... Tired ...

We just opened the gifts tonight. There are some lovely and thoughtful gifts. But I'm too tired to post pictures or do anything else tonight ... so talk to you tomorrow!

... At the altar ...

Here we are:
(Source: Unveiled Photography)

A little story

I didn't get bouquets for the flower girls. I did decide they needed something small, but figured we could pick a bouquet for them. And I was eyeing up flowers in the neighbourhood I could pick from the park. There used to be several white lilac bushes in a park near us, but they were trimmed too much last year and didn't fully come back this year. Then I noticed an apartment building near us had a rather large, beautiful white lilac bush in full bloom a couple weeks before the wedding, that was it. On the drive from my house to my parent's house (for family photos), I made my mom stop so I could pick them.

I knew she would find it ridiculous, so I didn't tell her what I was doing. She had no idea why I yelled at her to stop. Then I ran out of the car to get the flowers. My mom was not impressed, I think my photographer (who was with us) thought I was doing it just to frustrate my mom (which was not why I did it, though it did frustrate her), but I got two lovely white lilac bouquets for the flower girls to carry.

The photographer snapped pictures of me running back to the car with my stolen loot: (Source: Unveiled Photography)

(Even though the lilac bush was on private property, I figured who would yell at a bride for stealing such a small amount of flowers. It was a gamble that paid off!)

Our white board

First picture:
(Courtesy of Unveiled Photography)

I'm back (grudgingly)

Wedding was great.

Honeymoon was great.

And I have about 500 wedding photos. And that's not all of them. So now the tricky part ... what single picture to show you to tease you for the wedding? I'll decide that another day. We just got in 2 1/2 hours ago.

Talk to you soon!
Krista

(P.S. Marie - sorry I didn't email. As I'm sure you figured out, we were far too busy. But I thought of you when we were in London!)

Bridesmaids with Upcoming Weddings and Upcoming Babies (NOT MINE)

Two of my four bridesmaids are engaged. One bridesmaid owns a house with her boy-friend. And the other bridesmaid left a long-term relationship last year. Of the engaged bridesmaids, both started dating their fiancés when they were teenagers, dated for several years, broke up for quite a while, then got back together with their guys relatively recently and got engaged relatively soon after. Or maybe it just feels like it was recent.

Of the engaged bridesmaids, one is probably getting married in 2011. They don't have the money or time due to other pressures to get married in 2010. The other is getting married on Hallowe'en this year. I don't think they're doing a masquerade ball theme; they just didn't have a huge selection of dates to choose from for this fall, and that day was available. I still think there's something "wrong" about having a wedding on Hallowe'en and not doing either a Hallowe'en themed wedding, a costumed wedding or a masquerade themed wedding, but that's just me!

The bridesmaid who lives with her boy-friend (one of the groomsmen, and a very good friend of mine, too) may or may not get engaged soon. I don't know. But I think they should. (Just my biased opinion.)

And the first of my cousins is getting married. I don't know when. His fiancée is Polish by origin, but grew up in Poland for a while then the US for a while. Currently, they live somewhere in the Middle East, but I think the plan is to move to Canada. So that's another fun wedding to look forward to! (I think they're doing the wedding somewhere in Canada.)

Also, I have two close friends who are due in late 2009 (one is the wife of our best man, and the other is someone I've known since grade 7, and I've known her hubby since grade 9). And I have two formerly close friends (now aquaintances) who are also due around the same time later this year (they're best friends, unknowingly got engaged 1 day apart then got married last year 2 months apart ... geez, they do everything together!) And a girl I went to school with from kindergarten to fourth year university is due around the same time later this year, too! - Though I don't see her much, I am happy for her, too. She's a great woman and will be a great mother. So there's lots of babies to celebrate, too! (That doesn't mean to expect anything from Wade and me right now ... so don't go getting any ideas! I'm just saying how happy I am for these women and their spouses.)

It's such an exciting time!

I get back from my honeymoon tomorrow. It's sad for a vacation to end, but it is always nice to be home. (Don't expect any posts for a couple days ... We probably have laundry to do, things to put away, and all that good "back from a vacation" stuff to do.)

Tables Themes

Oh yeah, I never told you about our table naming!

I originally wanted just numbers. It's easy. You aren't wandering around the room looking for Table "441" (named because the bride grew up at 441 Oak Street) or Table "Photography Club" (because the couple met in a photography club). If you use weird names, especially if it's a wide room, you can not use "seating" cards, by the way; you have to use a seating chart so people can actually see where their table is. I have been at weddings where I wandered around looking for my table. (Of course, if there are only two rows, you could just walk down the aisle, but I haven't often seen this set-up.)

The flipside: if you use basic numbers for tables, you can not use a seating chart. Have you ever sat at table 14 out of 14 tables? And the table is so numbered on the seating chart? Now everyone can look and see who's at the "reject" table. In the one case where this happened, I was not at the reject table. But I kinda felt like it because of the number and because it was on the chart.

I also knew I didn't want a seating chart, if at all possible. They just don't look as nice as escort cards.

But a few months before the wedding, we agreed on a "cute" table theme: animals. Since the room is two rows of tables (2 x 10), I figure people can just walk down the centre aisle to find their table based on their escort card. Our tables are: giraffe (head table), dog, zebra, flamingo, lion, tiger, elephant, monkey, turtle, frog and bee. Kinda silly, but oh well!

Coming up next: my last "scheduled" post on Friday! Then perhaps, I can tell you how the day actually went! :)

Things that surprised me

I started doing these scheduled posts in or around early March. I knew I wanted to share things on the blog - in particular the invitations and engagements photos - but I also knew I didn't want to share them until after the wedding. I decided to share them after the wedding. On a 3 week honeymoon, I thought it would be the perfect time to pre-schedule these posts.

I am writing this post 6 days before my wedding, even though you're now reading this post just over 2 weeks after my wedding. I am so excited right now. So happy. And thrilled. I have a few things left to do, but it's mostly done.

So I thought I'd reflect about a couple things that surprised me:

-How happy people genuinely become when they find out you're engaged. I mean, truly happy. Family, friends and even total strangers - their faces light up and they wish me well, congratulate me and just look pleased-as-punch.

-How quickly people ask "when is the date". The day we got engaged - December 15th, 2007, we were asked - when's the date? Now, I had an idea. I love the summer, but I don't like the sticky heat of summer weddings. I like the fall, but sometimes the fall depresses me because the days are getting shorter. I like the winter and I like the spring. But I like the spring more. Since I know it's very difficult to plan a wedding in under 6 months, I figured it would be the next year. (I also knew Wade didn't care. He didn't want a wedding in the summer, because it's too hot, and he especially didn't want it in the later summer. But other than that, he was fine.) Not everyone is as picky as me, and some people are overwhelmed by being asked "when's the day?" four hours after they got engaged.

-How quickly some (not all) people ask when you're having kids. That is one very big assumption; not everyone wants kids. This is a decision Wade and I have talked about, and we are on the same page. (It's kind of a big issue to disagree about, isn't it?) But everyone does tend to assume if you're getting married, then you're having kids.

-And finally, the biggest thing that surprised me: how quickly the almost 18 months flew by between our date of engagement and our wedding.

... More engagement photos ... are you bored yet?

If you are bored of engagement photos ... well, you're out of luck. These posts were pre-done and set up to post later, and I already prepared this final post of engagement photos. Because I'm probably not checking my blog from France, you can't expect any edits at this point!























(All engagement photos taken by Unveiled Photography.)

We're lucky to have a 3 week honeymoon, so there is another week of posts, on a few random loose ends I'll share with you.

Even more engagement photos!

(All engagement photos taken by Unveiled Photography.)

The rest of the engagement photos will be posted on Saturday!

More engagement photos

Our engagement session was in the winter, in order to be a contrast with our late spring / early summer wedding. Here are some more pictures from it:




(All engagement photos taken by Unveiled Photography.)

Next up ... more pictures on Thursday!

Engagement Photos

We're still on our honeymoon (hopefully), so coming up are posts from our engagement session in the winter:






(All engagement photos taken by Unveiled Photography.)
Next up ... more engagement photos on Tuesday!

Stamping the invitations

Still on our honeymoon, so here are some pictures of us assembling the invitation envelopes!

You saw Wade putting the stamps on the envelopes on April 6th.

Here's the pic again:

And here is what the envelope looked like when it went in the mail:

We chose these astronomical stamps:

(Source)

Canada Post seems to publish floral stamps in March of every year, which is appropriate for spring as well as for wedding invitations!

(Source)

These rhododendron stamps would have worked nicely for wedding invitations. However, just days before stamping the invitations, the astronomical stamps came out. Literally, 3 days (1 business day) before we sent out the invitations.

But we didn't chose the astronomicaly stamps because they were brand new. We chose them because we liked them. First, I love astronomy. When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut. I love to look at the stars and learn about the universe. I thought they were perfect reminders of my childhood, hours spent staring at the stars and learning about the constellations and planets. Second, Wade thought these stamps looked neat. Good enough for me!

Plus, most invitations going out this spring will probably have the rhododendrons in them. Our wedding invitations will be different for many reasons, including our design, but also because of these astronomical stamps!

Calligraphy

Following up with the invitation teasers here and here, I will continue writing about the invitations.

I must clarify two things. First, I learned rudimentary calligraphy in grade 5 (1992). Second, I have a good memory. So, I put my calligraphy skills to work (which I have practiced intermittently over the past 17 years) for addressing the invitations.

These aren't anything spectacular. I think they're amazing for the cost! (Calligraphy is usually expensive! This was free ... Well, I had to get a set o f calligraphy pens, but luckily I asked my mom for them for my birthday.)







Names and addresses were blocked to protect the "innocent". Please forgive the amateur blanking out.

Our Invitations

Hopefully, when this post is published, I'm in or near France airspace. I really hope that's where I am! I wrote this post months ago - seriously - so you can read about things I did in the wedding planning that I didn't want to post about during the wedding planning.

I teased you with hints about the invitations here and here, I will continue writing about the invitations.

Here's a little fun while I'm away. Picking up with the invitations!

I chose to go with Bella Figura because they are truly eco-friendly, they are close (reducing my carbon footprint from shipping) and highly recommend by others (Cyd included, who blogged about this great shop well before she had even applied to work there).

Here are our invitations:




I'll read your responses when we get back around June 27th. Okay, we have to unpack and relax, so it might be a few days.

Woohoo!

Yesterday was great. It was warm, but not hot. Sunny. Oh, and I got married. It wasn't perfect, but it was close. It was amazing. I only barely welled up during the ceremony, whereas Wade was crying. He told me it was his allergies. Hmm ... I don't know if I believe that. We enjoyed some wonderful speeches, toasts and stories. We managed to talk to all our guests, and have a great time, and we managed to have some alone time to reflect throughout the day. And we closed the dance floor, not getting home until very, very late.

The day great, partially due to my planning, partially due to being laid back all day, and largely due to assistance from Cyd. Thanks, Cyd!

Over the next 3 weeks while we're on our honeymoon, I have scheduled posts almost every other day. Feel free to read them and I'll be back in 3 weeks!

June 6th is here

Remember when you were a kid, and the night before something big you couldn't sleep? For me, it might have been Christmas, going to the beach, or the first day of school. If I was excited, I wasn't sleeping. I haven't had that experience in years. Until last night. So I got up early and did the "30 Day Stride".

I'm so excited and so thankful to all my friends and family. I hope that I can convey my thanks and happiness to each one of them when I see them today.

And I'm also thankful today is D-Day. Without the success and sacrifices of those brave young men 65 years ago, as well as the contributions of our Armed Forces throughout WWII, and all conflicts before and after that, I would not be able to enjoy my rights and freedoms in Canada. We knew today was D-Day when we chose the day; and we were okay with that. Please take a moment to give thanks for the young men who died at D-Day.

P.S. Sorry for the pity party last night. I mean, come on - if that's the worst day I had during this whole process, I'm very lucky. And, as the song goes, "ain't nothing gonna break my stride" today!. (Can you tell I was born on a Wednesday? I normally try to be positive, and almost always see the silver lining, so don't worry about me - I'm great today!

P.S.2 Wanna hear our first dance song? It's "Better Together". :)

So today was absolutely horrible

The morning started great: had a relaxing massage, got my toes done, baked some of the cake with Wade, packed some more for the honeymoon. But then I went to meet the bridesmaids for the bridal luncheon.

I had put a lot of effort to have a light, delicious relaxing small meal in a limestone building's courtyard. I planned this luncheon for well over a year, the ambiance I wanted, how I was going to thank them, the types of foods served, and so on ... and here's where the day started to suck:
-The first of my bridesmaids to show up to my bridesmaid luncheon was 30 minutes late. She had to clean her house and it took her longer than she thought. The next showed up 10 minutes later. She had a meeting she couldn't get out of. And we'd left over an hour after that before the last two bridesmaids showed up. (They drove together, and the one was late from her on call shift as a pediatrician 4 hours away.) It was so upsetting I was in tears before they showed up. I later gave them their rocking gifts after the rehearsal.
-The jeweller thought he'd lost my engagement ring. He said to get it replated a week before the wedding. He said to show up a week before. He said it'd be done by Thursday. When I called today he said he didn't have it. It turns out it was in the wrong pile; he found it ten minutes later. He apologized and didn't charge for the service.

By the time of the rehearsal, things got better. The rehearsal went well, the after rehearsal drinks at my parent's was good, and the dinner was great. But the afternoon sucked; by far today was the worst part of the wedding process.

On a positive note, the cake is baked, today is done, and I'm getting married tomorrow. :)

I forgot to do ...

A menu.

Darn. Hmm ... can I fit in the time to throw it together? I don't know. Or should I not do one and let people be "surpised" with each course?

Oh, and I finished folding the programs and binding them with ribbon tonight. They're pretty. Other than the formatting error. So as long as I don't open them up, I'm happy!

Things I'm done

-I got the guest book today (yep, I did it.)
-I dropped off the following at the venue: women's bathroom basket, men's bathroom basket, women's flip flop basket, card box, 10 tall centrepieces, 15 short centrepieces, 55 (or so) frosted glass votives with candles.
-Wade printed the programs.

Let me just say: I discovered Wade doesn't have a design eye; I thought he did, but he proved today that he does not. When his work email opened it, his computer didn't recognize the font, it changed it to a slightly different one. Wade didn't notice that 3 of the names had moved over slightly. So formatting is off for 3 people: Wade's parents and my Grandma have their names indented one more than my parents, brothers and Grandpa. You have no idea how frustrating this is for me. I also noticed a typo on my part: during the signing of the certificate, Schubert's "Ellens Dritter Gesang" will be played (aka Schubert's Ave Maria). I put in the program that "Ellen Dritter Gesang". I don't think anyone else will noticed (although if I was a guest at my wedding, I have to say that I would have noticed). It's not a big deal, I guess. But between that and the formating indentation (which is really bothering me), I'm a little disappointed. Not sad, not upset, just disappointed. (I have to say, Wade doesn't get it. He thinks I'm nuts. But that's how we perfectionists roll!)

Let me tell you about our bathroom baskets. They were fun to make!

Men's bathroom basket:
-A couple combs
-A lot of gum
That's it. I could have gotten black dress socks or something, but I figured most guys would be happy.

Women's bathroom basket:
-Hair brush
-Pantyhose / knee highs
-Multiple nail files
-Tampons
-Pantyliners
-Multiple little tubes of lip gloss (no one should share that, so there's more than one!)
-Band aids
-A lot of gum

Anyway, I'm going to fold the programs now. And everytime I look at that formatting error, my heart will break just a little. Okay, that's extremely melodramatic of me. My heart will be fine. But I will growl and be annoyed.

Weather ... I like this one better :)

I know, it's still a wee bit early so the weather could still change ... but as Brandy just pointed out to me this afternoon, the forecast has improved. (Thanks, Brandy!)

Things left to do (still):

-Get guestbook (yeah, yeah, I'm on it)
-Make programs (am awaiting some info from the minister)
-Get bathroom basket stuff

Um, I think that's it.

And Wade has to pack for both of us for the honeymoon. He's stressed by that one.

As I write this, I have Aquafresh Trays on my upper teeth and Crest White Strips on my lower teeth. I have two teeth on my lower mouth that the gums are *just* starting to receed, which makes them exceedingly sensitive if I whiten them. But I want to whiten them. My dental hygienist assures me that the home strips / trays are as safe as dental whitening or the dental prepared trays. She also says that efficacy (effectiveness) is about the same as the dental trays: in theory, they are less effective, but compliance is better, which makes them about as efficacious as the pofessionally prepared tras. Anyway, the reason I have the different types: the lowr strips are a lower concentration and are supposed to be used for two weeks. I'm only going to wear them for a few days, so it's not an issue. The upper strips are a higher concentration, so it works faster. And frankly, people only see your top teeth. (Oh, and I should also say - my dental hygienist also assures me they are safe if you follow the instructions, including not using them any longer or more frequently than recommended.)

Let me also say, I have whitened my teeth twice before over the past 3 years (much less frequently than the maximum). I am always happy with the results, but I already had pretty white teeth before I ever whitened my teeth, so "one shade lighter" is very noticeable.

Oh, and I shredded today. (I'm far too busy to find the link for you so you can see what I mean. Just google "30 Day Shred" to see what I mean.) It's totally getting easier. I tried level 2 on Sunday, but did level 1 with coworkers at lunch today. I kinda wish I had been this committed to my fitness a month ago, but oh well! The dress fits perfectly, so if I had done too much fitness, it might have been a problem.

Now I'm just rambling. Adios; I'll try to post tomorrow to let you know about my bachelorette.