Oh! The places you'll go...

Bit of a trip this weekend for a beautiful friend's wedding at a farm outside of Ballina. The weather wasn't the kindest, and the gorgeous hinterland views had to be given up when rains set in. I can imagine it was all awfully stressful for the bride and her family, but they rallied like troopers and the whole day was an honour to be part of. There was a 50s theme, which we had a ball dressing up for, and it carried through all the decorations and the wedding party's outfits. The bride's sister is a superstar fashion designer and seamstress, and as well as making all the dresses for the bride and herself and the five other bridesmaids, she sourced vintage china and punchbowls for all the tables. The settings were darling and each place was marked with a jar of "harmony jam", made by the mother and grandmother of the bride.

In true 50s style the bridesmaids all had monster beehives worthy of characters from The Far Side. And their dresses were amazing - colourful and deliciously feminine, each was unique and shaped by a hand-made corset and oodles of tulle petticoats. The bride's sister who made them all, and was sewing them into their dresses until they flounced down the aisle, had even sourced matching vintage fur coats to ward off the chill.

Apparently in the 50s it was unheard of to have a single wedding cake; there would always be a spread of different cakes for every possible taste. I imagine that would partly be to placate the various bakers in each family! So at this wedding there was a tower of cupcakes, a very traditional fruit cake, and a delicious double-decker mud cake....

Here's the after shot of the cakes table!

It was the most emotional wedding I've ever been to; there were happy tears all over the place. What was lovely about the ceremony was the quirky readings they used... The groom's sister read from the children's book The Veleveteen Rabbit, about how being loved makes you real, and made everyone cry. And then the bride's mum read from the Doctor Seuss book Oh! The Places You'll Go with a smile in her voice and a twinkle in her eye.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea,

You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!