PracticalBeautiful

PLANNING OUR WEDDING: Stationery (final selection)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:47:00 +0000

After much deliberation I finally decided to go with Daisy Design Shop's Mason Jar Stationery on Etsy run by the lovely Samantha:

I went for the file only option which she offers at excellent value, which is a great idea as it then doesn't matter at all that we are on the other side of the world to each other. I just loved her designs and I knew she was for me.

Samantha, I really must say has been an absolute God send, so accommodating, fantastic with advice, always happy to communicate and discuss and amend designs and saw it as a process. She genuinely does care about your custom design being perfect for you - and I am so grateful to her for that - it really is a special level of service which she provides and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending her to all.

Next challenge was were to get it all printed. I did look at a local printers, but for the quantity I wanted it just wasn't good value for money unfortunately. So I decided to look at VistaPrint who I knew were a massive international online printers and I knew their printing would be good value for money, but I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by their quality of customer service and their print quality too. Again, I would recommend them highly. The one tip I have with using them, is to use their website to search out what you want but make sure you call them to order as you will get a much better deal, free items and they are up for bartering so do go for it!

I would also say it is worth looking at their own invite designs as I was again surprised by how nice they were.

I did give Samantha a pretty extensive brief to work with and she really did create exactly what I was dreaming of and so much more:

I created this in word and then just saved it as a PDF using cute PDF creator before sending it to her. I included as much detail as possible along with images which I liked and colours.

Here is a photo of our save the date magnets and backing cards. I finished off the design by using one of the scrabble photos from our engagement shoot with Turner & Moss . The one down side of getting them printed myself is that I had to individually, with the Stanley knife pictured, cut slots in each backing card to secure the magnet in, this did take forever but was worth it in the end.

Here is the final day invite stationery.

I changed to an American based wedding website in the end as I far preferred their templates called WeddingWindow; another lovely company with lovely and helpful customer service which again I would recommend.

Happy Planning!

PLANNING OUR WEDDING: Pinterest Planning

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:24:00 +0000

I tell you since starting to plan seriously I have found Pinterest to be by far the most useful and inspiring and free tool online! So so many ideas, so many different styles and tips and articles and photos and videos. I highly recommend signing up to anyone. I have just counted and I have 15 wedding related boards on there! - This may seem excessive but as I got into planning I realised how important it was to categorise:

You can find all my boards here

MASTER BEDROOM: Bed Linen

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:49:00 +0000

I lost all the photos from all my bed linen research in my blog photo debacle and actually looking over the posts it was before I had selected the final solution I went for and a lot of the ideas I had then are now no longer available anyway; so I figured it was probably better to delete both posts in question and summarise on a new post. :)

Right, so after much shopping around initially I got a nice set from Tescos in a check in the colours which I was going for in the room, photographed below....

But this was a bit too much pattern in one place and was a cheap poly-cotton mix so I knew wouldn't have the longevity I wanted for our main set, they are fine for occasional guests and nice and soft too so I have kept them in my linen collection. I then, for a period of time, had 6 months COSTCO membership and came across something rather surprising. They do hotel style plain and very high thread-count bedlinen and very very affordable prices (around £30 a set). I bought this now around a year ago and it is honestly the most beautiful and good quality bed linen which I have ever had the pleasure of using, so so soft and beautifully plain so will not date either, just had a nice simple stripe running through which gives that hotel finish but completely white. Photographed below.....

COSTCO don't seem to do the exact same set right now but they have similar sets currently in, detailed below, though they have gone up in price, in my experience they are most definitely worth the investment:

Kirkland Signature 600 Thread Count Duvet Cover Set - Double Ivory (£67.99)

Back Garden: Progress round the pond

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:13:00 +0000

This is how the area round the pond was when we first moved in:

This has been a major project this yr. We had filled the pond with water before we got our water meter fitted (well worth considering). This was a Coy Carp pond to the previous owners, we want it to be a nature pond, and we have lots of plans for how to make it our perfect water feature, but as with everything else these plans take a while to come to fruition, not helped by the huge quantity of rain which we have had this year.

This pond does have potential though and had been well fitted, which was a blessing. so when we did initially fill it up we knew it would stay that way. And it did for 6 months/ 1 year with nothing more down, but I have this year been sorting out the patio area in general and quite a vast improvement has taken place.

I started in May by added these vegetable wicker planters - which have been fantastic all year:

The were from Robert Dyas and cost around £16 each - they really are just perfect for this space.

Then I started painting the fence, which carried on through out the year and progressed gradually round the pond:

Also put up trellising at the back of the pond and bought some Passion Flowers from Morrisons, which were on offer for under £2! Hopefully they will now survive the winter and come back strong as the weather warms up next year. I can see that at least one of the two I planted seems to be surviving so far.

It's well worth keep your eye out for supermarket plant offers, you can get all sorts of treasures so cheap and I do feel like I'm kind of rescuing plants I buy from supermarkets, as they sadly aren't usually looked after very well.

I then re-did the wheelbarrow, this was originally left at the bottom of the garden rusty and filled with burnt out rubbish, I took it and planted it up and painted it and it is so so lovely and makes such a nice feature on the patio, and planted it up with some plug plant fuchsias which I had bought earlier in the year, they are still thriving even now in December!

I also reorganised the planters and then found a set of two beer barrel planters on Robert Dyas along with a solid wood patio set and 6 seats for under £200. This just transformed the space:

The finished effect of all these changes:

The parasol and stand were found in a charity shop for around £15-£20 years ago and are gorgeously solid and go perfectly with the rest of the colour scheme

I decided to put up a bird feeder by the pond and they love it there, next thing to do is put up a nesting box round that area too....

This bug box was a house-warming gift from my friend Mary and hopefully will attract the right kind of bugs to keep my vegetables safe from pests and pollinated in years to come

I'm just so pleased with the over all result. Well worth all the hard work.

Front Garden: Planting up some bargain plants

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 13:17:00 +0000

These were all bought from the Market on Bletchley Highstreet for 50p a pot! I never stop loving a good bargain!

Upcycled Chimney pots, Planters from my lovely friend Katie who moved to China and gave me a bunch of stuff off her balcony, planted up with bulb (which hopefully will look stunning in spring) and winter flowering pansies which my Mum gave me & lovely Hydrangea from my mother-in-law-to-be Jacky (Birthday gift).

Herbs planted in the ground, another lovely potted plant from Jacky and hedgehog house in its new location, I hope we get some visitors!

Heather in the ground....

Other flowers in the ground....

Close-ups...

I love heather, it's so pretty but so hardy too and always reminds me of my Scottish Granddad who had his own heather bed in his garden which he always loved to show everybody.

Potted left overs to use as gifts, potted in some very pretty Charity shop pots.

BEDROOM: Lamp upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:11:00 +0000

From this:

To this:

Nightmare accidental deletion from stupidly set up phone! - Warning!

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:46:00 +0000

FYI - I use a Samsung Galaxy S2 and had to take the phone back to factory settings and delete everything in order to solve a battery life problem I was having. I, as part of this went into my gallery, on my phone and deleted all photos stored there so I could start a fresh. Little did I know that this would delete, and irreversibly!, all my Google picasa online albums, because it syncs with my Google account! This is where all my blog photos for both my blogs were stored and sourced from! And basically means that I am now going to have to individually re-upload all photos for both my blogs :(

This will take forever, but at least I have all these photos stored on my PC, but I will work through this when I can, best I can to try and reinstate each photo in turn. Please bare with me and please heed my warning, do not make the same mistake as me.

I have now gone through my Google account settings on my phone and un-ticked the box which states "sync with Google picasa" - in the phone it does not (STUPIDLY) separate your photos taken on your phone from the ones on your picasa online photo album - something that really should be addressed (@Samsung). Anyway, what's done is done, rant over on both blogs :) I just wanted to give an explanation as to why all my blog photos have disappeared.

xx

Vacuum Pack Delight!

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:34:00 +0000

My names Gill and I'm a storage geek - I get a little unnaturally excited with clever storage solutions, I also have a love for beautiful things stored cleverly and beautifully. I finally decided recently it was time to sort out my spare linen and garden cushions by investing in vacuum packs, they really are fantastic. Please bear with me whilst I go through my before and afters, you'll either get it or find me very sad but the whole experience most certainly put a smile on my face.

... The best £16 I ever spent and still have several left over. (http://www.homestorageworld.com/)

Painting the outside of the house: Progress....

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:49:00 +0000

We literally started this yrs ago now and I'm still plodding through this task wall by wall. I have a few walls left, the back of the back extension and the wall with the kitchen window on it, the whole of the front of the house does have one coat of paint though and it has completely transformed it, as you can see from the photos below. This does make me strive on, you can see this little side wall section which I completed the other weekend and it is true that every section completed does give me a real sense of satisfaction. I don't know if the weather will allow me to carry on over the winter months but I will continue as much as possible and post when I do.

Before....

After...

Latest section to be painted.....

Tin can plant pots (wedding table decorations)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 14:52:00 +0000

It's also good to know what plants work best.... this is a Chinese money plant - works well, is free as it is one of the babies produced by my original plant and is also supposed to provide luck in money (we all need a bit of that!)...

Ruby Chard is another success story, grown from seed, really nice complementary colour to the pebble I've painted the pots and its edible too....

The final collection of pots!

Upcycling the table which Katie gave me...

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 14:49:00 +0000

Here's how I upcycled the lovely little coffee table which my very dear friend Katie gave me...

Sanded down....

Painted (with fence paint so it will be weather proof if we use it outside)...

Waste pipe outside the front door (from what is was back to what is should be)...

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 14:28:00 +0000

Ah the satisfaction of amending the mistake of paint colour....

Beautiful original 1930s taps now fitted in the bathroom...

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 14:26:00 +0000

From 1980s yuckiness...

...enough said....

...To original 1930s Deco loviness (found on eBay for under £30!)....YUM!

Bargain purchase sourced by me, including replacement tops as the first ones smashed in transit, and fitted by my wonderful Fiancé & Father-in-law-to-be

Progress in the Front Garden (August/ September)...

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:52:00 +0000

The painting continues...here's the latest progress...

BATHROOM: Light pull (little things which make a big difference)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 22:25:00 +0000

Ever since I saw these light pulls in my friend Christina's house I knew I wanted them. They really are so very pretty and you can pick them up for under a tenner.... well worth it in my option, I love little things like this that make a real difference to the room:

From:

To:

Mixing beautiful flowers from our garden with some bargain flowers from the Co-op

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Again I did this in May but have only just re-found the photos. I placed them in a broken teapot - which makes a very pretty vase and a standard glass vase from Tesco. The Peonies and Poppies are from our garden - the rest are from the Co-op....

This is my favourite photo.

Progress on painting the fence (front and back)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 21:05:00 +0000

This is old progress now as it hasn't stopped raining for the past month and a half but I just found the photos so thought I would share...

9 Bed Converted Mill, Bedfordshire (£3,500,000)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Oh Wow! - That's all I have to say....Such a neutral colour pallet just makes this building sing!

Some Pinterest Wisdom...

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:02:00 +0000

Here's some pins which I'm finding inspirational this month...

Source: flickr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: thetinymonsters.blogspot.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: demilica24.tumblr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: becauseitsawesome.blogspot.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: oficinadeestilo.tumblr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Gill on Pinterest

Source: emilymcdowell.posterous.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: middlechildcomplex.tumblr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Gill on Pinterest

Source: facebook.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: nothingbutpennycandy.tumblr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: wanelo.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: lottaagaton.blogspot.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Gill on Pinterest

GARDEN: Fence Painting begins...

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:12:00 +0000

I have know since we've moved in that I have wanted to paint the fence, in a light willow green. See post from April last year. I had also worked out that Wilkinsons stock a very nice variety of paint at the best price I had seen.

This is the colour I like the best...

Source: wilkinsonplus.com via Gill on Pinterest

...and you cannot complain at £6.98 per litre.

I have now purchased and assembled a willow weave raised bed from Robert Dyas (mainly because it is currently on offer at under £15.00 each):

Source: robertdyas.co.uk via Gill on Pinterest

I am so impressed with it, I may well buy multiple ones to go round the pond, but for now this is what has spurred me on with the painting of the fence as the positioning which I have chosen for it is directly in front of one of the fence panels leading from the house to the pond:

Today is the start of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, so it was time to stop faffing and start painting....

Here's how I got on....

Paint unpacked

Equipment ready

First fence to be tackled

First glance at the yummy colour

String tied across the paint can for wiping the brush throughout, this saves you lots of dried out paint wasted round the sides of your tin

Each time gave the fence a good brush down first with a hard brush

Wiping string in action

Painting begins....

Half way...

Panel complete - so much better!

Close up...

Closer up again, was glad to have managed to keep the fastening metal as I think it works as a good contrast

Second second to be tackled

Second section complete!

Different angle

After the best part of 2 cans of paint and several hours of work I have now painted the most important parts which I wanted to achieve in order to set up our new raised veg bed.I have tasked Mr P with doing the rest ;) - night all.

GARDEN: Progress

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:03:00 +0000

Thought I would just post some progress shots from the gardens (front and back) progress is definitely slow as the house has to be the priority, but it is amazing how the little things we manage to accomplish do make a big difference and do make you feel better about the space. Overall we both feel so hugely blessed to have the gardens we have in the position we have - it's the main reason why we bought the house! And we know that we will get it all sorted one day and it will be wonderful, but for now its little by little and appreciating every step of the journey. Here's what we've been up to....

LIFTING THE FLAGSTONES FROM THE FRONT TO LAY DOWN THE GRASS SEED

LOCATION OF THE NEW VEGETABLE GROWING BOX

THE NEW VEGETABLE GROWING BOX ASSEMBLED - I AM GOING TO PAINT THE FENCE BEFORE PLANTING IT UP THOUGH

ALL FLAG STONES UP (GILL=5, ADAM =3) GRASS SEED DOWN - NOW HOPE IT GROWS - WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT DOES

PUSSY WILLOW (OFFICIAL NAME APPARENTLY: GOAT WILLOW OR SALLOW) WHICH I BOUGHT IN TESCOS BECAUSE IT WAS LOOKING RATHER SAD, (AND IT WAS ONLY £3.50!!) IT HAS ABSOLUTELY THRIVED SINCE I'VE PLANTED IT IN THE FLOWERBED THOUGH - I'M SO PLEASED :)

OUR LITTLE MAGNOLIA TREE - FIRST YR IN THE GROUND, READY TO BLOOM

CLOSE UP OF THE BEAUTIFUL BUD

HYDRANGEA, ALSO FIRST YR IN THE GROUND AND THRIVING

LAVENDER, ALSO FIRST YR IN THE GROUND AND THRIVING

SO GLAD I PLANTED SOME BULBS UNDER THE OLD GRAVEL, THEY LOOK SO STUNNING, I'M GOING TO PLANT EVEN MORE THIS AUTUMN

MY FAVOURITE DAFFODIL CLOSE UP - SO PRETTY

PLANNING OUR WEDDING: Bridesmaid & Flower Girl Dresses (ideas)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:21:00 +0000

I've got 4 adult bridesmaids and two flower girls and when it comes to dresses there are plenty of options which I am now in the process of whittling down.

In terms of bridesmaids I really like very simple very natural little dresses like this etsy number (by gillygray):

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

or this Monsoon one...

Source: monsoon.co.uk via Gill on Pinterest

and I love love love these head bands - so adorable I think I might just have to incorporate them...

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

When it comes to my adult bridesmaids it gets bit trickier. The colour I really like is orange/coral, as it is really zesty and fun. As I say I like the highstreet as you can get good value for money and the advance of it being 2013 is that the same dresses won't be in the shops when our guests come to buy their outfits so it is unlikely for anyone to turn up wearing the same thing (I hope!).

We all really fell for this Antropologie dress:

Source: anthropologie.eu via Gill on Pinterest

But unfortunately they decided to discontinue it this week! Such a shame as it was such a flattering style. It was a little on the pricey side though at just shy of £130 per dress. Anyway, back to the drawing board...

I have found quite a variety of dresses which I like at Dorothy Perkins, and I quite like the idea of this as my married name will be Perkins too :). This is a very standard British highstreet brand but the prices are reasonable and the dress selection is surprisingly extensive...

Source: dorothyperkins.com via Gill on Pinterest

I think this one is my favourite:

Source: dorothyperkins.com via Gill on Pinterest

The other shop I have found a couple of options at is Miss Selfridge:

Source: missselfridge.com via Gill on Pinterest

And finally (for now at least - I will add more if I find any more) I have seen a bunch of alternatives in Boden, a British Catalogue which is part of the same parent company as La Redoute and has equally as lovely clothes:

Source: boden.co.uk via Gill on Pinterest

Update: 2 April 2012

I think I have now decided against patterns with other colours in as well as it will be quite hard to match with the rest of the day and the groom and usher suits. However I do like the the single colour pattern still in this Dorothy Perkins dress:

& also really like this Monsoon one which my lovely Marie found:

Source: monsoon.co.uk via Gill on Pinterest

Other than that I've got a few more favourites, some found by Marie, some by my lovely friend Tuely and some found by me, all linked below....

Source: maurices.com via Gill on Pinterest

Source: simpledresses.co.uk via Gill on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

oh and shoes....

Source: shoes.com via Gill on Pinterest

I would love, as ever, to know your thoughts and get your recommendations on any alternative shops or catalogues. Ideally want to bring the dresses in at under £100 per dress.

I am continuing to collect ideas on Pinterest too if you want to see my latest finds.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Have a good Wednesday!

THE ART OF SHOPPING: Charity Shop Tea Glasses

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:31:00 +0000

Just had to post a picture of my new tea glasses which I found in the Age Concern charity shop on Woburn Sands highstreet at the weekend. Just so pretty and only a £1 a piece:

Perfect for my morning fresh ginger, lemon and honey, which is how I start every day :)

PLANNING OUR WEDDING: Stationery (ideas)

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:52:00 +0000

I was so not prepared going into this how many components there are to think about with planning the wedding in general. But I think we are doing well... we're coming up to a month of being engaged, the venue is booked, the wedding insurance is arranged, the registrar is booked (for 2pm in the afternoon).

I'm currently in guest list hell (which is apparently a stage which all couples go through and do come out the other end - so so hard though, looking forward to coming out the end).

Time to look at stationary.... well I say time, me being me I've been looking and learning for a while now so here is where I am currently at...

I had great success with my "Will you be my bridesmaid?" invites. I loved the personalised designs of these ones which I found on a wonderful shop on Etsy called:

GabrielleKearney

Practically Perfect Design

Gabrielle herself was truly delightful and very accommodating. She sent all the beautifully personalised cards to each of my bridesmaids and flower girl directly and she couldn't have been more helpful and polite, I would recommend her to all. I want this wedding to be filled with little individual (not expensive, but personal) elements and these were just the perfect starting block. These are the two designs I went for in the end:

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

Next on the list is SAVE-THE-DATES: some don't find them necessary, but I have loved them since I first received one and I particularly like the magnet ones. Here are the two I have in the running right now....

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

Both, again, on Etsy. But it started with the ring and it is pretty much my favourite place to shop, maybe I'll get a feature if we get everything from there! The look we're going for is rustic, with a lot of influence from nature and a home-made feel. Some things will be actually home made and some will just look so. But I want everything about it to truly represent us and be individual. I'm also not one for necessarily matching things, but more complementary things. I've got through the sample of the top one and it is gorgeous and amazing quality and sold by a lovely lady called Ann who is again so accommodating and helpful. The bottom one, I have just made initial inquiries as to whether there is the option to have it at a magnet. I really like both the tie the knot ribbon on the first one and the calendar design on the second, so I am currently torn. For info both of these are completely customisable, from colour to text to font.

Next on to FULL INVITES. Here's the ones we need:

DAY INVITES (with hopefully a bit more room for detailing)
DAY RSVPs
EVENING INVITES
EVENING RSVPs

I'm trying to keep the invites as simple as possible to keep the cost to a minimum. We're literally looking at two sides for a day invite and one side for an evening with a link to our personalised website for more details (that which you would usually find on the multiple inserts), I do however like traditional RSVPs through the post, but that is of course something completely down to personal choice. The wedding website I have found is free of charge and very customisable. It's called Getting Married.co.uk has lots of useful features for every individual couple to fit a variety of needs. I have sorted the template for our website for now but will not make it live until it is finished. I used to be really against personalised sites as I thought of them as being a little self involved and over indulgent, but I really think it is how you use it, and with this one each page it is completely customisable so you don't have to go off on a gushy mission, as with the ones which I am not keen on, you can use it as a very practical free addition to your invitations. Hurray for that!

I really like the use of trees in the main invites and I have so far ordered one sample set, which I loved but my fiancé found "too busy" so I have gone back to the drawing board again this evening and plan to order samples of all of the following so that we can compare and contrast together and hopefully reach a decision on a design which we both like. Here are the ones which I've picked to get samples of:

Source: etsy.com via Gill on Pinterest

One thing I would say is that I am surprised at how few individual invites seem to be available in the UK. From all the on-line research which I have done all of the above are being shipped from America, is seems very bizarre. It seems that the only options which I can see which are produced in the UK are either overly traditional or quite cheaply made or completely hand made. Would love to know what your experience is on this and whether you have had any more luck than me in finding interesting British producers...

Would love your advise on any of the above or stories of your experiences....

Happy planning!

xxx

ENGAGED to the love of my life 21.01.2012

noreply@blogger.com (aflowerinameadow) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:12:00 +0000

It's been a very exciting week in our family. My second baby niece was born last Thursday and yesterday, I'm very excited to say, my gorgeous boyfriend of 10 years ask me to Marry Him and I said yes!

Source: Uploaded by user via Gill on Pinterest

We are looking at Spring/ Early Summer 2013 to set the date and I don't mean to make PracticalBeautiful into a wedding blog but I will list some of the ideas and things I find on here as I find them during the planning process as I do believe it is good to share as many hints and tips as possible. I would love to hear any advice which you have about planning your perfect day - I am a complete novice who is incredibly excited and could do with all the help you can send my way! I hope to hear from you soon - a very excited Bride to be xxx