Keepsakes and Memento’s

The buzz around the town hall is amazing. Saturday is promising to be a very successful day for everyone, those of us who work in the industry and those of us who are planning a wedding.

Of course your wedding day is one that you don’t want to ever forget and Once Upon A Memory has a beautiful way to capture your memories by keeping all of your mementos in the one place where you can go back and look at them in the years to come. They have a range of products aside from invitations and stationary and one such product is an event memory box or a keepsake. They are wooden boxes engraved with your choice of wording & made to order. Brides use these keepsakes for their invitations and even their wedding album after the wedding is complete.

They also have a passion for scrapbooking which is quite popular with brides. This gives brides a chance to capture their memories through scrapbooking with a range of papers and embellishments to match their stationary, memories will be complete.

Once upon a memory will be available at the Expo to offer advice on choosing your invitations & stationary. This can be stressful and they aim to take the stress out of this part of planning. Visit them at That’s Amore Expo and find out how stress free it can be.

Photo jitters

The expo is getting closer, less than two weeks away now. We have more than 30 exhibitors confirmed and more contacting us every day.

I was talking to Paul Zivic, highly experienced wedding photographer from Geelong recently. Let’s face it, many of us dislike having out photos taken and I asked him if he had some tips for couples being photographed on their big day.

He suggested that couples spend time ensuring that they have a good idea of the style of photo they want. He does styles for classical to ultra modern and he thinks that it is a good idea for couples to do lots of research to see what style suits them best.

Paul acknowledges that price is a big factor and he suggests ringing around asking about prices. When you have made a decision and probably been to meet the photographer and talk about your hopes for the photos; don’t forget to ask if the photographer that you are talking to is the same person that will be taking photos on the day. He says that often the couple are dismayed to find that a completely different photographer arrives and has not had the briefing that they gave the original one.

Paul thinks that given wedding shows on TV, bridal and popular magazines, couples expect much more from their wedding photographer these days and that is a good thing.

For those who get nervous in front of the lens? He says – Get some photos before the day, by the time of the wedding you will have well and truly broken the ice with the photographer and wont be intimidated by the camera pointing at you.

As with everything, communication is the key!

“To a large degree, as photographers we direct the day. So the better we communicate the more successful the day.

Location, Location, Location

Venue. Another key aspect to the wedding is deciding where to hold it. More and more people are deciding on a Daylesford wedding and many of these are held at the beautiful Sault Restaurant. Driving past on the weekends one can often feel the energy and excitement coming from the guests who are mingling and having photos taken amongst the beautiful backdrops that surround Sault.

One of the owners of Sault Restaurant, Jodi Flockhart, believes that the planning of a wedding should be a fun, exciting and wonderful process. “Many magazines make out that a wedding will be a huge ordeal” says Jodie. This is not how it should be.

“At Sault I assist the bride in the planning of her day as soon as the booking is made.”

“We have developed a very extensive supplier contact list that we pass on to our brides. I wish I had that list when I was planning my day!”

“The list includes celebrants, bands, make up artists, florists, accommodation ideas, photographers…. and so much more.”

Jodie talks with great enthusiasm about all of the suppliers on the list, but there is one that really excites her. Loretta Connors of Whitemoss. A brilliant artist. The way she arranges flowers and keeps coming up with new ways to wow her brides is amazing in Jodie’s opinion.

Jodie’s experience is that once the venue is booked the rest should flow naturally.

Jodie understands that each bride’s needs are different, from the very simple and subtle to the flamboyant and sumptuous.

“We are really lucky to be situated in Daylesford with such wonderful country surrounds to create a stunning and memorable day with the wealth of fantastic local produce we can bring to the guests’ dining experience.”

To conclude, Jodie says it all. “Daylesford is perfect for a wedding. When the lavender is in flower at Sault and the sun gently dips below the lake, the bride and groom bathed in the golden glow of candle light and smiling; my job couldn’t get any better.”

Invitations

For most couples, one of the most important ingredients at a wedding are the guests.

You want your family and friends to come along and witness this wonderful occasion. And (usually) your family will want to be there to help you celebrate. So to the topic of this blog. Wedding invitations. The invitations are important for a lot of reasons. For some people, receiving the invitation in the mail will be the first indication that the couple is getting married, for others it is a tangible expression of their friends commitment and future together.

Your invitation can set the tone for your wedding. Once Upon A Memory is a home based business that specialises in personalising wedding invitations for all guests. They allow customers to design their invitations from scratch which means that you can match your wedding theme to the colours, embellishments & fonts available.

They also create keepsakes for after the wedding which can be personalised to match your stationary design.

Once Upon A Memory will be at That’s Amore Wedding Expo to discuss your stationery and invitation needs.

Mmmmm Cake

One thing that most people will associate with weddings is food! Really wonderful food. And most particularly cake. Bianca Events provides cakes with a difference for your wedding.

I spoke to Bianca Events, a small business with one employee -Bianca. Bianca Events was created 12 months ago with the desire to be involved in the wedding industry to fuel a passion Bianca has for weddings, romance and events. This is how the delicious ‘Bianca Events Cupcakes’ was born.

Bianca believes that a wedding day should be one of those times when it’s okay to want ‘Perfect’, and when it’s okay to worry about the little things! Bianca herself had many experiences both positive and negative when planning her own wedding, two years ago which gives her the insight of the ‘Bride to be’ and now as the ‘service provider’.

It is Bianca’s aim to deliver something which not only exceeds the expectation of the guests but also the bride and groom. “They place significant trust and faith in the service provider to deliver and I want to show them /that their trust is not misplaced.”

“Let’s not forget this is a day which many girls have been fairytale planning since they were teenagers…I know, I was one of them!” That is probably why Bianca’s cup cakes look like they are straight out of a fairy tale!

Bianca Events Cupcakes takes pride in a modern and unique approach to the traditional Wedding Cake. Cupcakes provide an interesting alternative to the normal wedding meal dessert or can create a delightful take home gift for guests. Cupcakes are the ideal treat for all ages at any wedding – large or small, traditional or cocktail. Bianca Events works with the Bride and Groom to create the perfect Wedding Cake attraction, something that will have the guests ooohing and ahhing!

All the chocolate decorations are handmade and to order, ensuring the freshest, most unique and beautiful cupcakes you will ever taste! Bianca Events is based in Geelong and offers free delivery and display of cupcakes for those weddings in the Geelong area, those outside Geelong will incur a delivery fee. Bianca Events offers complimentary consultations with the option of tastings for those couples who are interested in booking Bianca Events for their wedding.

Bianca Events will have cupcakes for tasting at the Expo, as well as sample display of cupcakes which will help to demonstrate what Bianca Events Cupcakes has to offer your wedding day!

Prize Winning Wedding Photographer

This year we have a wonderful group of exhibitors all wanting to help you make your wedding a very special day to remember. Many have proven successful at previous That’s Amore Expo’s and in 2009 there will be some exciting new exhibitors as well. I am going to speak to some of the exhibitors to find out why they are so popular amongst the couples who are planning a wedding and record their thoughts here in this blog. They may help you to come up with a new idea; show that you are on the right track or just give you some food for thought.

To start us off is Yervant, Grand Master Photographer. Yervant won the Australian Wedding Photographer of the Year 2009 at Australia’s most prestigious photography awards dinner, the Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards (or ‘APPAs’) in Sydney 29th June. So, we know that when it comes to taking wedding photos, Yervant is one of the best!

Yervant was introduced to photography from early childhood by his father who served the royal family of Emperor Hailé Silasée of Ethiopia as professional photographer. A multitude of awards over the years established Yervant as one of the most celebrated photographers within AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photographers) and the youngest ‘Fellow’ of AIPP for his unparalleled contributions, pioneering achievements and having set significant milestones internationally for future generations of professional photographers.

Yervant is the pioneer of the Coffee Table Magazine style wedding albums. Iin 1991, he discovered Photoshop™ and started playing with the software to replace his traditional Dark Room finishing techniques, on a slow computer, it took hours to finish an image let alone do a layout but Yervant could see a major milestone in development and wanted to create story book wedding albums flush mounted on photographic paper in a coffee table book presentation. There was no one in the world who understood his vision let alone produce it, then in 1992, he found Master Craftsman John Garner of Geelong who dared to attempt the impossible. Yervant printed his album layouts on an inkjet desk printer, John Garner produced
the very first coffee table flush mounted book. In Australia, Yervant’s peers called is a FAD and said that it would not last, it was too different form traditional wedding albums not only in capture style but also in presentation. Yervant submitted 3 albums for judging at WPPI in USA in 1993, the judges there could not categorise this novelty and decided to pack and return Yervant’s entries as non compliant.

Today, EVERY studio in the world produces the coffee Table magazine layout wedding albums as it is the most preferred option by young bride and grooms all over the world.

This year at the AIPP convention in Sydney, Yervant was honored with the GRAND Master title, there are only about 6 Grand Master photographers in the history of AIPP within Australia, Yervant was honored with this title 2 weeks ago for his continual leadership,exemplary influence and his continued dedication to teach, challenge and inspire the industry to unparalleled new levels.

Don’t take my word for it, come along to the That’s Amore Wedding Expo in Daylesford on August 22 and see some of his work. It is incredible.

That’s Amore Wedding Expo

Busy organising That’s Amore Wedding Expo in Daylesford for 22 August. We have some fabulous new suppliers exhibiting. This is the fourth Wedding Expo in Daylesford and I am sure that it will be the best ever.