfast and full use of the spa the next day which is amazing as i've been before. Its £167 a nigt i think and that is a discounted rate as we are getting married at Crondon Park. There are lots of other hotels in the area but they are all about £100 a night and most are about 10 minutes in a cab. So, we figured it is better to stay at Greenwoods because if people are going to travel 10 mins in a cab to then pay £100 for a room they would be better off going home. Thier website is http://www.greenwoodshotel.com/ if you want to have a look, its a lovely place and i cant wait to dive into the pool the next day! I will also be going there with some of the girls in the week before the wedding for some treatments. They are all telling me what an expensive time its going to be!!

Vegas Baby!!

Just to let you all know we have booked our honeymoon, we are going to Vegas on the 18th of November for 10 nighs we are staying at the GrandMGM.

We would just like to say a big thankyou to my cousin Stacy Miller and her friend Sally from Gray Dawes who helped us out and booked it all for us

we cant wait!!!!!

if anyone has been to Vegas and can give us a few tips please let us know

Open day at Crondon park

We went to an open day at Crondon park today with Steve, Maria my mum and my brother. I am pleased to say we still love the place! It was very busy with lots of people looking around, and we got lots more ideas! (well amanda did)

We have now chosen the colour for our chair sashes and Amanda has seen the table decorations she likes

We met a guitarist called Glen Parish (http://www.glenparish.com/) who was playing as we walked through to the ceremony room. We both thought he sounded good but i wasn't sure he could play the song Amanda wants when she walks down the aisle, so she asked and he just started playing it. We then started to talk to him and found out he is a very talented musican and can play pretty much any song you want. We both decided we wanted him at our wedding but price was an issue so we took a few minutes to listen to some more songs and discuss what we were going to do. My mum could see how much we liked him so she offered to pay for him as our wedding present!!!! So we now have a guitarist for our wedding who will be there while our guests arrive, at the wedding ceremony, reception drinks and while we have our sit down meal. We are both so very pleased and think my mum has done a very kind thing for us. Thankyou so much mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Update

So the latest is that the bridesmaid dresses have arrived and they are perfect, perfect colour and just what i was looking for. I have Maria to thank for spotting them! I wasn't sure if i wanted tiaras or alice bands for the bridemaids and yesterday i went into Primark and they are selling some lovely tiaras for £3 each so i bought 4! Im so pleased with them. I only need a few more bits for the bridesmaids and thats them done, its all coming along nicely.

I went to Lakeside with Beth to look at tiaras and found a beautiful one in Debenhams. Its quite unusual but i fell in love with it and think it will go well with my dress. Beth bought it for me which was really nice of her but she shouldnt of done. So now its that bit more special to me.

On Sunday we are going to a wedding fayre at Lakeside and might be doing some sort of gift list. Who knows what else we will find.....we seem to keep booking things for fun!

So as for the ceremony......we wanted a few readings to lengthen the ceremony as civil ceremonies are very short. So far i have my cousin Mary-Catherine and good friend Jenny doing readings for us but would like another one if possible. Even just a short poem or reading would be lovely and would mean a lot to us. So, any offers???!!!!!

Best Men & Ushers

I found it very hard to choose the best man, i have so many great friends they have all helped me out though my life in there own special ways. Originally there were going to be 4 best men but Amanda & Maria told me that was too many so after another few weeks of thinking i got it down to two so the best men are.........................

Matt Burnett:
A fantastic mate i have known him since first year senior school (Warren Comp) It feels like i have known him all my life! he is the perfect drinking partner always used to go out together we have had some great times, he's my brother from another mother.

Steve Fethers:
I have known Steve since i was about 6 i remember going round his house after school for dinner to play with his toys lol. Over the last couple of years i have become much closer to Steve he is a great guy and will do anything for you. A friend i could not be without especially on the day of my wedding.

I know both of them will do an excellent job and wont let me down, come on boys get the stag do sorted!

My ushers are:
My brother Lee Smart and my best cousin Paul Smart

They were both going to be my other two best men but 4 would of been too many and neither of them wanted to do speeches, i don't blame you boys!

So Yesterday we went to look at cars, we went to a place called Arrow Vintage Cars in Stanford-Le-Hope www.arrowvintagecars.co.uk Its a family run business everyone there is very nice they have 19 different cars to choose from all of them have been well looked after we have chosen the 1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Touring Limousine for Amanda and her dad











for the Bridesmaids we choose the 1960 Vanden-Plas Princess Limousine











More to follow soon
Dan

Bridesmaids

So my bridesmaids are:

Beth: my best friend in the whole wide world. We met at uni and went through 3 years of torture together, i couldnt of done it without her and shes one in a million.

Maria: We have got a lot closer recently and i had no doubt in asking Maria to be my bridesmaid (although i did it by text and regret that now).

Katy: I really wanted to Kate to be a bridesmaid but she was unsure at first. However, she accepted and i told her she is now part of the wedding and has to put up with me talking about it!

Ashley: My niece but more like a sister :-) Just dont get too drunk Ashley!!!!!

And of course not forgetting the little flowergirls Kacey (Dans cousins little girl) and Ella, Marias daughter.

So far........

Well so far we have booked our photographer, a really nice bloke called Scott from The Edge photography (www.theedgephotography.co.uk). I have done loads of bits and pieces like jewellery for me and the bridesmaids, gifts for the dads etc. I have also got the flowergirl dresses for Ella and Kacey which are sooooo cute, Ella loves hers!! Other bridesmaids dresses will hopefully be ordered next week.

Tomorrow we are going to look at some wedding cars, im so excited because we didn't think we were going to get them due to budget but we have found somewhere that does them at a really good price. I can't wait!!!!!

Also we have a couple of special "treats" for the evening which are top secret but we know everyone is gonna love it!

The first post!

Well, here is our wedding blog! We thought it would be nice so that you can all know whats going on and the latest plans we have made.

I guess i should start with the proposal incase anyone doesnt know! Well we have previously been to Somerset House ice skating and loved it (even though neither of us can skate!) so when we booked to go back i thought nothing of it. We had our hour on the ice and then Dan wanted to take a picture of me under their huge Christmas Tree (it was 14th December). I stood there and as he began to bend down i asked what he was doing to which he replied "tucking in my shoe lace" Haha! He then got down on one knee and said some beautiful words before asking if i would marry him! It was pretty amazing i have to admit! My ring was handmade and i later learned that he had been planning it all for 2 months, everyone knew accept me! My friends can definitely keep secrets- Maria and Beth that means you!

Less than a month later and our wedding was booked. Crondon Park Sunday 15th November 2009, a date i will never forget now. The venue is amazing and although it was a tough decision for us, we know we have made the right choice. They made us feel so special and whats best is that i get my own toilet!!