66 Days Married : Food Glorious Food!

Being a vegan & a vegetarian it was important for us to have wedding meal that didn't contradict our values so we chose to have a completely vegan day.  All the food and drink served at the wedding was vegan.

After the ceremony our guests enjoyed tortilla chips and salsa accompanied by Apple and Elderflower Collins cocktails.

We asked the venue to stock vegan beer from a local brewery, Farmageddon, a co-op that our friend is involved with, and not to serve the beers that didn't contain or use animal products in the production (they ended up serving these anyway, unfortunately - nearly a vegan wedding then...).  

The wine served with dinner was Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc and Yellow Tail Shiraz.  This, along with the prosecco for toasts were also vegan - you'd be surprised how many bottles of wine we've come across that contain egg or milk!

Our wedding meal was so delicious.  After a morning of being busy and not really eating a lot it was just what I needed.  While the speeches took places guests enjoyed a vegan mezze.  This is my favourite starter/snack.  I love nibbling lots of different bits and pieces. 

 
Our main course to follow was vegan sausage and mash.  We had huge portions smothered with an amazing onion gravy. Dessert was almost too much for my tummy to handle! Vegan cupcakes, chocolate ice cream and mixed berries.  I missed out on getting a cupcake as Jim and I were chatting with friends and family but I'm pretty sure I couldn't have squeezed one in anyway!

Our vegan cake, as I've mentioned before,was baked, iced and decorated by my extremely talented bridesmaid and new sister-in-law Fiona.  It looked gorgeous and tasted amazing!  It had three layers - lemon and poppyseed, Victoria sponge and chocolate.  Fiona made her own coconut butter to make the frosting then decorated it with roses and rosemary from her mum's garden. It looked perfect and was exactly what we'd described to her.

During our evening reception the guests enjoyed rustic chip butties on artisan breads.  We had normal and sweet potato chips.  I LOVE sweet potato chips! Chips are exactly what I crave after a couple of drinks and hopefully our guests felt the same way!

Having a vegan wedding was important to us and our guests were so supportive.  We saw lots of empty plates heading back to the kitchen and even friends with the largest of appetites said they were very much satiated. 

Amy
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58 Days Married : Ashley Morhej MUA

On a daily basis I wish I had the skills to apply make-up well - to hide the bags under my eyes, (and hide blemishes), to contour my cheek bones and generally make me look photo ready at all times. Unfortunately, no matter how many Youtube tutorials I watch, this isn't going to happen (and I watch A LOT of tutorials!!) So choosing to have a Make-up Artist for our wedding was an easy decision.

Some research online and a recommendation by my lovely friend Sara led me to Ashley Morhej.  I'd seen Ashley's work before at fashion shows and fashion shoots and was sure she'd give me the soft and pretty look I wanted.

I had a trial in March and was very happy!  Ashley did my make-up early in the morning which was a great way to see how it lasted.  On the day of our wedding Ashley was so lovely to have there.  She was really chatty which kept my nerves at bay and had an amazing kit which even included some useful non-make-up bits that the girls took advantage of!

She started with mum who is naturally gorgeous but a bit nervous with applying eye make up. 

Then followed Fiona and Jenny - both absolutely stunning without make-up so Ashley just had to accentuate this.

And finally tackled me - a much tougher task!! After chatting with me she'd chosen gorgeous purples for my eyes and I had a few little individual false lashes on the outer edges of my eyes to really open them up.  Ashley chose a natural blush colour for my cheeks and a gorgeous pinky lip colour.  She did mention that tweaks could be made on my wedding day if I wanted a stronger lip or cheek colour when I was in my wedding dress and had my hair done but I felt really happy with the make-up she applied.  She is extremely talented. I still looked like me but with pretty, fluttery eyelashes, flawless skin and nice cheek bones! 

Having a Make-up Artist gave me one less thing to worry about on the morning of our wedding.  I didn't have to spend hours in front of the mirror correcting crooked eyeliner or worrying throughout the day about my nose getting shiny.  My make-up lasted all day with only lip gloss top-ups and a bit of powder before the evening party started.

Thank you so much Ashley!

Amy
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52 Days Married - Bridesmaid & Flower Girl Dresses

Photo Credit: L. Kirk

I mean seriously... on a scale of 1-10 how gorgeous are my bridesmaids!!  I think at least a 12! If you missed my post on who these lovely girls are you can read it here but to cut a long story short let me introduce Jim's sisters, Fiona and Jenny.

I blogged about our bridesmaids dress hunt back in January when we'd found gorgeous Dessy dresses in Ti Amo Bridal in Limavady.  Adele was so accommodating, fitting us in for a trial on a day that she is usually closed and keeping in touch with the girls and I fittings and the collection of the dresses.

The dresses we chose were the Dessy Collection (Style 2888) and I chose them in Rose which as you can see is a beautiful soft vintagey pink.

I never imagined picking a bridesmaid dress with a sequinned bodice but because of the soft colour the sequins weren't super blingy and with the sheer chiffon over the top you barely noticed the sequins.  In fact I bet you didn't notice 'til I mentioned it!!  The gorgeous floor length chiffon dresses tied at the waist to accentuate the girls already stunning figures.

  

Our gorgeous Flower girl had a dress and cardigan from Monsoon.  The dress was the Estella in pink (but I can only find it in gold on the website).  She looked absolutely adorable, and completely stole the show!  Her dress was pretty much a mini version of mine with a gorgeous lace top with a tulle skirt. It was the perfect link between the dusky pink bridesmaids dresses and my dress.

Her little shoes are by Start Rite and I was reliably informed (Thanks Wendy) that they are called 'Amy', cute!

Marrying Jim was amazing, but now getting to call these girls my sisters is the icing on the cake (vegan, of course)!

Amy 
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47 Days Married - The Dress: Diana - Raimon Bundo

My dress was by Raimon Bundo.  Raimon Bundo is a Spanish designer and their gowns are all hand-made by a team of artisans in Barcelona.  Each year they create 4 different collections.  My dress was part of the Hacia la Luz collection.  They've only been available in the UK since 2012.  It is very clear that a lot of love and pride goes into each design and dress created.  They also allow changes to styles (depending on the change requested) and will custom-make matching jackets or add more boning to dresses if requested. Their wedding gowns are simply gorgeous!! 

Picture Credit Raimon Bundo Website

My Dress was purchased from Forever Bridal in Belfast and altered by Patricia Eastwood. Leondra and Patricia couldn't have been more wonderful with trials, fittings and the collection of my dress.  Leondra was so helpful and not at all pushy when I was trying dresses.  She was very up-to-date on popular looks for the season and had loads of recommendations for where to look for inspiration for my hair and accessories. Patricia came in on Mothers Day to measure a very tired and grey looking post-hen-party Amy, as I was due to fly back to England that afternoon. She was so accommodating and she fitted the dress perfectly to me, which makes such a difference to the over all look. 

I wore the Diana. It was a stunning ivory A-line dress.  It had a sweetheart neckline and gorgeous lace detailing on the bodice with a delicate lace cap sleeve.  The bodice was boned but it was so soft and really comfortable to wear and nipped in at my waist.

It had a zip to make it easy to get into but this was hidden by gorgeous little buttons right down the back. My mum had lots of fun with these on our wedding day!

I felt so elegant as I walked up the aisle with my dad, and the train of the dress flowed so beautifully behind me.

Patricia had altered the dress in such a way that it kicked out as I walked so I didn't have to worry about tripping over it and could gaze up the aisle waiting for Jim to turn round!!

I think Jim liked my dress!

Last year I wrote a blog post on some things I found helpful in the hunt for my wedding dress.  If you are still looking for your wedding dress I highly recommend finding a Raimon Bundo stockist.  They say a Raimon Bundo bride values style, quality and feeling good on her big day and my dress gave me all these things and more!  

This dress was made to skank in!

Amy
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