It all starts back in December or maybe it was November 2008, anyway about a year ago. I was in Sydney with 2 of my gorgeous girlfriends for a day of shopping and then more importantly the Kylie Concert!

John (other half) was having a day out on the yachts with the cricket boys. So of course beers + cricket boys = drunken boys having a good time at the yacht club after a day’s sailing!

It was approaching late afternoon on the Saturday, the girls and I were hanging out in Sydney and I think it was safe to say the boys back in Newcastle were more than merry. Out of nowhere I started getting some text messages and then phone calls from people offering me congratulations on my engagement. Uh? I thought, what engagement, no one had asked me to marry them.

Then I got a text from one of the boys saying that it was ok, Goldmark was having a sale and he was sure I’d get a nice ring! I laughed about it with the girls and brushed it off as stupid drunk boy talk. Then I got a phone call from John’s best mate in Sydney saying he’d heard through the grapevine we were engaged and congratulations. WTF I thought. Fake news sure does travels fast.

So I sent a few texts to John and he drunkingly laughed it off! I wasn’t convinced about what was going on, but my girlfriends were certainly getting excited for me! Anyway we had a day’s shopping to think about the following day and of course the Kylie concert!

And so the following day we shopped till our feet throbbed and then quickly got over it to sing and dance our way through the fabulous Kylie concert! Did I mention we were going to the Kylie concert!!

Upon our return to Newcastle I asked John the story behind the story!! It turned out he was chatting to the guys and one of them asked about when we were getting married and John replied yeah we’ve talked about and we’ll get married. WELL! Off they went celebrating the ‘engagement announcement’! They headed to the ATM, and then to the bar for the best bottle of champagne they could buy. It was then that I nearly wet my pants with laughter, when John explained that the boys were presented with one of those small little Pink champagne bottles for 1!!!! Their reply: um there’s at least 4 of us! So champagne under control they continued to celebrate into the night our non-existent engagement!

Lucky for John he had been thinking about asking me, and we had talked about it so there was no need for any tantrums. I decided to wait patiently. And if you know me you know how bloody hard that would have been!

And so in mid-January John calls me and says he needs to get me from work to go look at something. We rock up at a jeweller in town and he gets me to check the diamond he has chosen and the design (which I had kinda already picked!) DONE! I would have my ring in 2 weeks and we could do all this properly.

I then somehow managed to scam my way into collecting the finished ring with John, but I wasn’t allowed to wear it until we out for dinner that night. So off John went to play cricket after we collected the ring, and he stupidly left the ring sitting on the kitchen bench. So I sat there for most of the day with the ring on finger staring at it and taking photos!

FINALLY, he got home from cricket (ring was placed back in box before hand of course!) and we got ready and headed out for dinner. We walked over and sat on the water’s edge on the harbor, and John said: “I’d get down on one knee, but I’m really sore from cricket”! I’m pretty sure I laughed and cried, just give me the ring!

And that was my proposal! And as they say, the rest is history!

Yesterday a friend of mine alerted me to an article: How to be a good wife. After the reading the title my first reaction Pfft, this is going to be interesting. Then all of a sudden I thought I was back in the 1950s. Here’s some of what the article had to say:

Still, in an age in which women are remaining single later and later into their lives, it seems many women who I come across who are in their mid-30s, are now suddenly thinking that there’s an urgency to marry. Yet they fear they have no idea how to conduct themselves as “good wife material”.

“He’ll never want to marry someone like me … not if I don’t change,” one recently said to me. When I told her that a man should like her for all her quirks and foibles, she was quick to dismiss my opinion.

“Are you kidding? With so many younger, hotter women available, the person who possesses the most ‘wife material’ will win.”

While I’m not entirely sure I agree with her, my mother agrees wholeheartedly. After I recently cancelled an arrangement with her (it was due to a media commitment, not my dating schedule), she said that my flightiness proved I was “selfish and spoilt”, adding that “no man will want to marry a person like that”. Hmph.

Maybe I’d better listen to Watson’s suggestions of what “good wife material” consists of, which includes doing the following:

* Make him a priority. Not the kids. Not your exercise routine. Him.
* Have sex. Often and regularly, despite how tired you are, how late you had to stay at work or how much more appealing a Pilates class or glass of wine with a girlfriend sounds instead.
* Beware of resentment. You chose to marry the dude. You should be able to live with that decision.
* Be kind and supportive. That includes actually admitting when you’re wrong.

You can read the whole article HERE.

I mean seriously, make him a priority, not the kids. Yadda, yadda, yadda, give me a break! I didn’t sign up for a 1950s marriage, I signed up for a partnership. A partnership that requires give and take from BOTH partners. I rarely cook. Ok, I’ve cooked 3 dinners in 2 years. So really ok, I don’t cook. I do keep on top of the washing, and most of the time I keep the kitchen clean, but the rest of it is about working together to have a happy home and a happy life. And if hubby thinks for one minute that he isn’t going to have to change a stinky nappy, then he’s for a rude shock!

What also bothers me about this article, is the modern day woman who still believes that no one will want to marry her if she doesn’t fit the description or stereotype as a good wife. You can easily be yourself and have lovely quirks such as, ahem, not cooking, and still make a wonderful wife.

So let’s get personal! Do you think you’re a good wife?! Whatever that means!

I’ve always loved photos. Always had lots of pics around the house and always taken 500 happy snaps when 50 probably could’ve done it. So when we got engaged at the beginning of the year there was absolutely NO question that I would happily pay good money for a photographer.

This attitude was met with mixed reactions, ranging from ‘yes, definitely fork out for a good photographer’, and ‘why waste that much money, that’s crazy’. But my mind was made up. If we were presented with crap wedding photos, I would be DEVASTATED. Actually devastated would have been an understatement.

So, a friend of ours mentioned a photographer that they had tried to get for their wedding but he wasn’t available at the time. We quickly jumped onto his website, fell in love with his pics, rang, secured our date, all before we had even met him. A quick meet and greet and a flick through his albums and I was convinced we’d made the right decision.

Then last week we picked up our wedding photos, and they are PERFECT!! This guy is truly amazing! Not only did he capture so many moments, but his slight quirkiness and attention to detail is truly magnificent. Truth is, I probably would have paid a bucket load more than what we did, I was THAT set on making sure we had great pics!

BUT. And there’s always a BUT! We now have 1,500, yes 1,500 wedding pics and I’ll be buggered if I can pick which one’s to blow-up and get printed! It’s quite a nice problem to have though!!

Obviously different people put different values on wedding photographs, but for me there were never any questions about how important they were. Yes you’ll always have the memories of the day, but to have these special photo’s to show kids and grandkids is priceless.

So, I’m guessing you’d like to know who our photographer was!! Jake Thomas: www.jakethomas.com.au. Seriously could not recommend him any more, even if I tried! And if you’re already married, check out his portrait section! The pictures of the kids at our wedding are just amazing!

Heres some of our pics…

Ok, you can all stop laughing now!

The Planning
I’ve huffed and puffed about this before, but the best thing I found when planning our wedding was to treat it in a business like manner. The less emotional you get about things the easier it is to get stuff done.

And just because you’re dealing with people in the wedding industry, don’t necessarily think that they’ll go that extra mile. No-siree. We all remember the catering incident now don’t we! If not you can check it out here.

If you can, Bride’s, take the week off work before the wedding. Who knew there would be so many ‘little things’ that crop up that you a) had forgotten or b) never thought about in the first place! Oh and facials etc, do that the week before the week before!! No, sorry I’m not talking from personal experience, no horror skin stories here!

To have and to hold from this day forward…
Ah the wedding day! It’s so romantic and full of love, and CRAZY & MANIC AND IF YOU BLINK YOU MIGHT JUST MISS IT!

We had a fantastic day, but when people say enjoy every moment because it goes soooo quickly, believe me, they weren’t joking! Even though you start getting ready so early and it’s a big day, the ACTUAL wedding bit seems to just fly on by!

Some Do’s and Don’ts from the Ami wedding wisdom files:

• DO remember to eat!
• DON’T let the weather bother you. Easier said than done I know. Trust me oh how I know! As you can see our ceremony was outdoors. And after a hideous red DUST STORM on the Wednesday before, a hazy Saturday morning of the wedding had me slightly and silently stressed, while Mr Groomy was seriously stressed visiting the ceremony spot every hour to check out the weather and the wind! But thankfully for us all was fine, and even if it hadn’t have been, we had a plan B just in case. ALWAYS have a PLAN B!
• DO try and pack a little clutch bag that a bridesmaid can look after for you. Ie: lipgloss!
• DO let the train of your dress drag. Yes you’re wedding dress is going to get SERIOUSLY DIRTY! Mine’s now a lovely shade of pinky/red from the dust left over from the dust storm. But if you’re trying to hold your dress up in every photo, you’ll regret it, so trains down ladies!
• DON’t always stick to tradition if you don’t want to. I had a Man of Honour!! And we had a celebrant do the ‘legal’ bits of the ceremony and John’s brother did the rest of the ceremony or the ‘illegal bits’ as he like to put it!
• DO make a speech (Bride’s) if you want to. It’s not the 1950’s so ladies if you want to grab the mic and have a chat then off you go!
• DON’T wear your garter ALL day, unless the idea of some frilly scratchy material on your skin all day is your kinda fun! Keep it in your little clutch bag that your lovely trusty bridesmaid will look after for you and quickly duck into the toilet before the garter throwing and whack it on!
• DON’T throw your actual bouquet. Make a little fake bunch of flowers, from Spotlight or House & Garden.
• DON’T laugh too much at your new Husband constantly playing with his new wedding ring! Give it a week and he’ll forget he’s even wearing it!
• DO have fun with your wedding dance, if you don’t want to be too traditional! Stay tuned for the YouTube video any day now!
• DO have a bucket load of fun!! Oh and if you plan on busting some moves on the dance floor – make sure you’re shoes are comfy or change into a different pair! Or just whack on a pair of thongs like I did!

The Honeymoon
We decided to have a week off straight after the wedding, just to chill out up North. But many people save their Honeymoon’s until later on when they’ve had a chance to wind down from the craziness of the wedding whirlwind. Either way it’s just all about relaxing!

So now that the Honeymoon is over and we’re back home, we’ll just, well, we’ll just go back to how it was beforehand! Except now we can say Husband and Wife instead of partner, and I have a new name to get used to. And so begins the very long list of places I have to change my name! I have a feeling though that, that could be a whole other Puff Piece!

Oh and just remember, at the end of the day as wonderful as the wedding is, it’s the marriage that counts.

We’ve had a few little hiccups along the way, but nothing TOO major and I think I’ve managed to keep my Bridezilla moments to a minimum, and always in private!

Then last week we turned up at our caterer’s for our taste test. Our tummy’s were rumbling and our mouth’s were drooling and then we were told that the lady wasn’t there and neither were any chef’s.

The lovely lady that WAS there, checked in the diary and there it was plain and simple our wedding taste test booking.

To say I was a little pissed off was an understatement, but I kept my cool as the lady tried to contact the owner with no luck. So we re-scheduled for this week.

I was quite proud that I kept my disgust to myself while in the shop, and only really made one sarcastic remark about ‘well I hope everything will ok on our wedding day’ to which the lady of course reassured me it would.

So as we walked to the car I got more and more annoyed, and of course vented quite strongly to the future hubby.

The next day I expected a phone call from the owner apologising and offering an excuse, but to my surprise, well actually no not really surprised, there was no phone call. So I called earlier this week and the owner wasn’t there, but I spoke to the other lady who assured me everything was fine for this week.

So where is all this whinging going. Well. It got me thinking that people in the customer service industry who deal with brides, and grooms need to remember just how important this day is to us. Now I am slightly stressing about our catering and hoping all will be ok on the day, because they have left me with little confidence if they can’t even get their butts organised for a tasting for 2 people.

I feel like now that I should have asked the lady on the phone what happened last week and then I think, you know what; I just couldn’t be bothered, and we’ll wait and see what happens this tonight.

So. Do you think it is unreasonable to expect people to go above and beyond for your wedding day. Or is it asking too much for just a little extra effort?

Personally I think people in the wedding industry or those that are involved with weddings need to sometimes go that extra mile when it’s needed, and do their absolute best to minimise any stuff up’s. I remember when I requested a site meeting with the event company for our ceremony set-up and they initially declined until I pointed out how the hell would they know how it is to be set-up! (Sounds like a whole other Puff Piece all on its own!) Honestly wedding industry people, remember you’re dealing with BRIDES!. Oh dear I feel the Bridezilla surfacing, time to go!

So tell me what you think…..

Ok, so I’m a couple of days late putting this up, but….

FOUR WEEKS BABY! FOUR WEEKS!

Check out the clip below!!

Not long now…!

From SMH.com.au:

The Rolling Stones charge £5 million ($9.8 million) to perform at weddings.

The ageing rockers – made up of frontman Sir Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, drummer Charlie Watts and guitarist Ronnie Wood – have been named the world’s most expensive wedding act, ahead of Sir Elton John and Kylie Minogue who only demand £2 million ($3.9 million) to play at nuptials.

In 2002 the Sympathy for the Devil hitmakers – who refuse to perform private shows unless they are already on tour – charged the enormous sum to play a 90-minute set at a lavish party in the US.

Candle in the Wind singer Elton scooped £1.5 million ($3.9 million) in 2001 after singing along to his piano for a private bash.

However, the pop icon donates all earnings from private concerts to his charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, rather than pocketing the huge sums.

In the poll – commissioned by Living TV’s Four Weddings series, which airs on Mondays in the UK – US songstress Christina Aguilera was named the fourth priciest performer at £1.5 million a show while British pop star George Michael bags £1.3 million ($2.54 million) for a private concert.

Troubled Rehab starlet Amy Winehouse, Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney, X Factor winner Leona Lewis and US star Jennifer Lopez can each demand £1 million ($1.96 million) for a post-nuptials performance.

The world’s 12 most expensive wedding performers, according to Living TV:

1. The Rolling Stones (up to £5 million )

2. Sir Elton John (up to £2 million)

- Kylie Minogue (up to £2 million)

4. Christina Aguilera (up to £1.5 million)

5. George Michael (£1.3 million)

6. Amy Winehouse (£1 million)

- Sir Paul McCartney (£1 million)

- Leona Lewis (£1 million)

- Jennifer Lopez (£1 million)

10. Barry Manilow (£750,000)

11. Rod Stewart (£600,000)

12. Duran Duran (£500,000)

It’s now only 65 days until I say goodbye to Ami Holder and hello to Mrs Ami Streeter and I’m guessing that time is about to start flying! All in all things are pretty much organised (touch wood), but what the last 7 or so months has taught me, is that no matter how organised you think you are or how simple you think your wedding is, you will still get flustered and have the odd Bridezilla moment!

It is so hard not to get emotional when planning your wedding, it is without a doubt “one of the biggest days of your life”. But I think and hope what I’ve mostly tried to do is treat the planning of the wedding in quite a business like manner. Naturally I’m quite organised. I like my organised folders full of paper work and beautifully coloured spreadsheets so that side of the business like organisation was a piece of cake. Not trying to get too emotional during meetings on the other hand was a little harder.

My advice is to get all the negative thoughts and emotional outbursts out of the way prior to any catch ups with your suppliers, event venue etc, that way you can go in with clear head, a business head! Use your future husband to get it all out, isn’t that what he’s there for!

Get everything in writing, ask questions if you’re not sure and speak up if you’re not happy. Don’t worry about sounding like you’re asking for too much, just ask the question, it can’t hurt. And one thing I’ve had to keep reminding myself, at the end of the day, it is only ONE day, albeit a very important one!

And take this little story with you, our wedding reception venue said to me, we won’t be doing anymore weddings after yours!! Hmmmm was it something I said!!

The question: Are you going to change your name when you get married? Short answer, Yes.

For nearly 26 years I have been Ami Holder. Call me old fashioned, but it had never crossed my mind not to change my name. When we start a family I don’t want to have a different name to my children and nor did I consider hyphenating it either. It’s actually a little hard to explain! I’m not a big hot shot career woman, nor am I a super famous celebrity!

So in about 86 days I will become Ami Streeter!

Unfortunately for my future husband, he won’t be getting someone that looks like this Mrs!

Did you change your name when you got married?Are you getting married and have decided not to? Why? Guys, would you be upset if your new wife didn’t take your name?
Would love to hear your opinions.