Robyn – Super D.I.Y

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What Robyn Did… Operation Renovation.

May 12th, 2011

It’s just over a year ago since we started ‘A Military Mission’ and for the first time I can finally see things coming together (Yipeeeee!). It’s been a year of hard slog, a lot of sweat and I am not going to lie – there have been a few tears! There have been moments when we have felt like running off to Gretna Green and many moments of ‘why the hell are we doing this again?!’ But- just as I start to get worked up Rob tells me to take long deep breaths and think of why. To celebrate our marriage with all the people that we love most in the world.

This is what we think of when we are being drilled under Military Moms tight operation. When all we want to do is sit our butts on the sofa and watch a marathon of Mad Men. When the wind has chilled us to the bone and the rain has literally stung our faces while shouting ‘WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!’ The love is what has kept us going. Love for each other, as a family, our truly wonderful friends, combined with a heap of pure determination. We could not have done anything without the wonderful people who have helped us and for their help we are eternally grateful. You know who you are. Sob, sorry this just gets me a little emotional!

We have achieved quite a lot in the past month. The first of which is our newly painted courtyard. For this WWW (Wedding Working Weekend) we called in the big guns and threw a painting party. Firstly we belt sanded the stable doors to get rid of years of old polish and weather beaten wood. This was pretty hard work and took about 2 hours per door. We had three belt sanders going all day, a lot of muscle power and some Pimms at lunch (well, you gotta keep those energy levels up!). After this messy work was done, painting began and doors were varnished. It took us two long days to paint every inch but the results have been so rewarding. Here it is in all it’s glory and the team who made it happen (sadly a few are missing from the group shot.)

Two weekends later we were back on the go with another WWW. This one was for an ‘upcycling’ session – much like our lavender boxes. My dad filled the Horsebox to the roof with pallets from work and made his last hair-raising journey with back with ‘The Brown Thing’ (our farm landy) through London, holding his breath while squeezing past cars and buses parked tightly along the road.. ‘never again!’ he exclaimed upon his return. Thanks Dad – I promise that’s the last trip. We stripped these beauties down and made flower boxes and big planters for the courtyard. The only cost was nails, a lot of elbow grease…. and a few hammered thumbs.

Not only are the boxes great for plants but they make a very stylish hat!

Whilst we were banging and building away my lovely neighbour Karen planted all the hanging baskets with the geranium cuttings we have been growing in the conservatory over the winter. With the help of her friend they planted heaps of these. My mom managed to get the hanging baskets second hand and paid around £1 each. With a bit of mending here and there we saved a small fortune. They usually sell in the range of £5.

“Please live and grow nice and bushy little hanging baskets!” I find myself saying as I walk past them each day. Yes, I have gone slightly coo coo and am talking to the plants. But – I’m sure they can understand can’t they?! Haha.

At this moment in time we are constructing the garden. As I have bombarded you with heaps of pictures and chewed off your ears about flowers I will save this for next time. Hopefully by then all the plants will have taken to their new environment. Seriously, If I could wrap them in cotton wool, I would!

So, on a completely different subject matter we have made a decision now about the music. By the time all the tables and chairs, garden, outdoor furniture, bar, dance floor etc are in place, there is barely room to swing a cat. So, we have decided against the band :( and opted for a DJ instead. On the invites we have asked everyone for their favourite song so that we can make sure there is something for everyone. The RSVP’s are starting to dribble in and I must say there are some TUNES on them. There’s an option to hire a saxophone or steel drums with the DJ (how cool is that!!) but our budget has been well and truly squeeeeeeeezed. For the blessing, our very talented family friend is playing the flute and my uncle and cousin are going to play the wedding march on their trumpets. Fingers crossed that there is no wind otherwise we won’t hear much!

I was thinking it would be fun to have some sort of game at each table so when guests sit down they have something to do to whilst waiting for people to settle down. We are trying to sit people together who are friends but it may be nice to have something to break the ice don’t you think? Any ideas oh wise RMW readers?

Much love,
Robyn
Xxxx

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What Robyn Did… The Pretty, The Plants and The Pants!

March 31st, 2011

Aaaaaah, pants!

Dress shopping was rather short lived for me. And with most things so far, not really the norm. My first appointment was at Jenny Packham in London so with four of my bridesmaids in toe we went to search through rails full of pretty dresses. After turning up all bright eyed and bushytailed I pretty much immediately had to strip. Oh Lordy – I had my oldest comfiest pants on – I’m pretty sure we all own a pair that are freying at the edges and destined for the bin. I wanted to crawl under a rock as I saw the posh lady dressing me eyeballing ‘the pants’. Looking back I don’t know why but for some reason I didn’t think that I would have to get so… naked in front of the shop assistant. I kind of thought you dressed yourself like in Topshop. Embarrassing moments aside if I had to offer one bit of advice it would be to take your nearest and dearest with you. There is nothing better than having an honest opinion and someone telling you to snap out of your body hang ups. No matter what shape or size we are, we all seem to pick up our flaws while infront of the mirror and wedding dress shopping is no exception. You have to work with what you have and try dresses on that know will suit your shape, rather than ones that you can’t breathe in. Otherwise you won’t feel nice in anything!

My second and final appointment was at a local bridal shop. It was dripping in bling dresses, poofy dresses and fishtail dresses. All gorgeous but just not me. There was a small rail of bohemian styles I tried on and I found a gorgeous Jenny Packham one that flattered my shape. As many girls have said before, there were no fireworks, no bolts of lightening and no tears (not even from my mom)- just more of a ‘ooooh this looks quite nice’. It was so comfortable, the fabric felt amazing against my skin and I could eat in it and not have to walk around sucking my tummy in! (This was a deal breaker for me as I love to eat). The next week I decided to check eBay just to see if someone was selling that dress and there is was, sitting there like a diamond in the rough….

‘EBAY??!!’ was the response I was met with on a few occasions, in a tone of utter horror. ‘How could you possibly buy your wedding dress off EBAY?’ Well the answer is quite easily really, especially when it is a quarter of the price than in the shops. Yes, it has been worn before but it’s in perfect condition. I can now happily frolic in the fields and woods without stressing about the hem dragging in the mud. I am also slightly ashamed to say (and not really sure why I am telling you this or about my pants for that matter) that I am a messy eater and have a massive fear of spilling supper all down my wedding dress. For me to do all of the above in a dress that costs a small fortune would just induce stress!

There is of course a downside to buying a dress off eBay and that is the fitting. There is no bridal boutique to nip it in here or there so I need to find a good tailor to take it in a wee bit. Do any of you ladies know a tailor in London or the South East that does wedding dresses? I have no idea where to start looking so any recommendations would be hugely appreciated!

To go with my wonderfully floaty number we wanted to put the bridesmaids in something cute and flirty. We went to a Dessy supplier in Kingston called Jane Jordan and instantly fell in love with the Lela Rose range. The original colour I had in mind was a minty green but because they are chiffon and have quite a bit of fabric the girls ended up looking like giant balls of pistachio ice-cream. Green is my favourite colour but it was just too much. We changed the colour to an earthier ‘palomino’ which we are going to spice up with accessories and beautiful bouquets. I found the flower girl dresses in monsoon and liked that they added some colour. So, that’s that. The dresses are sorted bar a few alterations.

Sorry to always jump from one subject to another but I thought you’d like to know that Project Flower Power is going strong and you can just see the progress in these photos. We have to transplant each little seedling into individual pots which takes a mammoth amount of time. Now it is getting warmer we are going to put the plants that are doing well in my moms tunnel to free up some space in the conservatory. As you can see it is bursting at the seams. The extra lavender we planted for the flower beds is now out of the tunnel to stop it growing and flowering too early. These plants need so much attention!

Due to the wedding being outdoors we are a little concerned about the unpredictable weather. A year ago on our wedding date it was chucking down with rain. We have to have a plan B incase this happens so have come up with a solution. If rain is forecast we are going to clear out a barn in the next field and have the ceremony in there. Its quite dark so we would have loads of candles and fairy lights so people can see! My mom has also got tarpaulins made for the courtyard so that we can close the sides of the barns off. This should keep the rain out and make it nice and snug. We are of course crossing ALL fingers and toes for sunshine.

By the time you read this it will be one week until our painting party. A bunch of our friends and family are coming to help us paint the courtyard to give it a facelift. So, coming up next time you will see the finished yard – in all its shiny glory!

Much love from,

Robyn

xxxx

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What Robyn Did… Tar Da!

February 17th, 2011

Hello lovely RMW readers, six weeks has passed and it seems like yesterday since I wrote my last entry. Time is wizzing by and there is still so much to do. Baaaah, if only I had Doc Brown and the car from back to the future. Anyhoo, daydreaming aside there is so much to share with you-too much! So I thought I should summarise each section otherwise you may all be nodding off at your desk. The first item on the agenda is…..

1. Tar Daaaaaa

As we have made so many improvements on the farm for the wedding, my father decided that we might as well to go the whole hog and finish off the courtyard. Properly. Besides a lick of paint (or a quick cosmetic job as my mom calls it) the middle area needed some serious rejuvenation. The old concrete was cracked, weedy, very uneven and generally just a bit unsightly.

We researched loads of different options and the cheapest and most practical thing that kept coming up was to tarmac the floor. Paving came in close second however it was about three times the price and eventually evil weeds would start growing through the cracks. At first we were a bit apprehensive – when you think of tar you think of a dark, sticky, gooey substance! And busy motorways and roads. Well we do anyway. The nice tar man reassured us that it was not as bad as that and he would add a trimming to make it easier on the eye. And boy did he come through. 

Before they could come in and Tar the courtyard a massive clean and scrub had to be done to the remaining floor. Rob, myself, my mom and dad and sister (poor Ang gets roped into all wedding working weekends!) power hosed from top to bottom and swept until it was spick and span. Here’s a picture of Rob and I in our matching winter work outfits (oh aren’t they chic! haha). Can you tell who does all the work around here?!

The end result has been fab- check out our new pimped out yard! Cast your mind back (or just view my first post) and you’ll really be able to see the difference from where we first started out. We are still going ahead with our french garden area so most of the tar will be covered in flowers which will really soften it all up. The last little bit to finish off will be to paint the walls and re-sand and stain the stable doors. Oooohh, it’s getting exiting now!

2. Make your own confetti

In my first entry I promised that I would show you how to make loads of cool things without costing the earth and I haven’t really delivered. So, I thought I should share with you how easy it is to make your own confetti. I know it’s cheap to buy and far less effort. But. How great will it be when you’re having confetti thrown all over your face to know that you know you made it!

You will need some flowers- a seriously good excuse to permanently have gorgeous flowers in your house ladies. There is no shame in buying yourself loads of flowers if they’re going to be your confetti. YOU NEED THEM.

When they start going droopy, pluck the heads off.

Take the petals off and sprinkle them in an open top box- whatever you have cardboard, wicker basket…

Leave to dry in a dark place- we have heaps stashed on top of every cupboard.

That is it! Seriously. You can add some powdery stuff at stage 2 if you want to keep the bright colour of the petal but we’re leaving this bit out. Our theme is rustic/bohemian so the natural colours work perfectly.

3. Project Flower Power

As mentioned before we are planting as many flowers as we possible can. My mother is leading project Flower Power so in true Military Mom efficiency she has transformed their conservatory into a full on nursery. I am not sure how many seedlings there are in each little tub but they are getting stronger day by day. It takes heaps of time and love to water these little flower babies so my mom is just the woman for the job. I’m afraid they would most defiantly die if they were in my care.

4. Booze Cruise

Because there won’t be a hotel bar in sight and the nearest shop is at least a 20 minute drive away we NEED to make sure we have enough to drink for our thirsty guests. We’re providing all the alcohol and are on a budget so we’ve decided to serve Prosecco at the reception. It’s a great substitute for Champagne for any of you ladies who are trying to save a few pennies. Not only is it very reasonably priced but it also tastes pretty damn yummy. So, just last week our delivery of shiny bubble filled bottles arrived and are sitting patiently, waiting to be opened.

5. Hone and Tone

With around 6 months to go I have finally got a cracker up my butt to start excersing more. After reading Charlotte and Rebecca’s awesome post about fitness DVD’s and some serious love for Jillian Michaels, I went on Amazon straight away and bought her DVD. I have to say I am not disappointed. She is one motivating lady. After two weeks I have so much more energy and am feeling great. Bring on the tonage!

So that’s it for now ladies. After reading this back I realise I haven’t really shared many normal bride experiences with you like dress shopping or colour themes. It’s all about work and tar and gardening. So, in my next post I’ll give you a sneak peak of my bridesmaid dresses to give an idea of how it’s all going to come together.

Until next time,
Heaps of love,

Robyn xx

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What Robyn Did… Mission Demolition!

January 6th, 2011

I’d like to start this post by saying thanks for all the really helpful advice you left on my last post. It’s really nice to know that we’re not the only people going through the trials of where to have our nuptials. We’ve decided to stick with our guns and have a small civil ceremony and a blessing in the woods. We’ll have the civil ceremony a day or two before the blessing and reception- that way there will me no manic panic of trying to squeeze everything into one day.

So, to get back to the nitty gritty, let me tell you how ‘A Military Mission’ is going…. We have our new barn! Gone are the old shabby sheds and up is the new beauty!

After days of demolishing the old buildings/cleaning/trips to the dump and huge bonfires we finally have our new barn area. To save on labour and echo my mothers ethos of ‘why would you pay someone to do stuff when we can do ourselves?!!’- followed by a lift of the eyebrow. As if to say ‘are you mad?!’

Much to our delight (and Rob’s hard-work) dismantling the sheds were relatively easy which was a very welcomed surprise. The hard bit was emptying the contents and going to the dump about 20 times. Why do we all accumulate so much rubbish over the years?! When the area was clean and clear (too tempting not to say ‘and under control’) the steel workers came in to put up the barn. Much to mom’s disappointment and much to our delight this really is one area that we could not do ourselves.

This gorgeous new shiny barn will contain the bar, dance floor and mobile fridge trailer we’ve hired- serving warm beer is a big bad sin in my dad’s eyes so this fancy cooler was a must. Although the steel looks a bit industrial, I don’t think it’s anything a whole lotta fairy lights won’t fix.

The next stage was to even out all the flooring. Here our DIY skills were put to good use again by mixing and throwing tons of concrete. The one plus of all this labour is that I am hoping to achieve a lovely pair of toned ‘Jennifer Aniston arms’ by the wedding. But the rate we are going I may just look like Popeye! Not a great look.

My mom set up an outdoor coffee station which ensured we weren’t tempted to go inside for a break and sit on the sofa. ‘You’ll never come back out if you go inside!’ she exclaims. She is right of course. Dad shoots me the – lets just get this over with look. I do wonder where she gets the energy!


*The finished New Barn

Saving dates…

My friend Zoe More O’Ferrall illustrated our save the date cards. She’s a very talented artist so was my first port of call when the time came for stationary. Amoung loads of other stuff she designs invitations and wedding maps that are unique and very personal to you.

Zoe is a pleasure to work with and sent me the artwork file once it was completed. I got it printed on some nice thick card at our printer and once it was sent I could hardly wait to receive them. We love them and they couldn’t be more perfect for us. I am so exited for her to start working on our invitations.

Sorry to jump from one subject to the other but I thought I’d better give you an update on how our little plants are doing. A lot of the cuttings we took back in July seem to be doing very well (touch wood) and a few are on deaths door. We’ve brought them into the conservatory to give them some extra warmth as the arctic conditions outside are just too much for the poor things. The lavendar has taken a bit of a beating with the snow. We covered it and tried to protect it as much as possible but Mr Frost is a mean old character. I never thought plants could cause so much heartache and worry.

With 8 months to go we have most things under control. We’ve booked the caterers (who deal with all the tables, chairs, cutlery, linen), the mobile fridge and luxury loos. The cake is being made by our aunt, Rob’s uncle is blessing us, my friend Zoe is doing our stationary, our friends Chanelle and Craig are the photographers and our flowers are being done by our friend Jo who has just opened her first florist shop. I feel very relaxed about all of the above mainly because our friends and family are a very talented bunch, we feel extremely privileged that they are all contributing to our day. As for the music, well that’s another story. Do we go for a live band? Or do we have a DJ? And where do you find them? We considered just having an ipod with palylists compiled by close friends but have been advised it may be a complete disaster. Baaah, suggestions needed please!

With love from,
a very musically confused Robyn xx

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What Robyn Did… The E-Shoot

December 7th, 2010

Today we have a change to the regular schedule with a little post from Robyn courtesy of her Photographer and mutual friend of ours, Chanelle Segerius-Bruce. Chanelle recently shot Robyn and Robin’s Engagement shoot and took such stunning images that she sent them along for us to feature. Robyn has kindly written a little bit about the shoot and you lucky guys get to see the super gorgeous couple :)

I’ll hand you over…

Our lovely friend and photographer, Chanelle, from Sergius- Bruce Photography took some great snaps at our engagement shoot earlier this month. We had no idea what we wanted so they picked the location and direction of the shoot which really helped. It took all the stress and pressure off us to pick something amazing.

Now I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel terribly uncomfortable infront of the camera. I always imagine how other people cope in a photoshoot; striking loads of different cool poses, swishing their hair and looking ultra glam. Eeerr, I think I have been watching too much Elle TV on my lunch breaks.

It’s not like that at all! I seem to seize up like a stiff plank. My mouth instantly goes dry and I get a cheesy perma grin on my face like a Cheshire cat. Kind of like that episode on friends where Chandler and Monica announce their engagement in the paper. He gets that wierdo freaked out look on his face every time the camera turns on. I feel like I’m back at school doing a presentation in front of 500 other students staring on! Sheer PANIC!

The week leading up to the shoot Robin (boy) was cool, calm and collected while I was having funny dreams and waking up in a cold sweat. But. All that drama aside it turned out to be a great afternoon. Chanelle made us feel so relaxed that I was able to chill out a bit and actually enjoy myself. Rob seems to be a natural and was his usual silly self which helped calm me down.

We will be able to treasure these pictures and memories forever. And how wonderful is that!

I cannot recommend Chanelle and Craig from Sergius-Bruce Photography highly enough. They are special couple who are sensitive, patient, a great laugh and really talented photographers. All of which are very important when you have your photos taken. I think engagement shoots are a great way of getting used to the camera, especially before one of the biggest days of your life. After all, who wants to pull a ‘Chandler’ in the photos they will cherish for the rest of their lives?!

Love from,
Robyn xx

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What Robyn Did… A Military Mission

November 4th, 2010

Before I hand you over to Robyn, I felt compelled to mention her category name… ‘Super DIY‘ – and boy does she deserve that title! – I’m completely in awe of the effort thats gone into this wedding already and have to say I can’t wait to read more… so without further ado – I give you Robyn!

As soon as I saw the ‘Hall of Fame’ announced on Rock My Wedding, I started to get butterflies…well to be honest I started to get jelly legs! The pressure is officially on to write. And to write well. I can’t promise that my grammar or style of writing will be perfect but I can share with you our rollercoaster of a journey that literally includes blood, sweat and tears of laughter. So. Here goes…

I thought I’d start off by showing you a few snaps of our venue. They were taken when we first started our DIY mission so are action shots of our box building weekend but you can get the jist of it. It’s taken from the main barn which is where we’ll be having the sit down meal. As you can see the yard looks a bit tired and hasn’t been finished off since my parents bought it 14 years ago. It’s been one of those ‘this required a serious amount of time, labour and money’ senarios. Non of which has been readily available. But alas, finally we have have the perfect excuse and motivation to get everything into tip top shape.


*Top: looking out from the barn to the courtyard on the left, and Bottom: looking out to the right.

When Robin and I officially asked my parents whether we could have the wedding on the farm there was an unnerving glint of excitement in my mothers eye. She could take on a new project…. hang on a minute…..Oh lordy, we had seen this look before… Military Mom was making an appearance. Our suspicions were confirmed when overnight my mother transformed into a drill sergeant (less of the uniform and more of the gum boots and overalls) and started whipping us into shape. Before we could say ‘horrah we’re engaged!’ she had organised the first wedding working weekend.

Our mission is simple: to turn the stable yard into a beautiful rustic venu, complete with a french garden area bursting with lavender, rosemary and lots of other pretty smelly things. To complete this mission we need to:
- clad and patch our existing barn to house our guests at supper time
- plant a courtyard full of flowers
- finish off the yard by building a new barn in the place of the old sheds, which will contain our bar and dance floor
- level out the concrete flooring
- paint, paint and paint some more
Oh how simple it sounds. Hmmmmmmm.

At times we’ve looked at the farm and thought, cue panicked shouty voice, ‘“is this going to work?!!!” My moms shear confidence in the matter makes us feel totally at ease, albeit it being after we’ve polished off a bottle of wine. I have to say, wine never tastes better than after a hard days work. Although sometimes we moan about moms militant ways, especially, I might add when we are half dead from digging, sawing, nailing, mixing tons of concrete and planting, nothing would get done without her. I’m proud to say she’s my mother. She’s amazing, wonderful and the driving force that’s pushing us on to make our dream a reality. Dad has said countless times she would have made an excellent lieutenant in the army. Mostly under his breath when he’s utterly exhausted, it’s true to say she’s the boss of the household. Sorry Dad.


*Left: A pile of finished boxes, and Bottom right: the planted boxes in May.


*The lavender in August – Rob took a picture on his iPhone as I completely forgot to document the growth!

We’ve done a few things so far such as building around 60 flower boxes out of used pallets, tearing down old sheds to make room for the new barn (the ones seen in the first photos to the left) and slipping hundreds of plants. Yes. Hundreds. The boxes were pretty hard work but rest assured Military Mom kept us all going until we finished them all. They aren’t perfect but have the rustic look we are after and best of all they were FREE! Well, apart from nails.

I must say, there is something truly satisfying about doing a bit of woodwork. When I stood back for a moment and saw my friends and family working away, I had one of those ‘stop in time’ moments where you think, jeeze we’re seriously lucky to have these people in our lives. Not a lot of people would give up their time on weekends to build flower boxes or slip plants, especially under Military Mom’s tight operation! To all you lovely people who have helped us, thank you- it means more to us than you will ever know.


*My Bridesmaids, cousin and me, and our friend Ben knocking the planks out of the pallet so we could build the boxes.

From all the plants I mentioned earlier my mothers tunnel is starting to look like a flower eating jungle/human eating jungle? Anyway, the plants are taking over, we’ll just leave it at that.This year we had a family reunion so many members of my gorgeous family were roped into slipping plants. For those of you who aren’t gardeners (like me) this means snipping little pieces of a big plant off and replanting it in the hope it will grow into a bigger plant. As we’re on a budget we are trying to slip as many plants as possible such as rosemary, hydrangeas, lavender etc so we don’t have to buy them. Whether they will live or not is a different story.

There’s so much more to show you but there’s one pressing issue that makes my tummy crumple up into a knot everytime I think about it. We can’t legally marry on the farm. I’m sure most of you will be saying ‘duh’, especially you wise married ladies but we had no idea until we started to look into it. You have to have a license and there is no way we could get one. At first I was seriously devastated and had a ‘foot stamping on the ground’ outburst but now I know there’s nothing we can do about it. We need to make a very difficult decision. Do we see if there’s a local church available that we’d be happy to get married in? Or do we have a civil ceremony and a blessing in the woods? We’re Christians but don’t belong to a church so feel like we would only be joining for the sake of getting married. For us, it brings up questions as to whether that’s right. We also have our hearts set on Robin’s uncle marrying us (he’s a priest). My heart says farm but my head says, is there any point in getting married twice?

Baah, help!

I thought I’d end off with a photo of Rob and I that was taken a couple of weekends ago. If your wondering why he hasn’t featured much in the photos in this post its because he’s writing his ACCA’s (accounting board exams) at the moment. When he has an exam he’s chained to his desk, boy am I glad my exam days are over! If you wondering what we’re doing in a hole, well all I can say is this… its just another project we’re working on!

A hole lotta love from
Robyn xx

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