My Friends' Wedding

The weekend was full of frivolity, with two of my best friends marrying each other! I was on bridesmaidly duties and Mr Big looked mighty fine in a suit as a groomsman. In the style of my quiz last year on marrying Mr Big, here's another test of your psychic wedding senses...

1  The happy couple's names are
a)  Aidan and Carrie
b)  Mr Big and Carrie
c)  Cash and Carrie
d)  Alexis and Ying
correct answer: d

2  The bride was photographed with _______ we encountered along the river
a)  a politician who enjoys being peed on
b)  red-hot firemen and their red-hot truck
c)  a Long Island iced tea
d)  a ferry
correct answer: b (yes, that was a Sex and the City reference there to episode one of season three, I'm not a complete sicko!)

3  In my reception speech, I called Ying and Alexis
a)  Slumberwoman and Captain Fairness Pants
b)  Sonny and Cher
c)  Sense and Sensibility
correct answer: a

4  The bride's two separate dresses for the ceremony and the reception were
a)  white and red
b)  black and gold
c)  puce and aubergine
correct answer: a

5  Because we're classy folks, after the reception the bridal party enjoyed
a)  a strip show from a groomsman
b)  burgers from Hungry Jack's
c)  hanging out in a hotel room
d)  wearing camel pants showing a camel toe
correct answer: all of the above

How was your weekend?

Wedding Mood Board

Happy anniversary! Mr Big and I celebrated our first year of marriage by taking an overnight break in Sydney last weekend...

We explored Taronga Zoo, went shopping (he's pretty keen for a fella, which is much better than a grumble-bum searching for the boyfriend chair in every shop) and had a lovely Japanese dinner. He was even patient when I insisted on traipsing down to the ballet shop, bless him!

We're so in tune, we even gave each other similar anniversary gifts. I gave him a framed wedding photo and he printed all our photos and bound them in an album. It was very sweet and he put in a lot of effort, which I greatly appreciated. It's hard to believe we've been married a year -- time flies! I'm so happy I married him. : )

I thought I'd honour our anniversary in suitable bloggy fashion. Here's my initial blog post after our wedding last year. See how you go answering the quiz!

The picture above is the mood board I created in my frenzied wedding planning stage. The bridesmaids ended up being pink, not blue, but it's a decent representation of the colours and styles on our Big Day. Notice the Carrie-style blue shoes, although I went with silver glitter ballet flats in the end. The engagement ring and wedding dress images are pretty similar to mine. Oh, and I accessorised with my heart-shaped Tiffany earrings. : )

What fabulous finds would (or did) your wedding mood board contain?

The Wedding

Married my Mr Big last weekend and flew back tonight from our honeymoon along the gorgeous Great Barrier Reef.


Our wedding, a quiz...

1   The nuptials were held in a
a)   church
b)   five-star hotel
c)   fairyland castle overlooking the sea
correct answer: b

2   The ceremony included readings from
a)   The Avengers comic series
b)   Sex and the City ("Carrie's poem")
c)   The Golden Girls
correct answer: all of the above

3   Doing the chicken dance at the reception, Adam's cute little nanna yelled
a)   "Bless us!"
b)   "Bust a move!"
c)   "Bullshit!"
correct answer: c

4   Our honeymoon was "enhanced" by
a)   all our cameras and phones dying at once when trying to capture the local sites
b)   me hurling non-stop on the boat to the reef
c)   the airport shutting down while we were waiting for our flight home
correct answer: all of the above

5   Adam is
a)   a footballer
b)   a Frenchman
c)   AWESOME!
correct answer: c

Magazine Guide #2: Cosmo Bride

My analysis of Cosmo Bride magazine.

Publication: Cosmopolitan Bride
How Often Does It Come Out: Three times a year (February, May, October)
Distribution: National

Contributors vs Staff Writers:
There is a band of staff writers, with some contributors as well.

Target Audience:
Age: 20-30 (at the younger end of the bridal spectrum)
Gender: Female
Interests: Weddings, receptions and honeymoons

Topics and Themes:
Etiquette, saving money, glamorous honeymoons, modern weddings, hen's nights, fashion, music ideas, celebrity weddings, wedding themes (eg beach, garden party etc), beauty, dealing with stress, real weddings, planning guides.

Length of Features:
Mostly 1,000 words. Occasionally 1,500 or up to 2,000.

Tone and Style of Writing:
Similar to Cosmo -- friendly and conversational. Lists, case studies and break-out boxes are heavily favoured. Statistics and reports are kept to a minimum, but wedding suppliers and relationship experts are sometimes quoted.

About How Many Features:
Sixteen features in the February 2010 edition, with a mix of staff writers, contributors and reader confessions.

On Weddings

Planning a wedding is...

Creativity and compromise. How to combine Adam's soft spot for Spiderman with my Lego love? Cross-branding to the rescue!

Exhausting and exhilarating. Martha Stewart's a goddess. Her wed-site of fresh, creative, modern ideas is pure joy to visit. Her endless checklist of pre-wedding tasks? She's a witch. Burn her.

Girliness and grunt-work. Preppy pinks, regal blues, spots and bows are glamorous. Lugging the two-tonne Bride's Diary around to appointments is... not.

Mirth and mystery. What have I planned for hens' night celebrations? Wouldn't my bridesmaids like to know...

Posh and primitive. There is an inordinate amount of time spent ensuring one's nuptials are not skankalicious. Sample sale of wedding gowns? The lace gloves come off and I turn into Meryl the Feral.

Shopping and spurning. I love shops. I do not love shop assistants. Especially ones giving us the hard sell on trashy engagement rings or tut-tutting at how late I'm ordering my wedding gown (over 6 months, ladies -- get a life!!).

Tasty and tantalising. Scavenger hunts for free wedding cake samples. Dreaming of honeymoon destinations. Do want!

"Cosmo Bride" Blogger Application # 2

My second go at applying for the "Cosmo Bride" blogger gig.

Name: Beck Doyle

Age: 30
State: SA

Sample blog:

Working for Consumer Affairs, I hear many strange and shocking stories. Complaints about g-strings, crossbows, model trains and lollipops? All in a day's work.

Often the most distressing (and difficult to resolve) complaints, however, belong on Funniest Wedding Disasters 4 or similar god-awful TV show. Without the funny, unfortunately.

I’ve heard of vile venues, dress dry-cleaning disasters and lost engagement ring laments. Even, sadly, a bride-to-be cancelling her wedding after her fiancé lost his job. Once a “perfect” wedding day is sullied, it isn’t soon forgotten.

So I ask you: How do you get to “happily ever after” without disaster?

"Cosmo Bride" Blogger Application # 1

My application to be a "bride blogger" for Cosmo Bride magazine.

Name: Beck Doyle

Age: 30
State: SA

About Me: Magazine addict, mediator for Consumer Affairs, wannabe writer and Bridezilla-in-training.

Sample Blog: Wedding Dress Time Warp

"A wedding gown with no lace, beading or embroidery, please". Blank look from stuffy salesmadam. "We don’t have those. You want a plain dress?"

Nooooooooooooooo... I want a modern dress. An enormous taffeta bow, dramatic ruffles, one-shouldered fabulousness. Something very Oscar de la Renta or Vera Wang on a Big W budget. Too much to ask?

Apparently. Shunning traditional trimmings, I’d been lumped with the Goths and medieval types. A plain bride or a freak.

So if embroidery, garters and witchy-poo pointy bridal booties offend your fashionista sensibilities, how do you find a modern wedding dress?