Real Life Wedding
| Couple | Paul and Julia Harris |  |
|---|---|---|
| Date of Wedding | 19 February 2005 | |
| Number of guests | 50ish plus some Japanese tourists | |
| Approximate Cost | $2500 | |
| Ceremony Venue | Glebe Park, Canberra City | |
| Reception Venue | Glebe Park, Canberra City | |
| Photo Locations | Glebe Park, Canberra City | |
How we met Through a work help desk, I was the caller, Paul answered, yay!
The proposal Standing in a camping ensuite in Port Macquarie while getting ready to go Skydiving for the day. If it had happened anywhere other than next to a toilet, I wouldn't have believed it!
Summary of the big day Perfect, casual, relaxed, beautiful.
Fondest Memory Getting out of the cars and discovering that Paul had organised real music instead of a CD as originally planned. The duo learned "Oughta be in love" by Dave Dobbyn for this occasion.
Funniest Moment Me forgetting that we were going to be funny with the celebrant, a friend of ours, and muffing up the whole gag.
Money Saving Ideas This was my second wedding so I learned a lot from the first time around. I knew that this wedding was for me and Paul and nobody else. It was perfect, the way we wanted it!
Bride's/Groom's advice Don't make a spectacle of the day if you don't have to, remember its a marriage, not just a wedding!
What we would do differently Remember to take the video camera!
The Big Day
| Rings | Michael Hill |
|---|---|
| Bridal Gown | eBay |
| Bridesmaid Dresses | eBay |
| Hair | Mrs Gardiner, a friend's mum |
| Make-up | My Sister-in-law Callie |
| Suits | eBay / Lowes |
| Transport | Friend's Monaro & Brother's Corolla |
| Invites/Bomboniere | Self |
| Flowers | Poetry in Flowers Gungahlin |
| Cake | My Sister-in-law Callie |
| Music | Jazz Duo that my husband organised, to this day I don't know their names. :( |
| Photography | A friend |
| Videography | None, forgot that bit |
| Bridal Registry | None |
| Honeymoon | Kioloa Beach, NSW South Coast |
Feedback
Ceremony We had a civil ceremony in the Glebe Park rotunda. Ron Hoare was the celebrant and he has a great manner, his voice carries well and he's a lovely guy. The rotunda was decorated in purple, as was 
everything else.
Reception Venue This was probably the cheapest part, it cost us $35 to get the gate opened for the cars and the power turned on for the urn. As we had the wedding at 11am in the morning, we did a morning tea in the park, which meant everyone had the rest of the day for themselves. We had some Japanese tourists wondering if it was a buffet! :)
Photography Locations Absolutely beautiful and green, contrasted nicely with the purple!
Rings Simple and elegant.
Bridal Gown Perfect for the day, which was quite hot, and something I can wear again. I found it on eBay for a bargain price, along with a sheer wrap to dress it up a bit. I was dressed for under $100.
Bridesmaids' Dresses The girls chose them themselves, it worked OK.
Hair Casually messy was the aim, it was meant to be a fuss free day and it worked!
Make-up My sister-in-law insisted!
Suits Paul ordered his suit from a store in New York via eBay. The groomsmen wore their own black pants and purple shirts from Lowes.
Transport It certainly gave the boys a reason to be happy at a wedding, a friend's restored Monaro and my brother's 4AGZE corolla were apparently very drool-worthy.
Flowers I'd totally forgotten about flowers until two weeks before the day. Poetry in flowers were very helpful and I said as long as I got a purple bouquet I didn't mind what flowers were in the bouquets, they turned out beautifully!
Invites/Bomboniere ***
Cake My sister-in-law put this one together, awesome chocolate mud cake!!
Music Perfect for the occasion, a guitar and saxophone duo, they learned a lot of our planned songs and played them perfectly.
Photography A friend Brett Thompson used to do wedding photography, so he took our photos for us using our digital SLR. It was certainly a very relaxing photo shoot!
Videography Oops!
Honeymoon We took our dogs with us down to Kioloa Beach, a bit north of Bateman's Bay, was a lovely break.
