Share you wedding wisdom...

[Rabbity Babbity]

Hmm...where to stay this...

Well, I am getting marriend in September and I feel like nothing is coming together. I have a reception venue, yet no ceremony venue. I have suits and no dress. The guess list is getting longer. I can't decide on the design of the invitation. Don't even get me started on cakes................

Regarding my dress, the only one I have seen and like was this (click) (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=247645), yet it is in Sydney and I can't fly due to medical reasons. :crying: I am sooo fussy. My Maid of Honor lives 2 hours north of me, and is meant to come down to find a dress with me, but she makes plans and breaks them because he boyfriend doesn't like her going away on weekends so now I am upset that I am not having her there to go shopping with me and give me an honest opinion of dresses. :crying: On top of that- how can I get her dress if she won;t come down? I would go to her to go shopping, but she lives on the sunshine coast and there is less selection there than in Brisbane...

Please share you wedding wisdom to advise me how to get through this, and just get this organising over and done with.............:flowerz:

[Rabbity Babbity]

Bump...:D

[Mathermy]

Who makes the dress? I found that once you know the label you can generally track it down. Eg, my gown was Peter Trends, so I went to the PT website and looked up stockists in my state, then rang around each store to see if they had that particular dress. Even when they didn't most shops would order in a sample for you to try on for a fee like $50 or something. The other thing would be to try and find a similar pattern and take your pictures to a dressmaker, then you would get a made to measure dress and probably far cheaper than the label.

Again with the BM dresses, most stores can order in any dress of a label that they stock & BM dresses take a few months to come in anyway..wedding dresses take around 5 I believe. You could also try more of a cocktail style dress from a boutique or designer store, even myer has some beautiful formal dresses. Sunny coast does have more bridal stores than I realised-but you are right, not as much as bris.

With the invites etc, post your options on bubhub and get a poll, if you had an idea of what others liked it might help you feel more secure in your decision.


have you been looking at bridal mags? You can get them really cheap second hand on ebay. There are some great ones exclusive to brisbane and sunshine coast that would give you some ceremony ideas. Are you after church,garden, beach??We are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the state so your choices are only limited by your imagination:goodvibes: Mt tambourine is also divine :)

[Seacretsquirrel]

I feel your pain I got married in Brisbane 2005 and with the help of my mum did the long distance wedding planning (got it done from Darwin and Melb).

Firstly try and relax it will all get done!:hugs:
I think the dress is beautiful! I think you may be able to get something similar in Brisbane if you try - lots of the bridal shops stock similar if not the same stuff as interstate. I got mine from Anna Maree and Mr John and the staff there were sooo helpful and honest (not quite as honest as my mum who told be I looked like a ship in full sail in one of the dresses :laughing: but we did find THE dress on the first day we went looking), WEndy Makin has beautiful stuff and I know your maid of honour can't be there (or won't as the case my be) but perhaps you could do all the leg work first maybe with another friend (who is honest) and find a short list of dresses, before seeing if she'll come down to make the final decision with you.
I reccommend the Gap florist (the one in the shops behind the coffee club) they did a wonderful job of mine!
Depending on where you are having your reception have you looked at the council parks nearby (if you don't want a church ceremony) We got married in the park above our reception venue in the city, we had our reception at the Verve cafe bar on the river and got married in the park just there it cost $145 to book the park which included them putting a sign up saying that a wedding was taking place there and the council men coming and making sure the park was free from rubbish and leaves etc.
You can pay a wee bit extra to get permission to serve alcohol if you want to have bubbly after the reception too! (we didn't but we were only a walk away from our reception venue!)
If your list keeps getting longer perhaps sort it into priorities - stuff that is essential like the dress and invites and the bits that are just nice.
I reccomend Napoloean Perdis for make up - I went a few weeks before my big day and they did a full makeup while explaining what they were doing and I bought some of the products they used (and used some of my own - like the mascara) and then my mum did my make up on the day! it worked really well - I had the perfect amount of makeup on just enough for the photos but not too much (which I have found sometimes happens when you have it "done") Either way I reccommend getting their Photo finish powder it is brilliant - it has a matte finish and a touch of green in it to reduce redness! I love it and am still using it 3 years later (shhh)

anyway hope I helped a wee bit.
Good luck with the planning

Ooh just thought Photo Continental has heaps and heaps of papers etc for making your own invites if thats what you want to do - I suggest simple is better they look classy and don't take as much work as very intricate and fancy ones esp as you are on a tight schedule. (they are in Mt Gravatt in case you don't know they have heaps of scrapbooking stuff too)

[Seacretsquirrel]

If you are looking for a celebrant I reccommend Trevor Cook - he was wonderful and his son does photography too i think. Otherwise Wedding works on the southside do flowers, cakes and photgraphy - we used Gary as our photographer he actually teaches photography at the birs college of photography (my sister went there and reccommended him) he is actually a lot cheaper than many others around but you don't get the rights to your pics (but that is pretty standard too)

[Rabbity Babbity]

Oh you ladies are luffly. :goodvibes:

The dress is disigned by Embryo, who doesnt stock anywhere aside from their own store. I just hope I find something similar in Brisbane. Think I will get my brother and a friend on board to do the dress shopping. My friend knows what style I like, and my brother will be brutal if it looks terrible...

The photo finish powder sounds great... I am soooo getting some of that...I am naturally quite fair so sometimes if I get a of redness it looks very obvious in photos...

As for the invites I think putting a poll up is a great idea...will do so later today.

:goodvibes: once again, thanks ladies :goodvibes:

[Seacretsquirrel]

Good luck there is nothing like family for brutal honesty!:laughing:
Where are you having your reception I'll have a think of ceremony places nearby!

[Mathermy]

I've seen a dress like it but can't for the life of me remember where!:laughing:

What is your budget?:D

I just noticed on the caleche website they have a few in a similar shape but i can't link to there for some reason

Bibowden also has something that is a little similar but she makes one off designs as well

http://bibowden.com.au/collections/2009/?id=4

[Rabbity Babbity]

SS: I am having the reception at Southbank, so I am thinking for the ceremony the KP cliffs.

Malol: Budget for the dress is under $2000 but it is flexible. If there is a totally amazing dress for a tad more I would do it. I would love it if it was cheaper though :D That Bibowden dress is lovely. I really want cream/ivory though...can;t have white because I am not a virgin you know ;)

[Seacretsquirrel]

the KP cliffs would be a lovely spot for a ceremony plus great for some interesting pics too - my advice go with the photographer even if the spot he or she pics looks a bit odd they often make the best pics - we have some that were taken against a wall in a walkway near the Marriot and they are soem of my faves and a GF had some taken on a railtrack (no trains run on it anymore) and they are beautiful.

with the Dress unless you are buying off the rack they have to make it for you anyway so ask if it can be done in another colour and often they have 2 or 3 colour options anyway - mine came in pink and white - I ended up going with the pink and it was perfect - better against my skin than the stark white (apparently very few people really suit stark white)

[tahnee11]

Im getting married on the gold coast in september and things are only just starting to come together.

Here is what I have done:

Wedding dress: Maggie sottero dress, veil, petticoat and shoes $500 from wedding classifieds.
Bridesmaid dress: $90 Ebay Brand new but still waiting to receive it.
Ceremony: St Margarets chapel gold coast
Reception: Courthouse hotel southport
Photographer
DJ Entertainment/music
Celebrant
Cake

What I have left:

Suits
Invites - I'm currently doing these myself.
Flowers - Thinking of DIY as well using silk flowers.
Makeup
Hair stylist
Flower girl dresses

There is more but my mind has gone a little blank lol

At one stage my guest list was getting longer but now it seems to be getting shorter. A few people that I was going to invite, haven't spoken to me for a few months so I figure that there is no need to invite them:p