Going to the chapel

And we're going to get married...

BECAUSE THE CHURCH IS BOOKED AS WELL. Super super exciting. 

We don't have an official timeline as such, because our wedding date isn't until Autumn 2017. But there are naturally a few things we'd like to get ticked off by Summer this year - just to give us a bit of breathing space until we're in the official 12 month countdown.

Those are: wedding date, church and venue, guest list, save the dates and to start the hunt for the dress.

As you know we have secured the wedding date, church and venue now. Well done us being grown ups and sorting that out *mini fist pump* The rest are very much tasks I know need doing, but find them a tad overwhelming for a variety of reasons. And I'll tell you for why...

Re save the dates, in an ideal world I'd like all the stationery for the day to match, which technically means deciding the colour schemes and what not we'll have in 18 months time. THAT'S A YEAR AND A HALF AWAY. So much can change! As I mentioned, I'm a massive Pinterest fan so have already started looking at these things, but it's important to me to have the save the dates/general wedding stationery be something representative of the fiancé and I. There's just so much choice out there! Stationery post to naturally follow as I enter the depths of arts and crafts and templates.

Guest list. Where do you even start? Some of the hints and tips online are brutal; 'Guestlist in 30 seconds', 'The Gueslist Game'. Makes it sound so trivial. Or maybe I'm looking into it too much? At the end of the day we just want to know that we were fortunate enough to spend our day with all the people that we love. How we get to that final list, I'm not yet sure! Any advice?

 Then The Dress. I've had one shopping experience thus far, and it was quite something! I treated it as a process of elimination as I whittled down what sort of styles that had caught my eye, to what works in real life. All things wedding dress will get a post of its own later on. How can it not?!

So as you can see, a few things that still need ticking off the list but all in good time my friends. All in good time.

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Destination Unknown

One of our engagement presents that has since gone on to become the bible of our wedding, is a beautiful Wedding Planner. It has six sections;

1. Wedmin
2. Diary/planner
3. Budgets and costs
4. Guests and gifts
5. Dressing up 
6. The reception 

And even within those it breaks it down further, so you really can't miss any aspect of your wedding day - whether you choose to plan something for every part or not.

Up until that point, we had all the tools to start planning and a date decided. But no venue. As I mentioned in my last post, we both wanted to find somewhere that gave us that 'wow' feeling, thing is, we just didn't really know what type of venue that was going to be.

We decided to spend two days visiting a variety of venues, making sure each one was different from the last. These included a couple of hotels, a room in a castle, a stately home and a barn. We were also conscious not to overwhelm ourselves with information as these things can get quite samey.

Fortunately there was one venue that we saw where we both had that moment. The this is the one moment. But not to jump the gun, we returned home and went through all the paperwork we'd accumulated over the two days. I mean, we could at least enquire about them being available on our chosen date? And maybe see when things need to be tied up by in order to make it ours? Ok ok. Why not?!

One thing that has boggled my mind though, is that through all the enquiries we've done, how everywhere seems to be inundated with queries for 2017 weddings - more so than 2016. Where are all this year's couples? Hiding ready for 2017? You're making me panic that I'm not organised enough!

So long story short, we have now confirmed our venue. IT'S HAPPENING.

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The Wedding Planner

...I am not. But an organised person, I am and I went into this wedding planning thing with the best of intentions. My inner Monica Geller and OCD traits combining to make a bride-to-be who's totally got her shit together.

Something like that anyway!

After being completely overwhelmed with love and congratulations from our nearest and dearest, we decided to enjoy the engagement bubble before the wedmin began (and yes, that is an official term)

As part of the engagement loveliness there were also many a wedding magazine thrust my way; this is where the Monica/OCD part of me flourished. And my love of stationery. Tabbed pages for reference, including dream wedding dresses to venues, even down to the types of cutlery (!) You can definitely see why the wedding industry in the UK is so lucrative when there are just so many options - no stone left unturned when it comes to planning your perfect day.

But before we got all over-excited, it made sense that the fiancé and I tried to plan when we were going to get married. How do people even decide this?! It's such an odd thought process, trying to decide a time of year that you're particularly fond of. I can honestly say it hadn't crossed my mind before now.

So we decided our wedding date the following way: both our birthdays are in Spring, not a fan of a Summer wedding (and you can never guarantee the weather anyway), even if we went for November/January the venue will likely still feel Christmassy. Kind of left us by default September or October. And OH! Our anniversary is in October... Next year is our 10 years... And the date falls on a Saturday. Ta-da! It's decided. Our wedding date has been indirectly picked for us. How twee.

Now our date had been decided it was a case of venue hunting. This is where hitched.co.uk was super helpful, as it really is a minefield. You can look through all the magazines in the world, and pin as many images as you like on Pinterest, but I think until you walk into a venue and have that 'wow' moment, you won't really know what you're after.

So. 18 months to get organised. Plenty of time!

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Name Changer

Now you're all up to date on what's happened since I was last regularly blogging, it gives me an opportunity to tell you why my blog has a new name, new feel and new topics.

I touched on it in the 'About Me' section, but essentially it's that there is more to me than having Crohn's - hence the name change. Hattie, etc. is more encompassing of me and the areas of my life, whereas Harriet's Got Crohn's as a name suggests that my illness was what made me up as a person.

I started my blog as a way for me to talk to everyone and no one about what I was feeling with regards to my Crohn's and the challenges that it threw at me. It also served as a great sounding board when I was having to deal with my biggest operation to date. It was a great tool in coping and it let me connect with a variety of people who were taking the time to read what I typed out.

Now however, I'm in a place where there are many exciting things that lie ahead and I want to write about these areas also. Remember as well that I am yet to be in remission - so it's not like I've got my rose-tinted glasses on! It just makes sense to me to have a blog that reflects where I am in my life now.

The shift in my mindset most likely began from being more than happy with the care I receive at Guys & St Thomas', so everything health-wise is less of a worry than it ever has been before. It could be down to the fact I love my job and I never really feel like I'm at work. Or it could be down to my family and friends and how despite all I've been through, they're still there supporting me and they should know that they fucking rock.

Also being that little bit older and more secure in my own skin has merely confirmed that I know it's ok to struggle when having a flare up, and that I can also make the most of what life throws at me. Good or bad. Christ, I'm almost 28 which as everyone knows is basically 30...and then you're middle aged. I've got things to do!

Don't fret though as there will of course be posts about my Crohn's, as it certainly isn't going anywhere, but now they'll sit alongside other topics too. And that's really bloody exciting for me!

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