Thursday, January 13, 2011

Our Wedding #4: Ceremony

I walked down the aisle with Mum and Dad - it has always seemed to me the obvious choice. All three of us were crying - happy tears! - but crying nonetheless. We walked to our very good friend Mike's beautiful song, 'I See Love', which meant that there weren't that many dry eyes in the garden!
Our very good friend Rob was our ceremony 'MC' - he has known us both for years, and it was very important to us to have a good friend introduce the ceremony. Our official celebrant was very gracious, and was very happy to do the legal parts of the ceremony.
The whole ceremony felt like a dream - I couldn't look beyond the Pal, but felt waves of happiness and love flowing from the crowd. When I looked over the Pal's shoulder, I saw his brother and groomsmen, who all looked choked up, too. I could have never thought that the ceremony could have been so intensely emotional.
We walked and laughed back down the aisle together to 'All I Want is You', and good friends blew bubbles and wiped away happy tears, too.
This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Next week - the reception!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Our Wedding #3: Before the Ceremony - Boys

The Pal got ready at one of the houses nearby that his mates were staying at, which happened to have a phenomenal view. His Dad popped in for a few photos, too, many of which were 'band photos', which make me laugh. The dress for the wedding was 'nostalgic garden party', which most guests loved (it flummoxed our parents' friends a bit!). So the boys wore old-fashioned vests and hats - they looked amazing.
The Pal gave his extended group of groomsmen pocket watches, which he had engraved with their initials.
Besties. Friends (and the Pal's brother) for many, many years.
Details:
The Pal's suit was tailor-made at The Cloak Room in Surry Hills.

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Next up will be the ceremony!

Also - a big welcome to readers from Polka Dot Bride! So lovely to be featured by such a delightful blog. Thanks Ms Polka Dot!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Our Wedding #2: Before the Ceremony - Girls

I had expected to be nervous on the morning of the wedding. Except, I really wasn't. I spent the morning hanging pom poms, laughing with friends, getting make up and hair done with my bridesmaids (sisters and now sister in law!), and getting really excited.

These photos were taken in the afternoon, just before the ceremony, inside the main house. It was sprinkling with rain at this stage, which was a bit concerning (especially with paper decorations in a garden!), but it managed to stop miraculously the second we stepped outside.
I looked at lots of bridesmaid dresses online, and found them to be far too traditional. Initially, I told the girls to wear whatever they'd like to, but they really wanted to be matching, so when I saw these floral ones, I thought they'd be so perfect for the garden.
I had the bouquets made, as I thought it might be a DIY bridge too far to go to the flower markets before the wedding. I met with Pam, a florist, who understood I exactly what I wanted

Details:
My dress: Lisa Ho.
Bridesmaid dresses: Forever New.
My headband: Forever 21, with some of my own adjustments.
Flowers: Fine Flowers.

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Stay tuned: tomorrow we see the boys!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Our Wedding #1: The Gardens

The Pal and I got married in October 2010, and I'm finally getting around to posting some photos. We were lucky enough to tie the knot in the gardens of my grandparents' holiday home in the Blue Mountains, which is about 1.5 hours west of Sydney. We were able to have the ceremony in the front garden, photos in the larger garden, and the reception in the back garden on the tennis court. It worked so beautifully, I am still agog when I look through all these photos.

You might recognise the tile above from our wonderful engagement story last May - I love this shot, as you can see the ceremony just about to happen. Sigh.
Despite the beauty of the gardens, I wanted to make sure that the ceremony site was clearly delineated and felt extra magical. So the Pal and I made over 100 tissue paper poms, which some close friends helped fluff out the night before, and a whole team of friends with ladders helped hang on the morning of the wedding. (To the key fluffers - thank you!).
They managed to both provide a clear space in the garden, and the bright white highlighted the dark greens and delicate blossoms in ways I couldn't have imagined. The fishing line really helped to give the impression that the poms were floating, improbably metres off the ground.
A small little bridge connects the front garden to the main house. This is where we made the 'aisle' (you can see the flower petals on the ground), and hung pom poms there, too, to connect the two spaces.
This bird bath is near the back of the house, and reminds me of the house - we put some camellias from the garden in the middle, and I love this shot.
This is a favourite of mine. The marquee sat on the old clay tennis court in the back of the house, and this is one of the old clay rollers.This chair sits near the entrance to the tennis court. Two days after the wedding, the azalea bush dropped all its flowers: we couldn't believe our luck that it was in full bloom for the wedding!
This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Over the next days, I'll be posting a whole lot more details, including actual photos of people, too!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Endorsements Jan 2011


It's that time again - where I re-share all of the cultural endorsements of the month from my book club.

'Best Australian Essays 2010', particularly Jo Lennan's essay on Botany.

Michael Ondaatje's Divisadero

Hamlet's Blackberry, by William Powers



Sherlock (boomerang endorsement from last month)


Barambah amazing yoghurt! Blueberry was recommended as the 'gateway' flavour (! I love the idea of a flavour gateway!) and then cherry was also highly recommended too.

Sushieze, for perfect neat round nori rolls

Gertrude & Alice in Bondi for second hand books, great coffee and good food (they buy books, too).

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Cute Gallery Wall

I love this bureau, and envy the amount of holes in the wall. Sigh. The main reasons which propel me to buy a house are purely emotional and related to holes in the wall. Not, perhaps, a financially viable solution...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Pencil Flats

Aren't these adorable?! I'm actually going on a non-internet buying spree until the end of January - I'm trying to test my discipline and see how many pennies I can save. So in the meantime, you'll be seeing a lot of what I'd otherwise be buying!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Crafty Spaces

Pictures of these kinds of crafty, organised spaces are my heroin. That's really all I need to say.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Organised Tea Cups

It makes perfect sense to begin the year with some yearning for organisation and order, and what better way than with tea cups?! Hope your new year is coming along swimmingly!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Wedding Photos

Yes, oh internet. I have been holding out on you with wedding photos. It is for the very good reason that it is going to be featured on another blog! So it's coming up, and I'll re-post here. So hold your breath - many photos are coming!

Wishing you all a wonderful and fulfilling 2011!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Paper Sculpture: Peter Callesen

These are mind-blowingly beautiful paper sculptures - that skeleton? Incroyable. They are all made by Peter Callesen - check out the rest of his work, it's just beautiful.

All images

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Film Posters: Black Swan

These film posters for the film Black Swan are by London-based La Boca, and are so striking. I love the way they seem to combine Communist-style red, white and black iconography with the bird image - so arresting.


All images

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Actual Christmas



Well this is just pretty darling. Merry Christmas, to one and all!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a very happy 2011! See you in blogland very soon. xx

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Friends With You

Have you seen this delicious website? I am in love with these prints, especially Plasma Kid, above. Just lovely.