Invitations.

I loved putting together our invitations! Here is how it happened...

First, Chantelle Malone designed them. I absolutely loved the design, she nailed it!

We then bought some envelopes from good old Officeworks, printed out stripes that Chantelle knocked together for us and bought a calligraphy set and white ink from Art Attack. I cut up the stripes to fit as envelope liners, glued them and watched a few youtube videos to figure out how to use the calligraphy pen. Gosh the internet is so handy!

You simply can't put together invitations without some pink roses... thanks Zac!

the envelopes stacked up

stripy liners cut and ready to go

handwriting (and spelling mistakes, argh!)

take a break to smell the roses.. thanks Zac!

watching ink dry (not as boring as it sounds!)

Launch.

We have a go for the website!

If you have arrived here from the site, welcome! We've been blogging for a couple of months now, it's mostly Clare writing, but Zac will sometimes pop in to say hello. Feel free to comment or laugh with us about the funny things that happen as you plan a wedding.

Big shout-out to Jason who, after accepting this (very unpaid) job, got 3 other paid jobs straight out of uni, had his computer crash on him a couple of times and still managed to volunteer at schoolie's for a couple of weeks and STILL get the site up before the r.s.v.p. date.. haha!

Love you bro!

My favourite page on the site is the little biographies we wrote for each person in the bridal party. Hee hee, they are a little bit cheeky!

Yuk.

It's been one of those weeks.

As a result of a lethal dose of fudge from the Candy Cow, lollies, sugary drinks and Texas Hold 'Em, Zac vomited 3 times on Monday night. Said he felt so much better afterwards. Unbelievable.

I reminded him that I hadn't vomited in over 14 years (if not longer) and it was so gross that he could pretty much vomit on command just to make himself feel better after too many sweets. Surely this is not good for you? Vomiting is a very distressing experience.

Well, yesterday the drought was broken for me after taking some medication for tonsillitis. I was sitting on the edge of my bed. It went on my foot and all over my hands before Dad came running in with a bucket. There wasn't any carrots and I hadn't eaten anything much so it was just pink and red - the colour of my tablets.

Trust me to have colour-coordinated spew.

Zac's response? (actual sms) "Darling! Oh my gosh! You vomited! Yay! But that sucks. Do you need me to come and help you?"

hahaaaa. Gee, thanks Zac.

Phil.

Met the most amazing man on Friday.

You know when you met an "old salt" and it makes your day happy and bright, and not only because it's 37 degrees out?

Phillip Everitt has been printing since 1963. He is thinking about retiring but he still has the most beautiful letterpress machines (4 of them!) in his little print shop at Whiteman Park.

We got given this golden piece of information from Chantelle's Mother-in-law and I was so excited about a Real Live Letterpress Printer in the state that I dragged Zac along before we started work on Friday.

He showed us his machines, he told us about how he used to print, before digital, before offset even. He turned on a Heidelburg for us so we could see and hear it at work. Amazingly elegant machine.

He showed us stock, metal plates and nylo plates. He showed us lead type and complained the those who made the plates could charge whatever they want because their product is so rare nowadays.

Phil was surprised that letterpress is making a comeback and the rate at which studios are opening on the east coast. He laughed when I asked about whether he runs classes and said he isn't allowed to have anyone in the shop because OC, HEALTH and SAFETY want to shut him down. All those moveable parts. How dangerous.

He was embarrassed to charge us his meagre fee for labour and was sorry that we have to source our own stock. We don't mind. We would do business with him in a heartbeat, he's the sort of person we hope to be when we are his age.

Gentle, passionate, content and dedicated to our life's work.

Smokin' hot.

Went out a few Mondays ago to look at the Winter 2010 suits that had come in to the city department stores. Zac tried on a great suit - it was called the 'sweet/sharp' by our old mate Hugo Boss and he looked smokin' hot.. The slim cut, lapel style and everything else suited him really well.

I'm a firm believer that if the girl gets to buy a really nice dress for the wedding, then the boy should be able to buy a nice suit and not have to rent one that doesn't fit properly.

Besides, he will actually be able to wear his outfit again... unlike yours truly!

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.

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....