Bride Diaries - Vol. 5 - Gemma Foxlow

Good morning to all of you! Another June bride entry today from the stunning Gemma who wishes all her fellow bride-to-be's a huge congratulations! Gemma is still in disbelief that she has the best day of her life to come in a few weeks time. 

Gemma and her fiance, Elliot, met in school!  He was older than her but they attended the same primary school, yes primary school. Little did they know that back then, when finger painting was the peak of their day, that 15 years later they would be tying the knot and planning to spend the rest of their lives together. So who knows, if you've not met the one for you, maybe you need to organise a primary school reunion. 

Gemma told us that her engagement could not have been any more perfect. In August 2016 whilst on holiday in dreamy Italy, Elliot took her to a picturesque castle in Tuscany that overlooked the most incredible lake, and there he asked her to be his WIFE! It was in true Disney style Gemma told us. Luckily, Gemma's brother and sister-in-law were there to capture the moment and little to Gemma's knowledge, the whole propasal was actually being streamed live on Facebook. Cute. From that day, the planning commenced...

Choosing the venue was such a hard decision for them both and they were both quite particular in what they wanted. It had to meet a criteria that they set, which admittadly was quite high, but looking back, the numerous trips to various places was definitely worth it. In the end, Gemma ended up discovering a little hideaway only 40 miles away from where she lives which turned out to be the venue they had been looking for. Gemma gave some advice and said try not to rush into finding a venue and setting a date; at the end of the day, you spend your whole childhood dreaming of your wedding day so of course it has to be perfect! 

THE DRESS. Of course, every bride wants to tell us about this. Gemma visited a small boutique close to her town. She said it was stunning and all the dresses were beautiful, but Gemma had no idea as to what style or type of dress she wanted. Gemma felt tremendous amounts of stress during the dress hunting stage, but ultimately, it is going to be the most important shopping trip of your entire life so we aren't suprised. Scary. And anyway, there's always prosecco to clam you down afterwards. Most brides that talk about their dress says "you'll know when you find the one", and Gemma said this too. She told us that it is definitely a 'worth the wait' moment and the feeling you get when you know you've found thee dress is immense! 

Suprisingly, or perhaps not, Gemma said the hardest task of the whole wedding was finalising the dreaded guest list. Gemma and Elliot are having a very intimate wedding with just close friends and family there, even though they would've loved a big wedding they decided that it just wasn't realistic. Another tough decision that they made was to have the wedding as an adult only occasion and lucklily for them, they have very understanding friends and family who were totally okay with their choice. Gemma said that she just had to remember that no matter what, there is no pleasing everyone and it's their day. As brutal as Gemma thought this sounded, we couldn't agree more. 

Both Gemma and Elliot are both in amazement that they have gone from a countdown of, it's in 2018, to it's next year, to it's in a few months, now it's a weekly countdown! It has been the most exiciting lead up for them both and everything is coming together nicely. They set a realistic budget and haven't gone silly with expenditure whilst keeping their theme pretty and most importantly stress free. Gemma's aim was to not become a bridezilla to prove her fiance wrong as he instantly assumed this is the role she would fulfill. Typical man!

Gemma said that planning a wedding is an extremely stressful time despite the wonderful outcome and it has it's up's and down's. She has experienced some extremely exiting yet emotional times but she said she has been very lucky to have her best friend's and husband-to-be helping her with the planning process. She told us that the one thing she has learnt and wishes to tell her fellow bride-to-be's is that the day is about YOU and marrying the love of your life and absolutely nothing else should matter. Gemma said she knows it's easier said than done but it's something which she had to remind herself on a weekly, if not a daily basis. Gemma and Elliot are now finalising the remainder of their plans and enjoying the last bit of the run up to the big day.

We absoutely can't wait to do a follow up blog about Gemma's wedding and although all weddings are amazing, there is something about this childhood sweethearts wedding that sparked up the exitement inside me.  

Happy wedding planning ladies and don't forget to tick confetti from your list this weekend!