He Knows my Name isn't Susan

Hooray! My engagement ring which has been custom made by a fantastic seller on etsy Cocoa and China is winging it's way over to me as we speak. Rose gold with a black diamond, bit unconventional I suppose but I've never been one for showy jewellery so understated is the go!

I have spent the last week trawling through etsy wedding blogs to poach ideas and to be inspired by others, I think Sam might be getting tired of hearing about the wedding already so I will have to keep a cap on discussions and save them all up for six monthly wedding talks.

At the weekend we went to our niece's 5th birthday party (butterflies and pirates), and the event was craft-a-go-go! David had made two long tables and butterfly and pirate chairs especially for the occasion, not only that but there was an impressive array of handmade treasure chests, pink cakes, dresses and hats on show, I'm entering into a very craft focused family which suits me just fine!

Whilst we were up there we popped in to visit Colette and David's allotment, instant veg envy ensued and on returning to the shire we instantly signed up for one of our own (at least a year to wait, alas). Amongst the veg there were an impressive collection of sunflowers and cornflowers growing together and they look fantastic, a renewed excitement for the bouquets has now flourished!

The Importance of Bunting

I don't think that it would be conceivable for either my aunt, my mum or myself to hold a celebration without bunting. We have Christmas bunting, 50's bunting, and 70's bunting produced, stored and ready to be whipped out at a moments notice. It is with this bunting heritage that I have started collecting fabric for the wedding bunting. The idea is to gather fabric with designs that have some relevance to Sam and I (hence the glasses) however I'm not sure what aspect of our personality is reflected by owls or flags both of which have featured in recent fabric purchases, apart from the fact that I simply had to have the fabric. Fabric worm has been featuring every day in my browse history, so far I have kept the purchases down to two parcels but when payday arrives I can feel another sale coming on. Of course to reflect my Devon roots I will have to succumb to a trip to Trago Mills for backing fabric, it would seem wrong on some level not to have included Trago in the preparations some how, perhaps a nice gargoyle or similar??

Flowers

http://www.blue-geranium.co.uk/

Flowers? Check. A reception in a barn doesn't seem to lend itself to posh flowers so we're going for sunflowers and wild blue flowers, perhaps cornflowers? But the best thing is because sunflowers will be too big for the bridesmaids (will be 6 and 4) the florist is going to source mini sunflowers especially for them, so cute.

Our garden next year is going to become a sunflower growing factory, every available space will be taken up with the production of sunflowers on mass, herbs and veg be damned we're on a mission!

Not only that but the bathroom has already become a wine and beer making factory. At Christmas when my brother and cousin came to stay we were in the middle of brewing a batch of elderflower wine, four demi-johns with amber coloured liquid were merrily bubbling away. Both took it as red that we had just stored vats of our urine, for what purpose they imagined I don't want to know. Needless to say there was much relief when I explained that no, we weren't conducting strange-o experiments with wee.

Casual and not stressful, no really.

'Casual, casual easy thing' that's the mantra for our wedding. Wishful thinking right? Over the years I have heard far too many horror stories of stressed out brides upset that the place settings don't match the bridesmaids hair or equally ridiculous things and the thought of it brings me out in a cold sweat of terror. Why generate such stress for one day in your life? I recognise that as far as days go it's an important one, but really? Perspective is a wonderful thing, it's a marriage you're creating here not a wedding!



For those who know us the idea of Sam stressing over the colour of napkins and whether they match the flowers is laughable, equally the idea of spending thousands of pounds on a wedding doesn't quite fit in with either our income or our belief in not wasting money on stuff, stuff that is disposable and essentially useless after the day. Friends have set great examples with their weddings, one pair went to Ikea bought up plates and cutlery to avoid renting them from the catering company and then donated it all to the Church they were married in. My soon to be sister-in-law made her own simple and yet stunning wedding dress, and recently we went to a wedding in Wales where the couple had made an impressive array of homebrew from delicious cider to coffee wine (like coffee cake in a glass).



For our part we will be encouraging a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere at all times, to start with we'll be holding our reception in a barn on a nearby farm, there won't be formal sit down meals and guests can dress how they wish, there is no obligation to fork out for new outfits and shoes chances are you'll be donning your wellies if the British summer is anything to go by!