So after the legal BS email I got from the photographer I actually got a nice one where she apologised! At least she realises she went about it the wrong way and admitted she's learning. So I can post these beauties up now.
Just some of my favourites until I tell the story:
The dress and accessories
The DiY button bouquet
Mr Piggy Wig
My ninja little sister-in-law
I love this photo of my little sister and me. She actually looks like the older sister :)
My FAVOURITE photo with my gorgeous Made of Honour
Whoops!
The aftermath giggles!
The Girls
Through the tunnel with my Dad
Walking down the aisle with my parents
Our ring bearer and bridesmaids
Kiss the Bride
Whoop, I kept making random arm movements wanting to bust a move!
Sadly the photos have been removed, I'm having issues with the photographer and don't want to risk getting into strife.
It's helpful having copyright etc... thrown at you after the fact when nothing was ever ever mentioned during the whole process or even when we received the photos! Especially considering the email was very snooty & legally worded with no apology from her for not explaining anything just telling me off.
Grrr I have now learnt not to deal with family/friends because you wind up coming off second best.
So there were a few things at the wedding that made me do a 'double take' or that I was slightly annoyed over:
Realising the Hubby had not ordered enough lapel pins so he had to miss out.
Buying our awesome frame from Ikea to use in photos and forgetting to use it.
The burgundy colour ribbon on the flower boxes not really going (shouldn't have had a ribbon) and the flowers not being exactly what I was after
Hubby's friend showing up in jeans
The DJs not being able to keep the music flowing
Both my parents coming up to me with 'problems' that they could easily solve
My highschool friend who flew over arriving mid-ceremony
The cake being too dry
But you know what the awesome thing was...none of it really mattered, I was on too much of a high to care. And after the wedding none of the guests complained about any of these things in fact they all loved the cake and the flowers. The only thing people were a little down on was the guy in jeans (and rightly so!) and the DJs (again well deserved).
I think it was helpful that I'd been reading people's posts past-wedding and realising that it wasn't all going to be perfect but that that didn't matter. And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, it's the odd things that make the wedding! They also help bring you back to Earth and really savour the moments!
Another 1.5 weeks before we get the photos back :) I'm really excited and looking forward to being able to post more (especially with photos throughout!).
So things will be a little quiet on this front while I wait for them.
I posted this link before and then deleted it because I wasn't sure if I'd keep it. But here it is: http://mrssometimes.blogspot.com/
I wanted another outlet to blog about my life as a Mrs and there's 2 posts up already. It'll be a bit light on posting until I've completed the recaps here. I've decided I want to continue to be creative and because I haven't had the urge to write fiction in a long time I'm going to use blogging as the next best thing.
As requested this is the sort of back story to how the Hubby and I met and the infamous red garter (which was not taken off at the reception because I didn't like that idea).
The Hubby and I met at a mutual friend's 18th birthday party in October (and years later realised we'd gone to another 18th in January the same year but hadn't seen each other!). I wasn't going to go to this party because I'd 'un-friended' a couple of girls who were going and they were complete cows. My best friend dragged me along and the night was just plain weird because of that drama.
The party was dress as something starting with S, now I either went as a Stripper, Spy or Show Girl...I can't really recall but I'm pretty sure it was all three! Whilst Hubby showed up as a Soccer Fan (which meant I couldn't really tell what he looked like!). We sort of kept eyeing each other off the whole night but for me it was more to figure out if he was gay because I'd heard he'd gone to a gay pride parade (later I found out this was to support his friend). Gradually we got to talking (alcohol no doubt helping) and when the night ended I was all set to grab a taxi home with my best friend but somehow he managed to weasel a seat in ours. I didn't really want to let him into my house but how could I resist his pleas for a glass of water. Nothing really happened though and I sent him away with an invite to my Halloween party.
Fast forward a week or 2 later and I was dressed as a French Maid for my party complaining to my friends that he hadn't shown up. I was just about to storm out the door when he showed up in a sheet (how original) and everything was ok. He'd spent ages roaming the streets trying to remember which house was mine and even stumbling into a complete strangers party.
We had a great night and at one point (due to the large amount of shots I'd consumed) I decreed that I would pull my garter off with my teeth. I do have a photo of this somewhere but can't locate it so you will have to enjoy the photo below.
He spent the night (completely innocent on a couch) and then we both woke up the next morning totally hungover. I drove him home and over the following weeks, text messages and dates followed until we wound up in the now :)
I was the first one awake, although Mum followed pretty quickly afterwards considering we were sharing a bed. I went downstairs to have my little sister staring at me from her sleeping bag on the ground. She complained that our old dog had decided to lick her face in the middle of the night and wake her up. Which is really cute considering our dog can hardly walk and is kind of deaf and sort of blind!
Everyone got up pretty quickly and I pretty much just ambled around the kitchen and living room. I wasn't very hungry but I never really eat breakfast so that wasn't anything knew. I was stressing out though because I needed to get my nail polish done.
Everyone had to have showers and shortly after that the other bridesmaids showed up along with my MiL who bought my hideous garter (that story is for another post). We hung around for a bit and I handed out hair magazines so the girls could go through them.
The morning was pretty relaxing (once I sorted out my nails!) and I only sent the boy one text to see if he was awake (he wasn't!). I pretty much refused to be in contact with him because I really wanted it to be special when I finally saw him. The hair dresser arrived first followed by the make up artist. We set the hair dresser up in the lounge area (and all slowly died of hair spray intoxication) and the make up artist was upstairs in Mum's light and airy bathroom.
Photos tell a better story so I've posted some below. Throughout the morning I kept getting asked if I was nervous but I never was. It just sort of felt like the next stage and of course I should be doing it! The only time I got teary (and that wasn't even nerves) was seeing my best guy friend in his groomsman suit and our little page boy (the one who didn't come down the aisle).
Me & the Hubby's SiL & little sister (My Mum & Hairdresser in background)
My nails done (finally)
My 'Man' face and little sister in background, enjoying glasses of well deserved champagne
My Mum getting her flower put in
I think at the point of the last photo the photographer had arrived but you'll have to wait for me to get my photos before I post more on that. Fingers crossed 2 more weeks!
We did the traditional thing and spent the night apart. What I really wanted to do (have all the bridesmaids together at my Mum's house for a sleepover) didn't happen but I think the best thing that could did.
We'd spent the day out at Caversham putting finishing touches on tables, laying out place cards and table decorations.
I made the table numbers, crappy brown frames spray painted high gloss black, small wood numbers spray painted and then damask paper on the inside...so easy and they looked so much better than the boring numbers Caversham had.
We also picked up our AMAZING cake (which sadly didn't live up to it's beauty, taste wise, but only because it had obviously been made too far in advance):
The Danish cake which, you can see to the left, was delivered by my MiL and her sister after we'd left the venue.
After that the Hubby and I returned to our place to get our wedding night bag packed (nothing sexy in there I'm afraid!) and then I went and got my nails done with Mum. Fortunately, they did a good job and we bought the nail polish just in case. Unfortunately, the manicure did not last and we were stuck redoing that the morning of.
After that we did a shop for snacks and then went back to my house to pick up a few bits and pieces. We also bumped into Andreas (and his entire family). I was a bit stressed and was running back and forth between the car with lots of stuff. As I was leaving I realised I hadn't said goodbye to the Boy and I was glad that it was only him and I in the house so we got to have that little moment together and say goodbye (especially because I'd gotten him angry with me earlier in the afternoon!).
The night was spent with my best friend (and MoH), my little sister and my Mum. We went out for yummy chinese and then came back to Mum's house to pour through hair style magazines for ideas for the girls (funnily enough the Patrick Dempsey Made of Honour movie was on!). There was a minor panic because I realised I didn't have my hideous red garter (which had come in handy on our first kind of date ever). We drove back to my house to search through all the boxes and no luck. Then I called the Boy and luckily it was at his parents house with a bunch of our old stuff so his Mum bought it down with her the next morning.
We had a relaxing and fun time and then went to bed. It was strange because I wound up sharing a bed with Mum and, I haven't done that since nightmare age! I had a great sleep though and woke up feeling like it was any other day...
The ceremony involved Mum and Dad giving me away. But preceding us where 4 bridesmaids, 1 pageboy (the other decided to throw a tantrum) and 1 ring bearer. This worked out perfectly, the Hubby's sister and SiL walked his nephew down (through a tunnel, along a limestone path and down the stairs) followed by my sister and MoH taking the ring bearer. I didn't really tear up at all, all I wanted to know was if my soon-to-be Husband was crying (he wasn't!).
The girls (and boys) walked down to Going to the Chapel and I walked down to Natalie Cole - This Will Be (An Everlasting Love). I wanted to do a bit of a boogie but I didn't manage to rope anyone else in so it was more an upbeat walk (with Mum trying to hold it together) to the top of the steps (we didn't walk down an aisle until the end of the ceremony).
We had an amazing celebrant who was really relaxed and into the ceremony which made all the difference. I've put our ceremony below (sans the poem by my Uncle because I'm not sure where a copy of that is): [everything in italics had to be said for legal reasons]
Diana:Family and friends, on behalf of Andreas and Jessica I welcome you here today on this happy occasion.
My name is X and I am duly authorised to solemnise marriages according to law in Australia.
Andreas and Jessica, you are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in all the world whom you love best. You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust as well. You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities, and to share love.
At the end of this ceremony, legally you will be husband and wife, but you still must decide each and every day that stretches before you, that you want to be married. Make such a decision and keep on making it, for the most important thing in life is to love and be loved.
Jessica and Andreas would now like to invite Heather to share a reading.
Heather: The Union by Robert Fulghum:
You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “ You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.
Diana: Thank you Heather. Andreas and Jessica would like to thank all their family and friends for being here to celebrate and lay witness to such an important milestone in their relationship.
Andreas and Jessica have been together for over 5 and a half years and to honour their commitment to each other they asked Jessica’s Uncle Ken to write a poem for them. Ken and Olive are the longest married couple here today. For Jessica and Andreas this poem will always symbolise the importance of commitment. Uncle Ken would you please read us the poem?
Uncle Ken: poem
Diana: Thank you Ken. I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law. Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter. Marriage, according to the law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
Diana: Jessica and Andreas will now share their vows with us.
Andreas repeats after Diana:
I call upon the persons here present to witness that I, Andreas X X, take you Jessica X X to be my lawful wedded wife. To honour you I would like to share these vows I have written in front of all of our family and friends:
I loved you because you were willing to let me into your house and give me a glass of water even though you had only ever seen my face full of paint.
I love you because you support me, believe in me, help me, trust me and above all, love me.
I will love you because I only see happiness in our future together and look forward to expanding our little family.
Jessica repeats after Diana:
I call upon the persons here present to witness that I, Jessica X X, take you Andreas X X to be my lawful wedded husband. To honour you I would like to share these vows I have written in front of all of our family and friends:
I loved you because you let us have a third wheel on most of our first dates because you knew I was nervous.
I love you because you have to deal with my grumpy brain, crazy brain and baby brain and you still tell me that you’re the lucky one.
I will love you because you will be there with me every step of the way on our new journey as husband and wife.
Diana: Charlie can you please bring the rings for Andreas and Jess (Charlie leaves Amelia and brings rings). Before Andreas and Jessica exchange rings, I would like to ask that you all silently wish them well for their future together. (Wait a few moments). Thank you everyone.
Could the happy couple please turn and face each other.
EXCHANGE OF RINGS
Andreas: I give you this ring to wear with love and joy. As a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I choose you to be my wife this day and forevermore.
Jessica: I give you this ring to wear with love and joy. As a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I choose you to be my husband this day and forevermore.
Diana: Andreas and Jessica, today you have declared before all of us your commitment to each other. You have made promises to each other and we have seen you symbolise your union by the exchanging of your rings. May your marriage be all that you need, all that you want and all that you dream of. May it be filled with lots of laughter, love and strength to overcome any obstacles that may arise in your lives together.
It is now my great pleasure to announce you husband and wife. Andreas, you may now kiss the bride!
Diana: We would ask that you all please enjoy the music whilst the newly married couple now signs the register. Could Inger & Hannah please join us as witnesses?
Signing of the registry
Ladies and Gentleman, girls and boys, it is with great pleasure that I present to you Mr and Mrs X.
The 2 week honeymoon in Vietnam and Singapore was exactly what the doctor ordered and now it feels like we're truly back to reality! Finally we can sort the house out (once we get all the presents from Mum's house!).
The wedding was amazing and apparently everyone is still talking about it. Nothing in the ceremony really went to plan but that's what made it perfect. My favourite moments were the imperfections:
The ring not fitting on my finger
Not being able to get the rings off the pig's nose...apparently the ring bearer had almost lost them previously so his Mum had tied them on a little too tightly. My Uncle also chose this time to pipe up that we were supposed to be 'tying' the knot ha-ha
Dogs barking in the background
Mum almost breaking down during her reading and when I patted her back her sharply telling me 'Don't touch me!'
My best-friend (who was a groomsmen) cracking up at one of our vows (I'll share the ceremony later)
Me wanting to boogie down the aisle and attempting to boogie at any chance I got. (see below)
Our ring bearer climbing up the limestone when it was time to give us the rings
Nobody being down at the ceremony site when our limo pulled up! And then seeing my older cousin running past still in his jeans (the Hubby said he came up and said not to worry he'd just gotten back from working up North and had his suit with him! Unfortunately the same can not be said for the Hubby's idiot immature friend who did show up in jeans)
And because pictures tell a thousand words (this is one of my favourites!):
Sorry I've been a hopeless blogger, I've even done so many crafty things that I should post DiY tutorials on here etc... Maybe after the stress of the wedding is over because I'll be at a loss of what to do with my time!
It's panic stations at the moment, I realised we still haven't got all our ceremony music sorted and that needs to be done in 1.5 hours!!!
Did anyone else's family do their heads in before the wedding?
So far we have had a cousin sprung on us who after pulling out at the last minute is now coming to the wedding. The three overseas relatives announced they were giving a speech even after we asked 3 different times if they were and were told no. That would have meant 9 speeches in total! So I had to cancel my best friend giving one and then I told my Mum this and she chucked a dummy spit saying she would give up her speech...my mother loves acting like a matyr!
GAH this is another moment when I wish we'd just eloped...or at least gone far far away before the actual wedding so that the family couldn't stress us out!
As requested I am doing an update. In the lead up to the wedding I found myself looking at this blog and asking whether or not I wanted to continue. I'm definitely not as interesting as those other bloggers out there who are awesome and regularly update and incoporate photos :( But I always wanted to use this as something to look back on when the whole thing is over so onwards and upwards!
The Hen's night was awesome but also involved bitching between the family side and the friend side which did my head in. I'm the kind of person that wants everyone to be happy and trying to maintain the peace with 11 people was not easy. But it was still a great time. We all got dressed up to the theme of Alice in Wonderland and had a fun time going on a boozy wine tour.
Today was spent trying to finish off button bouquets with the help of one of my awesome uni friends. Below are some photos of the end results (we still haven't completed them):
Once we forced ourselves to just do it and stop worrying about possibly screwing it up they turned out really well.
After the honeymoon I'd like to post a tutorial about how I did them all. It was really easy (in the end and with a bit of help!) and much better than forking out 100s of dollars for someone else to do it.
We've finally decided on our reception music as well and we'll be walking in to 99 Luftaballoons...not really a great love/wedding song but it's OUR song. I got annoyed trying to think of a nice one that would suit and wedding and decided that it's about us and should reflect us. What I would love to do is walk in with a bunch of balloons to kick around (a la Scrubs) but sadly the reception venue won't allow that due to fire issues :(
So it's now in the final stretch. I have one more week of work and then I get to devote a whole week to our wedding. It's scary to think how much needs to be done in such a short period of time but thankfully most of it is in the hands of professionals!
The one thing that has caught me off guard is that my Mum is doing my head in! She keeps wanting to take over/help with everything and if I say no to her or anything other than silence she gets really angry with me. She took over the table planning, she's trying to take over the rehearsal dinner and she's doing my head in! Thankfully the Boy is keeping me grounded but I feel worse for him because he's right in the middle of exams with all this going on. I've put my sister on keep Mum under control duty at the wedding because I think (surprisingly) she will be the one to cause me the most stress that day!
Is anyone else, or did anyone else, start to grow weary of people asking the same old question: 'not long now, how are you feeling?' or 'how's the planning going?'
My cousin's partner was the only one who said 'I bet you're over it' and damn if she wasn't right. I'm completely over it. It also doesn't help that we've only just moved into a new place and unpacking has consumed by every free hour but gah. I have no desire to continue with my craft projects...which are kind of important seeing as at some point during the move the still unfinished bridesmaid bouquets got destroyed :( I still haven't confirmed if all the bridesmaids have everything they need.
How did other people cope or feel in the home stretch before the wedding?
I've got my Hen's Weekend down south this weekend so that is something to look forward to and then the female family Kitchen Tea the following Saturday. I guess parties will put me back in the mood but it's all rather stressful because now I'm looking at weekends going OMG I have no time to do anything.
I know in the end it will all work out but I also realise it takes a lot of time, effort and HARD WORK to get it to that point. With the Boy studying for exams and me feeling so blase about the whole thing I'm pretty concerned!
So I recently had my make up trial and again sadly no photos :( Well there are but my mum said I looked like Dracula so they're not going up on here!
Which is a lie by the way! The make up was awesome, even though I was a bit spotty after my eyebrow shaping my skin looked flawless. Airbushed foundation would be fantastic on a hot summer's day. I had bronze/gold eye makeup and it was just the right amount of smokey to look demure but still incredibly hot ;)
In other news my little sister got herself some cute black ankle boots and tights for the Big Day. Now I just need to kit the other bridesmaids out. Bridesmaid day should hopefully be happening this Sunday (after repeatedly being cancelled/put back).
Oh and the biggest news of all
*drum roll*
The Boy and I have found a rental property close to work where we can have our puppy! Awesome news, after 5.5 years together we're finally moving out. YIPPEE!!!
So the count down is on yesterday it was officially 7 weeks and as my maid of honour and I were driving to our hair trial I realised I would be walking down the aisle at that time! Scary stuff but exciting as well.
I think I'll split this post into several little sections because so much stuff has being going on since I last posted:
Life
We're living with the in-laws now and have finally decided to take the plunge, move out and rent. I'm really looking forward to it just being the 2 of us after 5.5 years together. It's not going to be great financially but I've worked out a budget and even with the Boy not working we'll be ok.
Hair Trial
AWESOME! I was so so pleased with how my hair turned out. Especially seeing as I don't have a lot of it! Here are the photos which inspired it:
Originally I was going to let the girls all have different styles but the Boy's sisters (easier to refer to them as that!) wanted something really harsh. Hair pulled tightly back and high ponytails with bright red lips! I don't really want my wedding looking like Romy and Michelle's Highschool Reunion so I vetoed that. Also my sister and best friend would look hideous with bright red lips and I think with all the decadence of the outfit they need more subtle make up. I couldn't find the exact photo that inspired the bridesmaids look but this kind of matches it (plus my MoH reminds me of Nicole Kidman only shorter):
We'll be using a black ribbon and tying a bow at the back. If I have enough money I want to add a small diamante brooch in the middle of the bow.
The funniest part was that because we didn't have any ribbon for the style (we didn't think we'd go down that path and the hair stylist had none) my MoH got the power cord from a hair straightener wrapped around her head. But it did make the hairstyle, before that it looked a bit ho-hum. Sadly I didn't think to take any photos of her almost being decapitated by the black power cord but it was an awesome time!
Dance Lesson
I was a bit disappointed, it wasn't at all private and we had to share the floor with lots of other people/all the spectators. We only really heard our song once the whole way through as well which sucked. But I've got a credit with the place so we'll persist for 2 more lessons and I'll be asking to have something more private next time. I didn't mind people watching I just hated not having space and not being able to dance to our song! That's what it's all about after all. If anyone has any suggestions for good dance places in Perth I'm all ears. We're going to Humphrey's at the moment.
We were inspired by this:
As soon as I played it for the Boy that was our wedding dance song done and dusted.
Cake
This is the inspiration behind our cake:
We wanted 4 tiers to match the height of the Danish cake. We're having white chocolate mudcake, jaffa mudcake, cream cheese poundcake and caramel mudcake for the top tier which we're going to save.
So we're making lots of progress and I've experienced the joy of a horrible bridesmaid...I finally feel like I'm getting married!
The long weekend = invitations and getting the Boy to help because measurements and numbers were involved hehe.
I'm dedicating today to mail merge and trying to incorporate our logo as well so the envelopes don't look so boring. My Mum suggested using pea green envelopes to tie in with the theme but the Boy didn't like that. I did but factoring in cost and I immediately decided people could have boring old white ones!
I've managed to put a little pocket on the back of the invites to house our gift registry card along with a little card (which I still have to make) advising people who don't have access to the net, who to contact so they can RSVP. Thankfully most of my family, even the oldies, are really net savvy so I'm hoping they'll enjoy our little 'wedsite'.
But boy oh boy is this a time consuming task! I meant to have the invites out last week and then my aim changed to having them in the mail today...I don't think they'll go out until Wednesday but in that case thank god for save the date cards!
Mass apologies for not posting lots recently. Things have been INSANE to say the least. We moved in with the Boy's parents and then after getting semi-settled we had to come and house-sit for my Mum...grrr I can't wait until things get a little bit more normal!
It's getting a little bit scary now as things start to pick up speed. I've booked in my hair trial and the trial for my MoH May 15th. But the biggest thing is trying to get out the invites, everything has finally been sorted but measuring the paper is what I'm leaving up to the Boy. I'm also feeling a little bit under appreciated when it comes to the Boy. I don't think he realises how much I'm actually doing for the wedding!
So much for not stressing, I'm in full on stress out mode :( I still haven't formed a list with when everything needs to be done and what's planned for when. Crazy since I'm usually super organised but not living in my own home and working full time plus getting sick isn't helping. Plus we just found out that our photographer who is a friend of the family (has finished photography at Tafe though) and our wedding will be her first is charging us $1200...do people think this is reasonable? I was thinking $500 but that probably is a way too cheap. Just another thing to go cucukoo over! (Sorry this post is pretty disjointed just need to blurt it all out!)
We will need to tie a bit of ribbon through his nose for the rings but I'm so happy with it. Neither of us want the OTT traditional wedding but we also don't want to go too crazy. I could feel myself heading down that path as I tried to find an owl and a cat as well for the other boys. But I keep reminding myself less is definitely more.
It fits in perfectly with our invitations designed by the wonderful, patient and oh so talented bride-to-be behind Getting Hitched (you're missing out if you haven't read her blog!).
She has designed us a logo and beautiful invitations. I'll post the logo up but will wait on the inivitations because I don't want to blur anything out. They can be an after the wedding post :)
Isn't the logo awesome?! Both the boy and I are so happy with it and I can't speak highly enough of our graphic designer. Sometimes you really have to love the internet! Without both of us reading each other's blogs this never would have happened.
Oh and I guess I should point out the obvious...our invites are themed to the owl and the pussycat and are very similar to the invitation I posted awhile ago.
We've passed the 90 day mark as well, according to my countdown timer there's now 87 days to go. I'm not scared though because I've got all my bases covered at this point (I should mention I'm touching wood as I type this!). I know I won't always be so stress free so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
So have you cottoned on to the fact that I'm Little Miss InDecisive?
Whilst I fell in love with the bird centrepiece and then fell in love with orchids (but Ikea stopped selling those vases) I came to the conclusion that it just doesn't fit with our theme which is - traditional with a twist.
Now this is what we are doing for our centrepiece...a little bit gothic but it has feathers which suit my bouquets and the Boy loves it!
Because I still want to incorporate orchids instead of that burgundy flower in the centre I'd have a deep burgundy orchid there along with dark/deep red/burgundy mini calla lilies as well. We'll probably double it in size as well but that's something I need to discuss with the florist.
We also bought these cute little mosaic votives to go along our bridal table (with about 5 of the centrepieces as well):
They look a lot better in real life so I'm stoked, just need to order more because we only purchased 3 in case we hated them. They're small as well which is perfect and I love the way the light will play around the tables with tealights in them.
It's all starting to come together...now I just need to decide on my hair! I definitely want volume with my hair slicked back so if anyone has any photos or links I'd greatly appreciate it.
Today has been INSANE! Started early because our mattress has died and I'm a toss/turn kinda girl. We're also currently in the process of moving house. Usually this is a semi-easy project (I've lost track of how many times we've moved!) but this time Mum is going her way and we're moving in with the Boy's parents. Most of our stuff is going into storage because we won't be with the in-laws for ages just until we get our housing situation sorted out. But, it is so damn hard packing and trying to figure out if I can live without it for an unknown period of time!
Of course with the wedding stuff that's easy, it's all getting carted over to his house. So at least there's that plus!
I decided that for our 'fun' weekend thing we should go and do our gift registry at Myer. I got to use the scan gun...YAY! But the excitement quickly wore off and I'm starting to wonder about choosing Myer. They do have great deals but in terms of electrical goods etc... I'm contemplating going with another company and having 2 registeries. My biggest splurge was going to be 2 of those antique/old-school champagne glasses but they didn't scan. The boy was happy about that because they were $350 each! Way, way, way too much but I want to find something like that because I fell in love! We do have a few $$$ things on the list, the most expensive being a blu-ray/hdd recorder but we've also got lots of inexpensive bits and pieces as well which I think is always very important.
So now I'm back home and procrastinating from packing. It feels like a storm is about to roll in and it's way too hot :(
So I spent $195 on a veil...or rather Mum did...and it was discounted from $250...(the parents are chipping in for the wedding thankfully!)
Why do I still feel horrible for spending that much on a bit of tulle with sparkles!?
It reaches the floor and looks stunning on me (and compliments my dress perfectly). The button bouquet worked with everything and I've decided I definitely want my hair big, pulled back and UP!
My shoes looked cute too and everyone told me my boobs looked awesome in the dress.
Silly me didn't check my messages thinking they were from a crappy recruitment company. I checked it during my lunch break today and...MY DRESS HAS ARRIVED!
I was so excited I immediately started calling everyone and anyone and my poor Maid of Honour didn't even get a Hello! I just blurted out my dress is here! So tomorrow we're heading into the city (MoH and my Mum) to go to my first fitting.
I'm really excited and happy for the chance to see what my half complete button bouquet will look like against the dress. If it doesn't look any good I think I'm going to stick with flowers but maybe still have the bridesmaids having the button bouquets.
Did anyone else get this excited? I've been waiting since August so it has been awhile since I've seen it (other than staring longingly at it on my computer!).
Today was tasting day because we wanted the Boy's grandparents to see where we were getting married. They showed up earlier than we did so unfortunately we missed touring the gardens with them but they were very impressed. The Boy's dad couldn't stop saying how amazing it all looked.
It was so lovely to finally be living the wedding planning process with his family. I loved that everyone was getting so excited and it helped because they were setting up for a wedding so you got a real feel for it. Except the Boy's Dad hurried out because he wanted to be 'surprised'...so sweet. The food was amazing and the presentation was 10/10 (much better than the buffet gloop slopped on our plate at the last wedding!). We tried 5 different entrees and 4 different mains and the Boy even had a cocktail. It was just a really lovely lunch with my Mum and his parents and grandparents. Jointly we decided on the goats cheese tart and seafood tasting plate for entree and for main a choice of duck or salmon.
I'm getting so excited now, it's all starting to come together and seem real!
Last Saturday was the boy's brother's wedding. It was incredibly hot and sweaty but a beautiful day none-the-less.
The bride looked absolutely stunning and from the little we saw of the photos I wouldn't be surprised if she winds up in some wedding magazines. However, 3 hours of photos in that heat was way too long and the groomsmen complained loudly enough that at the last stop we got to stay in the limo (YAY!!!). I felt sorry for the Groom, poor guy, he was hilarious though telling us how the photographer kept pushing him further and further back to just focus on the Bride. Modelling experience is definitely a plus when it comes to photos, I'm scared for mine :(
There were some odd things that cropped up in the wedding:
They said their 'I-Dos' whilst the bride was still standing with her Dad - one reason why the priest should have shown up to the rehearsal. But after that it was the two of them together (and every so often there son who was very upset he couldn't be with Mum and Dad but adorable in his outfit!)
I almost got pooped on outside the church haha not odd lucky I guess!
The groom's name changed to that of a woman and the priest also said the bride's surname wrong...seem's to be a common theme at the weddings I've been to though!
The DJ seemed really down for the most part of the reception (her box was tiny compared to the rest of the room) luckily she perked up when the dancing started!
A gatecrasher showed up and was quickly shoved out by the bride's family (it was kinda awesome!)
Some random old man came up during photos outside the church and offered the bride a caramel.
I've also decided I hate the idea of a bridal table and would love to have a round table so people aren't left with no one to talk to (as I was throughout the dinner). Unfortunately our venue has a raised bridal table so I doubt that wish will come true for our wedding. The speeches were really good (except for the groomsmen which was a bit to 'drunk moment' filled) and I was really touched when the bride's mum included me as part of the groom's family. I felt a bit left out throughout it because I wasn't asked to be in family photos. I do understand but I felt a bit yuck seeing as I've been with my boy for 5 years (longer than anyone out of his siblings) and we're engaged. But oh well it wasn't my wedding and it just makes me more considerate when it comes to ours.
My first week of work over with and I'm exhausted! But tomorrow is Wedding D-Day and we've got to get our hair in curlers at 8am so goodbye sleep in. I'm very excited and will definitely pop up a post about it once I've recovered.
Please cross your fingers and wish us cool weather! The prediction has gone down a few degrees so that's a good sign!
I never really thought much about the wedding invitations since I've made many invitations in the past simply using our local paper shop. But lately (thanks to all the wedding porn out there) I've started to think I want something quirky and cute. I've been trolling through etsy and stumbled across these when I was just randomly googling the Owl and the Pussycat.
I wouldn't go with letterpress because that is way outside our budget and I've had a look at the costing for getting a custom piece done by the artist (minimum 100 invites and we don't have that many guests!). So we'd probably try and get it done cheaper and definitely change the colour scheme. I'd also like the front picture to be them both facing the front with a bit of wedding deco.
The best bit is though, both the boy and I love them. He is really really keen on them after I showed him a range I'd found! I'm so happy he's finally gotten excited over something. He does show interest in everything when I ask but more because he knows how in to it I get. So, this was great to get a real honest reaction out of him.
Do people have any recommendations for custom made invites? I do know a graphic designer through an old job but I feel a bit odd asking her especially when it comes to cost!
PS: First day of work was good but I have to wear dark blue pants :( and dental nurse shirts after I've finished my probation period.
