Image by Sarah MensingaSorry to Paul, but this comment about bridesmaids deserves sharing.

Chloe at uni claims that the reason for the somewhat hideous salmon (and like) bridesmaid dresses, is to make the bridesmaids ugly so that the bride stands out more.

Truth?

Image by Sarah Mensinga

Wedding

desk.jpgFor the second-time I am participating in the ProBlogger writing project, for the last round I – and many others shared our Reviews and Predictions, this time it is our Top 5.

I was contemplating sharing my top 5 as a rant about university, due to the fact my creativity is being sucked dry into assignments instead of blog posts, however my life extends beyond that. Infact at the moment my life is driven by more things than I can count.

I could share highlights of recent times, early wedding tips, design happy’s, all the blogs I’ve starred for interest sake, why I haven’t been all that social lately, what meals I cook when I’m by myself, the who’s who in my world, the heroes I don’t normally name (might have to make some up), my top books, my top movies, my top five… It’s difficult to decide.

So here are the Top Five Things that Dictate my Time (at least at the moment).

  • Being a (Communication Design) University Student
  • What’s good: The ability to score a two day uni-week, a small course where faces are familiar and names are relatively well known, occasional discounts on the lifeblood-coffee, interesting conversations, creativity, lectures that are amusing despite being boring, cheap printing, free internet access, one building.
  • What’s bad: Endless homework, persistent ongoing folio work, whopping huge loads of class preparation, one hour train trips, 8:30am starts, no lunch break on Tuesdays, frustrating tutors.
  • Being recently Engaged
  • What’s good: Knowing I get to marry the best guy ever – and be married until one of us dies (how else do I put it?), a nice sparkly ring, no guilt in looking at anything wedding related, people’s greater acceptance of public affection, fun wedding planning, scoring good on a bargain buy of a wedding dress, being able to use the word fiance!
  • What’s bad: Organising a wedding when Point 1 is getting in the way. Other fiddly things around descision making that affects more than just you and your fiance.

Read about my engagement here and here.

  • Being a Youth Group Leader
  • What’s good: Hanging out with some fantastic kids and getting to talk about God and life with them. Fun nights.
  • What’s bad: No free Friday nights and that being my standard ‘crash time moment’ of the week.
  • Living out of Home
  • What’s good: Freedom from ‘set’ be at home by xyz times, and other such household restrictions, more space, more supposed responsibility, the niceness of having a good housemate.
  • What’s bad: Having to get home and cook when you’re tired, waiting to get a full load’s worth of clothes before you can do your washing, paying rent, paying for groceries.
  • Work
  • What’s good: Nice bosses, nice colleagues, getting paid, work conferences to Tasmania, feeling like I’m at a better place to be working there, feeling useful, free lunch, good coffee, the street atmosphere of Albert Park, the orange door, my own business card, salary sacrifice mobile phone bills, steady shifts, holiday pay, sick leave and no one breathing fire down my neck.
  • What’s bad: The hour and half to get there, the longish day, the Friday afternoon knowledge that I have to spend my Saturday doing homework, the trip home (see point 5), the occasional left hanging as to what I could best be doing.

And that’s that! I really have very little spare time at all at the moment, pick or choose which of the above is eating it. My favourite clearly belongs with anything wedding related, my least favourite is the excessive homework.

Large apologies to all those people I’ve said I’ll catch up with, but haven’t had time for. In three weeks I have uni holidays. I will then have a spare 9 weeks (!!!!) up my sleeve to do everything else I wish would be on that list and avoid most of the things I’d rather not have there.

Blogging Life Ministry On The Train Out of Home Uni Wedding

f39d04c4.jpgAs per natural progression, you get engaged and then you get married.

To get married you have a couple of choices:

Elope – definitely cheaper and easier, sure you don’t get to wear the nice white dress or have the photos… and you don’t get to say vows, have a celebration, share it friends, make a public commitment etc…

Have a wedding – which, like it or not, simple or plain, budget or costly. Takes planning.

So I have ideas, I have contacts, infact I’ve scored it pretty well in who I know. I can strike off the ‘have to scout for’ list:

  • Photography because I know James and James is good
  • Cars because my of Uncle – a very sweet hook-in!
  • Church because the one I go to is fine and fits lots of people

and potentially

  • Venue (None of which is finalised)
  • Flowers, well there’s this son/florist of family friends that we haven’t seen in a while and those people we know that own a rose farm…

If you have been married before please, please, please, please, please share any money saving tips or creative ideas. Particularly about, dresses, caterers, flowers in January, marquee hire and all that goes with that.

I want things to be interesting/creative. I want things to be both Geoff and Bec’ish. I don’t want it overly showy. I want it to be fun but classy. I want it to be relatively simple. I don’t want to spend more of other people’s money than I have to. As to spending my own, I don’t have any so that’s easy.

While I’m talking weddings… Favors/bombardire or whatever the heck they’re called are stupid, along with garters, card boxes, large floral centrepieces, frumpy cakes, high-heeled shoes, fussy dresses, frills, bows, skank, designer invitations (Do you know how EASY it is to make your own!!!!), $99p/p for nice venues (*cough, a specific venue), tacky, dance floors, DJ’s, the bridal dance, something old/blue/new…., makeup, the goodbye bridal circle.

Here’s to: Geoff and I doing this together, fun colours, beautiful flowers, simplicity, live music, lunchtime receptions, diy invitations, creative tables, fantastic photos, personalised vows, lots of friends, a few ignored traditions, a little vintage, as few strangers (including waiters) as possible, non stressed mothers, looking hot and laughing…

As you might have worked out, weddings are on my brain, along with a headache, sleep and some undone homework.

Life Wedding

I am finally around to posting! Feels a bit odd, the longish break. Three or so days… hohum.

Geoff’s writing has put a halt to mine! Perhaps not.

I have been rather busy, between uni (Hardly any compared to what I should be doing), early wedding stuff (Too much as to what I should be doing), young adults and general headspace which has been practically non-existant.

Some moments.

Young adults last night was flipped on end as we made fat headway into some ongoing issues, a bit of reconciliation time and God doing some really good stuff.

The BIG Wedding talk with the parents – getting initial ideas and budget out on the table. Fairly exhausting stuff. It makes me a little sick as to how much everything costs. It’s a bit ridiculous. I don’t know where my head is in justifying the money and wanting something really nice and me. Sure it’s a celebration but… Regardless, the afternoon/day was very productive, we tried to cover way too much but hey, I’m glad it’s out there.

Food poisoning, of a very low level. Geoff and I wound up at some half classy, half really not place and the next morning we were on the train together and I mentioned that I suddenly felt rather sick. He said he’d been that way all morning and due to my ‘almost puking’ status I got off the train early and went right back home and ignored uni for the day.

A LOT of emails and text messages. Also some really nice people (some whom I don’t even know in person) have put links up, it’s quite amusing and quite nice:

Ish
Rodney Olsen

So… the wedding ideas continue. I suspect it’ll be a mad rush early on, the eye of the storm in the middle, and the horror at the end… (pessimistic perspective) – really I intend to keep things as low stress as I possibly can. It is after all one day. I intend to have fun getting there. Besides the wedding isn’t the point. The marriage is.

Church Life On The Train Wedding