One year on (Happy Anniversary to us)

Today, Adam and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Hoorah - we made it through the first year!

We had previously agreed that we would go away every anniversary, but already in our first year this didn't quite happen! We have a holiday booked next month for a friend's wedding, so instead of holidaying twice, we celebrated our anniversary by holidaying in our own city. Adam booked a surprise night away: we had a hotel room in the city and we went to Chianti, a beautiful Italian restaurant for dinner. We did everything we'd do on a weekend interstate - shopping, drinks at the pub, breakfast at a cafe, shopping today... we even walked to dinner rather than driving or getting a cab. It was lovely.

It's funny - in some ways it feels as though our wedding was just last week - yet in other ways I feel like I've been married for ages.

So one year on, what can I tell you?

• I'm still getting used to the terms 'wife' and 'husband' and 'married'. I still giggle a little when I say 'my husband and I'. Every now and then we deliberately make each other laugh by saying things like "is that my wife arriving home?" or "oh is my husband cooking dinner?". We think it's hilarious and makes us sound old!

• Surprisingly, I have adjusted to the change in surname. I don't think I ever really blogged about that dilemma, but I was really quite torn about it in the lead up to our wedding. I wont go into it here, as it probably deserves a blog post of it's own. But I was worried about it, I was scared, a little sad and felt like somehow it meant I was no longer as connected to my own family. It sounds irrational, but it was a big deal - and I'm sure other brides feel it. And as it turns out, I needn't have been. I have quite easily slipped into my new name quite naturally.

• There's not much I would change about our wedding day. Yes, there are people that we haven't even seen since that day.. but I'd probably still invite them.  There are new decor trends that I love... but I'd probably still keep ours as it was. There are new suppliers and venues that I've discovered... but I'm content with our choices. All in all, our wedding was perfect for us at the time, it suited us to a tee - and because of that I don't think we'll ever look back on it and cringe. Not even when my dress becomes the equivalent of the puffy sleeve. (** as a side note, I think brides should bear this in mind when making their choices... you don't need to be classic, timeless, worry about things dating. Your wedding is one day - one snapshot of time - one point in your lives. Do it so it suits you at the time and there'll never be reason to wish it wasn't that way**).

• It does feel different to be married. Whenever people ask "How's married life?" (and they ask this a lot actually!), my standard answer is "Exactly the same as before". After all, we had already lived together for years. But there is a shift of a kind. We feel a bit more grown up. And we feel like more of a team. If you'd asked me 18 months ago, if we were a team, I'd have told you that we were. But it's stronger now.  Maybe because we know we are stuck together...forever... mwahaha! But seriously, the legal bind has had an impact. We still argue ?(in fact, we've argue plenty), but we argue knowing that its just an argument and that we'll work it out. We don't question whether we'll stay together. Even the biggest arguments don't feel break-up worthy. And...there's more. There's no jealousy or insecurity. In fact, it's the opposite - it's security. I hope I don't sound like a married wanker... I sense that I might, because I know 18 months ago I would have thought that if I read this. I would think "i'm secure, i'm not jealous, we're a team". But I swear... something has shifted. Just saying! 

Anyway, this has turned into a little bit of a reflection. It probably is a good time for reflecting - on the wedding, on marriage, on our relationship.
But I really just came here to say.. YAY!

Good luck to anyone reading that is planning their wedding and marriage. I can honestly say that marriage has been great. So far. :-)

Now I'll leave you with some of our wedding snaps, because an anniversary is also a great time to flick back through the album!

Our wedding is on the internet!!

Yes, you read right: our wedding is on the internet!
Ok so you're probably reading this going "yeah so? you blog about your wedding on the internet".
Actually.. it's better than that. Our wedding is on Style Me Pretty!!

Somehow I missed it. It has been there for 2 weeks without me knowing!! I was out for drinks and dinner tonight and my friend said that someone sent her the link!

Go here to read it and see some pics you haven't seen:
http://www.stylemepretty.com/2011/08/26/glen-ewin-estate-wedding-by-james-field/

How exciting! I always thought about submitting my wedding to a blog.. but wasn't sure whether or not to, whether it was blog-worthy enough, whether I'd be embarrassed once it went up (weird i know!)..

Now it's great to see my pictures up on one of my favorite blogs.. I love Style Me Pretty. It was a constant source of inspiration for me while I was engaged. Ok, who am i kidding? It is STILL a source of inspiration!

And speaking of which, SMP now has a special 'local' section especially for Australian weddings.. which means vendors and venues that we can access here. Yay, three cheers for accessibility!

And just quietly.. what kind of wedding planner would I be if I wasn't featured on any blogs? It's another step in the right direction for my future plans!

"Pass the lamb, please" - Shared Food at wedding receptions

from Pinterest

When trying to plan a menu for your wedding, it is really hard to please everyone AND ensure that the food creates the right atmosphere.

Cocktail food is great for creating a party atmosphere and allows people to move around and mingle. It also means you can provide lots of variety - which helps make sure that everyone gets something they like.
But SO OFTEN people complain that they don't eat enough at cocktail parties. And while moving around is great, it's not so cool if you are only moving to chase the waiters around all night!
For me, the other issue was that cocktail seemed almost too casual. I am almost shocked to say that actually, as I AM casual.. but I kept thinking, "what about during speeches? where will people sit? will they listen? will they be able to see?" and so on. I also worried it would feel too much like a party (a 30th or engagement party) because of he lack of formality.

Sit-Down dinner also has its pros and cons. On the plus side: everyone gets plenty to eat (generally at least 2 courses all of their own!), they get a seat ('yay' say the girls in high heels), and there is an air of formality (this is a special occasion after all). It also allows you to set the timing of the night.. entree, speech, main, more speeches, dance etc - and you generally have a captive audience.
On the downside - it means people are in their seats for a lot of the night (so your seating plan is very important) and it means they might not get up to mingle or dance. Then there's the food issues: alternate drop vs choice of 2 options. One table has finished eating and the other hasn't started yet.. And is the food ever that great anyway?

Which brings me to my point.

I love the concept of Shared Food at wedding receptions.
A long banquet style table laden with shared platters that guests can pass along the table and choose what they like from, like a family dinner. (***please don't mistake this with buffet - where people have to get up and go and collect their food. I'm not so keen on that. It's a little prison-dinner like in my opinion).

To me, a banquet is the perfect blend of casual and formal. It's festive and interactive. There's variety - and flexibility to eat what you want. There's still a sit-down, feel-like-you've-had-a-meal side to it.. but it is somehow more relaxed.

I am biased, because this is actually what we did.
And here is a little sample of our menu for you:

Meat

Chicken fillets - cooked on charcoal, seasoned with herbs and spices 

Pork ribs - slow cooked in a smoked barbeque marinade

Mini steaks - marinated with a mixture of oregano, thyme, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Lamb cutlets- marinated in rosemary, garlic and infused olive oil

Seafood

Garfish fillets – lightly floured, seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper and lightly fried

Salt and pepper calamari - with a lemon pepper dipping sauce

Prawn shasliks - marinated and glazed with sweet chili and sea salt

Char grilled octopus - drizzled with olive oil, lemon and balsamic vinegar

Salad & Vegetables

Baby spinach and pumpkin salad - tossed with feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and lightly dressed with balsamic dressing

Greek salad - with feta cheese, Kalamata olives and dressed traditionally with a Greek virgin olive oil vinaigrette

Bowl of in-season char grilled vegetables - lightly seasoned with sea salt and extra virgin olive oil 

Pide Bread served with Olive Oil and Balsamic

Cheese Platter

Camembert, mature Cheddar, smoked Dutch Edam and Tasmanian blue vein with dried apricots, figs and pears, mixed roasted nuts and water crackers

Yummo!! I could eat it again right now.

NOTE: Don't be offended by my opinions or preferences. They are merely that: Opinions. And they are shaped by the general feel of my wedding too. Of course sit-down dinners will be more suited to more formal weddings.

Our Photobooth

You would think that after 6 months, I would have shared all of my wedding details/photos by now. But there's more... Here are some pics from our home-made photo-booth.

Photo-booths are done quite a bit these days, particularly in the blogging world. Luckily for us though, nobody at our wedding had seen it done before. So it was still a novelty and oh-so-much FUN!
I'm really glad we did this. We have some fabulous photos as a result!
Here is just a sample:

 

We hung a backdrop and provided some props for people to use (funny glasses, moustaches on sticks, frames and blackboards for people to write messages on). As you can see, they also ended up also finding their own props on the night!

Our photographer set up a camera on a tripod with a remote control - and a TV so people could see what they were taking. At the end of the wedding, he uploaded all 500 photos to his website for us.

It was a huge success! It was packed all night. And after the wedding, we gave everyone a photo of themselves with their thank you cards!

Ceremony readings - Part 2

There's one wedding reading I fell in love with.
It couldn't be more real or more meaningful.
Even now when I read it, my breath catches in my chest a little at the end. And I feel a bit choked up.  It is special.

Union, by Robert Fulghum
*we worked it into the ceremony, so this is a slightly edited version, as it sounded on our day
Jessica and Adam,

You have known each other for seven years, from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. 

At some point, you decided to marry.

From that moment of ‘yes’ until this moment of ‘Yes’, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way.

All of the conversations that were held in a car or over a meal or on long walks—all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”—those late-night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”—and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.

All these common things, and more, are the real process of wedding.

The symbolic vows you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed—well, I meant it all, every word.”

Now,  face one another to make your vows. Look at one another—remember this moment in time.

Before this moment, you have been many things to one another—acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last seven years.

Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never be quite the same between you. 

For after these vows you shall say to the world:   This—is my husband. This—is my wife.

Gasp... it still gets me!

Here is the moment:

Ceremony readings

Sometimes I can't decide what I want this blog to be.
Sometimes it is a reflection and keepsake of my own wedding.
Sometimes I see new ideas that fit my theme perfectly, that i wish i'd seen earlier and that i want to share.
Sometimes I want to write about different events entirely... that aren't even rustic.  But this isn't the place. I'll save those ideas for another blog.
This is about the rustic garden party. Our rustic garden party. And the frame of mind, inspiration and fun things that made us plan it.
So.. let me share more of 'us' with you. The bits we chose, not just because they were pretty, but because they were meaningful, special and 'us'.

Here is a reading from our wedding. It was read by Adam's niece and nephew. (who are actually now my niece and nephew too, i suppose!).

It is an excerpt from a children's book from the 1960's: I LIKE YOU, by Sandol Stoddard Warburg.

I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, Remember when you told me something special?
And both of us remember

When I think something is important
you think it's important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too

You know how to be silly
That's why I like you
Boy are you silly
I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you
I like you because you know when it's time to stop being silly
Maybe day after tomorrow
Maybe never

I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then

If you go away, then I go away too
or if I stay home, you send me a postcard
You don't just say “Well see you around sometime, bye”
And I like you because if we go away together
And if I get lost
Then you are the one that is yelling for me

I will go on choosing you
And you will go on choosing me
Over and over again
That's how it will happen every time
I don't know why I really like you
I guess I just like you
I guess I just like you because I like you

Jake and Molly (afore-mentioned niece and nephew) did a fantastic job. Truly fantastic. It was one of the most emotional parts of the ceremony. They are cool kids.

Alternatives to a Wishing Well

We didn't want a typical wishing well for our wedding, but we still needed something that people could put their cards and gifts into.

I tossed up quite a few different ideas of what we could use (things like birdcages -which are also a bit typical, old suitcases, a letterbox, a rustic old crate, a box covered in pretty paper, etc etc) ...in a later post I'll share some of those pics. 

About a week before the wedding I hadn't arranged anything.. and suddenly had no time to trawl through op shops looking for the perfect item. So I ended up using the picnic hamper you see above. It was my mums.. and was actually green on the inside. It also had leather straps which held in plastic cups, plates, cutlery, etc. It was a bit daggy really.

So I set to work with a little more DIY and re-lined it using the same orange gingham that featured on our Jam Jars... and is very similar to our groomsmen's ties.

Step 1 - Cut leather straps off and discard all contents. 

Step 2 - Cut fabric to size

Step 3 - Use hot glue gun to make fabric stick

_______________________________________________________________________

I'm pretty sure that when you plonk 'something that looks like it could store things' at the entrance to a wedding reception... people pretty easily work out what it is there for (i.e. putting cards and gifts into). But it was one week before my wedding and I didn't want any room for error.. so I created some little tags to explain. These tags are the same ones that were tied to our invitations. 

Step 1 - Buy Tags

Step 2 - Decide they are too white and need look more rustic

Step 3 - Make a cup of coffee and dip tags into it. 

Step 4 - Once dry, write on tags

Of course i also went into a panic about whether it was ok to put 'cards' or 'gifts' on the hamper.

ME: - "Does it seem greedy? Does it seem like we are expecting people to bring gifts?"
Reality:- "But people will bring gifts"
ME:- I know, but we don't want them to think we expected them!
Reality:- "But we have a registry"
ME:- Yeah but what if someone doesn't bring anything?
Reality:- Well don't put anything on it then. People will work it out.
ME:- "But then people wont know where to put stuff. OK, we shouldnt put 'gifts'.. that's greedy. Let's just put 'cards'.

Pathetic really. Nobody tells you how much you'll worry about irrelevant details in the lead up to your wedding. Our guests probably barely registered this hamper.. nor the tags!

Hand-made Table Numbers

I had a few ideas about table numbers.

I thought about using little blackboards.

And I thought about using wood, like the bits i used on tables.

Instead, I bought some little wooden  numbers, some little wooden bases, some super glue and some orange paint.  It all cost me about $15.

The result....Ta-da!

(^ Our tables had to be numbered by row, not table. Hence the 2 numbers on one table!)

What other table number options are out there I wonder...Please share any interesting ideas you've seen!

Jam Jar Favours / Bonboniere

These sweet little jam jars doubled as favours (or bonbonierre, whatever you call them) and place cards at our wedding.

. 

Our 100 year old venue used to be a Jam Factory, back in the day.. so we thought this was fitting. 

Plus it fit with the overall rustic theme.

I had every intention of making the jam myself, but I soon realised that was slightly beyond me. Have you ever read about how to make jam?? Despite my expectations, it is NOT as simple as cooking fruit and sugar and bottling the mixture. First you have to find mini jars as cute as the ones above. Then there's all this technical stuff.. like you have to heat the jam jars so they are hot when you fill them wit hot liquid. Which means you have to handle them with tongs, not hands (fiddly!). And then you cant just put a lid on... you have to boil them (with lids on) in order to sterilise and seal them (messy.. and still fiddly!). 

Have I put you off making your own jam yet??

Well.. what if I tell you that you can buy ready made jam in mini jars for only $1 each? Yep, that changed my mind too! I picked up 150 jars for about $150.

Then I set to work with a little DIY. 

I removed the existing labels so that they looked a little more home-made and rustic. 

I cut little squares of orange gingham (which matched our groomsmen's ties perfectly). 

And I tied them up with string (which tied in with our invitations).

Then we attached tags with guests names. 

They looked great and the guests loved them.

I'm pretty sure our niece opened hers and ate it on her bread roll at the reception!

Continuing on confetti..

After my last post, I think I should share my 'confetti'.

My Mother-in-Law has a garden full of roses, so she thoughtfully started collecting rose petals and drying them for months leading up to my wedding. She would lay them out on cardboard on the spare beds in her house.. and once they were dry enough, she bagged them up for me. I think she also put a rose scented oil on them because they smelt lovely.

A couple of weeks before the wedding, she delivered LOADS of these petals to me. I had no idea what to do with them, how to present them, and how to make them fit with the rest of our look.

Here's what I came up with:

I bagged them up into little white paper bags and stamped them with the stamps from our invitations.

Then I put them into a wooden crate that we had handy. It fit perfectly with the theme after all!

And the result:

The colourful fanfare I love, a hilarious look as Adam cops it in the face, and a dress filled with rose petals for the rest of the night!

Thanks Mother-in-Law!

Shoes & Socks

Some of my favourite photos from our wedding don't feature people. They're photos of details.

These details reflect the thought and planning that goes into a wedding. Those little things that not everyone notices on the day, but that the bride and groom (ok, lets be honest.. it's generally just the bride!) puts into the planning. They're little purchases that we've trawled the internet searching for, or the decisions we've worried about, blogged about, posted on forums about -  because when we're planning we are focussed on details!

In my case, shoes and socks somehow became a detail that featured heavily in our wedding snaps:

My Shoes.

Bridesmaid Shoes.

Groomsmen Socks.

Romantic Feet.

Pretty Shoes. Orange Argyle Socks. 

I never expected so many photos of feet and/or shoes. It certainly wasn't a planned detail. But it became one that stood out. And somehow these photos manage to look exactly like "our wedding".

Don't let anyone scoff and say that details aren't important. I hate it when people insinuate that brides are 'bridezillas' for worrying about Something as little as shoes.. or the perfect shade of orange argyle sock! Really - these are the things that personalise a wedding, and that put that individual stamp on your wedding. And in the end, those unique shoes/veil/vases/bonboniere might end up creating memories, making your wedding look like "your wedding", and featuring in your favourite pics!

Tell me, what details are you obsessing over?
Or what details became a feature, without you even meaning them to?

Wood = Rustic

What could be more 'rustic' than wood?
We already had plenty of wood in our venue, given that it was made of 100 year old baltic pine.
But I wanted to decorate with more wood.

Like Rachel and Brent's wedding that I talked about back here:

Or like this lovely cottony, woodsy, wedding that I found while planning:

So we* collected some wood! (*by 'we' I mean 'I' scavenged from the side of the road and random people's houses).

And we^ spent hour upon hour trying to saw straight lines through the hardest wood ever using only a hand-saw! (^by 'we' I mean my spunky husband and thoughtful Dad).

And we came up with just what I had in mind!

1. Wood to form centre-pieces. For vases and candles to sit on and around.

2. Wood to hold our menus.

I love my wood bits. 

Mismatched Bridal Parties (again)

Back over here I talked about mismatched groomsmen - and mentioned the fact that our groomsmen and bridesmaids were all mismatched. It's a decision I'm glad we went with.

Firstly: The Girls. 
I purchased fabric (a coral coloured silk chiffon, with a deeper coral satin lining) and I gave it to each girl to what they wanted with. They all went and sorted out their own thing - using entirely different dressmakers. Here was the result:

The girls all looked amazing! They all came up with such different styles, but they still worked so well together. They also all picked their own hairstyles for the day.
The things that held them together were: (1) they were all similar length: just above the knee, (2) they wore matching shoes and jewellery. (3) they all held bouquets which helped tie them together.

And: The Boys
We didn't want to make the guys buy (or hire) expensive suits, so Adam picked a grey suit he liked, and the guys just bought the pants (except for best man who decided to buy the suit too). We bought them those fabulous ties off etsy, that I talked about over here
... then they accessorised however they wanted.

Groom wore the grey suit - with a black & white gingham tie.
Best man wore the grey suit - with an orange and white skinny tie.
GM1 wore grey pants - with and orange and white bow-tie, a grey vest and a cap.
GM2 wore grey pants - the orange and white skinny tie and some grey braces.
GM3 wore the pants with just the orange and white tie.

Here is our whole bridal party together. I wasn't sure if they were happy to be on the net, so I have "starred" out their faces (just in case!).

Bring on the comments... I would love to know what you think. And would love to see your favourite mismatched pics!