Cake For Breakfast

Blood Donation Day

Some people already donate blood. However, those who don’t tend to fall into two categories: too squeamish or too forgetful. Both reasons are totally understandable, conquering a phobia of needles or blood is a huge thing to ask, as is scheduling the time for a regular appointment to donate.

It is an astonishing fact that only 4% of the population provides donations of blood for the rest of us. That’s a lot to expect of so few people. Especially when this is one of those times when you really can have a massive impact on the lives of others, by doing something so simple.

So, why are we campaigning for this? Many of us have been affected first-hand by the importance of having a ready supply of blood, and realise how very different life could be without it. Just stop for a minute and think what might happen if you couldn’t get the blood transfusion that you take for granted will be there. This is the perfect forum to bring it to the forefront of people’s minds, especially those who have been contemplating donating blood but just haven’t got round to doing it yet.

Credit

If you’re physically able to give blood do please try to make time, it can literally make you a lifesaver. We would love it if donating blood became a habit for you, something that is done on a regular basis without giving it a second thought. If you can’t donate then please continue this campaign by asking all those you know who can to make an appointment – ask them to do it now… today, not when they get round to it.

Do read this blog and the associated posts from all of those involved in this campaign. There will be some very personal stories that we hope may open your eyes to how important blood donors are and how you never know when you may be the recipient of the blood that these wonderful people give.

If you feel that you are ready to donate blood, please go to the Give Blood or Scotblood website to find your nearest blood donor session. Make sure you check out all these other lifesavers who are blogging for blood today:

❤Aisle Rock

❤Anna and the Ring

❤All Wrapped Up Wedding & Event Planners & Coordinators

❤Boho Weddings & Events

❤Bride and Chic

❤Emily Jayne Image Consultancy

❤Fiona Kelly Photography

❤Hannah Dornford-May Photography

❤The Honeymoon Project

❤Mission 2 Wed

❤My Spare Thoughts

❤Plans & Presents Wedding & Event Planning

❤Purple & Pearls

❤Source Images Photography

❤Tamryn Kirby

❤Tattybojangles Vintage Hen House

❤The Wedding Reporter

Personally, I don't ever want to get that call, or sit in that hospital, or be in that bed and think, "I wish I could have done something." The time to act is not when you need it, but before anything has even happened.

I'm one of those maudlin people who always worry about worst case scenarios. Now that I am a wife, my biggest fear is that anything should happen to my husband. He is the air that I breathe, the fire in my loins and the blood in my veins. I cannot stomach the thought that anything should ever happen to him, so I believe in donating blood for him and for the faceless thousands that you and I will never know, but who need our blood to keep going for their own loved ones.

Anna gets wed!

Beans...in the shape of hearts...gettit?!

So I expect that right about now, Anna (you know Anna, from Anna and the Ring, I go on about her all the time because she's amazeballs) will be kicking off her shoes, letting her hair down and having a jolly good jig on the back of a droplet or two of the old vino in celebration of her beautiful wedding today. That is one wedding reception I would love to be at (if it weren't in the wilds of the north east and I was actually invited you understand, I'm not a total wedding crasher...)

If ever there was a more kind-hearted, intuitive, witty and brilliant wedding blogger out there, I've yet to come across them. I am genuinely thrilled that her big day has come at last, after all the highs and lows, and that we had the opportunity to share the process of planning our weddings together. And the funny thing is, we've never even met and yet I've been like an over-excited kid all day waiting to see/hear all about her day.

From the bottom of my heart, I truly wish Anna and the eponymous Bean the longest of happy lifetimes together and I hope that today has been a whole cornucopia of love and emotion as they begin to skip along the (snow-laden!) path that is marriage.

Congratulations and many many kisses! x

Woodhouse Wedding Report - The Summary

In case you missed any part of my epic wedding report, the links below should take you to wherever you want to get. And, as with all my posts, if you click on any of the pictures you should be able to view bigger versions of the images in a pop-out window.

                                   ♥ The Introduction
                                   ♥ Part 1 ~ The Week Before the Wedding
                                   ♥ Part 2 ~ The Morning of the Wedding
                                   ♥ Part 3 ~ The Grand Entrance
                                   ♥ Part 4 ~ The Ceremony
                                   ♥ Part 5 ~ The Blessing & The Speeches
                                   ♥ Part 6 ~ The Wedding Breakfast
                                   ♥ Part 7 ~ The Party
                                   ♥ The Aftermath

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read all of this drivel and to those who have left such lovely comments. It has been brilliant to remember all the minutiae of our wedding day through these recaps and I hope they have been of some entertainment to others!

Is there anything else you want to know? Did I miss something out? Do feel free to ask questions and I will expound on them as soon as I can.

So about this wedding report...

Ah, dear faithful readers. You'll never know how much I appreciate your devotion and tenacity as you wait with bated breath for a blow-by-blow account of the day on which I got hitched. I see you there, logging in on your computers with bright eyes and keen hearts, devouring every detail, salivating over each word, eager for more...

Image courtesy of Source Images*

Of course, you may be waiting a while. It may arrive in fits and starts, falsely promising to be more enjoyable and worth your while than it really is, a bit like the public transport system here in the South West. You may wish you'd watched an egg boil rather than sit through such dross, wasting hours of your life that you will never get back. You may find yourself wondering why I have slipped tenses, changed narrative or swapped to stream of consciousness.

The answer is because I can and I will. I have taken the liberty of editing what was a momentous amount of writing into segments, which will be published as and when I can find time, and as such each section may take a different style to the others. Inconsistent you might say, and I would say, "You should try living in my brain." So, look, I can't promise you it will be interesting or even entertaining, dear readers, but I can promise you this:

It will be thorough. It will be honest. And it will be every little thing I can remember - and I remember a lot because I don't drink and have a vaguely photographic memory. And I'll pepper it with some photos* that you might like to see, just to keep you interested. 

So, if you're ready, strap yourselves in, put on your best reading glasses, and I'll begin...

* Pretty much all photos from here on will be our official wedding photos, captured by Jordan Banks at Source Images. Please do not reproduce or use any of these images in any medium without asking permission first.

Let's hear it for the (blogging) girls

Image source

Following on from Wednesday's post about how supportive Twitter was for me when I got married, I wanted to follow-up with a little more praise for the lovely people who supported me throughout cyberland. I am of course talking about blog posts that were dedicated to yours truly in her hour of utmost hysteria!

I mean, let's be honest here, I would not be writing this daft little online diary were it not for the great sources of information I pull from other blogs, or the inspiration from what I call "proper blogs" instead of my amateurish efforts. They are the reason I started publishing my thoughts about this wedding business and the reason why I continue to read them even now that I'm married is not because I'm a (complete) saddo, but because they're really good. And it takes a lot of work to run a blog (it turns out...) so I am so appreciative to the authors who took time to put something together to mark the passing of our wedding day.

    ❤ I believe that the first one out of the blocks was Fliss over at Any Other Wedding who sent up this message into the ether on the day before the wedding, which I believe I actually read on my iPhone as I languished in bed that morning, trying to avoid my mother!

    ❤ And then there was the (not-so-) secret love of my online life, Miss Anna and the Ring. I got a little bit emotional about her love filled post because I kinda feel like we've gone through this process together and I was the first one past the post. I WILL be returning the favour come the time for her nuptials. Oh, and the picture accompanying her post made me VERY happy!

    ❤ What can I say about the effort that Becca from Beckicklesie and Teresa from Bride on Time went to in order to collate this post? It stemmed from a joke on Twitter about inviting everyone to be a virtual wedding guest at our ceremony and somehow evolved into these lovely ladies collecting photos of everyone glammed up precisely at the time of my wedding ceremony! Very surreal but hilarious and cool and definitely something I think the Twitter community should indulge in every time that one of our own goes forth and gets wed.

    ❤...and then they followed it up with a virtual wedding reception! I'd like to thank Becca and Teresa of course for throwing a brilliant cyber party, as well as ChezBec, MissSLB, Aislerock and Tantrums & Tiaras who turned up to drink virtual cocktails and dance around their handbags on the interweb dancefloor.

I'll be completely honest in that I very nearly missed all of these dedications because it was such a whirlwind at that time. These just happened to catch my attention in my timeline and I appreciate them so much, as well as any others that I may have missed.

One might think that a group of women all chatting together, be it online or in real life, could potentially turn into a massive bitch-fest and in some wedding forums I've stumbled into, that is the case. But I have to say that I could not have felt more loved and supported and I for one have a strange affinity for all you weird folks I've only ever met on the internet -

you're brilliant!

I've always relied on the kindness of strangers

My Mum always says she doesn’t like the internet and social networking sites because she doesn’t understand why you would want to tell complete strangers the inanities of your life. In fairness, she’s a total technophobe and I would never dream of trying to explain to her the wonder of the interwebs.

For my part, my appreciation of Twitter grew tenfold over the wedding as the great and good took time out of their busy lives to drop me 140 characters of love and luck. It was really lovely to check in to my timeline sporadically and see how many folks were rooting for us and excited on my behalf. You’ll never know how great it was when I woke up before 6am on my wedding day and, not wanting to wake anyone else up, I delved into the world of Twitter and read all of these amazing messages.

Because I didn’t have time to reply to them all at the time, I have reproduced them here as an homage to everyone who was thinking of me. The Tweets that follow begin in the week before on the run-up to the wedding, and finish the morning after…

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mysparethoughts: eeee so excited for you! Have an amazing day!

ChezBec: V special #FF this morning to the wonderful @Cloggins. Wishing you the most amazing wedding day tmrw, we’ll be thinking of you. With love. X

HGWeddingLounge: wishing you a fantastic day tomorrow! Enjoy every last second of it! X

Tattybojangles: Feel very excited today but I think it’s for @Cloggins. Enjoy your last day as a Miss, Miss :)

JonKeithDiamond: Ahhh how exciting! Enjoy! RT @Tattybojangles Feel very excited today but I think it’s for @Cloggins. Enjoy your last day as a Miss, Miss :)

CatHepple: wishing you a dream day tomorrow x

BowOccasions: Wishing you and your hubby all the best for tomorrow. I hope the sun shines for you xx

BenFuncFit: No workouts this weekend due to my little sister, @Cloggins getting married but watch out for Monday when we are gonna hit it hard!!

Gemmawatts1982: here’s to your last day as a Miss, becoming a Mrs tomorrow & to a very happy future together. Wishing you the perfect day hun xx

TIWP: Hope you have a fantastic day tomorrow. Enjoy every minute of it :-) Can’t wait to hear all about it! X

PurpleandPearls: Happy Wedding Eve!! Xxx

ColiriQuartet: sends the lovely Ms. @Cloggins every good wish for her final day of prep, and amazing, sunny day tomorrow x

Cakesandbunting: congrats for tomorrow! So excited for you!!!xxx

Gemmawatts1982: A very special #ff to our favourite b2b @Cloggins – have an absolutely fantastic day tomorrow sweet. We’ll all be thinking of you xx

Anyotherwedding: Because @Cloggins is getting married…and flippin heck, it’s tomorrow! Blog Post

TheArtOfCake: It’s the eve of @Cloggins wedding! I’m assuming she’ll be too busy to tweet so join me in wishing her and Mr C lots of love and all the best.

Olotwittwoo: A big mwah and wedding congratulations to @cloggins much love for tomorrow

Alisonduker: good luck tomorrow!

Leighann_photo: Have the best day ever tomorrow Emma! Hope everything is perfect for you! Tweet some pics if you get a chance x

LeTrousseau: Have a great day tomorrow, looks like the fun’s started already!

BridesandBeauty: Wishing you all the best for your wedding day tomorrow!! Xx

Divamarketing: Wishing you a wonderful magical and loving life together xxxx

Relaxedbride: so excited for you. Weather is perfect for a wedding x

Markskeetphoto: just in case I don’t get chance tomorrow have the most amazing day!

MrsPandP: Relaxing looks great honey, try and have an early night, tho u probably won’t sleep a wink. Tomorrow is a very big day xxx

Cherrypielane: Ooooh, good luck and enjoy, you’ll have a fab time, you lucky, lucky lady!! :-)

Makeupbykaty: I already marinaded my chicken this morning so my kebabs tonight are going to be delish! Need my energy for @Cloggins tomorrow!! Wedding!!!

Edinburghbrides: Wishing you all the happiness in the world for your wedding day tomorrow!! Xx

LoveMyDressBlog: ……er, isn’t it tomorrow?!?!?!?!! xXx

Annaandthering: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

MrsPandP: #FF @Cloggins A beautiful bride in just one more sleep…exciting.com!

EmmaCase: @annaandthering @cloggins I’m coming in for on of those too… Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Frilldesigns: Wow you must be excited now! Have an amazing day tomorrow! X

Beautyreigns: Good luck for tomorrow! Hope it goes really smoothly and you have a wonderful day! Enjoy yourself! Xxx

_han: Ultra special #FF to @Cloggins who will be a missus tomorrow. Have a beautiful & fantastic day xxx

VivPoppySparkle:  Lots of good wishes to @Cloggins for tomorrow – have a wonderful wedding day xx

Abespokedesign: RT @ VivPoppySparkle:  Lots of good wishes to @Cloggins for tomorrow – have a wonderful wedding day xx>> oooo yes! Have fab time! Xxx

Tattybojangles: Have a fantastic day xxx

EerieIndie: FFS, woman! Go! Sleep! Be married! Enjoy! We’ll all be agog to hear about it after but go, be with family!

LWBwedding: exciting! How quickly has this week gone!! Have an amazing time tomorrow lovely xxx

Surreyweddings: and me too! Much love for tomorrow and always xxx

OneBigPresent:  Good luck with the wedding wind! Think you should spread it around…just like the love!

Thehoneymoonpro: Hope you have a most fantastic day!

NaturallyCon: The best day of your life so far. Together you can achieve everything. Don’t see the day as something to get thru. Commit, savour.

OurDaybyDesign: Have a fantastic day; enjoy every second of it!

BrideOnTime: Hope you manage to get a good nights kip (as if!!) Have a fab day tomorrow, will be thinking of u at 3pm xxxx

ChezBec: Wishing the lovely @Cloggins a truly magical wedding today. Thinking of you and hoping your hair pins sparkle for you all day xxx

FO_Photography:  Here’s wishing @Cloggins and Mr @Cloggins a fabulous wedding day filled with joy, happiness & food : -)!!!!

Makeupbykaty: Good morning all. Just having my weetabix before leaving for my drive to do make up for @cloggins on her wedding day! Whooop!!

Annaandthering: Have theeee most fabulous day my lover!

MoreThanWordArt: Have a WONDERFUL day!!!! Xx

LoveMyDressBlog: Thinking of you today soon to be Mrs! : -) xXx

MrsPandP: Give our lovely @Cloggins a fab wedding present. Wld be gr8 for her 2 come beck to 500 followers, show ur support to todays gorgeous bride!

W_W_WeddingBlog: hope today goes perfectly and you have the day of your dreams : -) cannot wait to chat all about it when your back! Mwah! Xx

DjBenM: Wow… it’s here, up and getting ready for my little sister’s big day!

DjBenM: Gotta do a reading for @Cloggins too… Hope I don’t turn into Joey from Friends! “Having and holding…Giving and receiving….” Lol

BrideOnTime: Remember everyone at 3pm we have to tweet pics of ourselves wearing a hat for @cloggins wedding. Don’t forget!!! #virtualweddingguests

Edinburghbrides: best of luck beautiful bride, enjoy every minute!!!

Bigdaydiscounts: Hope you have a lovely day! Xx

Suzewearsshoes: Happy wedding day pretty lady! Have an amazing day, mkay? : ) x

WeddingGenie: Enjoy every single moment!! Have the best day ever xx

PurpleandPearls: Happy wedding day @Cloggins! Hope it’s a super beautiful wedding day!!! Xxx

London_bride: @makeupbykaty I hope you are getting @Cloggins looking super duper fabulous for her wedding today!! How exciting!

MrsPandP: Hey honey, if any of the day gets a bit overwhelming, just step back, breathe and remember there are 413 people holding ur hand x [I loved this tweet and told everyone who asked if I was nervous about it. It really helped!]

BlueLightsPhoto: I hope today goes beautifully for you! :D xx

Beckicklesie: Has anyone got a pic of themselves glammed up to add to @cloggins #virtualweddingguest post?

Gemmawatts1982: Happy wedding day lovely lady! Hope you’re enjoying it. Xx

Makeupbykaty: Well. She’s nearly ready!! @cloggins is getting married in half an hour!!!

Fifi_gi: @makupbykaty can’t wait to see the pics! @Cloggins this is exciting! Congratulations : )

WeddingsbyISIS: Have  wonderful day and a beautiful life together xxx

LobsterLove: Waiting for the bride @cloggins #virtualweddingguests

BrideOnTime: Send your hat pics to @beckicklesie ready for @cloggins wedding #virtualweddingguests

Beckicklesie: Take a look at @Cloggins Virtual Wedding Guests Blog Post

MrsPandP: @makeupbykaty so need all the goss on @Cloggins? Hope you had an ace day x

MrsPandP: Really hope @cloggins has had the most perfect day, I can’t wait to hear all about it!

MrsPandP: Hey Mrs Married, hope everything went perfectly and here’s to the first day of the rest of your life x

DjBenM: Loved every second of the @Cloggins wedding including busting some pretty cool shapes on the dancefloor. So happy for the newly weds!! Xxx

Jayneyedwards: She’s done it @Cloggins is married! And what an absolutely incredible day it was! The girl done good.

 

I'm back baby!

It is exactly one month today since we got married.

I have been struggling to find an appropriate response when people ask how the wedding went. All the tried and tested adjectives – perfect, magical, amazing – just don’t seem to encapsulate how much I loved our wedding day and everything that went into it. I am searching for something that does justice to what a good time it was.

Even though I think I was really quite calm and laid back about the whole affair, I think that I, like many others, entered into it feeling a bit stressed about making a party that everyone would enjoy and worrying that I wouldn’t look as good as I hoped. In reality, the second that I walked through that door to the ceremony, I forgot every single concern I had ever had and literally only had eyes for Nick.

It was like being in a bubble, just the two of us, revelling in a feeling of a total and utter exaltation. I genuinely had no idea I could feel so happy. I felt like I was falling deeper in love every single second (and I was already really quite in love before we began, so that was pretty intense!). I loved knowing that all our family and friends had made the effort to be there, just for us. It was just the nicest experience of my whole life.

And who knew that getting married would be so much fun?! I literally laughed all day long, apart from when I was crying – but they were happy tears! In pretty much all of the pictures that I’ve seen so far, Nick and I are both grinning from ear to ear because we were having the time of our lives. We’re both really happy with how the day went and spent most of our honeymoon marvelling at the fact that everything went as planned and was even better than either of us had imagined.

I don’t think that either of us were truly prepared for how epic it would be to pledge our lives to each other, out loud, in front of our loved ones; or for the extra sense of connection we now have as a result. Given that we have been together for 6 years, neither of us were particularly expecting marriage to make a momentous difference to our lives. And it hasn’t. Our day-to-day lives are just the same – he spends too much time on the playstation whilst I’m scouring the internet – and yet… Everything is different. More. Better. It’s completely indescribable. Somehow it just feels like we have more ‘togetherness’.

So here we are, back in the real world, man and wife. Our wonderful day in the limelight is over and the world continues to turn. I don’t miss the planning or the logistics or the worrying, but I do sort of miss having a wedding to look forward to. On the other hand, I have the most gorgeous memories to look back on and the most awesome husband to share them with, as long as we both shall live.

Full wedding report to follow on arrival of professional photos!

For Sale: 1 x Wedding Blogger

This is a pre-recorded post!

So, I’m married.

Where do we go from here?

This blog has essentially been the story of my journey from a girl who was clueless about weddings because she never thought she would get married, to a fully submerged bridezilla, complete with panics over nothing and hissy-fits to make Elton John proud.

Once I’m done with talking about the actual day as it happened, I would like to think that there will still be something left to say. However, Cake for Breakfast has become quite a personal story and I’m not sure how well it will adapt to a more generic take on the wonderful world of weddings.

What I do know is that I have loved having this space to write in. Having a regular output is both a glorious pleasure and a healthy factor in my life. I always did want to be a newspaper columnist, and since all my journalism textbooks got burnt to a crisp during a fire, this is the closest I’ve come to feeling the gratification of people reading my words as I parp on about whatever I like.

There are plans in the pipeline that I hope will come to fruition, but I cannot say much more about them just yet.

What I can tell you is I’m open for offers. I’m happy to submit guest blogging posts, reviews, write-ups, features or whatever you need. I am fully open for business and happy to consider whatever crazy-ass schemes you can cook up for me. Now that I’m engaged with this wedding industry I want more and I don’t want to let go.

So, if you fancy it, drop me a line and once I’m back from the beach we’ll chat up whatever future projects you might have in mind. Go on, you know you want to....

It's happening right now

This is a pre-recorded post!

When I was thinking of what to put in this post to mark the fact that right now Nick and I are actually getting married, it all seemed a bit trite and melodramatic. And then I found this scraggy bit of paper in his wallet that he must have been carrying around for about 5 years and I thought it probably summed everything up quite nicely.

My Boyfriend is the Best Boyfriend I Could Ever Wish For Because:

• He says he knew the moment he saw me that we would be together. Even if it's not true it's a really flattering thing to say.
• He supported my stupid degree (and all my tantrums about essays and teachers).
• He was first to introduce me to his family and friends.
• He's not afraid of my mother, or my upbringing.
• He took me on holiday after 4 months.
• He doesn't pretend to be good at romantic things. Like remembering my birthday. Hint.
• He wants me to achieve great things.
• He mentioned marriage, mortgages and joint accounts before I did.
• He makes me laugh all the time, even when he tells crap jokes.
• He buys me cereal.
• He makes sure I eat properly.
• When he tells me he loves me I know he really means it.
• He let me throw his stinky old unused clothes out.
• He doesn't get cross when I fall asleep on him on the couch and dribble on his shirt.
• He lets me live in his flat.
• He doesn't get annoyed when I have a funny turn and can't stop crying.
• He cuddles me all the time, especially when he's asleep.
• He bought me a computer. And a camcorder. And a camera.
• He believes in me, even though I don't believe in myself.
• He makes me happy and content without even knowing he does it.
• He talks to me about everything, even stuff I don't really understand, so that I feel included in all parts of his life.
• He taught me about football.
• He taught me about drinking.
• He taught me about good films (or bad ones).
• He teaches me a lot actually.
• He makes me feel like a 'somebody'.
• He wants the same things from life as me.
• He makes me smile just by seeing him next to me first thing in the morning.
• He knows that bigger and better things are yet to come.
• He makes me feel strong.
• He's the only person I would ever consider ruining my body for if he wanted his own children because I think he'd be a hilarious father.
• He watches The O.C. and Big Brother with me.
• He makes sure we do things together so that we don't get stuck in a rut.
• He lets me rant at him.
• He's got a big willy.
• ...and he knows how to use it. ;-)

Have Your Cake & Eat It

Previously on Cake for Breakfast...

☆ Sunday - Sunday Sign-Out

☆ Monday - Last night was...

☆ Tuesday - Rock n' Roll Bride ~ Kat Williams

☆ Wednesday - Emma Case Photography

☆ Thursday - Anna and the Ring

☆ Friday - Love My Dress ~ Annabel Beeforth

As you will probably have cottoned on by now, I will be getting married this time next week. As such, there's going to be limited output from here on out. I have been beavering away to make sure there's still some stuff for you to look at, but I'm sure you'll forgive my notable absence as we head into the final countdown, last minute preparations and the big wedding day itself.

I really am genuinely grateful to all the bloggers I've featured this week. From the record amount of page hits I've had this week, it's good to know that you all love them too. I hope these posts can act as a small token of gratitude for all the inspiration and support the whole online wedding community has given little old me throughout this process.

Anyway, enough about me, I hope you have a truly great week, and feel free to drop me a line to keep me sane whilst I run around like a blue-arsed fly!