Wedding dress-1st fitting

I was extremely excited to go for the first of my 6 fittings at ++ on Friday. In fact, this first "fitting" was actually not a fitting per se. The dressmaker actually took 20 or so measurements of me so that they can make a "Toile" to make a test garment from cheaper material for my next visit. The test garmet is to demonstrate the length, shape, fitting of the dress before they cut the official fabric. As always, I was very happy with ++'s professionalism and knowledge. I took the opportunity to ask dressmaker what she thought of the Bride's of Melbourne scandal (they went into administration) and she basically put it down to bad management rather than lack of customers. Interestingly, she told me that during financial crisis, she found that her store tends to do better. She puts it down to people wanting security and reassurance in times of crisis. I wonder however,  how many people can actually spend thousands on a wedding dress during a financial crisis when there are more pressing issues. 

In any case, I thought I'd take a few pictures of the street and shop frontage of ++'s frontage. As you can see, it is not a flashy shop like a lot of other bridal stores are. I think they are more substance than appearance. 

I also managed to take pictures of the actual sketch she made of my dress. It's drawn as strapless at the moment, but I imagine it will not stay that way and that I would want something around the shoulders.

Anyway, I had lots of fun and am very much looking forward to my next appointment which will be in late August or early September (so far away!). This time, I will be taking along one or two friends to snap photos of me being fitted. 

Kate Spade Charm-the shoes have arrived!

The gorgeous Kate Spade Charm shoes arrived via courier on Thursday. I was estatic to recieve them! It only took all of 4 days for them to come from the States. Overall, I am very happy with the quality of the shoes. They were very comfortable to put on and I'm not expecting overly sore feet on the day of the wedding. I am a little disappointed in how easily the glitter was coming off. Infact, there were several yellow patches on the bows where the glitter have rubbed off and that was before I even tried on the shoes. Today, I have actually sent the shoes back to endless.com and bought another pair (coincidentally there was 20 percent off). According to their website, they will give me a refund and reimbursement for the postage if I was not completely satisfied with the shoes. Anyway, Ciao. I will post next about my first fitting (actually just getting measured) with Annette of Melbourne.

Excuse my ugly feet.

I love them. They are just perfect!

If you look carefully, there are small yellow patches on both bows where the glitter has rubbed off.

Wedding shoe purchase! Kate Spade Charm in multi glitter

I finally bit the bullet and bought Kate Spade Charm in multi glitter from endless.com for $325.

I looked at numerous pairs of shoes on the net and I have not found a better pair. I love the colour and glittery, girly nature of the shoes. I am so excited to be wearing such a beautiful pair of shoes to start off our journey as husband and wife.

The great thing about endless.com is that if you spend over 100 dollars, you get free postage. And if it's over 125 dollars, then you get free priority shipping! I bought the shoes online two nights ago and am expected to get them shipped over from the states by the end of the week. Anyway, I will post again when I recieve them.

Mother's day-I love Pho 264

I am forever behind on blogging. Sorry to those who actually pay any attention to this blog but life has just been incredibly busy lately. I have had work, clinical placements, assignments, wedding planning etc to deal with and blogging had to take a backseat. However, I have some minor updates to life in general.

First up, we had our first meeting with a celebrant named Lynton Round. He is an older man (maybe in his sixties?) who resembles papa smurf or santa claus and have a clear, booming voice that I imagine would be very engaging at a wedding ceremony. He used to be a school principal! Anyway, he travelled all 50kilometers from his side of town to my side of town and spent one hour with us. Overall, we had a good impression of him. We had no doubt that he would be an engaging celebrant. Mr HSH felt that we did not click with him on all levels however, and was a bit miffed that he spent more time explaining the legal process of being married than getting to  know us and trying to build a rapport. He was a great guy but maybe not quite as sensitive and intuitive as what we were hoping for. In any case, we were quite happy to book him. Unfortunately, he was only available after 5pm on our marriage date and I felt that we weren’t going to have enough time for photos and tea ceremony before the reception starting. So, on we went with the searching for a celebrant process which so far, I have found to be the most difficult. 

 

I have contacted a lady called Jane Clifton and a male celebrant called Brent Mcgregor. I like the way Brent Mcgregor looks and Jane Clifton is multi talented-she's a singer, actress, writer and marriage celebrant amongst other things.  Hopefully, our meetings with them would be fruitful.

 

Anyway, fast forward to mother’s day on Sunday. I spent the day with Mr HSH and visited Coco Lounge in Glenny. I’ve never actually eaten there before so below are some photos. The food was okay, nice enough but quite expensive. (50 dollars for eggs Benedict and burger, and two drinks) It took way too long for the food to come out but I suspect it was because it was mother’s day and they were very busy. 

That night, to celebrate mother’s day, my mum, my brother and I went to I love Pho 264 on Victoria Street, North Richmond. The restaurant was buzzing with activity and the wall of photos from past and present diners at the restaurant was very interesting and helped to keep the restaurant looking trendy. I saw Hung Kam Bo a famous Hong Kong celebrity was one of their guests. I also think I saw Danni from one of Masterchef’s previous seasons but I’m not 100 percent sure if it was her. Anyway, this restaurant is worth all the buzz. Service was efficient and friendly. I ordered their chicken and beef Pho and thoroughly enjoyed it. The broth was delicate but flavoursome and every bit of meat in it was eaten by me. Their pork and prawn rice paper rolls were also very good. All in all, we paid just over 47 dollars for 3 chicken and beef pho, three drinks and 1 serve of rice paper roll. Highly recommended for those looking for authentic Pho.