Post Five: Taking a break from the plans, a Great British Holiday was in order

June has been a wonderfully summery month this year, we have had high 20's temperatures and everyone is in the summer spirit (well until we lost in the World Cup and tempers started to rise). This weekend, Terry and I decided to join our friends in a spot of camping in the English countryside to get away from thinking about work and planning for the wedding. My heart being set on the dress for 699, and the fact that it may not be there for me on Tuesday as they can't put dresses by, was on my mind and I needed to get away and enjoy the weekend.

We headed to Steeple Leaze campsite in Lulworth, Dorset. There were 8 of us, set up our tents and spent the weekend looking at the wonderfully beautiful english countryside. Our spot on the campsite had a view over all of the dorset hills, with all of the cows and horses grazing. We went to Durdledorf and spent the day on the beach and the boys went Zorbing.

Post Four: The Saga of the Perfect Dress

So yesterday, we went to the ‘wedding dress Sale’ at Berketex Brides in Portsmouth. I wish now I hadn’t gone. I tried on around 6 dresses, each one a different style and mix, but my style in any way. Until, I tried on THE dress, without looking at the price tag and it fit me like a glove. A flow of white material, netting feature at the base and a lovely simple crossed design over the boddess. It was a glamorous white. It looked amazing (if I do say so myself!) and I was so happy with it…until I looked at the price tag. Reduced for £1200 to £699, a bargain in a normal budget, but with our slim line budget it was a huge chuck. I am struggling with the fact that £699 would pay for a huge range of other exciting things, from a holiday for a week for 2, to saving hundreds of lives in Sub-Saharan Africa or even just help us on our way to honeymoon heaven. Oh, but when a girl falls in love, she can’t stop daydreaming about walking down the aisle in such a beautiful dress and feeling like a princess for one day in her whole life…

So the search begins to find a dress within budget. Oh, this won’t be easy as I have one to compare every dress to now! Obviously the cheapest thing to do is buy a second hand dress and get a tailor to adapt it to your requirements, however as much as I wanted to do this in the first place, I’ve changed my mind now. It’s all about the perfect dress for your big day…

I have just booked appointments with wedding dress shops that currently have sales and also, the Oxfam wedding dress shop with dresses ranging from £100 to £500. Let’s see how that goes.

Post Three: Namaste and the glam ceremony room

The sky is bright blue today and squirrels were coming up to me to say hello on my way to work this morning. It was like a scene from Bambi, as if they were saying good morning and could see the smile on my face, knowing today was going to be a good day. I cycled past 5 horses as they grazed the brightest green grass I’ve ever seen. It’s a year today for our big day and I’m praying the weather will be like this.

We achieved so much after work last night, it really was unbelievable. We travelled to Sopley Mill, a Grade 2 listed building, through windy country roads and stunning views to a small village near Ringwood. The mill had stunning surroundings with a tiny bridge over the fast flowing stream, over to a lovely grassed area with views of the historic, working mill and the surrounding fields. It came complete with chickens, a goat and huge dogs.

As we walked up to the ceremony room, we were struck by the smell of wet dog and unattractive, 80’s style carpets. The ceilings were so low Terry struggled with his 6 foot frame to walk through the rooms. The large space was filled with tables and chairs, set out like a school disco, complete again with your typical wooden 5 metre by 5 metre dancing area. We weren’t allowed a band and everyone had to be out by 11.30pm. Very unattractive oranges and pale pinks were used as décor and nothing inspired us about this space apart from the price, £350. In terms of wedding venues, £350 is a steal compared the thousands upon thousands the hotels charge.

As we drove out on the gravel path, we were all giggling at the horrific smells and décor and knew that that was not the venue for us or my wedding dress.

So we put that behind us and travelled into Fordingbridge, the village where I spent a lot of time growing up with my Nan and Grandad. On the corner, near the village police station stood the Raj of India. Not the actual King of India, as the name suggests, but a potential caterers for the reception. Last week we went to meet two caterers in Southampton with quotes of over £800 plus so we had an idea of what prices we were to expect, meaning any lower was a bonus! After ‘sampling’ (rather demolishing) all of their delights, gobbling them all up and feeling really cheeky about the freebies they gave us, we sat down with the owner, nervously jotting down the meal choices. We are vegetarians and strict ones at that, so we had already decided to do a full vegetarian menu, much to the disgust of my brother who said he would have a KFC before he arrived! So, we opted for a Naga (Banglesdesh dish, that will surely blow your head off with the chillies), a Jalfezi (slightly less hot and absolutely delicious), a Masala Daal (gorgeous mix of spices and lentils), a Dipiaza (for the onion lovers), and the very average, but much loved Korma. A mixture for everyone, along with all your typical delights of Naan bread, popodums, Bhajis and Rice. Finding a local Indian restaurant meant we could have Naan so made our day, any further away and it would have made the Naan a disaster of soggy bread.

So, after giving us tons of freebies, he totally the price to a lovely round figure of £600. That’s £8 a head, a 12th of what it costs at an average English wedding. Delicious, I thought and we booked.

We drove back into Southampton and thought it would be nice to pull up outside the potential venue of the Tudor Merchant’s Hall. The Tudor Merchant’s Hall is adjacent to the old historic walls of Southampton and was once the place where Henry V marched his army under the gate in 1415. The hall is a 15th century timber framed building with lots of character and charm. The pavement outside is cobbled and is circular so the entrance by car would be perfect. The hire of the hall for 2 hours (very short time frame, this includes setting up your decorations) was £355 plus the hire of the registrar. This price was not too bad and the venue was stunning, I could just imagine the ceremony there.

This was until we visited the newly refurbished, 600 year old Mecure Dolphin Hotel. A Grade 2 listed building, complete with another old walled arch and impeccable, modern interior. Browns and limes greens were sprinkled around the rooms, with church candles used for ambience. We were all thinking to ourselves that this was totally out of the budget. Unaware of the actual price, we followed Charlotte the wedding co-ordinator to the Jane Austin Suite on the first floor of the building. The suite was once the dance hall for Jane Austin and Florence Nightingale. A newly refurbished large room, with wallpapered walls and huge bay windows and chandeliers, impressed us all. The colour scheme was very glamorous blues and silvers and the massive fireplaces were browns and silver touches. Even the chairs were a contemporary silver.

Excited, yet prepared for the huge price tag, we sat down in the bar for the results. Charlotte, in her very lovely French accent, explained that the hire of the room was £350 for the whole day…hmmm we thought, had she missed a 0 of the end of that figure. She then went on to say that we could have the bridal suite for the whole morning for £50..yet again where is the other 0 in that equation. Giggling to ourselves, we asked if we could just hire the Jane Austin Suite for the morning and in true Jen and Terry form would this affect the price. Yet again, prepared for a no, she came back with a £200 quote. High of happiness, we shook hands with Charlotte and slowly made our way to the car, happy as Larry with our bargain wedding glamorous ceremony hall.

So last night, we managed to arrange the caterers for £600, the ceremony hall for £200 and the bridal suite for the morning for £50. A total of £850. Wow, I’m kind of impressed with our work.

Post Two: The struggling budget and the search for the perfect venue

In true typical Terry form, budget was the number one consideration for getting married. I argued, wrestled and struggled to push the budget higher than the £1000 he orignally planned and managed to squeeze £3000 our of him.

So a wedding on £3000, is this do-able? This will definately be a little less than flash, but I will use all of my creative powers to glam the day up as much as I can. I already have so many creative ideas flowing, from charity shop tea cups and saucers for the favours with luggage tags memorable date cards attached, maybe some seeds inside them to grow to buying christmas tree lights in the January sales to light the venue in the evening with a romantic sparkle.

Last Sunday, Terry drove my mum and I to Brockenhurst Village Hall, thats right Village hall it is to save on the budget limitation. Brockenhurst had everything required on the inside; large rooms, kitchen; a D-I-Y standard, however the outside was less than flash and even had dumpsters with chairs, sinks and matresses for friends. So after more planning and thinking and brainstorming, we came accross Damerham Village Hall. Damerham is very close to our hearts in the King side of my family. My nan and Grandad had a house in that area when they were just married, my mum's cousin owns a huge farm there and we spent many-a-day as kids playing on the 'criptum factor' assault course when we were younger. The hall was perfect, a large room full of old beams for the reception, a seperate room for people spillage, leading out onto a lovely grassed area with a wipping willow and a beautiful stream complete with a white bridge. We had access to plain cream plates, lovely silver-wear, a huge kitchen with a large freezer, fridge and cooker. There was a bar, equipped ready for action for an extra £50 for the bar staff. Other added extras were using the round shaped tables (able to fit 10) and the ivory, plain table cloths would set us back £15 each.

We took a walk accross the street to check out the local pub, the Compass Inn. The Compass Inn has 8 rooms and 2 cottages and a lovely area for the wedding breakfast (the actual breakfast, not the first meal as I quickly discovered). The conservatory with huge glass windows and tudor style wooden beams, leading out onto a beautiful garden with views of the surrounding fields.

So for £440 the reception venue was complete.

As we struggled on to work out where we would marry, it became apparent to me how important the actual ceremony was. On first thoughts, I thought we could just get married in a registry office and do a 'fake' ceremony at the reception venue, asking Terry's cousin Hayden to give us a family blessing. However, after watching numerous wedding shows on TV and watching how beautiful the aisle was, with all eyes on you and the words being said meant something so real and passionate, I wanted that too. I wanted the time I got married and the words, 'You are now husband and wife', to be that one special moment that I would never forget, and have the beautiful surroundings to match of course.

We found that the Tudor Merchants Hall in Southampton was a reasonably priced venue, with absolutely beautiful interior. However, when you get married outside of a registry office, it costs over £300 to have the registrar come out and marry you, so any price that the ceremony venue costs, add £300! I requested the price of the hall and found out it was £355 for 2 hours. I was blown away by the interior, the dark beams and the natural, old style, adding candles, a red carpet and some flowers should make it perfect. Okay, so adding the £655 to the cost of the venue, we are already at £1095...hmmm how will we do this..what about my dress!!? We are going to look at Sopley Mill tonight to see a different style of venue for the ceremony and maybe we will venture over to the registry office, as mum keeps telling me, 'they have done it up really nice!'..hmm I am yet to be convinced!

The wedding bells are ringing..ding ding ding

So it begins...after 3 years of being engaged and nearly 7 years of being together, we are finally planning the big day. Of course, as expected with Terry and I, the day won't be your usual fancy car and lavish dining, it will be personal to us, an adventure of its own kind and a fun affair.

We are been busy searching for a venue for the reception and only after seeing 1 other venue, we have choosen Damerham Village Hall. Damerham is 5 minutes from Fordingbridge, where I spent a lot of my childhood with my Nan and Grandad. Trips to Damerham were on the agenda alot and we would play on the farm or play area opposite the hall. My sister Sarah once got her leg trapped in the climbing frame, something of a funny memory..i must find out that video tape...

Terry and I have had a wonderful 7 years together, experiencing the ups and downs of University, studying hard and playing hard. We then saved our butts off to travel the world and was lucky enough to spend 35 days touring Southern Africa; Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. We then flew and experienced Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand and months on end island and country hopping, sunning ourselves with friends and monkeys!

Our favourite stop was our time in India, climbing mountains, getting attacked by leeches and being invited into very poor homes and being treated like royalty. Our next stop was China where we got very skinning and ended up missing the Chengdu earthquake by days.

After an amazing, lifechanging year in New Zealand, we spent time in backpacking through Eduador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Only to be parted by a stupid high altitude, yet to be explained seizure. Terry carried on, his backpack and minimal spanish in tow and travel patagonia and Brazil. I inpatiently waited at home to be reunited with my baby.

We recently just got back from a trip accross Canada and a trip of a lifetime to Iceland, having a fake wedding ceremony under the spewing volcano.

We live, breathe and experience everyday together. We can't sleep at night without cuddling throughout the whole night, there's not a conversation that goes by without saying i love you and not a thought that goes by without thinking of the other. After 7 years Terry still loves to tell me what his favourite thing about me is (and I have to guess, even though each time is changes) and kiss the most uninteresting crevasses of my body, i.e my eyelids. I can also quit easily trade him with making dinner for 10 kisses.

We love to be together and still miss each other when we are apart. We have travelled together for so long and came out laughing and giggling at the fun we had. Every memory sacred and long lasting.

The next phase is our marriage, after being proposed to on a thai beach with a wooden ring that a thai guy carved for Terry, it's about time we did the ceremony and became Terry and Jennifer Constant.

I'm going to blog it!!