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Ok, I’m finally ready to spill some beans about my wedding day, just been trying to find the time to tell you all about it!
It was such a lovely day with perfect weather… sunny but not too hot with a light breeze, just what I had ordered 🙂
Now with the important stuff 😉

The dress…
My dress was custom made to my measurements and I chose to have my favourite colours included… You didn’t think I was going to wear white, did you???
If I had, I would have thought of it as a blank canvas and may have started painting it in my sleep! Instead, I chose to have it ”pre-painted” for me hehe…
It was so beautiful and colouful, so flowy with delicate beading around the waist, with beautiful lacing on the back.When I walked the floaty organza fabric would follow my movements (except when it was a little windy!) and it really felt like I was wearing my palette with me… The skirt ”only” had 4 colours but the transparency of the fabric meant even more shades were created because the layers…

The bouquet…
I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted and was emailing suppliers back and forth so much to customise what they were offering that in the end I decided to just make my own!
I love peonies which are not in season in March in Australia and since we were leaving for our honeymoon 2 days after the wedding, I thought silk flowers were the way to go (I don’t like flowers dying and that way I got to keep my bouquet!). I, of course, added my favourite colours pink, turquoise and purple to match the dress and white to match the bolero and make my outfit a bit more ”bridal” and white lace to match my white lace bolero. And a little bling in the form of glittery brooches 🙂

The rings…
The rings were very special and uniquely crafted by artisans in the US. Pete’s ring was a stainless steel Mokume Gane band while mine was a white gold set (the engagement and wedding rings fit together) with handcrafted roses and buds, custom made with 2 of my favourite colours, obviously haha I just didn’t want the same as evyerone else (a diamond solitaire)!

Before the ceremony…
I still can’t believe I was arranging and re-arranging things until the very last minute! I was so focussed on getting everything looking good and making our guests happy and comfortable that I actually forgot to think of myself… until I was forced to get my hair and makeup done that is!
As it was time for Pete to leave to get ready, I just turned into a 4 year old child holding him tight, crying my eyes out, begging him not to leave… what????
What had just happened? I was perfectly calm and in control until that moment hahaha He agreed to stay a bit longer, until our lovely hair & make-up artist arrived and so I regained my composure quickly. She arrived half an hour later and guess what? I just melted once again! But… Pete had to go haha
My ”unofficial” bridesmaids arrived, which made me cry more (no logical reason so I just went with it) and we all got ready.
The funniest moment was when both of them had to go under my massive skirt to find my petticoat and straighten it up! There was just fabric everywhere and many arms and legs coming out from  under my dress hahaha

The ceremony…
We held the ceremony and reception in our very own garden at home as we wanted this special day to be as intimate and meaningful as possible… and for me, my home is the most special place I can welcome my loved ones to!
We chose a special song by Matthew West called ”When I Say I Do” to walk down the aisle and the lyrics are just so moving that whenever I listened to it, I would cry!
Actually, I cry easily because I am easily moved so I was sure I would cry hearing the song, seeing Pete waiting for me or any point during the ceremony…
I hid inside the house with my 2nd father (long story) who kept mucking around while I was trying to listen to my cue (ie the right lyrics to start walking down the aisle and arrived at the ”altar” just as it ended”. I was prepared and had timed all this perfectly, before, but this time, I completely forgot what my cue was and panicked a little until I decided to take the plunge… We tried to walk down gracefully and without rushing (nerves) while most guests probably gasped when seeing my dress 😉
I arrived at the altar pretty much on time (phew), to a smiley and emotional Pete… I managed to cry one bit and to everyone’s surprise, it was Pete who was shedding a tear! He had everyone going ”awwww….”.
The ceremony was relaxed and without a glitch and everyone was moved when they heard us recite the vows we had written for each other (on Valentine’s Day) as they were very personal and a bit silly and funny (quite representative of our personalities).
Then Pete kissed the bride with passion and the celebrant was so impressed that he asked Pete if he wanted to do it again so… we kissed again 🙂

We walked down the aisle as husband and wife to pretty bubbles blown over us… THE END.
Well almost!

Fun, colour and love in every corner…
While our guests were being entertained with cocktails and canapes homemade by myself and Pete’s family, we went away for a few photos with the photographer before returning for a lovely relaxed dinner and our fun wedding ”cake”!

I actually baked our wedding “cake”! It was a tower of lemon scented cupcakes with strawberry icing with a giant cupcake at the top. I got the cake topper hand crafted (by a lady in Vietnam) to look like us on our wedding day wuth our little dog Poppy (who was wearing a black and white tie lol). I really wanted everything to be unique and fun (and colourful if course!!). The cool thing is that we can keep the topper forever as a memento

I also baked all the mini desserts we had at the end of the dinner (raspberry gelato mousse, salted caramel cheesecake, mini Nutella cup and hazelnut baby cupcake) as well as some of the appetizers (lots of mini quiches, a ton of blinis later eaten with cream cheese and salmon). I am not forgetting all the yummy things that Pete’s family also cooked for our guests to enjoy (unfortunately Pete and I didn’t get to taste them as they were devoured while we were getting the photos done, damn!).

I also decided to be creative in the favour/guest gift department by creating my very own candy bar 🙂 It took me quite a while to design it with various glass jars, my own little labels, ribbons. Getting the right balance of height and colours wasn’t an easy task but I love how it turned out!
I even created a very special button bouquet as the centerpiece (behind the picture frame) with hundreds of buttons and ribbon.

Our little crazy dog Poppy was not forgotten! As an important part of our lives, he deserved to be on the cake topper and to have 2 outfits (a bow tie for the ceremony and a tie for the reception)!

It’s over but yay for the honeymoon!
Around midnight my groom had to peel me off the dancefloor so we could get away to our romantic cottage in the Blue Mountains for a couple of nights to finally relax, after 4 months of preparation! I felt so tired, and relieved that everything went well…

Staying there helped us recharge our batteries before leaving for our honeymoon in Bali! I think the prospect of the honeymoon was what kept us sane throughout as we knew we would have an amazing relaxing time there, just the two of us. And we sure did!!

And there you have it…  🙂

Love and sunshine, always!

Mimi.