Warning: I read this back before posting and it sounds kinda... down on the whole wedding thing! I guess there's just more stress involved than I wanted, but it's still going to be awesome. Or else! ;)
I have a dress now. As you might know, I was dreading dress shopping because I had no idea what I wanted and I couldn't think of anything worse than having to go try a load of dresses on! My dress shopping experience lasted one day in total :) we went out, we tried dresses on, we found two (both suitably wedding dress priced - eek!), I had to go off and have a panic and then ring Gav who calmed me down, I returned to the shop and we ordered the dress. Phew! It wasn't a pleasant experience, which was in no way the fault of the lovely dress shop ladies who were absolutely marvellously darling about everything and very very patient with silly indecisive me! Gosh, I just got so stressed! But I love the dress and gave some serious thought to how to incorporate dresses with corsets into my daily wardrobe because those things are amazing! Instant tiny waist!
Unfortunately I've been banned from sharing the photographic proof until the big day, but it's all ordered and should be back at the shop for adjustments in early August. Plus, who knows, the day that I upload a picture of my wedding dress here will be the day that dear Gav somehow starts reading my blog! It's accessible to him if he were to look, but I don't think he does (lots of crafty stuff here usually!).
So, to the wedding! We have been painstakingly going through Disney's lists of flowers, music, decor, and all the other bits and bobs trying to come to an agreement on which things we want and where. We are getting there. Slowly!
Regarding the cake; we have agreed that I can choose the design of the cake (there's one design that's almost steampunk and I love it!) and Gavin is choosing the flavour of the sponge and icing. The flowers are my choice because I have to carry a big bunch of them and Gavin will only be wearing a buttonhole. I haven't quite decided whether I want red or white flowers in my bouquet, but I'm fairly sure I want something fairly small rather than a big cascade of flowers. We won't be able to bring them home with us anyway so will have to enjoy them during the holiday.
I want to keep some things a surprise, so without giving anything away... after some serious negotiation I have somehow convinced Gav to agree to some music for the cake and champagne part of the ceremony that initially he wasn't keen on but I knew we just had to have it! :) It's so fun! Gives me a big smile just to think of it. Disney fans will understand when they hear it, but if they don't know it they'll never guess what it is so that was my leverage for sticking it on the list ;)
Gav picked the music for me to walk down the aisle to - I suspect his choice will cause a few tears (including from me!) but I love what he picked so I'm not arguing :)
It's looking like there will be two stag do's/hen parties for each of us, one at home before we leave so that our friends at home can attend, and then another in Florida which Gav's U.S. family is very kindly organising. Limousines have been mentioned; watch this space! For the girls, I've suggested we go to Universal's Citywalk - I really want to sit out and drink a Margaritaville margarita in the sunshine!
We are still to shop for Gav's suit because we need to have a look at colours; it was looking like there were going to be clashes of opinion over bridal/groom colours but as it's our wedding and we don't want any fuss, we've vetoed that completely by very specifically saying that everyone should wear whatever they want and then everyone will be happy :) heaven forbid anyone had to feel bad about their clothes because of me!
I have had a few ideas about shopping for presents for mothers, fathers, the best man and the maid of honour, but nothing bought yet so still open to suggestions if anyone has ideas. Rather than sourcing and purchasing wedding favours, we have some Mickey Mouse shaped ice cube trays, so will be taking those with us to Florida and then buying a bunch of white, milk and dark chocolate to melt into Mickey shapes.
The wedding invites will hopefully be going out in the next week or so once I get my exam out of the way on Tuesday. I have all the supplies here ready to go (apart from some red ribbon), so it's just a case now of assembling them and posting them out. It has been pointed out to me that possibly I should have gone with a design that didn't need embossing, die-cutting, painting, punching, gluing, Stickles and ribbon if I was going to be sending out nearly 40 of them, but there you go. Oops!
So I think that's where we're up to for now! We have another two or three months to firm up our choices with Disney and we are getting there. Slowly. ;)
Have a great weekend!
Gayle xx
