Choosing your wedding party!

Although this is quite unnecessary for us at this stage as we are not getting married this year, it is fun to discuss and doesn't involve any formal planning. Even at the early stages of engagement you may want to start discussing with your fiance who you would both like to be included in the wedding party. Obviously the bride to be should be in charge of her bridesmaids and likewise, the groom to be, will be expected to choose best man/men and ushers but there is no harm in discussing this together over a glass of wine or a pint of cider as my fiance and I did. This can be a good idea for several reasons:

• Allows you to discuss numbers. After all you will be paying for every additional bouquet, sporran (I'm Scottish and so is my fiance) and flower girl dress. Therefore it might pay off to find our before hand whether one of you is planning to have 20 bridesmaids or ushers and perhaps cull the numbers slightly. If money is no option then by all means 20 ushers may be acceptable but it's nice to discuss this together before hand.
• Gives you the opportunity to discuss involving other family members. Quite often sisters of the groom, brothers of the bride and nieces and nephews are included in the bridal party. However discussing this early on allows you to even up the balance if one of you has involved the others family fully and yet the other has not been mentioned or featured at all.
• Make sure they approve. Ultimately yes the decision is down to the individual who they choose but if there has been a colourful history with one person chosen then it may cause issues later on. Conversely,and in our case,my fiance had not included someone I felt was quite important to him but had not been included in the best man/usher duties. I asked if he had realised and was sure that this particular person was not to be included and he confirmed that due to a bit of a complicated history between them he felt it better if he was omitted from the duties of the day. It was my fiance's decision so I did not question this but I think it is nice to discuss wedding parties to make sure there is a level of approval there from both sides.
• To think about photos - I am having 4 bridesmaids (who I have not told yet) and although this is not that many it may still through the photos off kilter if your groom has decided on only have one best man. Likewise this could be magnified if the groom has 10 ushers and best men and the bride only chooses 1 bridesmaid. Photographs could look slightly unbalanced. If this is not something that bothers you both then that's great but again nice to discuss before hand so that you both know numbers of both sides.

In the end we opted for 4 each. My fiance is having 1 best man and 3 ushers including my brother while I am having 4 bridesmaids. We will likely have both his nieces as flower girls as they are both very sweet and lots of fun.

Obviously it is your big day and wedding parties are very personal. If you have 30 best friends, unlimited money and just can't choose between them then you may indeed want 30 bridesmaids. However the above points are just something to consider when you are choosing your wedding party and some reasons why it is good to talk about it.

X

Its January and I'm engaged!

Well, its been a long time since I last blogged but it's Januray, a new year, and what better time to start blogging again. I also got engaged on the 23rd of December and in true planning style I have already started making notes of things I like and may use in the wedding. Therefore a lot of blogs this year will be wedding related but there may be other non wedding related posts here and there.

Therefore if you are getting married this year or next and are looking for some wedding banter then please stay tuned for future posts!

Keep calm: Don't turn ruby woo!

Well it's been a while... ironically my actual life here at 2F3 has got in the way of 'life at 2F3' and my blog has seriously been neglected. I have been really busy with work recently, travelling loads, mostly to really boring parts of the country and my friends have been popping babies out left, right and centre. Well actually, hopefully, mostly out of the centre so I have been playing pass the baby or buy the baby a gift for what seems like since time began (I exaggerate). However we had my boyfriends Sister to stay last night as she is moving from London to Edinburgh this month and had a job interview in our fabulous (but dull and rainy) city this morning. While she was reading over her interview notes and the beads of sweat began to slowly appear it got me thinking of all the poor people having job interviews today.

 Job interviews have to be THE worst thing ever, well maybe along side work presentations, neither of which I am any good at. Luckily I have a job and only have to do 2 formal presentations a year so I escape lightly, but seriously why do they make job interviews so hard. I almost cried in the interview 5 years ago I had for my current job and actually had to take a moment to pep talk the tears from the surface to the backs of my eyeballs. When I finally escaped from the interview room my face (and neck) had turned from normal skin tone colour to Mac's ruby woo and I thought WOW that couldn't have gone any worse...Needless to say, despite showing chameleon colour changing talents I got the job and have maintained employment within the same company ever since. Should the day come again when I need to face the dreaded apprentice stylee boardroom I will read this post and remind myself that the best thing you can do it stay calm and try your best.

Good luck to everyone out there who has a job interview today. I wish you lots of luck and remember if you don't succeed maybe it wasn't meant to be and something more suitable will come up. Don't beat yourself up, at least you are motivated enough to try and find work and that counts for a lot. X

An Au-natural Glossybox arrives

Not only is the April Glossybox channelling us all to embrace the green goddess within with an all Natural beauty box, containing 5 natural products in a 100% biodegradable box...It is my first ever! - and what a way to start. I delayed joining Glossybox for the simple reason that I was trying to be "cool" by bucking the trend and opting for a lesser known beauty box that was potentially better than its competitors but with less following thus leaving me as a smug and independent champion of something new, relatively unknown and wonderful. However in reality this delay left me feeling slightly jealous of everyone receiving their beautiful Glossyboxes every month, not to mention when my then current following Carmine decided to pass all their business over to Glossybox anyway, and don't even get me started on missing the Harrods edition!

So without any further delay I subscribed to Glossybox with excitement and 100% trust that I had to give it a whirl. I have to say categorically I wish I had subscribed sooner. Receiving the box in the post on Saturday was such an anticipated moment for me that even just opening the outside cardboard packaging was an enjoyable task... After months of wishing, deliberating and imagining, I finally had my very own Glossybox!

Since it was 'the Natural Glossybox' I decided to open it in the natural surroundings of my roof terrace (excuse the weeds, I will embrace the green goddess within, but green fingers is a bigger ask) And here it is...

 

 

and here is what was inside

1. Ayuuri Natural body wash in Sandalwood

2. Figs & Rouge balm in Rambling rose

3. Kai perfume oil

4. Caudalie - Vinosource SOS Thirst- Quenching serum

5. Inika cosmetics organic eyeliner in Graphite

So far I have only tried the balm on my lips although glossybox say you can use on skin too ideal for knees and elbows. It is pretty glossy and does not have a thick texture at all but a much oilier consistency. This may be due to the 100% pure and organic ingredients. It leaves your lips super soft with a nice sheen and the packaging is pretty and compact. A great multipurpose travel product which I absolutely love! It has now replaced all other lip balms in my bag and a real favourite.

I love Caudalie products and therefore am very excited to try their newly launched serum. I am sadly coming to the end of my current Caudalie vinoperfect radiance serum so this couldn't have come at a better time for me to try. The deluxe sample size is big enough to take with me travelling and get a good weeks use out of both morning and night. I have used a few times already and I think I prefer this one to the radiance serum. It leaves you skin soft supple and has actually cleared up my skin slightly so perhaps was suffering from serious skin dehydration. If you also feel like your skin could do with a big drink of something moisturising but light in texture then I would recommend you try this product.

Who doesn't love an eyeliner, especially when its full size and a great every day colour like graphite. The liner has a soft, creamy texture and has a strong pigment that could be easily blended for a smokey eye. It has a slight blueish grey metallic shine and is a great alternative to the standard black liner.  LOVE

The body wash and perfume oil still remain untested but a full size bottle of body wash gets a massive tick from me. I was about to venture into lush in search of something new as I am bored of my Bodyshop selection which seems to have lasted me forever ( not a bad thing). I will definitely be giving these a whirl now I am home from my travels.

I absolutely love my first glossybox and cannot wait for my next one. My boyfriend was also watching me as I examined each product with some intrigue and even said it would be nice if they did something like that for men... I feel a glossybox gift coming on :-) X

Here is another picture of my roof terrace the day I received my glossybox. Just for fun!

 

April Wishlist

This feels like the longest month so far this year, especially in the old bank account. Never mind, its pay day next week and I have already spent the large majority of it in my head. Obviously there are items on my April wish list which will never be bought but a girl can dream... 

Its quite a nice eclectic mix of "stuff" including beauty products and fashion, as well as books, DVDs etc... Its entering wedding season once again and I have a few to attend this year (not as many as last year thank goodness) and I thought item 8 would be a perfect summer wedding outfit - not to long, not too short, bright enough that it embraces the brights of summer, but not too bright that says you're trying too hard.

I am possibly the last person in the world to see bridesmaids but am desperate to see it, as well as read the follow up books to the hunger games after seeing the film and reading the first book in the trilogy and absolutely loving both! These will definitely be bought for the Summer hols!

I have some serious amount of boots advantage points after many months (perhaps years) of saving, so I am going to treat myself to my first and long awaited bottle of Miss Dior. Perhaps I will even have enough left for the new Chanel vitalumiere aqua compact - yes seriously I have that many points. I have never tried vitalumiere aqua despite being a Chanel foundation addict and as my prolumiere stocks are slowly dwindling I am beginning to feel brave enough to venture out into the new wave of foundations on the market.

The Marc Jacobs watch is a thing of beauty and I really didn't get the whole rose gold craze that seems to be coming to an end, but am thankful a new more chocolaty, more espresso coloured trend in watches seems to be emerging... I think its much easier to wear for all skin tones and easier to match to other accessorise than rose gold, not to mention I think it actually looks a bit classier. Whether I will ever have enough money to afford one is another matter. Fingers crossed for the lottery tomorrow X

1. Cushions - John Lewis £15-£25 

2. Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact - Boots £39

3. Bikini - Topshop £32

4. Bridesmaids DVD - Amazon £7.49

5. Marc Jacobs watch - Asos £250

6. Friendship Bracelet - Asos £6

7. Playsuit - Topshop £35

8. Dress - Karen Millen £140

9. Miss Dior Eau de Parfum 50ml - Boots £60.50

10. Books - Amazon and Amazon £3.99 each

11. Dress - Philip Lim

12. Sandles - River Island £50

13. Neom Candle - Look Fantastic £37.50

What will you spend your money on when you get paid?

Essie - Lovie Dovie

So I love white chocolate and I love pink nail varnishes - put them together and you've got a match made in heaven! I purchased this nail varnish a while ago and have worn it a lot as I absolutley love it! It was only a matter of time before I shared the lov-(ie) dovie.

With Flash

Without Flash

Delicious Treat!

You can get away with one coat with this colour but two coats gives it that extra opaque candy pink tone that is so pretty and perfect for Spring's pastel trend.

Beauty Bay have a brilliant range of Essie nail varnishes retailing at £7.75 for 15ml, cheaper than both OPI and Ciate, not to mention there is fruit inside the white chocolate so they're not too naughty. 

Its oh so SLEEK!

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