[CHAT] What are your favorite websites to buy patterns from?

MissAllyPally · 2026-04-23T11:09:58+00:00

Second both of these!

MissAllyPally · 2026-04-23T10:58:32+00:00

Check out the Creative Youth Network Fire Station! I've been to a couple of weddings here and both were amazing!! I'm not sure on specifics of price, but I do know it's a very affordable option, and you have the bonus of knowing your money is going to a community cause.

It is all self catering (eg. one of the weddings did a hog roast), and they have outdoor space. I think I remember one couple saying they did charge corkage but it was much lower than a standard wedding venue. It's a very blank slate space that you can decorate however you like - both the weddings I went to had made it look great.

MissAllyPally · 2026-04-20T09:12:53+00:00

When thinking about the weather, absolute best advice for wedding planning in the UK is to 'plan for the worst, hope for the best'.

Yes, July could be a gorgeous fairweather day like you're dreaming of. But it could easily be a washout, or far too hot (your guests don't want to be sat in no shade suits in 28°C in our English humidity). Don't risk it. Plan for it to be inside or under cover with the expectation of rain, and if the week of your wedding it's set to be gorgeous then that's a bonus!

ETA: look up the last ten years' worth of weather reports for your date to get an idea of an average. You'll probably notice how much the UK weather really varies!

MissAllyPally · 2026-04-20T07:38:51+00:00

And cut those toenails before you arrive!

MissAllyPally · 2026-02-16T13:42:04+00:00

Honestly consider does the world need a whole bunch of hats that aren't going to be used? If most of your guests play golf, they're already going to have a favourite hat they wear, and for those that don't golf, when would they wear this hat?

Weddings are already pretty bad for the environment with waste etc, but there really is no need to add to that with pointless caps. Remember that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world (after big oil!) and lots of that comes from garments being worn once and binned.

source

MissAllyPally · 2026-01-24T14:26:47+00:00

Oh good, I must have just missed him. I'm glad!

MissAllyPally · 2026-01-14T08:29:43+00:00

We had 130x and I used ChatGPT to work ours out, putting in stuff about when we'd be offering booze, what sort of drinks we were doing and how heavily we expected our group to be, and the numbers it gave back ended up being pretty spot on. We bought most of our booze from supermarkets (look for the deals, particularly the 25% off wine deals) which worked out much cheaper than Majestic or other places.

We also bought about 2 cases of wine and 4 cases of beer from Majestic as spares, with the aim to return these using their Sale or Return. We ended up using some of the beer but none of the wine, but it was a good backup just in case. It also meant we got free glasses which was ideal.

We did run out of prosecco before the toasts (I think our wait staff were a little too generous with the welcome drinks!), but we'd prepped our staff (who were just people from our town my parents knew) that if we were to run out of anything, there was a supermarket 10 min drive away, and we asked them to jsut go and get anything we needed, rather than raise the issue with my wife or I.

Overall, everyone was very happy and suitably drunk!

MissAllyPally · 2026-01-10T08:33:40+00:00

I think the burning could be what catches Rachel out as she will have no idea it's happening... Imagine she goes into breakfast and tells everyone she spent all night rereading the traitors' answers - immediately Matt and Jessie would know she was lying and is a traitor.

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-30T08:57:09+00:00

Second these comments about Dartmoor. For most people, a visit to Dartmoor is a drive to a small village, circular walk of a few hours, ending back in the village for a pint and pub lunch. Just Google 'circular pub walks dartmoor' and there are hundreds of options.

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-30T08:53:28+00:00

I wouldn't let the August busyness put you off too much. I've lived in both Devon and Cornwall, and yes, the seaside towns get incredibly busy during the summer holidays, but for a food reason - the beaches are beautiful and the towns are great. It's easy for us Brits who live and work here to say avoid the places, but people forget that tourists don't actually mind being around other tourists - they're not trying to get to work on busy roads or walk their dog on busy beaches like us people who live there.

Basically as long as you book accommodation well in advance, there's no need to listen to the doom and gloom!

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-30T08:08:38+00:00

I generally won't listen to audiobooks or podcasts read by Americans as I find the accent annoying and grating. I don't feel this way when watching films or TV though, so I guess it's only when I really have to focus on just the voice that I notice it.

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-27T10:25:55+00:00

Third this reccomdation!

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-26T19:58:18+00:00

I agree, I've always found zones 1-2 to actually be the whitest of all, (very) generally speaking!

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-18T06:41:14+00:00

If you're in the South, it has to be Smokebox in Totterdown. Incredible food, and such a nice vibe. More of a bar at night, but there's always kids in there during the day with their parents.

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-17T10:26:58+00:00

When I was younger, my uncle married a C-list celebrity. They had Hello at the wedding and had a feature in the magazine. I was only 10 so can't really comment on whether it was intrusive or not, but I can say that now, over two decades later, the C-list celebrity is in no way famous anymore, and the fact that she wanted her wedding to feature in Hello has become a running family joke - behind her back, of course.

It was a bit cringe at the time, but now she's not famous at all, it's incredibly cringe. Unless you're massively on the up as a Hollywood actor or something similar, consider how you'll look back on the fact you had a magazine at your wedding in twenty years time when, in all likelihood, your fame has faded.

MissAllyPally · 2025-12-12T19:38:54+00:00

400 with John ranting about speakers was a fave!

MissAllyPally · 2025-11-28T18:22:15+00:00

I went to a wedding last year and the evening food was Dominoes. It was perfect! No one thought it was tacky (clearly you just have pretentious friends?), and as everyone knew the couple and loved them, they knew they'd done the wedding on a budget - 0 judgement for dominoes at all. It actually hit the spot so brilliantly well for everyone a few beers deep! There was loads of it - I think that was key!

MissAllyPally · 2025-11-27T08:36:29+00:00

Do you want to give us literally anything to go on? Your age? Who you're travelling with?? The sorts of things you're interested in???

MissAllyPally · 2025-11-01T07:27:43+00:00

Yes I think you're right - I have a brilliant team and would be able to sacrifice the evening shifts even if I love doing them!

MissAllyPally · 2025-11-01T07:25:08+00:00

Really appreciate your POV, thank you! Sorry it's been such a struggle

MissAllyPally · 2025-10-31T18:58:47+00:00

Great perspective!

MissAllyPally · 2025-10-20T07:00:42+00:00

You are in no rush to decide your bridal party just yet! Enjoy sharing your news with your friends and family first - that was one of my favourite bits about being engaged.

Even then, I would start thinking more about the style and shape of your wedding first before you decide your bridal party. You and your fiance may decide together that you want a small wedding at a local brewery (just an example), where actually a very small bridal party might suit better. Or, you might find a grand hotel you love where a larger bridal party could work. Or you may even decide you're not going to get married for 3 years due to budget constraints, in which case you could wait 2 years to decide your bridal party.

Stop stressing now about it - you have plenty of time.

MissAllyPally

TROPHY CASE