Ashton Jean-Pierre
November 1, 2013
Money, the root of all evil. Not the most romantic thing to be discussing with your future husband or wife, but if you're incompatible in how you view it, it can be the ruination of a relationship.Read more...
Devlin Photos
October 25, 2013
When Gareth and I got married, there was one couple we really looked up to an amazing example, a benchmark if you will, of a successful marriage - my parents. They not only got married around the same age as I did (at 24) but they have now been married for over 30 years. Although their backgrounds were quite different (my Mum grew up in Dublin and my Dad in the UK) we admired how they always seemed so happy and in love, even after all those years.Read more...
Devlin Photos
October 18, 2013
It's inevitable at this time of year. Up and down the wedding industry comes those oh too familiar rumblings through blog posts and tweets about work/life balance, wanting to spend more time with loved ones and needing some time off. As we near the end of the busy summer season, everyone is desperate for a break, a marathon of their favourite TV show and a bloody long a lie in.Read more...
Made U Look
October 11, 2013
A few years ago, before Gareth and I were married, I became good friends with Hannah*. She was one of those effortlessly beautiful girls, someone who you'd do a double take at if you saw her walking down the street. She was tall, stylish, funny, confident and, quite frankly, everything I wasn't. We had mutual friends and we hit it off immediately, quickly spending a lot of our time together. She was single and the two of us would go out most weekends, making a little mischief but most of all just having a damn good time.Read more...
Devlin Photos
October 4, 2013
Unless your some kinds of freaks of nature, it's unlikely that you and your spouse will agree on everything. Arguments are a fact of life but how you handle them is vital to your continued happiness. One of the things we learnt very quickly was that throwing phrases like "You ALWAYS do this..." or "You NEVER do that..." when having a disagreement not only never resolved anything, but only ended up hurting the other person much more.Read more...
Marianne Taylor
September 27, 2013
Marriage throws up some big life questions and often a wedding is just the starting block for making a lot of major decisions in very quick succession. Wedding planning discussions also invariably lead into deeper, more long-term topics. Things like if you want kids, where you want to live and what career paths are you're each going to take. It's no coincidence that lots of couples seem to move house or one spouse has a career change pretty quickly after saying "I do". Making this kind of commitment often encourages us to start thinking seriously about these other things too.Read more...
Devlin Photos
September 20, 2013
Although we share all kinds of details about our day to day lives, from what we’re planning for dinner to holiday snaps, Gareth and I make a conscious effort to keep the really personal stuff offline. At a glance, it can seem as though our whole lives are documented for all to see, but it’s really only the trivial stuff that gets put out there. A few pictures of our cats walking on their leads doesn’t actually reveal a great deal about us as a couple. The real story is in the detail like how we agreed, together, to get two maine coons, for example.Read more...
Assassynation
July 24, 2013
It's not something we ever want to think about, but the likelihood is that everything won't go perfectly to plan on your wedding day. A couple of weeks ago I actually asked via my Facebook page if anyone had anything go wrong and I was blown away by the response. I even had people emailing me separately to tell me their stories of woe! While I was at first a little nervous that all those comments would be scaring the bejebus out of you brides-to-be, I think it is important to realise that while things may not always go to plan, it will all be OK in the end. Whatever happens your wedding will still be awesome. Pinky swear.Read more...
Camera Hannah
June 18, 2013
When I talk to brides and grooms-to-be, one of their biggest pre-wedding jitters is how they're going to look in their wedding photographs. For most of us, our wedding day is the first time we've worked with a professional photographer and what with it being a pretty important day and all we want to get it right. Not being shy to a camera or two (!) here are ten simple tips from me to you which will ensure you get the very best results possible.Read more...
Eliza Claire
April 22, 2013
It’s a funny old world we live in. One where nothing is private, where photos are uploaded to Facebook and Instagram with frightening ease, and where the inner musing of our minds are shared, 140 characters at a time, without a second thought. The likelihood is that you’ll still be at your own wedding while photos are uploaded and the comments from Facebook well-wishers have started to come in.Read more...
Shell de Mar
February 21, 2013
What are you looking for in your wedding photographer? Someone who shoots images you love, who you quite like as person and that fits within your budget I'd assume. But today let's look a little deeper.Read more...
Jamie Hopper
June 25, 2012
Kathryn Underwood was always last to be called in the school register. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much that I was stuck on the end every time, but it did. I felt like an outsider and I longed to be all snuggy in the middle with the Matthews' and the Smiths' and the Jones'. "It's OK though", I justified to myself, "when I get married I'll never have to be at the end of a register ever again..." And then I married a Williams.Read more...
June 20, 2012
choose to be in a room with a load of them. In fact at my parent's Jubilee party which was frequented by rather a lot of screeching neighbourhood rugrats, I spent then entire time cowered in the corner staring at my lap/my glass of champagne/the dry sausage rolls and hoping none of them would try to talk to me. It's ironic really, I'm pretty outgoing with adults, but anyone under 12 and I don't know what to do. I guess I'm scared I'll make them cry... or I'll accidentally drop the f-bomb and scar them for life or something.Read more...
June 18, 2012
I was blown away by the response to the article I published on Weight Loss and Weddings a few weeks ago. Thank you to every single one of you who was brave enough to leave a comment sharing your own experiences. Even though the post has been up for a little while the tweets, emails and blog comments are still pouring in for it. I never really know how topics like that will go down so it means a lot that you guys put yourselves out there like that. You are all so amazing. There was one resounding message that came from the comments, and one I didn't anticipate. It was your concerns or bad experiences with bridal shops and your worries with finding a wedding dress you loved (and that fitted/complimented your figure/make you look beautiful). The crazy thing was that these concerns were not even limited to those of you who identified yourselves as overweight. It seemed that nearly all of you, no matter what your shape or size, had concerns or stories to tell about the dreaded bridal shop experience.Read more...
June 4, 2012
"Fat, fat fat fat fat!" read Martha's Facebook status. I'd seen updates about her diet plan and weight goals over the past few months and it urked me. In fact anyone talking about weight loss and dieting makes me feel uncomfortable... it's just one of those things I don't like being thrust in my face. Diets can be dangerous things. I've had personal experience. But Martha's statuses upset me particularly because I knew for a fact that only reason she was dieting was to fit into that size 10 Ian Stuart number. Yes, Martha is trying to lose weight for her wedding.Read more...
February 3, 2012
I put a shout out on my Facebook page to ask if any of you we're struggling with anything wedding planning-wise and if I could help. A couple of you mentioned wedding traditions, namely how to decide which to include and which to scrap altogether. I have a few ideas on the subject... Remember, it's your wedding There is a recurring theme throughout nearly all of the weddings I feature - that the couples wanted to have a wedding that was a true reflection of themselves...their likes and dislikes, their relationship, their personal style, their life influences. I believe that deciding which wedding traditions to include or ignore should also be totally dependent on you and what you value as being important to your wedding day.Read more...
January 27, 2012
I'm going start out by being 100% honest with you. I don't really know the answer to this question. However after a discussion with Roo last week, I feel it might be a topic some of you are struggling with. Therefore I thought I'd use today's wedding planning advice post as a forum for us to get in a discussion on the matter - I want to know your ideas and opinions on the subject please! Although I'm sure you could Google this question and come up with the 'proper etiquette' answer, I think it's much more relevant these days to figure out what's right for you and your wedding. However I do think you should consider a few things before you make your decision...Read more...
January 20, 2012
I love love love the idea of making my own wedding dress. I am, however, more than a little bit sucky with a sewing machine. Alas! However this week I chatted to eco-wedding dress designer Deborah Lindquist about some simple upcycling ideas. Launched in 2004, Deborah’s eco-conscious clothing line combines environmental responsibility with a cutting-edge aesthetic. Deborah works her fashion magic with a mixture of environmentally-friendly fabrications and the resulting designs are as striking as they are ecologically sensitive. As a trailblazer at the forefront of the stylish green clothing movement, Deborah is making an impact in the fashion world while remaining true to her love for the environment. So as you can see, she's the perfect person to talk about upcycling with, I think even I could do a few of these things...Read more...
January 13, 2012
You've probably seen similar discussions to this on other wedding blogs, however today I wanted to share with you this cautionary tale from a bride who had personal experience of taking the cheaper option and was unhappy with the results. Now, I know spending £2000 on a wedding photographer isn't possible for everyone, however the point of this post is not to bully you into paying for someone you can't afford. No, I wanted to share this story with you so that you make your decision with your eyes wide open. I just want to be open and honest with you and to let you know that, as with most things in life, you really do get what you pay for...and if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is. If wedding photograph isn't that big a deal to you, the great - who am I to tell you that's wrong? However it breaks my heart when I hear from newlyweds that say 'I wish we'd thought more about our photography. We spend more on the cake/my dress/the flowers and now we have no good photos to remember our day'. OK, Over to you Mrs X...Read more...
January 6, 2012
This week I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a wife...or more specially a 'good' wife. I guess with the new year kicking in and all, I started a-pondering about where I am in my life and what I'm supposed to be doing next... Anyway, Gareth & I often joke that I'm a bad wife (at least I hope he's joking). The roles are anything but traditional in our house. As many of you will already know, Rock n Roll Bride is the sole source of income in our household and most of the work that goes into it is on my end - that's not to say that the things Gareth does aren't extremely valuable and important - just that he doesn't spend 12 hours a day glued to a computer screen is all!Read more...