Very Special Celebrations – The Blog

HINTS & TIPS – Choosing outfits for your flower girls and page boys.

Posted May 18th, 2012 by veryspec and filed in Uncategorized, children's formal wear, flower girl dresses, flower girls, page boy suits, wedding, weddings

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Are you involving flower girls and/or page boys in your wedding day? Dressing the children to co-ordinate with the rest of the bridal party, without spending a fortune, can be a challenge… and not only that, children add a whole new dimension to a wedding, that you may not realise when you initially plan to include them. It can be super cute to have children involved, and can be a thrill for the children and their parents, so keep some of these hints and tips in mind and you’ll find it much easier to choose outfits for the kids in your bridal party!

* Kids can get very excited about being involved in your special day, but some can be a little fussy about what they like to wear, and most are concerned about feeling comfortable, so choosing something that they feel relaxed in is very important, to ensure they are happy. You want them to co-operate with everyone on the day, without too many hassles. Of course, it often boils down to personality, and some children are just more easy-going than others, but even the sweetest child can have their moments, particularly if they are not feeling comfortable or happy with what they are wearing. You need to try to strike a balance between pleasing the kids and finding something that suits your wedding too! Here at Very Special Celebrations, we have extensive experience with children – newborns through to 12 years in particular. At the end of the day, we find it is all about compromise – finding a middle ground to agree upon.

* Do your research and work out what sort of styles you like in dresses and suits BEFORE you take the kids shopping. You will find it much less stressful if you know what sort of ‘look’ you are going for and what is available, before you start thinking about involving anyone else. By narrowing down the choices first, you will speed up the process. Then you can see what the children prefer, out of the choices you have already prepared for them.

When children are involved, you don’t want to be taking too long to make decisions, as they may become restless and impatient, making your job all the more difficult!

* Shopping online can be convenient, but when it comes to sizing, particularly for something so special, we highly recommend visiting the store in person if you can. That’s why we open our Brisbane boutique five days a week, so you can browse and try things on your flower girls and page boys. This may not always be possible, if the children live in a different city or state from you, but if you can do it, DO IT. It really is worth it and will save you a

lot of worry.

* Another advantage to seeing a dress in person before purchasing, is that you can get a feel for the quality of the fabrics and workmanship.

It may be tempting to buy an inexpensive dress from ebay or an international website… even if you are prepared to sacrifice quality for price. However, if you are wearing a beautiful designer bridal gown, and your bridesmaids are in gowns of a similar quality, you want to make sure the ‘little people’ are looking just as sharp. It is often easy to spot the difference in quality, between the children and the adults in a bridal party. Having said all this, our flower girl dresses and page boy suits are fantastic quality AND reasonably priced. So it’s a win/win situation!

More hints and tips below…

* If you decide that shopping online is actually your best option, for whatever reason, make sure you ask as many questions as you can about the garments before making the final decision to purchase. The company you deal with should be easily contactable and willing to answer all your questions. Ask for measurements, information about fabrics and so on. Also make sure you are aware of the Terms and Conditions associated with your purchase. Refund and exchange policies are very important considerations, when it comes to children’s clothing. We offer many of our flower girl dresses and page boy suits online, and we encourage you to enquire further about these

if you are unsure about anything. We are happy to answer as many questions as you have, so we can provide you with garments that you are 100% happy with. Making an informed decision will ensure that you are getting your value for money.

* Don’t forget – the children will grow in the lead up to your wedding, so take this into account when choosing sizes. We recommend doing your initial research several months before the wedding, then try to finalise sizes about 2 months before. This way, if a garment needs to be ordered in a particular size or colour, you are allowing enough time, while ordering close enough to the

big day so you have a fairly accurate idea of the child’s size at that stage. We find that younger children (2 – 4 years) tend to change and grow much more quickly and can often surprise us. So even when ordering 2 months before,

request a garment that is still a little big, to leave some room for growth. Better to have a garment too large than too small. You could have it altered in those last couple of weeks, if needed.

* Are you tempted to hire a page boy suit instead of buying something? It is a common concern that your page boy will grow out of his suit very quickly, and parents often consider the possiblity of getting further wear out of the garments. Many people assume that it is more economical to hire. In our experience, it can often be more expensive to hire a suit than to buy one… or the cost may be similar anyway. We find that most of our customers prefer to purchase the suit outright in the end.

* Many page boy suits end up between $190 – $200 for a full suit including trousers, shirt, vest, tie and jacket. However, there is a growing trend toward dressing boys in trousers, shirt, vest and tie WITHOUT the jacket. This still looks very smart! We sell our suits as separate components, so you can piece it together however you wish, and save at least $65 by leaving the jacket out of the equation. Our separate suit components come in black, black pinstripe, grey pinstripe, white and ivory, and they are the best quality boys’ formal attire we have come across. They are reasonably priced and so versatile.

* Why not support Australian businesses and buy Australian-designed or Australian-made if you can? Most of our garments, particularly flower girl dresses, are handmade with love here in Australia.

Inspiration: French Macarons

Posted May 4th, 2012 by veryspec and filed in bomboniere, christening, gifts, macarons, naming day, spring weddings, wedding, weddings

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Our famous French Macaron Favours have proven to be a hit for weddings and other events in recent months. Here are some of our favourite ideas for using macarons as a bomboniere gift… What do you think?

Pru & Sebastian

Posted April 27th, 2012 by veryspec and filed in bomboniere, bridesmaid, macarons, wedding, wedding flowers, weddings

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Congratulations to Pru and Sebastian, who celebrated their wedding recently at The Carriage Room, Thornlands. This delightful couple are our first bride and groom to be featured here and we sincerely thank the lovely bride, Pru, for submitting her wedding for our blog.

Pru and Sebastian ordered stunning French Macaron Bomboniere from us and incorporated them beautifully into their charming wedding day with 80 guests on 24th March 2012…

Photography: Andrea Thompson Photography
Wedding Gown: Made by the bride’s mother
Bridesmaid Gowns: Made by the bride and her mum
Groom and Groomsmen Suits: Ferrari Formal
Hair: Hair 4 Brides
Makeup: SLP Makeup
Wedding Stylist: Creatively Bespoke Weddings
Celebrant: Amanda Browne
Flowers: Barbara Mitchell
Cake: Made by the bride and her mum
Bomboniere: Very Special Celebrations

Colour Inspiration – Navy

Posted August 26th, 2011 by veryspec and filed in flower girl dresses, flower girls, hair accessories, invitations, spring weddings, wedding, weddings

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We’re finding that navy is a big colour for weddings this season. Our brides are particularly loving our ‘Tiara’ flower girl dresses with navy sashes and sometimes a splash of navy satin on the hem too!

In my ‘travels’ on the web I’ve found some gorgeous ideas for navy weddings. I hope you find some inspiration in these images…

Navy cake stand – www.etsy.com

Wedding stationery – www.littleflamingo.com.au

Bridesmaid dress – www.belladonnabridesmaids.com.au

Handmade earings – www.madeit.com.au

Navy damask table runner – www.etsy.com

Navy flower hair clip – www.etsy.com

Feather shoe clips – www.etsy.com

‘Very Special’ things at ‘Very Special’ prices

Posted May 4th, 2011 by veryspec and filed in bridesmaid, budget, children's formal wear, church, communion, confirmation, flower girl dresses, flower girls, special, special offers, spring weddings, wedding, weddings

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Just checking in to let everyone know about some gorgeous flower girl dresses and communion dresses that we have just marked down to make way for some new stock. These beautiful garments are now reduced by $50 – $70 each so pop in for a visit or check them out on our website today! Limited stock available. Here’s a little sneak peak of what’s on offer…

www.veryspecialonline.com.au

Something extra special for your special day…

Posted August 10th, 2010 by veryspec and filed in cake toppers, keepsakes, personalised, wedding

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NEW in store – Personalised made-to-order wedding cake toppers. You may remember that we have offered a similar product before…
We have since started working with a new supplier and we think these gorgeous little creations are even better than the ones we were previously offering to our lovely customers.
These stunning cake toppers are made-to-order to your specifications, right down to the eye colour of the bride and groom! Feel free to contact us for pricing and further information.

Master Chef and Macarons!

Posted July 5th, 2010 by veryspec and filed in baptism, birthdays, bomboniere, candy buffet, candy table, christening, communion, confirmation, dessert buffet, gifts, lolly buffet, macarons, wedding, weddings

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I’m very much looking forward to tonight’s Master Chef Australia. The contestants will be making towers of French Macarons (macaroons)!

We LOVE macarons at Very Special Celebrations. If you’ve never tasted a macaroon you don’t know what you’re missing! Watch Master Chef tonight and if you like what you see, feel free to contact us to place an order! That’s right, as I’ve mentioned before, we sell these lovely little treats in our store.

When packaged creatively, they make unique bomboniere… or why not try a macaron pyramid? A pyramid or tower of macaroons is a fantastic alternative to a wedding cake or any special occasion cake!

Until next time…
Vikki
www.veryspecialonline.com.au

New Things

Posted July 1st, 2010 by veryspec and filed in baby gifts, baby ruffle pants, baptism, birthdays, bomboniere, christening, christening outfit, gifts, invitations, keepsakes, naming day, personalised, stationery, wedding, weddings

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Looking for something special for a wedding, christening, baby shower or other special occasion? We have been sourcing some lovely new products recently. Here are just a few…

Take care until next time…
Vikki
www.veryspecialonline.com.au

Popular Purple

Posted December 17th, 2009 by veryspec and filed in purple wedding, wedding

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I’ve had several brides in the store recently, checking out our purple coloured confectionery, lilac coloured flower girl baskets and ring pillows, lavender coloured bomboniere and so on… It seems purple (and anything related) is currently a very popular colour for weddings!
For those of you who LOVE purple, here are some pics to inspire…

www.verawang.com

www.gilletts.com.au

www.nordstrom.com

www.marthastewartweddings.com

www.projectwedding.com

Until next time…
Vikki
www.veryspecialonline.com.au

Unique Bouquets

Posted October 18th, 2009 by veryspec and filed in bouquet, bridal bouquet, bridesmaid, wedding, wedding flowers

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I’ve been exploring Etsy and HAD to share some of these gorgeous creations with you – Stunning bridal bouquets made from fabric flowers, buttons and more! Imagine adding these as final touches to your special day! Unlike genuine flowers, however beautiful, these will last forever making them wonderful keepsakes and gorgeous gifts for bridesmaids. Thank you to Liza and Jilliann for allowing me to share some photographs from their gorgeous Etsy stores. Check them out at the links below!