Voila. Practice veil. Made with patterned broadcloth instead of silk. The actual veil will be fuller, but I kind of messed up all the cutting on the practice version (this is why we make a practice version, people).

After much messing around, I discovered/ decided:
i) blusher + bow + veil is too much. So long, blusher.
ii) the best bubble veil is 20 inches long, with the folded edge cut to a curved corner.

Excuse my slightly blotchy skin and damp hair. That photo was actually taken the morning after my hen's night, so frankly I think I'm looking pretty damn fine, circumstances considered.

Cake Stands

Can't remember if I talked about this yet or not? Anyway, I was moderately horrified at the cost of Wedding Cake (that is, cake made by someone who professes to make wedding cakes). Not to mention it was important to me that only free range eggs, and actual real food (not the anhydrous doozamewhatsits of packet mix) be used. So we're running with three cakes from Sherbet Bake Shop instead. I asked Sherbet if they could stack their cakes, and they said (quite reasonably, with an explanation) 'no.' So I figured tiered cake stands would work well enough.

I initially enquired with local cake shops about buying a stand, only be quoted 'about $400' for what I wanted.... So then I bought a three-tier model off ebay. It was advertised with the image above. Just allow yourself a moment to fully appreciate the ghastliness of that image.

Add $40 worth of hobby store spray-lacquer in Pearlescent Red (thanks to the lovely guys at Stanbridges who not only helped me pick the right kind of paint, but kept a fairly straight face when I came back in red-handed, asking exactly what product would get the stray paint off my palms...).



Et voila. Not bad, hey? Imagine them laden with lusciously frosted white layer-cakes. Excuse any wobbliness in the stands - I couldn't be bothered to properly straighten them for their glamour-shot. So, $120 of cake, about $100 of cake stand and spraypaint. About half the price of the Wedding Cake quotes I got. I win.

Mini-me!

So... did I post about the cake palaver? I don't think so. Suffice to say, I was horrified at the price of wedding cakes, and decided to just get some 'regular' iced white cakes from a fabulous bakery (at a quarter of the price, no joke). But then I decided to spend part of the money saved on the coolest cake toppers in the entire world. Mm-hm. From Urastarhouse. And here they are! Ta-da! Don't we look grand? I love the idea of having these little mini-us figurines to keep. And yes, those are our fur-kids sitting on our heads (it's okay, they'll just sit next to us on the cake).

The most beautiful bridal accessories ever.

I'm just in love with the stunning butterfly jewellery by etsy seller Jewelera. It's made by transferring images of actual butterflies onto organza fabric... so delicate and ethereal. She has a video showing how the wings flutter in a breeze.

I would snap up the headband in an instant if I could at all get away with it. Unfortunately, my style is much more bold and structured, and I just don't think this would go. But someone else should get it, wear it, and send me the pictures! Let me live vicariously!

Maybe it's not too late for bon-favs?

I just stumbled across an American site called Beau-Coup which stocks all kinds of little party favour bits (wedding and otherwise). Unique ones (no, like actually stuff I haven't seen elsewhere, not 'unique' in the way it gets thrown about these days). Classy ones. That picture above? That's herbal cocktail infusers (add your own liquor and fruit juice). Yum!


And, most importantly, they actually ship to Australia! Well, everything except those gorgeous custom fortune cookies. Which is probably just as well. Because I don't think I could help myself. My other favourite is the personalised biscuit mix.

Excellent Underthings

Right. Trying to keep this SFW. Yesterday my goal was to find a torsolette thing that was strapless and low-backed and comfortable, to go under my dress. Myer and DJs do not stock such things, it turns out. So I had to try find a speciality store.

Problem with googling 'bridal lingerie' (or even searching the yellow pages), is that the same term is used for the formidable, structural, suck-you-in, lift-you-up, invisible-under-your-dress stuff and also for the (usually really naff) racy honeymoon sets. Eek. Cue memories of Kath & Kim and the episode with the snap-crotch teddies.

To top it off, I hate underwear shopping. I really, really do. Such a hassle.

Anyway, I made a list of potentially suitable places. First on the list was Silk Elegance Lingerie in Leederville. My mama (coming along for moral support) was sceptical. She had seen the storefront before, and thought it looked a little dingy and weird.

Oh man was she wrong. I adore this place. They had a whole wall of bridally undergarments that were both pretty and sculpting. They had a massive range of brands (they import some labels especially). They keep all their white and cream nundies in the same section, so it's easy to pick out a set.

And the staff are extraordinary. They are kind, helpful, patient and make getting your kit off in front of them seem completely normal. They are so careful when it comes to fitting. And they do alterations! Yes! Lingerie alterations! Because they want stuff to fit you perfectly. I cannot recommend them highly enough. We didn't even end up hitting any of the other places on my list. Silk Elegance Lingerie in Leederville. Checkit.

Struggling to find a hair person

While makeup people abound, it seems like it's really hard to find a hair stylist to come out and fix us up all pretty like.

What's with that?