I didn’t realize it would be so fun to get our RSVPs back.  I thought it would be simple checkmarks “Yes/No”, but I underestimated our guests.

Some of them have simple heartfelt messages:

Others go a little further in their wit:

(Can’t wait to see you both too!)

(Craig’s) Gran Sally is so sweet, she put “Gran” after her name, just to make sure we knew who this came from!

Some are downright cheeky:

(Hint: Shar helped us assemble (most) of the invitations.) (Thanks, Shar!!)

And some want to share their life story with us:

Basically this is Scott’s schedule the weekend of our wedding.  It ends with “Priory Rehab  Clinic + Screening for potential liver donor.”

I can’t wait to hang out with these guys August 19!

We got our invitations from Wedding Paper Divas, and I’d recommend them. Great selection, great service, great quality.  Craig and I originally toyed with the idea of designing and making our own invitations, but as time drew near it just didn’t make much sense.   The invitations are really important and can give our guests a taste of the mood and style of the wedding and we really couldn’t do much better than this design I found on the website:

The colors are perfect and I’m impressed with the quality of the paper and the printing.

We adjusted their response card template so that the guests could write if they need a ride to the venue (we’re chartering a bus!) because they will be able to order their dinner at the reception so we didn’t have to ask them in the invite.   And we also ordered two sets of the main invitation, one for day guests and one for evening guests.  I also re-appropriated their reception card to provide information about the website and registry info.  I was pretty against including registry information (pretty much every.single. etiquette guide says a big fat NO) but I was outnumbered by the native Brits strongly advising me that guests would appreciate it.  I couldn’t argue with what they felt was easier for the guests.

And yes, you read that right, the Obamas are totally invited.  I read somewhere that if you send them an invitation there’s a chance that they will return a congratulations card.  Surely worth a stamp!

I really struggled getting started with addressing them.  I just couldn’t get confident about my penmanship!  I eventually realized that I was setting very unrealistic expectations of myself. I stopped looking at wedding websites that featured professional calligraphers and just relaxed and let it flow.  I even started enjoying myself eventually… but boy am I glad that’s over!

So last time we were up in Scotland we were debating between two photographers. It was a pretty close call (extremely close) but in the end we booked with Paul Walker Images!

(If you are looking for a photographer in the Glasgow area, call up the guys at Life in Frame.  Super nice, very talented with a touch of glam.)

It was a tough choice but now that we’re all in it, I’m super excited to work with Paul.  Shall we just let his portfolio do the talking? Ok!

First of all, I’m looking forward to our venue looking this gooooood:

I know it won’t look exactly like that, he was very adamant about not doing the same things over again, but I’d be delighted with that level of quality.

I’m looking forward to him capturing the mood of the guests, in a natural but stylish way:

I’m excited that he’s able to capture things in a different way that I will completely miss because I’m pre-occupied with, you know, the wedding.

And I don’t need to tell you twice that if you’re getting married in Scotland, your photographer needs be ready for anything:

And I love that he understands that the natural surroundings can say so much about the day:

And of course, I’m really looking forward to him capturing our personalities in pictures:

I’m so curious as to what happened right before this moment!  Her face just says, “Did you just hear what he said?? Cheeky monkey!”

And this one isn’t from his wedding gallery but I just had to show it because it’s just so cool! Love it!

And a few others that caught my eye:

All images property of Paul Walker Images.

Check out his blog!

So instead, how about a little sneaky peeky?

NO guesses please!!  But “oohs” and “aaahs” are always welcome. In spades.

2 flights, 6 trains, 3 buses, 8 towns, 4 kilt shops, 1 Parliament, 1 Chinese takeaway, 1 Italian restaurant, loads of cups of tea, 1 wedding venue, 1 wedding fair, plenty of beer and wine, 2 days off work, 3 photographers, 1 football match, caught up with friends and family.

1 successful wedding planning weekend.

And one roll of elephant toilet paper.

Book a photographer already! Shortlist contender number one is Life in Frame. It’s actually two guys who do the photography of the day, which really appeals to me because that means that they’ll be able to capture both our preparations before the wedding.  We’ve met one of the guys and I can tell that at least he’ll be really comfortable with Craig and the boys.  The second contender is Paul Walker and I just love how he works with lighting. The front of our ceremony room has a wide window overlooking a lake, which is beautiful, but does pose some tricky backlighting challenges.

Hire a band! We’ve provisionally booked Ernest (here’s some YouTube clips of them) but we’re hoping to meet them face to face at the Scottish Wedding Show in Glasgow on Sunday.

Revisit the venue! We have an appointment to go through some more details at the Lochside House Hotel, but we’ll actually be meeting their wedding coordinator at the wedding show.  We need to figure out some more details with the layout and plans for the day.

Cake! Well not really cake (more about that as soon as we know we can do it) but we’re hoping to visit some of the local bakeries to see if they can help us realize our alternative cake idea (and no, it’s not cupcakes).

Etsy has so much creative talent, but hello! How could I not choose Rachel?

Just gorgeous.  And of course I had to just have her design some hairpieces for the rest of my posse after seeing her other creations:

Fabulous! I can’t wait to see them!

And some evidence that this method is working for us, not one but TWO of our vendors (actually our only two vendors) have won a VOWS award for 2009!

Lynsey McKelvie – for wedding coordinator for Lochside House Hotel (the venue has been nominated but did not win, booo)

Cherry Blossom – for flower arrangements

I’m so pleased that we picked them before they even won, and it tells us that our instincts are on the right track.  I’ll probably go back to the nomination list as well to look for our photographer and entertainment.

The heart detail the poppy red  Kate Spade is just too cute and appropriate.  I love the sophisticated green of the Albertta Feretti t-straps.  The eggplant Me Too’s could also be great for bridesmaids.  The bright apple green Nina’s would add such a fun pop of color under a white dress.  And the Betsy Johnson’s are admittedly maybe a little over the top, but if I can’t be a bit over the top on my wedding day, when can I?

Segerius Bruce uses tourist icons with great effect:

That’s Tower Bridge. And they’re also able to find great little corners too:

Another photographer that has caught my eye is Marianne Taylor Photography for the way London is captured really subtly and it becomes just a really nice backdrop, like in this session that I loooooove. Beautiful couple aren’t they?

And then ZaraZoo, with these great shots of the couples from a distance, in 3 different styles:

I haven’t contacted any of them yet for ourselves, but they’ve been bookmarked! And I thought they were still worth highlighting in a post.

Here is also a hint of what else I’ve been doing this wedding workshop weekend: