Sunday, November 29, 2009

599 pt2.

Did I forget to mention that the ENTIRE time we were having that crazy conversation about the fabric, the man was talking to us about his opinion on getting engaged?

man: so what are you buying for?
clare: it's for our engagement party. two long tables etc etc
man (whispers to Zac in front of me): don't do it! you're crazy!
zac: uh, (politely laughs) haha, yeah mate. Women...
man: no seriously, you'll get married and it won't be what you think and you'll end up in Graylands.*
clare and zac: *------*??!? huh?
man (whispering to Zac): get out while you still can!
zac: uh.... -------*?!
man: so I do it for you 599. 40m. a whole bolt.

So the next day I went back, to buy something I didn't think I could afford the previous day.

man: you were in here yesterday?
clare: yes, the tablecloth
man: yes, you're getting married aren't you?
clare: yes, still getting married *polite smile*
man (leans over and whispers): don't do it! Get out while you still can!
clare: uh, do you have any grey or yellow gingham?
man (across the store): AUNTY!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY GINGHAM OVER THERE WITH THE LOW QUALITY COTTON!?
man (whispers): seriously, don't get married you'll end up in Graylands for 3 months. I did!
clare: really!! what happened?
man: so I was engaged to this girl and we don't sleep together before the wedding.
clare: know the feeling
man (leans in over the counter): so I get married, I take her to bed and...
(leans in closer, whispers) she's a lady-boy!
clare: woah!!!!!!!!
man: yeah, so I went crazy, I spent 3 months in Graylands!
man's brother (chirps up from a computer behind the counter): yeah, I blew $50,000 on that wedding and it didn't even last the night! 3 months in Graylands!




*for all of our interstate readers, Graylands is a hospital for people who are mentally unwell.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Benches.

This week we are preparing for our engagement party and crossing things off our list left, right and centre.

The basic idea is two, long tables filled with family and friends, family-style-served food under lights and in the backyard tennis court. The look is 'rustic chic' if you had to give it a name. Lots of native grey foliage from our garden, bunting and lanterns to light the way to the tennis court, yellow flowers in mason jars and hessian table runners. We are borrowing most of the decorations from friends or sourcing materials from our house and garden.

One problem we have encountered is seating. Hiring nice chairs is expensive, and hiring cheap plastic chairs is out because they are 1) ugly and 2) still wasteful and expensive. So here are our options.

Build some benches. Re-use the sleepers in the vegetable garden at the O'Neil's place.
Use sleepers, but support them on hay bales, reuse all of it in the garden:

Just use hay bales, but of course hay can be scratchy, so we could cover them with pretty coloured or patterned sheets, we could also build some couches (reusing everything of course):

photos from Snippet and Ink (1), Carl Zoch (2), Scott Chester Blog (3)

Decisions, decisions....

599.

I swear, I am so dumb sometimes. Today we were at the fabric shop to buy a bolt of white fabric for the e-party table clothes. You usually get a discount when you buy a whole bolt so I was asking the awesome Persian (?) man what the best price was that he could give us..

Me: So, if I buy this bolt, how much is it?
He: I can do it for you. Five ninety-nine.
Me (thinking): 600 bucks! I only budgeted 250 for this. Why the hell is this so expensive?
Me: Uh, ok.. what about this one here?
He: I can do that one for you. Four ninety-nine.
Me (thinking): Wow, this is really expensive.. I'm going to have to readjust the budget on the sly so Zac doesn't notice.
Me: Ok, so what about a plain cotton, not table cloth material?
He: That one is seven ninety-nine.
Me: Ok.. so this one is 599 for the bolt? And this one is 499 and this one is 799?
He: Yes, but if you buy two bolts I'll lower it some more.
Me (thinking): Don't try to up-sell me, man. I up-sell people allllll day long.
Me: So HOW much is this a metre and what is the cost of a bolt?
He: This one? I can do for you. Five ninety-nine.
Clare: ****!?!?!???--------------------****** (brain shuts down)

This conversation kept going on like this for 10 minutes. After talking with Zac about how much we needed, and the pros and cons of the different textures we went to the counter.

He: That's Two Thirty.
Me: Oh, ok! (thinking) WTF!@?!?????how?!?!?!?!?!??what the heck is going on?!?!?!

We get in the car with our 70 metres of fabric wrapped neatly around their cardboard tubes.

Me: Seriously I'm so confused. I thought he was saying that a bolt of fabric was $699!!
Zac: Nah, he was talking in metre-age. $5.99/metre
Me: But I was asking him about how much a bolt was and he kept saying he could give it to us for Five Ninety Nine!
Zac: Yeah, that's the discounted rate per metre.. Seriously, (laughing) why are you so confused?
Clare: What the hell is going on?!?! SOOoooooo confused! He kept saying 599! I don't understand how I could have asked it more clearly??! He kept saying 599!

2 hours later after dinner.

Me: I'm still confused about the fabric.
Zac: Oh my gosh. I need some floor time.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Dress.

*drum-roll*

Found a dress yesterday!

I was starting to think that I wouldn't find one until the Very Last Minute . I tried on so many dresses at a few different places but I just didn't like any of them. Too bulky, too much skirt, bead overload, too little fabric, itchy, hot, heavy, see through (!), boring, interesting (but not in a good way), beautiful but not flattering on me... you get the idea.

Some of the dresses I have tried on:
photos from smartbride.com.au (1, 3), pronovias.com (2), onewed.com (4), weddingo.co.uk(5) oldschoolromance.wordpress.com (6)


Enter: Aurelio Costarella - great designer and all-round good guy. I've been a fan since Chantelle wore one of his gowns to her wedding back in 2007. She looked stunning.

I loved Post Emporium (his store). I loved all of his gowns. I liked that Vanessa and Ali, the sales assistants, remembered my name when I walked in the door. Everyone kept telling me that I would know "the one" (seriously, it's just a dress, it is not a deep spiritual experience) when I saw it on, I did not have a "ZOMG THIS IS THE ONE!!!!1!!" moment.

I just felt so very comfortable. Myself. Relaxed. The dress was simple but still looked liked some imagination had gone into the design. I felt like I didn't need to worry about the weather on the day. I liked that I am supporting a local designer, not some overseas company who get their dresses manufactured in China. And the fabric... I love how it felt! So I didn't "know", I just drove (very quickly) to work and thought about it for a couple of hours, called a friend, called Zac and eventually called Post to put a deposit on it.

Done. Simple. Just the way I wanted it to be.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Rock.

Father Peter: hello, Peter Manuel
Clare: Hi father, I was just wondering if we are allowed to play secular music in your church for our wedding ceremony?
Father Peter: Yes of course, I believe most music can be sacred, whaddya have in mind.. some BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA?
Clare: Nah, I was thinking more accadacca, gunners.
Father Peter: sounds like a good wedding
*click, beep, beep, beep*

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Shoes.

photo from wittner.com.au

Oh shoes, when I first saw you I thought you were a bit ugly. Then I tried you on and you looked great!

But I still couldn't walk in you. Why must you taunt me with a sweet knotted bow and kill me with a stiletto heel?

Damn.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Loving.

Loving these photos this week. They are definite inspiration for our engagement party (which is now only 6 weeks away!)








Invitations out soon!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Aitutaki.

So this week we started booking our flights for our honeymoon!

Eep!

Really can't wait, we are so excited about going away together... and we're going REALLY AWAY to the middle of the Pacific, middle of nowhere. We are heading off to the Cook Islands, to a little lagoon called Aitutaki. It's small, it's beautiful and we have a boutique beach-front villa all to ourselves! Looking forward to getting away and having a holiday where there isn't anything to do, other than relax and do the things we love - snorkeling, riding bikes, kayaking, golf and EATING.

Here is where we are going:


Aitutaki lagoon and beach:


Our Villa:



photos via google image and tripadvisor.com