Your Wedding Is When???

Sigh. Am starting to get slightly annoyed at people's reactions when I tell them our wedding date...
'Oh December! What a nice time of year'
'Wha-? December 2012??? Wow you're... organised'
'Do you really need to plan it that far in advance?'

Grrr...

How Embarrassment

Ok so here it is - no one knows I have a blog. Not the Boy, none of my friends, no one in my family - NO ONE.

Until I got sprung a few weeks ago.

One of my recently engaged friends was browsing a wedding forum I frequent, and she saw a post I had written and thought 'Hmm, that sounds like something ______ would say'. And of course I have this web address as my signature 'advertising' my blog. And of course she clicked on it to have a read. And of course she saw the pics I had put up of the BM dresses I am so proud of getting for an insanely cheap price. And of course I had shown her pics of the BM dresses only a few weeks before. And so of course she worked out it was me.

I don't know why I feel embarrassed about having a blog, it's actually a pretty cool thing to do right?...Right? So I've decided that I'm not going to be embarrassed about it anymore. It's a creative outlet for me, and it helps me get my thoughts/ideas about the wedding out and on 'paper'. Writing about it seems to clear my head.

So uh, Hi Mel! *waves*


*Please note - people still don't know I have a blog. I will tell them eventually. One day. Maybe *blushes*

And The Venue Is...

Marmion Angling and Aquatic Club

We fell in love with the place as soon as we walked in, and the people who work there are amazingly friendly and helpful. I have to admit I had some doubts as to whether it was wise for us to pick a venue from only *shock horror* one day of looking. But as The Boy rationally pointed out: It ticks all the boxes we want in a wedding venue, it's in our budget...so, why not?

Why not indeed. Ah he's so clever, my future hubby to be :-)

I would also like to make an honorable mention to the following venues:
-Salt Restaurant
-AQWA

Both are great venues, and both have awesome function coordinators who were really lovely and easy to deal with.

1st December 2012 - bring it on baby!

Pics of the BM Dress and Parasol.

.

The bridesmaids dress. I am in love.



Parasol. $10 each for 3 (bought second hand). Fabric and not paper.

Sorry for the small photo sizes, I was having 'issues' with Photobucket. When I tried to make them bigger they were too big and deforming the set up of the blog. So small pics it is.

Bridesmaids

First up - apologies for being a sh*thouse blogger. I just haven't had much to write about in the way of weddings, therefore meaning my blog is probably the most Boring. Blog. Ever.

But some developments have occurred in the last few weeks:
-I have bought bridesmaid dresses
-I have bought parasols for the bridesmaids
-We may have already decided on a venue, though we just want to think about it for a few weeks before putting a deposit down. So no mention of The Venue will be made until we have secured it/made up our minds about it.

But I can write about my super awesome bridesmaids and the preparations I have already made for them. How's my form - I get the BMs sorted before getting myself sorted haha. And before booking a venue. And before working out a proper wedding budget. Ah well, wasn't planned this way, it's just the way these things pan out :-)

So my previously mentioned super awesome bridesmaids are *drum roll please*: My bestie from high school, my other bestie who I met after high school; and the boy's sister. All fantastic, all lots of fun; and all will plan a kick-ass Hen's Night.

For those that read my blog (all two of you), you will know that the boy and I went to Thailand in August. Before leaving for Thailand, we went to a surf store so I could get some new bathers and the boy could get a new hat. Yes I'm aware that we could have bought those things for a 1/4 of the price in Thailand, but we wanted them before we went, ok?

Aaaaanywho, there I was browsing the racks of maxi dresses in store (even though I was meant to be looking at bathers), when a gorgeous colour catches my eye. Not quite green, not quite blue. I find it's a gorgeous dress, and the ensuing thought process occurs:
'Wow, that's pretty much the exact colour I had in mind for BM dresses'
'It's actually a really nice dress, nice material, not too casual and beachy. I would totally wear that to a wedding or a nice dinner'
'Hmm I wonder what sizes they have...?'
'4 dresses and 3 of them are the size I need for my BMs?'
'SOLD!'

And there is the story if how I bought my BM dresses. The best bit? $70 per dress. Even with alterations (I'm considering getting them altered to knee length) it shouldn't be too exxy. $210 for 3 dresses, can't beat that. I am awesome.

For Brides On A Budget

I have stumbled across this site in my WWW wedding travels. It's a place based in Mandurah in which you can hire wedding and bridesmaid dresses. I can't vouch for the condition or quality of the dresses (having not seen them), and I'm not sure if they hire dresses outside Mandurah or the surrounding areas - but the cost of hiring a dress (plus bond) is only $300. And judging by the selection of dresses they have on their site, they're actually not too bad and are fairly modern designs. Fark yeah I say.

Now I know a vast majority of brides wouldn't dream of hiring their wedding dress; however I think there is an increasing number of brides who don't view the wedding dress as THE most important thing of the wedding. In fact, these brides view the wedding as the chance to declare their love and commitment to their partner in front of all their loved ones. Go figure.

But alas - I will admit that I won't be taking advantage of the hiring service. For a few reasons:
- I can't wait to go and try on different dresses and play princess for a few days. I think the 'looking for a wedding dress' episode is all part of the wedding experience, one in which I am really looking forward to.

- I have the romantic, idealistic notion that one day my daughter (or grand daughter) would maybe want to wear my wedding dress on their wedding day. Or incorporate parts from my dress into their dress. Or play dress-ups with it. Whatever.

-I have...different taste when it comes to wedding dresses. So I've been told. Yes I like and appreciate the sentiment of traditional wedding dresses (my definition of traditional: meringue skirt + tiara + veil = all white). However, that's just not me. I will probably still wear white/ivory/cream/whatever, but I'd like to think there would be a stylistic element to the dress that would just give it a bit of individuality and stamp it as ME.

But each to their own. I can still gush and sigh with the best of them at a gorgeous wedding dress (traditional or not); but as cliched as it sounds I really do think the best accessory a bride can have on the day is a gorgeous smile. That's all.

My Body Is My Temple...Except When There Is Chocolate Around.

So we got back from Thailand on Monday night. Before we left for Thailand I made a vow to myself that I would book some personal training sessions when we came back. To be frank I need it. I currently rock a size 14, though lately I have been fitting into quite a few size 12's. Don't get me wrong, by no means do I think size 14 is 'big'; however I am a real shorty at only 160cm, and I just feel that size 14 is too big for me.

I'm not under any illusions, I'm aware that I've gradually been putting on weight over the years. I've just been too lazy to do anything about it up until this point. I guess it doesn't help that I have a gorgeous, super sexy fiance who constantly tells me I'm beautiful and loves me regardless of what size or weight I am. Geez I heart that man.


But alas, the time has come for me to get off my butt and do something about it. And this is where I realise just how much of a knob I am - my reasons for wanting to lose weight are completely superficial. You know how most people want to lose weight for health reasons, or to make a positive 'lifestyle' change?

Yeah that ain't me. My reasons for wanting to lose weight?

-To look good in the wedding photos
-To fit into a sexy wedding dress
-To be a smoking hot bridesmaid in February next year
-To look good in our engagement party photos (when/if we ever get around to having one...)

I am a knob.

Aaaaaanyway, I went and booked 20 personal training sessions today. Yes 20. I plan on having three sessions a week. My first one is tonight.

So after I did that, I went and did what any self-respecting girl would do - I spent $200 on new gym clothes.

And then went home and promptly ate 3 rows of chocolate from a block of Cadbury's we have sitting in the fridge.

Venue Shopping

So we've decided to start looking at venues in two weeks time when the boy comes back from work. He works FIFO and only just left today - so this will probably be the longest two weeks of my life. Sigh.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. This will be the first wedding thing we've done together, and no doubt will kick-start the wedding planning process. And I can't wait. Bring it on I say!

Venues we are looking at:
-Marmion Angling and Aquatic Club
-Cottesloe Beach Hotel
-Ocean Beach Hotel
-Salt Restaurant

Conversation I had with the boy tonight:
Me: "I booked appointments to look at some venues when you get back"
Boy: "Ok cool. Where are we going?"
Me: "Marmion Angling and Aquatic Club, Ocean Beach Hotel, Cottesloe Hotel and Salt Restaurant"
Boy: *Silence*..."We're looking at four venues? In one day?"
Me: "Yeah! Why, what did you expect?"
Boy: "Um, I dunno...I thought we'd look at, like, two venues and then go to the pub somewhere to have lunch and get p*ssed..."

Hmmm....

So Uh, I Don't Like Wedding Dresses...

One of my closest and dearest friends is getting married in February next year, and I'm extremely lucky and honoured to be one of her bridesmaids. We've been dress shopping for a little while for her, trying to find 'the one'. We finally found it a month ago. Stunning, not too exxy, ticked all her boxes, and she looked beautiful. But the whole 'looking for a wedding dress' episode has set off a mild panic in me.

While the experience was for my friend...of course I couldn't help but have a sneaky look to see if there were any dresses that I liked. Not that I was looking to try on any dresses, or to put down a deposit to secure my own dress or anything, I was just quietly sussing out what was out there. Basically I was mentally grading the dresses in my head while I was going through the racks.

And I didn't like, well, a lot of them.

Some issues I had with the dresses I saw:
-Is it just me, or do they kinda look like they're from the 80s? I saw some that reminded me of something out of Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (brilliant movie by the way. Yes I love the classics.)
-Is it just me, or do the 'decorations' on the dresses (crystals, diamantes etc - the blingy stuff) look, well, kinda fake and tacky in real life?
-Is it just me, or are the saleswomen in bridal shops f*cking douchebags?

In fairness, I've never wanted a 'traditional' dress. No veil. No tiara. No poofy meringues. Hell I'm aiming for no shoes if I can. So I'm not sure if perhaps these dresses are merely not to my taste, rather than being, well...ugly not to my taste?

Hence the mild panic from me - what if I don't find a dress I like? What if I end up knocking some bridal saleswoman in the head coz her douchy-ness is annoying me?

*Deep breaths, deep breaths*

How Hard Can It Be?

So me and the boy have pretty firm ideas on how we want our day to be:
-It must be fun and casual, not too formal and stuffy.
-No church - I'm pretty sure we would both burst into flames if we were to set foot in a church...
-Buffet or spit roast catering for the reception.
-LOTS of alcohol. It is a requirement that all or most of our guests (including the bride and groom!) must get sh*t-faced at the wedding. Which shouldn't be too hard. We do both come from pretty bogan-y families.

All in all we want the day to be filled with lots of fun, laughter, good food and booze. While still retaining a touch of elegance and class. The theme I'm going for is 'Elegant Beach' - and ffs, NO starfish, seashells or frangipanis will be allowed within 10 feet of the wedding.

Easy peasy right?

So Here I Am...

Well the boy proposed in May on our 3 year anniversary! So happy and excited, I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward to planning the wedding. I suppose my excitement can also be attributed to the fact that I was kinda, sorta looking at wedding stuff about a year before we actually got engaged...but aaaaaaanywho...

I should also point out that I have never blogged before in my life. Ever. So why am I starting this one? Well a few reasons: I like writing. And I like weddings. Especially my own. So I figure this blog can serve as a bit of a creative outlet for my writing, and can also be my 'I'm-so-excited-all-I-wanna-do-is-talk-about-my-wedding-but-everyone-is sick-of-me-talking-about-it' venting/excitement spot.

A few things worth noting though; 'disclaimers' if you will, to readers of this blog (should there be any...):

-As previously noted, I have never blogged before. Ever.
-I am also a wee bit technologically challenged. I don't have an i-phone. Or an i-pod. I am useless at Excel, and anything 'computery'. I can send emails and that's about it. I can barely cope with uploading photos on Facebook. I only got my first dvd player about 3 years ago. And I'm only 24. Oh dear.
-Due to these factors, it's pretty much guaranteed that this probably won't be a very interesting blog. I don't claim this to be an inspiring blog to other brides to be. Because it won't be. Sorry.

So dear readers, there you have it. My blog will pretty much consist of me venting and sharing my ideas...and that's about it. There will be a noticeable lack of pretty pictures (I'm not sure how to upload them, and I'm not sure if I need permission to load pics on my blog or anything? Oh man...told you I don't know sh*t about this sort of stuff haha). And there probably won't be any linking to other blogs. Again I don't know how, and I only read 2 of them anyway - Getting Hitched, and This Little Journey. Both brilliant. And both Perth-based. Go Perth brides *represent*

That's about all for now. I'll be making some more posts later on about, well, stuff. But I need to make them into separate posts I think. Too much I want to say...and so it begins.

PS - I'll do some more research and figure out more about how this whole blogging thing works. Promise.