Meet our Bridesmaids :-)

So after Mike proposed and things finally settled in (by that I mean realising that I would actually have to start thinking about a wedding!!), I started thinking bridesmaids! Now I am fortunate to have lots of friends in my life that I love to bits, but I instantly knew who I wanted to play a special role in our day and Mike agreed straight away.

My two sisters Nimet and Nafisa (who we call Fi) were obviously non negotiable. I am really fortunate to be very very close to my sisters, and not only are they sisters but they are my best friends. No one understands you like your family does, and on top of that no one understands your own family like your sisters!!

When I think about who Nimet has become I feel so proud to be able to call her my older sister. She is one of the most selfless people I know and I 100% know I wouldn't be who I am today without her being there for every second of my life. I know that I can count on her for anything, talk to her about anything and she will always understand no matter what I say. Nimet actually threw me in the bin as a baby...apparently I used to break her toys and eat all the food.....look at the size of me are you surprised!!!

But, its been a pleasure watching her have the happiness in her life that she deserves. She married the wonderful Alex, and they became parents a year ago to my beautiful niece Eva. I still can't believe she is a mum but I knew as soon as she was pregnant that she would be amazing and she really is. She introduced me to Iggle Piggle for gods sake...and she knows the words to pretty much every children's song that has been made...as well as some that I am sure she has just made up!!!

This is one of my favourite pics of Nimet and Eva...

Then there's Fi...she is the baby of the family. Well I say baby but she's 28 which I can't believe as she will always be about 13 in my eyes!! Fi never fails to make Mike and I laugh, whether its with her or at her. Its rare to find someone that you can be yourself totally with and Fi and I have that relationship. We could spend a whole weekend in our PJ's and watch Bridget Jones, Love Actually, About a Boy, Harry Potter over and over again. She is also on hand to make copious amounts of tea for anyone that wants a cup...winner!

Fi was always a stylish kid....and hasn't really changed much!

So after picking my sisters I had to think about who else I wanted to play a special part in my day.  I did think a bit more carefully about this decision, but in the end it was really simple and I don't even know why I thought about it! My other 2 bridesmaids are both called Hannah...which can be confusing but Hannah M is known as Han and Hannah B is Ledge.

So Han is someone very dear to both Mike and I. After I had told my family I was engaged, she was the next person that I told! She was actually on holiday and did the cutest message for us in the sand....which I have still kept as it means so much to us that she did that!

Han is someone who I know I can totally talk to about anything and she will never judge anything I say or think any less of me or anyone else. She is such a lovely person that I really don't know where I would be without having her in my life.  I have so many funny memories with Han, that I can't even think of which ones to start with. When you see her ask her about the hot chocolate incident! Another favourite memory is maybe when Mike and her recorded videos dancing to Les Mis - they both took it so seriously that they even rehearsed before filming it! (We have the video!!)

And then there's Ledge (in case you are wondering why we call her that, its because her name is Hannah Blackledge) and she really is a Ledge!! I never call her Hannah that sometimes I actually forget that her real name isn't Ledge! I think its safe to say that once Ledge counts you as a friend she will bend over backwards for you. Ledge is the sort of person that I know if I was to call her at 4am and tell her I needed her or I was stuck somewhere she would be in the car coming to save me. She really thinks of pleasing everyone before herself and would truly do anything for people in her life. She is amazing and we have so many funny memories together, especially ones from her old flat that I don't even feel I can talk about! Ledge and I work at the same school, but the weird thing is I never ever see her at work, we could go weeks without ever bumping into each other but we see/speak to each other enough outside of work that it doesn't even feel like we do work together. So much has changed in her life in the last few years and I feel so proud and happy to have been in her life for the changes. She is a 1 in a million friend.

Here we all are.....

So there we have it, my lovely bridesmaids! Nimet, Fi, Han and Ledge :-)