Today she is going to be talking us through her Dress story how she found it, what she was expecting, what she got…….. the whole dress experience, along with her dress wobbles and how she fell back in love with her dress.

I’ve been with Laura throughout her dress journey and it’s been an up and down one. I guess when you are spending that amount of money on a dress you want it to be right! So what she went through is only natural! I also bought my dress in the first shop I went to, I also chose mine nearly 2 years before the wedding!……….and yes I also had a dress wobble after seeing another dress at a wedding show. But I went and tried it on and it really didn’t suit me, so that just made me love my dress even more!

Everyone has a story, I’d love to hear yours!

I’ll pass you over to Laura………….

The Dress – Part 1

I have heard many a story whilst being engaged about ladies who have been dress shopping and found ‘the one’ amidst flutes of champers, in a glamorous bridal shop after hunting high and low, with gasping bridesmaids and teary mums. Truth be told, I found mine in the first shop I went to; a gorgeous little boutique called ‘The White Room’ tucked away from the high street in Sheffield, with a friend who I asked to come with me as she had dress shopping experience, whilst feeling sick and shaking with nerves. There were no tears. There was no champagne. There was most definitely no squealing bridesmaid or emotional family member.

Not one to be happily full of body confidence, I was absolutely dreading wedding dress shopping. I even cried before my first appointment and begged Chris to come with me (he didn’t – he’s a traditionalist). The thought of dresses looking hideous on me and stripping off in front of an assistant was my worst nightmare. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted, and just knew that I didn’t like the ‘classic’ a-line gown, or anything that felt like I could fold it in to an origami crane in a matter of minutes. I wanted a dress I could saunter down the aisle in, wow my groom in, eat a steak in, and then rock out in.

The first dress I tried on was gorgeous (Stephanie Allin – Bardot), but then I looked in the mirror and felt nothing more than a girl in a wedding dress. I didn’t want a wedding dress. I wanted a dress to get married in. I felt like I was playing fancy dress, from a box of grown-up gowns with rather large price tags. I was terrified.

I think the best piece of advice in life I have ever been given (by the future mother in law no less) is that ‘if you don’t know what you want, find out what you don’t want’. This is definitely true with so many things, including dress shopping. I ruled out fishtails on the fact that they made my hips look HUGE. I ruled out corsetry on the fact that I couldn’t dance or eat. Once I knew what I didn’t like, it all became much clearer.

The boutique owner was amazing, suggesting wondrous gowns that matched how I was feeling. With more positivity, out came the tulle, the lace, the embellishments and the fringing. I learnt that she knew what would suit me and though a dress might look rubbish on the hanger, it is made to look amazing on a woman’s body.
I absolutely cannot praise Chloe, the owner of the White Room, enough. Not only is she, and her shop, absolutely stunning, she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She talked me through how to put each dress on to make me feel comfortable, and let me stand in front of the mirror for as long as I liked. She answered all my stupid questions, and let me change my mind as many times as I liked. There was no pressure, no sales pitch, just a very lovely lady helping me discover a world of beautiful gowns.

As I got more relaxed and comfortable I spotted a stunner of a dress, one which I wouldn’t have given a second thought when I first started looking. Chloe urged me to try it on, ecstatic that I had gained the confidence to try on the gown. It was flattering, glamorous, relaxed, pretty, sexy, and comfortable and made me feel amazing.

On a visit a few weeks later, I dragged my mum to the shop to see it. I’m sure her head was filled with a random set of images after I had excitedly given her a rather vague and haphazard description of ‘the dress she just had to see’. She saw it, watched me dance around the shop in it (I may have even fallen down the steps in it I was so giddy), waved at the lady on the street who gave me a thumbs up through the window, and paid the deposit there and then. I was speechless. I still had ages before the wedding, should I really be choosing my dress now?

As she drove home the next day, I received a text from my mum that read: ‘you looked amazing in that dress, it was meant for you’.

Then I cried.

The Dress – Part 2

Fast forward a few months from the big ‘I’ve found my dress’ moment.

Massive dress wobbles. I haven’t seen ‘The Dress’ since late 2011 and I have completely forgotten everything about it. That’s the problem with picking a dress so soon – I’d forgotten how it made me feel and what it looked like on me. I’ve seen it featured numerous times on various wedding blogs and each time think ‘it didn’t look that good on me, I cannot carry off that dress’. It got to the point where I would skip past any article that mentioned my dress, and any picture of a bride in it made me feel physically sick.
A quick phone call to my mum and she told me to get into the shop and put it on again, and Chloe at the dress shop, forever accommodating and lovely as usual, booked me in right away.

I feel now I should introduce you to my three bridesmaids – all grown up lovelies who have supported me through thick and thin from the age of 16. They have been with me through Uni, each so different to one another and yet I couldn’t be without. They are blunt, caring, honest and aren’t afraid to put me in my place – no chance of bridezilla occurring on their watch! I’m sure we shall talk bridesmaids in more depth when it comes round to their dresses and the hen-do (I’m excited already!), but for now all you need to know is that they are amazing! No doubt then, that a bridesmaid was recruited for this dress shop visit. If there were thumbs down, or even a slight frown, I was well prepared to start dress hunting all over again.

Even though I’d made sure to do my hair, and dug out eyeliner from the depths of my make-up bag, I was incredibly nervous when I went back to the shop and got completely overwhelmed when I saw the dress on the hanger. I didn’t particularly want to put it on for fear of not doing it justice, and didn’t want my dreams to be crushed if I didn’t like it. I couldn’t even imagine any other dress on me, so was terrified at the thought of having to re-address what I wanted to look like.

Chloe coaxed me into the changing room, and then the dress. She pinned it in the back because the sample was slightly large, and I shuffled out onto the shop floor. I kept my gaze directly on the floor, not only because I had very high shoes on and needed to concentrate, but I wanted to be sure of my feelings before I checked with my bridesmaid for her opinion. As I turned to face the mirror I let my gaze drift from the plush carpet floor, to my newly purchased designer heels, up the beaded skirt and finally to my own face beaming back at me.
I think the squeal I let out must have deafened the canine population within a half-mile radius – confirming that I loved it, and it is most definitely still my dress. Of course, my bridesmaid loved it too, clapping her hands with glee like a seal – we made a right pair! I strutted around the shop for a bit, declared very un-modestly that it ‘made my arse look great’, and continued to grin like a loon for the entire day.

I felt incredible, nothing like I thought I would, and I hated that I had let the wobbles overwhelm me for so long. I really had tormented myself over nothing. I had a rubbish picture on my phone of me in the dress from a previous visit and immediately deleted it. I hated that picture, it wasn’t flattering and I don’t think the dress being a bit big had done me any favours. That photo had fed my worries for months, so I’ve promised myself that the next photo taken of me in the dress will be by my photographers!

The designer of The Dress has very helpfully (not!) decided to put her prices up in the summer. By at least 5%. Ouch. Chloe whipped her tape measure round me (she was so fast I hardly noticed – incredible), and we decided to order it there and then. I could postpone it, induce more of those evil wobbles and pay an extra £250+, or just man-up, bite the bullet and get MY dress made. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to think that around October my dress will be sitting in the shop waiting for me. It will be altered a little and then all is left is for me to adore it, shimmy down the aisle and know that if I thought it made my bum look good now, then hot-damn, I can look smokin’ on the day.

We are all our worst critics after all, and sometimes you just need to push those mean little voices out and consider how it makes you feel inside. If I feel amazing, I’m pretty confident I will look amazing.
Oh and all your brides out there having wobbles? Delete those crappy photos and think about how it made you FEEL.

For more information on the White Rooms go to:
www.whiteroombridal.co.uk
chloe@whiteroombridal.co.uk
0114 2722336

All Photos of Laura and of the White Rooms by http://jesspetrie.com apart from Laura and Chris by www.greyeyephoto.com  

Laura has been doing A LOT of DIY projects and this is one of the main reasons why I invited her along, she is going to be sharing with you all her crafty handy work in the next few weeks, and I have to tell you you are in for a treat! I can not tell yo how impressed with what I have seen so far!

Laura and I actually met through a competition I ran to win a free couples shoot with Greyeye Photography back in June. Laura and Chris were the lucky winners and a few days before the shoot Chris actually engaged to Laura so it became their engagement shoot. Laura then booked Greyeye and Myself for their wedding and the rest is history.

You can see the full shoot HERE, but here a few shots for you to get an idea.

Laura has written a bit about herself for you as an introduction and over the next few months she will be telling su all about her wedding panning journey. She ahs done quite a bit already so we will be visiting all the areas she has covered as well as quite a few of her quite frankly awesome DIY crafting projects!

Wedding: 7th September 2013

Venue:  Woodlane Countryside Centre South Yorkshire

Photographer: Greyeye Photography

Planning Service Booked: On the Day Co-ordination

It all started on the first day of university, when Chris moved into the flat next door in our halls of residence at Sheffield University. Originally from Milton Keynes (me) and Blackpool (him), we decided to stay slap-bang-in-the-middle in Sheffield and make our life here together. As I study for my doctorate degree and Chris starts his first job, we really are jumping in at the deep-end. Attempting to plan, learn, teach and work, each far away from our families, with little to none in the bank. We got engaged in June 2011, and decided to set the date for September 2013 mainly as Chris will be moving away for the 12 months in the middle for work. Our first long-distance relationship whilst planning a wedding…it’s definitely going to interesting!

Since the moment we met we have been living off a student budget, from halls to sharing with some questionable house-mates, to finding our first student house for just the two of us.  Now we are engaged, we have downsized even further, and have moved into a small one-bed flat so that we can save for our wedding and to buy our first home. We are used to making money stretch and don’t like to flash the cash, so our wedding day will be no different. We want our wedding to be a labour of love; our love for each other, our family and our friends. I hope it will be small, cosy and fun, with personal touches in every aspect. Ok, we are not adverse to financial help (thank-you, parents!) where needed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to plan our day in the way we want and which reflects us as a couple.

So far, we have our hearts and deposit set on our venue, an old Georgian Farmhouse in rural Sheffield, to reflect our rustic, DIY nature, and the relaxed feel we want our wedding to have. I have just over eighteen months to organise, save, papermaché, and struggle with the printer and double sided tape!

Bring it on!

So that is Laura and Chris! I ave put a board together using Laura’s pinterest boards to give you an idea of what her wedding will all be about!  She has done so much already, ut i will wait for the oncoming months to let you know all about her choices.

 Photos Source left to right, top to bottom: 1) Jenny Ebert via Once Wed  2) Jonathan Ong Via Ruffled  3) vi.sualize  4) stella event design  5) Jose Villa via style me Pretty  6) Papakata  7) the sweetest occasion  8] Etsy  9) Abby Jiu via Style me Pretty  10) Chantel Marie via style me pretty  11) The Parsons via the Knot  12) Emmaline Bride  13) All things Nice

So There’s a little peek into Laura’s wedding plans, please make her welcome to the blog. next time Laura will be discussing her wedding dress shopping experience as well as treating us to one of her DIY projects.

Diary Entry 2: Food and Drink

Once our venue was booked one of the next important things for us was to think about and plan the food and drink that we wanted on our big day. The beauty of our venue (Utopia ,Broughton Hall) is that there is total flexibility for us in deciding our food and drink.

Utopia Claire and Toms wedding venue........we are putting a marquee at the back to keep the wedding breakfast and dancing area seperate.

Having been to lots of weddings we felt that we had a good idea of what we would like for our wedding and we didn’t want to be restricted by a hotel menu that didn’t give us the options that we wanted. When we met with GFS catering we were so happy that they could be so accommodating to our ideas and we really feel that they have provided us with a great package.

We know that one of the best times at a wedding is that time after the ceremony when everyone has their first glass of bubbly and mingles freely. We also know that this is the time when guests are probably a bit peckish and so lots of canapés are a definite for us!

Conscious that it is these little extras that increase food costs we decided that it might be a good idea to remove the starter from the menu. We think that if people have enough canapés they won’t be as bothered about the starter! This also fits well with the gourmet barbeque that we have chosen for our main course. When we talked through the main course ideas with GFS we thought that the barbeque sounded amazing and we think that it is something a little bit different that will be interactive and fun for the guests.

Gourmet Yorkshire Barbeque
 Locally-Reared Peppered Sirloin Steaks, Halloumi & Roast Vegetable Kebabs (v)
 Nidderdale Lamb Koftas, 7oz Locally-Reared Steak Burgers
Variety of ‘Lishmans’ Award Winning Sausages, ‘Sykes House Farm’ Venison Burgers
Cajun Spiced Organic Salmon Fillets, Chilli Jam King Prawn Skewers
Lemon & Herb ‘Kilnsey’ Rainbow Trout Fillets, Spicy Homemade Bean Burgers (v)
Chicken and Mediterranean Vegetable Skewers

Salads
 New Potato and Chive Salad, Moroccan Spiced Couscous,
 Italian Pasta and Fresh Mozzarella Salad, Homemade Rustic Coleslaw
Tomato and Basil Salad, Oven Cooked Jacket Potatoes
Buttered Corn on the Cob, Dressed French Leaf & Herb Salad
Rocket and Parmesan Salad

Being a big dessert fan myself it was too difficult to pick one dessert but fortunately GFS are going to provide a selection of desserts and so everyone will get 3 mini desserts each!

 Assiette of Desserts
A delightful selection of our favourite desserts
 Crème Brulee, Tarte au Citron and Rich Chocolate Torte

• In the evening we are going to have lots of cakes which we are going to ask friends and relatives to bring with them

• We are also going to have cheese and biscuits on offer for those with a more savoury tooth.

• Later on GFS will be providing sausage and bacon butties which they will lay informally on rustic platters throughout the room.

As for the drinks, we are paying for a standard drinks package that comprises of 2 glasses of prosecco before the meal, half a bottle of wine at the table and a glass of prosseco for the toast. There will also be a cash bar open all day which will provide a selection of wines, beers and spirits.

We’re really happy with the food and drink we have chosen and hope that our guests will enjoy it too!

* FOOD TIP 1, as Claire says to cut down on cost instead of servicing canapes and a starter, just serve a good quantity of canapes, these can act as a starter as well.

*FOOD TIP 2 bring in your own cake/dessert table by asking your guests to contribute! Your guests will love getting involved and helping out, you could even put on a cake making competition for them

*FOOD TIP 3 when catering for an evening reception with things like bacon butties, never cater for every guest, only about 70% of your guests will eat the evening food, if that!

Photo credits:
Canepes: Focaccia Canapes,  Breakfast canapes,  Parmesan cups ,  Bacon Lettuce and Grape ,  Crab Salad

Cake Table: Yellow cake table,  Dessert Bar, vintage tables and cake plates,   White draws,  Pastle cake table

Cheese: Top left,  Top right,  Bottom left,  Bottom middle,  Bottom right

Now Emma is back, not as a nervous bride to be but a happily married women, and here is what she has to say about her very wonderful wedding day.

Grettings from the married side

Well, the big day has been and gone, and after 3 weeks of happily married life I can safely say I made it through unscathed! It feels weird that after 2 years of planning, preparation and spending my entire wages on wedding magazines, I no longer have to worry about whether the napkins will match the tablecloths. In fact, it all seems a bit of a dream now. Even on the morning of the day as I was cursing my eyeliner for not going on straight, I still felt like I was getting ready for a good night out and not the biggest day of my life. I mean, I’m not sure how I was supposed to feel really- nervous, excited, petrified, delirious… I guess I was a little of all of them. My bridesmaids  were all scurrying around me, false eyelashes being brandished and stomachs being sucked in, and I was sitting quite calmly sipping on my Bucks Fizz. Dad was cleaning the bathroom, mum was panicking over whether the bread rolls at the venue would be too big or too small and I just wanted to get there, say my vows and relax!

Needless to say, we had a couple of hiccups but if I could give two piece’s of advice to any bride to be it’s these… 1) get someone to carry a small spray on deodorant!! I was so hot in my dress, hugging people all day, traipsing around for photo’s… I needed to re-spray! And 2) Keeping on the perspiring theme… don’t sweat the small stuff as it really doesn’t matter. I had planned out my entrance down to the last swish of my dress but the photographer mistakenly sent my bridesmaids and groomsmen down the
aisle prematurely and minus music whilst I was having a pre-ceremony wee!  Poor things had to come back and do it all over again but in all honestly it broke the ice, everyone relaxed and the girls got to have their moments twice! My dad’s cravat was a different shade of red to the rest of the bridal party (no one noticed), my mother in law wore a dress the same colour as mine (I didn’t care) and some guests decided that appropriate wedding attire was jeans and a t shirt. It’s really not worth letting these
things spoil the day you have paid so much money and waited an eternity for.

Then if you’re as lucky as we were, you’ll be straight off on your honeymoon the next day where you can sit back, relax with a cocktail or three and giggle every time you refer to yourselves as husband and wife!

Thank you all for reading my diary, I hope it’s been an interesting read! Good luck with your wedding and be sure to follow my blog on
www.emmalouisewrites.blogspot.com

Stressed……it’s all in the Jaw for me

The final countdown has officially begun, two days and two sleepless nights to go until the big day! As I’m sure most bride-to-be’s would agree, the mixture of excitement, nerves, anticipation and downright fear can be completely overwhelming, causing even the most emotionally stable of women to turn in to a jibbering wreck.

I thought I was holding it together quite well, no random meltdowns in the florist, no surviving on grass to be able to squeeze in to my dress and not even one argument with my fiance! My jaw, however, tells a different story. I have been suffering with undiagnosable toothache for the last 18 months, pain down the right hand side of my jaw that never, ever lets up and is completely baffling the 8 dentists I have been to see. No one can find anything wrong, my teeth are fine, and I have taken so many different types of medication I would be arrested if I tried to leave the country.

Running the risk of becoming known in any local dentistry as the crazy,panda-eyed sobbing woman, I decided to turn to alternative therapy and booked myself up for a week of Acupuncture. Apparently, my stress levels are so high that my nervous system is at breaking point and the nerve in my face is feeling the brunt of it. Cue a horrendous massage which felt like I was being kneeded by a meat cleaver, 15 mini needles jabbed in to my cheek, ears, feet and hands and electric currents passed through my face! Not to mention the absolutely vile concoction of herbs, twigs and leaves that I have to brew up and drink twice daily…

They say stress manifests itself in many different ways and despite my protests at not feeling remotely stressed out, my sub-conscious is telling me otherwise! I shall persevere for one more day and hope that the minute I say “I do” the jaw will relax and I’ll be able to munch happily my wedding breakfast! Although I must say, the latest weather forecast for the weekend is making me smile… predictions of a surprise warm weekend for the whole of the UK!! Come on Mr Blue Sky….

That’s it for me ladies as a single woman…. At 12:30 on Sunday I’ll leave behind Miss Linder and step across in to the unfamiliar territory known as marriage… see you on the other side!!!

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish Emma the best of luck for Saturday, I’m sure she will have an amazing day! I’ve really enjoyed having her write for me and I hope you have as well.
To find out more about Emmas journey as a bride to be go to: Emmas Blog
Come back in a few weeks to hear all about how the day went……and have a sneaky peak at some of the photos.

Be brave… be Boudoir

Last year, a friend of mine introduced me to the hottest new bridal craze, the Boudoir photoshoot. If you’ve never heard of this, try and visualize a present that would get your man practically dancing down the aisle as he thinks he’s about to marry the next Cindy Crawford. It’s a photo-shoot designed to make you look your absolute best…in your absolute skimpiest.

one of the fabulous images created by www.myboudoir.co.uk to make you look and feel amazing!

I booked my shoot about 9 months ago through the amazing and award winning Nicola Grimshaw Mitchell of Bury, Lancashire and spent at least 8 of those months stressing about my bingo wings and doing bicep curls with tins of baked beans. Despite the reassuring words on the website and the unbelievable before and after photo gallery, I just couldn’t stop worrying that my rapidly growing eye bags and expanding cellulite was going to be too much for the airbrush to handle…

The night before my 9 am shoot I literally couldn’t sleep a wink. Having furtively sneaked £100 worth of new La Senza lingerie in to my car, I drove to Nicola’s in the most terrifying state of the day- minus make up. On arrival, Nicola greeted me with a huge heart warming smile and instantly made me feel like this might be something I’d be able to do. The talented Michelle Sisson took control of my hair and make up- taking note of the fact I wanted a vintage glam look, she completed the look with false eyelashes and red hot lippy.
Make up done, it was time to get in to my stockings and suspenders. Believe me, at 10am on a rainy Manchester morning, the thought of baring all seemed less appealing by the minute! Nicola helped me with those pesky back suspender clips and we were ready to go! Spending the time positioning me to eradicate double chins and directing me like a pro, Nicola had me relaxed and posing away in no time. We got through three outfit changes and I didn’t even flinch when she suggested the last few shots would be better in the nude!

I spent a couple of hours in Nicola’s cosy home and loved every minute of it. The hardest part however was yet to come… the 7 – 10 day wait to see the pics! After checking my blackberry manically for a week, the much anticipated email popped in to my inbox containing the link to my very own online gallery. I don’t think I could have logged on any quicker if a date with David Beckham depended on it. When the gallery loaded and the first picture came up, I almost had to do a double take. I honestly couldn’t believe it; it looked like me but with flawless skin, no trace of dimply thighs and hair that could star in its own shampoo advert. I am so proud of them; I emailed all my girlfriends the link immediately and revelled in their gasps of amazement.
The hard book copy arrived last week and it’s taken all my reserve not to thrust it under my fiancés nose as he sits and play’s games on his phone. But I’ll wait… it’s going to be the best wedding present he could ever hope for… and one that I can look back on in 20 years and realise how hot I was!

Check out the website www.myboudoir.co.uk and believe me, you’ll be booking yourself in and digging out your smalls before you know it!

And here are a couple of images from the shoot that Emma has been kind enough to share with us. I’m sure you will agree with me when I say she looks totally FABULOUS, these pictures are totally stunning. Emma’s soon to be Husband is in for a real treet!!

image courtesy of www.myboudoir.co.uk

image courtesy of www.myboudoir.co.uk

To find out more about Emmas journey as a bride to be go to: Emmas Blog
Come back in a couple of weeks for Emma’s last feature before her big day!

Some Brides do ‘Ave ‘Em…

You know people say that getting married is one of the most stressful things you can ever do? So far for us, there have been no arguments with the suppliers, no huge extravagances that have blown the budget and very few Bridezilla moments (everyone is allowed one or two though right?!) So up until a couple of weeks ago, my fiancé and I were starting to worry we must have done something wrong as neither of us were feeling this supposed stress. With 9 weeks to go however, the mother’s have started to prune their feathers and get ready to parade around the venue, proudly marking their individual territory as the next most important person present.

It all started with a clash of dress choice. One outfit was deemed to be too similar to the other and despite our best efforts to control the situation and point out that the majority of people will be wearing dress and jacket combinations, it escalated in to a huge bubbling mixture of pride, tears and ridiculousness. Cue lots of ego feeding to each mum, driving home the point of accessorising and reminding each one they will of course, be the person everyone is looking at (not). They are now matching each other pound for pound on cost, despite being several rungs apart on the financial ladder. My fiancé and I are the unfortunate victims of not-so-discreet questioning, being directly asked how much the other diva has spent on the outfit. In actual fact, they have both spent much more on their outfits than I have! Not sure yet if I should feel annoyed at that…

Now one of them has decided they are wearing a hat, even though it was something they both said they wouldn’t do. Of course, this drastic development in millinery acquisition has resulted in the other one demanding the dimensions, colour and style of said hat in order not to be overshadowed in the photo’s. Shoes, bags and jewellery have all come under scrutiny, corsages have been ordered exactly the same so as to avoid jealously and favouritism. Keeping up appearances has never seemed so important, it’s almost as if they are vying for prime position on a red carpet, never mind the leading lady not actually being either of them.

I’m more than aware of how proud they both are of us and know that they just want to feel their very best but it’s rapidly becoming an ugly popularity contest and I wouldn’t like to guess the winner. On the day, it remains to be seen if there will be handbags at dawn or whether they will actually leave the ego’s at home, stop comparing who’s lip gloss cost the most and realise that this is our time to shine!

Come back for more of Emma’s stories in a couple of weeks.
To read more of Emma’s wedding plans, along with her trials and tribulations leading up to her big day go to:
emmalouisewrites.blogspot.com

Chapter 1: Planning the Hen Do

For me, in less than 2 months its time for the biggest, most anticipated, (sometimes dreaded), night of a woman’s life. My hen do.
Now, please don’t get me wrong, of course I’m looking forward to it, its just I’m wondering whether the fact I’m likely to end up chaperoning a herd of lustful ladies on champagne around Dublin is a) appealing to me as at least I can post the pictures on Facebook before they do, or b) worse than a centrally positioned boil on your nose on THE big day.
After much deliberation over how to attempt a recession-proof hen do that will prove more exciting than a night in devising our own potent cocktails, I plumped for a day and night in the Emerald Isle. Cheap flights (as long as you only take hand luggage – cue arguments over who’s taking the GHD’s) and a twin bedded hotel rooms make the whole process come in for less than £60 per person. So far, so good. Now I’m left with the challenging task of dreaming up sufficient entertainment to please my wide variety of hens. From fussy eaters to man hunters, police officers to cabin crew, I’ve got my hands full!

I’d love to be the type of bride who can happily leave her ladies to arrange the L plates, cringe-worthy t-shirts and plenty of phallic shaped objects… but I just can’t. My mothers’ obsessive compulsive streak has clawed its way to the surface and I need to be in control! Being the centre of attention terrifies me somewhat, and combined with the ready made pressure that comes with being the bride on a hen do, I can feel my sanity starting to slip by the bridal wayside.
If this is my big send off in to marital bliss, kissing goodbye to those days of single-dom deserves some proper preparation and I’m going for gold when it comes to outdoing the rest. I’d evaporate in a cloud of embarrassment at a stripper, clear the room if made to go on karaoke and instantaneously gag if I had to even sniff Absinth.
So far the plans include blindfolded wheel-barrow racing, Thai food and frozen vodkas; a possible hilarious time or several emergency trips to A & E? Hmmmm.
Follow my fortnightly updates on Boho Events to see if I manage to organise the classy, organised do that I desire… or end up pictured on every social networking website slumped behind a juke box cradling a pint of Guiness…

To keep up to date with Emmas planning stories pop back to the blog every 2 weeks, or you can have a look at Emmas Blog at Emma Louise Writes