West Aussie Wedding

stay tuned

Tomorrow morning we leave on our honeymoon.. Seven weeks road tripping in the USA!

Very excited as neither of us have been to the US mainland before and there are so many places we want to check out.

Our focus has been almost completely on the wedding and as a result we have absolutely no plan or itinerary for our trip. Sweet.

image via Lissycakes Flickr  

Not sure how much internet access we'll be having (or wanting), so posting might be light on. Or it might not. But either way I have prepared a few scheduled posts to keep WestAussieWedding warm while I am away..

I have got some stuff that I still want to show you, but thought it better wait until after the wedding... like venue details and invites etc.

And I still have some cool pictures in my wedding inspiration folder that haven't yet made it onto the blog.. and they are too good to just ditch without sharing, so I will post some of those in the hope that they inspire some ideas for others..  

Hopefully by the time we get back from our honeymoon there will be some professional wedding photos to share!

So pretty please stay tuned!

PS. No sorry you didn't know about the Living Statue. I forgot to tell anyone.. including the photographers, the Caterer or the Mister.. I think they all thought she was the most random gatecrasher

Best. Day. Ever

my poor dress! post-wedding, pre-drycleaners.   

Highlights of our wedding day:

Having hair and makeup done. False eyelashes are lots of fun.

My Sister and I pigging out on cheese and crackers reasoning it would be impossible to put on a kilo in one day

My Mum and Dad arriving with the amazing bouquets. I loved our flowers.

When the photographers, In-laws and other people left the house, so my Bridesmaids, my folks and I could just chill before leaving for the ceremony. Peace.

Seeing the white lanterns bobbing in the breeze as we got a glimpse of the ceremony space from our limo.

The Living Statue winking at me as we walked towards the ceremony. She was in a woodland nymph costume and I had sort of forgotten she was going to be there. The wink was just what I needed before that walk down the aisle.

Seeing the Mister through the trees.

Looking out at all the friendly smiley faces in the crowd, laughing during our vows, swapping rings, being pronounced "Mr & Mrs"!!

Rejoining the party after getting some formal photos out of the way. We couldn't get back in there fast enough! Everyone was buzzing and the venue looked great.

Freya's beautiful voice.

The warm fuzzy feeling you get from good wishes, compliments and blessings from your loved ones.

My Sister and I laughing at the weird wedding cake.

Dads amazing speech. And the Best Mans speech was awesome too.

Chatting and laughing and catching up with all my friends and family. Having time to talk to people properly and hang with the Mister and circulate around the room.

The Brazlilan drummers surprising everyone and arriving through the trees, taking the party to the next level. The dance floor was going off and left everyone on a total high.

My friend grabbing the mike and belting out Common People karaoke style, which is her new party trick! Would have felt short changed without her musical rendition.

Everyone going mental on the dance floor.. Not just my friends (who can always be counted on to cut rug) but an unexpected assortment of interpretive dancers.

Wrapping things up at just the right time before the partying got too out of hand! I'm glad we quit while we were ahead.

Our hotel room was unreal. It was so nice to wake up in such a gorgeous setting after what was a truly magical night.

We have had so many of our guests give us so many beautiful compliments about the wedding, we are sp glad that everyone had a good a time as we did!!

getting married tomorrow

So happy. So excited. Little bit nervous. But in a good way.

How on earth does one get to sleep on the night before their wedding?

With sleeping pills, thats how. 

But don't worry I'm only going to take one and will do it soon so I'm not groggy tomorrow.

We are spending the night together.

Because we have spent enough nights apart as it is.

Getting up and having brekkie. Probably just weetbix at home.

Then off to BM2's house for hair and makeup and champers. Not necessarily in that order.

The Mister and his boys will then head up to one of his mates place to hang out and get ready. Under strict instructions not to get too drunk or sunburnt.

Limo picking us up at 3.30pm.. to take us to our 4.30pm ceremony.

Then we're up!

Wish us luck

xoxoxoxox

top my cake

I've been loving the last few days.

My sister is here with us, the Mister and I are both off work, and we are all getting excited. We've only got some small jobs left to do, and thank god none of it is DIY, so it's been fun just hanging out and get the last bits and pieces sorted. 

I've been spending time with my friends and family from OS and interstate. And trying to get enough sleep. And exercising. And eating easter eggs. And shopping for cake toppers.

I decided last week to get a cake. It's just a small token cake for the sake of having something to cut. Just a 12 inch chocolate cake with white icing from Regines.

We aren't doing a first dance so it will be the last formality of the night.  

Then we thought it could be good to have a cake topper so we went into Major Cakes in Vic Park which is small daggy shop selling all sorts of creative cake making supplies. They had a shelf full of corny cake toppers, I went with this one because it is so funny. $10.25, bargain. I came home and showed it to the Mr who is also seeing the funny side.

Other jobs.

We bought the boys shirts and we are getting them pressed at the dry cleaners because we all hate  ironing.

We have made our ceremony music CD which we are taking to our ceremony rehearsal tonight.

I got my dress which is now safely hanging at Grandmas house on a crochet coat hanger she made specially. bless.

I'm still sulking about the weather. It's overcast today and one website is forecasting late showers for Saturday. (Damn you ABC weather!- at least BOM is being slightly more optimisitic and surely they are the ones with all the cred?) 

At any rate I have ordered 4 of those big outdoor mushroom heaters because the last few nights have been a little chilly. I hate being cold and hopefully that will take the edge off a cool night.

But all in all these last few days have been sweet.

Girls, do everything in your power to make the days before your wedding as pleasant as you can. Don't procrastinate, be realistic about whats achievable, don't leave all the crappy jobs for last, or take on too many projects. Cull and Delegate.  Engineer yourself a managable workload. It's so lovely having time to feel happy about all the cool things about to happen and only stressed and nervous about the things that are big and exciting.

bathroom baskets

I think you know you are getting near the end of your list when you get to jobs like this.

To make the whole ablution experience that little bit nicer, someone (not me) had the bright idea of getting little baskets and filling them with some toiletries for people to use if they need to.

So here they are

I bought most of the items from Woolies. Things like baby wipes, spray deodorant, bandaids, tampons, Nurofren, Lucas paw paw ointment, bobbie pins, small hairspray, breath mints, a mini sewing kit.. that sort of stuff. Mainly for the girls I suppose

I got the baskets from Thingz, where they have heaps of baskets in all shapes and sizes and they don't cost much either, if anyone is looking for something similar.

Yesterday we bought the boys shirts (and astounded the women at David Jones with how LATE we were leaving it) and had a meeting with our DJ, who is old bald but really nice and enthusiastic.

Today we have our meeting with the photographer, and I am picking up my dress.

rain rain go away

Up until yesterday Perth was having a bit of a dry spell, with only 0.2mm of rain recorded since November last year.

Yesterday the skies opened up and there was a huge storm. Thunder, lightning, hail, power blackouts, strong winds, landslides and flooding. Schools are closed and funerals are cancelled. There is supposed to be bit more of the same today.

image via becca darling is: the bee keeper 

I know I should just be happy for the plants and animals.. but as soon as the power came back on I jumped straight onto the Bureau of Meterology site to see what the forecast is for this weekend, hoping that we will be back to drought-like conditions. (sorry Farmers)

It's looking okay for Saturday at this stage. .

   
 via weather.com 

Although 25 degrees isn't actually that warm.

And 'Mostly Sunny' doesn't sound as good as plain old 'sunny'

But it's better than being battered by a storm that leaves the city battered and without power.

I am going to be spending the rest of the week stalking the weatherman.

 

Hens

I'm off to my Hens Party this afternoon..

It has been organised by one of my Besties with help from my Bridesmaids.

At first I was a bit jittery about having something planned for me.. But my inner slacker triumphed over my inner control freak, and have just been left feeling incredibly grateful at not having to do anything except turn up.

Am planning on having a total bender...

   
image via tumblr 

...So it's a good thing I've managed to cross some stuff off the list.

For example.

- Vegan Food sorted! Thanks for all the suggestions Girls. I called all the ones you suggested and they were all great, really helpful and enthusiastic. We have ended up going with Soul Tree, because she was able to give me quote and menu options over the phone.. and it's near our venue so will make it easier to deliver on the day. They will be providing mushroom pies, pumpkin balls, nori rolls, stuffed zucchinis and beetroot patties, as well a selection of vegan chocolates and slices for dessert. I am going to tell the Vegans to make themselves known to the staff.. to ensure that the right food goes to the right people (although I have catered for 4 Vegans just incase)

-Buses are organised. We have two. Went with Roberts Luxury Tours, as they were easy to deal with and the coaches look nice and comfortable, and lots of our bus-catching guests are a bit older. So there will be two departure times, one at 11pm and the other after midnight to collect the stragglers! Only bummer is no drinking allowed on the buses but oh well.

-Booked in for our meeting with photographer and an engagement shoot. It will be on the Wednesday before our wedding. So I'm not too sure what we will ever do with the engagement photos as they will end up being totally overshadowed by the wedding photos.. But it will give us a bit of practice in front of the camera, especially the Mister who is extremely reluctant. (So no, there wont be any shots of him in gingham shirt wearing a bowtie riding a bike or eating picnic!) And more importantly will be good opportunity to discuss details of the day with photographer.

- Have organised rehearsal with our Celebrant. It's not at our venue but just in the park near our house to give people the jist of where they stand and what they do. The Mister doesn't see the point of doing this but I've told him he can thank me later. I'm also dragging a couple of his groomsmen along who are just humouring me, but I'm standing my ground on this one! Have been Bridesmaid a few times and hate the awkwardness of not knowing what Im supposed to be doing.

- Submitted our playlist to our DJ. It was like being back at high school. We missed our deadline (supposed to be done 10 days before the wedding). So had to call and ask for an extension! Which they granted us.. yet still found ourselves doing at the last minute! Anyway they are done. We have a meeting with our DJ on Tuesday to 'discuss our choices' uh oh.

So with those jobs done I'm ready to let my hair down this afternoon! wheeeeeee!!!!!

My Sister

It's her birthday today!

Happy birthday FJ!!

Even though it's her birthday, she is catching a plane from Melbourne to Perth just so that she can come to my Hens Party tomorrow.. And be around for the lead up to the wedding..  Even though she works as a contractor and doesn't get holiday pay so having a week off wasn't the easy option. But she's doing it anyway. Means SO MUCH to me.

Love You little girl.

 

 

Tonight Mum, Dad, FJ and I are going to have a birthday dinner together to celebrate her being home on this special day.

Hurry up hometime!!

ooohh yeah

image via FuckYeahSkinnyBitch

Tomorrow 

Is my last day of work.

For quite some time.

I finish the day early.

Then fly back to Perth.

To see my Sister

And have dinner with my family to celebrate her birthday

Then wake up and go to my Hens Party

which has been organised for me.

I have the rest of the week off

To get organised for the wedding

In which I marry the love of my life

Then go to the USA for eight weeks roadtrippin together.

Life is SWEET

 

the boys

I was the one in Perth last weekend so it was my job to buy the Mr and his Merry Men their ties.

I thought this would be the easiest job ever. A tie for the Mister and four for his groomsmen.

But as it happens it's not easy to get four matching ties.

Turns out menswear shops rarely stock up to four of any particular tie.  It's not like womens accessories where they have more out the back. What's on dispaly is all they have. Even the big department stores.

One shop suggested I get some ties made up.. but when he showed me the shiney polyester fabric swatches I knew I couldn't do that to my Mister, or his friends.

In the end I had to go to two different shops to scrounge together four matching ties, my choices were limited.

So the four Groomsmen will be wearing black ties, with the Mr is a reddish plumy coloured tie that looks good against the BM dresses, as seen in pic below.

I think the groomsmen are the ones who are usually supposed to wear the coloured ties but it was the best I could do.

Now all I need to do is buy the boys their shirts. But I'm waiting on three of them to get back to me with their neck measurements.. I was originally going to go with ivory but changed my mind, I think crisp white slim fitting shirts will look the best.

 

vegan food

Three months ago the Best Man was a greedy carnivore who used to embarass us at Smorgasboards.

But then he decided to lose some weight and became a strict vegan.

I only found this out yesterday afternoon. When he called to see if there would be any vegan options at the wedding.

At first I thought he was joking because he always said he couldnt stand vegetarians. But he is serious. He's been doing it for 12 weeks and has lost 15kgs.  

image via we heart it  

I spoke to our Caterer who was pretty upfront. They don't really do vegan catering. 

We have already made some changes to provide vegetarian options but the BBQ dishes we have chosen are going to be pretty hard to adapt to the strict vegan criteria (no animal anything) and we're don't really want to change our whole menu.

But we need to ensure BestMan is well fed.

So what we think we'll have to do is find a specialist Vegan cafe or resturant, so we can buy him some food which we can drop to the Caterer the night before to be served alongside the other food at our wedding. We have a one other Vegetarian friend who would probably be happy to go Vegan for the day so we will be catering for just two people..

Can anybody suggest any places in Perth, who do nice vegan fingerfood, cocktail food and desserts?

I would be so grateful for any ideas or suggestions!

Gee that was fast

The veil is here already!

I had it sent to my parents work, because they have a PO Box. That's where I send all my parcels.

It had "Wedding Veil" written on the outside of the box and so Mum and Dad got all excited and dropped it over to my house straight away.

I tried in on for them. (Nobody cried)

It is really lovely. Super plain, very sheer, nice and subtle. The simplest veil on the market. 

But I couldn't really get it to stay in.. Is there a trick to it? 

And once you do get it in, how do you get it out again?

I would only wear it for ceremony but don't want to stuff up my hair when I take it out...?

   
picture taken with my camera phone

I can see why people opt to make their own veils. It doesn't look that complicated. But I guess nothing does, when it's done well.

Have been wearing it around the house, doing the robot and the moonwalk, but still on the fence about actually wearing it.

First the white satin shoes and now this.. What on earth happened to cool, edgy, avante garde WestAussie.. she has been eaten by Bridey McBridenstein.

I thought it was something that only happened to other people.