2 weeks from today ...

Rob and I will be married.

So much to do!
Tomorrow is my bridal shower. I'm excited, though it is bittersweet since my bestie, Janna, will not be in attendance due to the passing of her beloved Nanny. It's hard to be in the party spirit knowing that she and her family are grieving.

I have been a neglectful blogger, but I will try to sneak in a few in these coming days ...

the count down begins ....

I'll hold off on imbedding a YouTube link to Europe's "Final Countdown" until a bit closer to the day, but man oh man, it's sneaking up on us fast!

Monday was the 2 month mark and we spent it shopping for liquor (weeeeee!) and getting Rob fitted for his tux. Honestly, when he said he was into a pinstriped tux I was dubious, envisioning something straight out of Good Fellas, or worse yet, a zoot suit, but it looked great! It's a fine charcoal pinstripe on black and he'll have a red vest; he looked very handsome! I'm hoping I get invited along when the other guys get theirs fitted and reserved. I'll be sure to take pics!

First Gift!

We got the call! The Bay called to tell us that our first registry gift had been purchased! How exciting!

Mini-Moon

Rob and I get along very well. We are not the kind of couple that bickers. In fact, we almost always agree on almost all things. A honeymoon destination, however, is not something we can agree upon. Cruise? Mexico? Mexican cruise? The possibilities, although not quite infinite, are plentiful enough that we are faced with the choice of too many choices.
We have managed to decide that the full-on honeymoon will be next year, sometime in the summer, most likely coinciding with a trip to visit our families in Ontario. In the meantime, it seemed so uneventful not to do something, go somewhere, so we have chosen a mini-moon: a 4 night stay at a relatively nearby location so we can bask in the delirium that is undoubtably going to be the result of all the planing, the dizziness of the day itself and the the days and days of visiting and parties.
So where are we going? I thought you'd never ask.
We will be spending 4 nights at the
BlackRock Oceanfront Resort
and we're very excited!

The Penguin Suit

So, being that the wedding is only 84 days away, the time has come for the guys to get in gear, literally.
Here's what wikipedia tells us:

In the spring of 1886, the Prince invited James Potter, a rich New Yorker and his wife, Cora Potter, to Sandringham House, his Norfolk hunting estate. When Potter asked the Prince's dinner dress recommendation, he sent Potter to Henry Poole & Co., in London. On returning to New York in 1886, Potter's dinner suit proved popular at the Tuxedo Park Club; the club men copied him, soon making it their informal dining uniform. The evening dress for men now popularly known as a tuxedo takes its name from Tuxedo Park, where it was said to have been worn for the first time in the United States, by Griswald Lorillard at the annual Autumn Ball of the Tuxedo Club founded by Pierre Lorillard IV, and thereafter became popular for formal dress in America. Legend dictates that it became known as the tuxedo when a fellow asked another at the Autumn Ball, "Why does that man's jacket not have coattails on it?" The other answered, "He is from Tuxedo Park." The first gentleman misinterpreted and told all of his friends that he saw a man wearing a jacket without coattails called a tuxedo, not from Tuxedo.[2]


But wow, are tuxedos ever confusing!

In brief, the traditional components are:

A jacket with silk facings (usually grosgrain or satin), called the dinner jacket
Trousers with silk braids matching the lapels
A black cummerbund or low-cut waistcoat
A white dress shirt with either a marcella (piqué cotton), stiff, or pleated front
A black silk bow tie
Black dress socks, usually silk
Black shoes in patent or highly polished leather, or patent leather court shoes

Jackets can be single or double breasted, pants can't have belt loops (what do you use? rainbow suspenders?), if there's no cumberbund there must be a vest, which can have a back, or not (!), shoes can be patent leather or velvet and are referred to as opera pumps ... the list goes on ...there are as many exceptions as there are rules.

Maybe suits will be easier ...

Ruby Tuesday

I've had the song Ruby Tuesday stuck in my head all day so I figured I'd better just go with the flow ...

Setting the table

It makes sense when putting together the elements of an event like a wedding that you want your guests to be comfortable because comfortable guests are happy guests, and happy guests don't leave right after dinner. I don't care if I flub my vows or lose my footing going down the aisle. I could even stand to dribble wine on my beloved dress (note to self: white wine only!), but I would be heartbroken if, after all these months of planning and organizing, everyone left early.
So following the logic that happy guests are also comfortable, we have made sure that the drinks will be flowing and the dinner will be delicious. Moreover, the room won't be too crowded and the chairs provided are remarkably comfortable. So what else is there to consider when making 100 or so people feel comfortable for an evening?
When I think of the last 4 weddings I have attended, one of the yet unmentioned things that always stick with me is the tables. As a guest you spend most of your time there or on the dance floor. Even if you get up and mingle, you inevitably end up pulling up a chair to a table even if it is not the one you were assigned to.
In this way, it makes sense to invest some time and thought into the aesthetics of the tables. Not only will they help carry through your colour scheme or theme, but they make pretty backdrops, and provide opportunities to be creative with decorating.
Here are some looks I'm liking that would look great in our black and white (with red) scheme:

Wine Country

We are big wine fans. So we finally made a point to get out and see some wineries. We decided to start with the Okanagan, since it is so perfectly made for wine and is absolutely packed with well known commercial wineries as well as small family run joints. We are on our 2nd of 4 days here in beautiful sunny Osoyoos. Our travels today took us to Jackson-Triggs, Dirty Laundry, Sleeping Giant Fruit Winery and last but not at all least, Blasted Church.
The image above is the label of one of their newest wines, called Mixed Blessings, a delicious blend of white wines. How nice would it be to serve such a quirky and appropriate wine at a wedding? We'd have loved to but with cases of 12 running at over $200, we just bought a bottle for us. Maybe we'll save it for an anniversary, or the rehearsal dinner.

T-minus 4 months

We are less than 4 months away and the guest list isn't completely finalized.

Nor are the invites ready. ( I made a big effing mistake and saved the WRONG files. ie the files that are not print-ready or of the right resolution. So I'll be starting almost from scratch on those.)

Additionally, I have been tasked, by my task master maid of honour, the job of making a shower guest list and deciding on what we might do for said shower, by the end of the month.

Luckily a lot of the other major components are already done ...

Dear Ms. Taylor,

You are my inspiration.

Sincerely,
Sarah

Decisions, decisions ...

So after months of feeling lukewarm about my dress I changed my mind and bought another one. It's fantastic. You can find it here. (no peeking, Rob!)
The original will be hitting craigslist soon.
I'm a bit in shock; I'm not usually so fickle, but it's so pretty, and I know it is the dress.

Now for accessories .... and I need opinions: can I still rock a birdcage veil?

Awww

My soon to be mother in law called today and asked me what our wedding colours are. I explained they were black and white and red. Why did she so randomly call and ask that? She wants to make me an artificial flower bouquet for me to toss at the wedding so I can keep my bouquet to take to the cemetery for my mom's grave.
How thoughtful! I'm not usually a fan of artificial flowers but it's such a nice gesture. I'm sure it will be beautiful!

time ticks by ...

Well, it's been forever since I posted.

Things that have happened in my absence:

- Janna and Travis got married! Fantastic wedding! They were so happy!
- Work has been insane. My previous boss has left and we have a new boss for the short term. She is awesome and I'm really enjoying working with her. I'm super busy and learning a lot.
- Rob and I have begun to plan a mini vacation in the Okanagan for the end of June. We will be staying at Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa and visiting several regional wineries.
We've made some design decisions for the wedding and our planner, Reesa has been a big help in getting rentals organized and adding her wisdom to our creativity.
- Janna's dad, John, underwent a very successful heart surgery. He is making incredible progress and we are all relieved that things went so smoothly.

Still, that's no excuse for failing to blog. I also need to update my list of favourite blogs and websites, I have found some gems recently. Stay tuned!

Janna's gettin' hitched!

Today is Janna's wedding!

Janna and Travis are truly a special couple and to me, they have a very inspiring love story. They deserve every happiness and I know that their life together will be beautiful.

Much to do, but I will return with pictures!

Organized, much?

In addition to my wedding day shoes, we also got a white board to start putting wedding related tasks on ... Janna: I hope you are proud. ;)

I guess the labour day rule doesn't apply?

I have never been one to wear white shoes past labour day. Not because I'm a stickler, but because I just never wear white shoes (except maybe runners. The wedding is the exception to this rule. If you scroll way back to the beginning of this blog you'll read about my Bridezilla-ness about red shoes, trying to have them all to myself and then the overwhelming sense of need to wear white shoes with my (essentially) white dress.
So today I found them, and they were even on sale!

Hair

Every time I flip through a magazine, scroll through a website or watch a wedding show, there is always a big deal being made about the back of the wedding gown (since it gets so much "air time" during the ceremony.)
The back of my dress (I'd not go so far as to call it a gown)is simple. In fact it is unadorned. I know it's lame to feel like the back of my dress is inadequate but I am now thinking I should make up for it with hair.
The thing with my hair is that it is fine and straight until it reaches a certain length, then it gets a wee bit wavy. It also doesn't hold a curl very well.
I think if I could make it happen I'd do this:

Luck

Wikipedia's entry on weddings discusses the 'something old, something new ...' poem:

A modern tradition is for brides to wear or carry "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" during the service. It is considered good luck to do so. Often the bride attempts to have one item that meets all of these qualifications, such as a borrowed blue handkerchief which is "new to her" but loaned by her grandmother (thus making it old). Another addition to this custom is to wear a penny in your shoe, this will bring you prosperity.
The full text of the verse is:
Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue,
And silver sixpence in your shoe

Weddings, sure like many rites of passage, comes loaded with lore and superstition. I don't personally prescribe to superstition, usually, but I figure on one's wedding day you can't be too careful. Not only am I not sure what I will use as these talismans, but I'm not sure about the etiquette and I'm having a hard time finding answers. Can you request the borrowed piece? Or does it have to be voluntarily loaned to you? How old is "old"? I have blue eyes, does that count?

Blooming Beauties

Maybe it's because it's spring and our front flower bed is bursting with colour and our street is lined with creamy white cherry trees, but my mind has turned to all things floral.
For me, flowers are an aesthetic element that really set weddings apart from other parties. Whether it's in the bouquet, the centerpieces, ceremony arrangements or boutonnieres, I think it's an area that we should all feel free to go full tilt with.
Here are some looks that I am loving:

In need of a large dry erase board

I think it's come to that. I think we need to start a centralized list on a massive whiteboard so we can keep track of things. Many lists in many places will no longer do.

Janna: You are my inspiration!