Shower Power

We're rounding the final corner toward the wedding and up and coming is Big Event No. 3 - the Bridal Shower.  And of course, this installation of Inspired Bride wouldn't be complete without a not-so shocking reveal from yours truly...

...I don't like bridal showers.  Or baby showers.  In fact, I kind of avoid them at all costs unless absolutely necessary that I attend.

(And in other news, water is wet and the sky is blue.)

So when it came time that my MOB and MOH and bridesmaids started talking to me about a shower, the idea was a little scary.  My first thought was, "Who the hell would want to come to a bridal shower for me, those things suck."  And then the idea of ME being the one sitting up on the lily pad being worshipped with exorbitant amounts of presents and wearing a hat made of bows?  Forget it.

 

Never.

 

 

I guess the reason why I don't enjoy myself at bridal showers and the reason I struggle with my own, is that the typical bridal shower is SO not me.  I'm not a girly girl, I don't ooh and aah over things, I don't enjoy crustless sandwiches, small talk, being in a room full of people I don't know, tooty-fruity punch with .05% alcohol, laughing at the guest of honor's abject humiliation, or spending a Sunday afternoon in a hot church basement smelling diapers that have pretend shit in them and trying to guess what kind of pretend shit it is.  But like so many other things involved with weddings, you're expected to do what is typically done and not deviate from the norm, unless you want people staring at you like you've just suggested you want to go do naked cartwheels in the church parking lot. 

 

At first I just thought I was going to skip it.  There's no way I can pretend for an entire afternoon that I'm enjoying myself in a room that looks like it has been decorated by a monster that vomits pink streamers.  And the eye-rolling, long sighs, constant checking of the iPhone and too much wine consumption?  1000x worse for you to do when it's your OWN shower, methinks.  However, I was filled with a little bit of hesitation because I had an overwhelming feeling that I did want to do something - all my best lady friends in one room at once?  YES.  With cupcakes?  RIGHT ON.  So I started talking to my bridal team and we came up with a way for me to still have the full bride experience of a shower while cutting out all the lameness.

 

 

Hahaha!  I just can't.



 

So number one priority:  Booze.  This is a must.  Re. Quired.  Sorry if this makes me look like a raging alcoholic, but wine makes most things better.  I can't deal with a stuffy, hoity-toity afternoon event where we are served mesclun greens and puttanesca if there isn't at least a mimosa within reach.  And for myself, if someone wants to stick me in a room with 30 people I don't know, there better be some means to liquor me up.  So it's only fair I extend the same courtesy to others.

 

Second, no lame games.  No bridal shower bingo, no "take the clothespin when someone says wedding", no mad libs, nothing of that nature.  It's bad enough being invited to a bridal shower, without being forced to participate in some ridiculous exercise like "let's see how many of these incredibly common items are in your purse."  I'm intensely competitive, and any of my friends will admit I'm not any fun to play games with because of how seriously I take it.  I once schooled a group of 12 year olds at Harry Potter Scene-It.  At Christmas.  It was their game they just got for Christmas.  I take winning very seriously.  And even I can't get into these pointless games that are played at showers.

 

 

 

Let's not.

 

 

Next...music!  To me, silence can get extremely awkward.  It's usually during long drawn out silences that I will break the tension by saying something inappropriate because I just can't take it anymore.  And the hush that falls over the crowd at a shower when the bride is opening her painstakingly wrapped shoal grey bed linens?  Probably right before I spill my wine, break the glass, slurringly giggle "whoooops" and get the death stare from the trio of women in polka dotted dresses who finished their mad libs 15 minutes ago.  So I am all for having some sweet Top 40 tunes at the shower.  If I'm gonna eat a crustless sandwich, at least I can do it while shimmying to "Blurred Lines".  It's a party!  We need some music!

 

And last, you can't beat MOB's cupcakes and you KNOW they're going to make an appearance.  So now, this is sounding awesome to me.

 

 

Am I right?

 

 

I have to say in all seriousness though, that the outpouring of love and congratulations that has come in since we got engaged has been absolutely wonderful.  And it has been awe-inspiring to see my family and bridal party come together for me and put together these experiences for me that have made this process even more amazing.  Just look at these insanely beautiful shower invitiations:

 

 

GAHHHHH

 

 

This process has made me so incredibly grateful and happy - it's one thing to feel loved by the people closest to you.  It's on a completely different level to feel loved for exactly who you are and to have it celebrated and to feel totally supported.  Not once did any of my bridal team tell me that I needed to change my views and alter my plans.  I never once have felt pressure to conform to societal bridal norms.  You don't want to do a bouquet toss?  Cool.  You want to have beer at your bridal shower?  Done.  You want your bachelorette in Vegas?  Let's go.  You want a guy in your bridal party?  He's game.  You want to put shoes on your bridal registry?  Power to you!  How COOL is that?  I love everyone!  I'm so excited for what's to come in the next two months.  And I can't wait to knock back a few with all the wonderful awesome women in my life at my shower, which I know is going to be totally rad.  ;)

 

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!

 

 

~M

Change of A Dress

....I have a confession to make.

I wasn't really going to blog about this at all, because really who would know?  But in the spirit of being open about my bridal perspective on this grand adventure, here it goes.

I changed my dress. 

*collective gasp*

I know, I KNOW.  After I posted on the blog about how much I loved the one I chose, and then I posted AGAIN about how I didn't have any dress regret, I go and do this?  But before you start questioning my sanity, allow me to explain.

 

"This one?  Or this one?  Or thisoneorthisoneorthisoneorthisone...."

The original dress I chose was be-ea-au-tiful.  I loved it, I really did.  It had everything I wanted in a dress (which I would love to describe to you in excrutiating detail but I really want the whole thing to be a big surprise for my future husband!) and I was absolutely ready to commit.  In my mind, I already had committed.  I was in a common-law relationship with that dress, in the eyes of the wedding gods we were already bound, and buying it was simply a formality.

So when I returned to the store in early September to officially order and buy the dress, I put it back on to indulge in one last round of swishing and swaying before my dress search experience was over for good.  At first I was giddy as a schoolgirl, and then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and there was one brief fleeting moment where I wondered aloud if the dress was perfectly flattering in all the right places.  After I said it out loud, and the bridal consultants and my MOB started looking at me critically and trying to assure me it was a good pick, my doubt grew a little.  Before I could try to even start discerning if I really was shying away from committing or if I just had a case of cold feet, the consultant said those taboo words, the words you NEVER say to a bride once she's picked a dress.  "Well we have a dress that just came in, from the designer's new line, if you'd like to see it."

 

"UM YEAH I WANNA SEE IT"

 

 

So then I broke the cardinal rule of wedding dress shopping, and tried on a dress after I had already made my choice.  And damn.  Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.  New Dress blew Old Dress out of the water.  New Dress made Old Dress look like a stinking pile of garbage.  New Dress hugged me in all the right places.  Old Dress felt like wearing a potato sack.  Okay I might be exaggerating.  But it certainly wasn't that I didn't love Old Dress, it's just that I love New Dress more!  If possible, it was even more perfect and more gorgeous than the old one.  And then there was the whole "you're the first bride to ever try the dress on, I just took it out of the box yesterday, you'd be the first bride in Winnipeg to order this dress as we have exclusive rights to the line" thing that got me. 

 

 

 

"It's not you...it's me...."

 

 

So after trying on the new dress, it was pretty much a no-brainer.  I had to have it.  And I am happy to say that really, truly, honestly this time I've said Yes To The Dress and I'm 100% over the moon with my choice.  The dress is ordered, bought and paid for and just came in this past weekend, and it is every bit as gorgeous as I imagined!  I tried it on with the shoes and a lovely cathedral length veil and it was the perfect look.  So happy!!!

 

 

 

For real this time.

 

 

And that's that!

 

Eric and I met with our stationer a couple weeks ago and the invitations are picked and being finalized as I blog.  I will say, my fiance has great taste.  Anytime he gives his opinion on anything wedding related I always glow a little because he chooses so well!  And that's not even bride-speak for "he consistently chooses what I want him to choose", he really does give great input which is awesome.  :)

 

So to end this post here's a little sneak peek at what's cookin' over at Sweetness Stationery ....

 

 

 

AHHHHH I'M SO EXCITED!!!

 

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

 

 

~M

 

 

 

Bedazzling The Belt

I’m back!  I hope all of my blog readership (which consists of my best friend and my mom and dad) didn’t think I’d given up on this project.  The last month has been absolute insanity.  So here’s a quick recap before we get into today’s post:

First of all, our social was a fantastic success!  After all the stress, planning, gathering of prizes, selling of tickets, and working to ensure the night went off without a hitch, I am happy to report that everything went relatively smoothly.  Or at least I think it did.  The night went by so fast that I’m not sure what happened.  One minute I’m writing numbers on the prize bags, the next minute I’m pulling out large trays of meat, and the third minute I’m throwing out half empty drink cups and telling Guy We Haven’t Seen In Eight Years to stop hitting on my bridesmaid and to go the hell home so we can clean up.  I learned quickly that it certainly goes by a lot faster when it’s your social compared to someone else’s. 

Another thing we learned:  never underestimate the ferocity of hungry drunk chicks.  My mother worked to create the most amazing cupcake display known to man, with 18 different specialty flavors in gorgeous wrappers.  However, the problem with that, is you cannot set up a table filled with sweets in the middle of a hoard of woo girls and expect them to stand back nicely while you place your handmade, exquisitely delicate signage in front of each type of cupcake and then stand back to admire and take a picture of your excellent craftsmanship.  As soon as the first cupcake hit the table it was like...

 

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

And my MOH was having to throw elbows to try and keep my mother from being stampeded.  Thankfully, she made it out alive, and I received a million compliments on her delicious confections. 

We owe a huge thank you to our families and wedding party, who really stepped up and helped us immensely with this event, as well as to all the wonderful people in our lives to attended our social to support us.  We love you all! 

 

 

The one picture of us from before the night started...

Immediately after the social, I had 4 days to get ready to leave for Grey Cup with my cheer team.  Between tying up loose ends at work, laundry and packing, ensuring our routine was ready to go and not leaving the hair team behind (which almost happened) there was no time for blogging.  Grey Cup weekend was also a great success!  My feelings would best be described in a song:

 

 

 

And a photo:

 

No caption necessary.

Immediately after getting home from Grey Cup, I had 4 days to get ready for a two week trip to Germany for the World Tap Championships.  By this time, my life is in complete disarray.  I’ve been living out of a bag and in airports since September, and I haven’t even had time to think about my wedding much less blog about it.  But I returned home in one piece last weekend after many a delayed flight and missed connection and had a couple days at home with my love to relax, decompress and recover from jet lag.  And what’s the best way to do that?  Why, with wine and strassing!

I received my Swarovskis in the mail a while ago, as I mentioned last blog post, and they have just been sitting there, taunting me, ever since.  So when I sat down to work on Aislin’s belt, I thought it was a project that was going to be completed over a number of weeks, but I finished it in two days.  Turns out, strassing for small people?  Much faster.  Strassing on a flat surface?  Much easier.  Strassing with Clear Diamond Swarovskis?  Much SPARKLIER!  Is sparklier a word?  I don’t care.  It is now.

As I posted before, Aislin’s dress looks like this:

 

 

Look at that punnum.  Isn’t she adorable?  Squee.

But the front of it is much too plain for my taste.  So I started with a piece of plain white silk ribbon, and used an embroidery hoop to keep it taut and in place while I strassed.  I was also concerned the glue would seep through the ribbon and onto the table, so I wanted to keep it up off my work surface.  Turns out it held up well!  When I put the first row of crystals on, I felt that same overwhelming feeling when I started Meadow’s tap shoes, because it seems like such a big project with such little stones.  But I worked about one square inch at a time, and it went pretty fast!

 

 

You start with some ribbon....

 

 

 

 

...you pull it tight...

 

 

 

 

...and you get down to biz.

I measured Aislin a couple weeks back at dance class (dance!  Awe, she’s doing so good...) and she’s 10 inches from hip to hip, so I added a bit more for growth and worked on one half at a time, meeting in the middle.  I think I finished the whole thing in about 6-7 hours.  I’m getting pretty fast at strassing now, which is good because I have a giant pair of size 9 pumps to finish before the wedding. 

 

 

Progress...

 
 

 

Usually worked in square inches...

 

 

 

 

Almost halfway....

 

 

 

 

Just about done!

And voila, the finished product!  I feel sad that these photos don’t do the belt justice, because it is so sparkly and cute.  I tried it on her at dance last night and it looked so bloody adorable.  She’s going to be such a little doll.  :)  So now I’m excited to strass more things for her outfit!  Shoes!  Hairpiece!  Flower basket!  She will probably blind everyone walking down the aisle, hahaha...

 

 

Finished!

 

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season and a Happy New Year!  I will be back after the holidays with lots of wedding planning fun!

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

~M

 

 

Winner Winner! Ham Sandwich Dinner!

Greetings everyone!  It's time for another installment of Social Prize Extravaganza!  If you want a chance to win one of these fabulous prizes, make sure you message Eric or I for tickets ASAP!  It's shaping up to be a super fun night, we are very excited.  :)


Fit For A Disney Princess

First up, a 7 day, 7 night stay in a beautiful 2 bedroom suite in a Central Florida resort!  This beautiful, family-oriented resort is just 5 km from Walt Disney World and minutes away from other popular Florida attractions.  The suite sleeps 6 and has a fully equipped kitchen, whirlpool in the master bedroom, and patio!  Resort amenities include a swimming pool, hot tub, playground and on-site washer and dryer.  Take the kiddies to the happiest place on earth!

 

That's why you have kids.  So you can go to Disneyworld and not look like a creep.

 

 

Caffeine Dream

 

 

This awesome automatic coffee maker (a Nescafe Dolce Gusto) will please even the jitteriest of caffeine addicts!  Comes complete with coffee mugs and three boxes of capsules to get you going on those sleepy Monday mornings!

 



 

Sadly this is a sight I've seen at the office many a time...

 

 

 

Go Bombers!  (Alternatively titled: Come On Guys, They're Trying.)

 

 

 

 

This package features a signed and framed Milt Stegall jersey, along with a football signed by the 2013 team.  Haters, go hate somewhere else - this is only for our True Blue fans!  Also comes with some Bomber swag and a 2013 Cheer Team Calendar signed by the whole cheer team!  You may even see a few of our beautiful cheer team members at the social... ;)

 

 

Gimme Gimme Cake Gimme Cake Gimme Gimme Cake

 

For those of you who don't know the omnipotent MOB, in addition to being an awesome mom and Grandma, she makes the best cakes ever.  Hardly to be called a "hobby", considering how unbelievably amazing she is at it, my mom whips out these gorgeous, creative confections that make people swoon with delight.  Not only do they look incredible, they taste divine!  (I speak from experience.  Lots of it.  Probably too much.)  She doesn't do it for any profit at all, it's just for fun, and she has agreed to donate a cake of the winner's choice worth $250!  Just look at some of these photos:

 

 

 

Retirement cake...

 

 

 

Birthday cake...

 

 

 

Beer cake....

 

 

 

My Little Pony cake...

 

 

 

Race car cake...

 

 

 

White chocolate raspberry Kit Kat cake (DROOL)...

 

 

 

Toopy and Binoo cake...

 

 

 

Canadian cake...

 

 

 

Popcorn cupcakes...

 

 

 

Winnie The Pooh cake...

 

 

 

Look at these freakin' barnyard animals.  They are so cute I can't even stand it!

 

 

Suck it, Buddy Valastro.  I could go on, there are a million more photos of amazing work that she has done.  Just go check it out here!

 

 

We Have Too Much Wine, Said No One Ever

 

 

This 24 bottle dual zone wine fridge is awesome, and I want it for myself, like most of these prizes.  But it will find a new home with another lucky winner at the social!  Eric and I have two wine fridges, and they are the best ever.  Become an oenophile in no time with this fridge and a gift card to buy some wine to start off your collection!


Two Words:  ROAD TRIP

Who wants to go to Chicaggggggoooooooooooo?  This package comes with a Garmin GPS to get you there, a $50 Petro Canada gift card, a couple travel mugs for your road rockets, and one night's stay at the luxurious Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza!  Da Bears!



So if all these prizes (plus the ones listed here), and a cupcake bar with over 20 flavors, and cheap drinks, and cheese cubes, and cheerleaders, and dancing to sweet tunes late into the night isn't your cup of tea, I don't know what is.  Get your tickets now, before they are all gone!



Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!



~M

Details, Details

So I've been dealing a lot with wedding vendors lately.  I've had countless emails, phone calls, and meetings with all sorts of people regarding our wedding.  It's been hectic dealing with all the vendors, trying to ensure every aspect of the wedding is covered, trying to ensure it all fits in the budget, and making sure everything coordinates together.  I am not even going to lie about my feelings.

I LOVE IT.

Faaaaaabuloussssss!

 

 

I posted a FB status the other day about how my favorite part of wedding planning is meeting with vendors.  For who else can you sit there and talk about the smallest details of your wedding, your vision, your overall theme, how you want ostrich feathers in your bouquet because you feel their uniqueness, texture and movement matches with the soft yet fashion forward quality of your dress, how your 3 year old niece is going to wear a pair of Swarovski crystal-encrusted shoes, and how you prefer pintuck to plain and eggplant to indigo.  And they don't judge you.  They don't try to change the subject.  They don't think any of your ideas are bad or disagree that you should actually send out Save the Date cards because their friend Cindy from work didn't and she regretted it.  They sit and listen as you babble on about your day nonstop, only interrupting to excitedly agree with everything that you've planned and tell you how perfect it is.  I know that they're probably hiding any negative opinions they may have and their primary goal is to get my business and my money, and I don't care.  They are a captive audience and I.  Love.  It.

 

To be truthful, I can tell which vendors love their work and which vendors are going through the motions to make a buck.  I think it takes a special type of person to be involved in the business of weddings, where cash is king and women are crazy.  I have such a respect for vendors that love what they do so much, that putting up with bridezillas week in and week out is worth it to them.  So when looking for people that are going to be in charge of HUGE parts of our special day, personality matters as much as price.

 

 

 

 

"Yes Mickaela, I agree, the vintage trend is SOOOO overdone..."

 

 

So in talking a lot about all these little details, I've come across several (and I mean several) opportunities to spend just a little bit more here, and a little bit more there, to get these extra things, and upgrade to that, etc.  It becomes a little overwhelming to dissect a quote and figure out what's going to mean enough to you to spend the extra cash and what you can do without.  When I'm not sure about those details, I usually use the Google machine to see what other brides have said about it.  In doing so, I found a very interesting article about the top 5 biggest money wasters in wedding planning.  So I thought I'd share that today with some of my thoughts!

 

 

5.  Meaningless and Expensive Wedding Favors.  "Your guests' presence is a present, indeed, but you don't have to pay them back with custom-printed tchotchkes that you might end up lugging home or tossing in the trash."

 

I do agree with this one.  When Eric and I were first looking at favors, we really wanted them to be representative of us and our shared love of wine, and something that our guests would actually use.  But at $6 to $10 a pop, an engraved corkscrew for every guest was putting our budget in the stratosphere.  So we looked at bottle stoppers, glasses, all sorts of things.  But when we finally decided on the cookies that you can read about in this post, it was the perfect fit.  They are Eric's favorite, people love to eat, and with how delicious they are there is less of a chance they will end up left on the table at the end of the night.  But if they are, it's okay because we didn't break the bank.  And fine, maybe we will find a good home for them.  ;)

 

 

 

LOL.  Cookie Monster DOES do that...

 

 

 

4.  The Dress.  "On one hand, it's a once in a lifetime occasion. On the other, it's just that -- once -- that you'll only be wearing your wedding dress, so do you really want to spend a couple of mortgage payments on it?"

Um, YEAH.  Next.

But seriously though, I do understand some people's stance on this.  Yes, you only wear it once.  But while I don't believe that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life (at least I hope it's not!), I DO believe that your wedding dress is the most important garment you will ever wear.  It is also a day where ALL EYES are on you.  So an ill-fitted Kijiji purchased satin disaster will not suffice.  I don't think this is a place to skimp.  A bride should look and feel her best, so I don't think spending a little more is a "waste".  To a point, of course.  When you're just paying for the designer label then yes, it's a waste.  Like this Pnina Tornai monstrosity, which was $34,000..............

 

Mother of God.

 

 

 

3.  Huge Wedding Cakes.  "Some couples only invite 50 guests, but they still order a cake that serves 300. With cakes going for $2-$15 a slice, that extra size adds up quickly."

 

I don't have this problem because my MOB is a Cake Boss and is making us a glorious wedding cake made of dummies, with a real tier on top just for us two.  But even if she wasn't, I still don't think we would be having real cake.  Nobody loves wedding cake.  Nobody walks away from a wedding going, "Damn, that cake was the best damn thing I've ever had in my mouth.  I would get a room with that cake.  I would show that cake a good time."  And now, with most meals served at weddings that include some kind of fancy dessert, there is no need to double-dessert and also serve wedding cake.  So agree.  Big waste of cash.

 

 

 

Am I actually seeing this?

 

 

 

2.  Printed Programs and Menus.  "Everyone there is there for your wedding, and if they don't know who the bride and groom are then they shouldn't be there.  Spend less money telling them what they're going to eat and more money on the actual food!"

 

Okay hold on.  I'm all for cutting costs, but this is going a little far.  Yes everyone that is going to the wedding should have some working knowledge of the bride and groom.  But what about all the other people standing up there?  Hey, who are those chicks in dresses?  How do they know the bride?  Why is there a guy standing on the girls side?  Which one of them is Eric's brother again?  Who is that lady marrying them?  She seems to know them.  Does she know them?  I know Eric's parents, what are Mickaela's parents names?  Wait, who is this MC guy?  How does he know the couple?  If ONLY there were some way of figuring all this out!  Our programs are like $1.75 each or something.  Not a huge price to pay to introduce our guests to all the people that are most important to our day.

 

And menus, well, I like to know what I'm going to eat.  And same thing, they are not that expensive.  I would hardly say this is the #2 money waster!  Unless the menus are being printed on $100 bills.

 

 

 

Come on, this is freakin' cute!  And fun!

 

 

 

1.  Endless Mementos.  "The wedding industry loves to sell you on keepsakes.  Does your wedding album need to be preserved in a 50 pound, leather bound book with a glass cover?  Do you really need a personalized pen to sign the guest book? Is preserving your dress and bouquet worth the money and the space in your home? And does every toasting glass, picture frame, and photo album need to be monogrammed with your wedding date?"

 

I can totally see this one.  Wedding albums especially.  When we were meeting with photographers, they would bring out the big kahuna album to show off all their best prints, and while the album was beautiful and looking at the pictures through my misty bride eyes affected my judgement ($3,000 for a book of pictures of the wedding?  Seems reasonable.) I have to admit that I feel like this is a place where couples get absolutely gouged.  I do want a nice album of our wedding photos and some framed photos of us and some special items to remember the day, but I don't think it needs to go into overdrive with preserving the dress and making your home a shrine to your wedding.  As I said before, I don't think your wedding day should be the happiest day of your life!  It should be all the days after!  I'd rather spend money on more happy days with my boo!

 

 

 

He's going to be horrified that I called him my boo.

 

 

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

 

~M