I Do Events Whitsundays

When thinking of wedding traditions, what’s the first thing that comes to mind for you? For me, it’s “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” Even if you don’t consider yourself traditional, you’ve probably considered following this tradition and it is one of the most widely recognised and most popular wedding traditions.
The four elements are said to bring different positive aspects to the marriage.

Something Old

What it represents: continuity and a link to the bride’s past and family.
Traditional: many brides choose to wear a piece of antique family jewellery or a mother’s or grandmother’s wedding gown. Other idea is to incorporate e a piece of your mother’s or grandmother’s wedding gown or veil, such as a piece of lace, or some of the original beading. Ask us about vintage table décor ideas.

Something New

What it represents: optimism and hope for a long and happy marriage with a bright future.
Traditional: the wedding gown is often chosen as the new item, but jewellery or a purse is also a fun way to have something new. New things could also be the flowers or the rings.

Something Borrowed

What it represents: to remind the bride that friends and family will be there for her when help is needed. Borrowing an item from a happily married woman is considered important, as it symbolises sharing some of the happiness from the friend’s own happy marriage. Of course, whatever you borrow, must be returned after the wedding!
Traditional: the borrowed object might be something such as a lace handkerchief or a piece of jewellery.

Something Blue

What it represents: blue is the ancient colour representing faithfulness, loyalty and purity.
Traditional: brides often opt for a blue garter. If you don’t want to wear a garter, you could put a blue pin in your hair, wear blue earrings, blue shoes or toenail polish, choose underwear with a hint of blue on them, or have your bridesmaids wear blue! We have so many wedding décor items in blue to choose from!

What other ideas can we add to the list above? How can you follow this tradition but in an unconventional way? We look forward to hearing your thoughts! Please share with us in the comments below.

Eco weddings: can your dream wedding be an eco wedding?

Being concerned about the environment is part and parcel of life in the 21st century. A wedding is a huge event, and there are lots of things you can do to make your wedding day eco-friendly, without compromising on style or quality.

There are so many little ways you can make a difference, and here are just some of the myriad ideas out there to offset the carbon footprint of your wedding…

• If you’re flying here for the wedding, purchase carbon offset for all your flights and encourage your guests to do the same

• Send your invitations out online and encourage RSVPs the same way

• Reduce the need for printing and paper by having shared table menus and a table seating plan but no name cards – guests can be directed to their tables and select their own seats.

• Buy a second-hand or vintage dress. It’s been made once, but rarely do they get worn more than once! Find a gorgeous dress and have it tailored to suit, it’s not only eco-friendly but will save you money too and it’s so chic right now.

• Organise a bus to transport all of your guests from their hotels to the ceremony and the reception in one vehicle to reduce emissions, they’ll also appreciate thesocial atmosphere on board.

• Remove the need for transport altogether by choosing a venue that can host both your ceremony and reception, and accommodate your guests as well! Have a look at Hamilton Island, or Déjà Vu on Water’s Edge as a fabulous wedding venue with accommodation.

• Choose simple, elegant, fold-out chairs for your ceremony, instead of chair covers and wraps to save on laundering

• Choose all local suppliers, eg. Celebrants, photographers, florists, it will save significant travel miles. Find local Whitsunday wedding suppliers at www.weddingswhitsundays.com

• Have your ceremony and reception outside in daylight, it’s the cheapest form of lighting! For energy-efficient night-time lighting, have your wedding by candlelight, and/or opt for energy-efficient fairy lights.

• Choose local flowers for your bouquet and decorations, not only is it helping to reduce transport costs, it will also suit a wedding in the tropics perfectly to choose locally grown blooms. Speak to a local florist about what will best suit your theme

• Steer away from disposable items such as balloons, streamers, straws, paper serviettes or decorations.

• Rice or confetti can endanger local birds and wildlife if used as a throw at the ceremony. Have rose petals instead, they’re bio-degradable and beautiful at the same time.

• Have a Whitsunday honeymoon! You won’t need to fly to your destination, saving further carbon emissions. There are some beautiful environmentally conscious resorts on the islands, in Airlie Beach or have a honeymoon on the water by chartering a yacht, or experiencing Reefsleep.

Of course, if you’ve always dreamt of a honeymoon overseas, don’t stress too much about it. It’s your special time after all. The environment, and your guests, will appreciate all the little touches you are doing to make your wedding more eco-friendly. Imagine the impact if everyone took on just a handful of these little things each!

Here’s our challenge to you: can you incorporate at least 3 of these eco-friendly ideas into your wedding?

We welcome your thoughts, so if you have more ideas you think we could add to the above list, please leave a comment below.

Wedding Receptions at Deja vu on Waters Edge, from $42.50pp!

Boasting stunning aquamarine waters and lush tropical greenery, the Whitsundays is the perfect destination to accommodate your wedding, and by popular demand the beautiful Deja vu on Waters Edge (Resort) has opened its doors for weddings and receptions to be held at their stunning venue.

Can you imagine anything more divine for your Wedding Ceremony than exchanging vows beneath the elegantly decorated Bali Hut, overlooking the phenomenal water and island views of the Whitsundays.

Located along Airlie’s famous luxury hillside accommodation strip in the centre of town, Waters Edge Resort’s unique ocean-view setting and Déjà vu Restaurant’s elegant poolside reception venue are superbly complemented with delicious cocktail or seated menus, ensuring a memorable occasion. ‘Déjà vu is amongst the more prestige restaurants in the Whitsundays and boasts French owner/chef Patrice, who is locally renowned for his mouth-watering dishes’ says Wedding Coordinator Vanessa Bye from I Do Events Whitsundays ‘and with the owner-operated team the service is personable and absolutely impeccable’.

This boutique restaurant is intimate yet affordable, with options to cater a beautiful Wedding Reception either indoors, or Alfresco overlooking the beautiful Whitsundays and Coral Sea.

 Planning a wedding on a budget? Yes it is possible to still have your dream wedding, with all the trimmings,  AND keep within your budget! The trick is working out which areas you are happy to compromise on. Here are a few handy ideas:

- Keep the bar tab to simple beer, wine and soft drinks. Guests may purchase their own spirits, cocktails etc

- Serve dessert instead of wedding cake. Perhaps the chef could do a display of mini desserts on a cake stand?

- Rather than book a band or DJ, consider hiring a professional speaker system instead – you can then plug your IPod in for plenty of your favourite music, at a minimal cost

- Select small bouquets for the bridesmaids OR wrist corsages AND/OR parasols instead of bouquets - which look fabulous in photos!

- Do you have any family or friends who can assist with the bridesmaids hair & make-up? (Sometimes the bridesmaids pay for this element themselves) Or with any other elements? This is always a great way to include friends/relatives in the wedding too

- For your photo tour transport you could simply take a private car of your own or one of your friends’

Think about which areas are the most important to you, those which you don’t want to scrimp on – perhaps your dress, or the venue – and for the other areas, try to be as flexible as possible.

Remember, it will all come together on the day – so relax, and enjoy your planning!!

There are many aspects to consider when planning your dream destination wedding and it can easily become overwhelming! Therefore we’d like to offer up our top tips of things to consider:

* Tip #1: Research the climate patterns of the area/venue that you are considering holding your wedding at to ensure you plan for the best time of year, taking into consideration temperature, expected rainfall etc – particularly in tropical locations like the Whitsundays!

 *Tip #2: If you are holding your ceremony on a beach or near the ocean, check in advance for tide times. Even the most picturesque Whitsunday locations can lose a little of their magic should the tide be way, way out ! Alternatively other locations are improved by the look of low tide waters in the background, as high tide can cover up a lot of that gorgeous white sand, so we’d definitely recommend discussing this with your venue when choosing what time of day to hold your ceremony.

* Tip #3: Be realistic when selecting your guest list or you may be surprised when every single person you invited accepts! Guest numbers for a destination wedding are often higher than expected, as many people relish the opportunity to combine a celebration with a fantastic getaway – who wouldn’t??!! –  and couples can often find they’d underestimated how many people would actually accept. We’d recommend allowing for 90% of your invited guests to accept your invitation when intitially planning your budget, meals, table layout etc, and then planning a “back up list” of extended family/friends you may wish to invite should your expected numbers drop after the first round of invitations are responded to.