Our Wedding: Dress Shopping

First, let me preface by saying that Im a bad blogger and have zero photographic evidence of my dress shopping experience. I know! You'd think I'd have learned by now. But alas, I have not and silly internet not-quite-right photos will have to do.

If you will remember, I showed you this dress in my original teaser post awhile back:

I love the flowy, empire waist but not the sweetheart neckline or the odd straps. This dress was close, but not quite right.  Besides those particular items, I knew I wanted white and the dress had to come with some form of strap, though I couldn't decide which I preferred most. Jason doesn't much care what I chose for my dress, he just didn't want it to be strapless.

So while my mom was in town for her only visit before the wedding, we scheduled a day to go out dress shopping. I was to find my wedding dress and she, her MOTB dress. We had Owen with us and I had to pick James up at lunch time from school, so we were on a tight schedule. The day however didn't feel rushed at all. We headed straight to the mall to first grab a coffee and breakfast and then hit the dollar store to load up on toys to keep Owen busy while we shopped. Can't recommend this enough for anyone who finds themselves shopping with a preschooler!

The next step was actually a store within the mall itself. I know it's a little odd to pick a wedding dress out at the mall, but that's just how I roll. Or something.

I had found my bridesmaid's dresses here for 85% off and had browsed the wedding gowns a few times so I knew what I was in for. Immediately I picked up a flowy, empire waisted gown in what I thought was my size. Before heading to the dressing room with it, I agreed with my mom that I should at least bring one other dress in with me. So I grabbed another in a similar size that I really couldn't even tell you about.

I tried on the non-memorable one first because I knew I wouldn't like it as much. Even when I came out and showed my mom it was obvious that it just wasn't for me. So back in I went to try on the one I had originally intended to try.

It was a little like the dresses below in that it had a sweetheart neckline (not something I wanted), empire waist, flowy soft material, and a single flower strap. The bust of the first picture is very similar as well.  

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As soon as I saw it on I knew it was the dress.

Now Im not the type to worry too much about what I wear. Im equally comfortable in public wearing sweats as I am in a summer dress or business slacks. Im also a bigger girl who accepts her body and figure for what they are. I dress to flatter but don't worry too much about 'hiding.'

All of this to say that I knew I wasn't going to be too picky when it came to dress shopping. I knew I didn't want to spend very much (Im talking under $400) either. So to find a dress that I absolutely loved, not only at the first store but as the first dress I picked up with a price tag under budget? I was pretty excited. Because I bought it in a regular store I was also able to take it home right away, adding it to the ever growing closet of wedding clothing.

My mom unfortunately wasn't as lucky in finding her dress and will have to  find something when she comes in for the wedding. Here's to her having as much luck as I did!

Our Wedding: Real or Fake?

Sometimes I feel like I can't write fast enough when it comes to wedding posts. In my daily life wedding planning only accounts for such a small portion, yet I find myself thinking about it so much. Blogging kinda lets me get it out a little without driving Jason insane or doing projects too early.

Today, for some unknown reason, Im thinking about flowers. Or more specifically, our lack of flowers. We have a limited budget, and flowers just seem really ridiculous to me. Why would I pay so much for something that Ill be stuck with at the end of the night and that will die before we're back from our honeymoon? I don't enjoy them all that much (unless they're lovingly presented as a gift) and then there's the allergies to think of.

All in all, we've decided flowers are just not worth it for us. Instead, we're going with candles, vases, fake petals, and the like for our centrepieces. My ladies will be sporting fake bouquets I scored on sale at Michaels and the men will most likely skip the bouts. I don't love the look of any particular flower enough to try to make them or buy real ones.

The one area Ill actually include flowers will be for my bouquet. Im a little torn though in that Id love to be able to keep my flowers and dried ones just aren't pretty. Unfortunately, I can't really think of a way around it.

My bouquet situation is a little unique in that I will be creating it as I walk down the aisle. The children in the wedding party (my four boys as well as my two nieces) and my three nephews will line up along the aisle, right before I come down, each with a flower. As I pass, Ill collect each of them and then tie them into a bouquet when I get to the platform at the front. My MOH will have ribbon tucked into her bouquet to help with the tying, so Im hoping it'll all work.

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At this point, I don't really know what kind of flowers Ill use or if Ill go with all one kind or mix it up. The flowers themselves will have to be hearty enough to last the handling from young children and also pretty enough to stand alone in a bouquet without any added greenery or other extras. Real flowers being handed to me by children just seems so innocent and precious that I don't want to ruin that with fake flowers. Is that weird?

What would you use? Should I go with fake flowers anyway or stick with the real ones?

Our Wedding: My Shower

I've got a couple minutes before I have to pick up Micah from a birthday party so I thought Id share a few teasers from my shower. All pictures are by my friend Sherrie.

My gorgeous cherry blossom cake! It was lemon and vanilla and disappeared within a couple days. Mmmm!

Maid of Honor M, myself and Bridesmaid P

Me with friends from church

My mom and I

My great-aunt (pseudo-grandma) and I

And MOH M and I at the end of the night. She organized the whole thing and I was beyond happy with how it all turned out.

Tomorrow is mothers day so Im anticipating a large portion of 'me-time' in which to write in more detail (and drink a margarita or two)!

Our Wedding: Themes

Whatta ya say to a few pictures of a little wedding item we received this week?

Jason is exceedingly happy to have these babies in his possession:

Superman Cufflinks

And though I doubt it's still necessary, Im going to come out and actually tell you the themes for the wedding. Im not exactly jumping up and down about it, but Im happy all the same. It's awesome to see your groom excited about many of the little details that brides are known to go crazy for.

So without further ado, we'll be having a SUPERHERO themed wedding! Yes, you read that right.

Jason and his groomsmen have all been assigned a superhero from DC comics and will be dressing accordingly. They'll still each be wearing a tux but underneath they'll be sporting a tshirt a la their superhero logo. We're also getting each of them matching DC shoes/rings/shot glasses in their assigned character. Instead of a bride and groom signature drink, we'll have drinks named after each of the heros to accompany a fantastic, surprise, late night snack.

On top of all of that, we're incorporating a lot of the culture from our province, Newfoundland. I don't think I've ever come out and said that's where I actually live, but there ya have it. Im not originally from here but Jason is and we have a number of guests coming from away. As an island that sits quite a distance from the rest of the country, there are a lot of unique traditions and cultures that have survived here. We want our guests to have the full Newfoundland experience, so we're incorporating it wherever we can, without going overboard (the superheros do that all on their own).

Ill save the specifics of the Newfoundland traditions and touches for another post though. In the mean time, have you ever attended a themed wedding? Would you consider it for yourself or are you more of the traditional type?

Our Wedding: Yummy Cake Tasting!

In planning this wedding, the kids have heard all sorts of our planning details and yet haven't really been involved in anything. So when the opportunity came up for us to try some of the cupcake flavours from our cake decorator, we decided to make it into a family activity.

First, we picked up our order. We had two each of three flavours included for free and we chose to pick another three flavours for an extra $10. This business is a local home-based, mainly word of mouth type and we were happy to spend the extra.

Clockwise, from top left: Carrot with Cream Cheese Icing, Cookies and Cream, Vanilla with Chocolate Icing, Chocolate with Chocolate icing, Vanilla with Vanilla Icing and Lemon with Vanilla Icing.

We cut each cupcake into thirds (there are six of us!) and tried each kind together.

I had made a scoring sheet for everyone to decide which ones were their favorites. Everyone scored with a different scale, but that didn't really matter. We chose to score them on the way they looked, the taste of the cake and the taste of the icing.  

James with some of his cupcakes. He was a champ at tasting just the icing!

Owen took his job very seriously, though he really only liked one kind.

In the end, the kids all preferred the cookies and cream. Jason and I liked the Carrot with Cream cheese icing and I really liked the lemon. We'll definitely have the first two at the wedding, along with a simple chocolate option and I was able to ask my maid of honor to order the lemon for my shower cake as we're using the same company.

Our Wedding: My Man

I've been asked why Im marrying Jason* and I've just got to say, this is why....

After the kids went to bed last night we spent a couple hours stuffing our Save the Date envelopes and addressing them. Jason was a great sport throughout the entire process and we didn't quit until 11:30. With all the projects and planning that I do, it's much appreciated to have his help with such a project and more importantly, to be able to hang out and chat while we worked.

*Though it does sound kinda rude, the question wasn't meant that way. Jason and I have an odd history, as I've mentioned before on this blog, and people were a little taken by surprised when he proposed.

Our Wedding: Save the Dates

While I haven't officially announced our theme, I thought I'd share our save the dates. These have been designed for weeks, but we dragged our feet in taking the pictures. Neither of us are that comfortable in front of the camera, and we're in serious need of an upgraded one as well.

This past weekend, we took all of about five minutes to go outside and get the below picture of Jason. It was freezing outside and once we came back in and had a look at the files, we realised that none of my pictures could be used. So we spent another two minutes or so taking the one you will see below. I really don't like mine, but think Jason is hilarious! He is sooo not the type of guy to bring any kind of attention to himself so to see him do something like this in public was awesome.

With the pictures taken and the cards designed, all I had left was to get them printed. We sent a single blown-up version to Staples, to be sure everything was going to come out well and Im so glad we did. The image wasn't anywhere near the quality I was looking for and we found a shadow on one of the yellow blocks. So some quick alterations and off it went again, this time for real!

In the end, Im very happy with how they turned out. Staples even called me to see if I wanted the files to be blown up slightly to fit better on the 8.5x11" paper or just left at the size I designed them as. They even offered to cut them out fully ( I had just requested a single cut) for very little cost. In the end, they were about $.50 each (plus stamps) and will be a great first impression for our guests.

So, without further ado, our Save the Dates (in all their glory)......

We actually saw a VERY similar save the date during our initial 'dreaming' phase of wedding planning. When we fully decided to commit to our theme, Jason wanted to use the movie poster look and add a little bit of fun. I didn't care too much (as long as I had a little more control over the invites) and so here we are.

What did you do for your Save the Dates? Would you be willing to go silly or are you the traditional sort?

Our Wedding: Budget Breakdown

I wrote last week about our overall budget for the wedding and where the money will be coming from.

This week, I thought I'd break it down a little further. I have to admit that when I began planning this wedding, I really had no idea how expensive weddings were. I mean I had a vague idea, given that Im nearly 30 and had started to plan a wedding for The Ex and I years ago, but didn't quite grasp it all. So hopefully, this post will help someone else who's trying to put together a similar sized wedding.

So we'll start with the basics:

VENUES
Church: $220
Geo Centre: $800, plus whatever beverages we will be covering

Our church doesn't actually charge anything for weddings so that price includes the sound tech, an honorarium for the pastor and our workbooks for our pre-marital counselling. This would normally come with a pastor from the church, but as I mentioned, we picked a difficult week and may need to find one elsewhere.

The Geo Centre includes the use of the space from 5pm to 1am, set-up and take-down, a bartender, a greeter, the construction of a dance floor, tables and chairs and a backdrop behind the head table.

FOOD
Caterer: $6000
Cake: $400
Late Night Snack: $125

The price per person for the caterer will be around the $50 mark. This includes their three courses, tablecloths, stemware, china, waiters, taxes and tip. Most vendors we've dealt with include a 15% gratuity in the quote.

The cake will consist of a single cutting cake and 150 cupcakes with a little something extra to jazz them up. We didn't want to pay the cutting fee so the cupcakes won out. Once we have our final numbers, we may reduce the number of cupcakes.

The late night snack is one of those silly extras that Jason and I have decided to add. A number of his friends are the drinking type and would appreciate a late night snack after drinking and dancing for a few hours. We considered everything from cookies and milk shooters to donuts to McDonalds burgers. I wont tell you just yet what we finally decided on but it wont be any of those. ;)

ATTIRE

Hers: $700
His: $150
Kids: $400
Other: $1200

Seems way off, doesn't it? Im going with a dress that will be less than $400 with alterations. The rest is for my accessories. Jason will have a free suit to keep with the deal we are getting for renting five suits. This amount is for his shoes and the little extras.

The kids amount is just a shot in the dark. On a recent date night Jason and I happened upon a clearance rack that contained one of the flower girl dresses and a suit that will fit Noah perfectly. We also picked up the other flower girl dress at the same store and came out having only spent $80. The other three boys will be wearing suits that I have priced at around $60-70 each. We haven't decided on their shoes yet, but I do anticipate that being a large cost.

And the other category is Im sure what surprises most people. We are paying for the suit rentals for Jason's three male attendants and both of our dads. My dad didn't need one, but if we rented one more Jason got the free suit, so it made the most sense. Another option is for Micah to wear one of the rental suits. Jason will also have a female attendant so we will be purchasing her attire as well. My bridesmaids will be wearing dresses that I will be buying for them as part of their gifts. The rest of the cost will come from that pesky theme I keep mentioning. Most people wouldn't have this expense.

OTHER
Photographer: $600
Transportation: $900
Favors: $200
Decorations: $900
Hair & Makeup: $500
Ceremony Musicians: $325
Reception DJ: $500

Our photographer was our second vendor (after the church) that we booked. She is a friend of mine that is just starting out. I had her come take pictures of the boys last fall at a near by park and I think she really understood the type of pictures I was looking for. So we'll be blessed to have a photographer that we are comfortable with and who also takes beautiful pictures for a great price!

The transportation is a huge expense that we'd really rather not pay but can't figure out the logistics otherwise. Not only do we have to transport ourselves to the photo locations, church, reception and hotel, we also have to transport our kids. We also haven't decided who will be looking after them through-out the day, so it's best to keep them close. This price includes the cost of a 26 person party bus for five hours and three bottles of champagne. Those bottles are standard or we would have skipped them to lower the cost. The bonus is that we get to keep our bridal party as well as our parents and photographer with us as well. No chances of anyone getting lost!

We'll be doing our own decorating, so this cost is for the purchase of all the decorations. Ill be putting everything together in the months beforehand and hope to sell most of what we have to buy afterwards.

The hair and makeup is another extravagance. Ill be covering the cost of the hair appointments for the bridesmaids, flower girls, moms and myself. The makeup will only be for me but anyone else that wants a professional look can get theirs done at their own expense at the same time.

The ceremony musicians were an expense that we recently added. We were just going to use recorded music but we heard this duo at a wedding show and were hooked. It didn't hurt that they happened to be playing the song Ive chosen to walk down the aisle to, either. the DJ is new to weddings but has been dj-ing for 20 years. We were impressed by him more than any other dj we met in his professionalism and flexibility. His price is similar to other djs in the area, though there are some that are much more expensive.

Everything else falls under the miscellaneous expenses category and we're hoping to keep those costs low, but they tend to creep up. We're going with mostly fake flowers and I've already purchased most of them on sale.

Anything seem way off? Are you surprised at some of these costs, like I was?

Our Wedding: Budget

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Let me start off by saying that I am well aware the taboo of talking about finances in regards to a wedding. I also don't care. I've always been very open about my finances on this blog and Im not about to stop now!

So when Jason and I first started talking about a wedding, we decided that we'd be comfortable with a budget of around $10 000. Neither of us liked the idea of spending so much on one day but understood that there are just some costs that can't be changed.

We have a basic feel for the day that we want to achieve and because of that we decided not to go with the various frugal options out there for planning a wedding on the cheap. Our reception will be a sit-down deal and it will be on a Saturday night. We'll have an 8 person bridal party plus the six kids who will each have various rolls. We are having a theme wedding (how did I get talked into that?) and to do so properly, will take certain funds. We want the venues to be gorgeous and interesting, as opposed to a plain hall somewhere.

All of that to say that although we hate to spend so much, we understand that it is our choice to do so and that we could have gone cheaper if we really needed or wanted to.

On top of the ten grand, my parents have generously offered to pay for the caterer. Originally, this was going to be included in the $10 000, but when we lost our first venue, we realised that all other options were going to be out of our budget. So they've increased their contribution to whatever the caterer costs and we're gladly accepting.

For a couple who are already completely financially separate from their parents and are raising children of our own, it does feel a little weird to take their money. They have assured us though that they are happy to do so and being their only girl, Im just going to thank them and accept the gift.

Stay tuned for a break down of where that $16 000 will be spent and then finally next week, Ill reveal our theme.

Our Wedding: Keeping Organized

Weddings are becoming bigger and less traditional as of late.

The emphasis now seems to be on making the day a one-of-a-kind shindig that the guests (and internet!) will be talking about for months to come.

With so many unique elements floating around the interwebs, there's bound to be some good ol' copying going on. That sounds like it defeats the purpose of making a wedding unique, but I think it's more to do with how the couple puts together all the different elements in unique ways.

Our wedding is no exception. While Im not ready to share what our theme will actually be, you can probably get a little feel from the teaser I posted here.

In order to keep everything organized and as a way to unload my brain every now and then, I have a few places where I keep my inspiration, ideas, notes and lists.

1. The first is my wedding binder. I knew right away that I would need a central place to keep all the contracts and jot notes as we go through this planning process. While attended a wedding planning class this past weekend, the organizer offered binders to the brides for $10 each. I had brought mine with me and I don't think there's much difference. Mine is a white binder that I had used previously while attending university. I added some plastic sleeves to hold business cards, samples and anything else that's not hole punched.

Then I divided the binder into sections like 'save the dates and invitations,' 'attire' and 'ceremony.' Each section has a plastic sleeve or two and paper for all the notes that I've been taking. Really, this is my number one planning tool as I can take it anywhere with me.

2. Obviously for inspiration Pinterest has been invaluable. You can see my wedding pin board here. I love that when Im board I can click on the weddings tab and see what everyone else is finding around the web.

3. The Knot. This website if full of wedding inspiration, checklists and other tools like a guest list manager and a budget calculator. Im not sure Im a big fan of the guest list manager yet as it takes forever to add everyone, but I do really love the budget calculator. It is so easy to overlook some cost when you're planning your budget so this tool is awesome to really get the full picture.

4. The wedding bee blog. I have the wedding bee blog added to my google reader so that I can keep up with all the posts there from the various brides. What I love about this blog is that there are so many brides planning so many different weddings. The budgets are diverse, the locations are diverse and the couples themselves are diverse. It's a great place for tutorials and inspiration as well.

Im linking this post to We are THAT family's Works for Me Wednesday

Our Wedding: Ceremony Venue

Jason first proposed (yes there were two proposals) while I was at work. Since I worked at our church at the time, it was only fitting to book our wedding ceremony there.

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While working there, I was responsible for much of the wedding related tasks. I would book the ceremonies and rehearsals, keep in contact with the couples, book decorators (and even decorate myself when the couple's arrangements fell through), help fill out the marriage forms, prepare the register and whatever else was needed. Because of this, I have a pretty good idea what to expect from our ceremony. I've seen them happen in different ways and know the behind-the-scenes stuff that most brides have no clue about.

That being said though, we don't have an officiant. Let me explain

I finished my temporary position there this past Christmas. During one of my last days, I let my co-worker in on the engagement and she immediately wanted to tell the rest of the office. I was excited too, so I thought, why not? We hadn't told all of our family yet so we didn't want it blabbed everywhere but the four pastors that I worked with were probably not going to be the people to do so anyway.

So in the process of telling my senior pastor that I was engaged, I also let him know that I had already booked our date in the church's computer system and mentioned that we'd like for him to officiate. A few days later, I received an email confirming that he would be honoured to do so.

But then reality set in and I received another email asking if we were set on our date. As it turns out, there is a huge province wide christian youth convention happening in the city that same weekend. As the former provincial youth director for our denomination, my senior pastor will unfortunately be otherwise engaged. Along with many other pastors in the area.

We really have no idea what direction to go from here. There's one pastor at our church that will probably not be involved in the youth convention, but she only started at the church about 6 weeks before I left so we don't know her well. One of the ladies that I asked to be a bridemaid is also a pastor, but she hasn't confirmed that she will be able to make it yet, either. Im also a little traditional in thinking that I'd prefer a male to officiate. Is that weird? Anyone else have trouble picking an officiant?

Our Wedding: Reception Venue

Since the biggest thing on my mind lately is the wedding (222 days to go!), I thought I'd start a series on the various choices as we make them. So first up is the reception venue.

Our initial thoughts were to go with a hotel because everything would be included in the basic price and we wouldn't have to worry about those who imbibe driving home afterwards. Unfortunately another couple booked the space we had chosen the day before we were to meet with the planner there. It kinda sucked.

We didn't want to go with a plain venue either and living in a small city didn't leave us with a ton of options. There are the gorgeous downtown hotels but all were a little too expensive for our tastes. Then there was the popular Battery Hotel with a ballroom that boasted a view of the city:

The battery is located on Signal Hill which is where the first transatlantic signal was received in 1901. It's probably the main tourist attraction in St. John's.

We debated on booking this place because the hotel itself doesn't have the best of reputations. It's also quite ugly to look at from the outside. It turned out well that we debated so long because when we did contact them, the room was booked (and the woman was sooo rude).

We then had the idea to go across the street (so still on Signal Hill) to the Johnson Geo Centre:

You probably can't tell much from the picture, but that is the only part of the building that is above ground. The building is actually built into the ancient rock of signal hill and is now a 33000+ square foot geological interpretation centre. Not the kind of place that would normally scream 'wedding,' but for us, it makes perfect sense.

The reception hall looks like this:

...and can be transformed to disguise most of the 'interpretation centre' vibe while keeping many of the unique elements.

We're really excited to have this place booked and can't wait to incorporate all the elements we've been dreaming about.