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Tuesday, June 3, 2008

When a Romance Editor Gets Engaged...

I was excited to hear about my editor, Joanne Carr, getting engaged. She'd mentioned her boyfriend before and he sounded very nice, but her engagement meant I could ask her to blog! Seriously, I want to thank Joanne for taking time out of her busy day to answer a few questions for us about her wedding planning experience thus far. Here's what she had to say:

Did you decide to go with a big wedding or a smaller one? Why?
We decided to go for a quite small wedding. We will have 60 guests for the whole event - from the actual ceremony through to the evening do. We are aiming for a generally informal, intimate feel to our wedding and felt that this would be the ideal amount of guests.

What has been the most difficult part of planning a wedding?
I still have a lot of planning to go and I am having so much fun at the moment – ask me again in a couple of months ☺

What has been your favorite part of planning your wedding?
So far, I have to say just the general chatting over ideas with my hubby-to-be and getting excited about the big day! We have come up with some crazy ideas and although we may not be following through with them (my groom will not be arriving in The A-Team van ☺) it is great that we are both involved and excited about the planning.

How will you make this wedding celebration uniquely yours? (And unusual or interesting touches you chose to go with)?
Hmm, well that would be giving the game away! What I can say is that we are having a hog roast and a barbeque as our ‘wedding breakfast’ – we want our guests to be wandering around, chatting with each other, enjoying the food and company, and a barbeque lends itself to that kind of informality. Plus, (much to my mum’s horror!) I get to have a burger on my wedding day - we joke and refer to it as ‘the bridal burger’!

We are not having a traditional wedding cake either, instead it is a cake made of cheese! We will tuck into it much later in the evening with bread and pickles – I just love cheese so this is my idea of heaven!

How many attendants do you have? Describe the dresses you've chosen (or would like to choose).
I am having one bridesmaid – my best, best friend who is like a sister to me and we’re yet to choose a dress. My groom is having two best men which should be fun as they are quite the double act!

Any favorite songs you’d like the wedding band to play?
We are having a DJ later in the evening and I haven’t decided on a play list yet, but I am banning YMCA by The Village People - it just makes me cringe!

If you could go anywhere you wanted to, describe your perfect honeymoon location.
There are so many beautiful places in the world I have yet been to so it is hard to pick one. In fact, we just cannot decide on where to go! I would one day love to visit the Australian outback though.

Have you received or requested any unique wedding gifts? What are they?
Not yet!

If a millionaire dropped by and offered to pay for the wedding of your dreams, what additions/changes would you make?
The only change I would make would be to pay for all the accommodation and travel for my guests, oh and to make it a free bar!

Have you chosen any interesting/different places for wedding photos?
There are some medieval stocks in the market place near to where we are getting married, so that could make for some interesting pictures!

A wedding is a bride's opportunity to act out a fairy tale for a day. What stands out as the most special part of your wedding?
I just cannot wait to be stood next to the man of my dreams and declare my love and commitment to him in front of everyone who matter most – you don’t get much more romantic than that!

Editor Joanne Carr has worked at Harlequin Mills & Boon for just over five years. She joined the company shortly after completing her MA in American Literature and as an avid reader of Mills & Boon romances it was like a dream come true! Joanne is currently managing the Modern Heat series, but like all of the UK editors, she acquires across every series.

In October this year, Joanne is getting married to her boyfriend of more than seven years. It is only fitting that he is pure hero material - he is a police officer for the Metropolitan Police! They live together, just a few miles from the Mills & Boon offices, along with their adorable, yet rather large, ginger and white tom cat.


All of us here at The Wedding Planners blog wish Joanne and her fiance the best with their wedding planning, ceremony and marriage! The Wedding Belles definitely see a happily ever after in their future!

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18 Comments:

Blogger Maureen said...

Best of luck to you Joanne!
I like your wedding plans because they remind me of my wedding. We had it in my parents backyard with 70 guests. It was less formal but had a DJ and dance floor.

June 3, 2008 at 3:21 AM  
Blogger Carol Townend said...

Hi Joanne,
Will be wishing you well, and longing to see a pic of The Dress!
Best wishes
Carol

June 3, 2008 at 4:29 AM  
Blogger CrystalGB said...

Congratulation Joanne. I wish you the best. :)

June 3, 2008 at 6:10 AM  
Blogger Dru said...

Congratulations Joanne. All the best for your upcoming wedding.

June 3, 2008 at 8:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Joanne,

Thanks for sharing some of the details of your upcoming wedding.

We had a very simple wedding. It was just us, our parents and my friend who is a photographer. A couple of days later we had a party of about 83 friends and family.

But these books and the blog have me thinking more about weddings.

Did you know there's a new list posted of "The top 5 sparklers for weddings" on Yahoo?

Here's the description of # one. We may need to renew our vows, just to try this :)

Zonin Prosecco Special Cuvee Brut, Veneto , Italy

(about $11)

Italian Prosecco is the ideal low-cost sparkling wine for weddings (though pricey versions are available too). Unlike Champagne , which gets its carbonation from a labor-intensive method that requires a second fermentation in the bottle, Prosecco's fizz comes from fermentation in pressurized tanks. It's a less costly process used by the vast majority of producers, and the quality of the resulting product can be very high, as it is with Zonin's Special Cuvee. This wine has floral aromas; lively effervescence; crisp apple, citrus, and almond flavors; and a creamy richness often missing in comparably priced Prosecco. The word "brut" on the label signifies that the wine is not sweet; sweeter versions of Prosecco are labeled "extra dry" (slightly sweet) and "dry" (much sweeter). The only thing sweet about Zonin Special Cuvee is its price.

June 3, 2008 at 9:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Instead of anonymous, that last post should have been by Cathy S.

I want to get into the drawing.

June 3, 2008 at 9:16 AM  
Blogger Brandy said...

Your wedding sounds as though it will be unique and fun! Congratulations on your upcoming Wedding. And best wishes to the both of you.

June 3, 2008 at 12:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Best wishes, Joanne! The idea of taking wedding pictures at the medieval stocks makes me giggle. :)

June 3, 2008 at 1:21 PM  
Blogger Serena said...

Hi Joanne,
How exciting for you! I remember planning my wedding day - 27 years ago! But coming from an Italian family, my wedding was a little bit larger. We had 230 guests - luckily we had no family here in Australia or it might have been 430! LOL. 60 people sounds perfect (not that I'm complaining about mine, but it's mostly a blur)

Have a great time and a wonderful rest of your life!

Hugs
Serena (but not the Wedding Planners' Serena)

Melbourne Australia

June 4, 2008 at 2:53 AM  
Blogger Sarita Leone said...

What a lovely interview! And the wedding sounds like it's going to be wonderful.

Best wishes on your wedding, Joanne. And thank, Melissa, for bringing us such an interesting post. :)

June 4, 2008 at 5:43 AM  
Blogger EllenToo said...

Best wishes on your wedding and for a long and happy marriage. I agree with tori about the medieval stocks making me laugh. Shows you have a sense of fun.

June 4, 2008 at 12:56 PM  
Blogger Linda Goodnight said...

What a beatiful bride she's going to be!

June 4, 2008 at 3:22 PM  
Blogger catslady said...

Congratulations and best wishes. My daughter is getting married in July so I'm always interested in how others are planning their wedding :)

June 5, 2008 at 10:07 AM  
Blogger robynl said...

Wow, I truly enjoyed reading about your upcoming wedding Joanne. Congrats and the best to you and your dh to be.

June 5, 2008 at 8:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats Joanne. I think a wedding is more fun if you just keep it simple. It's more relaxing and you actually have more fun.

June 6, 2008 at 8:43 PM  
Blogger Lily said...

It is nice to now that a romance book's editor is also getting a nice wedding :)

June 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

'The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman's heart.'

I'll never forget the expression on my dh's face when I walked down the aisle to him.

Best wishes to you and your dh to be, Joanne, for a very happy and bright future together.

Jennie

June 9, 2008 at 3:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds like a wonderful, unique, and intimate wedding. I love it! My MIL wanted to ban YMCA, but I pushed for it since I knew it would get everyone out on the floor. She ended up going to the bathroom when it came on to escape. However, she missed her two sons and all her nephews getting down to it! It was one of the highlights of the evening. She ended up being very happy that the videographer got it on tape!

June 17, 2008 at 12:57 PM  

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