18 days to go.. November 10, 2009

Eighteen days to go and I’m finding time to write on this blog? What’s wrong with me?! Between the exams, the kitchen tea, everybody’s birthday and early Christmas parties, I’m a donkey on the edge!

Lots of wedding planning progress has been made since last I wrote, and at the moment, with just 18 short days to go, all we need to do is the following:

1) Find rings for J – if we don’t we can always fall on the back up ring from  the ex-girlfriend inscribed “4 eva Robyn” – or not!

2) Finish my wedding dress – don’t worry, I’m going for a fitting this evening, it will come together in time

3) Have bridesmaids dresses made. (At least I’ve beetroot-dyed the fabric, and what a job that was!)

4) And find their shoes…

5) Embark upon an exercise/eat right/drink lots of water to-look-radiant campaign.. I keep putting it off. From six months before to three months before to one month before, until um…14 days before? It’s much like hitting snooze on an alarm clock – another habit of mine.

6) Organise a playlist for when the live musicians go home

7) Wedding shoes for the groom who insists on wearing his old muddy clodhoppers, but doesn’t yet know that Mil and I are in cahoots to make sure his feet look respectable on the day!

Ties for the boys – all of them.

9) White shirts for the boys – all of them

10) Take an internet class – Decorating Wedding Cakes 101.

11) Take an online flower-arranging course – Sticking Flowers Into Jar So They Look Good 102.

12) Decide on wedding vows and who will say what, when and where, for how long.

I give up, this list is too long to type out, but I’m sure that in 18 days all will be ready! On a happy, less stressed note, my Kitchen tea on Saturday was wonderful, thanks to all the fantastic women in my life who showered me with pink prettiness and lots of love! Thanks to NB for organising, – you are the Best Bridesmaid in All of the World, and to Mil for flying down from Jhb for one day to attend!

I’ll end off with the story of the beautiful designer wedding shoes I bought and their debut – a horrid rat ran into our study/2nd bedroom/wedding storage room and they were the first pair of shoes I could grab to avoid him scurrying over my bare toes. He was later found cowering under my wedding dress petticoat. This designerbride – in pajamas and sexy satin heels, screamed unmentionable words and gave him a hiding with my broom. If he knows what’s good for him he won’t come back again!

(p.s I also reflexively screamed “Sorry” as I whacked his hairy bum with the broom.  Being polite. It’s a curse.)

Sunburnt bride… October 7, 2009

The dangers of pre-wedding tanning...

So it’s not something I really thought about, but I”m glad I learnt this lesson a few weeks, and not days, before the wedding! Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go into the sun if you’re a fair maiden like me and about to get married!

I had a bit of a tanning disaster on Thurday. I took the kidlets to the beach on a gloriously sunny day last week and did such a fantastic job of not letting them burn, that I neglected to adequately sunblock myself.

The result is a semi-sunburnt-sort-of-peeling-bronzed-in-some-places-and-white-in-others designerbride. This is pretty disastrous when the wedding is only a few weeks away, but on the bright side, my dress hasn’t been made yet, so I can alter it to cover the straps that have been burnt onto my shoulders! Other back up plans are to apply sunblock on the burnt bits, and then toast the rest of me so that there is a semblance of uniformity, but I’m not sure how effective this route will be.

For now I’m going to exfoliate like crazy and in a weeks time, I’m going to test drive one of those professional spray-on tans at a salon. This was great unsolicited advice from an alcohol-fuelled stranger at a bathroom in a club on Friday night! Thank you friendly blonde girl who couldn’t help but overhear my dilemma and offered this solution to my predicament!

Tick Tock… September 18, 2009

Tick Tock, Tick Tock. As sand runs through the hourglass, so do the Days Until Our Wedding.

Last week J and I celebrated our “One Year of Being Engaged” anniversary. We had such a lovely evening together, and can’t actually comprehend that a whole year has passed since that magical day in Paris!

I’ve been having a slight problem falling asleep at night. My mind whirs as I race through the “To Do Before the Wedding” list in my head. This is not doing me any favours, this designerbride NEEDS her beauty sleep! I assumed I’d become a paragon of pre-bride virtue about three months before the wedding. Drink 6 glasses of water a day, start doing push ups, sit ups, stand ups, everything it takes to whip my booty into shape in time for the wedding. But the closer the Big Day looms, the more I seek solace in triple-stack banana, cheese and bacon toasted sandwiches, washed down with coke, not lemon water.

Still much to do, rings to be bought, dresses to be made, suits to be organised. Although I think we have the suits under control. I mentioned previously that we went to Remington Suit hire a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure about the polyester/viscose suits, so I thought I’d explore other options before committing. I did some investigating at Access Park in Kenilworth, and found a suit factory shop. To purchase a suit, pretty much the same quality as the Remington’s ones for about the same price.  I’ve decided to release my inner fabric snob, and go with the bargain! As much as I would love the boys in the very finest of threads, at times pragmatism needs to override idealism.

In the same excursion, I popped into the Errol Arendz factory shop. The service was incredible, and the sales assistant made me feel like Cinderella. He  seduced me with a pair of satin heels that fit like a glove but weren’t quite “perfect.” The colour didn’t really match the dress and it had a bulky adornment on the peep toe that I could have definitely done without. Such was the seductive web he spun, that I became convinced that these were the shoes! I very nearly bought them, and was particularly excited by the “fabulous savings”  he was presenting. “Only R710! These shoes are being sold down the road for R1700!”I was nearly persuaded into buying shoes that weren’t the right colour, “it’s okay, darling, they’ll blend,” but decided to resist the impulse, and mull over it first.

At home I peeked into the Errol Arendz website to see what other gorgeous wedding shoes were available. Well, I found those wedding shoes for R850, normal retail prices, and had to laugh at the salesman’s blatant lie! He was brilliant though, kudos to him for doing a spectacular job, but in hindsight I know I would have had buyers remorse!

So we still need dresses and suits, shoes and ties, we still need to organise a pre-nup, and rings and a myriad of other things, but I think we’re slowly but surely getting it together. Just over two months to go! Tick tock

Reason’s I’m Marrying J.. September 14, 2009

Honey Monster!

Panda!

Today I’m inspired to write about The Groom. “J” (aka “Agent Johnson” aka “Baby” aka “Kuks” aka “Sexy Bum” aka “Honey Monster” aka “Panda.”)

I thought I’d share the reasons I said “yes.”

He is Insanely Intelligent. And modest about it too. “Oh it’s nothing, baby, you would understand it too if you did Maths at varsity.” Right, I get stymied with grade 5 fraction division. You’re just Sublimely Clever!

He scratches my back at night before I go to sleep.

He has the most kissable lips

He never, ever smells bad. His essence is my favourite smell in all of the world. He smells clean, wholesome and good. All the time. And he has the sweetest breath – even first thing in the morning.

He plays the guitar beautifully. And he sings. Beautifully. He used to woo me over the telephone using these talents in a miraculous feat of dexterity.

He adores his mother (and I adore her too, it doesn’t get luckier than that!)

He has perfect hands and fingernails.

He’s gorgeous. Last year, in Amsterdam, J was swamped by a horde of young Japanese girls, whose faces fell in disappointment on realising that J was just an ordinary civilian. Not sure who they thought he was. Brad Pitt? Val Kilmer? We’re still speculating

He doesn’t care what other people think and has taught me the value of this philosophy.

He is my rock. He never wavers. His temperament is just so, he is who he is who he is.

He has a great family.

He takes a great interest in the world around him, and is awesome to have around at a pub quiz.

He’s interesting, smart and funny at 25. (three weeks until 26!) and I foresee him still being interesting, smart and funny at 86.

He is completely unselfish when it comes to money and is the most unmaterialistic person I know. In the nearly 5 years I’ve known him he has bought me many, many BIG presents. In this time he has bought himself one major item, a snazzy computer, which I’ve semi adopted anyway.

He lets me pick the movie.

He gives up his car every day, and takes the shuttle to varsity so that I can do my thing.

He wrote a patch that got accepted by Firefox!

He likes to fix things when they’re broken.

He is the most terrific impersonator with the greatest sense of humour. He keeps me, and everyone else, in stitches.

He makes the best fried eggs in All of the World.

He picks up after himself.

He’s never touched drugs or weed in his life, and he doesn’t smoke

He always does things Properly.

He’s good with dogs and children.

He always knows What To Do.

He will be a rip-roaring fantastic father and husband.

He has opened up my world. We have grown up, up and away since the day we met, and I know we are going to fly high together ♥

Attire for the men.. September 6, 2009

There's always the other option..

The groom in question, Cupid and myself headed off to Remington Suit Hire last weekend to find some clothes for the men. Firstly, word of advice, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go to a suit hire place on a Saturday morning in September! The place was insanely busy and the queue went right out the  door. We eventually had our turn to be fitted. We managed to convince  J to try on a “natural” coloured suit as opposed to the charcoal we’d compromised on (thus far he has refused to wear a light coloured suit). Somehow he was persuaded that it’s far more important to match the table linen at a wedding, as opposed to the microphone, and once he’d tried it on he realised it wasn’t so bad after all

“J” looked rather  “dapper” * (the adjective he chose to describe “Prince Charming” in a recent 30 seconds game, gotta love him!)  all trussed up as a Groom, and Cupid looked dashing, despite his inordinate pride at the fire-engine red undies peeking out of his beige pants!

The suits need to be booked, and these were fine, BUT, that’s the crunch, They are just “fine.” Fine if an 85% polyester 15% viscose blend is your thing. Not fine if the bride has her heart set on linen/wool/silk/cotton threads for both her girls AND boys.

J has argued the case, saying that the polyester count of the suits are irrelevant, but it matters to me.  So we’ve put off booking the suits in the interim, and I am scouring Cape Town for places that hire out  linen suits. So far, no luck, so it might just be polyester/viscose suits after all.

In other news…A US jet dropped 500-pound bombs on two tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban, triggering a huge explosion that officials said killed more than 70 people.

Puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?

Gift registry.. September 4, 2009

So most of the invites have been sent off, and we still don’t have a gift registry! We’ve been really tardy with getting ourselves to a store to create one, so we’re testing the awesomeness of creating registries without lifting our derrieres from our chairs .

A little “google.co.za-ing” and we’ve found an online gift registry facility with ye olde Woolworths!

(Ten minutes later…)

We are the proud owners of a wedding registry.

Copy this number: “158543″  then click on this link. www.woolworths.co.za Click on “gift lists” then “find gift list” , and paste the copied number into the “gift list ID” box that pops up. 

It’s a list of kitchen stuff so that we can wine and dine all our friends in style for the next 60 years

Debignerblide September 1, 2009

Today I’m a debignerblide.

I went to the dentist. And this IS related to weddings because it made the “Important Things to do before the Wedding” list.

I’ve known for a while that I have two holes in my teeth. I went for a check up a year ago with a dentist I didn’t really connect with. Well, we did connect, but in a bad way. With an “oops,”  she zapped my inner cheek with her tooth cleaning instrument – leaving me with a horrible mouth sore and an appointment to do my fillings a week later. I missed the appointment. Then I put it off, and put it off, and put it off…

Last week I started feeling an ache in my jaw. By the end of the week I was googling “tooth abscesses” and had convinced myself I needed root canal.

So I finally made an appointment with another dentist. I went in yesterday, knees quaking, and slid into the chair, ready to meet my fate.

Dr X is in his 60’s, definitely grandfather material, with a characteristic old-world charm only found in certain men of his generation. The first thing he did was give me a high-five, and I felt about 12 again. He looked at my file, gently chastised me for not returning sooner, then started humming the opera that is my middle name.  He did his thing and told me, to my relief, that there were no abscesses, no need for root canal, but, where once there were two little holes in my teeth, there are now two big holes, to be filled in my next appointment.

I had the “nasty” appointment today.  I was relaxed about it – didn’t think fillings would be too bad. I’ve had a wisdom tooth extracted, what could be worse?!

Dr X asked me if I had sensitive teeth, as he prefers to forgo the anaesthetic(!) I told him no. He then did something in my mouth that made my entire body flail in a spontaneous knee jerk reaction. He decided that I’d be needing an injection after all. So I received the first injection. Which took 59 seconds. After a while, I got a second one (65 seconds this time, I count when I’m scared.)  My tongue began to tingle, but that was it. He decided this would suffice, and proceeded to do his thing.

Aaarggh! It was 30 minutes of  agony. The zzzzzzzzzzzztttcchhhhhchhzzz of the drill sounds eerily like teeth screaming.  *shudder*

So here I am with an achy jaw and a numb tongue – the anaesthesia  set in just as I left the dentist’s office.

I vow that I will never leave putting fillings in for a year ever again, and I will floss every day and not eat sugary stuff and go to Dr X every six months because I NEVER want to go through that again!

Visit dentist before wedding √ Check.

And you have to watch this, “Is this Real Life?”

The Countdown begins! August 28, 2009

It’s the final countdown, deedeedeeedeeee da da did diddeeeeeeeeee!

Three more months, to the day, until we become Mr & Mrs.

This weekend, we’re off to the suit hire place to book attire for the groom and his men, and while we’re at it, we’ll swing into a few shops to look at wedding rings. We’re also going to do the bridal registry jaunt.

Last week, Ethne and I went on an Expedition to source __________for the wedding.

We found it.

In a large street. In the large garden. Of a large house. With a large (ok, medium-sized) gate.

And no intercom.

And no dog. I double-triple-quadruple checked.

Ethne stood guard as I scaled the gate, and frantically collected 251 (I counted) ___________.

Phew! Risking life and limb for the smaller details.

And the bigger details are under control.

I just need to find the time to collect__________and stitch  ________ and overlock_________then __________and line  ___________then paint_________then fill each __________with __________and cover each ___________with________________. I also need to find __________then make____________for them. And the collection of _______has started too.

Forgive the many “____________.” After the wedding I’ll fill them in. I need to make this blog a little more subtle so as to leave SOME surprises for our guests on the big day!

So 91 days, 12 hours and 35 seconds to go! (I’m just guessing the hours and seconds part, because I don’t think anybody could be asked to check!)

The stress begins.. August 20, 2009

Grumpy, crotchety post from a grumpy, crotchety bride to be.
Three months and one week until the big day.

Everything has been hunk dory until now. I was supposed to have sufficiently organised my life so that these last three months leading up to the wedding would be plain sailing. But life never works out like that, does it?

I’m feeling pertickerly (I’ve spelt it like that for emphasis) crotchety today because I have realised that I have a long, arduous slog ahead of me with regard to my UNISA studies. The modules last year were a breeze, and I optimistically assumed it would be as effortless this year. Half the subjects are. But the rest are gruelling. Way too heavy for this designerbride at this point in time. This designerbride would rather be writing marshmallow froth on her blog.

SOL. (Sigh Out Loud)

Anyway, this blog is supposed to be about weddings. so let me fill you in on the latest;

We have booked a string trio, The Reverie Trio from Paarl, highly recommended by Picardie.

We then realised that we will also need sound equipment for additional  music, speeches, etc.

I nearly had a heart attack yesterday, trying to source simple sound equipment . I was receiving quotes well into the thousands, and this didn’t even feature in our budget!

Luckily, Picardie recommended a DJ they always use, and he has agreed to rent us all the equipment we need for a tenth of what we were being quoted. Just goes to show that you shouldn’t accept the first quotes you receive. Thumbs down to wedding profiteers!

(As I type this, J has bought me a nice mug of hot Milo! Poor thing has had a grumpy, crotchety, stress-filled ball of joy for a fiancee today. I love you my groom-to-be! ♥)

When numbers go wrong. August 8, 2009

I gave myself a deadline for sending the invitations out. This week or else! I’m fortunate enough, as a designerbride, to have a network of connections, so the printing side of things I did at my former employers at cost. I fitted it in yesterday on a tight schedule.

My awesome former designer colleagues helped me with the final before-printing tweaks, and Pea had me carefully proofread the invites before the final print on the specially purchased creamy, textured and expensive paper.

Address. Check. E-mail address. Check. Website address. Check. Cell phone number. Check. Home contact number. Check.

So we push “Print” and in no time at all I have a pile of  beautifully printed invitations. Fantastic! Yippeee! Can’t believe they’re PERFECT, that seldom happens!

Gee, 13:15 already? Better phone J at home to let him know I’m running late.

Dial my home number.

Ring ring.

“Hello, Eunice speaking”

“Uh, I’m sorry, I’ve dialled the wrong number again.”

“Would you like to speak to the madam?”

“No this is definitely the wrong number. I’m phoning my own home, where I am the madam!”

Put the phone down.

“Pea, it’s the strangest thing. I’m ALWAYS dialling the same wrong number when I phone home. I just can’t seem to get it right!”

Drive home.

“J! Look at the invitations, aren’t they beautiful?”

“They’re great. But where does this number come from? Is it the venue telephone number?”

Ahem.

OH CRACKERS! (my new swear word now that I’m hanging out with under 12’s).

J was quite upset and wanted to reprint them, but it would ruin the whole invitation schedule. After careful contemplation, I said, “There are five different ways people can contact us on this invitation, and besides, this  is 2009, people don’t call landlines anymore!”

So, if you read this, and you received an invite, please ignore the landline telephone number on the invite. It is the WRONG NUMBER!

And if you don’t, tell Eunice I say hi.