The World of Weddings

Long day + Bridal Expo = Frazzled Bridal Brain

I spent the better part of today at the Canberra Bridal Expo with my cheifs bridemaid, Lisa (who has also just got engaged, so excited!) and my parents. I had a great time and received a lovely cloth bag upon arrival which has now been filled to overflowing with flyers, business cards, magazines and the like, and there was a great fashion show too!

I'm really glad I went. I arrived this morning with ideas in my head of what I wanted and thinking I knew how to go about them. I then left in the afternoon feeling quite drained from all the walking around, a little downhearted about the difficulty of my chosen path for a reception, but at the same time uplifted by all the other opportunities out there!

The original plan, an outdoor wedding ceremony, followed by a spit roast reception in a nice hall. I spoke to a few people today who have had experience in this kind of reception, either as a helper, or for their own wedding, and they all said it ended up being a lot more work than expected, and costing just as much, if not more, as booking a venue where everything is done for you.

Our reason however for wanting a spit roast was one, because it's a nice simple meal, buffet style and we liked the idea, but two, working on a small budget, it's a lot cheaper than anything else we've looked at. There's some great places, but they all have packages for $100+ per head, and then some of them you have to pay room hire and alcohol on top of that! It was all a little daunting, but I've been doing some research this afternoon and have found some places that are a reasonable price for what you're getting, and still a really nice location. So  I'm excited again! I still plan to look further though, so if anyone out there reading has suggestions for a small budget wedding reception, I'd love to hear them! You may know the perfect place that I haven't been able to find yet!

Recption costs aside, I saw heaps of great stuff! There were some great entertainment companies at the show, something else to look into, hair and makeup artists, and who would have known, but they come to you! My experience from both my sister's weddings is that they went to the hairdresser to get their hair done, but apparently now they come to you! Which is fantastic. Makes for much less stress on the day!

Also, there's this company FormalWear Express who, like the makeup and hairstylists, come to you! They appear to only have men's wear, but I think it's a great idea. You get all your groomsman together at someone's house, and they bring their collection to you in a van. You try on different outfits, work out what you want, then they get everyone's measurements and get all the suits fixed up and ready for you. How fantastic is that? I mean, seriously, there's nothing worse than seeing a bunch of guys standing around awkwardly in a shop full of suits and formal dresses while they get fitted out for a suit. At least... I don't think there is. =o)

There were some gorgeous dresses in the fashion parade, which was really great to see. So far I've only seen dresses on the internet or drapped off a hanger and not really looking their best. It was wicked to see them being worn by people, in real life, getting to see how the material fell and moved as they walked passed. Loved it! I don't know how I'm going to cope on my wedding day though, I was almost in tears with the excitement of it all just watching the fashion parade. I'm going to be a mess once I get that dress on for real!

So that was my day. Now the next challenge is discussing it all with Shane. So long as I don't start talking over his computer games (which unfortunately I seem to be particularly good at no matter how hard I try!!), I think it will be fine!

And finally, before I go, to anyone out there reading, I'd love to hear and ideas or comments you've got! All help is muchly appreciated!