What do you get when you mix together a Teaspoon, a Jaguar and a Ferris Wheel? One super-lovely bee meet up, held down under in Sydney-town, that’s what!
As soon as I read that Ms. Ferris Wheel was coming to Australia for her honeymoon, I remember getting really excited. We’d been talking about meeting up for months, and all of a sudden… it was November. Huzzah! During that time, Mrs. Teaspoon was also introduced as a new Sydney blogger, so we decided the more the merrier!
I snuck away after work and collected the Ferris Wheels from Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney on a dreary grey Thursday. Upon meeting them, I kind of tackle hugged them and then whisked them away to have an early dinner— presenting them with a Caramello Koala each and a toy wombat. Isn’t that every tourist to Australia wants? 
Well friends, this is it.
Back when I was first accepted as a blogger, I remember thinking what a daunting task it could potentially turn out to be. Creating a wedding that would not only be special to us, but would be special enough to share with you all, too—what was I thinking? I remember worrying about the small things. Would anyone read my posts? Would anyone relate to my words? Would anyone feel inspired by our wedding day? Would anyone want to read about some random Aussie girl putting together a wedding a million miles away?
It was while I was putting together my Wiki page the other day that I flashed back to those early days of planning…and realised how quickly that time went by. I’d always had a grand plan to get busy with the recapping fairly soon after our wedding—not because I wanted to get them out of the way, but because I wanted to share them while the experience was fresh in my mind. Looks like I managed it… phew!
But writing doesn’t mean much unless you’re sharing it with somebody. I have no doubt that if I wasn’t a blogger here at the ‘Bee, I would’ve rambled away some place else—that’s just what I do. Sharing our journey with you guys? It’s been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It’s made our rained out, slightly chaotic, full of giggles wedding, that little bit more special—because you’ve been there with me the entire time. You’ve laughed with me, you’ve helped me out, you’ve calmed me down and you’ve kept me sane. And, thanks to some little charms on my wedding bouquet, you were right there with me {in spirit} as I walked down that aisle towards my husband.
Mr. Jaguar and I have been playing husband and wife now for four months.
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You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to share this picture with you.
Yes, after all the worries and the drama and the last minute express postage costs, we managed to organise the sparkler wedding send-off that I’d always hoped for.
So how did it work?
If I had to choose just one moment from our wedding day which left me reeling emotionally, it would be our private dance.
Image via Amy Nelson-Blaine Wedding Cinematography
I first heard about the idea from fellow bee bloggers, Mrs. Fro Yo & Mrs. Elephant. I fell in love with the thought of spending some personal time with my brand spanking new hubby during the precious last seconds of our wedding day and the idea worked perfectly with our event conclusion. After our last moments partying with our guests, our MC cleared the room for us. Our bridal party gave us a few final hugs before heading downstairs to get our send-off ready. The only people left in the room were our videographer and our photographers. And us.
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Our wedding reception seemed to disappear in a flash before my eyes. One minute we were just being introduced, the next minute we were dancing and mingling and it was almost time to leave. How did that happen?
We spent some time mingling with our guests and attempting to get to every table, which is way harder than it looks. Mr. Jaguar and I grabbed each other’s hands and made the rounds, thanking our friends and sharing our excitement.
I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t worried about people having a good time at our wedding. We had an eclectic mix of young and old guests, some I knew well and some I didn’t. How was I to choose the right kind of party music to get people dancing?
The best advice I can give you is to be random. We had classic jazz followed by top 40 followed by rock and roll followed by the occasional ballad. Sometimes people danced, sometimes they didn’t, but the floor was hardly ever empty.
And there was shuffling. Oh yes, we Party Rocked it up, my friends. (Although I’m pretty sure we were all doing the running man rather than the shuffle.)
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It was hard, hard work choosing a song for the father-daughter dance. Choosing a dance for Mr. Jaguar and me was easy—but for my dad? I struggled. My one request was that the song wasn’t a country music song, because I’ve heard one at nearly every wedding we’ve ever been to. My suggestions were upbeat, with my two favourites being “My Girl” by the Temptations and “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles. He didn’t have any connections to those songs, and shot them down. After a lot of coming and going, he sent me one option that I quite loved: “Lullaby“ by Billy Joel. And so, it was.
Did you know I’ve been blogging here at the ‘Bee for a year now? (Holy smokes, that went fast!) One of the first posts that I ever wrote explained how Mr. Jaguar and I first met. To quote myself from back then:
Girl hears song on radio, girl falls in love with song, girl stalks band online and finds their forum, girl makes friends online including a sweet Australian boy, girl develops gigantic crush, boy and girl eventually swap mobile numbers, girl text messages boy during a particularly boring uni lecture, boy calls girl that night, girl meets boy at movie theatre, girl thinks boy is adorable, boy thinks girl is OK too…and the rest is history.
It was only fitting, then, for our first dance to pay homage to the band that brought us together. Without them, after all, I would have never met my best friend.
Image via Amy Nelson-Blaine Wedding Cinematography
After we snuck outside for a few couple portraits, it was time to get the last formalities out of the way. We were ready to hack into our cake!
If you happen to have some spare time during your reception, use it to steal away for a few minutes and take some time to yourselves. Some of the photographs we got from that super short session are my favourites of the evening. Sure, the rain had just stopped and my dress was getting saturated, but for those moments—none of those things mattered.
Before I get too far ahead of myself though, let me backtrack a little.
After the falling-off-my-chair-in-front-of-our-entire-wedding-audience incident, we got down to the good stuff—the food. We snacked on the most scrumptious cannelloni, yummy chicken and herbed lamb, and the most gorgeous pastry slice for dessert. Amazing. Soon after that, it was time for the most beautiful part of the evening—the speeches!
Being a bit of a control freak, I have to admit: I was a little nervous. Not being able to know what our family members and friends, and even Mr. Jaguar himself, were planning on talking about in their speeches was scary—but turns out, those fears were completely unfounded. You guys, they blew me away. I laughed, I pulled faces, I cried. It was amazing. And seeing pictures like this one, which was my beautiful mum’s reaction to my dad’s speech, just make my day.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who used to imagine all sorts of wedding day mishaps that could potentially go down on their wedding day? Falling down while walking up the aisle. Having a dress related mishap. Falling into a random pool, aka this couple. You name it, I’d thought of it. I even had the crazy wedding nightmares before the big day.
Well, before I say anything else, I think it’s appropriate I start this post off with a lovely memento I have from our wedding day. What do you reckon: blow it up on a canvas?
Oh yes. THAT happened.
Special mentions to a) my boobs practically exploding out of my dress, and b) my brand new husband who thought this was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen.
So… you want to know how I ended up down on the floor in a puff of ivory lace?
By now, our guests had been mingling in the foyer for about a half hour. While we prepared ourselves for our reception entrance, our friends and family members began making their way into the function room and finding their tables. The central focus as they walked inside was to be the cake—the cake I’d been lusting after for months and months of planning.
Image via Amy Nelson-Blaine Wedding Cinematography
Unfortunately, the venue let us down with the cake itself (which I’ll go into later, promise)—but it was still a nice enough entry point all the same. Our guests were seated and our MC began making introductions; though the following picture sort of looks like he’s telling someone in the naughty corner to sit down and shut it!
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Some of my favourite moments from previous bee weddings come from getting the chance to see some of their pre-wedding plans come into fruition and be captured on film during their event. I hope you’ll enjoy seeing some of our little details as much as I’ve loved seeing them in the past.
Let’s begin with a snapshot of our invitations – which I am still lusting over as the months go by, because OMG, the paper. So soft. So textured. Swoon!
When it comes to weddings, even the best laid plans can go astray—which can be hard to take if you’re an obsessive-compulsive planner, like I am. Our plan upon entering our reception venue was to relax in the bridal suite for around half an hour, have a drink with our bridal party, and take a moment to catch our breath. While we were doing this, our guests were due to arrive and begin their cocktail hour on the balcony.
Well, down came the rain.
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Mrs. Jaguar, Sydney Age and Occupation: 27, Primary School Teacher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, IT Consultant Engagement Date: August 8, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2011 Venue: Curzon Hall About Me: I'm an Australian girl who is a self-proclaimed nerd, loves all things stationery and would be lost without books, music and the internet. Mr. Jaguar and I have been together for the past eight years and he finally popped the question last August. Hurrah! We currently live in Sydney, Australia with our adorable cat who thinks he's a person. We're a couple who likes to multi-task: we've been planning a wedding abroad, a permanent move from London to Sydney, and preparing to build our own home all at the same time. Travelling makes me giddy...as does Mr. Jaguar, of course!
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