Sunshine in Aruba

It has nearly been a week since we returned from our honeymoon in the US and Aruba. Aruba is a pretty amazing and unusual country. It has its beautiful white sand and crystal blue water and then it's very dry and quite desert like inland. Apart from the many hours spent laying in our sunlounge chairs sipping our cocktails, we also hired a jeep for a day and drove around the island. We drove through the small colourful towns visiting old landmarks. That day it was Aruba's National day so all the shops were shut and the locals gathered in their towns celebrating with music, food and friends. It was interesting to see how they lived and interacted with one another.

Today we both returned to our working lives and struggled a little, but after a few days we will be back into the swing of things I'm sure.

Our special day

The last few days I have barely stepped away from my computer as I have been scrolling through all the images from our wedding day. There are so many beautiful photos and I'm finding it very hard to narrow them down into my favourite few. Natalie, you took the most beautiful photos of our special day and I still get goosebumps when I look at them (which for me is a very good sign of something I love).

The setting was absolutely stunning. From the moment we arrived at Deux Belettes we were treated like royalty - shown upstairs to where we would sleep and seated down on the couch with a cheese platter and French movie while it rained outside. The beautifully decorated French guesthouse made the whole weekend feel so special - timber ceilings, fresh flowers all around, embroidered bed linen, old window frames opening onto a courtyard with vine covered walls. The attention to detail was really admired and appreciated.

For the past year I have been putting together little details to decorate the wedding - handmade linen gift bags with a Lomo camera, handkerchief and the story of how Reid and I met inside printed on fine paper, paper bags filled with blue and white confetti, jars of homemade strawberry, rhubarb & vanilla jam and marmalade placed on the table as gifts for our breakfast the following morning, and Italian glass jars filled with flowers hung from trees and placed all around.

The day was so overwhelming and emotional, and the most amazing and beautiful day of my life. I really did feel like a princess and I can understand now going through this whole process how important the wedding day it is to a woman. Not only the feeling like a princess part, but the sense of accomplishment I had in creating the setting and providing a warm environment for those I love meant a lot to me.

Overall the day in my eyes was perfect. The skies opened up after several days of heavy rain, the setting was beautiful, the string trio set the mood beautifully and the sit down dinner was enjoyed by all, which was something I cared greatly about as we're all food lovers.

I put my wedding folder away yesterday and felt a bit sad that it has come to an end as I really have enjoyed the planning and preparation leading up to our big day. But I look forward to the next chapter of our lives, whatever that shall be.

Thank you to all those involved. You really did make our day special.

Photography - Natalie McComas

Venue - Deux Belettes

Flowers - Flowers on the run

Catering - Your Gourmet

Hair & Makeup - Jane Smith

String Trio - Byron Barock Quartet

An eventful two weeks

The last two weeks has been filled with nerves, excitement, tears of happiness, 10 flights getting to and from our honeymoon location, lost luggage... I could go on and on. But this morning we arrived back home and we sit surrounded by boxes of wedding decorations yet to be unpacked and put away, and piles of dirty washing from our honeymoon waiting to be washed. Little things is in need of some updating but it will have to wait for now as the lack of sleep on the plane has left me a little weary. The above pic is a sneak peek from the night of our wedding. More to come!

Travel package

Since our wedding location is a 3 hour drive from Brisbane, I thought it would be nice to put together a travel pack for our family members to keep them a little occupied & entertained on their journey. I put together a map printed on beautiful paper and enclosed it with a block of French fine chocolate. There is also a mixtape with a selection of French music that they can play as approaching the location to get them in the mood.

A rainy week

A little slow on the posts this week as it has been a busy one for me. I finished up with work today. I'm aiming to finish my freelance work tonight in an effort to keep tomorrow as my pampering/relaxing day before our wedding on Sunday. It has been a very rainy dreary week in Brisbane with many towns flooding, leaving me feeling a little concerned about how the weather will be on Sunday. But even if it rains and changes our plans a little, it's what you make of it and I'm trying to stay positive.