Suits you sir...

This weekend two list items were dwelt with. I went to Omagh to see if my suit idea was actually do-able and to check availability. With my best man and groomsman we travelled to SD Kells in Omagh, they had the suits however the colour was slightly of what I was thinking, slightly disheartened Jason says “sure is there anywhere else we can go while we’re here?” off we went to bow bros. Bow bros are agent for debonair in Magherfelt. They were able to dress up a dummy (not me) in the style and colour I am after. We were told if we wanted to try it on to see what it would be like we would have to travel to Magherfelt.

The guy at bow bros was very accommodating and even called Deboneir to arrange an appointment. We were told if we left now we could be there in an hour and they could fit us in. Naturally we left and decided to go for a subway. We arrived an hour and a half later. Once again very nice people I was able to try on the suit and naturally I was faced with trouble shooting some problems. Jason and dinky asked the shop assistant “is what he’s going for normal?” to which she replied “It’s a bit unheard of”, they both said “perfect for him”. The one thing I will say is bring your phone! I left mine in the car but lucky Dinky was the selected photographer. This I thought wasn’t a big deal that I didn’t have my phone to take photos until the shop assistant said “normally we do not sign all off without the bride being present.” I thought “pphhh... I know what I’m doing!” oh how wrong I was. It wasn’t until the third combination of suit and ties that I realised “yeah I need Catherine here”.

I left debonheir with more doubts about my idea than I ever had before. So naturally enough we went and had a pint. Dinky emailed me over the photos and in the comfortable surroundings of a pub I was able to ask the boys what they really thought and it was encouraging. Back home I showed Catherine the photos and much to my relief she loved them. All we need to do is go back with Catherine’s permission.

I was home but 15 minutes and we had to leave again. Catherine and I met up with our baker. Ill leave that for another post

it's a piece of cake....

So I've been awol for the passed few weeks and thats been due to a series of events - organising awesome wedding stuff, illness and crazy work stuff.

But I am back on track (although still ill :s ) and here I am back on the blog. One of the most exciting things that we have arranged is that we are going to meet with our Cake maker this weekend!

There are so many options when it comes to wedding cakes it can be a bit of a minefield! Add to this the fact that James is know for his excellent cake making and the challenge gets harder!

We've shown you some of James's creations before and some of the insane creating from companies like the amazing Madame Cocoa (I was totally blown away by their work at the Quirky Weddings fair!). the lady who is making our cake also made James's sister Clare's cake for her wedding, and from all the dreamy eyes I see around the table when someone mentions it, I have major expectations!

So we have picked out a design, know the flavour(s) we want and have chosen our baker! We have even chosen our cake top... but I can't be giving that away... just yet!

Return of Groomzilla!!!

It is time to bite the bullet and book the suits! I believe enough time has passed and there is enough time remaining to book the suits. The last time I went down this avenue I was branded a “Groomzilla”. This weekend I shall be taking to Omagh with best man in toe to suit up. I was considering going by myself but thought “how would I know it looks good?”

Since the groomsmen’s suits are different from my own having Jason there will give me a good eye to see if there is enough of a difference between us. The major aim of this adventure is to check and see if my idea can be done. Secondly is to choose between a cravat, tie or bow tie. Currently I am swinging towards bow tie but without the suits on its impossible to be sure.

Hey folks, Catherine here! I am so sorry I haven't been posting on here for a while! Its been a crazy few weeks with work and wedding stuff! So much has been going on but this isn't my day to post something so you'll just have to tune in on thursday to hear some of what i've been up to!!!

Great un-expectations...

If there is one thing I have learned from this whole experience is to budget well, that things happen unexpectedly and you just got to deal with them. At the very beginning of our wedding planning there was a mix up with our reception, however this was dealt with quickly and professionally. Most recently we have been let down by our photographer. So once again we must being the hunt for a new photographer. In previous posts I have went into how important this person is on the day.

This time instead of going with relations we have decided to go the traditional rout e. Catherine spearheaded the search, using Twitter, Facebook, Google. There was quick response from all, a lot of very talented photographers, and quite a few that were out of our budget. The most important reference material was recommendations from friends. Friends who have been through the wedding planning experience are an invaluable resource. They have been through it, they know the pitfalls and they have done the research before you.

From close to the beginning Dinky (recently married last September) was quick to dispense the advice that “problems will pop up when you least expect it!” all you can do is book it and cross your fingers.

Using Dinky and Leeanne’s recommendation we have decided to have a chat with the photographer they used for their big day. We are meeting with her this Wednesday, Catherine will let you know how we get on.

Check! Please....

So we have the Honeymoon booked. That is a major check of the list. Now I say list what I actually mean is lists!!

I have found that through the whole process of organising a wedding Catherine and I have created an amazing number of lists. There are lists for different parts, times, families even to do lists for us.  From the humble beginnings of the list of venues right through to the list of guests, there is no element that does not require a good aul list.

It is the simplest way to keep all the different parts of the wedding machine moving and hopefully come together. We are definitely list people, Mostly we create a general list of what we have to do on the weekend and choose one task and see it through. Now there are speed bumps along the road (new tumble dryer or a car breaking down) but if it is on the list its getting done!

I wish that we had one giant list on a excel sheet that I could share with you all however mostly they are scattered around, on the living room table on the fridge door in random note books but it is defiantly an organised chaos.

There is a sense of accomplishment that comes with completing the tasks set for the big day. Even more satisfying is the “Check!... Check!... Done!... Check!...” when either one of us being rattling off the hundreds of jobs we completed.

 

The most stressful of all the lists is possibly the guest list. But that’s for another post.

New item on the list – Create the master list...

Sail away with me...

A while back James talked about how we have some things that we just pass on to Future Catherine and Future James (first mentioned in this post in February!). It turns out now is when we become those future versions of ourselves...


We've talked and talked and talked about where we wanted to go for our honeymoon. To be honest, we have kind of been putting it off as it is such a big decision and big old chunk of cash to be paying out. But we finally did it! We booked the time off work, and have even paid for the drinks package!


We are heading to Orlando, Florida for a few days and then jumping on to one of these beauties!

Yes we are going on a Caribbean Cruise (SQWEEEEEEE!). The excitement is actually killing me! Days lounging by the pool, waking up somewhere different everyday, getting dressed up for fancy dinners and chilling out at the outdoor movie nights, it is the holiday dreams are made of!


As you all know, our wedding is on the 9^th of October but we have decided to wait a few weeks after weddign to head off for two reasons

1. October is Hurricane season and there are absolutely no cruises anywhere we wanted to go around that time.
   
2. And we want a bit of time to chill out in married bliss, so many people have told us of the anticlimax after a wedding and honeymoon, that everything is done and you have a bit of a lull. At least this way we can chill out and start focusing on the honeymoon adventure!
   

On the Cruise we leave from Port Canaveral and stop off in places like Cozumel in Mexico and Nassau in the Bahamas! How exciting!




Now we need your help! Have you been to any of these places? Are your an internet tour guide? We want to know what we should do at Cozumel and Nassau! We are definitely considering the Mayan Temple tour but we are open to ideas. In Nassau we'd love to swim with Dolphins, but are you better going to the Water park resort or the blue lagoon to swim with them?



You can comment below, email us on howgeeksgetmarried@gmail.com or grab us on twitter on @Cittiecait or @Jamesdoon85

In other news - Some Lovely People have nominated us for a Cosmo Blog Award for Best Wedding Blog, and it would be amazing if you'd like to nominate us too!
Just click on the image below and fill out the form selecting us for Best Wedding Blog.

Imagine That...

This weekend Catherine introduced me for the first time to one of her bridesmaids the wonderful Cathy Campbell. To be honest it had got to the point where I started to believe that Cathy was a figment of Catherine’s imagination, her imaginary friend.

Thinking about it, it does seem quite strange that I have never met her ‘soon to be’ bridesmaid, but when I thought it out it was completely natural. Catherine’ other two ladies currently reside in England and Cathy is a Paediatric Registrar in Craigavon while living in Belfast. Working the crazy hours of a doctor and living in the city that I do not frequently travel it seems unless we made the effort to go out of our way we wouldn’t be meeting until the day of the wedding.

Catherine and Cathy have an arrangement that even with their conflicting schedules and busy lives they meet up at least once a month for diner or coffee for a good catch up. Catherine has said to me many times that “if we (Cathy and her) didn’t see each other for 10 years, we would meet up and it would be exactly like they had met every day, nothing would be different.”

Catherine had set the date for us all to meet weeks ago and since then it has been wild teasing. I have been jokingly informed that “if Cathy doesn’t approve the whole things off”. We met up for diner in Omagh, I can confirm that Cathy Campbell is not Catherines imaginary friend, she is in fact real!!!

We all had a lovely evening and the time flew past; there were a lot of stories and catching up. A lot of wedding plans discussed and secret plans shared. A good laugh was had by all. The main thing to come out of the evening was that Cathy does approve and the wedding goes ahead as planned.