Tag: dunedinweddingplanning

Ideas We Love: Flower Girl Inspo

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All you need is love and … a cute flower girl.

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Photo via: weddbook.com

Flower girls are cute, we all know that. Choosing  to include a flower girl  is a great way to include either your own daughter, family member or some-one who is close to you’s child. And of course you don’t have to have a flower girl or girls (as is sometimes the case) especially if you are budget conscious, as adding extra people into the bridal party, makes for extra cost.

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Photo via: youtube

There are a few things you are going to want to think over before choosing your  flower girl.

  • Age – yes, babies look delicious all dressed up, and definitely get a cute factor dialled up when they come down the aisle, but generally they can’t walk, so will need someone to hold them, do you have that someone? and will said child behave itself during the ceremony, and do you have an exit strategy for if they don’t?
  • Practice – little people need to have a rehearsal! They need to know where they are going to walk from and then to, and then where are they going to stand after they do the walking from and to, will they go to grandma, or mum or dad, and where will that person be seated? It is very very common for little people to freak out when they realise everyone is looking at them, so have a strategy for what to do if that happens, perhaps they could walk with a bridesmaid.
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Photo via: weddingelation.com
  • Combo – little people do better if they have a partner, either the ring bearer or another flower girl, it will help them feel less nervous, so feel free to combo them up.
  • Processional – I always place the ring bearer and flower girl after the bridesmaids, and just before the bride (they are essentially sprinkling those rose petals for the bride to walk upon, not the bridesmaids) and this also helps because then they know where they are walking to, because the bridesmaids are already in place. Tip – always leave a bigger gap between the flower girls and the bride, everyone will be ‘ohhhing and aahhing’ over the cuties, and totally miss the bride’s entrance.
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Photo via: blissbysam.com
  • Getting ready – will they get ready with the ‘big girls’ and arrive in the car with them or are they just going to arrive at the venue before the wedding with their parents/grandparents. Leave them getting dressed to the absolute last minute, just before your walk out the door, to save the dress from getting dirty. And don’t forget to factor in things like car-seats.
  • Reception – it is totally acceptable to have the flower girls/ring bearer at the wedding ceremony, and then not include them for the reception, if you are not having children at your wedding, and it gives the parents the night off too.
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Photo via: weddbook.com
  • Importance – make sure the little one knows how important her role is, and where she fits in with the bridesmaids, and how she has to behave.
  • Your own daughter – if you are using your own daughter be prepared to her not to want to sit in her seat, she may even want to wander off and have a look around. Know that she may want to stand with you, especially in between the two of you! In most cases it is just a case of ‘go with it’ it is your child after all, and who is going to have an issue with that. I have done many a wedding with either the bride or groom, having to hold onto their little flower girl. No drama.

And of course your flower girl does not have to be a little girl.

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Photo via: Ashley Elizabeth Photography

 

People we love: Nicola Wall – Celebrant

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All you need is love and … some wisdom from a wedding professional.

Now, I know a lot about weddings, but not everything, so “Tradie Tuesday”is a series of interviews with wedding professionals, who will share their stories and wedding wisdom.

Nicola Wall  – Marriage celebrant

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Business Name: Nicola Wall – Celebrant

Tell us a bit about yourself and your business? I am married to Tyron and have 3 children aged 7,5 and 1 1/2 . I’m trained, registered secondary school teacher (social sciences) who is currently at home running after no3 child and starting to look forward to picking up some part time teaching. I applied to become a celebrant initially because I had previously mentioned what an awesome job it would be – my little sister told me I had to do it as she could not find an available celebrant for any of her choices of wedding dates, and I have continued renewing my registration because I love it.

What do you love about your job? Absolutely no two weddings are the same.  I get to share in people’s most happiest of days and have a good stickybeak at the fabulous dresses, decorations and family dynamics!

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What do you do in your spare time, hobbies/interests? I have 3 children – what spare time?

What one thing do you wish every wedding couple knew? Grooms need to try on their wedding trousers prior to the day.

Any wedding trends you love, or would love to see disappear? I wish people didn’t care so much what their families/tradition says – it’s good to a point, but the best weddings are the ones where the couples choose elements/elaborations that are uniquely ‘them’.

Any great/interesting stories about working with a couple? Do you mean like the time the butterflies wouldn’t leave their cage at the conclusion of the ceremony? Or the bride that was 45 minutes late because of stock on the road and no cell phone coverage? Interrupting a wedding because the thunderstorm hit 2 minutes too early? The couple that nearly couldn’t get married because they’d not collected their licence in time?

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What 2 pieces of advice would you give a couple planning their wedding? Don’t be scared to ask questions and think outside the square.

One insider tip/trick to pass on? There is no ‘right way’ for a wedding ceremony nor one size fits all.

Think Nicola sounds like ‘the best celebrant ever’? Then contact her here:

email: nicolawallcelebrant@gmail.com

Phone: 0272317174 or 4544277

Website: www.nicolawall.weebly.com

 

 

 

“Tradie Tuesday” JC Beauty Co

Published on by angelaportLeave a comment

All you need is love and … some wisdom from a wedding professional.

Now, I know a lot about weddings, but not everything, so “Tradie Tuesday”is a series of interviews with wedding professionals, who will share their stories and wedding wisdom.

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Business Name: JC Beauty Co.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your business: I am a 26 year old mum of 2, I studied in Christchurch at the National School of Aesthetics and sat 3 diplomas. I have worked both in Australia and NZ, including at the Sydney Fashion Show 2013. I was working full time in retail (in Dunedin) and my daughter was just 1 year old when I decided I’d had enough of working 36 hours a week, missing out on my kids and yet never moving forward financially so I pulled the plug on my full time job and jumped into what I knew best.

My daughter is now 2, and in this time I have managed to build a debt-free business from a bottle of oil with up to 6 staff, and now have opened 2 salons in the same month! (June 2016). We offer mobile and in-salon treatments, are licensed and fully qualified. I am really proud of how far we’ve come mostly from word of mouth, our passion really does show in our work.

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We now specialise in bridal hair and beauty, and cover the whole South Island, because there is a huge market for this. People are increasingly trying to find mobile and affordable beauty therapists without compromising on quality.  It’s about making the process as smooth as possible for the bride-to-be.

What do you love about your job?: Every day is different.  I am not tied down to the same four walls, and I have come up with a way that I can provide others the same joy and freedom I experience from working for JC Beauty.  I meed different people everyday with different backgrounds, personalities and taste in fashion/makeup trends.  I love the positive feedback and the look on our clients faces when they see our work 🙂

What do you do in your spare time, hobbies/interests? I have my two kids, Jayden is 8 and Lilly is 2. I try to spend as much time as possible with them.  I have a few other small businesses which I oversee also, I have delegated the more time consuming jobs in these so I can spend my spare time with my family.  I’d love to travel with them soon, and spend more time outdoors.  However work will be full on for a while yet.

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What one thing do you wish every wedding couple knew? How fast the wedding day is over, to enjoy the process of planning and not to stress if something goes wrong.

Any wedding trends you love, or would love to see disappear? Personally at the moment I am loving rustic styled weddings, there’s just something about them, plus alot of it can be done by the wedding party – DIY table settings etc, which would make it super affordable.

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Any great/interesting stories about working with a couple? I generally work only with the females of the bridal party, but I have recently worked and was invited to a wedding in which Angela Port was the celebrant. A beautiful bride was very lucky to have been able to marry her soul mate after being diagnosed with Leukemia about a year earlier.  It was surreal, she had the whole room in tears; so much emotion in one room.  I was honoured to have been involved with their big day, I went home and told my family how much I loved them after that.

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What two pieces of advice would you give a couple planning their wedding? Don’t do your own make up or self-tan!! Professional is always best, but be sure to research businesses and attend wedding shows! It’s amazing how many vouchers you can pick up by attending a wedding event, also by attending these you get to meet and talk with the businesses in the wedding industry directly.  You may find these businesses are more passionate about their work and will work more closely with you to ensure your day is perfect because they are more invested.

One insider tip/trick to pass on? Don’t skip your skincare! Your skin is the largest organ in your body.  It protects you! I’d recommend seeing a beauty therapist as soon as you’re engaged for a skin care routine that suits your budget. By investing in your skin you won’t only save money on photographer’s editing time, or the time and product of a make up artist but your skin will love you for it in the long run!

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 Come and have a chat with us at the Dunedin Wedding Show or the Southland Wedding Show.

We’re all over social media at

Facebook: JC Beauty Co

Instagram: @qualitymobilebeauty

Tumblr: qualitymobilebeauty.tumblr.com

and of course email: owner.jcbeautyco@gmail.com

Date Nights

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All you need is love and … date nights.

So you’re in the throes of wedding planning, it’s stressful, time consuming, expensive, he’s not agreeing with you, Great Aunty Fanny is trying to tell you what to do! You’re getting a bit overwhelmed, you have a job, maybe some kids, a mortgage and a wedding to plan, aaaargggh!

It’s time to remember who you’re planning to marry and why!

It’s time for a date night.

Date nights are a great way to re-connect with each other, and remember that you guys had fun together, before the wedding planning and the kids, and Great Aunty Fanny. And the good news is they don’t have to be expensive, (which is awesome if you’re saving manically for a wedding) it is after all about just spending time together. You don’t even have to leave the house (which is great if you don’t have a babysitter for the little people) And while a dinner and movie, is cool, if that’s what floats your boat, there’s heaps of other ideas for some different date nights.

Here’s a list of ideas

  • Learn to dance together – you could include this as part of your wedding planning, but learning a dance for your first dance, or try something completely different, hip hop any-one?
  • Night classes – great opportunity to learn a new skill/language together.
  • Walk – just go for a stroll around your neighbour-hood, it’s free!
  • Go out for dessert/coffee – a way less cheaper option than a full meal.
  • Cook a new meal/dish together – choose an interesting/new/yummy sounding meal off the internet, or a magazine/cookbook. And prepare the meal together, put on some music, pour a glass of something nice, and enjoy each other’s company. Bonus is you actually have a meal to share together at the end of it.

 

  • Do something touristy – is there something in your town/city that all the tourists visit, but you’ve never been, check it out.
  • Head out of town – just jump in the car and drive, stop along the way for fish n chips or an ice-cream.
  • Picnic – prepare a picnic and head to a local beach or park.
  • Coffee and a walk on the beach – grab a takeaway coffee and head to the beach for a stroll.
  • Board game at home – dust off the old monopoly game (or whatever game takes your fancy), even a card game. Grab some snacks, a bottle of something and enjoy the game.
  • Visit the local pet shop or SPCA – take some time to play with the animals.
  • Pot luck dinner – organise a pot-luck dinner, that way you don’t have to do all the work, and it’s cheaper and have a adult dinner with adult conversation.
  • Star gaze together – super cheap and super romantic. Lay a blanket on the ground and gaze at the sky. Of course there’s an app for making sure you actually know what you are looking at (Nightsky)
  • Surprise – One of the couple is in charge of organising the date night.
  • Share items on your bucket list – it may inspire future date nights.
  • Brunch – Brunch may be easier to wrangle a babysitter for, and will generally be cheaper than a dinner out.
  • Karaoke – You either love it or hate it. If you love it hit the local karaoke club and sing a duet together.
  • Hire a kayak – Take a trip around your local harbour together. You can usually hire kayaks by the hour reasonably cheaply.
  • Quiz night – Check out your local bar for when their local quiz night is. Form a team with others and be amazed at the obscure general knowledge your partner has.

 

In the midst of wedding planning, or just life in general, it’s so easy to get caught up in just getting through the day. It is so easy to unintentionally disconnect from each other. We live in a society where FOMO (fear of missing out) means a lot of us are glued to our phones/laptops and not paying attention to the person sitting on the other end of the couch.

From Engaged to Married – May Update

Published on by angelaportLeave a comment

So the wedding planning train is still chugging along and slowly gaining momentum. There have been many stops this month, but now it’s full steam ahead, to destination: married. Here’s May’s update from Sharmain and Jeremy and their journey from Engaged to Married.

This month they have finally received a written agreement for use with their reception venue (woot woot) and have negotiated the terms on what they can and can’t do for their wedding. They have booked a caterer, which obviously couldn’t be done until after the confirmation with the venue, and now just have to work out menu options and prices with them.
They have a booked a meeting with a baker to look at cake options and pricing
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They have also started designing the wedding  invitations and are currently working through the stressful task on finalizing the guest list.
The biggest struggle at this point in time is being able to arrange meetings with suppliers/vendors or to go look at things together as they both have only one full day off work a week, and it’s not the same day of the week.
Another thing they are going to have to work on is their  time management, as they get so far and then just stop and forget for a while. (I’m sure you are not the only ones that have that issue, I think when something feels like it is so far away, it is easy to think, “Oh, we have all the time in the world” editors comments ) The countdown is on, they only have 233 days to get this sorted!
They are at the point in their planning process where all the major things have been pretty much sorted and now they’re getting into sorting out the nitty gritty stuff and making sure they  get it all done with plenty of time to spare. The plan in the long run is to not have to do any major last minute jobs in the last three weeks leading up to the big day, so they have time to relax beforehand and not feel too stressed on the day. Hopefully!
Plus that way we have everything sorted before places start shutting down for the Christmas holidays.
Still currently looking for ceremony and vow ideas, there are soooo many!!
The next few things are, starting to look at suit and dress styles for the wedding party as well.

“Tradie Tuesday” Twigs N Twine

Published on by angelaportLeave a comment

All you need is love and … some wisdom from a wedding professional.

Now, I know a lot about weddings, but not everything, so “Tradie Tuesday”is a series of interviews with wedding professionals, who will share their stories and wedding wisdom.

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 Twigs N Twine

Business Name: Twigs N Twine

A bit about yourself and your business: My name is Ayla. I have a gorgeous husband and 2 fur babies.  We have recently moved back from Auckland to our home town of Dunedin. Twigs N Twine evolved through word of mouth, starting it’s journey from prettying up my office to flower bombing “Morning Magpie” cafe.  After being inspired in Melbourne and working in a very sterile environment, (the Prison system) I realised the need to have living creations around me and began flowering everything!!

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Our new store aims to create a magical space to gather and create.  We host events such as bridal showers and also have various flower workshops on offer.   With the main feature being a long table set amongst candles and flowers to come and chat, chill and recharge your inner flower child!

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We source unique blooms to create beautiful artworks for all occasions and especially those Mondays!! We also do a free wedding consult prior to your big day to finalise the specifics.

The latest addition to our packages is “The Proposal” So should your loved one need some creative inspiration/flowers for the big question/a space or assistance to set the scene, they can book in for a consult.  The consult includes a ‘love them’ bouquet and action plan.

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What do you love about your job? The best part about blooms, would have to be the amazing amount of people I have met!

What do you do in your spare time? HaHa, actually this is my hobby! I also love spending time with friends, family, exploring, sipping coffee, travelling, beaching, getting lost in our MASSIVE garden, and most of all walking with the pups.

What one thing do you wish that every wedding couple knew? That whatever their vision is to GO FOR IT  and to do what they want to do!

Any wedding trends you love? I love flower crowns!

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What piece of advice would you give to a couple planning their wedding: To not let others opinions sway you, and to do whatever is YOU.  Don’t get caught up in the details, and make it fun.

One insider tip or trick to pass on: Take time out together on the day. Factor it into your schedule.

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We would so love to create something amazing for your magical day, so pop by, or give us a call to lock in your beautiful blooms.

Twigs N Twine Store: 40 Stuart Street, Dunedin

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Facebook: Twigs N twine blooms/design & events

Instagram: @twigsntwinedunedin

Email: twigsNtwinedunedin@gmail.com

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Here’s Ayla, and one of her beautiful flower crowns.

 

 

 

“Tradie Tuesday” Peg + Pencil Design Studio

Published on by angelaportLeave a comment

All you need is love and … some wisdom from a wedding professional.

Now, I know a lot about weddings, but not everything, so “Tradie Tuesday”is a series of interviews with wedding professionals, who will share their stories and wedding wisdom.

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Peg + Pencil Design Studio

Business Name: Peg + Pencil Design Studio

A bit about yourself and your business: My name is Kirsty-Ann and I’m a wife and importantly, mum to two gorgeous boys. I grew up in South Africa, moved to the UK in my twenties where I spent 7 years working in law, but soon realised this wasn’t the path I saw myself leading, especially with being a new mum.  Three months later, Peg + Pencil Design Studio was born. “Peg” was derived from the little pegs I used to decorate and then hang up wall art and paper goods with (yes, I got the idea from Pinterest) and “Pencil” was incorporated to include the graphic design aspect of my business.  I soon added Design Studio as it gave me more freedom to incorporate the bespoke stationery range that I have started designing, yet still keeping the key function to my business which includes wedding stationery design, corporate branding and party goods elements.  With being a mum, I have also started designing a kids range of bespoke items such as milestone cards and “Pebble Says” toddler stones.

What do you love about your job? Mostly the fact that I get to be a mum first and foremost. I keep my business time and family time completely separate so that I can still be 100% present in my boys’ days/lives.  I love that I can work my own hours and be my own boss.  With the time I dedicate to my family, this still means I often work from about 9pm at night to close to 3am-4am in the mornings, most days – but I would rather have it that way until I am able to afford getting an assistant! (#businessgoals!) I feel I also concentrate more when the house is still and there are no distractions.

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What do you do in your spare time? I am pretty keen on photography, so often find myself snapping away at things and admiring the angles and lighting of each picture.  Still have a long way to go before I can call myself a photographer though! I surf and I snowboard, so thankfully I have a winter and summer sport that I can enjoy.

What one thing do you wish that every wedding couple knew? That your day is just that – yours! You do not need to invite an army of guests just because you feel they may be offended if they’re not on your guest list. Weddings are expensive and what matters are those that support you, love you and praise you and your partner, unconditionally.

Any wedding trends you love? Most definitely foiled wedding stationery. A simple, minimalistic, but elegant invitation or menu, with a little sparkle of rose gold foiling! I do feel that the trend of including an RSVP card to your invitation is outdated as most will not return this and you will still be chasing guests for their attendance a month before the wedding. Rather look at setting up a personalised email address or even a personalised wedding website where you can digitally send your guests the option ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to confirm their attendance and dietary requirements.

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Any great interesting stories about working with a couple? I have been incredibly fortunate to have worked with truly amazing and down to earth couples, but one specific couple that really left an imprint on my heart was Beth + Justin.  I worked on their full stationery suite from Invites to Thank-you’s and Menus etc, but more special than that, I got to design their vow reading cards.  Every time I read their vows I would cry.  They are two beautiful people with humble hearts, surrounded and supported by a phenomenal family with God at their sides.

What two pieces of advice would you give a couple planning their wedding? Choose your guest list wisely, and think about a morning wedding, rather than a late afternoon wedding. The day goes so quickly and before you know it, it’s over.  You only get to live this day once, so try extending it out and make the most of it.

One insider tip or trick to pass on? If you are writing your own vows, consider asking your designer to include them in your design package.  This way, you can have them on a pretty card to read out on the day, and frame them after the wedding for a lifelong keepsake.

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The lady herself: Kirsty-Ann

Feel free to get in touch with Kirsty -Ann for a non-obligation quote.

Kirsty-Ann and “Peg +  Pencil Design Studio is all over social media.  Here’s how you can get in touch with her.

Website: www.pegandpencilstudio.com

Email: info@pegandpencilstudio.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pegandpencil

Instagram: www.instagram.com/pegandpencilstudio

Twitter: www.twitter.com/pegandpencil

“Tradie Tuesday” – Melt Wedding Photography

Published on by angelaportLeave a comment

All you need is love and … some wisdom from a wedding professional.

Now, I know a lot about weddings, but not everything, so “Tradie Tuesday”is a series of interviews with wedding professionals, who will share their stories and wedding wisdom.

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Melt Wedding Photography

Business Name: Melt Wedding Photography

Tell us a bit about yourself and your business: We are based in sunny Dunedin, and we travel extensively in Central Otago to photograph weddings in Wanaka, Queenstown, Cromwell and beyond.  Our style involves lots of candid shots and visual storytelling, paying close attention to detail, capturing your family and friends, your wedding preparations, the ceremony, reception, and of course your portrait shots too.

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My assistant and I will work with you both to ensure we get the shots you want, and plenty of them. We meet and talk many times before the wedding, so that we all know what’s happening, so you can rest easy on the big day.

We love to hear all about your special day, and what you have planned, so we can help provide you with some beautiful photographic memories from your wedding day, in the form of images, prints, bespoke wedding albums and thank you cards.  We can’t wait to hear from you.

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What do you love about your job? I love the energy a wedding day provides. It’s great to share and feed off the excitement, nerves, happiness, and then turn this into amazing memories for our lovely couples.

What do you do in your spare time, hobbies/interests? Movies!!! I love losing yourself in a good movie, but the trouble is I’m always looking at camera angles, lighting etc !!

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What one thing do you wish every wedding couple knew? How quickly the day goes, so to make sure they enjoy every second.

Any wedding trends you love, or would love to see disappear? I love the relaxed country/woodland type weddings, fabulous light and beautiful for photography!

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Any great/interesting stories about working with a couple? I photographed a very lovely couple’s wedding on my birthday one year. At the reception about 5 minutes into the speeches, the bride and groom thanked me and then proceeded to get the whole room of about 100 people to sing happy birthday to me … it was the longest 30 seconds ever … but very lovely of them.

What two pieces of advice would you give a couple planning their wedding? Have a pre-wedding/engagement shoot.. it’s a great way to get comfortable with your photographer, and each other in front of the camera.                                                                                                        And also, don’t forget to relax and enjoy your day! It’s so easy to spend time worrying about little things, but your family and friends won’t know if something hasn’t gone perfectly to plan, or much less care … they love you no matter what.

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One insider tip/trick to pass on? I always advise the bride to bring some comfy flat shoes, hankies, and some spare lipgloss etc.. for touch ups.  That way she will be far more relaxed on the portrait shoot, because chances are she’ll have sore or tired feet by the afternoon.

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Mel and Melt Photography would love to hear from you to discuss your wedding day dreams and how they can help you achieve them.

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Mel’s all over social media, so you can contact her here:

Website: http://www.weddings.meltnz.co.nz/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MeltWeddings/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/Melt_Weddings

Pinterest: https://nz.pinterest.com/melt_weddings/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/melt_wedding_photography/

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And here’s the lady herself! Apparently it’s notoriously hard to get a photo of a photographer, but here she is.

 

From engaged to married – April update

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Want to know what Sharmain and Jeremy have been up to on the journey from engaged to married, well, here’s April’s instalment.

This month has been interesting for a number of reasons, but they definitely feel like they have made some progress.  The Save The Date cards have been officially either mailed out or hand delivered, and once the overseas guests have a received theirs, then we can officially announce the wedding date. Woot woot!!

The bridesmaids and groomsmen have all been asked and booked in for the wedding date.

Sharmain bought a  bag for her wedding dress, which she purchased in February, to keep it away from prying eyes and beautiful and clean leading up to the day.

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Here’s the wedding dress, in it’s bag, of course. You didn’t think I would actually show the dress did  you?

The flowers for the bouquets and buttonholes have been purchased and arrived. Sharmain decided to go with artificial flowers, because she really liked the idea of being able to keep her bouquet forever.

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The bouquets and buttomholes arrived and Tyrion was fascinated with what was in the box.

Wedding favours have also been ordered. Sharmain has a regular customer who bakes and decorates gingerbread cookies by hand.  They look amazing and taste great too, and they both feel its good to be able to support a local business as well.  They are yet to decide on the design and size of the cookies they will use, this will be decided on when the wedding favour boxes arrive, and they can tell the size.

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Hand baked and hand decorated ginger bread cookies, for wedding favours.

The biggest challenge this month has been the on-going saga with the reception venue.  The venue they have their hearts set on is currently undergoing renovations, which means there are alot of questions surrounding, whether it is going to be ready in time, can they use outside caterers, how many guests will it fit? So there have been numerous emails, and meetings, and finally they have a verbal agreement with the committee members and will have a written one in the next few weeks, which will make it an official booking.  Once this is done, then they can finalise the guest list and book caterers.

They are currently playing around with centerpiece ideas and have bought a few bits and pieces, to see what they like better.

There have been thoughts on the wedding ceremony itself, and Sharmain and Jeremy have been gathering ideas for vows and readings that they may be able to incorporate into the ceremony, their wonderful celebrant (me) will be able to help them with other ideas closer to the time, and it’s always good to have some ideas, to discuss.

So all in all, lots has been happening, lots of bits and bobs have been bought, and as soon as the venue is finalised, we’ll all breathe a sigh of relief.

Who says what at the wedding.

Published on by angelaportLeave a comment

All you need is love and … a run down on wedding speeches.

 

Wedding speeches can scare the beejezus out of even the most confident person, and it can be the part of the wedding day that stresses people out the most.

There is a list of who traditionally performs speeches at a wedding, but this is really just a guideline and many couples choose to add extra people to the list, or lots of couples do away with the speeches altogether, knowing that sometimes people just want to get into their dinner and dessert and then the dancing part of the wedding. Fair enough I say.

Here’s a brief description of the traditional list of wedding speeches.

It is your Master of Ceremonies role (among others, see that list here The role of a Master of Ceremony) to seemlessly introduce the speech section of the evening, and to introduce each speaker, and then thank them afterwards.

 

Father of the bride – (or whoever gave the bride away, not always the father)

  • Welcomes and thanks the guests for coming.
  • Expresses how proud he and his wife, are of their daughter.
  • Welcomes the groom into the family.
  • Possibly shares one or two stories about the bride.
  • Shares words of wisdom and good wishes for the couple.
  • Proposes a toast to the couple.

Groom

  • Thanks his father-in-law for his kind words and the toast.
  • Thanks the brides parents for all their work raising the woman of his dreams (his new wife) and all their help with the wedding
  • Thanks the guests for coming and for the wedding gifts.
  • Acknowledges his best man for all his help, and any other helpers.
  • Acknowledges the bridesmaids, and thanks them for all their help with the wedding, and proposes a toast to them.

Best Man

  • Adds to the comments about the bridesmaid, lamenting how great they look today.
  • Congratulates the groom, on his good fortune, in marrying his new wife.
  • Possibly shares a story about the bride and groom, maybe about how they met.
  • Reads any messages to the bride and groom, from guests that couldn’t make it. Traditionally this was in the form of telegrams, and letters, these days it’s most likely to be texts and/or emails.

Invited guests

  • There may be other guests that have asked before hand to speak, or who you would like to include. Make sure that you have a general idea of the content of their speech, and that you communicate to them how long they have to speak. I would not recommend the Master of Ceremony, ask if anyone else would like to speak, on the fly, it opens you up to Great Uncle Barry, who’s had one too many beersies ramble on, or say something inappropriate.

This is by no way an exhaustive list, and it is very common for couples to include mother of the bride/groom, the bride herself, and a bridesmaid/maid of honour.

Make sure all your speakers know their time limit, say 5 mins, so they can tailor their speech accordingly.

I would not recommend forcing any-one to speak if they absolutely loath public speaking, it will either cause stress for the person, possibly stress your relationship with the person and probably lead to a bad speech, better to address everyone before hand, asking them if they are comfortable doing so (don’t assume, they may not have even thought they had to speak)and if they are not comfortable, then ask someone else or not have them speak at all.