Our Venues

When we marry in a year we will do so at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. Weather permitting we will be under the redwood trees (above) but if it is raining (I hope not) we will be in Caledonian Hall (below).

We will have our drinks reception in Caledonian Hall which is used by the Botanics as an events space.

The Botanics is so picturesque and has so many beautiful buildings which will form a beautiful backdrop for our wedding photographs.

After we marry in the Botanics and have our drinks reception we will be transported to Howies Restaurant in Edinburgh city centre. We will take over the restaurant for the whole day of our wedding. Their food is amazing and I can't wait to celebrate our wedding here!

The outside of Howies.

The main room in Howies. We are sadly restricted by how many people we can have for the sit down meal part of our day but we intend to have evening guests as well as our day guests.

Howies roof can be seen in the bottom left of the photo. Just above Howies is Calton Hill which is very iconic to Edinburgh's skyline.

It was my intention to do this today but I will have to postpone to tomorrow (and hopefully the weather stays nice) but I am going to go to the Botanics and to Howies and Calton Hill and do drawings to be used (if they work out) as part of our Save the Dates and Wedding Stationary. 

I am keen to be as creative as possible with our wedding and to add as many personal home made touches as possible. So watch this space! 

365 days to go!

This weekend Nathan is away in Barcelona for a 7's tournament with 22 other guys, some of whom I know well enough to know that there will be more drinking done than playing. I am missing him but know he will be having lots of fun.

I wanted to do a special wee post today as it is exactly a year till Nathan and I marry. This time in a year we will be having our drinks reception and will be Mr and Mrs Pike... eeek! I am so excited. 

I can't wait to be Nathan's wife and share our life together. Now that is a YEAH story if ever there was one!

The Zealley family

I had booked 3 days off from work at the end of this month. Sadly due to work commitments I  had to cancel today, Friday as a holiday. I still managed to keep yesterday in the calendar as I had planned to go and visit Kate and her boys. 

I got the bus up from Edinburgh and Kate picked me up at Perth. We had a couple of hours in the morning just us and baby Tom, who is now 2 months old and filling out. We got to sit and have a cup of tea and talk something that is near impossible when there are 2 small boys running round. Then Kate picked up the boys from nursery and we went for lunch to Pizza Express.

Kate and the boys watching their pizzas being made. This was a very popular past time. We also went into their kitchen and saw where they cleaned the glasses and dishes... more curious than cats!

Charlie and his babycinno.

Back at Kate and Ian's house we went and played in the garden. I played pirates with the older boys and Charlie rescued me from the evil pirate (Alexander) -even though we didn't know he was evil. Sadly I did eventually have to walk the plank and the giant octopus got me but the boys survived as giant octopus don't eat boys only ladies!

Alexander, Me, Tom and Charlie.

We tried to take some nice photos in the garden but they didn't really work too well. Alexander wasn't happy about getting his photo taken and then Tom wanted feed. Ah well.... Charlie was always smiling!

Back in the house the boys got hold of my camera and were snap happy taking shots of each other. Some of them were quite funny with them making faces!

Charlie having his afternoon smoothie.

The remains of Charlie's biscuit!

Alexander doing funny poses.

Alexander taking a photo of Charlie.

Kate and Tom in their kitchen. 

I had such a lovely day and it was a great break from work. A good reminder to me of what life is really about. Having fun and enjoying the company of good friends.

SATC 2

I can't wait to see the new SATC movie... See the official trailer here.

SATC Accies Girls Evening

On Tuesday 25th it was Loreen's turn to host the Accies girls evening. With SATC 2 just around the corner we decided to watch the first movie and enjoy some cosmopolotian cocktails. Paul, Loreen's other half even bought us the Cosmo Magazine. We induldged... and I ended up having to leave my poor bike there... actually it is still there!! I was thankfully okay the next day and had no cocktail hangover to speak of!

Vicki, Alex and Loreen with her funky new fringe.

Cocktails, magazines and the movie.

Wendy, Leona, Sarah and Zara.

Lorna, Me and Emily. 

Emily and Wendy were drinking water or virgin cosmo cocktails. Loreen went to lots of effort with her cocktails and everyone had a fun evening!

Holly and Jon Orgill

Back in November when we were in Jacksonville spending Thanksgiving with my wonderful host family from my time in the States we were happy to be able to see Holly, the Stansbury's youngest daughter when she was on a trip home from out West. 

Holly was like my little sister when I lived there and it really took my breath away to see her and hear her talk of her job and responsibilities. She works as a councilor to young troubled teens.

When we went round the table and talked of what we were thankful of and also later on at dinner when she was telling us about the lovely guy she was dating it became evident that this was more than just some guy- this was THE guy! 

Back in February we were delighted to hear that the guy she talked of so fondly, Jon had asked her to marry him and she had said yes. See their cute proposal story here.

I couldn't quite believe the beauty of their engagement photos, taken by Rebecca Westover...  oooh! if I could fly her over to the UK for an engagement and wedding shoot I would! 

I love these photo. See all the engagement shots here on Rebekah's blog. The top photo was enclosed with our invitation but sadly we were unable to attend due to saving for our own wedding and our work commitments. We would have loved to have been there. 

Then their bridal shots came out and again they were stunning. I guess it helps when you are so clearly in love... like head over heels in love... and that you are as good looking as these too.... I love the photos where Holly is laughing... seeing her laugh I can immediately imagine the sound of it... (it's so distinctive- like all the Stansbury girls- they have their own brilliant laugh!) It carries me back to a time over 12 years ago when we were all under one roof.... great warm fuzzy memories!

Holly and her bridesmaids including Hillary on the left of her and Heidi on the right- looking good girls!

The Stansbury family. Vicki and Steve with their 3 girls their husbands and children. What a wonderful family.

See their beautiful wedding video at http://vimeo.com/12000211 I watched it this morning at work when I got in and had a wee tear roll down my cheek... Congratulations to Holly and Jon Orgill!! HOORAY!

..... now I need to get myself organized and actually mail out their wedding gift!! oops!

Daily Long Cylce- 10 miles

 I am trying to cycle 10 miles a day to and from work.

Sunday Cycle

Saturday's Cycle

Glorious Sunshine!

This past weekend the weather was AMAZING! I had such a good weekend.

I feel like I have been on a mini summer holiday. We stayed outside all weekend and soaked up the sun.

SATURDAY

On Saturday we woke up to a beautiful clear blue sky and cycled down to Newhaven to meet Ed and Wendy (and the baby bump) for Breakfast at Porto and Fi. We sat outside and enjoyed a big breakfast. I ate so much I could hardly cycle afterwards!

Our bikes parked up outside Porto and Fi looked out onto the Firth of Forth.

We then cycled up to Stockbridge where Nathan meet with with some friends. The weather was beautiful and there were so many people laying out in Inverleith Park. Raeburn Place looked like a different place than the usual freezing winter weather that we experience it for the rugby.

We then cycled to Lily and Neil, Nathan's parents house and lay in their back garden for the afternoon. It was so nice to lay out. We then had a tasty BBQ with them that evening. They had bought yummy meats from Saundersons earlier that day.

SUNDAY

Again we were up early and cycled down to Portobello Beach where the Edinburgh Marathon was taking place. Hannah was running part of the relay and we tried to get down in time to cheer her on but we missed her by 5 minutes! We still stayed and cheered everyone on.

On the beach is my Grandma's parents home, where she grew up. It is a cute little cottage that I wish we still owned. The family who now live in it had a cute little sun umbrella outside to enjoy the summer.

Nathan and I on the beach.

Scotland? Really? It looks more like the South of France or Spain. Just beautiful!

Enjoying coffee. Hannah came along and met us after the leg of her relay. It was so nice to be outside on a Sunday morning. We were at this lovely little cafe called The Beach House at the bottom of Bath Street. It is definitely somewhere I will visit again. It was my type of place.

We cycled all the way along the promenade and then cycled back, passing the cafe again. We then cycled all along to Leith and back onto the cycle path at Hawthornevale and I went to my Dad's and Nathan went on to do some errands.

On Sunday afternoon my sister, Dad and I went to see my Grandma at Corstorphine Hospital where she has been moved too. It has beautiful views across the city and was nice to all visit together. 

Afterwards we then went back to my Dad's and Bex bought loads of goodies for a BBQ. Nathan did the BBQing, I made the kebabs, it was all hands on deck... fun family time.

A tasty Sunday night feast. Meat, meat and more meat!

Becky made a chocolate banana in foil on the chiminea BBQ.

I was joking that I can't believe that in a year this joker (crazy poser) will be my husband......

... but then he came right back with.... and this will be his wife (what a horrendous photo!) In my defence we were playing a game from our childhood 'Butt Head'  Nathan and I found it when we were looking for charcoal in the garage. I am not sure of what our neighbours kids thought we were doing....but we were having fun! ......(I might have to pin this to our fridge to encourage me not to stuff my fat face!)

I had such a nice weekend with Nathan it was so lovely to spend time with him and cycle all over the city. Chilling out with each others families and seeing some friends..... Bliss perfect bliss! Long may this lovely weather continue!

Cycling to Work

Well I am back to cycling to and from work. 

I picked up my bike on Monday night and took it back to my Dad's where Nathan tended to it and sorted out the rust on my chain etc. I feel awful that i have neglected my poor bike leaving it outside on the bike rack in office car park. Poor bike!

So far I have only cycled on Tuesday, Thursday and this morning as I was away in Newcastle and Manchester for the full day on Wednesday. I forgot how much I enjoyed my cycles. 

The picture above is not a great depiction but it shows the water of Leith which I cycle along each morning. Let's hope I can keep up with the cycling. 

There is such a change from cycling in the Autumn as I was last year. The cycle path is so green and lovely and thus far my hayfever has been kept at bay. 

If this weather continues I will definitely be cycling all summer.

Sally and Boccer's wedding

Back in October 2008 Sally caught Rebecca Stewart's bridal bouquet. Only a month later Andrew proposed and on Saturday we attended their wedding.

Sally and Boccers were married at Sally's family home in Midlothian. It was beautiful. They had built a gazebo for them to marry under and the weather was very kind. It was a beautiful setting with the Pentland's in the background. We stayed over night in one of the cottages, which Sally's family rent out as their business. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for a short break near Rosyln Chapel. See the details here for Gorton House.

The wedding party. The element of fun was evident from the very start of the day.

Each table had been assigned a song. When your song was played it was your tables turn to go up to the buffet table where there was roast pig accompanied by summer salads. It made it a very fun way to be served and stopped there being a big long line for food. The meal was delicious!

Andrew's Mum, Margaret made all the deserts and the wedding cake. How she accomplished this task is beyond me! Look at all those desserts! I was amazed and they tasted fantastic... we were spoiled! I had 3 types of dessert (diets don't count at parties or weddings!)

Marcus and Ali were on our table. My sister and Ali's sister went to Nursery school together and the 4 of us girls used to play together when we were younger. We would put on endless plays... fun memories!

Sally's Dad giving his speech.

Boccer's giving his groom's speech with the sun shinning in.

Duncan talking us through his slides for the best man's speech.

Sally and Boccers cutting the cake.

Jarrien and Colin

Ian and Sinead, whose due date was the day before the wedding. She looked radiant and it's so exciting to think that next time we see her she will have baby Campbell in her arms.

Catriona and Benji

Vicki and Stu on the dance floor. My feet hurt so much the next day as I did not stop dancing all night- always a sign of a good wedding I think! I loved the bunting and the roses all around the marquee.

Annie and Finnie who have recently gotten engaged... so many weddings to look forward too!

Some of the boys- Colin, Benji, Finnie, Geoff, Stuart, Nathan and Ian.

A few of the girls- Vicki, Annie, Jarrien, Me, Catriona and Sinead.

Nathan and I

Boccers with two of his ushers Guy and Tommy.

Allan had been at the Scottish Cup Final where he saw his team Dundee United beat Ross County. To say he was pleased was an understatement! He was also chuffed to have gotten a hug from Lorraine Kelly.

I wasn't quick enough to catch an action shot but the limbo dancing was popular although no one could go quite as low as Vicki... oh to have that flexibility!

Somehow every wedding ends the same with Nathan and Benji behind a bar or carrying out some crazy stunt. I have to say they were pretty tame- they must be growing up!

What are you having? 

We had such a good day at the Boccolli's wedding. The whole day was relaxed and fun and it was great to see everyone and catch up. I loved all of it..... and my head wasn't too sore the next day- always a bonus!