This was my 'I have just collected my wedding dress face'. It's not the most flattering photo of me (thank you pre-holiday paleness, goofy grin and crappy phone camera!) but it makes me smile even now. 

I picked up the dress from my seamstress (mainly a couple of inches taken off the bottom - short-ass!), and drove away on Cloud 9. You can just about see the plum coloured box I bought (from Empty Box) to transport my precious cargo in. 

I love my dress!

I promised a post showing you the actual dress in the near future - when life finally gets back to normal and I have a little more time. 

In the mean time, why not check out my other wedding related blog posts?

Lou x

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This is for anyone who had any doubts why I was skiving from my Friday blog post last week... Best Hen Do EVER!!! (And it was mine, whoop!)

Business as usual now I'm home and still alive!

Lou x

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Tomorrow, Friday 3rd July, is the start of my Hen Weekend so... I won't be posting!
I'm having a week off... Bit scared, very excited, but hopefully I'll still be here to post for next Friday. 

Until then, it's a good time to head on over to my travel blog, Born To Be A Tourist. I know you've missed some good posts on there! Two weeks ago I told you about the time I made cheese in Costa Rica, and this week it was all about Dallas Fort Worth Airport. 

Lou x

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This is a post which reflects my fiance's and my views on marriage in general, through the medium of wedding planning - a little more serious a blog post than some of the fluffier aspects!

From day one, he and I have been deliberately sharing all possible decisions about 'our day'. We have investigated options, shared ideas, and made decisions together. When we hit obstacles (and believe me, we have!), we've worked through our options together. There is not a whiff of the infuriating attitude of 'planning a wedding is a bride's realm'. We're in it together. 

Honestly, I could have planned the wedding and all that comes with it myself - I'm that kind of organised person - but I wouldn't want to. Having my fiance's input was assumed. It's also highly valuable as we're building the day (ok, 4 days!) that we want, not just what I (or a hypothetical wedding planner would) want. 

When people ask me (and they have) if Roberto is toeing the line and letting me plan the wedding of a lifetime, I say "no, he is not toeing the line". And I pause. They look shocked/saddened/worried. Then I say "there is no line to toe." We are planning OUR wedding together. It's not just my job!

It's kind of worked out well, really. We both have our strengths and weaknesses (don't ask me to order flowers in Spanish!!!) and we both have parts we enjoy more than others. I, for example, am really enjoying making the crafty bits like invitations and programmes, even with my questionable talent. My fiance is really good at doing the jobs 'on the ground' as he's actually in Costa Rica (where we're getting married) and he knows a lot more about local customs and people who can help us out with cakes, flowers etc. Finally, we seem to agree on most things. This sounds so fairytale, but it's not. We're just on the same page - we want a small wedding, a good party, and lots of thought being poured into the time we spend bringing our families together for the first time. 

Sure, there's one or two elements of the wedding festivities I'm not telling him about - case in point, the dress - but every decision we can make together, we are. It's not tedious, it's enjoyable. We have time to do this, having a 7.5 month engagement, and between me and you, I know he's enjoying making little decisions about invitation designs as much as I am. His dedication to the event is impressive, which again, is nothing but exciting, heart-warming, and a blessing, me being 9,000km from where we're getting wed.

Who's wedding is it anyway? Mine and his. Who's marriage is this? Mine and his. We're in it together and we're keeping it that way. 

Check out How To Have A Feminist Wedding if this kind of blog content floats your nuptial boat. 

Lou x

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I've been reading a lot of new blogs this week and have discovered a lot of new writers, inspiration and ideas. Thanks to Wedding and Wedding Flowers, I have discovered all sorts of weird and wonderful wedding traditions from British and Irish history. 

Did you know...?

The phrase 'tying the knot' comes from the ancient Celtic wedding ritual of handfasting, where the bride's and groom's hands were tied together.

Unnerving... Start as you mean to go on?!

An old wives' tale states that if the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never getting married herself. 

Not a problem in my family, I'm the eldest!

Early wedding cakes didn't sound too tasty: flat, round, contained fruit and nuts to symbolise fertility and it was often crumbled over the bride's head.

How horrible! Not my idea of confetti!

It was said to be bad luck of the bride fell when entering the marital home for the first time, which is why being carried over the threshold is such a tradition. It may also derive from the bygone custom of the bride being 'stolen' and carried off by her groom.

Love this one, but the chances of us having our own place when we're married are quite slim at the moment!

In Ireland, a laying hen was, in the past, tied to the bed on the first night of the honeymoon in the hope that some of its fertility would be passed on to the couple. 

Noisy night, anyone?

Finally, and perhaps the strangest one of all, prior to a change in the law (2012), a wedding was only legal in the UK if it took place between 8am - 6pm. Apparently this was due to a concern that the groom wouldn't be able to see his bride's face clearly after dark and could therefore be duped into marrying a stranger. 

What about the bride being duped?! We're being wed at 4pm, so we're both safe on that score!

Aside from the last one, I think my fiancé and I will leave those traditions in history's arms. Sure, we've got some traditional stuff planned (I'm a reluctant traditionalist!), but the little things we do in our ceremony are more symbolic than most of the above, and some just aren't practical. There will be a hen do, a night apart before the big day, and during the ceremony we plan to do a rose exchange in between our two mums to symbolise the joining of the two families. Also, I couldn't walk down the aisle without my dad!

Will you, or did you, include any of these traditions in your ceremony?

Lou x

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Black and white image courtesy of Cartoon Stock

On a recent sporty shopping errand, I found these shirts in a Sports Direct store in Northampton. 

They scream wedding at me!!!!

Completely on colour theme, I think my bridesmaids will love them! They'll be cool on the beach and made of cotton too. Even better, there's a deal if you buy two!

No bridesmaid dress shopping for us, wooo!!!

My groom-to-be took the photo so he obviously approves...

(This is a total joke). 

Lou x

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Deciding the date of our forthcoming nuptials was the easiest process - it amazed me when we decided on a date within a week of being married.

The date of our wedding will be... drum roll please... 

Thursday 21st August 2014

How did we decide on the date?

Well, my dad works part time (every other month), so we are limited to 6 months out of 12 if we want my parents to be there - of course we do!!! And 'there' is abroad, in Costa Rica, so it's not a case of popping down somewhere for the day. 

My mum works in a school, so it made sense to keep the wedding trip to the school holidays. 

February half term and Easter are out of the question - too soon! May is even pushing it, really, to give people enough time to book flights etc. October half term is not a great option either as it's in the middle of rainy season in Costa Rica. And Christmas? Don't go there!!! There's way too much happening then to add a wedding to the mix!

This means August. It's still 'low season' in Costa Rica and before the rainy season, and we can use the bonus day off in our annual leave allowance for the August Bank Holiday if we plan carefully!

Then we started thinking... A beach wedding. We had the smart thought to book the ceremony for a weekday to try to avoid as many other people as possible enjoying the beach at the weekend. We plucked 'Thursday' out of the bag. There's only so many Thursdays in August this year (4) so we provisionally went with the 21st to plan around. We need to factor in some before and after events too (e.g. reception), so this really helped. In actual fact, we stuck with that exact date. 

Funny coincidence 

Mi prometido (fiance) pointed out... August is the 8th month. My birthday is on the 8th (February). The 21st is the same date of my boyfriend's birthday (September). A good omen - the're there if you look hard enough, haha!

Phew!

This was all decided in 15 minutes flat. Easy! 

Now the fun really starts...

Lou x

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This year is going to be a big one. I'm getting married!

The Proposal

My boyfriend proposed on New Years Eve after we'd finished watching the fireworks in London. Technically, I suppose, it was January 1st 2014, but that was the night. It goes without saying I didn't hesitate to reply "SI!!!" to his important question in Spanish. I couldn't be happier!!!

Woah, woah, hold up. Why did he propose in Spanish?

My groom-to-be is Costa Rican, so we're bringing the two families together on a Caribbean beach (east coast). The reception will follow in his hometown in the style of a HUGE party. We'll be having a UK and Costa Rican reception, so I'm a lucky girl and get to wear the dress three times!

Yesterday was the last time me 'n' he will be together until May as his "tourist" status only allowed him a three month stay here in the UK, so this new writing topic will keep me occupied, if nothing else! What better time to start sharing the story. 

Why impinge on your writing blog with wedding news?

It's still writing... writing about our wedding plans!

I shan't be doing a whole new blog about the big day, (I already have this writing themed one and a travel blog, each of which I post to weekly) but I want to document our journey in some way for friends, family, and future kiddies who will hopefully appear someday. I will blog as and when, nothing regular, just when I have something interesting to share with you. I have created a tag on this blog called 'My Wedding', so that's the best place to find posts about our wedding, should you wish to have a nosey look. 

I hope you enjoy reading about our journey! If not, don't worry, the regular writing posts will be as regular as usual. 

***Thanks, baby, for your support on this. You've always been so supportive of my blogging xxx ***

Lou x

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