Honeymoon Destination of the Month - October

The Wedding Gurus take you on a journey to

PENANG

Not only is Penang renowned for its breathtaking beaches and rainforest landscapes but also for the enjoyment brought to its guests of indulging in food, shopping and nightlife. You will be amazed at what you can find in the quaint little streets of Georgetown and Penang Island whether you are looking for relaxation, fun or adventure.

Destination: Penang

Capital: George Town

Location: West coast of mainland Malaysia

Distance from Australia: Approx 8.5 hours

Average Temperature: Tropical 30°

Recommended Length of Stay: 1 week

Recommended Hotel: Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa – where as a honeymoon couple you may be entitled to complimentary spa treatments, wine, fruit platter & chocolates (subject to change by hotel)

My Top 10 must do’s (Refer to Locations on the Map):

1. Relax by the famous Batu Ferringhi beach.

2. Take a trishaw ride (a small peddle powered vehicle) around the UNESCO world heritage listed “George Town”.

3. Shop at the many day and night markets, especially the famous Batu Ferringhi markets where you will find your fake designer bags/clothes, DVDs and other local handicrafts. Remember to haggle and don’t buy the first thing you see, have a look around as it often can be cheaper a couple of stores down. Along with your markets there are modern shopping plazas also.

4. Visit the array of culturally inspiring Churches, Temples & Mosques.

(Pictured: Buddhist Temple in the Chinese City of Penang – isn’t it stunning!)

5. As the sun set George town comes alive, here you will find pubs and clubs full of live bands, dj’s, karaoke and a lot of fun tourists alike.

6. Relax and be pampered after a days adventure with a traditional massage at one of the beautiful day spas.

7. The Penangites love to eat, be sure to sample many of their delicious Malay, Chinese and Indian dishes either street side or in the restaurants.

8. Visit the snake temples, tropical spice garden (pictured) or butterfly farm.

9. Take a tour of historic sites, villages and plantations.

(Pictured: Porta De Santiago the oldest European architectural remain in Asia)

10. Penang Hill is some 830m above sea level, travel there by train and enjoy a stroll along the canopy trail amongst the rainforest and be amazed by the birdseye view of the island, better yet bask in the romance by staying to watch the sunset.

Special Reccomendation: From Penang I would recommend catching a ferry to my next favourite destination Langkawi which takes approx. 2.5 hours and is the perfect way to complete the Honeymoon of your dreams. You will find the major airlines such as Malaysia Airlines will offer flights from Australia into Penang and out of Langkawi, making them the perfect combination.

Next month I will cover the top ten must do’s in Langkawi so stay tuned!

Happy Travelling!

Yasmin

Blessings for an amazing and beautiful life

Last Saturday I (Susan) attended a beautiful church ceremony of some friends and in all of the weddings that I have attended or officiated, something happened to me for the first time.

I don’t know if it was because the bride was quite young or if her dark hair and features just stirred up something in me, but as she stood at the door of the church and all I could see of her was her dress, she paused for quite a while with her father waiting for her song to begin.

For the guests the pause created an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement and for me I had tears welling up in my eyes when for the first time I was propelled some years into the future and was imagining that this was my own beautiful dark haired daughter.

I thought of her standing there, so beautiful, full of love and looking forward to her amazing future and my heart just filled with emotion and pride. All of a sudden I couldn’t help wondering when I had stopped dreaming of me as the bride up there about to walk in to the ooohing and aaaahing of the crowd (even though I had already been one, do we ever stop dreaming of it?)

Yes, it was definite, I was getting old. No longer dreaming of those moments for myself, but now for my children. For a moment I will admit I felt a bit sad about that, but quickly realised that it was life’s natural and perfect progression that I’d had my turn and now was the opportunity to look forward to theirs. As she walked down the aisle, smile beaming and looking radiant, she held on tightly to her fathers arm. I looked to the front of the church to see her mother, who was looking back at the two of them and sobbing hopelessly! That would be me one day.

I know I have harped on about this before, but looking at her mum, I couldn’t help but hope that when it is my daughter’s turn to walk down that aisle, she asks me to walk her down too. Nothing would make me prouder than to stand beside her on her biggest day and walk her proudly to her groom. Kissing her cheek and giving her my blessings for an amazing and beautiful life.

Susan. xxx

A funny but favourite wedding poem

Just for a bit of fun, I thought I would share with you this cute poem that I really love. I've had a few couples use this in their ceremony and it is always received well by the guests. Having something a little light and funny can often help to make it a little different and therefore memorable to your friends and family. Enjoy!

Yes, I'll Marry You

By Pam Ayres

Yes, I'll marry you, my dear,
And here's the reason why;
So I can push you out of bed
When the baby starts to cry,
And if we hear a knocking
And it's creepy and it's late,
I hand you the torch you see,
And you investigate.

Yes, I'll marry you, my dear,
You may not apprehend it,
But when the tumble-drier goes
It's you that has to mend it,
You have to face the neighbour
Should our labrador attack him,
And if a drunkard fondles me
It's you that has to whack him.

Yes, I'll marry you,
You're virile and you're lean,
My house is like a pigsty
You can help to keep it clean.
That sexy little dinner
Which you served by candlelight,
As I do chipolatas,
You can cook it every night!

It's you who has to work the drill
and put up curtain track,
And when I've got PMT it's you who gets the flak,
I do see great advantages,
But none of them for you,
And so before you see the light,
I do, I do, I do!

Wishing Wells Etiquette

Already got 3 toasters for your engagement? Why not consider using a wishing well for your wedding?

These days many brides & grooms are finding that if they have lived together for some time or have had an engagement party, they already have plenty of everything and have often managed to even accumulate double of some things that then need to be returned or stored in the cupboard for re-gifting (not that we condone that kind of behaviour – lol)

If this sounds like you then the best option is to use a wishing well and a simple, cute, but witty verse offering your guests the opportunity to place a monetary gift into the wishing well rather than buying you a gift.

Now, I know some of you may feel uncomfortable about asking your guests to give you money, but if done properly it can be great not only for you, but also for them so that they are not stuck trying to find something to buy you.

The keys to getting it right are:

1. Make sure it is put in with the invitation so that guests are notified in advance.

2. Be sure to make it sound like it’s their choice, but if they would prefer to give a gift it would be appreciated just as much.

3. Pick a verse for to go with the invitation that you think your guests will appreciate (see our suggestions). If you are a pretty funny couple, and your friends are family are like that also then use a funny verse. If you are more serious types then choose something a bit more straightforward and practical.

4. In some cases it may be useful to provide guests with a small bridal registry at a local store so that they have a choice.

5. Above all – never make a suggestion of how much you would like (I have actually seen someone do this!) it only annoys guests and sends them fleeing to the nearest store to ensure that you are punished with 500 toasters!

Our favourite Wishing Well Verses:

Verse 1:

In our house we have the things
That living together normally brings
Most household items we’ve already bought
And because of this reason we thought
A wishing well would be great
(Only if guests wish to participate)

A gift of money is placed in an envelope
So in the future we hope
To furnish our home to its very best
And always remember it was
due to our guests

Verse 2:

Many of our guests have enquired

For a gift idea to be inspired

Like many young couples today

We have most things anyway

If you would like to give,

it is our request

For something for our treasure chest

A gift of money you can afford

Is just what we need you can be assured

Without the help of this little pun

Our honeymoon would not be much fun.

There are lots of places that have wishing wells for hire at great rates which means that you don’t have to worry about getting or having one made yourself that you are stuck with after. If you live in Adelaide, click on the below links for wishing well hire including the gorgeous pictued well above .

A Moment in Time: Wishing Well Hire


Amies Wishing Well Hire

Cheers

Wedding Gurus

10 Unique Wedding Ideas

At 'The Wedding Gurus' we are always on the look out for other great bloggers who are providing fun, entertaining, new and especially quirky ideas.

Here is a video titled

"10 Unique Wedding Ideas"

from one of our favourite wedding video bloggers at 'Two Heart Birds'

Our favourite idea was using living miniture trees as the bonbonniere gift!

Let us know what your favourite was or have any unique ideas you would like to share.

Let’s Talk Ceremonies

To keep it upbeat and light I thought I would talk about ceremonies in general. Keep in mind that while couples spend months and thousands of dollars on their receptions, they sometimes forget about the ceremony. Of course the party and dancing are wonderful, but don’t forget that what you are there for is to actually commit to one another for life. Your family and guests aren’t just there for the free food and entertainment (although if your family is anything like mine, they may well be), they are there to see you make that commitment to one another. A good ceremony will envoke an emotive response in your guests with laughter, tears and warm memories.

So many clients come to me having absolutely no idea about how to plan their wedding ceremony, what the legal requirements are or how to put together something special and memorable which is what we all want, right?

The first question I usually ask them is “Have you attended many ceremonies before?” Often the answer is no and it is at this point we start with a completely blank canvas and begin to build a fantastic ceremony from scratch. Sometimes though, the answer is yes, so the next question I ask them is “thinking back to those ceremonies, what did you like, what did you dislike and were there any points during the ceremony that you felt like pulling your fingernails out with boredom?”

This is always a great place to start. It’s easy to pick someone elses ceremony to pieces so the best way to make yours great is to analyse those that you yourself have attended. It’s not about being mean, but about recognising what inspires and uplifts you and how you can put some of your own personalities into your big day so that it really reflects who you are as individuals and as a couple.

Once we have established a list of like’s and dislike’s then we are ready to start making some plans. There are so many choices, but the most important thing to establish before proceeding is if you want a more traditional ceremony or something modern and different. If you really want to stick with a traditional format, then there are plenty of things that you can incorporate to make it beautiful and most importantly your own. If you really want something different and modern however, then the world is your oyster so to speak!

There are so many considerations, such as the length of the ceremony, the wording, giving of the bride, readings, vows whether or not to include a ritual and the list goes on……

So what is the order of a ‘usual’ ceremony?

Well it goes something like this, but is open to interpretation:

›  Opening music details:

›  Details of Bridal parties entrance

›  The Welcome - Celebrant usually writes this (just 1-2 lines)

›  Giving of the Bride:  

›  Introduction:   

        

›  1^st Reading:

         To be read by:

›  Celebrant’s Monitum – This is what the Attorney Gen requires the celebrant to
                                       say in order to meet the legal requirements

›  The Asking:

›  The Vows:

›  The Ring Ceremony: 

›  Details of any traditions/rituals/symbolism:

›  2^nd Reading:

          To be read by:

›  Declaration by Celebrant:

›  Signing of Marriage Certificate & Register

›  Presentation of Bride and Groom as Mr & Mrs

›  Any announcements for guests

This is just a guide and as long as all of the legal requirements are met (depending on which country you live in of course) then you can add and remove things to suit your needs.

In future blogs I will address each of these sections individually and in more depth so please post your comments or any questions and I am happy to answer or help in any way.

Susan x

Backup Plans for Outdoor Weddings

So you’ve organised a lavish and beautiful wedding down on the golden sands of an amazing beach where the waves slowly crash to the ground making beautiful sounds perfect for the backdrop of your gorgeous ceremony at the waters edge. Your Bali flags are flapping brilliantly in the subtle wind and your flower laden archway looks like a piece of paradise against the vast water behind it. Doesn’t it sound just perfect?

Well it is until the nasty black cloud hovers overhead and begins to throw nasty big rain drops on your amazingly thought out setting. Yes nature can be very cruel and she doesn’t particularly care about all of the effort you have put in to your special day.

I write this because recently I performed a ceremony for a couple who had organised the perfect ceremony as described and despite my forewarning that sometimes the weather can change and a backup plan is worthwhile, they didn’t have anything in place.

When it began to rain hard about 20 minutes prior to the ceremony, they were forced to make a decision. Postpone the wedding, Wait out the rain or move venues. Given that they had a reception booked and would run out of time, waiting it out was not an option so they decided to do the only thing possible and ended up moving the ceremony to the Bride’s mother’s back garden under her verandah (rainproof of course!)

So I just wanted to remind everyone as we plan through spring which is notoriously windy and very unpredictable, to HAVE A BACKUP PLAN!

Simply ensuring that you have an alternate and suitable indoor venue will ensure that you are not running for the nearest shelter if the unthinkable happens. No one likes to see a soggy or windblown bride!!

Susan x

 

Poems of Love

From The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran:
Love one another,
But make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
Between the shores of your souls
Fill each other’s cup
But drink not from the same cup
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
But let each one of you be alone
Even as the strings of the lute are alone
Though they cjuiver with the same music
Give your hearts,
But not into each other’s keeping
Far only the hand of life
Can contain your hearts
And stand together
Yet not too near together      

For the pillars of the temple stand apart
And the oak tree and the cypress
Grow not in each other’s shadow.

“Taking Time to Love” by Rod McKuen

Taking time to love is what it’s all about

what makes clocks turn and the sunsets come

true and without complication or staying always face to face

It’s meant to cover walking, being apart and knowing

that coming back together makes small distances even smaller

And taking time to love is, most of all, caring enough to

not hold on too tightly and yet not run too loose

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments.

Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:
0, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

“Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea
And what are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

Adapted from I Corinthians 13 on the love you hold as an ideal in your relationship
Love is always patient and kind;
It is never jealous;
Love is never boastful or conceited;
It is never rude or selfish;
It does not take offence,
And it is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure
In other people’s faults
But delights in the truth;
It is always ready to excuse, to trust,
to hope.
It is always ready to endure whatever
comes, and finally,
True love does not come to an end.

“To a Marriage” by Brian Zouch
In your hands you hold the key to life
The key to open up the door of love
The strength to face together joy or strife
And all of human frailties rise above
You take a vow this day to be as one
In all you do — in all that you aspire
And let there be no one beneath the sun
Who’d seek to put asunder your desire,
And let us wish this knot we tie this day
Be firm and strong against the test of time
And let our children’s children say
That all was good and right and fine.
And so in all humility and in this place
We cast your love into the hands of fate

For it is written true that all you face
If faced with love, you’ll triumph and be great.
For greatness lies within the souls of lovers
There is no power can tear it from your grasp
It bonds your hearts as one, to one another’s

As Alpha and Omega —first and last.

So go you forward from this place this day

And as you journey ‘long the road of life

Know that you stand together, come what may
For true love comes just once, not twice, not thrice.

“Learn how to love” adapted from Walter Rinder
Every day you live,
Learn how to love,
Take time with each other,
Restore each other’s soul
With loving words.
Receive love
With as much understanding
As you give it

Find that which is within yourselves

Then you can share it with each other.

Do not fear this love,
And do nor fear this marriage,
But keep open hearts and sincere minds.
Be sincerely interested
in each other’s happiness,
Be, too, constant and consistent in your love,
And in your actions.
From this, as you know, comes security and strength.

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us
So even though .you retain your individuality,
Today in a real sense you also become one
In a true unity
That this may be deep and rewarding,
Today the day of your marriage,
Try to commit yourselves,
Fully and freely, and trustingly
To each other, without reservations.

“How Do I Love Thee” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
1 love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.