Groomsmen Assemble!

When we'd talked about how we were going to ask our attendants, Matty and I had very different ideas. I showed him my links of cupcakes, cookies, cards and crafts. I talked about how I was going to ask each bridesmaid by themselves, when and where.I pulled out my latest finds at trips to spotlight, and discussed my elaborate plans to make them into something craftily genius! 

Matty's plan on the other hand, was get the boys together, line them up, and..

 "You, best man. You two groomsmen. Yes?"

I was therefore surprised on the morning of his groomsmen proposal, when Matty got himself out of bed early, and actually (physically) took himself to his earthbound hell- the local shopping mall.

Here's what he came back with.. what a lovely idea! I bought the space invader cufflinks for him for Xmas the year before, and now the boys will have their favourite superheroes to match.

Bridesmaids Assemble!

 Whilst cheating at life and googling how to ask my bridesmaids to be in the wedding, I came across some gorgeous ideas I thought I'd share!

Like this amazingly detailed kit, containing wedding day info, a short introduction of each bridesmaid, what would be required of them, dress designs, colour schemes, you name it!

This kit is similar, but includes the ultimate bribe; chocolate and alcohol..

Who can say no when it's written in sugar..

... or comes with a jar of cake?!

Seduce them the old-fashioned way (roofies optional).

These two, here and here; a simple but cute idea, with personalised hairstyles!

After careful consideration of my culinary talents (or lack of), and extreme excitement and impatience to ask the girls as soon as possible, I decided to keep mine relatively simple.

I took the personalised bridesmaid chain a one step further by printing off black and white pictures of the girl's faces. I think they turned out quite nicely!

And transferred a photos of each girl onto canvas, following this amazing tutorial from a blogging favourite.

I packed them in a box, along with a hand-written note, a small bottle of alcohol, some mentos, and a pack of "happy tears" tissues. 

Initially the plan was to paint the boxes and decorate the outside, but by this stage my motivation was waning. I simply wrapped the boxes in ribbon, and voila!

Dress Dilemma

Finding the dress. The one that hugs in all the right places, yet skims, slims or adds to the trouble zones.. and even more importantly (unfortunately), fits within the budget. Every bride's dream (and sometimes nightmare).

Having heard the average price of wedding dresses in Australian stores, and subsequently recovering from a minor aneurysm, I decided to consider the alternatives. As a online shopping addict enthusiast, and once seeing the average price online, my mind was soon set on risking my money on the world wide web.

My biggest issue with this decision was the lack of customer reviews from these wedding dress sites. Countless sites had either no reviews what-so-ever, or reviews that had been written seemingly sequentially - on the same date, minutes apart, and in the same style and grammar skill. Suspicious?

So for any of you brides out there considering this option, I would like to offer tips on what I've discovered so far.

With only 9 months until the wedding and a mild paranoia, I made the somewhat controversial decision to order three dresses... at least. And dear jeebus am I glad I followed my instincts.

Dress number 1: 

Found here. Purchased in ivory on March 6th, arrived March 27th-ish.

Here is what was sent (apologies that there's no dress shots without me in it):

Overall, I am pretty impressed actually! It is in dire need of a good press or just to hang for a while (I'd literally only just taken it out of the packaging). There are a few long threads uncut and the lace applique at the top of the bodice looks slightly unfinished. All things that I think a trusty dressmaker could probably fix. The design has not turned out to be my favourite however, so I will be trying to sell this on gumtree in the upcoming weeks.

Dress number 2:

Found here. Ordered in white, March 6th, arrived April 4th.

Again, what was sent, and straight out of the package.

This one is a big disappointment in terms of quality. From a distance the dress appears quite well made, although a little big- the lace up back almost couldn't go tight enough in the lower back to bum region. The first thing I noticed however when pulling it out of it's protective packaging was the large yellow stain in the centre of the skirt - an inspiration to shower straight after trying it on. The edges of the train aren't cut properly, the boning of the bodice is sewn so the inside of the bodice pokes up, the back of the dress was already dirty at the top, and there is even a snip through the edge of the train. SIGH. The application for a refund is in it's early days, but I will be sure to update on the outcome.

Dress 3 and the newly ordered Dress 4.. you will have to wait for pictures as I'm not risking sneakpeaks before the wedding!

Dress 3 was purchased from this seller, again on DH gate, and is amazing quality and the best design to date! After trying it on, I am 90% sure that this is the one. It is sewn well, the lace and lining feels and looks like a quality fabric, the embellishments are pretty, and there are no mysterious body fluid-coloured stains. The only mistakes obvious to me are slightly uneven edges of the train (easily fixable) and they've made it with a zipper back instead of the pictured lace-up back.. but perhaps my tendency to skim read fine print has burned me again and zipper is standard? I'm too lazy to look!  >_< I plan to take it to a dressmaker and see if it can be changed to lace-up if it turns out to be the one!

The 10% uncertainty lies in whether the dress design is the most flattering style on me.. it is a mermaid design and whilst it certainly doesn't look bad, I have gone ahead and ordered a more A-line dress (number 4) from the same seller for comparison.

Fingers crossed I can sell my leftovers, but so far the total cost of all the dresses plus postage has been $550, so I'm happy!

OHARRO!

I would like to take a moment here to pat my procrastinating ass on it's back (hmm?) for finally starting what I've wanted to start for years.. a blog! An outlet for all my self-proclaimed witty thoughts, and profound time-wasting skills involving all sorts of DIY adventures.

The motivation which got me here was a simple pickle of self-congratulation. 

An unexpected and hugely welcomed event occurred in December.. my Moodle (apologies for the sickeningly cutesy name) and I got engaged!

Which means not only do I get to spend the rest of my life with an absolute dreamboat (swoon), but I also have one of the best excuses for spending my nights with paint-stained hands and a room covered in fabric cuttings! HEAVEN! We have a wedding to plan!

Initially I felt lost at the concept! I've had very little involvement in weddings over the years (other than being maid of honour to my best highschool friend, but let's not discuss those neglected duties and poor selections in wind-proof hairstyling). I had no idea where to begin or what was involved.

And then, I found Pinterest! Pinterest, and a number of other awe-inspiring sites that make you want to wtihdraw all your savings and head to the nearest craft outlet! My head is full with seductive ideas of prettiness, romance and personalisation... when perhaps finding a celebrant should be a higher priority? Meh.

But having now spent all this time on searching for inspiration, designing and trialing bits and bobs, researching, and letting my imagination go wild, and following my decision not to post about any of it on facebook (and thereby to 90% of our wedding guests), I've missed that feeling of self-congratulation and public approval that comes with status-updating your latest weetbix consumption record.

So here begins my journey in blogging.. I only hope my posts can be somewhat useful to others and short of tear-inducing boredom, and I would love any feedback at all!