Don't Tell the Guests; The Plan of Attack

Should we start the ceremony at 1 2 or 3 pm?

Do we want photos before or after the ceremony?

How will our guests entertain themselves between the ceremony and reception?

Do we want a single venue so that everyone can rock up and relax over the night and day or do we want separate locations and how will people commute between the two?

What time should we start the reception  festivities?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

So what did we decide?

Right from the very beginning we were determined to spend as much time with everyone on the wedding guest list and not just the bridal party. To us, everyone was equally as special and so many people were traveling from far and wide to spend our day with us.... so how did we overcome this?

We decided to hold our ceremony at 2 pm. This meant that we didn't have to be up at the crack of dawn to begin beautifying ourselves as neither of us are morning people and nor would we be sitting around twiddling our thumbs waiting for the formalities to begin.

7 am 10 girls piled into my bed to share the excitement that today was the day that I was going to become a wifey!!!

Being glamorised! 

Putting on my dress!

My gorgeous girls having their make up done out on the balcony.

My gorgeous dress!

Champagne breakfast!

10 am boys woke up, cooked bacon and eggs, kicked the footy and consumed a few sneaky beverages.

Mick seeming cool calm and collected!

Bacon and beer was the boys breakfast! 

The boys getting ready!

Thanks to our entourage of hairdressers and make up artists me and my 10 girls had time to fluff around, stuff our faces, pop some champagne, take photos and arrive  unfashionably early to the ceremony.

On our way to the ceremony.

2pm ceremony

2 45 pm mingling with friends and family capturing  special memories with everyone

After the ceremony, my husband and I choose to hang around celebrating with our friends and family instead of dashing off to have photos. It meant that we had the opportunity to cuddle, greet, owwww and ahhh over the day, chat and thank those who came to share the day with us.

Friends and family kindly baked afternoon tea goodies and the bar was open so that everyone could enjoy a few sneaky beverages out in the sun overlooking the winery and beautiful views of Boston Bay.

4 30 pm  sneaking off for some quality time

We spent two and a half hours mingling before mick and I snuck off for some photos amongst the grapevines with our photographer. It was so incredibly special to share these precious moments together giggling about the fact that it was our wedding day and we were now husband and wife. I'm so grateful that we had the chance to share some cuddles, kisses and moments pausing and taking in the atmosphere and love of our day.

5 pm bridal party fun

Then, the bridal party joined us for some fabulous photographic shots along with the  accompanying Esky full of cold beverages.

The time didn't feel rushed nor stressful it was just good old plain fun mucking around with shots of the boys lifting me up and the girls lifting mick up!

6 10 pm

Before we knew it, the clock had passed 6 pm and we were officially late to our own party!!!

1 00 am....

I'll save the reception for another blog post.

I'm so incredibly grateful that none of the day felt rushed or stressful. The sun seems to set soon after it rises on the day as it is, so I couldn't imagine having to rush around to multiple locations to capture the perfect shots and missing the opportunity to actually soak in the day through your eyes and not through the lens of a camera.

Every body is going to choose a different plan of attack for their day. A wedding we were lucky enough to share recently had the ceremony and reception at the same location which was fabulous because you didn't have to rush around between venues, worrying about who was being sober driver, running late or missing any of the formalities. Everyone was so relaxed that we all had beverages in our hands during the ceremony to celebrate the newly married couple early on in the day!!!

Some things to consider is how your guests are going to commute between venues, how much time you want to spend taking photos, whether you choose one venue or two and if you are going to provide entertainment between the ceremony and reception.

You must do what you want. You know what's important to you.

My biggest advice would be to try not to choose too many destinations or venues to rush between. It's on a rare occasion that you have everyone you truly care about in one location so you'll want to try and spend every moment soaking it in with them.

Look after yourself and those around you, 

Kirsty xxxx