The Candy Bar

So quite a while ago I got a quote on hiring a candy bar for the wedding, I have been a fan of the candy bar since seeing the idea in a bridal magazine a while ago. They are stylish, they go with the colour scheme, the jars are simply stunning and who can say no to lollies? Well not me anyways. However the quote for the candy bar was $3000! Yes $3000 to hire some jars, have someone set them up and fill them with lollies, slightly over-priced in my opinion.

However in saying that, money isn't always an issue for all, so I will reccomend the company as there customer service was exceptional, and they provided me with a lot of information when I asked for it, and also weren't pushy when I had to decline for financial reasons. http://www.candybuffet.com.au/ They have some amazing displays, which I am going to try and replicate on my own.

Step 1 I headed off to do some shopping for some jars, stop one was Kmart, I got 5 jars for $2 each! Thats $10 and I almost have as many jars in the above pictures. Then next stop was the local op shops where I found another 5 jars for $8. So thats the jars done for less than $20, great for the budget concious.

Step 2, wash them all in mums dishwasher haha! To give them an extra shine, and to add a bit of pizazz I will be tying some ribbon around each jar. Additionally with an engagement voucher I was able to find a stunning frame which I will be using as the Candy Bar sign! 15m of ribbon off eBay was $5 free postage from China, so far we are totally at $23, already better than the $3k quoted I must say.

Step 3, I will be using the provided table cloths at the reception venue to save some money, and also I have asked the venue to ensure that the candy is topped up as required.

Lastly I will be off to by the lollies, which I won't do until 3-4 weeks before the wedding. I plan on spending $100 on bulk lollies, I have already started researching online wholesalers and getting quotes from local companies. But for arguments sake, lets say I spend $200 on lollies, that brings us to a total of $223 a lot less than the quoted amount! I have added a picture below of the style I am going for, but think yellows and ivories for the lolly colours.

Winners Are Grinners

Well it's pretty safe to say that the last 24 hours have been good for me! I have landed a job, casual again of course but with the plan that it will go full time within the month, but i'll have more on that on Monday hopefully when I know more about the opportunity, I also very much enjoyed seeing my beloved boys in the black and white knock of Geelong in the Grand Final rematch, not as good as if we would have one back in October, but it goes a little way to relieving the pain, and also the most exciting part, WINNING our first game of netball, was a fantastic effort and a credit to the hard work the girls and in particular our coach had been putting in the last few months!

I guess what I am going to take from the last couple of days is that as lame as it sounds, Katy Perrys firework sums this up better than I ever will, "Maybe the reason all the doors are closed, is because you are waiting for the one that leads you down the perfect road" and I am a believer of everything happens for a reason. I have landed a job, well not just a job, a career, a future, at a company about 1km down the road from me, which considering this time last year I was travelling 115kms for work, I am pretty dam stoked about it.

Winning is really the best feeling, whether its a sporting game, a job, even a competition, anything that can give yourself that extra bit of confidence and pride is a good thing, because I think it then rolls over to other aspects of your life. I played by far my best ever game of netball today, to be fair it was my 7th ever proper game, but I've had a few mixed netball games in my belt too, and the reason is because I think I finally believed that I could do it, and the happiness of getting the job I think went a long way to helping that confidence. Life is always going to throw everything its got at you, and I think remembering the wins along the way helps with the things that may not have gone with how you would have liked.

Anyways I should do a bit of a flip back to the wedding now, considering that is what I am meant to be talking about afterall. I have booked our make up artist for the big day and also for the trial before the wedding. Her name is Lizi and can be found at Respect for Beauty in Koo Wee Rup and I can't wait to see what she can do, her portfolio is simply amazing. As you are all aware I am option for a cocktail party themed wedding, we are young and we want to have fun, so that's how I plan to have the wedding decided. I have provided some make-up examples below for the look that we will be going for! Hope you all like it!

The Honeymoon

So I am on a roll today with posting, so I figure why wait for tomorrow. Especially because I am so excited that I booked our Honeymoon on Wednesday to the Whitsundays, the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, I absolutely can't wait!

Hamilton Island must be one of the most beautiful places in the entire world. We are starting off at Airlie Beach for 4 nights, including a reef view tour out to do some snorkelling and also in a glass bottom boat. I have been snorkeling once before and the experience is amazing and I can't wait to do it again. Airlie Beach is going to be our fun part of the trip! We are thinking, nights out, dinners, drinks, getting out and exploring.

We are then heading over to the gorgeous Hamilton Island for 3 nights for some relaxtion and pampering. Daz has a day on the beautiful golf course, and I'll happily set up at a day spa and relax by the pool. Can March 2013 possible come any quicker!!!???

In saying that, I am sure March will come fast enough, particulary with "hopefully a new job", more wedding planning/finalising and the wedding of a best friend also! Bring it

The Cake Dream

Wedding Colour Schemes! Think Sunshine

Concentrate on what you have, not what you dont have

Ok so I have just realised I have been incredibly slack in my posting, and I actually haven't posted since getting the news that I didn't get the job that I had risked it all for, so I guess in a way its like a broken promise. I thought that it would work out, and honestly didn't really think through the consequences if it didn't.

Obviously it has affected me a little more than what it should have, I have been left feeling a little helpless, a little worthless and slightly devoid of direction. Of the past two months, I have actually spent my time almost in a state of depression, nothing to be overly concerned about, but for a number of reasons I stopped feeling like i deserved better, I stopped enjoying planning the wedding, and felt like maybe I had some sort of bad Karma surrounding me, causing things to keep going wrong for me.

But it has taken two things in the last few weeks to snap me back to reality. I am a good person, I have always worked hard and I am certainly worth more than sitting in front of a TV watching One Tree Hill or Glee to pass the hours by before Darren comes home from a day at work. Number 1, due to a falling out with a friend, I had been second guessing myself as a person, whether or not I treat people right, and when I think back through my life, I have always put other people first, what they wanted to do, and what they wanted me to do, whatever it was, I did it. And because of the selflessness I believe I was always a good friend to everyone whom I met. It took my cousin, a man that I will always look up to, he has been suffering from a serious illness for a long time now, and last week he told me that he had been given 6 months left to live. It opened my eyes, what if I was told tomorrow that I had 6 months to live, I certainly wouldn't spend it watching Glee and One Tree Hill and certainly wouldn't spend it worrying why someone who I thought was my best friend could just walk away, because I have so many other good things in my life to look forward too, many other friends to spend my time with.

Secondly, just today, in a much more positive way, a friend of mine inspired me to start writing my blog again, and she wouldn't have even known that she did it, all she did was give me the link to her own wedding blog, http://​thethaibride.blogspot.com.a​u/ if you are interested. Writing this blog is good for me, its the best way to get all of my thoughts out into the world.

Today I am going to stop worrying about the things that I don' have, and instead focus on the things that I do have, and that is, I somewhat have a job....well I work maybe 10 days/nights a month, which is better than not working at all, I have 3 potential full time job prospects in the works, I have also been accepted in university at RMIT if I choose to return or defer, most importantly I have friends and family who would be there for me no matter what. I won't mention there names, but there has been a lot of support the last few weeks from 3 amazing girls in my life, my very special fiance and a boy who is absolutely my brother from another mother, and to all of you I say thank you, because you have all been my rocks and have helped me get my perspective back on focus.

I must say not working has allowed me to get a lot of wedding planning completed, but I won't start on that in this post. I think I will leave it for another day, mostly so it means that I will stop by again tomorrow to post again, for a sneak peak there will be details of the reception menu, the make-up and hair styles, there will also be bridesmaids dresses to come, the cake details, I have also completed seating charts, the music list, quite simply I have nearly done it all.

365 days to go

When I started writing this blog back in November, we had 500 days to go to our wedding! I remember telling you all what I had done in the last 500 days, and showing how much can be accomplished in such a small time. So I guess I should look back at the last 135 days and see how much has happened since that first blog was written.

As you all would know I finished up at Kidspot, ended up at Ninemsn for a while and now am back home at National Foods! I am feling very confident after my interview yesterday, I think it went really well and I know that I couldn't have done anything better, so for that whatever happens next I know I have given it my all. I have also decided that after the wedding I would like to go back to school and study my graduate diploma in Nutrition, or Public Health with a nutrition major. So that's it hopefully for jobs for a while. So everyone please cross your fingers for me, and that I get the Lab Team Leader job, which is the dream.

As for the house we have accomplished a lot in the last 135 days, we learnt that the reason our pool wasnt cleaning was because we were turning on the solar and not the filter-oopsy!!! We have also almost cleared out the entire garden, we have built our wall, and we are contemplating when to take down the door and create our new room fully! As far the painting this is almost done, except for the toilet, laundry and bathroom! All hopefully to be done over the next few years.

As for the wedding well you know I have been crapping on about that the entire blog...well that is the point haha! We have selected our venues, photographer, celibrant, my dress, hairdresser, florist, cake maker, invitations, place cards and candy bar! So we are really getting there with the planning! Thank god!!!

We have also had a short holiday in perth and got ourselves a gorgeous kitty called Zazzles! A lot can change in 135 days, and a lot can be accomplished! I wonder what will happen in the next 135?