#24 Phantastic Photography!

We have decided on our photographer!

We met the EVER so lovely & EVER so talented Karalee of Angelsmith Photography, (you can check out her beautiful work on Facebook as well) & everything seems just lovely & perfect & peachy.

Her photos are candid, photo journalism style which I like as it feels a lot more personal & her wedding package is excellent - most probably helped greatly by the fact that she loves what she does, which is no line, you can tell she truly does love it.

Looking through her folios at all these amazing, intimate moments in peoples lives she has managed to capture - it's no wonder!

We love what she does too :)

Thinking we'll probably book an engagement shoot with too, got some fun ideas & we really don't have many nice photos of us together at all... Big ups to my Quasimodo style pregnancy there? Ha. So it'd be nice to have some...

It was a fairly busy trip to Adelaide this time around, I guess they will only get busier as we get closer to the date. To be expected when planning from interstate I suppose?

#23 First set back...

So what we thought would be our reception venue crashed & burned.

We found it via the website & to give credit where credit is due, it is an absolutely beautiful venue & the decor is gorgeous.

Went there with the boys parents to check it out & taste the food when we were in Adelaide & - oh.my.god.

Mother outlaw & I went searching for the ladies & we were pointed in the direction of a map which lead us down 3 flights of super steep stairs that let me tell you, you wouldn't want to be descending if you were even a teeny bit tipsy, it was perilous enough stone cold sober!

Though to be fair, it probably did me good on the exercise front?

When we arrived at said destination we were almost ill, they were that filthy.

We had to go up to the counter to order, which was odd in this setting but ok.

We waited & waited...

And when it finally arrived it was laughable.

Laughable if we all weren't so hungry & my heart wasn't breaking as I realised that what had seemed too good to be true - really really was.

If you imagine 'Black & Gold' brand Yum Cha (if such a thing exists) from the supermarket freezer section, with zero points for presentation, cooked badly - either watery, sludgy, or overly deep fried but all of them tasteless- then you are kind of getting what we had the misfortune of experiencing.

The fact that there wasn't a chopstick in sight should have rung alarm bells I guess?

I also had a little look through the window in the door to the kitchen & couldn't help but note that it didn't seem to be in a much better state than the bathrooms...

It's time like these I wish I was a food writer & could openly insult them as much as they insulted us having us pay through the nose for such all around yuk! Ha.

Anyhow, I'm not really all that sore about it. Really I'm not!

In all honesty, my heart did break a bit & I hadn't realised quite how much I had thought it was a sure thing.

But I guess I learnt a valuable lesson hey? Something about chickens and hatching?

#22 Went to Adelaide...

And have come back an (almost?) honest woman!

On Friday 27th of November sometime between 11:30 & 11:50...

While the gorgeous Nannie, Grandad & nieces kept our beautiful boy entertained at the Zoo...

During a suprise picnic by the river Torrens that included all things wonderful...

And 3 heart wrenching cards from my best friend in all the world later...

My sweet & handsome man pulled a little box from the depths of the picnic hamper...

Got down on his good knee...

And asked me to be his wife!!!

I may have cried, I definitely said Yes :)

So now it's Officially Official & the next stage is the Officially Official Officially kind which we are now officially planning for!

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!

#21 We're going on a tree hunt...

We're going to find a BIG one!

I don't yet know where... but surely somewhere in Adelaide there is a tree as beautiful as these ones with our name on it.

Well, not on it exactly as that would most likely be a fine-able offense as any trees this big & beautiful are probably national trust, but the tree meant for us anyway.

Can't you just picture it at the end of the aisle...

Gosh i hope we find one!

If you are in/are familiar with Adelaide & know where 'it' is-please please please enlighten me?

Sometimes my picky/stubborn-ness is little bit more than a lot annoying and i wish I could be more flexible with things... but mostly once I get a certain idea/image in my head then nothing else will do.

Hence the headache of the 'one or the other' direction of reception venue!

What to do, what to do?

Do we go with the surroundings we - yeah yeah lets be honest - i want....

Or with the food?

All attempts to get the 2 of them together have hit brick wall after brick wall after concrete slab.

What's that? Concentrate on the tree? Yup.

#20 Why do you let me stay here?

Not particularly relevant to this blogs topic... Lets call it inspiration shall we?

Lovely word, covers a multitude of strayingness...

A music clip for 'Why do you let me stay here' - She and Him' (Zooey Deschanel & M.Ward) from Marc Webb, the director of '500 Days of Summer', feat Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Be prepared for serious sweetness...

#19 Uh Oh...

So I had totally decided on the Palomas Nest Ring 'Pillow'.

Then, completely unexpectedly (I was done looking at Ring Pillows you see, it was THAT certain) whilst dancing through the veils, fascinators and other lovelies on the Twigs and Honey website, I came across....

Via Twigs and Honey

Oh no! Decisions!

Do you think having 2 ring bearers - 1 carrying my sweethearts ring, and the other mine - would be out of the question???

I may have to take this new development and its consequences under serious consideration.

#18 Enthusasiam strikes again?

So it may be apparent at this stage, that I have a tendency when I like something to become a little...some may say obsessed, but I'll say enthusiastic?

My last post led me to Twigs and Honey and I'm feeling mighty 'enthusiastic' about this discovery!

Have been sitting here looking at the Twigs and Honey website and also their Etsy store, Goo and Gaa - ing like mad, and perhaps re thinking my decision to make my own veil...

I have a feeling that after having seen these anything I make will fall rather short.

I tried to narrow down my favourites. Honest I did.

I failed.

So all I can do is trust that you will feel just as 'enthusiastic' as I and not mind one bit that I MAY have gone a little over the top...

Veils

Fascinators (To be affixed to veil in this case)

Accessories

Flower Girls

Via Twigs and Honey / Twigs and Honey-Etsy

I really couldn't help myself. Clearly I have no self control.

#17 Birdcage Veils

When it comes to Vintage bridal glamour, there is absolutely no going past the Birdcage Veil.

I really can't get enough of them... And how to choose???

To be honest, I have seen quite a few that I went 'UGH'. Totally over the top and just, well, you get the idea without me heading further into Narkville...

But I have also come across some absolute stunners (In my trawling of google images - great thing that!)

Loving the understated elegance.

Have a gander at these...

................................................Via Artikalnyc-Etsy..........Via Twigs & Honey/Myra Callan-Etsy

Via CastleBride couture ......Via Fearless Bridals ....................Via Brendas Bridal Veils-Etsy

Birdcage veils kick other veils butts.

#15 Reworked Wonders

Continuing on from my confession...

There is an Etsy shop called Lacuna Work that makes books using reworked wood from antique furniture and recycled paper.

I absolutely fell in love with this book, but measuring at just 8x9.5 cms it's a tad small for a guest book...It took multiple viewings and arguments with myself before a heartbreaking confirmation from the boy made me accept this fact however!

Via Lacuna Work - Etsy

Delightfully enough, custom orders are a possibility...

I'm not too sure how something like this would fare being imported, especially in the instance of the insect holes, (which I love) and I would worry about the paper standing up to treatments to allow it to pass through customs?

Will have to do some investigationing me thinks....

#14 Little White Dresser

I am addicted to Etsy.

There. I've said it.

I could quite happily spend the whole day drooling over all the wonderous things on that site... but I don't....cough cough...

The beauties below are all from Little White Dresser - who by the way I've just noticed has some excellent holiday offers at the moment!

There are SO many pretty headbands, belts, necklaces and earrings, some weddingy and some not.

And on a side note, I'm not sure if she is indeed the talent behind the creations but think I might just be falling in love with the model... Stunning much?

Via Little White Dresser - Etsy

Oh and did I mention I love Etsy???

#13 Transport

Yeah?

I'm thinking yeah... Bareback... It would add a certain amount of complication and cost though... Not to mention that we would be unable to leave the ceremony in the same manner, which is more complication and potential cost as well?

Hmmm...

#12 Origami Gown

I am in the process of folding 1001 Paper Cranes that will, if all goes to plan, make various appearances throughout weddingness.

Wandering around the internet, as you do, and came across this stunner....

Via Papier Couture

How. Amazing. Can you believe the talent that has gone into this?

This Gown is part of a collection of 7, each one a true work of art.

This one remains my favourite.

I have been told NO. Bahaha!

Despite this resounding instruction, I so definately would.

If only money grew on gowns...

#11 Engagement Photo Envy...

Could these be any more beautiful???

Seriously doubt it...

Talk about weak at the knees making - 100% swoon worthy!

Suffering quite a serious case of envy... it could be fatal...

Via Studio ThisIs

#10 Butterflylicious

I was at my beautiful friend Monica's house on Sunday for her equally beautiful little girls first birthday.

Opened the fridge to put something away and saw these..

Just about died.

How gorgeous are they?!?!

Not to mention absolutely delicious!

Can you imagine....

#9 "Themes" and Schemes

I must admit I am not a fan of the word 'theme' when it comes to weddings.

For me it conjures up images of kitsch and tacky galore.

However I do want influences from which I will draw inspiration...

Sounds mighty pretentious really but do you get what I mean?

So.

Influences and inspiration (at this point in time) are as follows....

Asia
Vintage
Nature
Unique
Personal

As far as colour schemes go, I would love for the greater focus to be on textures so I'd like a neutral/natural sort of palette, which also ties in to the nature and personal influences as I'm fairly biased toward those types of shades in most areas.

White

Cream

Champagne

Chocolate brown

Latte

Little highlights of green

The green is also a tiny way of referencing my sweethearts Irish roots.

Do you have a theme or influences that you draw inspiration from?

#8 Ring 'Pillow'

I know that these gorgeous bowls are uber popular right now, and who would wonder why?

And the best thing is, after the sheer beauty of course, is that you can have whatever custom text you want put on them so long as it fits!

Definitely putting in an order. Now just to choose the text...

Via Palmoa's nest

#7 Cakes Cakes Cakes!

YUM.

Via wonderful wedding cakes Via ivory tower cakes

Via special day cakes

Liking the whole Crocquembouche wedding cake idea too...

#6 Night Photos

I am love love LOVING night shots!

We are meeting a photographer in a few weeks when we visit my sweethearts folks interstate (I'm yet to mention, wedding will be interstate.) We've had a little bit of emailing back and forth the last month or so, ok maybe a lot. Strangely enough not much of it has been wedding talk? Anyway, she seems positively wonderful, loving what I've seen of her shots they have such a personal feel to them as well as being stunning so I'm hoping all goes well with the meeting and everything clicks!

Blabbering on, but what I WAS getting to, is that I think that whoever we do end up going I will have to do some serious begging to find a way to make night shots possible...

Here's an example of what I mean, not from the same photographer we are meeting - I haven't seen any night shots in her work- This shot is just some gorgeousness I happened upon...

Via SB CHILDS PHOTOGRAPHY

Oh and sparklers are a MUST...

Via Brian Mullins Photography (Obviously!)

Could you just die???

#5 And instead of flowers...

So I mentioned in my last post that I'm thinking my bridesmaids won't have flowers.

Not sure whether I'm leaning towards cream or a brown, i keep changing my mind but here's a picture of what I'm dreaming about...

This beauty is from Battenburg Lace.

As you may have guessed the front runner for ceremony site is outdoors so it's appropriate both because of that and also in February it will still likely be quite sunshiney. Fingers crossed!

I'm thinking/hoping it will really add to the subtle vintage feel I'm going for as well...