Wedding Showcase: Rebecca & Andrew

Bonjour mes amis,

On Saturday, 18 September 2011, Rebecca married her high school sweetheart Andrew. After a tradtional service at St Andrew's Church, guests were invited to dance the night away by the river at the Gallery of Modern Art.

The balcony at GoMA looked spectacular and the food was simply delicious. The band was amazing and the guests cheerful.

All in all it was a spectacular evening.

Congratulations to Rebecca & Andrew.

Supplier List

Wedding Planning: The Little White Wedding Company

Flowers: Divine Flowers

Cake: Sweetums Designer Cakes

Band: Graham Hobson Entertainment

Reception: GoMA

Catering: Caxton Street Catering

Victoria x

Photographs courtesy of:

Ben Clark Photography

www.benclarkphotography.com.au

A Bride's Diary

Hi there

You might not know me because I'm not usually from around here. In fact, while I've been an avid reader of this blog for some time, I am a newcomer (and a tentative one at that) to the blog-writing game. But when a sister asks a favour like this, it's hard to refuse - particularly when she's planning your wedding.

So in case you haven't worked it out already, I am Katie, older sister of Victoria (The Little White Wedding Company's planner extraordinaire), and recent engagee.

So what's the goss...

To bring you up to speed, about six months ago, I was delightfully surprised by a proposal from my then boyfriend Mark. See...here we are celebrating, or at least conducting a brief re-enactment of our excitement for your benefit.

Of course, the engagement was quickly followed by the standard series of questions from friends and family: Have you set a date? Have you set a date? And, not unexpectedly, have you set a date? Of course, the rest of the who, what, when and why (actually most people had figured that out already) also flooded forth.

Luckily for us, previously-discussed wedding-planner-extraordinaire/sister Victoria leaped effortlessly to the rescue, starting first with a lovely intimate family dinner that she had beautifully planned and styled by the time we got home to Brisbane that evening. She also asked a small favour - that I write a monthly blog about my experience of the wedding planning process for her to publish on The Secret Diary of a Wedding Planner.

The promise...

So for the next 10 months or so I will be fulfilling that promise, starting next week with the first installment and sharing my experiences as a bride-to-be for your information and/or amusement. I look forward to sharing my insights with you.

Until next time...

Katie

Flowers for the Superstitious Bride

Bonjour mes amis,

Whether you've adopted them or not, superstitions have long been a part of weddings. It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before she walks down the aisle; For good luck the bride should have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue; The "single lady" (hello Beyonce reference!) who catches the bride's bouquet will be the next to wed.

The list goes on...

Being surrounded by beautiful blooms in Spring I've been thinking about flowers much more than usual so to further fuel the superstitious fire, here's a few popular flowers and their meanings.

Tulip - love & passion

arrangement by Always Fabulous Flowers

Sweet Peas - pleasure

arrangement by Always Fabulous Flowers

Rose - love, joy & beauty

arrangement by Palais Floral

Roses - love, joy & beauty

arrangement by Always Fabulous Flowers

Peony - bashful with a spirit of ambition & determination

arrangement by Always Fabulous Flowers

Orchid - love & beauty

arrangement by Palais Floral

Lavender - devotion

photography courtesy of Palais Floral

Chrysanthemum - wealth, abundance & truth

arrangement by Always Fabulous Flowers

Anemone - unfading love

arrangement by Palais Floral

Beware, some flowers aren't as sweet as they may appear. Some to be cautious of are:

Striped Carnation - refusal

Red Poppy -consolation

Choose wisely...

Victoria x

Photographs courtesy of:

Always Fabulous Flowers - www.allfabflowers.com.au

Palais Floral - www.palaisfloral.com

Introducing...A Party Pack

Bonjour mes amis

Two fabulous women - Nikki Buckland of Paper Scissors Rock Stationery and Anna Matjasec from Invite With Style have joined forces to bring you a stress free and stylish tool to help you create the perfect party.

By combining their formidable creativity and talent for sourcing the loveliest and most original party accessories from across the globe, A Party Pack can help ease the hosting duties whether it be for an engagement party, high tea or baby shower. "A Party Pack makes hosting a stylish party as easy as opening a gift box! Each gorgeous A Party Pack box is filled with chic essentials to create a beautiful party."

For more information about A Party Pack visit the website - www.apartypack.com.au

Victoria x

Photographs courtesy of:

A Party Pack - www.apartypack.com.au

Wedding Sneak Peek: Rebecca & Andrew

Bonjour mes amis,

Yesterday a lovely couple were married at St Andrews in South Brisbane and then continued the celebration at GoMA.

Until the professional photographs arrive here's a quick sneak peak for you to enjoy!

Happy Sunday.

Victoria x

It's a Date!

Bonjour mes amis,

As some of you know, my sister happily accepted a proposal earlier this year. Since then we've been trying to decide when the wedding should be held. some say May, some say September and some don't have an opinion. We've reasoned with family commitments, budget, optimal weather conditions and a whole range of other factors.

Anyone who's engaged or is close to someone that has just been proposed to know that setting a date is sometimes not the easiest task on the planning checklist.

To help you decide when to hold the most romantic date of your life, here's a list of things for you to consider.

Weather - no one wants to be rained out on their wedding day so take the time of year into consideration. Look at the previous year's rain fall and temperatures for that time of year and use that as a guide. Key word: guide.

Family Commitments - once you have settled on a time of year, check with those who are close to you to ensure they don't have any existing commitments for that time. You don't want your best friend or sister to be in the middle of an overseas trip!

Budget - If you have a lot of spare change lying around this won't bother you but if you are budget conscious have a discussion with those contributing to the wedding and decide when would be a realistic time for it to be held. You want to avoid starting your marriage in debt!

Availability - If you need to book a venue for your ceremony and/or reception you may need to be flexible with your date depending on their availability. This of course also depends on your desire to hold your wedding on a particular date or at a particular venue. Know your priorities from the beginning.

Public Holidays - There are two side to this factor. If you choose to get married on a public holiday you will most likely encounter extra fees from your suppliers. If however, you get married over a long weekend (but not on the public holiday) you'll miss out on those extra fees and be able to extend the celebration without having to worry about work schedules.

There are of course a couple of "issues" that may arise when trying to set a date:

Difficult Friends/Relatives - When it comes to your wedding those close to you are always going to have an opinion...about EVERYTHING! Stay focused on the factors that are important to you and follow your instincts. It's your wedding so you need to be happy with the final decision.

Pleasing Everybody - This is never going to happen so forget about it...RIGHT NOW! The average wedding has approximately 120 guests. That's 120 individual schedules that you'd have to coordinate! If your invitations go out on time it will give your guests plenty of time to clear their diaries.

Try not to let these factors dominate your decision making. As I said before it's your wedding and you and your fiance need to be the ones happy with the final decision.

My one final tip: Follow your instincts; we have them for a reason!

Victoria x

Photograph courtesy of:

Ruby & Scarlett - www.rubyandscarlett.com.au

Spring has Sprung

Bonjour mes amis

Spring has finally sprung!

After months of cardigans, gloves and berres we can finally shed some layers and soak up the sun.

Naturally with the trees and flowers in full bloom and birds singing their tune this is a great time of year to get married.

To help ease you out of the winter blues, get inspired by these joys of spring.

Victoria x