Big Bookings

Well, we now had a venue. Two venues, actually! And within a week after securing our date, I decided to quit my job with absolutely no prospects of a new one on the horizon. What the fuck had I done?

Swigging champers whilst we sign away our life...

By this point, I had left retail after 7 long, long years. I really did love working with new people every day, but I also got a thrill from office work. How geeky does that sound?! Growing up with MSN, MySpace and Bebo – and then ultimately going on to complete a media degree does this to some people – we grow fascinated with computers and making them work, making them go fast and making them go BETTER. After retail, I found myself my first full-time job – a receptionist in a sports centre. And it sucked. I worked long hours, worked functions every weekend and had to deal with sweaty people on an hourly basis. So I left. For the first time in my life, I actually put myself and my happiness as top priority. I took a step back, took a deep breath, and quit.

Shit. I have a wedding to plan! We have no money! Well, we had a little bit to tie us over. And it quickly dwindled as I spent three weeks being unemployed, trawling eBay and other such bargain sites for budget-friendly, pretty, stylish wedding things.  I say things, because I was just collecting random crap along the way that I thought I’d use. This is a big no-no, and when I write about my regrets later on – this will be sure to make the cut! I bought 4 massive polystyrene balls thinking I’d fashion sweet trees out of them, and sure enough – they’re still in the packets now. Umpteen metres of ribbon, all in various shades of champagne, peach and dusky pink… Which OF COURSE are all different, I swear!

I pride myself on the fact that I own nice things, but paid cheap money for them. I own Kurt Geiger shoes, but you can bet your ass I bought them in the sale from £120 down to £29. (I bought them in two colours, naturally, for that price.) The wedding would be no different. I wanted the most beautiful wedding we could afford without breaking the bank. And for what we had, I’d say we did pretty damn good. I refused point-blank to have a registry office wedding and then a quick pint down the pub after – yes, I wanted the marriage more than the wedding, but I do have standards.

We did a lot of shopping around for our honeymoon. We visited Virgin, Thomson, Thomas Cook etc… all to discuss the option of a once-in-a-lifetime trip that would be our honeymoon. J and I had always been modest with our luxuries. Our car has never been younger than 10 years old, and we only holiday once every few years. We do like a Sunday morning breakfast out though, that’s our vice. A quick game of pool doesn’t go amiss either. (He’s been winning since 2012…) But then I stumbled upon CharterTravel holidays. We desperately wanted a twin-centre honeymoon, and grabbed an absolute stunner of a trip to Las Vegas (5 nights) and Mexico (10 nights) all for £2,900 all inclusive – compared to the high street agents that were offering shorter trips, worse flights and less luxury – all for an average of £5k. Yeah baby! Booked it.

Our photographer was an easy book, too. My good friend Mrs H (she’s ridiculous, by the way) is a photographer I met whilst at Uni. We made a pact that one day, when she got married – I would do her wedding cake. And I did. In return, she’d do my wedding photography. I didn’t even look anywhere else, I knew Mrs H would be fabulous and make me look fabulous, too. We snapped her up instantly. (See what I did there..? I’m sorry. The relevance of this quote will become apparent later on…) And of course, mates rates came into play both for the cake and the photography. It’s what friends are for, I guess! (Mrs H is my best customer hands down. I have made her wedding cake, her daughter’s 3^rd birthday cake, her other daughter’s christening cake, her cousin’s kid’s christening cakes, her best friend’s baby shower cake, and I’ve just made her sister’s wedding cake – phew!)

So within three short weeks, we had booked our ceremony and reception venue. The registrar was booked, and our honeymoon deposit had been paid. Our photography was sorted years ago, but we had at least confirmed Mrs H would of course be there. She would, right?? Wrong.

Mrs B x