The juicy talk of the wedding day often gives me goosebumps. Today the face behind Girl With A Satchel shares her big day to husband James with Polka Dot Bride.
The Day
Tell me about what you wore? How did you decide on it?
Though I was never the kind of girl to keep a ‘My Wedding Day’ scrapbook (like Andi in ‘How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days’), I religiously keep clippings from magazines in big style journals. I’d kept a picture of Carmen Kass in a white Valentino dress from about 2001 and just always assumed I’d wear something similar on my wedding day. I went through the ritual of trying on dresses in the stores, but I just knew I wanted something unique and special, using the Valentino design for inspiration.
What about what your husband and attendants wore?
As the girls were in navy, I was adamant that the boys be in grey. We chose a lovely grey suit with a fine pinstripe at Roger David in Brisbane. The groomsmen wore navy shirts and ties, while Jim wore a white shirt and grey/silver tie.
How did you get to the wedding?
Jim hired two beautiful silver… gosh, I forget what kind of car they were! Will have to ask Jim and get back to you. I know they were big and German!
Tell me about your wedding day?
I had no sleep the night before, as I was running checklists over in my head. I’d arrived in Queensland just days before and everything was really hectic. I was literally laying out place settings in the marquee at 7pm the night before the wedding!
As I hadn’t slept a wink, my sister and Caelia, who’d spent the night with me, took me on a little walk to get some fresh air. Then we had brekkie – fruit and yoghurt – and my mum dropped by to make sure we were getting ready to head to the hairdresser. My friend Brooke picked us up and we went to Boss Hair and Beauty at Mermaid Beach to commence the beautification process. It was really fun having all the girls there. We had champagne and banana bread and sandwiches. My makeup artist, Aimie Fiebig, flew up from Sydney, so she got to work as soon as she arrived.
Once we were all done, mum drove us up to Mount Tamborine to get changed and have photos taken at Jim’s Aunty Muriel’s home. Dad arrived and teared up a bit, then my page boy and flower girl arrived looking adorable. After the pre-wedding photo shoot, we got into the cars and headed for the church (St. George’s Anglican Church).
The church was packed when we got there and the nerves (and my emotions) finally hit me. When the bridal procession music started (Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles, played on piano by our friend Karis), the girls prompted our page boy and flower girl (Jim’s nephew and niece) and then followed. Dad took my arm quite proudly (as daddies do) and headed for Jim. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
Erica and James at their wedding ceremony in St George’s Anglican Church
The service seemed to go forever (our preacher, Rhys, was quite verbose!) but there was lots of laughter and music. Our friends Charmaine and Mike read Bible verses (Jim and I are both committed Christians) and Jim’s parents prayed over us.
After the ceremony, we headed outside to greet our guests and have the first photos taken. It was overcast and getting dark fast, so we had to make a quick exit and head to the locations we’d planned.
I had a blast at the reception. Just having everyone you love in the one room is such a buzz. Our MC, my then-boss Sarah Oakes (Girlfriend/Cleo), kept everything together and made our guests relaxed. Then we had possibly the longest toasts and speeches of all-time – thankfully, they were very entertaining! Jim’s dad, my father, my sister, Jim’s best man and cousin Andy and Jim and I all made speeches. Andy’s best man’s speech has everyone cracking up from start to finish, and he ended it with an acoustic number on his guitar.
James playing the song he played during his proposal to Erica at their wedding reception.
Jim and his band played the song we’d written (and, by that stage, finished) for me after his speech. Then it was time to party before departing for our first night together as a married couple!
The Reception
What did you dance to?
Erica and James take to the floor for their first dance.
Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”
What did you eat?
We had Shamar Catering take care of everything. They served the guests canapés before we arrived, then we had two vegetarian entrees (a grilled Mediterranean vegetable salad and avocado, bocconcini and tomato tart), chicken and beef for mains (chicken with parmesan and oregano crust; grilled tenderloin of beef) and chocolate cupcakes with white icing made by Jim’s aunt Muriel for dessert.
Cutting the cupcake wedding cake!
What about your cake?
As above – we had 150 cupcakes made for the guests and our wedding fruit cake (which we’re saving for our April anniversary) was made by Jim’s aunt Anne.
Stay tuned- next up, Erica tells us about her wedding details!
Awww… another lovely post that made me smile. I am such a big fan of Girl with a Satchel, it is lovely to see how she decided to organise her wedding. I love the idea of the cupcakes for a wedding cake, my fiance is actually obsessed with cupcakes, so i may have to borrow this idea 😉