Wedding Dress | Wedding Ideas

Tasting Time is one of my favourite stories in our Issue 15. It's simple but elegant and not too girly for me. I'm really happy with the invitation idea – it came to me in the middle of the night as often they do. I remembered we had some fabulous illustrations on file from Melanie Terrett who supplies the images for our Guide section. I wanted to design something interesting that would suit the theme and I think these piccolos, wrapped in an illustrated invitation really hit the mark. You can download the artwork for free from here.


The opening spread to our Tasting Time story showing the nifty bottle invitations.

Oh, and see that little pencil in the foreground...don't tell anyone, but that's from Ikea! I put my ever-growing collection to good use by painting them in a pretty colour to match the story and it worked a treat.

Our always-happy photographer Claudio Raschella shot this story in my husband, John's, restaurant – it meant everything we needed for the food and drink shots was right at hand. We took over half of the restaurant floor and had lunch customers looking on, critiquing our work and asking lots of questions. It was a fun way to hold a shoot actually, very different to shooting in the studio.


Emma filling the glasses with wine and Claude showing off his glow-in-the-dark cat t-shirt.


Emma holding the reflector and a close up of one of the beautiful dahlias Annabelle sourced for the setting. That bendy grissini stick made me laugh.


Claude shooting from over the model's shoulder and Annabelle reviewing the shots as Claude loads them.


Annabelle keeping a close eye on the images as they are loaded and a shot of a pic as it comes up on screen.

As with every shoot, it's a lot of planning, preparation, and work on the day. But we enjoy every second. I know the models did - they got to eat and drink til their hearts were content!

Posted by Jane Cameron

Who doesn't love a vintage style pic, with muted colours and all the nicks and scratches that add charm to an old photograph? Well, you're going to love the iPhone app, Hipstamatic. Claudio Raschella, one of our photographers, put me on to it - he has got me hooked! For USD$2.49 it comes with a few standard film and flash settings which each vary the look of the final photograph, but you can purchase additional settings if you want the full set.

These are a couple of pics I took during a photo shoot last week - Annabelle's reviewing some flowers for a bouquet - they show just two of the effects you can expect to achieve.





Claude's tip - once you've loaded the app, go to your settings, scroll down to Hipstamatic and turn 'high quality prints' on. This will give you a bit more flexibility if you want to print the images.

Posted by Jane Cameron

Yesterday Annabelle and I went to Melbourne to attend The Wedding Establishment showcase event, every detail organised by the lovely Tanja Radman - what energy this woman has - she was positively inspiring and we had so much to talk about. The event was the ideal opportunity for brides to meet a select range of quality wedding industry suppliers, all in one place.

An earlier event was held at the Tea Room QVB the previous week during the infamous Sydney dust storms that turned the city red. Check The Wedding Establishment site for a complete rundown of all the exhibitors.


The Tea Room QVB in Sydney

This second event was held in Melbourne at Comme in Alfred Place - such a lovely building. One of the grand upstairs areas was transformed to accommodate all the exhibitors.


Comme in Melbourne

As we ascended the wide original staircase we were greeted by waiters carrying platters of delectable finger food and cool drinks - just perfect for the relaxed environment. Models in stunning Mariana Hardwick, Ava Madison, Baccini & Hill and Pallas gowns mingled amongst the guests giving us all a sneak peek into the amazing array of dress choices. It was so nice to finally meet Louise from Harvey&Ella who let us in on her recent trip to France where she has sourced some exciting new fabrics. Her bridesmaid dresses are fantastic - the kind of dress you would actually wear long after the wedding.


Left to Right: Baccini & Hill, Ava Madison, Pallas and Mariana Hardwick

Annabelle and I were so pleased to finally meet many of our advertisers and suppliers - those whom until now had only been a familiar voice at the other end of the telephone line. The beautiful letterpressed invitation that we received for the event was printed by Chapel Press who had many examples of their stationery on display. These stylish, embossed thank you cards were a surprise treat from Chapel Press in the goody bag.



Then there were the cakes - oh the cakes! Babycakes had an inspiring macaroon display, giving brides an alternative to a traditional wedding cake. Splendid Servings had a fantastic yellow and black themed cake that would have been perfect for our Ladies and Gentlemen story in Issue 7.


Babycakes macaroon display


Splendid Servings striking cake

After chatting with the lovely Jessie from j studios and seeing examples of her great work, we practically had to drag ourselves away from chatting with the girls from Infinity Photography - they had a a great stand enticing brides with their beautiful albums. Across from Infinity was A Piece of Paris who had a sophisticated range of wedding stationery. I was interested to learn they offer a styling service as well.

One of our final ports of call was Kate Hill Flowers that was decorated with the most glorious display of fragrant flowers. We also saw a gorgeous helleborus and sweetpea bouquet from Texas Flower Rangers that just seem to capture the essence of spring.

There were many other exhibitors, too many for us chatterboxes to speak with them all. Please do check The Wedding Establishment site for a complete list of contacts.

Before we left Comme we stopped in at the restaurant downstairs for lunch - we were in heaven and wished our ultra-delicious meals would never end. Alas, they did and we had to hurriedly make our way to the airport to fly home to Adelaide. Not hurriedly enough as it turns out we missed our plane! What a fun day though.

Posted by Jane Cameron

I've had a few queris as to where you can buy the tissue paper pom poms from yesterday's post. I am pretty sure Martha Stewart was the first one to sell them on her craft website, but I can't find them there any more. So the next place I thought to look was etsy. There are a number of sellers selling the pom poms like Party Poms who sell a huge range of colours, they also ship worldwide.

If you are feeling crafty you could try making them yourself, here is a link to Martha Stewarts' website which shows you step by step how to make them. If you do try - Good luck! I tried, and the result was not pretty!!


Party Poms pom poms

Posted by Emma Henderson

Issue 11 Fashion Shoot: Behind The Scenes
I thought I would share with you some of our behind the scenes from this current issue! The shoot took place in the Queen's Theatre which makes for an amazing backdrop for a wedding.


Our very talented hair and makeup man Chris Geracitano fitting the veil on Angela our model


Claude our photographer organising lighting


Jane in her directors chair!


Angela looking gorgeous in an Elie Saab gown available at Samantha Wynne

Posted by Emma Henderson