Hope you are all having a nice week. I took this week off work as I have a lot of planning to do. I bought my wedding dress today, it will be ready in January. My kitchen is almost installed now and all the interior doors are hung in the house. We bought all the tiles for the bathrooms yesterday. My wallet is getting a good bashing this week.

I also booked my wedding venue, it will be a traditional church wedding with a castle reception. I am having three bridesmaids- two close friends and one of my new sister in laws. Our Church is very small and is located on the lake shore. Have a look at the reception venue where we will have an arrival reception with canapes and drinks, then 5 course meal later in the evening, followed by a band, then evening buffet, then a dj to finish the night off at which stage I will be exhausted. That's the norm here in Ireland. I hope you like my venue. I think it's fit for a princess : ) The venue was expensive but I have cut back on many of the other items. I am not having a video, my friends will drive us, my wedding dress was a total bargain, I am trying to get a photographer for an hour or two and need to arrange invitations which I might do myself. I have looked at Wedding Chicks DIY invites and I like them. Tomorrow on my to do list, I have to go and suss out bridesmaid dresses and invitations. Hope you are all having a nice week and you have better weather than us- it has rained non stop all week!

What have I been up to lately?? Well where do I start. I had to work from 9 in the morning until 10 at night three nights this week and work the 5 days. I am trying to organise the wedding, I have the hotel provisionally booked and the band booked. I am taking this week off work and have lots of things to do. I have to look at a wedding dress on Tuesday to decide if I'll buy it. The house is really coming together, the kitchen is fitted, just the counter tops and handles left to put on. The utility is ready too. So myself and my boyfriend have to buy tiles tomorrow for the bathroom walls. 

At the minute I am trying to decide on wedding invitations. In Ireland we don't use Save the Date cards just the invitations. I am in two minds as to buy them or make them myself. Below are a few invitations from Special Day Direct and Wedding Paper Divas which I like, but I have also been looking at Wedding Chicks for their free DIY Invitations. Do you know of any other free DIY wedding invitations template I could take a look at, if so please let me know. I will update my blog with some photographs of the new house this week too so you can see the progress. Hope you are all having a nice weekend!

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I knew it would be difficult but I wish I could find a wedding dress I like that isn't almost €2,000. I have visited two bridal shops and picked three dresses I like the most expensive was €2,300 and the cheapest was €1,750. I cannot and will not justify spending that kind of money on a dress that I will wear once. As I am a UK size 8 and 5 foot 2 inches tall, weighing less than 8 stone, I am smallish. As a result I would like a figure hugging dress, not an A line or flowing dress. I have noticed that a lot of the dresses have folds of fabric across the front which I do not like. I also do not want a strapless dress as I would not be comfortable in it. So that limits me to a tight dress with some type of strap (not a tiny spaghetti strap though that looks like an after thought) and no sweetheart necklines. Fussy your thinking and you are probably right. So below are the three nicest dresses I have seen but they are all over my budget

1. 

    

The above dress is Mon Cheri Kali which is very detailed and has a very long train. It is quite heavy on too. I like the style though and also the neckline as it is not too low. I would have to get this dress taken up at the front though. 

2.

    

This is Novia d'Art Daniella, I love this lace dress, very figure hugging. It is the most expensive and the one that is way over my budget but it was the nicest on me. I loved it. The only thing I'd like to change would be the level the belt is at, I think it may be nicer higher up. The only way I could get this dress is if it was second hand and cheaper. 

3. 

    

The final dress is totally difficult than the two dresses above. It is Ritva Westenius Beatrice. It is a classsic looking dress, very simple and elegant. The bridesmaids dresses would have to be very simple and I think it may be a little plain for me. I have shortish hair so perhaps I would look very plain in it. 

I would love to see what you all think of the dresses above, as I said the three of them are over my budget but I think my budget is probably unrealistic. I have looked online at american websites selling imitation dresses but I would be afraid that they are different fabric and would not fit properly. Have you any feedback, suggestions or links to photographs of the above dresses or any other dresses you like or think are similiar.