GP and I recently got in contact with a vendor, StudioSomething (www.studiosomething.com), who do wedding photography (including photobooths and stop motion video). They’re an awesome trio of people who take awesome photographs and are generally… Awesome.
We’re in the middle of discussing through things, so nothing completely settled yet. But so far, things seem to be going pretty smoothly! Wish us luck that they’re available once we finally get a date!
My brain hurts.
I have a test to study for, an assignment (which I haven’t started) due in two weeks from now, and I’ve been wracking my brain on wedding stuff. What wedding stuff? Two to be exact:
Photography and Videography.
The main problem is money, that oh-so-important thing when it comes to weddings. Weddings are expensive. And I’m not going to lie, GP and I have had our fair share of arguments over the extremely sensitive issue. I’m a Masters student, focusing on my studies. I work once a week at my old university. I don’t make a hell of a lot of money. I wish I was the career woman, but I probably wouldn’t have met my fiance if I were the career woman type, so I’m kind of glad I’m not. I do wish I had a full-time, even a part-time job, but even that comes with issues. He’s the money-maker between the two of us, but a wedding in Sydney is IMPOSSIBLE to have under our budget. Especially when you don’t want to have it in Sydney.
You see, we’re having the wedding in the Hunter Valley, which gives us two options: get a photographer and videographer from Sydney and get them to travel down to the Hunter for wedding photography, or get a photographer and videographer from the Hunter. Both options are expensive.
We’re hoping to pay a combination of $5000 on both, which means $2500 allocated to one, and $2500 allocated to another. I’ve found wedding videographers who are within out price range (and pretty good to boot), but I cannot for the life of me find a photographer who is within our price range. GP has said that it might be hiring out a photographer and videographer from the same company, but… well… even they’re expensive.
I’m at the point where I’ve given the fiance all responsibility over these two options, because obviously he knows what the price range is and what he wants. I have no fracking idea…
Why did I agree to have an all-out wedding?
Hello readers!
Before you delve into this post, I should let you know that it’s a very long post. So only read if you either: a) have time, or b) are interested and have time.
Anyway, last night was one of those “oh God, planning a wedding is so stressful, AAAAAAAAARRRGHHHHHH *insert garbled dying noises here*”. There’s the overall planning – getting a date (I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but this has been an impossible endeavour for GP and I due to cultural purposes), finding a venue, finding a place for both ceremonies – and then there are the details – cake, flowers, the wedding apparel, the wedding favours, etc. You also have to contend with conflicting ideas and natures from all walks of life: parents, parents-in-laws, friends, family friends, even the fiance and I have differing opinions and ideas on things.
So after a discussion with him (Mr. GP), I’m going to list as many of the ideas I have for this wedding and put them into three categories: We Do, We Might, and We Don’t.
We Do – Things we are doing, and have settled on doing them.
We Might – Things we want to do but it’s all a matter of cost and time.
We Don’t – Ideas he and I want to do but can’t afford.
So without further ado, here are our ideas:
The Photobooth:
The photobooth is a current ‘wedding fad’, but it’s a wedding fad that GP and I definitely want. In fact, we want it so bad that it’s immediately been placed into the ‘We Do’ column. We’ll definitely be having a photobooth because:
a) it’s so totally quirky, geeky and vintage-y,
b) it’s an awesome ice-breaker, and
c) we can use the photos as both wedding favours and a guest book (win-win)!
We haven’t pinpointed who we’ll be using for the Photobooth, but GP and I aren’t ‘artsy’ enough to DIY this venture. I’ve found dozens of them, so yay! It’s just a matter of getting the most cost-effective for our budget. If we hire a photobooth business that charges extra for ‘photobooth props’, I’ll be getting my DIY on and making these myself (hopefully with help from le bridesmaids)!
Category: We Do.
Pre-Wedding Photography Session AKA Engagament Session Photography (or E-Session!)
I really do want to do an e-session photo shoot, but that might cost a little extra. Some photographers do this as part of their package if you use them as your photographer, but because we’re doing the wedding at the Hunter Valley (hence, a two-and-a-half hour drive from Sydney), it might be difficult to hire a Hunter photographer and ask them to drive up to Sydney just to do an engagement shoot (and pricey, did I mention pricey?). An idea I’ve had was to hire a photographer in Sydney who has experience in the Hunter Valley and get them to do the wedding and the engagement shoot. It all depends on how much the photographer charges for travel on top of the wedding photography package.
Category: We Might.
Post-Wedding Photography Session AKA Trash the Dress Shoot
For those of you don’t know what this is, go here: http://www.cheslerphoto.com/wedtrash.htm! Some brides (and people, in general) are probably looking at me in horror right now. I know what you’re thinking: “WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU TRASH THAT BAJILLION DOLLAR DRESS!?!?!?!” I hear you crying. Well, readers, because of this:
(All photos (c) their respectful owners.)
In other words, they. Look. Beautiful. Unfortunately, like the e-session shoots, the Trash the Dress shoot means extra money. It also means the dress I’m wearing on the day will get soiled, or wet, or torn, or either or all of the aforementioned. This doesn’t worry me as much however, as dirt and grass stains can be washed away, a wet dress can be dried, and a torn dress can be sewn. The shoot will take place the day after (or a few, depending). I’ve talked to the fiance about the Trash the Dress photo shoot and he really likes it. He’s worried about the dough, as am I, so we’re tentatively putting this into the “We Might” category. Also, my ma doesn’t want me to re-wear the white dress (try saying that ten times fast). It’s a cultural thing. So I’ll either have to disobey her marching orders or buy a cheaper white dress if this photo shoot is happening.
Category: We Might.
The Unity Sand Ceremony
For those of who don’t know what the ‘unity sand ceremony’ is, fear not, I didn’t know what it was either. GP’s heard of it (his friends are all mostly married and he went to most of their weddings), but he never gave it much thought until I brought it up. He likes the idea of the ceremony because it looks pretty and it’s something that lasts forever. His Auckland friends (and a married couple) did a sand ceremony at their wedding, so GP was worried it would look too similar. And then I mentioned the heart-shaped vase:
from http://www.pinkfrosting.com.au.
The Heart-Shaped Unity Sand Ceremony.
After a discussion with GP on other ceremonial options, we’ve decided that the heart-shaped unity sand ceremony is a go! It’s just a matter of getting a date before we can order these babies in. Sand and engraving cost extra, and there are two websites which sell these (as far as I know): www.pinkfrosting.com.au and www.weddingstar.com.au.
Category: We Do.
A Live Band
GP’s assessment on this item is: “Yes, we should have one.” Ideally, we want something that is very folk, rock band like Mumford & Sons. Or at the very least, have a similar sound to them. We’re thinking raw vocals, acoustic guitars and, yes, even a banjo. We’ve formed an Excel spreadsheet of songs we want to play at our wedding. We’re not sure that a live band can learn and play all those songs, but we’re hoping it’s possible for them to play some and let us use their equipment to play the rest through a mp3 or CD player. The only problem with a live band is the cost (some can be pretty dear) and the space we need to provide for them. We also need to pay for crew meals for each band member.
Category: We Do.
A Wedding Website
This is in definitely in the ‘We Do’ category. There are heaps and heaps of wedding websites with templates and tips on setting up, but as GP knows how to work HTML, we’re going to build ours from scratch. Because we don’t have a wedding date yet, not having a website right now isn’t an issue, but we really should get our butts in gear soon (concerted effort, hint hint GP. Remember the sandwiches!). Two things we need to get are the domain name and a host for said domain name That’ll cost a few dollars, but the planning, execution and personalisation of the website will be worth it! 🙂
Category: We Do.
E-vites (Invitations via Email Address)
This decision derives more from time-constraints and the context of the wedding than us actually wanting to do it. E-vites are relatively cheap, easy to make, and quick. Because GP and I haven’t got our wedding date (and won’t get one until possibly October), we want to make sure that our invites can be sent out as quickly as possible, and get replies from people just as quickly. This allows us to calculate numbers for the venue early on (a plus, especially because we’ll be having a destination wedding). After that, the standard ‘paper invites’ will be sent out (all DIY, and hopefully with the help of le bridesmaids).
Category: We Do.
The ASCII Heart (Less than Three)
For those of you who don’t know what the ASCII heart is, it’s basically this:
ASCII Heart wedding decor. From Etsy seller Knob Creek Metal Arts. Click on image to go to the page! 🙂
Yes, folks, the infamous less-than-three, heart symbol of the geeks. I want this sucker displayed on the bridal table or on the cake table with a G and E on either side. Unfortunately, the only less-than-three heart I could find that was relatively useful for display purposes is the one you see above.
And it is 20 US bucks, without postage and handling.
GP has said that we could try and make it on our own. Heck, I might even get my daddy to make it for me (he knows how to do metalcrafting).
Category: We Might.
The Quirky Cake Toppers
For ages, GP and I have been discussing the option of having strange, obscure cake toppers. We’re not ones for the traditional bride and groom, sitting atop their cake, all proper. We wanted something that was more ‘us’. Here’s a few I found that I thought were cute, but not ‘us’ enough:
Legen-wait for it!-DARY!
From Etsy seller, WeddingsandWire. They do custom-made cake toppers do. All made out of enamel and wire!
Here’s something I thought GP might (not) appreciate…
And then we found a website called: Garden Ninja Painting Studio. I’m not too sure if I’ve mentioned this guy on a previous post, but he makes custom-made cake toppers, including features of the bride and groom. He’s done some steampunk toppers, but the one GP and I are interested in are ‘horde-fighting cake toppers’. Now for those who are going, ‘huh?’, it’s basically something akin to this:
DOUBLE TAP!!!
That’s right folks. Zombie-fighting cake toppers!!! Eff yeah!
Unfortunately for us, he’s based in America, makes all of the cake toppers from scratch (moulding, paint, etc), and charges a pretty penny for his toppers. And so, we’ve decided to try and make these babies on our own with model soldiers and model paint. Wish us luck, because neither of us are very artsy or DIY…y.
Category: We Do… somehow.
Using Etsy.com or other such means for my Bridesmaid Dresses
As I am now paying for my bridesmaid dresses, I’m trying to find a cost-effective, unique and good place to get their dresses from. I was originally thinking of using Lightinthebox.com, a Chinese online retailer who sells dresses at warehouse prices. Unfortunately, the news I’ve gotten from searching for reviews and such has yielded mixed results. Many have said that the construction of the dress is well done. Unfortunately, there have also been reviews which have said they are difficult to contact. Others have stated that their orders were either late or they never arrived. I even had one saying they received their dress two sizes too small. With all the mixed reviews, I don’t know who to believe and whether I should give LITB a shot. The dresses on the website look beautiful, and though the fabric isn’t the best quality (it’s polyester fabrics), I’m sure my bridesmaids wouldn’t really care about that. What does worry me is the fact that the dresses arrive in sizes that are too small, or worst, none at all.
So another idea that I’ve been thinking of is to look to another online store: etsy.com. For those of you who don’t know what Etsy is, it’s basically an online community where artists can sell their pieces online. You can find heaps of things on Etsy, from wedding dresses to ties, cuff link to earrings, works of art to shoes. Some of the sellers on Etsy have beautiful dresses with just the right amount of mix on it. For example:
From Etsy seller ArmoursansAnguish. She makes her dresses out of recycled materials 🙂
From Etsy seller AtelierSignature. She custom makes her dresses and can make them any colour the customer so desires!
Now I have to decide whether or not to use Etsy or LightintheBox.com. GP has suggested asking one of my good friends if she can offer some bridesmaid dresses at mates rates since she own a boutique clothing store. I’ll also ask about that when I see her on Saturday!
Category: We Might.
And… I can’t think of any more ideas…
Feel free to comment readers, if there’s anything else you guys have thought of that my very tired brain could not. Also, if any of my bridesmaids are reading this, feel free to comment too! 😀 Because I would like your opinions on the final matter!
Another post!? I hear you exclaim. Why yes, dear readers, here is another post. What is this one about? you ask. Well, I got to thinking. Being that the relationship between GP and I are interracial, we’re having both a Chinese Tea Ceremony and a Civil Ceremony. So to sum up, we’re having two ceremonies! 🙂 Unfortunately, that complicates matters when it comes to planning the wedding due to location of ceremony. What we’ve decided so far is to have the tea ceremony in the morning, followed by the civil ceremony and the reception. But before that, let’s pinpoint a few crucial points about both the Chinese Tea Ceremony and the Civil Ceremony.
The Chinese Tea Ceremony
This will be held in the morning, probably at the same place we’ll be having the civil ceremony. Below I’ll explain the basic ins and outs of this quintessential and time-honoured Chinese tradition, taking information from this website here: http://chinese.weddings.com/articles/chinese-wedding-tea-ceremony.aspx.
First off – Why are you having a Chinese Tea Ceremony?
In Chinese tradition, the tea ceremony was essentially the ‘civil ceremony’. Elders would be served tea by the soon-to-be husband and wife to honour and respect the family. Because Chinese society was very patriarchal, the ‘true’ tea ceremony only included the groom’s family being served tea, as the bride needed to please her future husband’s family in order to be accepted. She would serve tea to her family in the privacy of her own home, as a ‘thankyou’ for raising her. Luckily, society has changed a lot, ’cause I’m excited at the prospect of including both mine and GP’s families! To me, the Chinese Tea Ceremony is about respecting my elders and honouring the families on both sides. I get to show some of GP’s family my culture and they get to experience something new and exciting!
The Order of Service
Because we’re having an ‘all-inclusive’ Chinese tea ceremony, the groom’s family (GP’s) will be served first. After this, the bride’s family are served (mine!). The order of serving is as follows: parents, paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents, paternal aunts and uncles in order of seniority (eldest to youngest), maternal aunts and uncles in order of seniority, and then eldest siblings and cousins. The order is, of course, dependent on who you want to include in the tea ceremony and who is actually available (for example, grandparents may be deceased or unable to travel, some family members are unable to attend the wedding, etc). After each elder receives their tea, they hand the soon-to-be husband and wife a lucky red envelope, which either contains gifts of money or jewellery. These red envelopes are placed on a serving tray which holds the tea cups. Often times, the gifts of jewellery received by the elders are adorned on the bride.
How to Serve Tea
Just like in a civil ceremony, the groom stands on the right and the bride on the left. When serving tea, the bride and groom kneel in front of their elders and offer the tea cups with two hands, a sign of respect. The elders sit in chairs facing the couple, and when receiving the tea, take the tea cup with both hands to reciprocate that respect. They then drink the tea, and hand over their red envelope.
What’s Needed and What Just Looks Cool
The Chinese tea ceremony has a few bare essentials: the chinese tea set (if you didn’t see it already, I recommend seeing the awesome one we bought!) and an altar or table to display photos or candles in recognition of the two families. This recognition can come in the form of family photos (GP and I were thinking of displaying wedding portraits of our parents) or a ‘unity candle’. Other things that can be placed on the altar are: white flowers, fruit and wine offerings, and burning incense. The tea served can be either sweet (longan tea, for example) or standard (traditional green or jasmine). Other things that can be used to decorate the Chinese tea ceremony are the ‘double happiness’ symbol, the dragon and phoenix motif, decorative firecrackers, and lots of red and gold – the two colours symbolising luck and happiness (and two of our wedding colours!).
The “double happiness” symbol.
What to Wear
Traditionall the bride wears a qi-pao or a cheongsam, a traditional Chinese dress. Oftentimes these are decorated with embroidery of the dragon and phoenix or flowers. However, in this modern age, some brides have taken to wearing the white dress to the tea ceremony. I’ll probably be going for the red dress. Many grooms nowadays have taken to wearing the tuxedo or suit that they’ll be in all day.
A cheongsam with dragon and phoenix motif.
The Civil Ceremony
For our wedding, this will take place in the afternoon. The reason GP and I are having a civil ceremony is due to its non-religious nature. Having celebrated my culture at the Tea Ceremony, the Civil Ceremony is a chance to celebrate the love between GP and I. It also means we can have a garden ceremony due to there being no restrictions. A civil ceremony is lead by a celebrant or officiant who guides the bride and groom through the ceremony and can take as little as 10-15 minutes upwards to about half an hour. As with the Tea Ceremony there is an order, which I will list below. The information was taken from here: http://www.i-do.com.au/wedding-tips/the-wedding-ceremony/order-of-ceremony-civil-ceremony/947/
The Processional
This is better known as the “Bridal March”. This is the most well-known part of a ceremony. The bridesmaids make their entrance, walking down the aisle, followed by the bride. Usually done to Wagner’s “Bridal March”, more and more couples are taking a contemporary route with the music. I’ve read of someone walking down the aisle to Hans Zimmer’s “Time” from the Inception Soundtrack or Sigur Ros’ “Hopipolla”. GP and I have reached a tentative decision on the song we’re using, but I won’t post it up just yet!
The Welcome
This is self-explanatory. The celebrant or officiant introduces themselves to the families and welcomes them to the wedding.
Giving Away
This is, literally, the handing over of the bride to the groom by the father, as is most common. However, in today’s day and age with family differences and all, this can also include:
Introduction
The introduction consists of the celebrant explaining to the gathering the ideals and beliefs the couple has of marraige. Other things can include what marraige means to them or what the aspirations of the future hold together. The celebrant usually helps the couple out during this part, giving examples of what types of things can be said from past examples.
Reading(s)
Some weddings (I’ve been to two) have a reading which is selected by the celebrant or couple. Usually a close family friend or a member of the family reads this out. I’m not too sure GP and I will have this since we’re trying to make this short and sweet, and if we do, we’re more than likely going to have something quirky or non-traditional, like lyrics from a rock song or something.
Monitum
This is from the Marriage Act and is said by the celebrant. This is an essential and compulsory part of the ceremony.
Declaration of Intention to Marry
A public declaration of the couple’s intent to marry each other. Also known as the ‘Declaration to Marry’.
Vows
The couple say their vows. This can either be from a template given by the Celebrant or the couple can make their own vows. I’m not exactly sure what we have planned for this, but I think we’re going to write our own vows.
Ring Ceremony
The giving of rings to each other, symbolic of the union. We’ve already got our rings! (That reminds me, I still have to continue that Ring Saga, hmmm).
Conclusion
The celebrant conclude the ceremony.
The Declaration of Marriage
The celebrant pronounces the couple Husband and Wire. (“You may now change your Facebook statuses!”)
The Signing of the Marriage Registrar
The couple and their two witnesses (with us, it’ll be our Maid of Honour and our Best Man) sign the Marriage Registrar, Certificate of Marriage, and Marriage Certificate. The photographer usually takes pictures of this ‘signing’.
Congratulations & Presentation to Family and Friends
The celebrant congratulates the bride and groom and presents them as a married couple to their family and friends.
The Recessional
The couple, now husband and wife, leave the ceremony grounds, usually followed by the bridal party and generally to music. We don’t have a music piece for this yet, but we have a few options in mind. It’s also the time to say good bye to the celebrant. It is usually at this time that confetti is thrown to celebrate the newlyweds’ union, usually of rose petals, paper confetti, sugared almonds or rice. I’ve also seen paper airplanes, yellow ballons being released and bubbles.
Other Little Things
The civil ceremony can also include other things – releasing of dove, releasing of butterflies, releasing of balloons, ‘love locks’, ring warming and well-wishing, a unity candle, unity sand ceremony, a remembrance ceremony, handfasting ceremony, sharing of wine, a rose ceremony – you name it. These things are often additional to the aforementioned order of service and depends upon whether the couple want to add a special something to the ceremony.
After discussing the above two ceremonies with GP, he’s told me that he’s more excited about the tea ceremony than the civil ceremony! We’ll have to make sure we have everything in order and know what is important to us to include in the civil ceremony. We already know that we’re going to make this wedding as ‘us’ as possible. 🙂
Hey all!
So, the in-laws have left for Brisbane yesterday, which means life resumes back to its normal routine. The weekend was hectic but awesome. On Friday we ate at an Italian restaurant, “Gemelle Ristorante“. To all those who live in Australia, specifically NSW, I recommend you visit the place. The food is DIVINE. The dessert is DIVINE. The service is excellent and the ambience is beautiful. Parking isn’t too hard to find (there’s parking just down the road and a parking lot right next door).
On Saturday, GP, the in-laws and I went out shopping, first going to the Liverpool markets. After eating a bunch of awesome stuff we then jetted off to Cabramatta to pick up the cake (this will come in later!) and show the in-laws around. I took GP’s momma to look at flowers and was glad to find she loved them. Both papa-P and momma-P enjoyed the ‘Pappa Roti’ buns and milkshakes too. We then jetted off to my parent’s place for the *insert fanfare* ENGAGAMENT PARTY!
The engagement part was a success, something which made me extremely happy. The food was awesome, the entertainment was awesome, the drinks kept flowing and I got to see friends who I hadn’t seen in so long. I was also extremely happy to find that everyone enjoyed the cake my ma and I picked out. It was a white sponge cake with taro filling and fresh fruit on top. They all enjoyed it, even those who don’t normally eat Asian-flavoured cakes. I don’t have many photos from the night but it was a great night and I wouldn’t have changed it any other way.
That brings us to Sunday. My parents, GP’s parents, GP and I headed up to the Hunter Valley. That’s where we want to hold our wedding and we had a look around at different venues. We also bought some bottles of wine, cheese and visited the Hunter Valley Chocolate shop to ask about chocolate favours! Overall it was an awesome day and the weather stayed nice and warm throughout most of the day (with some wind, but not much). We’ve wittled down our venue choices to the Tamburlaine Organic Winery and Mercure Hunter Valley Resort. Both are absolutely stunning! That night we went to a Chinese restaurant known as “The Eight“. Their steak with foie gras is SO GOOD. They also do an ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS Peking duck. It was the parent-in-laws’ (elect) first time eating Peking duck and they loved it, which made my papa really happy.
On Monday, I worked in the morning so I didn’t get to hang out with GP and his parents at the Parramatta shopping centre, but I met them there and we headed off to my parents’ place for some traditional Indonesian sate (satay). It was a relaxing, awesome post-engagement lunch. After spending a few hours there we headed back home for a movie (John Carter – a must watch!) and then headed off to dinner at Top Ryde – an awesome steak bistro called Hurricane’s. After a huge dinner (I was so incredibly full!) we headed back home and went to bed.
Finally, on Tuesday, papa-P and momma-P left for Brisbane for the rest of their holiday. Unfortunately, GP left for Adelaide that night, so I’ve been staying with my parents for the meantime. But the weekend was awesome! 🙂
Anyway. This is my blog. Follow my strangeness and my neuroticism as I travel, plan a wedding, and eventually, get married to the BEST. MAN. EVAH. (I may be a little biased here.)
The Wedding Rollercoaster 