Friday, 26 April 2013
Monday, 22 April 2013
Photoshoot//Jess & Jeff
So, I've got some pictures back from the portfolio shoot I did with Jeff Mahoney & Jessica (Naomi) Smith. The pictures are coming out great!!
Jeff is editing the photos that I picked out this week, so I'll post some more soon!
Jeff is editing the photos that I picked out this week, so I'll post some more soon!
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Planning a Wedding: Finding the Venue
After spending many hours on the internet scrolling up and down site pages, countless emails and enquiries sent to various wedding venues/halls/pubs/barns, I think we're finally narrowing down our venue list.
Village Hall
Our first idea was to hire out a local village hall, decorate it ourselves and have a barbecue outside (hiring in caterers to provide and cook the food). I emailed about 7 different halls to no avail; some weren't available and the rest didn't have a bar. There are other halls I could enquire at, but they don't have any nice outside space, so I think we'll leave this idea for now.
1. Easthampstead Park, Bracknell
My aunt was married here and it is a lovely venue. It's also where the register office is for civil ceremonies in Bracknell, so it would be idea to have the reception in the same venue. Bracknell is my home town and although it's a crappy place, it's where I have lived my whole life, so it just makes sense to marry here.
2. The Elephant Hotel, Pangbourne
I stumbled across this on a google search, the reviews are great and the contact with the wedding Coordinator has been good. The quote she gave us was reasonable. I'm trying to arrange a viewing as soon as possible.
3. The Old Mill, Aldermaston
My good friend Jenni was married here, it is such a gorgeous place! I believe you get exclusivitiy too, and again I don't think the prices are that bad. I've arranged for a viewing tomorrow evening and I hope they can give us a bespoke quote for exactly what we want. I'm not sure they do barbecue's though Now, everyone knows the English summer weather is completely unpredictable, so I am quite happy to have a buffet indoors. However, Jim is insistent on having a barbecue. I'm going to have to try and work my charm for him to compromise on this one!
4. The Red Lion, Henley
This was another google search. I enquired and the Wedding Coordinator replied almost straight away. She seems really friendly and offered to do a bespoke quote for us. I'm trying to arrange a viewing with them too.
5. Audleys Wood Hotel, Basingstoke
This was recommended by an ex colleague of my mums. She didn't have a bad word to say about the place. I need to arrange a viewing with them also, but it does look lovely.
So there you have it, our 4 preferred choices. There are a few more venues I'm waiting to hear back from though, so I may be doing another venue post!
Village Hall
Our first idea was to hire out a local village hall, decorate it ourselves and have a barbecue outside (hiring in caterers to provide and cook the food). I emailed about 7 different halls to no avail; some weren't available and the rest didn't have a bar. There are other halls I could enquire at, but they don't have any nice outside space, so I think we'll leave this idea for now.
1. Easthampstead Park, Bracknell
My aunt was married here and it is a lovely venue. It's also where the register office is for civil ceremonies in Bracknell, so it would be idea to have the reception in the same venue. Bracknell is my home town and although it's a crappy place, it's where I have lived my whole life, so it just makes sense to marry here.
2. The Elephant Hotel, Pangbourne
I stumbled across this on a google search, the reviews are great and the contact with the wedding Coordinator has been good. The quote she gave us was reasonable. I'm trying to arrange a viewing as soon as possible.
3. The Old Mill, Aldermaston
My good friend Jenni was married here, it is such a gorgeous place! I believe you get exclusivitiy too, and again I don't think the prices are that bad. I've arranged for a viewing tomorrow evening and I hope they can give us a bespoke quote for exactly what we want. I'm not sure they do barbecue's though Now, everyone knows the English summer weather is completely unpredictable, so I am quite happy to have a buffet indoors. However, Jim is insistent on having a barbecue. I'm going to have to try and work my charm for him to compromise on this one!
4. The Red Lion, Henley
This was another google search. I enquired and the Wedding Coordinator replied almost straight away. She seems really friendly and offered to do a bespoke quote for us. I'm trying to arrange a viewing with them too.
5. Audleys Wood Hotel, Basingstoke
This was recommended by an ex colleague of my mums. She didn't have a bad word to say about the place. I need to arrange a viewing with them also, but it does look lovely.
So there you have it, our 4 preferred choices. There are a few more venues I'm waiting to hear back from though, so I may be doing another venue post!
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Hayley Williams + MAC
I'd gone off MAC lately, but I really like the look of these products, especially the eyeshadow!
Image from MAC Cosmetics
And I flippin' love her hair in the new Paramore video!
Image from MTV
Image from MAC Cosmetics
And I flippin' love her hair in the new Paramore video!
Image from MTV
Monday, 8 April 2013
Planning a Wedding; First Steps
1: Setting a date
Image from Madison Metropolitan School District
Argh, how are you supposed to pick just one day out of 365 in a year?! How do you even pick a year? Of course, when you're first engaged, it's a very exciting feeling and you just want to get married tomorrow. However, it's best to sit down and think about how much time you need to plan & save. One of you needs to be stubborn and sensible, like I was even though I felt like I was trying to drag it out as long as I can. I'm not! Jim wants to get married in 2014. Ideally, so do I, but we have barely any savings so it's just not viable. 2015 it is. So, picking the day. We sat down last night and spoke about what we wanted. We definitely want a barbecue, which will be outdoors. So, obviously that's the season sorted. Summer. Summer in England is still a bit risky, but we're willing to take it. Now to pick a month. I let Jim do that one! He mentioned that he'd been talking to my dad that afternoon and a Thursday in June would be cheaper than a Friday/Saturday in another month. Boom! 2 in 1, the day and the month. 4 dates to pick from. I just picked the soonest which is the 4th. Date done: Thursday 4th June 2015.
2: Budget.
Image from hitched.co.uk
Ah, the dreaded budget conversation. I could tell Jim didn't want to go through it, but we had to so I made him. We put a budget against each part of the wedding and made sure we went higher as a lot of it is just guess work. Example: Catering. Every website we looked at was 'contact us for bespoke quotes today'. I can tell I'm already going to get sick of that phrase. Vendors - bride & grooms need estimates, people! Jim seemed shocked at the cost of some things and I think he realised why I wasn't bothered about getting a lovely wedding car (minimum price £350. I don't think so). I'd rather spend more money on the photographer and honeymoon. It took us about an hour, but we did it. Now we've got to try and stay under it.
3: Guestlist
Image from bridesupnorth.co.uk
The guest list part annoys me. Having to include family at the family that you never see (and know that you will never see them after the wedding) is frustrating, but it's not worth the arguments. We're not having kids at the ceremony but will include them at the reception if they want. Jim missed out a few of his family so we'll have to sort that out later! Almost there.
Does anyone wish to share any tips or problems they faced when doing these?
Image from Madison Metropolitan School District
Argh, how are you supposed to pick just one day out of 365 in a year?! How do you even pick a year? Of course, when you're first engaged, it's a very exciting feeling and you just want to get married tomorrow. However, it's best to sit down and think about how much time you need to plan & save. One of you needs to be stubborn and sensible, like I was even though I felt like I was trying to drag it out as long as I can. I'm not! Jim wants to get married in 2014. Ideally, so do I, but we have barely any savings so it's just not viable. 2015 it is. So, picking the day. We sat down last night and spoke about what we wanted. We definitely want a barbecue, which will be outdoors. So, obviously that's the season sorted. Summer. Summer in England is still a bit risky, but we're willing to take it. Now to pick a month. I let Jim do that one! He mentioned that he'd been talking to my dad that afternoon and a Thursday in June would be cheaper than a Friday/Saturday in another month. Boom! 2 in 1, the day and the month. 4 dates to pick from. I just picked the soonest which is the 4th. Date done: Thursday 4th June 2015.
2: Budget.
Image from hitched.co.uk
Ah, the dreaded budget conversation. I could tell Jim didn't want to go through it, but we had to so I made him. We put a budget against each part of the wedding and made sure we went higher as a lot of it is just guess work. Example: Catering. Every website we looked at was 'contact us for bespoke quotes today'. I can tell I'm already going to get sick of that phrase. Vendors - bride & grooms need estimates, people! Jim seemed shocked at the cost of some things and I think he realised why I wasn't bothered about getting a lovely wedding car (minimum price £350. I don't think so). I'd rather spend more money on the photographer and honeymoon. It took us about an hour, but we did it. Now we've got to try and stay under it.
3: Guestlist
Image from bridesupnorth.co.uk
The guest list part annoys me. Having to include family at the family that you never see (and know that you will never see them after the wedding) is frustrating, but it's not worth the arguments. We're not having kids at the ceremony but will include them at the reception if they want. Jim missed out a few of his family so we'll have to sort that out later! Almost there.
Does anyone wish to share any tips or problems they faced when doing these?
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