Archive for the ‘Brides advice’ Category

There’s always a crisis when you’re planning your wedding. Even hiring a wedding planner does not ensure that everything runs smoothly, but it sure helps….

My first crisis started with my dressmaker informing me (very blatantly) that the dress I’ve been dreaming about since I got engaged, does not suit my body and that I don’t have the body that I had in Matric anymore! Cue the waterworks…

Then my mom insisted that she wears turquoise, even though I specifically asked her to wear any colour except that. I don’t want her looking like one of my bridesmaids, which will be wearing the same colour!

As if that was not enough, my sister (one of my bridesmaids) complained to everyone with ears, because I don’t want her wearing heels. She’s MUCH taller than me! She does not need added height!

The biggie came when Read the rest of this entry »

As we all know news being spread by word of mouth, normally travels the fastest. Whether you’re discussing the brilliant movie you’ve just seen, your embarrassing message you sent on Facebook, which you thought was private, turns out you wrote it on someone’s wall… or that girl who used to go to school with you and got pregnant by the woodwork teacher, and is now selling jams outside the Spar on Saturdays… Point is, news travels fast when it’s being told, discussed, whispered or shouted, by mouth.

So, the aptly named events company who definitely needs no introduction in South Africa, By Word of Mouth made my task very easy!

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Let’s hope the weather improves tomorrow, but even if it rains make your way to Toadbury Hall for some true English Country Style setting to meet the Toadbury Team, sample gorgeous canapes and sorbets, have a cup of coffee and meet some great wedding suppliers.

What more, a professional photographer Kat Forsyth will be at the venue to take some fun photos of the couples! So come over and experience just how rocking wedding planning can be!

Besides our day being perfect and honestly I can say I would hardly have changed a thing, there are still lessons to be learnt once you’ve gone through it all yourself.  Here are a couple of things I’ll share with you which may help with your planning:

1. Really!  Don’t sweat the small stuff!  People don’t even notice.  I spent hours and hours painting and spray painting our centrepieces.  I didn’t want any of the twig’s colour coming through so I made sure I touched up every little spot.  No one noticed!  I spent weeks and weeks trying to come up with different centrepiece ideas, decor ideas, etc and although you don’t want a slap dash wedding you also don’t want to drain yourself by putting together 50 ideas and not being happy with one.  Don’t worry about what people will think, just do what YOU want to do and what suits YOUR style.  If it isn’t there, people don’t even know the difference.

2. Make sure you’re happy with your hair and makeup. I thought my hair and makeup trials were stunning but deep down they weren’t really what I would have gone for first time.  I ended up changing my hair and makeup on the actual day.  Just remember, you still have to be YOU.  You don’t want to look at your wedding pics and think “who on earth is that?”!

3. You don’t need alcoholic welcome drinks.  They are so expensive and a refreshing fruit punch or mint water is good enough.  We save R1500 on our welcome drinks just from excluding the alcohol. Read the rest of this entry »

So as you can see, our big day is getting closer by the minute.  It’s quite unbelievable how time has flown by and the nerves are setting in.  I’ve never understood why, if we have everything sorted and planned, the nerves hit brides-to-be – but now I’m understanding it.  I’m also not so sure it’s nerves as much as anticipation (and of course hope that all goes off without a hitch).  So far I have (almost) everything under control.  Almost half of the guest list has RSVP’d on our wedding webiste which saved us rushing around getting official invites out.  What’s left is the bridesmaids dress fittings, my final fittings,  paying the decor company, hair and makeup trials, finalizing the suits …. and then the bachelor and bachelorette parties which will take place the weekend before our wedding.  Oh, I must also mention the stunning ostrich feather confetti we’re ordering and the suppliers who give great service.  The are in the Klein Karoo but delivery is effected within 4 days.  I got their details from the florist we are using and she swears by them.

www.kleinkaroo.com/showroom

I will however fill you in on a problem with the venue which is persisting and that I am very concerned about. Read the rest of this entry »

Times are tough, right? Belts are tightening and saving a few rands here, can mean a few rands spent there instead…

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Planning a wedding in Durban? The new Durban Wedding Directory – Durban Bride launched last year has seen a surge in suppliers registering with them since their relaunch in June 2009!

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Its been a while since my last blog post (had to study for exams) and oh my word……have plans changed.

It all started a few weeks before I had to really start focusing on the studying. Wedding plans were going great, on track, till a certain phone call sent me into a fluttery panic. Our budget had – due to unexpected reasons – been cut by more than half now you can imagine how a bride that has done most of her planning feels when told that the budget is almost all gone. After a few days of being a bit depro and contemplating getting married in court, I pulled myself together and started re-planning a really budget wise wedding. I still wanted to use the colour scheme and the flowers I had in mind but the venue was going to have to change to something well, more affordable for the Average Joe.

I started looking for almost unheard-of venues, looked for places that don’t normally cater for weddings but that can on request. Eventually I found one or two quaint little places but still my budget would be too high (I’m pretty much working with a non existent budget here).

Mmmmm….I could get married in my church’s hall and then find a banqueting hall for the reception, which would work in well with the budget. Searched a bit and found a hall not too far from the church and not expensive at all (it’s on a plot and if you are looking for a nice, informal, ‘almal kuier saam’ reception then this would be the place for you). By this time budgeting was my main priority and planning became very tiring and stressful. Even though we had found this place on the plot it wasn’t quite what Mr Daisy-to-be had in mind….

Back to the flippen drawing board…aaaaaarrrrgghhhh!
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I had been to Bride & Co in Rivonia before but not once did I get as much helpful service as what I got at LM. I even think I found the perfect dress.

I had a rather big entourage with me, my 3 best friends, mom and Mr Daisy-to-be’s mom. My MOH (my little sister) was unable to attend but she was updates constantly via MMS (technology today……isn’t it wonderful).

On arrival we received orange juice and champagne, our own little change room and someone to help pick out a dress. After a few questions about the style and colour I was thinking about, I was brought a few dresses to try on (nothing that I would pick out for myself). I think that’s the idea of going to a place to fit on wedding dresses, is having someone who knows wedding dresses to help you find something that suite your taste and your figure. So I tried on a few dresses….disliked some and LOVED others. After trying on all the dresses I tried on one dress one more time and fell in love. Got the quote for the dress I loved and paid the fitting fee (which was well worth it) and it started to rain. Best friend Daisy said that its a sign that I had found my dress (a sign of good luck). YAY!! All in all it was definitely a well worth it outing, got the help I needed and found the dress that makes me look stunning.

Here are some pics of the dress fitting outing (there’s a lot SORRY!!):

Explaining what I like and dislike

The 2 moms (my mom and Mr Daisy's mom)

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