Good afternoon folks, Adam here.
Tabitha is the last of our new crop of RMW Real Brides (we chose them all the ways back in May – how time flies). Good things come to those who wait though, so now I will finally hand you over to Tabitha.
Give her a big warm polka dotted welcome.
Well hello there you lovely bunch of people 
I think I might still be a little in shock that I am an actual Rock my Wedding Real Bride, I never in my wildest dreams thought that we would even make it to the next stage when I entered! All that being said, I am so flipping excited that we’ve been given this opportunity to share our day with you all and one of the best things about it is getting to meet the other beautiful Real Brides. They’ve already been a source of great advice and I can’t wait to get to know them more!
So he only went and put a ring on it…
I’m sure our story isn’t a particularly unusual or different one but I guess to us it’s the most important story of all! So if you don’t mind, I thought I’d bore you all a little bit with it. Our first date was in a little Thai restaurant in the centre of Nottingham. I can’t even explain how nervous I was, I think maybe my subconscious knew that this one was special. Chris has since admitted that he thought he’d completely messed it up, but the truth was, I was just so incredibly shy and nervous, I’m not sure I’d ever felt like that before. So the end of the date loomed and it was time to say goodbye, and I did the most un ‘me’ thing and landed him a great big fat first kiss in front of the Trent Barton bus I was just about to jump on (luckily the driver patiently waited for us to finish). The look on Chris’ face was complete and utter surprise, I’m pretty sure he was waiting to be let down gently. So the rest, as they say, is history! From then on we were just ‘us’, we never had ‘the’ conversation, we didn’t really need to, I guess we both just knew. So fast forward 7 years and here we are, soon to become husband and wife and as much as I love all the planning I just can’t ruddy wait to marry his socks off!
He popped the question while on holiday in Croatia, and it was the perfect! There were no big crowds or public displays; it was just me and him on top of the city walls of Dubrovnik with the most beautiful backdrop and I can’t wait to return one day to relive it! So here’s us, about two minutes after he proposed, please ignore the red, sweaty faces, it was really REALLY hot that day. If I’d known what he was up to, I would have made more of an effort!
Setting the scene
I’d never really thought about what my wedding would be like before I got engaged, that might sound a bit strange and of course I’d thought about marrying Chris many times before, but as to any details of how the day would be, I had no idea! So as you do, I turned to the interweb and was quickly plunged into the unknown world of wedding blogs and that’s how I found Rock my Wedding and my new obsession began! I soon realised this was an opportunity to let my creativity go wild, that a wedding could be much more than I thought and that this was OUR wedding and it was ok to do it exactly how we wanted!
We quickly realised that the most important thing to us was that we had a really relaxed day, with lots of good food, drink and music (but with a lot of the pretty added in of course)! We decided on Rutland, it’s pretty much located in the middle of our two family homes and we LOVE Rutland water, and have spent many a happy a time walking around it. Our ceremony will be held at Oakham Castle, and I know what you all might be thinking ‘that doesn’t look much like a castle’ well I agree, but according to the lovely people there and their fact sheets, it is!!! The hall is decorated with around 240 horseshoes given by royalty and peers to the Lord of the Manor, it was customary to do so on your first visit (I was a little bit worried as I’d always been told to hang them the other way as it’s bad luck, but apparently not – this the proper correct way…so who am I to argue). So there you go, history lesson over!
The wedding reception is going to be at the Fox and Hounds in Exton, which is possibly the cutest village I have ever seen. We’re hoping to have a drinks reception on the village green and then make our way to the marquee for some yummy food! We’ve revisited the pub a few times now, and each time I love it more. What we love the most though, are Sandra and Valter who run it. He is Italian and makes the yummiest food with a mix of Italian and British influences and they are quite possibly the nicest people on the planet! More than that though, they made us feel so welcome and are so enthusiastic about our wedding that we immediately felt in safe hands. From then on in I learnt the very valuable lesson of finding good suppliers that we trust and are enthused about being a part of our wedding, I’m thinking it will make the run up to the big day a bit more relaxed knowing we’re in their capable hands (that’s the plan anyway)!
I must admit, I never imagined myself having a marquee. When anyone said the word marquee to me, all I could think of was traditional and faffiness (is that a word? probably not), which is still very beautiful but just not what I had imagined for my own wedding. But then Rock my Wedding struck again and I found inspiration from the many gorgeous marquee weddings I see on here, that they are basically a blank canvas to let your imagination run wild on! We’ve searched high and low for a marquee and I think we’ve finally found one that we want to go with; I will share all when it’s all sorted!
So now we have a big white tent, we need things to fill it with. We’ve been hitting our local flea markets, vintage markets (the Vintage and Antiques Market in Bath is great if any of you are down this way) and charity shops and have already collected a fair few items for W day. I’m trying to make sure that everything we buy is something that we can decorate our house with afterwards or give to friends and family. I’ve also got some very exciting DIY projects planned, I’ve started a few but I just need to get my bum into gear and actually DO them. Our wedding planning is going to be a real family affair, I’m very lucky to have an insanely talented family! My lovely Grandma is going to make our cake (she’s famous for them!), my equally as lovely Godmother is making our favours, and my bridesmaids don’t know what’s about to hit them! I can’t wait to share it all with you!
Finding the other ‘one’
This is probably going to be quite a small paragraph because in short, I haven’t even started looking for my dress yet hahaha! Which I’ll admit is starting to make me panic a little bit, or maybe even a lot! This is partly because I didn’t want to find it too soon. I know myself too well and I would just worry and worry and scour the web for other dresses to make sure I’d made the right choice, but also partly because I’m a little bit scared of wedding dress shops! Anyway, I have my first appointment on Saturday (so I’ll have been by the time you read this) so fingers crossed I find at least something that doesn’t make me look like a giant moose. Wish me luck
Tabitha’s Final Thought (as Chris likes to call it)
I’ve really enjoyed writing this first post. It’s been very therapeutic and lovely to take a step back and remember how it all began. I guess it’s so easy to become wrapped up in wedding planning and not to mention just general everyday life. So ladies, when you get home tonight I encourage you all to take a look at your h2b or new husband and remember all the reasons you said yes in the first place, the proposal, the first date, first kiss or whatever evokes those all important memories. So I got a little bit soppy there for a moment, but it’s always good to keep a bit of perspective I find!
So anyone else care to share there ‘how we met/first date’ story? It would be lovely to hear them! Also, please someone tell me they are completely disorganised like me and haven’t started the dress search, I hope I’m not the only one!
Lots of love and frantic waving!
Tabitha x
P.S. Somebody pinch me please, I’m on RMW!! Heheeeee x
I love how we met stores.
We met in an online house music forum and chatted online for about 2 months before getting round to meeting up. He was THREE HOURS late when we first met. Lots of people say they would have left, and I am renowned for my impatience so I’m not sure what made me wait. But wait I did and it must have been worth it because 9 years on and we’re planning our wedding. His timekeeping still leaves much to be desired though.
Lovely story! I too am getting married in Rutland next year so I will look forward to your future posts!
We got engaged on the walls at Dubrovnik! Can’t explain how magical that city is unless you’ve been there! It’s amazing!
We met while I was drunk and he was driving. There’s no romance apart from we sat up til 6am watching anchorman and back to the future while we both quoted dialogue and laughed til I cried…. Because there was no real date and no real formality there was no bravado or nerves only laughter and fun. It was awesome. And 7 years later we still laugh and have fun!!
I haven’t started dress shopping yet, I am exactly the same as you and couldn’t deal with the nit picking and worrying if I chose a dress to soon. I also am scared of not being able to make a decision so am putting it off for the time being.
Our first holiday together was in Dubrovnik, it is such a magical place
Congrats xox
Oh Tabs!! I just did a big gasp at Dubrovnik – I love that place so much, one day I’ll share my weird story with you about ‘Pero’ the landlord and how he tried to woo me while I was on holiday there a few years back.
He took my luggage hostage then chased me to the airport and everything!!
Anyway, less of that – there’s a whole story there which isnt for now.
j’adoring the first post and looking forward to loads more! I did a little squeak at the dress bit too cos we all know how quickly things move in wedding world!!
loves xxx
Awww our first proper holiday together was in Croatia. We started off in Dubrovnik and I remember walking along those walls and looking at that amazing view!
We met through online dating. He was the only bloke I actually sent a message too. His friend Kira was going through all the messages he’d got from girls and told him to get in touch with me because my email made her laugh so much (I related a story about a crazy woman I’d seen in the street that morning). He arranged for us to meet in a bar that he’d been to before and thought had a really cool vibe. I was 45 mins late because I got totally lost and when I got there he was the only person in there – it was dead! So we had the whole place to ourselves all evening. He dropped me home, gave me a peck on the cheek….. and texted me 10 minutes later to say what a great evening he’d had and he hoped we could do it again. That was over 5 years ago and we’re getting married a year tomorrow!
Hooray for Tabitha going dress shopping! (She may have had a few nudges from us other real brides!)
Your so right about getting some perspective some times, I find it really helpful. We finally did our guestlist last weekend after weeks of me bilding it up to be some kind of monster task. Al talked some sense in to me and we just got on with it…although I did realise yesterday that I’ve forgotten some people – oops!
OOh big Oakham love. Spent many an eve kissing ‘not-quite-mr-right’ in the grounds of the castle whilst avoiding the prying eyes of the teachers.
Yay it’s me
I am loving all your first date stories ladies, going to properly read and reply to each and every one when I get home but for now I am getting glared at from the office side of the office, hehe woops!
Xxx
Great first post Tabitha!
My H2B and I first kissed because he was bullying me that I wasn’t playing air guitar “right”. Apparently I was on bass, and he was the lead to Tom Petty’s American Girl. I told him to shove off and then kissed him, he kissed me back. Two days later he invited me over for a BBQ on his houseboat (that’s always going to nail it peeps, a houseboat where I now live!) and he was forty five minutes late. For a date at his HOME. Others would have left, but I sat outside on the back deck and hung out with the ducks and geese.
I’m still appalled at his lack of timekeeping, but now here we are 3 years on, getting married in five weeks – eek!
x
I seem to remember I was slightly late meeting you on our first date wasn’t I Tabitha??
Maybe there’s something about being late that leads you to finding ‘the one’? Although I wasn’t 45 minutes late!! Shocking as my timekeeping is, even 45 mins late is bad for me
Just a quickie lovely to say what a gorgeous first post! loved your story and feeling like we are all getting to know each other better
I love that you have a pic of just after getting engaged! loving the happy glow!
Can’t wait to hear about the dress shopping
and love love loving the castle that looks like a church – EPIC xxx
Hi Tabitha *waves* lovely to *see* you
I think we might be jacket twins – the one in the last picture, is it from Mango?!
Charlotte xxx
B-e-a-utiful writing, Tabitha
Congrats on your lovely engagement, your fab venue, and your first RMW post!!
xxx
Dubrovnic…hmm… never been there but it sounds and looks rather lovely for an engagement location – might have to add it to the ‘to visit’ list.
The pub with the green outside it looks so perfect for some relaxed post-ceremony drinks. I might have missed from your post, but how long till you get married??
One word on dress shopping – DON’T WORRY. People (including mean dress shop ladies) got me so het up about the whole affair. I found mine the other week after about six months (yes, six!) of looking (on and off – otherwise I would have just thrown the towel in and got hitched in a Topshop number I think). I’ve just counted up the quotes/leaflets etc and I think I went to 15 (again, yes,15!!) shops before I got close to finding something I loved (and even then I asked for a bespoke number..fussy, moi?!)
Anyway, enough about me – some useful things I learnt through The Dress Hunt which might save you some stress and time:
Expectations… don’t have too many expectations about what it’ll be like (unfortunately my experience was generally far from the Don’t Tell the Bride champagne experience I’d hoped for!!)… if a shop isn’t great – if the salesperson is a bit mean/uninterested, or if the dresses just aren’t your style – just move on and don’t let it phase you. There are loads and loads of bridal shops out there – they just cater for different brides!
Research, research, research!! Luckily t’internet makes this easy and do-able with a brew – fabulous!! Find some dress styles you like and see who the designer is (Pinterest is also great for gathering ideas). Then find out what local stores stock them… I only started doing this halfway through The Dress Hunt. It would have saved me a lot of time if I’d've done it from the outset.
Listen (to your heart)…You should definitely be open to trying styles that don’t look great on the hanger – they can look great/different on. If you don’t know where to start with this, ask the salesperson to suggest a few wildcards – they know their stock and might suggest a winner, you never know… Friends and family are great to go shipping with as a second opinion and coffee break companions. BUT, you’ll know when a dress might be The One because it’ll be your style and make you feel just beautiful.
Sorry for that little lecture – hope it helps a bit! Good luck with it all!
xo
Welcome Tabitha! I love Dubrovnic
I don’t have a dress either with 5 months to go…trying not to panic!
Lovely post Tabitha, especially your final thought, which made me well up. Like @Maddy, I am getting married in 5 weeks so feeling slightly panicked right now about how much still needs to be done, but your post made me take a moment out, hence the tears.
We met through a mutual friend who, for about 18 months, had been telling us that we were made for each other, despite us both being in relationships. When we eventually met at her wedding, by which time we were both single, we hit it off and here we are nearly 6 years later. Needless to say our friend felt very pleased with herself when we got engaged last year!
Good luck with all your planning. I hope the dress shopping went well. I just went with the attitude that I was going to have fun and try on as many dresses and styles as possible, you’ll soon get a feel for what you like. I’ve been back to the shop to have my measurements a couple of times and when I see girls there at the ‘trying on’ stage I actually feel a bit sad I won’t get to experience that again, so enjoy it!
Hi Tabitha,
A lovely introduction, I’m already looking forward to hearing more from you.
When H2B and I first met I was actually in a relationship with someone else but the minute he came into my life I knew that relationship was dead and buried. It’s funny how you can sometimes just be bumbling along thinking everything is dandy until something else comes along and makes you realise how happy you could really be!
Oh one of my friends is getting married at Okham castle next year. Love it and as a slight detail/architecture obsessive I love your shot of the horseshoes.
I’m having a marquee later this year and I also love the fact that it’ll be a blank canvas. Good job really as I’ve got almost everyone I know making decor things!
Welcome, anyway, Tabitha. Looking forward to hearing more about your planning adventures. x
Finally made it home! Thank you all so much for your lovely comments, being a RMW Real Bride rocks already and I’m so excited to share my little bridal story with you all! OK so I’m going to try my best to reply to you all!x
@Phillippa – THREE HOURS?!?! Kudos for staying, he is one lucky lucky boy but I guess it was all worth it the end!x
@Laura – Rutland is gorgeous
smallest county in the country did you know – I’m just full of useful/useless facts!x
@Sera – I am Magpie – Dubrovnik is amazing, I can’t believe how many of us have been there! It’s a great excuse to persuade him to take me back again and again! Love your ‘how we met story’ laughter, fun and a joint love of films is the best grounding for a relationship I think
x
@Ashleigh – I started on Saturday and I don’t want to spoil anything but it was AMAZING ssshhh so I say go for it, promise it will be awesome, honest
x
Wooo! Rutland love! My parents lived in Melton for ages and I went to school at Stamford!!
We met in typical Uni fashion…in the local dive nightclub. I was 18, he’d just turned 21…I drunkenly made him dance and kissed him, he was a true gentlman. 6 years later we’re getting married next year on July 27!
@Tabitha…glad I’m not the only one to not have a dress!
xxxx
@Karen – haha that story sounds immense, looking forward to hearing it….and also squeeee about the most recent update to the dress story! x
@Inbal – yay we are wedding date twins! It’s also a year tomorrow for us
I am making him take me out to celebrate that it will be months rather than years till we get married! Hope you’re doing something to celebrate too 
x
@Kitty – I really do love you girls, I never would have gone without your gentle nudges
congrats on finishing the guest list, we still have that obstacle to overcome x
@Jessie – Haha brilliant – that’s all I will think of when I go back now
spose you have to kiss some ‘not-quite-mr-right’ to find ‘mr right’ though! x
@Maddy – That’s a whole new scale of being late…to your own house :O loving that he had a houseboat though. Ooooh only 5 weeks to go, congratulations
I hope your day is amazing x
@Chris – you were indeed late, tut tut tut! You might be onto something but it’s a bit of a risky game to play and not to be recommended, I was pretty annoyed if I remember correctly and you also will never live it down
xxx
@Miss Vix – haha I love you for the ‘happy glow’ I described it as really hot and sticky but I like your way much better x
@Charlotte – Thank you
I’m loving it already! It is indeed from Mango, I got in the sale, bargain! In fact now I think about, I might of seen it was in the sale on here, you are my fashion guru after all! x
@MrsA – Thank you lovely
we have massive RMW shoes to fill and I think I feel a bit bereft when you’ve all gone and got married! Can’t wait to see the big day x
@Francesca – you should absolutely go, it’s beautiful! Thank you soo much lovely for all the advice, and very good advice it is too – I feel like you should write some sort of book or something ‘How to buy your wedding dress’! So glad you’ve found ‘the one’ though, bet that’s such a weight of your shoulders! xx
Gorgeous first post Tabitha, looking forward to hearing more
We met at Sixth Form. His best friend was going out with mine… so we had to talk to some-one when they were snogging in the corner! We had a good time together at the end of term concert, and met up in town over the weekend, and the rest is history.
You final thought is fab, all the times we’ve had together promise a future filled with love and laughter. Hope it filled others with such good thoughts too
P.S. I’m not still at school, that was 6 and a half years ago now! (Just thought I’d clarify…)
@Claire – Thank you, it’s lovely to be here! x
@Sarah Mc – Glad to be of assistance
hope you have an amazing wedding! I’m thinking of making my ‘final thought’ a regular thing haha – this wedding malarky is turning me all philosophical x
@Jo C –
that’s very true, it kind of comes along and knocks you for six! I never imagined at 18 I would meet my future husband x
@Laura {Babb Photo} – Yay for Oakham Castle – it is so cute! Hehe me too, my friends and family really have no idea what’s about to him them! Have an amazing wedding
x
@Anni – Rutland is gorgeous and I love Stamford! Your story sounds so much like ours
x
@Amy – haha thanks for the clarification
so your childhood sweethearts, so cute! What did the end of term concert involve? xxx
YAY!!! That was a fabulous post young lady
Dubrovnik looks lovely – actually been looking at there as a possible honeymoon destination!
Dave & I met on a drunken night in uni, after a week of meeting up with friends at student nights we finally went on our first date…..to Lloyds!
So pleased you’ve finally been dress shopping
oh & both castle church and reception look lush!
xxx
Ooooh, I’ve been to a wedding reception at the Fox and Hounds and it was fabulous. It’s an amazing venue and the food was delicious. I’m jealous!
@Rebecca – ooo you should definitely go! We stayed in Cavtat which is just across the water and is a bit more relaxing with beaches + many expensive yachts, but a short boat journey to Dubrovnik for some city life! x
@Helen – That is lovely and reassuring to hear! We love it there, can’t wait for some more scrummy food x
I just read this post and immediately ran over to Mr C with the laptop to show him the pictures. Dubrovnik is where I realised that I might just have met someone who would make me happy for the rest of my life. Don’t get me wrong, we got engaged a mere 7 years after that and I’d only known him for a week (we met whilst travelling in Eastern Europe), but we went for a walk on the walls and I thought “core blimey, this guy’s a bit special”.
It was when we both looked over at the sun glinting on the sea and tried desperately to describe it. I came up with fairy lights on a christmas tree, he came up with flashbulbs on cameras and the rest is history.
We also have a similarly red faced picture sitting on a similar step that was also taken by a German guy (maybe they keep them on stand-by for loved up couples?) and I completely agree about the magic of Dubrovnik. I am biased because I was slowly falling in love with a man with passion, humour and a penchant for metaphor and what I remember most about Dubrovnik is his dancing cheekbones and the beauty of the place.
Congratulations on your engagement Tabitha and look forward to your posts. Hurrah for travelling and weddings
Beckie K x
The first date scenario amused me. All I could think was: Captain Chaos strikes again!
But what a wonderful story.
Welcome Tabitha – fabulous to hear your ‘how we met’ and ‘how he proposed’ stories, I love a bit of romance. Nothing so exotic for our proposal, it was in my parents spare bedroom when I was really ill and trying not to cough my guts up on him hehe but still romantic in a way because it meant that he loved me enough to want to marry me even when I was looking and feeling my worst!
Looking forward to handing the baton over to you new girls and seeing your planning unfold
Oh reading your engagement story made me happy. We’re getting married in Dubrovnik 5 weeks today, so excited
) !!!