As fast as July came and went, so did Christchurch Wedding’s first-ever community event! With the insanely talented line up of 18 contributing vendors, we entered the Backstage Social Club on Friday morning and with lead stylist Lucy Chappell of Bleu studio on board, transformed its historic, yet modern industrial bones over one day into a space Canterbury has not ever witnessed before to showcase an Open Day concept that the region has never laid its eyes on - A venue fully set up for the real, live wedding reception that was to follow that same afternoon for the ultimate wedding inspiration experience.

We’ve seen what I often reference as the ‘traditional Canterbury wedding’ and as much as I try my best to avoid speaking it, the word ‘rustic’ tends to sum it up. I’m combining my planning wish list with my craziest creative styling dreams for today’s little journal and sharing with you some of the things I’m literally waiting on the edge of my seat to see play out in the realm of real weddings.

Hey Bride Babe, 

I hear you’re something along the lines of a self confessed ‘control freak’ and that it’s making you a little heavy hearted about your wedding day. Am I right? Well, I’ve been there. That was me three years ago and I’m not about to let you take the same downfall!

While you wouldn’t whip it out mid-ceremony (get your mind out the gutter), phones can play a huge part in a wedding day! Let’s talk music for instance, and my hot tips when you combine a bit of modern tech with some sweet sweet sound. 

I love a good date night and better yet - one I don’t have to organise (I know you’re with me!). Today I wanted to share with you some of my favourite local haunts where you can find me enjoying a meal, a coffee or a drink (read: drannnks) with my other half, my girlfriends or just a big group of us on a night out! After all, dates don’t just have to be reserved for our partners. 

One of those lightbulb moments struck me last week and I really don’t know why it took me so long. The most common question I get asked about wedding venues is if I have a list of venues around Christchurch and Canterbury? Well, in short, the answer is yes.

With a brand spanking refresh to her directory listing it was time we put the incredible Tegan Clark of <insert name here> photography in the hot seat and got to know her a bit better. These interviews are one of my favourite things to do with any vendor that you are likely to spend a massive chunk of your wedding day with and at the top of those lists are always photographers! So, without further ado, here is a little insight into Tegan and how she spins!

In this online world, we have information literally thrown at us from all angles, every single day and it’s brought up what I think is a really vital conversation - What is your ‘Why’ in this virtual space that can so deeply affect your real, daily life? I thought it would be the perfect chance to take a break from ‘How to plan your wedding 101’ blog posts and just strip things back a bit to show you what my ‘Why’ is and ultimately how I hope to help you when it comes to bringing together one of the most important days of your lives - Your wedding.

Choosing your wedding songs can be one of the longest, most drawn out processes to settle on your perfect few tunes! I’ve put my fingers to the keyboard with the only advice you will need to simplify your decision making and have thrown in some of my favourite country bangers to get that mind ticking!