Once wed..

While randomly browsing the internet I stumbled upon Once Wed and couldn't resist sharing some of the gorgeous things that I found on there...

Like these DIY herbal boutonniere - rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme, lavender and blueberries tied with ribbon.. if I had found this website before I'd booked my florist, I tell you it would have been tempting to do these.. I'd originally wanted to go with the whole "looked like the flowers had just been picked from a cottage garden" style - infact when I suggested flowers to the florist I did mention rosemary & lavender!

Or these placecard holders made out of spray painted icing cones!

And check out this cute tufted moss ring pillow.. 

What about these adorable paper cones made out of "vintage" sheet music.. they've punched some butterflies and glued them around the top..

Cupcake wrappers..

I think I'm trying to make up for all those posts I keep meaning to write but never getting around to by posting a half dozen in one hit..

Now that I've sorted out the colour scheme for the flowers and the bridesmaids dresses I've been thinking about cupcake wrappers again.. I've found a couple that I like, but I think I'm going to have to come up with a shortlist and get Ziph and/or his mum to help me make the final decision.

MY dress!

This is what my dress is going to be styled on.. the very beautiful Maggie Sottero 'Ericka' gown in a lovely, warm cream colour. I think I already mentioned that I will be wearing a cathedral length mantilla veil with matching lacework. I think the bridesmaid dresses will compliment it very nicely.. and the flowergirl dress will be made in the same colour cream with a waist sash & bow in the sapphire green to match the bridesmaids.

Bridesmaids, sorted!

So my sister and I went to the eBridal expo last weekend and found a bridesmaid dress that we really liked on her. It's a Mori Lee dress in a "sapphire green" colour and the colour just looked amazing on her. It was a few shades darker than the colour I had in my head, but once I saw it on her I knew it was perfect! Luckily my MOH, Mrs McD also loved it when I sent her the picture to look at! Yay!

Seeing as I'm trying to be "frugal" I just couldn't come at spending $330 per dress, so I emailed the picture to the dressmaker who is making my dress and for a custom made, similar design we're only paying ~$125 per dress. Much better! AND seeing as we're getting them made, the dress maker will also make matching ties for the groomsmen and make the sash on the flowergirl dress the same colour. Perfect!

Ticking Boxes..

Clearly I'm not so great at keeping this updates, but let me say that until this last week I hadn't been moving particularly fast with the whole wedding planning thing anyway!

BUT, as per the title, I have some boxes that I can finally check! So we already know that I have the ceremony venue, the cake, the makeup and the bridesmaids sorted out.. but now I can also say that I have:

* Booked our reception venue - we decided to go with Tides of Geraldton.. Ziph decided that he was prepared to "take my word for it" if I was sure that I liked it,. I also found out that they're doing some renovations next month, so I'm sure that will only make it even better! We went through their wedding prospectus which lists their different menu options and at this stage we think we'll go with the set menu with the tapas entree option. The only difficulty will be deciding *which* items to choose because they all sound so yummy!

* Booked our florist - after meeting with Chantelle from Flowers in Love I was pretty sure that she was the perfect person to do our flowers.. the first quote left me feeling lukewarm (flower choices turned out to be rather temperamental if not handled *just so*), so I emailed her back and told her how I was feeling and asked if we could go with something simpler. Chantelle reassured me that there was nothing boring with my "simple" choice and sent through another quote for the new flowers. I was much happier second time around, and the whole experience served to convince me that my initial impression of Chantelle was right and that she was the perfect person for the job.. I know I won't have to worry about how my flowers will turn out! Sent through the confirmation, just have to post the booking form and pay the deposit.

* Organised to have MY wedding ring made. Years ago, before I had children I used to work in the jewelry industry, so I made use of some of my previous connections and have arranged for Bill at Exclusive Gold Jewellers to design and make my wedding ring. As I'm having something designed to fit around my engagement ring, I've had to surrender it temporarily which left me feeling rather naked! I ended up putting another ring on my finger to make me feel better while I wait! But I'm very excited to see how my ring turns out..

* Picked my wedding dress. I'm having it made by Topspartner and it will be in the style of Maggie Sottero's Ericka dress. They're also going to make a matching cathedral length mantilla veil, and a flower girl dress in the same fabric for my little possum. I'm currently considering getting them to make the bridesmaids dresses as well, but we haven't found a style that we love yet.

We still need to sort out the photography, invitations, bombonniere, ceremony/reception decorations, grooms party attire (and finalise the groomsmen, I think.. Ziph has the best man sorted but seems to be dragging his feet when it comes to asking the other person, so I'm not sure if he's sure, IYKWIM?) and a couple of other bits and pieces.. but atleast if all else fails we now have somewhere to get married, somewhere to party afterwards, cake to eat and I'll have something to wear, my flowers and my wedding ring - all the important stuff, right?

Oh, and there's the eBridal wedding expo this weekend, which I won a $100 voucher to use at any of their exhibitors, so cross your fingers that I might find something worth spending my money on!!