Hi girls,

Weve had a bit of a family blowup this morning, so Im off home in about 10 mins.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!!

Speak to you on monday!

I've got the lip gloss as well, but I read on the tube that you have to apply 3 times a day for month to get results. I wouldn't remember to put it on every day, let alone 3 times a day. I tend to only put on lippy if I'm going out, or gloss if my lips are dry!

Laurette, I clicked on the link but nothing happened for me. It could be my work security system blocking the file. I'll have to try at home.

Have a great weekend. It's sounds lovely!!

Where's Kate today??? Kate, where are you???

Jo.

Kate,

I hope everything is ok.

Have a great weekend.

Kathyxxx

Hope all is OK Kate.

Let us know if you need anything while I am in your fine city!

Luv Laurette

Yeah so far I haven't remembered to put it on at all, Ive been terrible with it. I got Paddy to put some on this morning! Hehehehe.

Long lunch - paddy knows mum so no threats there. just going to show off bali photos. Cant really get tipsy anyway, have to drive home to check the baby later anyway (baby = dog btw!).....

Only 1 hour til lunch!

Amanda,

Dont you drink too much.Make sure you go home and look after my granddog she has been starved of human attention to much lately

Kathy (mum,mob)xxxx

Laurette,

Have a great weekend back in your home town.

See ya next week.

Kathyxxx

Have a great weekend too Kathy!

And everyone else! Have a great weekend!

Hi girls

Just a quick question to the girls from Wollongong.

We have been invited to a 21st birthday on the 28th of this month and Im trying to find a nice but cheap hotel to stay in. Has anyone got any ideas?? The party is at the stadium.

I got the mag but the gloss was missing The girl at the supermarket said 'oh, it's probably been stolen then' - but none of the copies had it! Whatever - I could've made a fuss but it was about 8pm and I was still doing the shopping for dinner (hence v. hungry) so I just left it. Beginning to wish I didn't now, though!

In other news, I've booked our celebrant and we're going to see him in 2 weeks. Yay! I'm stoked because our friends used him and said he was great, and he was really lovely on the phone. Plus, I think he's like the president of the celebrant's association or something, so at least I'm confident he knows what he's doing!

Actaully, I'm considering training up to become a celebrant (after this pesky wedding business is taken care of ). I really think it would be a great 'second' job!

Hi Girls,

Now I think I have found the best song for first dance even though you will all be wearing white or ivory dresses the words are perfect for that one special dance with the man of your dreams on that special day.

THE LADY IN RED

I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight,
I've never seen you shine so bright,
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance,
They're looking for a little romance, given half a chance,
And I have never seen that dress you're wearing,
Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes,
I have been blind;

The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek,
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,
It's where I want to be,
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,
I'll never forget the way you look tonight;

I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight,
I've never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing,
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side,
And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away,
And I have never had such a feeling,
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight;

The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek,
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,
It's where I want to be,
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,
I'll never forget the way you look tonight;

I never will forget the way you look tonight...
The lady in red, the lady in red,
The lady in red, my lady in red,

I love you...


Kathyxxx

Morning all!

Kathy, that is a beautiful song. I have also thought about that song, but as you said, the 'red' doesnt really work. Maybe our band can sign 'Lady in Whiiiiiiiiite.....'

On the way home from Wollongong last night Glenn and I were going through all the CDs in the car (about 200 of them) listening to love songs that might be OK for the wedding.

I had picked 'I'll be' by Edwin McCain for our first dance, but not mentioned it to Glenn, and after listening to it, he said 'I think that that should be our bridal waltz song' so it's good that he agrees - it blew me away!

We've actually decided on something! Wahoo!

Wollongong was good! We did some fun stuff and it was good to see the family. Unfortunately no i-do meetups though


Edwin McCain
I'll Be
From - Misguided Roses

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive and not dead

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

I've dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, turned on, remembered the things you said

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Bec, in response to your question - one place to try would be the downtowner motel in lower crown street. It is behind/above antics restaurant, next to the glasshouse. I havent actually stayed there, but my parents were going to on the weekend, but ended up staying with my grandparents.

That's about the only one that I know of. We stay at the Novotel, as we are members of the Accor Group of Hotels, but they are fairly pricey (double room around $370 but there is a minimum 2 night stay on weekends)

Morning Girls,

Yes it is a great song unfortunatly the word is red not white.Music max had a love song special all weekend and played heaps of songs that you often forget about.


Kate,

How did you work out the family problem?

Kathyxxx

Hi Kathy!

Yeah it wasnt as bad as what I originally thought. My sister rang and just said mums having a stress and wants us to go and spend some time with her... so of course you naturally think the worst... so I spent my 45 min drive home thinking all these terrible things, then it all actaully turned out to be serious, but resolvable... Alls well that ends well!

Best news of the weekend... WE FINALLY BOOKED OUR RECEPTION VENUE!!! Deposit paid, and all our questions answered. Matt was walking around like a cheshire cat all day... couldnt wipe the smile off his face which was very cute! Mum knew a girl that was getting married at our ceremony location, so we went and had a sticky beak at that too!

How was everyones weekend?

Laurette have you tried your dress on yet???

What date did you go for????????

Kathyxxx

13 May!

Kate,

Well at least now you have a date set and you and Matt can go full on with your plans.

Kathyxxx

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great weekend.

YEAH FOR KATE!!!! That is such good news. So, did you book the cliff venue you really liked? We'll have to change our thread name to March 2006 + one 13 May 2006!!! Glad your family problems got sorted out. We were all worried not hearing from you on Friday. Very un-kate-like!!!

Laurette..pleeassseeee tell us you've tried on your dress. The suspense is killing us all!!!

Kathy, I love the "Lady in Red" song. It's beautiful. I guess being blush pink, I'm almost red??? Laurette, I don't think I've heard the Edwin McCain song. I'll have to do a search for it on the internet to have a listen. I also couldn't get the sound file of the Lenny song to work. Am I doing something wrong??

Jase & I both love "At Last" by Etta James, so are thinking of that for our Bridal Waltz. There's a couple of other songs that I love though, so we'll see.

Congratulations Jess on booking your celebrant!! That's great news. Hope the meeting in a couple of weeks goes well.

Jo.

Yep, we're both stoked! Cant wait!

We also found wedders that we both loved... his was $350 and mine $950 but its from my mums jeweller, so she might be able to pull some strings for us.

Its the first wedder Ive put on and loved - we're hoping to get mum in there and get them both for $1000 - which is over budget, but considering we've gone well over with nearly everything else, why start sticking to it now!! (I hope you ALL haggled with your jewellers... markup on Jewellery is massive! I had a friend that worked in a store, and some of their stuff had a 600% markup!!! )

600%!!!!!! Are you serious? That is completely rude. I knew there was a huge mark-up - with all those 50% off sales they are constantly having, but 600%??

Hopefully your Mum can pull some strings, Kate. At least you can justify the cost by saying you'll be wearing it a lifetime and if you average out the cost over 25 yrs, it works out to only .10c a day!! Can you get a piccie for us??

Jo.

Yep Jo thats WHY they have the 50% off sales... cos theyre still making a humungus profit!!!

$100 piece of jewellery displayed for $600, with 50% off makes it $300... so theyre RAKING it in...

No no pics unfortunatly...

I have a princess cut bezel set solitaire E ring, and Im still not sure about whether or not to have diamonds in my wedder.

The one I tried on had a channel setting, and did look good, but I only just thought about the eternity ring, and I worry that when it comes to that time, the wedder and eternity will sort of overpower the E ring cos the E rings band is plain.

Hi gals!

We are on a bit of a roll this week. Booked our reception on Saturday... then within 2 days had made another decision!!!

On sunday night my cousin and I were talking about bomboniere, and she mentioned heatbeat lollies... Id never heard of them (theyre boiled lollies in a packet, and inside each packet theres a little message of love ) anyway, yesterday I was at our local corner shop and there they were on the counter! So I brought 50c worth and took them home... theyre YUM! and the messages are really cute!

We already have shotglasses we brought months ago that cost $4 for 12. The heartbeat lollies are 3 for 10c. We plan on putting 5 lollies in each glass... bringing the grand total for glasses and lollies to 50c per person!!!

Bargain I say!

We dont know whether we're going to wrap them in cellophane, or just tie a ribbon around the bottom of the glass. We're also thinking of buying those little gold thankyou stickers and whacking them on the glass.

Whaddaya reckon???

How come this thread is so far down the page! Not acceptable! I want to see us get to 14 pages today please!

Well, on another topic, I crashed my car this morning. I went to parallel park at the bakery to get something for breakfast, and pulled in too quick, and managed to hit the gutter - hard - side on.

The hubcap went flying off to the side and hit the wall of the bakery. I got out of the car, thinking that maybe I had popped the tyre off the wheel, but alas, I had ripped the whole wheel off the car. The wheel is so so mangled. It was all bent up and then the tyre on the other side of the car exploded, I ripped the spoiler on that side although (thank god) didnt damage any panels - that would have been disasterous.

The front suspension is damaged, the undercarriage all sorts ripped out and god. Glenn said f*** - how hard did you hit it! The car looks like the gutter was doing about 200kph when it hit...

So I had to get a tow truck and everything - NRMA came and towed it back to their depot and I rang Glenn and got him out of bed and he came and took me to work. I have to go down at lunch and see what the damage is going to cost me.

On the other hand, I went back to the surgeon yesterday and all is well with my scars and everything - although I waited 2 hours for a 20 second consultation. Then this morning rammed the steering wheel into my tummy and that hurts real bad.

Cant's win.

So - things happen in threes - wonder what's next?

I love the idea of the lollies Kate - beautiful. I think just the ribbon on them - cellophane will make too much mess when everyone pulls them apart to eat the lollies.

What do you mean by stickers?

Goodness you didnt muck around did you!!! As long as youre ok! Hopefully insurance will cover it!

I am a terrible driver... I shudder to think how many accidents I near avoided/ caused when I first got my license and was Miss Confidence and thought I was king sh!t... I cant park to save my life, so usually try to get into car parks (Im good at reversing into designated spots)... unfortunatly for me, matt doesnt drive, so I am stuck with it!

Was Glenn ok about it???

Bakeries are dangerous places... theyre terrible for my waistline, and now I have even more reason to avoid them if they have speeding curbs that attack cars!!!

Good thinking 99! The mess issue never occured to me! Ribbon it is!

Hmmm... I dont know how to describe them. Ive seen them at spotl!ght. Theyre gold stickers, theyre a bit tacky, so I'll have to buy a packet and do up a mock bombon and just see... I cant describe them really... they come in silver and gold, and say things like happy anniversary, thankyou, happy bday etc etc... they probably pop up in $2 shops as well.

Laurette,

Hope everything is ok dont do things in halves do you.



Kate well done with wedding thankyous.Did you think about using tulle in the color of B/M's dresses to wrap around glasses then tie ribbon around it just a thought it might make them stand out a bit more on the table.

Kathyxxx

Yeah we did think of that. We saw some in Spotlight last time we were in there, but I dont know... same as the cellophane I spose.

I would like to wrap them somehow... Im thinking of maybe wrapping the lollies and just placing them on top of the glasses IYKWIM.

Like I said, I'll do some mock ups on the weekend or something and see what I come up with.

Wow Kate, you really are getting organised! I like the idea of tulle or chiffon - it seems a bit more classy than cellophane IMO, no offense intended.

Hey - there is a dress that is gold/latte colour that you mentioned in the new May - June Bride to Be magazine that I picked up yesterday. Thought of you when I saw it!

Just got the call back from the mechanic/repairer and who would have thought that you could do well over $2500 of damage hitting a gutter! Plus another $500 for the front spoiler if I want that replaced.

Grr.

Its not really a matter of being unorganised, I just organised wayy too much too soon without REALLY considering all options. When it came time to pay deposits, the reality hit me that what Id organised wasnt exactly what I wanted, so I had to re-assess some of my choices. We've had our ceremony location booked for months, same with our photographer.

whats your thoughts on this top???

I would never buy something like this, but for some reason im so drawn to it!!!

Pft itd take a hell of a lot more than that to offend me... Im not making decisions til I make a couple up and see them properly.

Really? I dont buy mags, so I'll have to have a flick thru when Im next at the newsagency.

Yeah when you told me the damage I thought about $2000... cars are SOOO bloody expensive.

Sorry Kate,

I dont like it but only because its not my taste in clothes.

Kathyxx

I love that top Kate - I personally would not buy it because it simply would not work on my body, but I love that style of top!

Oh Laurette!!!! Not good news about the car. Is it covered by insurance?? At least you weren't hurt (too badly!!). What a shocker!! Exactly how fast were you going?

Kate, your bon-bon idea sounds great - and very cost effective! Well done. I would probably either wrap just the lollies (in cellophane or something clear) & put them in the glass with a ribbon or wrap the whole glass in tulle or chiffon as Kathy suggested. Maybe you could print up some little "thank you" tags to attach to them??? Let us know how your mocks go.

I actually like that top. It is something I normally probably wouldn't look at, but it is very pretty. I sometimes go through "girly" stages where I love this kind of thing. What are you thinking of it for?

We're having our Engagement Party on Sunday week and only just started planning things yesterday. Apart from sending out invitations, I haven't had a chance to do anything else. My bestfriends parents are very kindly hosting it at their place and it is just a B'que lunch, so you wouldn't think there would be much cost involved. WELL!!! I did some costings last night - including hire of some chairs and tables, cheeses & dips etc for nibbles, rolls, salads, soft drinks, desserts, engagement cake, glasses, cutlery, plates etc and some alcohol (it's BYO alcohol but we'll provide some beer and a case of wine & champagne for those who forget & for toasts) and it totalled $1100!!! Jase had another stress attack!! This is without cost of meat which our best friends parents have so kindly offered to provide as their engagement present!! How can this all add up so quickly.

Oh well, I guess it's only once in our life!!!

Jo.

Oh Jo - it does add so quickly hey!

We only had a BBQ for our engagement too, but we did it a bit cheaper. Just get plastic stuff - I dont think that it's necessary to hire all that stuff! You can get plastic steak plates from Woolies in packs of 20 and 50, and as for cutlery, take yours round and mix them all up and use that rather than hiring stuff in. Also - plastic cups are easy.

And then you dont have to wash up!

14 pages!

I dont know what Id wear it for, but I dont have anyhting 'pretty' if the need ever does come up. I dont know...

Jo, chairs are SO expensive. We got ours from our local church. Gave them a $50 donation (was going to be $25, but mum paid and didnt tell us, then Matt paid when he picked them up!) although we know the minister of the church, Im sure theyd do it for you!

DEFINATELY go plasic. You can get some better quality stuff from party supply stores for a reasonable price. Itd be way too much of a pain in the a$$ dealing with dirty cutlery and crockery.

We supplied some alcohol too, but just got a few cases at a time when they were on special.

AND we got a 6*3m marquee thing for $65! It was great! It didnt rain, but it was worth it as insurance!

Congratulations Jo,

Now to cut down your costs ask around to close friends and family and ask if they have chairs you can borrow same with plates/cutlery or go the paper or plastic plates i know there a bit tacky but it will cut down on hiring these things and save on washing up as well.

Kathyxxx

14 pages!!!! Yeah!

Thanks for the tips girls. I think I'll go hunting in woolies and party supply stores on the weekend for plastic cutlery etc. Besides, I really hate washing up, so plastic could be the way to go!!!

Kate, that's a good idea about chairs. I'll check around and see what I can organise.

Thanks girls! You're all great!!!

Jo.

I saw my little car at lunch time! Aww, poor thing! It was all jacked up and missing both front wheels and the bonnet and the front grill, the spoiler and the side panel above the wheel that I hit. it looked so lonely I wanted to go and hug it.

Jo - tell me about it. Our Engagement Party set us back $1100 for grog (courtesy of Mum and her rums hehehehe), $100 for venue hire, $300 for food, $170 for photographer, $70 for cake, $100 for decos. So roughly $1800 but it was a great night, and the best part was we didn't have to clean any of it up!!! Or do any preparation apart from the balloons, and burning CDs. There was some upset from some of the 'older guests' that the music was not to their taste, but otherwise cost cutting on music and getting our own cds to play was good.

We had budgeted $2000 so we got a little change, which was nice. And Paddy's parents kicked in $500 which made things easier, and mum and dad picked up the tab for the cake and decos.

We are hoping not to exceed $15,000 for the wedding and Im confident we will do it.

Amanda

I should add we had about 110-120 people at the engagement party.

Amanda

I havent even thought about budget for the wedding. I guess that I will have to! We have already booked our caterer - that's $4500 @ $30 each for 150 people and then we have also booked our photographer (no idea of cost yet - she's a local family friend almost relative) and venue (hire cost $50) band - not sure of the cost (Glenn forgot to ask this very important question), I have bought the dress (around $500 all up I think) and so on. I guess I will have to write it all down! Does the $600 approx that I have spent on wedding mags (I just worked it out) count?

OMG... I do a budget EVERY day... its the same every day, but every day I open excel and do it. I have formulas and everything going on!

We're on track to stay under $10000 not including the honeymoon.

We've still got to spend

$4000 ceremony ($60 a head for 75ppl - $500 deposit paid)
$300 flowers (a friend of my cousin)
$300 matts suit
$800 photographer
$500-1000 rings - depends if I go the diamond band or not
$800 my new dress plus alterations and accessories (plus whatever I get for my old dress - hopefully $200+)
$300 hair and makeup for me and my girls
$200 invites
$150 bombon
-------
$7350 TOTAL (with the $500 rings)

Thats not including

* My girls material for their dresses, and $100 towards matts guys for their suits
* My transport
* Thank you cards etc
* About 100 other things I cant think of atm.

God tell me about it. We need a new mortgage for all the wedding mags I have bought!

I have roughly budgeted (correct me if Im wrong mum) - $9,000 for reception (BUT this includes food(canapes, entree, main, cake), 5 hours of grog (beer, wine, soft drink, champers) for 80 people, DJ for 3 hours, venue hire, decorations (including table flowers in the colours of choice, chair covers and sashes, candelabras), hair design for 6 people (bridal party included), port and coffee, and I think thats all? Its a pretty good package and it includes a lot.

Church is $300, another $500 approx for my dress, $1000 for cars, perhaps another $200 for dress fabric for bridesmaids (bridesmaids to pay for dress making, shoes, jewelery etc), groomsmen to pay for suit hire, $1000 for wedding rings, $300 for stationery, $50 for my makeup, maybe another $150 for my shoes....bonbonierre is half done, just need to get the candy ($300), bubbles already done. The good thing for us is that mum and dad are giving us money towards it, and cheeky mum god love her keeps taking on little projects and paying for them herself (like bonbonierre, bubbles, etc). Paddy's mum and dad also keep chucking things in, like paddys mum has bought the fabric and paid the dressmaker already. Actually (and you'll be pleased to know this mum) if Paddy has trouble getting work sorted out his mum and dad have undertaken to cover the wedding if we cant afford it. Good-o I say!

We want to try and do our honeymoon for under $5000, but we will be asking guests to contribute to a 'Honeymoon Register' for a gift if they want to. Hopefully this will cover a lot of the cost.

Oh, and $238 for the the Tiffany necklace Paddy is going to buy me for my wedding pressie!

Suddenly that $15,000 is stretching closer to $20,000, but what can you do?

Amanda

Yep - and I forgot:

- Photographer ($900)
- Paddy's Suit ($300)

The list just keeps getting bigger!

AW