Flashmob

Flashmob from elsieandjoan on Vimeo.

I love a flashmob*. I love everything about them. The dancing, the music, the secret planning. I love that a seemingly ordinary moment turns into a few minutes of pure joy and celebration for those people who are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to experience it. There's not enough joy for the sake of joy in this world. I. Love. Flashmobs.

I have aspirations of being in a flashmob one day. But I think the only thing better than being in a flashmob, is one that's done in your honour.

Which is what happened to me. 

And, Oprah. We're totally kindred now.

I have such amazing friends and family. I'm still floored by the thought and effort that went into this and I will honestly treasure it forever. I've watched it a hundred times already, my cheeks are sore from all the smiling.

If you're wondering about the backstory, I wrote about my flashmob story here.

Otherwise, settle in and enjoy a few minutes of joy, just for the sake of it.

Belinda x

* The term 'flashmob' is used to describe a movement where groups of people gather for spontaneous public performances at pre-planned locations. Sometimes their intention is to bring awareness to a cause or they may have commercial links. But many are just to surprise an unsuspecting public.

Hello May feature

Back in 2009, Rich decided to put a ring on it. And like many in that situation, I buried myself in inspiration and spent a small fortune on wedding magazines. I have to admit though, I found so many of the magazines to be rather impersonal and cookie cutter. 

Hello May is a wedding magazine, blog and directory in Australia that brings a real and personalised element to the weddings and the vendors they feature. It's such a refreshing approach.

We were absolutely thrilled to discover that our wedding party photos were recently featured in the Hello May wedding blog. You can find the feature here.

This was thanks to our photographer, Claire Connell who also posted some photos on her website if you're interested in seeing even more photos of our day. I'm still floored at how she captured the magic. I wholeheartedly recommend Claire if ever you are looking for a photographer for events or family shoots. Lady has a gift.

Belinda x

Our wedding story

On 19th September 2010, Richard and I were married. To the incredible sounds of a local Fijian village choir, we met each other under a white cabana thoughtfully laden with palms and birds of paradise. We stood hand in hand, on a traditional Tapa cloth laid delicately down on the white sand.

It was just him and me. We made our vows to one another, in the presence of the ocean, the earth, the sun and the wind. It was powerful, simple, beautiful and I've never felt so completely at peace and happy.

We made the decision to elope. It was personal and perfect but we also made a promise to share the celebration with our family and friends. Almost two and a half years later, we delivered on that promise and held a laid back party filled with pure joy and our loved ones.

Waiting this long, meant amongst other things, that we were in a better position financially to put on the party we wanted. And, The Little One would be old enough to play an integral part and always remember the special day we made our promises to her as parents.

We wanted a relaxed picnic style event, in a rustic setting, with great music, amazing food and lots of fun. It was not a wedding do-over, it was to be a continuation of our perfect day in Fiji.

We had a very clear vision of what we wanted, but lacked the time to execute. So we hired planners and shared our brief: a natural, home-style, old-fashioned, informal family gathering. They earned their stripes right away by finding our perfect venue. The gorgeous, rustic, truly special Sunnybrook Barn located on an incredible property owned by the Sydney Polo Club . Nestled beside the Hawkesbury River and the foot of the Blue Mountains. We envisaged everyone kicking off their shoes and sprawling out on picnic blankets, hay bales and chairs on the grassy lawn beside the barn, sipping cider and eating cake in the warm Autumn sun.

Of course, we planned every last detail, but the one thing we couldn't plan for was the weather. It rained and rained and rained for the whole week prior to the party, so by the time the weekend rolled by the Barn was practically floating on a sodden lawn.

The team at Sydney Polo Club were very accommodating and offered us the use of another barn that they had on the property - who else has a spare barn, I mean really?!! The Polo Barn was larger, incredibly grand, less rustic than our beloved Sunnybrook barn. It didn't quite 'fit the brief' but it meant our guests would stay dry. After a last minute call with our event planners the night before (!) we made a flurry of changes to our styling plan in order to move our picnic style event indoors. We fit everything into the new floor plan and set the few tables we had with picnic blankets as the tablecloths, picnic baskets as table centrepieces, we set up cosy corners with cushions and hay bales. It all came together beautifully. I was amazed and SO relieved. Crisis averted!

On the day, we arrived before our guests to ensure all of our changes were on track and to snap a few quiet photos. When it was time to wander over and greet our guests the first thing that struck me were all the kids running around. A third of the guests were children and they really made it the joyous, family oriented day we were hoping for.

Under a garden pavilion, guided by our dear friend and talented celebrant Kirsten Carter, Rich and I looked at each other and shared words of love and gratitude. As we made our promises to The Little One, we hung the most beautiful keepsake locket around her neck. Family photos inside and engraved on the back a favourite quote from A. A. Milne; 

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think". 

I will never forget the look of pride on her face in that moment, it makes me teary even now.

The party was so much fun! Incredible food, a kids tee-pee / games zone, an old school photo booth and an ah-mazing New Orleans style band all made for a perfect afternoon.

I am SO excited to share the photos of the day. It surpassed all of our expectations and was so wonderfully special. Plus! We were blessed to have the amazingly talented Claire Connell to capture the day for us. I'm sure most of you reading will know of Claire and her blog, One Claire Day. I've long been in awe of the images Claire can create, they are always so beautiful and have such an effortless and natural feeling to them. After chatting on email and skype before the day, I knew she was a perfect match for us and I trusted her completely.

It took me a LONG time to choose photos for this post. I think perhaps there's still too many for a single blog post, but I hope you'll understand my indulgence!

Special thanks to my brother Brett who beautifully interpreted for my parents, aunt and uncle.

We were lucky to have the most incredible team of people that helped make the day so unforgettable. Every single element was perfect.

Photography by Claire Connell Photography
Civil celebrant Kirsten Carter
Cakes by Simple Ingredients, plus my Mum's famous chilled Lemon cheesecake.
Catering by CM Catering
Photobooth by The Original Photo Co
Flowers by Alex Davy Flowers
Music by Geoff Bull and the Finer Cuts
Event planners Fusion Weddings
Flower girl dress handmade by Olive & Fern 

Belinda x

PS. If you are receiving my posts via email, I'm so sorry about the formatting. It's only just come to my attention that my posts and particularly the formatting of pictures via email don't look the way they do on the blog or on mobile readers. This post via email would have been a nightmare. This bothers me, alot! I'm currently looking into it. Don't forget you can follow Elsie and Joan via Blogger or Bloglovin or find me on Facebook to receive updates.