A Royal Love Story

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Wowie!! Today's Royal Wedding was an international celebration not to be missed.

I celebrated with Matt, Baby Glitter (who snoozed through the entire fairytale), Auntie Jackie and my cousin Joseph. We had royal wedding cake (or Victoria sponge with a gimmicky picture of Wills and Kate on), champagne, balloons, bunting and to top it all off, Jackie and I wore our wedding dresses! Hahahahahahaha!

I'm sure you will see a million images of the day but my blog would be missing out if I didn't pinch some off weheartit.com.

Kate's ivory gown with lace applique was designed by Sarah Burton of Alexandra McQueen and was inspired by an opening flower. I think she looked unbelievable. Every bit as graceful and elegant as you would expect a Princess to look.

On the other hand, Princess Beatrice and Eugine chose some very interesting outfits indeed. Good grief.

Oof, I bet that was a nervous moment for Prince William. Did you notice how Wills didn't look round as Kate walked up the aisle? That's meant to be good luck donthcya know. Prince Harry had a cheeky look though. Mmmmmm Prince Harry *drools*.

And then they were Husband and Wife. I just think the whole shibang, dress, suit, carriage, everything, looks spectacular!

All good fairy tales end with a kiss.

I really do wish them health, wealth (think they're OK on that front) and happiness.

Toodlepip!

xx

The Wedding Day Story

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Little disclaimer - None of the photos match the story order! I just pulled a few off facebook because I couldn't bare the wait for my official ones which are coming next week and I hate non-photo posts. So voila- bit of confusion for you! x

What a day! Everyone says the old "it'll be the happiest day of your life" and now I know why. For one special day you get to feel like a celebrity, be disgustingly loved up, are constantly complimented and congratulated AND you start the first day of your happy-ever-after. If only all days could be like that!

For me the day started at 5am! I woke up (after only managing to fall asleep at 1am) and quickly realised there was no way I was going to fall back to sleep. Thankfully, my Bridesmaid Charly, who I was sharing a room at Dad's with, was also awake so we nattered away until about 6.30am and got up and showered. Talk about organised! I woke up my other Bridesmaid, Tiyana and by 7.30am we were fresh as daisy's and applying makeup!

For my makeup I wore: MAC no.12 eyelashes, MAC Beige-ing shadestick, MAC e/s White Frost, MAC pigment Kitchmas, MAC e/s Nehru, MAC Zoomlash mascara. On my face I wore Lush Dream Cream, Benefit Playstix, MAC Belightful and that's it! Throughout the day I topped up my lips with various lipsticks and lipglosses!

My hair was done by Jenna Sheppard who is fantastic and has very reasonable prices.

Whilst we were having hair done and having breakfast I was cooooooooooooool as a cucumber. Until the florist came. We had Homelands in Northampton do our flowers and I can't say how disappointed I was with their service. The roses in my bouquet didn't look fresh and they took 10 flower arrangements to the venue, for my 11 tables. Errmmmm woops. I later heard that the delivery man smashed some on the way over so had to go back to the shop to pick up more. The centre pieces were meant to be tall glass vases of pink lillies but 80% of the lillies were still in bud and hadn't even opened up the next day. So basically, we had a load of green buds. Thanks Homelands, nice of you to do your job so well. Not. Grrr rant over!

So by that point I was getting pretty stressed and that's when the photographer (Geoff Smith- AMAZING) started snapping away, so we have some pretty tense photos at the start! ha.

By now it was time to put the dress on and get cracking with photo's around Dad's garden. It was so lovely putting the dress on because it felt real and wasn't like when you have a quick try on in the shop. It was so exciting.

We had about 50 minutes of photos round the lake and then it was time to get in the cars- arrghh!

Bridesmaids went first in a black Mercedes with all the ribbons on and suchlike and I went in a cream and black ye olde fashioned thing (I'm not a car person) with my Dad and chatted about all sorts on the 30 minutes drive there. We were a tad early and because the church is near the cemetery, we went for a little drive through so we could wave at my Mum and sort of honour her a bit. I bet there aren't too many brides who do a graveyard drivethrough eh!

And then we were there! We were pulling up at the church and my 2 Bridemaids and 2 Flowergirls looked beautiful :)

Walking down the aisle was by far, the best feeling I have ever had in all my life (even better than one I will tell you about VERY soon). I felt like fizzy happiness was rushing through every vein in my body and when Matt turned around and looked back I nearly cried. It was all so overwhelming.

Standing at the alter was surreal. All my friends and family were behind me and here I was, singing Amazing Grace, about to marry the man of my dreams (and shaking rather a lot!).

The service was perfect, with a few small glitches! One, I didn't realise Matt had been mic'd up by the videographer and whilst we were sitting on our special chair type things I whispered "Sausage Supriiiiseee!!" to him!! (Google Jean from Eastenders if you're confused). I don't really know why I said it, I just blurted it out whilst someone was doing a reading out of nerves (or mentallness) I think and thought only me and him would hear. But alas, that will now be on the video and I shall look like a crazy loon wife!

The second was when we were asked to kneel for prayers. Well kneeling is not a problem of course, but kneeling in 20lbs of dress and 18 layers of tulle netting is. What I had to do was bend, bend, bend, FLOP! I basically just threw myself to the ground and hoped for the best! Even the vicar laughed! Oops!

Before I knew it, we were married and walking out to the sound of clapping, cheering and church bells! We had toonnnnneess of photos taken on the green and we were off in the ye olde car to the venue! Yaaayy!!

The drive to the venue seemed to take about 3 hours but then from venue to hometime seemed to go in about 5 seconds. There were canapes, chats, more photos, shaking hands in the receiving line, 3 course meal, fantastic (and very moving speeches), cake cuttings, the first dance, dancing with chums and then it was goodbyes!

I would go into details but it all went in such a blur! It was perfect! I'm going to scatter a few photos through this post (probably won't correspond too well with the timings in the story but nae mind) that friends have taken and put on facebook as I am still waiting on our official ones.

If you are getting married or are just interested and have ANY question at all, please ask and I will answer in a fresh blog post :)

Hope you enjoyed my super long post! Next up- MY SECRET!

Toodlepip!

xxxxxxxxx

Goodbye Miss Pentland, Hello Mrs Watson!

Aloha Bloggerinos!

It's been a while I know, but look what I've been doing!!

These are just the shots friends have sent me, so keep your eyes peeled for hundreds of proper ones soon! You will be sick of them!

Wedding photos, story of the day and the official unveiling of my big secret coming soon this week (I promise!).

Toodlepip!

xx

Cocktail Dresses for Sale - Yabba-dabba-dooooo!!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Are you enjoying the weekend? How did I get to nearly August?! It was April about 5 minutes ago!!

So as posted about on Friday, I am having a weekend of sales and this is where I pull out the big guns- oohhh yeaahh!

I currently have 3 GORGEOUS debut cocktail dresses, never worn out, tried on x2, for sale. I bought them last year with the intention of them being my bridesmaid dresses. Sadly, one Bridesmaid has gained a tiny bit of weight and one hasn't (and I expected her to being on 13 years old), and one Bridesmaid is no longer a Bridesmaid, so rather than pay to get the altered, we decided to just have new ones.

This obviously leaves me with 2 spangly dresses that don't fit me! I am going to put them on eBay but thought I would give all you fashionistas out there the chance to grab them first.

They were bought for £80 12 months ago from Debut in Debenhams. I have a UK size 8, 12 and 16. What I will say is that my friend who wears size 12 clothes finds this 12 too small and the size 16 was bought for a friend who looks a 14 really- basically, I think they are snug sizes! Thought I'd warn you so as I don't want to swizz anyone :)

If the 16 fit me I would defo be keeping it for myself as I think it is VERY versatile and would wear it for looadds of things- woop!

I am selling them for £60 each and this INCLUDES UK postage. If you are elsewhere, I will have to add £5 for postage and will post first class. All dresses have tags on still. No returns.

Here are some snaps of the frock (they are all the same) for you to mooch over. If you would like to buy one, please comment below with your paypal email address and I shall invoice you and post ASAP. I only have 3 available so as usual, it is first come, first serve.

Yep, I took a picture of the inside- I wanted you to have the full experience! haha!

All photos were taken in natural light without flash so that you get the truest colour.

Hope you like them, looking forward to showing you the new ones I have bought! (They are rather similar-hahaha)

Toodlepip!

xx

Wedding Lipgloss - Dior

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I have been assessing what makeup I will be wearing on my wedding day in a few weeks (eeeee!!) as I will be doing my own. I had a couple of makeup trials with artists but decided that being as I know my own face and what works best, that I will be doing my own. I'll also be doing the bridesmaids- busy busy!

As I already have an obscene amount of makeup, I won't reeeaaallly be buying anything new. However, on my hen weekend a few weeks back, I picked up the little beauty and am saving her for the big day! Ooooh!

I think the packaging is gorgeous and very bridal! Not sure about the shorty short short lip brush applicator though- don't be so scimpy Mr Dior!!

The Dior gloss set me back a whopping £19.99 which I will not be paying again, but have justified it as a wedding treat to myself. It reminds me A LOT of the MAC Dazzleglass glosses which are £5 cheaper and a bit more exciting. I'm going to wear this on my bare lips for the ceremony and then for the reception I will wear it over hot pink lipstick!

More wedding makeup posts to come! Woop!

Toodlepip!

xx

Hen Night Photos

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As promised, here are some pics of the night time section. It was a pretty messy night so I'll just pop a select few up and leave the rest to your imagination.

One small amusing story: We stayed in a luxury apartment and I shared a gorgeous suit with Charly. I woke up about 8.30am because I was boiling hot and turned over to face Charly's bed. I was expecting to find her asleep like how a normal person would be. But no. She was laying face down in the pillow with her hands by her sides and her knees bent so her feet were in the air! Weird! For a brief moment I thought "I hope she hasnt died and got riggermotice or something". Luckily by the time I'd finished my shower she looked more humanoid but the whole thing really tickled me. Tehehehe silly Charly.

So here you are gorgeous Bloggerinos:

Me, Faye and Little John the Stripper!! The girls hired me a stripper for my 21st but Misses Silly Sausage here got overwhelmed and upset and had a panic attack! Oopsie! So this time, they knew better!!

Little John bloomin' well loved it!

We let our inner designers out and dressed the twins in these rather fabulous tin foil wedding dresses that we had under 5 minutes to construct. Worryingly, the other team (who had Clare in black trousers) apparently modeled her dress on my actual wedding dress!! Errmm.....

After all the fun and frolicks, it was time to hit the town. Oh yes, I am a poser but it's my hen night! Mmm Blue Lagoon cocktail anyone?

My beautiful gals.

Ahhhhhh warm fuzzy's all round.

Toodlepip!

xx

My Liverpool Hen Do- Wowee wowee WOWEE!!!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Well I am back from my AMAZING Hen Do and I. FEEL. ROUGH. This is truly the sign of a good weekend!

Rather than gabble on like usual, I will just spoil you with snaps from the past 24 hours, which I think are defo some of the best hours I have ever spent *happy tear*. In this post I shall do morning to evening and then I'll do a separate post for our night time antics.

WARNING: As with most Hen Do's, there was a strong 'penis' theme, so if you are offended by that kind of thing, please look away now because I really wouldn't want you to not enjoy this.

:::::

The venue for my Hen Do (organised by Miss Toni and Miss Karen- I love you for doing this, I loved you before but I love you regular+hen do now!). It was all a mystery with many twists and turns along the way!

Charlotte (my big Bridesmaid, little Bridesmaid is little sis) and I left Northampton at 7.30am! Good grief that was early! A quick stop off at the golden arches and a pro plus later, we were off!!

We were told that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES were we to be early. Ever the crafter, I took this opportunity to pop into an amazing fabric shop to pick up a few bits for upcoming projects (more on this another day). We popped to Starbucks and just as we were sipping away, a herd of men in uniforms paraded past- Thank you!! Yummy!

We did the touristy bit for a while and then hotfooted it tooooo Faye's!!

Me and Charly with a qwarfi (NYC 'Coffee'. I couldn't help it)

Faye made these cupcakes herself! When you bit into them, there were little pink "L"'s in icing- how did she do that?! How??

Here we all our pre goodie bags...

Post goodie bags + 2 policemen we found on our way to lunch! In our goodie bags we had T-shirts, feather boers, halos for the angels and a veils with willys on for me, pink whistles, shot glass necklaces, a photo frame for when we get out pics done, glo stick bangles, penis straws and I was 'lucky' enough to be given a willy cup! There was sooooo much in the bags (which all had funky labels with my picture on on the front) and clearly a LOT of thought had gone into them.

Here's Karen and I at the restaurant we had lunch in. See what I mean by penis theme?! haha!

After our meals, the girls had organised a pass-the-parcel game. I have never been more excited! haha!

Each time you took a layer off, you won a prize which was either: nee high sexy socks, garters, nipple tassels (ooer), silky pink gloves and maybe a few other bits I can't quite recall. The winner, which was me!!!, won ALL of those things plluuussss cool knickers that said "Lou's Hen Do, Bride to Be" (I think) and a cryptic message telling me what our afternoon activity was.

As you can see, everyone was prreeetttttyyyy pleased with their winnings!!

So off we headed into town for our.......DANCE LESSONS!!

For the first hour we did Burlesque Dancing, this was not my finest hour I can tell you!

But thhhheeeeeeeeennnn, we did a Grease dance and were given these crazy cool Grease Lightening jackets! Sadly we didn't get to keep them :(

By the end of the 2 hours, Charly and I were really feeling the heat! The room we were dancing in was hotter than the sun I swaer.

God bless showers and cosmetics though!

So here I am in my party frock, ready to rock 'n' roll and paint the town pink!

More to come my lovely Bloggerinos,

Toodlepip!

xx

Smoochypoochy Wedding Chat

Aloha Bloggerinos,

This evening we went for a meeting at our wedding reception venue and it has only heightened my weddingy mood! With less than 11 weeks to go, it is only now that I am thinking "I am going to be a married woman" and it is scary but exciting. I have been with Matt for 5 years now (half a decade! Yowzas) and I still feel like our relationship is "new". Heck, I only discovered last week thathe didn't like pickle! You see, new things all the time! haha.

I have dreamed of being a wife since I was a little girl and used to make veils for my dolly's out of tissues and felt tips (they were pretty elaborate veils I tell ya! My real one is too -slight side track here- it's a medium length with scalloped edges. It is dotted with twinkling swarovski crystals and at the bulb of each scallop there is a tear drop shaped crystal hanging off, which gives it a lovely weighty feel. I think I'm in love with it). I have always wanted to be like one of those all American 1950's wives with a foofy skirt and a husband that had shiny hair and even shinier shoes.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I really feel like I am getting my dream. I want to be a traditional wife that will bake delightful dinners (bit tricky being as I despise cooking anything more complicated than pizza and wont touch meat), ensures the house is beautiful and is a gracious hostessat all times. I want my husband to always feel that I am there for him, but that I am his equal- I'm all for 1950's fashion, decor and etiquette but I still want women's rights and all that malarky!

I can't wait to have lovely little babies that will turn into sweet toddlers and then adorable children that I can teach all sorts of thingsto. I'm hoping to be pregnant by Christmas so keep your fingers crossed for me please! I know this is a sickening post but I am just so thrilled that this is happening.

Through all my teenage years I was full of angst and thought boys didn't like me and that it was down to trivial things like being a bit (or a lot! ha) squidgey round the edges or my frizzy 'triangle' hair (GHD's were still a figment of my imagination 10 years ago). Then I met someone who loves me for my thoughts, principles, ideals, ideas, sense of humour and all round character- he even loves me when I melt an entire familysized bar of cadbury's and mix it in with rice crispies and just eat it warm with a wooden spoon, whilst sitting on the sofa with grey baggy pj's on, and that is saying something!

When you were little, what were your dreams? Are they coming true? I hope so xxx

Toodlepip! xx

All pictures lovingly borrowed from weheartit.com

Lou's Reviews and NOTD- 2True Pink Polish

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Before my flu took hold I popped into Superdrug for a bit of a spree. I tried to be good, I really did but I ended up purchasing quite a few bits. The only upside is that I picked up very low priced items so it's not alllll bad.

This is a new range of nail varnishes by 2True. 2True is what I would call a 'budget brand' but I bloomin' love it! As is often the case with budget brands, the polish does not have a colour name on it, but just "Shade 1". For £1.95, I'm not going to quibble with that.

The bottle is pretty slim so you aren't going to get a great deal of product, but can I just ask, who has ever gotten to the bottom of a nail polish? Not me.

This is a lovely Barbie pink and after 2 coats (and a quick China Glaze top coat), it is opaque, sheenyshiny and perfectly girlie. In short, I love it! I am even considering having it as my wedding day nail colour- how's that for polish commitment?!

The bottle boasts to have a "flat top brush", but I can't say I noticed the difference.

10/10 for quality and lovelieness! Well done Superdrug 2True! Rave rave rave! haha

Toodlepip!

xx

PS.

I have a question for you international ladies. What products are there in the UK that you have seen and like the look of, that you can't get in the country you are from? Please do let me know and all will be revealed next week.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

DIY Wedding Invitations

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I have done it!! I have finally, finally, FINALLY, finished my wedding invitations! It has taken months (this could be due to the terrible bout of Bridezilla that I seem to have caught, despite telling everyone I'm laid back and not bothered....turns out, not so much) but after being taken over by ribbons, glitter, heart cutters, glue gums, more pink and cream card than you can throw a stick at, gems and stickers, we have lift off!

Here is a quick snap, I may well post some more in a few days when I have time to take some better shots (let me know if you would like this, I don't want to bombard you).

These were super easy and simple to make, just a lot of sticking and ribbon tying :)

We decided to make our own invites because we are on a budget and because I enjoy to do things like this. Making your own if definitely economical financially, but not time-wise! Cripes!

The theme for our wedding is "Pink Sparkle!" and this is being carried right the way through, expect lots more wedding updates over the next few weeks :)

Toodlepip!

xx