I'm rubbish at updating this!

Ok so the dress is chosen and paid for - YAY! Can't put it on here just in case Matt's having a sneeky peek, unlikely but anything is possible! One clue... VINTAGE!

The venue is now down to two options... Knockderry House and Sherbrooke Castle. Had a lovely time venue hunting this weekend with Carol and those two were our favourites. Unfortunately, we also missed our flight home because of a 'police incident' on the M8 in Glasgow, which involved closing off a whole section of it just 15 mins away from the airport!!! But Easyjet were absolutely awesome and transferred us onto a Monday flight at no extra cost and the lovely Matt sorted out our hotel reservation for the night :)

Planning to go back up in January with Matt, Davey and Fsil to make a final choice on the venue and then hoping to have the invites ready to send out by mid January...

Dress fittings on Saturday!!

I have appointments at two bridal shops this weekend, one which has a sale dress that i really really like and at £300, how can you go wrong??? I'm also making (very slow) progress on the weight loss front (am trying to get back to the weight i was the summer before i started my doctorate, before i opened the fridge and never closed it again, ate and ate until i should have exploded but miraculously didn't.... CAKE!!!! Enough said! But i have now achieved over 1 stone loss (20 lbs) and my 10% goal, so its going down. Hoping it will be 2 stone lost (24 lbs) by Christmas.... And for the "normal" people, that's a starting weight of 88 kg, now weigh 79 kg, and i want to weigh 60 kg for the wedding - i'm not asking much!!! :D The dilemma is, will i lose it in time? And more importantly, what dress size should i order? Should i be very ambitious and order a dress 2 sizes smaller? Should i play it safe and hope for a good seamstress?

I'm drugging Matt, hopping on a plane and getting married in Vegas tomorrow, you are all welcome to join me so long as i don't have to plan anything more than drugging Matt, getting him on a plane to Vegas, and showing up at the Chapel to get married!!! :D

Thank goodness for unobservant fiances who never read their future wife's blog!

Venues: Take 2

Right, well of the original list of venues have scrapped them all and have a new shiny list all of which i will be visiting with the lovely Carol Hall in December :) And the finalists are...... (insert drumroll)

Knockderry House   (http://www.knockderryhouse.co.uk/)

I like: it's by the sea and has a beach, activities available, very pretty house and beautiful location. Exclusive use so no strangers allowed!

I don't like: 45-60 mins by car from the airport, need to catch train and bus if coming by public transport...

Norton House Hotel and Spa  (http://www.handpickedhotels.co.uk/hotels/Norton-House/)

I like: it has a spa! It is opposite Edinburgh Airport and not too difficult to get to from Edinburgh city by public transport.
I don't like: It's a big hotel so wouldn't have it all to ourselves....

Sherbrooke Castle Hotel   (http://www.sherbrooke.co.uk/)

I like: its in the centre of Glasgow so very accessible, could have it exclusively to ourselves... It's so preeety!!
I don't like: possibly the price tag - but we are negotiating! Lack of facilities or activities.

Friars Carse Hotel   (http://www.friarscarse.co.uk/)

I like: near to preswick airport, accessible by train, activities available and there is a snooker room. Looks nice and feels intimate. Can be exclusively ours.
I don't like: Not sure yet...

Hunters Quay Hotel  (http://www.huntersquayhotel.co.uk/)

I like: small, intimate and quaint. Activities available. Beautiful location by the sea and near to a forest park. Would be exclusively ours.
I don't like: possibly the faffing with catching a ferry to get to it, although could all be part of the adventure!

Dress shopping :)

Went out looking for dresses last weekend. Was very girlie and fun :) Found 4 that i really liked so hoping to lose another stone by xmas and then going back to try them again and decide which one i like the best. Was really great because mum joined me on skype which made it really special, it's something i always imagined doing with my mum so was really pleased when i realised i still could! Wont post anything up for the moment, think i'm gonna keep the dress as a surprise for the day....

No you've not misread my ticker.... 9 months to go!!!

So in the time since my last post we've hit the fast forward button and are now getting married on July 21 2011!!! Ok i'm officially freaking out! But not to worry i've got my fsil (future-sister-in-law) and the wonderful Carol on the case to help pull it off.... sigh of relief? I think not, still a long way to go for that...

Somewhere over the rainbow...

There is a pot of gold waiting for me so i can ship/fly/train/ferry (you get the picture) everyone here:

Double Island

Where we would be going if money was no object and everyone was free to fly :)

Pretty white things...

So those who know me well know that i make very little effort with my appearance on a day to day basis but absolutely love getting dressed up for things - so much so that i tend to over dress! So speaking of dresses.... The reason why i am dieting (every picture i've seen of someone in this dress they have been a size 8!!! S**t!!

I love the Spanish, flamenco feel of this dress!!

So the story behind it is that i saw it in a shop window of a bridal store in Summertown as i was driving to work in Oxford from Banbury. I only caught a glance of the dress, but was determined to find it so i looked the shop up online and thankfully the dress was there - a Pronovias dress (i'd fallen in love with a few dresses already from them)!!

Later on, i saw it again on the program Don't Tell the Bride, and i became a bit of a green eyed monster and could quite happily have ripped the bride's eyes out :) I now understand the term 'bridezilla', oh dear....

The hills are alive, with the sound of bagpipes!

Been avoiding dissertation amendments by looking up wedding venues in Scotland :) It's quite hard finding a small intimate venue that can accommodate 30+ people... But there are some lovely grand castles in every neck of the woods!

Here are two that i found today that seem to do the small and intimate well as well as having enough accommodation for most of our guests too...

Kinloch House

and....

Harburn House

Lovely gardens for the ceremony and somewhere to hide if the heavens open up :D

Feeling like a deflated balloon!

Beginning to realise that having family and friends from all parts of the globe is not wedding friendly (i know i should have realised this earlier but i was too excited and busy making grand plans!). Spoke with mum earlier this week and it looks like my guest list is looking a little lonely... My parents and brother (of course) and a few friends in the UK. The family friends that i wanted to come from Australia are now more than likely not going to be able to afford to come :( and of course most of my friends live in Australia and likewise wouldn't be able to come... double :(  Equally it is unreasonable to ask Matt's family and friends to come to Australia, and no, finding a halfway point would still be expensive and not feasible... I need to find a way to blow up this balloon again as at the moment i'm not feeling like having a wedding at all... It is of course Matt's fault, he should have come from Australia!!

The sparkly ring.

Chosen by Matt all by himself - from a quirky little jewellers in Exeter. Love it!

Location, location, location...

This is now doing my head in! I keep coming up with ideas, some of them plausible others not so much so and not all of them are approved by the groom :P 

But...

Can i had a show of hands of what y'all think about:

Where should we get married?
	a humanist ceremony and reception in Scotland.
	a humanist ceremony in Scotland and reception in Portugal.
	a civil ceremony and reception in Oxfordshire.
	a humanist ceremony and reception in Queensland, Australia.
pollcode.com free polls

The engagement... June 5, 2010

Was absolutely magical. We walked along the seaside path to the pub we had our first date - me clueless as anything had no idea what was about to happen! We had a drink in the sunshine and then Matt took me for a walk to a cliff top where he sat me down and asked if I would be his wife! Couldn't have thought it up better myself :)