MIA

Folks I have been absolutely and unapologetically MIA. I have just returned from the best 4 weeks of my life having a beautiful time at home with friends, family, loved ones and oh yeah… GETTING MARRIED!

I will be back to blogging and tomorrow I have the house to myself and am planning on getting some posts done and sharing a lot of what I have been up to. Today, however, following another celebration with the Aussie family and a rather large jet lag induced sleep I feel a curl up on the couch and a catch up with what you have all been up to (via your blogs) is in order.

I am however in possession of a large list of posts which I need to/ want to write. A spanky new lap top and a DSLR so improve blogging abilities, photos and also the ability to comment on your posts is in hand.

For now I leave you with a photo of the chapel where it all happened.

Fill me in what have you been up to?

 

MAC and Zoeva

MAC and Zoeva and so much makeup. I had a blow out. It was a planned blow out but a blow out none the less.

A few weeks ago I went to a MAC makeup masterclass. It cost $120 which was fully redeemable against products and the lovely MAC ladies spent around 4 hours teaching a group of 8 girls how to do their makeup. MAC runs a whole series of these classes and each time you get a set of instructions which you can annotate and keep in the folder they provide you with. You also get refreshments and some lovely cup cakes. 

Whoops, I bought pretty much everything. They spent so much time going through each product, and we all applied the makeup on ourselves

My final look was like this ( please excuse the messy hair)

https://www.zoeva-shop.de/

Nice and natural for the wedding. They also taught us to apply it all with the MAC brushes. I had bought the eco tools brushes but they didn’t quite have all the ones needed. I found the Zoeva website (link above) and had read they were a good dupe for MAC brushes. I got the complete set for Euro88 which was a bargain and contained 16 fantastic quality brushes. I cannot wait to use these. I also got an eyeshadow primer and am unsure if this was part of the set or a little freebie. All the brushes have their own plastic case, like sigma brushes, and a large wallet to hold them all.

I was so happy with these buys. I cant wait to use them all. Hurry up wedding!

Have you heard of Zoeva??

ps the shipping was really reasonable and very quick. Fantastic service.

Face of the day

I am doing my own wedding makeup. I think that this has become increasingly fashionable since the duchess did hers and to be honest I really don’t want to feel overdone or not like myself. I have been thinking about what I want and how to look and I have been practising away with my conical wand for curling my hair and now I want a look for my face.

My wedding is at 4pm which gives me plenty of prep time. I fancy I big fat lie in and then a day spent with my mumma relaxing and getting ready. In order for the day to feel super special I think I will treat myself to some bits and pieces with the money I would have spent on a makeup artist and hairdresser.

I will catch up with my hairdresser and ask her for some product recommendations which will have my hair looking tip top and also help to hold the style for the duration. I have also booked a mac workshop with a friend and plan to equip myself with a full face of mac products. I have never had any as they are pretty pricey but I hear they are the best and most long wearing so I shall treat myself. I have been reading around online and think primers and fixing the makeup is key alongside waterproof makeup where possible.

I need a nice nail polish so I can paint my nails that morning, some thing pale pink and girlie and suitably bridish?… Is that a word?..

I also want to have a relaxing pamper of my body and was thinking of getting a nice travel set for. Somewhere like l’occitane that I don’t normally shop at but regularly lust after. No one wants a whiffy bride. Which leads me onto a perfume. I want a new perfume which I have never had which when I smell will remind me of my wedding day. Any thoughts?…

I am also going to splash out of a set of these Sigma brushes which you may remember has been on my lust list for a while.

any top tips from you brides out there? The countdown is on and I need some advice

The Wedding

My Wedding is now only 4 months away and for the first time I am starting to get pretty excited. Please don`t misunderstand me I love my other half very much but I am not really a wedding day person. This wedding has caused so much grief to us and that is not an understatement.

After we got engaged I was very overwhelmed by everything. People wanted us to have engagement parties, which seems to be an Australian thing, and I really didn`t want one. As far as I could remember in England we don’t normally have them which is probably why it seemed unusual to me. I also really struggled with the idea as I knew I would have a few wines, and this was a couple of years ago now when we got engaged, and I would probably cry as the people I really wanted to celebrate with were not here ( as they were in the UK).

My family love me to the earth and back but travelling to Australia is a massive journey and just not affordable for some people. A journey for people from Australia to the UK also would not have been affordable as well. So we did not have an engagement party. My family bought me a few lovely gifts and My grandmother in law brought us some lovely sporks or splades ( cross knife fork spoons) which are her signature gift and I treasure them. I am not interested in having a party to get gifts but love little gifts which are meaningful. Surprisingly so many people have said.. why aren`t you having a party? If you don’t have a party you wont get gifts! My response is twofold. I did not get engaged to get gifts and I don`t want people buying us gifts because they have to but because they want to regardless of a party. Rant over.

Initially our wedding was planned for Sri Lanka which is half way between Uk and Australia. My partner and I have large families and we didn`t want to choose who to invite so we thought anyone who wanted to could come. It got massive, I started having quite nasty nightmares about walking down the isle and people looking at me etc. My family stopped being nice to each other, I got stressed, so we cancelled.

Our second wedding plan was a trip to Vegas with the two mums and a quickie wedding in the Harley Davidson Chopper Chapel. This sadly fell through just before christmas due to visa issues and I was more than a little upset. Mainly for my other half. Anyway we picked ourselves up and brushed ourselves down and our now planning a rather lovely wedding.

The wedding we have booked seems so fitting to us. It is in Gretna Green as Scotland is the only part of the UK where you do not have to give notice to marry in person ( did you know that?). I actually love the idea that we, like so many generations before us, are struggling to find somewhere to legally marry us so are running over the border to Gretna ( Romance). It is held in a small place just outside where you marry onsite, have a 3 course meal and then because it is Gretna and there are other weddings they clear a big dance floor and all weddings share a disco… random but possibly amazing. I sooo want a picture of me and the other brides having a boogie. Legendary. I actually love this idea as the thought of lots of people looking at me stresses me so this seems like a nice way to share. More brides equals more happiness in my book.

I will show all the details and a proper review after the wedding but the actually wedding itself will be for around 35 people ( a number I can deal with) and is quite budget. I like a budget wedding mainly because it is just one day but also because they tend to be simpler. My only worry is that the food may not be excellent. we are also paying for flights, visa applications, rings and treating ourselves to a few nights away to honey moon around the uk. I so badly want a few days in a cornish fishing village to show my other half some lovely parts of England.

Now although I say I am not a massive wedding girl I did have some specifics. I really struggled to think of marrying without my family there and hated it when that was planned so I am delighted to have them there. Personally I really didn’t want a package wedding which was not personalised as it would not have made the day special. Luckily I have an amazing family making some lovely special items to make the day special and I am organising some bits and bobs!

As I may have mentioned on this blog I am not so good with massive groups, particularly when I haven’t seen people for an age… so We are having a series of parties ( which I will blog about). The first weekend after we celebrate with my mum and step dad and family and friends, the next weekend we celebrate with my dad and family and then the next weekend in Australia we celebrate with folk here. The parties will all be casual affairs which is much more us.We are getting a few photos and a film, just of the ceremony, even though I really resisted both it means some people who couldn’t make it can watch it.

So the four month countdown begins and I am pretty excited. Once this visa comes through there will be no holding me back.

Watch this space for more details etc.

Wedding planning at the moment? Had a wedding? any special things you did? I would love to hear about it.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvKke4dPK_bFO6VJ1cUgJih7HNng2tzE5Aqx7jo_z6qqjQUaXuTA
Image: google images

Wedding blues

Let’s be honest I am having a small wedding. A small wedding in Vegas no less. Does it suit us… Yep? Do people judge us? .. I actually think so. I think some people lately have been giving me the vibe that it just won’t be as special and that it can’t be that important to us if we aren’t making a massive show of it…

If I am perfectly honest I doubted myself, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be. I still want to plan a great day with a fancy meal, some nice transport, pampering before the event and fun. I have now started looking into more special touches that we can arrange from here.. I think I will do most of this when the mother is visiting in October so she can help but it is the little stuff which makes it special and that is what I need to remember. What’s right for one couple may not be for others… We need to march to our own tunes…

And so I reach out to you… What special touches can I add? How can I make this day so special? Ideas would be great and stories fab!

Choo choo

Omg, I bought some new choos… I am now joking I have bought the most ridiculous, sparkly pair of choos in the world. To date I have only ever had shoes for my wedding day I shall wear choos….

Curse you net-a-porter curse you. I emailed my mum, who had given me money to get my outfit for the day, as I have only spent a mere 200 dollars on my dress ( beautiful but plain) and asked her to talk me out of it.. She refused and so in complete contrast to my still cap boots on my wedding day I will make like Cinderella and be wearing these bad boys.

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing%3F.out%3Djpg%26size%3Dl%26tid%3D58244964

Judge me.. Go ahead I know I should be sorry but I feel no remorse only happiness!!

Today…

Today is a quick post.. what have I been up to. Well today I worked ( I am busy preparing all my stuff at work for handover at the end of the week), I blogged, I will spin (RPM- I hope depending on the weather), I will pick up the other half and enjoy home for approximately 18 hours before he flies out to the next job and I picked my music for my wedding… bish, bash, bosh and it’s not even 9.00am! I am so much more and early bird than night owl, it is much easier for me to get jobs done in the morning than the evening. That said I am better at evening exercise it seems!?! I don’t even make sense to myself.

When is your most active time of the day?