Miss Lawyer's wedding : The morning

Warning ahead... this is going to be a loooooong post on Miss Lawyer's special day. So, run if you're bored of wedding posts already!!

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Last Saturday, I was in Crown Metropol, in Miss Lawyer's room taking turns with the other bridesmaid and the bride to have our hair and make up done up. When I reached after a longer journey than usual, no thanks to the massive jam caused by roadworks on Monash Freeway, Miss J (the other bridesmaid) informed me that Miss Lawyer was out having her nails done only for me to glance at my nails and realised I FORGOT TO PAINT MY FREAKING NAILS!!! ;(

And I saw that Miss J's nails were coiffed and dressed up as pretty as you please in French manicure outfit! Boohoo to me!

Oh well. I was supposed to paint them the night before but it slipped my forever absent mind! Anyhows, it was too late to get them done and I wasn't willing to fork out money to hop on a train or tram to wherever Miss Lawyer was to pay dunnohowmuch just to get my nails done for a few hours. This is small luxury unemployed people have to think and rethink and then, forgo. Double ;(

I was hoping to get my hair done up in some romantic loose bun because I think it'd make me look slimmer in my strapped, long lavender or was it lilac coloured dress made by the awesome Kris of That Special Occasion!

Ok. To clear any confusion, I currently reside in Melbourne and was in Malaysia end last year for my own wedding reception. The week or two before my wedding, Miss Lawyer sprung a surprising question to me and I agreed to be her bridesmaid! For that, I had to get my measurement done by Kris in order to get my bridesmaid dress, go for fittings and hopefully get the dress before I flew back to Australia and this was through a span of 3 weeks or less!

Kris was friendly, efficient and professional when he took my measurement before my wedding and the first fitting after my honeymoon. And was just as amazing when he did my second fitting (because I prolly ate too much after my wedding and during my honeymoon, gorging myself with Thailand and Malaysia's awesome delicacies that I couldn't fit into the dress ;( ) before I took off for Melbourne and all on a tight deadline mentioned above AND despite the rampant public holidays of the season.

I have nothing but only good things to say about him and his service.

The wedding gown made for Miss Lawyer may have looked simple and even the bridesmaids' (our) dresses but when she wore the gown after getting her hair and make up done, she was stunning. Having her silhouette, of course helped, and I now know it's all thanks to her mother's slim genes. If I only I had them, too! LOL. I just knew that Mr. CL was going to have a tough time taking his eyes off her!

The dress of the day

Boutonnière for the mother... or rather lapel corsage.

Bridesmaids bouquet that I got to take home!! wheee...

Bridal bouquet with lovely lilac roses complimented by Austin Roses and Orchids

Miss J and I didn't look too shabby in our dresses too! LOL. The colour was really sweet, not my usual choice of colour but it was picked, in line with Miss Lawyer's wedding theme: lavender and peach. Even her flower bouquets from Joanie of One Wedding Wish was absolutely gorgeous in lilac and peach!

Joanie studied accountancy but instead chose to pursue the wedding industry. Yet another fascinating case of 'chasing one's dreams'. Just like the celebrant (the person officiating the wedding in civil ceremony) for the event, Mona was simply efficient and amazing. I really loved the way she spoke, clear as crystal and yet soft spoken befitting the engagement.

She knew her stuff, that's for sure. I could tell with the tips she gave the bride and the groom before hand (that I was not briefed for my own wedding by my celebrant prolly because he was a guy) such as 'take deep and slow breathes' , 'remember to savour the day... the moment 'cos it's going to go past in a blur and you get to live it only once. So, take your time'.

She had a bad experience (hope I got this right) with her celebrant for her wedding and never want any couple to have such sour encounter. Hence, her being a celebrant on the side. For Melbourne Brides planning their wedding, I would really recommend her. And she also has a lot of references and advice to offer you! ;)

Ok. Back to the wedding. ;p

I tell you now, future brides-to-be, IMPORTANT WEDDING PLANNING TIPS #1 flowers ARE important on your wedding day because you WILL notice the prettiness and WILL definitely lament after the wedding IF you found the bouquet lacking. I know I did for mine. Sometimes, people might not notice the flowers but often than not, it adds to the whole wedding look especially when the bride walks down the aisle, holds such gorgeous creations at photo sessions and throws them to potential future brides.

Once again, the bridal bouquet... was simply beautiful. And I think despite the somewhat hefty price that comes with their services, One Wedding Wish or rather Joanie definitely did a pretty darn good job! Just browsing their site itself, I find the ideas, the creativity inspiring.

Sadly, I didn't get the opportunity to take photos at the wedding venue especially of Joanie's other awesomeness such as the bicycle with drink stations, wishing tree table and what not 'cos as a bridesmaid, my one and only priority of the day was... Miss Lawyer. Making sure she was hydrated, her wedding dress' train was always spread out for good pictures and that her make up was fine amongst other 'duties'.

You can check out the blog for when Joanie gets to blogging about it. So all pictures snapped by me were at the hotel (in this post) and waaaay before the wedding! Any taken during the wedding ceremony and dinner (the next post) was by her friends that I took off their FB.

IMPORTANT WEDDING PLANNING TIPS #2 Another important aspect of a bride-to-be's journey in a bid to look gorgeous for her day is the make up and hair styling! Oh shoots! I forgot the MUA's (make up artiste & hair styler) name! Karen? Something starting with 'K' and one syllable, if my memory serves me right. DARN IT! Hate it when I struggle to jog my failing memory. LOL.

Anyway, she was friendly and another interesting story. She has her qualifications in dentistry but did a related course to make up and hair and the rest they say, is history. It really helps as she gets to be with her children Monday to Friday (instead of having to work only to pay for day care services) and works on clients during the weekends whilst her other half plays mummy. So, win win for all. She gets to be a mummy and be there for her children and yet, have her day out making a difference in a bride-to-be's important day!

Instead of the typical flower headpiece, Miss Lawyer opted for two little bows and I think it was a nice change that suited her well. IMPORTANT WEDDING PLANNING TIPS #3 Dare to be different and be open to try new ideas and who knows, you may very well start a new trend!

I know I've said it before, but I just have to say it again (and no, I am not getting paid at all for all this good raving) that Kris from That Special Occasion did a wondrous job regarding Miss Lawyer's wedding gown and on a really, really tight time frame! Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the gown... sometimes, less really is more! I love the different touch of the bow at the back as requested by the bride-to-be. At first glance, I felt it was too much going on but it grew on me. Bows are so pretty and cutesie!!

It was a simple design with the top being laced V shaped with a body of mermaid cut in satin complimenting Miss Lawyer's figure. I think her hair, make up and just really her, worked the dress.

Being semi perfecionist, I had to adjust and readjust the bow just to get it right. The right side was stubborn and refused to stand proud and pretty. Finally tugging and tucking, I got it to look even, matching and even as the left side! It really does make a difference how long and how fat the bow is. Well, maybe only to me but I take my bridesmaid duties seriously. ;p

IMPORTANT WEDDING PLANNING TIPS #4 Make sure you have an emerfency kit ready! It helped that we had emergency tool kits all packed by the bride (usually Maid of Honour or bridesmaids do this) and ready to be used such as bobby pins, double sided tapes, emergency safety pins, breathmints etc. You can get the checklist online, just Google it and picked the most comprehensive one you can find.

As there was no before-the-wedding shots by the hired photographer of the day mainly because it costs more $$$, I tried my hand taking a few. I reckon I could have taken more if I was not the bridesmaid. Still not happy with my own skills as a photographer. Definitely need to be more discipline to pump in the time to read, research and snap more to improve my skills.

IMPORTANT WEDDING PLANNING TIPS #5 And ladies who are planning your wedding, DON'T forget to get your manicure done the day before your wedding! Make sure you get a hardy one done unlike mine that never did dry properly resulting in two nail surfaces suffering little chips during the night. I hear shellac polish dries fast and thoroughly making it longer lasting according to Miss J.

Lastly, like the dress,IMPORTANT WEDDING PLANNING TIPS #6 the shoes are just as important. As it tends to be hidden under one's volumnious gown what with the length of dress being long, the assumption is it appears out of sight hence, no one will notice. You will be surprise how many pairs of eyes do actually take note of the shoes' colour and design!

Most importantly, make sure you've padded the soles with comfy gel cushions and practice walking in your shoes the whole week prior to your wedding. It is vital to break your shoes in so that it doesn't bite you on your wedding day, the day that you'll be on your feet perpetually the entire event!

For my wedding, once I took off my shoes after everyone had left, I felt like my legs died on me! I had blisters from constant rubbing with the suedeish back cushion that was meant to prevent my foot from slipping out which in the end, didn't really work 'cos my right foot did come out of the gorgeous Wittner bridal white shoes (just a teensy bit) at one point walking towards the stage and causing blisters to boot!

You'd think I would have learnt from my past mistake and not repeat it for this wedding. Oh boy. The silver Nine West shoes I got on sale from DFO in the city that I wore for Miss Lawyer's wedding - initially meant for my wedding but didn't match my dresses - crippled my poor toes. I literally couldn't feel them after withstanding 5 hours of the excruciating pain walking, running around the bride and dancing with the best man that I just had to take them off.

Even then, I was dragged onto the dance floor by Mr. C and later on, Miss Lawyer's really friendly and great dancer friends! Her friend even took off her shoes to accompany my shoe less state. So sweet. But I had to bow out to rest my tortured feet.

A vintage car accompanied by really poor air conditioning with a friendly Colonel Sanders lookalike driver ferried me, Miss J and Miss Lawyer to the venue summing up the happenings before the wedding at 5pm in Arlington Wattle Park Chalet.

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I did warn you this was a looooong post right? ;p