My Kitchen Tea

We had a fantastic afternoon on sunday celebrating with all my favorite ladies, lots of yummy food & bubbles! Mum & I kicked off the weekend at 6am on saturday with a trip to the flower markets, then home to set it all up while my dad finished building this outdoor area! Yes thats right he built the deck & the screening in the few weeks before the party - talented man! Lots of people bought yummy food, i seem to have amazing bakers as friends & family! I took a few photos of the set up before everyone came so i could share it with you :)

Have to say i was quite happy with how this white arrangement worked out:)

We used Hyacinths, dahilas & roses in some of my grandmothers antique silver which looked amazing.

My bridesmaid Aylie made this beautiful cake for me!

and yes, there were people there too....

My bridesmaids, me & my mum.

More girls & their bubbles! Oh & my bloggy bestie Sonja joined us too!

(& made her famous rocky road & cupcakes - which i have to say were yuuuum!)

We also played a few games!  There was handbag weighing, a quizz, a guess the spice game for me (above) 

& the 'create the ideal wedding dress with loo paper' game which was hilarious.

Holly in the middle ended up with quite a Vera Wang esq look...until it fell apart!

Aylie & i with a slice of her pink layer cake!

I received some fantastic pressies too! Including this disney princess tupperware from my cousin

(who claims everyone needs a bit of disney in their home haha)

T minus 2 weeks.....

Its my kitchen tea this sunday - so looking forward to it! I know its a bit old fashioned but when do 

we get an excuse to sit around with all your fav ladies young & older, family & friends, sip champagne, 

drink tea & eat cakes! Not often thats for sure! So here are the last of my inspiration images.....

wow, cant believe im getting married in 2 weeks....

Wedding Stalker - Tessa James & Nate Myles

Loving these images GM Photographics just put up on their facebook page of Tessa James (Home & Away) & Nate Myles (NRL player) wedding. Her gown was by Steven Khalil...

How divine do she & her sister look - the sisters dress is pretty darn cool!

Super stylish but also classic - me likey!

The rustic feel of the cake is gorgeous....although the height scares me!

also LOVE that she changed into this amazing short dress for the dancing!

Dont ignore the front door!

Dont forget the area around your entry! Dont let it become a dumping ground for shoes/keys/junk mail/bags (ok ok im guilty of doing that a bit). Let these examples inspire you to give your a makeover! Given i realise we dont all have the amazing spaces to start with but dont let that stop you!

My total fav via Bear Hill Interiors

The Decorista

Maybe i just like this becuase it telss me bikes in the house are ok!

Via La Boom

Canadian House & Home

The Decorista

Where the sidewalk begins

Black Beauty

Im still waiting for that client that lets me tile their whole bathroom in black mosaics! So dramatic & quite glam dont you think?! Especially with my fav venetian mirrors!

3 weeks!

This time in 3 weeks ill be sipping some bubbles & getting ready to walk down the aisle.....whoa! Came up really fast...very slow at times but now it seems like time has flown! I think we are pretty organized, im trying to contain any ideas i have to do any ore DIY before the big day (ben has banned me with coming up with anything new, or changing my mind on anything!). The only thing we really need to do is work out the seating & a few small details....i hope! Im feeling pretty relaxed but then am having those dreams where its the day & you've forgotten to do a million things...So forgive me if im a bit slack on the posts in the next few weeks! I thought id share a little peek at our invitations with you..

Rooms im loving

Loving these living rooms, the pops of pink & the huge pieces of art!

words of (lol) wisdom

These were some answers kids gave when asked about love & dating...

Hens!

(actually packing now - these are the essentials of course!)

Holy moly, is today really the start of my hens?! Feels a bit surreal to be honest! Having my hair trial this morning then around lunch time my girls are coming to collect me! They did endevour to keep the whole thing a secret from me but the word 'boat' accidentally slipped out & then someone accidentally emailed me the invitation to a lunch on sunday! So all i know is 'boat', the location of the lunch & that its a nautical theme! Although on the invitation they spelt it naughty-cal (hahahaha) - one of my bridemaids is a graphic designer & they made the cutest invite! Ill share it next week :) As the invite says; Sally is dropping her anchor & tying the knot! 

Im off to celebrate!.....

Final Fitting

I had my final wedding dress fitting yesterday (no this is not my dress but this image almost made me want to change my choice of dress!) At my first fitting i had an attack of the 'unsure' - did i still like it? did it make me look fat? should i have gone with the style i thought i originally wanted??!! I think this is normal to be second guessing yourself at some point right? But yesterday i was really happy with it! Its now safely hanging up at my in laws place down the road (so i can get to it quickly should i want a peek!). My dress was designed by Karen Willis Holmes & i had the pleasure of meeting her at both my fittings to help me make some design decisions as we actually combined two different dresses into one - hey, i liked bits of both of them so why not! And now im the only person who'll have this dress! You must watch This gorgeous video on Karen Willis Holmes & their dress design process - its divine!

Now i just need to decide on wearing my hair up or down on my hair trial on friday & make it through my hens alive!

Birthday Weekend!

What a great weekend! Was fairly laid back but busy! Really did make me realise what amazing family i have, good friends & an awesome fiance i am so lucky to have in my life!

On friday night Ben told me to be ready at 5...i was curious to say the least? Nanna dinner time?! We headed to Golden Century (AWESOME chinese restaurant in Chinatown - i would go as far as to say best chinese in Sydney! Has a chefs hat too!) then he took me to see 'Love Never Dies' the sequel to Phantom of the Opera at the Capitol Theatre! What a surprise, i loved Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals when i was younger (could probably recite Les Miserables word for word at the age of 10 haha), but its not something Ben & i have done together & was fun to get dressed up & have dinner & go to a show!

Whole (from the tank!) steamed Barramundi (a must!)

On Saturday mother nature spoilt me by deciding it was time to shine some sun on Sydney! 

We headed to Clontarf beach for a picnic with family & friends.

There was frisbee, cricket, food, bubbles & a huge cake!

And I was very spoilt with some gorgeous pressies!!! 

On Saturday night Ben & i headed to a great new local French restaurant Cafe Lyon with our parents to celebrate the 90th birthday weekend - on sunday it was Bens mums 60th! So sunday morning we headed to beautiful Clarks point on Sydney harbor for a another picnic!

Once again the sun was shinning!

Great weekend! Feeling good!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

This week is crazy - Have my final wedding dress fitting today, hair trial on friday & my hens this weekend!

Im 30! (tomorrow)

Turning 30 tomorrow! woohoo! 

I havent really thought much about it till today as theres been so much other stuff going on, but im actually excited about it! Working for myself, marrying the love of my life in 5 weeks - Life is good! Feeling a bit like this chick! (but not blurry!)

The plans for celebrations are a picnic tomorrow at a Sydney beach with family & a few friends

(yes sydney siders, i hear you say, are you kidding? have you looked outside! It supposed to clear up tomorrow - cross your fingers for me!), then out to dinner tomorrow night with Bens parents as its his mums 60th on Sunday! 

 Go aquarians! Maybe i should by myself a chunk of Amethyst to celebrate?!

The celebrations are actually starting tonight - ive been told by ben to be 'dressed up & ready to go at 5pm'...

hmmmm i have no idea whats happening! As someone else pointed out he cant be proposing, he did that last year! 

In any case im going to rock out these Michael Kors heels i bought when we were in LA!