Saturday, December 31, 2011

Blog Repost: Vocabulary Lesson #2 - Papa (or Mama)-razzi

I found this on 'Kiss My Tulle' and it made me laugh so hard that I had to repost it here:

The Ranty Bride: Vocabulary Lesson #2 - Papa (or Mama)-razzi

Papa- or mama-razzi: relatives who think - because they have a digital camera and a Facebook page - they have been ordained to capture every single second of your wedding, resulting in photos of bridal party members and guests looking annoyed, chewing, not paying attention, or just out of focus, like this:
122711 b
(sorry, Jenna - I tried to stop him)
Or, this:
122711 c
(note how NOT A SINGLE PERSON is looking at the camera, or doing anything interesting, unless you think the fact that they're wearing an ugly holiday sweater un-ironically in early October interesting)
Or this gem:
122711 d
(my mother *insists* she is not flicking off my father, but you be the judge)
They do this despite the fact that you're paying - handsomely, I might add - a professional photographer, and, unlike that professional who is trying to capture candid, heartfelt moments in an unobtrusive manner, the papa- and mama-razzi manage to be as obtrusive as humanely possible, including, but not limited to, preventing the bride and groom from eating, talking to their guests, or, you know, getting photographed by the REAL photographer. Additionally, the focus they devote to their photographic duties prevents them from paying attention to things like, for example, your wedding rehearsal, so they will be completely unprepared on the big day. Don't say I didn't warn you.

A la TMZ, their goal is to post BREAKING NEWS of your special day as quickly as possible, so that filter that would normally say, "Eh, maybe not this one," is overridden by their journalistic urgency, causing them to put shit like this on Facebook, captioned, "My son and daughter":
122711 a
...not realizing that people (ok, me) might think it's gross when people are commenting, "Congrats, you two!!" until someone points out it's a photo of the groom's SISTER creepily clinging onto him (in velour, apparently), and not, you know, a picture of the bride and groom, as the commenters (not just me! Ha.) were expecting.

Sidenote: shout-out and thanks to all the random FB people who pointed out it was, in fact, creepy, so I didn't have to. Also the, "I think it's, 'Look, it's my widdle brother all growed up!'" comment? Not helping your cause. And it's 'beaucoup,' not 'boo coo,' for Christ's sake. That is totally unrelated but REALLY pushing my grammar button today.

Yes, it should have been a warning every time he interrupted your dance recital rehearsals to take fuzzy, poorly lit photos of you and random kids whose names you won't remember twenty years later, and good thing it was the 80s, because now? They'd probably call the cops. Or Chris Hansen.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Reality TV Wedding Goodness

Source
Have found the most hilarious new* TV show called Four Weddings that I watched for the first time the other night. First The Man was watching it and asked me what it was about and then I sat down and had a squiz so I could explain what was happening and now today I am frantically googling it to see what there is to know about it.
It's hilarious! All these brides who are probably lovely in the real world are snipy and horrible to each other and they criticise EVERYTHING, like one bride had her wedding in the police chapel and one of the other brides said the chapel was a bit boring (or something like that - it was not a resounding pat on the back for the bride's choice of applause for the wedding ceremony venue anyway).
Here is a picture of the boring police academy chapel. Totally average as I'm sure you'll agree. And then elsewhere in the show, one of the brides ordered scallops at the reception even though she didn't really like them and then begrudgingly admitted that they were really good.

Source
And way back when me and my non-engaged friends were young(er) and well before my bub was ever thought of and before I'd ever even met The Man, I used to go to my friend's place and watch Bridezillas and we'd laugh at the craaazy people on there. I have so many favourites, and again I am sure these ladies (and sometimes men) are perfectly normal, sane, rational people, but TV editing does not do them any favours. There was the chick who made about 20 cakes as centrepieces for the tables at her reception and then thy; the whiny chick from Texas who didn't like her fiance's haircut, the woman who had about 20 bridesmaids and had her wedding in a castle and who was being a princess in all definitions of the word, the man who wanted everyone to be ferried to the wedding in golfcarts for free and the wedding reception people said no. And the money they'd spend. ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL - 'oh, my budget was $80,000 but I've gone over and now it's $110,000'. What? Where do you get that much money to spend? Where do I go to get this money? Anyway, now that friend is an old married woman and I am an old un-married woman with a baby, and so those days of Bridezilla marathons are long gone. Plus I don't have AusStar so I don't get those good TV shows.


Source
And the other wedding TV show that I used to love, that I also used to watch with my married lady friend on her AusStar was Engaged and Underage. This one was fascinating firstly because all the people on the show were at least 8 years younger than me and had boyfriends/girlfriends and in some cases babies. Also because it was Bridezillas with children! So much more scope for tantrum-throwing. I used to stream this on my laptop because it was so fascinating to watch. I used to pretend my zipcode was 90210. It was a fantastic show to watch because of the couples seemed so mature and other couples were... um... less so. What I DO remember from this show is that one of the couples started their own non-profit organisation To Write Love On Her Arms which I thought was pretty cool.


*Well, it's new for me at least

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Cake Horror


I am petrified that my wedding will end up 'lame'. It will almost be a destination wedding, because the people from my adopted hometown who think driving 20 minutes is ridiculous won't love travelling TO ANOTHER TOWN! And the people from my actual hometown who actually are travelling 90 minutes or more just to see me and the man prance around in fancy clothes,
One of my biggest wedding related fears comes from one of my favourite blogs, Cake Wrecks. The terrible terrible cakes that appear on this blog make me realise that these cakes could happen to me. And oh, God, if I was appalled at the slap-dash effort put into icing my bub's birthday cake, I will be horrified by a wedding cake that's anything less than awesome.
And while all the Cake Wrecks were enough to strike horror into my heart, this one totally freaked me out because the person who made it hd totally no contact with the people who ordered it, then it turned up as you can see, right before the reception, also it tasted awful.
Fail. Fail. Fail!
I don't know what kind of cake we are getting, but I know it has to be awesome. I will not settle for second best.
I know, I KNOW I am a Bridezilla in the making, but at least I am up front about it.
And to further entertain you, here is a link to Wrecky Wedding Week over at Cake Wrecks. It's from last year but the horror and bad-cakemanship lives on. Specially for the people who paid good money to have these cakes made.
*Shudders*

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Wedding Planner

So the other day I was saying that I was too too cheap to hire a wedding planner, and that I was a proud Budget Savvy Bride and all that jib jab.
Then I thought about my recent big birthday party, and how too many people had a say in it, and it ended up crazy unorganised*. Even as far as certain people taking over the music and the room being too big and there not being many people.
So now I have thought about it and I think I want to pay someone to run everything, from food, to music, to things running to schedule or whatever. And I want to pay them so I can tell them exactly what I want, so that it happens the way I want, and if I doesn't happen the way I want it and I chuck a tanty, then I won't be reminded of it until the end of time.
Because, oh yes, I will be a Bridezilla. I know this for a fact.
So now I am not sure if I want a proper 'wedding co-ordinator' or just a clued-up DJ (is that what they are called these days?) who will not play a tonne of Meatloaf, or AC/DC, or Justin Bieber, or Khe Sanh (looking in the direction of my brother) just because the guests ask for it. I mean, I like all these bands and they are OK I guess, but I don't want people to remember my wedding as a Meatloaf-palooza.
Also it'd be good if someone had the job of setting up the reception the way that I want it, and not 'guess' and then I roll in after the ceremony and cut sick at people because it looks crap.
Hello, I'm a perfectionist here! I will not settle for mediocre just because someone else doesn't care about how it looks. My bub's birthday was nearly two months ago, and I asked someone to put the butter icing on her cake, and was amazed at the lack of effort put into a seemingly easy job. Totally gets on my nerves!
So what do you reckon? How do I find someone to do all this stuff for me, as the reception venue doesn't have a function manager/co-ordinator/boss? Honestly will cry if my wedding doesn't come up to my standards which aren't sky-high, but matter to me.

*I had FUN at my birthday, but I could see how we could improve things a bit.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

PANIC! (nah, not really)

Let's visit my guru in wedding preparation, The Knot. They helpfully send me an email every so often with suggestions of where I should be in my wedding planning. Some of the items listed below even had alarm clocks to emphasise to me how important it is that I do them NOW!

Begin envisioning your wedding (I am imagining this being said in a calm sing-song voice, with incense in an oil burner and whale-song on in the background) --- formal hotel or friend's loft? Backyard barbecue or exotic beach?








I decided (notice the 'I' and not 'we') that if I couldn't have a cool wedding date like 10/10/10 or 11/11/11, I would have one that repeated itself - 12/01/2012 (12012012) - cool hey? As its on the tail end of wedding season (have a mental image of brides running around the bush and people in cams shooting at them), everything seems to be available *fingers crossed*.

4. Begin interviewing wedding consultants (if you'll have one) AND / OR start asking family AND friends FOR local wedding vendor recommendations.
We aren't having a wedding consultant because to me it smacks of spending more money than we have - I aim to be a budget savvy bride and want to do as much as I can myself to save money.
Regarding asking family and friends for suggestions - all my family live far away, and I don't know anyone who have gotten married in the town where we're doing our wedding. Plus all the family have lost interest in our wedding, except for one or two of the ladies, but really - nobody seems to really care! So we have figured out stuff for ourselves.

5. Brides: It's never too early to begin thinking about your gown. Start by figuring out what style will look best on you.
I posted about dress dramas a few weeks ago. I am fairly sure that I know what sort of dress I want to have and I have lined up a friend to make it for me if she will agree to do it. All can tell you so far however is that it will not be foofy (ignore definition #1) and it will not be strapless especially because recently I went to a family dinner and my maxi-dress (gifted to me by another mummy friend) fell off revealing my nanna bra to my future brother-in-law.
Embarrassing. To. The. Max.
And I'd imagine my undies on my wedding day might be more revealing than a nanna bra so I really don't want that for myself, or for anyone else.
But if anyone has some kind of dress generator that they can direct me to so I can get some ideas of other gowns that I might like, that'd be cool too.

6.









































Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Dress talk

So a lot of people have asked me when I am going to start planning the wedding 'properly' and I said I had to get my bubba's 1st birthday out of the way.
Well, the birthday was last week, and the party was on the weekend, so now I guess I have to start organising things. Oh God!
The ceremony venue is solid, the reception place is tentatively booked and all I need to do is mosey my way on over to sign paperwork to book it properly.
What next?
Oh! I went to a bridal boutique with my mum and bubba to see what sort of dresses are out there, and it was a massive shock to the system.

Firstly, I got there and my mum and I went around looking at the different styles (mostly white strapless A-line dresses):
Big and poufy and white. So much tulle!
OK, maybe not quite that extreme. May be more like this:

So we look around the shop and see a few in the colour that I like, which is technically called 'not-white' and in a style that I call 'I won't be hitching my dress up on the day'. I go into the shop fully aware that as a larger lady I will not find a mountain of gowns that will fit me, and that I will not find a whole lot of styles that will suit me, or that I will suit. I pull out some size 16s and 18s as lately I've been hitting the gym and I have toned up a bit, so I am so sure that these dresses will fit me and I will be able to finally try on a dress.
I hang up these dresses on a rail in the shop and go and ask someone if I can go try them on as a matter of courtesy

LADY: When would you like to try the gowns on (pulls out a diary)
ME: *thinking, Are you joking*...now?
LADY: Oh, they are all at lunch, I can fit you in at 3:30pm (in an hour's time)
ME: *Huh?* But I am right here.

So after surrendering my wedding date, name and phone number we go off to Baccini & Hill to look at their stuff, and in the time I wait to try on the gowns that I picked out, I manage to try on two dresses and my mum decides that the bridemaids will look GAWJUZ in some $400 dresses. Which I agree, they would look beautiful in them, but I am not sure they want to take out a bank loan to purchase them for MY wedding. And I am not sure my wedding budget will stretch that far to buy the dresses for the girls. In fact I am not sure the wedding budget will stretch that far to buy a dress that costs that much for me. But they really were beautiful dresses.
So back to the boutique we go fpr my appointment and I go into a cavernous dressing room to try on dress #1, a size 16. It doesn't even remotely zip up due to my boobies. I am upset. Then I try on dress #2, a size 18 and it's even smaller. How does that work?
There were hardly any dresses in what I thought was my size so I don't have a very wide selection.
The assistant tells me that the size 18 dresses are more like a 12, and goes to find me the sole size 24 in the entire shop for me to try on so I can see myself as a bride.
By now I am sulky and I don't want to play any more.
I am tired of having people fiddle around with my now apparent fat rolls, and trying to cajole me into trying on gowns that will never ever fit me.
She does find a lovely dress that I like and offers it to me with a $500 discount because it's a shop sample, but it's still too small. She suggests I could lose weight before the wedding. I suggest that I get some ribs removed.
Needless to say, this was not a productive day!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Throwing wedding plans out the window

Everyone keeps telling me how once you pick the wedding reception venue and the place where the ceremony is being held, that everything else is easy peasy. We picked out these things ages ago so I thought all was good, until today. We went out for lunch to a small town about 45 minute drive for our place and even though I was totally confident that we've settled on where the wedding ceremony will be, and where the reception will be, my man thought we could scope out some other places we could go to.

This is where up until lunch time today I thought we were having the wedding ceremony:
Yeah, there is a lot of water. I might be spending part of the ceremony chasing the flowergirl out of the lake.
 And this is couple of shots where the reception was going to be:
Inside: It won't have this sort of table decorations - it might not even have round tables at all. Haven't decided yet.
Outside: It is a huge building.

Here are some of the alternatives that we saw on our walk after lunch. My man has been sick and I made him push the baby in her pram and he got a bit puffed out. Ooops.

He was trying to sell this to me because it had a gun in the middle of the gardens. It was very tempting.

Right in the middle of town. I liked the old church-y hall...
This also had a proper church hall.



Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Wedding music *Chance for you to contribute to this blog*

I was having a conversation via Facebook Chat on my phone at about 12:30 this morning, and we were talking about the sort of music that should or shouldn't be played at weddings (yes, we like to talk weddings, especially random and odd wedding topics).
My friend has chosen wedding music to play and then someone in her family said she wasn't traditional enough and they were having a disagreement.
I suggested that she should play 'Like A Virgin' as she walked down the aisle.
Then I went to sleep, but before that I ran through some suggestions with my man. I got through two YouTube videos before I had to go to sleep. My suggestions were 'Bat Out Of Hell' by Meatloaf ('like a bat out of hell/ I'll be gone when the morning comes') and 'Sympathy For The Devil' by the Rolling Stones, which title alone would be a HI-larious wedding march.
So what songs do YOU think are highly inappropriate for a wedding?

Monday, October 24, 2011

I think I need to rob a bank

So once I got engaged I sort of switched off from wedding planning - it was just before my birthday, and I was more focused on that. After my birthday we lined up a wedding venue and somewhere for the reception and then we figured that that was enough wedding planning for the time being and organising came to a grinding halt. I did go and look some dresses. That's about all. Now my bubba's 1st birthday is coming and I am more worried about things like her birthday cake and party than wedding type stuff.
I KNOW! I am the worst Bridezilla ever!
So to give me a vague idea of what sort of things I have to organise I found a list on Martha Stewart Weddings of stuff I am supposed to sort out:
  • Band
  • Hair and Makeup
  • Prewedding Pampering
  • Cake
  • Beverages & Bartenders
  • Food & Service
  • Ceremony Musicians
  • DJ
  • Bride's Accessories
  • Dress & Alterations
  • Groom's Accessories
  • Groom's Tux or Suit
  • Headpiece and Veil
  • Favors and Gifts
  • Additional Boutonnieres and Corsages
  • Bride Bouquet
  • Bridesmaid Bouquet
  • Ceremony Decorations
  • Flower Girl Flowers
  • Groom and Groomsmen Boutonnieres
  • Reception Decorations & Centrepieces
  • Invitations and Reply Cards
  • Other Stationery
  • Her Ring
  • His Ring
  • Officiant
  • Wedding Night Accommodation
  • Bridesmaid Gifts
  • Groomsmen Gifts
  • Hotel Rooms for Out-Of-Town Guests
  • Parent Gifts
  • Photographer
  • Additional Prints
  • Wedding Planner
  • Reception Rentals
  • Guest Shuttle or Parking
  • Limo or Car Rentals
  • Ceremony Venue Accessories
  • Ceremony Venue Fee
  • Reception Venue
  • Rehearsal Dinner Venue
  • Videographer
 Oh My God, I think I am going to have to rob a bank to pay for it all. Or else my wedding will be veeeery plain and boring (a band AND a DJ? What must you be thinking Martha Stewart?!)

Eek.




My first blog (where I tell you heaps of random stuff about myself)

Oh, well imagine
As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor
And I can't help but to hear
No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words

"What a beautiful wedding!
What a beautiful wedding!?, says a bridesmaid to a waiter
"And yes, but what a shame, what a shame
The poor groom's bride is a whore"


I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At The Disco

Hi there.
I am The Bride (also known in the blogosphere as Atticus Sampson) and this here is my wedding blog where I will bore you all endlessly about the details of my wedding. Yay!

A bit about me:
My name: The Bride (sorry, I can't get much more specific than that)
Well, I CAN get more specific than that as I DO have a real name...
OK, when I am not The Bride I'll be Kitty.
Nickname: Bridie? Let's work on that some more eh.

Age: I just entered my dirty thirties
Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
Occupation: Stay-at-home Mummy of three.
Righty or Lefty: In respect to handwriting - I am a lefty. Politically, I like to sit on the fence. I have little to no interest in politics and recently have had to ask people to explain Occupy Melbourne to me.
Heritage: As Aussie as they come. But my grandmother was sitting on the end of the pier waiting for her family to emigrate from the UK before she was born (old, lame family joke courtesy of my mum).
Favourite colour: Green
Favourite animal: I like tigers. I also like dogs.
Favourite TV show: I did like Underbelly Razor. Now the show I watch the most is *cough* The Love Boat. And 7th Heaven. And sometimes Touched By An Angel. I mean, my favourite show is Shameless. What? It's not on anymore. Um.
Favourite movie: The Boat That Rocked. I proposed to my man during it and he knocked me back. I haven't watched it since because the pain is too raw. Also because I watch about three DVDs a year.
Favourite cartoon: Fireman Sam because I love Elvis Cridlington. (I love that there is even a Fireman Sam Wiki). I also like Samurai Pizza Cats. And Futurama. I am eclectic.
Favourite song: Depends on my mood - lately I like this one but this one is also an old favourite.
Favourite sport: I like to watch soccer, and sometimes tennis. Myself I play Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which is basically sweaty men wrestling with each other trying to break each others arms off. Here is an explanation of it.
Favourite actor: Heath Ledger. Or Colin Farrell (fans self). I used to love Jude Law, but now...eh. I also loves Wolverine.

Favourite musician: I enjoy the music of James Dixon Swan, a Scottish singer.
Favourite athlete: Most people would think I'd like an AFL player, because I am a girl and I don't KNOW any athletes, but I like Valentino Rossi aka The Doctor who races really fast motorbikes around Phillip Island and elsewhere.
Favourite comedian: Hmmm. I don't know. I think lots of actors are funny whether they intend to be or not.
Favourite food: I used to like Thai food, but then I ate some bad food and got violently sick so I haven't touched it since - at the moment I like peri-peri chicken.
Favourite drink: Alcoholic: Baily & Baily Queen Bee. Non-alcoholic: Pineapple juice and lemonade
Favourite number: 22
Favourite school subject: I used to love Year 12 Maths because it was easy.
Favourite clothing: My $5 canvas shoes from Big W. I am hoping to incorporate them into my wedding attire.
Favourite book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and Hover Car Racer by Matthew Reilly
Favourite snack food: Salt and vinegar chips - apparently its an Aussie thing
Favourite season: Summer because you can go to the pool without freezing to death.
What is your hobby?: Making stuff
What is your talent?: Making stuff (you will hear more about this later)
Age of first kiss: 15. He made me kiss his dog first. That's not a euphemism for anything.
Age you got married: Not married yet! (Hence this blog)
Age you had your first kid: I was 29.
Have you been drunk?: Oh God yes, but I haven't been since forever.
Have you been high?: I have been in a plane, yes.
Have you ever been arrested?: No. I have lead a sheltered life.
Have you ever been in a fight?: Yes. Mostly with the same girl. Lots of screaming. Quite impressive.
Have you ever been in an accident?: Yes when a car assumed me being stationary at a red light indicated that I was going to continue driving. Ka-BAM! into the back of my car.
What are your greatest fears?: I am afraid of Scientologists.
What is your greatest pet peeve: People talking about me behind my back. I CAN'T STAND IT!
How many tattoos do you have?: None. Yet.

How many piercings do you have?: I did have three, but they are closed over. I shall have to attack them with a needle.

And that bring us to the conclusion of the first blog post of 'My Big Fat Martha Stewart Blog'. Please subscribe here and come back soon to see what else I chitter chat about. I have also made a Facebook page for ease of sticky-beaking on what I have been gabbling about. Come and like me!