how to dress up a stage....

So this is our wedding reception venue. Well, part of it... The hall is pretty big, and we are decorating it with a crap load of bunting and fairy lights... and some beautiful flowers and doilies and cute things.... think carnival / nanna / vintage / country / garden / cute.

The thing I have been thinking about a lot is what we do with the stage!! It's a huge stage area, and I am not sure whether we should sit the bridal table ON the stage, or in front of it (I am leaning towards in front of the stage for some reason...) but if we do sit in front of it, or on it, we need to dress it up!

If we sit on it, the DJ will need to be beside the stage (to the right of the stage near that doorway there) and if we sit under the stage, the DJ will be behind us, which might be weird too.

I know for one thing, we are considering making a giant heart like this for the stage...

I would also love a stack of red heart balloons either side of the stage, kind of like this photo... the bunting is super cute too, so we could just string bunting across the stage as well.

Another idea would be to hang hearts like these in the stage area, I think it would look sweet, with fairy lights hanging down as well.

I had an idea that the cake table might look good on the stage, but if we did that, we would probably have the DJ on one side of the stage and the cake table on the other side of the stage. Carnival themed stuff on the stage would be cute too, but I'm just not sure.

Here is another cute view of a cake table becoming a centrepiece at the reception. We could always do it this way... I do like how this looks.

Fairy lights hanging from the stage like this would be really cute, especially if we were sitting in front of them, under the stage area, and the DJ was behind them on the stage area.

I also love how this giant banner looks and I think it would be super cute if we were sitting under a big banner like this. It's so cute!!!!! And easy to make!

Although this is quite over the top, I am loving the fans behind the bridal table in this photo. I wonder if I could make some of these for a photobooth backdrop, and if the photobooth could be ON the stage?

And this, sooo cute. I was thinking I could make some of these for the stage, maybe to hang down from the roof, or just stuck on the back walls. I don't know... I might be getting a bit excited here! HAHA!

What do you think guys? We have a lot of time to plan still, but the stage is something I can't work out how to style. It's such a cool area, but because I can't decide where we will sit, it's making it hard to decide what to do with the area!! Links and ideas would be much appreciated!!!

Love Deer Donna xox

P.S. All photos were found on Rock n Roll Bride, Polka Dot Bride, Ruffled Blog and have been sitting in my inspiration folder so long I don't know where they all come from!!! Sorry!! 

diamond jubilee outfit

Hello Friends!

Today I had a job interview (I won't go into it but I am still looking for work) and Christian told me I looked like Queen Elizabeth when she is in her hunting/walking/casual outfit.

Here is the lovely Queenie..

It's funny, Queen Elizabeth always reminds me of my nanna, she just loveeeed The Queen (and The Queen Mother) and anything to do with the Royal Family, and so it made me happy when Christian said I looked like Queen Elizabeth, as I know my nanna always styled herself like The Queen. Here is a photo of my nanna (and my grandpa there next to her) looking all Queenie.

This weekend, there are celebrations in England for The Queens Diamond Jubilee, and whilst I personally have no real interest in The Royal Family, I do know my nanna would have absolutely loveeed watching it all happen, and she just looooooooooooved The Queen, so I will take a sneaky peek if I see it all on the news, even if it is just to admire The Queen and her nanna style. 

Well, anyway, I know you are interested to see what I looked like in my interview clothes now....

Well here I am!!! Christian took these photos of me before my interview this morning. If you are wondering, my skirt is a vintage Fletcher Jones skirt, which I found at Savers a while back. I would think the Queen herself would love the quality of this skirt. It's just gorgeous.

Oh, and with such good timing I must say.... Happy Diamond Jubilee weekend Queenie!!!

Love Deer Donna xox

donut dress diy

Hello Friends!

Well, I bought this super cute dress from Kmart (on sale for $8.00) and I loved it so much I got it in both navy/white and red/white. The navy/white version was the first one (and only one so far) to get a wear... I wore it out to lunch with Christian, then the next day, I decided to wear it again to the market. 

Of course, I decided I wanted donuts that day... and I ended up with a big fat donut jam stain on the front of my dress!!! NOOOOOO!

Here is the dress before I stained it.

The dress was a good cut in the neckline, and of course, my donut stain was right between the boobs. I washed it and the stain was still there, and really gross looking, but I loved the dress way too much to throw it out... So I got creative with a doily.

I have a stack of doilys right now, as I am collecting them for our wedding... So I chose a circle shaped doily and got cutting. I placed it over the neckline (after cutting the neckline into a low cut V shape to remove the donut stain, and realising it was waaay TOO low cut for my liking) and then cut the remaining parts of the doily that were not needed, and hand sewed it to the V shape neckline I cut out of the dress.

Here is how it turned out! Cute huh?

It's a bit lower cut than what I would normally wear, but it's pretty cute, and still the comfiest dress ever. I just have to remember not to eat any donuts while wearing it hahah. Or make myself a bib.

I probably should have taken a photo of the whole dress before and after, but the creative juices were flowing faster than the thought of blogging about it... So I promise I will take a good photo soon of the whole dress, and then maybe the red/white version... which I kind of wish had this collar now too haha.

Love Deer Donna xox