the proposal!

Okay, so Steve and I went to Ballarat to get away from the Grand Final this weekend.

We stayed at Silverbirch B & B, a place we’ve stayed at a number of times since 2007. Every time we go to Ballarat, we love going to the Ballarat Steak House for dinner. I had made a reservation for us for 6pm, so it was around 5.45 and we were getting ready. Steve says to me, hand me my cufflinks (the Simon Carter cufflinks, that I have blogged about earlier, that I love, love, love). So I get the box off the breakfast table and I open the box to look at them… When I look in the box, it takes me a few seconds to realise what I’m looking at, but when I finally process what is going on, I let out the biggest gasp… there was a round, brilliant-cut diamond looking back at me!

I started crying. Not balling, but more welling up. I think it was the culmination of so many years waiting for this moment to come! And then I started sweating a little bit. Lol! But then I went back to welling up 😛

I said to Steve, are you going to ask me? And he said, “Are you going to marry me?” and I said, “YES!”

We were a little bit late for dinner, but it was okay, cos we had a good excuse!

Oh, and the diamond was in a spring ring – a temporary ring so that I could choose my own setting.

Steve really loves a round central stone with tapered baguettes at either side, so that’s what I’m going to go for.

Blue, Ball, Perfect Mason Jars

More Etsy purchases, this time table decorations. I’m going to use blue, Ball, Perfect Mason jars as flower vases for the dining table.

They’ve got a vintage charm to them, previously used for preserving jams in the 1920s and 30s.
The colour of them are just divine and match my wedding colours/theme perfectly.

The best collection of ball jar inspiration photos is here:
http://pinterest.com/amylouise/aqua-ball-jars/

screw you cake nazi’s!

Omg, I did my first cake trial of the ‘Pink layer ombre cake’ with Swiss Meringue Frosting and edible gold stars and the bunting – and it turned out great!

I am totally confident that I can make my own wedding cake now! Screw you cake nazi’s! I am not paying your wedding cake tax!

So here it is:

4 layers of Vanilla cake in different shades of pink:

Stacked from dark to light, with raspberry jam and swiss meringue frosting inside:

Cover the entire thing in Swiss Meringue frosting (tastes likes marshmallows!):

Decorate with edible gold stars:

Make a cake bunting and stick it in:

Finally, slice and eat!

The recipe is from here: http://call-me-cupcake.blogspot.com/2011/04/pink-rainbow-cake.html

And I bought that exact pink cake stand as the article from General Trader’s outlet store in Nunawading for $16!!! (On sale, reduced from $39. They have them in cream too).

So, tick the box for wedding cake, I no longer have to stress out about it. I can do it all myself, it tastes and looks great, it’s quick and easy and it’s exactly what I want!

I wonder what other brides who don’t want fondant covered cakes do? I think there’s a gap in the market for non-traditional cakes!

Bought: The suit & the cufflinks

After work today, Steve and I went late-night suit shopping.

We had a bit of a false start at myers, the suit that I wanted, they didn’t have:

A bit of a shit really, as Jeff Banks is exclusive to Myer in Australia!
Me, after searching for sales staff:
Excuse me do you have this suit [showing attendant iPhone]
Sales staff: If it’s not on the floor we don’t have it.
Me (thinks, in head): Great! Ugh.

Plan B it is! So we headed over to David Jones.
First of all we were perusing the cufflinks and came across these beauties:
Simon Carter ‘sputnik’ cufflinks in clear Swarovski crystals.
Photo doesn’t do justice to how sparkly they are in real life!
To tell the truth I had already made my mind up to take these cufflinks before the attendant to open the cabinet! (Did I mention, they match my haircomb!?!) Lucky they were only $100! 😀 Only problem is the Kent Wang shirt I bought, isn’t a french cuff shirt! Might need to re-visit shirts now too!

Then we went up to the suit section (which was deserted!) and Steve tried on the Ted Baker ‘slim jim’, one-button, suit in a charcoal grey (40 too big, 38 too small), a Kent Wilson, two-button suit in light grey (38 jacket right, but pants too tight), a Studio Italia “Earle” suit in a dark grey (38 fit great, looked amazing, on hold (might be a tad too dark)), and another Studio Italia suit in light grey and we had a winner. Cut fit Steve well, colour looked great, size was good – no need for alterations, two-button, peaked lapel… and to make things even better, it was on sale! Yippee! We took it.

And just before closing time. Geez, time flies when you’re trying on suits!

booked: the photographer

So I called in a favour today. An old friend of mine that I went to Uni with is a photographer (an award winning one at that!) and I asked him if he was available to photograph my tiny mini-wedding and he said he was!

I’m really glad he’s agreed to do it because that means that the photos will be professional and not like the home ones we always do (always one person missing – the one who’s taking the photo), in the same positions, in the same places.

The photography is also important to me because the majority of my family live in South Africa so I want something nice to send back to them.

It’s also good because I feel more comfortable with someone I know instead of having someone random come in to do the photography! (Not to mention less expensive! Fingers crossed for mates rates! :D)

I just hope my grandma doesn’t chew Andre’s ear off!

We’re getting together next week over lunch to ‘discuss my requirements’!

Andre’s website here: http://www.elhay.com/

***
On a side note: It was unnerving to ask Andre, as apart from the celebrant (and Steve!), he’s the only person that knows! My family and my friends don’t know, so it was quite nerve wracking to let a tiny piece of my secret out there! I’ve told him he cannot breathe a word of it!

the last bit of paperwork

So I sent in Steve’s birth certificate to our celebrant today.

I think that’s all I have to do (?!). Kind of makes me nervous, I don’t want to have forgotten any important documentation that I need to submit before the day!

boutonniere scare!

So I received my boutonnier in the mail today, that I ordered on etsy.
Unfortunately it’s not as blue as I expected. Here is the sample photo (top) and here is the boutonniere in real life (bottom):

It doesn’t really pick up the blue of Steve’s shirt like I need it to, so I’ve gone and bought a selection of other boutonnieres! I say a selection because after looking at the blue ones available (not really enamoured with any of them) and exploring the option of buying the feathers and twine, etc. and making my own (too expensive/time consuming) and then also thinking about the colours of my other decorations (pastel pink, aqua, yellow and mint), then I thought maybe I need something that compliments his shirt rather than matches it.

So here is what I got. I’ll give him the choice and he can pick whatever colour he likes. Fingers crossed there is one of these that fits the bill!

These were all around $8 – $9.80 each from http://www.etsy.com/shop/weddingsundae .
They’re coming from Singapore. Hope they get here on time!

Cake inspo

Eek! Choosing the wedding cake is hard.

I don’t know why I’m putting so much emphasise on the cake,
but it’s really important to me that the cake is spectacular! lol!

I think it’s because I want the cake to look good in the photos, most of my family live in South Africa,
so I when I send back photos, I want it to look really great.

These are my cake inspo pics so far:

Australian Native Cake by Ab Fab Cakes

I would replace the natives with Protea’s though.
(Protea’s are a native flower of South Africa and they just so happen to be in season in November and look amazing!)

Protea Cake on Once Wed

Simple and amazing, right?
(Would totally fit my vintage theme, I’m so jealous!)
If I had enough confidence in my baking skills , I might even try to make this one myself.

Cake + cupcakes by Alison Louise Designer Cakes

I can’t tell you how spewing I am that Alison is closed and not taking orders until early 2012!
The perfect thing about this cake is that it is not too much cake! (I only have 8 guests!)
The lace on the cupcakes adds a nice vintage feel, too.
Again, I would replace the flowers on top with a King Protea.
Is it too traditional? Is it too feminine?

5 Layer rainbow cake with Swiss Meringue Frosting

Is this cake not amazing!
There is even a recipe for it here:
http://www.iadorestyle.com/2011/05/pink-rainbow-cake/
Do I attempt to make it myself?
Maybe I should do a mini trial version? See if it works out?

If I were to do it myself, I would use this bunting, or make my own:
(I would also put the lettering “Just Married” on the bunting!)

And I would decorate the white, swiss meringue with edible gold stars like this:

Don’t you think that would look great and non-traditional?
I think I’m moving away from the fondant covered wedding cakes.
I’m not really sure if they’re “me”.
Also, I have the dilemma that my grandma hates chocolate cake!
(But the wedding’s about me and Steve, not you, Grandma! lol!)

***
On another cake note – How friggin expensive are Wedding Cakes?!
I had only budgeted $100, but then all the quotes I was getting had $150 – $160 minimum orders!
So I had to revise my cake budget higher!
(Again, I only have 8 guests, I’m going to be eating leftover cake for weeks!)
A normal cake to feed 8 people costs about $50 at Let Them Eat Cake.
I like it how people call it Wedding tax. As soon as you tell them it’s for a Wedding, it’s 3 times more expensive!
It’s risky making your own wedding cake, I don’t want it to be a flop!
And I don’t want to put added stress on myself on the day, I think I’ll have enough to worry about!
 

Something borrowed: Placecards

I saw this idea on Once Wed.
I loved it so much I’ve decided to ‘borrow’ it for my own wedding.

Icing Placecard Holders: 
They’re simple, look great, are inexpensive and I can do them myself:

http://www.oncewed.com/25512/wedding-blog/diy-wedding/diy-cake-icing-tip-place-card-holders/

Because I will have mostly white linen and crockery,
I will use the placecard holders to add a bit of vintage colour.

I got the icing nozzles from Ebay (AUD$12, from Hong Kong).
There are 24 in this set, but I’ll only need to use 8, so I’ll pick the best ones.
Also I’ll get to re-use the nozzles after the wedding,
whereas I don’t know what I’d do with leftover placecard holders!

I saw these placecards on Etsy, but the seller doesn’t post to Australia,
so I’m going to make them myself:

I got the placecards in ‘romantic vintage’ shades here
(50 cards – US$9.80 inc postage):
http://www.etsy.com/shop/rikyandnina?ref=pr_shop_more

I got some pastel coloured paper flowers here
(12 coloured flowers + 2 white flowers + postage, US$19.87):
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Hennytj?ref=pr_shop_more

The guests are going to get the coloured flowers and Steve and I will get these white flowers:

Bought: His Shirt (Kent Wang blue gingham)

This is the inspiration for Steve’s wedding attire:

It’s a Corneliani Sportcoat with Kent Wang blue gingham shirt
Kent Wang cotton pocket square.

I bought my own pocket square from Etsy in white satin:

I bought the Kent Wang blue gingham shirt last night:

It’s US$125 + $10 shipping to Aus, from here: https://www.kentwang.com/
Kent’s a nice guy too. He works out of Texas.
I contacted him regarding shirt & pocket square combo’s and he told me that
“a pocket square should never match the shirt but compliment it”.
What a stylish guy! So appreciative of the advice too.

This is Steve’s boutonniere:

Now all I need to find is the grey suit and the shoes!
My concern is that I don’t want Steve to look like he’s going to work.
Ie. Look at this picture (from etsy), she looks like she’s getting married, he looks like he’s come home from work!

Steve usually wears a black suit to work, which is why I’m going with grey.
And no tie! a)It’s too formal for an at home wedding and b)I want him to be comfortable!