Oh what a night! ( weekend of 30/31 August)

Hi All,

Well Lucy my head bridesmaid arrived back into wellington on Saturday and I went and picked her and her daughter up at the airport. We then wen't straight to Voon, so that she could get fitted for her dress. Julie the second bridesmaid met us there, so she could have her second fitting too. Her dress looks great! and she got to try it with the shoes we picked out on friday (which also look fab). She has one more fitting on tuesday and then she is all done.

Infact, all three of us are going in at various times on tuesday for fittings. We were hoping that I was going to get to try my dress on Saturday as well, but there wasn't enough of it done. But I am promised that it will be all ready by Friday, and I am sure that it will be. I am looking forward to trying it on.

I had a quiet afternoon and then on saturday night went out for my hen's night. It was all very last minute to organise, and only came about because I was told that if I didn't organise it, I was then putting myself in jeopardy of being kidnapped at anytime. I don't really like the sound of someone turning up one evening ( and probably a weeknight!) to make me go out drinking. I do like some control. As it turned out the threateners couldn't come anyway. But oh well, we had a blast!

There ended up only being 7 of us ( because of the late notice), but it turned out to be a good number. We started at "The Lanes" on taranaki street, with a couple of cocktails and a game of bowling. It was great fun. Here, I was presented with a devil horns and veil, an orgasmatron head massager and a penis straw - which was to be used with all drinks. We then proceeded to Electric Avenue for a dance and sing along. Oh, and the obligatory ENORMOUS cocktail that was delicious. I met a couple of people here who knew who I was from the radio competition! A bit scary but nice at the same time.

Alcohol consumption by me at this point was 3 cocktails, one glass of bubbles and a large portion of the big sharing cocktail.

After electric Avenue we wandered down to Kitty O'sheas. The downstairs bar was full so we went upstairs to find somewhere to sit. We had only been sitting there for a couple of minutes and we were approached by a guy who was asking about our night and what we were drinking. We thought he was the barman! The girls proceeded to tell him that they were trying to get me drunk but it was proving harder than first thought. He and his friend then decided to accept this as a challenge and returned to the table with 7 shots of tequilla (we had lost 2 girls by then).

Now I haven't really drunk tequilla before, infact I don't drink much at all so I knew that this was going to be interesting. A couple of the girls declined the shot ( as they were driving ) and some how, I ended up with 3 shots in front of me. Everyone then convinced me to drink the 3 shots in quick succession. Which I did, and I am very proud that I didn't pass out or throw up. Infact, I only got tipsy!

Pen and paper was then produced and dares written down for me to complete. They started out alright. One of the dares was to collect 3 different brands of condoms from people. I asked loads of people, and not many people would admit to having condoms in their wallets. And those that did, only had durex. I think that maybe we should buy stock in durex if thats all that people buy!

While I was busy with this challenge, the girls had convinced one of the guys that had joined our table to strip for us - if I was able to get a G-String for him. No one had one, so he agreed that he would strip if one of the girls would volunteer their underwear. Lo and behold, someone (who shall remain nameless) volunteered theirs. He was stuck then, and off he went to get changed.
he followed through and it was really the funniest thing and the eager beaver that he was, he was down to the underwear in about 45 seconds! hahaha.

Turns out that those boys (whose names I will also not print!) all went to the same college that 3 of us did, but they were a couple of years younger. It really is a small world. They must have spent an absolute fortune on us because we didn't pay for any drinks the whole time that we were at Kitty's. (Score for us!)

About 3:30am we decided to call it a night and headed back to the sober drvers cars, to find that the parking building had closed and it was going to cost $100 to get 2 cars out. At $20 pp, it was cheaper than a taxi, but we still felt ripped off! Being in the heart of wellington I would have thought that the place would be open all night!

Sunday was a quiet day and I am proud to say that I was not hung over, because I didn't get drunk enough despite everyones efforts. We did go shopping for flower girl dresses and wedding favours on Sunday afternoon. I don't know how it is that we only came home with Glenn's fishing sinkers though!

Talk to you soon,


Tamar

Shoes, glorious shoes! ( Friday 29th August )

Hi All,

Well today we bought shoes! Well, being truthful we didn't buy them, we just picked them. But that makes it even more fun! Andy from Banks shoes, had emailed us through the options for brides, bridesmaids and the mens shoes so that we could make our picks and Andy could make sure that they had our correct sizes on site.

I picked two to try, but really knew that I could only handle one of the pairs because the heel on the other was taller than I can cope with ( particularly on gravel walk ways!). But I wanted to try the second pair in case the picture was deceiving. It wasn't, while it was a beautiful shoe, I don't really want to be saying to myself the whole way down the aisle, "dont fall, please don't fall" and looking silly as I inch my way down the path!

I had sent the bridesmaids option to both Lucy and Julie to see which they would pick ( in my eyes there was only one choice). Thankfully, they both picked the same, and it was the same as my pick. The funny thing was that Julie had picked first and I had sent it then through to Lucy saying Julie has picked the first one. Some how in delivery, the attachments ended up being in a completely different order, and the first one on the Lucy's list was of course the "most unsuitable". Lucy thought that Julie must have hit her head or something, so sent me back the picture of the one she picked. I said, cool, at least you both agree then! Lucy then told me about them being in a different order, and thinking that Julie had lost the plot. Haha, at least it was all worked out!

So 4 of us ( Lucy and Shane weren't there, but had supplied shoe sizes) toddled along to banks shoes at lunchtime. I was of course fashionably late because I couldn't find a park. Andrew, then had great pleasure in saying that he made it on time, and he only had an hours notice ON HIS DAY OFF and had to get up, dressed and into town from wainui. Needless to say, I was able to pull the "well, I am the bride" line. I am quite liking this excuse, but haven't had to use it much - yet. I also think that I am entitled to at least one major Bridezilla moment, so I will let you know when I have this.....=0). Its kind of like a get out of jail free card, so I need to play it wisely.

So Julie and I tried our shoes on and were sorted pretty quickly. Both Glenn and Andrew on the other hand have (and had) problems getting shoes that fit their feet. So of course the first style they tried wouldn't fit either properly so Andy ( from banks) had to go on a mission to find another style that would work for both. And being the professional that he is, he succeeded. But I am pleased to announce that the boys in this challenge, did take longer to get sorted than the girls...... not that I am keeping score or anything!

s
Talk to you soon,


Tamar

Mission Accomplished - thursday 28th August

Hi All,

I went to visit the venue today. Its really lovely. I got there about 4:45pm and the sun had just gone behind the hill, so there should be plenty of sunshine for a 3pm wedding, but in saying that people might need to wear their sunglasses! So we just have to hope and pray that the day is sunny and the grounds are reasonably dry. That way we can get married in the garden by the water fall.

The venue is not too hard to find, so hopefully won't cause too many issues. Seeing the venue helped me to visualise how things will work, and also makes it that much more real!! I have a couple of options for my entry, so We will have to decide on that at the rehearsal. It is all really exciting but so hard to believe that this is all going ahead next week. I still keep kind of expecting to get a phone call that says "we made a mistake, sorry, no wedding for you!"

We also got the invites today! There had been a bit of a delay, but everything is sorted now. They are so cool and I will be sealing them up and sending them tomorrow. Should be in peoples mail boxes on monday. Its a good thing that most people know already if they have been invited, otherwise they might get a fright at 4 days notice! hahaha, how fast we move.

I got a couple of other things ticked off my lists too, like getting a haircut and buying a corset. I really lucked in with that one, as Evocative in Johnsonville Mall is having a closing down sale, so was able to get fitted up and buy what I needed at 40% off! Yippee for small things, like sales!

I also picked up a box of cigars that Glenn had ordered for the occasion. I successfully managed to get lost in the process. I was pretty sure that I knew where the cigar place was, but when I got there I couldn't see it, so I assumed that I was in the wrong place, and went looking for it ( silly move). Anyway, I gave up after about 20mins and went back to work to look up the address. it turns out it was exactly where I thought it was, just not very well signed! A bit annoying to make 2 trips, but we got there in the end.

I have also decided after much discussion with friends, that I will be having a hens night. A very impromptu one on saturday night. And that way I can invite everyone not just those able\invited to come to the wedding. So we are going to start with a bit of a laugh at the lanes on taranaki street on saturday.

Glenn on the other hand has been in two minds about a stag do, but it looks like he is back to his original plans of a few drinks after his brothers arrive on thursday night. Yes, you read that right. The night before the wedding. So yes, hopefully quiet will the operative word!

Talk to you soon,

Tamar

A ring is round, it has no end.... ( Wednesday 27th August)

Hi All,

Well I had a very long lunch today. Glenn and I went and met Ian at the village goldsmith. Thats right, today was ring day! Woohoo! I am pleased to announce that we have sorted our rings, no plastic christmas cracker rings for us. We started with looking for one for me, but because my engagement ring is one of a kind, it really needs a ring to made to fit it properly. Oh damn, another one of a kind ring. Bother. The only real problem is that the lovely ring that Ian designed to fit in with it eats up all of the (and the rest) of the money allocated for the rings. It means that we have to pay the difference, and for Glenn's ring.

So in actual fact, my ring was easy because it is being designed and made for me. ( and yes they assure us it will be completed in time). Glenn on the other hand, had ideas about what he wanted, but couldn't find anything that would be able to be done in the time frame. We looked at a lot, talked about a lot, and at modifying some to be what he wanted. Nothing was really grabbing him though and saying, "Pick me!". Ian was great, really patient with us and going out of his way to get us something just right. He was flicking through a catalogue and I happened to say thats an interesting looking ring. Ian said he had a sample of a version of it, so got it out of the drawer and gave it to Glenn to look at. The actual ring was really nice, different and much better than the picture. I instantly liked it. Glenn liked it too. He wasn't convinced it was "the one" at first, but the more he looked at it and wore it, the more he liked it. So then he decided that it was meant to be. But the best bit was the price. $530, and Ian has even reduced that again, so we are really pleased. AND it will be cleaned up and resized by tomorrow!! I on the other hand, have to hand over my beloved engagement ring on monday so that they can use it to match up the new ring with. I am going to feel so naked without it! ( see photos above to see my engagement ring, its an oval diamond with a celtic knot on either side. The knots have 3 diamonds each in them)

I also had another fitting for my dress! It is still a mock up, but hopefully over the weekend there will be an actual dress to try on, I am so excited!

We are trying hard to pick wedding cakes and music at the moment. I would never have thought that it would be this hard. I am sure that as long as I don't walk down the aisle to the chicken dance I will be happy......=0)

Talk to you soon,


Tamar

Photos! - Tuesday

Hi All,

Well today wasn't anywhere near as busy as Monday, which was a really good thing. Infact, we only had one appointment and that was with Penny from Inspire Photography.

Penny showed us a collection of her wedding work on a slide show, asked us a questions about the make up of our family. And explained how she works over the course of the wedding day. That includes what pictures she takes, the order she takes them in and just in general what to expect. For us that was fantastic. Just to run through exactly what was going to happen and know from when to when she would be available and snapping away.

Penny then showed us what we would be getting once she has put all of our photos together. We will be getting a fully put together printed album!! How awesome is that. Looking through all of her work on the walls and in the album certainly shows that we are in good hands. I can't wait to see the finished product. Got to get through the wedding first though. And move house.

Yes, thats right move house. The week that Glenn and I were announced as finalists, we also went unconditional on a house that we get the keys for the week after the wedding. Originally, we were supposed to be getting the keys on the same day as the wedding! But thankfully for us, the vendors hadn't found a place to move into and so last week they asked for an extension. Also before we move in we have to paint the house. In particular the pink lounge, so we won't be moving in until that is done. Its safe to say, that with all these wedding preparations, no packing is getting done!

I have started making lists of things that I want to do for myself before the wedding ( ie, massage, spray tan, manicure etc) and things to buy ( disposable cameras, spanx, flower girl dresses and hair pieces). I am running out of time and my problem at the moment is that my lists keep getting longer because I am not crossing things off! I need to reverse that trend I think. Naughty Naughty.

Talk to you soon,


Tamar

Are all my days going to be this busy?! - Monday 25th August

Hi All!

It has been a busy day today, but we have got a few things done!

I dropped Glenn off at work today and wondered up to Woodstock Florist to talk to them about flowers for the big day. They were lovely and took good care of me. The first stipulation that I had was that I couldn't have anything with a lot of pollen or too much smell. For as much as I would love it, Glenn would not. He would be likely to suffer from chronic hay fever all day. Its not such a pretty sight to see a grown mand witih flu like symptoms looking miserable, so I would lke to spare him ( and our photos!) the situation as much as possible.

I had decided that I wanted a round bouquet of deep red and that the bridesmaids would have white. The staff at Woodstock suggested some red accents in the white bouquets so that they don't take away from their dresses. Good idea. Glenn will have a red button hole and the best man and groomsman will have white. The actual flowers will be mostly roses but I have given the florist some free reign to choose the rest to make them all fantastic.

I can't remeber if Ihave mentioned before, but becasue we have 4 nieces, we are having 4 flower girls of varying ages (1 1/2, 4, 5 & 9). They are pretty easy to dress as they pretty much all have fairy outfits that they are going to wear down the aisle. The oldest will get a mini posy of her won, so that she ties more into the bridesmaids. The middle two will have corsages of pinks and purples around their wrists, and i think the youngest will have a fairy wand. All in all, It was quick and painless! Phew! Another thing off the list.

At lunchtime, Sophie Voon called. She had completed the first mock up of my dress and wanted me to come in for a fitting. Wow! its all moving along so quick! I arranged to go in at 5pm so that I would at least get some work done during the day. Although, it was a day of getting in to work late, and then leaving early - oops. All time I will make up tomorrow though. Leave is not a luxury that I have at the moment seeing as I have only been back at work for 3 weeks. I am so lucky that everyone is being so understanding. I am waiting for confirmation, but hopefully, I can take leave in anticipation ranther than leave without pay for the wedding and a day either side.

The fitting went well, and I am going back in again on Wednesday after we have been to the village goldsmith to organise the rings.

We also went and met karen our celebranat tonight! We really had no idea of what we wanted in the ceremony or if we were supposed to have any ideas by the time we went there. It was great, she made everything simple and made suggestions about things to include etc. It also turns out that her husband made an album with my Uncle in the 80's (long story), so it really is a small world. Karen has started drafting the ceremony for us and we will start to decide on what to include.

Hil cook the hair\make up extraordinaire who will be doing our styling on the day, has asked us for a photo of ourselves and the potential haristyle we would like for the wedding, so that they can prepare themselves. When we got home from Karen's, I had to search the internet for a hairstyle that I liked and would want for the wedding. Do you have any idea how many different sites with photos of hair do's there are?! Hundreds! probably even thousands! I eventually found something like what I wanted ( not that I really knew what I wanted when I started). Lucy had sent hers through as well, but Julie had the easiest job of all. She has very short hair, so she didn't have to choose a style for hers! She just had to send me a photo of herself. it all made for a very late night ( which of course was actually my fault I know).

Talk to you soon,

Tamar

A Weekend of Wonder - 23/24 August

Hi All,

So, on friday Glenn, did the first official piece of wedding business. He organised the wedding licence. I thought that it was pretty cool that he did it. It was out of convenience because he is based in town and I am out in Porirua, but still Glenn went through and filled out the forms and took them in to births deaths and marriages. He did however have to check with me that he had all the info correct, which it was so that was awesome.

On Saturday we did the next bits on the list. Glenn and his best man Andrew, chose and got fitted for suits. Julie ( one of my 2 bridesmaids ) and I supervised. They didn't really need us, but we were just to make sure that they didn't end up in commando pants and top hats! There had been all sorts of combinations bandied around, but thankfully none of it came to fruition! Glenn had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to wear and the really helpful staff at Frank Casey (yes its a plug!) helped to suggest the finer details. The boys had chosen their suits and been fitted for them in 1/2 an hour!! Talk about speed demons! They are having Black suits with long jackets, white self striped shirts, silver waist coats and ties to match the bridesmaids dresses. I did manage to catch a photo of Glenn posing, but he does look a bit goofy...=0).

Then it was our turn. We sent the boys off for a coffee ( I guess I should really call them men, but I have known them both for so many years, they will both be boys to me!) and headed to voon on Willis street. There we meet the lovely Sophie Voon herself and she started to ask what I thought I might like. I pointed out a couple of dresses from the website, and she said that she had a couple of new ones that weren't on the website yet. It was so exciting. Sophie bought over the first dress and held it up against me (I'm too big to try them on properly). It really was beautiful and the detailing worked really well with my skin tones. ( sorry you will notice detail is a bit skint on the brides dress as a certain someone will be reading this). But you can never just pick the first dress, Sophie might have been holding the best till last! The second was a Grecian style dress that looked and felt devine, but didn't have the same wow as the first. Still a contender though. We then went through a few, that were definite no's and a couple of maybes. But, I still kept coming back to the first dress though. So that was it, I decided on the first one. So sophie measured me up so I can have my own devine Voon wedding dress. talk about exciting!

Of course we then had to move on to bridesmaids dresses, which Julie happily tried on. My other bridesmaid Lucy (who spoke on our behalf last monday) is currently in New Plymouth until saturday so she had to put her faith in us that we didn't dress her in a doily or tea cosy ( like we would). After a few dresses, we decided on the style and colour from two different dresses, and to add a couple of details so that they tie in with my dress as well. I can tell you that the bridesmaids dresses are going to be Long, satiny and dark\crimsony colour. They are going to look just fab!

I am still astounded that all 3 dresses are going to be made in 2 weeks! And Lucy wont even have a first fitting until Saturday. All I can say is WOW!!

Saturday was definitely the highlight of the weekend. Although on sunday we did go for Yum Char with some friends we hadn't seen in a while, that was also good.

We then popped into Big Save on the way home to see what they had in their sale. Turns out that sunday was the last day of the sale. We did see something that we really liked that would go great in our new house. It is a 7 piece dining suite, Buffet cabinet, entertainment cabinet & coffee table as a package deal. We were very tempted to buy it. Then glenn had this great idea. We keep being asked what we would like as wedding presents ( and honestly we don't know!) so we have put the suite on layby and have suggested that if people would like to, they can make a contribution to paying for our new furniture set.

Well we thought it was a good idea, but we have yet to see how people react to it. It means that people can pay as little or as much as they like and be anonymous if they want. They can pay either in cash at a store, give us vouchers towards it, or ring up and contribute to it with a credit card. Seems to cover most of the spectrum, and if we were buying presents we would like to know that it is something that the couple actually want!

The other thing that the weekend was spent doing was the guest list. Wow, what a hard task. We had to ring, text and email people to tell them they were invited and find out if they were able to come. It sounds a bit cheeky I know, but it mans that we have a better idea of numbers. It is really hard for people to drop everything and be here in 2 weeks for a wedding! A lot of people can't get the time off of work either. Glenn has done a good job at convincing his Mum, 2 brothers and their families to come over ( no, he's not an aussie!) so we are now trying to get them a good flight deal, as it is pretty expensive to fly at short notice!!

Anyway, enough of my chewing your ear off... I will update again soon!


Tamar

Did we Win? YES WE DID! : FRIDAY

WOW WE WON!! WE WON!! WE WON!!

There is no beating around the bush in today's entry. The outcome is simple, WE WON.

It was quite a morning and I think that Glenn was maybe even more nervous than I was. We knew that the announcement wasn't until 8:15 so we didn't have any rush to get up. We still got up before 7am though. I did however have an extra long shower which was lovely and helped to fill in some time. I was nervous, but I knew that it was no longer up to us, what we said, who we begged, the decision had already been made. So I was at peace with which ever came our way, not that I wanted us to lose or anything!

Glenn was clock watching. I kept myself busy. I even iced a cake I had made on wednesday night. We could hear on the radio that the time had changed from 8:15 to, the winners will be announced before the 8:30 news. They had played a montage of Lyndsay & Ray's answers to their questions earlier, so we knew that they still had to play ours. They did so shortly after 8am. It was weird hearing ourselves again, and really interesting to see what was chosen to be in the montage! We were a bit surprised by some of the choices, but overall it helped to show that we have a sense of humour.

Finally the phone rang. It was about 8:20am. This was it. Deep breaths. I think that both Glenn and I were shaking. I know that I was, and because we were cuddled together listening, I think he was too.

You could tell that Dave and Camille, really didn't want to do this. They knew that for whoever won, it would be fantastic but for whoever lost, it would be really hard, devastating even. To have come this far and still not won would really suck. That was the bit they didn't want to do. If they could have just done the happy bit I think that they would have. All of this apprehension from them, made them drag out the announcment even more.

When Dave finally said, The couple that will be winning our wedding is.... we held our breath. But then he paused for AGES, it must have been at least 10 seconds, we wondered if the phone had cut off as there was just silence. He finally broke that silence with "Glenn & Tamar". Of course, we screamed. Well I screamed, and deafened half of wellington. And then tried to apologise for it! Glenn and I were hugging and jumping up and down. And poor old Dave and Camille were trying to cheer up Lyndsay and Ray for not winning. They didn't really get to celebrate with us.

Good luck Lyndsay and Ray, we hope that you guys are stronger for the experience and still move forward with getting married. I know that anything that we say will not make things any better for you though, so we just wish you luck and happiness together. Thank you for being part of the competition with us.

From then on our phones did not stop. We had calls and texts coming through while we were still on the phone to the radio station! We spoke to a couple of yahoo'ing family members (including my dad in the middle of his gym) and then we got a phone call from the wedding planner Erin.

It hadn't even sunk in and we were already in the throes of organising a wedding. But i guess that is to be expected when you have ONLY GOT 2 WEEKS before you get married!

Erin had some questions and we answered as best we could. She arranged to drop some marriage licence forms to Glenn so that he could fill them in and take them up to births deaths and marriages that day. Just so we can be sure it all goes through in time.

I then dropped Glenn off at work and went to work myself. By the time I got there my text inbox was full for a second time and I had 5 voicemails. And of course all of my workmates wanting to congratulate us! They did of course, get some of the afore mentioned chocolate cake for all of their voting efforts.

It is safe to say that neither Glenn or I could wipe the silly grins off our faces all day and did very little work. We have since heard that there were a large number of people grinning on our behalf's all around the country!

Erin got in contact again, once I had gathered my head a little bit, and arranged Glenn and his Bestman to have suit fittings on Saturday and Me and one of my bridesmids to go to Voon on saturday afternoon too.

From then It has been all on. We have been busy, and buzzing from this fantastic news the whole time. On friday night our best friends came round and we went down to our local fish and chip shop to get some dinner. The week before I had been telling the girls down there about the competition and when I came back this week I would be able to tell them if we won or not. I walked in, grinned and said we won!. The poor girl behind the counter was so excited for us she got the hiccups and was jumping up and down. It was safe to say that by about 9:30pm, Glenn and I were both asleep on the couch, worn out by all the excitement!!!

I know that we have said it before, but I HAVE to say it again. A HUGE THANK YOU to absolutely everyone that voted and encouraged others to vote for us. Your votes counted and have given us this once in a lifetime opportunity. We are truly blessed and humbled by the fantastic support that so many people have shown us during this time, without you none of this would be happening. So thank you again.

Stay tuned to see how the preparations are going - theres only 2 weeks!!


Tamar

Day 3 of Eliminations: THURSDAY

Hi All,

Well today was D-Day. Well one of our D-Days Today we found out if we were in the final two couples to win this wedding.

We knew that the couple who were being eliminated were going to be called at 7:20am. The night before we had confused ourselves by thinking that we wanted to be the ones that were rung at 7:20 as we thought, that was another safe couple. But then we remembered and reread the email with the weekly plan and realised that there was definitely no way that we wanted to be that couple!

It was absolutely agonising this morning waiting for 7:20 to roll around. Glenn's boss from work ran at 7:15 to ask about some worky things, so he had a bit of a distraction. 7:20 finally rolled around. They started dialling the number. We knew from yesterdays experience that our phone doesn't ring on their first ring. Poor Glenn was still on the phone, you could tell that he wasn't really listening to his boss he was trying to listen to the radio. By the end of the second ring I was jumping up and down saying, "were in! were in!" Glenn hurriedly got off the phone and he started yahooing and dancing around too.

WE WERE SOOO EXCITED. But we knew that today was the day for the big push.

Renee and Justin were eliminated. Good luck guys, we hope that nothing else happens to your rings and you do eventually get to have an awesome wedding.

OMG!! Now to get people to ring up to convince the public that we are the ones worth voting for. Lyndsay and Rays supporters were quick off the mark with calling in to the station, but our supporters got there in the end! We had heaps of awesome people ring up on our behalf, friends, family and some neonatal mums! Which is just awesome. We are certainly hoping that people are encouraged to vote, and to vote for us.

Thanks again, to all that are voting and supporting us, wahooo..!!!

Tomorrow, it will all be over, or just beginning!

Take care,

Tamar

Day 2 of Eliminations: WEDNESDAY

Hi All,

Deep breaths. Today is day two of eliminations. We know that two safe couples will be rung first at 7:20am and 7:40am, and then the bottom two couples will be rung at 8:15am.

We have had so many wonderful people supporting us through this journey, coming out of the woodwork and helping us to get people to vote for us. I know that my sister is even bribing people at her work with cookies and lollies to get them to put in their votes for us. Glenn and I are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and so many friends who are willing to fight for us. We have certainly been humbled by this entire experience and one of the things that we didn't do yesterday when we were rung ( and most definitely should have) was to say thank you to everyone who votes. We are definitely going to try to on air today, but if we don't get to, please know that we are thanking everyone for supporting and voting for us. Without all of you, we certainly wouldn't be where are at the moment.

SO THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Right, so back to our morning. Our morning routine is seeming pretty normal now. Get up and get ready by 7am, and then spend the rest of the time pacing between the computer room and the the lounge until we are rung. Its a good thing our house is so small, they are really only about 10 feet apart. I find checking my emails and open2view a good distraction in the morning.

7:20am, the wedding bells music comes on, we think ok thats cool, they usually do the first call live, so no need to worry, and if we aren't called first, we could still be second or third and not kicked off. Dave and Camille start dialling the number, we can hear the first ring on the radio.
BUGGER we both say out loud, it didn't ring our phone. A second later our phone does ring!!
And it is them!!! We are through!! We are in the top three and we are ecstatic! I even managed to drop in a thank you. We now only have to get through one more elimination and we are in the final.

The second safe couple are Lyndsay and Ray. Which means that Renee and Justin, and Lesley and Andrew are the bottom two couples. This really is a brutal competition, all good one day and all over the next. Andrew and Lesley are eliminated this morning.

We wish them and their families all the best with hurdles they are facing. We hope that you continue to be as strong and supportive together as you have been over the past 19 years. 19 years is a feat that a lot of married couples don't have the pleasure of reaching.

So, only two more sleeps until we know if we have won! We are thinking positive and are saying that we are going to win and everything else is just a formality, even though it makes us sound completely arrogant!

Catch you tomorrow ( with more good news!),

Tamar

Day 1 of Eliminations: TUESDAY

Hi All,

Day one of eliminations. We were told last week that today the 3 safe couples would be rung at 7:20am, 7:40am and 7:50am. And then the bottom 2 couples would be rung at 8:15am.

So we were up and listening as normal by 7am. The wedding bells play about 7:15am and we think, oh this could be it, surely they will be going live. They dial the number. Neither of our phones ring. GUTTED!! Oh well, there is still hope. Lyndsay and Ray from Lower Hutt are through.

Ok. So we go about the morning. Glenn decides that he will listen to the next wedding couple before going and catching the train. I put some toast in the toaster and the phone rings. There is only a song on the radio so my immediate thought is, who is dumb enough to be tying up our phone line this morning! I run for the phone ( good thing our house is so small) I see the number on the caller ID. I hold my breathe, its the radio station's number. This means that either we are safe, or the could be being nice and forewarning us that we will be one of the bottom two. Bugger, I hope we are safe.

I answer the phone, Dave and Camille say hello and ask how we are, I say "Nervous". They then say we are SAFE. WOOHOO!!! A feeling of Relief sweeps over me. Camille asks if Glenn is there seeing me smile and I say that he is here and doing a little dance. And yes he was dancing....=0).
Hooray!!

So exciting. But now we have to get everyone to vote again today and tomorrow. And warn them that Thursday will be different. Right. But the feeling right now is awesome, even though I know we have got a couple more days of this!!

Glenn and I head off for work and listen out for who the third safe couple are. Its Andrew and Lesley from Whitby. And then we also listen out for the eliminations. Poor old Camille is having a hard time with this week. I feel for her, but she is only doing her job. Its between Renee and Justin (upper hutt), and Amie and Kim from Belmont. Amie and Kim get eliminated.

Sorry to hear it guys, I hope you still go forward and get married at some point!!

So we have been madly sending out info to all our friends and colleagues in the hope of getting HEAPS of votes, we really want this wedding!

Catch you later!

Tamar
http://www.classichits.co.nz/Events/EventDetails.aspx?id=10912
www.mitchellbrinfield.blogspot.com

Our Phone a Friend - MONDAY 18th

Hi All,

Well today is monday the 18th and we did not answer any questions today! Instead we had to nominate a "phone a friend"\advocate\promotions manager or as our friend Lucy announced, our PIMP. It was Lucy's job to talk about how wonderful we are and convince people to vote for us.

I have been friends with Lucy for about 20 years. We became friends at primary school and even through living in different cities for most of those years, we still consider each other to be our BFF's. This means that Lucy has known Glenn for the length of time that we have been together, which is almost 10 years. This makes her pretty qualified to talk about us. Lucy also thinks that Glenn is a bit like a male version of her, which is why we are so well suited to each other.

Lucy did a great job of talking about us this morning and making me cry. Actually the fact that she started crying at the end is what really set me off! I hate seeing\hearing her upset. But she was really saying some lovely things.
THANK YOU SO MUCH LUCY! WE LOVE YOU!

Someone else made me cry today. A lady here at the police college was talking to me in the cafe, and realised that she hadn't seen me in ages and that she had heard me when they rang to tell me that we were one of the finalists. Until then she did not know, what had happened to Mitchell. She gave me a hug and said, " I really hope that you win. You really deserve to win. You are one of the few people that I always remember as helping out and doing so much for others, with organising the christmas hams, the end of year functions etc. So I hope that this all works out for you". I was really touched that someone thought so much of me.

We had a really good weekend and even opened a bottle of Moet that we have been saving for a special occasion. The "special occasion" was put together from a few events, buying a house, being in the competition and lasting 6 weeks since Mitchell passed away without losing the plot! We reckon that there was more to celebrate, we just couldn't think of it at the time.

So this week is all about eliminations!! The first elimination is tomorrow (tuesday). After that, voting starts again from scratch. Wednesday, another couple get eliminated and voting starts from scratch again. On thursday, a third couple get eliminated. Straight after that, they will open the PHONE and TEXT lines to take votes between 7:30am and 10am only. This vote will determine the winners!!! EEEKKKK!! We are hoping like crazy to be part of the final 2.

So here are the details for doing phone\text votes on thursday:

he number is 0800 00 2527, if they're calling from a
mobile, the prompts will guide them through to Wellington. Option 2,
option 4 are the buttons to press for Wellington once they hear the voice
answering the phone.
Eg:
0800 002527
2
4
Ring ring..
Classic Hits good morning!!
If they have problems with the 0800 number - ie, they're on Telstra and live in Upper Hutt - the normal landline number is 203 8990. Both numbers go to the same place.
We have 4 phone lines but it could be hard to get through, tell them to keep trying.

They can also text on 4487. (Normal text charges apply - 20c)


Catch you later!!

Tamar

Day 5 of Questions: FRIDAY

Hi All,

Friday's question for Glenn: If your partner wanted to drastically change something about their appearance would you support it?
Friday's question for Tamar: What is your main motivation for entering this competition?

Well I predicted that we would be second on air today, and I think I was right! 6:30 to get up is getting pretty normal in our house now. So it will be interesting to see if it continues after this competition!

Still nervous, but as far as we know, today is the last day of questions! Yippee! We were rung about 7:30am and were recorded for just before 8am. We had heard the first couple on so knew the questions and the order which always helps. But Camille changed the order and asked me my question first. It was about our main motivation for entereing this competition. Ok, big breath. At the time that I heard the ad on the radio and looked on the web for more info, Mitchell had only been gone for about 2 weeks. I started to explain that Mitchell was it. He was our reason for entering. I went on to explain that Mitchell was born in December last year, but wasn't due to be part of our lives until March, so he arrived 3 months early. ( yes he was in a hurry). He then spent the next 7 months ( well almost) fighting for his life against a whole list of conditions. It happened to be only one condition that took his life (6 weeks ago), chronic lung disease.

His short life taught us and so many others so much, and Glenn and I feel so blessed that he was our son and he means the world to us. Our relationship was really put to the test during this time and even though we have had to endure such a tradegy, we were able to grow so much stronger as a couple, and that is simply because of Mitchell and the fact that he did live for 7 months. So it is really in his honour and memory that we entered in the hope of completing the commitment we have to each other, our family and our son Mitchell.

Now as you can imagine, I had a hard time keeping myself composed while I talked about our beautiful boy. And had to hold back the tears. Glenn was also touched and I think taken a bit by surprise, as he too almost cried. He particularly like the "completing the commitment" part as he hadn't thought of it in those words, but that is exactly what it is. Dave went on to ask about how scary it must be to think about haveing more children in the future, and I had to say yes it is scary, we have to go through the hospital ( high risk team) to make sure that we get the best care in the hope that we don't have the same ( or similar) outcome with future children. What I didn't say was that because Mitchell was so premature I am now "too posh to push" (c-sections) which means that we can really only have 2 more kids.

Glenn was up next. He was asked if he would support me if I decided to something drastic with my appearance ( hair, tattoo's peircings etc). Glenn said something that is just like him and something that makes him a wonderful guy. He said that he loves me with all his heart and if I really wanted to do something drastic, he would support me and even go as far as get the same thing done to himself! Awwww. David then cracked up and said, that will be great if Tamar gets a rose tattoo on her boob! Glenn said well umm yes, but maybe I would get a sunflower cos she loves those!!

Phew all over. I think I was in a meeting when they rang later in the morning, but they rang and spoke to Glenn and gave him the lowdown for next week. Monday we need someone to be our advocate and to talk to them and sell us so that people will vote for us. hmm better get on to finding someone! then from tuesday it will be eliminations daily with the votes getting wiped and restarting daily as each couple gets eliminated!! Arghhhh, how nerve racking!


Catch you later!


Tamar

Day 4 of Questions: THURSDAY

Hi All,

Thursday question for Glenn: What is the best memory of your time, together and what do you hope for once married?
Thursday question for Tamar: What is Glenn's best attribute\quality?

Well we weren't first today! And after today there is only one more day of questions.... phew! Some of these questions are getting tough! We were up early again just in case we got rung early but by the time 7:40 rolled around we hadn't been rung yet, so Glenn went off to catch the train and I got ready to leave. As I was driving down our street we got the call. Glenn was on the train but managed to get off at a station as not to have everyone stare at him. Good thing too as Dave was going to get him to talk to the entire carriage to rustle up some votes. Haha, would have been funny too me, but I'm not sure if Glenn would have coped!

Glenn took the first question. He was asked about our happiest moment together, and he of course said that it was when Mitchell was born and he has never felt so happy and so proud. Although, his answer wasn't that neat and concise, he could not find all of the right words to describe that moment to everyone. We had discussed the happiest moment the night before and agreed that in actual fact, it was a hat trick of events. Mitchell being born was definitely fantastic. I just happened to miss most of it. After some problems with IV lines and several people trying to get an epidural into my spine (unsuccessfully) I had to be put under a general anesthetic. This also meant that Glenn wasn't allowed in the room either ( partners don't react well to seeing their women with tubes and things down their throats.) but he did get to see and follow Mitchell as he departed the theatre for the neonatal unit. He then spent some time with our boy. I on the other hand, had yet to come to. When I came round, the staff in the room were talking about someone who had had a baby. I asked who had had a baby and they said me! Yes I was that out of it I didn't realise that Mitchell had been born! After a few minutes they asked me if I knew what we had had, and I had to say that I didn't. They told me a boy, and I said, good, I won then. (the bet on the sex). So anyway the fall out was that for those first couple of days I was recovering from surgery, on morphine and in shock that Mitchell had arrived. I don't remember an awful lot from then.

But the other two times that make up the hat trick of happy events are the first time that we got him out of the incubator when he was 4 weeks old, and again when we got our first skin to skin cuddles at 6 weeks old. You can not believe the pure joy of holding your son for the first time after waiting patiently for so long. And he was so tiny ( about 1kg!). So yes, we decided that it would take too long to explain all 3. Hence settling for just the fact that he was born at all.

For the second part of his question, he kept it simple and just said more of the same, and to be happy. ( I think thats what he said!). Then it was my turn. I had to explain what Glenn's best quality\asset was. I said that it was the fact that he could make me smile even on the darkest days, and even if he cant he has a great shoulder to cry on. It was especially true with all the things that we have been through in the past few months.

After coming off air, Camille asked why we seemed to be holding back on talking about\explaining more about Mitchell. I said it was because I guess we just assume that everyone knows the story and we don't want to seem like that is the only thing that we talk about. We don't want to be seen as forcing it on people, it can be hard for some people to think about. She said that she thought he was worth being talked about as he was such a huge part of our lives and only passed away so recently. We agreed, so we may talk about him some more tomorrow. Of course though it will depend on the questions and conversation!

After getting off the phone and heading off to work again, I found that there was a big accident at the J'ville roundabout. A car had flipped. So I had to go the back roads to the motorway, which of course made me later for work. Sigh. But its ok, no one noticed!

Catch you later,


Tamar

Day 3 of Questions: WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Question for Glenn: If you and your partner didn?t agree on a big family issue, would you side with your family or your partner?
Wednesday Question for Tamar: What do you do for your partner that he/she really loves?

Hi All,

We were a bit more relaxed this morning but of course there were still some nerves there. Got up at 6:30am and got ready. We were surprised that at just after 7am the phone rung! That means that we were up first. Oh well, we had to be first at some point. And I guess that in the morning most people would only listen for part of the show, but are likely to listen at the same time every day so It makes sense to make sure that every couple gets introduced at each slot in the morning.

Right, so today is the first of the listener questions. And we were going live, not recorded! Argh! talk about scary. I got asked the question first today, just to mix things up a bit. I was asked What I do for Glenn that he really loves? Bugger, that was the question that Glenn wanted. He had a really good answer for it apparently. ( to do with being able to support and make me smile when things are bad). I answered by saying that there were lots of things that he loved that I considered normal, but one of the unusual things that I do that he loves is to Randomly send him presents at work to brighten his day. Camille asked what sort of things had I sent him, and I said oh random things like, a coffee from his son. Which happened to cause some confusion at his office as they knew that Mitchell was in hospital and only about 6 months old! But it was from his favourite coffee shop. And that I had also sent him a magic 8 ball and a whole big bag of lollies.

They then asked Glenn his question of, who would you side with in an argument, Tamar or your family? He said it would have to be Tamar. He was going to carry on and say "Because I don't have to live with my family but I do have to live with Tamar". But decided not to. We know that whatever happens we can sort it out. And we can sort it out together. Glenn was pleased that he got to have a short and sweet answer for once! It also meant that we could leave early for work, which we did.

Later in the day Camille sent through the questions again, so we get to start pondering our answers. We are trying hard to drum up votes. We even have our mortgage broker voting for us and are looking at who else we can ask!

What a journey this is.

Catch you later,


Tamar

Day 2 of Questions: TUESDAY

Hi All,

Tuesdays question for Glenn: Did you have a story or anecdote that could be added to the ceremony?
Tuesdays question for Tamar: What would you like added into your vows?

We slept a bit better last night which I think made a difference and we didn't get up quite so early. We are nervous again today. The questions today are going to be from the marriage celebrant, Karen, which we think are going to be really hard. Good thing we aren't up first! Infact, we are so nervous that we have googled marriage celebrant questions to get some ideas on what she might ask! Didn't do us any good though. And because we weren't first we got to hear the questions anyway. Phew, they weren't anywhere near as bad as we had imagined!

We decided that we would go to work as normal at normal times and just talk to Dave and Camille via cellphone. Just before 8am the phones rang and we were off again! they introduced the marriage celebrant and asked who was going to go first. Glenn said that he would and he then promptly launched into the answer to what would be his question - but he didn't wait for Karen to ask the question. Dave had to interrupt him, and get him to wait for the question. Oops, Glenn was a little embarassed. His question was "Is there a story about your relationship that you would like to share at your wedding?". Glenn talked about the first time that we met, and his introduction to my father. Basically my dad told him off for parking in the driveway while waiting for me. Infact, he scared Glenn and for the first few years of our relationship Glenn was scared that Dad would remember and hold it against him. Needless to say they have now forgiven each other and have a great relationship. They were even conspiring to buy a boat for when our son Mitchell was old enough to enjoy it. I think that was before they realised how expensive a boat was!

My question from Karen was about what I would like Glenn to vow to me at our wedding. I explained that Glenn was
really good to me with the way he takes care of me. One of the things that he does for me, is that most weekends he will make me breakfast and that he is particularly good at making me pancakes. So I would like for him to vow that he will keep making me pancakes for the rest of our lives together. Camille promptly said that she would be round for breakfast on Saturday, which of course she is welcome to do!

After hanging up, Glenn rang me to see how we had done and say oops, sorry, about launching into the story before being asked the question! He didn't waffle on as long as he did on monday which was good. I thought we did fine and hoped like hell that they would edit out Glenn's foux pas.

When I got to my desk I turned the radio on on my cellphone and listened out. I didn't hear us! which meant that either we were live, played really quick or not played at all. We still aren't sure which it was, but the audio clip on the website, thankfully was edited!

During the day, Camille thankfully sent all of us contestants some of the questions that the listeners had put forward so that we could start preparing ourselves for the types of questions we might get. That was great, especially for us with so many nerves!

That night when we got home, I had another sneaky peak at the trademe thread, only to find that it had been removed! Bummer. I had a look at the rules for starting one and it says "No Self Promotion", so I guess thats why it has gone. We also found that there was an article on the gay news website about Amie and Kim from Belmont. So that is great exposure and advertising for them. I have been checking the other forums and things that we have posted in and so far support looks good. Although we have no idea how everyone elses voting is going!


Catch you later,


Tamar

Day 1 of Questions: MONDAY

Monday Question for Glenn: How did you know that Tamar was the one for you?
Monday Question for Tamar: When you are both old and sitting on the porch, what is the one thing that you want to be able to turn and say to your partner?


So, as I was saying we didn't sleep very well on Sunday night from being so nervous. We were told that we would be called between 7am and 7:30am . Because we weren't sleeping very well anyway we got up and had showers etc at 6am ready for 7am. 7am rolls around and we are listening to the radio to see who was coming on etc. The first couple come on and answer their questions. Then a bit later the second couple. Great, we think we are all getting the same questions. This meant that we got to think about our answers a bit, which was great!

7:30am rolls past and we are thinking hmm, they are a bit late. Glenn usually leaves for work (via the train) at 7:45am. So we then had to decide if he would go or stay. We decided that I would drop Glenn at work and if we hadn't heard from them by 8am we would leave anyway and they would have to call us on our cells. At 8am I text and emailed Camille to let her know of our plans. We had to stop and get petrol, and of course Camille, returned my text saying that they would be calling soon, while we were at the petrol station. At least I had seen that Mythbusters episode where they prove that petrol stations won't blow up when using a cell phone!

As we were driving down the ngauranga gorge towards wellington, the phone rang! it was showtime! We said good morning and were introduced to the listeners. Glenn got asked his question before. He was so nervous that he waffled a little bit. He described a night at a party when it was honestly 3 or 4 in the morning and we were snuggled up together on a lazy boy talking. The way that Glenn described it it sounded like we were bonking on the lazy boy, and the hosts were quick to point that out! haha, it definitely wasn't the case. We sat up all night talking and had one of the best conversations that anyone could have. It was really very innocent. He then talked about a song that absolutely clinched it for him. All he can do is think of us when he hears it. The song is "If" by Bread. Isn't my man a sweetie?

We found that most peoples answers to this question had been to do with when they were apart from each other, so it was nice to have something different to what they had said.

Then it was my turn. Dave asked what I would say to glenn when we are both in our 80s and still together. "Apart from where's my teeth?" I blurted out. That is my rather sad sense of humour that has been greatly warped and influenced by my darling Glenn. I then answered seriously and honestly and said that it would simply be Thank you. Thank you for being there with me and thank you for sharing this wonderful life with me.

And then it was all done. We had survived day one of 5 for answering questions phew. It was weird listening to ourselves on the radio a few minutes later!

Monday night was interesting. Monday night is family dinner night where we go to my dad and step mum's house for dinner. Over the weekend we had started sending out emails to people we know, posting on forums we belong to and using our networking sites to let people know that we would really like for them and all their friends and families to vote for us. We had also told our families what we were up to as well, so that they didn't get surprised and hear it from someone else! So monday night dinner was very exciting. I think my family already thinks that we are going to win and have started picking what they are going to wear! They have sent emails and links to all of their friends and work mates begging them to vote for us too. I hope its working. They also think that if we do win, they won't have to get us a wedding present because they will be helping to paint our new house. not quite sure about that one, but I guess it is negotiable!

When we got home that night, I had an email from a friend with a link to the trademe forums. It showed that another couple were in there drumming up votes for themselves too. But what was most interesting for us to read further on was that some of the people had decided to vote for us instead of them. That was a great ego boost!

catch you later,

Tamar

One of FIVE couples

Hello!

Wow what a week last week was. Glenn and I have been hard at work trying to buy a house. Infact we have been looking for a house for well over a year. We have to admit that the process did slow somewhat when our Son Mitchell was born ( 3 months prem ) and we spent the next 7 months at his bedside in the hospital. Anyway, I digress. We had been looking for a house. Well we found one a few weeks ago and went through the process of putting in an offer and doing our Due Diligence.

The Due Diligence threw up some curve balls about things that needed to be fixed so we considered walking away. And then we looked into putting in a clause asking them to fix some of the major issues or drop the price. After a bit of too'ing and Fro'ing, they agreed to drop the price last tuesday! hooray for us! We get the keys on Friday the 5th of September, when we can go in and paint the house to get rid of the pink lounge (yummy!)etc.

On the Wednesday I went back to work at the Police College in Porirua for the first time since mitchell was born. That was a bit of a shock to the system, but at least I had gone back on the wednesday instead of the monday so i didn't have to work a full week, my first week back!

And then something else happened in a week that was already full on and exciting ( although Glenn was really sick with the Flu!). On the friday morning I recieved a phone call.

Let me tell you about what lead up to that phone call. Towards the end of july, I was dropping Glenn off at work and while we were in the car I had heard an ad on Classic Hits advertising a competition to win a wedding. I thought "Wow, that would be cool", but didn't really consider entering because for us it had only really been a couple of weeks since our son had passed away. But later as I sat at home on the computer, I found myself on the classic hits website, looking at the competition. It was then that I decided that I would enter us. Our relationship was stronger than it had been and the time felt right. The actual wedding wasn't for a couple of months. And not to mention, I was not that impressed with Glenn's suggestion that we get married in 2025! Not thinking much more about it, I casually mentioned to Glenn when he got home that I had entered us into a competition on classic hits to win a wedding in the off chance that someone rang us, at least then he would know something about it.

Two weeks later I had a message on my cellphone asking if a) we were still together b) still interested in the competition. Dave and Camille, the hosts said that they were wading through and ringing everyone in the huge stack of entries to check their status. I sent them a message back saying yes, of course! And then carried on about my day.

I had been listening to the radio on and off but I seemed to keep missing announcements etc about the competition. I had heard that they were going to be announcing the finalists the following week. One couple per day, "cool," I thought, "I will definitely tune in next week to hear". Well the times that I tuned in on Monday - Thursday, I missed the phone calls that they made to the couples. Friday though, I was heading to work earlier than I had the previous two days. I turned on the radio and I heard them say that they wold be announcing the last couple shortly. So that was good timing. I didn't think that we had much of a chance. Particularly of being the last couple. Dave and Camille came back onto the radio announcing that they were about to ring the couple. They already had entries from upper hutt, whitby, lower hutt and belmont and that the final couple were from Johnsonville. I thought, "oh, we are from Johnsonville!". Then I listened as they dialled the number counting how many numbers they were dialling to see if it fitted my number. They paused before the last number, so I remember waiting to hear it it was 1 or 2 more numbers dialled. It was 1, so I thought, "it could be us". Ten seconds later, my phone rang. I thought "OH MY GOD!!" I don't usually answer my cell while I am driving, but for this I made and exception. I also pulled over.

It was this phone call that was the icing on the cake. Dave and Camille announced that we were the last couple to be entered to win a fully paid for wedding, taking place on the 5th of September. I was dumbstruck. And So excited. I wanted to tell everyone.

A couple of hours later I heard some more of the facts about the competition and that we would have to answer questions on the radio every day for the next week and that the public would then cast votes on who should win the prize. Oh no! Public speaking and a popularity contest! I also text glenn and told him we were one of the 5 couples picked. He didn't reply and I wondered if he was going to refuse to take part. Especially with the having to be on the radio.

When I got home and talked to him and showed him all the parts to the wedding etc he was fine with it and agreed that we should definitely go for it. We were both very nervous about being on the radio though and having to answer questions.

And so began this Journey. Maybe we will win, maybe we wont. Either way it is going to be an exciting couple of weeks!

Glenn And Tamar