Is A Seating Chart Absolutely Necessary For Your Wedding? The short answer is, it depends. While I know that’s not what you want to hear, it’s pretty freeing when you work out that ultimately, it is up to you, your fiancé and just a few other considerations as well. Today, I’m going to teach you: · the pros and cons of having allocated seating and a seating chart, escort cards or place cards for your wedding reception, · the pros and cons of having an unallocated seating arrangement where your f...
Apr 22, 2024•30 min•Ep. 85
What do you think the most frequently repeated sentence about weddings is? I reckon I know what it is: “It all goes by so fast”. One of the most lasting ways to preserve your memories, emotions, thoughts and ideas is by writing it down. Today, I want to smash through the bullet journalling bullshit and the wedding binder bollocks and share with you: - the benefits and why you might want to journal during your engagement and wedding planning (HINT: it is SUPER worth your time) - how bullet journa...
Apr 15, 2024•26 min•Ep. 84
Last week in EP82, I broke down everything you need to consider, the pros and cons, before you decide to host your wedding in either your, or a very easygoing and generous friend or family member’s, backyard. And today I’m going to share with you the task list that you will need to work through to make this magic happen with the least amount of angst, stress and sleepless nights possible, including gold nuggets of backyard wedding planning advice from couples who have already done it themselves....
Apr 08, 2024•33 min•Ep. 83
Backyard weddings are back in a big way this season. And many engaged couples, or a generous friend or relative, with a decent size outdoor area, are considering planning their wedding in a backyard. There are heaps of benefits to planning your wedding in a familiar, accessible, meaningful and flexible venue. From the intimacy of keeping your loved ones physically close to you and spending more time with them to the relaxed atmosphere and convenience, backyard weddings seem to be an easy choice....
Apr 01, 2024•24 min•Ep. 82
Recently, I've been chatting with some wedding planners and venue owners about the wedding vendor code and how it can impact engaged couples, just like you, as you go about choosing, booking in, questioning and receiving the products and services that are presented to you. I want you to be aware of some of the downfalls that the vendor code has so you can make sure you are getting the full story about your vendors’ capabilities, capacity and professionalism. I'd love to share with you today, fir...
Mar 25, 2024•22 min•Ep. 81
Does this sound like you? I can't express myself very well. I'm no good at writing. I'd be too embarrassed to read them in front of everyone. What's the point in sharing them with everyone? My fiancé already knows how I feel and it's no one else's business anyway. Writing your own personalized wedding vows is more popular than ever. I'm always more than thrilled to help engage couples and show them a simple way to write their very own unique and meaningful vows. And there are several reasons why...
Mar 18, 2024•17 min•Ep. 80
So you’ve booked in your wedding vendors. Now what? We want to go in with the best of intentions. We want to work seamlessly with them, have fun doing it and end up with a brilliant result, all while being as efficient as possible. Cause you're still working, right? This podcast episode is a guidebook for you, about how to get the best out of your wedding vendors for sure, but while motivating them, and empowering them to give their very best. You'll learn the 5 main touchpoints, and all about y...
Mar 11, 2024•40 min•Ep. 79
It’s not always the things that you drop heaps of your budget on that will stick in your memory or make your wedding day special. Sometimes it’s just giving yourself the time and opportunity for things to unfold that will give you the most authentic and wonderful moments and memories of your day. So if you’re sick of dropping cash every second week towards a new trend just to make your wedding extra fun, unique or the most talked about wedding in your family or group of friends, why don’t you ha...
Mar 04, 2024•24 min•Ep. 78
There are now Unbridely Podcast listeners in over 100 countries and territories all around the world. But you’re not staying still for a moment, are you? Many engaged couples are opting to go overseas and enjoy a destination wedding somewhere new and exciting. SO this week I’ve sought the help of celebrants and officiants from New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, England and the United States of America I’m sharing with you what the legal requirements are for marriage in these countries. I hope it help...
Feb 26, 2024•12 min•Ep. 77
Picture this, the week leading up to your big day, the weather forecast goes from a slight chance of rain to an 80% chance. Sure, you might have a plan B, but that's why it's a plan B, right? A rainy wedding day can sometimes be just a blip in your plans or cause a full-scale meltdown. It’s all about your perspective and how organised you can be. So today, I'm going to break down: what you can do to prepare for unexpected weather during the wedding planning process, and then, what you can do the...
Feb 19, 2024•13 min•Ep. 76
Whether you’re a ‘sit by the pool all day with cocktails’ or a ‘ride through rural rice fields on a scooter’ kind of couple, chances are you’re one of the 75% of people who will go on a honeymoon after your wedding. There are endless options available to you, some at astronomical price points, so how do you narrow down your destination and accommodation and even more crucially, should you go on your honeymoon straight after your wedding or wait a while? Today I’m going to share with you: practic...
Feb 12, 2024•32 min•Ep. 75
When a bridesmaid says ‘yes’ to a bride, they must communicate clearly and early about expectations for commitment, assigned responsibilities and especially the costs. But it’s also essential for the bride to be aware of what she’s really asking of her family and friends when she excitedly proposes to them to be in her wedding party in the first place. The sentiment of friendship, closeness and fun that a bride may anticipate might not be reflected in real life and at the extremes, I’ve heard of...
Feb 05, 2024•33 min•Ep. 74
Have you ever asked yourself why you want to get married (with the subtext being, if nothing really changes anyway)? In 2019 according to the Pew Research centre: “The decision to get married is a personal one, but for most married adults, love and companionship trump other considerations such as such as the desire to have children someday, convenience or finances.” But there are some other legal aspects to consider too, including in Australia: that marriage revokes a will unless it was created ...
Jan 29, 2024•36 min•Ep. 73
Given that I believe 99% of couples want these four things, this is what I'd like to get down to the crux of in this episode: feeling calm, feeling prepared, being present, and being receptive. Calm, means an internal knowing that everything is going as it should. Being prepared means that you’ve designed a ceremony that fits you and your fiancé, rather than having something pushed upon you. Being able to assert yourself ahead of time, I think is absolutely crucial. Being present in your ceremon...
Jan 22, 2024•42 min•Ep. 72
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared my very own DIY wedding flower disaster story with you before on the podcast. But as the lessons are both timeless, relevant and in hindsight, pretty funny too, it bears repeating especially in the context of interviewing Liza from Fifty Flowers in the United States. Liza is a trailblazing entrepreneur, a hot yoga enthusiast and the owner-operator of one of the biggest, most education-supported, customer-centric and innovative farm-to-arms DIY wedding flower companies...
Jan 15, 2024•45 min•Ep. 71
You want ease. You want to be surrounded by problem solvers. You want to have their technical expertise and people with great energy who will not only do their job, but help you to get excited too. You want to choose the right wedding vendor team the first time around because it’s also super uncomfortable to have to let a vendor go, and because of contracts, potentially costly as well. So to kick off this year, I'm going to teach you how to research, find, and book the best wedding vendors that ...
Jan 08, 2024•26 min•Ep. 70
Ho Ho Ho Happy Engagement Season! If you’re getting, or have just gotten, engaged, congratulations beautiful! Drink it all in and revel in your love bubble. As I’m meeting and chatting with more experts in relationships and psychology and reading about studies about the financial health of marriages and those that are most likely to go the distance, it seems to me that: A) we should’ve been given the heads up on this stuff in school, and B) these crucial topics are something that everyone should...
Dec 18, 2023•23 min•Ep. 69
Unplugged weddings: to plug or to unplug, that is the question. But there is so much more to it from the impact on your ceremony and reception, to impeding your photographer or videographer and what about sharing your wedding photos on social media? In this deep-dive you'll learn: What is an unplugged wedding, The problems with devices being used during weddings, The advantages of not allowing devices, The downsides of an unplugged wedding, and Some compromises and unplugged ceremony wording. RE...
Dec 11, 2023•32 min•Ep. 68
I reckon the 3 most likely reasons you’re avoiding writing your wedding speech are: 1) You’re imagining it’s going to be really hard, 2) You’re worried about being judged or criticised, OR 3) You just don’t know where to start and are overwhelmed. Beth from Authentically Funny Speeches has heard it all, though. And she is the very first Unbridely Modern Wedding Planning Podcast guest that I’ve invited back for a second time (so far) because her first episode receives a huge amount of downloads a...
Dec 04, 2023•39 min•Ep. 67
There’s a good chance you’ve never planned a wedding before and that you’ll only have one shot at it - with no do-overs. Wedding regret is a real thing that can steal joy from the planning, have you feeling anxious on the day and can haunt you afterwards too. But there are solutions to most dilemmas, circumstances and situations if you’re willing to listen and learn. In this special episode of the Unbridely Modern Wedding Planning Podcast, you’ll discover: 4 wedding truths that you need to accep...
Nov 27, 2023•38 min•Ep. 66
I don’t think it’s too dramatic to say that your wedding day timeline holds the key to much of the success of your wedding day. But unfortunately, some engaged couples, don’t invest enough time and thought early enough in their planning, to build out a timeline that truly works for them, their guests, their vendors and their personal tastes and values. In part two of this two-part episode series, (if you missed part 1 last week, head back to episode 64 and catch up) Luke of Luke John Photography...
Nov 20, 2023•28 min•Ep. 65
I don’t think it’s too dramatic to say that your wedding day timeline holds the key to much of the success of your wedding day. But unfortunately, some engaged couples, don’t invest enough time and thought early enough in their planning, to build out a timeline that truly works for them, their guests, their vendors and their personal tastes and values. If you get nothing else from this podcast episode I want you to understand that cookie-cutter wedding day timelines don’t really work for most pe...
Nov 13, 2023•34 min•Ep. 64
Dads sometimes get invited to a first look with their daughter, the bride. Dad gets to walk her down the aisle. Dad gets to say “I do” in the giving away section of the ceremony. Dad gets to do a father/daughter dance. Dad gets to give a speech at the reception. And Mum gets to.. traditionally, not a whole lot. Which may suit your mum just fine. But, if those customs and the idea that only the father or male figure gets to be recognised, listened to and featured prominently in their child’s wedd...
Nov 06, 2023•29 min•Ep. 63
Welcome to the terrifying and spine-chilling 2023 Halloween Wedding Horror stories. This is a compilation of some of my podcast guest’s accounts of when shit went wrong and what happened after. Unbridely’s motto and core mission is: weddings are a team sport and these are some great examples of exactly how that plays out on a wedding day. 1) 'Tipi Terror Tale' from Hannah Rose Weddings 2) 'The Ripper' and 'The Ring' from Luke John Photography 3) 'Hair and Makeup x 2' from Wedded Kiss 4) 'Family ...
Oct 30, 2023•19 min•Ep. 62
While large weddings are often a blast because of the vibe that lots of people gathered together can bring and the go-go-go, smaller weddings have advantages that you might not appreciate at first glance. Some of the most intimate, and moving experiences I've had at weddings are those with just a handful of highly invested family and friends. Sometimes it’s the smaller micro weddings and the time and space they allow for everyone who attends, that feel a little more intentional, with guests that...
Oct 23, 2023•33 min•Ep. 61
This episode comes with a language warning, Hillary is, like me, a fan of swearing and spreading it around like seasoning in her conversation. We clicked pretty much instantly. And she’s got some brilliant ideas to share with you about the re-wearing, repurposing and repeating of your outfits, both for the wedding, before and after. The Hilandel owner and designer creates wedding attire with a focus on feminism, sustainable fashion and body neutrality so she is a perfect fit for the Unbridely po...
Oct 16, 2023•50 min•Ep. 60
Most civil ceremonies in Australia start with what’s known as the processional; when certain people enter the ceremony space, typically down an aisle that is formed between the assembled guests, in a specific order to mark the beginning of a wedding ceremony. Really, there are no limits and a question that I’m hearing more and more in my role as a marriage celebrant over the last few years in particular is: “do we have to have a processional, at all?” And the short answer is… no But this is also...
Oct 09, 2023•23 min•Ep. 59
Imagine your wedding planning is like the unfolding and riveting story of an adventure novel and your wedding is the last chapter where everything comes together. It’s when the drama gets resolved, the narrative comes full circle and the heroes (that’s you and your fiancé) have their time to shine. But what if the final chapter of your story was not as satisfying as you’d hoped? Maybe the closing remarks weren’t hopeful or filled with meaning, maybe one of your favourite people didn’t get their ...
Oct 02, 2023•15 min•Ep. 58
If doctors are the worst patients, have you ever wondered how a wedding planner goes with planning their own wedding? Hannah has been working in weddings for 15 years, but next year, she's actually getting married herself! So I wanted to know if her experience makes wedding planning different for her. What are the easy bits, what are the perks and what is still a head fuck? And why is she planting a cooked sausage in her garden the night before her wedding? We'll also delve into the 4 things tha...
Sep 25, 2023•44 min•Ep. 57
I would hazard a guess that there's a 90%, an extremely high chance, that you are listening to and working with advice and recommendations about your wedding with information from people who don't have a clue. With 15 years and over 900 wedding ceremonies experience myself, a background as a wedding and events manager, extensive hospitality work, and a degree in performance jazz, I can also assure you that even I don't know everything you need to know either. In this episode, you will learn: why...
Sep 18, 2023•29 min•Ep. 56
