53 Days: Be Our Guest

I believe wedding invitations are important.  They create a bit of excitement for the day and makes sure guests have all the important 'What-Where-&-When's. It can often can give guests an idea of the type of wedding they'll be attending.  We did consider e-vites but decided against them as we felt there was nothing nicer than receiving actual post.  

Our wedding invites were posted just over 2 weeks ago and we've already had some RSVPs from friends and family, each has made me more and more excited for our Wedding day. We've asked for RSVPs by email as we thought this would be most convenient for everyone.

I got the inspiration for our wedding invites in the lift at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London when I was there last October.  They'd taken a page from a book and printed the information about their restaurant over the top. I thought the style was perfect for our wedding so sent Jim and picture to get his opinion - he approved.

We wanted to have a quote on the front that wasn't too cringey but was romantic and meant something to us.  The quote we chose was from a book that we'd both read while I'd been in Edinburgh which we thought suited our wedding. I'd written it in my diary when I'd read the story and stumbled across it while rummaging through bits and pieces in my room at mum and dad's house.

'Having's wrong, sharing's right and what more can you share than your whole self, your whole life, all the nights and all the days.'

This delightful quote is from The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin.  It's a sci-fi novel (but don't let that put you off), and the action takes place in an anarchist society.  We found it really interesting to see how Le Guin envisioned personal relationships in this fictional world, and how personal relationships like love and family might behave without the attachments of property and state interference.  It's a really good book and generated a lot conversation points.

If you read my post on Hitched.ie back in September, on our Our Gift-less Wedding you'll remember we were struggling over how to word this on our invites without sounded rude or offending anyone.  We have gone for;

'We are fortunate enough to have all of the customary items needed to fill a home.  The very best present we can receive is your presence at our wedding and your love and support on our adventure together.' 

We know our invites aren't maybe as traditional as some people might expect but we felt these better represented us and what we want to celebrate in a couple of months!

Amy
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57 Days : A Stomach Bug & A Wedding Band (no, not the guitar kind)

Last weekend I was rather ill with a stomach bug/food poisoning that left me stuck in bed from Thursday night pretty much 'til Sunday evening.  I was so disappointed to be sick as I had a really busy and exciting weekend planned with two particular highlights - my first Irish Dance performance and wedding ring shopping with Jim in Birmingham.

As I struggled to sit up and walk without feeling nauseous, I thought that bouncing around to a jig was out of the question so sadly text my apologies to Bernie my dance teacher.  

As Jim had already booked our trains and because this was the only weekend we both had free before the wedding, we made the trip to Birmingham loaded with anti-nausea tablets and water.

We had planned to visit some shops in the city centre, have lunch, then hit the Jewellery Quarter, followed by some drinks before getting the train back.  I'd read online that some couples had made a great saving on their wedding bands by purchasing them in the Jewellery Quarter and ever-economical we thought we'd definitely have to pay a visit.  

I wanted a plain platinum band, which needed to be quite thin to match my engagement ring and Jim priced one in the Jewellers in Leicester where he had purchased my ring.  Based on that price we headed to Birmingham to find a bargain.  

Unfortunately, we didn't manage a trip round the city centre, or a boozy lunch but instead headed pretty much straight to the Jewellery Quarter.  We had great plans to shop around and make sure we were definitely getting the best for our money.  Trying to decide which shop to visit first was nearly impossible.  There were so many shops selling wedding bands but a large sign on a wall of Marlow's advertising 'Platinum wedding bands at unbeatable prices' was the encouragement we needed and we made it our first stop.

I would love to say we stuck to our plan and trawled the Jewellery Quarter for hours bargaining and bartering but feeling as I did (very very ill by this point), we left Marlow's with a ring... and a complete bargain!!

My ring is a 2mm platinum ring.  I believe it's the heavier weight and it looks perfect alongside my engagement ring.  The ring Jim priced in Leicester had been a medium weight and our trip to Birmingham had definitely been worth it as we saved £200!!

If you are getting married (or planning to propose) and want to get the best for your money I highly recommend a visit to the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham (or London).

Amy 
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