When we were planning our wedding, we set out to add as many personal touches to the day as possible which, in the era of Pinterest and Instagram, wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be! There were millions of ideas at our fingertips but not all of them a) seemed very ‘us’ or b) were all that original.
Backtrack to November 2019; Andy and I flew to NSW for my friend Claire’s wedding to her fiance Chris. I knew the bride and her maid of honour, Andy didn’t know anyone! We had such an awesome night meeting new people and chatting away. One thing that really helped was that when we got to our table, sitting on all of our plates was a photo. A polaroid-sized snapshot of a memory with the bride or groom (or both!) or a photo swiped from a social media account. It was more than a place card, it was an instant ice-breaker and a talking point with the people around us as we all compared photos and explained when they were taken. It was genius.
So we stole the idea.
We gathered photos of all our guests from our cameras, phones, laptops, social media and then ordered polaroid sized prints from Poster Candy. I take so many photos all the time that I only had to source a few from Facebook- finally my excessive snapping pays off!
It was so much fun finding the photos and deciding if I should pick the nice vacation snap or the photo from a white trash costume party (the costume party always won).
I wish I could have been there to see everyone’s reactions to the photos we selected, thankfully our wonderful photographer captured some of these sweet moments:
So many people mentioned that they loved the idea. Andy’s aunt said to me “it showed that you had taken a moment to think of each one of us and how to make us feel special”. I love that, it’s very true.
You could use photo place cards at any event, not just a wedding. Maybe I’ll do them again for an over-the-top dinner party once social distancing is a thing of the past.
We had a seating chart but it was totally redundant as people seemed to prefer wandering around looking at the photos. A huge thank you to the team of family and friends that set this up on the day.
More wedding DIYs to come! All photos by Kyra Boyer Photography.
Lockdown 2.0
Hello there. How are you going?
We are three weeks into what is meant to be a six-week lockdown. But the way our numbers are going, many people are sure it will be extended. It’s such a bizarre period of time. So even though the blog is almost dormant, I thought it was a good idea to record what it’s like at the moment.
We have four reasons to leave the house: to buy food, to go to the doctor, for daily exercise or to care for others. If you can work from home you must and children up until grades 11 and 12 are being home-schooled.
Andy and I are working from home and have done since returning from our Honeymoon in March. My last day in the office was February 22. I’m starting to forget what it’s like to get a packed train into the city, to walk into a busy office, to duck up the street to grab a morning coffee.
A live daily update
Our Premier Dan Andrews speaks to media every day around 11am and we all hold our collective breath to hear the daily COVID cases tally. The numbers are the topic of conversation everywhere; on our work Zoom calls, in WhatsApp group chats, at the dog park and yesterday we passed strangers on the street who overheard our conversation and called out “723 today!” from behind face masks.
Speaking of the dog park, this is easily the highlight of our day. Every evening we gather in a socially distant circle with the other dog owners as our pups play, completely oblivious, in the middle.
This is our state’s second lockdown period and this time around there appears to be less sourdough starter, fewer exercise routines and puzzles and more permission to do nothing. The novelty factor has worn off.
Andy is still diligently baking his sourdough, two loaves a week. New proofing bowls just arrived in the mail. Food is our only source of creativity and excitement at the moment and Andy is absolutely the head chef in our household. We have curry Wednesdays, choc chip cookies for no reason at all, sweet potato gnocchi because I saw a recipe on TikTok, taco Tuesdays and the list goes on.
The mandatory face mask rule has been in place for over a week now and it’s extraordinarily rare to see someone without one. There’s the odd person who appears on social media ranting and raving about their personal freedom and most of us just roll our eyes and affix our face coverings.
Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore and the Hamilton the musical soundtrack are doing the heavy lifting on my Spotify at the moment. As for TV, Andy and I have almost exhausted the rare inventory of shows we both enjoy which is not ideal! We are currently watching Schitt’s Creek (my third attempt!) and it’s pretty good. We’ve also been watching Frasier and a healthy dose a football every weekend.
I have been reading Lori Gottlieb’s Maybe you should talk to someone for what feels like years. I’m enjoying it so I don’t know why it’s taking me this long. I have so many books on my list that I’m eager to get to.
TikTok remains a constant source of joy in my life. I have to be careful because it’s easy to emerge from a TikTok rabbit hole only to discover hours have passed.
And lastly, Albie continues to be centre stage in our home and lives:
What an angel