Accessories: Preparing for the Season

Getting married in January I need to be practical – it’s going to be cold and probably wet!

Following on from yesterdays post, I want to share with you my provisional thoughts on the other accessories I have had to consider to weather proof my outfit.

Wellies 

Ok, lets be realistic, I’m having a indoor wedding, and even when I am outside it will be on concrete/paths, I don’t NEED a pair of wellies. But then I think about my heels, with very little grip and my flats made of satin and the fact that a winter wedding is THE perfect time to buy a pair of Hunter (http://www.hunter-boot.com/) or Joules boots.

My sister has already bought a pair of (childrens) Hunters to co-ordinate with the colour scheme and I've got a cute pair of purple spotty wellies for my Goddaughter/Bridesmaid, so I just have to decide which pair I want to buy.

Let it snow (or rain):  Hunter RHS Original in Violet, Navy Golf Umbrella, Clear dome umbrellas,
Weddington boots with bow photo from here, Edwardian Style Umbrella (Pagoda) photo from here
 and Hunter Original Gloss wellies in stone photo from Amazon

If you follow me on Twitter you will be aware that the wellies have caused me some distress. About 3 weeks ago I discovered that the Joules Spring/Summer 12 range had wellies in the perfect shade of purple, I started hunting and eventually I found a pair at Topshop, advertised as purple but when they arrived they were Navy Blue. Finally, on Sunday I managed to win a pair on ebay and I got them a little cheaper than if I'd got them in the shops.

Umbrellas

This is the one area where I could get carried away… In an ideal world I want a white umbrella for me, a purple or taupe umbrella for my sister, plain children’s size umbrellas in lilac and black/taupe for my Bridesmaid and Pageboy and 4 black umbrellas for the ushers to use to help escort people. In reality I am hunting Ebay for the best options.

Wrapping Up

I have thought long and hard about this and a wonderful friend came to the rescue. A ‘normal’ coat would not work with my dress and I cannot afford to spend hundred of pounds on one for the day. While I like cloaks I think I am the wrong age to wear them, I look at photos of women in their mid to late 20s and I think they often look daft and it would suit me dress.

Staying stylish keeping warm (left to right): Shawl with rose detail, Lace overlay Imam by Pronovias,
Coat with fur collar and sparkle belt, Fur lined hooded cape, knitted short shawl
and full coat with fur collar and cuffs Madeline Issac-James 2012 photo found here

I then started looking at knitted shawls, when I was younger I would have a couple in my dressing-up box and loved them. So I contacted my amazing friend Jill, who owns North Star Yarns (http://www.northstaryarns.com/), for advice and she offered to make me one as my wedding gift – how cool is that? Yet another fabulous handmade item for the wedding! I have since realised that a shawl would be able to have a second life if we had children, I love the idea that something made for our wedding won’t just sit safely in a box.

The wedding getting closer and now I have all the elements of my outfit sorted I'm getting really excited.

TTFN ~ Kate xxx

Finalising Food

I'm sorry I've been absent for a while and in the last couple of days I've tried to make up for it and get the posts up I've been planning for a while.
I have had a difficult couple of weeks that have been full of sadness due to the loss of my Nain (Nan in welsh) and has also meant I have had lots of travelling.
While this has been a difficult time, I have had a lot of support and so, for me, this isn't the place to process my loss.

So today I want to think about something more positive - food for the wedding!

Family Favorites: Christmas Roast, Hot Cross Buns, Birthday cake & BBQ

Food is a really important part of a wedding. I think I would go as far to say that, other than having a church ceremony, food is the MOST important element of the day for me. Food plays a big role in my life, when I get together with family a meal is normally the center of the occassion; our favourites are probably a BBQ or a Sunday tea (cold meats, hard boiled eggs etc all followed by cake and jelly/trifle) and I turn to food at sad times of when I'm feeling ill.

Both BH and I are foodies, we'd rather go out less often and eat at independent places when the menu's ever changing and ingredients sourced locally, we both enjoy cooking (tho BH to a lesser extent) and enjoy a good meal.

Love of food: Toad-in-the-whole, a traditional Turkish chicken dish from Selcuk
orange sponges for valentines and 3 cheese & broccoli quiche . Apart from Turkish chicken, all cooked by me!

For our wedding we were looking for a menu of classic, British winter warmers.
The whole day has a cosy rustic feel and we want this continued in what we eat, but we also wanted to be careful that we don't weigh our guests down with lots of heavy food.

Before the food tasting we were both a little a nervous, we had chosen the Guildhall based on the beautiful building and friendly staff; I have been to a wedding there but it was over 4 years ago and as it is council owned, we weren't sure about the quality of the food.

Winter Warmers: All images from BBC Good Food
Shepherds Pie, Roast Beef, Stew,
 Bread & Butter pudding, Welsh Rarebit and Apple Pie.

All of our concerns were hogwash! Nigel the Chef is amazing!
We tried 3 soups & 2 pate for starters, 2 mains (one came in both Goats & 'normal' cheese options) and 3 puddings. Everything we tried was amazing. not only delicious but well presented and we really felt that they had gone out of their way for us.
We had asked to try a 3rd main, but due to a mix up we weren't able to, however we were told where we could source the main item and my mum then purchased and sent us the item for us to cook up and test at home a couple of days later.

We really would have been happy to have any of the options we tried, however after talking through everything we tasted, our desire for a classic meal and also wanting our guests to have essentially the same meal while offering variation for those with dietary needs, we came to a conclusion and have now emailed to conform/order our wedding breakfast.

I can reveal that the starter will be soup and I will share the other details after the day.

TTFN ~ Kate xxx

Tasty Treat: Rocky Road Recipe

Rocky Road

Recently I wrote about my cake and sweetie table for another site I guest blog for. In that post I forgot to mention that I am hoping to make some of the sweet treats for the buffet. And today I thought I would share one of the recipes I hope to use.

With the wedding in January I thought I would try and add a warming twist on the chocolaty favourite Rocky Roads, I did this by adding the spice of ginger biscuits in place of boring digestives.


Rocky Road is a really simple thing to make and tastes amazing, and if you don't like one element, you could always swap it with something else, or just leave it out.

Cross section of Rocky Road

Ingredients 
(approximates)

12 ginger nut biscuits
1 small bag of mini marshmallows
1 bag share size Malteasers
1/2 bag sultanas
3/4 tub glace cherries
2 blocks milk chocolate cake topping

Everything looks better on a
 pretty stand

Break biscuits into small pieces (about 5mm x 5mm) and slice cherries into 6 or 8 pieces.

Add to a large mixing bowl with marshmallows, Maltesers and sultanas.
Mix together

Get a rectangle or square baking tray out and leave near where you are working.
(I find silicone is the best type of baking tray for this)

Melt chocolate; either for 1min30 or 2 mins in microwave or in a glass bowl over gently simmering water, until all the squares have melted. Instantly pour the chocolate on to the dry ingredients and stir.
Once everything has been thoroughly coated, put mixture into baking tray and press it down to ensure its tightly packed. Leave to cool to room temperature, then place in fridge.

Leave for at least 2 hours and the turn out and slice with a large,                                                    sharp knife (it might help to run knife under a hot tap.

Make a cup of tea and ENJOY!!!

TTFN ~ Kate xx