How to be The Greatest Groomsman of All Time

First of all, well done! You must be a loyal and enjoyable enough friend to be summoned as essentially a ‘wedding wingman’. Or you simply share genetics with the Groom and willingly or not have to stand by your brother’s/cousin’s side for his big day. Regardless, your title has been bestowed, but you quite possibly have no idea what you’re meant to do with it.

Sure, Hollywood may lead us to believe that groomsmen are led by a single goal of complete inebriation and blinding Vegas lights, and only produce issues and roadblocks to the success of a wedding day. But, we know that’s all lies and an epic groomsman loves nothing more than saving the day, providing solutions, and essentially becoming the Groom’s hero.

So to help you on your path of heroic wedded deeds, here are our 5 ‘I’m the Greatest Groomsman of All Time’ Solutions that you can essentially print out, give to the Groom and earn yourself some serious pat-on-the-back kudos.

Solution 1: Don’t get overwhelmed by all the planning.
You can see it, your mate is obviously excited for the impending nuptials but the 100 bridal magazines, 20 varieties of roses and guest list whittling is starting to make his eye twitch. Give him a reassuring pat on the back and load Groomology on his phone for him. They are simply a ‘no BS Wedding Resource for the Modern Groom’. And bonus, sign up to their newsletter and you get a Free Vow and Speech Writing Kit.

Solution 2: Become The Master of Beverages. All beverages!
Not just a crate of whatever stubby the bottle-o had on special that week, but read up on some great whiskies and show off your knowledge when culturally swirling them in a glass. And line up some top drop coffee for the morning after your bucks’ celebrations.

Solution 3: We’ll all be looking Mighty Fine come Show Time!
Yes some of us may have sported a 5 o’clock shadow for the best part of 10 years but fear not… we know a guy! Specifically The Mobile Barber Shop (you’re welcome). A fully decked out barber shop van ready to park up for the morning of the big day and work some clean-shaven magic.

Solution 4: Wow everyone with our outfits just/almost as much as the other halves.
Well fitted and seriously dapper is the order of the day. Yes, it’s time to leaf through some style magazines, even scroll some red carpet slideshows and find a style that suits the Groom to a ’T’. Call your tailor and set up a date. Don’t have a tailor? Give the team at Urbbana a call, they’ll look after you.

Solution 5: Do what you do best.
Either use your witty one-liners to calm the Groom’s jitters, or be the level headed one who remembers to pack breath mints for everyone. There will be reasons the Groom wants you around for the day, so figure out what that might be, and own it!

Because over all, your mate getting married to his other half is the main goal of the day… but if you can make it smoother, more fun or brilliant then congrats! You are a Epic Groomsman!

Image Credits: Groomsmen: Groomology; Florido Weddings Barber images: The Mobile Barber Shop

RUBY the LITTLE RED ICE CREAM VAN

WeddingKatieJason

Life is sweet when you have your own ice cream truck.

It was love at first sight when Sam and Rosanna laid eyes on an original 1973 Bedford Morrison ice cream van. Built in Southampton, England for the sole purpose of serving ice cream, they knew that it was a match made in sticky-sweet heaven. After having her freighted over from the UK, fitting her out and naming her, Ruby the Little Red Ice Cream Van officially launched in April 2015.

Being the only ice cream van of her kind in Queensland, and possibly in all of Australia, Ruby the Little Red Ice Cream Van is a unique and delightful treat that is sure to light up each and every guest. With character and personality, Ruby has been popular at post wedding ceremony intervals, engagements and at Brisbane’s top food truck gatherings.

Ruby’s vintage look and Sam’s amazing ice creams do not disappoint. Being a qualified European Pastry Cook with twenty two years experience, Sam’s love of ice cream has seen him specialise in the tasty treat for over eight years.

Bringing joy to the wedding parties of Brisbane, Ruby also provides unique photo opportunities for Brides, Grooms and Bridal parties, as well as dessert options for post ceremony gatherings and receptions.

Be sure to visit this sweet business at our next Brisbane Wedding Festival being held on January 30th, 2016. Hosted by the Brisbane Racing Club, it will be a day that you won’t want to miss!

For more information on Ruby and her charming owners, visit Ruby the Little Red Ice Cream Van on their website or find them on Facebook. And a big thank you to Jess Jackson Photographer for the delightful images of Ruby.

Katie,Jason & Sam 2015 (1)Katie, Jason 2015 Ruby sideshot Sam and Ruby

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: A DARLING AFFAIR BRISBANE 2016

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You’re hearing straight from the horses mouth. We have been keeping this under wraps for some time now and we are excited to announce our new Brisbane venue to kick off 2016!

The Brisbane Racing Club is a unique venue that has our hearts racing with delight. With it’s fantastic history and character the venue is opening it’s doors to loved up couples tying the knot.

A Darling Affair will be filling the venue to the brim with the most creative, friendly and jaw dropping displays put on by our Darling vendors. Our festivals are full of life, colour, fashion, live music, fun and flavours.

We are also excited to be teaming up with some incredible sponsors who will be bringing out the big guns to make this event pop!

The Beauty Case will be heading up the fashion department and looking after the interests of all our style savvy brides-to-be. You will be inspired by some stunning fashion parades and a visit to the Brisbane Racing Club’s Bridal Lounge to try on some designer wedding gowns.

Moreton Hire is bringing one of their huge marquee’s that will be packed with some insanely talented wedding vendors. You will experience their grand marquee onsite – not just in a brochure. It’s all about the ‘experience’ when you come to A Darling Affair.

The amazing team behind AVIdeas is going to deck out the fashion parade area for your viewing pleasure with a stunning display and they will be going gangbusters with their incredible lights through out the outdoor areas as the sun goes down and the night life starts.

It will be our biggest wedding festival to date. Your not going to want to miss this, with more big announcements to come so stay glued to your screens.

Where: The Brisbane Racing Club, Ascot (home of the Eagle Farm Markets)

When: January 30, 2016 – 2pm to 7pm

To get you excited here is our exclusive promotional shoot to get you ‘chewing at the bit’ and wanting to grab a ticket to the event. Put together by an all star cast featuring The Beauty Case, Jennifer Gifford Designs, Florido Weddings and Bella Blooms Floral Designs, all of whom you will be able to visit at the fair.

It’s just a taste of what’s to come!

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YOU’VE GOT TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT! – GIVEAWAY BONANZA!

Here at A Darling Affair HQ we wish that we could trade places with our lovely guests who will be at the fair on Saturday and sign up our names for the massive prize pool that is on offer at The Sunshine Coast Wedding Fair!

Our awesome vendors have been so kind enough to donate prizes that are genuinely something to get excited about and are not the run of the mill wedding giveaway’s.

If you pre-purchase your tickets online you are automatically entered into the draw. This means you don’t have to stand in line and write your name on our guest list and can enjoy more time chatting to fabulous wedding suppliers, listening to live music and stuffing your faces with delicious food!

If you choose the other option and sign up on the day, our friendly Darling Helpers will be there to help you! No problems at all!

We love that our prize pool isn’t one major prize for one lucky bride or groom to be – each are individual prizes which means more chances to win! We like to share the love around.

Here is the official full giveaway list for you to get excited about!
The Beauty Case, Trent & Jessie Photographers, Heavenly Blooms and Willow Tree Creative Services are all teaming up for a Lovebirds Engagement Shoot for one lucky couple. Package includes: hair and makeup, photography, flowers and concept styling. Valued to $1000.

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Simply Style Co – CONCEPT CREATION & ON THE DAY STYLING PACKAGE – valued up to $1,250.00!

 

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The White Tree – a free 3 piece band, valued at $2200!!!!

This is a line up of Male Vocals/Guitar, Bass and Drums.  Their standard inclusions apply…5 hr call, feat up to 4 x 45min sets, full PA system provided

 

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Kombi Celebrations – 3 hour champagne kombi hire package, valued at $750

 

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Bohemian Brides –  a Wear 5 ways dress

Coco Bride – $300 bridal illustration

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TravelShoot – a $200 Travelshoot Voucher

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Chase The Sun Creative – up to 80 calligraphy placecards or a welcome chalkboard both valued at over $200

 

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Erin Clare Couture – 1 of 2 Chapel length veils, one in a Silk white colour the other is Ivory in colour valued at $175 each

Komoberi Bride – a Sterling silver and gemstone headpiece – value $129.99

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The Ballerina Bride – are offering a Free Make up Trial!

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Sass & Niki’s Wedding Hair – KEVIN.MURPHY Gift package from their styling studio to the Value of $100

Frankie & Mavis – a wedding tea towel by The Smith Collective. The tea towel is hand drawn with every detail to remember your day like the location, date and pictures of the lovely couple themselves, then hand printed in a colour of your choice.  Valued at $75.

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The Tuck Shop – $50 voucher for little boat espresso

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Chef Favours – one of our handmade Taste Crates worth $50.  A handmade timber crate with 6 Chef Favours included so it’s all six of their handmade delicious flavours

Taste Crate

The Spoken Shop – XO board

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L&L Co. Events – menu tasting for 2 people

Big Love Weddings & Celebrations – Name Change Kit.

A downloadable kit full of vital information & forms. It saves a lot of the time and hassle of changing your surname with all the agencies you need to.

Butter cups Cupcakes – a dozen cupcakes.

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*Full T&C’s will be shared with the winner of the prize via the wedding vendor who has donated it.

** Winners will be announced the week following the fair.

THE GOLD COAST WEDDING FESTIVAL – WRAP UP

The Gold Coast Wedding Festival was just amazing if we do say so ourselves.

It was the perfect weather for the end of Autumn as the  industrial venue – Rabbit & Cocoon – is a market style set up with both inside and outside areas. The venue was filled to the brim with the most talented and incredibly friendly wedding creatives on the Gold Coast and beyond. It was set to be a fun night you could feel the anticipation growing in the air.

The bands starting cranking just after 5pm when our guests had knocked off work and headed to the festival to have a great night of wedding planning fun. The brides and grooms to be were cheerfully interacting with our vendors, some who are new to the scene and others who have been perfecting their art for years.

The wedding festival had loads of inspiration, colour, laughs and action with a mammoth fashion parade that was maxed out around the red carpet and orchestrated by The Beauty Case team and Interlaced Media. Our guests had eager eyes checking out the finer details of the beautiful gowns and tailored suits not to mention the models from Katz Management. The Fashion parade featured local and interstate designers. We are so excited that we have vendors traveling from other parts of Australia, like Suzanne Harward Designs, to be a part of the action.

With bellies filled with delicious food and drinks, guests and vendors mingled together like they had been friends from way back. The night went off with out a hitch and we couldn’t have been happier for yet another A Darling Affair event to go down in history as an ‘affair to remember’.

Special thanks goes to our ever so supportive and hardworking sponsor Hello May. We love that they come to our events and get to meet all you beautiful guests and their readers up close and personal. Also a HUGE thanks to When Elephant Met Zebra who works themselves to the bone capturing the wonderful night on camera.

Thank you all for coming. We loved seeing your smiling faces!

We hope you found the perfect wedding supplier for your big day!

There will be more in depth details and images to come of who was at the event and what they do this week. So stay tuned xx

guest band 1 gathering prue amy crowd aleesha heart luna 1 luna model 1 model 2 model 3 model 4 model 6 hello may food fox and fallow meekz frankly photboothsigns ben cakes kombi bears

 

 

 

 

WEDDING CATERING PACKED FULL OF FLAVOUR

At the Brisbane Wedding Fair we were so excited for the food vendors that we had on board to tantalise or guests taste buds. Oh boy was the food good. I think we tasted everything that was on offer and forgot to take some treats home for our kids because we gobbled it all up!

Things literally got sold out on the day because people went back for seconds. So if you missed out on stuffing your face and trying out the caterers who can be at your wedding then here is a review for you.

POP TACO

poptaco 1The team behind Poptaco sure do know how to put on a mean mexican spread. Flavoursome, moist, saucy, juicy oh man it’s making my mouth want to have another pork roll right now!
Poptaco can cater for your event and will make you want to party like a mexican for more. Have a look at their instagram or fb feed and you will see it’s down right authentic food.

A great alternative to a formal sit down dinner and perfect for sharing and loads of talking and interaction between guests. Your money will be well spent on this food.

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PIZZANTICA

Woodfired pizza’s on the back of a Kombi. Two of our most favourite things rolled into one! What a clever concept a woodfired oven on wheels!

Hand made gourmet pizza’s for your wedding guests. You can never go wrong with a good pizza especially one made by the masters of traditional pizzas. A great share meal for the masses and less clean up for you at your wedding reception or engagement party.

You pick the location and they’ll roll right up!

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CUISINE ON CUE

Well well well…Cuisine on Cue were amazing! Amazing caterers with fantastic and personable people skills, well groomed and most importantly amazing food. This crew really know what their doing and hit the mark all through out the day.

Cuisine on Cue were serving up mouth sized bites packed full of flavour to our guests in the studios and boy were they good. They do much more than serve starters, they can cater for your entire wedding reception. You just choose what tickles your fancy and they will whip up a storm in the kitchen.

Their professional customer service and the attention to detail is what they bring to every event, regardless of the size, catering style or budget. They will work with you to meet your needs.

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Vintage Vehicles that make you go Va Va Voom

We are a bit obsessed with 2 things and you will ALWAYS see them at our wedding fairs. Kombi’s and caravans. One day we will own one or the other, but for now we just drool over the outstanding restoration work that our vehicle vendors lovingly put  into their road worthy machines.

KOMBI CELEBRATIONS

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The gorgeous family behind Kombi Celebrations have just relocated to sunny Queensland BUT they service all of the eastern states and are a huge company with HUGE amount of passion for their A Class Kombi service.

kombi celebrations 3Well looked after and maintained to perfection, their vehicles are clean and sparkling and will service your whole bridal party. Imagine a fun road trip, jumping in and out of the van for the wedding photo locations, giggling and chatting and listening to some sweet tunes. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate all through out your day than being close to the ones that make you smile and have been your support crew through thick and thin rather than being separated into several vehicles on a car convoy.

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GATHERING EVENTS

An awesome husband and wife team are behind this very trendy Vintage Caravan. Available for hire for any event this mobile bar will be sure to wow the crowds at your engagement party or wedding reception.

Having a mobile bar means that you can have your wedding on your families property or somewhere that ties you back to an emotional connection rather than a stock standard wedding reception venue.

The Gathering Events caravan is also very pretty to look at. Clean, sleek and will be a great talking point for your guests at the reception. It also introduces more interaction between your guests rather than a sit down catered reception. Your guests will meet each other at the bar and it will be a fun night for all.

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VEHICLES WITH PASSION

We LOVE vendors who have passion and put all their love into their business and there is no shortage of that when it comes to restoring old vehicles. You will see these magnificent works of art on display this Saturday and can chat to their owners about having them at your wedding.

KOMBI CELEBRATIONS

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Kombi Celebrations was founded in early 2011 by Deborah and her gorgeous partner Steven, and was born purely from their mutual love of these nostalgic vehicles.   Steven, co-owner of Kombi Celebrations has been a self-confessed Kombi enthusiast since he was knee-high. Deb’s love grew when they purchased their first Kombi Kid together Blewis a blue bay-window camper – which they keep for themselves for camping trips with their family – and then came Florence the TV star (as seen in the final series of Packed to the Rafters 2013).
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Kombi Celebrations has one of Australia’s largest award winning VW Kombi fleets for hire servicing Queensland from Cairns to Byron Bay, NSW, ACT and VIC.  They provide 5* service excellence in the event transport industry and have a network of over 16 vehicles on our fleet servicing the east coast of Australia with the majority all with the ability to seat up to eight guests makes the kombi a perfect, stylish vehicle when organising transport for a large wedding party or group affordable and easy.
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Kombi Celebrations believe that their infectious energy and passion for what they do, not only contributes to the success of the family business but also has been a huge factor along with their amazing crew – to the wonderful reviews on their facebook page they have received from wonderful clients.

THE LINCOLN LIMOUSINE

licolnHolden Oldies & The Lincoln Limousine are a passion of Brian and Linda – aka The Woody’s by their friends – of their love of restoring old cars for weddings and events.

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They offer a full chauffered limousine experience for one of the most important journey’s in life – your wedding day ride. They it memorable and special.
There is not another car operating in SEQ like the Lincoln Limousine for hire. So having this bad boy cruise you to your wedding is one of a kind.

GATHERING EVENTS

gathering 3Jennifer and her husband renovated their little 10ft vintage York caravan and it has been given a new life, purpose built to host custom events and celebrations. It took 12 months together so every element is custom made with love. Jennifer has over eight years in the event industry and her number one priority is old fashioned quality customer service.

gathering 5Their vintage caravan bar allows BYO or they will work with the venue, and all drinks will be served by their charming and super qualified bartenders. Cocktails included.

The exterior of the caravan can be branded for couples on their big day – making it their very own ‘slice of heaven’ for the day!

gathering 1gathering 2Come and see these beautifully restored with love vehicles at The Brisbane Wedding Fair. They will all be polished and shined to perfection at the entrance to The Old Museums building for you to have a look at and admire. xx