Real romance

No Valentines stuff for us* - just a weekend away from London and planning to stay with my bestest bud and the beautiful baby boy she's gifted the world (with some help from master cook husband). Frankly I couldn't think of anything more lovely to be doing than watching my godson blow yogurt raspberries across the kitchen! What a charmer!

And on Wednesday I am going with littlest sister (the arty one) to my very first dress fitting. Very very excited and strangely nervous - will it look as nice as I remembered? Oh, I haven't told you yet about the finding of the dress, have I? Well I'll save that up for after the fitting...

(*ok, maybe I accidentally bought some Pierre Hermé macarons and we ate them on Sunday night and maybe I said 'happy valentines' when I let Nick have a crumb or two but the truth is I bought them because everyone in Blogsville has been saying they are better than Laduree and I needed to know (NOW!) if this was true. So not really Valentinesy if the truth be told. I'll even admit that I couldn't make up my mind and will need to conduct a few more tests to reach a conclusion. So there!)

Save the Dates - a sneaky peak

Our Save the Dates should be going in the post this weekend.

Big step!

We weren't really sure how best to go about doing these - it's not as if we have received many in the past, not really being normal practise in this country to send them. But since we're expecting our guests to fly out for our wedding we needed to give them more of a heads up than the traditional eight to six weeks of an invitation, as well as information on where to fly to and where to stay etc.
Littlest Sister had promised some artwork for us but she has been frantically busy so instead offered us a painting she had done a while ago. It's a lovely Tuscan scene but not of our house or our church so, unless we clearly explained that Sister had painted it, not very personal.

What to do, what to do?

Then we had a brilliant idea™ ...

On a trip to Berlin a few years ago Nick and I came across a restored 1950s photobooth that took proper old fashioned film strips with four different pictures. We've had that little strip of us mucking about in the booth on our wall ever since and it occurred to us that something like this would make a great "Save the Date". We could hold cards with the words on and it would be personal without being cheesy. Yeay!

Everyone remembers these booths from their childhood (or Amalie!) but they have disappeared from streets and stations. Now they’re all digital and often just duplicate the picture four times – not fun. I googled “old fashioned photobooth London” but all I could find were other people looking for them and references to that one in Rosa Luxemburg Platz Berlin. Then suddenly at the tail end of a photography chat site I saw a message left this summer from the very Germans who’d restored that booth saying they were planning to come to London for a few months – were they still here? I clicked on the link and emailed them. A reply came minutes later – yes, the booth was still set up in Cargo’s beer garden. What luck! Two days later we made the trek east with ‘SAVE’ ‘THE’ ‘DATE’ ‘26.6.2010’ written on cards (in four different fonts as we couldn’t decide on our favourite) and even changes of outfits (don’t laugh.)

Disaster – a big “out of order” sign on the booth! Oh no! Now I know east London isn’t as far as east Germany but it was still some effort and we were devastated. But that email ... it had a phone number on it! I called. Alex answered. 10 minutes later he was there. Another 10 minutes and the machine was fixed. Several hours (and beers) later we had tons of strips and everyone in Cargo from the bouncers to the bands were laughing at what we were doing. We’re so happy with the results.

Once our guests have received them I’ll show you the final result but in the mean time here’s a little sneak peak

A big thank you to Alex from Photoautomat (look, that's him below fixing the machine for us!) and the dudes at Cargo who kept us supplied with pound coins and beer.

A little elopement fantasy ....

Another beautiful sunny weekend - oh, if only they could last forever!
Our very good and very musical friends (see last post) have a little cabin in a little meadow on a little island in the Thames. To celebrate musical friend's wife's birthday they invited a group of us to camp in this little meadow and join them in barbecuing, guitar playing, bonfire singing, marshmallow toasting, occasional rowing and brave swimming and general countryside fun and laughter. It was a bit of a Brazil reunion since most of us had been at musical friends' wedding. I made this cake, with cardamon instead of rosemary and lots and lots of compote. It was good! It really really was. It took a little effort to work out the American measuring system (how can it be that we do it so differently?!) but it was worth it. I wish I had taken pictures of my handiwork but it was eaten too quickly so here is one from Sunday Suppers - oh how I love that blog!

While we were lazing about on blankets in the sun one of the girls complimented my dress, a loose tunic-y thing with coloured smocking around the collar. I'd pinned up my hair with some little white flower clips (£2.99 from H&M - bargain!) and we were making daisy chains. She suddenly said "you could get married right here, looking like that and in this beautiful place". I pictured it for a moment; a little elopement, barefoot and in a pretty summer dress with just a few good friends. It sounds so romantic, so special and serene.

And it is.

But a moment later I realised - it isn't us.

People often ask if we're having a big wedding and I usually say "oh no!" partly because I don't yet know who or how many people we'll invite and partly because I think 'big wedding' implies vast expense, showing off, relatives taking over and hundreds of guests you don't know let alone love. In other words; big wedding implies wack.
Well, obviously I don't want any of that but really celebrating and making the most of the occasion is important us. One of the things I fell in love with is N's ability to make everyone feel special and at ease - he's a people person through and through. He loves to party, loves seeing people he loves have a good time. His friends and family mean the world to him, he's outgoing, he's fun to be around and totally genuine. I'm maybe not as affable as my man but I'm outgoing and love a shindig and, I'll admit, I do love hosting. Family and occasion mean something very important to me and luckily they mean the same to him.
So a big hoopla of a wedding, with traditions and food and music and aunties and uncles and lots of friends, ceremonial in parts and raucous in others, I think that is more our style. Still special and romantic in it's own way.

[photo by a friend. Yup, that's us - bang goes the anonymity!]

(and unfortunately I don't think I'll ever be described as serene ...!)

Alan, Alan, Alan, Al, Al, Alan

I've watched this about 20 times and it is still making me laugh



Clearly, I'm a girl of simple tastes when it comes to laughter.

Oh, look Will Farrell is on Sky Movies .....

A good week's round up

I can't believe it has been over a week since my last post - and I meant to be so much better. I get too distracted at reading everyone's lovely blogs though and never quite get round to writing anything myself.

So what has happened in the last week - first we went to this festival

Space theme so sparkles and stars all over everything. And to give you an idea of quite how lovely this boutique festival is; I lost my camera - lots of tears from me at all the pictures lost as well as curses at the alleged thief - only to have it handed into lost property the next day, without even any rude photos added!
My very very pregnant best friend came too - she should have come as the moon she is so perfectly spherical. Can't wait to meet whoever is inside that belly of hers!
Then during the week, we feasted with friends under the stars in our wee back garden and I went on my first proper wedding-dress trying on session.
Oooh, that was fun! We went to Pronovias on Bond street - my littlest sister and maid of honour and I. It was so interesting; what I turned out liking and what suited me. Lots of the dress pictures I have saved so far are of rather sweet and pretty dresses but that style actually looked totally wrong on me; as though I was dressing up as a little girl. (I am 30 after all!) And the more fitted fishtail designs, which I always thought too grown-up and dressy for our countryside wedding, looked, well really lovely. (!!) We only went to get ideas though; I'm hoping to get something cheaper and more sustainable than designer and although my head was turned by a lovely lacy vintage style number I'm still determined to keep the price tag realistic.
We ended the week westwards, sunning ourselves with Sunday papers in Somerset with my Mother and Sister-in-law-to-be, so blissful!
So here are a few of the lovely dresses I won't be wearing due to my being about eight years too old - goodbye pretty dresses ... one last oogle!

Top row l > r: Luisa Baccaria; via Brides; via Bridesmagazine; Stephanie Allin; Lisa Warninger; Luisa Baccaria
Bottom row l>r: Bridesmagazine; David Fielden; Kitty Chen; Seraphine via Brides; Jasper Conran; Jasper Conran