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Okay, I’ll level with you. My sister’s wedding is officially 18 days away and while I’ve certainty talked a lot about performing a speech… it may or may not actually be written yet.Unlike the Best Man or Father of the Groom, the Maid of Honour speech is a relatively new addition to the wedding speech line up, meaning that unlike the best man or father of the groom speeches, it’s without a set traditional structure or role. However with a little preparation and some solid one liners, you can give that best man, or father of the groom a run for his money!

Tip #1 Introduce yourself

While it may seem pretty obvious that you are the brides best friend or sister, you would be surprised how many plus ones, extended family members or parent’s friends will be attending, and totally unaware of your connection to the bride. So give your audience a little context by introducing yourself, and a brief story of how you know the bride.

Tip #2 Tell a story about the…

While it seems simple, choosing the perfect wedding palette is far more complex than picking your two favourite colours and calling it a day. The endless rules and techniques about shades and hues are overwhelming at the best of times, so we’ve put together a list of the 10 most common colour mistakes, and how you can avoid them. 

Mistake #1 Too many colours

Like a kid in a candy store, it’s easy to get excited about all the different colours and palettes you can choose for a wedding. The key here is to keep it simple. With a mix of 2-4 colours, you’ll keep your wedding décor cohesive, making it look polished and classy.

Mistake #2 Staying Strict

While you don’t want your wedding looking like a mismatched rainbow, it’s also important not to fall too strictly into two exact colours and shades. To avoid this, palettes will often include a neutral complementary colour like cream or tan, as well as playing on lighter or darker shades of the primary colours. For…

Let’s face it, social media has changed life as we know it, and weddings are no exception. While some customs like chapel weddings, lace garters and even white wedding dresses are on the way out, there are still some traditions that are key for a classy modern wedding. So here are five top etiquette tips every millennial bride should know.

1Gran before the Gram

The proposal, the ring, the emotions, it’s easy to get swept up in the moment and like us millennials do with most things, celebrate the event with our online friends. While a social media announcement (or hint) is always the most efficient and dramatic way of breaking the news, it’s certainly not the most personal. So before you get posting, snapping or gramming, make sure that the important family and friends hear the news first, face to face or by phone call. Your tech-clueless grandma will appreciate it, I promise.

2It’s Complicated

Much like changing passports or bank statements, the updating of your…

It’s no mystery that weddings are expensive. In fact, the average wedding costs around $30,000. Although most of us wish we could spare no expense on the happiest day of our lives, it’s just not always a reality. So, the question is, how do you achieve a DIY, budget-friendly wedding that is still the wedding of your dreams? Let’s dive into the basics of what you need to know in order to do this at a fraction of the traditional wedding price.

Venue

This will often vary wildly depending on where you live, but if your perfect wedding involves an outdoor ceremony, check with local parks, beaches, and recreation areas to see if a wedding ceremony is allowed. It may be a matter of paying a small fee for a permit to use the space. This could potentially save heaps compared to a fancy venue.Do you know a friend or family member with a house or bach in that perfect seaside or rural setting? Organise a less formal wedding in that space instead of a commercial wedding venue.…

The wedding day is fast approaching and you’re feeling the pressure of all those last-minute jobs. With all the chores you have to take care of, you’re worried that you’ll arrive at the wedding venue or hotel missing something important.A wedding day survival kit solves this problem. Your wedding day survival kit contains all those little things you need, as well as all the emergency items you or your bridal party MIGHT need. Prepare your survival kit in advance, and simply pick up the bag when you’re ready to go.Some brides and bridesmaids even get creative and make gorgeous bags, boxes and containers to store their wedding day survival kits. Take a look at some wedding day survival kits on Pinterest.

So what should go in your wedding-day survival kit? Here are some ideas:

Wedding shoes, garter, veil and jewellery – and any other bedazzling accessories you need that could get forgotten. Tissues – lots of tissues. I guarantee at least one person in the bridal…

Wedding Shows are held every year throughout New Zealand (Use our handy wedding show calendar to see when a show next hits your town). They are a great way to learn about different vendors in your area, as well as gather together ideas and inspiration for your wedding. It’s a wonderful experience – you’re able to touch and smell and taste products that you can only imagine from images online.But wedding shows can also be daunting and stressful. All those couples desperate to talk to the vendors means it can sometimes be difficult to get your questions answered. It can also be hard to stay on task when you’re distracted by so many pretty, shiny things!But don’t worry, we’ve compiled the ultimate Wedding Show Survival Guide, to help you stay focused and get the most out of wedding shows.

1. Choose the right wedding show

It might surprise you to know that wedding shows have specific markets. Usually they are geographic (brides in Rotorua, etc) but in the larger centres…

The tradition of a bride carrying a bouquet of flowers on her wedding day has a very surprising origin. During the medieval period, where the plague claimed many lives, brides would carry a bouquet of garlic and dill on their wedding day. These herbs were thought to ward off plague.The tradition continued and, as the threat of plague diminished, brides began to add their favourite herbs and flowers to their bouquets – after all, you don’t want garlic breath on your wedding day!Although many brides still attach importance to carrying a flower bouquet down the aisle, you might like to carry something a little different. Here are some ideas for bouquet alternatives.

Craft Bouquets

You can make a bouquet out of practically anything – buttons and felt, feathers, beads, shells, origami, even candy. A crafted bouquet could match your wedding theme – for example, a shell bouquet for a beach wedding – and has the added bonus of lasting forever (well, except a candy…