Wedding photos...what we wore

Ok, this is the second last one in the "photos from our wedding" series, so I promise I won't bombard you with too much more! As I said before, our colours for the day were orange, navy and cream, so that was pretty much what we stuck with in terms of outfits, except with a bit of a goldy/bronzy tone thrown in for the bridesmaids. My dress was made for me by Donna Tobin, who is a local Subiaco designer, and was based on the Marissa dress but with altered neckline and sleeves. It was definitely the most beautiful thing I've ever worn, and am ever likely to wear! Actually, I don't know if it's possible to be jealous of your own dress but I was feeling a bit that way on the day, when all anyone commented on was the dress! It was made with beaded lace over silk and all the details in the lace (on the sleeves etc) were done by hand, which is pretty amazing. Although I'll probably never have a dress made for me again, I'm so glad I had that experience once because it's amazing how well something fits and how good it feels when it's made for your body! I've never been one of those girls who has pictured her wedding dress (or any aspect of her wedding!) from the time she was little or anything, but I actually did know exactly what I wanted in a wedding dress before we were engaged. This was because my friend Eko did some modelling for Donna Tobin quite a few years ago and when I saw one of the dresses in that shoot I just fell in love and thought "That's what I want to wear on my wedding day!"...and it pretty much was!

My beautiful bridesmaids were Eko and my sister Kate. Right from the start I thought, I'm not going to try to dress these two in the same outfit because they are two very different people with different styles and different shapes. So I asked them what they would like to wear and Eko went for a skirt and top and Kate a dress. Kate's dress was Vera Wang and made from a beautiful navy material - in order to keep the outfits consistent, I had Eko's skirt made from the same material, which I ordered from Vera Wang. Eko's top was from Alannah Hill but we made some changes to it, removing rosettes from the back and using these to make a matching rosette for Kate's waist. There was also a sash that came with the top that we didn't need, so I took this to Passchendales, who made my fascinator, and asked them to make two small fascinators from it for Eko and Kate, and the result was perfect! My fascinator was made using extra pieces of the lace in my dress, and also a piece of my grandmother's veil, which I really wanted to incoporate in some way.

The boys all wore matching Country Road suits, which were actually a dark navy although they look quite black in the photos. Their white shirts and cream ties were all from Country Road, too (I think!). We looked at hiring suits, and also at buying James a really expensive suit, but at the end of the day the Country Road suits were the nicest we saw and so affordable that it was possible for the groomsmen to buy their suits as well, which is so much nicer than hiring. And God, there are some hideous suits out there!

Anyway, just one more instalment of photos to come, with a few odds and ends...

More Mr Sparrow in your home photos...

Jenni sent in this fantastic photo of her Burgon & Ball gardening tools "about to dig into the herb garden". Makes me wish I was out there! Thanks, Jenni!

New from Prismera

These just arrived on Mr Sparrow's doorstep from Prismera. Aren't they beautiful? I will definitely be taking one of those hair pins home with me...

Why I do this...and more Mr Sparrow in your home photos

Running a business isn't always easy - it can be exhausting, frustrating and at times disheartening. But every now and then something happens that absolutely makes it all worthwhile, and this morning something like that happened. I received an email from a customer with these photos of her absolutely beautiful home, and a really lovely, heartwarming message that brightened my day! I'm hoping Karen doesn't mind, but I'd like to share a few of her kind words...

"Here are some photos of some of the special treasures that I have sourced from your beautiful store. I always find I am inspired after a visit to the Mr Sparrow nest. I love my clock and always get comments from guests who visit my house. The other purchase in my kitchen is the lovely little vase which I really adore...

Thanks for a great blog. Given the effort that you put into it and how it brightens my day I thought it was only fair that I respond to your request for more photos.

Again thank you for the Mr Sparrow experience.

Keep up the great work, I know that many people, as I, get great pleasure from your Sparrow nest and your blog."

Thank you so much, Karen.

Here's what you can see in these lovely photos:

1. Grandpa Clock from Jansen & Co

2. Acoustic porcelain pipe vase from Raumgestalt

3. Bone china milk bottle from Have You Met Miss Jones

4 & 5. Paper garland from Heimstaetten and bone china feathers from Have You Met Miss Jones

If you have photos you'd like entered in the Mr Sparrow in your home competition, email them to me at info@mrsparrow.com.au by this Saturday. Thanks!

Wedding photos...the venue

I thought I should hurry up and share the rest of my wedding photos before there is another wedding upon us (Eko and Rick's this Saturday!) and what I know will be an amazing collection of photos to share!

We had our ceremony and reception in the one venue, which was nice and easy and worked really well for us. The problem with doing it this way is often that there is a long wait between ceremony and reception while the bridal party have photos (which is particularly annoying if you're stuck at a remote location like ours), but we decided to have as brief a photo session as possible to avoid this...and also because I hate having my photo taken! We had our wedding at Sandalford Winery in the Swan Valley, with our ceremony on the Verdelho Lawn and our reception in the Oak Room. We looked at quite a few possible venues but as soon as we saw the Oak Room we were sold! As you can see, it's lined with oak barrels, which not only looks pretty amazing but also gives it that nice oaky smell. Also, its beautiful draped ceiling, candelabras and cane chairs meant we really didn't have to do much to make it look special.

More Mr Sparrow in your home photos

This lovely photo of Tord Boontje's Table Stories tealights comes from Louise, who says, "These were a gift for my housewarming. They were my first Mr Sparrow items, they look great in the evening when all the lights are off. I love them!"

Thanks, Louise! And remember, get your entry in fast - there are only four days to go!

Mr Sparrow in your home competition ends this Saturday!

That's right, there are only five days left before the Mr Sparrow in your home competition closes! If you'd like your chance at a Mr Sparrow prize pack containing a Mr Sparrow limited edition t-shirt, a Mr Sparrow calico bag, a sparrow badge...and a mystery gift, get your photos of your Mr Sparrow purchases to me at info@mrsparrow.com.au by this Saturday, 31st October. There have been some beautiful entries so far but I'd love to get a few more by Saturday! All photos will be posted on the blog and the winner will be announced on Tuesday 3rd November, so stay tuned...

Hunting and Feasting

These are photos from "Hunting and Feasting", the hen's night I organised on Saturday for my very best friend Eko, who is getting married next weekend. I was under a lot of pressure to have something fabulous because the high tea she held for me last year was absolutely perfect! I thought about the things she enjoys most and tried to combine these into an evening of festivities. The dress code was "Colonial Shanghai" and the evening was basically made up of a treasure hunt followed by a banquet dinner at Grand Palace, a lovely Chinese restaurant on the river (which I happened to know Eko had been wanting to visit for a long time!).

23 lovely ladies got themselves all frocked up and met in the Supreme Court Gardens for a treasure hunt and lots of delicious champagne, cupcakes and nibblies. Unfortunately, the weather was inexplicably horrible (a 23-degree, windy, rainy day between two beautiful hot, sunny ones!) but everyone was a very good sport and persevered through it all! For the treasure hunt, I asked everyone to bring a little present for Eko that would fit inside a matchbox (you can see the little matchboxes in the 6th photo down), then I put each matchbox into a paper bag. On the front of each bag was a picture clue that represented the answer to a question about Rick, her groom. So, for example, the answer to the question "Where in the world would Rick most like to live?" was "Barcelona" so the picture was of a Gaudi building. On the back of each bag was the next question, and the bags were hung from trees, benches and so on, so Eko had make her way from clue to clue answering questions, and being rewarded with little presents along the way. There were some lovely little things in the matchboxes and the whole thing worked really well, despite the torrential rain we experienced in the middle of it!

After the treasure hunt, we played a game of "Pin the moustache on Rick" using a poster I had made (and a whole lot of moustaches!), before escaping the cold with a drink at Helvetica. At 7pm we arrived at Grand Palace for our five course banquet meal, which was really delicious and made even more enjoyable by the beautiful views of the river in the background. We all read out what we had written on our little name tags (a sentence that began "I know Eko..."), and played a game where we all wrote down a memory we had of Eko and she had to guess who had written each one. The evening wound up with some of us kicking on to a couple of bars and generally having a good time!

All in all, I think (I hope!) it was a pretty special evening for a very special girl!

Virtual bubble calendar

This is fantastic fun - I just had to share it! The fun-loving people behind the Bubble Calendar have created an online game, where you can virtually pop all the bubbles on the 2010 calendar! It's almost as good as the real thing, and you get to do it all at once, instead of one a day. Go here and have a go!

The 2010 Bubble Calendar is now in-store at Mr Sparrow (I have to stop myself from popping the bubbles each day!). At 120 x 45cm it's a good size and frankly a bit of a bargain at $39.95, so once you've had your fill of the online version come and check out the real thing!

Wedding photos...the flowers

Probably the thing I loved most about our wedding (apart from the getting married part :)) was the flowers. They were done by my good friend Hannah, whom I've known since primary school, which means she knows me pretty well. Right from the start the flowers were something that was really important to me, and what was great about Hannah was that she knew exactly what I wanted without me having to say much at all - particularly useful for someone like me who often has trouble putting my vision into words! When I saw the bouquets, I thought they were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, but then I saw the flowers at the reception and was completely blown away. Our colours were orange and cream and navy, but obviously that meant just orange and cream for the flowers, and Hannah used roses, ranunculus, freisas, lamb's ear, hypericum berries, and a whole pile of other beautiful things I couldn't name! My bouquet had more of an orange theme, while my bridesmaids had more cream-based ones. The buttonholes were hypericum berries, and James also had a cream rose.

I wish I had better photos of the flowers on the tables, because as I said, they were just so beautiful. For the bridal table, I had collected a whole pile of different vintage vessels, like teapots, teacups, jugs and vases, and in each of these Hannah clustered one type of flower, with a different type in each vessel. The effect was even better than I had hoped. On the guest tables she did the same thing but with simple glass bowl-shaped vases. At the end of the night we asked the guests to take a bunch of flowers each because I couldn't bear the thought of them being thrown out!

I just wish I could have a bunch of flowers like these in my house every day because I think it would make me so happy!

I should credit the photos in this wedding series, too - most of them were taken by our wedding photographer, Kirralea Birch, and others are by Rob Browton, my brother-in-law, and Ben Fitzhardinge, one of James's groomsmen.