One Week To Go!

Wow. I really can't believe it's almost here. I'm such a mix of excitement and panic that my emotions are like a rollercoaster ride.

This time next Sunday I'll be married. I'll be someone's wife. I can't wait for it to come, and at the same time I'm nervous. It's hard to pin point exactly why I feel this way. It could be because I feel nervous when making any big change in my life, and as far as life-changing decisions, this is a huge one!

I am so excited though for this new adventure and chapter in our lives together. I really can't wait until the day is here and we are husband and wife.

Alec's ring arrived - I just love it. It's platinum and has some gorgeous facets in it.

My mum and I stayed up late on Xmas eve making the programs. They took foreeeeeever. I really hope people actually read them and like them after all the effort!

 

 

My Bridal Shower & Hens Day

My dear friends Shelley and Rosalie threw me a fabulous bridal shower / hens day on Saturday.

We started with high tea at 3pm at the Park Hyatt in The Rocks. We were given a private room overlooking the water, so we had plenty of space to wander around, and it was quiet so we could chat.

The girls put together an amazing recipe book for me with their favourite vegetarian / dessert recipes and a pic of the two of us. It was so sweet and thoughtful.

After the high tea we kicked on with cocktails at the Blu Horizon Bar, at the Shangri-La Hotel.  The girls shouted me numerous cocktails while we sat first in the genie room, and then in lounges overlooking the amazing city view.

Beck and I finished getting ready at her place and caught a cab into the city.

With the youngest party-goer, Chiara. She's a wild one.

 

Group shot with most of the girls.

 

With Ro - organiser and book-maker extraordinaire!

 

Partying on into the night with the new Mrs Johnston.

 

With my mum and her friends, enjoying their high tea.

 

I was initially uncertain about having a hens party. The thought of having all of the focus on me is actually quite frightening. I feel a lot of pressure to make sure everyone has a good time and find it hard to just enjoy myself. This time, however, it was a lot of fun, with everyone just so happy for me and looking at me with so much love all day. It was wonderful to be around the women who are closest to me for a day of eating, drinking and much talking. Thanks to all my wonderful ladies who are always there for me.

Pre-wedding Photos with the Dogs

Somehow I managed to get Alec to agree to a pre-wedding shoot with the dogs. I was super-keen to get some really nice photos of our little family as I have few if any that are really nice quality, and the pooches can't be involved in our wedding at all.

We met our wonderful photographer, Vincent Lai, at Bicentennial Park for an hour of pooch fun.

I just love the photos - here is a small selection of my faves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Box

I'm not a fan of traditional guest books, so I've ordered one of these from Just Wright Boutique on Etsy.

Parasols!

I'm concerned about the wedding day being super-hot, so I bought three of these parasols from Pink Frosting for me and the girls to use. I think they'll look gorgeous in the photos if nothing else, plus keep us from getting burned if we are out in the sun for an extended period.

 

3 Weeks To Go!

Now I'm counting down in days till the wedding (21!!), it's getting really close and making me a bit highly-strung. Not panicky, but just aware of how much I still have left to do. With Christmas just around the corner, it really puts on the pressure to finish everything quickly. What's getting really tough is I have a similar situation at work with things going a bit nuts pre-Christmas, so my biggest challenge is balancing work and wedding planning. Trying to care about work with my wedding just three weeks away is proving completely impossible.

We had a wonderful wedding tasting lunch yesterday which made me realise that the main things are taken care of, and even if I don't get to the rest of the things on our list, it will still be a fabulous day.

We have our engagement photos being taken on Tuesday with the wuffs - I'm so excited about that as I have very few good photos with us and the girls in them. If they can't be in our wedding, they can be present through beautiful photographs.

Wedding Tasting Lunch

Yesterday we had our tasting lunch at the Gunners' Barracks. They served Alec and Lisa the two alternate regular meals plus served me the vegetarian meals I selected.

They had a table set up waiting for us - with wine tasting notes ready for us to begin sampling. Five glasses of wine later, you can bet we were more than a little tipsy.

Super-exciting seeing our names on the wine-tasting menu.

Cheers to us!

 

It was such a beautiful day - gorgeous weather and company. Fingers crossed it's exactly like this on our day in three weeks.

 

Outside the venue. Last time we will be here before we get married!

 

Stunning day!

 

Thank you Lisa for coming with us :)

 

Could you get a better view or day than this anywhere? I totally <3 Sydney.

 

Being there made it all suddenly real and exciting. Both Alec and I were so psyched for our day to hurry up and come! Amazing venue, location, view, food and wine. Add fabulous company and you can't ask for anything else to make a perfect day.

Personalised Stickers

I designed these custom-made sticker seals at zazzle.com.au to seal envelopes.

Wedding Ring

I ordered my ring online from Tiffany & Co so it matches my engagement ring. My brother has picked it up and will deliver it to us just before the wedding. Fingers crossed it fits!

Penguin Cake Toppers

I bought these randomly from Etsy ... not entirely sure where I'm going to put them!

One Month To Go!

I woke up today, looked at the date, and realised it's exactly one month until the big day.

I'm so excited and happy ... and strangely relaxed! Although I will possibly get more stressed as it gets closer to the day, so far I'm in a great state of bridal zen. Everything is under control, the major things are done, so I can finally enjoy just being engaged!

I haven't reflected much about what it means to me to get married. Mostly because I haven't thought about it much at all. I can't see how I would feel any different. I already feel secure in our relationship and our feelings towards each other. I know we have the same life goals and are committed to each other. I can't describe why I'm so excited ... and I am really looking forward to everything that's going to happen and change with this day.

I'm looking forward to Alec being my husband. I'm looking forward to being his wife. I'm looking forward to the day after the wedding when we wake up, married, and get to spend a few days together relaxing on the beach before coming back to reality. I'm also looking forward to us becoming parents, as super-scary as that is. I really can't believe I just said that - I always thought I would be the least-likely person to have kids! I guess it just took a while to find the right person to bring out those feelings in me.

Anyway, here's hoping my zen state lasts the next month, and I don't turn the bridezilla below as the day gets closer and my stress levels rise!

Fans To Beat The Heat

After the recent Sydney heatwave I ordered a batch of these cute fans from Weddingstar to keep guests cool if we have a scorcher day. I love the stickers that can be personalised with our names too!