My Wedding

It is finally time to share with you all my amazing Wedding day.

I feel very lucky to report that (as far as I know) everything went to plan and more importantly my husband and I had the BEST day and night celebrating our love with our friends and family.

I'm including some photos, minus the faces for privacy reasons so I hope you can understand that choice.

I'll step you through every little bit :)

My bouquet is made of artificial flowers so I can keep it forever, they looked SO real even my photographer didn't realise! I went with a mix of white flowers; roses, spray roses, hydrangeas and baby breath. 

Ok. I am one of those crazy women who went and ordered her dress to be made from an overseas online store for $300 (including the veil)... I know! And you know what, IT TURNED OUT AMAZING! This was my compromise so that we could afford a videographer as well. I ordered my dress from dressilyme.com and it was a great success. I did pay for someone to do my alterations once I received it but I had a friend who didn't need any on hers. Make sure your measurements are accurate. They also were very quick to respond to my emails, friendly, professional and willing to help make any changes necessary to the original design. 

For my Father of the Bride present I decided to go with a set of personalised cuff links, which my dad loved. One is our favourite picture of us from when I was little and the other had the words 'I'll always be your Princess' because that was (still is) his pet name for me. There are a lot of businesses on ebay.com and etsy.com who make this and can tailor to your needs. 

For my Mother of the Groom present I got my MIL an embroidered handkerchief. I bought the handkerchief from Myer (btw very difficult to find classic frilled edged old school style napkins so don't leave it last minute like I did). I went to a little kiosk store at my shopping centre and had her initials and name with the message 'Thank you for raising the man of my dreams' along with my name and our wedding date in our main wedding colour (yellow). I don't know if it was used but she really appreciated it.  

The Groomsmen gifts were superhero themed cuff links. It was fun to have this little bit of our quirkiness without taking over the styling of the wedding. The guys loved it (a lot more than I thought they would..) and it totally brought out the little 'super hero boys' in them. My husband of course wore the batman ones. 

A view of our chapel and my dad's pride and joy vehicle used to bring the groom and groomsmen.

Our ringbearers (aka our adorable nephews) wore our rings on a rustic style rope around their necks.

Our page boy (aka yet another adorable nephew) wore the 'Here comes the Bride' sign. We made this our self with just a piece of wood I found laying around painted with chalk board paint.

A very cute moment when he gave my husband a flower. You can't plan for this adorableness! 

A view of bridal party during ceremony inside the chapel. I fell in love with the floor to ceiling windows. Our photographer was very skilled to still get amazing photos despite the bright background.

The outfit our Ring bearers and Page boy wore. I ordered the suit set and bow tie separately from ebay.com

Another spectacular view.

A cute one of us.

Love my shoes (something blue).

Bridesmaids wore yellow chiffon full length dresses with lace top from forherandforhim.com 

They had baby breath (real) bouquets which just went so perfectly. They all had their hair in updos (my MOH had a little bit of baby breath in her hair) and for accessories; big tear drop silver earrings, silver shoes (I gave them the option to chose their shoes flat or high heel), and they wore the rings I got them as their present. See other post for those gems, click here. 

Groomsmen and Groom wore dark grey suits with white shirts, black dress shoes, yellow ties (all from Lowes, amazing quality and super affordable price), and baby breath boutonnieres. Groom had a black vest and yellow rose in his boutonnieres. 

Fun Fact: He proposed to me with a yellow rose so it was a special thing for us to bring into the wedding.

We hired large lawn games for our guests to be entertained while we took our photos. We had Chess, Jenga, Ring Toss and Connect Four. We found a business on gumtree.com to hire from.

Our delicious wedding cake. I found inspiration from a few cakes on Pinterest, photoshopped them together, sent the picture to a small business I found through facebook and Voila! She even delivered.

Our cake topper is lazered acrylic from a store on Etsy.com (on the right has our surname going down). It came with a stand to use as home decor afterwards which I love.

Our Reception set up. Large baby breath bouquets in tall thin cylinder vases which sat on a circle mirror and tea lights. 

Some entertainment for our guests. 

Bridal table.

Our bonbonnieres  were these jars I bought from Ikea. I ordered the chalkboard stickers and a white chalk pen from ebay.com as well as made the tags to go around. One side is what you see, the other side said 'Thank you for making our day complete'.

These were their jars to use to fill up at the lolly bar.

The oh so lovely lolly bar (which was practically GONE by the time we arrived btw lol). 

A MASSIVE HIT!

This wishing well was made by my older brother for my sister's wedding, then it was passed to an older brother for his wedding, and finally through to us as we got married. Now it is ours until we pass it on again one day.

Bridal table.

Back lights.

Sparkler send off.

And there you have it! The most amazing Wedding, I could never imagine it would be that wonderful.

Any questions or comments please leave below :)

Until we meet again my loves,

Wedding Invitations

I.

AM.

IN.

LOVE!

With these invitations - oh... and my fiance.

These are very chic and on trend with the rustic style. It has two brown cards, one as the main invitation with a doily attached, and the other is two sided with the RSVP and Wishing Well information. All in one!

You can find more information and buy them by clicking below:

What are/were your invitations like?

Divorced Parents and Wedding Drama

My parents had a seemingly great marriage when I was a child growing up.

Little did I know until I turned 13 that there were skeletons in the closet consisting of 2 affairs (or more), 2 miscarriages, and a loveless relationship.

Yikes!

They stayed together for us kids... all 5 of us... and I am utterly grateful for that because I had a great time growing up with my family altogether. However now that I am older, have all the facts, and know a thing or two about relationships... it really wasn't the best thing and I don't recommend it.

So now for the past 5 or so years since they separated, we have had some family drama... no... A LOT of family drama. Who do I send the therapy bills to?

I found out that my mother had been telling my other siblings how she wasn't going to attend my impending graduation, engagement party, or even the wedding.

You can imagine how riled this had me, so I confronted her. And was shocked when she didn't even deny it.

I need to state that there is a lot more background to this mother-daughter relationship that ain't so pretty... but it would take me a few novels to get through it all.

Here is the topic: Divorced parents and the drama they bring to weddings.

Here is the question: How to deal with this. Anyone?...Anyone at all have the solution? No...? Great.

Well this is what I am going with:

1. Band all the brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, dogs, cats, God, whoever, together and get their help to talk to your parents. In my case my father is completely fine, it is my mother causing my distress so she is the target. I am hoping my siblings will be able to give advice to her that will make her realise the importance of these occasions, and the regret she will have if she misses out. After all you only get one life.

2. Try not to stress over it. If a parent is doing this to you, then it is more than likely you kind of knew this was a possibility, and it is true to their unfortunate character to be so horrid. They are the ones making themselves look bad to everyone else, and yes it may be embarrassing to have everyone around you ask where the parent is... but the main thing is that this day is all about YOU and no one, NO ONE, should take that away. They are in the wrong.

3. Find someone to replace them that you can count on and will only bring joy to you, especially on the big day. For me this is my sister. She practically is my mother, and is in fact 12 years older than me. She is my rock. The one I turn to for any and all advice. She is extremely intelligent, and I always have so much fun with her. She is who I will be leaning on for support, and looking to on the day. She is even my Maid of Honor. I always focus on how lucky I am to have her in my life.


Has this happened to you? Please share you story, experiences, and any advice!

If you are going through the same thing that I am, I am so sorry and wish you strength.

It's All About The: Hair!

Welcome to the Series of "It's All About The:"

This post - HAIR!

I have decided to give my bridesmaids different hairstyles, as I am leaning towards having them all in the same attire.

Here are a few of my favourites, and ones that I will most likely have them wear.

Please comment if this is yours.

Let us number the above photo 1 to 12, left to right and then down. As if you were reading.
My favourites are numbers 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 12.

Braids are such a beautiful thing that can look so different and amazing. They really add something to the hair. Definitely feminine, neat, and classic (and quite easy to do on yourself if you're on a budget!)

http://bridalmusings.com/

So beautiful and effortless. Gives volume and therefore is flattering to the face. And the ability to add flowers or other embellishments to the hair is a nice touch.

Please comment if this is yours.

LOVE this! So simple, but oh so elegant. If your bridesmaid has long hair, you just can't fail with this style to show it off. 

Please comment if this is yours.

My number one favourite option for my Bridesmaids. This is THE photo. The one that inspired me. I first wanted this on all my bridesmaids, and then I found so many more gorgeous styles as I've shown you now. But this one is just so simple, beautiful, effortless, and I love it so much. 

As you can maybe tell, the trend with my Bridesmaids hair is to include a braid of some sort, and to be an updo whether a bun or ponytail.

artzycreations.com

And last, but certainly not least.

This is it ladies.

My hair.

I'm going with a waterfall braid, and nice big voluminous curls.




What styles are you going for?

Comment below!

Bridesmaid's Gifts

I think it is a lovely idea to save something special to give your Bridesmaids on the day of the Wedding.

This is what I have decided to give mine...

And yes I have bought them over a year in advance. Don't judge me... I got excited, ok.

Monogrammed Rings

Above picture is what I received. A tiffany blue gift bag, jewellery pouch, cardboard box with foam insert, and the monogrammed ring in a plastic ziplock bag. This all came with each ring I ordered which is fantastic because it already looks so pretty for me to give my Bridesmaids.

Another look at all the rings with their boxes.

Here is a close up of all of the rings.

In order of left to right:

RCD - JHA - RHS - MHJ

My 4 Bridesmaids.

The initial in the center of the ring is the person's last name, then on the far left is the initial of their first name, and on the far right is the initial of their middle name. 

This can be tricky if you have more than one middle name. I got one for myself, and I was lucky to have my first and last name with the same letter so I chose to have my two middle names on either side. 

I decided to get my Bridesmaid's and mine with our maiden name. See this however you will as all my reasons range from "feminist power!", "so we remember who and where we came from", "because mine is my maiden name and first name so I needed to make ours all the same", "because there are two lots of sisters and it just looks nice".... and I'm sure there could be more reasons.

How I chose the colour and size of the ring:

It was late one night and I Facebook messaged all of my Bridesmaids asking what colour jewellery they prefer. I already had a good idea of what their answers were but wanted to double check before spending the money. Luckily they all replied instantly. Then I asked them what their middle names were because Facebook profiles didn't give me my answers (don't you just hate those failed stalking moments?). I didn't mind by this stage if I was clueing them in, because it is not until over a years time that they will get these. So I'm banking on them forgetting. I also then asked if they knew what size in rings they were... I know. really giving it away now... And again they answered. You can see they make good Bridesmaids already not daring to make the Bride wait haha! (jokes)

And Voila!

Ask and you shall receive... answers! I placed my order, waited patiently and was so happy when I received them.

I am SO in love with this style of Monogrammed rings. Both the silver and gold look amazing. 

Such a nice personalised touch that my ladies will love and wear forever.

What are you getting your Bridesmaids? - My sister gave me and her other Bridesmaids perfume with individualised scents. I still have the bottle!

Tips for You and Your Photographer

Here are the absolute basics that your photographer should be doing with photos on your wedding day.


Make sure you read through this and even print it out with whatever additions or changes you may want or need so that the photographer knows. You want everyone on the same page. Remember this is all in one day so if you make a list now then you wont have to worry about it on the day.



*Quick tip - give your photographer or maid of honor (give someone this job) a list of the names of family etc you definitely want in photos. That will make it easier for them to scream out the names and gather whoever they need...


Photos you need:

Before the Ceremony...

- dress, veil, garter, bouquet, wedding rings
- getting ready photos 

*tip - get the photographer to do the groom first in a faux getting ready, then the boys can undress and relax while the photographer goes to you and follows you to the ceremony...

- groom with groomsmen
- solo of the bride
- bride with bridesmaids



At the Ceremony...

- outside shot
- guests arriving
- bridal party walking down the aisle
- groom waiting for his bride
- father giving away bride
- first kiss
- throwing confetti etc

*tip - if you are wanting a photo of that special moment when the groom first sees his bride, then ask your photographer to have the camera on him first to capture that split second moment... you will look stunning the whole walk down the aisle with plenty of time for photo ops...



At the Reception...

- newlyweds greeting guests
- toasts
- father and daughter dance
- first couples dance
- wedding cake
- table photos with newlyweds
- guests dancing
- getaway car
- send off



Formal Photos...

- full-length solo bride
- bride with parents
- bride with bridesmaids
- groom with best man and groomsmen
- groom with parents
- bride and groom together





Hope all these tips rested your mind. They seem so simple, yet so easy to forget about sometimes.

Good luck!

Pictures I Want On My Wedding Day

The pictures on your Wedding Day will be cherished forever and looked upon numerous times for many years to come. It is important to understand and know what you like and what you want. Be sure to scour through the internet (I recommend Pinterest) and start saving those pictures that you are drawn to. Most likely you will find a pattern of styles you like. There are some fabulous ideas out there for you to peruse thanks to many very clever and creative people. Here are some of my top favourites...



Now this is a different angle to your standard kissing photo. I love how it just looks like a piece of art. Well done to the photographer.

Julia Nikonchuk Photo

This makes my heart melt. What a perfect picture. An alluring photo that tells its own story and really shows off all your guests and their happiness (hopefully). 

Daniele Del Castillo

Because who doesn't want a dramatic dip! You can feel the air whisking you away in this absolutely romantic yet very sweet photo. Beautiful. I love it. I applaud you AJH Photography.

http://www.memorylaneweddings.com/ML/10.1.11.html

Now this may be a bit controversial for some but I am really intrigued and interested in getting some boudoir style photos. Not Playboy Bunny style... I don't think I'll ever be that comfortable. But something like this - A little bit sexy, but still classy, respectful, and lady like. Done in a very tasteful manner. Feminism art, if you will.

Jose Villa

Rain is no longer the bad guy on the wedding day (well it may be if it is an outdoor wedding) but look at this amazingly creative and adorable photo you can get! My personal favourite rainy day photo of them all from the amazing White Pearl Photography. 

http://www.whitepearlphotography.com.au/blog/wedding-photographer/our-wedding-portfolio/

What a lovely idea as a gift for the Father-of-the-Bride. I think I may just make my dad cry with this one. One to be cherished forever.

Found on blog.jenneferwilsonphotography.com

Hilarious. Just hilarious. If you want something fun and quirky then maybe this is more your style. Ever having a bad day?... just whip out this photo. You'll laugh and laugh and laugh and eat some cake or something.

Plum Tree Studios

And for the big finale. I'm not one who enjoys the arm tunnel send off by the guests (especially seeing as my fiance is over 6'2") I don't think I'd enjoy awkwardly crouching for that long...smelling dem pits. But a send off we must! And I just love sparklers. So I love this. And what a magical photo it makes.

itsabrideslife.com

There are my favourite arty farty photos that I will be recreating best to my ability on my special day.

*Quick Tip: create a Pinterest board for your Photographer to follow that is dedicated to photos you like so they have a clue.

Share yours below!