Candice and Ashley

Candice and Ashley were married on a lovely Saturday in March although things didn’t go entirely according to plan.  They were supposed to get married out in the courtyard of  Sherwood Receptions in Greenvale. The weather had different ideas and it started raining early in the afternoon, so the ceremony was moved indoors and they were married inside instead.

Candice and Ashley were set up by friends when they were 16, but didn’t really hit it off straight away. It wasn’t until some years later that they met up again when Candice was out with one of her best friends at a nightclub. Candice wasn’t too fond of the punk music or bad dancers that were occupying the downstairs section of the nightclub, but then she spotted Ash going to the upstairs section so she went up after him and politely offered him a drink. The rest is history.

Candice arrived at the venue with her two bridesmaids, in stunning vintage cars. She wore an amazing lace dress that was 3/4 length and had on some of the most amazing wedding shoes you have ever seen. Both her hair and makeup were stunningly beautiful and everything seemed to just ‘fit’ perfectly with the whole feel of the wedding. They had amazing music and everything just matched. Everything throughout the wedding had a vintage feel and the style of music chosen for the ceremony itself continued into the reception as well.

Candice’s love of cars was highlighted tastefully on the day along with Ash’s love of video games and comic books. All of the Groomsmen were fitted with custom made comic book shoes; Ashley had Spiderman, and his best men had Superman and Batman, I believe. It was a fantastic and unique way to let their own interests and personality shine through on their special day.

The bridesmaids were lovely; one dressed in a royal blue and the other wore yellow, which seemed to match  the whole theme of the wedding, from the handmade bunting all the way through to the invitations (check out my blog about the invitations from this wedding here).  The menus and the instagram photo list (read the blog about it here) all matched with the invitations and all of  the table decorations were stunning! The table floral arrangements were done by Lord Butler and were truly an amazing touch. This is the first wedding that I have been to where Lord Butler have done the table decorations and I was really impressed. The floral arrangements were all in glass jars and featured the loveliest flowers with mint added into the mix.

Candice and Ash also had a wonderful photo booth that had all sorts of props to go along with it.  It was made up of a photo frame that you could stand behind and the front of it looked like a photo wall in someone’s house with photos of people who were no longer with them, like wonderful old photos of their grandparents when they were young and in love and photos of friends that had a special place in their hearts.

The guests were on their feet in no time at all after the Bride and Groom cut the cake and shared their first dance.  There were so many people dancing and having a great time. It would have to be the busiest dance floor that I have seen at a wedding, and all dancing abilities were accounted for. Candice’s Aunty and her husband had won several ballroom dancing competitions and it was obvious when they took the floor, and they were almost matched with the very entertaining stripper-style of dancing from one of Ashley’s cousins.

It was a completely beautiful day which I was honoured to be a part of.  Check out more about Lord Butler and their stunning wedding flowers and decorations by having a look at their website. They do truly lovely work.

Alternatives to a floral bouquet

Recently I did a blog about bouquets (you can read it here) and about all the different things that you could do and have, but some people are not interested in carrying a bouquet of flowers and having them around all day. Again this is something that you can take as far and wide as you like and the only thing to limit you is your imagination, but it is a great way to express yourself, and make a statement to your guests.

One thing that I tend to speak to all of the brides that I work with is about having something to hold on to, a lot of brides ask when they need to pass their bouquet to their attendants, or put them down, and most of the time I recommend that they hold on to them for as long as they can. The bouquet can be a wonderful security blanket object that you can keep fidgeting hands busy with and it is something grip onto hard if you get nervous at the start of the ceremony. If a floral bouquet isn’t for you maybe you would like one of these alternatives.

Feathers

I have seen a little bit about this kind of trend and there are people making bouquets out of feathers, or just using them for their corsage. This would look quite good if you were having it as a theme throughout your whole wedding. Although it is something that I think could look dated quite quickly.

Handbags

This is a great one, practical, and beautiful. Especially if you are a handbag type of girl. It would be a great way to have all that you need with you on your day while it not looking out of place to be carrying one.

A Muff

Especially lovely if you are having a winter wedding, great for keeping you warm and looking all wintery. However, (be prepared for jokes that will probably last all day, most people like the opportunity to make a muff joke.)

An Umbrella

These can make great props in your photos and can be diverse, especially if you are looking at different colours and fabrics. This could be a great idea for photos at the beach or in the local botanical gardens.

Fans

There are some beautiful and unique fans around.  Fans can look timeless and have a lovely vintage style to them, and you can really complete the theme of a vintage wedding by carrying one.

A wrist  corsage

Technically this is still flowers, but this is a great way to have something a little different, but and still not have to carry a bouquet around all day. This in itself is quite appealing to a lot of brides, this can be something that keeps with tradition but at the same time is a little different and can be a great way for you to still have flowers without having a big bouquet. I think it is a great idea especially if you are having a small wedding or are having a wedding that is not all the way ‘traditional’.

Themed things

Not having a bouquet of flowers could be a great way to incorporate your theme, if you are having a beach wedding and are using shells on invites and table decorations, why not have a bouquet made of shells, or a wedding that is in gardens, using pine cones.

Obviously, as I have said many times before, that you really are only limited by your imagination. There are plenty more ideas on alternatives that I haven’t listed, or thought of, on the internet. Check out Pinterest too, they you can always have find lots of ideas and inspiration there. Check out my blog about using  pinterest to plan your wedding by clicking here. One thing to keep in mind with all of these things is that you need to consider the style and the theme of your wedding so that whatever you choose to carry matches with the style of the wedding, if not these could look quite out of place and leave people wondering, why are you carrying them.

Have you been to any wedding where the bride or attendants didn’t carry a bouquet? What did they carry and did it work with the theme of the wedding?

Thank-you to Untamed Images for the use of their beautiful photos for this weeks blog, check out their website and facebook page, and have a look at some more of their lovely work.

Keeping children entertained at your wedding

Children can be a beautiful addition in and at a wedding. I have previously written blogs about Children in your wedding ceremony, check out my blog about it here. But what about guests that have children? Are you including children on the invitations to your wedding? These are decisions that are sometimes hard to make, especially if you are having children in your wedding as page boys or flower girls whom will attend the reception and then you have a no children rule for all of your other guests.  What about children of your own that you have already or children from a previous relationship?

There are plenty of arguments for and against having children at your wedding. We personally had no children under 10 at our wedding and the only child there was my sister who at the time was 11 years old. There were 2 reasons for doing this, and it was by no means a strict  “they cannot come to the wedding.” It was a suggestion for my in-laws that they have a nice day, to have fun and not think about the kids. The reception was also at a winery by the river and we would not have felt too relaxed with the kids being there and the river being so close. (Check out my blog about my wedding day here if you are interested.)

Having said this though, there are plenty of ways that you can work around having children included and as guests at your wedding without the worry, even somewhere that seems quite dangerous for children. My best friend had her wedding on a paddle steamer and her son was about 2 years old at the time.  She wanted him to be at the wedding and didn’t want him to miss out on the day or miss out on having him there. The way that she worked around this was to hire a baby sitter to come on the boat, so that neither she, her husband, nor any of her relatives had to take sole responsibility for watching him on the day, and everyone knew who was watching him. They also had him in a life jacket over the top of his little suit, just for added peace of mind.

There isn’t exactly one guaranteed way to keep little ones busy if they are in the wedding or during the ceremony, but if they are in the wedding, and not old enough to really understand the ceremony, I generally recommend that they don’t stand up the front with all of the other bridal party, unless they have a parent in the bridal party.  Even then it can be boring for them and they tend to get distracted.

One thing that I think is a great idea is to make up ‘show bags’ for the children, and have them named so that you can make them up especially for each child, depending on their age and things that they are interested in. Some people may not be too keen to have these given out before the ceremony and would prefer to wait until the reception and have them  already on the tables for each child.  I don’t think that a lot of children are especially interested in the ceremony (sometimes sadly that goes for some of the adults too) and  depending on what you put into the show bags, it could be a little bit of a distraction for the child and for keeping them quiet during all of the quiet times in the ceremony. Although if you are having an outdoor wedding, it might not be too practical to have  the show bags in that case.  Depending on your budget and how many children are attending your wedding, you can fill the show bags with all sorts of things. You can have colouring books with pencils and textas, toys, books, puzzles, anything that may keep little people quiet and happy. You can work these in with the colour theme and style of the wedding or make them something that is totally different.  If you don’t know a lot about the children or the age group, making these bags could be a great job for one of the bridal party or someone that is asking how they can help with your big day.

Do you have any great ideas that you can share with others on helping entertain and keep children busy at a wedding or other special event?

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