The hole in the spreadsheet....

It had to happen, as we hurtle closer to the big day, something would reveal itself as not being covered on the master spreadsheet.

As someone who has to be organised, and gets real satisfaction at ticking things off any list - not just the wedding spreadsheet, you can only imagine the horror when, whilst bobbing up and down in our regular aquafit class, my good friend Anne ( who has patiently listened to every tiny detail of the big day, every week now for almost the past year!!) said, “And of course you will be sending a report to the Hexham Courant...”

 I stopped bobbing and took a deep breath then confessed it wasn’t on the spreadsheet or even anywhere in my head!

Anne kindly texted me a reminder that evening, as being in the pool can bring on goldfish memory issues, and I can report with great relief that not only is it added to the list, I have rung the Courant and they are sending me the forms electronically. Phew!

What happens in the Lakes.....

Well, what a fabulous weekend. I have just about recovered! The venue sourced by Rachel was amazing.

http://theoldhomestead.co.uk/

The first cars to travel over were Rachel and her Mum Ruth and Catriona – and then MOTB, Jo, Sarah and Granny. After a few adventures en route, my car following Rachel with her Sat Nav - Rachel stopped  for diesel  and we didn’t realise so a few texts and phone calls and we were back in convoy again. Then actually finding the secluded venue – but when we arrived and were greeted by the hosts Jane and Zen – the 7 of us having the introductory tour oohing and ahhing all the way round. It was perfect.

We then had team unloading of the cars, Rachel’s being filled with all manner of foods and drink! Once unpacked and the special wine chiller fridge fully stocked, we set about putting up decorations. Hen party balloons, the purple bunting, photos of Lucy over the years, and some of Lucy and Mark along with Granny’s sage quotations about love and marriage. It looked really great. And then there were Sarah's cup cakes 

The Hen and remainder of the Friday group were all en route, so it wasn’t long before we got a call to go out into the car park to greet the bride. Julie had kindly volunteered to transport the Bride to be, along with Amy. Julie had pimped her Audi, and so made sure everyone on the A69 and A595 knew there was an important passenger on board.

“Aunty” Clare, Jodie and Kate arrived soon after and we were complete. We had a nice easy tea pizza, salad and a few drinkies! Most of the conversation ended up with raucous laughter, and a fine evening was had by all. If not a little squiffy.

Saturday morning was cosy and comfy, most hens wandering around in PJ’s or “onesies”  enjoying a leisurely late breakfast . Plans were hatched to meet in Cockermouth for lunch, and people went to get ready, or head off to enjoy the surroundings.

The peace and tranquillity of the Vale of Lorton was momentarily broken by the arrival of the Splitz ladies. Judith, Eleri, Suzanne and Maureen were equally as impressed with the tour of the whole place as we were the night previously. Their journey from the east made them parched, so they were all ready for a liquid refreshment.

So we all met for liquid (and food) refreshment over long lunch at The Trout , a charming Hotel in Cockermouth, which just happened to have room  for an ever expanding group now at 20 strong including Avril,Vicky and Janet. We all headed back to the Old Homestead later afternoon, and everyone enjoyed the garden with a stunning view.

Ruth was head chef with Rachel assisting, MOTB with Kate, and Amy on veggies preparing other dishes. Rachel’s only instruction being everything had to be Lucy’s favourites. So on the menu there was “Wynyard chicken”, lasagne, chicken pie, broccoli, sweetcorn, garlic bread  - enough to feed the 5000. The plan was to start the in house entertainment, then eat, then resume the entertainment. All the hens were asked to wear or accessorise with something sparkly, and the beauty of the Old Homestead meant that everyone was able to get ready quickly, appear in sparkles, and then slip in to slippers.

Granny’s was keen to bring a bit of our family connections with North American to the event, so together with Rachel organised a bridal shower. An upturned umbrella ( shower the bride with gifts!!) was home to all the hens little gifts for Lucy and Mark’s new home – either kitchen or bathroom. Lucy LOVED this – she loved Christmas growing up, and she loves opening gifts. So a good time was had by all when Lucy opened each one and tried to guess who had donated it. Rachel then organised the hens into two teams and set them on making a wedding dress in 10 minutes. Hilarious antics, and a good way for everyone to get to know each other.

Meanwhile the heat in the kitchen was on full power, poor Ruth almost melting . Not only had Ruth made most of the dinner she’d brought delicious puddings too. So dinner was served, and enjoyed by all. Rachel prepared party bags for everyone, which included things you need for a hen party including a hair tie, paracetamol, toothbrush, Love Hearts sweets and a willie straw (!)  Such fun....

Everyone helped to clear up, and then we all settled in the lounge for a Mr and Mrs quiz; another game where everyone had given answers to Rachel to the following questions,

Your first memory of Lucy

One tip for marriage

The only recipe you'll ever need

One thing no one tells you about marriage

One item that you will need during married life

And then Lucy randomly pulled out the answers and had to guess who had said what. Even more fun!

And just when you think your chuckle muscles cant take anymore....Granny Pam and Julie appeared dressed as nuns getting everyone to sing “Oh happy day”. (This wasn’t as weird as it sounds, as Lucy had expressed a desire to have a gospel choir at the wedding ceremony. It was a bit too much for the Abbey to cope with so this was their way of giving that experience to Lucy!!)

Once recovered from the gospel session, the Splitz ladies set about an impromptu dance routine. It was all go. On both nights one of the very popular and messy challenges was the "After Eight" game. Who'd have thought you could have so much fun waiting for an After Eight chocolate to melt balanced on your forehead, to catch it in your mouth. MOTB abstained from this game but got some brilliant photos.

There were many other moments which I won’t recount on a public blog, but it was all good! 

As MOTB it was a lovely experience, at times very emotional caught up in the joy of it all. Then suddenly realised it was my baby girl...this is a right of passage.

Lucy has such a lovely group of friends, and family. The delight of wherever you went in the Old Homestead, there was generally laughter. Often real deep belly laughter – the kind that makes your belly and jaws ache. Even the hens who didn’t know each other soon got on well, and they were united by the fun and games, and their affection for the Bride to be.

And so as the sun rose over Catbells, the Sunday morning meant we all cleaned up, packed up and headed home.

All credit went to Rachel and Ruth for the preparation, and then organisation of the perfect weekend. 

As I mentioned in the last blog, I am not experienced in hen parties . BUT I have to say I loved every minute of this one. So much so, I am thinking I could do it all again!

Hens over and out!

“We” head away today on the hen do.

I have only ever been to three  - two of my own (!) and the third was my good friend from college days who became one of Lucy’s Godmothers, Janet. All three were pretty mild do’s – a few quiet drinks on an evening ( well maybe not quiet!) and my second one being a 10 pin bowling session with good friends including Lucy who was 10 and no alcohol as I happened to be in the very early stages of pregnancy with Richard! So I am a real “hen” novice!

So, it is with great excitement and trepidation we head to a secret location in the Lakes. We have young, old and inbetween attending some for one night, some for two. Along with a great group of Lucy’s bridesmaids, friends there’s Granny, MOTG Avril and MOTB! Chief Bridesmaid to Princess Lucy had done a magnificent job in making the weekend very Lucy themed. And maybe more will be revealed after the event, but as they say “What happens in the Lakes, stays in the Lakes”

Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?

Good news, I have now had a few more MOTB dress fittings with Auriole B.

Auriole has been very understanding about the posse of supporters I take. This includes either my Mum, Lucy and/or my friend and style guru Brenda. For the third fitting just with my Mum, Auriole had made a mock up of the outfit in delightful pink cotton. I almost changed my mind and chose the pink! Joking... I am very glad there were no cameras there to capture that one! I have to say I really love the colour  of the fabric I have chosen, it very me and apparently IN or is it ON fashion trend. Well there is a first time for everything.

I changed my idea of which shoes to wear after several friends commented that I must not be frumpy. So I decided to get some proper shoes from A&J Bridal Wear where Lucy is getting her dress. The shoes are much more wedding-y than an earlier blog post, and are currently being dyed to exactly compliment my outfit.

So all that is left is the hat!

Prior to shopping I checked some of the wedding etiquette on MOTB hats....here’s one of interest 

Suit your style Remember, you’re wearing the hat and not the other way around. Be confident but choose a style that ultimately you’re comfortable in and one that complements your shape and height. If you’re tall avoid tall hats and go for wider brims. If you’re short avoid large hats and go for smaller structured creations.

So the hat hunt began at “Hattie’s” with my Mum, Avril (Mark’s Mum) and me all hoping to find the final piece of the outfit jigsaw.  We were joined by Lucy, Joanne (Mark’s sister) and her 6 month old little boy Theo. Avril and Jo have used the shop previously, so it came highly recommended. Hattie’s home is a small ish shop in Stockton on Tees, which the 6 of us just about filled. The shop is packed to bursting point with all manner of wonderful and colourful headpiece creations.

Lucy had commented previously, what a coincidence it was that a lady called Hattie runs a hat shop! So being polite people, as we took turns to be guided to try on hats for the big day, we all said “Oh that’s nice Hattie” or “Thank you Hattie” as we were passed another hat to try. That was until Jo managed to whisper to Avril, who then told Lucy that Hattie was in fact called Dot. They didn’t manage to tell my Mum and me , so we both continued to call the proprietor Hattie for the rest of our visit.

http://www.hattiesspecialoccasions.co.uk/index.html

Now apparently, hats as we used to know then are now out of fashion, and IN are hatinators. A bit like fascinators but with much more on them! The good thing is that they sit on a band, so no fear of dreaded “hat hair”.  For anyone who really knows me they will understand that at times like this, I sometimes I think I have entered a parallel universe.

Granny went first, and after a few “Oh no I couldn’t possibly wear that” ....she was guided to a perfect hat for her outfit. Avril was then assisted, and Lucy had a try on while she waited.

Sorry this is sideways but you get the idea of how colourful Hattie's was

Then it was the turn of MOTB. My only requirement was that the headpiece be big...given the etiquette advice, I am neither short nor tall so reckon as long as the hat is not too tall or wide I should be ok. I tried a few but wasn’t too keen, then tried one which contrasted with my outfit, and was certainly big! All assembled including Theo said  (well Theo kind of gurgled) that it was perfect and with the promise from Hattie aka Dot that she would add some hints of my dress material to match them up, we all departed.

Excited at being able to tick something else off the spreadsheet, I then shared the news along with a photo or two with some friends...and then had a bit of a rethink. Brenda, on the phone practically heading (no pun intended) for the airport was constructively positive. The summary of her advice being that the hat is an accessory and not the main attraction...so we agreed to have a session together when she gets back ( mid October) to look for the perfect topper to the MOTB outfit. Not to say that the one at Hattie's isnt it.

Since then my friend , bridesmaid Kate’s Mum “Auntie Clare” and I met up last Friday evening to have a quick view of the hats on offer in Debenhams. Not many MOTB biggies but good to get ideas. Although I did suffer a major hot flush with all the fun, and had to tie my hair up to cool down!!

Then Clare suggested we try the Get Smart shop at Blagdon’s Milkhope Centre.

http://www.blagdonestate.co.uk/business-at-blagdon/milkhope-centre

So we met there on Saturday and had a good try on. This time the posse included Lucy and Rachel, I had forgotten how entertaining these two  are together. As we looked around some of the other outlets, I was walking ahead of them in a quaint craft type shop where some ornate bird feeders were on display. I heard Lucy say, “What eats monkey nuts?”, as Rachel didn’t reply, Lucy continued , “Squirrels? SO what eats monkey nuts?” Rachel piped up “ I like monkey nuts but not in a thing like that”.....Oh to be blonde!

This hat visit was just for me to get more ideas. 

The best view!

The main lesson to come from all of this is, you really do need the outfit on, and possibly the shoes too – to ensure the full effect. So one step forward and two back, while Auriole finishes the outfit, while the shoes are being dyed, while Brenda gently tans in Greece – I can do no more for now.

Put up the flags!

Bunting is a great British tradition and is a perfect decoration for any celebration.

The lovely Hannah, daughter of our family friends, is a very enterprising young lady. Hannah works full time, is studying for an Open University degree, helps out with her Mum and Dad’s successful B&B and Wear Alpaca businesses, and she also runs her own business called Buttons and Bunting!

http://www.fairshawrigg.co.uk/buttonsandbunting/about.html

I had seen some bunting Hannah made for a wedding celebration last year, so had thought it might be nice to have some made for our home in the lead up for Lucy and Mark’s wedding.

Hannah came to visit and we looked through her purple and wedding-y materials. We measured up the fireplace, doorway between lounge and dining room and the conservatory for the bunting streams.

Lucy has already declared that she intends to use the conservatory (which has no heating) on 2^nd November to do all her beauty preparations in . Sensible girl as ever, Lucy knows that she will be getting hot with the hair dryer, curling tongs, straightening irons and then make up - so she will stay as cool as she can, for as long as she can in the conservatory. So we will hang the main bunting in there.

The dining room and lounge will be filled with MOTB and the 5 bridesmaids, flower girl, more hairdressers, make up and photographers. Sounds like organised chaos? Don’t worry, there is an extra page on the spreadsheet just for “on the day” logistics!

I plan to take the bunting to the Hen do, and decorate the cottage. Then when we get home, as it will only be a few weeks till the wedding, I will put it up in the house so we can enjoy it before the big day. I may even leave it up till after Christmas...Christmas (!) that reminds me, I need to be making a start on that Festive spreadsheet too. 

St Mary Magdalene, Banns, the circle of life and the incident in the Vestry!

Over 24 years ago, the lovely Lucy * was christened at St Mary Magdalene Parish Church in Prudhoe. Yesterday, the first set of Lucy and Mark’s wedding banns were read out in the very same Church. The circle of life eh?

Lucy with Godfather Kevin

Lucy with Godmothers Janet and Sharon, and Godfather Iain

So now it is for real, the first legal part of compliance with UK Civil and Church law is complete.

My friend Google tells me,

“Banns are an announcement in the local parish church of your intention to marry and a chance for anyone to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place. Banns are read in the parish where each of the couple lives, as well as the parish church in which you are to be married. Banns are read out in church for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding.”

Lucy and Mark’s banns are being read again in Prudhoe on the 22^nd and 29^th September; and then at Hexham Abbey on the 12^th, 19^th and 26^th October

Lucy and Mark had a recent meeting with the Clergyman who will perform their wedding ceremony. Mark took an instant like to the Revd. Phil Mellor-Smith when he suggested that they meet in Weatherspoons for a pint. And even better Phil turned up in his dog collar. Needless to say they had a very productive meeting and everything is in hand regards wedding ceremony planning.

*I say the lovely Lucy, in fact Lucy’s actual Christening service in St Mary Magdalene was a bit of a nightmare for MOTB. Lucy was about 5 months old. We had dressed her in my Christening gown which had been made from material sent from Canada where my Mum’s parents had emigrated to. In those days, early 1960’s, the material was thought to be luxurious, it was all man made and had really pretty colourful pattern of pastel coloured stars.

The dress!

 The dress was altered by my Mum for Lucy to wear. Sadly, the man made fibre caused the somewhat restless babe in my arms to overheat , and resort mid service to howling like a very hungry wild animal. The Revd in Prudhoe at that time tried to continue through the service but in the end he had to ask us to leave the church, as no one could hear him. It appeared that my job was to try and get Lucy to stop screaming. I ended up in the vestry on my own with a very hot and hungry child.

I had no other option but to feed her! I had borrowed a very pretty and quite formal dress from my friend Chris, a dress which was certainly not designed for breast feeding! I ended up having to strip Lucy out of her boiling (but beautiful) outer robe, whilst stripping down halfway to the waist

myself ! As soon as she was being fed of course the noise died down, but I had to juggle - trying to keep myself half decent in case the Revd. came back into the Vestry, but without disturbing her feeding. So Lucy and I missed most of the service, but of course once home for the family and friends party, she was a delightful gurgling bundle of joy. 

Do me a favour...

There is a hint of Autumn , a beautiful time of year.  After a very long and hot summer, finally there is a coolness in the air and the children have gone back to school. That means after this half term, then the “Blackberry week” (October half term school holiday) the big day will be here. Yikes. Suddenly there are things to finalise, and the spreadsheet has been put on the desktop to speed up access..

So as I sat, sitting the other night, unusually I didn’t have much to do. I had drawn the curtains now it’s turning darker after 8pm – just a quick sketch....or “battened down the hatches”  as my Dad would say,  and decided a good job to get done was the wedding favours.

A quick google search tells me that

Wedding favours are small gifts given to guests as a token of appreciation from the Bride and Groom on their Wedding Day – they are usually given out at the Wedding Reception, and often form part of the table decorations.

The tradition of giving wedding favours goes back many years: it is thought the first wedding favour was the ‘Bomboniere’- a small trinket box made of porcelain or crystal and often decorated with precious stones. These were limited to the European Aristocracy and Upper Classes, and usually contained sugar or confectionery which symbolised wealth and royalty. At the time, sugar was an expensive delicacy which was only affordable by the wealthy (it was also thought to have medicinal qualities), but as it became more widely available to those of lesser means the tradition of giving Bombonieres became more widespread.

Over time, bombonieres were replaced with almonds – given to guests to signify good wishes for the couple’s new life together: 5 almonds to signify Health, Wealth, Happiness, Fertility and Long Life. In the 13th Century sugar coated almonds, or Confetti, were introduced, which are still popular today.

These days, the gifts given to Wedding guests are known as Wedding Favours, and the tradition is popular among a wide variety of cultures worldwide. The huge range of options now available means that although many couples may choose the traditional almond favour, those who are looking for more unusual wedding favours are sure to find something suitable.

 I don’t want to spoil the surprise for the day, so can only say Lucy and Mark have chosen a lovely alternative to traditional sugared almonds, so I was able to create the 85 or so favours in one sitting. I did draw blood out of my fingers a little but hopefully  this won’t be too noticeable on the day....