THERE'S NO PLACES LIKE HOME

I found this dress on Friday in my favourite vintage store, Tete a tete, and immediately knew it had to be mine. I absolutely love gingham, and blue is my favourite colour to wear (i also love red, but prefer it in small doses, such as a handbag or shoes). It reminded me so much of Dorothy's dress in the Wizard of Oz (one of my all time favourite things), and it fit me well. Meant to be! As it is still freezing here at the moment, I am looking forward to wearing it while picnicking or riding my cute pink bicycle on hot Summer days.

The dress is so cute it was just screaming out for a bow in my hair, just like Dorothy.

My best friend locket. My dear friend Andrea has a matching one that I gave her for her birthday recently. Made us feel like we were in primary school again!

And no Dorothy is complete without her Toto by her side xxxxxxxxx

EVER AFTER

Our Wedding day was on Friday July 30th, and I couldn't have asked for a smoother, more enjoyable (not to mention surprisingly sunny) day. We got married at The sign of the Takahe (if you live in Christchurch or are visiting and haven't been there, do!!! It is like an enchanted castle, but small and cosy, which was perfect for us as we only had 49 guests). As a girl who grew up loving fairytales, but not really expecting to get married, the day was a lovely mix of emotions, laughter, joy and pure happiness. We decided early on to have a Disney fairytale theme (namely Beauty and the Beast, my favourite fairytale movie), and we incorporated this into our outfits (my dress was altered to look like Belles yellow dress from the Disney movie, but in cream instead, and my beloveds suit was a mix of the Beasts suit, and Patrick Dempsey's suit in the ball scene from Disney's 'Enchanted'). My beloveds very talented Mum made his suit jacket for him, and it turned out beautifully. We also had a Disney seating plan, with castle candle favours, and Disney movie pictures to represent each table. Our wedding rings are also both engraved with 'And They Lived Happily Ever After'. Early on in the process, we made (designed by my beloved) pop up invitations, telling our story as though it were a fairytale. These were a bittersweet production as they took sooooo long to make and were very complex to put together, and we only just got them out in time with the help of our dearest friends. Thanks guys, you know who you are!!! Saying our 'I do's'. My beloved had this aisle strip made in secret with the help of the bridal party, so I didn't know it was there until I was walking down. We had red roses everywhere, again taking from Beauty and the Beast.

My gorgeous flower girl, Emma, keeping Toto occupied while I was getting ready.

Just about to take the pins out of my hair and let the curls out. And enjoying wine!!

Our doggies were a huge part of the ceremony;Toto walked down the aisle with my Mum and me, in a vest that matched my dress, and Bob was waiting with my beloved and the groomsmen, with a matching cravat. They were very funny throughout the whole ceremony, making lots of funny noises and wondering what on earth was happening. As we wrote alot of the ceremony ourselves (again written in fairytale style), we got the celebrant to get the dogs permission (by way of barking/whining) to marry us before he announced us as husband and wife. Toto got particularly excited in this part, and decided to jump up on to my dress for a hug (hence, this photo) Our dear friends, Andrea and David (Andrea was my wonderful Maid of honour, and David was a groomsmen) (technically she was matron of honour, as she and David are married, but I really dislike the word matron!) were also our doggie wranglers, as the dogs absolutely love them both to pieces, and they did a great job of keeping them calm throughout the ceremony. To add to the theme, we had a very talented dancer friend teach us a dance to the song 'So close' from 'Enchanted', for our first dance later on the evening, which we managed to get through with only one wrong step (and yes it was me, I really am uncoordinated when it comes to dancing).

This was taken on a dear friends' iPhone, if you can believe it. I love the castle in the background, it was such a beautiful backdrop.

This was the main room we had the photos in and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos, when our lovely photographer Linda, has finished editing them. (The 1st,4th and last photos were done by her) We decided on alot of very stylised shots prior to the day (such as a Cinderella shoe on the step shot, and a Sleeping beauty shot just before the kiss), and Linda really went all out in ensuring she got them all without making them look tacky or fake, and maintaining a romantic feel throughout all of them. By the middle of the day I had perfected my 'Disney eyes' to the camera! It made the photos really fun as well, and I can't wait to see the finished products. We had such a fun and special day, and are very thankful to everyone who was a part of it. It's amazing how much planning goes into a Wedding and then poof! It's over so quickly. The best advice I was given for the day was to treasure every moment and take time out as a couple to just be present with each other enjoying the day, as it flies by so fast, so we made sure to do this as much as possible. xxx