Pretty colours

So I'm basically inept at all this wedding planning business.
Until veeeery recently I thought a wedding theme was dressing up as Shrek, or having 'tropical' food, or making it look like the 1920s at your reception, but I've since become aware that your wedding theme are the colours.
I thought colours would be easy. I love colours. I trawl through the internet to find RGB (or HEX codes) to put into my range of desktop publishing programs to get all sorts of colours. I love it.
But picking colours for my wedding is just driving me mad!
So without further adieu, these are the colours that I have picked for mine and The Man's wedding in December:

Oyster

Cream

Fern

Ivory

Mushroom

Mulberry

It was going to have more purple, but then I decided to use shades of white.
Now I'm too far into the planning process to change the colours again, so these are how they will have to stay! And there'll probably be a bit more purple and green, but the main idea was to have mostly shades of white that wouldn't clash with the walls at the reception venue which are a pinky colour - like this:

Light salmon

And apparently just saying that my colours are cream and green and purple isn't specific enough.
LOL

Airy fairy (lights)

Recap:
The other day I was having a stress because I didn't know how I was going to decorate a huge mega space in which I can't stick things to walls (and rightly so because it is a veeeery old building) and I threw up a few options of what I (*cough* me and the Man) can do to decorate it to make it seem less like a massive room and more interesting. And I feel better about the decoration side - I think I'll be spending all my spare dollars (and time) begging, borrowing and stealing fairy lights and I'll figure out some way to hook them up to make an effect like this:

Source

The above picture was on another post of mine - Decorating a huge mega space without really knowing how... - which had a lot of my decorating ideas on it BUT the original picture comes from another blog called West Aussie Wedding. I am trying to be good in crediting where I have borrowed (stolen) my pictures from.

This photo was taken outdoors. Our reception will be indoors with the windows open as I suspect that it might be a bit warm. But then again, just because its the beginning of December doesn't mean it will be summery.

But I am getting beside the point.

Today I was thinking that I was almost certainly positive that I wanted fairy lights as the main decoration. Then I realised I had no idea of the dimensions of the reception space, so I had no idea of how many fairy lights I'd need. D'oh!

So as ours is a 'destination wedding' where its not in the same town as we live in, I was wondering how in fact I'd find out this information without having to drive to the reception space with a tape measure. I spent all day racking my brains, then thought 'Ah! I'll ring the people who hire it out! Brilliant'. And so I found my rental agreement form with their phone number and rang them up and the lady on the other end said she wasn't sure. Then she said 'Oh! It's on the agreement form!' and went to get one to look at it.

Then I looked at the piece of paper in my hand.

Which had a floor plan of the hall on it COMPLETE with dimensions.

I felt a bit stupid for wasting my time wondering.

Oh well!

Decorating a huge mega space without really knowing how...

Trying to think of budget ways to decorate the wedding reception like the tables and the foyer and the actual reception space and I don't know what else. I did write it down.
Actually forget BUDGET ways to decorate - I don't know how to decorate it at all!
Because the reception space *thinks* is more than 100 years old - maybe 115... we can't stick things to the wall except for hooks that can be attached to the picture rail.
So basically I have no idea of how to decorate this enormous space.
Ideas I've had so far are:

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Tissue paper pompoms

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Geometric paper garlands

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Origami balloons

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Fairy lights

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Tulle draped from the ceiling (lighting rig)

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 String ball lights (for want of a better/proper name for it)

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Lanterns. I like lanterns. A lot.

This is just decorating the general space. I have a foyer to decorate too for when people are arriving and just hanging out having a beverage before the wedding reception begins properly. 

And the reception has to match the ceremony location (this is not something I've told must happen, it is something that my inner Bridezilla wants - sometimes I have to listen to her).

Then I have the table centrepieces to figure out, and FLOWERS ARE SO EXPENSIVE. Plus 80+ chairs to make look pretty as the current chairs at the venue are about 60 years old (no lie) and *might* be replaced before Wedding Time, and might not be. And usually people hire seat covers for them, and I don't really want to spend $300+ on having someone put a pretty sash on the chairs.

So if anyone's out there reading this blog - do you have any ideas on how to decorate a massive function space where I can't actually stick anything to the walls. 

Help? Help please?

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.

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?

1. Decide on a budget and hash out who's contributing.
Knot Hint: For a quick and easy way to determine a budget, use The Knot Budgeter. 
The man and I just purchased a house, and in all the thrashing out of budgets etc to pay for things like Rates, and Insurance, and Water, I sort of forgot to mention that at some point we have to pay for the wedding. Ooops. I suppose you could say that currently out wedding budget is $100 which is how much is in my bank account at the moment.
2. Make sure to insure your engagement ring.
Done! In all this arranging of Insurance business for the new house, I listed my engagement ring as a portable valuable so if someone comes and steals it I will be able to replace it (not that I want to replace it because I like the one that I have).

3. Pick your preferences for a wedding date and time, and finalize after okaying with important guests, location, or officiant.
All sorted because 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. Start interviewing caterers.
I did email some caterers to ask them if they could do what we wanted for the wedding meal. We specifically want it a certain way, and are striking some opposition about it, but that is the next thing that the man and I plan to do once the moving into a new house and Christmas and New Years is over. Also a bit tricky because we are getting hitched in a smallish town, there are less options for people to cater the wedding. 
**What is it meant to be called anyway? Wedding dinner sounds too mediocre. Wedding feast sounds like people will walk in with a boar on a spit with an apple in its mouth. Wedding meal? Wedding... oh I get it. The correct word is reception.

7. Scout out reception sites.
Already done. The reception venue (the original one, not the one that the man threw in as a red herring when we visited Maldon) is A-MA-ZING. We have a tentative booking for it, and all we need to do is go and sign some paperwork to lock it in. Only problem is that we have to have a plan of how we want to set up the tables, and we can't do that until we figure out who's invited which varies between 50 and 100 people depending on the day because I have ever so many friends and relatives and workmates.
Either way, the reception venue has been decided.

8. Start looking for an officiant who suits your style and spirit.
My lovely friend Coral has agreed to* be the celebrant and has given me a fantastic discount on her services. Yeah! She lives in the Yarra Ranges so if you're looking for a celebrant for your wedding...
*I had to think of the right word here - celebrate? Coral is going to celebrate our wedding? Hmm.

9. Book your reception site as soon as you see something you love that’s available on your date.
Solvered. See point 7.

10. If you're having an engagement party, set a date, draft a guest list, and purchase your invitations.
Still not decided on whether there will BE an engagement party. How about I do a poll? Go here to my Facebook page and give me your opinion.

11. Get organized! Start a notebook/file folder to house all your wedding-planning paperwork in one place.
I do have a folder and dividers and plastic pockets and paper, but I haven't put any of it together. Maybe I should do that. Maybe I will do that once we've moved house or else I'll end up losing everything in it, or it will fall into the wrong hands and then chaos will ensue.

12. Begin working on a preliminary wedding guest list and decide on your wedding's approximate size.
Yeah that. The biggest problem so far is deciding who to invite and who to not invite. Luckily for my budget, a few of my high school friends have decided to blacklist me, so I will not be obliged to invite them to my wedding. The man has pretty firm ideas of who he wants to invite, and who he doesn't want, but then he started a new job so I expect the majority of his workmates will get a guernsey at the wedding. Which is good because I like the people he works with, but bad because the guest list is approaching triple figures again, even with the high school friends cull.

13. Request lists from both sets of parents and create your own wish list.
Not sure what sort of wish list we are going for here? I'll get back to you on that one.

14. Choose your bridesmaids/groomsmen and ask them to be in the wedding party.
I have chosen my wedding party people. The man has not. He decided one way, and then decided a different way and now who knows who he's chosen. I did point out to him he needs to give whoever it is that he picked some sort of notice that they are needed in the wedding. We'll see if he took any notice of me!

15. Hire a consultant (if you're having one) and sign a contract.
Not having a consultant because I am cheap (or budget-conscious) and proud to be that way.

16. Find a ceremony site if one hasn't been determined by your choice of officiant or reception site.
The ceremony site was the first thing we picked, and last weekend we went along to it to see what it was like at this time of year. It was awesome, and there were ducks so all will be good with the ceremony as long as we have someone standing by to catch bub as she runs after the ducks and into the water in her wedding flowergirl finery. Although, she does know how to swim - or at least not drown - so that might be a bit funny. But you didn't hear me say that.

17. Contact newspapers to announce your engagement (you may need to have an engagement photo taken as well).
Hello Bendigo Advertiser? I'm getting married....
Er, not sure if that will be neccesary... perhaps though we might try to get our wedding pictures in the Herald Sun - that'd be pretty cool after years of checking out the weddings, I, I mean, we could be in there too.

So of 17 things we are meant to have done, we've achieved 9.5 of them with a strike rate of 55%. I am guessing this is not very good?
Hmmm.

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.