Wedding: that's a wrap!

So this is really the final wedding post. Wow! It's been such an incredible journey and I am so grateful for all your kind words and support. This chapter in my life has now come to a close and while it feels like I am farewelling a good friend, I am very excited about the future as a married lady. But planning my own day has also uncovered a passion for weddings, and I am currently working on a project in this realm that I'll be releasing more news about in the future. I am super excited! In the mean time, I'll leave you with one of my favourite photos from the day, a little advice and thoughts on the best parts of the day.

Three best investments:

1. Having Christine Lim as a photographer. This lady is just so darn talented and I have been recommending her to all my friends, engaged or not. I am so happy with the photos her and Ruby came out with and they were an absolute joy to have on the day. I hope this isn't the last time I have the pleasure of working with these pros!
2. Calling Jess Butcher in at the last minute to style the day. I can't sing Jess' praises enough! Having her on board became the biggest stress reliever, as I knew my ideas were in trusted hands and she would do a fabulous job making them come to life. She set things up so much better than I ever could have, and I am really looking forward to see what this girl does next - she is definitely going places.
3. Booking Fothergills for the night before and of the wedding. This was just the perfect place to get ready and wake up to two days in a row. We had the whole top floor of one of the two terrace houses which made it easy to move around and let everyone get ready in their own space. I loved sleeping in the four-poster bed and the owners were so accommodating, even when I got locked in the bathroom the morning after the wedding and needed rescuing!

Three best savings:

1. My dress. It was my dream gown, no question about it, and one of those things that was just meant to be. I am glad I trusted my instincts regarding my original dress and kept looking, and found this incredible piece on Etsy for just $250. Never did I think my gown would come at so small a price!
2. Going for a collection of cakes from Sherbet. I spoke in good detail about this in another post, but the value we got for our money by eschewing a decorated cake and going for our favourite whole cakes from Sherbet was fantastic. They tasted amazing and had us doling out leftover cake for a week after the wedding.
3. Various DIY projects. I got inspiration for many of these thanks to Pinterest and saved so much by having a go myself. As previously mentioned, it was also such a nice process to know guests would go home with favours I had created and seeing the product of all my hard work displayed on the day.

Three best moments:

1. Seeing Marc up on the stage and the pure joy radiating from his face. Feeling that intense energy and love between us as we made our vows. And all my nerves melting away with that one magical kiss.
2. Taking that moment to tour the empty reception inside rooms just after arriving when all our guests were still out in the courtyard. It was the first time we had been alone all day and gave us the chance to say a huge "Wow!" while smiling giddily. Also admiring Jess Butcher's handiwork and all those little details that had taken me months to imagine, and later bring to life.
3. Spending the night before and morning of at Fothergills with my little sister and maid of honour. I remember it being a really relaxing time in those hours leading up to the day kicking off, and it was a really nice moment to spend with my best gal friend.

Other notable mentions go to the flower arranging session Robyn and I had the day before, catching a taxi to the ceremony, walking around while taking the portraits and having so many passers-by and motorists we didn't know congratulating us, entering the reception to crazy applause from our nearest and dearest  sharing lots of smiles and love with Marc during the day, walking hand-in-hand home after the reception and chatting about such a great day.

Three things that I might have done differently:

1. I wish I wore a floor-length veil! For some reason I thought it would be too over the top but in hindsight, when I came to choose my second dress I probably should have thought about having a more lush veil with a blusher to match the vintage effect. But my veil only cost $5 so I can't complain too much!
2. Not that we could fit this into our budget but if we could, I would have loved to have had a videographer to get a film of the day. Things got so foggy a few days after the wedding and it all just felt like a bit of a blur so it would have been nice to see a professional video of the events. But that said, I have family-recorded versions of all the key bits of the day to remember it all by and Christine's photos have me a real memory-boost when I received them!
3. I would have worn my main gown all night. I really didn't get to wear it for that long in the end and would have loved to soak it in a bit more. But this is unrealistic because I needed to dance and the big tulle skirt would have made that impossible. A girl can dream though!

Yup, that's the end. I tried to be as thorough as possible, but if there's anything else you're keen to let me know just ask. Thanks to you all again for reading and sharing this joyous time with me. Goodbye wedding, you were ace!

photographer: Christine Lim