Make me up

I've decided not to get a makeup artist for the wedding. I'm super fussy about makeup artists in general and usually hate getting my makeup done by anyone else as I hate heavy cakey looks! I must be the one person in the whole world who doesn't suit a smokey eye either! So when Lisa our wedding planner asked if I wanted her help organising one, I kindly declined. I know it's going to be tricky finding the right products to suit the humidity, but I also think if there's one place in the world I'll be able to get this, its right here in Melbourne.

With that in mind, I have been testing and experimenting with different looks. I found this great tutorial from a gorgeous Aussie makeup artist, Chloe. She's such a down-to-earth girl, and I subscribe to her vids on YouTube as she has a great, simplified style and good eye for detail.

I'm currently liking this look the best

A few more makeup looks I'm liking and wanting to test out. Lily Aldridge can do no wrong in my eyes. My current hair and makeup crush

Love this natural, ethereal look too

Welcome packs

We've decided to make guests a little 'welcome to Thailand' pack for when they arrive in Railay Beach. Although it's not necessary, I think its a small way of thanking guests for taking the time, annual leave, money and effort to come to Thailand especially to celebrate our wedding with us! We will fill these bags with little treats and handy goodies like sunscreen, insect repellant (how romantic ha! but necessary nontheless) yummy local nibbles, maps and activity ideas. I have designed these bad boys and found someone to print them for me. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

This is the design and bag at first glance

And in the wedding colours with our details

We get to Raily Beach a day before everyone so will get to work on getting these filled and finalised before other peeps arrive!!

Some inspiration

Parasol for the soul

I'll let the pictures do the talking

Love them, want them, got them for the wedding. That is all :)

Fans-ey pants

I am very much inspired by the idea of fans at a tropical beach wedding. For one, it will be a nice way of making sure guests stay comfortable in the Thai heat, whilst outside. I think it will also be a nice bonbonniere to give guests. The added bonus is that they will make sweet and handy photo props too...

I had a few dramas when ordering some sandalwood fans recently. I ordered and paid for them via a reputable site based in the USA. After waiting weeks for my shipment to arrive, it finally did...only problem was they were the wrong fans! Instead of getting my lovely, scented sandalwood fans, I get some cheap and nasty white paper fans instead worth less than half the price I paid for the right fans. When contacting the site, was told that the correct fans were out of stock - I am confused why they would process my order and go through all that trouble for the wrong product. Anyway long story short, I wasn't able to get the right fans from those guys unfortunately. I got my money back and also got to keep the el-cheapo fans too. I will just have to sell these on Ebay when I get around to it.

I ended up ordering the fans I wanted from an Aussie site, not because it was cheaper (almost double the price vs. that American wholesale supply store) but because they were in stock and I thought there would be less liklihood of further drama! They arrived and look great!!

 

I had the idea to personalise the fans with a gift tag and place each fan on our guest's seats for the ceremony. I spent some time last weekend designing the tags after being inspired by this...

 

The end result were tags that read "to have & to hold" on the one side and our wedding details on the other side. I think they turned out well.

Let's hope I don't have issues taking these bad boys through customs. Haha, can you imagine after all that?!

Head piece

Here's a little inspiration. Love this style so much!!

I said “Yes to the Dress” and then Changed My Mind

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm reluctant to admit but I'm that kind of bride. The kind that impulsively buys a dress too far in advance and then months later, when I have another glance at it, have a bad feeling that I made the wrong decision! I guess I just don't like the same things that origionally attracted me to it. Empire line, floral belt. What was I thinking? Luckily the dress didn't cost me a fortune as it was made in China and shipped over to me so I had less to worry about!

So back to the drawing board I go. Don't feel too bad for me. Aside from being a first world problem of sorts, there's a happy ending to this story :)

After scoping out a few sites selling couture and off the rack bridal gowns new & second hand (which by the way I was more than happy to do and bypass the whole bridal boutique ordeal altogether). Cue the music and sunbeams, it was a christmas miracle in July! I managed to find my ultimate wedding dress, brand new at half the price! I just know that this is the gown I am meant to wear on my wedding day! It's a Sottero & Midgely, simple chiffon drop waist and it's breathtaking! The bride selling the dress didn't end up wearing the dress as she was pregnant and so she posted this gorgeous dress to the site, hoping to get a few leads. I emailed her asking her if I could come and have a look at the dress. After all, it was in my exact size and she lived in Melbourne, so why not?

After making my way to the other side of Melbourne after work one night, I met Ainsley. She was so lovely and showed me the dress. Of course I tried it on. And of course I fell in love! Needless to say I had to have it. I paid her half the origional price she bought it for from a renowned bridal boutique in Armadale, and she even threw in a hoop skirt for the dress so it sits beautifully on the lower half - and prevents the dress from clinging to my feet as I walk. 

I scored big time! Here's a sneak peek at the dress

I also came across the dress on another Thai bride this morning (what are the chances)?! I almost fell off my chair. Needless to say when I see it on someone else I just know I've made the right decision. This is a cheesy/bad wedding video but all is forgiven simly for the dress. Because it's not Youtube I can't embed it unfortunately but here's a link

 

Videographer

After much debate with Mr B, he finally agreed that we could get a videographer. Woohoo! I must say, I'm much more of a video kinda gal vs. static images to remember such a special day. I know that in years to come when my grandkids ask, it will be such a wonderful thing to be able to show them that yes, we were all once young and carefree (with questionable musical tastes)! 

Anyway Lisa our wedding planner has organised for the talented people at Wedding Phuket to shoot our video. Here's an example of their work. This wedding was in Phuket - the specific resort is the most popular amongst wedding-tourists, so it seems. Really great editing, these guys definately did a great job in capturing the moment and day beautiflly. I'll be over the moon if they can do the same for us....