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!!

Falling into place..

I think I already mentioned that within mere hours of changing our wedding from Tasmania to Geraldton some of our bits and pieces started falling into place..

1. Ceremony Venue - check! St George's will marry us on any day we want, except Sunday because they're too busy!

2. Cake - check! Ziph's mum makes delectable white chocolate wedding cupcakes with butter cream frosting. Yummo!

3. Bridal makeup - check! Ziph's sister-in-law is an incredibly talented makeup artist (who did her own wedding makeup last month!)

also:

4. Picking my other bridesmaid (aside from my sister) - check! As soon as we decided on Geraldton I knew that my fab friend Mrs McD would be perfect.. not only is she one of my dearest friends, but she also happens to be a Geraldton local. How awesome is that? I have a local on the case!

5. MY wedding ring - nearly check! I went in to see a jeweller friend of mine from my pre-baby work days, and got a quote for a custom made ring to match/compliment my engagement ring. And it came in under budget. Woo! Ziph is happy with the price, so all we have to do is actually go in and get the design properly drawn up etc and order it. I know the wedding is still 10 months away, but I really want to order it right now!!

6. Bridal hair - maybe check! A girlfriend of mine is doing a hairdressing apprenticeship, and I was her hair model today.. while we were chatting about the wedding, she mentioned that she could do my hair, but then remembered that I wasn't getting married in Perth.. Might require organising a road trip with one or two of our other girlfriends for the wedding, but still possible! And as a bonus, hair trials will be super easy, because she only lives 5 minutes away from me.. definitely something to think about seriously.