Pink ruffle wedding cake

Today. Today is our fifth birthday! I can hardly believe what the last five years have done to my life. It’s another year gone by and another opportunity for my mini Oscars speech, my chance to thank the universe and the people within it for the incredible things Polka Dot Bride has done for me.

I started Polka Dot Bride without a thought of where it might take me. I had no dreams or goals for the site, just a desire to share my love of weddings. Now I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be working a job I love with a team who are an absolute joy and a community that feeds and grows and blooms every day. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to write about my passion each and every day and to meet such amazing vendors and readers. Some of whom have become my greatest friends.

You, our readers make the site what it is. Your words, your comments, your emails shape what we produce. Your enthusiasm, desires and hopes and dreams for your own wedding days drive us to keep creating better content, richer content and to keep inspiring you. Which in some ways is incredibly odd because the people I draw the most inspiration from is you. Thank you for being a part of Polka Dot Bride, for tuning inn every day from your far flung corners of the world. For telling your friends, for sharing your days with us, for reading and connecting with us. As has been said before- you are the soul of Polka Dot Bride.

Then there are our vendors- the amazing talented wedding professionals who make it possible to spend our days up to our eyeballs in wedding beauty. Each and every day they fill my world with exciting new ideas, intense discussions and plenty of laughter. They are some of the most talented people on the planet! Please support them as they so wonderfully support us.

None of this is possible without the team of Ms Stripey, Ms Paisley, Ms Gingham, Ms Floral and of course Mr Polka Dot. All of them (and those I haven’t mentioned who support me with cocktails, long conversations and by being our cheerleaders) play an integral role in Polka Dot Bride. They not only keep me sane, but they work incredibly hard to help me make sure each aspect of the site is looked after (they’re pretty awesome if I do say so myself)

2012 is going to be a big one at Polka Dot Bride. I have so many projects I am dying to share with you. So many ideas we’ve been working on just waiting to come to fruition. I am thankful today to be able to look to the new year with fresh eyes. We have a brilliant team, brilliant readers and endless possibilities.

So please fill a glass with bubbles, or cherry mojitos (thanks Ms Gingham!) or even a cup of freshly brewed tea and toast with me.. To you!

This beautiful cake is from a shoot we’ll be sharing next week The cake is by One Sweet Girl and photo by Steve of Steve Koukoulas Photography