the weekend that was

Friday morning I headed out the door and hit the airport for a top secret mission.  You see my cousin was getting married and I decided at the last minute that I couldn't miss it, so I booked a ticket, jumped on a plane and headed to Christchurch to surprise her.

Now I was only going to be in NZ for just over 24 hours, which meant I only had time to catch up with the side of the family that were going to be at the wedding.  Anyho, I emailed my cousin on the other side of the family (confused yet?!)  to tell her that I was going to be in CHCH & would've loved to have caught up with her but time was totally against me.  She replied that she totally understood and to have a great time at the wedding.  

So you can imagine my surprise, when I saw my gorgeous cousin Emma, her mum (My Aunty Eli) and Emma's husband (hi Shannon!) were waiting for me at the CHCH airport, complete with a huge sign and even bigger smiles. They knew I only had a few minutes at the airport, before heading off to surprise the bride and I couldn't believe the effort they had all gone to just to come and say hello.  It was so so lovely and something I'll never forget!

That's me in the middle.  God knows what the hell is going on with my hair.  And don't even ask why my right arm is sitting in my carry on luggage.  Cos I don't have an answer to either of those questions.   And talk about feeling like Piggy in the Middle.  My Aunty has recently lost 16 kilos and my cousin has lost a whopping 79 kilos.  Yes, you read that correctly.  79 kilos gone.  She looks like a completely different person and has worked so hard to achieve what most of us can only dream of doing.  She's an inspiration!  Emma's husband, Shannan, took the photo.  It's blurry as all hell, so I think it's safe to say his talents lie elsewhere.  Joking Shan.  You did a great job and it was lovely to finally meet you!  The blurriness of the pic makes us all look younger, so thanks for that ;)

So after I'd said goodbye to my awesome family, I jumped in the car with my other cousin and headed off to surprise the bride.  Who is also my cousin.  Fark.  This is so confusing, I'm barely keeping up, so I can only imagine how those of you playing along at home are coping.  Anyho, when we got to my cousin's house, I hid in a cupboard and surprised the bride when she opened it.  I think I actually nearly gave her heart failure because apart from anything else, she wasn't expecting to see a person in the cupboard, but it was a cracker of a surprise and I'm so pleased we managed to pull it off without the surprise being ruined!

So Friday night was spent doing one of my favourite things.  No, we weren't shopping.  Or drinking champagne.  We were busy styling the reception venue.  Which was a gorgeous hall that we transformed into a fully fledged vintage themed space.  Look, here's a visual.  Or two...

Flowers that I put together.  They were used as centrepieces for the tables.

Loved this gorgeous alternative to a Wishing Well.

The cake.  Gluten Free Chocolate Mud Cake, made by the brides Sister-in-Law.  I can confirm it was delicious.

The bridal bouquets.  Stunning fabric flowers and embellished with broaches and pearls.  Amazing.

Cute as could be favours for guests to take home.

The kids table.  Full of vintage style activities and drinks...

Gorgeous vintage plates were used that belonged to the brides late Grandmother. 

Advice cards for guests to fill out. Loved the suitcase.  

And there's me, with slightly better hair than the earlier photo, with my cousin, Dal, who was bridesmaid.  I don't have any pics of the bride yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to see them.

So that was Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and a really fun night.  Probably a little bit too fun actually.  I think it wrapped up around midnight and I had to be up at 3.45am to get myself organised for the world's earliest flight back home.  But don't feel too sorry for me, poor Dal and her husband had to take me to the airport.  At 4.30am.  I know.  I'd be so pissed if someone asked me to do that, but they wouldn't hear of me getting a taxi and rolled out of bed to happily take me to the airport. 

Sunday, I arrived back home at about 9.30am.  Which just so happened to also be Bailey's birthday.  He turned 12.  Don't ask me where those years have gone, because I honestly have no idea.  Actually, scrap that.  I know exactly where those years have gone....nappies, yoghurt (what's with toddlers being able to eat their body weight in diary products?), school shoes, iTunes vouchers and lots of hardcore love.  

How was your weekend?  Do anything exciting?  Do tell...