The Diary of a Bride

Some photos

2008-10-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the Hens night....the PG rated ones *giggle*

21 days to go....

2008-10-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

So although the new job requires entirely different hours....longer ones mostly....I've squeezed in a few essentials like final dress fitting....make-up trial....both of which went really well.

I have a tanning trial this weekend...Tuesday next week is the hair trial...plus the final appointment with the photographer and Curzon Hall. Time for us to pay people...*gulp*

Anyway...its all humming along and good thing too - only 21 days remaining.

Where did the last 2 years go?

Oh...and I have a nasty cold which I can't shake...but am determine to shake BEFORE the big day :D

I'm still here...

2008-10-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

Okay so things have been a bit crazy in little'ol Sydney so I havn't been posting my usual updates.

I guess the first thing was I resigned from CADRE Design after 8 years with the crew. It was a decision I had been pondering for many many months then fortunatley a few things fell into place and presto, I was on the market for a new employer.

After abouot 3 weeks of attending way too many interviews I had narrowed it down to 2 companies. There had in fact originally been 6 interested companies which was very good for my ego, lol!

I accepted an offer with "Singleton Ogilvy Interactive" - the digital arm of "Singleton Ogilvy Mathers" Advertising agency. I then promptly resigned and started the new role exactly 5 weeks before the wedding...and yes...they knew the wedding was coming up before they hired me :)

During this job transition phase I squeezed in a week in Brisbane to complete the NIA White Belt Intensive training. Most of you know I have been NIA for about 2 years now...and for those of you who don't know, NIA is a fusion fitness class that combines Dance, Martial Arts and Yoga. I love it and can now teach if I choose...maybe leave that till next year though, lol.

My oh so uber lovely bridesmaids have had the most on after throwing me a spectacular Bridal Shower AND a Hens nite to rival all other Hens nites.

The Bridal Shower was awesome and entirely pink...even the food and drink! The effort the girls (and 1 guy, lol) went to to create a memorable event was amazing. There were balloons, streamers, lanterns, ribbons, a hot pink sash and matching crown, pink cupcakes, pink champagne, pink everything.

I do have photos so I'll pop them up when I have some time...and a computer again (that last one belonged to CADRE).

Just three weeks after the Bridal Shower (pink parade, lol) came the Hens nite. I flew back into Sydney from QLD Friday night and slept at louisa's after I was told in no uncertain terms that I could not go home. Turns out certain groom and groomsmen had assumed I wouldn't be home and began the Bucks nite early....grrrrrrr.

A night in my own bed before the big do would have been nice but was not to be...

Saturday morning I was a mess. I had flipped my lid at Ben very early in the morning after I realised nothing had been arranged for my little man Charlie (the dog). Since neither Ben nor I would be home for at least 48 hours it was a tad concerning.

Anyway...a few hours later Louisa and I were on a mission!

We had exactly 1.5hours to get through the shopping centre, choose a dress, shoes, bag etc. Buy them...get our nails done...then race home in time for the transport.

So the general conscenious is girls cannot do direct shopping....we apparently get distracted by glittery or shinny things and turn a purchase of one item into about ten items.

Louisa and I proved them wrong!

We hit Myers first only to be disappointed with the just covering bum style dresses currently in fashion so crossed the mall to "CUE" and presto - 2nd dress I tried on was the winner and the helpful store assistance also convinced me to buy a uber chic belt.

Back across to Myers to grab shoes and a bag then up to the nail salon - we were done in exactly 1.5hours.

We fly home with the new purchases and waited for the transport. I had since twigged that they had organised a limo...but as the pick up time came and went the girls started to worry.

An hour later the limo company confirmed they had stuffed the booking so we called a taxi. I was not worried...the limo can be another time. I was with the girls and we were off!

I was treated to lunch in one of sydney's floating restaurants. I enjoyed a vego pasta while the others indulged in fillet mignon, salads, soups and some super crusty garlic bread. We then walked across Pyrmont Bridge and checked in to our room for the night and the Blackett Hotel. A very trendy loft room with giant bed upstairs, bathroom, own kitchen and good living room which the girls promptly cleared out.

They had bought food, wine, champagne, nibbles - everything we could have needed. Lou, Marty and Cheree were SUPER organised.

I started getting dressed into my new "CUE" gown and employed my stylist, Louisa, to handle my hairand makeup...the girls got ready and we waited....and waited....and drank....and waited...then Louisa's phone rang..

"Oh you are here already?!!"

And out of the room she ran.

I later discovered that EVERYONE was late...REALLY late...like an hour...and yet our entertainment had already arrived.

The girls worked their charm and the "entertainment" was able to hang back while everyone magically arrived within a 5mins span.

All the girls looked stunning. The theme was "Sex and the City cocktails" which was great - everyone in their best dresses.

Mr Entertainment then arrived and lets just say...he.was.so.fine!

What a dancer...wow!

Louisa has spent hours scouring for the right kind of dancer and boy did it pay off. Even Ben has since agreed he was one very good looking bloke.

After The Fireman did his routine we walked down to a new malaysian restaurant on the harbor...the girls all looking stunning...me in a crown and sash. Quiet a bit of attention we attracted.

After dinner was on to The Loft - a nice cocktail bar in King Street where we hung out for a few hours...before moving on to a more relaxed bar called "CARGO."

I think we retired back to the hotel room around 3am...good effort...and since it was the start of daylight savings it was actually 4am, lol!

Again I have photos...and yes of the fireman....but I'll post those later.

Since then I have started my new job, had practice sessions for the vows (which was so scary, lol), booked hair trials, makeup trials....began freaking out and generally getting into it all. Ben and I finalised the seating charts....and all the other bits and pieces...and we are now down to just 4 weeks away.

Time flies!

But enough typing for now...more again soon.

Fun Times ahead...

2008-09-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday
Evening - Get ring cleaned
- Pick up bridesmaids gifts

Saturday
7am - Pick up M.O.B. (mother-of-the-bride) and Bridesmaid #3 from airport
9am - Drop bridesmaid #3 at Bridesmaid #1's house
9.30 - Breakfast with Mo.O.B.
11.30 - Bride and M.O.B. to arrive at Bridesmaid #1's house for Bridal Shower.
7.30pm - Groom arrive to share dinner with Bridesmaids 1, 2 and 3, plus M.O.B.

Sunday
Morning - Rest........zzzz....
Afternoon - Drop Bridesmaid #3 at airport
Then Bride and Groom off to see "Draellion" by Cirque De Soile - WOOT!
Night - CRASH....

:) Bridal Shower here I come!

Bargain finds

2008-09-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Two great bargains were found for the wedding yesterday.

The first one was the discovery that the shoes I had in mind for the bridesmaids were on sale...so down to $30 - BARGAIN!

We called little sis and she zipped round to the store to check them out then went ahead and bought the 3 sizes we needed. Fair enough too - that price is hard to beat!

The second bargain was on the champagne glasses Ben and I wanted for the toasting/speech/sharing champagne part of the wedding where we cut the cake and stuff.

We wanted some glasses that were not super cheesy but would be special to us (well that is what I wanted...I think Ben was just going with the flow, ha, ha!).

We spotted beautiful glasses in David Jones. They had a good weight...a nice simple pattern and looked really elegant. I tipped the glass up to eye ball the price and though "DAMN! For one glass!!" $129 per glass.

What is scary is that wasn't even the most expensive kind we found. Ben located a glass that was $200.

We left DJ's thinking "maybe another store will have some" but thanks to a very helpful salesperson in "HOME" ended up over at the Auburn Victoria's Basement outlet.

After getting side tracked by the uber cool royal Doultan Disney figurines....then the super shic dancing ladies...and all the other cool stuff....I pointed to a pile of boxes near the back wall and said "Look - that's them!"

There they were...our $260 glasses (cause they came as a pair) but on one heck of a sale price - $69 for the set!

Ben grabbed a box, stashed it under his arm and proudly said "Done! Lets go baby" and that was that.

Gotta love a man who not only indulges me but then pays too *giggle*

Oh - the other item we managed to tick off the list today was my gift to the girls, their jewellery for the day. I had narrowed it down to a few options but had been deliberating over them for months. "What if the girls didn't like it? What if they never use it again?" Blah blah.

I once again relied on Ben's typical male shopping manner...that being in the shop, find what you want, pay, walk out. So in the shop we went...I feebly attempted to deliberate a little more narrowing it down to 2 options...Ben, ever patient, gave me about 10 mins to um-and-ah and look at more options before saying "I like this one. How much for 3?" and it was a done deal.

He of course waited for me to agree on the choice before paying but it was all done in 15 mins. I pick them up on Friday :)

New addition

2008-09-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update for all you dedicated readers *wink*

Firstly - the big news is a new addition to the Bridesmaids...the lovely Miss Whitney Martin who is my brothers girlfriend and good family friend to us all. Whitney saw me through some drama's at the Engagement Party...she has been at most family events and is pure sunshine. We all love her to bits :D

She will of course look stunning on the day and I look forward to sharing the experience with her and the other girls in the lead up. Only 9 weeks to go!!

The other news is our menu is all finalised....yay!

Next weekend, on the 20th, is the Bridal Shower - how fast did that come up! Let the good times role :)

And the RSVPs come flooding in...

2008-09-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever known people to be so organized. I already have RSVP's from over half of the guests - amazing since they only received invitations a week ago.

Last night Ben and I met with Curzon Hall to finalize our booking. We went over the inclusions we would require and finalized some lingering questions, such as, are infants included in a head count.

All is looking good and although our coordinator was about 40mins late for our appointment, we left all smiles and happy.

I of course realised last night that I mixed my dates up for the menu tasting. That I thought was tonight but in fact it is next week.

But that is all I can report at the moment - calm before the storm :)

Invitations - SENT

2008-08-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Okay so it took me over a week just to mail them but it is done now...thanks to Ben. Left to me would have probably taken another week as I just couldn't get that many a4 envelopes to work.

I even had Ben sitting next to me at the dining table with double sided tape and ribbon putting together the additional information for the guests (the part that includes RSVP dates, accommodation guides, etc). And because he is such a gem he even went and re-printed more of the pages we needed, rushing into the office Sunday evening, after he had a disagreement with the ones I had already printed and the guillotine *grin*

The bulk of the invitations then got mailed Monday afternoon. Some are still waiting on mailing addresses and are waiting on the back seat of the car - but we are getting there.

Next week we have Mon and Tuesday night with Curzon Hall. Monday is to supply them with the list of our suppliers and first draft of guest lists, etc. Tuesday, and I get to drag Louisa along to this as well, is the MENU TESTING - probably the only time we will actually get to enjoy the food, ha, ha. I'm sure it also a night of UP-SELL, UP-SELL, lol.

79 days to go - not that I am counting *wink*

Florist done!

2008-08-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

We meet with the last florist on our list on Sunday and went ahead and booked him in for 2 reasons;

1. They do weddings at Curzon Hall ALL the time, and,
2. The prices were reasonable.

The florist will be; Plaza Flowers

Ahhh.....

2008-08-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Um, so yeah, my big plans of mailing all the invites this week - didn't happen.

The invites are still at home in a box waiting for me to add the addresses.

Sorry - just have had a really hectic week but I will get to them this weekend.

I also have photos of my near complete wedding dress but I can't post them cause some people want it to be a surprise...shall I wait or post?

Either way, have a good weekend!

Invitations, Dresses and Father of the Bride

2008-08-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I owe my family and my fella big time...Very productive weekend with a HUGE thank you to the following;

Ben - going above and beyond to secure materials needed - openning a shop that is already closed is nothing short of impressive~
Martina - for driving all the way down from the mt's to help make invitations...champion effort! She was responsible for the scrolls (which u will see when they turn up...the most fiddily part!)
Louisa - for waking bright and early, arriving complete with champagne and nibbles then working on all the invitations with the rest of us ladies. Louisa did all the hand made ribbon and roset combinations.
Mum - in charge of all the writting on the invitations (names) and kept us all sane on the day. She of course came up from Albury to help out - MUCH MUCH appreciated!
Dad - for keeping the cups of tea flowing for the girls....VERY important role!
Little brother Paul - for doing all the errands with Ben...and a few more! Also came up from Albury.

Now...the sequence of the weekend's achievements...

While myself and my immediate family enjoyed a stunning performance of Phantom of the Opera at Lyric Theatre, Star City, my poor fella was frantically driving around stores in Sydney locating the last of the items for the wedding invitations which we had penciled in to make the next day.

Not even letting the word "closed" on store fronts deter him, Ben somehow manage to convince a shop to re-open on a Saturday just so he could pick up the last item on the list...all this because I had insisted the invitations needed to be done this weekend.

I returned from Phantom of the Opera Saturday evenning to find Ben collapsed on the couch but with everything we needed for our invitation-making-day on Sunday. What a champion!

Sunday 11am I met Louisa, Martina and had Mum in tow to order the Bridesmaids dresses. Less then helpful service at the store but we managed to get our order in and the dresses are now on their way.

We then returned home to have a BBQ with the fella's before they disappeared leaving us to the invitations.

3 hours later the invites were all done and the mess cleared away.

During their time out of the house the boys went and hunted for an appropriate "Father of the Bride" suit and succeeded. The suit was modeled for the ladies left to cut and paste by the very man who will be wearing it on the big day and it looked great! Very sharp ;)

Next round of wedding related clothing items will be "Mother of the Bride" shopping in September.

Oh - and we also ordered the flower girl dress on Friday so that is all the bridal party done.

My dress fitting on Friday went well. The more the gown progresses the more I totally love it. I put my order in for the wedding jewelry and now I just sit and wait for some more time to roll by. Next fitting is in October in which the dress essentially should be done - YAY!

Invitations will begin to be mailed out this week so keep your eyes peeled :)

Next on the hit list is the florist this Saturday.

Thanks again to all the awesome people who lent a hand this weekend - much appreciated!

See that floating off in the distance...?

2008-08-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

See that floating off in the distance...That is the last of my free weekends, ha, ha!

So many wedding appointments are now scattered through my diary. My diary alone looks like a war between pen and paper - scribbles, liquid paper and half-readable notes. Important events, anything wedding related, are circled or underlined - everything else has been pushed around to accommodate the "W" word.

Makes me tired just looking at the diary :)

Its is somewhat exciting as it means the wedding is certainly getting closer but also scary as I have so much STILL to do. How that is even possible after being engaged for 18 months I don't know but it seems the more we do, the more there is left to do.

Anyway...a few things have progressed.

On Sunday Ben and I went and met with Thea Cubis Cakes

I would love to share with you what we choose but Ben has sworn me to secrecy. Like most things in our wedding, it is a little left of field in that people will find it amusing - but that is all I can give away :) So remember to check out the cake on the big day!

I also picked up the paper for the invitations. It was easily the most money I have spent on paper in my life which is saying something since I did Print Design at uni, lol!

Friday I have dress fitting number 5 (or maybe it is 6 as I have lost count) in which we should be near the end product. Little sister is coming along. I will also leave my order for the jewellry we are getting through the store.

Sunday is invitation production day with help from Louisa, Martina and mum....and lots of giggles and champagne, ha, ha!

Then the invitations will get sent! Mind you...that is if Ben ever finishes his guest list - ha, ha.

The Bridesmaids are also going in to get measured for their dresses this Sunday so they can be ordered.

*Deep breath*

My trainer is available again (after 2 months of me not being able to see him) so I am back to seeing him once a week for a butt-kicking workout on Wednesdays. Add this to my Tues and Thurs boot camp sessions and I think that well and truly covers my exercise quota for the week. If anything I should certainly be fit by the wedding after investing over a year of pretty hefty workouts :)

That's it for now. Lots of other stuff has been happening NOT wedding related but I'll save that for now. One thing at a time :)

Quick Update

2008-07-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't been slacking off I promise - just doing things I cannot post such as buying gifts for the Bridal party, parents, etc.

Have also been getting quotes from florists - should have one coming in later today.

I now have the "something borrowed" thanks to my fantastic Nan.

Ben and I have been looking through magazines to get ideas for a wedding cake.

All the groomsmen have ordered their suits which is impressive since 1 lives in Goulburn and 1 is currently overseas :)

Next dress fitting has been rescheduled to next Friday and thats about all I have to report.

In 2 weeks I have the invitation making day with the girls and Mum - then they will get mailed out and then it will all be official, lol!

15 weeks to go!

Florist called!

2008-07-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Maybe the florist saw this blog, ha, ha! Regardless, they called last night but the first time slot they could see me was August 16th so in the mean time I'll get a few other quotes.

I rounded up some piccies of what I like that I have come across for flowers so far...

Love this!! I always planned to have "Black Magic Roses" (dark red roses) but I like the contrast in this one.

"Trailing" vs "Posie" style flowers. I think I prefer Posie by I'll see what the florists say.

Tomorrow we are off to have the remaining groomsmen fitted for their suits.

:D

Expo done...next!

2008-07-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Amazing that Ben and I are both MORE tired without our pooch around to wake us up. We thought we'd be loving the sleep ins - NOPE! For me it is because I havn't really slept properly since Charlie went to his doggy school...so I am counting the days when he is back at the end of the bed on his doggy pillow and then I can sleep!

Right now I am walking around with "I dont care about his training I just want me dog back!" attitude, lol!

Anyway...as a result Ben and I come Monday evening were less then thrilled to be crossing Sydney peak hour traffic to attend the Curzon Hall Bridal Expo but we went anyway arriving just on 6pm....half asleep...straight from work.

The hall looked magnificent as always.

A selection of wedding cars were lined up out the front for display. Later in the evening a horse and carriage also arrived for display (not the company we chose).

Inside we were asked if we had booked a wedding yet and I said yes. We then got the white bag of goodies as opposed to no bag for the couple in front who had not booked. I felt special...but I was dumb. That huge bag was a bright neon sign for all the suppliers in the hall trying to lock in bookings for photography, cakes, makeup, dresses and jewellry...on and on.

Thankfully Ben and I could pass them by with a simple "No thanks. We already have one booked." And then head towards the free champagne and choc coated strawberries, lol!

There was a florist on display who I had been trying to get in touch with. I walked straight up and said "Hi, I contacted your company a few weeks ago and never heard back from you" then watched as the sales girl squirmed and tried to reassure me that was rare. Ah-huh.

A few minutes later the store owner, John, was taking our details assuring me we would hear from him. Well it is now Thursday and I have not heard anything but he may prove my assumptions wrong....or not! I am being persistant as they are REALLY good, plus are the preferred supplier for Curzon meaning they know the venue. They will be, if they ever call, cheaper due to us booking with Curzon. Time will tell though.

While at their stand I spotted a bouquet similar to what I wanted for my flowers. The store girl pulled it out of the vase and said "Here, try it!" and past it to me.

Its amazing how some wedding stuff I just think "yeah, nice" and move on - and other stuff makes me think "whoa - this wedding is really happening!" The flowers did the latter and Ben burst out laughing as he watched the expression on my face try to stay controlled. The store girl simply smiled and said "yeah, we get that allot."

Each of the function rooms (Curzon has about 6) were set up in different themes. Ben and I were able to select the color scheme for our tables plus chose decorations.

Once again we were not falling head over heels for the cakes on display so we are back to our original plan of calling a contact of Ben's to make something to our design. Fussy people, lol!

Ben was also able to speak to one of the car companies about a groomsmen vehicle for before the service. I mulled around trying to get near the horses so I could patt them. I am a shocker when it comes to vehicles. Even when we went to view the horse and carriage we ended up booking I spent more time playing with the ladies 3 Alaskan malamute dogs (husky's) then talking about our booking, ha, ha! Transport is Ben's department.

This weekend 2 of the fellas are off to get fitted for their suits and then that will be the groomsmen taken care of.

This week I also willingly put my head on the embarrassment chopping block and asked my mum to do a bit of a Sonya humiliation speech at the Bridal Shower....gulp. Hopefully it won't be too humiliating...but heh...thats all Bridal Showers are for *Grin* I just have to suck it up!

Oh - the great thing about the Expo was inside the bag of goodies we were given a voucher for this uber swish leather bound planner (wedding planner) from this website; My wedding Journey

Once I logged on to claim (heh, I am all about taking advantage of free stuff right now!) I noticed the site had all these cool features for tracking guest lists, table arrangements, to-do lists, etc. If I wasn't organized enough before...now I really have no excuse :)

And after several people at the Expo said "wow...your wedding isn't far away" I stupidly calculated the number of weeks left.

Only 17...where did the time go?!

Curzon Hall demonstration

2008-07-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Not much has been happening wedding related but on Monday night Ben and I will be heading over to Curzon Hall (venue) for their Bridal Expo.

The words "Bridal Expo" tends to make me cringe these days. Sweet little sis and I did 3 or 4 of them last year and we found that they are just a bunch of sales teams trying to take your money. Nothing I saw at the Expo's have we chosen, lol! Perhaps I should send that to the organisers as feedback.

So why are we going to another one?

Well one of the lovely people responsible for my happiness on the 14th of November (aka, The "Wedding Manager") recommended we go to see the function rooms set up, with cakes on display, ceremony extra's etc. All that basically translates to them setting up all their lovely rooms so we will spend more...but hopefully we will get a good idea of what we get for our money.

Since I cannot drag you along I downloaded some photos from their website - apparently this is what we get for our $XXX per head :)

Yummy food

The brand new ceremony pavilion that they completed a few months ago and where we have asked to have our ceremony.

The function room set up for a wedding

Curzon - the Castle :)

So you can see the peak :)

After that our focus for the next 4 is as follows;

1. Finalize guest list as its time for those invitations to be made. We mail them out next month.
2. Measure up Belle for the flowergirl dress
3. Order bridesmaids dresses
4. Order remaining suits
5. Order cakes
6. Order flowers

August will be getting the invitations out - then its pretty darn official, lol!

September will be the Bridal Shower

October the Hens and Bucks weekends (yes...we don't do just "hens nights" but "hens days" lol) I know nothing about what has been organized as apparently it is all a surprise.

November...well...its Ben's birthday of course and time to sky dive!!!

Oh yeah...and the wedding, ha, ha! *Kidding*

Invitation Designs

2008-06-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

WAAAAAYYYYY back in March I spent a weekend working on some ideas for the invitations and promised to show photos. Well 3 months later I now have the photos, lol!

How the invites arrive...

The invitations (scrolls) openened

Close-up of scroll design. Scroll is tied together with red ribbon and silk roses.

The mess after only making 2 trial ones, lol! Imaging the mess when we make 80!!

Dress fitting number 4...or 5...I've lost count.

2008-06-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had my 4th or 5th dress fitting complete with audience which consisted of my brother C.J., his girlfriend Whitney, and my sister (aka Maid of Honor), Louisa.

It was the first time we were to see some of the beading on the gown. And the first time the 3 witnesses were seeing the gown period. It was also when I had to take my shoes in to see if they matched correctly. I was, to be honest, a tad nervous about the shoes as they had very prominent silver stitching. This is all sounding very girly but Jo Jo tends to make me nervous. The gown is so WOW that I feel compelled to keep everything near it also equally amazing.

I had told the dress designer the gown needed to match to silver (as the bridesmaids have silver beads on their gowns) I wasn't sure if that part of the discussion was heard.

The dress was wheeled into the change room on a mannequin...and my heart soared. It looked..in a word...awesome!

I shuffled into the petticoat layer, then the gown, then slipped on the shoes (wondering how we will achieve all this on the big day) then walked out to show my siblings. My poor brother sat looking at me and slowly turning pale. Louisa and I had already had time to come to terms with how weird it is seeing a sibling in a wedding gown...but we forgot to warn CJ! I asked if it was okay and he just stared at it in amazement nodding vigorously. Cause I know my brother, it is a good sign :)

Whitney made many many comments about how beautiful the gown was. We pulled out the original sketch to show her how the skirt will end up looking. The store assistant commented that my gown was her current favorite design (although I'm sure she has many,) and Jo Jo (dress designer) totally loved my shoes. They matched perfectly!

Then the hard part came....Jo Jo asked me to walk around the store to see if I tripped on anything. Umm....

It is so so sooooooooooooo hard to walk in such a long dress. I have never done it before and instinctively kept wanting to lift the front of the gown or look down in which Jo Jo would yell "Don't look down! Don't touch the dress! Stop fiddling!" Geez!

I think I'll need some practice.

The ever attentive assistant then went to the sparkling display cupboard (where all the jewelry is kept) and began walking me through options for hair pieces, earrings, etc.

Originally I had decided on a feather fascinator instead of a veil (yep...ALL traditions are now out the window, lol) but then JoJo's assistant bought out this stunning variation and when I looked at Louisa and Whitney for approval they were nodding vigorously saying "that one! that one!"

I then called on the Maid of Honor to help select the jewelry. It all looked the same to me...Louisa was always the fashion-ista in the family so I am taking advantage of her natural good taste :) She didn't let me down either. It was beautiful :D Sisters Rock!

20mins later I was walking out with a quote and preparing a story for Ben on why we MUST have those pieces of jewelry.

Anyone who knows Ben knows it doesn't take much for me to win him over on most things...but if it is jewelry then I am yet to hear a no. This time was no different - probably more because I had that pathetic look of expectation plastered all over my face. All it took was to show him the prices...explain what they were and he said "Sure - when do you need to order them?" I love this man, lol!

So next fitting is in august which will be VERY exciting - its the very first time we see layers on the skirt...and more beading. It is slowly nearing the end :) By then the wedding will be just over 3 months away...and I will be almost done with a dress that has taken over a year to make!

Ben's latest theory is that the entire dress gets framed, ha, ha! We laughed that it would look like a 3D version of those old portrait paintings that are 10 feet high.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note....the lovely Aine (bridesmaid number 2) is now only 8 weeks away from being a mum! Her adorable partner Adrian, I think is the most excited I could ever imagine a man being. The bubby will be around the wedding so you will have a chance to hug and hold the first baby for the couple. Will keep you all posted :D

Deliveries and Dresses!

2008-06-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the little carriage candles (bomboniere) arrived and they are kind of cheesy, kind of cute - we'll make it work.

Also the little boxes for the invitations have arrived. I now have a corner near my desk deemed "wedding deliveries" - ha ha! Two big boxes currently sit there...and it still feels weird that all this stuff is coming for a wedding where I will actually be the bride. It'll probably feel 'weir' right up until the week before in which it will morph to stressful then hopefully enjoyable.

I have a dress fitting on Friday in which my brother, his girlfriend and my sister (maid of honor) will all come and have a preview peak. The gown is not finished even though this is fitting number 5...so it wont give too much away...I'm just really glad to have some people coming along to make the appropriate "oohs" and "ahhhs." When you go alone it just doesn't feel right - you want people to see it!

This weekend my poor unsuspecting fiance will be introduced to the zillion relatives I have on my mothers side - a traditional Irish catholic family where my mother is one of 9 children. I am one of 42 grand children all first generation - amazing really. With that many first cousins (just on my mothers side) I have never bothered to check out the 2nd cousins which I think is understandable, lol!. Most have not met or seen Ben before so I'm sure they will grill him appropriately. We'll see if he is still keen to walk down the isle after their interrogation, ha, ha!

Bridal Waltz

2008-05-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Setting a new bench mark for the bridal waltz (pretty funny...)

Ben and I have secretly been scheming....

2008-05-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ben and I have been secretly discussing something we want to do the weekend BEFORE the wedding.

The logic behind the decision is 3 fold.

1. Its Ben's birthday the same week (3 days before the wedding)
2. There will be so much wedding stuff going on that it will be good to do something crazy and fun to clear our heads.
3. A bit of fear always tends to bring people together *evil gin* - some bonding for the bridal party and their partners.

So our idea is to go SKY DIVING the weekend before the wedding.

Some of the bridal party know of this idea...some are already getting increasinly nervous (the boys...heehee) and others are "YEAH BRING IT ON" - the girls, lol! The lovely Martina is already a experienced sky diver so we already have the upper hand :D

The company we will probably go with are these guys. There is a video on their home page too which is a great watch...here

Exciting!

Bridal Party

2008-05-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Groom/Groomsmen >>> Bridesmaids >>> Flower girl

Flowergil dresses

2008-05-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

There has to be over a million designs for flower girl dresses - amazing!

Our search was narrowed a little because of the colour choice, plus we knew what the bridesmaids were wearing so Belle just needed to match.

We then found 1 striking dress and 1 lovely dress..but once we placed the 2 styles against the bridesmaids gowns there was a clear winner.

To checkout a pic of the bridesmaids gown with 2 flower girl options click here.

We are going with the middle picture for Belle.

Sometime earlier this year I found a child's tiara on sale so it has been sitting in storage for months! I'm becoming a wedding fanatic, ha, ha!

Sometimes ebay is AWESOME!!

2008-05-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

It took a few days and lots of emails to various sellers on ebay however I finally found someone who not only had 80 red boxes in stock (for the invitations) but had them cheap - 80c each including postage. Bargain!!

I'm organizing how to pay the woman now so I don't loose them to someone else. These boxes have been doing my head in...and they are only for the invitations!! Ha ha!

While hunting across the WWW for wedding related items (I have to say that U.S. ebay is scary - pages and pages of all things wedding...amazing!) I came across a really cute idea for Bomboniere. Now originally Ben and I had said no to having any kind of Bomboniere but then we saw these and it goes so well with our wedding theme...

...we might just have to break our own rules and include them, lol!

2 nights in a row

2008-05-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

For 2 nights now I have woken up in a panic.

Dream number 1.

Last night I had a dream about the wedding - mostly the rush and anxiety of the morning to get ready and make it to the ceremony. I dreamt that we were rushing around picking up dresses, getting hair done, make-up - all the usual - then as I gathered my gown into my arms to step onto the carriage I had a horrifying realization....

Where was the photographer??

I felt ill as I realized that the photographer had been absent all morning. No one had captured any of the pre-wedding moments which usually comprise of 50% of the photos.

I call Ben and relay the situation. He begins to panic. "Didn't we call her to confirm the date?"

I feel ill again. I had forgotten to confirm the date.

The photographer must have disregarded the booking. I call her and she says she can come down immediately so I step onto the carriage and head to the ceremony crying that half the day has already been lost.

Dream number 2 occurred the night before.

It is the day before the wedding. My sister and I are doing all the last minute preparations but break off from the running around to have lunch with the family who are in town for the wedding.

We are chatting away, sitting in a nice sunny courtyard. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents are all present. Ben is off playing golf with his boys so its mostly my family...and then it hits me...I grab Louisa and yank her away from the crowd.

"Oh my god - I forgot to organize a hairdresser!! OH. My. God! What have I done!!!"

I start to panic and Louisa looks at me wide eyed.

"How did I forget that!! OMG - what am I going to do??"

Louisa whips out her blackberry phone and begins to call everyone she knows to see if someone is available. I walk off crying wondering how I could have possibly forgotten something so important.

~~~~~~

Yeah.

Dreams/nightmares about the things I will forget.

Scary really since in my dreams its ME forgetting to do something. Normally I don't forget but it has been worrying me that I must have not realized something yet (even though I still have 6 months to go!!)

I found a checklist on the web with all the things I should have done which I copied below (purely for my own reassurance, lol!). I am thankful to say not only do I have allot of things marked as "done" but I have stuff done that isn't normally dealt with till a month or 3 months out. Hopefully the nightmares will ease now...

Planning Your Wedding

To do as soon as you can
These are the things that either affect everything else (like the wedding date) or are of greater emotional importance (like maybe the ceremony venue).

Select a wedding date. Done!
Discuss budget and who pays for what. Done!
Set a limit to the size of the reception. Done!
Discuss the style of reception. Done!
Confirm date with officiant - Pay deposit. Done!
Book Ceremony location - Pay deposit. Done!
Book Reception location - Pay deposit. Done!
Book Caterers if required - Pay deposit Done!
Book Photographer - Pay deposit. Done!
Book Videographer - Pay deposit. Not required.
Book Hire Cars - Pay deposit. Done!
Wedding dresses- Pay deposit. Done!
Schedule wedding gown fitting - Done x 4 so far with 2 more fittings to go.
Select Bridesmaid Dresses - Pay deposit. Selected but not paid yet.
Schedule Bridesmaids fittings - Not done.
Start looking for Florist. Done!
Start looking for DJ. Done!
Start looking for MC. Done!

6 Months before your wedding day
At the six month mark you should have all your major services sorted and have a pretty good idea what you'd like for the rest.

Book Florist - Pay deposit. Not done - plan to do this in July however florist is chosen, just not paid.
Book DJ - Pay deposit. Done!
Book MC - Pay deposit. Done!
Sign contract/agreement with Reception Centre. Done!
Sign contract/agreement with Caterers. Done!
Sign contract/agreement with Photographer. Done!
Sign contract/agreement with Videographer. Not required.
Sign contract/agreement with Hire Car company. Done!
Sign contract/agreement with Florist. Not done.
Sign contract/agreement with DJ. Done!
Sign contract/agreement with MC. Done!
Get a rough guest list together. Done!

The rest below I am mostly "not done" as we are still 6 months away...but just added the list anyway :D

3 Months before your wedding day
Getting closer to the day, you should have a pretty good picture in your head if how the day will unfold and how it will look. Now is the time to finalise the style of your day.

Order Cake - Pay Deposit.
Choose Formal Wear for Groom and attendants. Done!
Book site hire equip (Marquee, dance floor, tables, chairs, crockery & cutlery) Done!
Book decorator - Pay deposit.
Book hairdresser - book trial style - Pay deposit.
Book make-up artist - pay deposit. Done!
Coordinate make-up trial and pre-wedding photo shoot (and hair style too if possible). Doing this week.
Organise Bridal Registry.
Finalise guest list.
Organise invitations/stationery - Design done but invites not yet made. Materials on order now.
Choose Honeymoon - pay deposit.

2 Months to go before the wedding
Not long now.

Send invitations.
Start getting weekly facials. (Hell yeah!!)
Book wedding night motel room - Pay deposit.
Start thinking about wedding vows.

1 Month to go
Basically you just need to confirm with everyone (that you've not been in regular contact with) that they all have the correct date, time and venues.

Confirm details with Ceremony Officiant
Confirm details with Ceremony Venue
Confirm details with Reception Venue
Confirm details with Caterers
Confirm details with Event Hire
Confirm details with Decorators
Confirm details with Photographer
Confirm details with Videographer
Confirm details with Car Hire
Confirm details with Formal Hire
Confirm details with Florist
Confirm details with Courtiere
Confirm Honeymoon suite details
Confirm Honeymoon details
Confirm details with DJ.
Confirm details with MC.
Buy the rings. Done!
Schedule wedding rehearsal Done!
Confirm all accessories for your look are ready (Tiara, Veil, Earrings, Necklace etc)
Buy gifts for Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Ushers etc.
Finalise Vows

1 or 2 weeks left
Tidy up all those loose ends

Have make-up trial and photo shoot.
Have hair style trial - (with Veil).
Finalise reception guest numbers and inform caterers.
Finalise reception seating and inform venue.
Pack for honeymoon.
Final consultation with Officiant.
Final consultation with Videographer.
Final consultation with Photographer.
Wedding rehearsal.
Pack a small bag with: Bandaids, safety pins, tissues, lippy, needle & thread, hairspray, bobby pins, eye drops, analgesics & any other little emergency fixer.
Request tables for the presents, cake, wishing well, etc
Wear your wedding shoes around the house to wear them in (same with him if they're new)
Write down a schedule for your wedding day, make copies and distribute to bridal party and helpers.

The day before your wedding day
Relax and take it easy. Don't panic if some of your plans have fallen through. If you expect everything to be perfect you'll probably be disappointed, something always goes wrong. On the other hand, if you expect the day to be fantastic, it will seem perfect!

Organize outstanding payments for wedding services in to clearly marked envelopes and give them to the Best Man.
Be prepared for a good (low GI) breakfast for tomorrow - You'll need the energy.
Prepare healthy snacks for the day - bet you forgot about lunch in your schedule?
Touch base with everyone to ensure they're all prepared and organised.
Try to take it easy and get pampered - facial, manicure, etc
Have a herbal (sleepy) tea and get to bed early.
Sleep (if you can)

On your wedding day
Relax and smile and relax and smile.

Relax.
Eat that breakfast you organised yesterday.
Smile.
Relax.
Remember your emergency pack (Bandaids, lippy etc).
Relax.
Smile.
Relax.
Smile.
Enjoy the ride.

Bought the shoes

2008-05-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ben and I trekked into the city for a bit of a day trip on Saturday. I took the opportunity to go and look at the shoes shown in my post below and of course LOVED them...even though the store was a little tricky to find.

Just to be sure I tried on 4 or 5 other styles but they were either uncomfortable or just not as nice. The shoes I chose are SUPER comfy and the perfect heal height.

So shoes are now done!

We also attempted to order some of the supplied for the wedding invitations. The key items is the small thin box I had used when I put together the mock-ups. When we got to Birkenhead Point shopping center I was devastated to find that shop no longer exists so I couldn't order the boxes.

I have since located very similar ones on ebay that are a mixed batch in terms of colour but the same style of box. I emailed the seller asking if he would be prepared to sell me just the red boxes - shall see how I go.

Other then that I think I have done a fairly fast recovery from the wisdom tooth surgery. I did drop some weight, about 3.5kgs in 5 days, however it has gone back up 1kg now I am on more solid foods. I'm glad I did push the dress fitting back :)

Its great knowing the wisdom teeth and gone forever as they have been hanging over my for years. I think I first found out they were a problem when I was 20...I'm now 28, ha, ha!

Have also chatted about taking the dance classes back up again but Ben isn't too keen second time round. It was actually pretty hard :)

The Wedding bands have all arrived. Bens is HUGE...a 1300mm wide thick gold band. He loves it and has asked me to think of something to be engraved on the inside. I could fit a entire sonnet inside it! My bands then arrived a month later (which was Wednesday last week) as they had to have their rocks set. Now I say 'bands' because Ben went and ordered the eternity ring too. The eternity is a mirror image of the wedding band. I'm not sure the protocol on eternity rings in terms of when they are received but that is entirely up to Ben.

We have asked to leave them with the jeweler till much closer to the date. God forbid we had them at home and lost them.

Less then 6 months to go...

Have I finally found the shoes?

2008-05-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

After many many many disappointing shoe store visits I took advice from a friend and decided to hit the World Wide Web for my shoe search.

Now I had set a budget on the shoes - no more then $250 which is still allot, but not when the "w" word is involved (that being 'wedding'). I've seen 'bridal' shoes that are more $500. Scary!

After about 2 hours of browsing online catelogues, ebay, and various other wedding related websites I came across these shoes;

Arn't they beautiful!! They are from the Alan Pinkus range - whoar!!

Now they are only in 2 places in sydney - both equally tricky to get too so might have to wait till after the operation but I WILL GET THERE!, lol!

In the mean time I emailed the store to make sure they were a current model *grin*

~~DRESS UPDATE~~

I've lost track of how many fittings I have had - I think I am up to number 4 or 5...

ANYWAY...

Due to the surgery end of this week and the warning that my weight would take a dive while I am off solid food I pushed the fitting back so that my body has a chance to return to normal. This just happenend to time nicely with my mum visiting Sydney for a family 'do' so the next fitting will consist of "Mother of the Bride" plus 1 or 2 bridesmaids as we see a glimpse of the beading and final layers on the gown. Set for June 6th. Exciting!

~~Other News~~

* Finally agreed on the Bridal Waltz song! Only took us 18 months but to be honest we weren't looking too hard. Of course the song we chose was one we both had right under our noses.

* Gifties for the gals and lads in the bridal party are being sourced.

* Started ordering in the bits and pieces for the invites so we can set up a working-bee weekend with volunteers and get them all made.

* Flower girl dress - have begun looking at styles for the little princess

* The girls are off and running with plans for the Bridal Shower and Hens Night - exciting!

6 months to go...

Make-up artist - yay!

2008-04-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Some may know that often I do freelance work in trade to help new business owners get up and running. I like the set up as it has meant some great experiences or new skill sets.

My latest piece of freelance news was from a friend of mine who owns Lily Creations - a makeup studio in Melbourne. She asked me to do her website which I of course agreed too and then in exchange she offered to do my wedding make-up. BONUS!

The plan is I will go to Melbourne on one of Bens business trips and chat to Alisha about what I want, maybe do a make-up trial (Lou informed me I should have 2....gulp....) then we'll be good to go!

Exciting! Another cost effective solution *grin*

Dress fitting last night

2008-04-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ben and I were on the verge of running to JoJo's (Arushie Bridal) after a long day for me in the office and a long day of recovering for Ben who was a little ill.

JoJo was ready and waiting with what was my gown now in the raw silk - the first time I had seen it in the final fabric.

I stepped into the change rooms and put on first the petticoat layer, then the dress. Its fights perfectly and I am happy to say had to be taken in a fraction once again. I'm all for it coming in - as long as it never has to come back out again, lol!

JoJo then drew all over the dress (in washable marker) where the details were going such as the layering and bead work. It was pretty exciting as next time I see the gown it will be well on its way to near finished.

JoJo also showed me his ideas for a headpiece and all I can say is "WOW!" Its really elegant and slightly unusual which makes me love it more.

I was told that by my next fitting I must have my shoes chosen and with me so JoJo can do the hem line.

Its all happening now!

Yes Ben saw it but I reassured him that what he saw and the end result were going to be very different.

So a new task for me - MUST FIND SHOES! ha ha

Haunting words

2008-03-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year I joked with several people that "...come Easter all the wedding plans will probably be done!"

Well Easter was last weekend and I am somewhat happy and somewhat embarrassed to admit that the statement came true.

Of course not EVERYTHING is done - I mean the wedding is still quiet some time away and certain things can only be done much closer to the date..but everything we CAN DO now is done.

Dont believe me? Well here is the list...

Photographer - done
Dress - Well underway - 3rd fitting in 2 weeks
Bridesmaids dresses - chosen but cannot order till June/July
Groomsmen - suits chosen but cannot order till June/July
Transport - done
Celebrant - done
Reception - done
Cake - selected but cannot be made till ALLOT closer to the date
Honeymoon - planned out but told not to book till June/July
Ceremony music - chosen and quartet booked
Florist - selected but cannot order to later in the year
Stationary - design done but invites don't go out till 3 months before
Wedding rings - chosen and will order around august (and mine is so friggin cool!!, lol)
Table decorations - done
Make-up artist - done (thanks to my freelance web design skills, lol!)

Amazing isn't it! For all my stressing we were done in about 8 weeks. Now its a waiting game, and a saving game. We have paid all the necessary deposits and just need to come up with the final payments later in the year.

We have since been able to catch up on a few things now we have breathing room. Ben is back into "sell car" mode and looking at a big macho 4x4 utility vehicle - my one request being it is auto, hee, hee. The Vespa is going in to get some series engine tweaks...all the usual things you leave till they are REALLY necessary :)

It feels very weird to just be staring at a finished to-do list. There are of course a few other small things i need to work out (how i want my hair, jewellry for me and the girls, etc) but that can all wait till we are closer to the date.

Going to make for a very dull blog over the next few months :D But on the up side all those involved aren't stressed just smiling and letting the days roll by :)

Quartet booked!

2008-03-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

One more tick on my to-to list. The quartet who will provide music for the ceremony and guests pre-reception are now locked in.

At this stage the only song we have established is Ave Maria for the entrance song - other then that we have no idea, lol!

I have to say it was VERY reassuring to hear our quartet, Northern Strings, are just about to set sail on the QE2 (ship) to play on board for 3 weeks. They must be good *wink*

Nothing to see here...

2008-02-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

...nothing to report but just wanted to say that rather leave you wondering if I had just been lazy *wink*

Ben and I have had a few bills to get on top of along with a range of other exciting events (sarcasm)...

Nasty spider bites
Traffic fines on double demerit weekends
Blown fuses
and Vet visits

So lots has been happening but none of them wedding related which is probably good.

Its almost march - the year is flying by which is good as we are kind of in the 'limbo' period. Not much more we can do at this point other then wait for a few more months to roll by.

So I'll keep waiting *grin*

But wait! Theres more

2008-02-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

After both agreeing to NOT buy Valentines gifts...below are piccies of what we gave each other anyway, lol!

I apologise for the pic quality - my camera in the mobile phone doesn't like indoor lighting very much.

I ordered Ben the "Cupids Cure" chocolate bouquet from "Sweet Stems" in Melbourne. Included is more then 50 chocolate bars...yummy....all arranged like a boxed bunch of flowers. Included was a little "Happy Valentines Day" balloon, lol!

A piccie of the front...but check out the next pic....

This shows how many layers of chocolate bars are included!! Its sooooo Awesome :D I believe Ben was the envy of his office as no one else received anything.

As for me...well I had a lovely man called "Iby" who drives for Michel's Patisserie hand deliver a bunch of long stem roses to my office. They are sitting next to my monitor at work and I too was only office member to receive anything.

But Ben did not stop there. I met him in Gladesville so we could pick up some bones for the dog. As we walked back to the car Ben said "Why don't you put those in the boot..." and as I open the boot a big balloon shoots out and I notice it is attached to a teddy bear.

Here is the bear and balloon at home on the dining table. It was so cute - I loved it!

So we should not have bothered saying no gifts since we BOTH ignored it...not that I am complaining, lol!

Hope you had a great valentines day too :D

Valentine's Day Pressies

2008-02-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

Ben and I agreed to keep valentines day low key this year. We had a expensive few months paying wedding deposits and there are still more to pay so best to keep our money in our wallets for now.

However...You know Ben. Although the words "yes honey" come out the actions actions are a little different.

Behold my (early) valentines gift that I received yesterday...even though we said "no presents"...A stainless steel FOSSIL cuff watch with leather lining. It is soooo comfy. I love it! We actually saw it before Christmas...but I forgot about it :D Ben of course didn't, lol!

Thankfully I was prepared and Ben is also "not receiving" something on Thursday, lol!

We will be staying home though. Ben is cooking his signature dish - a rack of lamb with a mint jelly glaze. It is so so so yum! We have had allot of running around and busy evennings so a quiet night in was actually miles more appealing then a swishy meal out. I think I am officially getting old :)

~~~

2nd dress fitting is tonight with Jo Jo - no blue knickers this time. I learned my lesson last time :)

Photographer - deposit paid

2008-02-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

Photographer is paid and locked in. phew

That deposit hurt too. The 2nd biggest one we have had to pay - $700 - ouch!(Curzon was the biggest with a deposit of $2000).

But I am proud of Ben...of both of us. We have paid several deposits so far just out of our general everyday funds...we are getting there slowly but surely.

The deposit for the photographer thought we only half paid for. My mum has very kindly offered that the photographer be her contribution to the wedding. A offer we happily accepted.

The photographer last night has taken a booking for the 15th of November (we are the 14th) and she said she was worried as they had done nothing except pay the deposit on the reception venue. I couldn't even fathom being that complacent about it all as we are already hearing "sorry we are booked already" from people.

I arrive at the photographers home with a bulleted list indicating times for the day, who is where and what is happening. Things like when the quartet have to leave, how long we have the horse and carriage for, when guests will arrive, etc.

Can you tell I'm a project manager? Ha, ha!

Its all coming into view. The mental picture is taking shape.

I have been listening to potential wedding songs for a few weeks now. Paying attention to the lyrics or the beat to make sure it will work. I still have no idea what the wedding waltz will be but every time I hear the string version of Ave Maria I get all emotional knowing it is the song I'll be walking down the isle too.

Little sis and I have started on the guest list for the Bridal Shower and Hens nite - whoo hoo! The fun part *grin* or the embarrassing part...ha, ha.

This weekend Ben and I blocked off as a free weekend. We both swore we would not organize anything so we can just relax. Okay...I swore I wouldn't as Ben glared at me, lol!

Its not a good sign when you actually have to write a free weekend into your diary...but such is life at the moment.

And can I just say I am over the rain in Sydney. We are wondering if our poor roof (which we got quotes on to replace before Christmas) will actually last the year after all. We will reassess that decision at the end of the month.

Next was to be a florist tomorrow nite but I have canceled purely because of geography. They are too far away. Another evening to sit quietly......sigh....

Cheers!

2008-02-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

(A poem I wrote last month that I completely forgot about until today, lol)

Two star crossed lovers
We now unite
They grew side by side
But never in sight

For it was not until
One mild October eve
That Ben and Sonya met
Both with a heart on their sleave

Since that fateful day
Ben and Sonya have grown
Together and more in love
Fruitful seeds they have sown

We celebrate today
As they join their hands in marriage
Ben looking dashing
Sonya arriving in a carriage

This happy couple
Its easy to see
Will live happily together
Just as happy as can be

So join your hands
And lets raise a glass
To the bride and groom
"Cheers to your future, and good riddens to the past."

Written by Me Jan 2008

Another tick on the to-do list

2008-02-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning the bridesmaids and I shuffled through countless dress racks giggling and sniggering at some of the dresses you can only describe as SCARY until we eventually found something we were all happy with.

I think between Martina and Louisa there were about 10 dresses that they modeled - one sensational hot pink number which we will eternally owe Marty for. She was the only one willing to be seen in it for the sake of viewing the style :) Thanks Marty!

The dress we have narrowed it down to is a flattering silk number which we will order in a dark red (photo shows a pinky red). The price was fair and it didn't appear to present any problems in terms of getting alterations done, or needing any unusual accessories.

Here is a piccie of the gown modeled by Louisa in the store fitting rooms.

On Sunday Ben and I dragged ourselves into the car and proceeded to then get very lost in the far south west suburbs of Sydney. We were trying to find "Cobbitty Carriages" who kindly drove out to find us to escort us in. By this stage we had been in the car over an hour and a half.

The carriage was everything we thought it would be and once we saw pictures of the stunning solid white perusian horses who will be our transport we booked them in! Ben did most of the talking. I was too busy ooh-ing and ahh-ing over 3 Alaskan malamute dogs the couple owned. They were so beautiful and talkative.

Here is a pic of the carriage we are using which seats up to 8 (and those are the horses we are using too).

A very productive weekend!

Thank you to the girls for joining me on Saturday. I think we hit 4 or 5 stores in total before chatting over lunch at Crinitis. A nice way to spend the day and it is great to have found a dress so quickly.

Next on the hit list is visiting the photographer tonight...and a florist on Wednesday. The list is endless :D

9 months to go

2008-01-29T13:21:00.000-08:00

Gosh - time flies. Feb is here!

We were away all of last week which is why there was no action on this blog...but we are back into getting up at 5.30am to walk the dog, then work and try to squeeze in a few wedding related tid-bits. Well I squeeze and Ben just says "yes dear" :)

On the agenda for Feb I have another trip out west to view a carriage - this time with Cobbitty Carriages. They have a stunning 8 seater black beauty that I'm pretty sure is drawn by Clydesdale's. I want! I want!

This Saturday the gals and I are off to check out Bridesmaids dresses. A whole morning of playing dress-ups - yay! lol!

On the 4th we are meeting with the photographer.

On the 6th I have a meeting with Sydney Wedding Flowers who are located out over near the airport somewhere.

Then of course Valentines Day is on the 14th PLUS Ben and I booked in a day spa session (it was a gift I gave him in November 2007) on the 17th.

So some wedding stuff....some relaxing stuff....and oh, another dress fitting on the 11th in which I WILL NOT wear blue underwear, ha, ha.

And there is nothing like a dress fitting to pick up motivation for exercise. I had been a bit laid back on the exercise since Christmas. A few sessions with my trainer...a few self driven sessions but nothing too intense. But after a few "relaxed" weeks I began to think how embarrassing it would be if I went back and I had PUT ON weight! It may sound really girly but it would be sooooo humiliating as Jo Jo isn't one to beat around the bush. He'd just come out with something like "Oh you have filled out a bit!" lol!

I started a routine called "Bikini Bootcamp" which is a book written in the U.S. I read it a few months ago and kept thinking "soon...soon" but never did anything about it. Well since it didn't look too difficult I thought their circuit sessions and core sessions would be a good place to start.

I have never sweat so much in my life.

What looked easy on paper was far from easy. A 40 minute circuit session with only 15 second gaps between sets. I think I sweated out about a kilo of fluid....which I promptly put back in as I sat collapsed on the couch sculling water.

It was intense...and my abs are certainly feeling the 120 crunches I had to do.

But I gotta start somewhere so I am determined to stick with it. Jo Jo - I'll be ready come the 11th, lol!

Something blue?

2008-01-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

Such an embarrasing moment.

I went to Arushie Bridal last night expecting to get measured up for my dress.

Late last year Jo Jo (the man who designs the dresses) called to say they had lost my measurements and could I come in again. I turn up in jeans and a t-shirt thinking all that will happen is the measure me then I'm done. After all last time I was measured up they just whipped the tape measure around the necessary parts and it was over in 5 mins.

I turn up about 15mins early and wander around. I wanted to remind myself that this man was worth the insane price tag, lol. Jo Jo ducks into the back room emerging with a garmet bag which he openend to reveal a canvas version of a gown....my gown!

He smiles and says "We found the measurements so we began making your dress. Try it on because I can see you have lost weight and I'll need to adjust it." I gulped.

The world went quiet.

Try it on?

I quickly realised under my jeans were super spiky unshaved legs (bad I know...) PLUS bright Blue underwear!!! My comfy undies.

Heh, I didn't expect to be stripping alright!! I obviously was not prepared.

I go in and do my best to look calm and complacent...avoiding eye contact and trying to hide the obvious blue undies and spiky leg hair. Such a bad combo.

But it gets worse...

As I slip into the dress I notice the skirt part is made of a very transulcent white fabric....and there are my bright blue undies sticking out for the world to see. The skirt may have not been there for all the good it was doing. Blue undies saying hi to the world!

Thinking "Its okay...no one else will see" I tried to comfort myself that they would adjust the dress in the change room.

WRONG!

Try out in the SHOWROOM where of couse about 20 people decide to come into the store all at the same time...and wait for it....some were men!!

I'm standing up in a stand in front of a mirror (the size of a building) ....with a see-through skirt on and BRIGHT BLUE UNDIES!!!!

So so so embarrassing.

Jo Jo's assistant tries to make light of it (as my face turns crimson) by saying "You may want to rethink the underwear color choice before the big day" and laughs. I reply with "Heh, I need something blue don't i?" and people around the store smile at me. I think probably in sympathy, lol.

Of course it was wonderful (And mildly scary, lol) to see the dress take shape. Jo Jo and I had concocted the design so along ago I didn't think it would ever see the light of day but Jo Jo is full steam ahead.

The fabric is in. Parts of the skirt have been sent away to be pleated. My next fitting is in 4 weeks!

Next time...there will be no coloured underwear in sight!! Oh...and no spiky legs ;)

Oh the shame.

Celebrant - locked in!

2008-01-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

We had yet another wedding related appointment last night. Ben met me half way (me scoffing down a muffin so I didn't get tummy gurgles during the metting) then drove over to Chatswood to meet Wendy Bull.

She was our preferred choice BEFORE we even met her. She has allot of experience (30 years) and has done a large number of Curzon weddings already. In fact she did one on Saturday, the day before we went to Curzon to go over our plans with the coordinator.

After initial introductions she got straight into it. We shared a few laughs. Asked a few questions. 30 mins later we had booked her in, signed on the dotted line and were informed we could legally get married any day after Feb 14th. I looked at Ben thinking "no we are not eloping" ha, ha.

So that is the most important part done. Celebrant locked in.

Next on the list for this week is my dress fitting on Thursday then we are done with Wedding appointments until after our break away up north. Thank gosh too. Ben and I are getting up later and later. Driving around to meet people is tiring work - ha ha!

Tired...

2008-01-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

We saw the carriage. I patted the horses and fed them carrots. We played with their 2 German Shepard dogs and spoke of the wedding. It was a sweltering day and I kept thinking "I really hope it is cooler then this in November", lol!

I saw a florist and got rough figures on what the flowers will cost. It turns out the roses I want are (wait for it....) THE most expensive rose you can buy.

Sigh...

Oh well...we'll see if my preference changes closer to the day.

We went and spoke to the Stamford Hotel about getting wedding guests a room discount, organizing a room for the girls and I to get ready in and possible a room for Ben and I after the wedding (as its close to the venue and we figured we'll be pretty darn tired). Again we got rough prices and will speak to them again mid-year.

We went and saw Curzon Hall were I fired about 15 questions at our event manager. I got all the answers I needed. My only grief with them is that their is a another wedding directly after ours. I was a bit peeved as we didn't really care which day we had it in November but Ben and Jo (the manager) locked in this one without really checking what else was on the same day.

I guess that is what happens when I leave it to be sorted out by the boys, ha, ha.

Of course like all good event managers Jo can offer 50 reasons on why that is not a problem but it does worry me because we won't have full use of the grounds with the photographer. Another wedding will be in half of the grounds. Not much I can do about it other then have my little vent.

We found the wedding cars we would like to use too. I think we'll wait till after our holiday next week before we track them down.

All in all - the meeting with Jo was good cause I'm not allot more clear of what I do/do not have to worry over for the reception. Of course in a few months I'm sure I'll forget most of what we spoke about, ha, ha.

We had Ben's parents drop in with Belle last night. I was so so tired and had planned to be asleep by 8pm but we were still chatting to them at 9pm. There were tears as Belle wanted to stay with us but we just said she'll see us next weekend for our trip north.

So very tired today but also reassured knowing next week I'm away - YAY!

Plan for the weekend

2008-01-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

Quick little post.

Tomorrow I am meeting with a florist to go over options.

Sunday morning Ben and I are driving out to Mulgoa (Western Sydney) to check out the Horse and Carriage we plan on using.

3pm the same day we have a meeting with our coordinator at Curzon Hall to clarify a few things and make sure we understand what we need to arrange and what they will cover.

In honor of all this speedy progress I am taking a time-out evening and seeing the wedding-ish movie "27 Dresses" with one of the bridesmaids, lol!

And some good news on the "how-do-we-afford-this" front...

Some pieces of a puzzle Ben has been silently pushing together are falling into place which will mean that we can pay a number of wedding related expenses early on then relax later in the year - YAY! Gotta love a man who provides *wink*

Plus this month I get the 2nd half of my pay rise from CADRE - SCORE!!!!

Financial abundance - keep it coming, ha, ha!

Celebrity Celebrant

2008-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

We met Michael last nite. A celebrant located in Balmain who I discovered on the web. Michael was actually party of a Radio wedding not long ago where a couple got married in the nudie!!

I promised I didn't plan on doing the same, lol!

It was so bizarre though to be actually discussing Wedding Vows. Its all getting pretty real.

We meet another celebrant next week then we will make our choice on who is best for us but it was a entertaining evenning.

To kill time before our meeting with Michael, Ben and I went and say Harvey World Travel and Flight Center to talk about our wedding plans. HWT happily handed us some brochures and a business card but Flight Center sat down and put together an entire package for us including all flights, transfers, accommodation and breakfasts....and OMG...the tail end of our trip is staying in a SUPER SUPER swish hotel!

Tanya costed out everything we wanted which included 3 mini-tours (2 to 3 nights each) around Thailand, a few nights in the north, a few nights on Phi Phi island, about a week in Phuket, a few nights in Bangkok on arrival, and of course visiting the Tiger Temple. The total price was pretty darn good and all I could think about was how much fun we are going to have!

So we have pretty much settled on our honeymoon itinerary...just got hunt around for that money tree I know is growing somewhere so we can pay for it *grin*

More progress...

2008-01-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

My eternally patient mother drove me to 3 different stores on Friday to pick up bits and pieces for my wedding invitation experiments.

I had a picture in my head and was prepared to buy anything that looked it was a piece of the puzzle.

Sunday I dragged out the bags of rose petals, textured paper, ribbon and glue to begin my work. 2 hours later I had created 2 invitations and 2 place cards for the tables. They matched and they look great! Ben was happy, I was thrilled. We are set.

I took some photos and will post them once I remember to download them off my camera.

The bright red and white combo certainly works out well when all put together.

The other bits and pieces I have rounded up are 2 appointments with Florists in Sydney to chat about what is involved, prices and what flowers will be available.

I have an appointment with Classic Carriages to view the horse and carriage before we book them.

Oh oh! And check this out!!

I was dabbling around the web today and found the most amazing muscians to play during the ceremony. Listen to the Ave Maria sample - its divine and nearly made me cry. That is the song we want for the walk down the isle; Northern Strings

I also looked at a few other live music options but Northern Strings appeals to me the most at the moment. I have their quote (no mucking around, lol) and will wait and see what the other quartets send me before I commit.

You should see my calendar for the month - its scary!! All these wedding related appointments to meet and chat about what we want. Endless :)

I've opened the flood gate now and I couldn't slow down even if I wanted too. I'm a woman on a mission, ha, ha.

Celebrants

2008-01-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm still freaking out.

Its now the 3rd of January and I cannot shake this anxious feeling that I will forget something or run out of time. I really hope this feeling doesn't hang around till November :(

To try and conquer this dread I went back through my little wedding planner last nite and spotted a few things I could get started on.

First was finding a wedding celebrant.

Work is (thankfully) quiet this week so I had no trouble squeezing in some minutes for a bit of a web trawl only to discover Sydney has about 5,000 celebrants.

How do you choose a celebrant??

I had a look at a few websites and thought "maybe" or "no way" and then thought a way of culling may be to go on geography. Any that are too far for me to visit are out!

I managed to find 3 who I liked the look of and weren't too far to travel too.

Number one was just darn spooky - he has my brothers name!! Paul Forrest

Number 2 was a lovely lady who I spoke too earlier today. She has already done many many weddings at Curzon Hall (our venue) and kept calling me Darling, hee, hee. Wendy Bull

And last but not least was something a bit different. He is young, claims to be hit and sounded pretty chirpy on the phone. Michael

We are meeting Michael next week, Wendy the week after and I'm yet to hear back from Paul. One more tick I can soon add to my list of tasks complete.

I have to say I was relieved to spot that celebrants take care of all of the legal paper work when it comes to weddings. I saw notes on "intentional to marry" forms which must be done a month and a day before the ceremony. Then there was some other declaration. I'm all for paying someone else who knows what they are doing to sort that out, lol!

Also on the list of "to-dos" today was to scope out the Stamford Grand Hotel in Nth Ryde. This is the place I am planning on staying at the night before the wedding, then also getting ready their on the day. The horse and carriage can only travel up to 8kms - this was the hotel that was close enough to Curzon to make it feasible.

I poked around their site but thought it would actually be easier to call them or go there. I just have too many questions for them (one big one being is the horse and carriage going to be aloud in!!). I need to find out if they will give a room discount for wedding guests, how much a room for me and the gals the night before will be, how much a room for kids to be in would be (as kiddies arn't aloud at the reception). All that not-very-exciting stuff, lol!

I then went to contact "Sweet Stems" about table decorations - they are closed till next week. Darn it! I did discover though that if we get 10 table decorations the price drops from $80 each to $65. Not bad.

I pestered the new bridesmaids about locking in a day to go dress hunting - looks like the first Saturday in Feb is when I get to have my 3 gals duck in and out of change rooms while we each declare how much we must or must NEVER have a particular dress, lol!

And last but not least, I have tentatively set aside this Sunday to experiment with some DIY wedding invites.

Now you would think after doing all that in 1 day I'd be feeling more relaxed.

Well guess again. I just keep thinking of new things to do!

ARGH!!!

:D

This is the year I get married...

2008-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

"I can't do them now, I'm getting married in 24 hours!"

Those were the words hanging in my head as I lay in bed Jan 1st 2008, 6.13am. My first wedding nightmare.

Ben woke to see me frowning intensely at the window and asked what was wrong. "My first wedding nightmare. It was the day before the wedding and I had forgotten about the table decorations and place cards..."

Ben in his usual supportive manner hugged me and assured me that knowing my nature (and obsession with organizing EVERYTHING!) our wedding will be down to the finiest detail 6 months before the event and nothing will be forgotten.

He is probably right. I do get a tad over-excited when it comes to planning a event.

But then the thought sunk right in to the depths of my mind and morphed into "Oh my god! I am getting married this year!" Hysterics proceeded to follow this realization.

You see I was always getting married next year. I always had a full year (365 days) up my sleeve before I had to plan a wedding. I successfully ignored all wedding 'things' knowing it could wait till 2008. But now...now is 2008...now I was in that time period where I would have to do something! Bugger!

I jumped out of bed and paced the house frantically waiting for my brother to arise from the spare room. 3 hours later he was up and I was barging past to locate "The Easy Wedding Planner" - a book I bought soon after getting engaged and promptly shelved for later reference.

Over the course of day I skim read most of it then eagerly took a pen and began to tick off items Ben and I had already organized. Phew. That felt better. Some progress.

However I then spotted things I had never noticed before. Things about bridal luncheons (a lunch for the bridal party organized by the bride and groom), celebrant gratuities, and a bunch of other costs I had not factored in.

Sigh. Endless expenses.

Moving on.

The more positive BIG news is the addition of 2 more bridesmaids and 2 more groomsmen to our wedding party. I now have Aine and Martina as bridesmaids after Louisa, and Ben is including Matt and Andrew (Aka: Nugget) on his side. I feel much more comfortable knowing there are now 3 women around to witness my mental state crack under pressure, lol!

Both ladies were thrilled they were asked and I was even more thrilled they accepted. After all, they could very well say no :)

It's all systems go.

P.S. Ben confided he is scared I'll be a runaway bride - I laughed at the time and made a mental note to prove him wrong, lol!

AND...

First dress fitting is in 2 weeks!

Invitations...

2007-12-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

These are the invitations Ben and I have fallen in love with. We have the price and so I began playing with wording - talking about making it all feel very real!!

You are cordially invited to celebrate
the wedding of
Sonya Maree Forrest
and
Benjamin Matthew Kinsley Madden

On Friday the 14^th of November 2008
at 3 pm.

Venue is
Curzon Hall,
53 Agincourt Road
(corner Balaclava Road)
Marsfield, NSW, 2122

Reception to follow.

Flowers....one more off the to do list.

2007-11-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

Yay - something that costs only 3 figures and not 4 or 5!!

I have locked in the flower bouquets. We will have the following;
Bride’s bouquet- natural stemmed posy bouquet is included in the basic package
Bridesmaids 2 natural stemmed posy bouquets are included in the basic package Buttonholes 3
1 throwaway bouquet.
1 large and 1 small box of rose petals.

Sydney Wedding Flowers

Table decorations with or without party favors...

2007-11-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Ben and I have had sooooo many conversations about bonbionaire (no idea how you spell that), whether to have it, what to have, and how it will work with table decorations.

We thought of charms, mini pumpkins (cinderella theme), small parcels, small plants, flower seeds...but nothing felt right and I am not a fan of most traditional bonbionaire.

Today I was killing time and found "Sweet Stems" - a company that does chocolate bouquets and they now do table centerpieces.

And to top it off they have one in our color scheme! Its a done deal.

Dress fitting!

2007-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo!

I have some progress finally happening *Grin*

My next meeting with the dress designer is set for January 17th at 5pm. 1 step closer...

YAY!

Back again

2007-10-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

So I keep getting internal messages to stick with documenting my journey down the aisle so I'm back again!

Let me see - where did we leave off...ummm...oh! I know! The new wedding date!

Well we thought we had November 1st all sorted - turns out we thought wrong!

Something kept at me to continue asking the wedding and reception venue for confirmation in writting that our new date was booked. That little something I am very grateful too as our dates were NOT locked in and we have since discovered November 1st was already taken.

Curzon Hall is booked out on Saturdays till 2009!!

Of course where there is a will there is a way and I wasn't waiting till 2009.

I sent Ben in to battle with Joe, our reception venue co-ordinator.

Ben and Joe speak the same language - that being the heavily accented European Espresso drinking women loving language.

2 hours after they met I get a call from my dear boy asking if Friday the 14th of November was acceptable. I agreed and wondered if being on a Friday we should get the venue cheaper but thought for now I would stay quiet. One battle at a time.

There we have it. The new date is November 14th.

My other behind the scenes battle was with the invitation company we wanted to use. It took 10 emails, 3 months and countless threats for the samples to arrive by courier from India. Due to my frustration I was hoping the designs were all horrible but as luck would have it, there was one I adored. GRRR!

I refuse to deal with that company again so I hereby declare I plan on ripping off one of their ideas and making it my own *evil grin*

I was trying to avoid hand made invitations but it seems the universe is pushing me in that direction.

On the weekend we popped in on Ben's parents to find his sister (who is getting married in December) elbow deep in ribbon, paper, double-sided tape and envelopes. She frowned at me saying "Whatever you do, DON'T make the invitations yourself!" and I laughed knowing I probably would but making a mental note to keep the design simple.

So that is where we are at - baby steps :)

Wedding Celebrants

2007-07-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

As we were poking around the web for other photographers or wedding related professionals I realised that we had not yet booked the most important part of our wedding - a celebrant.

On a quiet day in the office last week I managed to find a website listing about a dozen celebrants in Sydney - I contacted 3 of them based souly on their photographs, ha, ha!

Brian called me immediatley and we are keen to met him but he is a fair distance from home so I'll leave that one for now.

We were emailed by one lady who is reasonably close and I was phoned but another lady who is no where near us. I guess I should have checked there locations first, ha, ha!

So the hunt begins...cross fingers :)

Cinderella Style

2007-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

For a long time Ben and I have been quiet calm about the transport aspect of the wedding...calm because we knew it was always going to be a horse and carriage.

Castlereagh Wedding Carriages are the front runners due to a soon to be released one off carriage they will have for next year.

Even if this top secret carriage doesn't eventuate, we are more then happy with the carriage shown above which is the "Cinderella Carriage".

Another company is the Classic Wedding Carriage Company.

Wedding Rings

2007-06-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Ben and I met with the people from "Larsen Wedding Rings" in the city.

We found them at one of the wedding expos and made a booking within a few minutes.

There concept was allowing couples to make there own wedding rings. And I don't mean just design...we are talking MAKE them from melting down the metal, setting it, shaping it, basicaly everything up to a ring then the staff finish it off (polish, set stones, do engraving, etc).

We thought what could be more special then making the wedding ring for the other person.

Bens was going to be simple . He wanted a thick gold band.

Mine - mine would be more complicated. Ben wanted my wedding band to have stones in it. After chatting with the designer she suggested having 3 baguette diamonds across the band the same width as my engagement ring.

Because my engagement ring has flawless diamonds when the quote came in a few days later it was about $1000 high then we expected.

So now we are trying to decide if we should pay the extra or just go to a normal jeweller and buy something already made. We could then get it engraved.

I'm leaning towards buying something already made - I'm in dollar saving mode now.

The hunt for a photographer continues...

2007-06-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Talk about asking the universe and it provides!

I had a bit of a winge to one of my fav programmers this morning at work. Told him the price we were quoted for the photography and he made the apropiate "WOW thats really expensive" remark.

Good boy *wink* - I was only wanting sympathy.

A few hours had passed when another work colleague, Mel, came over and asked if I was looking for a photographer yet as her man's older sister did wedding photography!

YAY!

Not only does she do photography - she has done shoots at our wedding venue before PLUS with the oh so expensive albums she would be happy to just charge for materials, etc.

PERFECT! Since I could probably help do the layout for the albums.

I have her number and email address and will totally be giving her a call.

But wait there is more...

A work colleague of Bens is ALSO giving us a quote. lol!

There may be a cheaper alternative after all *grin*

The dream becomes cloudy

2007-06-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

Pic of our wedding ceremony venue, Curzon Hally, Marsfield, NSW.

Last night Ben and I drove quielty towards Lane Cove to met our new wedding photographer. Ben was sick and I was tired. We kept our appointment souly so some progress was made on the wedding front this month.

On our way there I thought it was a done deal. Her prices seemed fair. She was throwing in some free stuff. What more could we want?

As we rolled down the street scanning for house numbers I couldn't help but retract when I saw that number 11 was a stunning brick residence hidden by a imaculate hedge. The home was a postcard for wealth. I felt inadequate as I usually do around wealthy people. Brings up all my own feelings of "not good enough."

I began to visualise what lay behind the timber doors...marble tiles...leather lounges....granite bench tops...all spotless clean.

"We are really early handsome" was all I could muster to say as I stared at the home.

Anything to postpone going in that house.

We sat in the car chatting and giggling about silly jokes for 10 mins. This small pleasure was enough to have me relaxed as we walked towards the front door.

Upon pushing the buzzer I heard the familar bark of Maxine, the house pet, then spotted the shadows of 2 adults. Heidi openend the door and Steve stood beaming behind her. Heidi looked neat but comfortable. Steve wore a suit but announced he was off to get changed. Both we welcoming and although the home was immaculate, there was no marble, lol!

Heidi led us to her studio down white carpet stairs.

Her home office was small but tidy. A purple couch faced the wall where several large photographs hung in substantial frames. Mostly brides in beautiful locations. There was a coffee table between the couch and the wall where 2 large black books sat. Once Heidi explained what her fee covered (basically just her time to shoot, and all the proofs, etc) she then moved one of the books towards me saying "Now all you need to do is choose the album style you like."

Ben and I already knew what we liked. At the 3 wedding expos we had attended the photographers who offered the "magazine layout" option took our interest the most. The "magazine layout" was all done digitally and looked very swish. The normal album was just that, a normal album beautifully assembled but wasn't really eye catching.

The first album was the normal kind. Some black and white photos, some color - but I had seen 100's of albums like this before and wasn't hugely interested. 3 albums later I felt like I was seeing much the same and was beginning to wonder if Heidi really was the right one for us.

I was trying to work out a polite way of asking if she did the "magazine layout" when she reached behind the table saying "And then you have the digital albums..." - Perfect!

Shiny. Colourful. Screaming "You want me!" and my heart was saying "Hell yeah!"

Ben laughed. Heidi smiled knowingly.

"Yes they are great. But be warned Sonya - they are allot more expensive" were Heidi's words of wisdom.

Damn.

We looked anyway and we both loved it.

As the talking progressed towards the end of our meeting I asked the question I was dreading and dying to hear at the same time. I knew the albums are included up to a point...that being they are included in the cost with only a certain number of pages. Anything beyond that was extra. I pointed at the digital album and asked how much it would be if we got something similar in size and number of photos.

Heidi walked off to get her calculater but as she announced the number my mind thought "CRAP" but my body stayed perfectly still.

For Heidi's time on the day, plus a digital album all done up we were looking at around $6,000 - that was insane!! The album alone was more then the cost of having Heidi take the photos!!

I left a little depressed and terrified. The digitial album was so stunning but omg, that kind of money was ridiculous ESPECIALLY since I know how they are made.

Heidi wasn't over charging. This is where they make there money. All wedding photographers pretty much charge the same from what we can see.

We have learnt having photos taken is a seperate expense to how they are actually delivered.

As we silently drove home I started to freak out.

Where were we going to find that kind of money?

Where are we going to get the money for any of our wedding plans?

So far we were looking at more then $20,000 for a wedding we were suppose to be keeping small and we had only organised 4 things!

Heart rate racing!

Fear quickly turned to anger as I made a snide remark about Ben's on going house-not-being-sold-yet problem pushing us further from our dream wedding as it was eating into our time to save.

Ben sat in silence.

So many things I wanted to say but since they were all blame I sat with my mouth shut and watched the rain fall down the window.

Could my dream wedding be slipping further and further away or do I just need to pull my head down out of the clouds and start cutting items from the wish list?

Its ALL about the dress

2007-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yes ladies - it IS all about the dress.

I am not a girly girl or particularily fashion conscious. I was happy to trust the universe and let it send me the perfect gown at the perfect price - at the perfect time!

Since we were attempting to keep the wedding low key I had a vague idea of price but that was all. I'd heard countless stories of brides finding the PERFECT gown for next to nothing - I planned to do the same.

My sister and I set off to locate the perfect gown on a Monday morning. We had no real idea of where or what but we were driving and allowed the universe to take us where we needed to go.

Our first stop was "HARTS Formal Wear" in Birkenhead Point. I was in the "need a bargain" frame of mind and Birkenhead Point is a factory outlet centre. I was pumped and ready to find a bargain dress.

In hindsite...when you think about the words "wedding dress," "factory outlet" doesn't really fit....and we soon found out why.

Luckily for me I am a size 10. Lucky because we soon found out most bridal stores only stock size 10s in the store. If you are bigger or smaller they order it in once you committ to buying. My slim waisted sister as in a bit of a bind as all the bridesmaids gowns were far too big but she gave it a fair go trying on around 5 deep red gowns of various styles.

Because this was the HARTS clearance centre the dresses were very much unloved. The Bridal gowns had marks all over them - some with broken zippers or missing ribbons to lace up corsets. The Bridesmaids gowns were equally damaged which had us feeling very low about the experience and far from confident about spending any money in the store.

After trying on 5 gowns I felt depressed. They all fitted okay and could all have been potentials but none of them said "Its me - I'm your dress."

Not to be defeated we left and we on to find the next store.

The next store wasn't anything specific we had in mind which made it hard to locate. We knew that Parramatta Road in Sydney had a close group of bridal stores but the where on Parramatta Road was a mystery.

After reaching Parramatta (the west end of Parramatta Road) we turned around and headed back towards the city making it all the way to Leichardt before we spotted ANY bridal stores. We pulled over to have a poke around.

The first store we went too was closed....then the second....And the third.

I was disappointed and depressed.

This was suppose to be fun and I wasn't enjoying myself at all.

Just as we were about to give up a store caught my eye from the other side of the street. Louisa looked at me hopefully and I forced a smile as she was doing her best to keep it all light hearted and fun. A good little Maid of Honor *grin*

The signage for the store looked UBER fancy but we went in anyway.

I gulped as we stepped through the large glass doors and looked towards the display cabinet. My first reaction was "Oh-my-God they are beautiful" closely followed by "I can't afford this" in which Louisa slapped me and said "Shut up! Lets just look..."

Inside the store was mostly a gold colour scheme. On the left wall was 3 large mirrors and 2 ornatley covered gold and cream sofas. A desk sat in the corner. Glass top and cream coloured stone legs. On the right was a display cabinet full of wedding jewellry - tiaras, necklaces and earings - but the next part of the wall held my attention - the gowns.....

Hanging from gold coat hangers in a neat line was around 30 gowns all sparkiling in the light. They were organised by their shade - starting with a crisp white going all the way down to a light brown. I grinned at Louisa. "Thats the colour I wanted!" and I rushed towards the darker shades at the far end.

A small man was talking with a girl (I assume a bride) and her mother. They were smiling sweetly at the man and casting sideways glances at Louisa and I. I felt instantly under dressed. They wore neatly presented north shore weekend wear while Louisa and I had jeans and jumpers on with our hair casually pulled back. I tried to ignore it and just admire the gowns before a sales person told me I wasn't good enough to wear those dresses and that I should leave. I figured they would at least give me a few seconds.

Only a few seconds had passed when the small man came over smiling asking if I needed any help. I hesitated. What would be the best way to say "I need a dress and it needs to be amazing but all the other gowns were awful, I am really depressed about all this. Can you help me?"

I went with "I'm looking for a wedding dress."

His smile increased as he laughed and said "Well you are in the right place. Do you know what style you like?"

Although the small man, who is actually called Jo Jo, was also dressed superbly, he didn't make me feel uncomfortable and both Louisa and I were soon relaxed and comfortable in the store.

He explained that as a "couture" wedding dress the dress would be a one off piece created especially for me. The process would take quiet a few months (around 9) but would involve myself for probably 5 fittings. Each gown is hand beaded using crystals and the materials are all imported with quality in mind - allot of raw silk.

Since I was clueless to the world of "couture" I did not know what was expected of me or how I sealed the deal with Jo Jo - I wanted one of these lovely sparkiling gowns to be mine and I wanted it to be a gown no one else in the world would own.

"That sounds terrific - can we start now?" was all I managed to splutter.

He smiled politely and said "First we make an appointment for a meeting..."

I blushed. Oops.

"What we do is get you to try on a few gowns and see what you like. Its also good for you to collect images of any gowns you see and bring them in..."

I nodded excitedly. I loved to research and had already rounded up pictures from a few bridal magazines. This was going to be great!

Sis and I walked out of the shops grinning from ear to ear. Louisa was dreaming up the mother of all bridesmaid dresses from Jo Jo too (Ahh...no....) but mostly we discussed the gowns he had on display and how strange it was that little old me...miss country town who lives in jeans...was now going to have a designer wedding gown! Ha!

"Oh how I will love this experience" was all I could think of.

We booked in to see Jo Jo 2 weeks later and as soon as we got home we whipped out 100s of magazines and began collecting images frantically.

Perhaps the wedding dress thing wouldn't be so bad after all *wink*

Wedding Photographers

2007-06-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago while on the Scooter Club road trip to Jamberoo I was being pressed by various club members on the latest wedding developments. I didn't have much to share - it was mostly a list of all the things not yet resolved.

The top of most wedding planners lists is a photographer - and of course it is also one of THE most expensive items you will pay for.

For me a wedding photographer presented a bit of a thoughtful challenge. You see I know a number of photographers - some rather talented ones - all who are friends and all who would do the photographer if I asked them. But I hadn't asked. I was torn between placing that kind of responsibility on a friend (and therefore they wouldn't actually enjoy the wedding as they would be working) or to just hire some stranger and perhaps run the risk of not being comfortable with the person.

I explained these problems to the scooter crew and just as I finished Steve, one of the older long running members also getting married soon said "You know my wife does wedding photography - you should email her."

My eyes sparkled. I knew his wife, Heidi, she was lovely and I imagined a very good photographer. She was comfortable to be around but also someone who took charge. I liked the idea very much and after the weekend away I emailed Heidi - we are meeting this evenning to look over her portfolio. Heidi works for Click Photograhy.

I'll let you know how it goes...but here is a picture of Heidi and Steve (And Maxine the dog..the only dog I know who has a Luis Viton lead and collar) which I found on their website...

In less then a year....

2007-06-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

In less then a year (11 months to be exact) I will be saying "I Do."

This is a fairly monumental event in a persons life so I have decided (after a inspiration wave hit me on the train) to record my journey down the isle to share it with the world. After all, what is more exciting to a woman the getting married...(ahh....umm....)

Firstly I will introduced the (soon to be) groom...

Handsome. Romantic. Sensitive. Already a Dad. Generous.

Ben has all the makings of the perfect husband. But will I be the perfect wife....?

Ben was the only man I have ever wanted to marry.

Actually that is not true. 2 of my previous relationships had me thinking about marriage, but it wasn't because they were the only person in the world I could see myself with, it was more (and here is some brutal honesty) because I didn't want to be NOT married when I was 50. I would look at the guy I was dating and think "Well if 10 years pass and no one else comes along I guess you'll do..."

C'mon ladies - we have all done it. It's called settling *wink*

But Ben. From the minute I looked into his eyes and saw his smile I knew I would marry him.

After our first date on October 7th 2006 our lives kicked into "HIGH SPEED" and things have been powering ahead.

The words "I Love You" surfaced on only our second date.

By the third date (about 10 days after I met him) we were talking about marriage.

On Christmas Day 2006 Ben asked my father permission to marry me.

My fathers loving response was "Yeah, take her!" - he does love me, I promise, lol!

Later that day as Ben and I enjoyed a quiet moment alone from the family Ben casually said "We don't need a ring to get engaged do we? I could ask you right now..." in which I responded with "Okay, ask...but you will be getting me a ring!"

So we were engaged....and it may not have been the most romantic proposal in the world but I loved him and he loved me.

I was still adjusting to the idea 3 months later when Ben took me out to dinner. We were at LaVinga (Italian Forum, Liechardt, Sydney)- the restaurant we first met at - sitting at the same table smiling to the same waiters.

As the waiter positionend the garlic bread on the table he placed a small white plate directly in front of me and my breathe slowed. Sitting in the middle of the plate was a wooden box and sparkling away was my engagement ring. No one knew we were already engaged so people watched on expectantly and the staff hovered waiting for my response. I blushed with embarassment. I grinned then kissed Ben. People clapped and cheered as Ben slipped the ring on my finger. We were now officially engaged.

Even now I look at the ring and think it is amazing how much one piece of jewellry can mean to a person, how much it can represent. How valued it can be. Do you think when the ring is made it knows how important it will one day be?

About 6 months after the ring arrived we held our engagement party by the water in Regents Park, Gladesville. The weather kept me on my toes the entire day as it drizzled consistently causing my blood pressure to rise...but of course...come the time for the party the clouds parted and people began to arrive.

So where am I - oh that's right - April.

As if getting engaged wasn't enough to deal with - Ben and I went ahead and bought a house.

Ben already had a property in Rose Meadow - deep in the southern suburbs of Sydney - which was a carry over from his relationship with his daugthers mother, Alison.

The house was a lovely brick residence in need of some tender love and care. Bitter tenants and lack of spare time for Ben had meant the home was in serious neglect but spurred on by the pressure of a second mortgage Ben was able to find a buyer and got to work to prepare the home.

The new property was to go souly in my name for grant purposes which eleviated pressure on Bens end - and of course doubled it on mine. I soon leant the meaning of real estate jargon and how costly it is to in fact buy a house.

2 months after we first viewed the property we were holding the keys hugging one another on our new front verandah.

And so with our little pink cottage, a 2nd investment property and 2.3 kids (1 is Charlie the pooch, lol) we start the count down to the wedding. Tick...Tick...Tick