I can't believe it's been nearly 2 months since the big day! We leave on our honeymoon to Malaysia tomorrow and finally finished sorting our thank-you cards today (except for a couple of stragglers). Cards are going out in the mail today, except for those for my workmates, which will have to wait until we get back from Malaysia, sorry!
Our wedding day was amazing, and we'd like to thank everyone who contributed to it - not only those with big contributions, but all of you who came and shared it with us. Special thanks to Belinda Quinn, Radhika Basuthakur, Erika Rogers, Ben Ey, and Caroline at Vibe, as well as both sets of parents and Andrea and her family. You guys all had such a huge impact on our day and deserve so much credit for helping make it so fabulous.
I still have to finish sorting through the 2000-odd photos that Ben took, and then organise photo albums for us and our parents, which is a huge project in itself! But otherwise, the wedding is over, so this will be my last post in this blog.
Thank you again to everyone for making our day so special, and for all our lovely gifts. We got some treasures that will give us years of pleasure and beautiful memories. We couldn't have done it without you all!
Love Jen and Dave
Monday, May 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Odds and Ends
Both sets of parents arrived safely on Sunday and our other guests have also started arriving. We are working through the final arrangements now but there are still a few little things to sort out. Like a ring pillow. And music for the ceremony! Everything is mostly under control, however.
We took our parents to Vibe on Monday so they could look around at what they're paying for and meet the function co-ordinator, Caroline. I think they were happy. They seemed to be, anyway! Then we did the seating plan. The seating plan was not as painful as I was expecting but not as easy as I was hoping. I learned a valuable lesson: you can't please everyone all of the time so you may as well annoy instead, because that's easier :P
After the seating plan, we rewarded ourselves with a bit of fun and made up the favour boxes and the centrepieces. I kept Daddy at the opposite end of the table from the lollies but he still managed to scavenge whatever got dropped or spilled on the table! Then everyone got their creative juices flowing making sand jars for the centrepieces, which look excellent.
Only 3 more sleeps to go. My brain is on autopilot and I'm having trouble keeping track - if it's not on the list it gets forgotten. So sorry if this has affected you in any way! Also my coherency has dropped and my writing skills are not great - this is not my best post :P
PS - Weather is not looking great. I'm operating on the assumption that the ceremony will be in our wet weather backup plan area and not outside in the garden, but staff will be directing people on the day anyway. Yes, I know people say it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day :P In my opinion, they just say that to make you feel better about the crappy weather!
PS - Weather is not looking great. I'm operating on the assumption that the ceremony will be in our wet weather backup plan area and not outside in the garden, but staff will be directing people on the day anyway. Yes, I know people say it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day :P In my opinion, they just say that to make you feel better about the crappy weather!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wedding Day Logistics
So as you're aware, our wedding is at Vibe Hotel in Surfers Paradise on 6 March 2010. The ceremony is in the garden behind the hotel at 4:30pm. You can park across the road at Chevron Renaissance or a little up the road at Circle on Cavill. When you enter Vibe, head to the right through the reception area and out the back to the pool bar area and garden: this is where the ceremony will be. If it's raining (which it won't be!) the ceremony will be upstairs in the restaurant. Vibe staff will direct you if you get lost!
Water is available from the pool bar. Immediately following the ceremony, there will be nibbles provided, as well as a cash bar next to the pool area. We will be having photos around the hotel with our guests during this time. Around 6:15pm, we'll move upstairs to the Kirra Function Room where dinner will be provided. The bar will be open for wine, beer, soft drink, tea and coffee, and full cash bar services are also available if you want something a little stronger. Then we have dinner, yummy cake, and dance the night away!
Please let one of us know if you have any questions or concerns, need help getting to and from the hotel, or anything else. Not long to go now!
Water is available from the pool bar. Immediately following the ceremony, there will be nibbles provided, as well as a cash bar next to the pool area. We will be having photos around the hotel with our guests during this time. Around 6:15pm, we'll move upstairs to the Kirra Function Room where dinner will be provided. The bar will be open for wine, beer, soft drink, tea and coffee, and full cash bar services are also available if you want something a little stronger. Then we have dinner, yummy cake, and dance the night away!
Please let one of us know if you have any questions or concerns, need help getting to and from the hotel, or anything else. Not long to go now!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Hen's Night Shenanigans!
Saturday 20th February was my Hen's Night. Many people contributed to it's organisation and setup, including Radhika, Debbie, Christina, Kelly, Hao, and Sonja. So big thanks to them for making it such a great night!
I'm totally not a girly girl who is into pink and that kind of thing, as my friends know. So Radhika and Debbie decided on a Rock Star theme for my Hen's Night, which was an excellent choice! We all dressed up as rock stars and went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. I'd never been to a Hard Rock before, the atmosphere was cool and the food was excellent, with HUGE servings. Hardly anyone finished their food, there was a lot! There was supposed to be a live KISS cover band as well but they were late starting so we didn't get to see them.
After dinner we had to head back to the hotel. We had to be there by 11pm. I had a pretty strong suspicion why and of course I was right! The girls had organised a stripper, who was dressed as a fireman and had very nice abs. He was hot! I won't go much more into it because this is a family blog, but let's just say that my assumptions about stripper boundaries were very wrong :P
After he had done his show, the stripper got dressed and then hung out and chatted for a bit which was really cool. He seemed like a very nice guy and was basically just stripping as a second job to earn some extra cash.
Thank you so much to Flavia, Julie, Christina, Andrea, Kelly, Radhika, Grace, Annie, Ranti, Tong, Debbie, Hao, Sonja, and Nabila for coming along and making it such a great night! For those of you who couldn't make it, you missed out on a lot of fun :)
In other wedding news...It's only 10 more sleeps until the wedding, 4 more sleeps until our parents arrive, and there's a lot to do before then! My list keeps going up, no down. We have a meeting with the hotel function co-ordinator tomorrow to go over all the details and finalise everything. Then on Monday we sit down with our Mums to organise the seating plan. All next week I'm running all over the place for various appointments to make myself beautiful for the big day, as well as driving up to Brisbane or down to Coolangatta to pick people up from the airport. It's going to be frantic!
Very much looking forward to seeing you all soon. A word of warning for the ladies: if you were planning on wearing pink, I suggest you think again! My nieces were very upset when I told them that they couldn't wear pink, so if you turn up in pink you may find yourself being told off by a very indignant 5 year old!
I'm totally not a girly girl who is into pink and that kind of thing, as my friends know. So Radhika and Debbie decided on a Rock Star theme for my Hen's Night, which was an excellent choice! We all dressed up as rock stars and went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. I'd never been to a Hard Rock before, the atmosphere was cool and the food was excellent, with HUGE servings. Hardly anyone finished their food, there was a lot! There was supposed to be a live KISS cover band as well but they were late starting so we didn't get to see them.
After dinner we had to head back to the hotel. We had to be there by 11pm. I had a pretty strong suspicion why and of course I was right! The girls had organised a stripper, who was dressed as a fireman and had very nice abs. He was hot! I won't go much more into it because this is a family blog, but let's just say that my assumptions about stripper boundaries were very wrong :P
After he had done his show, the stripper got dressed and then hung out and chatted for a bit which was really cool. He seemed like a very nice guy and was basically just stripping as a second job to earn some extra cash.
Thank you so much to Flavia, Julie, Christina, Andrea, Kelly, Radhika, Grace, Annie, Ranti, Tong, Debbie, Hao, Sonja, and Nabila for coming along and making it such a great night! For those of you who couldn't make it, you missed out on a lot of fun :)
In other wedding news...It's only 10 more sleeps until the wedding, 4 more sleeps until our parents arrive, and there's a lot to do before then! My list keeps going up, no down. We have a meeting with the hotel function co-ordinator tomorrow to go over all the details and finalise everything. Then on Monday we sit down with our Mums to organise the seating plan. All next week I'm running all over the place for various appointments to make myself beautiful for the big day, as well as driving up to Brisbane or down to Coolangatta to pick people up from the airport. It's going to be frantic!
Very much looking forward to seeing you all soon. A word of warning for the ladies: if you were planning on wearing pink, I suggest you think again! My nieces were very upset when I told them that they couldn't wear pink, so if you turn up in pink you may find yourself being told off by a very indignant 5 year old!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Bridezillas
I think I've done a fairly good job of not becoming a bridezilla. Unfortunately, my obsessive and neurotic personality traits make my have bridezilla moments, but I think I have them mostly under control. There's only been a couple of points where someone has had to tell me to chill out. And I haven't really put my foot down about anything or been particularly demanding on anyone yet, I don't think. Of course, I'm stressing out and not sleeping and constantly chugging Rescue Remedy, but that's a different story...
Anyway, I wanted to talk about bridezillas. When I was at Strictly Bridal waiting to have my dress fitting, a woman came into the store to pick up her dress. She argued with the store attendant about the amount remaining on her bill and was kind of rude. In the end, the store attendant gave her a headpiece for free. After this woman left, the attendant told me that she'd brought one of the most expensive dresses they have, and spent around $15,000 in the store, including dresses and accessories for her and her bridesmaids. Yes, you read that right - $15,000. Apparently, this woman had also gotten different height shoes for all her attendants so that they appear all the same height in the photographs. And while she was there with her attendants for fittings etc they were all very obedient and just accepted whatever she said. Talk about a bridezilla!
I think nearly everyone has a wedding horror story of some sort, if not from their own wedding, then from someone they know. So far everything is going according to plan for ours, but I'll breathe a sigh of relief when it's over. In the mean time, I'll keep laughing at Wedinator and Cake Wrecks and hoping that I don't end up making an appearance on either site!
Anyway, I wanted to talk about bridezillas. When I was at Strictly Bridal waiting to have my dress fitting, a woman came into the store to pick up her dress. She argued with the store attendant about the amount remaining on her bill and was kind of rude. In the end, the store attendant gave her a headpiece for free. After this woman left, the attendant told me that she'd brought one of the most expensive dresses they have, and spent around $15,000 in the store, including dresses and accessories for her and her bridesmaids. Yes, you read that right - $15,000. Apparently, this woman had also gotten different height shoes for all her attendants so that they appear all the same height in the photographs. And while she was there with her attendants for fittings etc they were all very obedient and just accepted whatever she said. Talk about a bridezilla!
I think nearly everyone has a wedding horror story of some sort, if not from their own wedding, then from someone they know. So far everything is going according to plan for ours, but I'll breathe a sigh of relief when it's over. In the mean time, I'll keep laughing at Wedinator and Cake Wrecks and hoping that I don't end up making an appearance on either site!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Things are coming together nicely...
26 more sleeps, only 3 more weeks of work before I'm off work and running around like a headless chicken doing last minute organising! I had my dress fitting on Thursday which went well, only a tiny bit of adjustment needed which was excellent. I feel very girly, wearing a pretty dress and shoes, having hair & makeup done, that kind of thing. I think that most of my friends won't recognise me!
The dress store, Strictly Bridal, can also custom-make Dave's tie, which is great news, because I was starting to worry a little about that. All I wanted was a retro-style, skinny orange tie. I thought it would be easy! But my Google-Fu failed me. So I'm glad that has been sorted out. And if it doesn't turn out how I want, well, by the time I find out it will be too late and I'll just have to "deal with it" as a certain manager would say.
On the jewelry side of things, Dave's ring has now been resized thanks to Le Gassick in Robina. The ring belonged to his great-grandfather, who was married on 15 October 1913. I also got them to repair my signet ring that I've had since I was a little girl, and it looks beautiful, but unfortunately it was quite worn and they have polished off the engraving. So I need to get it engraved again. We also ordered my wedding band from there and it should be ready on time. For my earrings, my Mum found a gorgeous pair that are very close to matching my choker through TradeMe (which is NZ's answer to eBay). She also picked up a very pretty hair clip for me.
The Mums and I have agreed to do the seating plan the Monday before the wedding, which is cutting it a little fine for my obsessive organising tendencies, but I think I can cope as long as everything else is organised! There's still lots of little details, but really, if I fell in a hole right now and couldn't emerge until the wedding day, I think everything would be fine! All of the big stuff is done now.
There's an awful lot happening between now and the big day and I'm going to be very busy - Dave's birthday is tomorrow, Radhika's birthday and Valentine's is this weekend, Andrea's is next week, then my Hen's Night, then I start uni, then people start arriving! Busy busy! So I apologise in advance if I seem a little scatterbrained, distracted, or forgetful - I have other things on my mind :)
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
The dress store, Strictly Bridal, can also custom-make Dave's tie, which is great news, because I was starting to worry a little about that. All I wanted was a retro-style, skinny orange tie. I thought it would be easy! But my Google-Fu failed me. So I'm glad that has been sorted out. And if it doesn't turn out how I want, well, by the time I find out it will be too late and I'll just have to "deal with it" as a certain manager would say.
On the jewelry side of things, Dave's ring has now been resized thanks to Le Gassick in Robina. The ring belonged to his great-grandfather, who was married on 15 October 1913. I also got them to repair my signet ring that I've had since I was a little girl, and it looks beautiful, but unfortunately it was quite worn and they have polished off the engraving. So I need to get it engraved again. We also ordered my wedding band from there and it should be ready on time. For my earrings, my Mum found a gorgeous pair that are very close to matching my choker through TradeMe (which is NZ's answer to eBay). She also picked up a very pretty hair clip for me.
The Mums and I have agreed to do the seating plan the Monday before the wedding, which is cutting it a little fine for my obsessive organising tendencies, but I think I can cope as long as everything else is organised! There's still lots of little details, but really, if I fell in a hole right now and couldn't emerge until the wedding day, I think everything would be fine! All of the big stuff is done now.
There's an awful lot happening between now and the big day and I'm going to be very busy - Dave's birthday is tomorrow, Radhika's birthday and Valentine's is this weekend, Andrea's is next week, then my Hen's Night, then I start uni, then people start arriving! Busy busy! So I apologise in advance if I seem a little scatterbrained, distracted, or forgetful - I have other things on my mind :)
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Hair & Makeup
I had my hair & makeup trial with Amanda at Allure today. She was great, and I was very happy. I told her at the start that a) I'm very fidgety and claustrophobic around my face, so having makeup done is like torture for me, and b) therefore, I never wear makeup at all, so anything she does needs to be very light. She took it in stride and made me feel confident that she understood my concerns - most of the time, makeup artists just go "sure" and then blunder in and plaster something on and my eyes are watering and I'm hyperventilating and...Sorry, flashback there...Anyway, she wasn't like that at all. She constantly asked me if I was comfortable, explained what she was doing at each step, and worked around my eyes tearing up. She worked with my good features and I think she did a fabulous job. No photos though - I want it to be a surprise!
After the trial, and feeling fabulous, I went and tried on my dress to make sure it all looks fine. I took my shoes and my gorgeous choker and I'm really happy with the result. But I need to find some pewter or antique-looking silver earrings that aren't too blingy so they don't detract from my choker. Suggestions?
On Thursday I go back to Strictly Bridal for my dress fitting. Luckily, it needs minimal work. I was amazed at how easy it was to find my dress, and how well it fitted right off the rack. It's my classic hourglass figure, you see ;)
Still need to organise music for the ceremony and our first dance (which will include everyone - Dave flatly refuses to dance as a couple with no one else on the dancefloor), although I know what I will be walking down the aisle to. Lots of other little bits and pieces to organise still as well, but mostly on track!
Less than 5 weeks to go now - 33 more sleeps - but who's counting, eh? :)
After the trial, and feeling fabulous, I went and tried on my dress to make sure it all looks fine. I took my shoes and my gorgeous choker and I'm really happy with the result. But I need to find some pewter or antique-looking silver earrings that aren't too blingy so they don't detract from my choker. Suggestions?
On Thursday I go back to Strictly Bridal for my dress fitting. Luckily, it needs minimal work. I was amazed at how easy it was to find my dress, and how well it fitted right off the rack. It's my classic hourglass figure, you see ;)
Still need to organise music for the ceremony and our first dance (which will include everyone - Dave flatly refuses to dance as a couple with no one else on the dancefloor), although I know what I will be walking down the aisle to. Lots of other little bits and pieces to organise still as well, but mostly on track!
Less than 5 weeks to go now - 33 more sleeps - but who's counting, eh? :)
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