WEDDING WEDNESDAY #5: BRIDAL PICTURES - PART TWO

5. engagement/bridal pictures

I had too much fun putting this together. I haven't looked over my wedding photos in forever so it was fun reliving all those wonderful memories. I found it so difficult to pick out a reasonable amount of photos and have gone a little photo crazy, so apologies in advance for stealing all your internet while trying to read this post!

girls getting ready.

{with my sister}

boys getting ready.

{Daniel and his mum}

Wedding Wednesday #5: Engagement/Bridal Pictures - Part One

My wedding wednesday is a day late because I'm having such a great time playing host to my best friend who is visiting from Australia. Regular scheduled posting will be back to normal soon!

5. engagement/bridal pictures

Daniel & I had an engagement photo shoot but unfortunately I don't have any of those pictures on my computer but I did manage to find some pictures of our actual engagement party.

We had a smallish party. We hired out a local hall and got caterers in to do the food. We set out the tables similar to how we ended up having them at the wedding, with a bit of a dance floor. I had such a great time!

{our engagment cake}

{the cookie pops as favours}

Part two with bridal pictures coming soon.

Halloween Mantle Display for Less Than $20

One of my favourite things about America is Halloween. It is the _best_ time of year. The fall colours are ripe all over the trees, pumpkins are everywhere and the cool chill returns to the air giving that spooky feel. But better than that is you get to dress-up in costumes and pretend that things that bump in the night are creeping around.

Yesterday I decided to get in the spirit of things and decorate my mantle with a few bits & bobs. I was inspired after picking up a few things from the thrift store for super cheap! I picked up two jack'o'lanten candle holders for $1.50 each & the ghost candy dish for $1. I picked up two bags of candy corn which cost me $3, and poured them in layers into a vase I already had. I picked up the R.I.P gravestone {$1.99} & the orange lights {$5.99} from Michaels. Oh and the black card {$1.99}, which I made the bats from. Making my halloween display come to a massive $17!

I feel like it is missing something so I'm going to use some more of the black card to make spiders and hang them from the ledge. But overall I'm happy I could create something for less than $20.



I love how it looks, especially at night!

Did you do any decorating for Halloween this year?

Wedding Wednesday #4: The Ring

4. the ring

I never really knew exactly what kind of engagement ring I wanted before I got one. I'd flick through the wedding magazines {yes, I started reading them before I was engaged} and nothing in particular took my fancy. I knew I didn't want a princess cut or anything too over the top.

Daniel picked my engagement ring on his own and he picked wonderfully perfect. It is a .33 carat round solitaire cut diamond. Inside the band it has the words love & passion engraved with the "o" of love as a tiny diamond. I love it so much, it is perfect but most of all I love it because Daniel picked it. ♥

Going Back to College

Today I drove a friend out to Ellensburg for a job fair at the university. While waiting, Marie & I took advantage of the gorgeous afternoon sunlight to try our hand at a little fashion photography to show off our gorgeous new bags. We both got the same bag because it was just so gorgeous, but in different colours. Marie's has a gorgeous purple, red, black theme to it whilst mine has a yellow, red, white theme. And it suits our personalities perfectly! My favourite thing about it all is gorgeous yellow bird singing a song of peace. Beautiful ♥

Mixtape Monday "Give me some Nails" Edition

The other day when Daniel & I were out driving I asked him if he could only pick one band that is still alive/together to see live in concert which band would he pick. He found it a bit of a difficult question because there are just too many awesome bands to choose from.

I gave it some thought and if I could see any band that is still alive/together it would have to be Nine Inch Nails. I LOVE THEM! Listening to their music got me through some pretty tough times. I would jump at the chance to see these guys live in concert. So here I give you a collection of my favourite N.I.N's songs. If you're going to give this playlist a shot {I understand N.I.N's isn't for everyone} I highly recommend some headphones to get the full experience, oh and up loud...of course! Be warned there are some naughty words so if you're sensitive to that kinda thing don't listen to it.

If you could pick any band {currently alive/together} to see in concert who would you pick & why?

Photo Love: Mushroom Hunting

Location: One of the many trails near my apartment

Wedding Wednesday: Number Three

3. the proposal

On Friday 12th January 2007 Daniel proposed to me after 5 1/2 years together.

I came home from work just like any other day. I had caught the bus and walked to my house, Daniel always met me at the bus stop if he was home so we could walk home together. Although this day he told me he wasn't going to and I was kinda annoyed at him, but was immediately thinking something was up.

When I arrived at the front of the door I immediately saw rose petals. I open the front door and stepped inside. Lifehouse's "You & Me" started to play. I could see that all the way into the lounge room was a trail of rose petals. I followed them around and standing there was Daniel surrounded by a circle of rose petals holding a bunch of lillies.

I met him in the middle of the circle and he held my hands. There were a few tears and he spoke some beautiful words to me before handing me the flowers. He then got down on one knee, "Leila will you marry me?" I teared up, nodded and said yes!

We called family & friends and then Daniel told me that we were going out and to be ready in an hour but I wasn't to know where we were going. Shortly after that a limousine pulled up and we went on a romantic ride around the city for an hour.

We pull up in front of this beautiful restaurant that I had always wanted to go to. We had the most romantic dinner, it was really beautiful. We had almost finished dinner when Daniel told me he had another surprise, he had booked a suite at a hotel nearby. So after dinner we walked down to the hotel, hand in hand.

{view from the hotel}

When we arrived at the hotel Daniel brought out a bottle of my favourite champagne - Moet & Chandon and we celebrated! It was the most beautiful wonderful day and we both went to sleep that night feeling like the luckiest people in the world. ♥