Where I get back on track.

All right, it’s crunch time!  Down to business!

We finally went out and Mason picked out a wedding band for himself.  It was a very nice pick, actually.

For a while he was torn between getting a jewelry store ring or just ordering The One Ring off the internet somewhere; and while I would have been perfectly happy marrying a ring bearer of Mordor, I can’t say that I’m not a bit relieved that he opted in the end for one from Peoples Jewellers instead.  (Besides, you just know the other one would have come with all sorts of baggage and dark thrall and whatnot.  I’m quite content not being bogged down under the beady stare of some evil fiery eyeball for the rest of my life, let me tell you.)

We’ve gone ahead and booked our Miami hotel for the night before we leave on the cruise (we’re going the easy route and just staying at the airport hotel, then we’ll just book it down to the port in a taxi.  Less hassle.)

I talked to Tim Hortons and our plan for tasty Timbit favors are a go — thankfully the manager at the Timmies I inquired at was a woman and sort of “got” the whole wedding thing and I didn’t have to put up with weird looks from some man who thought I’d gone around the bend for ordering 400 custom colored Timbits.  The only thing we have to figure out with that is the best way to keep them fresh over night until the reception the next evening.  We’re thinking just wrapping them in plastic wrap and maybe freezing them?  I also need to provide the colored sugar for them to roll them in… so I guess I need to find out where to buy colored sugar, eh?  ^^;  Um…

Where I freak out a little.

There’s only one month until the wedding!  One month! As in, the shiznit is going down next month!

*Hyperventilates into paper bag*

Realistically, I know I’m good on time.  I was good with the planning ahead, all the big glitzy stuff has been finished for a while, and really all that’s left to do are small little details.  But I can’t help but freak out a bit now that we’ve reached the 30-something day mark.  Every time I talk to anyone about the wedding I get reminded of something else that needs to be done still, just all those little things you don’t think about.

I mean, when you’re the bride there’s very specific milestones your brain gets into gear for during the wedding planning process — things like the venue, the dress, the photographer, the food, the invitations, (and for giant nerds like me, the seating chart is especially exciting.)  You simply don’t spend all those months beforehand obsessing about things like who’s making which speeches, or who you’re designating to decorate the ceremony hall in the morning, or who’s going to be there to open the reception hall doors for the caterer, or the order in which you want the MC to announce events, or when you need the hall rental insurance by, or whether or not the ceremony venue will let you do a sound check during the walk through, and oh a million other last minute details that catch you completely off guard and that you realize you haven’t an earthly idea what you’re going to do for — because hey, let’s face it, you didn’t spend a lot of time day dreaming on the bus to work every morning about the logistics of the best way to keep 400 sugared snack favors fresh overnight from when you pick them up until the reception the following evening.

*Sharp crinkling sound from paper bag as it is used as a respirator*

But again, realistically, it’s fine. I know this.  I’m on top of it.  Everything’s cool.

Did I mention that we still currently have three feet of snow in our backyard and with the snail-like pace at which it’s melting it probably won’t be gone until August?  My pretty wedding dress and fancy shoes are NOT COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR GRIMEY, SLUSHY, LATE-LOITERING WINTER DOUCHERY, ALBERTA!  D:{

*Crinkle wheeze crinkle*

Gradually whittling away at that to-do list.

Flowers: Most of the wedding flowers have finally been bought!  In the end we opted to go with artificial flowers from Michaels, for a variety of reasons:

1. In order to get real blue flowers, we probably would have had to dye them.  Fake flowers offer many more available colors without the risk of dye rubbing off on dresses and hands.
2. Waaaaaay more selection.  You don’t have to worry about what season it is or how much some sort of fancy flower costs or how long it will take to order in.  Michaels flowers are available all year round!  We were able to get a large variety of very nice white and blue flowers for all of the bouquets.
3. They’re cheaper!  It helped even more that Michaels had a sale going on and we had big discount coupons.  :B
4. They last forever!  This way the bouquet won’t wilt and die and I’ll be able to keep it as a keepsake afterward.

I think the plan is to use one of the big white flowers from pic #1 below as the centerpiece for my bouquet, then accent it with some of the cute little pearl flowers from pic #2 and some of the various blue ones from #2 and #3.  The bridesmaids will be carrying the the lily-looking ones from pic #2, again with accents of various blue flowers.

We bought some really nice pussy willow branches and stuff for the vases too.  We’ll have to look at actual flowers for the corsages and boutonnières, but that’s it.  WIN!

Bridesmaid sashes: Have been ordered!  …From Australia!  (That’s right, they’re exotic sashes~)  ^^;  I checked some of the boutiques for the typical Alfred Angelo sashes but they go for like $50 a pop which is frankly absurd in my opinion.  o_O  Instead I did some hunting around on eBay and found some nice royal blue satin sashes — the three of them together with shipping cost pretty much what one Alfred Angelo sash would have been.

Transportation: We are indeed having a limo.  I let Mason make the final decision on whether he wanted one or not, and apparently we were one of six names drawn from Bridal Fantasy for a discount from PT Limos so we booked with them.  We’re having an eight person Mercedes stretch limousine that we and the bridal party will get for three hours shuttling us around after the ceremony for pictures and then to the reception~  :3

Hair and makeup: I’ve decided to go with Studio 107 in St. Albert who were highly recommended to us by my sister’s hairstylist and close friend.  Conveniently enough, when I called to book and appointment for the hair they mentioned that one of the women who works there also does bridal makeup.  I talked to the lady in question and her prices seem pretty good.  May as well kill two birds with one stone, eh?

Photobooth: Nothing new, just a bit of an edit.  To save a bit of money we’ve opted to reduce our package from four hours to three hours, as well as drop the online photo hosting and the photo CD, which in the end I didn’t really see as something we particularly needed.  I’m assuming most of the good photos will end up being pasted into our guestbook by people, and I think I’m going to put a little box on the table for extra/unwanted photo strips and I’ll just look through them afterward and keep any that I like.  The photobooth will probably be set up while everyone’s busy listening to speeches, so then it can be up and running as soon as the dancing starts.

GAAAAAH!  Only 63 days left!

Let’s kick it up a notch, Chef Emeril style!

Some stuff that I keep meaning to make note of here on the blog but never remember to, so here’s a quick catch up list:

• I’ve added the new link to our gift registry on the sidebar.  BAM!
• A while ago I was discussing ideas for some sort of symbolic gesture to include in the ceremony that wasn’t sand pouring or candle lighting, and we decided that we’re going to have what’s called a “rose ceremony.”  Basically it involves firstly us giving a rose to each of our mothers as a way of showing our appreciation and respect for all they’ve done for us in our lives, and then exchanging roses between ourselves as our first gift of love in our marriage.  Very simple, very classic~  BAM!
• I’ve had no luck so far finding a nice, affordable birdcage veil.  *Sad face*  The ones you buy in bridal boutiques are stupid expensive, and I’ve been combing through sites like kijiji and etsy instead.  My amazingly wonderful sister has volunteered to try and make me my own custom veil if I’m unable to find one online.  BAM!
• RSVPs are slowly coming in and so far we officially have 56 guests confirmed attending, and 6 regrets.  I let out a little squee of joy every time see a new RSVP arrive and excitedly update my seating chart.  BAM!
• If you haven’t bothered looking at your invitation yet, the official go time for the ceremony is 1:00 p.m.  The reception will follow at 4:40 p.m.  BAM!  BAM!

I think that’s all for now…  It’s so hard to believe there’s only 67 days left!  I’ve started having horrible dreams where it’s our wedding day and I realize I don’t have anything done — the halls aren’t set up, we haven’t arranged for transportation, I haven’t picked up my dress yet, we have no where to go to get our hair and makeup done…  Ugh.  Horrible dream stress and drama! :x

Talking about delicious food always makes me hungry. :c

Met with Val and her son and his business partner tonight to go over our buffet menu!  I realized as I sat down at the table to wait for them that I had no idea what any of them looked like, so I sort of just winged it and looked up hopefully at anyone who walked in the door.  I probably looked a little pathetic.  *Sweatdrop*  Thankfully I apparently share some similar features with my dad and she recognized me on the spot, thus saving me from further humiliation.

They were all super nice and seemed to all know what they were doing, and we walked away with a pretty tasty sounding buffet spread:

• Roast and butter chicken! (Yum yum~)
• Mashed potatoes and basmati rice (to go with the butter chicken, obviously.)
• Penne pasta with creme sauce (for any pasta lovers/vegetarians in the crowd.)
• Perogies with sour creme and bacon bits (this may or may not be taken off since we already have a lot of starches.)
• California mixed veggies and corn
• Gravy for the roast
• Two salads: Caesar and… something else?  Tossed salad?  (I can’t remember what we decided on.  Doesn’t matter to me since I shall be gobbling down the Caesar.)
• Variety of buns (because no buffet is complete without buns!)

And then for dessert:

• Wedding cupcakes obviously (they shall be fantastic!)
• Fruit (with fondue possibly~)
• Creme puffs (these guys make some pretty epic creme puffs, I’m excited for them.)
• Cheesecake

Then later on in the night there’s going to be some extra munchies put out:

• Cheese, crackers, pickles, veggies, etc
• Chips and salsa (with both medium and hot salsa according to your preference.)

Gaaaaaah!  So much tasty food!  *Flail*  And me sitting here in my house afterward with nothing delicious to eat…  ;_;

Bridesmaid gifts!

Locked post, obviously!  *Cackles evilly, mad with her post-locking power*

God, so I’ve been racking my brain over what to get all the girls as thank you gifts.  It’s so hard when all three of your bridesmaids are so different, body-wise, personality-wise, and taste-wise.  They don’t all wear jewelry or makeup.  They don’t carry the same style of purses and bags.  I don’t know the first thing about toiletry and beauty products or what anyone would like.  Two out of the three of them don’t drink at all.  Candles seem a little lame.

Quite the quandary, yes?  WRONG!  Because I think I have figured out a set of splendid, cute presents that will please everyone.

1) $30 gift certificates to Fuss Cupcakes! Who doesn’t love tasty cupcakes?  Seriously, no one.  WIN.

2) Fold up ballet flats, courtesy of fitinclouds.com.  They’re cute!  They’re comfy!  They’re portable and come with their own little carrying bag you can slip into your purse!  I’m going to buy a pair of the blue ones for each girl (and myself) to change into at the reception after spending the morning standing in pinchy heels, and after the wedding they’ll be great for carrying around with you while you’re out and about.  WIN.

3) I may also get them one more little gift that will either be some sort of a) cute umbrella, or b) coffee go-cups / water bottles, I haven’t decided yet.  Either way, more WIN.

I’m pleased with my choices, I hope they’ll all like them.  :3  You don’t want to give your bridal party useless, tacky gifts they’ll just throw away when they get home; but at the same time it’s difficult to find things that different people will all appreciate.  I’m not sure what Mason’s plans are for the grooms’ gifts yet, but I know he was having the same problem.  Maybe something geeky and game related?