Despite working at the same company, Monika and Phil didn’t meet each other until they met on a night out!

Imagine not knowing if you’ll be able to walk down the aisle on your big day? That was what happened to NRL player Aaron Whitchurch who discovered he needed major spinal surgery – two weeks before his wedding. 
 
 

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If there is one thing I am sure of, it is – you can’t please everyone. So just aim to please yourself. Wow that sounds pretty selfish.

We have thrown a few ideas around of a gift for all of our guests, the one key criteria being that it has to be “us”.  Our flavour, our style and our sense of humour.

We are no-where near choosing what it will be, it will definitely be a surprise, but I can confirm it will not be a whoopie cushion (although that would be pretty funny). The drawing board is getting a work-out.

She Says

Sugared Almonds?

Bomboniere… That old chestnut! Or should I say, that old sugared almond…?

We want to do something that represents our style and that is original, but I’m not sure if that’s even possible! Whether you’ve seen it at a wedding or heard about it from a friend, it seems we know about it all… From sugared almonds to personalised rock candy to little gingerbread bride and grooms, they are all cute ideas, but as I said, I feel like it’s all been done, and done well!

So how do you be original without it costing a fortune… Or… Is it one tradition we simply just skip???

While a beautifully decorated fruit cake may be a traditional favourite, there are plenty of equally delicious alternatives

A Royal Icing covered, multi-tiered fruit cake may be a traditional wedding favourite, but it’s hardly the only choice. Whether you’d like to serve something a little different or simply do not want a heavy fruit cake with rich icing, modern brides have plenty of alternatives.

Expert cake maker and decorator Heidi Lee from Heidi’s Dream Cakes in Glenwood, NSW says the possibilities are endless and that, “with all the alternatives on offer, sometimes it really is difficult to pick just one flavour”.

The solution? Heidi suggest tiers in different flavours.

“It’s a perfect solution to the dilemma of choosing your wedding cake because this way your guests have a choice of flavours and couples don’t have to fight over picking just one type of cake.”

Heidi says her top three requested flavours are chocolate mud, vanilla butter cake and banana, but that most cake makers have a variety of offerings, everything from egg-free cakes to a plain old butter cake.

However, if you’re looking for something less traditional, Heidi suggests the following fruit cake alternatives:

1. Chocolate mud – a rich chocolatey taste that melts in your mouth is always a hit
2. Vanilla butter – a traditional cake that is soft, light and not too rich
3. White chocolate mud – offers a lovely sweet chocolatey taste without being too heavy
4. Marble mud – giant swirls of milk chocolate and white chocolate ensure it looks fabulous when cut
5. Banana - Heidi’s favourite, she says this is pure deliciousness without any fuss
6. Orange and poppyseed – has a refreshing, zesty that is perfect with a cup of coffee after a heavy main meal
7. Carrot cake – has a lovely colour and adds to a casual wedding’s relaxed feel
8. Almond praline - just divine and one piece is never enough, this is a moist cake filled with almond and almond meal rather than lots of flour
9. Caramel mud cake – thoroughly indulgent and rich and just what a cake should be
10. Red velvet – at present, this vibrant red cake is incredibly popular. It’s bold and unforgettable

Visit Heidi’s Dream Cakes at Easy Weddings

Sticking to a few rules will ensure your guests will find filling in your wedding guest book easy. Image: Michelle Gardella Photography

Your wedding guest book is a keepsake that you will treasure forever – and certain revisit many times over the course of your married life, so you want to ensure that all your guests contribute to it.

However, it’s no easy task and, the bigger your guest list, the more troublesome it can be trying to get everyone to sign it or leave a message and, of course, you’re not going to have time on the day to worry about who has and who hasn’t filled it in.

Thankfully, most guests will expect to sign some sort of guest book, so here are some tips for ensuring as many as possible do:

1. Provide instructions

Especially if you are doing something unusual such as writing on a postcard or having pictures taken in a photo booth, be sure to provide instructions. Putting up a friendly sign explaining what they should do is always a good idea, even if it just says “We’d love you to share your thoughts or advice on our marriage in this book”.

During the speeches, ask people to look out for the guest book or ensure they seek it out before they leave. Who can resist a bride or groom’s request on their wedding day?

2. Delegate responsibility

In order to ensure as many guests as possible sign contribute to your guest book, delegate the task to someone trustworthy. It’s a big responsibility and someone you know will be happy to help out on the day. That way you don’t have any added stress on the day. Ask a guest or member of your family to be responsible for getting all your guests to leave a message.

3. Provide enough supplies

If you are having a traditional guest book you will only need to make sure there are plenty of pens readily available as some are sure to go missing while the book is doing the rounds. If you are asking guests to stick in photos or draw pictures, however, you may need scissors, glue, crayons, glitter, or various other arty supplies.

4. Put the book out early

Your initial reception, just after the ceremony, is the ideal time for guests to start signing your guest book. It will give them something to do while you are having your photos taken, and they will still be full of the emotion of the ceremony without being too full of champagne to write something coherent.

5. Leave enough space

Think about the size of your guest list when you buy or make your wedding guest book. There’s no point in having two hundred small message spaces when you only have fifty guests. Try to give each guest plenty of space for their message. While some will simple write ‘best wishes for married life’ others will want to wax lyrical about love or your relationship.

6. Include photographs

Try to add pictures of your guests to your guestbook, either taken at the time with a Polaroid camera, or inserted afterwards when you get your photos developed. It’s a sad fact that you will lose contact with a few of the guests at your wedding, and when you are reading your guest book many years down the line, the photos will make it more interesting. Again, this is a task for the official guest book supervisor!

7. Think about placement

Decide in advance where you are going to place your guest book. You want it to be out of the way so that food and drinks aren’t spilled on it, and guests don’t feel self conscious writing in it in the middle of a crowded room. However, you don’t want it to be totally out of sight in case guests miss it altogether. If your reception venue has a hallway or lobby before you get to the reception rooms, this could be the ideal spot. Of course, some people prefer to pass it around (which virtually ensures not everyone will get a chance to sign it) or have it carried from guest to guest by the delegated guest book supervisor.

This is what the boys will look like – minus the tie, of course.

My fiance Matt said that he doesn’t want to wear a tie for our wedding.

We’ve been talking about the overall look of the wedding and what he wants, and he has decided on grey suits, white shirts, grey waistcoats but no tie!

I’m OK with it but it seems that a few of our family members believe a tie must be worn at a wedding. We not as traditional so we don’t feel the boys must wear ties.

I think that it’s Matt’s big day too, so he should – or shouldn’t – wear what he feels comfortable in and, if that means no tie, then that’s fine by me.

The wedding is in February, so he’s even thinking about ditching his jacket if it’s too hot and, being mid February, there is a good possibility it will be very hot and that they won’t be able to cope in the heat.

To be honest, if they’re going for a no-tie look, I think it would look even better with their sleeves rolled up (just like in the picture), especially if it ends up being really hot.

We haven’t told the rest of the family about THAT yet! They’re still struggling with the idea of no ties.

We should probably have jackets on hand – just in case – for the ceremony and the formal photos. but we don’t know where we are going to get the suits from yet.

When we were in Thailand last April, Matt was fitted for a suit that he wore at our engagement party and loves it. So, maybe we could get the same company to make his wedding suit.

Matt thinks he’s going to have his buck’s weekend in Thailand but it’s soooo not going to happen. As if we could afford it before the wedding! If he does manage to get over there, it would make sense to get his suits made at the same place – and all his groomsmen will be with him.

I actually really like the idea of getting the boys’ suits made in Thailand, since that’s where we got engaged, I think it’s cute.

Whatever we decide, I’ll get back to you with updates on the suits!

What are your thoughts? Ties or no ties for the boys?

He Says

A video huh?  For some reason it took some arm-twisting to get me interested enough to be involved in researching the idea.

I’ve had this embedded visual of glittery & corny fades, edited to music chosen from a stock library of 1980’s b-list power ballads.  Not that there is anything wrong with that. It’s just not our style.  It doesn’t fit with anything else we are and we will do for our big day.

Thankfully there is something modern, and we found it in Dreamlife Photo’s & Video.  Everything we watched online had a grace and sensitivity.  But you could just tell that it was about the people – the bride, the groom, the family & the friends.  That’s a big tick for me.

Cudos to Jessica for her persistence on this one, I reckon it’s gonna pay off.

She Says

Honestly, the thought of being in front of a video camera really freaks me out! So booking a videographer for our big day didn’t even cross my mind… initially… So why am I now convinced that we must have one??? Is it wedding FOMO?

I have asked a lot of people their opinion about what we should do and whether it was all worth it (especially when on a budget!!). There were some great debates and some really helpful comments…

In the end one of the most prevailing arguments was that, video can capture that extra little ‘something’ that photographs can’t… speeches, vows, the first dance and of course the ability to sit down with our kids, grandkids and even friends that can’t make it and share that moment time and time again!

So how do we know what videographer to choose…? I think it is quite a personal choice. It is very important to me that we choose a videographer that has a very subtle approach (as mentioned above, I’m not good with cameras and would most likely freeze if confronted with one). And we also wanted to make sure that our guests don’t feel like they are being followed, watched or forced to “send a message to the bride and groom”.

Our next step was to get a shortlist of the local companies from the easy weddings site and I had a look at a few of their websites and demo videos. I watched a few great videos which I really enjoyed, but it was when I watched one from Dreamlife Photos & Video and found myself sitting in my living room with tears running down my face, that I knew these were the people to organise a meeting with…

Hope all goes well!!

Dreamlife Photos & Video on Vimeo.

It seems Oscar winner Julia Roberts really doesn’t like her sister’s fiance, John Dilbeck.

Julia Roberts at the premiere of “Mirror Mirror”. Image: Getty Images.

In fact, according to several reports, the Hollywood heavyweight dislikes Johnno so much, she won’t be attending her baby sister’s upcoming nuptials.

The National Enquirer recently quoted a friend of the siblings saying that that Julia won’t be attending her half-sister’s wedding because she’s worried she’ll end up footing the bill.

“Julia doesn’t think much of Nancy’s husband-to-be,” says The National Enquirer. “She’s convinced he’s sponging off Nancy, who doesn’t have much money in the first place.

“Now, Julia won’t go to her wedding because she’s worried Nancy will try to tap her for more money.”

Julia and her half-sister Nancy Motes have had a rocky relationship for years but even after Nancy allegedly tried to sell photos of her sister’s newborn twins (in 2005) to the media, Julia used her star power to land Nancy a job as a production assistant on Glee, which is created by Ryan Murphy, who directed Jules in Eat, Pray, Love.

It was on the set of Glee that John proposed to Nancy but, it seems, the Pretty Woman star remains concerned that he’s a gold-digger using Nancy to get to Julia’s hard-earned dough.

Would you boycott someone’s wedding if you didn’t like their spouse-to-be, even your own sibling’s wedding?

2013 is a big year for change. While traditional colours and themes will always be favourites, this year’s brides are bolder and more game to try new things, new colours and new combinations.

Coloured wedding dresses are already becoming more common but we’ve scoured our colour palettes and inspiration boards for new themes and schemes that are a little unconventional, but still beautiful and here’s what we’ve come up with!

You can incorporate these colours as part of a larger colour scheme or colour block like crazy! Either way, they’re gorgeous colours that deserve a place, big or small, in any modern wedding.

1. Mint green

Gold and mint green are two of 2013′s hottest runway colours and when paird together, well, they look smashing, especially as part of a wedding theme. Mint green is crisp, fresh and subtle and it’s an excellent base colour for spring and summer weddings. It is also a spectacular hue for bridesmaids’ dresses. Think mint green table cloths accented with gold place holders, tiny vases of wild spring flowers and antique gold organza sashes for chairs. For a little more formality and contrast, consider sprays of light green orchids as table centrepiece.

2. Gold

Krikor Jabotian’s regal 2013 range of wedding dresses feature gold as a highlight colour and it works beautifully.

You’ll feel like a queen or a ancient Roman empress heading up a grand wedding banquet with gold as your wedding theme. Add a hint of regal elegance with this year’s most versatile metallic. Whether antique gold, yellow gold or a shade bordering on brassy, gold is a beautiful accent colour that will add a touch of class to any wedding colour scheme. The trick with avoiding your wedding looking fake and tacky is experimenting with a variety of gold hues to avoid colour overload. Pale antique gold linens look especially pretty with table posies of blush pink and cream roses. If you’re going for a formal look, how about including gilt-edged china, or gold cutlery for table placements? Gold is a fabulous accent for a white wedding cake, and if you’re going for an au naturel theme, you could also think about incorporating spray painted twig baskets to hold wedding favours for guests.

3. Orange

Are you planning an autumn wedding? Orange is a daring (albeit a little obvious) choice for a pre-winter wedding. However, it’s such a vibrant hue, there’s no reason you can’t integrate it into a summer wedding too. You don’t necessarily have to go all out with orange accents to make a statement. A neutral colour scheme of cream linens and gold placecards for guests is the perfect foundation around which to build your theme. Summer ideas might include bowls of zesty fruits interspersed with coral tulips and protea, or for something a little more nouveaux, how about tropical orange flowers encased in large hanging glass bulbs? Orange might seem a little extreme for your bridesmaids, so you might want to consider a more delicate pastel shade. We love nectarine, or even peach shades.  Autumn naturally brings with it an abundance of inspirational ideas, especially since it’s associated with harvest around the world. If you’re thinking about going rustic, place-holder corn dollies and carved pumpkin candle holders and sheaves of wheat can add a touch of warm, homely, harvest-time authenticity.

4. Monochrome
Monochrome doesn’t have to mean checker-board black and white. In fact, an elegant banqueting hall furnished with black, cloth-covered tables is an inspiring canvas for a wedding theme and it means you can add just about any colour to it. The key to pulling off a monochrome theme is simplicity. If you’re using black as a standalone colour for linens, drapes and chair coverings, you’ll obviously need to add contrast with white flowers, placecards and favour boxes. Vintage tromp l’oeil patterns are fast gaining popularity for weddings. Alternatively you may want to consider bringing in one or two other colours to break up the monotony of black and white. Gold is a particularly lovely accent with black, and you could incorporate it with statement decorative objects like gold candelabras or hanging lanterns.

5. Coral

Multiple shades of coral worked beautifully in this Chicago wedding. Image: Olivia Leigh.

Warm and feminine, coral is such a pretty shade for both spring and summer weddings, and there are so many variations in hues. Pale coral tones in the bridesmaids’ posies are gorgeous. Ranunculas are a beautiful variation on normal roses, and come in such a wide range of pretty coral hues. They’re also perfect for table centrepieces. For contrast in your own bouquet, why not opt for a few cream lilies and hot pink freesias? When it comes to décor, you’ll need to consider visual impact. Coral is such a warm and fiery shade, it can be overwhelming if overdone. Mint green and gold are two hot tones that work exceptionally well with this vibrant colour, but you could also consider sunshine yellows and cerise pinks for tableware, candle holders and bunting, as well as bridesmaids’ dresses – or even your own wedding dress.

If you want to move away from traditional white décor and linens, this year’s fabulous shades all have one thing in common – they all work together in harmony.