Before you start extracting precious childhood memories from your mind in an effort to make more room for the little things you need to organise and remember, (No? Just me who does that?), start designating.

There are a few important things you simply will not be able to do yourself on your Sunshine Coast wedding day, so it’s time to hand over the reigns on this one and let someone else take stock of what you need done. Here are a few jobs you may not have made arrangements for. Your job this week is to choose the people to take care of these and make sure you inform them with clear instructions. Pro tip: Don’t designate all of this to just one person. We don’t need to burn anyone out!

Feed You

Your wedding day morning will be so busy, it’s easy to forget to eat. With champagne flowing and nerves creeping in, you definitely don’t want to head off down the aisle on an empty stomach.

Choose something you know always goes down well, and ask someone who will be with you on the wedding day morning to be in charge of ordering or preparing the meal. Make sure they realise this task includes physically putting a plate of food in your hand to make sure you eat something!

If you don’t have someone that springs to mind to take this one on, or you’d like something a bit extra special for your wedding morning, you can order a Bridal Breakfast from Luxe Soirées to prepare, deliver and set up in beautiful style for you and your entourage.

Carry Your Touch-up Supplies

You’re going to be flat out carrying your bouquet and holding your husband’s or wife’s hand, you
won’t have a spare hand for a clutch. Ask a trusted friend to carry all your supplies for you. These
include, but are not limited to touch up lipstick and powder, tissues, paracetamol/similar, bandaids/
plasters, and even a small emergency sewing kit.

It’s a good idea to choose someone who will be able to be close to you throughout the day and
night. Your trusted bridesmaid or maid of honour is ideal. Your mother might be a good alternative,
however bear in mind that she might be difficult to pin down, as family and friends will be just as
keen to congratulate her on her beautiful daughter’s marriage.

Bring Your Overnight Bag

Following your reception, you and your new wifey or hubby will want to sneak off to your own private paradise, even if it’s just for the night before your honeymoon. You will need to have somebody either bring along your overnight bag and stash it somewhere safe till it’s time to go, or deliver it to your wedding night accommodation prior to the day’s celebration.

This goes for your new spouse’s bag, too, so be sure to have his gear organised, as well. In fact – this is a task he could be in charge of delegating to one of his/her bridal party members.

Look After the Loot

Whether it be a table full of presents or your wishing well, you will need to have somebody  take care of all of your gifts. Nominate someone to take these to their car to take home for you, and not too late in the night. It’s best to pick a time that’s after the official stuff, but before the party really gets going to get the goods out of the way.

Set Up Your Decorations

Let me preface this one by saying, it is my strong advice to leave this one to a professional, like your venue coordinator or hired stylist. However, of course sometimes budget doesn’t allow and DIY it is. The “yourself” in DIY in this instance, should be translated to mean “someone other than you.” I cannot stress this enough: nominate somebody to do it for you, don’t be doing it yourself on your wedding day!

It’s important that you pick someone who can follow your directions to the letter, and be sure you go over the set up with them just how you want it several times. You don’t want to walk into your own wedding reception and feel like running about to each table setting and switching things around! You may even wish to supply them with a photo of how and where you want each item to be placed, so there’s no confusion.

A word to the wise – don’t pick somebody who is in your bridal party. They will need to be with you for emotional support, and to have their pampering done as well. You don’t want your busy hair and makeup artists to be waiting around for your bridesmaid to return, or miss them out altogether because they are still at the venue putting out place cards.

Pick Up Your Cake and Flowers

Again, don’t choose a person already in your bridal party to do this. This is a great job for brothers, fathers, uncles and cousins, who would revel at the chance to make themselves useful.

Be sure they know whose name the order was placed under, and give them a detailed list of what is to be collected so they can check it off as they go. Supply this trusted person with a phone number of the supplier as well, so if anything goes amiss, they can contact them first to see if they can sort it out themselves before calling you directly to stress you out.

Images by Mallory Sparkles Photography

The post 6 Wedding Tasks to Delegate This Week appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Imagine answering 50 calls, responding to 100 texts, and hearing 150 Instagram notifications coming through… not so relaxing on the morning of your nuptials, right? Relinquish your phone to a trusted person, who will remain nearby throughout the day and is free to screen your calls and only bother you with the super important ones. Anything else, including well wishes, can wait till tomorrow! 

Pro tip: Don’t put the wedding morning playlist on your phone, as it will be ping ping pinging through all your fave tunes with well wishes! 

Step Two: Eat eats & drink drinks

Start the day with something nice and substantial in your tummy, and something you know agrees with you. If you tend to bloat with gluten, this is not the day to throw caution to the wind and order pancakes. Stick with what you know makes you feel good and try to up the protein and limit the sugar. Protein and complex carbs will sustain you, while sugar comes with a high… but remember what comes up, must come down. And hydrate! 

Step Three: Pamper yesterday

The time you have to get your makeup done, your hair, eat, relax… trying to fit in things like painting your toenails and tanning (yes, I know it’s obvious, but I’ve seen it…) is not ideal. Get your spray tan, manicures and pedicures a day or two before your wedding, so they are fresh. 

Step Four: Practice the tricky bits

If there are parts of the wedding that you are anxious about, practice them before the day. If you are worried about your speech, practice in front of a friend you feel comfortable with as many times as you can. If you are concerned about walking in heels, put them on as frequently as possible in the lead up to the big day. If you are worried you are going to mess up your first kiss or first dance, well this will be stacks of fun to practice in advance with your fiancé! This preparation will prevent you from building up the nerves all morning. 

Step Five: Delegate, delegate, delegate! 

I would be surprised if you hadn’t heard this before, but handing over on-the-day jobs to trusted family and friends is so important. Make sure the people you choose are not your bridesmaids, though. You need them there in the room with you. 

Step Six: Be Selective 

Limit the number of people in the room to your inner circle. This is the one time I would recommend you get your clique and don’t allow yourselves to be infiltrated. I give you permission to snob it up like a little snobby snob. Because this: drop ins will halt the process of your getting ready when you’re strapped for time, or you won’t be in a position to stop the proceedings and you will end up feeling guilty for not giving them the attention they deserve. Let everyone know you’re looking forward to seeing them at the celebration and making a big entrance – that’s usually enough to deter drop ins. Threats I don’t recommend, but you do what you gotta do, no judgement.

Step Seven: Keep a Simple Schedule

Your hair and makeup artist will most likely work together to ensure they each have someone in their chair being beautified, and they get the job done smoothly. Unless they ask for it, you won’t need to provide a strict running schedule. The one thing you should do early on is ask your photographer what time they will need you to be done with hair and makeup and ready for some pre-dress photos.

Note: they will plan to arrive a little earlier to take some shots of your dress, rings, flowers and the getting-ready process. Don’t mistake this time and rip yourself off from having a little extra getting ready time! So if your photographer says, “I’ll be there at 12:30” – be sure to clarify if that’s when you need to be completely ready, or if you have an extra 30-60 minutes to play with, because you just might need it! 

Images by Klee Photography from Lauren and Joe’s Sunshine Beach wedding 

The post 7 Steps to a Relaxed Wedding Day Morning appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

If you’re anything like me, finding the perfect gift for someone you adore with all your little heart is as much fun as can be had without actually being the one opening the gift. When it comes to weddings, there are many opportunities for gift-giving (and receiving!) and none are more fun to imagine than that of gifting your best girls with something gorgeous to convey just how grateful you are for them.

Gift the Girls

Your bridesmaids will be there to love and support you throughout your wedding-planning journey from the first squeal of, “I’m getting married!” where they jump up and down with you and immediately start planning your dress, their dress, the best bridal shower the world has ever seen. To taking a few deep breaths with you and dabbing your tears so as not to disturb your makeup before you head down the aisle. It’s an important job, and you have just a few special people in your life you can imagine are up to the task – so spoiling them a little is a must.

Enter The Wholesome Gift Box, a Sunshine Coast-based business run by Sarah Watts, who has taken her knack for giving the perfect gift to a new level. Better yet, all Sarah’s gifts are hand-picked healthy, organic, and from home-grown Australian brands.

“I noticed a while back that when I gifted my girlfriends something organic or gorgeous, something that they wouldn’t normally buy for themselves, they absolutely loved it.” Sarah says of the inspiration behind her curated gift boxes.

I Said Yes Gift

The first opportunity to gift your bridesmaids is when you ask them to be your bridesmaid, and it adds a little ceremony to the occasion. Get together for lunch or invite them over for a few cheeky drinks and present them with an irresistible package from The Wholesome Gift Box and card asking them to be part of your bridal party. Tears will flow, as will the champagne!

Bridesmaid gift boxes start from $55.00 and free shipping is available Australia-wide. Luxury natural products fit for pampering are beautifully packaged by The Wholesome Gift Box, so all you need to do is choose a gift tag and present the perfect package for the occasion.

Personalised Gifts

See a little of this and a little of that box you love? Create Your Own gift box to give a truly personalised gift. Fill your box with a selection of clay masks, bath salts, perfume, notebooks, keep cups, sweet treats and more.

Thank You Gifts

On the day of your wedding, it’s customary to present your bridesmaids with a gift to say thank you for being there for you on your most special of days. Any of The Wholesome Gift Box bridesmaid gifts would make your gal pals feel appreciated.

Sarah knows just how much being thought of can mean, “My passion with The Wholesome Gift Box is to give women the opportunity to send healthy, natural, and gorgeous gifts easily to show another important woman in their lives that they are thought of, cared about, and loved.”

These gift boxes also work for mothers, and special friends who might have lent a hand with your wedding planning or taken on tasks on the day.

If there are special wedding vendors you’ve connected with who have gone above and beyond for you in helping your day being the dream you imagined, you may like to give them a little something special, too. You’ll definitely make their day!

Perfectly Packaged

It’s a very Sunshine Coast – and for that matter, Australian – sensibility to go for natural, healthy, organic and – yes, wholesome – choices in our homes and food consumption. Why should gift-giving be any different?

“The suppliers that we choose to connect and partner with share our passion for supporting other Australian-based businesses that have a strong belief in natural and organic living that is good for the planet.” Sarah says.

The Wholesome Gift Box collection is not only filled with organic goodies, but they’re wrapped and packaged in recycled, eco-friendly materials.

Meet Sarah

Established in 2019, The Wholesome Gift Box is a standout gift box boutique run out of founder, Sarah Watts’s, home base in the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Like many strong and resilient women, Sarah wears quite a few hats throughout her day – she is an entrepreneur, a partner, and a mother to a busy toddler and a doggo. Despite all the juggling in her days, she is passionate about curating natural, wholesome, and luxurious products to be packaged and delivered in stunning gift boxes across the country.

The post Organic Home-grown Bridesmaid Gifts appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

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Creating your own wedding website only takes a little bit of time and a good platform. It’s inexpensive, and is particularly great for communicating evolving information to your guests.

At the time of writing this, we’re in the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 global pandemic, so this is especially useful for your 2020-21 wedding. However, wedding websites have been a thing for a long time now, and will continue to be a great way for you to give your guests one central hub of information they can access at any time leading up to your big day.

So let’s dive in!

Wedding Website Platforms

Squarespace

This is one of the most on-trend and professional-looking platforms. The templates you have to choose from are customisable, and they don’t have that “weddingy” look, they just look like cool websites. We love their image-focused look with clean designs.

Squarespace allows you to share photos, information, create pages of information and even your wedding registry, including a cash registry.

With Joy

Making the planning side super easy, With Joy allows you to keep absolutely everything for your wedding in one place. You can make your guest list, issue a Save the Date, and collect RSVPs, keeping an up-to-date accurate count of those attending. There is even a mobile app!

There are hundreds of designs to choose from. Here’s an example site to get some ideas.

Appy Couple

Appy Couple has ALL the bells and whistles, offering features you may not have even considered needing, like being able to keep track of plus ones and allowing guests and those unable to make it to offer a virtual toast. It’s very user-friendly with drag and drop widgets, and allows you to group guest lists to family or work friends, for example, and allows multiple admins and multiple privacy settings, so you can set certain information to only be accessed by specific people.

What to Include on Your Site

Essential information

Anything you would put on a paper invitation – date, time, ceremony location, reception venue address, dress code.

RSVP information

How and when you need your guests to RSVP.

Travel or location information

Details on how to get to the venue or ceremony location. Any tips about places to stay, eat, or explore would also be greatly appreciated by your guests who need to travel to get there.

Extra event information

If you’re having a rehearsal dinner, DIY bump in session, next day recovery session, or any other event surrounding your wedding, be sure to include these details, too.

Sweet Extras You Can Include

Your love story

It’s a nice touch to dedicate a whole page to sharing your love story – how and where you met, and why you fell in love. You could also include your proposal story, and any other milestones you have reached as a couple, like buying a house, travel you’ve experienced together, getting a fur baby, or having a human baby. This can really help your guests feel excited to be celebrating your love with you, and catch up on anything they may have missed.

You can illustrate your story with happy snaps from your life.

Engagement photos

If you’ve had an engagement photo shoot, your guests would love to see these! Be sure to upload a few to set the mood.

Introduce the bridal party and those with special roles

Allow everyone to get to know your chosen bridal party and anyone else significant to your day (eg. performer or MC) before the day by including their name, photo, role and perhaps a line or two about why you chose them for their specific role.

Other information that might be useful to include

Menu information

People like to know if they are going to be treated to a sit-down dinner, or if there will be delicious canapés coming around while they mingle. It’s great to set up expectations and share special details, like the dish you’re personally most excited to try, or how it’s being prepared by a chef whose food you really love.

This is also where you could let your guests know how to communicate their own dietary requirements should they have any.

How to gift you

Whether you have a gift registry, wishing well, or other kind of wishes pertaining to how your guests should plan to gift you, this is a great place to share it.

Traditions or customs you have planned

Particularly if you have guests coming to your wedding, who are not part of your culture – or if you have families of different cultures blending – it might be nice to let them know what to expect. When glasses and plates start smashing, it might be nice to have had a heads up prior for those to whom it would be unexpected!

FAQs

This actually makes it really easy to address those queries that many of your guests may have, like whether or not they can bring a date or their kids. If you have one central place where they can learn exactly what is acceptable or not, you have covered your bases and it may prevent potentially awkward conversations.

Keep Using the Site After the Wedding

Share wedding photos & videos

You and your guests can share wedding photos and videos all in one centralised place. You can also share your online wedding photo gallery from your professional photographer. Many photographers give the option of online ordering for any of your guests, so your Gran and Aunties can all order their canvases for their walls themselves.

Most photo booths also have an online gallery component you can send to everyone – these are great for a giggle after the day, and they’re moments that may otherwise go unseen by many.

Thank your guests

It’s always nice to send out personalised thank yous to all your guests and those who had roles in your wedding. The beauty of a website, however, is that you can issue a nice thank you immediately to everyone who was there to make your day so memorable.

The post How to Create Your Own Wedding Website appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Thankfully the day of the boring ceremony script, delivered in a monotone voice with some archaic “words of wisdom” thrown in for good measure are long gone!

1. Rose Petal Cannons

2. Communal Bouquet

When guests arrive, they are greeted with a basket of flowers and invited to each take one. Guests are then creating the aisle way as the music starts and the couple/bride walks down the aisle collecting a flower from each of the guests as they go.

Once the couple/bride arrives at the end, the colourful bouquet made with many well wishes from their loved ones is tied with a keep sake ribbon

3. Family + Friends Vow

4. I Do Section

5. Celebrant Wing Man/Wing Woman

6. Bridal Party Introduction

Loved these Wedding Ceremony Ideas from Kath Tilly? Here’s an Exclusive January Offer for Our Bride Tribe… 

Want to start your 2020 wedding day celebration off with a bang? Get in touch with Kath to take advantage on her exclusive Brides Tribe offer. Secure your date with her before the 31st January and receive 2 x FREE rose petal cannons.

Image credits: Graeme Passmore and Life and Love Photography

The post Inclusive Ceremonies | 6 Ways to Involve Your Guests appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

     Today we have a wonderful Guest Blogger. Woman-in-the-know and Sunshine Coast Celebrant, Darienne Davis, who has seen it all in her ten years officiating weddings.

As a Sunshine Coast Celebrant I have the unique opportunity to spend that first pre-wedding half hour or so with the groom. No two weddings are ever the same, just as no two grooms are ever the same. There ais the casual, taking-it-all-in-his-stride type, the “I’ve never worn a suit before in my life (and when can I put my boardies back on?)” type, and the calm “we’ve got this,” well-instructed-by-his-future-wife type, and of course many more.

Here are my top tips for the groom to get himself together before the ceremony starts – and earn him some of your brownie points! 

Images by Studio Impressions. 

How to write your vows

Okay, at this point I know you have written your vows, right? But just in case you’re still nutting them out, here’s a cool tip.

Think of three things about her that you love? Now think of three things that you promise. Boom – you’ve just written your vows.

That new suit looks great, but take off the tags! 

Not used to wearing a suit? Most new suits come stitched lightly at the back and some with a designers label on the sleeve. No these are not part of the “look”, make sure you check and remove all those tags (it saves searching for scissors three minutes before the bride arrives.)

What to drink

Sure, have a drink or two with your groomsmen before the Ceremony but please don’t arrive smelling like you’ve been down the pub all afternoon. (Oh, and if its hot, a bottle of water may come in handy)

When to get there

Arrive nice and early for the Ceremony. There will be guests to greet, photos to take, and lots of women, who will want to cuddle you. It’ll be worth it.

Greet your guests and help seat them

No I don’t mean you become the usher but certainly take a moment for the “front row” peeps (family) and make sure if your Mum is there she gets special attention from you. This is a big day for her! 

Gather the groomsmen

Make sure your Groomsmen all know what’s happening. Does your Best Man have the ring? You may have to fill in that mate, who just arrived and wasn’t at the rehearsal

Quick, get rid of that bulge in your pocket!

The suit looks great, but wait… what are those bulges? Please remove your phones and other bulky objects from your pockets, and give your sunnies to a friend.

When it’s all said and done, make sure nobody has to ask…

Where’s the groom?

After you walk down the aisle there will be a line up of family and friends wanting to congratulate you both. It’s a great idea to stay with your partner and do the “grin and grip, hug and kiss” together. She will be the happiest girl in the world if you do! 

Darienne Davis is one of our wonderful A-list Vendors. Darienne has been a Celebrant for 10 years and is responsible for hundreds of beautiful wedding ceremonies here on the Sunshine Coast. 

Learn more about Darienne Davis

The post Ceremony Tips for the Groom appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

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Sunshine Coast brides, we have some wedding etiquette tips and advice for you to help writing your Thank You cards after the big day a little easier. Meeting the expectations of your guests, who were so kind as to attend simply must not fall by the wayside. Do not worry, we have spelled it out clear as day for you in this handy little article from our Resource Guide.

It is good etiquette to write personal notes to each of your guests who attended, those who brought a gift and to your bridal party, parents, photographer, MC and celebrant/officiant, wedding planner/coordinator and anyone else who you would especially like to thank. 

Tips for writing Thank You cards for guests:

• Use both your names, and the names of the guests themselves
• Thank your guests both for attending and for their specific gift or contribution to your wishing well
• Detail how the gift will be of use to you – Eg. “Thank you for your generous gift. We have found the perfect spot in our living room for the beautiful vase you gave us.”
• Or detail how you will spend any gifts of money – Eg. “Thank you for your generous contribution to our wishing well. We have started picking out colours for the bathroom renovation already!”
• Tell your guests what it meant to you that they were able to attend, especially if they travelled for the occasion. Eg. “We felt so blessed to have our family and friends around us on our special day, and we were thrilled you were able to come to Caloundra to celebrate with us.”

Tips for writing Thank You cards for your bridal party, parents, and other important people who contributed to your day:

• Use both your names, and the names of the receiver/s
• Thank them for taking on the specific role you asked them to perform
• Name a detail of the day that involved them in a positive way. Eg. “Thank you for being the best bridesmaid a bride could hope for. Bradley and I will never forget the beautiful speech you made at the reception. It meant so much to us that someone we love so dearly was so thoughtful to prepare such meaningful words.”
• If parents contributed towards the cost of the wedding, you may also like to include a gift if you haven’t given them one already

The good news is, you are not expected to send all of your Thank You notes until after your honeymoon. However, it really should be no more than six weeks after your wedding, so set aside several nights with your new husband, get comfy with a wine and set to task. There’s no time like the present! 

Having your wedding photographer take a photo specifically meant for your Thank You cards is a fantastic idea. This one by Sunshine Coast wedding photographer, Lindy Photography, is really sweet! Love the heart-shaped Thank You. 

This and many more helpful articles on wedding etiquette can be found in our Resource Guide. Did you find this article helpful? Let us know in the comments below. 

The post Writing Your Thank You Cards appeared first on The Bride's Tree.