DIY Delight

Well, we are officially getting married in one year and two days.  I feel like time is just flying by!  I can remember thinking to myself, “Oh boo, I can’t do anything yet, we still have 18 months, it’s too early to start planning” but now, I’m more like...

 

 

Wheeee, it’s time to start planninnnnng!

 

Which is sometimes followed closely by...

 

 

OH GOD I ONLY HAVE 12 MONTHS TO DO ALL THIS?!?

 

But mostly the excited kid thing.

Eric and I got all our big ducks in a row early:  venue, ceremony space, photographer, videographer, officiant, bridal party selection, and social venue.  These have all been booked and taken care of, so now we can focus on some of the smaller details.   My current most important mission is finding a dress.  Not only do a lot of dress places require a long ordering lead time (sometimes up to 8 months, and then you need time for alterations) but I also can’t make some other important decisions until I select the Big Kahuna.  I have heard a lot of great things about Bliss Bridal, so I’m taking the MOB and MOH there a week from Saturday to see what we can find. 

 

 

 

 

Love some of these gowns that Bliss carries...

Now that we are within the time frame to start looking at some of the smaller details of the wedding (although it is still a little early) I am taking an inventory of all the DIY projects I want to tackle.  I definitely don’t want to be frantically gluing rhinestones to napkin rings at 4 am, 5 days before the wedding, so I want to make sure I have lots of time to get everything done that I need to so that I’m nice and relaxed prior to the big day.  So I thought I’d share with you some of the DIY wedding projects that I am digging right now!

 

Colossalpieces

First off, Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for weddings, but it can kind of be a double edged sword.  You see all these lovely designer gowns and cathedral length veils, candid romantic photos of the couple looking immaculate from every angle, the 3 foot high spray flower centerpieces with individual lighting and ostrich feathers, the gorgeous tulle draping held up by hummingbirds with glittered wingtips, and the gorgeous brides with their perfect hair and teeth without even a hint of armgina in their strapless dresses (you know what I’m talking about).  This can give you some unrealistic expectations about what your wedding day should look like and also can lead to some budget-busting ideas pretty quick.

 

 

Gorgeous, stylish, blushing bride:  Seen on Pinterest.

 

 

Armgina: Not seen on Pinterest. 

 

However, there are some awesome ideas you can get from Pinterest and almost all the inspiration I’ve gathered for centerpieces has come from there.  I really love the idea of tall, grand centerpieces, especially since the ceiling in the Millennium Centre is so high.  So what I have in mind looks something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So pretty.

Pulling all the pieces together (there are 22 individual parts for what I have in mind) will likely be a challenge, especially staying under budget.  Luckily I have access to some very crafty people with big discount cards.  ;)

Strassy Strass Strass

You all know I’m a big fan of strassing, and I’m going to do my wedding shoes, probably a Hyper Prive pump strassed in Swarovski Clear Crystal (again, depending on the dress).  But literally the only thing stopping me from strassing everything in sight is the time it takes to do it.  I have decided I am going to strass a pair of shoes for Aislin to wear so she matches me, which won’t take long because she has tiny feet, but I also want a strassed bouquet holder!  I saw these on Pinterest as well, but I don’t like the rows of fake rhinestones and prefer the sparkle that the strassing pattern gives.  So there will be many a night in the next 12 months where I will be hunched over the living room table with a big glass of wine, bedazzling!  (If anyone out there knows where to get a plain bouquet holder, let me know.)

 

 

Like this, but better.

 

 

Like this, but better.

 

And here's a video of a completed strassed ruby slipper that I have been meaning to post - just ignore the Packers game in the background :)

 

 

 

Put A Cork On It

Some of you might be surprised to know that Eric has been very involved with the wedding planning right from the start, and has really great ideas.  I know some grooms couldn’t care less, and just want to know what time to show up to the wedding and don’t have any further involvement.  Eric couldn’t be further from that, he’s in here like a dirty shirt!  He came up with the idea for our seating chart that I love – we are saving all the corks from all the bottles of wine we’ve shared, from the time we got engaged to the date of our wedding.  We are going to use the corks to make the seating chart which the table assignments will be pinned to.  I love that it’s such a personal touch and it incorporates our love of wine into our reception.  We will probably have enough corks to make three seating charts.  We drink a lot of wine.  Don’t judge.

 

 

 

Like this, but better.

Take A Number

I saw this in Martha Stewart Wedding (basically just a print version of Pinterest in that you feel like an inadequate piece of shit after looking at it) and I totally loooove the idea of glitterized table numbers.  Well glitterized anything really.  And my crafty MOH said they would be very easy to make!  Then she started saying something about heat embossing and something else, and I knew this would best be delegated to her list of tasks as she is the crafter extraordinaire.  I can’t even make pancakes without searing my hand, so something called heat embossing is probably best left to the professional.  But so pretty!  I love the 3D ones as well.  Very excited to sit down and craft it up with these....

 

 

 

Ombré....trés chic.

 

He Gives Me Butterflies

Squeeedeeeleedee I love these butterfly place cards.  They are so sweet and delicate looking, perched on the edge of a wine glass.  I know that place cards are not super popular with guests, and a lot of people just switch them around anyway, and to be honest I don’t care where anyone sits at the table, I just like these little beauties so much.  It’s sort of a pie in the sky DIY project, as they need to be hand calligraphed (um ya right?) and require a special cutting machine.  I do know a verrrrry nice lady with a Cricut who might be able to help me out, so it’s on the list of maybes.  ;)

 

 

 

Ahhh!  Love.

 

I’m not like a big butterfly lover or anything.  Sure I think they are pretty, but they wouldn’t figure prominently into the wedding or become part of any kind of butterfly “theme”.  But these do have a personal significance to me because of the story of when Eric and I first started dating.  For those of you that don’t know, this is not my first foray into the world of blogging.  Back when I was single, I had a dating blog called “Diary of a Mad Dater” that basically detailed all the hilarious, ridiculous stories of the dates I had been on with total duds.  Guy who Wears Woman’s Jacket, Guy who is the Intellectual Equivalent of a Ham Sandwich, Guy who Pays 3/4 of the Bill, Guy who is Weirdly Obsessed with Andre Agassi...et cetera.  So after quite a few of these disappointing dates, I was a little jaded about the whole process and males in general, and my expectations of dating (particularly blind dates) were starting to drop to the point where I just thought it was straight up funny.  And just as I’m starting to legit lose my faith in humanity and the male species, I went on a first date with a guy who actually made my heart skip a beat when I first saw him.  Okay, this guy is seriously handsome.  And then as we talked, I was further and further impressed.  Wow, he actually has a post-secondary education.  Okay.  He’s travelled the world!  That’s pretty awesome actually.  He has some really great stories.  He’s funny!  (“Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?”) Articulate and well spoken, check.  Charming!  Confident, I like that.  So by the time he walked me home, gave me a hug and I went inside, I was happily surprised.  I remember thinking to myself, well what do you know..........butterflies.  :)

That’s a really sweet ending to the story, so I’m going to leave out the part where I ran upstairs and phoned the MOH and excitedly yammered “I just had the BEST DATE!  Totally going to marry this guy.”  To which she appropriately responded, “Okayyyyyyy there.  WHOA.  Whoa there.”  And the part where he took six days to call me back after that.... ;)

 

 

<3 this boy.

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

~M

 

 

Wedding Party....Party.

This past weekend, Eric and I held a get together for our family and wedding party at his family’s beach house in St. Laurent.  The objective of this party was simple – get all our important people in one place so they can get to know each other and have some fun in a relaxed environment, before all the stress of the wedding sets in.  Having been a bridesmaid four times, I know that it’s not as simple as showing up and putting on a taffeta dress.  There is a lot to contribute to, work on, plan, and pay for when you are in a wedding party, and one of our major goals with our wedding is to make it as easy and enjoyable experience as possible for the people who are helping us with our big day.  And what better way to start that off than to ply them with food, booze and good times?

 

 

Because it’s just not as fun if everyone hates you at the end of it.

And everyone did get to know each other famously!  Here are some highlights from the weekend:

We love a good beach party.  We played ladderball in the street, drove some golf balls into the water, and set off fireworks after dark in the sand.  We had a bonfire, blared some sweet tunes, and were loud and obnoxious well into the night – things you just can’t do in the city.  Fun times!

 

 

Go FOB!

 

 

The view from just off the back of the house. 

If you serve it, they will drink.  No matter how much alcohol we purchase for these events, it is always gone by the end of the night.  Especially when we release the Kraken, a delicious black spiced rum that is a wedding party favorite.  As with the engagement party, the 40 of Kraken did a disappearing act pretty fast, and everyone started feeling quite jovial around dusk.  Increasingly fun times!

 

 

But why is all the rum gone?!?

We have (almost) mastered the escalation scale.  And what is the escalation scale you ask?  Well allow me to explain.  At any given time during a party, your level of drunkenness should not exceed the acceptable limit as outlined on the escalation scale.  I will allow my friend Barney Stinson to illustrate.

 

 

So for example, if it is 9:00pm, you should not be drunker than Point A.  Then moving further down the scale around 11:30pm, you should not be drunker than Point B.  If you are ahead of the escalation scale, you will likely pass out too early and miss out on fun times.  If you are behind the escalation scale, everyone will be having more fun than you and you will be the last one up, sad and alone.  It’s a fine art to tow the line, but I was impressed with how well our wedding party stood up to the task.  It’s a good thing knowing that the people that are charged with helping you with your social and wedding are going to be functional enough to carry out any duties they might have, BEFORE they end up barfing on the deck.

Never try to cook bacon on the barbeque.  And I’m just going to leave it at that.

We have a great group of friends and family.  Jokes aside, I couldn’t be happier with who we have chosen to be in our wedding party and I am really excited to get rolling with the social and wedding planning over the next 12 months.  I feel like our time as an engaged couple is flying by and we are about to get right into the thick of it!  It feels comforting to know that we have so many people supporting us, and now they all know each other a little bit better.  :)

 

 

Nothing says “get to know you” better than a group shotgun.

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

~M

Social Planning - Not As Easy As It Looks

When Eric and I originally got engaged, we were on the fence about having a social.  For any of my non-Manitoban readers out there (and there are a few, from as far away as the UK and Australia!) a social is a pre-wedding tradition whereby the bride and groom throw a big party, where paying attendees come and buy drinks, tickets for silent auction prizes and other raffles, and it is considered a fundraiser to offset the costs of throwing your dream wedding.  From reading a couple of non-Manitoban wedding forums and blogs, I can see that anywhere else, this would be considered tacky.  But for us, it’s as ubiquitous as cold weather and perogies.

 

 

Socials!  Wooooooo!

The reason we were on the fence about it is, let’s face it, we are no spring chickens.  We are both going to be in our 30s by the time we get married, and we are both well established in our careers.  Could we really ask our friends and family to pitch in to help us pay for our wedding?  I can definitely see the point of view of the people out there who poo-poo socials for couples that are already somewhat on their feet.  But it’s a personal decision, and in my opinion all you have to do to convince yourself to have a social is draw up a budget for your wedding, and compare the amount of time until your wedding to the amount of money you have to save, and voila.  Convinced.  Weddings aren’t cheap no matter how you slice them, and while there isn’t a lot that would stop me from trying to throw the wedding of my dreams, I certainly will do anything I can to avoid going into a mountain of debt.  So the poo-pooers don’t have to come.  Besides, for me, the experience of having a social is more valuable than the money made from it.  It’s a Manitoba tradition, and I’ve been attending socials for 11 years and I finally get to be the bride at one!  Surrounded by all of our own family and friends and important people!  Fun!  Social prizes!  Dancing!  Cold cuts!  Need I say more?

 

 

Nothing like the glorious sight of a large tray of cold meat when

you are wasted off your ass at 11:30 pm.

 

While the various little details of the wedding are a large source of forethought and planning and stress for me, I was not worried about the social at all.  Rent a hall, get a DJ, gather up some prizes, make sure you have the makings of a great Canadian sandwich including rye bread, cubed cheddar and a big bottle of yellow mustard, and away we go.  Easy as pie.  Turns out, it’s not that simple.  A lot of our friends that have gotten married recently have expressed that the social was 10 times more stressful than the wedding.  At first I’m thinking, what?  That can’t possibly be true.  Here I am meticulously gluing miniscule rhinestones on a pair of shoes one at a time, while imagining the 22-part centerpieces that will need to be assembled and how I am going to put all the pieces together without blowing the budget and a social looks like a breeze.  Then we started planning and learned a few valuable lessons very early.

 

 

Right?  RIGHT?!?!?!? 

 

Lesson #1:  Don't jump the gun.  Similar to the fact that you wouldn’t announce a wedding date until you’re sure you have a venue, you shouldn’t announce a social date until you’re sure you have a hall.  To my (perhaps naive) surprise, it’s incredibly difficult to find a social venue in the city that holds more than 350 people, on a Saturday, especially if that Saturday is the one right before St. Patrick’s Day.  So we had to give up on that date, which actually ends up working out better because our new social date gives us the venue we want at a time of year that is convenient and gives us more time between the social and wedding to switch our focus to all the DIY projects that I really want to incorporate into the wedding.  So our for real, actual, set in stone social date is November 16, 2013!  Yayyyy!

 

 

On like Donkey Kong.

 

Lesson #2:  Be prepared to make it rain.  Throwing a social costs a hell of a lot of money up front.  Sure you will make it all back, but for a risk-averse accountant such as myself, this type of gambling on the future and pinning your hopes on your attendees isn’t totally in my comfort zone.  You have to pay for the venue (which I will say is a LOT more than I thought it would cost), the booze and liquor permit, the DJ, the social tickets, any prizes that you have to buy that aren’t donated, the late lunch, the ice, mix, cups, plates, napkins, forks, chips and pretzels, the liquor tickets, the prize tickets, the grand prize tickets, the 50/50 tickets, the perfume draw tickets, the bags to put tickets in, the poster board to post the numbers on, the decorations, the cash box....the list goes on and on.  I definitely know that you have to spend money to make money and this is all fine and good and I want to have a social so I know its necessary.  It’s just really hard to be spending money left and right when my primary focus right now is to save money for the wedding!

 

 

Whomp wahhhhhh  :(

 

Lesson #3:  Your social cannot be lame.  There seems to be just as many elements to planning a social as there is to planning a wedding.  This is because the Manitoba social has evolved from the simple and quaint friends and family get together of the 70s, to a rip roaring, Las Vegas style, glittery sparkling game show.  Social throwers are trading in rail drinks and OV for premium spirits, shots and Heinikegs.  My beloved assortment of cheese cubes on foil trays are being replaced by pizza, samosas, perogies, and McDonald’s cheeseburgers.  And if you don’t have at a minimum a barbeque, a large flat screen TV, a patio set, a texas mickey and round trip tickets to the moon, your social prizes suck.  Because this momentous occasion is such an institution in this province, on any given Saturday in April there could be upwards of 20 socials going on in the city.  So now you need to make yours stand out!  Themes!  Decorations!  Fabulous prizes!  Pyrotechnics!  Full buffet!  And make sure you are selling Grey Goose for $2.25 a shot!

 

 

 

I know right?

 

So while social planning can be a little stressful (I think I have a lot of friends...do I have a lot of friends?  How many friends do I have?  How many will actually come to my social?  Will their friends come?) we are taking a more traditional approach but also luckily have a few little tricks up our sleeve to ensure this will be an amazingly good time.  I don’t want to give away everything just yet, as everyone knows that the List of Fabulous Prizes needs to go on the Facebook Event Page, but let’s just say the FOB is hard at work making sure that all who attend will be appropriately wowed.  But as a little teaser, here’s a sneak peek at our social ticket!

 

 

Booyah!

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

~M

Bridesmaid and...bros-maid?

Tax season is over, I'm alive and have rejoined society.  And I'm also happy to report...

My wedding party is officially complete!

 

 

Boom.

When I was thinking about who to ask to stand up for me on my wedding day, I really gave it some thought because it was important to me that each person was standing up there for a specific reason.  Sure, it would have been very easy to choose my four closest girlfriends, but to me, these positions at the head table are a little more symbolic.  What have been the biggest things in my life that have shaped me into the person I am today?  I believe that in order to find the person that you’re going to marry, you have to first find yourself.  So I wanted to honor the people who have been beside me while I figured that out, and eventually became the person who turned out to be “the one” for Eric.

 

 

 

 

So apparently, you have to go through your “drunk girl in a cowboy hat” phase before you can get married...

 

Tara is my oldest friend, and we have been engaging in shenanigans since the 7^th grade, so that one is a no-brainer.  She was by my side all through my awkward junior high years and by the time we got to high school we were inseparable.  No, literally inseparable.  When she moved out of Transcona and into a different school division before grade 11, getting through the last of high school without my bestie was not an option.  So off to Miles Mac I went, spending 45 minutes on the bus every morning instead of attending TCI which was a 4 minute walk from my house.  It turned out to be one of the best years of our lives, which included forming our all-girl singing group “XPression”.  Man we were so cool.

When I finished high school, I took a 4 year break before I went back to post secondary.  I was only 15 when I finished grade 12, I couldn’t get into any university or college programs because I was too young, and what was supposed to be a short hiatus turned into a long one.  I worked full time at the Wal-Mart Photo Lab (with Tara...of course) turned 18 and started partying and having fun.  It was all very PG, of course....it was at this time that boy bands like Backstreet Boys and NSync were reaching the height of their popularity, and I was no different than any other obsessed fangirl out there.  So we went to endless concerts screaming and wooing and danced at the bar until the wee hours of the morning and it was around this time in my late teens and early 20’s that Melissa and I started to become really good friends, and have stayed friends since!  Good times with that girl....gooooooood times.

 

 

Ladies, I have found your dresses!

You can already read all about Tara and Melissa being my bridesmaids here – so without further adieu here are my other two peeps!

Anyone who knows me knows that dance is a huge part of my life.  I started my career in the basement of a church in Longlac, Ontario and my first ever recital piece was to “Like A Prayer” by Madonna – I wore a white bodysuit and angel wings and the first part of the dance was 16 plies in ballet first position under a black light – this was cool in the late 80s okay?  I don’t have a problem saying it – I totally sucked when I first started.  I started at DBSD when we moved to Winnipeg and I was 9, and compared to the 9 year olds I teach now, it’s preeeeeetty embarrassing.  But I gradually got to a point where I wasn’t terrible, moved into a variety of disciplines and eventually became a teacher.  Now I’m way past the point of wearing spandex unitards (thankfully) and right into teaching and choreographing some pretty boss dancers.  I was given my very first class in 1999 when I was 15, and in it was an adorable little 4 year old named Jessica.  She was very shy and quiet (which is shocking if you know her now) and had a natural talent for dance that I could see right away, even all the way back then.  Jessica has been with me my entire teaching career, from my first routine when I put her out on stage in the sparkly silver bodysuit and tutu and she tapped to “Do You Believe In Magic?” and countless routines since.  She’s been in every single one of my favorites:  Car Wash, Kansas City, Dancin’ Fool, O Fortuna, Technologic, Soul Surfing, Money, Night At The Savoy, Rhythm of the Pridelands, Funhouse, Moses Supposes, Crapshooter’s Dance, Garden of Eden, Without You, Money again at the World Championships, Trapped, Military....the list goes on!  I’ve been able to put some seriously facemelting rhythms in this girl’s solos, and while we might have a few minor freakouts in rehearsal (“I don’t think I can DOOOOO that again!!!!”)  she always nails it.  Dance has definitely shaped me into the person that I am today, and Jessica is the perfect representation of all of the work that I have put in over the years and all the great memories that I have of my teaching career.   She is like the little sister I never had, so I’m glad she agreed to stand up for me at my wedding.  Awe.  Okay I’m done being mushy now!

 

 

 

I taught her that you aren't gangster unless you wear one pant leg up.

 

 

At the World Tap Championships on Team Canada!  My first time as a choreographer at Worlds with one of my favorite routines ever.

 

 

 

Oh, the things I have made this girl wear....

 

 

 

I think she is in there somewhere but I legit can't tell.  Someone help me out. 

 

 

 

One of my favorite pics of Jessica, in Night at the Savoy.

 
 

 

And now she's one of my cheerleaders!  Which makes me want to dress them in turtlenecks instead of halter tops.

 

The other road that has led me to where I am today is my education.  After I was done my 4 year hiatus I went back to school to get a business degree.  I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do, but I figured Business Administration at Red River would be a good start.  It was there that I met my good buddy Graeme.  College was a blast, and then went off to the Asper School, got our accounting majors, went through the CA program, and even articled at the same CA firm for a while.  Grambo is one of my BFFs, and he’s been there with me through most of my 7 years of actually becoming a CA and 5 years of being one.  This might come as a shock to some, but I was a little....high strung....about school.  This guy calmed me down from more exam freakouts than I care to admit, and even supported me when I faked being sick to get out a Quantitative Methods final that I felt I wasn’t going to get an A+ on and helped me study for the supp so that I did get an A+.  I have to admit I was a little nervous asking Graeme to be in my wedding party, because it is pretty unconventional and I didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable or like people were going to be looking at him weird or anything.  But in true Graeme fashion, he was all for it!  And then he called himself a “bros-maid”, which made me laugh!

 

 

 

And those two photos are pretty much Graeme in a nutshell.

 

 

One of our many MNP bar nights...

 

 

I just wanted to put this in here to show I was not the only person who went through the drunk girl in a cowboy hat phase.

 

 

So that’s my side of the wedding party – and you will meet Eric’s side very soon!

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

~M