I'm a married woman!

So, we did it. After a wonderful four years dating and only a few months of crazy planning and preparing, on the 30th December, Ollie and I became Mr and Mrs Prescott. It was the most perfect day, and everything we could have hoped for (and more.) We were surrounded by so much love and happiness all day long, and I am only just coming down from cloud nine. To combat the post wedding blues, in true Meg fashion, I'm gonna talk your ears off about it!

The Venue.

We booked the wedding reception venue just two days after getting engaged. Ollie was ready to fly out and it was something that we wanted to decide on together, so we took to the internet to find suitable venues. Originally, our wedding was only going to be very small, just a meal with our nearest and dearest. With that in mind we looked for restaurants in Manchester than offered Private Dining. When we found that the Cosy Club offer their rooms out however, our plans changed slightly...

For those who haven't been before, the Cosy Club is in the Corn Exchange in Manchester City Centre, and is one of the cutest and warmest places to go grab a drink. Ollie and I had both been there on a few occasions, and really enjoyed the chilled out and relaxed vibe. My mum would 100% describe it as 'shabby chic'. On their website we found that they booked their rooms out for large events, including weddings, and we were sold instantly. Not only was the menu really quirky and different to your normal 'wedding day roast', but we could invite many more guests than we had originally planned.

All the staff at the Cosy Club made everything so easy and stress free. With Ollie being away I was the main organiser, which at times was quite overwhelming - I definitely underestimated how much planning goes in to making a wedding day a success. Amy, one of the managers at Cosy Club, took all my ideas on board, and was always there for any last minute queries and meltdowns. With the Club being slap bang in the city centre, and open all the time, it made it very easy for me to pop in and have a quick chat about things, something which we would have struggled with if we had chosen a hotel or a typical wedding venue, as we would have needed specific meeting times.

The Dresses

I have always loved 1950/60's style wedding dresses, and it was a no brainer that I would wear one on my special day. Anything else wouldn't have made me feel like me, and that was something I was very conscious about. As soon as my engagement ring was on my finger I went to Pinterest, and started looking into how I wanted to style myself. However, in the back of my mind was the time restraint and the fact we were on quite a small budget. All our worries about finding the right dress in time melted away the moment we stepped into the Stockport Wedding Dress Outlet.

Now, I know what you're probably thinking... You went to an outlet store to find your dream dress???? When we turned up outside of this dingy warehouse down a little side street, my mum, best friend and I thought 'OMG what have we done?!' However, when we stepped inside we were greeted with such a warm welcome, and could see that we would have such a wide range of dresses to choose from. There is something about being surrounded by wedding dresses that makes you feel like such a Princess.

There was no appointment needed at the Outlet, perfect for us as we only really had that one day to get everything sorted. They gave us 5 tickets to pop onto the dresses I would like to try and then we went straight to the fitting room. The first dress I tried was beautiful, but something about it made me feel too girly. I think I even said 'I don't think I can act like a gob-shite in this dress'. The second dress however was perfect from the moment I stood in it. It fitted perfectly, had just the right amount of sparkle, and had sleeves (I've always hated the thought of having to keep pulling a strapless dress up all day). I knew it was 'the one' instantly, and so did mum and Alex. Bizarrely enough, they had spotted it on a mannequin on the way in and said that would be the one I would choose!

With the Bride's dress ticked off, it was then time to dress my Bridesmaids. I knew straight away that I wanted to keep to the high street, to not only keep the cost down, but also to find dresses that didn't scream bridesmaid straight away. I really wanted something different. We went to House of Fraser and found the perfect one straight away. Alex looked incredible in it. My other bridesmaids weren't there, and I had to take a risk and just presume that Chloe would suit the dress just as much as Alex did (No surprise, it looked incredible). There was the slight problem of finding dresses for my two younger bridesmaids that would complement the other dresses without matching them exactly. After a few weeks of ordering dresses and sending them back, we went to Next (keeping to the High Street again) and managed to find a dress that suited a 10 year old and a 13 year and worked with the other dresses. HURRAH!

The Decorations

Right from the start, I knew I wanted to make all the wedding decorations by hand and all myself. Call me a perfectionist, but I knew that if I was in charge of everything, it would look exactly how I wanted it to. I was also very aware that I didn't want a Christmassy wedding, despite the wedding taking place only 5 days after Christmas. I made it very clear to the venue that there should be no trees, no baubles, and that if there was so much as one guest singing Christmas songs they would be out!

Instead, I wanted to create a wintery feel, whilst keeping it warm and cosy, so I definitely needed lots of fairy lights. I decided to make origami flowers instead of having fresh flowers. I knew they would last much longer, and guests could take them home as a keepsake. The flowers took me ages, and most nights I would sit watching TV, folding away for hours. They may have taken over my life for a little bit, but I am so glad I kept to it, because they looked incredible on the day. I got so many compliments on them! I displayed them by putting twigs into old apothecary glass bottles, and then hanging the flowers on to the twigs. This also helped keep cost down - I borrowed the glass bottles, I foraged the twigs and only had to pay for the scrapbook paper for the flowers. One of my favourite details was the tiny gold bumblebees on the paper, perfect for our little Manchester wedding.

Keeping in with the winter feel, I used Pinecones for the place names, slotting a piece of paper into the top of the Pinecone. It was super simple to do, but I think they looked really cute, and again guests were able to take them home if they wanted. For the table numbers, my dad and I made little sandwich boards. On one side I wrote the table number, and on the reverse side I made a little 'I Spy' game. I wanted to encourage guests to take lots of photos, so made little tick lists for them to snap away at throughout the night. I can't wait to see everyone's photos, and see all the fun that was happening around us.

When it came to the guest book I knew I wanted to make a scrapbook. Again, being a complete control freak, I didn't want to buy a book that wouldn't get fully used. Instead I made a little post box and asked guests to write their messages on scrapbook paper, and I will make the book at a later date, adding all the photos from the day too. Oliver brought his polaroid camera, and the snaps will look adorable next to all the messages. I also bought a plain jenga set for people to write little messages on, making a cute keepsake for Ollie and I to look back on!

The Cake (or lack of!!)

I like cake. Ollie likes cake. But neither of us love it, and we weren't really bothered about having a wedding cake. In our eyes it was a bit of a money waster. When the idea of having cheese at the wedding was suggested however, we both jumped at the idea. Our Glastonbury family has a tradition of having a cheese board at the festival called The Ironing Board of Cheese. Literally a cheese board on an ironing board. It was decided that the Ironing Board should make an appearance at the wedding. A few weeks before the day Dad and I managed to spend £200 on cheese and pickles. We had the most fun! We displayed the cheese on a big ironing board, and then put all the pickles and chutneys on tiny ironing boards. They looked so cute!!

Photography

In the early days of planning I decided not to pay for a professional photographer. On the long list of priorities it was down at the bottom, due to cost and also the fact that everyone would take photos anyway. I then had a brain wave, and asked my family friend Liv if she would mind taking photos throughout the day. She's studying at Lancaster Uni as an art student, and really has a great eye for photography. Thankfully she jumped at the chance, and she was just perfect all day. At one point she was on the floor snapping a pic of my shoes and said 'I'm a proper photographer now!' She is editing all the photos as we speak and I am so excited to see them!! She is currently raising money for a trek up Kilimanjaro, and we have both agreed that selling the wedding photos would be a great way to raise funds. If you would like any disks please contact me!!

The Big Day

In the week leading up to the big day, I was a huge bag of nerves. I desperately wanted everything to go right, and all I could think of were ways things could go wrong. When I woke up on the morning of the wedding however, I was so chilled. I knew marrying my best friend was the greatest thing that would happen to me, and whatever else the day would bring was a bonus. I went to the hairdressers on my own in the morning, giving me time to chill out and mentally prepare myself for the crazy day ahead. Shoutout to my incredible hairdresser Sarah P at Too Funky in Manchester. My hair looked wonderful and stayed in place pretty much all day.

I then went back to the hotel, where my mum, Chloe and Alex were all there getting ready. We had some bucks fizz whilst Chloe made us look wonderful. It was so nice to have my little sister do my makeup - I didn't want a make up artist who didn't really know me make me look totally different. The rest of the morning flew by, and before I knew it I was in the car with my Dad on the way to the ceremony. I had to give my Dad a talking to in the car, to ensure he didn't make me cry! I knew that if I started crying, I would never stop!

The Ceremony flew by in a blur. Two of my fave songs were played ; Winters Kiss by Blossoms and Better Together by Jack Johnson, but I can hardly remember hearing them. The whole ceremony was just a blur of huge smiles and laughter. One of my bestfriends Oliver read the wedding speech from the Dothraki wedding in Game of Thrones (so nerdy I know), and Ollies mum Linda read lyrics from the song Save Time in a Bottle (look it up, it's very cute). The readings were lovely, and put big smiles on everyones faces.

Once all the legality's were in order, we all headed of to the Cosy Club to start our celebrations. Amy (who organised everything) separated a little snug area for Ollie and I to have a moment together whilst everyone got into the room and got their drinks. It was a really nice touch, and gave Ollie and I a chance to catch our breathes, and take everything in. It wasn't long after that we sat down and started eating. Ollie and I decided to just have us on the top table, mainly due to avoid any arguments about the seating plan! It was so nice to have the table to ourselves, clink our wine glasses together and just enjoy seeing all our family and friends having a great time.

The speeches were short and sweet, with my Dad and Ollie's Mum saying such beautiful words. Shout out to both of them for keeping composure and holding back the tears!! Ollie's best men Matt and Cam highlighted the hilariousness of the first time Ollie told me he loved me (if you don't know, make sure to ask me because it's a cracker!). Ollie's speech lasted about 30 seconds, but was lovely all the same.

Next the room was moved around to make room for dancing, so we all filtered in to the bar. Before the wedding I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't drink to much...I broke that promise quickly with Prosecco, Red Wine, Sambucca, Rum, and of course a Baileys....oops!! When back in the room we cut the Brie, and aimed to start the dancing to the playlist I had made. To my surprise however my Dad and our very talented friend Max had prepared some live music. It was such a lovely surprise, as Ollie and I love live music, especially Dad's band. After a few songs Ollie pulled me up for a dance, something that I had been dreading to be honest - I didn't want to look foolish. However, it was perfect and spontaneous.

After the live music had ended (I may have had a little sing on the mic before the end...) we wacked my playlist on and danced the night away. My heart was filled with joy to see family and friends, old and young boogying away to songs Ollie and I loved. The only bad thing about it all was that it had to come to an end. We overstayed curfew by at least half an hour, and my Dad had to give me a stern look to get me to stop pressing next on the music.

And that was that. We were Mr and Mrs and had celebrated so hard that the day just flew by. I would do anything to do it all over again, but it's time to start planning our next adventure.

Before I wrap up this VERY long blog I would like to say thanks to a few people...

To our families! Thankyou for all your financial support through the past few months. If it had been left to just Ollie and I we would have only been able to afford the registry office, and I would've been in my glitter jacket!

To my amazing best friend Alex. Your help and support has been incredible. Without you I would have forgotten so many things, and I think my head may have fallen off. You kept me grounded and mostly stress free.

To Liv. Thankyou for agreeing to take all our photos. You really are a superstar.

To Max and Dad. The music was great. You're great.

To my Husband, Ollie. Thankyou for saying yes. I'm so glad the day was a true reflection of our love. I love you and miss you and I'll see you soon.

To everyone reading this...well done, you made it to the end of my essay length blog. Thanks for sticking with me whilst I gush over how amazing my day was. I will definitely be doing another blog post once all of Liv's photos have arrived!

Stay golden, much love from MRS PRESCOTT!