Baby Naming of Emily

I have been friends with Emily’s parents Tom and Scarlett, since before they were a couple; It was wonderful when they got together. I remember when they fell pregnant with Emily and I watched Scarlett’s tummy grow as the months passed before Emily was born. Scarlett and Tom  have been there throughout my pregnancy too and were there to answer questions and give helpful new parenting advice. So when it came time for Emily to have her naming ceremony it was only fitting that I quickly agreed when they asked me to do perform the ceremony. Even though it was going to be about two and a half weeks after my own baby was due to be born, however my own baby had other ideas and decided to be born about 5 weeks before Emily’s naming day.  This made things a little easier as far as having a fresh new baby when the naming ceremony was happening.

Emily had her naming day on her first birthday; a Teddy bears picnic themed party at Presidents Park, in Wyndham Vale. It was quite a cold August day but the sun did decide to come out for a while. There were so many of their Emily’s family and friends there and having it at the park was great as there was plenty of play equipment to entertain the kids. They had a BBQ lunch and loads of wonderful cakes and finger food, even teddy bear shaped lamingtons!

Many of the guests had travelled from a great distance to be there,  from Wagga Wagga and as far away as Perth. It was really lovely to see that so many people knew how much it meant for Scarlett and Tom to be able to announce the Godparents that they had chosen for Emily and for the Godparents, and Tom and Scarlett themselves, to make some special promises to Emily.

I had a truly lovely day, and it was so nice to see friends of mine, surrounded by all of their closest friends and relatives.

Weather on your wedding day

The weather can change a lot of things on your wedding day and it is obviously one of those things that you have absolutely no control over. However it is something that you need to think about when planning your big day, you need to think of a backup plan if you are having an outdoor wedding and make sure that it is something that you and your partner agree on and have discussed. Remember too, it is not just rain that has to be considered, it is wind and heat too. Wind and heat can ruin your big day just as much, if not more than rain can.

Whenever I meet with a couple or they book me for their special day, I always talk a lot about where the ceremony will be held and if there is a backup plan in case of bad weather. Most of the time this has been thought of, or the venue is somewhere where it will not matter if the weather changes, but I have done some weddings where the weather has been a problem and at the last minute we have had to change where the ceremony is going to be held. It is a good idea to talk to each other about this plan as sometimes the groom can be apprehensive about making decisions about changes at the venue on the wedding day when he can’t ask his bride what she would prefer, so it is good to have a solid plan that you have discussed so that everyone is on the same page about changes.

Usually a little spitting rain is not a problem on your wedding day. One wedding I conducted in  the Burnley Gardens, (check out the blog about it here) were it was cold and there was a little rain, but nothing to really be worried about (a few spots of rain has never worried me). Importantly, there was a backup plan in place if the weather had not held out.

The other thing to consider is the wind; wind can be cold, create problems with the PA system, if you are using one, and with veils, flowers and other accessories, so it is a good idea to think about how the wind could affect your day when picking out the area that you will have your ceremony.

You also need to think about the heat if you are having your ceremony somewhere that doesn’t have a lot of shade. You need to consider that most of your guests will be standing out in it direct sunlight for about an hour and a half for a standard 30 minute ceremony; most people will arrive about half an hour before and they will still be there mingling and talking for about half an hour after the ceremony concludes.

It is also a good idea if you have backup plans that change the location or even time of your wedding, you might want to put someone in charge of letting guests know that the venue has changed. Make sure that this someone who is not in your bridal party; the bridal party will have enough to worry about on your day. Organise this with this person in advance and make sure that you include on the your invitations something like “Contact Lucy in case of inclement weather on 04……..” so that on the day if any of the guests are concerned or need to know what is going on they have a name and a number where to contact someone who can let them know what the new plans are.

Thank-you to Amy Schulz for letting me use her photos on this weeks blog, these photos were taken at Longbeach Estate in Ashburton, New Zealand and the couple are Megan & Mike.

Amy is a fantastic New Zealand photographer I met when doing a wedding in New Zealand, (you can see that blog by clicking here) check out her website here and her facebook page.

Staying calm before your big day

Your wedding day is a huge event and as the day draws closer it can all become quite overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s just just because there is so much to do, or because you feel that every time you cross something off your to do list you realise that you have another 2 or 3 things that need to go onto your list.

It is really important that you don’t let it the worry or stress get the better of you. Make sure that you ask the people around you for help where you can, but also remember that sometimes you need a break from it all;  and time to just have some fun.  In the lead up to your wedding, it can feel like all you do, think and talk about is all about the wedding.  Maybe try to have a night out with the girls and make a pact with each other that you will not talk about wedding things; do something fun, silly even, make sure that you have a chance to laugh and forget about all of the pressures that are associated with planning a wedding. Another idea might be to head to a day spa or just watch movies in your pyjamas and have a relax together.

For some people, it is a great time to plan a wedding free weekend, to go away just you and your fiancé and to go somewhere that you have always wanted to go. A weekend away from RSVP cards and table decorations with plenty of time to just get away and spend some time alone. Try not to have too many set plans, sleep in, get breakfast in bed and just enjoy each others company.

All of the planning soon will all be over and you won’t have all of the pressure of the big day looming over you. Enjoy yourself and re charge your batteries, it could be just what you need so that when you are back on the organising the wedding band wagon, you won’t feel like it has been going on forever.

Do you have any tips to share, on great ways to relax before someones a wedding or other big event?

Thank you again to Untamed Images for the use of their images on this weeks blog. Check out their website here, or go and like them on facebook  here.

Boutonnieres

I recently blogged about bouquets, (you can read that blog here) but neglected to mention the Boutonnieres. These are something that don’t really get too much attention, just something that goes along, part and parcel of the men’s suits. It is almost expected that he will just have a flower of some sort and no one gives it much more thought than that.

Here is another great opportunity for you to express your individuality on your day. If you are happy to have a flower for your boutonniere, by all means have one.  It is quick and easy to organise especially if the bride is having a floral bouquet.  It isn’t hard for these to be ordered at the same time. This is another great way to move away from tradition and put some of your own personal spin on your outfit. It is also a small enough component to the wedding that you don’t need to worry that it is going to take a lot of attention away from other aspects of your big day.

Some things that you could think about would be dependant on what kind of theme you were having. Something quite lovely would be for a vintage theme would be to have an old key, to symbolise that the bride holds the key to your heart, you could also attach a little vintage lock to the brides bouquet to ‘match’  the theme. You could have feathers or some other type of adornment, medals of someone close to you or just a cog from a part of a machine that is something that you work on or that represents something close to your heart.

One thing that I thought would be great for those geeks like me who are into all things video games, Star Wars and comic books, is  you could have a lego character of your favourite comic book  hero or Star Wars character attached to your lapel.  I think it would be really cool to have little figures of all different Bounty Hunters for each Groomsman, or to all have Spiderman, Batman and Superman lego men pinned onto your lapels to show off a bit of your personalities. You could choose to have Luke Skywalker, a Darth Vader, a Yoda and a Darth Maul, depending on who you preferred, they could also match in with some nerdy cufflinks too.  These things could also be combined with a floral arrangement if you still want to keep with tradition but put some of your personality in the mix too.

Do you have any great ideas or know of anyone who has showcased their personality through some part of the wedding that is out of the ordinary?

Thank you to Zoe from The Wedding Photo,  for the beautiful photos for this weeks blog. Check out the website here.