Wedding Planning update – Manic stations.

Hello fans.

So, I have finally got a few minutes to myself to update my blog on the personal front. It’s heading up to wedding season and www.brideclubme.com is keeping me on my toes with lots of new vendors coming on board, events to promote, features to write, on top of planning my own big day, so I do apologise.

Anyhow, the last week has been jam packed with both business and personal meetings, so I will update here today.

Wedding Flowers: First off, I’ve finally concluded on all our wedding flowers, received the quote and made the deposit payment. This was giving me a little headache, but it’s done and I can take a sigh of relief.

Furniture rentals: Second, I had a big issue with one of my potential suppliers who gave me a good deal on furniture rentals for our wedding, just recently before I was about to sign on the dotted line, they emailed me and informed me that they had a big order on the same day of my wedding and therefore could no longer supply for our wedding. This was after meeting them at the venue, confirming all that was needed and paying for lunch in the process. They then said, they could still do my wedding of I paid more!

This made NO sense to me, either they can do my wedding or they can’t due to a huge order in Abu Dhabi. To me it just seemed like a ploy to get me to pay more, which quite frankly I found unethical and unprofessional. I was extremely disappointed, but it’s all good because I have a new supplier CATERTAINMET, who have been amazing and extremely enthusiastic, they actually made me feel like the care about my wedding and want to be involved. So there you go, CATERTAINMENT are my new furniture rental suppliers and I will be posting an individual piece about them very soon.

Personal Trainer/fitness: Third, I’ve recently been getting sick, feeling tired and lethargic, so I have decided to make a few changes to improve my heath and general wellbeing. My wedding has simply been an incentive to finally do something about my health in general. I’ve hired a personal trainer who will be coming to my Gym 2x a week until I have the hang of my routine and can go it alone, not only will my PT  be training me, but they have also advised on general sleep patterns, food intake and so on.

Above: My personal trainer Gary from ‘Healthy 4 U’ Dubai

I will be writing a review for www.brideclubme.com soon, so keep an eye out. I already feel better, I’ve cut down on carbs, and am eating lots of fresh and organic produce as well as making a concerted effort to sleep earlier. Honestly, this is the best thing I can do in the lead up to my wedding, because I am so busy and stressed at times I need to ensure I am fit and healthy, the last thing I want on my big day is to feel tired, lethargic and bloated. Of course, feeling lighter and more toned is a bonus to looking my absolute best on my wedding day, but this is by NO MEANS a fad diet or weight loss programme for one day, I do not believe in those, this is a lifestyle change that will carry on well after my wedding. I’m already receiving compliments too, so it must be working.

Groom and ushers attire: Adam and I also met with the tailor (M7Bespoke) yesterday, who will be making his suit and our grooms men waist coats, just to discuss final details and confirm a price. Moni from M7Bespoke has agreed to take over from here with Adam to ensure our ushers abroad send their measurements, etc, as I am simply dont want to be the one  harassing them every week, lol.

My friends Pakistani wedding: And lastly, I attended my good friend Faheem’s wedding the other day at the ATLANTIS hotel Dubai. Faheem called me about 3 months back in a panic, asking for my suggestions and recommendations, and within a day we had literally confirmed all his suppliers and come up with a tentative schedule. He involved all his friends at his wedding and this was lovely to see, I made a speech along with a few others, another mutual friend emceed and faheem had a few others at the door guiding people to their seats. This was a Pakistani wedding, the first I had been to and it was fascinating to observe the distinct differences between western and Arabic weddings too.

Above left: The table set up. Right: The evenings emcee and her husband

Wedding guest fashion and beauty: I went all out and decided to dress up in classy Arabic attire, with a beautiful emerald green jilaba style dress and had my beauty treatments conducted the evening before at the fabulous Sugar urban nails. I loved my reverse French manicure using baby pink and gold colours, and my 24 karat gold tattoo placed close to my ankle. I also had a super relaxing ‘Paprika’ facial which has left my skin feeling refreshed and clear. I was very impressed with their service and will be returning.

Above: My wedding guest look for the evening. Nails and tattoo by Sugar Urban Nails

I am actually having one facial a month in the lead up to my wedding, the last one being at least 2 weeks before the big day! A big tip I have learnt regarding bridal beauty is not to have a facial close to your wedding date, as it brings up impurities and you may have a few unsightly spots on your big day, hell to the no!

So that’s it really, a lot has also happened in-between including sorting out my favor bags and on the day stationery, but I will leave those for later posts.

I’ll be back on Thursday with more updates, but until then.

Ciao for now

Rio xx