Rapunzel Part 2: Interviewing the Cast

As promised I am back with Rapunzel Part 2: Interviewing the cast! 

Before I go into the interview I wanted to say a massive thank you to the producer, Joe Purdy for organising this backstage interview and also to the entire cast for not only taking the time to answer my questions but also being so lovely when I had to last minute bring Ella-Grace a long, lovely people. Thank you again. Now, into the interview... 

Charlotte Dacia as Rapunzel

George Sampson as Prince George

Gemma Gibbons as Horabella

Jamie Jones as Queen Passionella

Sohelia Clifford as Fairy Kind-Heart

Gary Morrison as Chester

The questions were asked to the cast in two groups: The female cast and the male cast. (I have also added the Joe's answers in here also). 

Q: What cast member is most like their character? 

Gemma: Charlotte I think. 

Sohelia: Yeah, Charlotte!

Gemma: She is a proper princess.

Sohelia: Lets put it this way, you normally wake up in the morning to your alarm clock but with Charlotte, she wakes up to birds singing. 

George: Definitely Gary! He is very funny. It was the perfect part for him. 

Gary: Yeah I do like a good laugh. 

Q: Do you get nervous and if you do how do you deal with them? 

Charlotte: I don't get as nervous as I used to. The more you do it the less nervous you get. 

Gemma: I think everyone gets a little bit nervous. 

George: I get nervous and don;t tackle it at all. 

Gary: You just deal with it. 

Jamie: I get nervous especially if I am concerned for a certain part. I think there would be something wrong if you never got nervous before going on stage. You always have worries like how are the audience going to react? But when the music starts your okay. 

George: Yeah, once the music starts and your out there you are fine. 

Q: What challenges did you face during rehearsals? 

Sohelia: It was quite an easy process. 

Gemma: The only thing was when George was away. 

Sohelia: Yeah, he has an interview on this morning so we had to rehearse without him. 

Charlotte: Yeah I had a random prince one day. We also only had about 6 days to get the show together so that was a bit difficult. 

Gary: Just getting it all right. 

Jamie: We only had about 6 days to get it together as well. 

Gary: Yeah so we had to do it really fast. 

Jamie: Another thing is the jokes that you change depending on where you are. Some jokes will work in London but won't work in Scotland so you have to constantly change parts in the script. For example, Football references always have to be changed.

Q: What Panto is your favourite and why? 

Sohelia: My favourite one that I have been in is Snow White but to watch my favourite one is Aladdin because of the kind of magic in it like the magic carpet and the genie. I just think that one is really nice to watch. 

Charlotte: I like Cinderella a lot, that one is my favourite. 

Gemma: Cinderella is my favourite too, the best one to see at Christmas time, the most festive. 

George: Jack and The Beanstalk is my favourite. I've played Jack a lot and I just really like the whole story. 

Jamie: I think it depends on the script because you can get a Panto you like but then it's not a great script. Cinderella is the most magical definitely. 

Joe: Jack and The Beanstalk is my favourite because that was the first one I ever saw. 

Q: What do you think of Aberdeen so far? 

Gemma: I like it!

Charlotte: Its good, haven't had much time to explore though unfortunately. 

Sohelia: The audiences have been amazing, we have had great reactions so far. 

George: I love Aberdeen! We went to the circus and that was really good. 

Jamie: And the night life is great! Although if you had asked me this when I just arrived it maybe would of been a different answer as I got pooped on by a seagull in the first 20 minutes but I like it now. 

Gary: We have been treated superbly by everyone and the audience has been great. 

Joe: Great, it's a really nice town. Where I am from is very small so it's nice coming to a bigger city and broadening my horizons. 

Q: (For George) How does being on a theatre stage differ to being on a televised, talent show like Britain's Got Talent? 

George: Well on Britain's Got Talent you have to aim towards the camera and think about where the camera's are while you are performing. The show is obviously being shown on TV so millions are watching who have voted for you to be there. In the theatre it is a closed audience and you just have to focus on the hundred or so people that are in front of you. You have to make sure you are up to scratch. 

BACKSTAGE PHOTOS>>>>

Thank you for reading!

Thank you so much for reading and thank you for sending in questions! I have really enjoyed doing something different from my regular posts but for those of you who are more interested in my Mummy blogs I will be back to them very soon. I have always loved the theatre from a young age and really want Ella-Grace to love it to so having this opportunity is amazing. Thanks once again to everyone involved. Unfortunately Rapunzel has now ended in Aberdeen but don't worry, Joseph Purdy Productions are coming back in October with 'The Wizard Of Oz' so be sure to come secure your tickets now!! 

If you like my blog please follow me on social media (Instagram @laurajanelifex , Facebook LauraJane Life) to be notified when I post, some cute toddler pictures and more of an insight into my day to day life. Till next time lovely readers! 

Joseph Purdy Productions, Ranpunzel Review

Photo by Shania Bethune

Last night I was lucky enough to see the Joseph Purdy production of the pantomime, Rapunzel in the Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen. The show has toured several places such as London and Manchester and has now landed in Aberdeen until Sunday! I had the wonderful opportunity of reviewing this pantomime and also having a chat with some fellow audience members and the producer himself, Joe Purdy. I will also be interviewing the cast members later this week, this interview I will place in a separate post as I know you are all eager to know the answers to your questions. For now however onto the review: 

"Very, very funny for adults and children", Louise from Aberdeen shared her view on the performance. 

"I loved the songs and it was very funny", was the opinion of some young boys in the audience. 

From what I could gather, the consensus opinion of the show was that it was a feel-good, humorous and interactive performance for all the family and I could not agree more!

With popular songs, jokes for both children and adults, good use of lighting, great vocals, impressive costumes and the clever use of some local Aberdeen slang, the show was bound to be a hit. The diverse characters entertained everyone and they made you feel as if you were on the stage with them having a great time. 

The vocals of all the cast were impeccable and the endearing character of Chester had me chuckling the entire time. Not to mention, Britain's Got Talent winner, George Sampson throwing it back a decade and re-introducing the dance we all know and love- I personally felt my teenage self jump with joy at this part. 

This performance of Rapunzel although staying true to the original story also managed to change it up enough that you were still wondering what happened next but don't worry it is pantomime after all, you will still get your Happily Ever After. 

Interviewing Joe Purdy- Full interview will be included in my next post. (photo by Shania Bethune) 

I would like to finish off this review with a quote from the producer himself, Joe Purdy. "If I could describe this pantomime in 3 words it would be fun, energetic and family-friendly". 

I could not have picked a better three words myself. Five stars from me and I would highly recommend you get down to the Tivoli Theatre to see this wonderful show within the next few days. You can get tickets on aberdeenperformingarts.com. If you cannot make it this time, Joseph Purdy Productions will be returning with "The Wizard Of Oz" this October, which if this production is anything to go by, will be amazing! 

Thank you to everyone involved Rapunzel. Myself and my family enjoyed every second of the show. Looking forward to interviewing the cast later this week and hopefully coming a long again to your next show. 

Later this week I will have a post which will include the interview of the producer and cast so be sure to come back for that. I will notify everyone on my social media when this is posted. I hope you all enjoyed this review and thank you for reading. 

Planning A Budget Wedding: Top 10 Tips

Another Wedding post...

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well and thank you so much for reading my last post all about my wedding day!... I mean OUR wedding day.. sorry Reece haha! 

I had so many congratulatory messages and I felt so loved. I know many of my friends and also many of my readers who are engaged and planning their weddings and nowadays a lot of people try to do it on a budget, just as Reece and I have, so I thought now all the wedding stress is over and done with that I would reflect on the planning process and give you guys my top ten tips on planning a budget wedding. Some of these stem from what I think helped through the planning process and we are glad we did and others stem from things we probably could of done better or wish we had implemented in our planning. I hope you all like it and find these tips helpful, comment below if you have any advice for brides-to-be. Happy Reading Everyone! 

Top 10 Tips...

1. Give yourself time 

21st June 2015- The day we got engaged 

22nd June 2018- Our wedding day 

So, Reece proposed to me back in 2015 on the top of Blackpool tower (I used to go to Blackpool a lot with my family when I was younger so he knew this was a special place that held a lot of memories- he can be sweet sometimes). That day marked 3 years of us being in a relationship and as we got to the top of the tower, we spoke for a bit and he told me how important I was to him, how much he loved me and that he had been thinking about how long we had been together, then followed the question "Will you marry me?". OF COURSE I said yes! After the excitement of the engagement had settled down and we were finally looking at planning it we knew two things. 1. Have it in June seeing as this was a special month for us, and 2. 2 years planning.  Well 2 years quickly turned into 3 years when we found out we were expecting a little one and I am so glad we postponed it. Gave us an extra year of planning and time to focus on our little girl. 

So that is my first bit of advice. Give yourself time to plan the wedding it does not have to be straight away. I know the excitement of getting engaged takes over you- ask Reece I wanted to get married 6 months later but clearly that was not an option. If you are planning a budget wedding the longer you have to save money and plan the better, some places even give you major discounts if you book far in advance. And if unexpected things happen during the planning and you have to postpone don't be down about it, see it as a good thing that you not have extra time to make your day extra special. Love has no expiry date and whether you wait 10 months or 10 years to marry each other, it won't matter, just do what is best for the two of you and what is in your budget. 

2. Search far and wide 

Okay, so I didn't exactly search that far as in the other side of the world or anything, I did very much limit my search to Scotland/UK (not meaning my online searches) but what I mean is consider different options, different costs and don't jump at the first thing you see. My wedding dress I searched 3 shops and online, the reception venue we viewed countless places, bridesmaids dresses and flower girl dresses we looked through multiple websites, I rummaged through several discount stores for decor. I know in excitement it is easy to say lets just get it but if you are trying to save some pennies and stick to budget maybe look to see if you could get what you want for less, who doesn't love a bargain. 

Of course, if the you find something perfect and within budget first time then go for it, our ceremony venue was the first thing we decided on and looked no where else as it was in budget and beautiful. You just have to weigh out the pros and cons for yourself and ask 'Could I look somewhere else?' or 'Is this the one?'. 

3. Join Facebook Groups

I cannot express enough how useful I found this! I'm not usually one to participate or be a part of a lot of Facebook groups but 'Bargain Weddings UK' and especially, 'Your Private Wedding Hub', came in so handy in times of struggle as you can speak to so many brides (and some grooms) that are in the same boat as you and you often get really good advice. Whether your bridesmaid is stressing you out and you need to vent, you want to know the best place for centerpieces on a budget or you are looking for hair and make up inspiration, I can promise you that there will be a flood of comments that can be so helpful. Of course there are occasionally dramas like on most Facebook groups but I just avoid those posts haha. I never thought this would be a tip I would be giving someone but honestly, those groups probably planned a good chunk of my wedding for me or at least they helped. 

4. Ask Family and Friends to help 

My Mum's masterpiece, our wedding cake

Now I am not meaning ask all your family and friends to give you cash to pay for your wedding but a lot of the time (at least in my experience) your guests will want to contribute to your wedding as a gift especially if they know you are on a budget. This can allow you to also use peoples skills to benefit your wedding. For example, my Mum is amazing at baking, she made Ella-Grace's birthday cake, so as a wedding gift my Mum (with the help of my Dad) made our wedding cake, which was beautiful. My older sister wanted to pay for our photographer as a gift so that was great, I also knew that same sister was good at hair so I asked her if she would do the hair for the wedding. She said yes and all our hair looked beautiful. Reece's auntie made half of our buffet, we used an Argos gift card that we got as a gift for our wedding rings, my close friend made my flowers and bought my veil, the wedding party all paid there own outfits and others guests put money in cards and gave us them early with notes like 'please put this towards your special day'. This also adds a personal touch to your wedding as you know everyone pulled together and helped you out in your time of need and aspects of your wedding came from the people you love. 

5. D.I.Y Wedding

The start of one of the centre pieces

Similar to the before tip, use your own strengths and try your hand at some D.I.Y. We bought all of our decorations from discount stores such as Home Bargains, Poundland and Colourbox world and we (really I should say I) decorated our reception venue ourselves. I made our card box out of a cardboard box and some paint we have lying around, the place cards were from pound land and I wrote and decorated them myself. Each centerpiece was put together by me, Reece and some of our wedding party and I did my own nails. There are just little bits and bobs that you can do to save money by doing it yourself. Each centre piece was probably around £6 or £7, some people spend hundreds! Well that just was not in our budget so yeah, get crafty. 

6. What is important to you? 

Sit down with your partner,multiple times during the planning to make sure you are still focused, and discuss what is important to the both of you and what aspects of your wedding you want to spend the most and least money on. There were little extra's the we weren't so fussed on and either didn't have in our wedding at all or budgeted the cost quite low. For example all the bridesmaids flowers were 79p each from home bargains. Other things that were really important to us and we knew would have to be in the higher price range to be what we wanted, we spent more money on. These things included my wedding dress (which we did get at a discounted price but still expensive) and our venue. 

7. Save, save, save!

This relates to my first tip-giving yourself time to plan your wedding- because the more time you have to plan, the more time you have to save. Me and Reece had very little savings for the wedding (due to having a baby in the middle of the planning haha) and this is one thing that I think would of helped us budget better and be less stressed instead of paying the wedding off with each pay that came in. So yes, better to have savings so you can properly budget but if like us you don't have much, try and save what you can and budget what you have coming in. 

8. Don't compare your wedding to others

This was something I often did which now I look back on was silly. I thought about all those lavish weddings that you see on TV and the few I had attended that were on the more fancy side with five course meals and bands etc. I would question whether our guests would have a good time and if they would look down at our low budget wedding but actually it was quite the opposite. A lot of people said they loved the more chilled out vibe of our wedding and that they loved helping themselves to the buffet of food. Also if anyone where to judge us on our low budget wedding then they were not people that should be at the wedding as they would clearly not have the right mind set. A wedding is about celebrating two people spending the rest of their lives together, not how expensive the centerpieces were. 

9. Stick to budget (try and leave some wiggle room) 

Last wedding dress fitting

Very important tip! Stick to your budget and if at all possible leave some extra money left over for any emergency payments or extras. We were actually really good at budgeting everything, we were very tight but it was working out.. and then I got the price for my wedding dress alterations! As you all know I have lot quite a lot of weight since having Ella-Grace and because of this (as my dress had been picked for about 2 years prior to our wedding) my wedding dress had to be taken in 4 sizes! Great for me that I am healthier than I was and felt amazing in my dress but for our budget, this was a catastrophe which is why I advise you leave some wiggle room. That would of helped us a lot in that moment. Thankfully we managed to re-configure things and with a little help from family and friends we managed it! 

10. Remember what the day is actually about.

This, by far, is the most important bit of advice I could give anyone who is planning their wedding and got me through some major bridezilla moments. Remember what the day is actually about! It is about you and your partner and the two of you are going to spend the rest of your lives together. It is about celebrating love and commitment. It is a day all about the two of you and it only happens once. Don't worry about what other people think, don't worry about how much money you have, don't worry about any of the material things or the traditional things that you apparently 'must do'. Just think about you and your partner and what you want in your wedding day, if you two are happy your guests should be too as they are there just to celebrate your special day. 

"I want a happy marriage more than I want a beautiful wedding" is one of my favourite quotes, try and remember that through the planning. 

Thanks for reading...

So, that's it! My 10 top tips for planning a budget wedding, I hope that was useful or at least interesting to some of you. Thank you so much for reading as always it is very much appreciated! To any brides or grooms to be, good luck with the planning and enjoy your magical day! It truly is the best day of your life! 

Please remember to like my Facebook page (LauraJaneLife) and follow me on Instagram (@laurajanelifex) for more on my day to day life, cute toddler pics and notifications on when a new blog post is published. Links are on in side bar. 

Till next time my lovely readers...

Stay Happy Everyone! :) 

I now pronounce you Husband and Wife: All about our big day, honeymoon and plans for the future.

Mrs Webster here...

Hello again my beautiful readers! It has been a whole month since my last post went up! I am so sorry it has took me so long to publish another post for you guys but as you will all know if you have been following my social media and blog page, Reece (my partner of 6 years and father of our magnificent daughter Ella-Grace) and I got married!! So I am officially a wife, Mrs Webster. Still getting used to the whole idea of being married but at the same time it feels like nothing has changed except I have a different ring on my finger and my stress levels have gone down since the wedding planning is out the way haha. On the run up to the day I was full of excitement and also tears, almost pulling my hair out over our budget (because it was just a small budget which I am going to do a separate blog post on) BUT it was all worth it and apart from our little Ella-Grace not feeling well, it was a perfect day! I am so happy that after a three year engagement we are finally married. I am so happy to be Reece's wife and as far as I know he is happy to be my Husband. 

I am going to do a series of wedding themed blog posts from how to plan a wedding on a small budget to my top tips for the big day but for just now I am basically going to give to a summary of the wedding day, share some pictures (not professional ones as we have not got them back yet), tell you about our honeymoon plans and what we are looking forward to doing in the upcoming future as a married couple. I know that a lot of you love the posts I write that are basically just life updates so for those people, here is just that ready and waiting for you to read. I hope you like hearing about the best day of our lives (apart from Ella-Grace being born of course. Happy reading everyone! 

The week of the wedding...

The week before the wedding can be described it two words: stressful and exciting. The most upsetting thing was that Ella-Grace was not feeling well, we put it down to teething and hayfever, and that was always my worst nightmare when it came to the wedding. Also the planning was driving me crazy and I felt like I still had so much to do and obviously so little time left. There were people cancelling, people that hadn't got back to us, problems with table cloths (they had red..not white like we asked for..our theme was pink) and my the price of my wedding dress alterations were sky high! But among all this stress that was making my brain go mad there was excitement of course especially when it came to the 20th of June (we got married on the 22nd) because I went to my Mum and Dad's house and Reece had Ella-Grace, this was my time to finally relax and chill out before the hectic two days to follow this. So yeah on the 20th I got to relax with my family and watch some films which was much needed because I had been a crazy bridezilla for like 2 weeks not going to lie. 

The day before the wedding...

The day before the wedding, my sister (also my maid of honor) and I got our hair done. I had not touched my hair for 6 months which is long for me so I was so excited for this and they did an amazing job, the perfect colour for the wedding and for my dress. So at this point I was pretty relaxed and my sister and I then went to some lunch followed by a spray tan. Living the pampered life and loving it. Later in the day, once we were back in Aberdeen, is when we got busy! Ella-Grace still wasn't feeling great so of course she was top priority, bridesmaids started to arrive at our flat because they were staying with me over night and we had to go an decorate our reception venue. My lovely bridesmaid watched a very fussy Ella-Grace, I hated leaving her but I needed to decorate and practice our first dance. Luckily she did settle for my bridesmaid and and after 3 hours, the decor was done, the buffet food was stored, our dance was practiced for the last time and our wedding cake was revealed to us. My mum made it as a wedding present for us and came the night before to set it up, it was magical!! I will insert pictures below. 

This is when Reece and I parted ways as he went off to meet his best man, groomsmen and friends at his hotel room and I went back home to my bridesmaids and my poorly baby girl. Thankfully Ella-Grace was asleep and we got to watch some movies (Bridesmaids and Bridewars- what else?!), snack and talk about the wedding. This is also when I gave out the bridesmaid gifts including our pjs which I thought were super cute. 

It got to 2am and we all finally decided to go to bed but Ella-Grace had other ideas and she kept me up till 4am (keeping in mind that the make up artist was coming at 6am) but oh well she is worth it and I knew that the adrenaline and excitement would keep me going. 

The morning of the wedding...

It's almost 6am, we all just woke up and the make up artist is on her way. ITS WEDDING DAY!!!!!! Ella-Grace is still asleep and so the bridesmaids and I all have breakfast, chat and the getting ready begins...

Cuddles with Mama 

Reading the letter Reece wrote to me for the morning of our wedding 

The getting ready process (this being me, my 3 bridesmaids, maid of honor, older sister, my mum, my niece, nephew and Ella-Grace of course) took us from 6am till about 1pm. Mostly I was excited but being a Mum I was aware Ella-Grace wasn't feeling well which made me a bit upset but knowing my Mum would be with her the whole time, I managed to relax a little bit (beside the nerves I was experiencing for the ceremony of course). I think we all looked amazing, we were all so happy with the hair and make up and my mum was speechless when she saw me in my dress- this was a cute moment. 

Bridesmaid Dresses

Mother of the Bride

THE DRESS

After all this photo taking everyone started to go in small groups. My older sister left first with my Mum and the kids, then my bridesmaids and maid of honor left together and then finally my Dad arrived, we had our little moment when he seen me in my dress which we are happy we got on video and then we waited for our car to arrive to take us to the ceremony.

Funny story while we waited my Dad had a coffee and I took a quick selfie (the one you seen at the start) but then... I realised I needed to pee... so yeah I went to the bathroom myself in my massive dress... not going to be tmi but in a very strange position I did manage to go to the bathroom unaided haha! It was just after this that the car arrived and I had to attempt the flight of stairs from my flat to the door where the car was- this being good practice for the ceremony as I also had to walk down the stairs then. And off we went in the car to the ceremony, ready to marry the love of my life. My Dad and I had a nice chat with the driver and with each other, he gave me his best wedding advice- 'Never go to bed angry' which through all of mine and Reece's relationship I have said so I think that means we were already off to a good start. This car ride was a very special moment for me and my Dad and one I will never forget. 5 minutes early- the driver did ask if I wanted to be late and I said no haha- and we arrived at the Winter Gardens for our ceremony. All the tears started, last minute cuddles and before I knew it we were walking down the aisle. 

The ceremony...

My Handsome Groom or should I say, HUSBAND!

(We asked all the guests to have their phones off and to take no pictures or videos during the ceremony so there won't be any photos in this section- apart from the one above someone snapped before it was announced haha, will be sure to share on my social media when we get the professional photos back however) 

Honestly, I don't really know how to describe the ceremony... it was a whirlwind and it felt like it went so fast! I was full of excitement and nerves! The bridesmaids walked down the aisle first followed by my maid of honor/sister, then my niece and nephew (flower girl and page boy), then My Mum carrying my other flower girl, Ella-Grace of course and then me and my Dad. 

-side note when Reece and I first got engaged 3 years ago I told him a song that meant a lot to me was Wanted by Hunter Heyes and I would love to walk down the aisle to that. During all the wedding planning I completely forgot about that song and we decided Reece would pick the song as a surprise and that was the one he chose. He remembered it over our 3 year engagement and considering he is an extremely forgetful person and not always sentimental so it meant a lot that he remembered that song.-

So much was going through my head when I was seeing everyone else start to walk down the aisle. Will I fall? Will I manage the stairs? Will Ella-Grace be crying through the ceremony? Will I mess up the vows? So much thoughts! But as we walked down the aisle I just got emotional and had to take some deep breaths especially when I saw Reece. I was so glad to have my Dad by my side in this moment, he helped me walk in the big dress and even held my flowers at one point and also kept telling me to breath. Appreciate my Dad so much. As I got closer to the end of the aisle and saw Reece's face I almost couldn't believe my eyes. He was crying, not just a few tears but properly crying. I had never seen him so emotional and it even made me stop crying because I felt like I needed to be the stable one haha. It really showed how much he cared for me, .loved me and obviously how happy he was. As he lifted my veil with the help of my Dad, he told me I looked beautiful. This was one of the best moments of my entire life and ironically as the lyrics of the song said, in this moment I really felt wanted and I knew I was marrying the right man. *Pause for happy tears haha* 

The ceremony started with my Dad reading a short passage I had wrote myself. I was not doing a speech at the reception so I really wanted to do my part in a way and in corparate my passion which is writing in our wedding. This is what I wrote:   I wanted it to reflect us as a young couple embarking on the journey of marriage and what I think we should work on/remember through out our years together. I think everyone like it! Please let me know what you think. 

Following this reading was the vows- which is the part I was very nervous about- Reece went first and said them perfectly! I went next and I think I sounded a bit crazy to be honest haha one minute I was saying them fine, the next minute I was holding back tears to mumble the words I needed to repeat but oh well I got through them, that's the main thing! Following this was the exchanging of the rings and the moment we had been waiting for, for 3 years... "You are now Husband and Wife, you may kiss the bride!" That moment was amazing and gave each other the biggest hug and kiss! Both quietly saying to each other "We did it!!"
The registrar then continued to do a 2nd reading that we allowed her to choose which was a bit funnier and shown the lighter funny side of marriage as well as things you are likely to go through. It made everyone laugh which was nice. We then signed the marriage paperwork, got a celebratory drink and everyone came round to congratulate us. I felt beautiful (despite the tan marks that were already on my dress- it was very hot in the Winter gardens!), I felt loved and most of all super happy!!! It felt surreal that we actually made it and were now a married couple! 
Our lovely photographer then whisked us away to get all the photos taken and she managed to get all the ones we asked for and more. When it got closer to 4pm everyone lined up outside ready to throw confetti as we walked to the car- I cannot wait to see those pictures. It was a magical moment. 

Car ride...

Finally Reece and I had a chance to talk by ourselves and take in the fact that we just got married! We told each other about our morning, talked about the letter we wrote each other, took some selfies and just lived in the moment to be honest. We were (and still are) on cloud 9! I felt so complete to FINALLY be married to the love of my life and I know he felt the same. Then we arrived at the reception venue to be greeted by my Dad who then introduced us to the guests as Mr and Mrs Webster- yet again another stand out moment of the day where I heard my new last name said for the first time. 

Reception...

This post is already quite long and as much as I know how much you would like to know exactly what I ate and what times I went to the bathroom haha I think I will just give you a summary. So when we first walked in after my Dad introduced us to the room, Ella-Grace ran to us. She had obviously been with my Mum and probably felt like she had not seen us so before we even went to our seats we just had a little family cuddle on the dance floor. Yes, it was our wedding day but Ella-Grace is always our main priority especially since she was unwell, making sure she was okay and happy was the most important thing. 

We then all went to sit down and Ella-Grace fell asleep in her pram so I got to relax. The speeches started (My Dad, my Bridesmaid, My Sister/Maid of Honor, the Best man and of course the Groom). All of them did an amazing job- my Dad did his whole speech in an Irish accent, my Bridesmaid wrote us a poem, my Sister was her usual show-woman self and made the whole room laugh, the Best man managed to wing it but do an amazing job and my darling Reece, bless him, had the whole room in tears- I was so happy with all the speeches and so thankful that the microphone worked. 

We then ran into some trouble as the food was late unfortunately so we decided to cut the cake first. 

-side note: My Mum made a vegan wedding cake and cupcakes for us and oh my goodness it was beautiful! Looked beautiful and the three different flavors were so yummy! She also added a personal touch by putting Blackpool tower on top of the wedding cake which is where Reece and I got engaged and on the cupcakes put either an iced thistle or a clover to represent both where Reece was born (Scotland) and where I was born (Northern Ireland). I love it and appreciated all my Mum's hard work. -

After cutting the cake, we decided while the hot food was getting cooked to put out the cold food which Reece's auntie had contributed so that everyone could start eating. This ended up working quite well and everyone almost got a two course buffet including cupcakes and wedding cake after. We had half vegan food and half non-vegan, which satisfied everyone (obviously if it was up to me it would of been all vegan but this is just what worked into our budget and pleased the guests). At this point Ella-Grace started to wake and had a little bit of food with me but was just not feeling it so, not going to lie, for a good few hours until my parents took her home I was no longer a Bride and just in full Mum mode. Which of course is fine, my baby needed me and I wanted to be there with her despite everyone offering help. Thankfully she did cheer up a bit before she had to go and we managed to get some cute family pictures and a little bit of a dance out of her. 

The first dance...

Our first dance was more than just your standard swaying. It was something we had worked on for around 8 or 9 weeks in our living room, partially copying the actual dance and partly choreographed ourselves. Our first dance song was 'Can I have this dance' by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens from the film- did anyone guess it?- High School Musical. Yes, it's cheesy, yes, it was more choice than Reece's but the words meant a lot to both of us and we had SO MUCH FUN  dancing together on the run up to the wedding! Those will forever be some of my favourite memories, what's more romantic than dancing around your living room with your partner? Nothing that's what. 

We had managed to practice the first dance in the reception venue the night before the wedding- where there was a slight slip up because we weren't used to a proper dance floor that was a bit more slippery and I fell over during one of the spins haha. Luckily however, even though we weren't used to the big dress and it may of not looked as elegant as we had practiced, it went really well, we enjoyed ourselves and everyone seemed quite impressed, I want to do it again!

The wedding night...

So, after all the kids left (including Ella-Grace when she left with my parents) it was time to party.. although not going to lie, I felt emotional because Ella-Grace was ill but I knew she was in safe hands and with the help from my friends I pulled myself together and managed to enjoy the rest of the night. 

Lots of dancing, chatting and laughing. Not too much to drink but we all had a few, we were celebrating! And to end the night we got lifted up in the air by all our friends and it was amazing. 1am meant time to leave. I gave out some cake to everyone left at the end of the night and finally Reece and I returned to our new home (where we had not officially moved in yet but had the keys so were able to stay there over night). Which is where I collapsed on the sofa, posed for a picture and fell asleep haha! Reece then woke me up a bit later on to take me to bed (like the gentleman and loving husband he is). 

A moment for my Husband...

Before I go onto the honeymoon plans and what we hope for our future, I just want to take a moment to appreciate my wonderful Husband. There are no words to describe how lucky I am to have him! Reece, is the love of my life and the best Dad to Ella-Grace. Kind, smart, funny, loyal, kind, beautiful, supportive and one word I use all the time, respectful.. this is a very important quality to me after being treated badly in the past. He isn't a man who is afraid to show his feminine side or feels as a 'man' he has to be the one in charge or tell me what to do. He respects me as an individual, knowing I'm my own person and would never tell me what to do. In this day and age of equality and especially since we have a daughter that is what every man should be. Honestly, this is one of the most attractive things about him, we have the same values and morals and are both strong independant people. Which makes us one powerful couple. We hope to raise our daughter to be this and to smash those glass ceilings. I have grown so much as a person since I met Reece at 15 years old, been through a lot of highs and very low, lows.. he has always been a constant rock in my life. Keeping me steady and loving me even no matter what as I have done for him. We are unbreakable. This is true love. So sorry anyone out there who had an eye on my man, he is my husband now and I intend on keeping him haha. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH REECE! 

Soppy part over now onto the honeymoon plans...

Honeymoon plans...

Much to our appreciation, we got a lot of money for our honeymoon as a wedding gift because everyone knew we already lived together and without a little bit of help we probably wouldn't of even had a honeymoon. So after getting all the honeymoon money together, it ended up we had enough for a deposit on a belated honeymoon for us in September. 

We really wanted to go to Italy but that is very popular and all booked up. So Reece knew Turkey was good as he had been before and I really wanted to go to Greece so we decided to do both! A week away in Turkey and a day trip over to Greece. This will not only be our first holiday abroad together but my first holiday abroad EVER! Better get that passport sorted...

Moving house...

I never give myself a break and when I get something in my head I just have to do it! So yeah getting married and moving house in the space of a week... sounds like something I would do and I did! 

Literally the day after the wedding we started packing up all our stuff and as of the Saturday after the wedding we were moved into our new home thanks to the help of our family and friends. Goodbye first floor flat and hello 3 bedroom house with a garden! Great area, great neighbors, nice landlords.. just perfect for us! Now in the new home almost 2 weeks and all our boxes are unpacked and we are settled in. Ella-Grace did such an amazing job with this big change as well as moving into a toddler bed! She just found it all so exciting! Really good decision for our family. 

The future...

So, what does the future hold for Mr & Mrs Webster? Well of course we have our hands full with our little toddler princess and both of us having jobs (even though mine is work from home does not make the work load any less). We have our new home which I would like to add some other little touches to. Further into the future however I do see us having one more little one (NOT pregnant just saying in the future that is something we would like) and as for the rest, we will just have to see what happens I guess. I am really trying to focus on the here and now and be in the moment with my little family in our new home. Honestly if I could tell 14 year old me that this was my future, damn she would of cheered up a little bit haha! You never know what is round the corner, if I never went through some bad times I would never of gotten here. We aren't rich, we don't have the fanciest things but we have each other, we have a home, we have family and we have love. Personally, I think that is all you really need. Looking forward to a lifetime full of adventures as Mrs Webster. Bliss. 

Thanks for reading... 

That was quite long but I know you all wanted to hear about the wedding so there it is! I will really try to make sure that the next blog post isn't a whole month away! Just want to say thank you to all our friends and family who helped out with the wedding as we would not of even had a wedding if it wasn't for all the generosity! We are so thankful. 

As for the next blog posts, I have a few ideas for wedding themed posts but will try and break them up with some other ones, any ideas leave a comment or drop me a message on social media. 

Speaking of social media, if you want to see/read more about my life outside the blog then go and follow my instagram ( @laurajanelifex ) and like my facebook page ( LauraJaneLife), you will be sure to see some cute baby pictures. 

Thanks once again for reading! Lots of love from Mrs LauraJane Webster (still not used to my new name haha!) Until next time...

Stay Happy Everyone :) !