Ruby

The Great Escape

Ruby@hitched — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:55:00 GMT

So, sadly, this is my final post and I thought I’d fill you in on our honeymoon before saying goodbye.

Based on advice from my oh-so-wise recently married bunch of friends, my husband and I (ooh still feels very funny saying that!) decided to stay local for our honeymoon so that we could just relax and unwind, rather than jet-setting across to the other side of the world. Plus we weren’t sure we’d be able to cope very well staying on a typical honeymoon resort surrounded by lots of other lovebirds!

We decided on Cornwall, as we’ve got many happy memories of holidaying there together in the past, and so I embarked on a hunt for the perfect romantic bolt-hole.

I sought advice from the fantastic team at Unique Homestays (www.uniquehomestays.com) who recommended the romantic Sea-Barn on Cornwall’s Roseland Peninsula (you can see it here www.theseabarn.uniquehomestays.com). I can’t recommend this company highly enough – they’ve got a fab selection of super-stylish, luxurious places to stay as a couple or with friends, without any whiff of the country cottage chintz you find elsewhere - just perfect for a newlywed couple who wish to be alone.

We arrived at the Sea-Barn the day after the wedding, feeling both elated and exhausted, and as soon as we walked into the converted cow-barn, we felt straight at home. The barn itself was pure luxury – goose-down duvets in the bedroom, L’Occitane products in the bathroom, a cosy coastal-themed living room stocked with books, DVDs and games, and even a welcome hamper stuffed with local Cornish goodies.

We spent a few days exploring the stunning coastline, drinking cream teas and just snuggling up looking out at the magnificent view. It was bliss, and just brilliant to have a few days together to talk non-stop about the wedding day in such a lovely setting. It was definitely hard to leave!

I've now returned home, and am adjusting to normal life – albeit as a ‘Mrs’! And now it’s time for me to sign off and embark on married life.

Thanks so much for following me on my wedding journey, and for all your words of advice and support!

Wishing you all lots of happiness of your wedding day, and beyond…

Ruby xx

Just Married!

Ruby@hitched — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:45:00 GMT

Hey folks! Sorry not to have written for a while – the run-up to the Big Day all got rather hectic and was a bit of a blur of last minute dress alterations, veil shopping and rushing round to see relatives who had arrived from far-flung corners for the planet.

Every time I sat down to write there seemed to be a mini-crisis to resolve and then all of a sudden, the day arrived! Well, after all the preparation, decision-making, and flinging money in all directions (mini champagne bottles cost HOW much?!) – how did it go? I am delighted to report that our wedding day was absolutely brilliant.

From getting ready in the morning with the bridesmaids to the fantastic ceremony and party, it went without a hitch (excuse the pun) and really was the best day ever. I took the advice of a good friend of mine, who said that we should make sure we take time to step back a few times during the course of the day just to soak it all in, and I’m glad we did that as it all got a bit overwhelming.

It was amazing to see all the table-plans and spreadsheets come together and become a reality, and so many people went out of their way to make it so magical. It’s been said many times before, but the truth is, all the effort we put into the flower decorations and special touches were great, but ultimately it was an amazing day simply because I got the marry the man I love most in the world, surrounded by all our favourite people.

I wish I’d done a better job of holding onto that idea when I was in the midst of wedding-stress madness! So if you’re currently worrying about wedding cake flavours and bridesmaid dresses and thinking it could make or break the big day, trust me, it won’t.

We’ve just had our photos back and they had us crying and laughing our heads off – it’s great to see all those moments that totally passed us by on the day and to see how much everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We didn’t get a video made, and that’s perhaps my one and only regret, as it would be fun to see the day unfolding all over again (although perhaps watching our first dance again would be a bit too cringey), but apart from that I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing. And now that it’s over, I hate to admit it, but I think I might even miss all the planning and preparations!

Ruby xx

Get me to the church on time!

Ruby@hitched — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:04:00 GMT

I recently went to a wedding where we had to rush from the church to the reception over the other side of town in the pouring rain. The taxis we booked didn't show up, so we had to resort to getting on the bus in all our black-tie finery - but by the time we arrived at the reception, I felt a bedraggled mess and needed a couple of glasses of champagne and a sit-down before I was ready to relax and party. Everyone arrived in a similar state, and it definitely put a bit of a dampener on the whole day.

Now, what with this being England, and especially as I'm not having a summer wedding, I'm really keen that I don't leave everyone after the ceremony struggling to find their own way across London, getting lost and miserable. So, after some investigating, I've decided to splash out on a London bus.

There are loads of guests coming to our wedding from overseas, and I thought it would be fun to give them a real taste of London. There are lots of bus companies hiring out their London buses, so I cross-checked a few of them to compare prices and also had a look at the condition of the buses. I was most impressed with Red Route buses. They're the most competitively priced and their buses are renovated beautifully - so fingers crossed they'll go down a treat with our guests. They've been lovely to deal with, and are even letting me bring along music and champagne for the journey! You can find out more about them here (http://redroutebuses.co.uk/).

As for me, originally I thought that we'd use the bus too, but then one of my bridesmaids helpfully reminded me that we might want to get some photos taken after the ceremony, plus there's the small matter of getting to the church in the first place.

I have to admit that I know very little about fancy cars, but this is one task that Mr M was keen to sort out. Lord Cars (www.lordcars.co.uk) came very highly recommended, and as we started looking at their photos of gleaming vintage cars, even I could appreciate how lovely they look. Check out the magnificently regal Blue Baron on their website! After much deliberating and with some help from the team at Lord cars, we eventually plumped for a Bentley. It will probably the one and only time in my life that I'll ever get to travel in such a fancy mode of transport.

It's definitely not something we originally budgeted for, but hopefully our beautiful wedding car will really make a difference on the day. I can't wait!

Ruby xx

You are cordially invited…

Ruby@hitched — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:14:00 GMT

I love receiving wedding invites. A thick cream envelope in among all the bills and junk mail that gives the first hint of what the wedding will be like. I love all the old-fashioned 'carriages at midnight' formalities and pinning the invites to my notice board or (somewhat less glamorously) on the fridge.

After much doodling in notebooks and consulting hitched.co.uk’s handy guide to wedding invite wording, we thought the time had come to get on and sort ours out.

Although we don't have a colour scheme or any particular themes running through the wedding as such, I knew that I wanted our invites to be smart, stylish and a bit unusual.

If you're looking for wedding stationery, I recommend having a good rummage around on the internet as there are some fantastic websites out there with great stationery ideas you can amend and personalise.

I think Hello Lucky!, Cheree Berry and Paper & Cup are all particularly good for modern, stylish and quirky invites.

If you're after something really beautiful though, I don't think you can beat a bit of letter pressing. Nothing quite says 'here comes the bride' like a heavy piece of card with those deeply embossed letters. If this is what you're after then the best in the business are the Letter Press of Cirencester - you can visit their website here www.letterpress.co.uk.

They've got a huge range of different styles on their website - I really love the clean style of Carolinian - and for something really elegant have a look at New Bond Street.

Having left all our printing to the last minute, we ended up having to go with their express service for quick delivery (which still made them very good value for money in comparison with similar stationers), and I was worried that everything might get delayed in the Christmas post. But I needn't have worried - they were incredibly helpful and friendly, and delivered everything exactly as we'd asked for.

There was a moment of angst when we cut open the box to take a look at the invites for the first time, but they looked lovely and (thank goodness) didn't have any glaring typos, phew!

We still haven't yet finalised the guest-list (much debate over whether distant aunts really need to be invited) but at least those who do make the list are going to get one pretty invite!

Ruby xx

The hunt for shoes

Ruby@hitched — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:20:00 GMT

Anyone who knows me will know that I am a total shoe obsessive. My current collection not only fills up my wardrobes and our 'shared' shoe-racks in the hall, but I've also got a shoe-box mountain under the bed and a few boxes balanced precariously on the bookshelves. So, it was really no surprise that the perfect pair of wedding shoes would be a top priority.

I tried to convince myself that something cheap and cheerful from the high street would be fine, but that was before I actually started looking. I clocked the perfect pair early on - Vivienne Westwood's gorgeous dragon shoes. With a cute-but-walkable heel, comfortable slingback and glittery heart they looked perfect - they are even scented with bubblegum, surely every bride's dream!

I tracked down a pair in a suitably weddingy-white, popped them on and was really disappointed to find that they were pretty uncomfy. Pinching my toes at the front, and too spacious at the back, these are shoes clearly made for daintier feet than mine. Now normally I wouldn't let comfort get in the way of a cracking pair of shoes, but putting on my 'sensible hat' (mighty unfashionable by oh so necessary) for a minute I concluded that I'd really like to be able to swan around with ease on my wedding day, dance my socks off and not have to worry about blisters and foot cramp.

After scouring the shops and hunting around online I saw lots of very sensible white pumps and pretty cream kitten-heels, but none of them seemed quite right. Then, tah-dah I spied Miu Miu's gorgeous satin platform pumps which you can oggle at here.

So, at £400 they're rather more than I was originally planning on spending, and with a 5 inch they are not exactly super practical, but they are absolutely gorgeous and, because of the platform, surprisingly comfy. I can even tell myself that the rather large price tag isn't so bad as I'll definitely be able to wear them again after the wedding and because they're so high I'm not going to need to have the dress taken up, so that's got to be a good thing too, right?!

I'm (slightly embarrassed to admit) that I'm sitting in them right now as I type this, in the name of 'wearing them in', and am feeling pretty excited to think that it won't be long until they're accompanying me down the aisle!

All the best and a very Happy New Year to you all!

Ruby x