Dress Fittings

I dreaded this day with almost every bone in my body. I mean, I'm always excited to try on my wedding dress, but I was also nervous that it would need some pretty major alterations in order to fit nicely. Well, apparently I blocked out all memory of losing 7 pounds because when I tried it on, it fit much, much better than when I bought it! My friend's mom is doing the alterations and even commented that it would require less work than we originally thought. I'm excited! Also, I'm moving into a new place in the next week or so which has a fitness room... so there's potential for an even nicer fit when the wedding day rolls around!

So the experience of wedding planning I was dreading the most, has turned out to be pretty uplifting! Not only that, but I can cross this off my list now too!

Favours!

I guess most people wouldn't post about favours before their wedding as they are sometimes seen as a gift to the guest. Therefore, it would ruin the suprise.

Well, first of all, I don't really like most wedding favours and almost never keep them, so I decided not to think of them as gifts to the guests. Second of all, I wanted a little something for our guests to nibble when they arrive, as we all wait for dinner. Third, I love chocolate. Fourth, did I mention I love chocolate?

So after a lengthy search for just the right little nests... and a trip to the bulk aisle to stock up on chocolate mini eggs. Success! Our favours are ready to go!

To-Do List Update Part II

I think posting about how I haven't posted about to-do lists temporarily scared me away from my own blog. I haven't gotten much done, but I think it's important to re-visit the to-do list regardless, so that I can hold myself accountable and remind myself to do the things on my list! 

So here's a revised list to motivate me to keep my butt in gear!

To do:

• Finish centerpieces (wash jars, buy bird seed, make candle holders--partially done)
• Invitations
• Decide on groomsmen gifts
• Dress and suit alterations
• Have the groom's shirt cleaned and pressed
• Decide on groomsmens attire
• Create seating chart--partially done
• Favours
• Book dog kennel/adventure camp and cat sitter/kennel
• Make playlists--partially done!
• Make photobooth backdrop
• Stock up on supplies for photobooth
• Make sign and paper for photobooth/guestbook
• Buy shoes and underwear for wedding day
• Hair and makeup
• Order a wedding band for me
• Marriage license and meet with officiant
• Liquor license
• Write ceremony script--partially done
• Make a floor plan/seating plan
• Make wedding photo list for photographers--partially done
• Wine (choose, order, pick up) 
• Walk through of the reception hall with our 'friend'ly decorator, Tia
• Invite wedding party to rehearsal and dinner
• Invite the groom's relatives to Sunday tea/lunch
• Figure out how to put up sign that points to the chapel, designate someone to do this
• Confirm details with caterers, bartenders, photographers, decoration rental, wholesale flower farmer, etc.
• Package groomsmen and bridesmaid gifts
• Purchase 'other' gifts and thank you cards

Falling Behind...

Well, I was going to post an update to my wedding to-do list. Then I looked at my last post of the list and realized I had really only done 2 more things on the list. So, instead of posting that update, I'm gonna spend all day Sunday working on wedding tasks. Expect an update sometime next week!

Name Change

While this title is rather fitting to a wedding blog, this post is not actually about whether or not I will change my last name after we get married (we can save that for later). Actually, I am considering changing the name of this blog. With our wedding only a couple months away, and my latest blog posts being more about life, gardening, etc, I feel as if a more general title would be more appropriate.

This is where I would wow you with a new title if I had yet to think of one. Instead, I leave you in anticipation while I go sit down and brainstorm ideas!

Introducing Robbie, the iRobot Roomba

Robbie is the newest member of our family. Out of all our pets, he is definitely my favourite. Not only does he not make a mess, but he willingly cleans the messes the other pets make. I'm in love!

My Bucket List

This post, as well as my new journal, are inspired by the movie 'The Bucket List' and also by that fun new MTV show The Buried Life. Basically, my new journal is a list of things I want to do before I die. Instead of being morbid, it's more of a challenge. A challenge to dream big and be willing to put those dreams down on paper and take steps to make them happen! I have this vision of a journal filled with things I want to do, and as I cross things off I will be inspired to dream even bigger than before and the momentum will help me achieve my biggest, greatest, most far-reaching dreams!

I think this general idea can be applied to weddings too. It definitely would have helped us in the planning process if we sat down on day one and asked ourselves what we want our wedding day to be like. Make a giant list of all the things we want to see or do on that day, and then take the steps to make them happen. I still think our wedding day will be wonderful, romantic and fun, but this would have made getting there a tad easier!

What do you want to do before you die?

Pictures, as Promised!

The view out of our kitchen window.

A deer in our yard.

I'm yet to get the camera out in time to get a good picture of one of our hummingbirds...

Wedding Planning Perks

Adam and I have discovered our absolute favourite part of wedding planning: taste testing wines and ciders! Actually, my cider taste test is making it a bit challenging to write this post (I'm writing this the evening before it will actually appear on the blog).

We were a bit stressed out about choosing wines to put on the tables for dinner. We knew we wanted some 'free drinks' but we're no experts when it comes to wine and had no idea how to choose. On top of that, we wanted wine that was either local to Vancouver Island, or at the very least, local to BC. Add in our budget and we had quite the challenge on our hands.

We did some research of local wineries and found that most were over our budget. We also don't drink the stuff so we wouldn't even know which type of white (or which type of red) to choose. This all led to a very exciting conversation about breaking the boundaries! Why have two bottles of wine on the table when I, especially, wouldn't drink either? After all, it's our wedding day, we should be able to provide drinks that we'll both enjoy. (There will also be a bar, so if guests don't like our choices, they can purchase anything they like from the bar!) So, we decided to go off the beaten path (well, more like one foot on and one foot off...) and provide a white wine and a cider. You see, I like cider. I like cider very much! Even better - we already knew of two local cider producers that we could taste test for the occassion. So, we checked into where we could buy them locally, trekked to the good ol liquor store and bought 1 bottle from each cidery.

And the winner is..... Merridale Estate Cidery (Cider House pictured above!). Their cider comes in a 1L bottle (about 1 glass more than the average wine bottle) and is right on track with our budget. And I love it! So I will happily fill my glass with cider instead of wine on my wedding day. Not groundbreaking by any means, but a decision we're quite proud!

The next dilemma is which white wine to choose. Adam is currently spending this evening taste testing a bottle of Calona Chardonney, but since we're not experts, he's not sure if it would be considered good or not by more knowledgeable winos! :)

If you have any tips of local to BC white wines that are around $15 for a 750mL bottle, drop us a line!

Giveaway: No Plastic!

There's a great giveaway happening over at Progressive Pioneer! If I were you, I'd check out these pictures of what you could win, then hurry over to enter your name for a chance to win! While you're there, check out the rest of the blog - definitely one of my new favourites!

Mis-Matched Maids

Photo by Josh McCullock

I was having a temporary panic attack about mis-matched bridesmaid dresses the other day. I'm not sure why. You see, all but one of my bridesmaids have picked their dresses and I honestly love each and every one. They are all gorgeous and unique to the different girls. I'm excited to see them all dolled up on the wedding day! But apparently the wedding industry has invaded my subconscious and made me feel anxious about whether or not my bridesmaids would match alongside one another.

I immediately realized this was a ridiculous feeling and decided to look up examples of mis-matched bridesmaids to conquer this silly anxiety. The picture above is my ultimate favourite example from Josh McCullock Photography. 

I also found this post and this post over at The Far Flung Fiancée.

Ok, I'm good now. I love the idea yet again!

Country Living has its Moments...

Maybe I spoke too soon!

No, I do love the country life we're living out here, but I certainly faced my first reality of country life last night! We found out on Day 2 that there was a mouse in our house. No problem - we blocked off the access point except for one small hole leading into a trap (a live trap - we simply want to relocate mr.mouse). Well, our trap was successful and we spent a few good hours last night listening to a mouse scratch and claw and try to get out of the trap. A little traumatic to listen to, but at 3am neither one of us was about to collect the trap, drive down the road and release mr.mouse. Thankfully he got quiet around 5 or 6am so we could get a little sleep. He was released this morning and happily scurried away. Here's hoping he was the only one! Hey, sometimes it's okay to be naive...

Country Living

I have to admit, I'm enjoying life in the country! As you may already know, we moved a few hours from our city life and are now about 15 minutes out of the nearest town. We're completely surrounded by forest and farmland. Some of the perks to country life:

• a local farm that delivers fresh free-range eggs to our house
• deer in our yard
• hummingbirds at the feeder
• woodpeckers
• frog symphony to sing you to sleep at night
• birds, birds, everywhere
• room to grow your own food
• absolute silence - no sirens, neighbours, busses... just birds!

I'm hoping to get some good photos of wildlife in our yard to share with you soon. So far I've been too excited to think about grabbing the camera!

Product Review: Abeego Wraps

I was researching ways to sew my own reusable sandwich wraps about six months ago. The problem was, all the patterns or ideas I stumbled across required using a layer of plastic. I thought this was strange since I was trying to get away from using plastic wrap (mainly because it is a disposable product, but also because it's plastic!).

Finally, I got so frustrated in my search that I went to my favourite local shop: The Good Planet Company. The name says it all - they carry great products that are functional and good for the planet. To go one step further, they also carry locally hand-crafted products. That's how I found Abeego.

Abeego is a company local to Victoria, B.C. They create reusable Wraps (sandwich size, although can be used for anything), Snack size wraps and Flats. These products completely replace plastic wrap and plastic zippered bags. They are made of a hemp/cotton fabric and they use beeswax and plant extracts to make the fabric foldable (is that a word?) and washable.

They are fantastic! I was ecstatic. I immediately purchased two of the Wraps and put them into use. I have found that they work perfectly and can be easily shaped to fit whatever you need to put in them. I was worried about their longevity and how clean they would actually get being hand washed in cold water, but I haven't had any issues. Months later they are holding up perfectly to nearly daily use. The cold water wash has even conquered mustard stains! The only downside is how cold your fingers get while washing them. But it's a small price to pay for such a great product!

Three cheers for Abeego!

Small Space Storage Solutions

I got really excited about this post over at Apartment Therapy. Our new place is a similar size to our last place, but there is considerably less storage space. The post at Apartment Therapy was pretty cool, although a bit impractical for the renters among us. So, I post in hopes of feedback of solutions for storage in small spaces!

I already have a coffee table that is essentially a hope chest. It stores all our movies, gift wrapping needs, and a few extras. We've also resorted to getting a garment rack (read: basic metal rack to hang clothes off of, not at all attractive and not entirely stable) for our bedroom because our new place doesn't even have a bedroom closet. We are in desperate need of clothes storage.

We're also looking into raising our bed frame so that we can store our fitness equipment under it when it's not in use (we have a Total Gym). We could probably store a couple other things under there too, as long as they don't need to be accessed too frequently (maybe photo albums, board games, etc).

We also have a tv stand that has lots of shelving, but this is pretty much full with our dvd player and a few of Adam's toys (honestly, I don't know what they're called... some kind of contraption one can play video games on... that's the best I can do for you!).

Any other tips and ideas?

We will probably have a bit more cupboard space after the wedding when we can pass along the centerpieces and other tidbits we seem to have been collecting!

Swagbucks

You may have noticed this button on the side of my blog. Well, it's actually my way of paying for some of those great wedding accessories without ever dipping into my wallet! Swagbucks is essentially a search engine (with other features added on to it that you can choose to use, or not use). The great thing about it though is that when you search the internet, you occasionally win 'swagbucks.' Then, when you have a certain amount of them, you redeem them for items in the store. I redeem my swagbucks for Paypal credit. So I earn swagbucks for free just by searching the internet, and then get money in my Paypal account. Then I can use this to buy whatever I want!

My swagbucks helped me purchase quite a few things for our wedding! We got our bridesmaid's gifts, items for our photobooth, and much more on Etsy without ever emptying our bank accounts.

Did I mention Swagbucks is completely free to use and there are no strings attached? Check it out!

The Wedding Weekend

We've noticed that it used to be tradition to open your wedding gifts the day after the wedding at some sort of luncheon with all your family and guests present. Honestly, I think this is a terrible idea. It alienates the guests that traveled far distances or are students on tight budgets, or anyone else who chose not to purchase a gift for whatever reason. It also emphasizes the ridiculous notion that guests are expected to shower you with gifts to celebrate your marriage. Umm... call me crazy, but I think guests coming to the wedding in the first place is the best way to show they value the committment you're making!

That said, I like the idea of extending the wedding celebrations past the wedding ceremony and reception to create more time spent with your family and friends. My favourite wedding bloggers, Sara Cotner and Matt Bradfor from $2000 Wedding, did just that. Their wedding was a weekend away in the mountains with plenty of time for connections with family and friends. While this was not exactly an option for us, we have looked at ways to spend a bit more time with our guests.

The first thing we are doing, now that we no longer live in the city we're getting married in, is staying in the same vacation rental building as some of our family. This will hopefully give us some extra family time during the in between moments or over morning coffee.

We are also bringing our wedding party together at Adam's parent's vacation rental condo for a very informal rehearsal dinner. Essentially it's a come-as-you-are and eat pizza with us kind of dinner! I hope this allows for more time socialising than a sit down dinner at a restaurant would.

Finally, we are looking into having a similar gathering in the same condo for the day after the wedding. We hope this will be open to all of Adam's relatives, as they are the guests that will have traveled the furthest to be with us. We really want to make sure we see as much of them as possible before we all have to go home!

It may be a stretch, but I'm thinking of also looking into some extra time with my family and friends. They generally live closer than our other guests though, so being a busy weekend to begin with, we may not be able to make as much time for this as we'd like. Luckily, we see these folks more often anyhow, so hopefully they'll understand!

What are you doing to facilitate time for connection with your guests?

The Giddy Gardener

We have officially relocated to our first home. This past week has been hectic and my patience has been minimal. I'm verrrry lucky to have a partner with considerably more patience than I happen to possess. Anyhow, that's another story!

I'm definitely excited about all the gardening opportunities our new cabin has. I wish I had this place well before now so that I could've planted my own wedding flowers. We're saving a ton by using a wholesale flower farm and creating the bouquets ourselves, but this would have saved even more! Alas, I am just now getting my own garden.

As a first time gardener, I clearly need to do a bit more reading. At first I was only thinking about vegetables and herbs, maybe the odd flower here or there. Now I'm hoping to have some native plant species, some organic veggies, and a couple shrubs as well. I also have some invasive species I'm hoping to pull although they are mostly along our driveway and out of the way of the garden.

I've read a couple books on companion gardening that focused on veggies, so I have the knowledge I need to determine which veggies are getting planted where. Next, I  need to read more about when to plant what. I have some seed packets, but have realized that some of the flowers I was looking forward to planting are things you plant in late fall. The picture above is of Common Camas, a native plant species. I am looking forward to trying to grow some, but just discovered I shouldn't plan it until late fall or early in the new year. I think it's too late now.

Does anyone know a great source for information on different plants and when to plant them?