Long time no write…

Sorry about the lack of activity.  Things have been heavy lately.  Wedding plans have been going on, but not as much as they were at the start.  We are mostly done with everything, save for the photographer (which is freaking expensive, more than I thought) and finalizing the cake.

Meanwhile the Visa is actually the most frustrating thing in the world.  I hired a lawyer for the whole process – shout out to Angela! – but without my passport (which I sent off to the home office to get another Bio metrics residence permit, don’t ask) we can’t book a registrar and finalize some of the details.  And Darcy and I are looking for a house that isn’t an hour an a half to get to my work.  So lots going on.

To update my readers, we have booked a DJ, a 40 something year old geezer named Travis who is awesome.  He’s been DJing since he was 13 and now he has his business with his wife and son.  My American friends are going to love him, he is so English.  His accent so so thick sometimes I even had some trouble understanding him completely.  He seems to know his stuff.

Photographer wise, I’ve spoken to a few people.  I have heard from everyone though that the second you put ‘Wedding’ on the start of a photography job, suddenly the price goes up tenfold.  What’s annoying about it all, some people are charging around 1,200 pounds for 8 hours, and what does that cover?  Say I want it to cover me getting ready with my bridesmaids all the way to the dancing and goofing off ten hours later, do I have to choose between those two things?  What’s crazy is that some people are charging 600 pounds for like a 4 hour interval.  Ridiculous.

I did find someone who was 1,500 pounds for the whole day, which…sounds good…but still holy shit I had no idea it was so expensive for a half a day of wedding photography.  And to be honest, I’m not super thrilled about taking an hour to pose for tons of photographs, I would rather do some candid’s.

Meanwhile, I finally decided some bridesmaids details.  I have decided to go with a palette of purples in whatever design or style my friends would want.  Is it rude though if I ask to approve the dress before they buy it?  I don’t think so.  I mean as long as it’s a certain color I don’t care for the most part, but I guess I don’t want everything to clash?  Whatever the case, I know all my gals will KILL IT!!!!

The tough job of cake tasting

I don’t think anyone is surprised, but cake tasting has been the best part of the wedding planning process so far.  And I only tried seven different flavors. Is that a lot?  Maybe.  Oh well!

My research had me looking at different bakeries around London.  There is one super posh shop on my street called Madeline’s or something, and while their cakes look nice, they are a bit snooty in there.  I want to get a cake from somewhere creative and interesting, with cool flavors.  Most of my friends expected me to look at the fabulous Hummingbird Bakery because I have their cookbook and I can always find an excuse to go there, but there are so many amazing places to try, I wanted to branch out.

I ran into a bakery called Crumbs and Doilies online and saw that their flavors were anything but ordinary.  They update their flavors everyday and post what they are serving that day.  Some interesting flavors include: PB and J, blueberry cheesecake, Raspberry bomb, Rolo, vanilla rose, and even Bounty.  They told me that they didn’t do any cake tastings (boo) so I had to take it into my own hands.

From the top left: PB and J (vegan), red velvet (vegan), Bounty, Earl Grey tea, Neapolitan and banana peanut. Not pictured: velvet volcano 

For this wonderful tasting, I went with my friend Beth to pick up one of every cupcake they had that day.  Then we went home and cut each cupcake into five pieces.  We knew we were going to each try one piece and rate it out of 10.

While I wont detail the whole night or everyone’s score, I will give a short summery of everyone’s thoughts.

PB and J:
Saskia – never had PB and J before, didn’t fancy it.
Beth –  really weird, very off combo.  Off putting.
Olive – (the only sensible one) likes the combo and enjoyed the cupcake
Darcy – doesn’t know why Americans love peanut butter
Me – Amazing!  Tastes like home

Red velvet:
Saskia – while usually a winner, it wasn’t great
Beth – never had before, but has a weird after taste
Olive – didn’t like the after taste at all
Darcy – doesn’t know why its vegan
Me – too dry

Bounty
Saskia – worst thing I’ve ever had
Beth – *kissing sound* delicious!
Olive – not a fan of coconut,
Darcy – never looked so unhappy in his life
Me – the problem with coconut, it tastes like lotion

Earl Grey tea:
Saskia – love it!  Very surprising
Beth – liked it, but doesn’t think its a good idea as a wedding cake
Olive – as an avid tea lover, she approves
Darcy – it tastes like tea. Doesn’t like tea
Me – never been a fan of Earl Grey, but surprisingly pleased

Neapolitan
Saskia – meh
Beth – doesn’t like sprinkles
Olive – tastes like ice cream but not in a good way
Darcy – tastes like ice cream in a good way
Me – meh 2.0

Banana peanut
Saskia – afraid of bananas
Beth – pass
Olive – says shes full
Darcy – laughs in my face
Me – not banana-y enough.

Velvet Volcano (red velvet with cookie dough and oreo frosting)
Saskia – wonderful
Beth – thought it would be too sickly, but wasn’t, loved it
Olive – ^ ditto
Darcy – the only one he was keen on
Me – yummy!  Easily the best

We rated everything out of ten and Velvet Volcano was easily the best flavor.  It does come as a wedding cake, so that is first on our list so far.  When I contacted C&D they told me they could do a Harry Potter themed cake, but Darcy kind of poo poo-ed that idea.  I get a golden snitch to put on it though, so that’s something.

This was absolutely the best part of this process so far, but it’s not over yet.  I plan to pop back to Crumbs and Doilies soon to try more flavors, though next time, I reckon I’ll check what they’re putting out before hand.  I don’t want to have to pray for a cookie dough cupcake.

 

 

Mayhaps a Barn I have found…

 

The Mill Barn

The Orangery

I visited Gaynes Park a few weeks ago (actually, now that I look at a calendar it was exactly a week ago today) and I think this might be the place!  Though here is what not to do before visiting a venue.

1. Lots of stuff – honestly I should have gone to Gaynes Park in the afternoon before doing anything else that day.  I had like eight different things to do last Thursday and visiting a venue was one of the things that took it out of me the most.  So I would suggest making that your ONE THING to do during the day, and then treating yourself to lunch after.
2. Bring someone – I went alone to Gaynes Park, which is another no no.  Obviously, it’s a Thursday and not many of my friends had the day off, and my fiance was at Uni, so again, I was alone.  I didn’t have anyone to bounce my “ER MAH GOD WE COULD TOTALLY DO THIS HERE” ideas off of.  The woman showing me around was nice and all, but I’m not sure how serious she took me.

3. Walking to the venue from the tube station – when it says two miles from Epping tube to Gaynes Park, take it seriously.  They told me if would be a five minute drive, but for some reason to me that meant I could walk.  Poor idea.  I went under a bridge, walked through busy streets without sidewalks and journeyed up HUGE hills.  I was practically panting as I entered the park, not to mention a bit sweaty.

Anyways, those are my three DO NOT DO’S before visiting a venue.  But despite all those things and mistakes, I believe I found the venue of my…dreams?  I confess I can’t exactly say I’ve had a concrete dream of my wedding since I was a baby.  It’s been more of a foggy, constantly altering imagine.  The groom has often changed, at one point it was Adam Brody, Ian Somerhalder, Garrett Hedlund, etc.  But now that it’s for sure Darcy (unless Chris Hemsworth wants to object?  No?  Okay…) this seems like a pretty amazing place to get married.  To double check, I’m bringing Darcy and his parents along on Saturday (after an empty morning) to see everything.  Will this be it?  Mayhaps it will.

Other than that, I continue to dress shop, which has proven to be absolutely a whale of a time, even though the one I slightly love is 1,400 pounds.  But alas, that seems a bit steep.

The hunt continues!

Hotels or barns or tipis?

Before Darcy even asked me to marry him, he nixed Disney.  I would have been THRILLED to do a little Epcot wedding and some awesome after-hours pictures in my wedding dress.  Yet, he was persistent, and I can’ t exactly force something onto him, though you can bet I tried.

So finding a venue is a freaking pain.  I’m not going to disclose how much my budget is, but holy crap, if I could just have a food truck or Grand Fusion to cater I 100% would.  But the thing is, very few places let you get your own food.  Who knew?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, that…oyster roll with cranberry sauce looks tasty but…no it doesn’t.

I think my friends can all agree as well, I’m not the best person to judge how good food is.  Honestly, if you put a Five Guys burger in front of me and a 50 pound burger from the meat of a cow raised in the biggest field with servants looking after him, I would eat both and not be able to tell which was more expensive.

But I digress.  Venues have been fun to look at, if  expensive to get to.  I started close by, only a bus away in Richmond Park at Pembroke Lodge.

Outside Pembroke Lodge

It was stunning.  Besides going the wrong way and hiking up a huge hill only to get there slightly sweaty, it was a beautiful place.  The building was this old white manor house on a hill that overlooked Surrey and had some killer views.  The majority of it was inside as well, because I’m NOT banking on good weather.  Preparing for rain.

I was easily fooled by Pembroke Lodge however, when they said the venue price for a week day in October would be less than a grand.  Didn’t take out my wallet just yet, as they then informed me that dinner per person was around 100 pounds each.  That shit adds up, and that doesn’t include like party favors etc.

So Pembroke Lodge, I walked away feeling productive and PRETTY sure I wasn’t going to go with you for my wedding.

Next, I took a look at this cute place I saw called The Gardens in Maidstone.  Darcy came with me to that one, due to the fact I was visiting him in Canterbury for the weekend and he has a car and there was no other way to get there.  It took about an hour to get to Maidstone, but we finally ended up at The Gardens.

The Gardens

This place was adorable, despite the shit weather that I imagine will be present on the day anyway.  It used to be this botanical gardens place that they turned into a wedding venue.  Good shout, it was beautiful.  You could either have your ceremony in the Gardens themselves (yes please) or in this…pretty boring room inside.  That sucked, because the rest of the place was awesome.  They had these cool tipi’s that the dinner would be in that had fire pits in the middle and – if it was warm enough – doors would be open for people to walk around the garden.

Inside the Tipi

Thing is, if I’m paying for a venue that has a beautiful outside and a meh inside, I want to guarantee it’s a nice day.  Of course, I’m not god, so that’s impossible.  I was also slightly concerned about the distance from London.  I mean, Maidstone is cute an all, but would it have the capacity (or the mental strength) to house a bunch of Americans for a day or two?  Doubtful.

The Gardens meh ceremony room

So my journey continues.  On Thursday I head to Essex to look at Gaynes Park.  It’s a barn with a nice outside but a rustic inside.  I think that’s kind of what I’m going for.  I’m getting slightly tired of these venue viewings if I’m honest.  Hopefully third time is the charm.

It’s either that or Disney.  Surely Darcy would agree to it by now…