Guest Post// Wandering Spice

Morning ladies!  Todays guest post is by the ever-so-lovely Yasmeen, of  Wandering Spice.  Yasmeen's blog is filled with delicious recipes celebrating her Middle Eastern heritage as well as the various places she's lived in throughout the world.  She's currently residing in Australia and is busy planning her upcoming wedding-which is sure to be an amazing fête!  I may be a little biased, but she is my favorite cousin after all.  Here's a sneak peak of what's she's planning for her big day.

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Hi, Habibi readers. I'm Yasmeen - food writer and photographer at Wandering Spice in Melbourne, Australia. A big thanks to my beautiful cousin Nuha for inviting me to share her space while she's on holiday!

Today I'm here to talk about something new for me: wedding inspiration. As newly engaged members of society, this is all very exciting for my man and I. And as we learned early on, it can be quite an overwhelming task.

On New Years' Day, over coffees and the butteriest ham + gruyere croissants at our local French cafe, we changed all of that. By the end of our last salty bite, we'd moved our date up by a full calendar year, picked our venue and never felt better. Amazing what a good brunch will do.

To some, planning a cross-continental wedding in five months is a sure mark of insanity. For us, it's about creating a personal, eclectic party with memorable food and loved ones. One of my dearest friends is handmaking our invitations. Our brother-in-law, a professional wedding photographer, is going to capture our day. The venue is my family home.

With the help our of creative planner Vicki, plus loads of inspiration from blogs and Pinterest, we're on our way to creating a party we know we and our guests will love. Here's an idea of what's up our sleeves.

We're having an evening wedding outside, in my parents' wooded garden. I imagine creative lighting with mis-matching lanterns for a fun, romantic feel...

Flowers of all shapes and sizes, in glassware of all shapes and sizes...

A serious - very serious - night of dancing.

And of course, we passionate travelers need a honeymoon. It doesn't hurt that Bora Bora just so happens to be on the way home to Melbourne...

But as a food lover and blogger, you can guess what really gets me excited. Passed hors d'oeuvres, seated appetizers, share plates, main dishes, cake, dessert bar, midnight snacks... I love it all! One of the greatest joys of wedding planning has been conjuring up a festive menu for us all to savor.

The Australian Man and I bonded over sharing and talking about food. We'd love to bring our guests together by having mezze (small plates) at each table - or at one big table like they've done here - for nibbling and chatting. 

Instead of a generic bar, how about Australian-inspired, and Middle Eastern-inspired, signature cocktails to represent our different backgrounds.

Naturally... a fabulous cake.

Edible wedding favors. What greater way to thank guests than with an extra something sweet after all that dancing. 

So, what do you think? Any brides out there have a thing or two to share? Thanks to you all and to Nuha for having me - hope to see you all again soon! x

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Doesn't it all look like so much fun?  As if it would be anything less!  Good luck to you Yas and here's to smooth sailing wedding planning!