The Bridal Shower / Kitchen Tea / One of the Most Amazing Parties Ever Thrown For Me

(Warning: this post is SUPER long, so if you don’t want to read it, I completely understand. Also, I realised that the title is like a poem. I’m a poet and I didn’t know it. I’m also lame.)

Hi guys!

On December 15, 2013, an overcast Sunday morning met me and Mr Big. Mr Big and I needed to go shopping. One of the things on the purchase list was undergarments for the dress I would be wearing to my bridal shower/kitchen tea which would be on that afternoon.

Now, I had no idea what was happening. All I knew was I had to be ready by lunch and MoH M&Ms would then be shipping me off to the location. I was also told to wear something “that sort of matched your favourite Disney princess”.

Mine is Belle (you’ll get the reference later).

Taken from the Disney Wiki.

So off to shopping we went. We spent a good three hours there, where we got other shopping out of the way (yay!). Once Mr Big and I were promptly “shopped out”, we proceeded to head back home.

After some “alleged communication mishaps”, we finally got back home at 12.30PM. I was greeted by a rushed MoH M&Ms, who dragged me upstairs to get ready. I quickly shoved my dress on, did a quick onceover for my makeup, and then hurried downstairs.

I remember turning to MoH M&Ms and saying, “Uh, what shoes do I wear?”. She did the blink-stare and then said, “Wear whatever. Just make sure it’s comfortable. Also, get a drink.”

Get a drink? Weird demand, but ok, I did have a cup of coffee waiting! I moved into the other room and was met with 13 familiar faces.

SURPRISE!

It’s’a me! Looking shocked. Also, yellow dress! I love that dress.

My thoughts went something like: “OMG! I think I’m at my bridal shower!” to “Don’tcrydon’tcrydon’tcry”.

Hive, I’m glad to report that I didn’t cry (I got really close though).

Unbeknownst to me, my girls had been setting up the bridal shower at the house all morning and planning this amazing party for months. The setup was breathtaking.

There was a snack table, with crackers, sandwiches and assorted goodies for lunch. They even placed my favourite Assassins from the game franchise Assassin’s Creed.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

We had leftover sandwiches after the party. They were delicious. / Image taken by BM Superhero.

The setup for lunch outside was equally as spectacular. They had three different tables – each with a different “centrepiece”. On each place setting, they got a Lindt chocolate, a jar of jelly beans labelled with the guests’ names, a bangle fastening the napkins (which I’ll explain later on), and a wee jar of Nutella:

Image taken by BM Superhero.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

A close up of the place settings, including the bangle and the jar of jelly beans.

The dessert table was my favourite and I’m so bummed that I didn’t eat more from it. From what I did manage to grab between socialising and bridal shower games was absolute deliciousness. They even had a Belle and Beast/Adam figurine which we used at the wedding! The rose in the centre was mine, a gift from BM Cupcakes and Superhero when they went to the Disneyland in Hong Kong three years ago.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

Image taken by BM Superhero.

After I entered, the girls got started. I was given a glass of mimosa by BM Cupcakes and jacked up in proper bridal gear fashion by MoH M&Ms.

Getting my tiara on (literally). Also, mimosa = yum.

BM Cupcakes then did a brief introduction, ushering everyone outside for lunch. The spread was spectacular and delicious! It was pretty darn obvious that the girls had thought long and hard about what food to get and how to set up.

Now before I launch into the games, I’ll let you guys know that there were quite a lot. So I’m going to make it easier and split them into sub-headings!

The First Game: Bangle Swap!

During lunch, BM Superhero explained the first game of the day. Every girl had one bracelet at their place setting. And fastened with a mini peg to this bracelet was a piece of paper. On this piece of paper were a list of words commonly used in weddings, including “Aww”, “Stressed”, “Excited”, “Bride” and “Groom”, “Dress”, and “Amazing”. There were more, but I can’t think of them at the top of my head.

Basically, if anyone was to use these words during the course of the bridal shower, and get caught by another girl, they would pass their bangle off to another person. At the end of the bridal shower, the girl with the most bangles won a prize!

I got caught out literally 5 minutes into the bridal shower when I said the word “amazeballs” (which is an offshoot of amazing, doh!). Funnily enough, a majority of the girls forgot about the game as we played the other fun-tastic games, and at the end, there was an average2 bangles per girl to those who remembered.

The winner was Friend Bee, who had three bangles at the end of the shower!

Friend Bee (on the right, in the white floral dress) catching out BM Proper (on the left, in the black cardigan). It was funny.

Grabbing the bangle. Friend Bee was the first to catch someone out. You can see why she won!

The Second Game: TP Wedding Dress

I’m pretty sure everyone knows this game!

Basically, you get several rolls of toilet paper and make a wedding dress. Some variants put the bride in the TP wedding dress, but we did another variant. We split the groups into their respective tables from lunch (so, three groups all up!) and had each group choose a model. This model would then be used to design the TP wedding dress. I was the judge to choose the winning group!

And guys, it was a hard choice.

The models, MoH M&Ms, BM Proper, and Friend MARs. / Photo taken by Friend Wonderland.

As you can see, all the groups put in quite a lot of effort on the dresses. BM Proper’s dress was especially hilarious as she looked pregnant and was playing it up when the girls did the “runway walk”.

I was laughing so hard. I wanted them all to win!

In the end, Friend MARs’ group won because they ingeniously used the napkins to add pops of colour:

See the yellow “obi” and bow? It impressed me. / Taken by Friend Wonderland.

And this was the winning group:

From left to right, Friends Mads, MARs, Wonderland, Whovian, and Chumballs. / Photo taken by me on Friend Wonderland’s phone.

The Third Game: “How Well Do you Know Your SO”, otherwise known as the “Chubby Bunny” Game

At the end of this game, I hated marshmallows.

Basically, my girls asked Mr Big some questions about our relationship. Some of them were relatively easy (“What was the day you first met?”), and the rest were just obscure (“If you could relate yourself to an animal, what animal would you be?” – FYI, the answer he put was “penguin”). With each incorrect answer, I had to shove a marshmallow in my mouth and let it sit there until the end of the game.

There were 20+ questions.

I think I only got, like… 4 right. My awesome girls had deliberately made the questions obscure just so I would look like this at the end of the game:

Chubby Bunny! The most UNFLATTERING photo of me EVER. This is how much I love you guys. And if you guys are wondering why there’s a peg on my boobs, that sash would just not stay up…

So, yeah, I had very full cheeks, guys!

The Fourth Game: Pass the Parcel.

When this game was announced, I was thrown back to days in primary school when I would play this. It was awesome playing it, especially as BM Superhero’s choice of music was my kind of music (Fall Out Booooy)!

I unfortunately didn’t win anything, but I didn’t care. It was pass the parcel folks. That’s all the mattered! 🙂

The “winner” of this game (i.e. the final recipient of a prize) was Friend Whovian who got a sweet portable little speaker system.

Friend Chumballs (left) and Whovian (right).

This was possibly my favourite game from the day and it will come into play when I launch into my recaps.

During this game, the girls and I thought of “10 Commandments for Marriage Life” and listed them down. Friend Whovian, who’s married to GM Swarley, was able to give me loads and loads and loads of options. She also stated that she would seriously consider doing it herself (if you’re reading this Whovian, we can totes brainstorm together :)).

BM Proper writing down the 10 commandments in a notebook as we brainstormed.

After the brainstorming was done, by BMs went through and refined them for the wedding day.

This game was really fun and I really do recommend it for bride-to-be’s who want to inject some humour into their day. I’ll just divulge that Mr Big’s reaction to this at the reception when we got married was hilarious!

The Sixth Game: Celebrity Husbands

The final game was full of hilarity. This technically happened after the “faux-to booth” we had at the bridal shower, but to make it easier for you guys to follows, I’ll divulge it here.

All the girls, sans me, got a scrap piece of paper. They each wrote who their “celebrity husband” would be (e.g. Justin Bieber (yeah…), Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Michael Buble (he was popular choice), Benedict Cumberbatch, etc.), and then folded it up and put it in a hat. I then had to guess who of the girls went with each celebrity husband.

My “who-the-heck-likes-this-guy” face.

I had a 50% hit, because some of the girls gave it away and others were a little obvious (for example, Friend Wonderland and her diehard love of Thor/Chris Hemsworth). This is another one of those recommended games, because I had SO MUCH FUN.

The Photobooth

Finally, we had a photobooth at the bridal shower (or “faux-to booth”). This was so.much.fun and I have to give a HUGE shout out to Friend Sahara for setting this up. Not only did she take amazing photos of the day (most of the photos were taken by her), but the photobooth was so amazingly fun.

Here are a few of the fun shots:

Mr Big calls this the “That’s My Girl” shot, because I downed that glass of mimosa in one go. In this photo, from left to right, there’s Friend Whovian, Wonderland, Chumballs, MARs (who’s hidden behind me) and Mads.

A photo with Mama Bighorn. She played a big part in hosting the party.

My BMs and the best girls in the world. From left to right, Groom’s Homie Oddball, BM Proper, Superhero, Miss Big, Cupcakes, and MoH M&Ms.

A group hug from all the amazing girls. Top row: BM Proper, MoH M&Ms, Friend Bee, Chumballs, Mads, Cousin Witty, Groom’s Homie Oddball. Bottom tow: Friend MARs, BM Cupcakes, Mrs Big, Friend Wonderland, Whovian, BM Superhero, and Friend Sahara.

All-in-all, this was the best.party.ever (equal to Mr Big’s 25^th superhero birthday bash). All my BMs, my girlfriends, and my family played a significant part in getting this all together and I couldn’t have asked for better people in my life.

(All photos taken by Friend Sahara unless otherwise stated.)

Pictures of Me, Pictures of You.

Photography rated high on Mr Big and my list of “things we wanted” for the wedding. As every bride, blog, and bee has said before me, once all the décor is packed down and the guests slowly drag themselves home, all that’s left are the memories and the pictures.

And Mr Big and I have pretty shoddy memories!

For us, our search to find just the right photographer was a hard one. We wanted to find a photographer who took photos that were able to not just capture the moment and the people, but understood our personalities and provided everything we needed. This was emphasised further by the fact that Mr Big and I aren’t very photographic (we like being spazzes).

Case in point. / Personal photo.

The ‘sane’ thing to do would’ve been to look locally.

I’ve posted numerous photographers on the ‘Bee who are Hunter Valley/Central Coast locals. Photographers like Something Blue Photography, Cavanagh Photography, the quirky Popcorn Photography (careful, has music which plays when you click!), and my personal favourite, Photography on Hermitage, all made it on to my “should possibly contact” list. But the reason I didn’t pull the trigger?

Price.

You see, Mr Big and I didn’t really want an album. Just digital prints and unlimited access to said prints. “Paper” prints would be great, but weren’t ‘necessary’. You would’ve thought that would lessen the price at least a little bit, but it wasn’t the case. The search for our photographer frustrated us to no end. Mr Big was suffering from sticker shock and I was attempting to find anyone who could provide us with all we wanted without the excessive price tag.

What made it even more frustrating?

We wanted a photobooth and a videographer as well. That meant we had to pocket away some money to afford a photobooth, a photographer, and a videographer. Mr Big and I tried to get ourselves to stop. Loving. The photobooth. But it was too hard. We wanted it.

We wanted it bad.

And we weren’t willing to sacrifice a videographer either. I remember watching my parents’ wedding video as a kid, my uncle’s wedding video as a pre-teen, and thinking it would be awesome to have a wedding video when I were to get married. Mr Big also has a saying for this wedding, “we’ll only do it once… let’s make it the best thing ever!”

So what could we do?

Well, hive, we gave up. For about a week at least. We just didn’t touch or even poke at the subject of the wedding. We enjoyed being engaged, we stayed in and watched movies, and cuddled on the couch. We just didn’t, want, to handle it.

And then one day, after stumbling across a particular post on Polka Dot Bride, I found StudioSomething. Curious, I clicked on their link and flicked through their photos. Impressed, I went to their information page.

The first line of this page?

It’s a little small, but it reads: “You’ve heard we’re awesome, right?” / Taken via Studiosomething’s information page.

Now, if you know me, or if you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll probably have realised I use the word ‘awesome’ a lot. Like, a terrible amount of lot. I am “awesome”-addicted.

Barney knows where it’s at.

To see those five word emblazoned on the information page was enough to make me turn to Mr Big and pronounce, with wide eyes:

“I WANT THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS.”

(I kid you not, hive. Mr Big was alarmed at my enthusiasm.)

What’s more than their spectacular use of the word ‘awesome’? They take amazing photographs and the team are quirky, intelligent, and amazingly skilled at their work.

They’re not just amazing, but they understood our personalities. They know we’re not really the typical couple. They tailor their shooting styles to the personalities of their clients, they collaborate with the couple, and most of all, they have fun! Their photographs capture more than just the couple and the wedding. They capture the love, laughter, tears, and sheer beauty of the moment!

Our first meeting with them was at a café in Bondi where we bonded over coffee and the traditions attached to our wedding. They asked us what we wanted, what we liked, why we wanted to do the wedding in the Hunter, and basically just got to know Mr Big and myself.

We emailed back and forth a lot after that. Despite the fact that we loved StudioSomething, however, we knew we needed to do some shopping around. Mr Big is all about ‘choice’, so he and I wanted to see what else was out there.

However, after finding another photographic outfit that seemed like a good fit, meeting up with them, and falling into the Venus Flytrap Effect (dubbed by the wonderful Mrs Waterfall), we hurried back to StudioSomething. No other photographer made us feel as comfortable as StudioSomething’s Ellen and Phu, the two we had met up with that day in Bondi. They treated us like people, not like customers, and we definitely didn’t feel like we were being swindled simply because the word ‘wedding’ was attached to our particular event. They were still professional with us, but friendly and conversational as well!

And their photos are. Absolutely. Magical.

I love the way they shoot in black and white, as well as colour, and put so much emotion into their photographs. They’re extremely talented and bonus –

They do photo booths and stop motion.

Check it out for yourself:

Love it!

So with all of that, we were a complete and total goer for StudioSomething.

What do you guys think? Did we make the right choice?

(All photos and video copyright to StudioSomething unless otherwise stated.)

Jam-Packed!

When I asked Mr Big what he was most looking forward to during our wedding, he replied, “Oh that’s easy – the reception.” Though I’m looking forward to the ceremony because, “Oh my God, we’ll officially be married!”, I can totally agree with him on the reception. The best way to describe the reception we intend on having is “jam-packed”.

So packed, in fact, that we’re having a hard time figuring out how to plan the whole thing! (Although our day-of timeline is looking better and better).

You see, there are a few key things that Mr Big and I wanted, as well as a few things that my parents were fervent on. This has caused something of a fustercluck and so it was really hard for Mr Big and I to pinpoint where things will be going (more me, than him – he’s a lot better at this whole timeline thing).

I want this shirt. / Image from Shirtoid.

Among the speeches (we’ll be having six of them), the first dances (two of these), and the obligatory cake-cutting, we’ll also be having other things at the reception:

A Photobooth

Ah, the photobooth. Upon starting the planning of this wedding, Mr Big and I were adamant on a photobooth.

It’s the perfect homage of geeky and fun, and we can also add our own “flair” to it by using props. We know not ALL of our guests will want to dance, so this gives them something to do which we hope people will love.

The props we intend on making are an Xbox sign (which is proving difficult, but I think I’ve just about nailed it), Marvel/Avengers and DC Comics props (read: Hulk masks, Iron Man props, Spiderman props, Batman masks, etc.), and a whole plethora of other thing which may just find its way to the dance floor. Our photographers, who will be providing us the awesome booth, will be providing a backdrop and props of their own (including funny animal masks, hats, glasses and scarves).

Some initial reactions to the photobooth were, “Why?”, “Everyone does that!”, “Oh, what’s that?”, but a lot of people who have attended weddings with photobooths between then and now are like, “I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOUR PHOTOBOOTH!”.

It’s kind of hilarious.

A Live Band

Papa Bighorn was adamant on a live band, and after some deliberation, failed negotiations, and a lucky break, we finally found one. FBIL Muso, Mr Big’s brother, came to the rescue, opting his bands’ services to the wedding. They’re a Kiwi (New Zealand) band based in Nelson, but are flying up for the wedding to play.

They have about the same tastes in music as we do, so we’re uber excited to have them at our wedding. After some negotiating with FBIL Muso and playing around with the timing on the day-of runsheet, we’ve nailed down when they’re playing. We also have a song list outlining the songs which they may be playing. All the songs are totally within out style of music, so we’re quite happy!

A Few Good Musical Numbers

When it came time for my wedding, Papa Bighorn kept dropping hints (read: anchors – my papa isn’t very subtle) about wanting to perform at the wedding chirping up with, “I can sing this, your mum can sing that, we can do this”. Unfortunately, our 5-hour reception doesn’t have time for everything he wanted, so I had to put my foot down: three songs, that’s it.

I didn’t want my father behind a drum kit all night, as has happened at several weddings where he’s been asked to play. He okayed this idea and he’ll be doing three songs at the wedding. What makes it even more special: he’ll be doing those three songs with De Papa Big (Mr Big’s dad, who plays the drums), FBIL Muso, and Mr Big himself. De Papa Big, FBIL Muso and Mr Big will be playing their own song together. FBIL Muso’s band mates will be playing additional instruments to form-up the band.

So, those are the things we need to consider!

Add to that two dance numbers (at approximately 2-3 minutes each), the cake-cutting (which may or may not take longer than 3 minutes), and the speeches (6 of them at approximately 3-10 minutes each), I think we’re going to have a lot going on at the reception!

So what do you guys think? Are we trying to cram too much in our reception? Are we crazy? 🙂

They’re kissing… for science.

So guys, I’ve dropped hints about our cake topper previously. So I thought I’d finally tell the Hive! 🙂

From the beginning (I’m talking back in July of 2012!), we wanted to inject a little bit of geekiness into our wedding. We’ll be doing that through several things – the props of our photobooth, some of our choices in music, and the quintessential piece of them all – the cake topper.

Originally, I mentioned many times that Mr Big and I both wanted a cake topper of us fighting the zombie horde, like this:

Cake topper – fighting the horde with style! / Image from Garden Ninja Studios.

However, to get the bride and groom and 2 zombies, it meant forking out a LOT of dough. Add to that shipping from the US, where the toppers came from, and that was a lot of money for a topper. So we started thinking of alternatives. I found a few good cake topper designers, but none of them really gave us the feel of what we really liked as a couple.

There were either too cutesy for us:

Wall-e & Eve cake topper / Image and Topper from Annacrafts.

Or too far away from what we originally wanted:

The Running Bride & Groom / Image and Topper from Weddings and Wire.

I loved the works of both annacrafts and Weddings and Wire, but they departed too much from our original image. They weren’t any cheaper, either, so we’d still be paying a good amount of money to get them. By this point, however, Mr Big and I had figured that – if we wanted to get a unique cake topper that was very “us” – then we shouldn’t worry too much about money.

But (more than) $400 was still way too much for us to grasp!

So back to the drawing board we went – literally! I enlisted the help of my awesome Maid of Honour/big sister to design us some cake topper ideas we had. She churned out the goods over a month and we received these beauties:

Miss Big and Mr Big standing on a Cube, K-I-S-S-I-N-G… yeah that didn’t work. / Image from MoH M&Ms.

Fighting the horde – with style!! / Image from MoH M&Ms.

Romance with Portals! / Image from MoH M&Ms.

As you can probably tell, two of three are Portal-inspired. This is because Mr Big and my relationship grew from this wonderful game. We have many, many, many other things in common (music, likes, dislikes, intelligent debates, etc.) but Portal was got me into the one thing I refused to do before meeting him: play a video game on my own.

I don’t want to go too much into it, because this post is already SUPER long, but basically, after completing the first Portal game, I become what one would call a “female gamer chick”. I don’t play competitively (I suck at competitive death-match-y type games) but I LOVE playing co-operatively. In fact, if you watch StudioSomething’s stop-motion video, it states in the end that marriage is the ultimate co-op! That’s how Mr Big and I see our marriage as – we co-operate with each other to reach each other’s goals and help each other along the way.

Anyway, to get back on target, we decided – after polling others and deliberating the kind of feel we want for the wedding – to pull the trigger and contact Garden Ninja Studios. After going through details with Mr Andrew Olds, the mastermind behind the geek cake toppers of Garden Ninja Studios, we finalised everything and patiently waited for the cake topper to come in.

Well, guys, while we were in Melbourne, we got a package. After returning from the trip, we excitedly opened up the package and found these babies inside:

OH MY GOD. THIS IS AWESOME.

Kissing – for science.

We decided to go with the first design!

We are SO ecstatic with the whole thing and can’t wait to display these on our cake! And then in our home!! Drew is an AWESOME designer and if anyone wants to get a custom-made, one-of-a-kind cake topper, I HIGHLY recommend his work!

Who else would go or went with a custom cake topper? 🙂

(All photos personal unless otherwise stated.)

Let’s start this over…

Hello everyone 🙂

I have vowed to be a more regular writer. It’s good to just sit, write and escape everything you don’t want to be doing at the current moment (i.e. assignments, blah!). So, what can I tell you guys that I haven’t already?

Well, in July, GP is turning the big 3-0, so we’ll be going to New Zealand. It’ll be major fun, and we’ll get to see GP’s friends (and groomsmen!) while we’re there. Also, our very awesome photographers of StudioSomething will be in Christchurch when we are, so we’ve lined up our engagement photo shoot in New Zealand. SO EXCITING.

If you want to check them out – which I VERY MUCH RECOMMEND – go here and here.

In other news, GP and I have been thinking of things we need to buy (the little things – bubbles for the ceremony, chocolates for the reception) and I think we need to make a list. I’ll do that in my spare time (read: when I get bored of my assignment/my brain can’t think of my assignment anymore) so we can keep track of everything. Some of the things on this list are:

– Photo frames for the reception

– Scrap book for the guest book

– Nice pretty sticky tape for the guest book

– Gel or archival pens for the guest book (I don’t want the ink to fade…)

– Props for the photobooth (provided by StudioSomething – didn’t I tell you they were awesome?)

– Bubbles for the ceremony

– Parasols for my girls

 

… I’m sure I’ve missed only 1000 other things…

A lot of people tell us we’re WAY ahead of the ball game but we haven’t finalised (or… started) our cake, gotten all the important little knickknacks that’ll make our wedding special, and been fitted for our clothing (as in – I haven’t been fitted for my dress yet [I haven’t even got my dress yet…], GP hasn’t bought his suit yet [though men get more time than women], etc.). It’s getting into the 8-month mark, which is an exciting time for us, but at the same time, the closer we get, the more I realise we haven’t really done much!

So it’s time to get everything into gear I guess.

And also a question – cake or cupcake? Like seriously… what should we get!?

Chaaaaaaaaaanges!

For some reason that brings to mind a song which my dad likes… I can’t remember the name of the song…

Anywho…

Hello all! 🙂

What’s been going on with you guys? Me? I’ve been trying to work on invitations while writing applications for different jobs. I’ve been in Adelaide for a little bit and I’ll be going back to Sydney tonight. If anyone is ever in Adelaide, try the coffee at a little place called Piazza 99 – BEST.WHITECHOCMOCHA.EVER. Also other cafes/restaurants I recommend are: The Loose Caboose (for brunch or “linner”), The Pancake House (cheap, delicious food), BTS cafe for cupcakes, and a pop-up coffee cart (whose name escapes me) who has organic, delicious coffee.

But I digress.

Wedding invitations are coming along nicely. The theme has changed so much in the past month it’s mind-blowing. GP and I originally wanted the colours red and gold (which is just… very Chinese) but because of conflicting opinions on bridesmaid dresses, we added blue to the colour scheme. From there, the invitations introduced pink and the ‘gold’ in our theme became a distant memory…

Which isn’t an issue, because I realise we actually don’t have a theme. That’s right folks.

We have no theme.

There will be a lot of cherry blossoms (because GP and I both agreed that it was a nice Oriental flower) but there really isn’t any other seamless theme. The bridesmaids will have blue dresses, my dress will have red on it (GP knows this, so it’s no issue if he reads this – I’m looking at you GP!), the groom and groomsmen will wear shades of grey (not fifty… just two), and we’ll probably grab a few pocket squares to match groomsmen to bridesmaids. Bridesmaids will probably carry parasols with hydrangea corsages (have you SEEN hydrangeas – they’re abso-fracking-beautiful!). As for centrepieces, we’ll be having cherry blossoms, weeping willows and we’re thinking of transforming wine bottles into something useful. We want candles because GP and I are suckers for candles. Red and gold will still play a major role in the Chinese tea ceremony and I’ll probably be wearing something red over my wedding dress. We’re having geeky elements into our wedding (zombie cake topper, ASCII heart love, a photo booth with Xbox-related props) but we’ll balance these out with more elegant settings.

So as you can see – there’s been a lot of change and we have no specific theme!

I to the D to the E, A, S

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!