Blinging up the Shoes.



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I bought my fab purple suede peeptoes from Nine west a while a go, these are my indoor, not freezing my feet off shoes. You can read about that in my post about "The Other Shoes" if you like. As a quick reminder they look like this:


Fabulous as they are I really wanted a bit of sparkle, so I searched everywhere locally to try and find some shoe clips and came up with only a couple of options, which frankly looked like the toy clip on earrings I had in my dress up box when I was a kid. So I went on Etsy and found a whole bunch of options. I ended up getting mine from Parisxox they were a bit more expensive but they looked the nicest.

 
I will after the wedding show you what they look like on the shoes. They look lovely if I do say so myself! :) But we can't give everything away can we!

Mandy

Making DIY Snowglobes



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I am currently investigating decorations for the wedding, I briefly thought about paying someone but decided that it was way too expensive and also...I am pretty fussy I don't think I could leave it to the whims of someone else.

In case you don't read all my blog posts my wedding colours have been decided as Plum, White and a bit of silver. Knowing this makes my life a million times easier!

I pretty much just google imaged decorations, as well as searched on Pinterest and also Etsy for ideas. But I fell in love with these little DIY Snowglobes.


My wedding DIY Attempts #1



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It has been a while since I wrote a post, simply because nothing new has happened. I have however been busily search the internet for decoration ideas. I do enjoy a bit of arts and crafts so I have been playing around with some DIY efforts, nothing is quite there yet, but there is still time...





The Other Shoes



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Previously on Bows and Bats I wrote about Finding your cinderella shoes, my ongoing search for warm winter boots for the snow. I did find the ones for me, all the way from the USA, the Joan of the Artic Boot by Sorel.

These boots are amazing, so incredibly warm, and I can wear the the rest of the time I am in Canada! But I realised, these will be a bit too warm for while we are inside the beautiful Fairmont Hotel in Banff, so I needed a pair of normal shoes that I could switch back into after being outside.

The other shoes.
I decided I didn't want white shoes, I will never wear them again and I kind of think they are boring. So I went on the look out for a nice coloured pair. I decided on a purple/plum colour to match my sisters Bridesmaid dress. My requirements were:

  • Nothing too ridiculously high (i.e. nothing over 3 1/2 inches, preferably less). 
  • Peeptoe
  • Closed back and sides
  • Suede

I really wanted suede shoes, to me it felt more wintery and warm! I first looked on Shoes of Prey and although they are an excellent option, they did not have the colour fabric that I was after.

My next stop was the everyday shoe store, luckily for me Plum was in for winter so I had a few options! I ended up looking at every shoe store I could think of including: Betts, Style Trend, Iconic, Novo, Zomp, Hobbs, Marie Claire Shoes, Van Gogh Shoes, Wittner, Zu, David Jones, Myer. The list went on and nothing! I found nothing. It was pretty annoying. Then I found them at Nine West.


These are called Danee, they are perfect, they are suede, they are peeptoes, they are closed at the back and sides. They are just over 3 1/2 inches but, they are actually really comfy, the platform on the toe makes a huge difference.

Plus, for an added bonus they were on sale at the outlet store near my work, AND they had a further 25% off, so I ended up getting them for $50.

I do think I will buy a pretty shoe clip to glitz them up again, but that is another post, after my long search on Etsy! But what I love about these shoes is that it isn't a one off never wear again deal. I can wear these all the time after the wedding.

Remember, not everything has to be white, and investing lots of money in things you will only wear once not a great investment! Plus, coloured shoes look WAY better in photos!

Warmth for the Wedding



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Alas it has been a while since I updated the Mandy and Ray wedding blog! But as of late I had nothing to report.

I recently made some progress, and soon I shall share some arts and crafts work I have been doing, however for the time being I will share with you my fabulous jacket!

So my last blog posts about jackets I noted how difficult it was finding something to wear over my dress in "The Winter Wedding Jacket conundrum". So I tried a bunch of white jackets, some pink ones and they were not really what I was after. I decided white dress, white snow, probably too much white and that I needed something that would look snazzy in the snow.

Introducing The Lonely Heart Jacket from Alannah Hill (which I bought on sale, score!). In hindsight the name is probably a bit unfortunate but at least I can turn a lonely heart into a loved one right!?

The Lonely Heart

In case you hadn't figured out I love Alannah Hill! It is beautiful with its bows, and beads, alas no bats but no one is perfect right!

On a side note, I am considering buying these "Scouting for Boys" matching gloves and scarf to go with the jacket because the sleeves don't quite come down to my wrists. Unfortunately these are not yet on sale, so I might hold off and wait and see.



Also because I get cold ears, earmuffs are a must, but like jackets I have found that earmuffs are tricky to come by especially in specific colours. But thanks to the internet I have earmuffs like these below, and at a low low price of $5. Nice.



Just in case you had not figured it out, my wedding colours are a plum/purple colour. 

Can't wait for the wedding.

Mandy

The ultimate Batman wedding



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I recently wrote a blog post about wanting to include Batman in my wedding and in response I was sent the most amazing wedding photo album ever. You can check it out on the Tech Blog website.

In case you don't want to check out all 30 photos here are my favs!

I really loved this photo, I'm definitely hoping to get a photo with my Batman utility belt on!

I really want to make this photo happen for me.
 I know I wont have the awesome city skyline, but I just love the utility belt, gloves and mask! Genius!

The Winter Wedding Jacket Conundrum



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With the wedding approaching fast and the winter upon us (in Australia), I have continued my ongoing search for a jacket to wear in the snow!

There are a few options available, from wraps, capes, coats etc. Below are the best options for winter weddings, and I have also tried to list some actual purchasing options.

The fur wrap/shrug option


Mission: Find a way to feature Batman in my wedding



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I love Batman, he is absolutely my all time favourite super hero. 

If you haven't read my post about why my blog is called Bows and Bats I suggest you do so and then you can see the many ways in which I try to weave Batman themed items into my every day fashion choices.

Otherwise, if you too love Batman and have been wondering, "How can I have Batman stuff at my wedding" read on because I have found some fantastic items that will not interfere with your chosen wedding style.

If you refer to the image on the left, this is the ultimate in Batman themed weddings. The theme is called Gotham Nights, and is a classy attempt at having the Dark Knight feature in your wedding. I found this on Pinterest while search for Batman Weddings (don't you just love the internet). As much as I love this, I think i'd still like a white wedding, so maybe i'll save that for my 30th birthday instead.

Besides, if Bruce Wayne was getting married he wouldn't dare have such a blatantly obvious Batman wedding.

Finding your Cinderella Shoes..for the winter.



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When Ray and I decided to get married in Canada during winter the first thing that I thought of was "what shoes am I going to wear?". I had seen a lot of really cute photos online of winter brides wearing snow boots on their wedding day, and loving boots like I do, that was definitely the option for me. 

So I set forth trying to find some nice snow boots, and realized early on that I would have to buy online, you just can’t buy pretty snow boots in Perth. Sure you could buy something practical, but no one wants ugly shoes on their wedding day.

Making the Invitations



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I have seen some amazing wedding invitations some simple, some pretty extravagant. But because Ray and I are having a small wedding I didn't want to spend hours making wedding invites. I simply didn't think it was worth it as everyone who we would send them too already knew anyway.

Well, that is what I thought I was going to do, and so I proceeded to make the most simple invitations ever. A picture of Banff Springs Hotel in black and white with a fancy font. Done.

Why is my wedding blog called Bows and Bats?



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I have had some people ask me why I called my wedding blog Bows and Bats. "That is not very wedding-ish", they say. The answer to this question is realy simple.

I didn't call my wedding blog Bows and Bats. I made this blog to transfer these articles from my other blog:
As it turned out I started writing about my wedding and it just turned into a Wedding blog. I decided it wasn't worth creating a new one because I do love Bows, and Batman is awesome. Hopefully both will feature at my wedding in some way (Ray, I promise the Batman reference will be subtle...maybe some leggings under my dress!)

So there you have it folks! Why is my blog called Bows and Bats...? 

Because Batman is awesome.

Quick Post: The Wedding Band



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I was checking out BHDLN, as I often do, and they had a lovely post on The history of the wedding band. I really enjoyed the read, it was pretty interesting. There was one part that I thought was particularly lovely and thought I would share:
Medieval Europe predominantly exchanged gold bands, and often with gemstones in them: rubies for love, sapphires for the sky and eternity and diamonds for a love that's indestructible. 


Make sure you check out the full post by BHDLN.

Finding Inspiration



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I've been looking at wedding things for over 2 years now, basically since my sister got Engaged, so I have seen a lot of different wedding themes and ideas. One of the things that struck me the most was how important it is to pick a theme that works with your wedding location.

My favourite places to look for things at the moment are Pinterest, BHDLN and Etsy.

Pinterest is pretty awesome because other people practically do all the work for you! This is my Pinterest board. It is great because you can invite your bridesmaids and anyone else you want help from, and just Pin things you see that you like for later.


Finding the right Photographer



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Finding a good photographer was really important for us. We chose Canada and the snow because it was different and beautiful. We wanted to be able to capture that, as well as our special day.

I imagined finding the right photographer would be really difficult, and one of the hardest decisions to make. Especially considering we couldn't actually talk or meet anyone. But it was one of the easiest decisions we had to make, and it was one of the first decisions we made (after picking a region of Canada of course). In fact, we had decided on using Kirstie from Orange Girl even before we had decided on a venue.

Orange Girl - Emerald Lake Inspirational Shoot










The wedding hand-me-downs



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A lot of people get hung up on their siblings getting married before them.

Personally I don't see an issue with it at all, in fact I think it is better! My sister recently got married (it was lovely). As a result I have benefited in a lot of ways! I learnt a lot from her wedding, the planning and also managed to inherit some things that will make my life easier in the process.




Banff Wedding Venues List - Winter



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These were my favourite venues from Banff region in Canada (No particular order):

The Fairmont Banff Springs
Known as the "Castle in the Rockies" The Fairmont Banff Springs is located in Banff National Park.

This place looks amazing in the winter, it looks phenomenal outside and inside and they have a variety of room options for small to large weddings. I also found their prices to be fairly reasonable.


Choosing a Winter Destination



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Previously on Mandy's Bows and Bats Wedding Saga:
Dress has been purchased
Country of Wedding has been decided

Ray and I decided on Canada for our wedding because a) we have never been there; b) There is snow there.

What this means is, we had absolutely no idea where, in the massive country of Canada, our wedding would be.  Thankfully I have a sister who is a travel agent and a mother who likes to travel and keep brochures. So initially my sister sent me in the direction of Lake Louise, specifically The Fairmont Chateau:

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise


The eBay Dress



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The wedding dress can be the most important part for a woman on her wedding day. I wouldn't say it was the most important part for me, but I did have something in my mind. (This isn't it!)

Pronovias - Ulmen (This isnt my dress)

Winter Wedding Plan: The Intro



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The weather here in Perth I must say, is pretty spectacular, even in winter we get blue skies, a warm sun. You would be hard pressed to find somewhere as spectacular as Perth as far as weather goes.

With such beautiful weather here, weddings generally work out to be pretty spectacular...that is if your into that kind of thing.

Smiths Beach Resort - Yallingup

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