More DIY stuff

I have never realized that I can be so crafty until I started working on those wedding DIYs...

1. wedding bubbles -- that was my very first wedding DIY which I completed last November
2. chocolate wrappers (from www.whimsywraps.com) for the candy buffet table! I have a feeling that I will be munching on Nestle Aero chocolate bars during the wedding reception.

I wonder if I should go into the wedding business as a side-job after the wedding?

More Vendor Meetings ... is it ever going to end?

Today was another action-packed day!

10:00am - 11:05am Meeting with wedding decorator at Delta Hotel. We went over the details of the following:
1. backdrop decoration -- I supplied the fabric for the swag (Bou Claire had a close-out sales at Plac D' Orleans a month ago, and I bought tons (seriously tons) of organza fabric (at least 5 different shades of yellow) at $0.79 per meter! I have so much organza that I can make curtains for the entire house using all those fabric! Joe thinks I am way too obsessed with fabric.
2. head table decoration -- I need to go buy 11 meters of tulle (goldish yellow) for the swag, and I supplied the mini lights!
3. cake table decoration -- I supplied 6 feet of rose garland with lights ... another wedding shop's closeout sale. Got the rose garland with lights for $25 (regular price at Michaels $55) -- Am I a bargain shopper or what? :-)
4. signing table and gift table decoration -- I supplied a different shade of yellow organza and mini lights for both tables' decoration
5. candy buffet table -- why do people want a candy buffet table at the wedding reception? At first, I was not really planning on doing one. But then when I thought that I will be changing throughout the reception (I have 4 evening gowns!) while my guests are enjoying the the dinner courses that I spent months and months to decide and perfect... I might as well grab a few candies on my way to the change room, hoping that those candies will tie me over till 12am!

11:30am - 12:30pm Meeting with videographer at Starbucks in the Glebe
My favourite Starbucks in town! I had gotten a lot of "coffee on the house" at that Starbucks during my single life!
Meeting went well.... Shannon is very professional and accomodating. I gave my Joe tons of credits of finding Shannon!!!! We asked Shannon if she could incorporate some of our baby pictures, childhood pictures, and engagement pictures as a montage in the video. She is so easy going that she asked us to send her all the pictures! All my baby pictures are in my home (there is a need to clarify that my home = my parents' home = home in Vancouver!) and I will need to ask my mom to dig out all the baby pictures, scan them onto the computer and e-mail them to me!

More gifts for the bridesmaids...

My friend Helen is a talented jewellery designer. I met her a few years ago at the Glebe Garage Show. I bought my very first fashion jewellery set from her and we have become friends since then.

Helen moved to Chile two years ago, and we have been keeping in touch via e-mail. A few months ago, when I started shopping for the BM's gifts, I immediately thought about her and her one-of-a-kind jewellery sets.

After a week and a half back and forth e-mails with Helen... here are the jewellery sets I have picked out for my maid of honour and bridesmaid. Originally, I was planning to get a necklace and bracelet set for the flower girl. Long sigh... long story... getting the measurement of the neck size and wrist size of the flower girl was like pulling teeth (it involves numerous e-mails, tons of phone calls and still mission was not accomplished...) I am a person without much patience, and my "next to nothing" patience was really thinning out while waiting for the measurements and it was no really my fault that I finally gave up. Well, I guess that flower girl will have to go without any jewellery on the wedding day!

Bad News -- Plan B...

Joe got a call from one of his uncles last night. This uncle of his has recently been diagnosed with cancer in the neck. Good news is the the cancer has not spread and it has been contained in the neck area. He will be starting chemotherapy shortly. Bad news is that he won't be able to come to the wedding with the chemotherapy sessions and doctors' appointments. He is trying to convince his wife to bring the kids to the wedding. Joe understands that his uncle and his family are going through a tough time, and Joe also understands that his aunt and the kids would probably prefer to stay with his uncle and offer support during this time. We have been praying for Joe's uncle and his family and we pray that God would grant them courage and strength to face all the challenges ahead of them.

We had originally invited Joe's cousin, Jason to be one of the two scripture readers, and it looks like Jason would probably not be able to make it. At this time, Joe and I will need to find another person to do the second scripture reading. Hmm... is it ok if the Bride does the reading? I don't mind... and I kind of wanted to.... now I just need to convince Joe to let me do it!

Attendants' Gifts arrived today!

Three months ago, I started shopping for attendants's gifts. I shopped for the girls and ring bearer, while Joe shopped for the bestman and groomsman.

One of the worst attendants' gifts is personalized stemware. A few years ago, Joe went to a wedding and he was the groomsman or ursher and he brought home a beer mug labelled "Groomsman". According to Joe, the mug has been sitting on top of the kitchen cabinet ever since, collecting dust. Therefore, I decided get something which the girls can use it in the future.

Here is what I got them as something "personalized" but they can use it in the future. I bought huge gift bags at the dollar store a while ago, and have been putting goodies in them. Now, I just need to put the these bags in the gift bags and then...task for attendant's gifts -- accomplished!!!

Days off = Running Errands around town

So I have two days off this week (thursday and friday). Ever since Joe and I were engaged, I learned that days off means running errands, meeting with wedding vendors and doing wedding DIY's.

Today was quite a day:
7:30am drove Joe to work
10:00am met with catering manager at Delta Hotel to go over wedding checklist (all details are confirmed... and complimentary menu tasting in the next few weeks)
12:00 noon beauty appointment (of course, work needs to be done so that I will look like Bridal Barbie on the big day!)
1:30pm dropped Bee Bee off at Spa (long sigh... while I was running around town like a mad woman, my dog got to go to the spa???)
5:30pm picked Joe up at work
6:00pm met with church's musician to go over choice of ceremony music
8:00pm picked up a special order IKEA floating shelves at the east end of town
8:30pm pick up hair extension package at further east end of town

If I had to choose between going to work and taking a day off... well I WOULD RATHER GO TO WORK!

Sheep and Hydrangeas

Sheep and Hydrangeas are the two things I really love. Though one can't really draw any connection between the two of them... both are the loves of my life!

I do not have a green thumb... everyone knows about that. Aloe Vera is a hardy plant, and I managed to kill it. A few years ago, I bought a rosemary plant which shapes like a christmas tree at Costco, and I religiously watered the plant everyday with tons of TLC... then I went home for Christmas for two weeks, the plant was dead when I came back.

Joe and I moved to our town home last June, and I started planning what to plant in the backyard, with a huge flower bed and a lilac tree. Joe, fully aware of my past experience with plants, was in cold sweat every time when I mentioned gardening. At the end of the summer, I had a mint plant in a pot that was growing crazy, a citronella plant in a pot that was super huge. We also planted a couple of hostas on the side of the house, but they are all covered in snow now, so not sure if they survived the winter or not.

In an effort to save some $$$ on the wedding flowers (last quote I got was close to $1200), Joe and I bought a lovely hydrangeas at Ikea a few weeks ago. Lovely Lovely plant in a pot (Joe has no problem of me bring potted plants into the house, but when it comes to digging up the ground, he panics.) With my continuous TLC, the plant is doing just fine... and I am keeping my finger crossed that when the weather is getting warmer and the 9 feet of snow is finally gone, I will transfer the plant from the pot to the background without Joe's knowing!

What's up with the sheep? Another long story... Joe bought me a sheep today!!! I started my own collection of Sheep about two years ago... can't remember why... BIG BROTHER is starting in 10 mins.. time is running out... will continue tomorrow...

OH...one more thing... I found out today that I have three faithful readers of my wedding blog! Joe, my mom and my future mother-in-law Sandy!!!! When I first set up this blog, it was just a web-based diary... I never did expect that someone would actually take the time to read! Now I know I have three faithful readers... I will really try my best to at least post something every other day!

Busy Week Ahead...

This is going to be a busy week... with wedding about 7 weeks away... all vendors want the balance of the payment in a post dated cheque and confirm all final details.

Here is the schedule for the week... Joe and I have so many appointments that we need to print out the outlook calender and start writing on appointments on it so that we won't double-book!

Wednesday: pick up my fourth pair of wedding shoes at the Glebe
Thursday: DAY OFF! YAY... meeting with catering manager at Delta at 10am. Take Bee Bee to the spa at 1pm. Go to City Hall and apply for marriage license. Go to LCBO and get a liquor license. Pick up Joe at work at 5pm. Meet with Chirs (Church) at his house for wedding ceremony program and songs at 6:30pm
Friday: DAY OFF!!! YAY... Joe's heart appointment at 10am. My facial appt at 1pm. Pick up Joe at work at 5pm. Dance class at Arthur Murray at 8pm
Saturday: Meeting with wedding decorator at Delta Hotel at 10am. Meeting with videographer at Starbucks in the Glebe at 1pm. Parish's potluck at 4pm.
Sunday: Make up trial at 10am.

What a busy week....

Table Number Card and Menu Card

I can't believe the wedding is less than 8 weeks away. GOSH! Still have tons to do! :-(

Joe and I drove out to Chesterville this morning to meet with our cake lady, and dropped off a cheque. Joe and I have never, once in our lives, written so many cheques, so fast, and so frequently. Anyway, meeting went well and we tried at least 4 different cakes. I know how fuzzy I can be sometimes, and I really think that I drove my cake lady, who is an awesome and talented backer, crazy! So, the cake thing is done, and I can move on to the next project.

Finally got the table-number card and the menu card done. For the table-number card, it is my third attempt and I almost gave up. It is not hard but just that I am meticulous in it and I really wanted to do it right... so, after tons of cardstock and tons of ink, I am happy with the final product! (Though Joe thinks I am crazy about all the DIY's... and he said to me the other night that for all the weddings he had been to... our wedding, he thinks, will be beautiful, judging from the extent of the details and wedding DIYs...)

More Wedding DIY

spent last weekend meeting a friend for coffee (a.k.a. for help with the wedding stuff) and wedding DIY. We went to Ikea to buy a huge poster frame for the seating chart, and then went to Michaels to buy ribbons and two fishbowls and one over-sized martini glass for the buffet table.

It took me two trials to get the ribbon color right for the votive candle holder. At first, I was planning to print on our monogram on a cardstock and then glue it onto the candle holder, but decided later to go with something simple and elegant.

... as you can see... My dog Bee Bee was my little helper for this DIY project! She even brought her friend little Bee to help me! :-)

Wedding Rings

I know I have been a bit lazy in keeping the blog updated! Not that I have no updates, it is just that I have too many updates on a daily basis and it is hard to keep track. With the wedding less than 3 months away, Joe and I have both noticed that we still have tons of minor details to confirm.

We went to pick up our wedding bands at Mappins two weekends ago. The bands are 18K white gold. Joe's and mine are matching, very simple yet elegant.

Joe had also picked up his suit at Tip Top Tailors at the same time. We started shopping for Joe's suit since November, and had been numerous Tip Top Tailors. For those stores we had been to, we found that the sales associates are very pushy and they "forced" Joe into buying a more expensive suit, which does not really fit him at all. So, one day we decided to go to Place D' Orleans and we happed to strolled by Tip Top Tailors. Joe's initial reaction was, "Let's get out of here, I do not want to go to another Tip Top Tailors". Being the optimistic one among the two, I persuaded Joe to try in one more time and if it turns out just like the previous times, then we would go to Moores. So we walked with the store with a skeptical mind, surprisingly, we received first class service from a team of sales associated Not only did the sale associated helped Joe to pick out a suit that he likes and fits him perfectly, they also helped him to find the matching tie and hankie. Too bad that I did not bring my camera with me that day, or I would had taken a picture and posted it here! I did take a pic using Joe's cell phone (well, we all know how crappy the quality of the pic taken by the cell phone!), but it came out really blurry. While we were at the store, we also picked out the tie and hankie for the bestman and groomsman. The bestman is in Saint John, NB, and the groomsman is in Kingston, ON, so we asked them to bring a black suit (we have just found out the neither of them owns a black suit, so I guess they must be in a shopping frenzy mode now!) and we will provide the tie and handkie as a groomsmen's gift.