Rebecca Holland-Johnstone

Yes, it has been MONTHS between blog posts, but I’m married, I’m married!

It’s a tough job being a wife, and since coming back from honeymoon I have been full-steam-ahead for Christmas - orders, markets etc, amidst trying to get my bank cards changed into my new name, tax the car, do the washing…

Pictures will be posted shortly, for all to see the ‘happy day’ in all its beautific simplicity. There were 13 of us in total (let’s not say ‘unlucky for some’!), and it was wild, wet and windy when I woke up, but my bridesmaid/maid of honour Natalie told me ‘a wet knot never comes undone’, and my husband-to-be texted me to say it didn’t matter about the rain and that he loved me, and that’s all I needed as I set-to with my glass table covered in make-up brushes, false eyelashes, my something old, and brought my wedding look together.

There was a poignant moment in my suite with my mum and dad (16 years divorced), when we just stood there in a trance as they perhaps remembered back to their own wedding day with nostalgia and fond warmth, and acknowledged this transition I was about to make on my own, and out of their hands as a grown up married woman.

After the ceremony, the photographer told me I was such a minxfor all my excitable poses after the butterflies had flown from my corseted stomach, and when we got back to our mansion house for the meal, we sat in front of a roaring fire and drank champagne and candles lit up the room and it was a wonderful day of love, happiness and excitement.

Wedding fever is not a nice ailment to contract. It takes years off your life (could be fatal?) and is a terrible drain on friends/family/society as a whole. You turn into a scary, mad-woman, potentially driving your intended away, as you tear around creating drama and turmoil, leaving nothing but destruction in your wake…

Or, you elope, and save everyone the bother! Hahaha, I’m eloping!!! I feel so free, a free bird running away to tie the knot in simple anonymity. No pressure, no stress, no agenda. Just a beautiful, simple day to celebrate the start of a new chapter of my life, and express and symbolise love to friends, family and the local council.

Oh its going to be perfect. And the synchronicity is unbelievable! We can still have our original venue (Comlongon Castle), and original photographer (who owns the Gretna Wedding Bureau who organise everything on your behalf). Could it get any better? None of this £500 for everything:

Question (me): “How much will the bridal bouquet be? I’m thinking a few roses and a thistle?”

Answer: “Oh, about £500 should get you a decent size, how tall are you?”…what?

It’s all happened so fast, but it feels so RIGHT! OK, I can’t have the fireworks and it won’t be the big affair it was originally going to be, but we got to thinking, do we really need all that periphery, or should it not just be about us? Our special day and no-one else? Exactly!

But then we thought we had better tell our Mum’s, and then siblings, and now, its almost the original size it was going to be…but we don’t have to talk about it for the next year, it will happen, imminently, in fact, less than three weeks. On Friday 10th October, 2008, 11am. No, you’re not invited, no-one else is coming!!!

Let’s just hope the aforementioned ailment (wedding fever) doesn’t crop up, because I don’t want it ruining the photos…or leaving me alone at the altar if symptoms get really bad? Note to self: elopement is also the best way to secure a husband, FAST, no time to change his mind!

Now, wedding shoes, are super-important. They have to be stunners, obviously, but also check the box for comfort and dance-ability. Now I’m not a satin-sandal-wearing bride, no way. I had my heart set on some Victorian-style wedding boots. Oh yes, funky, lace-up boots that I might be able to wear again, and definitely none of the square-toed varieties that seem to fill wedding mags either.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to actually find a shop to try out any wedding boots (or any boots of suitable ilk/criteria) so had to try online. There are plenty of sites selling the sought-after boot in ankle or full length varieties, but then there is the whole ‘what size?’ debacle, especially when like me, you fluctuate between a size 7 or 8 in shoes/boots, depending on the shop or brand.

So I did nothing. Which is what I always do when I get overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by choices. I sat back and thought about it, deciding that the perfect boot would find me, when the time was right and the stars were aligned and the moon was blue.

Then, I happened to stroll into the shoe department of my favourite store and see The Shoe on display. I tried her on, and she fit like Cinderella’s glass slipper (size 7 and a half!). She is a creamy white patent court with a decent and sturdy heel for maximum height impact without any of the uncertainty or wobble of a stiletto (I am not great in heels, being a bit of a clumsy giraffe, so reassurances of sturdiness in shoes are welcomed).

There is a striking gold buckle over the toe, which will perfectly tone in with the gold/cream theme of the dress. The leather on the sole was stroke-able, and inside the lining was cushioned and springy. It was then I realised The Shoe was none other than a Gucci number - oh the delight! I have never had a proper designer shoe before, and before I even had time to check the price, I knew The Wedding was the one occasion where splashing out was allowed. So I proudly handed over my card and purchased The Shoes that will see me into married life, (and that I will be dying to wear again after!)

That isn’t the end of The Shoe story. When I got them home, I found to my delight that a shoe bag for each shoe is provided for safe storage, with the Gucci logo embedded in the soft material. There was also a booklet all about the brand. That’s what I call a pair of stunning shoes, fit for a wedding!

Arguably the most important component of the wedding day, the wedding dress is causing a bit of a problem at the moment.

I have a dress, but I’ve changed my mind. I want a different dress. But really there is nothing whatsoever wrong with the existing dress. Am I being foolish here? Needlessly chasing a second dress, when I have a sumptuous gown fit for a princess not more than a metre away in my very own wardrobe? I don’t think so, as I’ve now decided its the wrong colour. It’s perfect. But the wrong colour. And that’s important.

It’s an absolutely stunning, brand new (with tags) bridal gown from couture designer Ronald Joyce. In a rich satin of ‘clotted cream’, the bust is encrusted with crystal beading in a very unusual scallop-edge bust line. An in-built corset and elasticated strap means it does the hard work for you – so I wouldn’t need a separate corset (which is what I had originally thought, and had my eye on an Agent Provocateur number, but now I can get one of those as well!)

The clever gathering/ruching down the torso gives a very flattering effect, which merges into an A-line skirt with three gathers that would be much more pronounced once ironed out and fitted properly on the body. Inside the lining and tulle are impeccably white and perfect. A tulle underskirt provides a bit of body, and I was originally planning an additional hooped underskirt to really go to town on the ‘I’m a toilet-roll-holder doll’ look!

The train is classic and forms a delicate, neat circle behind the dress, which can be bustled up for the evening (bustle ribbons have not yet been added though). It is a zip fastening at the back, and comes with matching straps, though I much prefer the bandeau strapless look. This would sit perfectly with the matching stole in the same crystal beading at the edges as on the bust.

Basically, I was in ‘wedding dress excitement’ mode, and I bought this dress on a wave of bridal fever (the first dress I tried on!). We bonded, we connected, it felt right. However I realise now that if I was shopping for cup-cakes, impulse buying would not be something I would come to regret! An expensive mistake to make.

If this divine Ronald Joyce number (style number 54019) sounds like it could be the one for you, or a friend who is looking for a wedding gown with couture affiliations, then please email me for more info as I would love to hear from other budding brides and share the Ronald Joyce love.

I am a marilyn-monroe-esque curvy UK size 16 and this dress gave me the most wonderfully flattering shape. For an idea of how this gown looks on, follow this link, hovering over the bottom left image which shows the exact same gown in white.

So, it has to be said, I’m not sure what all the panic is about seeing as I have nine-whole-months to plan my wedding. A baby could be born in that amount of time (not that we’re planning that anytime soon)

I mean, the key things are done - venue, photographer, rings - and more importantly, the groom! However I woke up this morning at the crack of dawn (around 8.30am, which is pretty early for me at the weekend), and couldn’t stop thinking about wedding plans. By 9am I was sitting at my laptop searching for florists, bands and delighting at the many styles, colours and shapes of wedding cake available to me.

Within an hour I had booked a beautiful hotel for myself and my bridesmaids to stay in the night before the wedding (complete with pool, spa, spacious rooms and stunning views), contacted a prospective music supplier, narrowed the search for footwear down to two choices, contacted the local florist and enquired about a cake! Phew! I also have a bridal appointment next week at my chosen dress boutique - the second viewing of a dress I coveted from the moment it encased my hips and turned me into a 1950’s hollywood starlet.

It’s all suddenly happening in the ‘wedding zone’, so I must get off and write up all my latest plans in the wedding planner…

So the story is, I’ve been engaged over two years and done very little actual wedding planning.

As a surprise gift, my wonderful, thoughtful, romantic fiance picked out a Smythson wedding planner, personalised with my ‘transitional’ initials: RHJ- Rebecca Holland-Johnstone. It is hot pink, the perfect colour for me, and its specially ‘Smythson’ super-fine milled paper pages, real leather cover and silvered edges, reassure me it is the platinum of the wedding planner hierarchy. Not only that, it likely cost a pound per page, so I now feel terrified of actually using it, and just want to adore it from afar, as it peeps out from its beautiful periwinkle box and matching fluffy sleeve. Bless, it may even graduate to family pet status.

It is sub-zeroon the scale of cool, reigning high above the funky ‘Vegas’ theme device I purchased on a whim one lunchtime in Paperchase. Having brimmed with pride and delight while staring at it on our double whammy Billy’s, as if it was my first-born child, I have now decided to do the day-to-day planning using ‘Vegas’, and once a plan is final and firm in our minds, and the motherships consulted, I will feel able to write out it out in the planner, in a neat, smudge-free scrawl.

Phew, glad I’ve planned out using the planner. That’s quite enough for one month!