Wedding: tips and tricks.

                                                 

Congratulations, you are engaged!

While the champagne is flowing and the celebrations are in full swing, your plans have probably already begun formulating in your head. Every teenage girl has their idea of the dream wedding, so here is a little post filled with wedding fever for you to get tips and tricks from.

Now then, where do you start? The first plan of action is probably to conjure up a rough figure of what you are prepared to spend, and then you will need to decide on what you want to spend the most on, so what is more important to you. I am currently planning my wedding (so I know how you feel!), and we have allocated the venue, photography and food to be our top priorities.

Booking your venue is most likely the best place to start, you then know what money you have left (as this will probably be the most expensive spend), how much time you have to plan and you can start planning the decorations/entertainment that will be inside.

Here are some lovely venue ideas:

• A grandeur hotel in all its finery
• A rustic barn
• A nature inspired marquee in a garden
• A cosy pub/restaurant

The ideas don’t stop there though; check out this wedding in an aquarium, if you are aquatically inclined!

                                            

Onto a more fun part of the planning is getting stuck in to the decorations, flowers and colour scheme (if you have one). I have scoured the internet and found some lovely decorations, here are some if you fancy a traditional white wedding:

                   Personalised Garland            Tassel balloon          Personalised decorative heart

Or perhaps you’d like a full on glitzy, glamorous wedding? Check out these beauties…  

                            Sequin candles           Giant martini glass      Faceted crystal decoration

A trend I have noticed that is becoming vastly popular is the use of mason jars. You can use them for storage in your kitchen, a toothbrush holder and (especially for a wedding) putting flowers in. I am planning to take full advantage of this trend and will adorn my wedding (and future house) with mason jars for my center pieces. Here are a couple of mason jars that could be used at your wedding:

Colours

Most people will obviously choose their favourite colour to have for their wedding, but some don’t have a preference and just want to look for some inspiration. Here is a lovely array of colour pallets to browse through.

Popular colours for this year are blue hues, particularly teal. I am a lover of blue anyway and I was planning on having electric blue, but I have seen the lovely teal colours and this is now going to be my wedding colour of choice. 

                                      

A day probably considered most special for the bride is choosing her gorgeous dress, some like to buy in advance and some are more spontaneous and nearer the date. This is something I am doing for my wedding; I am not getting my dress until at least 6 months before because knowing me, I will find the perfect one and stare at it for a year and get bored of it! So while you, like me, might not be looking at dresses yet, here are some lovely ideas to help you accessorise!

   

       Personalised pearl bracelets     Personalised infinity necklace    Personalised wedding ring

Now then, if you happen to be reading this and you have been invited to a wedding, you are probably wondering what presents to get them, i'm going to a wedding myself soon and I have been trawling the internet for something to buy, here are some awesome things I found:

       

                              Bride to be glass              Grape vine cart       Bespoke wooden map letters

I do hope I have provided you with some helpful tips and tricks to plan your wedding, and put your mind a little at ease! A few last minute tips:

• food is important, guests will remember what they ate at your wedding
• consider being un-traditional and not having an open bar, people don't expect the bride and groom to pay for drinks as well anymore
• call your suppliers at least 3 times nearer the date to double check everything
• have a supply of tissues on hand 
• a travel sewing kit can come in very handy

Finally - the bride is always right :D (tehe)

My healthy venture.

For about 3 years now I have been a member of a gym, I have always eaten a balanced diet, some days being more healthy than others, and I have always made a point to be active. While working at Primark I was biking to work everyday and even though I now live a 45 mins walk from the city, I always walk in. 

For me, being healthy has always been a big thing and something I always try to be on top of it. Some days it is harder as I will have a girls night out, or a birthday, and Christmas almost makes it impossible. 

Recently I have made a big change, and I have quit the gym. I was unhappy going on my own, I didn't like how crowded it was I didn't like the stuffy, artificial 'air con' air. It was getting warmer and I wanted to run outside again, I instantly enjoyed it and from that moment I haven't wanted to get back on a treadmill. 

This has been a huge success, I joined a running club and starting running each week after work, each time increasing the distance, then one night I was stuck in traffic and late home so I went for a run without the club, and out of nowhere I completed a 5k run without stopping or getting a stitch! Result!

This has hugely motivated me, I now regularly run both in the group and on my own and have completed another 5k run. It has made me motivated to change parts of my diet too, here is what I have done:

• changed rice/cous cous to bulgar wheat or quinoa 
• opted for brown bread instead of white when I eat it
• mainly have wraps instead of bread
• changed white potatoes to sweet potatoes 
• replaced all sweets/chocolate in the house with fruit/oat bars/natural yoghurt
• introduced lots of spinach and kale to my meals

I really enjoyed eating something other than cous cous and salad, for me salad can get really boring and I struggle to make it interesting, and I don't always have the ingredients to had. I fail quite often to get full from a salad so this is when I would eat a chocolate bar. I tried bulgar wheat and really loved it! It had a nutty taste to it and I added cucumber, peppers, cheese and carrots, lovely!

Something else I have done is bought a bottle infuser to have lemon water while at work, this detoxes you and curbs your hunger in the morning to stop you snacking. I found myself doing this despite always eating cereal, and now I don't. 

It has also made me drink more, which is part of the success of losing weight. I don't just use lemons either, I have experimented with frozen berries which make nice cold berry water! 

I have also aimed to have a smoothie a week, normally for breakfast, I have been making mine green. And the other day I had green tea too, just to add to the detox, it was actually not too bad! 

So far I have kept up a good routine of running, eating healthy food and always choosing fruit over chocolate. I am actually starting to see some results too, which is always a positive, you know you are making a difference to your body.                                                                                                                                                                               I wanted to post this to tell you my journey and what steps I have taken to make me healthier and fitter. My end aim is to run the GEAR 10k in Kings Lynn, and see the wobbles on my thighs gone!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Now then, I am off to do a mixture of lunges, planking and squats!