The wedding

Let's see how good I am at condensing a whole (big) day into a few paragraphs!

The whole event happened on Rodd Island which is near Leichhardt for anyone from Sydney. It's managed by NSW National Parks and there are no ferries or pubic transport to get there so water taxis were the only option. While certainly not cheap, they were definitely punctual! 

The thing about having it on an island with no function centre  or restaurant is that you have to supply everything. Chairs, tables, cooking equipment, food, drinks, staff, everything. And to make it more exciting, you only get the island for the day so you can't drop it off the night before to make things a bit easier. With everything arriving that morning, I just had to hope that everyone turned up on time because it was now out of my hands and when I didn't receive any phone calls while I was getting ready, I knew that everything was going to be fine.

Lachlan dashed off to the the wharf to meet the caterers, drinks delivery and wait staff who were arriving at 10.30am and did some of the set up. A friend of a friend was my 'day of' coordinator and along with her boyfriend, got there at 8am when the tables and chairs arrived. I honestly could not have done it without her, it was so nice knowing she would be there in the morning to make sure everything was set up as well as being the go to person for the wait staff we hired. As this was all new for her (she's looking into a career change), she did the whole thing for free in order to get experience and I still can't believe how lucky we were to have her help

Everything arrived to the island on time, the guests got there by midday and I arrived by 12.30 and it was time to begin! We wrote our own vows and ceremony script and I had been a bit worried that it wasn't going to be long enough since we kept it pretty simple (no readings or symbolic gestures). I think it was just the right amount of time as standing in front of a lots of people can be a bit nerve racking even if they are your friends and family.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet: the weather! As I said yesterday, I was obsessed with the weather forecast and honestly, it was the most perfect sunny beautiful day with not a could in the sky. In fact, it was almost too sunny .Every time we visited the island it was always overcast and we didn't realise just how exposed it was. In the lead up I had been so worried that we would need umbrellas to deal with rain that I hadn't even thought that maybe we would need them for shade. Luckily there were gazebos with tables and chairs where people sat and I bought a huge pump pack of sun screen which people were very grateful for. 

After a bit of table moving so they were in the shade, it was time for food. Oh the food! People still bring up how good it was which makes me so happy as good food and booze were important to us and we didn't want anyone to leave hungry. The Commons restaurant in Darlinghurst came through with the goods and it was so much better than we could have expected. In fact one friend said that his only complaint about our wedding was that he wasn't warned that there were two courses and that he was almost too full for the main course. For dessert, we had tubs of Messina gelato served in cones which seemed to be a big hit (even if the dry ice did make them almost completely solid!)

We had a croquet set and a friend brought boules and a cricket bat and they the perfect way to get people together. The whole day was basically an informal picnic which was what we had envisioned as we're pretty casual people. Our invite told people that they were free to wear whatever they liked as long as they were comfortable so some people turned up in hawaiian shirts while others went for suits but as soon as the ceremony was over, most people had kicked off their shoes and enjoyed going barefoot.

It was just a really awesome day and there were times where we just stood back and said 'I cannot believe how smoothly this day is going!' We had obviously put a lot of work into the planning but it was just such a relief that everything came together so well.  It was almost like a mini holiday (our invites had a holiday theme too), a chance for everyone to hang out on an island on a sunny day, eat good food and drink nice beer and wine and hang out with people which was exactly what we had wanted.

After getting some help with packing up (that always takes longer than you expect), we all got on the water taxi and headed back to the mainland. Those who were still standing joined us at a bar in Glebe, our old neighbourhood, and we continued to party until 2am.

Basically it was the best day we could have hoped for.

(all photos taken by my friend Cassandra Sutton from Loop the Loop Photography. Please don't reproduce without permission).

lunar eclipse

Another photo from my clever husband* of Monday's lunar eclipse. It's been an exciting week for all things astronomy with the voyage of Venus that happened on Wednesday. A colleague brought in fancy NASA approved glasses and we checked it out throughout the day, much to the bemusement of other colleagues who didn't see what the big deal was (and one who told us to not look directly at the sun unless we were wearing special glasses while we were clearly wearing special glasses. Thanks for the tip!)

Have a great weekend everyone. It's a long weekend for us so I'm looking forward to an extra day off. Oh and I finally have wedding photos back so I'll probably get around to sharing them next week.

* I realised recently that I've called Lachlan my husband maybe 5 times since we got married. Still getting my head around that one.

panorama

Lachlan loves stitching together panorama shots. This is one of my favourites that he did from photos taken in Galle as a storm was heading in. It looks a lot more awesome if you see it full size, check it out here!

Daschund UN

So as I mentioned on Friday, the Dachshund UN was happening at the MCA over the weekend which was looking to be the highlight of my YEAR but alas, it was not meant to be. After walking through the pouring rain down to Circular Quay, we arrived to find that it was cancelled and had been postponed until Sunday afternoon which of course was when I already had plans. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement, I seriously couldn't believe I was going to miss this but I had a moan about it and then decided I might as well get some photos of the adorable dogs while I was there. 

I think it's safe to say that while I was sad it wasn't going ahead, they were more than happy to be heading home to warm blankets.

Vivid 2012

I  went and checked out the annual Vivid Festival last night, I can't believe it's been a whole year since I wrote about it last! 

And a heads up for any animal lovers out there: The Dachshund UN is happening this weekend at the MCA. Needless to say I'll be there so come say hi if you're around tomorrow. I'll be the one squealing over all the cuteness.

on the weekend

Saw Janelle Monae at the Opera House last night and wow, what a show. If she's ever in your neck of the woods, definitely try and catch her!

on the weekend

Lachlan and I were tourists for the day in the Blue Mountains which is a 2 hour train ride west of Sydney. We went on the scenic railway and cable car and walked around the rainforest at the base of the mountains where the temperature dropped significantly. On the walk back to the train station we encountered some neighbourhood chickens, picked up some delicious vegetable pies from Hominy bakery and settled in for the long journey back to the city (with a few games of Draw Something thrown in for good measure). 

 

The truth is, I don't stand a chance

Well this week has disappeared and all productivity went out the window thanks to the cold that finally took me down. There I was thinking I had managed to avoid the cursed bug that had people dropping like flies but no,  I just got it two weeks later. It means I have spent far too much time indoors and due to my sickness induced short attention span, I may have spent the last two days watching America's Next Top Model. Please don't judge me.

Besides that, this week...

...Lachlan and I treated ourselves to a fancy dinner at Momofuku last night. I'd been really looking forward to it and was very unhappy when I got sick and thought I might have to skip it. But, I got out of bed, made myself look decent (no easy task when your noise is raw and flaky from tissue overuse) and enjoyed the yummy food. I particularly liked sitting at the bar looking into the kitchen and the laid back vibe of the place. Might be eating two minute noodles for the rest of the month though.

...I found the perfect shampoo. I used to wash my hair every day, something that I wished I didn't have to do but my hair always looked oily if I didn't. Of course, part of the reason it was looking oily was because I was washing it every day so over the last 6 months I've managed to get it to every 4th day. I have no intention to stop using shampoo all together but my hair looks a lot better and this shampoo from Aesop doesn't coat your hair and treats your scalp instead. Highly recommended!

...I'm thinking about purchasing the Clarisonic. By no means a cheap purchase but I've only heard good things so I think I might take the plunge. Anyone use one?

....I love the new cards from Gracia and Louise. All their work is awesome but these ones really grab me.

And for all those who requested cushion covers, they'll be going out today or Monday at the latest as I wasn't able to get to the post office. Thanks for taking them off my hands!

autumn light

There's just something about the light at this time of the year that makes Sydney's buildings look special.

All photos taken with Instagram. 

everything must go!

Does anyone need some cushion covers? Strange question I know but we have a lot of them to get rid of! Thanks to Lachlan's sister Meagan, we made about 15 of them for our wedding to go with the picnic blankets we also made. While they were great on the day, our apartment is waaaaaay too small for this many pillows!

If any one wants one/some, I'll happily send them to you. I'd send the cushions as well but for the amount it will cost me to send them, you could just buy a new cushion. 

They were made for 400x400mm pillows (that's 15.7 x 15.7 inches) and they just slip on, there's no zip. They're a cotton mix and a really great print as you can see below. I will add that they're not the most perfect cushion covers in the world but I don't think you would notice the imperfections if they're propped on your couch anyway.

The best part is, they're free! If you're interested, just send me an email with your address details.