So yesterday me and the boy decided to jump in the car and drive the 10 minute ride to one of the local wedding venues just outside of Newcastle (under lyme not the up north one) called Slaters. Now obviously we have got our wedding venue booked so we didn't go with a view to going to look at it in terms of the venue, but one the other things that Slaters has to offer is it is also a craft village with a big emphasis on weddings.
The craft village itself is lovely. It has lots of little shops and reminds me very much of an old style village layout but it is actually located inside one of the barns. They have different little boutique shops with Dresses, Photographers, Jewellers, people doing fascinators and venue dressers.
As I say we decided to go basically on a whim. I knew I wanted to at least go and have a look at Slaters on the basis that I like to get lots of ideas. We went to the wedding fair last week and I knew one of the people we had seen but not spoken to was also based there.
We had a mooch around the little shops, in particular I wanted to have a look at the venue dresser who I also knew did a button bouquet which I had seen last week but not been able to get a price of. Needless to say I shall be looking online as they started at £200 but at least now I know.
The good thing is with getting so organised early we are collecting lots of ideas and looking to see if we can do things cheaper or source them from different places.
While at Slaters we also decided to try their tea room. I had a lovely Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese while Adam had a Ham and Cheese Baguette. I then had a scone while Adam chose to have a piece of Chocolate Cake.
The craft village itself is lovely. It has lots of little shops and reminds me very much of an old style village layout but it is actually located inside one of the barns. They have different little boutique shops with Dresses, Photographers, Jewellers, people doing fascinators and venue dressers.
As I say we decided to go basically on a whim. I knew I wanted to at least go and have a look at Slaters on the basis that I like to get lots of ideas. We went to the wedding fair last week and I knew one of the people we had seen but not spoken to was also based there.
We had a mooch around the little shops, in particular I wanted to have a look at the venue dresser who I also knew did a button bouquet which I had seen last week but not been able to get a price of. Needless to say I shall be looking online as they started at £200 but at least now I know.
The good thing is with getting so organised early we are collecting lots of ideas and looking to see if we can do things cheaper or source them from different places.
While at Slaters we also decided to try their tea room. I had a lovely Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese while Adam had a Ham and Cheese Baguette. I then had a scone while Adam chose to have a piece of Chocolate Cake.
We had an absolutely lovely afternoon and I would definitely recommend a look around Slaters if your getting married.
♥
As you may or may not already know - 6 months ago I packed up all the crap I had hoarded over 25 years and I moved out. Me and Adam decided that we were going to rent somewhere, mainly because we just didn't have the money for a deposit right now. I learnt and have picked up loads of tips and I thought I would share them with you all :)
- When you first pick up the keys to the house, make sure you check your gas and electric metres and take a picture of them. I did this the first day I picked the keys up and it meant that we were not paying for any gas and electric that was not ours.
- When your boxing stuff up be ruthless. As I say I had collected quite a lot of crap over the years, stuff I had intended to use and never did, clothes I had never worn, get rid of them if you haven't used them!
- If your moving out of your parents house you probably have little or no furniture like we didn't. Shop around and get the best deals for what you want and don't be afraid to buy from different places, it is tempting to just get everything from one place and pay one lot of postage (if you do it online) but sometimes shopping about can save you a fortune.
- Don't be afraid to visit charity shops - we have a couple of charity shops around Stoke which specialise just in furniture and you can pick up an absolute bargain. I knew when we moved in I wanted a 6 seater table so we could have both sets of parents around or more room for guests. We picked up this 6 seater table and chairs in Oak (solid oak) which also folds down to a 4 seater table if you want more room. This was an absolute bargain of £75 from our local British Heart Foundation.
- If you want to buy furniture new - visit Ikea! We got quite a few bits from Ikea including a lot of kitchen basics which are dirt cheap, plate sets, glasses. We also picked up a lot of other furniture such as an awesome coffee table for £5, drawers for the bedroom which were £35 and bookcases for £10. The awesome thing about ikea too is that their prices depend on what colour furniture you chose. Most of their pieces come in white, black and various wood pieces.
- Consider setting up an account for Bills. Me and Adam set up a joint bank account where we both pay into every month. We then have our all bills and rent come out of this and the left over is what we have for food. Saves us both gaffing.
- Use apps. A lot of companies now have apps that you can use. We have our gas and electric with Eon and we can upload our metre readings and keep a check on our bill on the app.
- One piece of electrical equipment I would defiantly recommend that you buy is a slow cooker. It is so tempting when you move out not to cook. I have never had a problem because both me and adam love to cook but I know friends who have moved out who go mad and live on take away. If you invest in a slow cooker you can whack something in before you go to work and when you get in, its done, little effort involved.
- Tying in with the above, plan your meals. I always plan everything because doing slimming world it is easier to track but I have found too that it can save you an absolute fortune! I make a list on a Saturday or Sunday of what we are going to eat in that week and then make a list for the supermarket based on what we actually need to but not just winging it! Even if I end up with a couple of extras it still saves me buying things we have plenty of. Ive got the below planner from the Martha Stewart range at staples so we both know what we are having on what day.
- Again in with shopping make sure you use all the resources around. With Asda you get can price check on your receipt, Sainsburys do it for you and give you a voucher if they were not cheaper. If you don't mind shopping at a different supermarket every week, download an app called My Supermarket allows you to put in what you want on your shopping list and it tells you where the cheapest supermarket is - great if your a planner who knows what they want like me.
- Use the local amenities rather than supermarkets. We shop at a local butchers who has a massive outlet where the meat is so much cheaper than at the supermarkets! We go about once a month and stock up!
♥
First of all how is it the 1st of September tomorrow! This year is flying by seriously fast. I have done a serious amount of thinking over the last few weeks and made a lot of changes. I won't bore you all with the details but work wise its time for a change and I have decided to try and get back to what I love - Teaching. I am taking a leap of faith in order to do it so I just hope that it pays off - if you can all just keep your fingers cross that this works then that would be fab.
I was thinking the other day how much my life has changed in the past 9 months. At the start of the year I was contemplating another year of being alone while it felt like everyone around me was getting married and having babies. Now here I am 9 months down the line, sitting blogging in my own living room while my fiancé watches some crap on the TV. I couldn't have even imagined that this is what my life would be like!
I think I have finally realised how much my life has changed and so have my priorities. I love my little blog and I always will but I think in the past I have felt pressured into feeling the need to post content regularly. I want to be able to sit here and produce a new post for you every day but at the moment its just not feasible. Adam and I work sometimes the same shifts and sometimes different so any time we have we spend with each other rather than me behind a computer (with the exception of times like right now when he is watching a film i'm not bothered about). Rather than being able to sit on a sunday and write 5 or 6 blog posts for the week I have food shopping, planning, cleaning, cooking to think about.
I have decided to take some of the pressure away from myself. I love my blog and I am not going anywhere but I know for a fact that the posts right now may be a little few and far between. Next weekend we are in Sheffield to celebrate Adam's grandma's birthday then in a couple of weeks we are off to Centre Parks with his mum and dad and brother which I am really looking forward to as I have never been and me and Adams mum are going to the Spa one day while the boys go off and do boy things! I can't promise I am going to be able to update you every week or every day but when I can I will check in, hopefully by the end of September I should be able to get some sort of schedule where I can find myself some time to sit down and catch up with you and have a bit of me time for blogging! It seems the wedding fayres are up and kicking off - we are going to our first one next week and then me, my mum and Adams mum are going to the national one in Manchester on the 11th October which I am SO excited about!!! I'll be sure to keep you updated and catch up with you when I can :)
Catch me up on what you have all been up with!!! xxx
I was thinking the other day how much my life has changed in the past 9 months. At the start of the year I was contemplating another year of being alone while it felt like everyone around me was getting married and having babies. Now here I am 9 months down the line, sitting blogging in my own living room while my fiancé watches some crap on the TV. I couldn't have even imagined that this is what my life would be like!
I think I have finally realised how much my life has changed and so have my priorities. I love my little blog and I always will but I think in the past I have felt pressured into feeling the need to post content regularly. I want to be able to sit here and produce a new post for you every day but at the moment its just not feasible. Adam and I work sometimes the same shifts and sometimes different so any time we have we spend with each other rather than me behind a computer (with the exception of times like right now when he is watching a film i'm not bothered about). Rather than being able to sit on a sunday and write 5 or 6 blog posts for the week I have food shopping, planning, cleaning, cooking to think about.
I have decided to take some of the pressure away from myself. I love my blog and I am not going anywhere but I know for a fact that the posts right now may be a little few and far between. Next weekend we are in Sheffield to celebrate Adam's grandma's birthday then in a couple of weeks we are off to Centre Parks with his mum and dad and brother which I am really looking forward to as I have never been and me and Adams mum are going to the Spa one day while the boys go off and do boy things! I can't promise I am going to be able to update you every week or every day but when I can I will check in, hopefully by the end of September I should be able to get some sort of schedule where I can find myself some time to sit down and catch up with you and have a bit of me time for blogging! It seems the wedding fayres are up and kicking off - we are going to our first one next week and then me, my mum and Adams mum are going to the national one in Manchester on the 11th October which I am SO excited about!!! I'll be sure to keep you updated and catch up with you when I can :)
Catch me up on what you have all been up with!!! xxx
♥
I don't know about anyone else but after those first initially getting engaged joys - getting engaged can be quite an overwhelming experience! The minute we got engaged and I told people the first thing a lot of them asked was did we have a date... Seriously!
4 weeks down the line and I thought I would share with you my top tips for after you get engaged!
4 weeks down the line and I thought I would share with you my top tips for after you get engaged!
- Talk about a date - One of the first things me and Adam chatted about - in the car on the way home from Watford in fact was when we wanted to get married. The important things to discuss - do you want a summer or winter wedding, do you have a month in mind. When me and Adam discussed it we said either June or July and we took it from there.
- Guest List - The next thing Adam and I did once we got Engaged was to put together a guest list for the wedding - the afternoon do and then the evening. Adam has got an absolutely massive family which quickly knocked our numbers up - having that list made it a lot easier when we were looking at venues.
- Discuss a budget - Once you have your guest list in place it is kind of easier to see what sort of budget you can look at. Try and decide on a potential budget so when you start looking at venues you have an idea of what sort of places may fit in with this.
- Venues - Up there as one of the first things you need to think about is what sort of wedding do you actually want. For me and Adam there was no doubt that we were going to get married at our church. Do you want to get married in church? Are you having a hotel for the reception or is there another venue you could chose? Think outside the box - don't look just at the places you know doing weddings! Mine and Adams reception venue is actually one of our local theatres!
- Join Pinterest - Seriously! If your not on Pinterest why not!!! It has a vast array of ideas from dresses, save the dates, decorations, invitations, photo ideas, cakes... everything you could think of! Get Pinning - Warning you will soon be addicted!
- Develop or Update your Skin care routine - Ive openly admitted when it comes to a proper skincare routine I am absolutely hopeless! However now is the chance to set it right! Start using up some of those products that have been sitting on your dresser for months!
- Adjust your eating habits/go on a diet - Lets be honest, probably 90% of brides want to lose some weight before their big day. You all know I've been doing slimming world - moving in with Adam and all these recent lifestyle changes have meant I have been bobbing a while but now I have the kick up the ass I need! Don't be one of those brides that gets to a couple of months before the wedding and then crash diets!
- Buy a wedding journal - Im a great lover of planning and organisation. My mum as an engagement present brought me a gorgeous Me to you Wedding Journal from Clintons (I can't find it online). Its perfect for storing all the information in and will be a fantastic keepsake in years to come!
- Think about a style/theme - What kind of wedding do you want to have - Vintage, Gothic, Modern - Colours, styles you may want to include.
- Enjoy! - Wedding planning is meant to be enjoyed! Don't get all bridezilla in the first week of being engaged!
And those are my top tips - like I say I am just going on the way we have done things. Adam has a huge family so the numbers we had for our afternoon / evening reception were making a lot of places well out of our budget! Have a think about this! If places are working out too expensive have a look at venues where you can do your own catering - this is the route we have chosen and we have saved ourselves about £800 compared with the cheapest hotel deal we found. If you have smaller numbers a lot of hotels have packages for 40/50 guests in the afternoon and 100/150 at night.
Hello my lovelies!
I figured it was about time we all sat down and had a Cuppa and catch up - so go grab your self a cuppa - we have plenty to catch up on! My tea of choice today is English breakfast tea which I have to say I have been loving recently!
I can't believe that it has been 4 weeks since me and Adam got Engaged! It has gone so quickly! We have already started planning our big day. We have set a date; the 18th June 2016 and after going to have a look at a couple of places we have found a venue we both love for the reception. The actually ceremony was never in any question as we both go to our local church where we sing in the choir so there was never any doubt in either of our minds that this was where we would get married! Now we are just enjoying planning all the little details :) Ive already booked for me, my mum and Adams mum to go to the national wedding show in October in Manchester which I am so excited for!
Another huge thing that happened that happened over the last month is that we had 2 new additions to the family! No i didn't keep a pregnancy secret from you all!!!
Meet Bella and Luna! Our 2 gorgeous kittens! They are 8 and a half weeks old now - we have had them about a week and a half and both Adam and myself are completely in love! They are both absolutely crazy!!!
I feel so out of touch with blogging at the moment but I am hoping to throw myself back in full steam now! I really have missed being up to date with everything thats been going on. Ive finally got my blog lovin count and youtube to view count down and am raring to go with post ideas! I am hoping to throw in some Wedding posts which I hope you don't all mind :)
Leave me a comment in the box below with what you have been up to recently!!!
xxx
I figured it was about time we all sat down and had a Cuppa and catch up - so go grab your self a cuppa - we have plenty to catch up on! My tea of choice today is English breakfast tea which I have to say I have been loving recently!
I can't believe that it has been 4 weeks since me and Adam got Engaged! It has gone so quickly! We have already started planning our big day. We have set a date; the 18th June 2016 and after going to have a look at a couple of places we have found a venue we both love for the reception. The actually ceremony was never in any question as we both go to our local church where we sing in the choir so there was never any doubt in either of our minds that this was where we would get married! Now we are just enjoying planning all the little details :) Ive already booked for me, my mum and Adams mum to go to the national wedding show in October in Manchester which I am so excited for!
Another huge thing that happened that happened over the last month is that we had 2 new additions to the family! No i didn't keep a pregnancy secret from you all!!!
Meet Bella and Luna! Our 2 gorgeous kittens! They are 8 and a half weeks old now - we have had them about a week and a half and both Adam and myself are completely in love! They are both absolutely crazy!!!
I feel so out of touch with blogging at the moment but I am hoping to throw myself back in full steam now! I really have missed being up to date with everything thats been going on. Ive finally got my blog lovin count and youtube to view count down and am raring to go with post ideas! I am hoping to throw in some Wedding posts which I hope you don't all mind :)
Leave me a comment in the box below with what you have been up to recently!!!
xxx
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