Wedding Nerves

I’ve always thought that being invited to a wedding is such a privilege. To be someone that the bride and groom consider special enough to witness their big day (and not to mention the cost of feeding a guest) means so much. But when you are asked to have a role in the wedding, that is extra special. I’ve been completely honoured to be a bridesmaid and chuffed to be asked to do wedding hair but in the last couple of weeks I’ve had two important and completely nerve wreaking roles in friend’s weddings.

 

The first started so innocently, with a request to do a reading. I was thrilled and honoured but apparently missed a key piece of information (to be honest I was pulling the world’s largest splinter out of my toe as she asked me) because it wasn’t so much a reading as a singing. That is right my friends asked me to sing at their wedding.

Now something you need to know about me, I love to sing – alone, in my car, where no one can hear my shockingly limited range and ability to be miles off key. S is about the only person who regularly hears me sing and he must be struck deaf by love because for some reason he thinks I can hold a tune. I know I cannot, so a week before the wedding having discovered that the reading was a singing I was freaking out.

But as luck would have it the song was “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” which is a bit more spoken than sung and everyone joined in very strongly enabling me to move the microphone a discrete distance too far away to pick up my voice. Other than the bridal party I was the only friend to have a role in the wedding so it was lovely and once done I could relax and have a ball, playing on the jumping castle (the ultimate wedding accessory) and dancing the night away.

 

But then came my second special request. This request came as a result of a piece of bravado that may have been alcohol induced when I declared that sure I could make a wedding cake – only to be held to it. That feeling when someone says “you know how you said you could make a wedding cake – can you make mine?” yes that feeling, I felt it in spades.

Let me tell you, anyone who moans about how much of a rip-off a wedding cake is, they are a hell of a lot of work and take a lot of ingredients. The cake I made included almost 2kg of butter, 1.5 kg of chocolate, 10 cups of sugar, 1 full cup of whiskey, 5 kilos of fondant, 9 hours of baking time and about a work week (seriously 40 hours) of decorating time. But it was worth it. The end result was really lovely and most importantly the bride and groom were thrilled. Well the bride definitely was with the cake, the groom was just in love with the fact that I made him a jelly shot cake – his request.

So yes, my nerves have been strained by those last two weddings but in such a good way. I'm thrilled that I was able to contribute to my friend's special days and I love that they were thrilled.

P.S Just for the record, my brilliant Mum helped hugely with making the icing flowers but everything on that cake was hand made!

Frocktober 2013 Week 5

It is over. Another Frocktober has passed by in blur of frills, patterns, florals and petticoats. I've worn a different frock every day (and still had a few spare) and loved it - but I'm hanging out to wear my jeans tomorrow! There is no doubt that I'm a frock loving gal, but my jeans are also favourites that I have missed.

But of course Frocktober isn't really about the frocks, it is about the fundraising for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. The funds raised will be well used by them to fund their ongoing research into an early detection test for this terrible disease. And the fundraising has been amazing. This year I've managed to raise $3,386 and currently the total for the whole month is $ 279,752.45!!! It is just a brilliant result and will make a real difference for the OCRF.

There is still time to donate, my page is https://frocktober.everydayhero.com/au/lisa but there are many others doing amazing things to raise funds who could also use your donations.

Thank you for coming along on this year's journey with me. As always it has been a fun, humbling, memory filled ride!

Frocktober 2013 Week 4

Frocktober week 4 had a little bit of everything. Stripes, spots, pattern, block colour, floral, gingham. It is usually about this time of the month that I start to get sick of wearing frocks, but I haven't reached that point this year. I really do love my frocks! That said by next Friday I think I shall enjoy my jeans.

It has been such a full on month. Aside from Frocktober activities, work has been manic and this week, just to add to the mix, I'm making a wedding cake! Keep your fingers crossed for me that it all goes well, it is an honour to do it for my friends but it is high stakes too!

Frocktober 2013 Week Three

In honour of the lovely spring weather I made week three of Frocktober floral week. Every one of these frocks has a floral pattern, although some are hard to see in these photos.

It has been a very windy but warm October which is making Frocktober more comfortable than some previous rather chilly years but at the same time I do have super terrible hayfever. The big news this week was that I hit my target of raising $3,000! And even better, the entire Frocktober total headed over the $150,000 mark.  It is brilliant to see how the event has grown over the years.

I also realised that I had worn very few of these frocks to work before, despite them being most definitely work appropriate. I will definitely start doing so from now on, just another Frocktober bonus!

Frocktober 2013 Week Two

Frocktober Week 2 was a BIG one.  A really busy work week, my birthday, a dinner out, seeing the circus/burlesque show Empire at the Spiegletent and of course, the highlight of Frocktober for me, my dance party Rock Your Frock.

We rocked our frocks last night and while the crowd was about half the size of last year due to the unfortunate coincidence of a ballroom competition in Sydney and the opening of a new salsa club in Canberra, I still manged to raise over $2,400 which I think is amazing.  I am so grateful for the support of everyone who helped, my brilliant friends Rob and Oren who provided professional quality sound and lighting to make the place look and sound amazing.  My Mum and sister who worked the door all night letting me have a few dances in between selling raffle tickets and comparing the night.  And of course the wonderful S, who helped set up, pack down and puts up with my months and months of distraction as I worked on the event.

All in all it was a wonderful night.

The rest of the week was pretty wonderful, albeit with some of those inevitable funny "frocktober" moments - such as wearing a cocktail dress with a quite short skirt and a decent amount of cleavage for Friday Cocktail Dress day, because I'd completely forgotten that it was also the day of our AGM and that the entire board would be in the office.  Needless to say I hid in my office quite a bit.  Today I'm dicing with a very short, flouncy skirt and a windy day, but as the plan is to stay home I think I will be ok.

Frocktober is once again proving to be a super fun month.

Frocktober 2013 Week One

The first week of Frocktober was a little chilly, very windy but with enough sunny patches that the ubiquitous Frocktober cardigans could be put away at times.

This Frocktober I'm upping the glamour stakes with cocktail dress Friday.  It is particularly noticeable in my office because we embrace casual Friday so with one person in satin when everyone else is in denim I think it is quite clear that I'm doing something a little different.

This week is the big one, Rock Your Frock. It is going to be a full on week which includes my birthday, a couple of dinners, a show and of course a huge charity dance. I expect it will be exhausting but fabulous.

Frock on!

Frocktober the first

Today marks the start of an emotion filled month for me.  October has always been that way.  It contains my birthday which is associated with a thousand happy memories, but it has also been a month of loss and upheaval in my life.  I enter every October with a little trepidation at what it may bring.

In the last few years October has had extra emotions associated with it, grief and gratitude being the prominent two.  This is because three years ago I lost a really important person in my life to ovarian cancer and each October I honour her life by fundraising for ovarian cancer research by participating in Frocktober.

I think of Sue every day through October.  Her loss is still huge.  Just recently I was working on a project for my parent's wedding anniversary and a dozen times I thought to myself that I must ask Sue about this or that only to remember that I can't do that anymore. It seems almost inconceivable that she won't be at the important milestones in my life, even after three years I can't picture a big family gathering without her there.

But while the grief at her loss is still a raw emotion, this month also fills me with gratitude at the support I receive.  From my family and friends who support my fundraising with frocks and funds to the businesses that donate prizes for the silent auction at my fundraising dance party Rock Your Frock, I am indebted to so many people for helping me fundraise.

In previous years I have blogged my daily frocks.  This year, if you would like to follow my frocking adventures, I've finally caved and switched over to Instagram so you can find me at http://instagram.com/lisablithemoments#

If you are in Canberra, please come along to Rock Your Frock.  You don't need to be a "dancer" but you are encouraged to frock up and it is guaranteed to be an amazing night.  Rock Your Frock is on 12 October at 7pm at the Harmonie German Club.  You can find all the details here: http://rockyourfrock.blogspot.com.au/

And finally, if you feel so inclined you are more than welcome (and hugely thanked) to make a donation at: https://frocktober.everydayhero.com/au/lisa