Wedding: the flowers

This brings me to one of my favourite details of the wedding: the flowers. Unfortunately the dreams of what I wanted them to look like did not match up with my budget, so I decided to forgo the idea of a professional florist and attempt to DIY the flowers instead. But then I realised the answer was staring at me right in the face. My dear friend Robyn, who I used to put on vintage sales with and now resides in Melbourne, actually used to work at various florists for years and has a wealth of experience in the field. She agreed to help turn my dreams to a reality, and I couldn't have been more excited to have this lady not only attend the big day but create such an integral part.

With only a Pinterest board of inspiration to guide me and no firm idea of what I actually wanted, we set out the morning before the wedding to a flower wholesaler where Robyn used to work to purchase the blooms. She had called ahead to get some bunches put aside already, and we picked out plenty more as we walked through the various cool rooms. Rob also managed to score piles of peonies for a crazy price thanks to her contacts, so we walked out with armfuls upon armfuls of the stunning flower in shades of white and pink. Here are some of the other varieties we picked out:

• Carnations
• Billy buttons
• Berzillia
• Alsotroemerias
• Champagne roses
• Spray roses
• Crenulata gum
• Ibis and disbud chrysanthemums for the table arrangements
• And many more I can't remember the names of...

All in all we spent $500 on a car-full of flowers and supplies like wire etc. We got back to my parents' house and set up a makeshift work station on the living room floor, removing leaves from stems and separating blooms into piles. And that's where the real magic began. In less than 10 minutes, Robyn had already whipped up a bouquet more beautiful than any I had ever seen. My only prerequisites were that it would be a bit wild-looking, almost as if it has been randomly picked from a garden, and that it would be big. I don't know how she did it, but Robyn constructed my dream bouquet without me even knowing exactly what it is that I wanted. It was far more stunning in real life and massive, my arm got so tired from holding that weight for a chunk of the day. Rob wrapped a vintage blush velvet ribbon (bought earlier from etsy) around the stems and hey presto! It was done. She was similarly speedy with the bridesmaids bouquets, ensuring each one held pretty much the exact same flowers but they all had a slight edge of difference from one another.

Meanwhile, I just sat back in astonishment. I can honestly say that I barely helped at all, save for cleaning up the mess as we went. Boutonnieres were next and Robyn also did a great job of keeping them all similar but still unique, while I helped with wrapping the little stems in brown twine. I originally wanted the bouts to be flowerless but Marc's boutonniere ended up featuring two small peony buds which I think were just so sweet and definitely the right choice. I had been collecting tens of jars ever since we started planning the wedding, so once all the formal flowers were done Robyn got busy on separating the bounty of leftover flowers into mini arrangements. Then there was also the peony bunches that spilled out of the vintage suitcases at the ceremony, and the arrangements for the signing table. Jars were placed in bread crates ready for the reception, and I made some makeshift vases (second photo) out of plastic jugs to bring the bouquets with me to stay at Fothergills.

I know this has become very long-winded so I will pretty much leave it there, but I will say this - Robyn was absolutely amazing and I was so glad to have her on my side. I think she should start her own floristry business! Also, I learnt that attempting to DIY flowers is way easier said than done. When I actually saw all the work that goes into constructing a bouquet I knew I never could have done it any where as good myself. DIYs are great on the whole but not when you are greatly sacrificing quality in the process! So glad I had a pro do this one in the end. Over and out.

photographer: Christine Lim / second photographer: Ruby Yeo

Wedding: the paper goods

When we began planning the wedding, I had it in my mind that I would create all the paper goods myself. But when it actually came down to it, I realised that I just didn't have the patience nor the skills to design and compile 100 invitations and other assorted stationary. So my next port of call was to investigate getting a professional to do it for me. To be honest, I was absolutely shocked at the prices I found. $10 for just one invitation without the additional envelopes, insert cards, directions etc.? That's crazy talk. I appreciate lovely stationary as much as anyone, and spend copious amounts on my own personal stash, but to part with that amount of cash for something that most people would throw away after the event was just way outside my budget. (But if I had the money available I would have splashed out nonetheless, and appreciate all the time and effort that goes into lovely custom invites. It was just out of the question for us.)

I began to explore other options, and I got pretty interested in the concept many etsy sellers have of offering customisable set invites that you print yourself. It works like this - buy the template, send your specifics to the designer to make the invite your own, and then take the pdf to a printer. I ended up saving so much money by doing it this way, and I was really happy with the design itself - it matched our colours/theme perfectly. The great thing was that the seller I used, Yellow Brick Graphics, had a whole suite of different types of stationary in the same design so I could coordinate the invites, programs and thank you notes to match. The designer Mickenzie even created two custom signs to match, one for the ceremony and one for the order of events at the reception, which we placed on an easel.

Now, here's what didn't go so well about this process - the printing side. Knowing next to nothing about printing and paper stock, I contacted a printer and advised I would need some help on choosing a stock. I explained that it was for wedding invitations, I wanted something thick and high quality to give that luxe, wedding-y feel. What I ended up with was not really what I was after. It was still nice, but could have been at least twice as thick. And for people who supposedly print invites all the time, I felt a bit let down that they didn't point me in the right direction. Next time I would definitely go and feel the paper stocks in real life before trusting their opinion. Also, the paper stocks for the invites, programs and thank you cards were all somehow different even though I asked for the exact same thing.

I loved the paper goods we ended up with and managed to save an incredible amount of money, I only tell the downside to serve as a cautionary tale for any brides considering doing this themselves!

photographer: Christine Lim / paper goods: Yellow Brick Graphics 

Wedding: bridal portraits

Most people can only hope to get a few choice photos from their big day at best that are 'frame-able'. You know, the ones you send to everyone and display in your house for all to see. So when I got back the photos from Christine Lim I actually could not believe my eyes. There were just so many shots I loved, and actually found it a somewhat daunting process to cut them down to a more manageable number. That is a good thing though! Christine and Ruby just went so above and beyond what I could have imagined and I am so glad to have these photos that I can look at for the rest of my life.

Between the ceremony and reception we had about an-hour-and-a-half to pose for bridal shots in the nearby streets. We were lucky that Fremantle is just so gosh darn photogenic - there are buildings and walls and lane ways at every corner that just beg to be photographed, and it was actually a pretty simple task to wander about and stop whenever our photographers had a great idea. I really love the mix of candid shots with the more posed photos, it's a nice balance and gave rise to many unexpected treasures.

I am also grateful for the crazy wind on the day (though I didn't feel that way at the time, haha). It was a lovely 20 degrees celsius on the day and though the rain threatened us early on, it stayed away except for a tiny sprinkling in the morning. I am told it's actually good luck for it to rain on your wedding day, so I wasn't complaining. But the wind, oh my. That was a force to contend with. But seeing these photos, how the wind picked up the tulle of my dress and threw it in all directions - I think that's mighty pretty. Thanks, Mother Nature.

photographer: Christine Lim / second photographer: Ruby Yeo

Wedding: after the ceremony

The first thing I remember thinking when I saw the photos from directly after the ceremony was, "since when do I have dimples?!" But I was clearly smiling so much that they appeared. Standing in the town hall's atrium and greeting all our friends and family was a really happy moment and the vibe was contagious. The atrium was such a perfect place to do this with its tiled floors and natural light, a real contrast to the dim light and vintage styling of the main hall itself.

I'll keep this one brief and let the photos do the talking, but all I can say is stay tuned for the next instalment to come (and probably my favourite photos of the batch) - the portraits!

Here's the song we had playing as guests were filing into the atrium, I think it sums up the moment perfectly:



photographer: Christine Lim / second photographer: Ruby Yeo / venue: Fremantle Town Hall