This is the first in a series of posts about the ceremony. If you’re attending, you might want to skip these posts to avoid spoiling the surprise on the day!

My dad will read from 1 Corinthians 13: 1-7, 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Due to the crazy delays from the invitation company, and the fact that Tim and I will be in San Francisco next month, we’ve decided to accept RSVPs only by phone to Tim’s parents or by email to us.

However you’re responding, this is the info we’ll need:

1. Number of people attending.
2. Names of people attending.
3. Ages of children.
4. Special dietary requirements.
5. Whether you need help finding accommodation.

If there were any mistakes on the invitation, please let us know so we can update our address book.

Please reply by October 28th, whether you are coming or not, since we need to pass the final numbers to the venue then.

The ceremony begins at noon. Please aim to arrive between 11.30 and 11.45. Free soft drinks will be available at the bar during this time.

If you’re interested in the rest of the schedule, lunch is planned for approximately 2pm, following drinks and photos in the gardens at the venue. Tim and I will leave at 5pm.

See the previous post if you need information on trains from the city.

This post is for guests looking for a hotel close to the venue.

Tim and Vincent are spending Saturday night at the Marriott Courtyard North Ryde. It is 6km from the venue (map). It’s $160 $140 per night (we have a group discount via Araluen). There’s also a Travelodge in Macquarie North Ryde which is on the same road and costs $135 per night.

If 5 rooms are booked at the Marriott, they will provide a free shuttle bus to the venue.

If you’d prefer to stay in the city, the venue is 1km from Epping Train Station (map). The Central Coast And Newcastle Line train takes 24 minutes between Central Station and Epping and the Northern Line train takes 34 minutes. The latter may be more convenient since it has more services on Sundays. You may want to read the “When to arrive” post before choosing your train.

Finally, the invitations are ready! Not before Tim, Chris, our wedding planners, and I all hassled the shop numerous times over the past weeks!

Click the map to enlarge.

From Google Maps

An update on my last post about the cars. Since the cars will still be there for the photos, we decided that they were worth having. We have hired a 1956 Bentley S1 and a 1963 Jaguar S Type from Classic Bridal Cars.

For the afterparty, Tim and I will travel in the Bentley, and the bridal party will travel in a 16 seater Hummer!

It’s been a while since I blogged, so lots of updates today. Here’s the rest of what’s happened over the last few weeks.

We still have no invitations! They should be with us by Tuesday after repeated unexplained delays from the printer.

The colour mess never really got sorted out but things seem to be tending toward gold and orange which I think will work.

We have booked John Leong as our photographer. Not only does he produce truly beautiful artwork, but he agreed to a contract which gives us full rights over the photos, so we can add them to the wiki if we want to. I’m considering a trash the dress shoot after the wedding too. :)

We’ve booked the favours and make-up artist. I’ll post about the flowers soon once I hear back from the florist we visited this week.

Luckily the house we’re renting has not yet sold, so we don’t need to make plans to move right now. Which is lucky, since we’re running out of time. It’s just over six weeks until the wedding. To complicate things, we’re both going to San Francisco in three weeks time. I’d planned to visit the office before the end of the year and Tim has a staff meeting next month, so we’re both going over together and will be away for 12 days. This essentially means that everything needs to be finalised within the next three weeks!

Buying wedding rings, selecting the music, and writing our vows are the next big things to do.

Ceremony rehearsal: November 20th (5pm)

Stag night: November 20th (6pm onwards)

Hen party: November 21st (2pm onwards)

The wedding: November 23rd (11.30am - 5pm)

The pictures below show what our Flower Girl and Page Boy will be wearing, and the waistcoat and tie that Tim will be wearing. The best man and my dad will be in the same waistcoat, with a different tie. They’ll be wearing morning coats. I have my dress fitting next week but I still need to find shoes and jewellery.

See also: dress code.