RMW Real Bride Diary {Emma & Dean: The Final Countdown}

I can’t believe that this is my final real bride diary and in just a few short days I am going to become Mrs Walsh and marry my favourite person in the world!!! It’s all pretty exciting, but it’s all pretty hectic too. One tip I would definitely pass on to brides-to-be who are a little further out on their wedding day countdown is make sure you help yourself by getting as much of your DIY and organisation stuff done as early as possible. Some of it naturally has to start closer to the wedding date, but we started prepping all of the personal gifts for our guests before we were even 100% sure of who would be coming because we decided that spending a small amount of time on these for any guests that turned out to be a ‘no’ would be infinitely better than waiting until the last minute to get everything done. I also started on the table plan as soon as the RSVP deadline passed, and although we have had to make some changes due to a last minute drop-out, I don’t regret starting it so soon because it gave me the time to enjoy putting it together rather than feeling rushed and stressed about it. That’s not to say that we are taking it easy now, but planning ahead has meant that we still have time to take a break from wedding planning the weekend before the wedding to celebrate a very good friend’s birthday and see our beautiful friend who is visiting from Abu Dhabi but unable to join us on the big day. It’s definitely going to be just what we need at that final stage; friends, fun and some time out. It’s also been beneficial because at the final hurdle my anxiety has really reared its head with a vengeance. As it stands we have had the headspace to take some time out and deal with it, but last minute planning would definitely have amplified my stress head. So organisation, lists and planning are key for any fellow anxious brides, give yourself time to take the rough with the smooth; to accept that sometimes you aren’t going to feel as high as you want to, but that if you give it time the joy and excitement will be lingering there the whole time. Here’s a bit more detail on what we have been up to over the last few weeks...

The Gold Rush

You might remember that gold is a prominent theme in our colour scheme, and this has led us to go wild with the gold spray paint. I am sure many of you can picture the scene, and have no doubt been there yourself with your favourite hue. We started spraying vinyl discs to incorporate a touch of music into various elements of our day, and before we knew it frames, place names, and wooden letters were all getting the metallic treatment. We’ve actually had to reign ourselves in on a few occasions before everything got a little too gold (maybe our guests will be the judge of whether we achieved that), but anyone that wants to make sure a fleck of colour runs through their day, getting handy with a spray can is definitely the way forward...

All That Glitters

Much to Dean’s amusement, this week I came up with my latest last-minute WE SIMPLY MUST HAVE suggestion. A glitter table. Luckily for me, when I did my best pitch of the idea to him, he loved it as well. I am renowned for my magpie tendencies and love everything that glitters, so sparkle has been a huge theme of the wedding already. But when I saw that some people chose to adorn themselves with sparkly festival make-up in the evenings to add a little more shine to proceedings, I couldn’t let the idea lie. In a bit of a nod to the sparkly make-up that the girls incorporated into my hen do, we now have endless pots of glitter making their way to us and I plan to dance the night away with glitter on my face and happiness in my heart.

Flavoured Alcohol

We have a bar running throughout the day, but we wanted to mix things up a bit and had mooted ideas of ‘pimp your prosecco’ stations, and had just not done anything about making it a reality. Then, on a family holiday, we were flicking through a book all about gin and came across a recipe to make your own. From there my competitive brother and sister-in-law came up with the great idea to have a gin table, where guests can concoct their very own flavoured liquor to be sampled at the wedding (we’ve branched out to include vodka and rum as well for those crazy kids that don’t like to indulge in a gin or two). We’ve mocked up little voting cards, so there will be an ultimate winner (though we won’t be revealing who until after the big day), but competition aside we are so excited that our guests are getting into the spirit of things and we can’t wait to try the fruits of their labour! We’ve gone a bit crazy with ours and there are currently no less than 7 different tipples kicking around the house...And I *might* have purchased an ikea special to house them on the day. But at £15 I consider it a bargain that was worth hunting out...

Where To Rest Our Heads?

Getting married at home has endless benefits, but it does make the question of wedding night accommodation slightly less obvious than it might be if you are getting married at a venue that provides it. In the local area surrounding our wedding there is a beautiful fancy hotel that we initially booked to spend the night in (with the option to cancel closer to the time). But doing so would mean that transport would be required to get us there, and more importantly we would need a clear idea of when we would want to leave. I’m the queen of FOMO and was dreading the thought of putting a stake in the ground and setting our departure time. Then we thought about it logically; we had included on our invites the option for guests to book a beautiful bell tent from The Tipi and Bell Tent Hire Company for those that wanted to indulge in the glamping experience. Although many have opted to bring their own tents, a few had taken up the offer and we decided that it would be a great option for us too. The team there have been great at communicating with us about drop-off and pick-up times, and our guests have all contacted them directly to book their tents so it hasn’t been another thing for us to add to the admin list. Even more incredibly, they’ve kindly upgraded us to their special furnished Honeybell tent even though we had only been planning to go for a smaller option. It’s the kind touches like that which have really stayed with us in our planning journey, so we are so pleased that we found them!

Until Next Time...

I think that pretty much brings you up to speed, you lovely lot. And of course we have tried to keep a few surprises back for the final wedding day report, which I guess is the next and final time you will be hearing from me..! So until then lovelies, Lots of wedding love, Emma {Year of the Yes} p.s. if you want any wedding sneak peaks I am sure I will be posting over on Instagram, where our wedding hashtag #WalstonsGetWed has become a bit of a personal obsession…