Winne Announced!

So, it’s time to draw the winner of the giveaway.

So I did a bit of a random draw, and Carly is the winner of the giveaway!

Congratulations Carly, I really hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for visiting my site again! keep checking back for more updates!

Tags: bag, celebration, giveaway, strips

Hens Night

So, the next event in my wedding series in my Hens Night. Pretty sure everyone knows what happens at a hens night- lots of fun with the girls!

I would LOVE to hear what you did for your hens night! Go on, tell me…

What it is: Most Friday nights at Mooloolaba you see a hens night. It usually involves a bride dressed up in an awful costume, carrying something resembling male genetalia, and everyone getting rather drunk. My hens night was nothing like that, and I guess it could be considered quite ‘mild’. It was basically just a fun celebration with my close girl-pals. I think traditionally it’s a ‘woman’s last night of freedom’ similar to a buck’s night. I didn’t really want that to be associated with my hens night though, because, well, I was really looking forward to getting married, and definitely didn’t feel like I was getting ‘tied down’!!

Time before wedding: Mine was about 2 weeks before the wedding? Something like that…

Who was invited: Basically all my girl friends from church and Uni and other random places. These girls were all around my age. None of our mothers or family members allowed!

Atmosphere: It was pretty relaxed and fun. A little bit silly, and a little bit embarrasing (well, for me anyway!).

What happened: My friend Mandy organised the night for me, and we went to a jazz club. It was pretty much full of old people- but I like old people, so I was down with that. We all came dressed in 50′s style clothing, and ate from the delish spread Mandy had put out. The girls told the band that was playing that it was my hens night, and so I got dragged up on stage to be serenaded. That was EXTREMEMLY embarrasing, but thankfully there was nothing worse!

It wasn’t a very late night, I was home by maybe 11:30? It was so memorable, and I am so glad that I got to have a night with my friends.

Being serenaded…

Me and Mandy (who organised the night for me)

Gaby, Mel and I being silly…

Rachel, Carmen and I enjoying some fairy bread and other goodies!

Tags: celebration, hensnight, wedding

Kitchen Tea

Weddings and Babies, these seem to be the things that everyone is doing! I was looking through my old blog posts and realised that i never actually posted anything about the lead up to my wedding, or even our actual wedding day! Mind you, I think I had like zero readers 2 and a half years ago, so that’s probably why.

You might know (I hope you do!) that I’m going to be a bridesmaid for my friend Carmen in October, and this has got me thinking about all the pre-wedding things you do. The post, and the next two (not necessarily the VERY next two) will be explaining the pre-wedding celebrations that I had before I got married.

My Kitchen Tea

What it is: A party for the bride, similar to a bridal shower, but with a focus on the kitchen. Guests usually bring a kitchen-realated gift. It’s generally a ‘girls only’ thing. When I was reading up about it I discovered that it’s mostly an Australian thing, is this true I wonder?

Anyway, we did mine a little different anyway… you’ll see soon!

Time before wedding: Mine was about two or three weeks before our wedding.

Who was invited: My famale family members including nana, mother-in-law, sister-in-law. Most guests were women from my church, around my mum’s age. I didn’t really have friends my age there, but I did have a few though who had come with their mums, or who couldn’t make it to other pre-wedding events. The main ‘purpose’ of the night was a bit of a ‘wise women’ sharing secrets of the kitchen with me!

Atmosphere: There was a lovely atmosphere that night. Everyone was just enjoying it, and had fun explaining their recipes and gifts. My mum’s friend, Anne, hosted it at her place, and she is such an amazing hostess!

What happened: we asked each guest to bring a recipe- something they liked to cook, and the ingredients necessary to make it (but not things that would go off before the wedding). We did it this way because before I got married I lived at home, with my family, and when Luke and I got married and moved in together we wouldn’t have any of those pantry basics. So then each woman there explained their recipe and gift. A lot of the recipes were either family recipes, or favourites of their family, which was really special.

My nana gave me the recipe for my Papa’s potato and leek soup. He loved to cook it . We were both sitting there nearly in tears as she gave it to me. The only thing I wish was different about my wedding was that he could have been there.

Tags: bride, bridetobe, celebration, kitchen, kitchentea, pantrytea, wedding