Tag Archives: wedding

wedding flowers lavender, paper anniversary – In a Vase on Monday 1 October 2018

This week I’ve been thinking of the past…it’s was our first wedding anniversary last week. My favourite flower is lavender, we got married in late September when it’s in its full glory – we grew lavender plants for all the table decorations, it was in my bouquet, mentioned in quotes. It was both a decoration and as a colour in our bunting. The smell of lavender brings back so many happy memories, not just of our wedding day. Our wedding was purple, floral and fabulous.

So for my In a Vase on Monday – I went to pick lavender from our garden as I did a year ago, I picked eucalyptus to represent my wonderful Australian family. it’s from a huge tree at the end of our street. The vase is one I glazed a couple of weeks ago – it’s raku glaze. I don’t usually photograph the vases in detail but I thought you’d all like to see the shimmery glaze.

I learnt the technique at Create in Bolton – I wrote about making a clay daisy flower for the garden last week for my In a Vase on Monday.

Making a pottery daisy 26 September 2018

lavender euchalyptus blue raku vase quote

lavender and eucalyptus in a blue raku vase I glazed

The thing with raku glazing is you don’t quite know how it will come out. It’s an interesting process, there are fire, alchemy and sawdust involved 🙂 I’ll write about this in more detail another time, after our next raku firing session.

raku pottery vase – shades of blue, green, copper, white.

As usual, I’m joining in with Cathy from Rambling in the Garden for In a Vase on Monday. Do have a look at what she’s and the gardening bloggers from around the world have picked for their vases this week

Quote from the song – you and me by you + me

The quote in the frame is my ‘paper anniversary’ gift to my awesome husband; it’s from a special song we played at our ceremony:

You and me were always with each other
Before we knew the others was ever there
You and me we belong together
Just like a breath needs the air
I told you if you called I would come runnin’
Across the highs the lows and the in between…

‘you and me’ written and sung by you + me

Do have a look at the YouTube video it’s beautiful You and Me – You + Me

Liz from Echo Design made the quote frame for me for my ‘paper’ 1st wedding anniversary present for my wonderful husband.

Our wedding – flower and love filled

It was our paper anniversary last week. I realised I hadn’t really written very much about wedding last year on a gloriously sunny day in September – it was very ‘full-on’ for most of 2017 and this year too. I wasn’t very well last year, high arthritis pain levels, so it took a great deal of energy to organise our wedding even though it was a team effort.

We got married in the garden, had an afternoon tea, two wedding cakes, and a hog roast. There was music til late – love, laughter and happiness celebrating with our family and friends from near and far. My wonderful Brother was in my thoughts as he always is. He’s in everyone’s heart and always will be. My awesome sister in law and my brilliant nieces were crucial to our wedding day – it was just brilliant that they were there to celebrate with us.

irregular choice purple floral candy whistle shoes and purple, lavender, rose wedding bouquet

Our wedding flowers

The flowers in my wedding bouquet have very special meanings for us – I’ll write about that another time – we picked the flowers with our florist – she said grooms hardly ever come to meet her – and she says it’s a shame. I’ll write another time how to work with a florist to choose a bouquet and flowers for your special occasion. There’s eucalyptus, the lilac rose is the same colour as ones in my wonderful sister in laws garden in Australia – and lavender there’s always lavender 🙂

groom in a grey suit with wife in purple flower wedding dress walking on the grass in a garden

with my husband at Abbeywood Estate Cheshire, September 2017 – Photo by Sara Porter Photography

My wedding dress and headpiece were made for me by the awesome Rachel and Charlotte at Legend Bridal in Great Harwood Lancashire. They are truly wonderful people and interpreted just what I wanted – a ‘posh, party dress I could wear again’ to perfection – and I felt like a Queen 🙂 I hope to write more about the process of working with them soon.

www.legendbridaldesigns.co.uk

We got married at Abbeywood Estate in Cheshire

www.abbeywoodestate.co.uk

I could write so much about my wonderful husband but I’ll just say ‘I love him mind, body and spirit’ and the day he burst into my life, things changed for the better, forever.

*****

Reflecting on everything that’s happened this year and last, I’m reminded;

‘Life isn’t a dress rehearsal, twirl the dress, wear the shoes, eat cake, drink gin, go adventures with those you love’

This is why I write ‘Carpe Diem’ to signoff my posts.

*****

Do you have a favourite flower? I know that’s a tricky one for my gardening readers – especially as your favourite isn’t even a flower you can even grow in your own garden 😉

Carpe Diem

Love Bec xxx xxx

In a Vase on Monday – love and marriage #teamRebecca

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‘You have made a place in my heart where I thought there was no room for anything else. You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stones’. Robert Jordan (1948-2007) author of The Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels

Spring is definitely on its way here in Manchester – I LOVE Spring, it lifts my soul. But,as usual the weather is due to change again, so I’m making the most of the sunshine.

The snowdrops have been flowering for a couple of weeks, dwarf irises, crocuses too. I picked some along with some lavender leaves and flower spikes from last year. The vase is purple recycled glass I bought at the Eden Centre, in Cornwall. It’s appeared many times ‘In a Vase on Monday’.

Do have a look at Rambling in the Garden www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/ where bloggers from around the world present their flowers; there’s such amazing diversity and skill. Many thanks to Cathy who hosts IAVOM – she has some stunning iris this week.

20 February 2018 – iris, crocus, snowdrops, lavender in a purple glass vase

With my vase I’ve included a print which says some very important words in French, Spanish, Italian German and English 🙂 The Little jar is a wedding favour with a chocolate mousse/pudding. It was luscious. My Chap laughed when I said ‘Oh look another Vase for Monday flowers’ 😉

20 February 2018 – my vase, sign ‘I love you’ and chocolate mousse jar

It’s been a week full of love for us: it was Valentine’s Day, we always have a relaxed meal at home, unless we’re at a gig 🙂 As ever, My Chap bought me flowers, he does this regularly. I think he likes bouquets nearly as much as I do, but then he does work in the florist industry.

Roses

Adventures around Manchester and beyond…

A very special wedding – My Chap’s nephew Darren and his fiancee Rebecca who awesome people and devoted parents to baby E 🙂 . E enjoyed their day v v much and she had a wand! how excellent is that? Darren and Rebecca got married in a beautiful Georgian Hall, with many snowdrops in the grounds. There was what alot of laughs and fun, there was live music and we danced all night. Their wedding cake was truly amazing and tasted awesome – a chocolate cake with hidden depths 🙂

There was so much love that day, and every day in their relationship, it’s wonderful to see.

20 February 2018 – wedding flowers, wands and my wedding shoes 🙂

I wore my sparkly purple floral wedding shoes too 🙂 and Rebecca had beautiful wedding flowers #teamRebecca. I’m not putting any other pictures at the moment as they’ve not uploaded many – but their wedding cake was utterly awesome.

Food as an expression of love – We’ve had lovely food this week too – pancakes with blueberry sauce on Shrove Tuesday, made by My Chap. I’ve got no idea how he made the sauce but it was lovely. We a sumptuous Chinese dinner to celebrate the ‘Year of the Dog’ but no photos as we ate it so quickly. My Chap would still love to have a dog but we will have to wait until we are retired…. fingers crossed a cat may be joining us later in the year.

Here are some crocuses and pansies from our front garden – many more are on their way.

20 February 2018 -crocuses, primulas and pansies in our front garden

I’m continuing with mindfulness, #savouringHappiness on instragram @becinmonton. Walking for at least an hour each day, weekly yoga too (not quite managing to step it up to daily yoga practise). I’m still very tired, my arthritis aching, but I’m better than I was. And Spring is around the corner…. 🙂

What do you have planned to #savourhappiness this week?

Carpe Diem

Love Bec xx xx xx

In a Vase on Monday: Violet (not Blue) Monday in Manchester

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‘Joy comes to us in ordinary moments. We risk missing out when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary’ Professor Brene Brown, University of Houston – asocialworkacademicwithexpertiseincourage, vulnerability and empathy.

#BlueMonday is made up

It’s not #BlueMonday in Manchester, or anywhere else, today; it was made up to sell holidays and products. It did remind me of Blue Monday by New Order, one of my favourite Manchester bands. Happy memories of gigs over the years too. But all the emphasis about negativity with ‘Blue Monday’ certainly doesn’t help people, so I liked the idea of #brewmonday promoted by the Samaritans (www.samaritans.org/)- have a brew with friends and talk.

It has been raining heavily most of the day, but the clouds cleared briefly, so I dashed around the garden looking for flowers, the hellebores are showing no signs of flowering, there were just a few shaggy flowers on the perennial purple wallflower. There was just a solitary viola tucked away – I decided to pair it with a small bottle which contained Manchester Gin, the flower still has raindrops on it. The quote jumped out at me too – sums up my thinking on looking for the positive in small moments. I try to look for the positive, in the small things in life, as well as the big things.

I’ve had violas appear many times in my Vases on a Monday, we had violas at our wedding too. Oh and by the way, my favourite Manchester-made Gin is Manchester Raspberry – lovely especially with fresh raspberries obviously :-).

Do have a look at Rambling in the Garden where Cathy hosts In A Vase on a Monday – where gardening bloggers from around the world add links to their vases. Always beautiful, interesting or unusual – including plenty of southern hemisphere bloggers who brighten my days in the depths of Winter here.

Adventures around Manchester this week

We had our first meeting of the year at Cottonopolis WI (Ancoats, Manchester) I paid my subs, voted on the resolution shortlist, and heard about the activities for the year. It was lovely to see everyone and catch up on news. I didn’t finish my piece of bunting but nearly there – I’m very slow at sewing. I’m looking forward to more adventures #IamWI #InspiringWomen.

Join us for a brew and cake if you’re local. We’re going to meet on first Tuesday evening of the month – so it will be #brewtuesday not #brewmonday, but you get the idea. I

I’m continuing with #selfcare, daily mindfulness, and yoga classes twice a week. I’m reading more about selfcare too. We’ve been walking every day despite the weather.

Instagram #savouringJanuary2018

DAY 14: JOY. There’s joy in the ordinary days (#onehouroutside a walk around our neighbourhood) and the unique days (our wedding day last year). But as Brene mentions, don’t just chase the extraordinary….

15 January 2018 – Our shoes from our wedding day and on our walk around Monton

DAY 15: BEAUTY I chose the photos below, revelling in the beauty of flowers in small places and vast. I need time outdoors, in the garden, in the woods, in the wild countryside and by the sea. I’ve said this many times in this blog – it’s vital to my selfcare and my routine.

We visit Bodnant often; we got engaged there in June 2016 in the Rose Garden. Bodnant is owned by the National Trust. It is near Conwy, in North Wales. It’s a stunning garden anytime of year, with views over Snowdonia.

Bodnant Gardens – www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bodnant-garden

15 January 2018 – Bodnant Gardens, Colwyn Bay – beauty of flowers in small and grand places

I’m enjoying following #savouringJanuary2018 as it’s reminding me of what matters to me, goals and time to reflect. I’m still working on my CompassYear goals – small steps.

It’s not too late to get involved in the photo prompts with Gabrielle Treanor on Instagram (@gabrielletreanor).

See what I pick next… For Day 16: OLD…..

Follow me on Twitter: @becinmonton Instagram: @becinmonton

***

Monday 15th January is, however, Martin Luther King Day, in the USA (his birthday), so I’ll leave you with an MLK quote which resonates with me…

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do keep moving forward’ Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

We all need to continue with Martin Luther King’s work…

Keep going, keep moving, keep growing,

and remember #BlueMonday is made up – don’t take any notice of this psychobabble

*****

What are you planning this week?

The weather is looking horrible here in the North West so I don’t think there will be much gardening – but I’ll be crafting.

Carpe Diem,

Love Bec xx xx xx

Wear the (wedding) shoes – be irregular. Life isn’t a dress rehearsal

Happiness – five things that helped #2 17 May 2017

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It’s been glorious weather for most of the week here in Manchester, I’ve managed to get out in the garden every day, even if it was just to water things. It’s been bone dry and both our waterbutts are empty. Thinking about happiness and gratitude this week I could, of course, show you a picture of plants in my garden, as that always makes me happy. Likewise, My Chap lights up my life :-). But, this would be a bit of a cop-out for a weekly gratitude post, so I think I’ll feature them on special occasions only.

1. Choosing music for our wedding

We aren’t having a DJ at our wedding, instead, we are going to have a digital playlist. We spent a happy Saturday night in listening to tunes old and new – and thank goodness for digital download sites. We’re going to have lots of different playlists for different parts of the day. The tunes is going to reflect our somewhat ‘eclectic’ music tastes. Lots of indie classics too.

2. Lost a stone

Blue one stone slimming world award and book

12 May 2017 – slimming world one stone award and book

Given everything that’s been happening since Christmas, I’m really pleased to have managed to lose some weight, without going nuts on a silly diet. I’m fortunate to go to supportive groups and have a great consultant who’s a really good cook. Ive got no number in my mind, just to fit into smaller jeans, help my arthritis pain and not look frumpy in my wedding dress. Onwards and downwards 🙂

3. Rock and Roll Bride magazine arrived

Rock and roll bride magazines - blue haired and pink haired ladies

12 May 2017 – Rock and Roll Bride magazines

As I mentioned before ours is a very unconventional wedding, I was a bit lost looking for inspiration in the wedding magazines – all stick thin, 20-somethings with huge flouncy, sparkly, strapless, ivory flocks – and everything very expensive. None of it was what My Chap and I wanted for our day. We had very clear ideas about what we wanted, and what we didn’t, but didn’t know how to find suppliers apart from trawling the Internet…

Then I spied a magazine front with a lady in a gold dress and her husband in tweed – both with plenty of tattoos – so I found Rock and Roll Bride www.rocknrollbride.com/ – a blog, and the ‘most’ supportive Facebook group – lovely, helpful and kind people. Diversity at its best 🙂

So I would say Have the wedding you and your partner want 🙂 Although, it’s a lot easier when you’re paying for everything yourselves 🙂

4. A barbecue at a friend’s house

17 May 2017 – fire pit made from a washing machine drum

My Chap and I went to a lovely barbecue/house warming at friends we know from mountain biking and running. My Chap ran man v mountain with the chap last year and has mountain biked with them all over the Lake District, Pennines and Peak District. Ive eaten alot of cake and gone on plenty of walks in beautiful locations. We caught up with lots of friends which was lovely. The host M is a very handy, he made the firepit from an old washing machine drum.

5. New shoes – my first ever Irregular Choice

17 May 2017 – my first ever pair of Irregular Choice shoes – for my wedding

I’ve bought my first ever pair of Irregular Choice shoes – no sneaky peeks as they’re for my wedding outfit. They are absolutely beautiful and so comfortable. I don’t really do heels either so these are perfect. My Chap loves them and encouraged me to buy another pair for ‘going out’ 🙂 This could be an expensive pastime.

purple floral mary jane style shoes irregular choice candy whistles

My awesome wedding shoes – purple floral candy whistles by Irregular Choice.

Remember life isn’t a dress rehearsal – wear the shoes, go on an adventure, just do it.

How has your week been? And what have you been grateful for?

Carpe Diem

Love Bec xxx

This post covers week Friday 5th May to Thursday 11th May 2017

Views from my garden bench

the great outdoors, wellbeing and life in the North

Tag Archives: wedding

wedding flowers lavender, paper anniversary – In a Vase on Monday 1 October 2018

Quote from the song – you and me by you + me