I'm a Christian - a passionate lover of Jesus Christ...so I know about God's favour. It's when God is happy with you and blesses everything you do - beyond your dreams and wishes. He makes everything work together so that you dont have to lift a finger, it all just falls into place just as you had hoped.
For some reason, I'm walking in it right now.
I'm a sinner. I'm an Adultress, I'm mouthy, impulsive, inherently selfish, willful, grudge-bearing and really, really stupid. Nothing in my life right now is to the glory of the God I love so much, and yet...my life is so blessed. So rich in happiness and joy. I wanted to write about it. To capture it so that in my darker days, I can read back on this and remember what it was like to be robed in God's favour. Undeservingly, of course - but here it is nonetheless.
I feel that everything for Al's and my wedding was blessed of God.
Al didn't have a job and I was struggling on my own to pay for things and keep us both afloat leading up the our wedding, but this is what happened:
Amy paid for the deposit for the Reception ($500.00) and said it was a gift and not ever to be paid back. Without Amy's generosity, we would have lost the booking and had to have our reception somewhere less lovely.
Dianti, Amy, Linda, Jackie and Yuki paid for my Wedding flowers - another gift from beloved friends
Kelly bought me the perfume I really wanted to wear on my wedding day but couldn't afford
Our Rydges Hotel Suite was an upgrade - first from Linda to a King Room and then from the lovely receptionist to their most expensive Spa Suite - so exclusive that only two of them existed in the whole hotel. Woah.
Alun and I really wanted a photographer but couldn't afford one. Kelly asked her best friend - a professional photographer (keep in mind, this is a guy who has NEVER met us and doesnt owe us a thing)...who instantly agreed to work for the whole afternoon and well into the night without payment. Fraser took over 500 pictures and brought a 'go pro' camera with which he filmed the entire wedding ceremony in beautiful clarity. All for free. Wow.
I had my heart set on wedding cupcakes but wasn't sure I could afford them. I was walking by a food court on St Georges Terrace and spotted the prettiest cupcakes I'd ever seen. I sent an email to "Yummi Mummi" the next day to enquire and got back such a beautiful email saying they'd love to make my cupcakes. Not only that, but they were happy to hand-deliver them on the wedding day for free AND would only charge a mere $2.90 per cupcake instead of $3.75 because I was ordering such a large amount. Other cupcake stores began each cupcake price at $4.00. I got a discount and free delivery - and didnt have to ask for a thing, it was just offered to me.
I was struggling to get a hairdresser for the wedding day as many hairdressers were either way too expensive (the prices were extortionate!!!) or were busy already with early bookings. I eventually "gave up" and gave my hairdressing worry to God. That afternoon, I received the most beautiful email from Christian (and that was his actual name) at Salon Express saying "we would be delighted to do your hair and the hair of your bridesmaids" - he wished me every happiness for the wedding and said he'd allocate the best in his Salon to our hair. He even acknowledged my awkward questions about fake hair extensions and said staff were experts (they were!) and would be happy to work with any extensions I wanted to bring with me. Amazing!!!
I met a few times with Ash at Etro Bar where we had the Reception to plan for the evening. To cut costs, I said I would bring my own decorations. What Caris, Jess and I ended up bringing on the morning of the wedding was vases (jars) with roses in for table centrepeices, Jenga blocks for the wedding guests to sign, Danni at Yummi Mummi faithfully delivered all 75 gorgeous cupcakes and arrived the same time as the girls and I did - with a bright smile, bless her), we left our wooden wishing well (it was bare and looked pretty grim to be honest) and things for our 'Wedding photo booth' (which was essentially 4 silly hats I brought from home and the 'photo booth' ap open on my laptop so guests could take photos of themselves...nothing fancy but I figured with a few drinks in them, people would be open to donning a pirate hat and having a giggle). I planned to put everything out myself. Ash wouldnt have it.
"No no, Janet - you're getting married TODAY. Leave all this with me"
Uh no way. I want to be in control.
"You have a million other things to do - trust me to do this, because I'll do a good job" Ashleigh insisted, throwing in a warm hug which completely disarmed me.
But...
"Go on, get out of here - I'll carry on with this" Ash said, gently pushing me towards the exit stairs.
My last image as I left was of an empty bar, not enough chairs still on upturned on what felt like not enough bar tables (I was worried there wouldnt be enough seating at this 'cocktail set up' and had told Ash my fears) and of my flowers in jars - all bunched up instead of in the middle of tables as I'd hoped.
What I came back to that evening - was nothing less than Magical.
Ashleigh had put white tablecloths out on every surface. Along with the beautiful roses on as centrepeices, she had added delicate tea-light candles and carefully folded napkins. Beautiful. Our bare wedding wishing well now had two satin ribbons around it - purple and pink...as well as a few stray flowers. It now looked amazing. The Wedding photo booth had also had an upgrade. Instead of just 4 hats, there were now additional gorgeous props - little paper lips, glasses, hearts, a whiteboard where guests could write sayings, headbands, ribbons, ties and scarves. Ash had put the cupcakes into a neat pyramid on the main wedding table, put out the Jenga peices, put the sharpie pens into a little cup and even had an empty vase for the jenga peices to put kept in afterwards. The whole bar looked lovely, sweet, romantic and delicate.
Ashleigh...this is perfect.
About 20 minutes into the Reception, Ash approached with her boss in tow. "Janet, this is *Phyllis...I wanted her to meet you and see who was behind how beautiful our bar looks tonight" I hugged them both "well then, she should look at you, Ashleigh - you've made it amazing" I said in return.
Ashleigh produced a bottle of expensive white wine and a card with "Janet and Alun" written on the front in neat, curly handwriting. "For you" she said shyly. Then added "and any drinks for you and Alun are on the house - we've let the bar staff know to charge guests according to your pre-paid bar tab, but to put any drinks for you or for Alun on us - happy wedding day"
Woah.
"Thank you so much!" it seemed a feeble response to such generosity, but was all I could offer. Ashleigh nodded wisely and squeezed my hand gently "Enjoy it, Janet - you've worked hard for this"
Our flights and accomodation in Bali were paid for by Jay, Mom and Dad...so all we had to bring was spending money - which we gained from our beloved friends in our Wishing well cards. We didnt have to strive or suffer to get spending money - it was all there in abundance.
And when I needed to change flights in order to fly Alun home early from our Bali honeymoon/familymoon - Jetstar had done it for us - again, we didnt have to lift a finger. Flights that would have cost $200 - $400 to change 'last minute' were free of charge. And were for a perfect time for us.
Everyone we dealt with for and about the wedding was really, really lovely. They genuinely wanted to do everything they could to help and went out of their way to make our day special - all for no extra charge.
Incredible.
I'm astounded at the blessing I'm surrounded in...and so grateful.
Thank you, Father God. This is awesome xx
For some reason, I'm walking in it right now.
I'm a sinner. I'm an Adultress, I'm mouthy, impulsive, inherently selfish, willful, grudge-bearing and really, really stupid. Nothing in my life right now is to the glory of the God I love so much, and yet...my life is so blessed. So rich in happiness and joy. I wanted to write about it. To capture it so that in my darker days, I can read back on this and remember what it was like to be robed in God's favour. Undeservingly, of course - but here it is nonetheless.
I feel that everything for Al's and my wedding was blessed of God.
Al didn't have a job and I was struggling on my own to pay for things and keep us both afloat leading up the our wedding, but this is what happened:
Amy paid for the deposit for the Reception ($500.00) and said it was a gift and not ever to be paid back. Without Amy's generosity, we would have lost the booking and had to have our reception somewhere less lovely.
Dianti, Amy, Linda, Jackie and Yuki paid for my Wedding flowers - another gift from beloved friends
Kelly bought me the perfume I really wanted to wear on my wedding day but couldn't afford
Our Rydges Hotel Suite was an upgrade - first from Linda to a King Room and then from the lovely receptionist to their most expensive Spa Suite - so exclusive that only two of them existed in the whole hotel. Woah.
Alun and I really wanted a photographer but couldn't afford one. Kelly asked her best friend - a professional photographer (keep in mind, this is a guy who has NEVER met us and doesnt owe us a thing)...who instantly agreed to work for the whole afternoon and well into the night without payment. Fraser took over 500 pictures and brought a 'go pro' camera with which he filmed the entire wedding ceremony in beautiful clarity. All for free. Wow.
I had my heart set on wedding cupcakes but wasn't sure I could afford them. I was walking by a food court on St Georges Terrace and spotted the prettiest cupcakes I'd ever seen. I sent an email to "Yummi Mummi" the next day to enquire and got back such a beautiful email saying they'd love to make my cupcakes. Not only that, but they were happy to hand-deliver them on the wedding day for free AND would only charge a mere $2.90 per cupcake instead of $3.75 because I was ordering such a large amount. Other cupcake stores began each cupcake price at $4.00. I got a discount and free delivery - and didnt have to ask for a thing, it was just offered to me.
I was struggling to get a hairdresser for the wedding day as many hairdressers were either way too expensive (the prices were extortionate!!!) or were busy already with early bookings. I eventually "gave up" and gave my hairdressing worry to God. That afternoon, I received the most beautiful email from Christian (and that was his actual name) at Salon Express saying "we would be delighted to do your hair and the hair of your bridesmaids" - he wished me every happiness for the wedding and said he'd allocate the best in his Salon to our hair. He even acknowledged my awkward questions about fake hair extensions and said staff were experts (they were!) and would be happy to work with any extensions I wanted to bring with me. Amazing!!!
I met a few times with Ash at Etro Bar where we had the Reception to plan for the evening. To cut costs, I said I would bring my own decorations. What Caris, Jess and I ended up bringing on the morning of the wedding was vases (jars) with roses in for table centrepeices, Jenga blocks for the wedding guests to sign, Danni at Yummi Mummi faithfully delivered all 75 gorgeous cupcakes and arrived the same time as the girls and I did - with a bright smile, bless her), we left our wooden wishing well (it was bare and looked pretty grim to be honest) and things for our 'Wedding photo booth' (which was essentially 4 silly hats I brought from home and the 'photo booth' ap open on my laptop so guests could take photos of themselves...nothing fancy but I figured with a few drinks in them, people would be open to donning a pirate hat and having a giggle). I planned to put everything out myself. Ash wouldnt have it.
"No no, Janet - you're getting married TODAY. Leave all this with me"
Uh no way. I want to be in control.
"You have a million other things to do - trust me to do this, because I'll do a good job" Ashleigh insisted, throwing in a warm hug which completely disarmed me.
But...
"Go on, get out of here - I'll carry on with this" Ash said, gently pushing me towards the exit stairs.
My last image as I left was of an empty bar, not enough chairs still on upturned on what felt like not enough bar tables (I was worried there wouldnt be enough seating at this 'cocktail set up' and had told Ash my fears) and of my flowers in jars - all bunched up instead of in the middle of tables as I'd hoped.
What I came back to that evening - was nothing less than Magical.
Ashleigh had put white tablecloths out on every surface. Along with the beautiful roses on as centrepeices, she had added delicate tea-light candles and carefully folded napkins. Beautiful. Our bare wedding wishing well now had two satin ribbons around it - purple and pink...as well as a few stray flowers. It now looked amazing. The Wedding photo booth had also had an upgrade. Instead of just 4 hats, there were now additional gorgeous props - little paper lips, glasses, hearts, a whiteboard where guests could write sayings, headbands, ribbons, ties and scarves. Ash had put the cupcakes into a neat pyramid on the main wedding table, put out the Jenga peices, put the sharpie pens into a little cup and even had an empty vase for the jenga peices to put kept in afterwards. The whole bar looked lovely, sweet, romantic and delicate.
Ashleigh...this is perfect.
About 20 minutes into the Reception, Ash approached with her boss in tow. "Janet, this is *Phyllis...I wanted her to meet you and see who was behind how beautiful our bar looks tonight" I hugged them both "well then, she should look at you, Ashleigh - you've made it amazing" I said in return.
Ashleigh produced a bottle of expensive white wine and a card with "Janet and Alun" written on the front in neat, curly handwriting. "For you" she said shyly. Then added "and any drinks for you and Alun are on the house - we've let the bar staff know to charge guests according to your pre-paid bar tab, but to put any drinks for you or for Alun on us - happy wedding day"
Woah.
"Thank you so much!" it seemed a feeble response to such generosity, but was all I could offer. Ashleigh nodded wisely and squeezed my hand gently "Enjoy it, Janet - you've worked hard for this"
Our flights and accomodation in Bali were paid for by Jay, Mom and Dad...so all we had to bring was spending money - which we gained from our beloved friends in our Wishing well cards. We didnt have to strive or suffer to get spending money - it was all there in abundance.
And when I needed to change flights in order to fly Alun home early from our Bali honeymoon/familymoon - Jetstar had done it for us - again, we didnt have to lift a finger. Flights that would have cost $200 - $400 to change 'last minute' were free of charge. And were for a perfect time for us.
Everyone we dealt with for and about the wedding was really, really lovely. They genuinely wanted to do everything they could to help and went out of their way to make our day special - all for no extra charge.
Incredible.
I'm astounded at the blessing I'm surrounded in...and so grateful.
Thank you, Father God. This is awesome xx
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