Hello there you lovely lot, I can’t believe it’s been 6 weeks already… How time flies when we are having fun.
…..Ok so Turning 30 never used to be that appealing to me whilst growing up. As my birthday grew nearer I began to realise that my 30′s are going to be a pretty big deal with lots of amazing journeys taking place. I like to think of my 30′s as becoming a proper grown up. As my dad would say… it’s all about settling down and starting my own family. I have told him he is correct but to still expect a key in their front door every now and again because it is still home and I like to remind him I’m still his little girl who needs her dads help from time to time.
My sisters and mummy decided to surprise me with one of the best day trips and birthday presents EVER…..they told me they wanted it to be a birthday I wouldn’t forget….booking me in for a visit to the stunning Isla jean vintage bridal boutique.
I couldn’t believe it, finishing work early due to strict instructions off the little sis I assumed we were going for a birthday lunch. However when I arrived at Lucy’s (little sis) my mum and Gem (big sis) told me that we were going dress shopping.
I was over the moon and absolutely delighted. It was was such a lovely experience looking at all those gorgeous dresses and gowns – getting a better idea of what style will suit me best.
Never in a million years did I think the first dress I saw would be the one. I’ve never truly known what style of dress I would go for and had butterflies walking into the boutique. Vicky was so lovely and selected several dresses she thought would suit me including ‘the one’ which was actually in the window when we arrived, entering the dressing room stood a stunning gown that I thought was to die for so tried that on first.
When I walked out to the big taaa daaa from my mum and sisters I knew it wasn’t the dress that I would be walking down the isle in. I didn’t feel like a princess and by the look on my mums face I did the dress no justice. She said it was beautiful but it didn’t look like ‘The’ dress for me. I tried the next dress on which was the first dress I saw and WOW. I walked out and mum burst into tears and I simply said this is the one and my sisters nodded and said you have found your dress.
It felt perfect and when i looked in the mirror knew straight away that it was the dress for me.
Vicky cracked open the prosecco to celebrate and brought out a variety of head pieces and veils for me to try on and get a feel of. I truly did feel like a princess especially when she brought out a selection of bouquets designed by the amazing Pearl & Co.
I walked around the dressing room to my mums hum of da da da da dahhhh, da da da dahhhh wearing a vail, hair piece, head piece (just to get an idea, I won’t be wearing all of them at once,) ha ha, I dont want to be walking down the isle with Mikey thinking he’s marrying a meringue. Through pure excitement we all wanted to see what would suit me best.
I was carrying a bouquet while Vicky asked me to sit down, pose, stand still, turn etc. She said she wanted to make sure I was 100% comfortable in the dress and mark my words I was more like a million, trillion times happy. I still can’t believe it took less than 2hrs for me to find my dress. I really do think it was one of the best days of my life.
As soon as I walked out of Isla jean it felt real, the venue was booked and I had my dress. I decided not to take it home there and then as I would find it far too tempting to sneak a peek and it would probably be worn out before the wedding day!
After the amazing dress find we then moved on to the photography, as I’ve said previously myself and Mikey love photos. However, I don’t know about you guys but a pre wedding/engagement photo shoot is something I have never really thought about. That was until our photographers Seb & Zuzi from Stella photography convinced me it would be a great way to get a feel of the camera and how they will work on the wedding day.
It was also a good excuse to get some nice shots of us without one of us pulling funny faces and to make another album to add to the collection. They told us they wanted to keep it really natural, to do something outdoors and had the perfect location in mind….Tatton Park…
We were so pleased as its such a lovely place and really in keeping with our wedding theme. Before the shoot Seb sent us some visuals so we could get an idea of the style. The images were fab and all so natural. He told us to get onto Pintrest for some inspiration, we had a night of pinning which I absolutely loved.
Between us all we got some really lovely ideas and styles. They assured us it would be really quiet and nobody would be around so we wouldn’t feel at all uncomfortable… maybe arranging to do it on a bank holiday when the sun was shining wasn’t the best idea, ha ha. Turning up and being told it was the busiest day on record slightly freaked me out, we spent an hour trying to find one another which didnt help and then getting a sweat on carrying the props across the park and bumping into people we know almost tipped me over the edge!
All my fears completely vanished when we got set up and the camera started to click. I didn’t seem to mind any more that kids were running round us and hanging off tree trunks. I was spending a lovely sunny day in a beautiful park with my boy …..heaven!!
Zuzi had chosen a really lovely area and Gem (my big sister) had come along to help set up. We had the best day ever, it was lovely spending time with Mikey and getting a feel for the big day. Pretty Little Things had made us some cupcakes to take along and Betsy Button provided the props. It looked amazballs even if I say so myself.
We chose 2 different settings, one in the woodland area and one next to the lake, we loved every moment. We spent the day laughing and joking and both felt really relaxed. By the end of the shoot passers-by were actually stopping to watch what was happening and neither of us even really noticed. Never in my life did I ever think I would be up for anything like this. However, Seb stuck to his word and did us proud. I think everyone needs photographers like these guys in their lives. I would recommend a pre shoot to everyone, it really did help us to get a feel for the camera. Take a look at their amazing website.
Carly x