First post

Good afternoon all


I'm currently immersed in wedding preparations and thoroughly enjoying it so I thought I would start a weekly (if I can keep up) blog to document my experiences.


First of all some background.


I'm 35 years old (36 in April) and live in East Hampshire having moved from Southsea in Nov 2009.  I'm a Devonshire dumpling, as my grandparents would say, being born and bred in Mid-Devon leaving at 18 to study Maths at Portsmouth university.


I met my fiance, we shall call him TL for Tall Lad, when we both worked for the same local authority in 2006.  He moved in about 3 months later and we bought our first home together 14 months ago.  I should mention that he is 8 years younger than me - although I've such youthful looks and his hair is receding so much that you wouldn't know it! ;-)


After much nagging he finally proposed last July or rather we first bought my ring and his watch (a new tradition it would seem) and he proposed an hour or so later.


Before we were engaged we had already discussed what type of wedding we didn't want.  That is - one where you spend your whole day feeling like you have to speak to (and pay for) everyone you've invited. Even distant relatives and their partners that you've not seen for 10 years.
I'm known for not wanting to do what the masses do - call me bloody minded!  So I wanted our wedding to be something very different and an event that all involved will remember.


We'd already decided that we would have something very small.  Initial thoughts were inviting just parents to New York and doing it in Central Park.  I then saw a programme on Wedding TV where it showed some Central Park weddings.  It was a complete conveyor belt with tourists gawping throughout and the ceremony being conducted, of course, in an American accent.  So that idea was scrapped.
We still liked the idea of doing a weekend thing though and I found some websites such as http://www.thecountrycastlecompany.co.uk/ which had lovely, big, grand houses available to hire for a weekend and licensed for weddings.


My family is in Devon and TL's in Hampshire and Kent so we thought we'd choose something half-way between the two, either Dorset or Somerset.  But then we stumbled across this property in Devon http://www.theoldrectorychulmleigh.co.uk/site/ and fell in love with it's look and facilities.


So that's where it'll be.  Us and 23 guests (mostly family but with Maid of Honour, Best Man and Wife and Flower Girl and family) will be holed up in deepest, darkest, Devon for 4 days in June.


I can't wait!