Favours

Sooo... the big day is nearly here, the dress is almost finished and the activity packs for the children are done.

Tine to turn to the favours. I have decided on simple ginger biscuits. The original idea was complicated and intricate, with pizza box holders acting as tiers between two biscuit bases to imitate a wedding cake.

The reality is simpler, because the biscuits wouldn't fit the bags I bought for them.

To make the biscuits, sieve 350g plain flour into a bowl, add 3 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1tsp bicarb, then mix with 180g brown sugar, some salt and about 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
In a pan, melt 125g butter and add 75g golden syrup. Leave the mixture to cool and them mix with the dry ingredients. Add 1tsp orange extract and 2-3 squeezes squeezy ginger, add 1 egg and knead with your fingers until thoroughly mixed. Add extra flour if necessary.

Form 30-40 small balls from the dough and press lightly onto grease-proof paper on a baking tray. Bake at 160 degrees C for 15-18min and then leave to cool on a rack before transferring to a tin.

I haven't made the icing yet, but it will be 250g icing sugar mixed with a little water and milk (for the colour), then use piping to add letters and other silliness. pictures to follow soon.

Wedding Post Box

Wedding post boxes can be as simple or as extravagant as you make them. Given the time left, I went for the simplest solution I could find.

That we have recently moved house means that boxes are in plentiful supply, so I simple picked one of the small ones and masking-taped the sides and top shut. The masking tape would ensure that the box stayed closed whilst at the same time providing a good surface to paint on. If I'd had more time, I would have taped the whole box as that would have given it a wooden-looking texture under the paint.

As it is, I cut a larger-than standard letter hole and applied 2 coats of the blackboard paint left over from the frames I have done a while back.

A liquid chalk pen - also used on the frames - ensured a nice finish to the writing, which we kept simple at the front and silly on the sides (one side has a flying love letter painted on it and the other features a rather childish love heart with our initials in it).

A few gems left over from the invitations and a few ornamental stickers left from the guest book completed the box within less than an half and hour, excluding drying time.

Menus and place cards

They were rather easy things to make, I admit. Using Microsoft Publisher, I used fairly generic design templates and added the writing in Verdana. Same-size boxes ensured that the cards could be folded neatly. I have a trimmer at home for work, so used that to get an even finish. The place cards and A5 menus were printed off onto white card, of which we got a pack of 50 from Hobbycraft,

This is an international wedding, so we needed both an English and a German version for the menus.

Dress update

Sooo, it's been another week and I haven't had time to do anything remotely do do with the wedding. Work was crazy and I am very panicky about getting it all done in time now. Today's shown a lot of progress, what with finished menus, a seating order, a table plan and place cards, as well as a started letter box.

But the dress is another matter.
It's shoulder straps are done - I've used ribbon to keep it simple - but with the whole bottom still needing draping, it's looking like another all-nighter. Having said that, I am pleased with it. The top fits perfectly, the bottom sits nicely around my curves and I actually look a lot slimmer than I am.

The shoulders that I've been so worried about now look okay and I may even leave the beads off them after all. So really, it's just the skirt. I will attempt to fix the messed-up thread tension on my sewing machine and give it another go.

But have the picture as an impression of what I've been doing.

And finally, a big THANK YOU. 1000 views cracked!

Finally connected!

Aargh! After a month and a half without any internet access, I am finally back online. So much has happened in the meantime, it is unbelievable. I will endeavor to post updates on the dress, the table decorations and anything else we have made as soon as I can now to bring everyone up to speed again.