Tag Archives: bride

Say ‘I Do’ to DIY

Your wedding should be exactly that; yours. By incorporating personal touches to your wedding you will be creating a unique atmosphere for your guests and one that will represent you and your partner. This can be easily achieved with the use of handmade and special items throughout the ceremony and reception.

Handmade bombonniere for each guest or using unique decorations that you have made such as bunting, signage or a seating board are great ways of adding a personal element to the styling of your wedding. It also creates fantastic conversation starters for your guests as they marvel in your designs.

Or if creating Pinterest worthy styling moments throughout your wedding day isn’t your thing then maybe taking the time at the start with handmade invitations will do the trick. By creating some of your own signature styling pieces you will get to harness your creative flair and maybe save some money while you’re at it too.

Pinterest and wedding blogs are a great source for inspiration and DIY pieces will always be in style. Take your time researching different designs and know your strengths, it may be that you are great at sewing, or you might be more of a cut and paste kind of girl. If you’re short on time then involve your bridesmaids for a night full of fun bombonniere packing and champagne of course…

Whatever it is that you choose make it special and unique, it is your wedding after all.

Plan My Wedding Sunshine Coast - Calli B Photography

Plan My Wedding Sunshine Coast

Images By Calli B Photography

“You’ll wear it again, I promise” – Helpful hints for choosing your bridesmaid dresses

There are a lot of big decisions to make when planning your wedding and choosing your wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses can be one of the hardest but most enjoyable experiences. Your bridal party is made up of your nearest and dearest and you want them to feel fabulous during your wedding celebrations.

Choosing the right bridesmaid dresses will need to be done once the bridal gown has been selected. The dresses should complement and not overpower the wedding gown and this can be a fine line. By this stage you will have already chosen your main colour theme and style for your wedding. This colour should be incorporated throughout your wedding for a flow on effect; from your stationary, theming, cake and of course the bridesmaid dresses. The colour of the dresses should therefore either be the same colour used throughout the wedding style or one that complements it.

An option that’s becoming more popular is varying the dress for each of your gal pals. This can be achieved in one of two ways; with one style of dress for all of the girls but in different colours, or with each girl in their own unique dress in varied shades of the same colour palette. You could then opt to have the same shoes and bouquets for your bridal party to keep some similarity between them. This is a great way of creating a less stressful experience as your bridesmaids will then be able to incorporate their own personal style into their combination that will leave them exuding confidence.

A lot of brides still tend to turn to the same style and colour dress for the whole wedding party. This option photographs really well as the groomsmen are all in the same style of suit and each partner then matches up evenly throughout the bridal party.

By far, the best tip for choosing your bridesmaid dresses is enjoying the time with your best friends as you shop and check out lots of different options. So get the girls together with a bottle of bubbly, let the good times roll and make sure you can say seriously “You’ll wear it again, I promise”.

Plan My Wedding Sunshine Coast - Raconteur Photography

Image by Raconteur Photography Plan My Wedding Sunshine Coast - Matt Rowe Photography

Image by Matt Rowe Photography

Wedding Guest List – too many people!

Guests lists are to this day still one of the hardest things to do with regard to your wedding.
As a couple you need to sit down with both your parents and work out what everyone’s
expectations are. There is no point you starting the guest list and then two months down the
track your mum says she has 6 really close family friends that just have to be invited!

Some things to take into account when working out your guest list…The size of your venue. If the venue only seats 90 guests then don’t invite 110 and hope they won’t all come!
Reception costs – know in advance what the per person price is for the venue including food, drinks, room hire charges and styling costs. It may be better to have 10 less guests and get everything that you want.
My general rule when adding people to your guest list is ask yourself this – have I seen them in the past 12 months and will I see them in the next 6 months? Work college is a different question – if I didn’t work at the same place would I still know this person in 12 months?

Plan My Wedding Sunshine Coast - Woodland Photography

Image by Woodland Photography

Wedding Budget – do I need one?

Unless your name is Ivana and your dad’s name is Donald…. we all need a wedding budget!
A wedding budget is not about having a cheap wedding, its about making compromises on the
things you decide are really important and the things that are less important to you. For you it
may be wedding flowers or it may be drinks at the reception every couple is different. The one
thing everyone has in common is that we have a figure that we need to work to. The trick of a
good budget is to show you where you are spending money (before you actually hand it over)
so that you can make adjustments along the way.
Keeping things realistic is the key to having a wonderful wedding, the stress of spending way
too much money will make the whole wedding planning process a nightmare (and out of those
nightmares I am sure bridezillas are born).
Your wedding budget is not set in stone, you can change it as many times as you need too.
Some of your compromises may be simple ones like still suppling drinks at the reception but
just not including the most expensive champagne and spirits.

Plan My Wedding Sunshine Coast - Ben Connolly Photography

Image by Ben Connolly Photography