Okay, so I've been a little absent lately! Sorry, but I have been B-U-S-Y!

Seriously. In the last 10 days I;

1. Got married at the courthouse
2. Filed for my official "Adjustment Of Status" to Lawful Permanent resident (AKA Green Card)
3. Bought a house
4. Became an Aunt for the first time, Miss Ayla Sierra was born on April 27th!
   

I am not kidding! Busy fun-filled-ness!!

I think this pic totally sums up life at the moment

Promise to be back to regular posting now!

Civil ceremony

So, we are getting married tomorrow! Well, officially anyway...

We have spent the last 8 months negotiating the frustrating world of US Immigration, and now have to finalise the marriage so they don't turn around and kick the free-loading Aussie (that would be me) back out on her proverbial arse. I would really have preferred that the day we have the big ceremony & party in October to be the official wedding date, (we have decided that we will celebrate that date as our anniversary) but that is really the tiny romantic part of me talking. It really doesn't matter.

We will be exchanging rings - however this is at Brent's insistence. He thinks the clerk at the courthouse will think we are "fishy" and ONLY getting married for immigration purposes if we don't exchange rings! He's funny ;) So we went to the flea market on the weekend and picked up a couple of plain silver wedding bands to exchange temporarily. I honestly don't want to wear it on my finger (first of all it doesn't match my engagement ring at ALL!) so I may wear it on a chain.

Hmmm...now what to wear?!

Aisles

Whilst shopping online for Shepherds hooks to make my aisle look like this:
(yes, apparently this is what these metal post-y things are called - oh the education I'm getting whilst wedding planning!)





















I stumbled over these beauties! How gorgeous would these look lining an aisle for a garden or beach wedding? A little over my decorating budget at $39.95 a piece, but so lovely!

Invite inspiration

(clockwise from top left: Eco-friendly wedding invitation, Vreeland Design ; next two are from Michelle Brusegaard; next one is from Fading Flowers; Wedding Paper Divas; A3 Designs invite; Pinklily notecards; next two = Fubabee notecard & invite; Gocco'ed card by Mwilson; unknown notecard; Fading Flowers notecard; centre invitiation is from Eva Paul

Mother's flowers

Now I've switched to carnations....these will be a cinch to put together for my Mum & Future Mother-in-law!

I never thought I would be one to say this...
but Yay for Martha Stewart!!

Wrist Corsage How-To

I love it!!

Now to shop for pretty ribbon!

Flowers, blowing the budget?

I spent some time yesterday pondering my flower situation.

I had the Flame callas all chosen, in fact they were the actual decision I made about the wedding, and from them came the orange colour scheme!

Well, I started pricing them again (having only taken a less than cursory glance at the price when finding suppliers) and it looks like they will end up costing somewhere between $2.50 and $4.50 a stem! Ouch!!

So, I started looking at some floral designers websites to get some alternative orange flower inspiration. What do I then stumble upon...this gorgeous bouquet!!

It's from Birch flowers in San Francisco. They do BEAUTIFUL flowers, but this one caught my eye with it's simple chic-ness! And carnations? Well, who knew they could be so gorgeous!

Okay, so I'm now on a mission - find orange-y carnations. I was thinking this might be tricky, as the only orange-y carnations I've ever seen are those peach coloured ones they inevitably end up in the bouquet you buy to take to the hospital for a friend to cheer them up... not exactly what I'm going for on my wedding day!

But, wait....am I hearing angel choirs?

So, they are still yellow and red (well, officially the first one is yellow & purple, but certainly looks red to me!), and come in between $0.55 and $0.73 a stem! What a deal!?

I swear I will come under budget for this wedding!!! :)

Jewellry ideas

I am in love with this bracelet - too cute! I may have to find someone on Etsy to make me one like it, as I cannot justify the $150 price tag on something so small :(