Are you there blog? It's me, Erin...

Dear Blog,

I know you have been feeling a little neglected lately. I have been off in my own world working hard at my job and not giving you the attention you deserve. The truth is, I have been quite reclusive from everything and everyone since the wedding. However, there has been a lot going on that I should probably write about because I always feel better when I get it out there and it's not all bottled up inside (which is my usual m.o. for dealing with shit).

1. The Wedding.

Only one word can sum it up... awesome! I had an absolute blast! There were a few hiccups through out the day, but I think I handled them well and I hope I wasn't anything that resembled a Bridezilla.

2. D's Health.

I started a post a little while back but was afraid to put it out to the world in case I jinxed his wonderful improvement. That's right, I think I might just about have back the man I fell in love with. While he only ended up being about 80% better at the time of the wedding, he is at about 95% now! There are still things that he will never be able to eat again, like onions, but his appetite and energy are finally back! He has stopped losing weight, and even gained some. At his 2nd Remicade infusion, he weighed 0.5lbs more than the first one; at the 3rd, he weighed even more. He goes for his 4th in a month and I hope that he is back up to his normal weight.

3. My Sister's Health.

She is sick. Very. Sick. She had her colon removed on Friday as a last resort attempt to get her life back. Unfortunately that means a good 6 weeks of recovery from this surgery, 6 months of living with a stoma and colostomy bag, and finally a 2nd surgery to create an internal bag and remove the stoma.

On Friday I stayed at work as long as I could but I wanted to be at the hospital when the surgeon came to speak to my parents. The surgery was scheduled for 9:30am, H went in at about 10:15 (I think); the surgery was to last approx. 4 hrs. When I showed up at 3 we still had not heard anything. The Dr. finally came out at 5pm, some 8 hrs later, and told us that they had to make the incision a little bigger than they had wanted, but the surgery went well and she was in recovery.

According to H recovery was bad, and since my mom wasn't back there to help, it just made it worse. When she woke up she said that she could hear them talking about a bigger incision and she threw up and started crying. It took a couple minutes, but when one of the nurses heard her crying they came back and talked to her and calmed her down. It must have been so scary for her to be back there without her family.

As they brought her to her room, one of the nurses came and got us from the waiting room and we all went up together. She seemed to be in good spirits for just coming out of surgery. She even managed to crack a joke about Dr.'s taking her ass away. That night was relatively uneventful because she was still on the epidural and therefore numb and pain free.

The next day, Saturday, they got her up and out of bed and sitting in a chair for a bit. When she went back to bed, she must have hit the epidural line, because she started to feel pain. A. Lot. Of. Pain. Since they hadn't planned to stop the epidural, they hadn't yet given her any other pain meds yet. From there, it seems to have spiraled downward. She was nauseous, in pain had a distended belly; they were even concerned that they would have to go back in at one point. Instead, they put a tube into her stomach and pumped out the excess bile. That seems to have helped out with the distention. They gave her morphine for the pain and some anti-nausea medication because they don't want her to throw up (that could cause damage to the stitches). Needless to say Saturday night was bad. My dad was with her until 2 am, and her fiancee stayed the night.

I don't have a whole lot of information about what happened after that. All I know is that they had her walking about 30 or 40 feet. I haven't had an update since.

4. Baby Fever.

It's back and stronger than ever. I found a new (to me) blog yesterday called "Baby Rabies; when it's more than a fever". So true. D and I have talked about it a bit since the wedding and I totally understand where he is coming from; now is not a logical time to start to try to have a baby. But there is nothing logical about wanting a baby! I mean really, when you think about, what is logical about wanting to do that to your self??? Hey I know, lets do something that will make me sick 24/7 for at least 3 months!! and I won't even be able to take anything for it" Ya, that sounds logical! And then, I can get really fat and uncomfortable for 6 months after that with symptoms that range from sausage toes to night sweats, from cramps to contraction, and totally stretch and permanently disfigure my body. Totally "logical". And the cherry on the top of this oh-so-appetizing-sundae? You guessed it! The worst pain anyone can ever feel in their life as a baby literally rips you apart as it enters the world that lasts for hours upon hours. Logical?? My ASS!


So that has been my last month in a nut shell. How have you been?

All my love,
Erin

Please accept my apologies

I said it last month and I'll say it again, I haven't blogged in a long time and I'm sorry for it (Not that I have more than one reader any way ;)) As the wedding approached everything went haywire! 2 weeks before the wedding, D went for his second Remicade infusion. By then, the first one seemed to be taking some effect and as happy as I was, I was afraid to write about it in case I jinxed it in some way. Since the second shot, he has kept improving every day!

The week before the wedding I was practically holding my breath, hoping against hope that he would be somewhat healthy for our big day. And he almost was! While his side was noticeably inflamed due to the stress of the wedding, he made it through the day with a smile, albeit a forced smile, but he had a wonderful day none the less.

Overall, our day ran like clockwork and went off without a hitch. Well, almost no hitch. The first hitch was that the Rev. did not use the ceremony that I sent him and that D and I had been reading over. Which was really not something to worry about, the ceremony he read was fine, and I was glad that there was no religion in it, that was all I really wanted. The vows of the ceremony I sent the Rev were quite different and original, I found them on the internet somewhere. I wanted something a little more interesting than the standard 'sickness and health till death do you part' lines. Unfortunately, that's what we ended up with.

D managed to make it original though. Mind you, it was totally by accident. When the Rev. asked him to repeat the vows he was doing fine until he had to repeat 'I will be faithful to you alone'. Something must have distracted him (my beauty I like to think) or maybe he just cracked under the pressure, but his response was "Can you repeat that please?" Everyone, including my self, burst out laughing! At least people will remember our wedding!

Preparations

I have been absent from blogging this month, I hope you can forgive me, it's been a busy few weeks with all of the wedding preparations. It's mostly all done though! YAY!! This weekend, I am going to take some time for my self and take Jak to the cottage and relax on the beach. I can't wait.

The last two weekends, my sister has come to our house and helped out tremendously with all of the tasks still to be done. The Saturday before last, after the engagement photo session, we did a bunch of shopping. We bought pumpkins for the centerpieces, supplies for the boutineers, a frame for the seating chart, and a bunch of other supplies. Then we spent the afternoon scanning pictures for the slide show and assembling directional signs. On Sunday I went to Miton to pick up our Liquor Permit and then went on to D's parents house to pick up the pictures for his portion of the slide show. I ended up leaving them there for his dad to scan, which saved me a whole bunch of time.

This past weekend, I went down to G-town on Saturday to meet with the hair stylist to go over my hair for the wedding. I showed her a bunch of pictures of what I want it to be like and the hair pins I made for my hair. Then I went to Milton again, this time to pick up some battery-opperated tealights to use in the center pieces because the Museum doesn't allow open flames, with the exception of the fireplace. We also went to IKEA to get some big candles for the fireplace. When we returned to G-town, my sister and I continued working on the slideshow, cutting it down to an acceptable length, and finding accompaning music. We decided on "Picture Book" by The Kinks, and "Grow old with me" by Adam Sandler. Having picked out the music, attaching it to the slideshow was proving to be very difficult, so we gave up and I went home.

On Sunday, H came to our house again to help me get as much done as possible so that I would be able to go to the cottage this weekend. Without her help, and motivation, I probably wouldn't have got it all done. With her there, we managed to finish the aisle and altar arrangements, finish the seating chart and guest book frame, and complete the cards I printed that explain our photo-sharing website. There's not a whole lot that I still have to do now!

Engagement Photos

Talk about leaving it to the last minute, last Saturday we had our engagement photos taken. I know that it is something you are supposed to do around the time you get engaged, hence the name Engagement photos... however, with D's health, we kept putting it off, and putting it off, hoping that at some point he would feel well enough for the shoot to not be torture for him. That day never came. We had to get them done soon so that we could have a few printed up in time for the wedding in 2 weeks later (OMG!!! 2 weeks!!!).

Saturday was a beautiful day, it seems like summer has finally arrived! The 3 of us headed down to Goldie Mill Park in Guelph. Yes, 3 of us… Jak came too! I wanted a few good shots with him since he is so hard to photograph normally.

Goldie Mill Park is a really nice setting for photos because it provides so many different backgrounds. First we started in a more traditional park setting on a park bench. Then we headed over to the ruins of the old Goldie Mill. Pictures were taken outside the mill in one of the windows, we then moved inside against the stone walls. At the park there is also a river and some bridges that also provide nice areas for pictures.

I was thankful for the river because I was a bad dog owner that day and we forgot Jak’s bag with his water and stoop-and-scoop bags… oops! at one point we had to go down to the river’s edge and let Jak have a drink and cool down. Black dog + hot sunny day = no fun for Jak.

On Sunday night I received an email from our photographers to let us know that a sampling of our photos is available to preview on their website! Already!! One of the photographers is going on vacation this week and wanted to get them done before she left, so we got lucky to get them so quick! They sent a CD with all of the edited shots from that to me in the mail.

This is my favourite shot of the whole bunch...

He actually looks like he's happy. Happy, for the first time in months. And they were able to capture that on camera. Frozen in time. Even if doesn't happen again for a while, he was happy once, and I have proof.

It's like I try and do everything in one day...

On Saturday my mom, my sister and I met with the caterer at the museum and went through all of the details with him. They have a glass stand that I can use for the cupcakes (yes, we are having cupcakes! yummm!), so I don't have to worry about making one. He also is going to put lights and a swag at the head table at no charge. They are pretty much going to do all of the set up on the day of, we just have to drop everything off the day before or that morning. I also chose appetizers; sweet potato pancakes, bacon and cheese mini quiche, and firecracker shrimp. All 3 will be Crohn's and Colitis friendly so that my sister and D don't have to keep asking "what's in that?"

After that meeting, We met with the Photographers, and showed them around the museum. Then we went up to Georgetown to the Gallery and to the Park where we are having the photos done. After seeing all of the locations in one day, I think people will think that our wedding photos are staged! We have the Park, then on the way to the ceremony we are going to walk from the park to the gallery through downtown and take photo's on the way, then at the gallery, then at the museum... all such different backgrounds!

After meeting with the photographers we went to Waste Wise (a re-use center) and found some wide mouth mason jars that I can clean up and put some ribbon on and use for vases to hold our bouquets, and some picture frames that I am going to hinge together to make A-frame signs to direct people to the museum and gallery.

That night we all sat around going through old pictures for a picture display. 30 years of pictures... it was like I saw my life flash before my eyes!

Busy day. The weekend before last D and I went shopping for bands. His will be titanium, and mine will be white gold to match my ring.

I have another busy weekend planned this weekend. Hopefully shopping tomorrow with my aunt for the decorating stuff. And on the holiday Monday we are meeting with our bagpipe-playing officiant to go over the ceremony.

Birthday-Harry-Potter-Wedding-Shower-Extravaganza!

Awesome Weekend. The best one I have had in a long long time. It started on Friday when I went to the movie theatre straight from work to get in line for Harry Potter. I knew it was going to be a packed theatre and I needed to get perfect seats. My Sister picked J up from the GO station and met me at the theatre after I was seated. In honour of J's birthday last week, I treated both of them to dinner and a movie. Dinner consisted of Hot Dogs and Berttie Botts Every Flavour Beans aka Jelly Belly's.


Harry Potter was an awesome show; the best one, in my opinion, other than the first one. I liked that although it dealt with some very heavy subjects, there was still a lot of humor. I had read some reviews that were knocking it because the audience was expected to know who all of the characters were and that the movie didn't do enough to bring in new fans. But really, if they had, it would have been a 5 hr movie! Be realistic people... with a book that big, things will have to be assumed and parts are going to be cut. There was really only one scene from the book that I really missed in the movie and that was Dumbledore's funeral. The end of this movie could have been a real tear jerker if there was some effort put into it.

The next morning J and I went for a walk with the dog down to a local hippie coffee shop, and then to the park to sip our cappuccino and eat muffins. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and it wasn't too hot or too cold. The dog was behaving, even catching the Frisbee a few times AND BRINGING IT BACK occasionally. We made our way back to the house past the beautiful gardens and huge houses that surround our little townhouse complex, and I was reminded of how much I love our neighbourhood.

Soon we had to get going to my Aunts house for my final (finally) bridal shower. On our way I had to stop quickly at the mall to find a sweater to wear over my dress because I am always cold. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to find a white cardigan sweater in July?? We had to go to 4 stores and were 'fashionably' late to the shower. Oh well, the party doesn't really start until the bride gets there anyway right?

I have been looking forward to this shower most of all. The others were wonderful, but there is just something about sitting in a room surrounded by people who have known you your entire life. These people all remember 'little girl' me and are now getting to be a part of 'grown up' me. There was even a surprise guest; J's Nanny was able to come down! I have only seen her at funerals lately, and other than that and J's practice wedding, I haven't seen her since I was about 8. She still remembers me as the little girl who got chased by their golden retriever. That was so nice, I'm happy that she came.

I was also happy that my own grandmother was able to make it down. When I had talked to her last she wasn't sure she was going to make it. She doesn't like to sleep at either my mom's or my aunts house, so she was planning to drive down and back to her house, that's 2 hrs there and 2 hrs back. We were all impressed with how well she behaved. My Grandma likes to be the center of attention. I'm not sure if it's a form of dementia or the start of Alzheimer's or something, or if she has always been like this and I'm just becoming more aware of it as I grow up, but when the focus of conversation is not on her, or on a topic that she choose, she can't stand it. At one point near the end she did go and sit outside.

After the party, one of my other aunts went over to my moms house and us girls, my mom, my aunt, my sister and I, sat around and chatted for hours. We ordered Swiss Chalet for dinner and I didn't get home until 11pm. So tired.

Amazing day. Amazing weekend. Thank you.

Better than Christmas!

Today marks the start of an incredible 3 day wonderful, fantastic time! First today. As I write this, someone is cleaning my house! Since D has got so sick it has been incredibly hard to keep up with the housekeeping. Whenever I tried to clean, he would get upset that I was doing all of the work. He would try and help only to have to stop after an hour of cleaning. He would want me to take a break with him so that he wouldn't feel guilty. So since our entire house takes more than an hour to clean, only parts of it were getting looked after. So my mom came to the rescue! She has sent us her cleaning lady for the summer to help us out. For which, I am eternally grateful. As if my mom doesn't do enough for everyone, just one more thing to add to the list of why my mom is the best in the world.

Then tomorrow! Harry Potter Day!!! My bestest friend, J, and my bestest sister, H, and by bestest fiancee, D, are all going to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have had this day mapped out for weeks. How J is getting our house, who is standing in line, I even bought the tickets last week. Tonight I am going out to buy special themed movie snacks, that's how excited I am for this movie. I am very happy that this has been something that has brought my sister and I closer together. HP is something we have bonded over. We have gone to see every movie together within the opening week, it has been great.

And After Harry Potter? How can it get any better?? Why another shower of course! This time it is with my family. I will know everyone, there will be some people there that I haven't seen in a long time. There will even be people there that I have seen recently, but only in unfortunate circumstances, it will be so nice to have a happy occasion to share with them. It is going to be so much fun, I can't wait!

High Tea

A couple of weeks ago, I had my first bridal shower. it was a wonderful tea party hosted by D's aunts complete with little finger sandwiches and big hats. I have been meaning to write this post for a while, but life has got in the way too many times.

For me, the shower was a weekend long event because my bestest friend J came to visit all weekend! The festivities started on Friday when I picked her up at the train station and we went shopping for our weekend project, a bird mobile. We headed over to Len's Mill Store and bought a bunch of retro cool fabrics to create our little birdies. Once home we ordered pizza, watched movies, and started sewing.

Saturday morning we went to the Farmers Market with my friend T and ate dumplings for breakfast and enjoyed the hustle and bustle and sunshine of a local Farmers Market. In addition to our bird mobile, we had another mission we had to complete before the shower. We needed a hat, because who has a hat fit for a fancy tea party hanging around any more??

Value Village was our first stop to try and find cheap big fancy hats. They had nothing. But they did have the Fisher Price Roller Skates that J and I used to have as kids, and believe it or not, I could still get my feet in them! It was, albeit, very tight and once my feet got too sore from skating around the store, we headed for Wal-Mart where I had previously seen hats for under $10. Sure enough, we found a couple of big floppy hats that were on budget - Mission accomplished! Back home to make more birds!

Sunday was the shower, it was so nice to be surrounded by the people closest to me and my new family and to be welcomed in so warmly. The food that one of the aunts prepared with her neighbour (a complete stranger to me) was fantastic! And there was sooo much of it with so may choices. I didn't get to try one of everything, but I'm sure all of it was just as wonderful as what I did try.

There were fun games and prizes, and the gifts that I received were wonderful. I have already put most of them to use, however, the lingerie will have to wait until after the wedding right??

When I got home from the shower, I pulled up to the house and called in for D to help me unload the car. No Answer. I could hear the TV on in the bedroom which meant that he was watching it from in bed instead of on the couch. Generally, that's an indication that he is not feeling well or is in pain. So, since the car was parked on the street, I unloaded it before going up to check on him. When I got upstairs, he was indeed in a lot of pain.

I have to say that the best gift of the day was not wrapped in paper, and it did not have a bow. It was a hand made card from D's cousin's daughter.

Weddings are when a

princess falls in love with

a prince and gets married

Everybody is happy to

see you get married.

True loves forever.

Have a good wedding.

The true gift of that card was when I showed it to D, and through all of the pain, he smiled and said it made his day.

Bridesmaid Dresses

I went out for lunch on Thursday with a big group of people from work to a really nice little Indian restaurant in downtown. Across the street, we noticed that the local boutique clothes store was having a sale, 20% off. So after we were finished eating the men went back to the office and the women went shopping. I didn't have many expectations for this store, it originally struck me as an old lady store and it wasn't somewhere I would have gone in without a purpose. But I wanted to be sociable, so I went with the girls and thought hey, you never know what you might find... and I found a gem!

I browsed the store looking at the dresses in case there was one that would be perfect for my bridesmaids. And sure enough, there was! At the back of the store was a rack 4 green dresses and matching black ones. The green ones are the perfect colour green, and in a cut that I think is pretty much flattering on everyone. They are Mexx dresses so I thought I'd go to the Mexx store in Stone Road mall to see if they had more. They did not. Crap! I hope that the 4 dresses at the shop happen to be the right size for both of them.

Today my sister (my maid of honour) and my mom met me at the store to look at the dresses and try one on.  I was right the cut was very flattering and it fit perfectly!  Now I just hope that one will fit my bridesmaid and one of the black ones will fit my fiance's sister who is being his best man. I'm not sure when she will be able to come up and try one on, but hopefully it is sometime before the sale is over, because finding a bridesmaid dress that is under $80, I think is pretty darn good.

At the store they also have handmade local jewelery.  The women at the store told me that when they first got these dresses in they had a beautiful green crystal necklace that they paired with the dress on a mannequin, but they had sold out.  They are going to contact the jeweler and inquire about getting more made for me.

I am holding my breath right now that this will all work out...

The best laid plans of mice and men...

We had a big wedding-filled day planned yesterday. We were headed to the museum for the tasting with our caterer and had planned the day around that to get a lot accomplished. Unfortunately none of it happened. 

On the way there, we went to the LCBO to get our Special Occasion Permit. Because we are serving alcohol on the patio during the cocktail hour, letters need to be sent to the city, the fire department, the police and health department.  I know I need to sent these letters but I didn't know I needed to bring copies of them with the application for the SOP. So we will need to come back for that.

Then we were off to the museum for our tasting.  It was nice that it was held at the same place we are having the wedding because D had yet to see it.  It was smaller than he expected.  They had all the tables set up and dressed differently so that we could see the different linens etc. that are available.  We will be sticking with our original plan of ivory tablecloths and no chair covers to keep the costs down.

The tasting itself was lovely, a little slower paced than we would have liked. When you are at a table of people you don't know and will never see again, time seems to crawl. The highlight of the lunch was that I swear that the host of Wedding SOS was there.  But there were not any cameras and her assistant wasn't there and she didn't have her little dog with her, so maybe it wasn't her - but the the resemblance was uncanny, she even had the English accent!  At some point during the main course, D started to not feel well and before dessert was served he had to go out and sit in the car where he could recline and take some pressure off his tummy.

After the tasting we had planned to go to the best western and pick up information on the blocks we have reserved for out guests, but we forgot! Plain and simple, we forgot. Oops!

Our last objective for the day was to set up a gift registry. We decided to travel to a bigger sears than what we have here to get the most selection. D was still not feeling well but insisted on going anyway because we need to get this done (his mom is hounding for it to be done). However, we were only at the store for about 1/2 an hour when he was feeling so badly we had to leave. So, while we had a nice lunch, we didn't get anything accomplished.

Maybe next weekend...

Wedding Dress

It just occurred to me that I started this blog well after I bought my wedding dress, and never shared the story with you all yet.

I knew exactly the dress I wanted. Well, not exactly, I could see it in my head but had yet to find it in any bridal magazine or on any website.  So when D's mom told me that this big Toronto bridal boutique was having their annual sale I was convinced, convinced, that I would not find it there either.  It was still early January, D had proposed less than a month ago, I still had not set a date, and my maid of honour was in the hospital... but a sale on bridal gowns was just too tempting to pass up because, well - you never know! 

The sale was on for four days and I went on the last day.  There also happened to be a small snow storm that day, but hey, we live in Canada... what else would you expect??  My mom came with me, just the two of us.  It was so nice to be with her, to talk to each other and be completely open and honest about things that we just can't be open about with other people.  But I digress...

When we arrived, both mom and I decided that we did not want to pay the $2 to check our coats, we probably weren't going to be there long and we are always cold anyway.  So in we went with no expectations so there would not be any disappointment.  When we entered the showroom we were both pleasantly surprised how uncrowded it was.  I had always pictured the Friends episode where they go the the sale and have to wrestle other women to get the dress they want. 

Working on a budget, we headed straight to the $199.00 rack.  I was hoping that maybe the reason I could not find my dream dress was because it was now a few years out of style.  But it was not there.  At that point I was prepared to say "OK, we didn't find a steal here. Time to go."  But mom convinced me to keep looking through the rest of the dresses.  

"We're here already, there's no sales pressure, so we might as well just have some fun and try on dresses."

"O.K."

We first went through the size 10 rack (keep in mind that bridal gown sizing is crazy) and pulled out 4 dresses to try on.  None of them were what I saw in my mind of what I would wear on my wedding day, but they were all beautiful.  There were dressing rooms set up all around the outside of the big ballroom/showroom made out of tent poles and blue drapes.  We chose the one with no light (oops!).  I tried on all four dresses and as I was trying on the second one, mom remembered to take some pictures for my sister.  No I will not be posting them anywhere.  

I decided two of them were worth holding on to even though they were all a little big and we headed back to the racks in search of more.  This time we went through the size 8 rack.  Here we found a whole bunch of dresses I liked.  Mom was carrying 4 or 5, and I had 4 or 5 and we were heading back to the change room to try them on when I saw it.  The bottom of the dress sticking out between two others.  With my last free hand I grabbed the dress without even looking at the top of the dress or the price and knew it was the one.  When we got back to the dressing room mom could tell by the stupid grin on my face that I had found it.  I tried it on first, and it fit perfectly!  Mom looked around the little change room at the 10 other dresses that were hung haphazardly along with our winter coats, purses and snow boots. 

"Do you even want to try any of these other ones on?"

"No"

But this was not how this was supposed to go!  I wasn't supposed to find the perfect dress today!  I was supposed to go dress shopping with my sister and bridesmaid and my cousin said she wanted to go too.  How was I going to tell them that I had gone without them and found a dress on my own?  This was altogether too complicated because it just wasn't supposed to be this easy.  Too easy... there must be something wrong.  I need to think about this.  We asked if they could hold the dress while we went to go and get coffee to think it over.  They said they could not hold the dress if we left.  Shit!  OK, so we won't leave.  We put the dress back in the little change room with our coats and a few other dresses to make it look like we were coming back any second to try on more and we took our purses and went to think.  

Since we didn't have our coats we didn't actually leave the showroom, instead, we wandered through the accessories and bridesmaids dresses and talked about how this was just too easy.  What if I left it and then never found another one like it?  I would kick my self.  This dress is at the top end of my budget (still within budget), but what if I get it, and find one just like it for much cheaper? I would kick my self.  This was a big decision.  I have never spend that much on clothing, let alone one piece of clothing that I was going to wear once! After an hour of wandering, I finally decided to get the dress.  

First big decision down,  a million more to go!  

It's Official

We have officially changed the date of our wedding.  I'm not as panicky as I was last week.  Everything except the dress has worked out, and I'm sure that if the bridal store won't do the alterations, I will be able to find a custom dress maker to do it.  And I bet I could find one closer to home, the bridal store is over an hour away.  I have found a photographer that we are going to meet with this weekend, and they are the same price as the last one I found, but I think their photographs are better.  Also, for the same price, I get two photographers!  So they will be able to capture many more candid moments than any other photographer that we could afford.  I am really looking forward to meeting with them on Saturday.  I guess the next big thing we need to worry about is setting up our registry.  I'm thinking Sears and maybe the Bay.

Ok, a little panicky now...

Last week I thought it would be a good idea to entertain the option of moving up our wedding to September 5... now I'm not so sure I should have allowed myself to even think about it.  Now I don't want a November wedding at all any more.  But I still haven't found out if the Ceremony location can accommodate us on the 5th.  I sent them an email last week and called and left a message today, but sill nothing!  Also, I should have to be fitted for my dress by May 1.  I have already bought my dress, so it needs to be repaired and fitted, but because I bought it during a sale, they won't use their prime fitting time on someone who bought a sale dress.  They won't do any final fittings between May1 and September 7!  eeek!  I don't know if I can do this...

A Change of Plans

When my fiancee proposed at Christmas and we were trying to decide on a date, there were a number of things we had to take into account.  Both my sister and his cousin are also engaged and planning their weddings.  So in trying to be as far away from my sisters wedding in the summer of 2010 as possible with still having time to plan our wedding and not being too close to his cousin's wedding in the fall was proving to be a challenge.  

So we decided on the beginning of November, 2 months after his cousins so that there would not be a financial burden on more than half of our guests for having two weddings to attend to so close together, and 9 months before my sisters wedding so my parents wouldn't have as big of a burden paying for two weddings.  As it is, they weren't preparing for us to get married so close together, we are 5 years apart after all.  This summer was too close and I didn't feel we'd have enough time to plan.  Since then, I have been so busy planning that I think sometimes I could have pulled off a summer wedding if I had decided to do that right away.  

Then we found out on Saturday night that D's cousin is postponing their wedding because both of them are having a hard time finding jobs after returning from going to school abroad.  So now the question is, do we move up our wedding?  I decided on Wednesday to send out some emails to see if it was at all feasible to move our wedding to warmer weather (I am always cold, so any earlier/warmer would be preferable).  First I checked with our reception venue to see if they even had any dates available before November 7.  Sure enough, they have a few dates!  I still don't want to move it too far ahead, June or July, for example, would be pushing it and I think I would start to panic!  but they also have September 5 open... that would be perfect... too perfect, I don't want to get my hopes up yet.  

Last night I sent a few more emails to the caterer, photographer and ceremony venue to see if they also had that day open and I haven't heard back yet.  Also I have sent an email to D's cousin to confirm that they are in fact officially moving their wedding because, as it turns out, September 5 was their original wedding date.   I would feel terrible if I changed ours and then the both got jobs tomorrow and decided not to postpone it and D's family had to choose which wedding to go to.  That would be horrible!!

I know what I will be doing in 8 months, 1 day, 21 hours, 31 min. Do you?

Tuesday night I met with a photographer, he seemed really nice, a bit of a geek... a young guy, seemed younger than me, but he was married last year so I don't know.  His work is nice, and his price is right so I think we will use him.   When talking to him he had some good ideas about what we could do if the weather didn't cooperate, like go to one of the restaurants downtown for pictures, also just taking pictures in downtown would be nice too.  

We have also decided on our caterer and will meet with them again this weekend to sign the paperwork. They are  Silver Thyme Events and Catering.  They used to be Kentner's Social Catering and H and I both worked for them, so I know what they are all about and how they work etc. even though they are under new ownership, I don't think much has changed.  I also have the museum for the reception confirmed.  To do that, and for the caterer I had to make an itinerary for the whole day... that was weird, I now know exactly when I will be eating breakfast and taking a shower in 8 months from now, but I don't even know when/if I will eat breakfast on Saturday...

Busy, Busy

The last couple of weeks have been quite active in terms of planning for the wedding. This past weekend I went to my Auntie Cheryl's wholesale flower warehouse to get inspiration for decorations. Since I still was not 100% sure that the museum would work out, I didn't want to buy too much right now, I mean the wedding is still over 8 months away... However, I did find an awesome deal on some branches. Since we are getting married in November, and in Ontario there aren't many flowers in bloom in November I wanted to use as much natural materials as I could. My original plan was to forage for branches to use as decorations along with fall leaves, but this deal was too good to pass up. The branches are painted a really nice gold. Not an overwhelming sparkle gold, but more like a natural brown, that when you get close to it you realize that it's gold. And they were on sale for 75% off!!! AWESOME!

From there we went to a bag store where I will be able to get a bunch of ribbons to use in decorating as well. I didn't pick anything up this time because I'm still unsure of what my needs are.

Our last stop of the day was Michael's. Armed with my 40% off coupon, I picked up some embossing powder I hope to use on my invitations (if I can figure out how to make it melt without buying the heat gun) and the guest book I wanted to get was on sale for 50% off! So overall it was a very successful shopping trip last Saturday!

Since then, I have confirmed with the museum, found a bunch of photographers who are still available that day (even if my first choice is not), and also found a bagpipe playing officiant! I know, I know, many of you who aren't Scottish may be cringing right now... the bagpipes may be an acquired taste, but I love them. They remind me of when I was a little girl and my parents and Grandparents would take me to the parade on Saturday nights at the cottage, and I'd ride on Dads shoulders as we followed the band down the center of town. And I vaguely remember my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary where they had a solo piper play on the beach during their celebration. We may not have the beach, but with a bagpiper there, it will feel like Grandma and Papa are there too.

The Gallery

I have made my decision and sent the facility booking request form to the Town of Halton Hills to book the Gallery for the Ceremony. It will be a much more relaxed atmosphere and will give me the capability of having both my parents walk me down the isle if I choose to. 

The gallery also has some semblance of a connection to us a couple. Our first apartment was just down the street from there and we used to walk the dog to the gallery lawn because it was one of the closest bits of grass to us. We also used to walk Jak to Remembrance Park, so hopefully, weather permitting, we will be able to have some photos taken there either before or after the ceremony.

Spam

Will the spam never stop?? Last night at 10:00 I opened a new email account for our wedding to receive and track RSVP's when the time comes. It's not even 9am the next morning and I already have my first junk mail!?! How does this happen?

Ceremony Locations

Last weekend I went to the Regional museum with H, D and my parents to tour the facility for the reception and possibly for the ceremony as well. Leaving there we were certain that the best solution was to have all of the wedding at the one location. It would be a little tight, but no one would have to drive anywhere between the ceremony and reception.

But this weekend, I went to the Cultural Center Gallery with my mom and sister and left there thinking that it was the best possible solution. The gallery is bigger, allowing for a more comfortable isle and it has space for a receiving line. The only hitch is that the library shares the same entrance and would be open during the ceremony.

Decisions... decisions...