The Photographer

Given I usually dislike, ok let's be honest, absolutely detest and will do almost anything to avoid, getting my photo taken, the subject of wedding photos was always going to be a touchy one.

I was trying to think of the most painless way of getting photos of our special day, that we'll cherish forever.

I initially thought we'd just provide disposable cameras for our guests, but then thought we'll only get married once, and even though I'll probably find it painful, I do want some lovely, professional shots.

So that's when the brainwave hit me. I work in the Thoroughbred Industry, and have always admired the work of a topnotch photographer who specialises in horse photos. So I contacted her (through Facebook, don't you love technology!) and asked if she would be interested in photographing our day. And not long after I received a very positive reply, yay.

Sure reading this you might think why on earth is she getting a horse photographer for her wedding!  Well our photographer Katrina Partridge is no ordinary animal/horse photographer.

Katrina has an amazing eye for a moment to be captured, and that's what we're after, we don't want the usual standard shots, we want a more informal approach, we're happy for her to wander around and photograph what she thinks need capturing, along with a few requests obviously!

Website of our photographer - Katrina Partridge

We're meeting with Katrina in the next couple of weeks to go through the type of shots we like, then we'll meet again at our venue, to go through the best places to get shots, how the light falls in different areas, etc. Then on the day, we'll have her with us for 3-5 hours, depending on which package we decide to go with.

Very happy to have found a photographer who isn't a stranger, because we know Katrina, not well, but enough to be comfortable, I know I'll be more at ease come the big day, and hopefully she'll be able to capture some great shots!

The Ring - pt 1

I can't count how many texts, emails, FB posts, calls I've had this past since we got engaged last Monday (Valentine's Day), of 'show us the bling'.

Prior to Mr Mel proposing we had discussed engagement rings, that the 'easiest' thing to do would be for us to pick it out together.

Well last weekend we went 'bling' shopping. Holy moly, what a nightmare!  Seemingly acres of rings of all shapes, sizes, and pricetags.  'Friendly' staff trying to maneuver you into a sale. We stayed strong and resisted.

We went to a few 'mainstream' jewellers, and tried on a range of styles. I had originally been certain I wanted a 3 stone square cut ring, I tried them on and liked the, but then I tried another style on and knew straight away that was the one!

The staff member gave us a printout of the ring, so we took that with us to another couple of stores, nothing came close.

We were a bit disheartened by the prices, so went home empty handed.

Over the weekend Mr Mel's father mentioned that he has an acquaintance who is a retired jeweller, did we want him to see if he could recommend anyone, did we??????? Of course!

Turns out the retired jeweller still makes jewellery for friends, so he's offered to meet with us, source the jewels and make the setting for us for near cost price!  YAY!!!!!

So this week we're heading to Sydney to meet with Mr Mel's father's friend, and hopefully start the journey to getting our engagement ring made!

This is the one we've chosen

Engagement Ring we've fallen in love with, just not at it's current pricetag!

Altho we're definitely open to suggestions, very much looking forward to our meeting!  Shall report back post meeting.

The Cake Toppers - so cute!

So we haven't even considered what we're doing cake wise, but I just couldn't resist the most gorgeous cake toppers.

Mr Mel calls me Chickadee or Chicken, and I call him Monkey or Monkelicious, just so you don't think I'm completely crackers!

I've requested they both be around 9cm tall, and the monkey won't have bananas.

Chicken Cake Topper

Monkey Cake Topper

We're thinking of going with plainish white cakes, with a green ribbon, maybe some green orchids on top, with the chicken & monkey sitting amongst the orchids.
They're made from gum paste, I'll be receiving them in an airtight container in the next week or so, then just need to keep them away from air, light, moisture, and Mr Mel :)

I realise they won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I know Mr Mel will love them as much as I do, and really it's our day, so there :)

The Song!

Beyonce's Halo, need I say more?

What a beautiful song, it's going to be our 'main song', not sure when we'll use it, I just know whenever we use it there better be a good supply of tissues and makeup touchups!  I just can't help it, the song brings me to tears just about every time I hear it!

Mr Mel calls it 'the crying song', secretly I think he's a bit worried he'll ball like a baby too :)

This is a link to the Youtube vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcMmRL6_r24

And this to another Youtube vid that just has the lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSdgBse1o7Q

Dress Options

To set things out from the get-go, I'm not a girly girl, I rarely wear dresses, the last one I wore was a couple of months ago to an engagement party, and that was the first dress I'd worn in 15+ years.  Plus I'm no skinny minnie, so while I'm on an urgent health kick/weight loss extravaganza for the next few months I need to be realistic, I'm not going to be a size 10 any time soon!

So my dilemma is, I don't want a big fancy dress, but I do want something that says yes I'm getting married.  I obviously will also want to disguise the bulges as well as possible. Plus I'm quite well endowed in the bustages area, so may need some scaffolding or some over shoulder securing!

I'm not sure yet if I want to wear white, remember I'm a tad up the range of sizes!  I don't want to look like a schmozzle of white, so I'm thinking maybe cream/offwhite, not sure as yet.

From first few searches online the dress below (photos stolen from Ebay!) has caught my eye, I'd prefer not such a flouncy skirt, and I'm not yet sure if it meets my above outlined criteria!  But at least it's a start!

Any advice, suggestions, etc gratefully accepted!

He Proposed!! :)

I know we've done it a bit about face, but rules are made to be broken aren't they?

Last night Mr Mel proposed (yay!), while we both knew it was a given, he still managed to surprise me!

He had booked dinner at one of our favourite restaurants Sanctuary, and on the drive there he asked if I wanted to have another look at the Pokolbin Hall (our future venue).  I had been trying to remember the name of the caterer listed on the wall at the Hall to get a quote, so thought that's a great idea.

When we arrived there was a pilates group in the hall, so we wrote down the name of the caterer, and Mr Mel stood back and looking at the view, commented how perfect a spot it will be.  Then he gave me a Valentines Day card.

In the card he said some lovely stuff I won't list here (heehee), but ended the card with a PTO, on the back he'd written "I can't wait to have Valentines dinner tonight with my fiance', and I read it, looked at him and said no way!  He replied with 'Chickadee will you marry me'.  Of course I said yes  :)

Such a perfect spot to have done it, I'm so proud of him, for keeping it a secret and picking the spot of our future marriage to propose, makes me tear up thinking of it :)

So we headed off to Sanctuary newly engaged, and was greeted by a glass of champagne, and a delicious dinner, a night to remember forever!

So there you go, we're engaged!!  We're going ring shopping on Saturady, after the tasting at the caterers!

Flower Scheme

After much googling to see what flowers are in season in Winter, we, well let's be honest, I (poor Mr Mel has little input on it heehee) have decided on our flowers for our surprise wedding.

Because it will be end of July, mid winter, we're going with a white and pale green theme, and I just adore the floral display below from Lily And Rose.

Green Cymbidium Orchids, Leucodendrons and Dodder Vine

At this stage we're going to have mainly white, with pale green features, through flowers, and maybe seat sashes and/or tablecloths for the cocktail tables & stools.

An update on progress so far, given it's just over 5 months till d-day!!

Catering - we're meeting with our preferred caterer this Saturday at their kitchen near Newcastle

Decoration - I've received a few quotes, and will visit the showroom of a local supplier to have a look at options, she has decorated the Pokolbin Community Hall for previous weddings, so it will be great to get some input.

Also scanning Ebay to see if any deals on fairy lights to hang on the ceiling of the verandah and in the hall itself.

Catering

Our plan is to cater cocktail style, with a couple of servers wandering the crowd with plates of canapes, as I've mentioned earlier it's the first time our families will meet, so we want some serious mingling, and I don't think that would happen at the usual sit down dinner reception.

We're getting quotes from 5 local caterers, and have 1 hot favourite at the moment.

They're doing either 9 or 12 canapes per head, plus cream, fresh berries, coulis to be served with the wedding cake, plus coffee & tea for $21 or $25 per head, depending on which way we go. Plus they'll provide 2 servers, 1 kitchen hand and a barman for the night, for an additional fee.

We're going to their kitchen at Merewether next week for a tasting, then to sign up!

Examples of canapes we'll be having

Then we're looking at getting a spit roast, at around $10 per head, meat only, we'll do our own salads.

The Hall has tressle tables & chairs available as part of the hire fee, so we'll set up a few tressle tables, for salads, coffee, tea, drinks, and have chairs setup inside, on the verandah, and on the lawn, so people can still sit, but just not sit and not talk to anyone bar their neighbour :)

We're hoping the wedding/party will run from 3pm till early hours of Sunday morning, so want to ensure everyone is well fed, especially given it will be the middle of winter!

We will provide all of our own drinks, with the caterer providing a barman for 5 hours, then it will be help yourself type setup.

I'll post the list of canapes, plus a better idea of the overall costings for the food, once we've confirmed the caterer we're going with.

Our Venue - Pokolbin Community Hall

So the venue was something we'd had many thoughts on.

Living in the Hunter Valley, the obvious choice was a vineyard, however vineyards come with a few restrictions we weren't keen on.

1 - Catering - most vineyards have their own caterers, the 'cheapest' one we liked was $129 per head!   Now we're only having around 70 people, that's just over $7,000 alone!

2 - Alcohol - most vineyards, being vineyards, will only allow their own wine to be served.  While we love several wines in the valley, not enough to be paying $20+ per bottle, as the catering packages only last 4 hours, then you pay on top.

So we soon found out we were pushing it up a hill a bit, with our list of requirements:

- able to bring in own caterer
- able to supply own alcohol

After much emailing around to vineyards and guest houses, things weren't looking good, a few guest houses said we could use their grounds, IF we hired the guesthouse for 2 nights (prices ranged from $2,500 to sleep 12 for 2 nights, to $5,000 to sleep 20 for 2 nights), and you had to bring in your own marquee, seats, toilets, etc etc.

So as a last measure I emailed the Wine Country Tourist Info, and their answer came through on Tuesday:

"Thank you for your Hunter Valley Wine Country enquire. There is not a great deal of places in the area that allow what it is that your asking for, as you can imagine being a wine country area most properties are wanting to promote their own product! There is the Pokolbin Hall where you can hire caters bring your own alcohol. However as for any other venue such as this we are not aware of anything. Sorry we were not able to assist further. "

I had never heard of the Pokolbin Hall, so after work on Tuesday, I plugged the address into TomTom and went to see the Hall. 

What a revelation, it's exactly what we want, a lovely stone hall, with a view over vineyards, a grassed area in front of a big verandah, not too over the top.

As the wedding will be the first time our families have met, we want more of a party atmosphere, where everyone mingles, rather than a formal sit down dinner wedding.

And I think we've found the prefect venue in the hall.

The Hall was locked, so I could only look in the windows, I excitedly jumped back in the car, drove home, ringing Mr Mel on the way, saying 'meet me out the front in 5, lock up the house'.

I didn't tell Mr Mel where we were going, when we got there, he looked at me and smiled and said 'well Chickadee I think you've done it, its perfect'!

So on Thursday I rang the managers at Draytons Wines to see if it was available in July/August, and woohoo it was available on 23 July.

Then I held my breath as I asked the price (having just received numerous emails from other venues that averaged around $1,000 to hire ground to erect a marquee on!) and couldn't stop smiling when she said $660!

So I organised for us to pick up the key and pay a deposit.

This morning Mr Mel & I drove out to Draytons, picked up the key, and went for a walk through.

Below are some photos.

Pokolbin Community Hall - front

View from Pokolbin Hall

View from Pokolbin Hall verandah

View thru window at Pokolbin Hall

Pokolbin Community Hall - with a bit of love and decorations we'll transform it :)

Kitchen at Pokolbin Hall

I think you'll agree, we've been very fortunate to find our future wedding spot!! :)

 

Welcome To Our Surprise Wedding Blog!

Ok so a minor detour from the usual procedure, we're yet to get engaged, but Mr Mel & I have decided to have an engagement party on 23 July 2011, and at that party we'll surprise our loved ones by getting married!

Mr Mel & I have known each for 5 years, been together for 3.5 years, and bought our home 1.5 years ago.

Mr Mel is 38, I'm 37, we're well aware of time ticking by, so we've decided to go a tad against the grain, and hopefully in 2011 we'll get married, and start a family!  No pressure!!

At this stage we have the following sorted:

Date - Saturday 23 July 2011
Venue - Pokolbin Community Hall

To say we've got a bit to organise in the next 6 months is a bit of an understatement, but I'll document the ride here, as a way to keep on track, and for something to look back on down the track!

Wish me luck,