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.

Pizza Party: Photo Op

One thing I've wanted to do with many of our past parties is a picture board thing. I have no idea what these are called, but I think they are so cute!

Jason was able to grab a piece of scrap wood and make a simple frame so that it would stand up. Once I decided what to paint onto it, he cut out the hole for the face and gave it a good wipe down.

I searched online and found a few inspiration pictures, but really, I just improvised. I had drawn a similar picture in pencil first to get an idea of proportions, but it was really just a matter of 'let's see what happens!'

Coupled with the moustaches, I think it turned out completely adorable. In the end, the materials were free and the painting took about 5-6 hours total. For such a neat little party activity (as well as a piece of decor) I feel it was well worth it. Plus, the other side is still blank and can be painted however I want for the next go!

All pictures are by Enlightened Photography

Noah's Pizza Shop

Picture by Enlightened Photography

When Noah finally chose his theme for his eighth birthday, we were only four weeks out. For a planner like me, that was tough. But we pulled it all together and though I'd like to have had a few more elements, it went really well! As you may guess from the picture, Noah had a pizza theme. It wasn't just any pizza party though, it was an Italian Pizzeria!

Ill be talking about each area of the party from the invitations to why I chose to hire a professional photographer all week. Until then, feel free to follow the link where you can check out a few choice pictures of the event.

yes it has been a month, thank you for noticing

Ok, so March was absolutely a busy month; but so was April (so far).

Noah chose to do a pizza themed party for his 8th birthday and since Im a little crazy, I designed and planned that party in less than a month. Ill be recapping that this week, so stay tuned. We also completed our pre-marital counselling, celebrated my 29th birthday, finished up our registries and booked a few appointments.

I also had my first bridal melt-down, but we wont mention that.

All in all, I feel a little worn out and put off from further wedding planning. The initial excited rush to get things done has subsided and we're now in the phase that just sucks the life out of you. Or maybe just your money. Whatever.

But all is not lost! (Why does that make me think superheros?) My bridal shower is scheduled for less than two weeks from now and my parents are flying in for a week. Ill finally buy my dress during their visit and start actually celebrating this wedding, instead of just envisioning everything. I'll also get the chance to really share some of the plans with my mom. She's been kept informed by phone so far, but hasn't actually seen anything. Im looking forward to visiting the reception location with her, showing her the tablescapes I have planned, buying my dress(!), showing her the mock invites I've created and being able to chat for more than a few minutes at a time.

I have big plans to keep this blog updated daily between then and now because I can't promise Ill have the time during their visit. What do you think my odds are on that? HA!

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?

Is it April yet?

Oh what a busy month March has turned out to be! I can hardly believe there's still 11 more days to this month, after having done so much already.

In terms of the wedding, We've sent deposits to the photographer, DJ, Cake Decorator and Ceremony Musicians. We also met with the DJ to go over our music personalities and booked our cake tasting. On top of that, I've picked up mountains of items including centerpiece parts, our card box, silk flowers, paper products, bridesmaids dresses (more on that later!) and so many other little items! It has been a crazy whirlwind.

The kids are excited to try out the cakes with us, as we ordered enough for that. We wanted them to be involved in at least a little of the planning. Owen talks about how he's going to carry a flag whenever he hears the word 'wedding' and James informed his teacher that Mommy was getting married. Apparently all this work isn't going as unnoticed by them as I had thought!

Noah will be celebrating his 8th birthday in a couple of weeks and it looks like my planning energy is going to be sidetracked until then. He's having a Pizza theme (his initial request was 'turtles') so we're going all out and creating an Italian themed pizzaria. Pictures of that process will surely be forthcoming. I've even hired our wedding photographer to cover Noah's bday party so we're sure to get some great shots!