DIY Cufflinks...

Maybe Tiffany should consider carrying this... :)

So the theme for my wedding was black and white and a splash of red. I would have totally have had a black and white wedding, but I don't think my mother would have been very happy with that decision. As it was, she and my mother-in-law were not happy with the fact that the bridesmaids dresses were black. Oh well.

As my splash of red accents throughout the wedding, I thought that I would incorporate little red buttons. The reasons for the red buttons are twofold:

a) Luke and I used to have a "tradition" of giving each other cards by John Sands. In particular Elliot and Buttons. Adorable.
b) there was a surplus of red buttons in my house which I used for a previous project
c) oh, and there is a third. I remembered that my previous project was my engagement party invitations! (which by the way was more work than my wedding invitations).

So, for the men, I decided to make little red button cufflinks... and the girls would wear red button hairpins and red button earrings.

It was as simple as buying the cufflink backs and supergluing the red buttons on.

Cufflinks... doneski. They also doubled up as a lovely gifts of the groomsmen.

Immensely pleased...

xoxo

My wedding cake...

Sooooo.... where do I start with my DIY? Let's start with the CAKE.  As previously mentioned, it was initially seen in a book at Eastlands and the minute I saw it, I thought to myself - I want a cake just like that! A perfectly white, two tiered quilted cake with black satin ribbon and fresh white roses.

While I am quite contented with my limited cake making skills, making a seemingly simple cake such as this one was still concerning. For starters, I wasn't sure whether I would be able to stack the cake perfectly and if the base was not perfect, there was a very real chance that the whole cake would topple over. Knowing me, that was also entirely possible. Then it hit me.... FAKE BOTTOM CAKE! I would make (well, cover with fondant) a fake tier at the bottom and sit a real cake on top of it! I spoke to Croyule cake decorations at Bellerive (good ole Lila) who didn't have any styrofoam cakes, so she refered me to Creating Cakes in Sorell. They were also brilliant there and $16 later, I had myself some fake styrofoam cakes.

While I can make my own fondant, I didn't want to risk ANYTHING for my wedding cake, so I went with a standard white fondant from Lila. Four kilos worth.

The top bit of cake was a very rich chocolate mudcake (so rich that it is about 600 calories a slice!) with a beautiful rich chocolate ganache - it seriously was one of those "death by chocolate" cakes!

The end result? Not too bad at all...

I ended going without the quited pattern because I could not just get it RIGHT. My beloved Elizah was brilliant in helping me with this cake, so I have her to thank for the success of this cake! THANK YOU for making my dream of having this cake at my wedding come true. :)

xoxo

It's all over!!!!

The wedding is over! Everyone complained about what a long engagement it has been, but the wedding came around quite quickly and before I knew it, I was fast running out of time! Now that it is over, what am I going to do with my free time?

For starters, I'm going to help my friend in her wedding (well, as much as she will let me!) AND I am finally put all my DIY tutes and wedding details on my blog. So watch this space!

And for all those who are interested in knowing, I totally enjoyed every aspect of the wedding preparation - after the engagement party when I had a complete meltdown and was crying and carrying on like a freaking nutjob, I decided that I would not be that stressed on my wedding day. I just thought that if something didn't get done, it wouldn't make it to the wedding and no one would be any wiser.

A few major hiccups leading up to and during the wedding, but hey - I married the love of my life, so I'm not going to sweat the small things. So if I may be so bold as to provide ANY advice to ANYONE, it is to enjoy the journey and the day and your day would be perfect. :)

From a very giddily deliriously happy WIFEY. :) xoxo

Wedding cake!

Who loves wedding cakes? I know I do, and more than anything, I love CAKE. CAKE and ICE-CREAM are my two sweet vices. Don't really care for chockies and sweets or biscuits, but CAKE and ICE-CREAM!

No, that was not a segway into telling you that I'm going to make an ice-cream cake for the wedding. Hardly. It was just me wanting to emphasise how much I love cake and ice-cream!

Back onto wedding stuff... I did my wedding cake trial this weekend. But like with most wedding things, the photo will not be available for viewing until after the event. Sooooo.... the sneak peek below. :) That's all I'm giving you!

Do you think you can make out what the cake looks like?

But what I can show you is what I made with the leftover cake! It is a bit messy at the bottom, I may have gotten too excited with the pizza cutter and cut too close to the edge! I know to do better next time (if there is a next time!)

Someone I know said on facebook that it looked like a marshmallow. Whatevs Gerald. :)

Needless to say, this exercise has renewed my love for cake decorating, which is fortuitous as I have cupcakes and a wedding cake to make for my friend Jules' wedding next week!

Did I include photos? No, I don't think I did! And I realised why... I didn't take any! I will next week though.


xoxo

Three months!!!!

And so the countdown begins!!!! X

But here are some things...

But here is one thing I can show you.. because most of them have been sent out! This was our Save the Date cards. Luke took this beautiful photo of Rosie (which I have accidentally destroyed) and I added on the words. We wanted to include Rosie in our wedding somehow and as she could not be part of the wedding, we thought it would be nice to have her be the face of our Save the Date.

I got them printed as glossy postcards and I was quite pleased with the end results! Some of our guests even got little fridge magnets which looked exactly the same.

The back of the cards reads as follows:

This photo didn't turn out that well as it was a shot of the computer screen.

When I send the invitations out, I'll put another post up!

Hope you like them!

xoxo

A sneak peek...

Who would like to have a sneak peek of my wedding dress???

Here it is!!! :)

Gotcha!!!

Seriously, did you think that I was going to show it? Let's save SOME element of surprise for the wedding! :)

Happy Saturday! xoxo

My commitment this week...

Alright - let's get serious. I am thinking that I need to get into a dress fitting by October. That give me 6 months, so I need to work hard and lose some weight. So, right now, I need to commit to 3 cardio sessions, (each lasting at least half an hour) and 3 strength training sessions a week.

Food wise, the idea is NOT the starvation diet, it's all about grazing. There are only three days left of this week, surely I can do it.

The goal for the week, at minimum:

a) one walk with the Rosemeister;
b) one running session at ZAP; and
c) one hula hoop session.

Baby steps.

xoxo

Wedding talk... part 2 (Part #1 being the wedding music talk the other day...)

After talking to my beloved high school friends, Kok Siew, Yvonne and Jin Lee, I realised that I should include more wedding preparation ideas in my blog. Just so that everyone who is interested is up to speed. (I recognise that there are heaps of you out there who don't really care!)

Theme and wedding cake

So let's start with the theme. I have decided that the theme of the wedding is going to be classic, so black and white with a splash of red. I note that both my mom and Luke's mom were not too impressed with the colour choice but oh well. I like it. I think it's timeless and classic. And it all stemmed from this one BEAUTIFUL cake that I saw while perusing in Book City one day:

I think the cake is simple enough to make, a bit of ribbon and fresh flowers. The hard bit would be to find a similar brooch. But I managed to find one on ebay. Cost me about $15 including postage. Bargain. :)

I also had some difficulty is trying to source the quilting tool, but the ever helpful and extremely knowledgeable Lila from Coryule (I think that's how it's spelt) in Bellerive Quay told me that I needed to use a dressmaker's tracing wheel. BOOM!
First dry run is scheduled somewhere in May. I will need to get the fondant right, and then it's smooth sailing from there. Failing that (as in failing to get enough white marshmallows), I can still just purchase the fondant online or something. It's not a big deal.

The other thing to decide in relation to the cake is what flavour do I want? I think I have made Honor's chocolate dump it cake to death and while that is still awesome, I might need to get something different. And even if I don't I will still need to get a different flavour for the different layers. Yes?


 Flowers

This is another thing on the list that I think I can organise myself. Bouquets are so expensive, and I think with a little practice, it will be easy enough to make the bouquets. I will of course be posting my practice sessions on here, so that we can see what it's going to look like.

Personally, I like the elegance and the simplicity of the calla lily. I also stumbled upon the following:





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For the bridesmaids, I was thinking of bouquets of baby's breath. Baby's breath has a reputation for not only being a cheap filler flower, but also being cliche, boring and dated.

BUT - feast your eyes on the following photos:




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I do not think that baby's breath is boring IF used correctly.

So that concludes part #2! The next one will probably be around centrepieces!

xoxo
 .

Wedding music

So I have a certain idea on how I would like the wedding music to be. Luke has suggested that we get his bass guitar teacher, Dave Wane to play at the wedding. I love Dave - he's really talented and more importantly, he's funny and really easy to get along with, and I think that that is a really important trait in someone who is involved in the wedding. So anyone looking for an awesome band - get Dave!!! (I've included his deets above).

Anyway, I have it in my head that I would love to walk down the aisle to an instrumental version of "Hallelujah" by Teddy Geiger. No words, no singing, just pure guitar. And for you guys who don't know the song, here it is:

And while researching "fingerstyle guitar" (apparently that is the style of music I am looking for), I came across Sungha Jung. He is AMAZING. He's this Korean kid who plays the most AMAZING guitar. Here's him playing With or Without You by U2:

And Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours":

And more recently, Bruno Mars' "Just the way you are":

Sungha - you are AWESOME!!!

But back to the wedding music, I have compiled the following playlist ( which is not exhaustive) of songs which I would like to be included:

Waiting for the Bride to arrive music (these songs have been chosen purely because I think they would sound amazing on the guitar)

• I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
• Fields of Gold - Sting
• Now and Forever - Richard Marx
• Runaway - The Corrs
• Just the way you are - Bruno Mars (maybe an exit song?)

Entrance music

• You've got a way with me - Shania Twain
• Hallelujah - Teddy Geiger

Exit music

TBD

Any other suggestions, please let me know.

Next time I talk about wedding music I will be compiling a playlist for a night of dancing. :)

xoxo

Happy Easter!!!



Happy Easter to all my fwens...:)

 Ok - so while I was doing this - one thought came to mind:

Ross:    What is Monica's biggest pet peeve?
Joey:   ANIMALS DRESSED AS HUMANS!!!
Ross:   That's correct.

So yes, I hate animals dressed as humans as well. But when I found these bunny ears in my house, I thought that I should at least see whether Rosie Rose was willing to pose. And guess what? She is the perfect model!!

Luke and I went to Mass this morning. St Francis Xavier's in South Hobart. The church was amazing and definitely going to be our wedding venue. Lock it in. :)

Although we should probably speak to the priest beforehand...

On another note, the Easter Bunny (aka Luke) has been pretty good to me. The loot:

a) a chocolate tulip;
b) a dark chocolate bilby; AND
c) a bag of chocolate eggs!

All from Darrell Lea... :) Thanks babe!

Buck posing with my Easter haul!!

I love this holiday. :)

I will leave you with this quote:


The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world.  Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice.  But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice.  ~Henry Knox Sherrill

Happy Easter everyone!

xoxo

Nicole's Bridal Shower

So Nicole's bridal shower (take 2 of course) ended up being pretty cool. Well, I thought it was at least. We had it at James Squires, which is a nice open pub (or bar) in Salamanca Square next to Barcelona. Speaking of Barcelona, the last time I was there, it was not enjoyable at all! Not just the company I was with, but it was to too crowded and hot and seriously, the food was only average at best.

James Squires on the other hand - I loved the layout of the place. Claudia, Jillian and I were there for the 2010 grand final, where it ended as a draw between St Kilda and Collingwood. I had a really good time and was so excited that it was Claudia's first grand final (first AFL even) experience!!Might even make it a grand final tradition.

Anyway, moving forward...

James Squires was very accomodating, absolutely fabulous. I would definitely recommend them as a perfect venue for a dinner party and drinks. Although I should say that none of us thought that the food was all that great. I ordered from the pub menu (and was promptly told off by Miss Mitsakis - but I didn't care, I wanted wings...) I ordered the chicken wings and beer battered chips. Chips were meh - I think the chips at the Devil's Kitchen are better. The chicken wings were way way overcooked and very disappointing. The serve was pretty huge and I was impressed when it first got to my table (for once, I don't think I remembered to take any photos). The wings definitely tasted like they were boiled or something before hand before lightly grilling them. So needless to say, they were completely overcooked, and it was a rare occasion where I did not finish my food.

Some of the girls ordered the gnocchi and the saganaki, which were both very salty. On the other side of the table, Nicole's family ordered some beef cheeks, which were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were under-seasoned. So overall, the food was very disappointing.

But, the atmosphere was fabulous and it was the perfect venue for a bridal shower. All in all, I was very happy with the choice of venue AND for once, I would say that thanks to the staff and the venue itself, I would recommend it for a night out. And I RARELY do that if the food isn't great!

Nicole's cake was the chocolate dump it cake (recipe in an earlier post). I sliced the cake in half and spread some raspberrry jam (a handy little hint from Miss Honor Keele) and also a chocolate frosting infused with Bailey's. All I wanted was for the cake to look pretty - and I hope I managed to do so!

Yes, they are sad frogs!!!

For Nicole's present, I didn't feel comfortable asking people to spend more money buying more presents as a majority of them had already travelled to Sydney for the hens/bridal shower Take 1. So I asked them all to bring a photo of themselves and Nicole, and a cocktail recipe. I bought some pretty paper, brought some pens and sticky tape, and got the people to decorate their page. The decorated pages with the cocktails recipes will then be bound to make a cocktail recipe book!

All in all, quite a sucessful low-key, surprise bridal shower. With all the stuff I had going on for the week, I was pretty proud that I managed to pull it off!

Dead easy cupcakes...

I can actually say that this cupcake recipe is dead easy because we made nearly 200 mini versions of these cupcakes for my engagement party! I have included a photo of the cupcakes we made right at the end of this post. I made the little sugar hearts - just a matter of rolling out coloured gumpaste and using a little heart-shaped cookie cutter.

This recipe has everything that I like in a recipe - quick prep, few ingredients. Perfect recipe, for a kid's first baking project. I thought that I would share this recipe on here as Elizah has been asking me for it!

Lizah - I've put it on this blog because I know if I text it to you, you will lose it again!

Enjoy!

CELEBRATION CUPCAKES

Ingredients

2 cups of self-raising flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

3/4 cup milk (as usual, I used low fat as that's what I have handy at home)

125 melted butter, cooled

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence (I think this is optional - I only use it if I have it handy)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

Combine the flour and caster sugar in a bowl.

Add milk, butter, eggs and vanilla essenve (I just chuck them all in at once)

Stir gently to combine.

Spoon into the cupcake tray

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Bridal shower planning

Yes, even though we have already had Nicole's hen's night and bridal shower in Sydney - it's been almost a year since she was meant to walk down the aisle, so I thought that it would be nice to have another one just prior to her wedding next weekend.

So the plan is that we are going to have a bridal shower, it's going to be small, intimate, low key and more importantly, it's going to be a surprise. I invited Nicole to dinner on Thursday night, telling her that it was going to be a "girls' dinner" and true to Nicole fashion, she is trying to make it a bridal shower. She requested that I invite this person, and another person, oh, and do you mind inviting this other person?

She is so expecting a bridal shower.

To throw her off the scent, I told everyone to tell her that they are not available. I believe that my actual words were "give her the most pathetic, petty excuse as to why you are unable to attend. She needs to feel unloved". And that is not to be mean, of course. It's just that I recognise that only with extreme lows, can you experience extreme highs. And I want Nicole to have the best night.

I want tears. :)

I intend to make pink cake, with a quilting pattern on it, with pearls and a tiara.

And I would write more, but I've got one eye on the TV, and Shane Crawford just kicked Sam Newman in the groin. The Footy Show is back! Toodles!!