what do we have so far?

Ok!

Two posts in a day, lucky.

I just want to inundate you with some of my favourite images that I've found so far, and then I should do some Uni assignments. This is where I'm at with my inspiration. Unfortunately I can't remember where I got all my photos from, so I'll just credit my favourite blogs: once wed, polkadot bride, a practical wedding, style me pretty.

Colours & Flowers

Pretty purples, and I'm torn between sort of the red/plum, and the aqua. I do love aqua though.

Dresses

So let me see if I can figure out where all these came from...

Top two on left: Lea Ann Belter, Kaitlin dress. I like the bodice, and I like the look of the movement of the skirt, though it would probably be a bit 'much' for me, and the train is huge- I don't want a train. But I like the interesting back, too.

Bottom left: Loving the cardigan over the dress, brilliant splash of colour. From Ruffled

Next left: Claire Pettibone, Chantily (I think). I like the silhouette, I think it would be great on my hourglass figure, though it's a bit too much lace. I also have a real love affair with cap sleeves. I do love lace, though, I think it's so romantic and feminine, but maybe in moderation.

Middle: I decided to look on Etsy, as I thought there might be some unusual/interesting/pretty stuff on there. I like the simplicity of this gown, though I don't know what material it's made from... This is the Sarah dress, from yourfairytalewedding. She does custom gowns too, which I'm super excited about... Apparently this dress can be made with pretty much any material, and corset back. I really like it, though it is very simple, and I don't know how flattering it would be on my figure. Hmm.. But it has pockets, too! Cool stuff.

2nd from right, top: Ahhhh... Claire Pettibone again, the Lalique dress, but with the bodice flower removed (how I would pefer it). I love this dress, though I could never afford it. Or wouldn't want to spend that much, anyway. I love nature things, so this fits right in. The silhouette looks gorgeous, too, and would probably be quite flattering, and it looks like it moves beautifully, too...

Top right: The Tyler dress, from Brides of Desire. There's a lot going on here, but it's surprising how much I like it. A bit of lace on the bodice, nice body-fitting silhouette, a flower there, and flowing material.. yup, that'll do it. Should be able to try this one on in Melbourne, hopefully.

Bottom right: the Tradewinds dress from Dress of Your Dreams, an online store based out of Sydney. The back is low, and lace-up, and there's lace cap sleeves, and a little bit of lace on the bodice. Pretty! Simple! Wish I could try it on. Wish I hadn't found it on a Chinese wholesaler website as well. Hmm...

So I think there's a bit of a theme here anyway; flowy, romantic, whimsical, a little bit of lace, but not too much, flower/nature motif if possible, keeping in mind my cleavage when it comes to bodice, accentuate the waist, not too overstated. Yeah. 

I think that will do for now. I'm going to make a list of my favourite blogs & sites now, then do some Uni work. If you stumble across this blog and know of any other designers (especially Australian) that I should check out, please let me know. :)

Welcome & Introductions!

Since I had to keep my 'about me' section rather brief, here's the somewhat expanded version, for anybody who cares!

I already have a blog about education, so I thought I'd make my life twice as blogworthy and make one for the rampant wedding planning I seem to be doing.
Here's the story: Nic and I met when I was 16, in Highschool. He had a crush on me for forever, but I didn't. He told me this at a going away party before he moved to Europe for 5 years, and 5 years later I decided to travel to that side of the world. Cue romantic 24 hour meet up in Paris, etc, etc, a month later and he had moved back to Australia to be with me. All together now: Aaaw. That's the abridged version, anyway. The full version is much more interesting and sweet, but you get the idea.

After being together for not-very-long, we came to the very rational decision that we liked each other, a lot, we made an amazing team, we completed each other, and what-the-hey, we should get married! So one day we went 'ring looking', though we hadn't officially decided anything yet. While we were doing this, we liked the experience so much that we decided to keep doing it until we found 'the one' (I know, I know, but really we did- I stopped looking when I found my ring). So at the moment I'm pre-engaged. The ring, although it wasn't expensive, was still much more than Nic could handle comfortably on his Telstra call-center wage, and I felt bad anyway because he would have to spend so much on something that only I got to wear? I didn't think it was fair. So, we went halves. And I feel better about that. It's like starting off this journey on equal footing, rather than him having outlaid all this money on me and I 'owe' him, so we have to get married. Or something. It felt archaic. I mean, the whole thing does, but I still wanted a ring (and never had before, how strange)
. So I know when he's going to ask- I don't know how or where, but that's ok. We're not traditional, so knowing in advance (10/10/10, here we come) is fine by me.

The wedding won't be until at least April 2012, but I've been looking around for a few months now, mostly at wedding blogs. I seem to go through various obsessions- this week is dresses. With our trip to North America looming, I thought I'd look and see what bridal stores were in NYC. It all sort of spiraled downhill from there to the point where I began designing my own dresses- sketching them, I mean.

But here's what I'm picturing so far:

Outdoor reception with a close friend of ours, or Nic's mum as the officiator, very casual, loving, no formal vowels, all written ourselves, a ring-warming ceremony, not being walked down the aisle by my Dad, a first look before the ceremony. As we leave, guests will wave 'yay' flags. At the reception, long tables, simple decorations, possible a purple and turquoise theme, with splashes of golden yellow and chocolate brown- sort of like peacock colours but not quite. A first dance. A non-traditional 'cake' - pies, or tarts or something. Hay-bales or couches for lounging on, possibly a bonfire or campfire at the end. Light, love, joy, colour. A wedding on a budget, somewhere surrounded by trees, hopefully with hills in the background. Non-matching bridesmaids, and the more I think about it: a dress I designed myself. Or otherwise something pretty, but understated- not a big ballgown or layers and layers of ruffles and frills. 

And that's where I'm at so far.

Be prepared to be bombarded with wedding pr0n, loving adulation for Nic (nowhere else to put them), stresses, woes and revelations.

Please comment, question and capitulate (now I'm just trying to look wordy) and stick around for a while. It's a long way until April...