the embellishments

Saturday 14 February 2009

It’s Valentine’s Day today ~ a year since The Proposal, a month & two days since Gavin and I officially Married.  Still in Malaysia for another day, we have been reviewing reminiscently photographs taken by our wonderful family and friends. This page is dedicated to the Embellishments, only a snippet at this time until we return to Melbourne. Thank you to everyone who paid particular attention and photographed the quiet details we had prepared especially for Our Guests on the day. So wonderful that you were all there…xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our guestbook platter is now filled with the most cherished well-wishes from our guests all around its rim. (more so than what you see in this picture). And no one smudged too! ^_^ Whilst couples tend to pay to have their platter personalised on their behalf by the store, I decided that it wouldn’t truly be our platter unless I offered my time, attention and above all, the little touches. Borrowing a base image, I hand-painted the bridal couple in our image to represent how we actually looked on the day – down to my loosely pinned-up hair, my mid-length veil,  the flower and sash on my dress, and Gavin’s cravat. ^_^ The heart in the corner was the final embellishment on the plate, painted based on the style of our wedding invitations, whereby a strip of sakura chiyogami paper wrapped a bronze-coloured pocket. 10 hours later, the plate was finally complete… and now, as we said, a cherished piece of memory from our wedding.  

 

 The aromatherapy burner at the sign-in table diffused the essential oil blend called ‘Romance’, which we also offered as bonbonnierre to each of our guests, individually packed in its own personalised bamboo box.

Our guest seating chart was designed in the form of a scrapbooking frame that was completely handmade, combining gift-tags, ribbon, felt, chipboard and metal. I found this beautiful collection of paper coordinates called ‘Tea and Silk’  that perfectly matched our Japanese-Vintage theme. All names were hand-calligraphied. The two miniature portraits on the frame are of both my grandparents, taken possibly early in their marriage. My maternal grandparents (photograph under Table 10), now both over 80 years, flew over from Malaysia to attend our wedding, the first wedding of a grandchild. Whilst my paternal grandfather is no longer with us, and my paternal grandmother was not able to attend, having these photos were crucially important to me, as they acknowledged those I love, and represented the thoughts I held for them throughout the day. They are ever a part of me, and it was my little way of having all of us there that day. The felt flowers and stamen (peering behind Table 2 and 6) were also used on the wedding programmes to add colour and texture, as well as for the embellishing of the aromatherapy burner on the table.  

 

The Barcelona ottomans and cushions were brought in to create an ambience of comfort, to bring strangers that little bit closer together…and to slow down time on a day that just seems to end all too soon. When we saw the garden terrace for the first time, we decided that deck chairs would do a summer afternoon wedding  no justice at all. At the same time, i visualised flowers bursting through from the umbrellas, and ivy creeping down to greet our guests as they sat beneath. Thank you Karina for turning my vision into reality.

 

 

Karoline and her crew added a touch of magic to the morning. They played ‘Blue Moon’ for my entry, and it just made me smile…

 

 

Karina also fulfilled my insatiable dream of carrying David Austen roses in my bouquet. Her good news came just two days before the wedding, and I was absolutely beside myself! When they arrived that morning, my heart was stolen and never to return again. The bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids were simply, simply divine. Perfect symmetry. The bridesmaids’ bouquets added the perfect splash of fun and colour.