Bridesmaids Dresses

Today was a great day! Off I went with the bridal party down to my favourite bridal shop Pure Elegance Boutique in Moe and the girls tried on about 8 dresses and we all very luckily liked the same one the best! We have gone with a floor length chiffon option and I am sure the ladies are going to look simply amazing on the day, its a flattering style that would suit all body types and I hope everyone loves it on the day as well.

Check out http://www.pureelegancebridal.com.au/ if you want great service and fantastic prices

So when picking bridesmaids there are a few key details to remember what they will need:
- A dress
- Shoes
- Hair & Make-up
- A Bouquet
- A grommsman ofcourse
- A seat in the wedding car
- A gift often in the form of jewellery to be worn on the day
- And of course a spot at the rehearsal dinner, hens night and bridal shower

So is it usual for the bridesmaids to pay for their own dress, shoes and make-up, but remember the bride will foot the bill for the car spot, the bouquet and obviously the more bridesmaids you have, the more opinions you will recieve. I have had a number of posts about choosing bridesmaids, so head back and have a read if you'd like to see how i decided. But from my decision I can say I know I made the right choice, these girls have been there every step of the way and they have been the best friends to me the last few months too

I guess what I am saying is that you don't need a cast of thousands standing there beside you, you just need the girls that you love, trust and count on the most.

The Photobooth

Ahh the photobooth is an addition to the reception which I would absolutely LOVE to have but budget constraints unfortunately won't alllow it. Most companies provide props for the full effect, they also are usually fantstic quality images and mostly are personalised to the event. The only problem with them is the $$$. However don't get me wrong I don't think the price is unrealistic. Most companies drop and pick up the booth as well as leave an attendant to help incase things go wrong with the machine.

How does it work? Your friends and family, and hey even the bride and groom can get in there and give it a go, usually 6 photos are taken and printed out in 15-30 seconds for the users to take and share around. Most machines are also equipped to save all photos taken so that the bride and groom can et a copy on disk after the event! Not too bad really if you love pictures of everyone?

As I mentioned these are pretty expensive, think $1500-$2500 depending on your location. Want my money saving idea? I am going to set up a Photo Corner! I am going to leave my digital camera there, as I trust everyone at the event I don't think there will be any issues with it getting broken or stolen. I am also going to provide some props, I am thinking a blackboard, prehaps a photo frame, some funny glasses and whatever else I might be able to find at the $2 shop. It may not be as cool as the photo booth but I still think it is going to be a good way of doing it! I'm probably looking to spend $50 on props and then $50 again on printing the digital photos that I like, and $100 is looking a lot better to me than $2500 that it would cost to deliver to my country town.

Blingy Bouquets

The Bling Bouquet is in big time for 2012/2013! What is that I hear you asking? It is adding crystals, your favourite piece of jewellery, diamentes, anything that adds some extra bling to bouquet! And there are a number of florists doing this Australia Wide to give you bouquet some extra pizazz! Is this something you would consider?

I'm not really a fan of flowers, so I am pretty much just having them for the sake of having something to hold while walking down the aisle, of course I want them to look nice, but I would rather spend my money on other aspects of the wedding that are more important to me!

However if you are interested in the bling bouquet idea, check out the below sites and they may be able to help you on your way:
http://www.bouquetswithbling.com.au/
http://www.howdivine.com.au/store/114-bouquet-buckles-and-jewels

I am opting for a more traditional rose bouquet, Mine will be white and yellow roses, and the bridesmaids will just have white roses. Mine won't be quite as elegant as the below picture, but then I don't plan on keeping my bouquet, I will be throwing this one into the arms of a single lady at my big day. Who does plan on having a bouquet just to throw away? It was going to be an extra $80, which I wasn't interested in paying when I have a perfectly good bouquet myself to throw away.

Beach Wedding?

As most of you know I'm not having a beach wedding, but I came across this beautiful photo earlier today. If I was to have a beach wedding this is exactly the setting I would love, the colours reflect the ocean and the sky, simply amazing...



Ring, Ring

Is it just me or do wedding rings not quite have the same stigma as the engagement ring? Now-a-days most brides will have a diamond encrusted ring either white or yellow gold, usually matching a stunning engagement ring, but how often when someone says they have just gotten married do you turn around and say OMG show me the wedding ring!! Maybe its just me? But it's something I have never asked anyone :s

Things are changing with the new crew of brides to be, especially when it comes to engagement rings. No longer do brides opt for the standard solitaire yellow gold set, the numbers are increasingly leaning to white gold these days, with more and more going the princess or alternatively shaped cuts. Also the more popular and money concious choice to to buy the wedding ring/engagement ring set at the time. Now I know most women are thinking, as if the man will think of that? Well I got to pick my ring, and not even I thought of that!! Anyways, we spent a reasonable amount on my engagement ring at 3k, reasonable for us anyways, I know people who have spent as little as $50 and up to $25k. So I am pretty happy with mine, especially since I got it on special, marked down from $5k. To me anyways, it isn't about the clarity or cut, its about the reason why the ring was purchased. Because of love... and no Im not saying that someone who has a beautiful 300k ring is being showy, I'm just saying whether it is a burger ring or Kim K's engagement ring, it all came with the same thought? Hmm maybe Kim K wasn't the best example haha!

Anyways I have taken this same tack with buying my wedding ring, the local jeweller had a sale on, and I thought I might go have a look, see what they had, and if anything would suit, and I saw it there, perfectly inligned with diamonds in my engagement ring, 50% off! Then and there I knew that was the wedding ring, this jeweller also did not try and say, its only $300 you should spend more on your wedding ring, they said how lovely it suited, didn't try to upsell and I got my wedding ring for $150! Stoked.

On this same day I also picked out Darrens ring, he isnt going to wear his ring other than on the day, so we chose a ring worth $50 for him, something that will last long enough to pass down to our children should we ever have any. So all in all, both wedding rings $200! I am so happy with it, but how am I meant to last another 10 months without wearing it??

So what do you all think about hubby to be not wanting to wear a ring? Is this something you would be disappointed about? Not worried either way? I guess its not that important in my view, as I know he has never wanted to wear jewellery of any kind, not even a watch, but then I read an article last week about a lady in India divorcing her hubby cos he didn't update his facebook status. What do you think about that one?

Sit down? Stand up?

The newest great debate in the wedding world is whether or not the traditional multiple course sit down meal is still the way to go, or the new and more sociable cocktail finger food is the way of the world these days. I don't think one way is particularly better than the other, of course there are pro's and con's either way.

A laid back couple, wanting fun and to socialise in a party style wedding will opt for the cocktail theme every day of the week, this allows everybody to mingle the entire duration of the party, it of course stops the seating planning issue, especially when Aunt Jan doesn't like to be in the same room of Uncle Johnny, therefore the cocktail style means that everyone can socialise with whom they want and not be forced to make small talk with someone they dont particulary find interesting. My one recommendation with the cocktail style food, would be to ensure there is ample food, particulary if your event as most are is after 5, as people may not have time for a meal between the ceremony and reception. Making sure there is ample finger food ensures your guests stay happy and chirpy, and also "hopefully" will eliminate any one getting too drunk at the bar. I would opt for the cocktail stand up option if I was having a wedding at say midday with a reception to follow at 2pm.

As for the sit down, grandma and grandpa will certainly be happier with this option. This is possibly the only way to make sure the bride and groom actually get to talk to each other at the reception. However it does mean some extra planning, as mentioned above, try and sit people together who get along, or whom you believe personalities will suit if people haven't met, perhaps cousin Lucy is a hairdresser, who would be great on a table with your friend who is about to buy her own salon? I don't think you have to necessarily put all family members together, but this is up to the couple. My family gets along relatively well, so we have 4 tables of families, one for each side of our family tree. Just remember with a sit down style you don't have to have 5 courses, because think about how many people actually can eat this much?

My plan is to serve a stand up array of finger food for the first hour and a half of the reception, of a range of canapes fro fancy cheese and olive constructions to sausage rolls, hopefully finding a happy medium for everyone. We then are serving a main of roast lamb, pork, beef and roasted vegetables, with of course a vegetarian option for those who don't eat meat. We have also ditched the dessert and opted to serve our cake with berries and cream to the guests. Because whats the point in having a cake for 100 people and no one wants any because they have just had dessert? With this in mind our per head, including a 5 hour alcohol package is $75, which when compared to most places, certainly isn't priced bad at all!

So remember there is no right or wrong answer to whether or not you have a sit down or stand up menu, just make sure it suits you, and give you and your fiance the reception that you dreamt of!

Formal is OUT and Fun is IN

Today in the Sunday Herald Sun there was an article about how the formal traditional weddings are a thing of the past. Couples these days are moving towards more fun and personal weddings. This is something I have always being passionate about. I want a wedding that is reflective of my and Darrens personality, we are also pretty young to be getting married so I am looking at more of a party atmosphere.

Leading the new top trends lists were the below:

Lolly Buffets- See my previous post on candy bars if you'd like some info on this one!

Photo Booths- These are a great idea, something I would love to do, and will be blogging on later in this week.

Bling Bouquets- This is where brides add diamantes and mementos to there more traditional floral bouquet.

The Rings- White gold rings are more on the rise with the princess cut and pear cut gems leading the way! Also watch out on my next post regarding my engagement ring and matching wedding ring, which i have just purchased!!!

The Cake- Many couples are opting for the cup cake cakes, this is another trend that I am following, again look at my "cake dream" post to see the style cake that I am looking for.

Dinner- The sit down dinner is making way for a cocktail style reception with finger food! Again I have just chosen the recpetion meals and will have a post on this shortly!

and the big $$$ issue- The brides parents no longer foot the majority of the bill, with the couples opting to pay for the wedding themselves, meaning they get to make all the decisions!