Sunday, April 01, 2012

In case you haven't heard...(yeah, right!)....Lorna Plant is getting married! Here's where to stay updated on progress...

APRIL 1ST: 10 DAYS TO GO!

Started to feel a little more organised, and more like things are under control! Had my first 'proper' dress fitting Friday afternoon - am loving the ice-blue fabric that Michelle and I have chosen, and the dress design is gorgeous - aided by Michelle deciding to drape the back straps of the dress rather than have them more fitting: so feminine. She thought I had lost weight which is hilarious, but decided to go with it anyway. Maybe I was dehydrated! Next step is for a final fitting on Tuesday, then the following day I can pick up my dress. Getting very excited! Need to sort jewellery now, and then I am done. Excuse for some new stuff?

Which reminds me: something old (me, ha ha), something new (that'll be that jewellery), something borrowed (hmmm....thinking on that one...) and something blue (the dress, obviously). Think we are covered.

Speaking of something blue - what won't be blue is the sky. Aaaarrggghhh! Made the mistake of checking the longterm forecast for Rarotonga yesterday. The entire week we are there looks like being rainy with thunderstorms. Noooooooo! Although I know there is nothing I can do about it, it must have been praying on my mind because I couldn't sleep last night. My only consolation is that things can change a lot in 10 days - and Raro is a small island, storms can blow over quite quickly. It'll be warm too - late 20's - so even swimming in the lagoon is lovely when it's pouring down!

Have sorted out our vows, but still thinking about getting the kids to do some readings. Lucy will be keen, Max would probably rather poke his eyes out with a needle. But I shall guilt him into it, no doubt.

Busy few days ahead, especially with Friday being a holiday where no shops are open (we fly out early Saturday morning). I'm getting eyelash extensions (never had them before, will be interesting to see how they look!), getting manicured and pedicured (with touchups likely once we are in Raro), and getting the bikini line seen to! Plus grocery shopping, we'll take lots of snacks and nibbles (oh, and champagne!) to try and keep the enormous resort bill down.

Three days left of work - which means three days left of being Lorna Plant, Easy Mix Breakfast. Feels quite odd but am so looking forward to marrying my Steve: the man who gave me all I never knew I wanted, and who helped me be the woman I always hoped I could be.


MARCH 26th: 16 DAYS TO GO!

Slight drama with Lucy's dress: the off-the-shoulder design shows a bit more than it should! So it's off back to my gorgeous mum-in-law-to-be to be altered. We have a back-up just in case.

Still have to finalise some details with the resort in Raro, mainly the menu but I am hoping to pull the wedding forward a bit as I mentioned earlier - I just need to let them know! Apparently they aren't psychic...

Hen's night of sorts was held Friday night: relatively tame, but you can see some amusing and colourful pics here: http://www.facebook.com/LornaEasymix

Steve's stag night this Friday - uh-oh is all I can say!


MARCH 22ND: THREE WEEKS TO GO!

Ok so I have been more than a little slack at keeping you up to date! So hopefully this post will make up for it. So...here's where everything is at!

Kids Attire: spent a frantic morning with 13 year old son, shopping for appropriate clothing. Got him a nice formal white shirt from Farmers (their Fred Bracks range is really good!) which he can wear with sleeves rolled up. But trying to find some nice shorts or lightweight pants when it is autumn - and which we both agreed on - seemed nigh impossible. He had almost convinced me to let him wear his black denim shorts ("they'll photograph fine, Mum!") when we spotted a surf shop. In there, the perfect pair of black drill shorts (smart, so Mum happy) from Billabong (cool, so boy happy). Shoes? Who needs them, it's the beach! Sorted.
My fabulous mother-in-law to be is making Lucy's dress, a one-shouldered shift in (of course) white. Who wears white to a wedding?! My daughter, that's who. Luckily I am NOT wearing white (have I mentioned that? more in a moment)...so yes, Lucy in white with a red belt and red shoes. Meantime we got Zoe a beautiful wee flowergirl dress (also from Farmers - brilliant quality and such a great price, unbelievable) with a matching bolero and some wee gold shoes (though again, can see those being ditched in favour of toes in the sand).

The Groom: like getting Max kitted out, only harder. Shopping for a beach wedding when it is already March is fraught with difficulty. In the end, we found some cheapish, lightweight khaki pants that can be rolled up, and a beautiful white linen shirt from Rodd and Gunn. Shoes were an interesting discussion. My suggestion of some nice sandals was met with a steely glare, so I hastily added that bare feet is a good look too. Bare feet it is.

My Dress: had a calico fitting this week. Except it was in black satin - still looked gorgeous though! The fabric has arrived, the original green silk has now been replaced with a stunning ice blue, with a white lining and white lace trim. The design is just lovely, a pretty 50s style halterneck with a low back, with the length just below the knees. Steve knows nothing about it - and he never uses the internet so my secret will be safe! Some frangipani in the hair, some pretty jewelled jandals, and I'm pretty much good to go! Next step is the dress fitting proper, which should be next week. Michelle Yvette is one clever lady - she had the official opening of her new showroom last week, so look for the photos on Facebook or Snapstar.

The Day: so we were planning to marry at sunset, then have a candlelit dinner with our enormous party of eight under the beach gazebo. Now I'm leaning towards a late afternoon wedding, with champagne on our rooftop (Steve, I and the children have hired one of the four Grand Beachfront Suites at the Rarotongan, which has its own rooftop deck!) towards sunset, before dinner. The sun sets early in Raro, around 5.30pm, so will enjoy a wedding toast as the sky turns all shades of pink.

Other Things: on a whim, I ordered some paper parasols for the "ladies" - and a white lace one for me. They are GORGEOUS! Got them from a neat site called theweddingstore.co.nz and they arrived within 48 hours. Man, it had better be sunny the day we marry! Either that, or we'll see how these last under a tropical downpour! Am thinking I need to take an extra suitcase just of wedding paraphernalia...

Operation Slim Down: this'll be a short segment. What slimdown?? Have been cutting the carbs and employing James Duigan's Clean and Lean principles: no joy. How can I be this hungry and NOT be losing weight? Okay, possibly pinot gris may be much to blame. Oh well, at least I won't look back on my wedding photos and think "I will never be that slim again"!

Operation Nice Skin IS going well, however: just started using the new Ceramide Premiere stuff from Elizabeth Arden (eye cream, day cream, night cream) - it's not cheap but it is very rich, so my normally dry skin is looking dewy and (dare I say it, at risk of sounding like a cheesy commercial) - luminous! A new convert.

The Name: much discussion around the office and at home about my name. Now if Plant were my maiden name - I would keep Plant as a professional name. But it's my old married name, so it's got to go. When I return from Raro - it'll be the Easy Mix Breakfast with Lorna Subritzky. Lorna S is sounding good!

Pets: my dad unfortunately can't travel to the wedding, so as punishment he gets cat feeding and stroking duties. And god bless my friend Tracy, who is looking after my neurotic, pampered labrador Fizz (another animal to add to her miniature horses, dogs, cats, chooks, fish etc etc). Thanks Tracy!

Things Still To Organise: menu (well, finalise it anyway). Champagne. Spray tan. Haircut. Food (we take a lot of our own snacks when we go to Raro with the kids). Shoes for me (they are on their way from America). Oh, and jewellery. Have to get my engagement ring cleaned and re-rhodiumed (so it matches the wedding ring). I THINK I have time...!?


FEBRUARY 10TH: 8.5 WEEKS TO GO!

Hmmm....remember how I said last week that the date was all sorted? Well - it wasn't. I did warn the wedding planner in Rarotonga that it was Easter time, and asked if we would have enough time to apply for the wedding license (you have to be there three days). Yes, yes, she assured me: though we would have to pay a waiver fee of $100. Small potatoes, no problems. Until I received an email late last week: "oh, you're right" says the wedding planner "with Good Friday being a public holiday, and no-one working Saturday, there won't be enough time to get married on the Tuesday. Unless you can get here on Thursday before town closes up?". No is the short answer, not now we have paid an arm and a leg to get there during the school holidays and are all booked up to arrive on the Saturday. Long story short (well, long story long to be honest!) - we are now getting married on Wednesday 11th April (which is the 12th here) - just glad it's not Friday 13th!!

Question: If I get married on the 11th - and in New Zealand it is the 12th (Raro is 23 hours behind) - will our anniversary be the 11th or 12th pf April in future years??

Had my first meeting with my dress designer Michelle Yvette at her gorgeous new premises - she'd prepared by getting out her best weddings silks in creams and whites, guipure lace, beading etc. All very lovely, but then I broke the news that I don't want a traditional dress! In fact, the rest of the wedding party will all wear black and white, so we settled on a gorgeous silk in...(wait for it)...green! Should look gorgeous given the tropical setting. I took loads of pics along which I thought was being helpful, until I realised that all of them were really the same! So Michelle took these pictures, sketched a design (simple with some delightful, unique details) and is off to create a calico. Can't wait! The only thing we disagreed on was a lower hemline at the back - I call them "mullet" dresses and am not keen, luckily she understood and modified her sketch.

Now to operation Slim Down! Doing Febfast in theory should be helping with this. It's not. I seem to have replaced my Pinot Gris habit with a snacking habit. Never mind - bring on the gym. The only problem is that with short weeks and a full workload, the gym has gone by the wayside for the past fortnight. Luckily I have discovered Skins, fab compression sportswear - you squeeze into it, and it automatically sucks in the bad bits - think Nancy Gantz for the gym. Can only work for so long though, and of course I can't wear them on my wedding day, so operation Slim Down will begin in earnest on Monday. Hopefully.

Operation Nice Skin is also underway. Have discovered a great new serum called Luminesce which is just lovely - looking forward to having younger looker skin by April. You have to try, especially when you're marrying someone five years younger!

This weekend, Steve and I will go over all the details of the wedding and send off to our planner in Rarotonga. Fingers crossed she doesn't change her mind again about the wedding day - we fly home on the 12th so can't really postpone the ceremony any more!

JAN 31ST: 10 WEEKS TO GO!

Finally, some progress! We have a wedding date! Tuesday April 10th (which will be Wednesday 11th NZ time, as we are getting married in Rarotonga). Who will be there? Not many! My gorgeous children Max (13) and Lucy (11); Steve's and my cherub Zoe (2); Steve's parents Robyn and Don, and my mum Doreen. No siblings, no besties, no workmates - just small and simple. Unfortunately my dad Gavin won't be coming, he has finally acknowleged that he is a bad traveller and dislikes heat, so Raro was not really an option. But we are having a big party (we are calling it a barn dance - yeehaa!!) to celebrate when we return, so Dad can be a guest of honour there.

So date is sorted; accommodation and airfares for everyone is booked. Now to organise the details of the wedding itself!

And the dress? Oh yes, the dress! This week I have a consultation with Michelle Yvette, a young Aucklander who designs gorgeous dresses with a retro feel, which is just perfect. No meringue for me - this is not only a beach wedding, but second-time-around for me, so I am looking for a dress that can be worn again. I'm thinking if everyone else wears white, I can wear colour - but watch this space as I have been known to change my mind...!

So the agenda for this week: have the consultation with Michelle (after googling some dresses I like); finalise some wedding details with the wedding planner in Raro; make an appointment to start again with my personal trainer. Three kilos to lose in less than three months!!