Professional Photographers will shoot 100’s if not 1,000’s of shots of a model to get one great shot. For most of us, this just isn’t possible. Until your Wedding Day that is!

It is, therefore, essential that you find a photographer that will ensure that you look as beautiful in your photo’s as you feel. The professionals at the Wedding Artists are here to help with some tips and tricks that surely will make you a model bride in your wedding photographs.

So how do you look like a model in your wedding photos? First, you need to pose. Always keep in mind your posture. Stand up straight with your tummy tight but with relaxed shoulders. If you are sitting, angle yourself a little to avoid being straight to the camera. Leaning slightly toward the camera also adds interest.

Know your angles. You may actually have a “good side.” Certain angles may appear more flattering than others. Play around with poses to see which ones you like best.

We all have a good side – we just have to find it!

Having an awareness of the direction of light when being photographed is a good trick to learn. Whether it’s facing a flash or moving with the direction of the sun, finding your light source will ensure you are looking your best on your special day.” Explains Photographer Arneka Grosvenor.

Be aware of lighting

Have you heard the term “smize”? It was made famous by Tyra Banks as host of America’s Next Top Model and it simply means to Smile with your Eyes. Try to look slightly above the camera when posing for a portrait. This is a technique commonly used by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It ensures that your eyes are as open as they can be. If looking directly at the lens look through the camera don’t stop short. Aim your gaze behind the camera lens.
“Brides look best when shot with their bodies angled to the side
(rather than front on). This naturally occurs during photos with the
groom in an embrace, however for group or solo portraits, try to remember that you will look your best with your body angled to the side. Don’t be afraid to practice!” Says Photographer Roxanne Meik.

Look through the camera or above it.

Make shapes with your body, bend your arms instead of keeping them straight, try hands on hips, use your props, like your flowers, veil, the dress of your skirt. Keep your arms slightly away from your body.

If you are feeling nervous about being in front of the camera, book in an engagement shoot before your wedding. This way you can get to know your photographer and practice your poses. This is also a great opportunity to get some beautiful photos of you and your husband!

“At a makeup trial, lot of brides request a ‘natural’ look for their wedding, which is great but natural doesn’t mean no makeup! Natural makeup or no makeup can look washed out in photographs and you need to keep in mind that your make up needs to match the style of your hair and dress. A good makeup artist will be able to give you a natural looking makeup that will still look amazing in photo’s and allow you to look like yourself.” Says Make up artist Michelle Dubé.

Make sure you also have a “Brides Emergency Kit” with you on the day which includes powder, lipstick or gloss, tissues, extra bobby pins, safety pins and a mirror to make sure that you look perfect at all times!

Finally, trust your photographer. They are going to be with for 90% of your wedding day, capturing everything from the time you wake up until the time you leave for the bridal suite. The photographer needs to guide you through the most important shoot of your life, so trust and communication is paramount.

So relax, have fun and remember to stop and ‘take a moment’ and enjoy your day. Your joy will show on your face and you will look better than a model on your wedding day.

Article written by Michelle Dubé, founder of Wedding Artists.
Michelle Dube is a Sydney based makeup and hair artist. Her clients include Rebel Sports, Woman’s Day, Kelloggs, White Wings, Visa, and she has worked with Celebrities such as Darren Percival, Prinnie Stevens, Brad Fitler, Darren Lockyear, Commando Steve, Brad & Lara from the Block, Celebrity Chef Anna Gare and many more.
www.weddingartists.com.au
Michelle Dube – 0413 058 263
Email: michelle.dube@bigpond.com

A beautiful reception with a view of Sydney's Taronga Zoo!

Fiona and Damien came into our office last August looking for someone to help them plan their wedding. At this stage they had nothing, not a date or a venue in mind, just a vague idea that a Friday in March would be good. They wanted to have a low-key, cocktail style, relaxed lunchtime wedding. They came in with some ideas of styling in mind. Fiona showed us photos of French provincial, ‘shabby chic’ furniture and liked the idea of succulents. Damien expressed his love for things all things industrial (he is a chemist working in mining) and Lego!

One of the main reasons for Fiona and Damien wanting a wedding planner was that they both lived in Perth but wanted to host the wedding in Sydney. Planning a wedding from the other side of the country makes things a lot harder than they need to be. To add to the difficulty Damien also spends a lot of time away from their home in Perth as he is based for his job on a mining site. So what little time he does have at home is best spent making helping to make the big decisions rather than taking care of all the itty bitty details of planning a wedding.

The first thing we had to do was find a venue. With Fiona and Damien now back in Perth we had to get together a presentation of possible venues for them so that they could narrow it down before their next visit. Based on our briefing we were able to suggest a mixture of different styles of venues, some industrial, some garden some urban and some waterside. It wasn’t until this point that Fiona told us that one for their first dates with Damien had been at the Zoo and that she had always said she would marry the man who took her on a date to the Zoo! I think I knew at this point that the decision was already made.

Fiona and Damien returned to Sydney in October and we visited a number of fantastic venues together. But as I had predicted Fiona secretly had her heart set on the Zoo, so we quickly moved forward with a booking at the Taronga Centre. I also took them to visit Bradley’s Head Amphitheatre as a possible ceremony location and they loved it, there were some emotional tears shed and I felt happy that we had come to a good decision. Little were we to know that it would rain on the day of the of the wedding and we would be unable to host the ceremony at this beautiful Sydney Harbour location, which is why you must always have a wet wether plan, but more on that later.

Now that we had a venue and a date locked in we could move forward with the rest of the planning elements. We started work on a style guide for Fee and Damo and also began checking on the availability of key vendors such as celebrants, photographers, stationers and florists. As we worked on the Style Guide we also began to get together their budget. The Taronga Centre only provided basic tables and chairs as a part of the package, so all of the cocktail and lounge style furniture that Fee and Damo wanted would have to be hired in at an additional cost. We had to watch the budget very closely because of this; we needed to make sure that this cost didn’t blow out the whole wedding.

The couples next visit to Sydney was in November, during this visit they met with several photographers and selected Mark & Kara for the day. They also met with Elaine from Butterfly Philosophy to discuss flowers and we settled on a mixture of greens and ivories for the bouquets with lots of succulents and a pop of bright yellow. We also arranged for Damien to order in some chemistry vessels, which would be used at the reception instead of vases. These looked so incredible on the day as you can see in the photo below.

Flower arrangements using chemistry beakers

Fee and Damo also met up with Melissa Soncini who was already booked in as their wedding celebrant following a Skype meeting and chatted with InStitchu about suits.

Following this visit everything very quickly fell into place. We booked a beautiful classic car for Fiona to travel in with Cloud 9 Rolls Royce and also a minibus to transport guests from the ferry to Bradley’s head. We thought it would be awesome if guests could travel on the Ferry with Damien on the morning of the wedding over to the ceremony location so we had to make sure that they would be able to get to the final destination from the Wharf. We made sure to take care of all of these little details when briefing Stephanie at Stelloberry Designs about the stationary. She created an amazing set of stationary for the couple. From the simple kraft paper (eco) inspired save the dates, all the way through to invitations, custom made map of Sydney for out of town guests, guest favour envelopes and signs for on the day.

The styling changed and developed into something a little bit more quirky and fun to reflect Fiona and Damien’s personalities. We scrapped the French Prov shabby chic look, which Damo was not at all into, in favour of something a bit more modern industrial and bright. Decorative Events provided all of the furniture that really brightened up the Taronga Centre terrace on what ended up being a very grey and miserable day outside.

We also booked in balloons to be used at the ceremony location for a release and at the reception location as the backdrop to the photo booth. On the day because we could not have the ceremony at Bradley’s Head we arranged for the ceremony balloons to be delivered to the couples hotel suite instead as a nice little surprise for when they returned at the end of the day. They text me the next day to say how much they loved it!

The ceremony furniture and drinks service was booked in with Outdoor Wedding Aisles. Plan A ceremony included a drinks reception planned for afterwards. On the day we were able to move this service inside, pay a bit extra to extend the Taronga Centre booking and still serve the extra canapés and drinks to guests before the ceremony. By doing this and pushing back the ceremony by half an hour we bought a little bit of extra time to set up in the reception space. We also kept guests happy with cider and Champagne. Much better to be warm inside with a drink, than shivering outside under an umbrella!

Simple three tier cake with sugar succulents, by Yummy Cakes

At our first consult with Fiona and Damien the topic of cake came up. It’s not often that cake will be a fighting point! Damien was adamant that fruitcake was needed, while Fiona didn’t want cake at all. She didn’t like cake. It was a heated discussion and we agreed to disagree with no resolution being made. A few days later Fee and Damo attended our wedding planning event, Little Blue Book at Zest Point Piper. Here they were able to try some of Patricia from Yummy Cakes delicious flavours, and thank goodness they did! Fiona fell in love with the lemon cake and we were able to come to a compromise. He could have his fruitcake and she would have some lemon cake – everyone was happy! The design was finalised much later as a simple three tier with sugar succulents. Not that you would know they were made from sugar, I was blown away by how real they looked!

The wedding Day

In the week leading up to the wedding day, much like a lot of this year’s summer, Sydney was predicting rain. We waited as long as we could but each day rain was predicted and each day it didn’t come. It’s just one of those things that you can never be certain of. Thankfully we had a wet weather plan, but like most wet weather plans it came at a cost and had to be booked in a few days in advance. What a godsend that we did because it rained and rained and rained all day!

Setting up at Taronga Centre

We all arrived at the Taronga Centre early to start set up. Deliveries and bookings we re-routed, and timing altered accordingly. Balloons were delivered and we created a backdrop, which ended up doubling up as ceremony and photo booth backdrop, it looked great. Ann and her team from outdoor wedding aisles arrived to set up our ceremony inside. Thankfully we were still able to have an aisle for Fiona to walk down. Instead of tins of flowers lining the stairs at Bradley’s Head, we used them along side the benches and along the balloon backdrop. As a back up option it was fantastic. More deliveries – cakes, flowers and furniture and we were nearly ready to go.

One other thing that we had to do on the day was head to the local TAB to pick up the guest favours. Fiona and Damien had organised a day at the races for the following day so the guest favour was a $1 trifecta bet on each of the days races. We had little envelopes made for the tickets and strung them up for guests to collect at the end of the day. I’m yet to hear if anyone won big!

Jen and celebrant Melissa Soncini

Props for the Polaroid photo booth

One of the biggest hits at the wedding had to be the Polaroid photo booth that we set up. We provided a selection of different props and the Polaroid camera and guests let loose. The photos were then mounted in a little book where guests could sign and leave a note for the couple. We had great fun, here is a silly shot of Jen and Melissa fooling around!

The Ceremony began at 11.30am, half an hour later than originally planned so that we only had to pull the Taronga Zoo booking forward by one hour. It was exactly the casual affair that Fiona and Damien wanted. I always worry at a cocktail wedding that guests will have enough food but I can say with confidence that there was more than enough. Everyone was comfortably stuffed – and that was before cake!

Oh and Damo did get is Lego in the end, check out these cufflinks!

Lego cufflinks, photo courtesy geeky-gadgets.com

Organize Your Wedding in Sydney with Professionals

Bells N Whistles offers you the expert planning you are looking for when you want to make sure you have the properly organized wedding. While we shun the idea of the cookie cutter wedding, we know that most couples are looking for basic elements to exist in their wedding. Our planners provide you with the assistance to make sure that nothing is missed from your wedding. We will help you to organize everything including:

• Wedding Ceremony
• Reception
• Rehearsal Dinner
• Engagement Celebration

As long as it pertains to the wedding, we will help you to plan it out properly. Nothing will be missed when you trust in us to provide you with the help you are looking for.

Trust in Our Planners for Your Wedding

Organizing every aspect of your Sydney wedding will be our pleasure. Contact us today at Bells N Whistles to get started with the planning process. We will sit down with you and discuss every aspect of your wedding and what your options are. It will be so much easier with the assistance of a skilled professional wedding planner on your side. Call today to book an appointment to start planning your wedding on (02) 8084 3512 or by email on info@bellsnwhistles.com.au.

Wedding Planning in Sydney through Face to Face Meetings

Bells N Whistles wants to help you in planning your wedding today with the best face to face wedding planning Sydney has to offer. We will sit down with you to talk about the exact wedding you want to have. After listening to what you want in your wedding, we will offer suggestions to create the wedding you are looking for. Our expert wedding planners help you to get the best:

• Floral Arrangements
• Wedding Plan
• Decorations
• Wedding Ceremony

No detail is left to chance when you sit down with one of our planners.

Start Planning Your Wedding Today

Contact us today at Bells N Whistles to get the help you are looking for through meetings with our wedding planners. We will sit down with you as many times as necessary to make sure you are comfortable with the plan in place for your wedding. We look forward to speaking with you about your wedding today. Call to start planning your wedding with one of our wedding experts today on (02) 8084 3512 or by email on info@bellsnwhistles.com.au.

Planning Your Dream Wedding Made Easy

Bells N Whistles approaches every wedding as someone unique because every couple is unique. It is how we are able to offer the most exceptional wedding planning Sydney couples are looking for. We take the time to sit down with you and get to know exactly what you are looking for and what your budget is. We offer suggestions to make your wedding even better and deliver the results you need. We make sure you are getting:

• Detail Oriented Planning
• Better Décor Ideas
• Intimate and Memorable Moments

You will appreciate your wedding so much more when you are trusting in our planners to help you get the very best for your wedding.

Creating Memories for Your Wedding in Sydney

Put our experience to work for you when you contact us at Bells N Whistles to get assistance in planning your wedding. Creating the best wedding memories is our passion. We make sure that you are getting everything you need so that you will have the kind of wedding everyone will be talking about for years to come. Get started planning your wedding when you call to book an appointment today on (02) 8084 3512 or by email on info@bellsnwhistles.com.au.

We’ve been hired for every kind of life event you can think of, from Christenings to Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s, Celebrations of a birth of a child to Funerals for loved ones. We’ve planned and styled birthday celebrations, product launches and of course, Weddings!

BELLS N WHISTLES EVENTS quoted in SMH 2011 about McDonalds Weddings in Hong Kong

We’ve had quite a few men (no women – yet!) hire us to plan their proposal. Working together with the ‘to-be’grooms’ we discuss their relationship, what would make an exceptional proposal and how to go about it. Then, we get planning and make it happen.

Of course, depending on the proposal, it can be a very private and intimate moment, or a public display of affection – either way, we always respect our couples wishes and privacy.

The article was written about this new trend of planning the proposal – which is just growing and growing in popularity amongst men who want to knock the socks of their girlfriends. I did mention, that mostly it’s out of love and wanting to give their girlfriend ‘the best’ which drives these men…but sometimes, I can’t help but feel a small percentage are doing it to ‘keep up with the Jones’ as it were.

Either way, we’re not here to judge, but help. And help we do – with bells on (and whistles).

Read the article here.

My team and I are passionate professionals. We love nothing more than to see a very happy couple, having the time of their lives – whether it’s their wedding day, pre wedding events or a proposal! Call us today for information on our proposal packages! We are based in Sydney and work all over Australia.

P: (02) 8084 3512
E: info@bellsnwhistles.com.au

BELLS N WHISTLES EVENTS quoted in SMH 2011 about McDonalds Weddings in Hong Kong

I remember it clearly. It was 2011, I was heavily pregnant with my third child and I was prepping the office to move to our current location in Double Bay – packing everything in boxes, ordering new furniture and working on fabulous weddings, when I received a call from an SMH editor telling me about this McDonald Wedding in Hong Kong and asking my views.

Read the article here

It’s a good quote and I stand by it 100% today (I know it was only 2 years ago, but some things change…and some things don’t). The only changes is that majority of our couples spend upwards of $80,000 and we’ve taken on the mantras – LESS IS MORE and QUALITY over QUANTITY. I’m not in this industry to be rich, just to keep doing the job I’m doing and be the best at it. I love my job, my company and the couples we get to work with.

My team and I are varied in our experience and backgrounds – bringing together a rich and wonderful use of knowledge, and skills to make each and every couples wedding a truly magical, exceptional experience – whether you want a traditional affair, a large & lavish occasion or a relaxed occasion…as long as you don’t call us about McDonalds Weddings!

Karla and Daniel shared a gorgeous day with family friends on the shores of the iconic Sydney Harbour.

Karla and Daniel were married on Friday the 18th of January in a ceremony at Hickson Road Reserve, right on Sydney Harbour, with a reception to follow at Quay Restaurant.

Karla and Daniel came to Bells N Whistles for support with On the Day Coordination clients with us. Once they had signed our contract, we assisted Karla with some last minute vendors she needed to lock in- giving her the contact details of known and trusted florist, cake designer and ceremony furniture suppliers.

As we set to work putting together Karla and Daniel’s run sheet there were a few kinks for us to iron out. Chiefly, there was a difference in booking time between the band and the reception, our band was finishing playing at 5.00pm but the reception didn’t end until 5.30pm – no good to have guests wanting to dance without music! We raised this issue with both our bride and the band, and were able to extend the band’s playing time.

Rehearsal

On the Tuesday before the wedding we met Karla, Daniel and their bridal party at Hickson Road Reserve to have a ceremony rehearsal. Afterward, we had a coffee at the Park Hyatt to go through the finer details of the reception. We talked about the timings of speeches and assured Karla that we would be there to care for her grandparents if they needed help moving around on the day. Karla and Daniel are a very organised and capable couple, but for them having us there was a comfort to know that we would be looking out for their loved ones.

The Day

We new when we woke that it was going to be a hot day! We were grateful that we didn’t need to worry about rain ruining Karla and Daniel’s outdoor ceremony, but were also conscious that guests would need shade and water in the 45.8 degree heat!

We started the day on site at 10:00am, we accessed the sun and worked out the best place to set up for our ceremony; thinking about the best photo opportunities. Our set up ran very smoothly with all vendors arriving on time and setting up correctly.

10:45am – Guests started arriving and taking shelter under a large tree. The Bells N Whistles team are busy handing out water and umbrellas to help to keep guests comfortable whilst they wait!

The bride being sewn into her wedding dress!

11:00am – According to our runsheet our ceremony is about to start and so one of our team heads upstairs to Karla’s hotel room to see if she is ready to make her way downstairs and down the aisle. Karla is having a slight delay with getting into her dress, so we let the celebrant, band and the groom know about the delay and ask guests to wait under the shade of a nearby tree. When there is a delay, the most important thing to us is to make sure that our bride and groom are calm and relaxed.

11:30am – Our ceremony commenced half an hour late; Daniel waited very patiently for his bride!

Our bride and groom say I do.

The “Throwing of the Rocks” was a very special part of Karla and Daniel’s ceremony. All guests were given a special white rock with Karla and Daniel’s name on it, and asked to make a special wish for their future as they threw it into the harbour behind them. This was a personal and very special end to their ceremony, it suited Karla and Daniel, as well as their venue choice, perfectly.

The Throwing of the Rocks was a beautiful personal addition to the ceremony.

11:50am – Because of the extreme heat our ceremony had moved a little faster than planned which put us back on schedule! Guests immediately started making their way around the harbour to Quay restaurant.

Karla and Daniel had planned for guests to enjoy canapés on the Quay’s beautiful terrace, but because of the weather we worked super fast to ensure that the reception space was set up in time for guests to come straight inside and enjoy canapés in the air conditioning – it was just too hot to ask our guests to eat their canapés on the terrace!

The highlight of the reception was absolutely the speeches, kicked off by our groom’s daughter Emerson; she set a high standard for everyone else speaking on the day! As wonderful as the speeches were, they began to run severely overtime! Our run sheet timings were going out the window!

A candid moment during speeches.

5:00pm – Our speeches have only just finished, we are meant to be calling the last dance but Karla and Daniel haven’t even had their first dance yet! To keep things moving quickly, our MC rolls straight into the cake cutting and first dance as we talk with the venue manager about a plan of action!

Three tiered wedding cake, White, Silver and Blue with gorgeous ruffle detailing. By Yummy Cupcakes and Cakes.

Once Karla and Daniel have enjoyed their first dance, we let them know our plan for completing their formalities in the limited time that we have. We agree together that we will move quickly through the final formalities, and skip serving tea, coffee and cake as a way to keep us on track, we feel so lucky to have such a flexible and relaxed couple!

We are working to fit a lot into half an hour, so one of the Bells N Whistles team jumps into the kitchen to assist with packaging cake into takeaway bags for guests. We work quickly and line up paper bags nicely along the buffet next to the stairs, so guests can grab some cake as they leave!

We have to skip coffee and tea, but have time to offer guests petit fours to take with them during the fantastic “Race Call” – Daniel’s exciting twist on the traditional garter toss!

Karla and Daniel leave in a flurry of guests waving and Katy Perry’s Firework, they are jumping into a taxi and moving on to Opera Bar to enjoy drinks and more festivities with friends.

Their wedding day was beautiful, the kind words that were spoken were the absolute highlight of the day and we were so glad to be a part of it.

Photography by Sarah Braden

I work the hours I do because I choose to. But like everyone, I need a break too. I make it clear to my couples I have two days off during the week to make up for my lack of weekend. I can sometimes be flexible with these days, but for the most part these are my weekend.

Never do I tell couples who call me directly on my mobile that I can’t talk because it’s my day off.
I just wrangle through it with kids hanging off me.

My staff also get days off for their lost weekends – we try to make sure there is always someone in the office, mostly we can manage this, sometimes we can’t so we have the phones diverted.

However, we do need to be strict with our hours – 9am-5pm weekdays. We will be flexible with couples who can only meet up in the evenings or weekends and offer alternative appointments. More so in the ‘off peak’ season which is May-August.

The reason we do this, and enforce it, is because we ABSOLUTELY LOVE what we do. It’s not a job to us, it’s our passion…and we’d like to keep it that way. If we were to work all the time, we’d get Career Burnout, we’d start resenting our couples instead of loving them and on the day of your wedding, we’d walk around looking depressed and unhappy.

I wanted to write this post to help you to understand that whilst we’re planning and styling the biggest day of your life, we also have to have a balance between our work and life. The more we keep this balance – the better the results are for your wedding day.

We love nothing more than our couples wedding days – I feel like a 19 year old being able to thrive on no sleep and being on my feet all day (and all night). We just need our after work hours and ‘weekends’ to recuperate.

Please no more texts at 2am on the day of your wedding instead of texting us that crucial info the evening prior!

At our consultation with the couple, we discovered that they had met at work, Ken is a dentist and Glyniss is his dental hygienist! We also found out that the couple had already engaged a few suppliers.

Glyniss had booked the wonderful Amy Chan as her hair and makeup artist and the recommendation to use us came from Amy. They had also booked the “Times on the Park” room at Sheraton on the Park as their reception location as well St Phillip’s Anglican church at the Rocks for the ceremony. The wedding cake and sweet guest favours had been booked in with Joanne at Simple Ingredients and a package booked with Dreamlife for photography and video.

This beautiful photo courtesy of Amy Chan. How stunning does she look? Amy thinks she looks like the Hong Kong model, Chrissie Chau!

You might say, what else is there to do and why the heck would you hire a wedding planner at this stage when you’ve done most of the work? Well, an average wedding takes about 250 hours to plan…and with a house renovation and a dental surgery to run, the couple had no time yet still so much to do for their wedding. As planners, it’s actually harder for us to pick up a half planned wedding, than it is to plan one from scratch.

The couple didn’t know what to do next or how to continue with their planning having planned the things they wanted to and enjoyed (who doesn’t like going to a cake maker?).

They didn’t know what order to do everything and they were worried they would miss out important things. Glyniss also wanted to have some help with the styling of her wedding. The only thing she knew is that she had a blush pink bridesmaids dress and had asked guests to come to the church in yellow.

Our consultations are very detailed and we ask a lot of questions that help us to get to know our bride and groom’s personalities and relationship. It may seem strange, but it means that we can create a wedding that is all about the couple rather than following a cookie cutter formula or style.

During our briefing we discovered that Glyniss and Ken had already had an engagement photo shoot done while on holiday in Paris and we couldn’t help but think how romantic that was! I mean it’s PARIS! This instantly became our inspiration for their wedding styling.

Initially we presented two concepts, Parisian fairy tale, and Vintage Paris. Glyniss chose the fairy tale option as she had visions of a princess dress and lots of sparkle! We helped to engage a wonderful florist, Elaine at Butterfly Philosophy who was able to bring our ideas to life perfectly. We used the blush pink of the bridesmaids dress as inspiration and teamed it up with some soft peach and ivory flowers, moss and greenery to create beautiful bridal flowers and floral Eiffel tower centrepieces for each guest table.

Glyniss was very active in her own wedding planning; she really loved the whole process and wanted to be involved at every step. So once we had made suggestions on the style guide and she had approved the budget she wanted to source a lot of things on her own. She decided to have her invitations printed overseas and also sourced diamante table scatters, candle holders and kissing bells. This often saves money, but beware as more often than not, the quality is poor and it just ends up costing you more in the end – meaning less money to spend on other elements of your wedding styling.

Glyniss had also wanted to be quite hands on with her decorations so quite a few of the suggested styling elements she opted to do herself. So instead of us custom making a mirror decal for her seating chart Glyniss opted to use her own mirror from home and write the name on with paint pens. She also opted to hand write guest seating cards and bring quite a few items from home for the styling.

For Glyniss this was fine, she was happy to bring the items to the hotel and it was easy to get a bell boy up to her room on the wedding day and bring all these items down for us. But beware, your wedding should be stress free and this can often end up being more trouble than it is worth – a lot of couples go down this route yet end up regretting it.

Over the following months we mainly communicated via email on the rest of her planning decisions. Cars were booked, deals negotiated, chairs hired, guest favours selected and floor plans designed until finally the big day was upon us.

Wedding day: Saturday 1st December 2012

What a HOT day! Hair and make-up started early for Glyniss and her bridal party. 5.30am to be exact, yikes! With a ceremony starting at 10.00am this was the latest time we could start in order to have everyone made up in time. This is something to remember when choosing your ceremony time ladies.

We arrived to the hotel at 8.30 am to collect some rock candy guest favours for after the ceremony. Glyniss had asked our opinion on how to display these and we settled on little boxes, tied with yellow ribbon and presented in a basket. She did a great job of putting it together.

Photography and video began in Ken’s room at 7.30am and moved onto Glyniss at 8.15am so we were able to catch her mid photo shoot when we arrived. Even in her dressing gown she looked stunning. Amy had done a wonderful job – Glyniss looked like the princess that Ken had always seen in her.

From the Sheraton we headed to the church. St Phillip’s Anglican in The Rocks was chosen by Glyniss and Ken (who are Baptists) for its beauty and location. It really is a fabulous church and they were an absolute pleasure to work with. The priest was fantastic and Sam, who manages the office was extremely helpful and accommodating.

Guests began to arrive from 9.30am and shortly after the bells began to ring out across Sydney.

Because The Sheraton is so close to the Church we were able to co-ordinate it so that Glyniss and Ken only had to use one wedding car for their day. With the romantic fairy tale theme in mind we suggested we go vintage with the transportation. We opted for a convertible Rolls Royce Silver Dawn. Ken came first along with his Father and brother. The car then had time to return and collect Glyniss, her Dad, Mum and bridesmaid.

Before we knew it the organ was playing and it was time for Glyniss to walk down the aisle. Just enough time to fluff out the dress and away she went.

After the ceremony to continue on with the fairy tale feel of the wedding I suggested we have a balloon release and Glyniss loved the idea. We used pink and yellow balloons to match the styling and held the release on the front steps of the church as the bells rang out across the city.

Watch the video!

After the ceremony I headed back to the Sheraton where we were in the thick of folding pink napkins, scattering diamantes in abundance across the tables to give that sparkle Gyniss wanted and placing pink and yellow macaroon guest favours at each setting. Our delivery from Decorative Events had arrived – silver Tiffany chairs with Eiffel Tower centre pieces. We were able to negotiate with the venue to reduce the cost of their package by removing their standard chair covers, so getting in these speciality chairs only came at a very small extra cost and really made the room look a lot more special. One of the final delivery’s was the cake. This had to be delivered as late as possible because it had to be put together together on site with the yummy fresh cream and berries!

Meanwhile, Elaine our florist had arrived earlier with buckets and trays of flowers. She worked on the dance floor, which she covered in plastic sheeting to create the Eiffel Tower floral centre pieces. Each one had to be made on site because the towers were hired just for on the day.

As it got nearer to the reception time we set up the guest signing table which was styled with a mirrored wishing well box, mirror lamp and beautiful book with all of their engagement photos inside. This gave guests an insight into the Parisian styling as there were able to see all of the couples beautiful photos that were taken in Paris.

Guests began to arrive at the reception from 6.30pm for canapés and drinks. The bridal party were provided with a bright and spacious bridal room where they could also enjoy some canapés, drinks and a well deserved rest after their tiring afternoon of photographs. They then arrived down for their entrance at 7pm.

The rest of the evening flowed along well, Glyniss had a change of dress into a slinky gold number, drinks flowed and speeches were heartfelt. I had thought that after Glyniss and Ken’s first dance the party might begin to fade, which can often be the case with a weddings that start early in the day, but I was proven wrong. Everyone was up and dancing quickly and enjoyed themselves thoroughly! Until at above 10.30pm when a very tired Glyniss approached me and asked if we could finish up now. Poor thing was so exhausted from her 5.30am start and ready to sneak off with her new husband. So we slowed down the music and the farewells began. Glyniss and Ken wanted to make sure, as their tradition dictates, that they personally thank and say goodbye to each guest.

A lot of brides want to plan their own weddings but lack the confidence to do so alone. It’s a huge undertaking and more often than not it is the biggest event you will ever plan. That was exactly how Glyniss felt; she wanted some help but wanted to be actively involved at every stage. Ken thanked me on the wedding day in his speech and I was just so happy to know that Glyniss had enjoyed the process of planning. We love or jobs and it is so nice when our brides can enjoy the process too.