It's official!!

Today we booked the reception venue!
But first a short update on my life..
After a nice holiday with Simon and his parents up in the Lake District, we travelled back to London for my graduation which was so great!

Swimming in the Lake District

graduation

I graduated with a Bmus 2:1 (hons)! Exciting times! The same day I had an audition and had a good week going in and out of London doing lots of singing. Simon left for France, and I won't see him now until September :(

A while ago my mum and me went to look at some hotels for the reception and really liked the look of one. Today we went back with my dad and booked it! Whilst on holiday Simon and I looked through the brochure and chose a nice menu. I was sad that he couldn't be there to look round, but he trusts my judgement and is (most importantly from his opinion) happy with the food. 

Now the church and reception are booked, it is officially happening and on the 1st of March 2014 I shall become Mrs Leighton and begin a whole new adventure.

A busy few days!

So much has happened since I last posted!!!
Firstly, I sent off cards that I had made to four girls asking if they would be my bridesmaids! I haven't made cards since before uni and it was just so lovely to do something creative and fun.

Next, Simon came down for 24 hours... there has never been such a productive 24 hours! During that time he chose the suits, we looked at rings, we met with the vicar, looked at the church and even looked at a venue and did a third draft of the guestlist! Madness!

Talking with the vicar was really good actually. She told us all about the symbolism of the ceremony - including many things we didn't know! Apparently, in the service, the family of the groom sit behind him and the family of the bride sit behind her too. Then at the end they all pair up and walk out together to symbolise the joining of two families! Also, after the vows, the bride and groom walk together to the alter, so that their first steps as husband and wife are towards God! All pretty cool really!

Simon has said I can essentially choose where we go on honeymoon seeing as I am obsessed with travelling, so I have had a great time flicking through holiday brochures!

After Simon went home, Cathie (my housemate from uni and one of my bridesmaids) came down for two days, which was really good fun. I also went to my home church, which I haven't been at in ages and caught up with everyone there. The women were loving the proposal story!

So yep, my life at the moment! Lots of fun!

Unpacking my life and seeing the church!

I stayed at Simon's house and saw him graduate the other day. It was such a privilege to celebrate with him and his family. The next day we wrote a guestlist for the wedding and started brainstorming ideas. Because Simon is a very clever man, he set up a folder on both of our computers which we can both access and drop wedding ideas into. We have all sorts of different little folders with loads of exciting things inside!!!

This morning, my best friend Mel, Mum, my brother and myself went to go and check out the local church. Mum suggested it a while ago. We will be getting married in the winter, so would like to have a pretty church for nice photographs, seeing as the weather outside won't be so great. The local church was so lovely and definitely big enough to seat everyone we want to invite. I let Simon know, so he booked train tickets down later this week so we can both go and meet the vicar and talk to her about dates! We should have a date soon! How exciting!

The rest of today was spend unpacking two years worth of university stuff. I have moved back to my parent's house for the summer, with plans to return to London in September, and then obviously move in with Simon after the wedding. It is such an exciting time of life! Simon also sent me information about vows and the service, so we can think about the service content and take this to the vicar. We both want the service to be the most important bit of the day, and so we want to make sure it is super special!