Our Wedding: Getting Ready On The Big Day

I woke up with a start after a restless night, my heart thudding. The day I had looked forward to for nine months pretty much my entire life was finally here, and I was more than ready to marry my soulmate! In fact, I was missing him quite a lot already after spending the night apart.

After popping up a special blog post just for Rich, the first two people I saw that morning were my older brother Tim and nephew Oliver. Ollie jumped up on my bed and helped me to open a few pressies and cards that my groom had kindly left for me. Tim then brought me a cup of tea in bed and I sat back and chilled for an hour, while messaging excited friends and family, and receiving photo updates from my bridesmaids who had got up at the crack of dawn to meet their make-up artist. It was the perfect start to the day.

Eventually, I rolled out of bed. Our special day had officially begun! 

Here are some of the highlights from a very special morning getting ready at my home in the middle of the beautiful Peak District National Park.

Hair and Make-Up

I was so lucky to come across the very lovely and extremely talented Lucy Elliot in my search for the right hair and make-up artist online. We met for a trial the last time that I was back in the UK, on a day which also happened to be the day after my best friend's wedding. I had had two hours sleep the night before and looked about as bad as I'd ever looked, but by the time she had finished I had been transformed. I am now a firm believer that she has some kind of magic touch!

Principally composed of Mac and Charlotte Tilbury, my make-up look was simple and classic, with a slightly smokey lid, a firm brow and a good sweep of eyeliner. For my hair, Lucy used clip-in hair extensions with a slight natural curl. She backcombed my real hair to give it a bit of height, and pinned some of it back in a pretty twist.

Dress and Accessories

I can not tell you how in love with my wedding dress I am. Several months earlier, I had arrived at Mia Sposa Bridal in Hatton Garden with my mum, fully expecting to pick out a simple, classic white princess-cut dress. Instead I left with a light champagne coloured lace, slim strapless A-Line gown with slight embellishment which twinkles in the light, and a puddle train by Maggie Sottero.

I chose a very classic, floor-length veil to go with the dress, and kept my accessories simple: a drop-pearl necklace, drop-pearl earrings and a delicate vintage pearl bracelet, which was actually my mum's Christening necklace wrapped around my wrist twice! The perfect 'something old' which she has kindly let me keep, and now lives safely in my jewellery box, ready for me to pass onto my daughter one day.

Flowers

My mum is a keen gardener and botanist, and her garden is always full of blossoming trees and colourful blooms. Therefore, Rich and I were delighted when she said that she would love to do the flowers for our wedding. With careful arrangements and cut flowers provided by the wonderful Katie Peckett, my mum supplemented the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets with green Edelweiss and cream Freesias to complement our classic pink and cream roses, filled the house full of flower displays and transported bucket-loads of stems to decorate the Church with too. Aren't they beautiful?!

Bridesmaids, Flower Girls and Page Boys

While I was getting ready downstairs, the upstairs sitting room was a flurry of activity. My beautiful bridesmaids were busy helping each other to get ready. Lottie had supplied cakes. Rich had supplied champagne. There was lots of excited chatter.

The bridesmaids wore Bill Levkoff knee-length nude pink chiffon dresses with a sweetheart neckline and straps which tie at the neck, with an open keyhole back. The flower girls were in simple Monsoon slip dresses, and the boys wore John Lewis three piece suits to match the groom's party, with matching pink ties.

I have known Lottie and Tania, my two chief bridesmaids and closest friends, since school and I couldn't have imagined this day without them by my side. 

Later on, when I moved to London, I met Kate and Romana on my first daunting day on the PwC graduate scheme. We decided to move in together and soon became inseparable. 

My last two 'older' bridesmaids were Bethany and Helena, my two younger half sisters. I have to admit that I teared up a little when I saw them both that day - they are not so young any more, and have turned into beautiful and very lovely young women. 

Then there were my flower girls and page boys: Megan, my youngest cousin

Suzie and Tom my cousins Emily and James' two children...

Amelie, our gorgeous one year old niece (Rich's sister Lisa and brother in law Chris' daughter)...

and of course Ollie, my nephew, my older brother Tim and sister in law Sarah's son. How cute does he look in his tiny suit?! 

That made us a bridal party of twelve altogether. And I wouldn't have had it any other way!

Last Minute Preparations

By the time I was ready to join the group, everybody else was pretty much ready to go. My dad had arrived...

Mum was busy making sure that my younger brothers Joe and Hugh (who were two of Rich's ushers) looked respectable.

And the whole group had lined up ready to get their first glimpse of me in my dress!

Time To Go!

The bridesmaids carefully helped me outside and into the waiting car.

And we were off!

All of the photos in this post were provided by our wonderful wedding photographer Brett Harkness. Check out his page for some truly stunning wedding, fashion and commercial photography, as well as his beautiful blog. 

Our Wedding: The Build-Up To The Big Day

The way I felt in the week leading up to our wedding day took me by surprise. After months of protracted emails to our venue to clarify timings, long international phonecalls to suppliers to check arrangements and many sleepless nights worrying about every little detail, I returned home to the UK with an air of complete calm.

Everybody kept on commenting on how relaxed I seemed, hinting at the fact that, as a rather attentive bride, they presumed that I would, or should be, displaying a few bridezilla-like characteristics by this point in the proceedings. What can I say?! Doing all your stressing early on obviously pays off!

As such, I was able to seriously kick back and enjoy a bit of much-needed chill time in the lead up to the day itself. Here are some highlights from a rather enjoyable week back home.

Meeting the wonderful Angie, Lauren, Jaime and Andrea

(a.k.a. Silverspoon London, The Lifestyle Diaries, Angloyankophile and Andrea’s Passions).

All bloggers will understand that feeling of excitement that you get when you finally get to meet other bloggers that you have been interacting with for a long time on social media. All four of these girls have inspired me in various ways along my blogging journey and not only are they a super talented bunch (seriously, check out their blogs if you are not already familiar with them at the links above), but they are also rather lovely people to boot. Needless to say, I was incredibly happy to discover that they are just as brilliant in ‘real life’ as they are online.

We headed to Oka in Kingly Court for sushi, prosecco and gossip (pretty much my favourite combination of things), and I was blown away at how miniscule our bill was compared to the quantity and quality of the food ordered. This is a must-try restaurant if you live in London, and if you would like to read a full review then head over to Angie, Andrea and Lauren’s blogs for the lowdown.

 Andrea proving that she is a saucy lady, just as I suspected from her blog

After eating and doing what us bloggers do best (taking hundreds of photos of our food), Angie, Lauren and I weren’t quite ready for the night to end, and so we headed downstairs to the awesome Cahoots, a secretive little place which is tucked away enough from the crowds to feel exclusive, and quirky enough in its concept to still be heaps of fun. It’s designed like a 1940s tube station and we loved the newspaper menus, tube station seating and delicious cocktails.

Catching up with one of my chief bridesmaids

It was great to meet up with Tania in London a couple of days before we made the trip up to the Peak District for the wedding. She very kindly took me to lunch at Medlar in Chelsea. A charming, comfortable and very popular restaurant from two alumni of one of my favourite restaurants, Chez Bruce, the menu is both elegant and elaborate, as well as mouth-wateringly tasty.

Stand-out dishes for us were the salad of confit quail legs, iberico ham, sairass ricotta, baby green peaches and ice salad.

The under blade fillet with shin and pickled walnut croquettes, salad, triple cooked chips and gravy.

And the tagliatelli with scallops and prawn.

We chatted about last minute wedding bits and pieces and the first real buzz that accompanied the knowledge that I was really actually definitely getting married began!

 Pottering around London

The day before Mr Sunshine-to-be joined me in London after finishing work back in Doha, I had a few errands to run around the city. Important chores were carried out like getting my hair cut and coloured at my favourite salon, Brooks & Brooks…

And, you know, buying juice and wandering through parks and stuff…

Having some couple time

After picking Mr Sunshine-to-be up from the airport, it was really nice to be able to have one last proper night together at our favourite home away from home, The Montcalm London City before we headed up to the Peak District for the real fun and games to begin.

We had Sunday lunch at an old favourite, The Jugged Hare…

And a few Pimms in the City to kick off the celebrations. When in London!

Getting the last minute bits and pieces sorted

And then, before we knew it, we were on the train up to my mum’s house, prosecco in hand and huge grins on our faces.

Here, we tied labels to favours, compiled boxes to go to Chatsworth…

Transported flowers from mum’s garden to the Church…

Wrapped presents…

Discussed last minute arrangements with the venue…

And made a little time to open and read a few cards and soak in the views from the balcony.

I want to say a huge thank you to all of our family and friends that assisted during this time – especially the two mummies who worked tirelessly to produce favours and flowers that we could be proud of, as well as my second chief bridesmaid Lottie who got up at 5am one morning to drive up to The Peak District to lend a hand. We could not have done any of this without you!

 Enjoying some relaxation and pamper time

While Rich headed off for his stag do (I had been super-organised and decided to hold my first one well in advance of the big day…and then to have another in Qatar several months later!), my mum and I took the opportunity to take ourselves off to a spa for the day so that I could get a wedding mani and pedi, and we could both enjoy a relaxing hot stone massage. We chose Spa 1877 in the heart of Sheffield, which is built around Victorian Turkish baths, making it a really authentic experience.

The best thing about this place however, is the fabulously warm and accommodating staff. I would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking an afternoon of pampering in the vicinity.

Spending our final evening before the wedding with our favourite people

Following a successful rehearsal at the Church, Rich and I headed to The George Hotel in Hathersage to meet all of our closest family for a final rehearsal dinner. Having decided to stick to the traditional father, groom and best man triumvirate of speeches the next day, this was my opportunity to say a few words to thank those around the table and my lovely future husband for making it this far!

Then it was time to say our goodbyes, head to bed and try desperately hard to catch a few winks before the biggest day of our lives in the morning.

I had a sneaky suspicion that I wouldn’t be sleeping much that night.

The Entertainer Qatar: Giveaway!

Ask anybody in Doha what their favourite thing about living in this city is, and I can guarantee that nearly everybody will mention its world class restaurants. And I am no exception. It's no secret that my absolute favourite past-time is eating my way around the city with my trusty eating companion Mr Sunshine by my side.

Chinese cuisine at Tse Yang

Fine dining, afternoon tea, interesting cuisines, different restaurant concepts...you name it, we've sampled it!

Japanese cuisine at Megu

Fine dining at Gordon Ramsay

Afternoon tea at the St Regis Hotel

Dinner with friends at Opal

When we're not busy stuffing our faces, you can usually find us sunning ourselves beside a pool at one of the city's luxury hotels, reclining at a spa, or taking a trip on a boat around our island home of The Pearl. It all sounds very glamorous, and I guess it is! It is this lifestyle, after all, that is one of the main attractions for so many of us to come to live and work in Qatar in the first place.

Enjoying the facilities at Remede Spa

One of the boats on The Pearl...and a big bag of Chocolate Bar goodies in hand!

The other huge appeal of living in Qatar is the doors it opens to travel. From Hamad International Airport, you can be in a plethora of exciting tourist hotspots in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa in just four hours or less, and with a generous leave allowance afforded to you by most companies, there are plenty of opportunities to get away.

You can imagine my excitement therefore, when I first learned about the The Entertainer Qatar: a book containing over 850 'buy one get one free' vouchers for restaurants, spa treatments, family activities and more, meaning that Mr Sunshine and I could essentially cut the cost of our expensive lifestyle in half (very important when you're trying to save up for the mother of all weddings and a rather ambitious honeymoon - more on this in due course!!).

In 2015, we were even more excited to learn about the Entertainer's companion, Entertainer Travel 2015, which features over 250 complimentary night and 20% off offers at some of the region's best-known hotels and resorts.

In addition, The Entertainer launched their very own mobile App, which meant waving goodbye to the hefty (but much-loved) voucher book in favour of instant discount offers at our fingertips. Currently priced at QAR 295 on the Entertainer website, this app is also QAR 55 cheaper than the book, plus you open yourself up to even more discounts and savings, as new merchants and monthly offers are automatically added to the app and appear under 'My Offers'. What's more, The Entertainer Travel comes completely free!

Thanks to my friends at The Entertainer Qatar, I'm excited to announce that I will be giving away one free App to a lucky Follow Your Sunshine reader.

UPDATE! The Facebook application I was using for entries was not working properly, so now you can apply directly in the link below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All you have to do is click on the button to visit my Facebook page, and when you return to this post, you should be able to apply! Please do leave me a comment below if this isn't working for you as I have already had lots of people tell me that they're unable to enter.

One application will be picked at random and I will be announcing the winner on the blog as well as my Facebook page, so make sure you check back in! You have until midnight on 27th August to apply. Good luck!

Follow Your Sunshine Is Back!

It's been a good few weeks now since I published my last post, and over a month since I put Follow Your Sunshine on the back burner while we got married and headed off on honeymoon. I hate to admit it, but despite missing blogging terribly, I am feeling pretty good for having had a bit of a break.

While we were in Italy, we didn't make a conscious decision to switch off our devices, but it just felt right to do so. That's not to say that I didn't find time to sneak in a few sneak peek blog posts of some of the beautiful places we'd been to! But for the majority of our time away, we spent as much time as we could simply enjoying each others' company and soaking in the excitement of being newly-weds. Mr Sunshine claims that he didn't even check his work email while we were away, and for my husband this is quite a feat!

Now that we're back in Qatar and settled into our usual routine, I'm super keen to get going again...and there is so much to talk about, starting with the super-crazy-wonderful-best-day-of-my-life experience that was our Wedding Day! 

Photos courtesy of Brett Harkness

Following some of the most excitable posts I'll probably ever write, I will recount our once in a lifetime travels across Italy: through Rome, along The Amalfi Coast and up to Florence, where we breathed in some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen, ate at some of the best restaurants I will ever eat at, and stayed in some of the world's most luxurious hotels...oh, and did I mention the swimming pools?! 

Needless to say, Mr Sunshine and I fell head over heels in love with Italy, and we found it incredibly difficult to leave.

Luckily, when I've written the sad conclusion to this series of honeymoon travel posts, I have a few blog posts lined up that are all about our future and what is coming up next for the Sunshines! It really is going to be an exciting few months for the blog (and actually, for our lives in general!), so make sure you keep up to date by following me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Bloglovin'.

In the meantime, I have a fun giveaway to kick things off tomorrow so I hope you will drop by to check it out and say hi. 

I've missed this! It's so good to be back :-)