Every month we are going to introduce a new theme with colour pallets and ideas for all of you gorgeous brides-to-be! Being that February is the first month Beyond the Bride is bringing out our “Theme Issue’s”, we thought we’s start with a romantic reds and pinks theme for Valentine’s day! You will find a heap of wonderful and helpful articles to go along with the special theme of the month and loads of wedding planning tips to accompany it! To visit the “Red for Feb” issue, click here.

Until next time…

Brige xx

Well our Bride of the Year competition has just taken off and is already just so much fun! I’d like to say a HUGE congratulations to our January Bride of the Month, Lyndsay Bourne! Lyndsay has won a place in the exclusive Beyond The Bride, Bride of the Year 2011 calendar and a place in the finals for Bride of the Year 2010! Congrats Lynds – you’re gorgeous!

Lyndsay and her husband Michael had been together six years when they were married on Friday 16th October 2009 with their two children in tow… And later honeymooned in Thailand for two weeks. To read Lyndsay’s full story, click here.

Why not get inspired by Lyndsay’s January win and enter yourself into the running here! There are loads of great prizes to be won, including $1000 cash, Bride of the Year calendars, a Bride of the Year tiara and $150 pamper pack. Also, remember to vote for the brides each month by visiting out voting page.

Good luck everyone and can’t wait to see your entries coming in!

Until next time, I’ll leave you with some of Lyndsay’s beautiful wedding photos…

Brige xx

One of the first things any bride should do when beginning to plan a wedding is to create a personal checklist of things they want, things they love and things which need to be organised. Being super organised will be your life saver during the wedding planning process.

A typical example of a list would be:

-Set a (preferable) date – remember this may fluctuate to fit in with availability of your dream venue

-Set budget and allocate money for each area of the wedding

-Find and secure venue for both ceremony and reception

-Ask bridesmaids and groomsmen to participate in your wedding

-Pick a theme (colour or style) for your big day

-Write a list a guest list and begin to sift through it with your finance (this may change over time, so it’s best to have it organised early so you can ad and subtract from the existing list and still make sure you can fit everyone into your dream venue)

-Try on wedding dresses

-Choose flowers and find a florist

-Begin interviewing photographers and videographers

-Find wedding cars (if needed)

-Have hair and make up trial

-Organise suits and bridesmaids outfits

-Think about bonbonniere and start looking for or creating your own

-Finalise guest list

-Meet with invitation supplier and make order

-Meet with cake supplier and order cake

-Re-visit your chosen venue

-After re-visiting venue, source decorations for the day

-Find and book entertainment, whether it be a string quartet, band or DJ. Entertainment makes the night in many cases!

…This is a typical list for a bride on the journey to wedding planning heaven. Of course, your initial list will change over the course of planning your wedding. Things will be added, subtracted and moved in order of importance, but it is still important to create a list early on so you are aware of what lies ahead of you.

Until next time…

Brige xx

One of the beautiful members of the Beyond The Bride Forum, Katrina, has emailed me some pictures of her absolutely BEAUTIFUL cake which I thought I should share with you lovely readers. This cake is one of my personal faves so far… Created for Katrina and her husband by Cake Stories, decorated in ivory lustre with a white damask pattern, it is just to die for! Its just so classy, elegant and beautiful and would fit with so many gorgeous wedding themes…

I must say, having seen all of the photos of Katrina’s wedding, it is all just to perfect – absolutely stunning. Definitely one of the more beautiful, classy and elegant weddings I’ve seen of late! Perhaps if you’re all keen, Katrina will let me share some more of her wedding pictured with you!

Anyhow, just a short post today, please enjoy this lovely wedding cake for inspiration… With many thanks to Katrina and of course Cake Stories and The Mink Studio (photography)…

Until next time…

Brige xx

Because I got so excited about the candy bars, I just thought I’d share with you some of the beautiful Sarah’s candy bar from her recent wedding. This is one beauty of a candy bar (and a BEAUTIFUL wedding too might I add!)

Enjoy!

Brige xx

Wedding candy bars are so hot right now… And I can see why!

It is a beautiful, fun way for guests to pick their own wedding favours/bonbonniere or even just to add a little something extra to your wedding day. Particularly if you and your partner are fans of fun, sweet things!

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your wedding candy bar…

1. Remember to put up a sign! Don’t assume your guests will know what to do with candy, so make sure you include signage not only stating it is your candy bar, but maybe a little poem or cute parragraph stating what they are to do with it – either for them to help themselves to during the reception, to take home with them, or both.

2. Have a variety of candy… And fit it in with your theme! Include boiled sweets, musks, soft taffy’s, chocolates, jelly beans etc – don’t just stick with one style of candy. Your guests will have different tastes and also, you’ll want it to all fit with the look of the rest of the evening.

3. Add more than just candy… Some people love to add little cakes, petit fours, cute mini-cupcakes (the icing fitting with your colour palette) and other sweet treats to their candy bars. It really ads that little something extra!

4. Don’t let it go empty! Make sure you have someone in charge of monitoring the candy bar throughout the evening and topping it up. Your guests will more than likely sneak bits and pieces of it through the night and you want it to always look beautiful, clean and full!

5. Make it look great! Glass jars and large glass vases are very popular for candy bars and also look great! Make sure to display them in an order which looks appealing, neat and pretty. Keep a good supply of plastic or metal candy scoops on the table. You may even like to tie a ribbon around the handle. Think abut what your guests will close their candy bags with, so you may like to have either a supply of cute little ribbons to tie the bags with or even a monogramed sticker to seal it with.

If you do choose to go with a candy bar, good luck! And PLEASE, if you have had one or are thinking of having one, send us some photos to publish on the blog at brigit@beyondthebride.com.au to share with everyone!

Until next time…

Brige xx

I got my NuBra in the mail today!

I’m so excited as it arrived super fast, comes beautifully packaged and is absolutely beautiful – it totally exceeds the pictures on the website (which make it looks lovely, you you can imagine how happy I am with the real thing!!)

So I had a shower and put it on this morning, but held off writing my review until now as I wanted to really get a feel for it being worn all day before I shared it publicly… And the verdict is…

I LOVE IT!

Honestly, I have tried these sorts of products before and have always been totally disappointed, but this is a winner for sure. Not only is is beautiful (I got an Aphrodite lace one), but its definitely 100% quality, super comfortable and best of all, easy to put on! I got mine on first go perfectly with no re-adjustments needed at all. I wish I had found this product for my wedding!

Being a large D cup I was skeptical about how the NuBra would work for me but I feel great in it! It fits perfectly and I even feel supported and totally comfortable.

Before writing this review I actually took off the NuBra to see if there was any sticky residue on my skin after wearing it all day and there is absolutely nothing. I have stored it away in the travel case it came with and it fits neatly in my bra drawer ready for next time. (And there will definitely be a next time, and a time after that, and a time after that…!)

I would honestly recommend this product to anyone, no matter what your breast size is and no matter what the occasion is. Sure it’s great for strappy numbers and backless dresses but I see it being so much more than that. Have you even worn even a semi-tight t-shirt or dress with a regular bra and got those unsightly marks on your back and under your arms visible through your shirt where your bra digs into your skin? I get it from time to time and try to wear clothes which make it not visible, but some of my favourite clothes have no solution… Well I’ve found the solution in NuBra!

For bigger breasted women – don’t fear! I have always hated having to go braless under certain outfits but this is the way I’ll be going from now on – I feel totally supported and not insecure at all, but also have that freedom feeling… I LOVE this!

To all women – Get a NuBra – it should be a staple in any womans wardrobe, comes in a variety of colours, laces, prints and styles and is absolutely perfect for any occasion. I couldnt recommend it higher.

Brides – This is an absolute necessity! You can even use it as your something blue!

A+!

Remember, we have a NuBra to give away!!! Please click here to enter!

Until next time…

Brige xx

NuBra Packaging

NuBra Details

Just a quick post – just wanted to share how excited I am right now! I just spoke with the lovely Naomi over at NuBra who is going to send me out one of their fabulous bra’s to review here on the blog for you lovely ladies!!

This is just the most perfect product for brides… Finding undergarments for your wedding day can be TOUGH, especially if you have a backless or strapless gown! These bras are just brilliant! Plus, unlike its knock-off counterparts, the NuBra comes in a range of colours and styles! I particularly like the Aphrodite for brides – you can even use it as your something blue!

Good news for all of you lovely ladies also – Beyond The Bride will be giving away one of these wonderful bras so keep updated for news on that as well as my official NuBra review.

Until next time…

Brige xx

It’s becoming increasingly popular these days to incorporate your dogs into your wedding – after all they are a treasured loved one and family member too!

Personally, as an absolute crazy animal lover (when I say crazy I really mean that!) I absolutely love the idea of involving your little furry ‘children’ into your big day. I so wished we would have been able to incorporate our little ones (at that time it was just Lilie and Frankie) into our big day, but alas, we couldnt have dogs at our chosen venue and also they get a little skittish around so many people. If we had had the smaller wedding we spoke of then I’m sure Lills and Frankie would have been there for sure. I missed them terribly on our wedding day and as lame as that may sound I really wished they could have been there to share that with us.

If you are having a wedding where dogs are allowed and you know your dog could handle the situation, its a really lovely idea to incorporate them into the ceremony! If you’re having a big reception you may want to organise someone to take them home afterward, but having them in the ceremony and in your wedding photos would be so special, wouldnt it?

If you’re stuck for ideas as to how to involve them, the two most common things are to have your pups as “bridesmaids” or “groomsmen” and have them walk down the aisle with a human member of the bridal party or to have them as the ring barer(s).

Anyway, I’ll leave you with some great wedding photos from erwin wijanto, imaginative studios, jose villa and leigh miller…

Until next time…

Brige xx

OK, I know the wedding of Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz was back in May 2008 but I am going to use it as an example because I just love the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme they created. As I say over and over again, weddings are an expression of the couple getting married and I think this was just perfect for them! You may have seen them in trashy rag mags and may have also formed various opinions on them, but in my opinion, their wedding was just unreal!

They did their wedding their way and seriously pulled it off. Not only was it fun but also a little bit classy! The decor was just done to a tee and they really went all out. (OK, so they are celebs and actually can afford to do so, but we can all dream can’t we?) I honestly think this is one of my favourite celebrity weddings as it just screamed ‘them’. So many people conform to what a wedding is “supposed to be” and forget that it is really an expression of them and their love for each other. If you and your partner have a love of kooky things, often think outside the box, have a fairytale love story or have stumbled across some strange circumstances in your journey together then why not express that in your big day?

The simpson/Wentz wedding was attended by 150 of their nearest and dearest and were all asked to wear dark cocktail attire. Ashlee wore a stunning ivory gown by Monique Lhuillier and seeing as her father performed the ceremony, was ‘walked’ down the aisle by their Bulldog, Hemingway. The cake, by Sam Godfrey was incredible – an Alice in Wonderland themed cake topped with an edible tophat, stopwatch and teapot.

So if you are your future husnand or wife have a love for things out of the box, why not express it in the ultimate commitment of love…? It’s such a personal day and should be all about you!

I’ll leave you with a few of my fave pictures from Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed wedding…

Until next time…

Brige xx