Cuteness

Here's a sweet card we got from a friend for our engagement.

If you're blind like me, click on image to enlarge

P.S New white blinds look awesome!

Food, glorious food!

J's Paper Cup Napkin Folding

Vietnamese Chicken Prawn Colesaw Salad Cups

One of the biggest compliments we received at our engagement party was that the food was delilcious!!

We could not have achieved without the amazing efforts of our friends and family! And in particular my awesome sister and her fabulous friends, who took care of everything on the night!!

We initially intended to get caterers to relieve the stress, however in the end cost, of course, became the issue. The cheapest piece of finger food was $3 a piece, and well, multiply that by 150 people came to $450 for 1 measley morsel!!

So collectively our AMAZING friends & family all pitched in and made the finger food and desserts.

JD created his own method of folding napkins to sit around the salad paper cups, which held the cute wooden forks. I guess he found his inner Martha Stewart & Donna Hay... A couple of session of napkin folding in front of the TV and presto 200 cups done! He jokingly said he should copyright it... but I think he was half serious.

Finger food:

• Homemade Humus, Spinach, Beetroot Dip & Turkish Bread
• Fresh Oysters
• Prawn & Pork Rice Paper Rolls w Hoisin Sauce
• Tofu Rice Paper Rolls w Hoisin Sauce
• Vietnamese Chicken Prawn Colesaw with Prawn crackers
• Mini Burgers w Beetroot & Orange Relish
• Dill Mayo, Chicken & Cucumber Sandwiches
• Roast Pumpkin, Caramelised Onion, & Fetta Crusty Rolls
• Smoked Trout Dip in Crispy Wontons
• Corn Fritters with Avocado Salsa
• Zuchini Frittata w Capsicum Relish
• Homemade Pasties & Sausage Rolls w Tomato Relish
  

Dessert:

• Mini Chocolate Tortes
• Ginger Butterfly Cupcakes
• Mini Apple Crumble Slice
• Match Sticks
• Mini Meringues
• Lemon Curd Tartlets
  

We were able to get our nice champagne, beer & wine ridiculously well priced through our good friends Batels & D and served Pimms which was perfect for a sunny afternoon of lawn bowls.

polaroids & pegs...

Vignette of vases & collectables on the table at the entrance

How cute are these chairs? They belonged to the bowls club

The polaroids & fabric booth was a hit!

Sanderson "Merrick Park" fabric used for our photo booth

To the left of the cool retro chairs was our fabric photobooth suspended from the ceiling. JD's dad is an upholsterer & gave us a roll of this cute Sanderson hydrangea fabric.

I was quite surprised that everyone embraced the fabric photobooth. I expected some guests to look at it and think "what on earth is this for?" and was prepared that some just wouldn't "get it" but most voluntarily jumped in front of it and snapped away..

I used the same fabric to make cushions for the benches inside. They really helped in making the place look cosy.

My ceramic owl, (a previous op-shop buy) held the pegs used to hang our polaroid photos onto the ribbon pinned to the board.

Weeks leading up to the party we kept our eyes peeled for vintage ceramic vases, jars, tea light holders and vintage plates for church candles, which were scattered around on the tables.

I bought a variety of white, green foliage & flowers from a wholesaler who sells to the public, and they were conveniently located nearby the venue. I bought 14 bunches for $130 in the morning of the party, an bargain!!! They were arranged very casually, it looked absolutely perfect!!

More photos to come....

love love love...

Here's a sneaky peak!

Well, what a fabulous day & night it turned out to be!! I'm still buzzing!!

decisions, decisions...

SO HERES, my dress!

It's not my usual style, actually kind of a far from it, but I love it !!

I wanted something classic and of the 60's/70's era.. It sort of reminds me of the Jean Shrimpton shift but I'll be minus the hot pins!

My sis (my personal stylist) took me to Retro Star in the city to take a look at vintage pieces. I tried some on and whilst they were stunning, the fabric was too thick and very itchy! I felt more Queen of England and not very Audrey Hepburn. So I've opted for the Alannah Hill version which i was lucky to get at a very good price.

So first, I had none.. And now I'm overwhelmed with shoe options.. Don't ask where the second shoe for the 3rd option is.. Likely to be lost some where in the abyss of this crowded apartment.. It's currently been taken over by decorations, cushions, catering supplies...

cutest photobooth ever!!

Initially, I wanted to hire one of the black & white old school photobooths for our engagement but after a couple of calls we just couldn't justify spending $1800 on it.

After some wedding blog researching, I quickly fell in love with the idea of a makeshift fabric photo booth back drop, and i must say these happy snaps from Lena Corwin's wedding are the sweetest I've ever seen!!

invitation bundles

Here's how we posted the invites out..

I searched all over to find thick stock kraft envelopes - ebay saves the day again!

on a tissue mission!

So here begins the trails and tribulations of the decorations i have in mind.. I've decided to deck the venue out in Martha's Pom Poms in a bid to detract from the daggy photos, banner, plaques (& photo of the Queen) !

So here's my colour scheme of pom poms, it took forever to find the right shades of green & blue!! Yay for Ebay! I spent less on 3 colour shades in comparison to what would have cost me $40 for one ream of just 1 shade.. Arhh simple pleasures for a crazed pedantic virgo!

Geeze, this only validates why i so need this blog - fam, friends & JD would not understand why i fret over such frivolous things like finding the right colour shades of tissue paper!! Embarassing to admit..

engagement party

So as JD and I will be having a super small wedding (immediate family & close friends only) we have decided organise a biggish (150 is big for us) engagement party with family & lovely acquaintances that we won't be able to invite to the wedding.

We both want the engagement party a lovely and fun night but hopefully without the hefty price tag... So we've opted for an old lawn bowls club house close to the city & not far from our house so it won't stress the bejeesus out of me trying to organise logistics of everything. And hopefully having it there will be a lot more cost effective, as we can basically do what ever we want in terms of food and alcohol.

The club house is a bit daggy but has lot of potential to turn into a cute venue, but it will be abit of a challenge. It's a white weatherboard with green trimmings and is one of the oldest clubs in dating back to the 1880's. It's has great bench seats inside which i can dress with a mix of cushions.. and great floorboards for a smashing dance floor.

So I'm thinking of making light of the daggyness and theming it a retro 50's school hall prom sort of feel.. It (the venue) is what it is, no point making it out to be some la de da place when clearly it's not..