As promised in my last blog I will tell you all about my dress fitting and the bridesmaids dress fitting. I had my bridesmaids booked in for their dress fittings on a Saturday afternoon. So they were all travelling to Carlow. My Mum was also there for the weekend. I had arranged to meet them for lunch before the fitting. So I met my Mum and then my sister and my sister in law came to the cafe. Then one of my bridesmaids arrived and I got a call from one of them (septemberbride) to say that her bus had broken down on the way from Cork and that she wouldn’t be able to make lunch. As the fourth bridesmaid was collecting her in Portlaoise off the bus she was running late too. So we had a lovely lunch and then it was time to go for the appointment, and my sister in law headed off so the dresses would be a surprise. As we were on the way over I got a text to say that the two girls had arrived. I had to run to the car to get the shoes and the scarves and brooches so the girls could try them on with the dresses.
We were waiting a little while for Karen in Fairytale Moments to finish up with her previous appointment. Then we headed into the back room when she was ready. The dressmaker was there also. I had thought the appointment was just for the bridesmaids but Karen asked who would go first me or the girls so it was decided that I would go first!! So I got to put my dress on again. There is actually very little to be done to it. It has to be taken in at the bust, and the train has to be done so I can tie it up for the dancing but that is all. Even the length is perfect as Karen ordered the shorter length and I just have to make sure I have the right shoes. So I got my dress pinned and then sat down while the girls got theirs done. They tried on their shoes and the scarves and brooches with the dresses and they were lovely.
When they were finished the dressmaker headed on with the girls dresses I still had mine on!! I wanted to try on the accessories while everyone was there. I tried on a couple of pairs of shoes with the dress I loved these ones before but wasn’t sure if the heel height was right but they are perfect with the dress don’t need to alter the length of the dress. Then I tried on a fabulous ostrich feather sleeveless bolero I need something to keep me warm (as a bride with goose bumps is not a good look!!) and it also ties in with my feathers and pearls theme. Once I had that on I wanted to decide about a veil so I tried a few on and found a lovely one it is cream and it has a ribbon at the end of it, it goes to about my elbows I decided to order that too. The veil looks lovely with the bolero and I wasn’t sure if it would thought I would have to take the bolero off for the church. I needed jewellery also and they have some lovely pieces I tried on a lovely pearl necklace and matching bracelet and they were gorgeous with the dress so I decided to order them too. All I need now to complete the outfit is something for my hair.
The following day while my Mum was still in Carlow she came over to help me make the invitations. I had bought all the material. I had already made a few so I had the template adapted to the way I wanted it and I knew what I wanted to do. I got this card and envelopes on DIY wedding. I got feathers on eBay. I got the glue to stick the paper onto the card and the glue dots to stick on the feathers on DIY wedding also. I printed them and cut the paper down to the right size with a paper guillotine and Mum stuck the paper onto the card great teamwork! We also got some of the feathers stuck on which I finished later on.
H2b’s mum helped she wrote all the names onto the invites for us. On another weekend I typed everyone’s address onto the guest list spreadsheet. Then I spent a few hours ringing B&Bs to see if they have rooms available before I put them on the list (New Year’s Eve is a busy time and some don’t open). Then h2b and I drove out to the hotel and then from the hotel to the church to give detailed directions – I typed that out & printed them off with the accommodation list. I then printed out the envelopes. My h2b and I put the invites and inserts in the envelopes making sure they were in the right one and sealed them and put stamps on them and put them in the post box. I didn’t realise the invitations would take so long to do took most of the weekend to do the inserts & then print envelopes, put stamps on them and post them. It was great to get the first RSVPs back by text and e-mail.
I rang a few places about doing our cake. One of them was going to be at a Wedding Fair at a local hotel so we said we would go along one weekend to meet her. The sample cakes tasted lovely so we decided to meet up with Miriam from Sweet Creations again. She had brought along pictures of various cakes to get ideas to the meeting. We went through the different pictures to see what style of cake we wanted. We decided to go with a four tier cake. The cake is going to be a hexagon shape. I wanted to tie the cake into my feathers and pearls theme. Each tier is going to be iced in ivory. On the top tier she is going to have a purple wire design with pearls on it and also using ivory feathers. She is going to have a smaller version of this on another tier, and at the bottom of the cake. Then on the other two tiers she is going to have flowers. On two of the tiers she is going to have writing in gold one of hearts, and one of our initials. The largest two tiers are going to be chocolate and chocolate biscuit, and then the other tiers are orange madeira and lemon madeira. I have also ordered our cake topper which I think I am going to have on the table where the cake is rather than on top of the cake.
I have ordered the favour bags from eBay I really think they tie in with my theme perfectly. I just have to get something to put in them now.
I have ordered the bridesmaids jewellery these lovely pearl and crystal necklaces with matching bracelets again to tie in with my theme. I even found bracelets for my two flowergirls on eBay to tie in but I changed the charm on it to say Flowergirl.
I had a brilliant hen weekend which you can read all about on my post on the mrs2be forums. It was such a laugh especially being stuck in the hotel corridor in robes and slippers make sure you read the report!!
I will tell you in my next blog all about my second dress fitting and hair and make-up trial. I hope the snow clears away so I can have them soon. I have had to cancel appointments.
Until the next time here on mrs2be.