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Today is my wedding day. I have a Christmas cactus that produces white and pink flowers. It produced a lot last autumn. Then a few weeks ago it started growing another flower bud. It missed Easter, but the bud finally opened this morning.

What a perfect start to the day!

Current Mood: excited

See me, I thought organising a wedding would be a piece of cake - after all what else is it but a fairly straightforward piece of project management? And I've been doing that at work for years.

Um. It's not quite the same when it's your wedding - you have far more invested in it than you probably do in anything work connected, unless you really are sad.

I have found that I have desperately wanted everything to be just right- especially the bits that I don't have any control over. What's worse people always have their own ideas about how things should look, or happen rather than agreeing with what I think.

Everything was OK until about a week ago when this horrible knot suddenly appeared in my stomach and won't go away. I have a list of things to do that, no matter how many things get crossed off, never gets any shorter because I'm always adding other things to it.

I know everything will be OK in the end, it's just getting there that is so stressful.

5 weeks tomorrow!

OMG! A hundred days to go!

When one is not in the first flush of youth, and not exactly svelte into the bargain, the prospect of going round bridal salons trying to squeeze into sample dresses ten sizes too small is not something one looks forward to with any great joy. I had therefore decided fairly early on that I wanted a dress made for me by a local dressmaker, either to an existing pattern or designed for me (depending on cost). My sister, and bridesmaid, was horrified and said I had to try on some proper wedding dresses, which prospect, as I say, filled me with gloom. However, I discovered that there is a bridal salon specialising in the larger lady not twenty miles away, so I made an appointment, and today we hot footed it there.

I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I not look totally horrific and mutton-dressed-as-lamb-like, I actually looked OK in a couple of the dresses. The first one I tried on was gorgeous, and I didn't look fat in it at all, just in proportion. I also tried on several bridesmaid's dresses, which, once I had ruled out the chiffonny efforts that looked like nighties, had some distinct possibilities. One I particularly liked was extremely elegant.

I suppose my problem with the proper wedding dress is that both my inner and outer Scot really baulk at spending quite a large amount of money on something that can realistically only be worn once. However, I also know from past experience as a bridesmaid, where the dress I had was bought on the understanding that I could wear it again, I naturally never did, so that's probably not the right way of thinking about it.

Still, I don't have to make up my mind yet - there's still a year to go, but I'm a lot less sure that I was this morning.

Current Mood: confused

Late to the party with this annual poll as with so much else lately. I think what is noticeable about this year's reading is how many re-reads there were, and how many books by the same author. I suppose this can be explained as comfort reading - lots of old favourites. Mostly fiction this year, in previous years there's always been more of a mix between fiction and non fiction. Comfort reading again I suppose.

Poll #5536 Reading 2010

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

View Respondents

I am taking this poll

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Yes
30 (100.0%)

Which of these works of historical fiction have you read?

View Answers

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell
1 (3.3%)

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
0 (0.0%)

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber
3 (10.0%)

Bella Poldark by Wintston Graham
0 (0.0%)

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (reread)
8 (26.7%)

The Silver Eagle by Ben Kane
0 (0.0%)

Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian (reread)
10 (33.3%)

Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian (reread)
8 (26.7%)

HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian (reread)
8 (26.7%)

The Wine Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian
5 (16.7%)

The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian
5 (16.7%)

The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian
5 (16.7%)

The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian
5 (16.7%)

Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian
5 (16.7%)

Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom
0 (0.0%)

King of Kings by Harry Sidebottom
0 (0.0%)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
1 (3.3%)

The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark
0 (0.0%)

I have read none of these
13 (43.3%)

Which of these works of fantasy have you read?

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Magician by Raymond E Feist (reread)
11 (36.7%)

Sliverthorn by Raymond E Feist (reread)
9 (30.0%)

A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E Feist (reread)
9 (30.0%)

Krondor: the Betrayal by Raymond E Feist (reread)
3 (10.0%)

Krondor : the Assassins by Raymond E Feist (reread)
1 (3.3%)

Krondor: Tear of the Gods by Raymond E Feist (reread)
1 (3.3%)

The List of Seven by Mark Frost (reread)
1 (3.3%)

The Box of Delights by John Masefield
2 (6.7%)

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
2 (6.7%)

Eldest by Christopher Paolini
0 (0.0%)

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
0 (0.0%)

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (reread)
14 (46.7%)

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (reread)
16 (53.3%)

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (reread)
12 (40.0%)

Jingo by Terry Pratchett (reread)
12 (40.0%)

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett (reread)
13 (43.3%)

Making Money by Terry Pratchett (reread)
9 (30.0%)

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
12 (40.0%)

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
11 (36.7%)

Thud! by Terry Pratchett
10 (33.3%)

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
9 (30.0%)

Popco by Scarlett Thomas
0 (0.0%)

I have read none of these
9 (30.0%)

Which of these works of crime and historical crime have you read?

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River of Darkness by Rennie Airth
2 (6.7%)

Shadow of the Serpent by David Ashton
0 (0.0%)

Fall from Grace by David Ashton
0 (0.0%)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
3 (10.0%)

See Delphi and Die by Lindsey Davis
2 (6.7%)

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer
3 (10.0%)

Why shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer
4 (13.3%)

The Complete short stories of Raffles by E W Hornung
2 (6.7%)

A Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh
2 (6.7%)

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh
3 (10.0%)

Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh
2 (6.7%)

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh (reread)
2 (6.7%)

A man lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
3 (10.0%)

Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh
3 (10.0%)

A Calculated Risk by Katherine Neville (reread)
3 (10.0%)

I have read none of these
19 (63.3%)

Which of these works of general fiction and literature have you read?

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Dr Finlay's Casebook by A J Cronin
0 (0.0%)

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
0 (0.0%)

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield
2 (6.7%)

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskill
5 (16.7%)

No one writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
0 (0.0%)

Saplings by Noel Streatfield
1 (3.3%)

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
22 (73.3%)

I have read none of these
6 (20.0%)

Which of these works of non fiction have you read?

View Answers

Clean by Katherine Ashenberg
0 (0.0%)

Coping with the Psychological Effects of Cancer by Robert Bor
0 (0.0%)

The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
0 (0.0%)

I can Make you Thin by Paul McKenna
1 (3.4%)

Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller
0 (0.0%)

The Cancer Recovery Eating Plan by Peter Nixon
0 (0.0%)

The Breast Cancer Prevention and Recovery Diet by Suzannah Oliver
0 (0.0%)

People Quake by Fred Pearce
0 (0.0%)

Your Life in your hands by Jane Plant
0 (0.0%)

The Independence Book by Harry Reid
0 (0.0%)

Card Making Techniques from A to Z by Jeanette Robertson
0 (0.0%)

Bluestockings by Jane Robinson
0 (0.0%)

Contested Will by James Shapiro
2 (6.9%)

Making Greetings Cards for Beginners by Pat Sutherland
0 (0.0%)

I have read none of these
26 (89.7%)

Current Mood: cheerful

Today and tomorrow are venue search days as my beloved is over from Ireland. However, I think we may have found our place today, although not perfectly what we wanted, but more anon. In the search for a venue that allows us to bring our own caterers it quickly became obvious, as I have already said on previous occasions that this is very difficult in Edinburgh. However, I had managed to identify a couple of places that might do. Firstly there was the Walpole Hall which is the church hall for St Mary's Cathedral. I liked the pictures on the website, but my issue was always going to be that I would feel a bit uncomfortable getting married in one church and using the premises of another for my reception. Anyway we went along this morning, and knew almost immediately that it wasn't for us. It was pretty shabby, and while I realise that dressing it properly would make the world of difference, I still thought it on the large side for what we want.

Next up was the French Institute in Randolph Crescent. We really liked it and would have been happy to book it, unfortunately although I had been told on the phone that the larger room could sit 60 for dinner, it turned out that this was really for a stand up buffet and the maximum it could sit was 40. Boo.

Our final viewing today was Edinburgh City Chambers, a beautiful, imposing Victorian building in the High St, really convenient for the church. Sadly no images on the council's web pages any more, for some reason. We didn't take long to decide this was more like it, and made a provisional booking for our date. Sadly we can't bring our caterers and have to use the in house catering service, but the menus look OK, although obviously they won't be the same in 18 months time.

We decided that we would still go and have a look at the other places we arranged to see. The first is the Ellersley House Hotel at Murrayfield, a bit far out, but I thought it looked lovely, The Bonham at the West End, and Dovecot Studios in Infirmary Street, in fact the old Infirmary Street swimming baths. This last was a bit of a mistake - I phoned them up and got an indication of price telling me they were out of our league, but I proceeded to dig myself into a hole as the events woman said she would arrange specially to see us tomorrow. Couldn't see any way of backing out gracefully, so we'll have a look.

Fingers crossed though, that's us sorted. Yay!

Current Mood: bouncy

I said in my last post that I thought that we had our venue sorted out. It is a lovely old nineteenth century sports pavilion, belonging to the local cricket club, a couple of miles from the church. The huge benefit for us is that they are quite happy for us to use our own caterers. I went along last week to make a formal booking. I was a bit taken aback when the steward said it was far too early to make a booking (our date is April 2012 so it's not that far away) and she wouldn't take a deposit from me at this stage. She then dropped the real bombshell. When we had originally viewed the place back in the spring, we had been advised that Saturday was not a good day for them as there was always cricket on Saturdays during the season, so we changed our date to a Friday. No problem for us at that stage. Last week the steward told me that not only was there always cricket on a Saturday, but there was always the possibility (however remote) that there could be a major test match on which would totally preclude their being able to host our reception. There are four or five of these over the course of the season and they last several days at a time. While the steward felt it was extremely unlikely that one of these would coincide with our wedding date, the clincher for us was that she would be unable to tell us until the fixture list was announced in December 2011. Great. Just great.

I talked it over with my beloved, and we both feel that we can't risk it - for one thing our wedding insurance wouldn't cover the rearrangement costs. Back to the drawing board in the venue search. Sigh. I've lined up a few places for us to look at the next time my beloved is over here, but I suspect that they won't be quite what we're looking for - one is on the other side of the city for one thing. The other option is to accept that we're not going to be able to take our own caterers and go for one of the nice city centre venues- money is less of a factor than it was six months ago, for the reception at least, so we could certainly afford some of the lower end ones. I found rather a nice one within walking distance of the church - the City Chambers. We are going to have a look at it and we'll see.

Current Mood: annoyed

There has been a long hiatus on this journal over the summer for reasons I won't bore any remaining readers with. However, I am now feeling re-energised and am piling into the wedding planning again. We have set a date, spoken with the priest at the church and have chosen our venue, although not yet booked it. I have also made the first tentative steps into designing and making my own wedding stationery.I suspect that at the end of the day it will turn out that we could have bought invitations etc much much more cheaply than the ones I am going to make, but they will have the benefit of being totally unique.

What set me off down this road was the realisation that really nice invitations start at around £2.50 each. Even for the 30 or so invites we will need, once you factor in all the other stationery - orders of service, menus, place cards etc it would soon be prohibitive. However, I have hopes that I will be able to do the lot for under £100. There are some super ideas and resources over at Wedding Invitation Ideas, but I very early on had a pretty clear idea of the sort of thing I wanted. I felt that given that I am Scottish and my beloved is Irish the design had to use thistles and shamrocks. I've currently ditched this as impractical - I wanted to use pressed real leaves and flowers and it didn't work. Using made up ones was going to be very expensive, so I am currently thinking about embossed stamps either in thistles & shamrocks or some sort of Celtic design.The important thing is to keep the design as simple as possible.I can print card inserts myself, or if feeling flush use a local print shop. At any rate I can feel this being a long term project.

The problem with my beloved living in another country across the sea means that there can be problems meeting up. I have to say the sort of problems I would have considered might impinge on us are things like airline strikes or air traffic control problems or even terrorism. The one thing neither of us has ever considered has been a bloody volcanic eruption! We were due to meet up this weekend just past, for a couple of days in a resort hotel in central Scotland. Needless to say, courtesy of Iceland, we didn't both get there. We were part of a larger group so I went anyway. I missed him dreadfully.

He's due over again in a couple of weeks and I'm now wondering, what if things haven't resolved by then? I've just been looking at bus times - it takes twelve hours in a combination of bus and ferry as opposed to two by flying. Sigh.

Then of course the thought struck me - what if this happened a couple of days before our wedding? Half the guests wouldn't be able to get here! Horrors. Note to self, make sure there are contingencies in place.

Current Mood: depressed

As I said in my last post we have already looked at a couple of venues. We decided almost immediately that we wanted our favourite French restaurant to do the catering- either that or have the reception in the restaurant. The only problem with having the reception in the restaurant is that it's not very big. However, it turns out that it's quite hard to bring your own caterer to a venue in Edinburgh. Most of the ones that don't do their own in-house catering have a preferred list of (extremely expensive) ones that you must choose from. I had a look at the Scottish Book Trust who hire out their garden and meeting space, but unfortunately they're going to be undergoing renovation when we want to get married. I should say that before we had decided on La Bagatelle, we had a look at the Braid Hills Hotel which is a fairly traditional mid-range sort of venue, but it really wasn't our scene. Edinburgh has some fabulous venues unfortunately at fabulous prices, and since our budget is characterised by the phrase 'as cheap as possible', we can't afford any of them. We'll be looking at a few other places over the next few months, but I would like to get this sorted out asap.

After a long silence here I have the biggest news! We have set a date! It now gives me some structure to what I must plan (and I do so love to plan). We have decided on the 14th April 2012, which while a long time away, gives plenty of time to get things organised properly. We have already looked at a couple of venues, decided on a caterer, and know the sort of wedding we wish to have. He wants it as small and as low key as he can get away with. I want it small-ish, laid back and elegant. However, we are both firm that we want to do it as cheaply as possible!

Things have been quiet around here lately because I have been focussed on other things. My beloved and I had decided to become property magnates by buying ourselves a holiday cottage. Since we both already own our own homes which are 'his' and 'mine' we wanted somewhere that would be 'ours'.

We began by looking at various locations, but decided that in the end it should be within three to four hours driving distance of one or other of our current homes. We almost immediately ruled out his end because property prices were (and still are)nonsensical. People there still seem to think they can get the prices they were getting two years ago. Well maybe they can, but not from us. At my end things are a bit more realistic.

We have been looking for about three months now, but because of where my beloved lives, it's not that easy for us to actually view property. We had a look at some houses in Argyll, just before Christmas with mixed results. We never even got to see the first place on the list because the estate agent was such an arse. They obviously didn't think I was serious when I told them that I could only view on one date. We did manage to look at a couple of flats; one of which was quite nice. It was a large top flat with huge rooms and magnificent views over the nearby loch, but it had some issues with heating, and it didn't really scream 'buy me' to either of us. The other one was a joke. It had tenants in it and they had been told to make themselves scarce for 11:00. We duly arrived at 11.00 to find them cooking their breakfast -deep fried something or other. The smell of burnt fat didn't really add to the ambiance of the place and we left pretty sharpish. In any case it was poky with low ceilings and a horrible stair. In the afternoon we drove out of town to look at another couple of flats, this time in a converted Scots Baronial mansion house. The building was certainly something else, pity the flats weren't. Since conversion, the building didn't seem to have been maintained and there was a horrible smell of damp throughout. Add to that no mains water and a septic tank and we were out of there.

We arranged to look at some more property last weekend, this time up north in the Highlands. The main reason for going, was a very nice little house, a teensy bit outside our price range, but which was in a wonderful location. Sadly it was not to be - the estate agent phoned me up last week to say the owners had winter vomiting virus and were in quarantine. No visitors until further notice. We went and had a look at the outside anyway, and it was nice. We had a few other places lined up, two were in a small village on a loch amidst stunning scenery. The first place, what I would call a lower villa flat, was as dire as its rock bottom price might have suggested, but even done up, we didn't think it would be up to much. We really liked the other place though, a semi-detached house on the edge of the village, nicely if neutrally decorated, not requiring much done, with owners open to negotiation on price. That was definitely one to come back to. We also looked at a few flats in the local town, and while one of them was immaculately presented we didn't really like the location of any of them.

The next day we went back to the house in the village. looked round the garden and peeked through the windows. Then we sat in the car and talked for about half an hour. We came to the conclusion that we didn't really want to buy a holiday home. I think it was the prospect of having to make it real, that forced us to confront what we actually wanted. Financial penury for the next ten years or so (with taxes and pension contributions, never mind prices liable to go through the roof) to pay for it did not seem that attractive compared to the use we would get out of it.

So in the end we decided to put it down to experience. Hey ho.

I love doing these polls, so I guess it's my turn now. For those new to this, you tick those books you have read at any time, it doesn't matter when.

Poll #1994 Books I read in 2009

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22

View Respondents

How many of these works of fiction have you read?

View Answers

The Coral Island by RM Ballantyne
3 (42.9%)

The Resurrectionist by James Bradley
2 (28.6%)

A Whispered Name by William Broderick
0 (0.0%)

Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christohper Brookmyre
1 (14.3%)

The Way of all Flesh by Samuel Butler
0 (0.0%)

Father Brown - Selected Stories by GK Chesterton
2 (28.6%)

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
1 (14.3%)

The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly
0 (0.0%)

Ragtime in Simla by Barbara Cleverly
0 (0.0%)

Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
1 (14.3%)

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
1 (14.3%)

The Sleekit Mr Tod (Fanstastic Mr Fox) by Roald Dahl
3 (42.9%)

The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones
0 (0.0%)

The Death Maze by Ariana Franklin
0 (0.0%)

Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
4 (57.1%)

A death in Tuscany by Michele Guitarri
1 (14.3%)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
1 (14.3%)

The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie
0 (0.0%)

Testament by Alis Hawkins
0 (0.0%)

The Sacred Cut by David Hewson
0 (0.0%)

How about these Georgette Heyer novels?

View Answers

Cotillion
8 (88.9%)

Faro's Daughter
4 (44.4%)

Frederica
6 (66.7%)

Sprig Muslin
5 (55.6%)

Sylvester
6 (66.7%)

The Grand Sophy
7 (77.8%)

The Quiet Gentleman
6 (66.7%)

The Talisman Ring
6 (66.7%)

Why shoot a Butler?
3 (33.3%)

What about these novels?

View Answers

Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
1 (7.7%)

The Brutal Art by Jesse Kellerman
0 (0.0%)

Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling
2 (15.4%)

The Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
0 (0.0%)

Death of an Englishman by Magdalene Nabb
0 (0.0%)

Clarissa Oakes by Patrick O'Brien
3 (23.1%)

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
6 (46.2%)

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
1 (7.7%)

Fat Chance by Lyndsey Russell
0 (0.0%)

Revelation by CJ Sanson
2 (15.4%)

Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre
2 (15.4%)

The Unbelievers by Alastair Sim
0 (0.0%)

The Credit Draper by J David Simons
0 (0.0%)

Perfume by Patrick Suskind
4 (30.8%)

Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor
0 (0.0%)

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas
1 (7.7%)

Blood Detective by Dan Waddell
0 (0.0%)

Affinity by Sarah Waters
3 (23.1%)

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
1 (7.7%)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
3 (23.1%)

How many of these works of non fiction have you read?

View Answers

Change your life with NLP by Lindsey Agness
0 (0.0%)

Darwin's Lost World by Martin Basier
0 (0.0%)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean Dominique Bauby
0 (0.0%)

Scared to Death by Christopher Brooker and Richard North
0 (0.0%)

In search of the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple
0 (0.0%)

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
1 (20.0%)

The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins
1 (20.0%)

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett
1 (20.0%)

Guns Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond
3 (60.0%)

The Elements of Murder by John Emsley
0 (0.0%)

50 Walks in Edinburgh & Eastern Scotland by Rebecca Wood
0 (0.0%)

Castleton Caves by Trevor Ford
0 (0.0%)

Fat in the Middle by Marilyn Glenville
0 (0.0%)

Beyond the Pale by Donal Hickey
0 (0.0%)

Doubts and Loves by Richard Holloway
0 (0.0%)

How about these ones?

View Answers

25 Walks in the Scottish Borders by Peter Jackson
0 (0.0%)

The Scottish World by Billy Kay
0 (0.0%)

The Burren and the Aran Islands by Tony Kirby
0 (0.0%)

Somme Mud by EP Lynch
0 (0.0%)

A Short History of Ireland by Sean McMahon
0 (0.0%)

50 Walks in the Peak District by John Morrison
0 (0.0%)

Are we Rome? by Cullen Murphy
0 (0.0%)

The Triumph of the Political Class by Peter Oborne
0 (0.0%)

The Motivated Mind by Raj Persaud
0 (0.0%)

The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
0 (0.0%)

The Political Gene by Denis Sewell
0 (0.0%)

Scottish Woodland History by TC Smout
0 (0.0%)

Or else

View Answers

I haven't read any of these
6 (100.0%)

Current Mood: chipper

Losing weight shouldn't really have it's ups and downs, it should all be about downs. Sadly, at the moment this is not the case. Having lost a fair amount over the last few months I haven't lost anything for the last few weeks and last week I put on a little. The reason for this is not hard to find. I spent last weekend with my beloved, and although we went to the gym together, we did eat rather a lot, and for the past week I have lost momentum, eating far too much - portion sizes have begun creeping up and I'm not weighing everything. I think part of the problem is that Christmas is coming up when I know I will overeat. My only chance is to keep up with the exercise, and to get back on my programme for those days when I don't have meals out. But it's hard.

Worth it in the long run of course.

Current Mood: annoyed

One of the problems with being a tad on the large side (a euphemism for grossly overweight, you understand) is the thought of what to wear on the big day. Add to that the issue of being older than the average bride. I've read enough forum posts to know that there are some bridal boutiques staffed with veritable harridans, and the prospect does not fill me with joy. As I've said before, I'm not sure that I really want your average wedding frock. However as what I like seems to change every few months I think I'm going to have to such it as I need to try on dresses to see what suits me.

I started off being enamoured of something Edwardian, but it's not a period that is particularly fashionable amongst the retro designers who all seem to go for Victorian crinolines and bustles, which is not the look I was keen on. This was what prompted me to think about getting a pattern and having something made, and I even bought a couple. This is one of them.

Then I found Whirling Turban and I fell in love.

This is one example

Although I expect you can see the problem - she's rather thin. Still a lot can happen over the next year or so, and just in case, I've bought a couple of fifties style patterns too.

I suspect by the time I finish I will have enough patterns to stock a good sized shop.

Current Mood: bouncy

Of course, having moaned in my last post about my technical incompetence, I have now got it sorted and have a decent picture of the ring. So here it is.

Current Mood: bouncy

I had intended to do a wonderful illustrated post all about my engagement ring. Sadly my photographic skillz seem to have deteriorated and I am unable to take an in focus close up of my ring. Of course it could just be that the wretched camera is so complicated for my aged brain to use that I can't work it properly, but I've never had any problems in the past. I shall persevere. In the meantime, words will have to suffice.

My ring is a large (think over one carat) pink tourmaline, with six small diamonds in a vaguely art deco setting of 18c white gold. I have my desire of something antiquey or at least retro, and it is totally different from the sort of thing you normally see, which again, is what I wanted. To sum up, it is totally gorgeous.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: At home

One of the largest areas where brides-to-be cry for help is over problems with families. It ranges from mothers trying to take over to other ghastly problems where one (or both) sets of parents are divorced and not speaking to one another. In my own case I really couldn't foresee that there would be any difficulties, after all, both myself and my beloved are mature, middle aged people, why would there be any problems with our families?

So much for theory.

My beloved has seemed reluctant to let his side know about his impending change in status. I now see why. We bought a ring last week (of which more in a separate post), and it became rather hard to hide that we were thinking about getting married. My beloved warned me that his family would try and hijack things to which my response was, only if we let them. Apparently his sister is already arranging a beach wedding for us abroad, although quite why she seems to think the arrangements have anything to do with her I don't know. Fortunately, since neither of us have any desire for a beach wedding abroad, it's not too hard to turn down, but I hope we're not going to get too much grief. Sigh.

Current Mood: aggravated

I am a member of a wedding forum where (mostly) women discuss all aspects of the process of getting married and planning weddings. Yesterday there was a thread that left me, and probably most other readers and posters utterly gobsmacked. I'm still not entirely sure if it was a troll or not, although I suspect not.

This female wrote a post wherein she stated that she and her man are “DYING!!!” to get married. They've been together for six or seven years, have a child, are heavily in debt and have no spare cash. She has decided she needs at least ten grand to have a decent bash. She spent the rest of the post complaining how meeeean the rest of her extended family were being in not offering to contribute financially to the cost of this extravaganza. She seemed outraged that an aunt had “only” offered to do the flowers when she was expecting her to pay for the reception. I was reminded strongly of Violet Elizabeth Bott threatening to “Thcweam, and thcweam and thcweam” until she got her way. And that dates me if nothing else does!

But this did get me thinking. Am I clear about what I want? Marriage or a wedding? And I think so. My Scots soul recoils in horror at the thought of spending ten grand on a single day. A wedding is a celebration of a marriage, not the whole point, and for me that means celebrating with the people who mean most to me. It doesn't mean with cousin x whom I've met once in forty years. A wedding should be fun, but it's not the most important part of the whole affair. It's what comes after that's important. The female I quote above, doesn't seem to realise this.

Current Mood: thoughtful

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