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I am sad to say that this will be the last time that I write to you… I have moved on from my job at Rogers for a full time position elsewhere, not in radio. I have learned so much in my almost 5 years with Rogers media… but felt it was time to start taking the steps needed to make my dreams come true and this new job has better hours that will allow me more free time. A friend of mine and I are opening our own business – Charmed Events and are taking the steps we need to get started in hopes that we can “quit our day jobs” and event plan full time in the next year or so.

Apparently I like to make all of my life changes at once! Life as a newlywed is pretty great, and challenging at times. Living with a man is MUCH different than living with a girl. Not to say that Scott’s a slob… he’s not… but it’s a lot easier for us to take the evening to relax as opposed to getting organized – yes, that’s right, over a month in our new place and we aren’t quite settled. Maybe it’s an endless work in progress? Please tell me it’s an endless work in progress. I don’t know… I’m new to this. I do know that Karen and I would have knocked out the job ages ago if for nothing else than the fact that we wouldn’t waste any time on the couch snuggling. I can’t resist my husband though. (hmm husband, that’s still pretty neat to say)

Let’s go back about a month to the wedding though. The reception was so much fun and went by in a flash! After we finished having our pictures taken after the ceremony we entered the barn to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up and we were completely ready to party! We cut our cake (we were serving it as dessert) and then everyone dug in to dinner. Oh man, it was so good! We had festival chicken (chicken stuffed with roasted red peppers and cheese), prime rib with horseradish, creamy garlic mashed potatoes and 6 different kinds of salads. The best part was that we actually got to eat it! We nipped the glass clinking in the bud by announcing that if our guests wanted to see us kiss that they had to sing a TV or movie theme song. Not that we don’t love kissing, but I get “hangry” (so hungry I’m mad) if I don’t eat. I think we smooched more of our volition than from people singing during dinner.

The cake was AMAZING! Elizabella’s Creative Cakes really knocked it out of the park, Liz even made the chocolate mint layer gluten free so that I could have some! We had 130 guests and enough cake for 250 people when you count both the wedding cake and the groom’s cake. Somehow it all got eaten though! Funny story about the groom’s cake… Scott was unable to come with me for the cake tasting but I already knew that chocolate banana would be his fave flave. When I brought the cakes home for him to try, sure enough, chocolate banana came out on top. He asked which three flavours I thought we should serve and I replied “spice, chocolate mint and vanilla” making it seem like I had completely ignored his choice. Little did he know, he was getting that flavour too! He was really surprised by his film reel cake.

After dinner we asked all of the guests to step outside to the front of the barn for a large group photo. I am so glad we did this! It’s so nice to have a picture of everyone that came!

After the photo, we had some speeches (Scott thanked his new wife Timothy – too funny!), danced with our mothers and had our first dance together as husband and wife.

There was not a dry eye in the house… and yes that includes Scott’s sister, Kim,  you were busted crying. I won’t ever let you forget it! Luckily, the groomsmen were very helpful – everytime someone was crying they tossed a napkin onto the podium – it got some great laughs!

Mama’s Song by Carrie Underwood

Only You Can Love Me This Way by Keith Urban

We had such a great night. We wouldn’t have asked for anything different and it would be impossible to find a better group of people to share the first day of the rest of our lives together. We are so grateful for each and every person we have in our lives – we are truly blessed to be so loved! I also feel like we’re truly blessed to have each other.  We even had our rings engraved with the same thing, even though we sent the requests separately. Our jeweler said that in all the years he’s been in his business, that’s never happened before. It’s crazy to me how much I love this guy, especially considering I didn’t want to date him in the beginning. We are nowhere near perfect, but we’re perfect for each other.

I want to thank all of you to reading the random ramblings of every stage of planning this wedding. It was so much fun! As a big thank you, enter “farewell” as a gift card code for 1000 points in  your Loyalty Club Account.

I’ll leave you with a few more of our favourite pictures from our wedding day and one last thought… without you guys, who is going to listen to me babble on? I guess that’s Scott’s job now…

Until next time,

T.

Now that we are settling in to married life and working on the work in progress that is organizing an apartment where we both own WAY too much stuff… I’m finally ready to tell you about our perfect and wonderful wedding day.

The night before the wedding my bridal party slept over in what was to be mine and Scotty’s new apartment. We went to bed at about 1am despite good intentions for going to bed early. We all woke up at 6am June 26th to grab a quick bite to eat and to head to our hair appointment… but I speak loosely when I say we woke up considering nobody got any sleep that night. Do you remember girl sleepover parties? Everyone talks too much and giggles? Well add on to that two very active cats and some nerves and all of that equals no sleep whatsoever.

I felt like a kid on Christmas eve… so excited about the following day and also a bit nervous. I wasn’t nervous about the pending marriage… just nervous that I had forgotten to do something I should have – even though I had more lists than Santa – and had more than checked them twice. I was also a bit nervous about being able to get through the vows, particularly in front of what would turn out to be 120 guests.

Anyways, we all headed to Shaggs hair salon on Port Perry Island.

Is 8:30 am too early for Mimosa’s? Whatever, if you add juice it’s totally appropriate for breakfast. Hair, check! On to the 2 hour drive to Belleville.

It’s not surprising that I fell asleep in the car (with my head kept off the seat and my veil carefully flipped over the head rest) and I awoke to the sound of rain hitting the windshield. I mumbled “it has to stop raining” and then fell back asleep.

We arrived at the carriage house at Fields on Westlake just before 11am in the pouring rain and the first thing I did was head to the barn to check out the setup. I think the on site coordinator was worried that I would be upset about the rain so she told me “we would wait until 1pm to make a call on an outdoor/indoor ceremony” to which I responded, nah, let’s just do it inside.  I was so happy that I think anything could have happened and I wouldn’t have cared.

The groomsmen delivered lunch to us at about 11:30 and for a bunch of girls who eat pretty healthy day to day the veggie tray went virtually untouched while the salty cured meats and cheese were gobbled up. I guess we needed some serious energy!

We started getting ready when the photographers arrived and we were completely ready by 1:30pm! So we played the waiting game, took some photos and waited for the guests to arrive. One of the flower girls Madalyn, was super pumped to do her duties. She kept asking if it was time to go so I told her to watch at the window for a big yellow school bus carrying the guests staying at the hotel in Belleville. The moment it went by she came running into the room saying “It’s time to go! Everyone is waiting for you!” – she’s three. So cute! Here’s a photo of us together.

So we get the signal from one of the groomsmen that Scott’s Nanny has arrived and is seated and we go to walk out the door and the sun comes out! It was absolutely perfect timing.  The bridal party began the walk to the ceremony site with my Mom and I following behind in her rental SUV so that my dress didn’t get filthy in the mud. I have given all of the girls personalized umbrellas that were intended to hide me from view for the outdoor ceremony so we decided to use them to block me until the last moment.

They say that your wedding day goes by in a blur and that you should take extra care to remember every moment. I remember the entire reception moment for moment, but the ceremony? It went by in a blur. I can’t even tell you what Scott’s face looked like the moment he first saw me and that was one moment I wanted to remember. Mind you, that may have something to do with the veil that was covering my face. I do remember seeing some unexpected faces on my walk up the aisle though. Scott’s gift to me was that he invited some friends of ours that we wanted to be there but couldn’t fit into the guest list. I don’t know how he made it work, but he did it! I was so happy to have them there, it meant so much!

There were a few unforgettable moments during the ceremony. I worried that I was going to cry my eyes out and ruin all of the pictures by being red and puffy but I only cried during the readings and our vows and held it together ok. Scott on the other hand, is quite an emotional little guy as it turns out. He kept wiping his eyes and whispering to me that it was dusty in there. He’s just so darn cute. Another moment that I’m sure nobody will forget is when the officiant accidentally called me Timothy. Amazing! Everyone started laughing so hard, it was great! In the blink of an eye, we were husband and wife.

photo credit – Claire Dam – WDFotos – www.wdfotos.com she rocks!

THE READINGS

An Irish Wedding Song – read by my sister Tania

Here they stand hand in hand
they’ve exchanged wedding bands
Today is the day of their dreams and their plans,
and all we who love them just wanted to say.
May God bless this couple who married today

In good times and bad times in sickness and health
may they know that riches are not needed for wealth
and help them face problems they’ll meet on their way
Oh god bless this couple who married today

May they find peace of mind comes to all who are kind
May the rough times ahead become triumphs in time
May their children be happy each day
Oh God bless this family who started today

As they go may they know every love that was shown
And as life it gets shorter may their feelings grow
Wherever they travel wherever they stay
May God bless this couple who married today

Union – Read by my sister in law Kim

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” – all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband. This is my wife.

for 300 Loyalty Club Points, you can enter the word bliss in your Loyalty Club Account.

I promise, there is more to come… but here’s a couple of pics to tide you over! 

DAY FOUR- JUNE 5,2010

The next part of the drive was spent spotting State Troopers and laughing at those who had been caught. Poor souls. We were on a crazy fictitious deadline thanks to Nathan having to be home by 8:30pm Saturday so a sit down restaurant style lunch was out of the question. But a fast food court stop wasn’t. Now I know what you’re thinking. Why do I want to hear about a food stop but trust me, you do. For starters the Burger King not only offered a gallon of pop upgrade but the Burger King was self serve. I knew going in the I wasn’t going to be consuming the freshest of foods but my experience as a McDonalds manager gave me the upper hand. I called the Burger King Manager over, stated that I had a tomato allergy and that I had to watch my daily salt intake. Guaranteed fresh. Now if you really want to annoy the cashier ask for salt packets after you receive your order. Priceless.

My nephew Owen is an Ironman fanatic so when we saw a display of Ironman hanging from the ceiling Jay was quick to ask if anyone wanted to steal him for anyone to which Nathan replied “sure”. So Nathan calmly walked over to Ironman, shook his hand and pulled him out of the ceiling. Nathan looked back at our table and asked “still want him?” to which we replied with a collective “no!” With our bellies now full and Ironman looking not so indestructible we were back on the highway with a pretty humorous story to tell when we got back home. The highway signs stated that we were approaching Baltimore  and when Camden Yards came into view Jay began telling everyone in the space shuttle about our trip to the Baltimore Ravens Game two years prior. We excited the highway, found a parking garage and parked. Jay needed to stretch his legs. Sure he did? But Jay was quick to throw a curveball by saying that the Orioles were out of town but sorry Jay, I have never seen so many Red Sox and Orioles jerseys in my entire life. Ball one. He eventually told me that we were going to the baseball game so I acted a bit surprised even though I had solved that mystery hours earlier. Sorry Jay.

If you read my first blog then you read my disclaimer which stated that only the most amazing parts of my story were true. This parts pretty amazing and therefore absolutely true. We were walking down the street after our tour of Babe Ruth’s childhood home when a stretch limo appeared coming to a stop in front of a local Baltimore pub. There was nothing odd about the limo but who exited the limo certainly was. It was Captain Morgan and his pirate wenches. Jay turned but didn’t have to say a single word. We were going to that pub. We entered to find Mr. Morgan handing out shots to the bars patrons so Jay calmly walked over to him, whispered in his ear, he turned and what he said next across the entire bar is something I can’t repeat here. Moments later Cpt. Morgan appeared before us carrying a tray of shots and offering marriage advice which was neither helpful nor useful at all. With four shots in my belly despite having one taken away because I was only supposed to have been given one, we exited the bar and began walking towards Camden yards with yet another crazy story to tell.

The game itself was awesome. We were in the corner just left of the foul pole surrounded by Red Sox fans. Despite being Jays fans we were cheering for Baltimore the whole game which only annoyed the Red Sox fans further which was the idea so mission accomplished. As to be expected the Red Sox ended up thumping the Orioles but the Orioles hung in there longer than all of us thought they would. I still look back on this game with the fondest of memories. You could just feel the history in the air as you looked around the stadium from the bleacher seats. It was a special feeling. We exited the stadium and began walking down the street and I don’t know if it was only me but I kept looking back at Camden Yards until it had disappeared completely from view. The team might be far from magical but Camden Yards certainly makes up for it. We boarded the Space Shuttle, entered the interstate and as the day turned to night I still had no idea where we were going. It was awesome.

       DAY FIVE-JUNE 6,2010

I woke up on day four in the middle of a quiet mountain side town straight out of a direct to DVD horror movie. The mood in the car immediately made me more tired even though I had just awoke up from a slumber nap. “Where the hell are we?” I asked to which Jay replied “were taking a short cut home”. Of course, with all the lies having been told he spoke the one that made the most sense and I bought into it. We continued to drive until Jay proclaimed that he was tired and insisted that we get a room for the night before heading home, a power nap if you will. We all agreed and Jay began to call hotels in the area until settling on one, a hotel chain that shall remain nameless because, well, you’ll see.

We pull into the hotel, check in and divide into two groups. Now, have you ever been in a situation where you immediately felt like something was off. Well, something was indeed off. We enter our room and we were immediately greeted with no towels in the washroom, empty glasses on the tables and not so empty glasses of booze everywhere else. The other room was no different. We abandoned our rooms quicker than kids at a salad bar, went to the front desk and lodged a Canadian complaint which had us apologizing more than the receptionist. We were shown to our new rooms, two suites, and we headed up for our four hour battery charge before hitting the road once again.

I climbed into bed and before my head hit the pillow there was a knock at the door. It was Jay, Devon, Nathan and Lee, drinks in hand ready to party it up until daylight. “Well that’s odd?” I thought to myself. “How is Jay going to drive in a couple of hours?” But me being completely moronic, apparently, I quickly dismissed this and assumed that someone else would be doing the driving. But assumptions are what started the Civil war. I should have known better.

The following morning Jay walked over to the Manager during check out and introduced himself as “the guys from Canada. The Manager had reviewed the night log and knew exactly what Jay was going to say. After a brief conversation the Manager credited Jay an amount that worked out to be a free night’s stay which coincidentally was exactly what Jay was looking for. With the van packed Jay said that he knew of a great breakfast place in Pittsburg which was exactly what Nathan was hoping for because he was starved. We arrived at another parking garage, exited the van and that’s when a peculiar object was thrown in my direction. It was a Pirates hat. “You didn’t think we were really going out for breakfast did you?” I smiled and shook my head. Nathan however did and to this day never received the breakfast he was promised.

But Nathan did munch on a sandwich made famous by two brothers, former construction workers who got tired of bringing back handfuls of food to the job site. Their creation was a sandwich, roast beef but there were multiple meats to choose from, with fries and coleslaw together between two pieces of bread. Sounds gross? It wasn’t at all. It was a tasty delight and became one of many trip highlights. But the real show stopper was PNC Park. This stadium is gorgeous. The way the stadium works the Pittsburg skyline into its design is second to none. They even had a board that not only calculated the speed of the pitch but how much the ball broke on a curve or slider with every pitch thrown. Then there was the 8 year old boy sitting in front of us filling out his scorebook after every batter.

The game was pretty awesome with some spectacular plays on both sides of the field. The Pirates even hit a homerun in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings where they ended up losing in ten. Overall, it was a very special day and unfortunately this was the last stop on the baseball bachelor party trip. We boarded the space shuttle, entered the interstate and began the long trek back to Canada. That’s when Devon handed me a baseball which was autographed by Jay, Lee, Nathan, Devon, Scott and my Dad. Each of them also scribbled a cheesy well wish beside their name. It’s something I will always cherish. Before I knew it we were back in Canada, we all went our separate ways and the following day it was back to work, back to the normal grind, just back. But my smile remained.

So what was my favorite part of the trip? I’ve had a lot of time to look back and reflect on a way to answer this question and as amazing as the baseball games were the best thing about the trip was the people. When you’re younger you get to spend all the time in the world with your friends. I think most of us take this time for granted. Careers start, relationships build and families begin until you start to see less and less of that person. But for five days it was just us, the seven of us travelling in a space shuttle across the United States sharing laughs and building memories that will last a lifetime. I can’t thank all of them enough for this experience so I will say it the best way that I can. Thank you.             

This is a true story. The events in this blog took place over a five day period in June 2010. At the request of some, certain events have been forgotten. Out of respect for everyone else, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.

 DAY ONE – JUNE 2, 2010

Wednesday started like any other day. I woke up, had a shower, finished off a bowl of honey nut cheerios and headed off to work. The day was cruising along when my brother in law Jason Kay appeared in the doorway and entered my work. His arrival set off no alarms as we discussed earlier in the day that he was picking up an item from my groomsman and coworker Jesse’s car. After a quick conversation with Karen he turned to me and said “alright, let’s go” and tossed me a container of pills. I looked down at the bottle and quickly read the label. They were bachelor party pills. My five days of confusion had begun.

Jason led me out of work and across the parking lot to his van where the door began to slide open as we approached. It was well choreographed. The door opened revealing my brother Lee, my dad Brendan, Jay’s Cousin Scott and my best man Devon. My face must have been priceless because a good laugh was had by all. The doors closed and we were off on a mystical adventure full of who knows what because I had no idea what was going on. The only thing separating this from an abduction was a call to the police. The next forty five minutes were spent trying to read everyone’s expressions and body language for clues on our destination but all I got was confusing mind chatter none of it bachelor party related or at all helpful. These guys were good. We parked the car at a condominium parking garage and after a quick walk found ourselves at the Steam Whistle Brewery. Samples of beer, a tour on how to make beer followed by more samples of beer? It was at this point that I knew I was in good hands.     

The tour ended and we exited the brewery where I asked “so what’s next?” which was quickly met by a sea of laughter. That would be the one and only time I would ask that question. Like hobbits from a J.R.R Tolkien book we were off on a magical quest with our trusty wizard Jay leading the way. Stops were made, artifacts of obscurity purchased and a mystery growing with each passing moment until we arrived at our destination. The Rogers Centre which is right across the street from the Steam Whistle Brewery yet took us just under two hours to arrive. Moments after arriving our friend Jay (who’s a media liason for the Jays) appeared, opened the VIP doors and waved us over. People looked on with envious eyes as our group entered but the funny thing was is that I knew as much as they did as the doors slowly closed behind us. Jay began handing out passes as the others signed in. “Field access?” I thought to myself. This day just became epic.     

So there we were, watching batting practice from behind home plate. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better Jay walked over to me and asked me if I wanted to meet Evan Longoria? Before I had time to answer the All Star third basemen was walking towards me. The next five minutes were incredibly awkward as I literally had no idea what to say? And that was just the beginning. Aaron Hill, Mike Wilner and Jerry Howirth, all came over to express their condolences. (Tiffany works for THE FAN) It was awesome. Jay then took us on a tour of the Rogers Centre where we saw the press box, press room and the control centre. The tour ended with a handshake from Pat Tabler and Buck Martinez the voice of the Jays. 

from THE FAN 590 Broadcast Booth 

We went to our seats and as the game started more and more friends began appearing. Chad , Nathan S, Jesse G, Dylan and Trevor came to celebrate with the rest of my groomsmen. It was a terrific touch. Then Nathan handed me a bag and inside the bag was a baby blue Toronto Blue Jays jersey, a gift from Tiffany. The game itself was fine even though Tampa Bay ended up throttling the Blue Jays but it honestly didn’t matter. It was an amazing day and one that I will never forget. The game ended, we said our goodbyes to some and the rest of us excited the Rogers Centre, climbed into the van and we were off, disappearing into the night down highway 401.

 DAY TWO – JUNE 3, 2010

We arrived at our destination at 8:30am. The place wasn’t that impressive, a holiday inn express but the location was. New York City. We checked in and after a gallon of coffee we were off to the Yankees/ Baltimore game. Now, Jay could have planned a direct route to the game which would have taken just under an hour but that just isn’t his style. Instead Jay booked us on the Yankee ferry or the booze cruise which travels around the entire island to get to the game. And as expected, the New York skyline is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. The ferry docked and after a short walk I found myself entering the stadium that Ruth built, sort of.

Old Yankee stadium has long since been demolished but you could still feel that history upon entering new Yankee stadium. Seriously, I’m in no way a Yankee fan but their stadium is a sight to see. We sat in the bleachers which were scorching hot in the afternoon sun. I’m confident that most of us got sun stroke that day. The atmosphere was top notch, the Yankees thumped the Orioles, we boarded the ferry and headed back to the hotel to recharge our batteries. That night we returned to New York City to see the sights and went back the following morning to take it all in again. The stop in New York was truly amazing but little did I know that the best was still to come.

 DAY THREE – JUNE 4, 2010

I wish I could talk about the drive upon leaving New York but I honestly can’t. I was lights out shortly after the van AKA the space shuttle hit the interstate.

The next thing I remember is waking up in another parking lot. Another holiday inn express parking lot. I was dumbfounded having no idea where we were until I looked over my right shoulder where I saw a large sign that said “illies” on it. I leaned forward and the missing letters were quickly revealed to me. The sign now read “Phillies”. We were in Philadelphia and as luck would have it the pitcher pitching was none other than Roy Halladay and it was his first start after pitching the 21^st perfect game in MLB history.

Now I have been told that I look a lot like Roy Halladay but to be fair Roy Halladay looks a lot like me. As we were unpacking the space shuttle Jay opened another bag and tossed a hat in my direction. It was a Phillies hat, another gift from Tiffany. We checked into the hotel, popped back a couple of drinks and we were just about to leave when Devon and Jay had a great idea. They took out a white shirt and wrote “Got Roy?” on the front with “If I’m here then who’s pitching?” written on the back. Many a high five and a “Hey Roy!” were thrown in my direction as we walked towards the ball park because, you know, because he looks like me. I wonder if anyone ever calls hims Scott. By the way the Phillies ballpark is truly breathtaking.

This next part is entirely true even though it sounds made up for dramatic purposes. We arrived at our seats, Roy takes the mound to a thunderous ovation and the game begins. I’m mid conversation with Jay when the first pitch is delivered, crack. I look up to find a baseball curving towards us in the night sky. I say something that can’t be repeated and watch as the ball lands two rows behind us. I turn expecting a bounce but the ball kicks off a seat, rolls across the ground and is scooped up by a fan sitting just behind us. It was the closest we have ever come to getting a ball and I still regret not diving across that little old lady sitting behind us. That ball would have been worth the beating I would have taken from her purse.

The game itself was entertaining with the Phillies squeezing out a win over the Astros. It was a well pitched game on both sides, the fans were great and overall it was an awesome night. We exited the ball park and decided to walk over to the hockey arena to catch the third period on the giant TV’s they had set outside. We arrived to find none but were able to watch the third period on a flat panel TV through the outside window where a security guard was watching.  The Flyers won, we cheered and headed back to the hotel where I was given yet another surprise, a good friend of mine Nathan  was standing on the hotel steps. He was in town talking to distributors about his documentary and was hitching a ride home with us the following day which turned out to be a lie but more about that later.

 The next day we checked out of our hotel and headed into downtown Philly to see the sights. Which were great and of course we ended up at the Rocky steps, ran up them and jumped around like Rocky before having our picture taken with the Rocky statue. It was a cheesy good time. Then it was back to the space shuttle, back to the interstate heading towards parts unknown because, well, I still didn’t know anything. I was just along for the ride.     

Ok so there’s only 15 days to go for Scott and I and there’s still lots to do!

I am soooo glad that I decided to take the week before the wedding off, it is so hard to find the time to get things done when you work full time + part time and have a desk stacked with projects.

My Mom saw a picture of me that was taken at the New Kids on the Block concert at Rama last night and her comment was “you look really tired”. Umm, duh! That would be because I AM really tired! I’ve been getting home from work late the past couple of weeks and there’s so much to do by the time that I get there that I stay up late when what I would really like to do is get a decent night’s sleep! It’s just not in the cards yet. I did spend a ridiculous amount of money at La Senza this week in prep for the honeymoon which was fun! Shopping is not something I generally allow myself the luxury of so it was a nice treat to go out and buy things for myself errr, I mean for Scott.

On the to do list this weekend is:

• updated order of ceremony
• updated itinerary
• seating plan
• programs
• confirm guest transportation
• figure out carpooling plans for the bridesmaids and I
• send final numbers to the venue for both the reception and ceremony
• send final numbers to the caterer

Oh, and a certain special little Princess’ 3rd birthday party on Sunday… Snow White is coming… is it wrong that I’m almost 27 and really excited about that? I mean, I’ve met a lot of celebs but a real princess? That’s a new one.

Scotty’s to do list includes writing a blog entry about his bachelor party and finishing the slideshow… hopefully that will get done this weekend too!

We both had our shindigs last weekend. Mine was Saturday night and his started Wednesday morning with a kidnapping… we’ll tell you all about it – with pictures in our next entry!

As a throw back to when Scott and I first became engaged (when we had much more free time!) here’s a video of a really great proposal… hope you haven’t seen it yet!

We’ll post about last weekend’s festivities soon! In the meantime, you can enter “looking back” as a gift card code in your Loyalty Club Account for 300 points.Talk soon!

Until next time,

T.

It’s crunch time people… and since I only have one day a week off work (that translates to 4 more days off before the wedding. Can you say “gulp”?), that means I need to swallow my pride and ask for favours/help.

One of my bridesmaids TZ took care of completing all of the confetti bags for me! It was so nice to have that done, I didn’t realize how good delegating could feel! In fact, it felt so good I don’t think I’m going to lift another finger for our wedding. I’m only half kidding. I want to plan weddings for a living but I am so sick to death of ours it’s not funny. We’ve been engaged for a year to the day today and it seems like my life has become a routine of working, sleeping (if I’m lucky) and wedding planning. Are we there yet? Only 29 days to go!

Over the long weekend my MOH Julie and bridesmaid TZ ran a million errands with me – from fabric stores to home depot – we were all over the Durham Region but we picked up 90% of what I needed to buy! I still have a few things left to pickup… but they’re little things like shepherd hooks… no biggie! After 4 straight hours of shopping we headed home for dinner. Afterwards, I put them to work again. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahem, sorry, must have had something stuck in my throat there for a second.

We worked on favours until about 11pm. Then I let them go to sleep. They deserved it!

My Mom, Grammy, Scott and I finished up the favours the next day and I can’t say I’m sorry to see the back of them! I completely understand why people buy favours/hire people to make them, I know I won’t be sorry if I never see another sewing machine! Errr until my next project that is…

Our “to do list” is getting close to complete. We wrote our wedding vows last weekend and even got through it without crying! That’s pretty impressive given Scotty’s track record… kidding!

Our wedding bands will be ready in the next week or so and I finally decided on the perfect inscription (can’t tell you though, sorry!) and we’re meeting with the officiant this weekend to finalize our order of ceremony.

Everything’s coming together!

Now if you could do me a favour… share with me what all you married folk gave out as favours – I’m curious to know! While you’re on the subject, you can enter “favours” as a gift card code in your Loyalty Club Account for 300 points.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time,

T.

Honeymoon – check!

We had a bit of difficulty finding something with the timeshare… and since our wedding is approaching really quickly (33 days to go!) we decided to adjust the timeshare request to next year in hopes that we can go to California for our anniversary.

So we marched ourselves into a travel agency and booked ourselves a honeymoon… We’re heading to Costa Rica a week after the wedding! Our hotel website in case you want to check it out is HERE. Here are a few pics!

Please note the jacuzzi on the balcony… I don’t know if we’ll want to sit in hot water in Costa Rica in July or not but isn’t it nice that we have the option?

We are so excited to go! Neither one of us have ever been to that area before and we can’t wait to explore some rainforest, go zip-lining and to attempt to surf! More than anything though, we can’t wait to have a week to ourselves to just relax. We’re both working two jobs and are coming pretty close to the point of exhaustion. We don’t really fight, but I’ve noticed that lately our tempers are much closer to the surface and we’ve been bickering over the smallest things. Then we realize we’re being ridiculous. I think it’s safe to say that as exciting as our upcoming wedding is, I think we’ll both be happy to not have it on our plate any longer. We just want to be married already! This whole “getting to see each other two nights a week” thing is really getting old! I miss my Scotty when he’s not around and I can’t wait to be his wife!

Saturday was my bridal shower! My soon to be sister in law, my sister and maid of honour along with my bridesmaids and family put together a really memorable event this weekend and I couldn’t be more thankful.  They even made an effort to make certain things gluten free so that I could eat what everyone else was eating which I really appreciate! (I have missed pasta and cupcakes a lot!)
These kinds of things stress me out I’m not going to lie. I love getting everyone together but I’m always a party planner, not a guest of honour. Being in the spotlight makes me really uncomfortable for some reason. I guess this is something I need to get used to before the wedding… but I don’t think I’ll ever be fully ok with it.

In any case, I think I did ok aside from a botched speech at the end of the gift opening… where I was met with a resounding “that’s it??” My bad. I swear it was not because I was ungrateful, only because in the words of Chandler Bing – could I BE any more awkward? I doubt it!

I have never felt so spoiled in my whole life. Not only did most of the important women in my life get together, but we received the most ridiculous number of gifts I have ever seen! I could not be more grateful for the wonderful start they are giving Scott and I as we make our first home together. Scott has never lived on his own before, and while I have, all of my kitchen utensils were from the dollar store and pretty much everything else I own is a hand me down from someone. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it’s just really nice to start our new life together with nice new stuff – not to mention the love and support of all of our friends and family!

Here are some pictures from the shower… and you can enter “april showers” in your Loyalty Club Account for 300 points!

I’m sure that everyone was exhausted when we got home from the shower, I know everyone worked really hard!

Unfortunately for some of them… I wasn’t done yet. So I enlisted some help and cleaned our new apartment kitchen (have I mentioned that I like things really clean? LOL) and we washed and put all of the gifts away that we could. It just needed to be done. It will make moving in June a lot easier if all of that stuff is done! Plus it really made moving in with Scotty seem all that much closer – I can’t wait!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Until next time,

T.

First of all, I apologize for how long it’s been since I wrote (aside from a very brief blog that was up, then down!).
In my defense, life has become quite hectic with two jobs and wedding planning on top of that!
Let’s play catch up over the next few days!
Invitations went out last week and they turned out beautifully! It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a little help from your friends! A friend of ours happens to do invitations on the side… which is information that I would have loved to have had before I started to make them happen on my own because her work is BEAUTIFUL!

Luckily, the sweet person that she is, she came over to my house on a Sunday and helped me to turn the invitations into something that I was proud to mail out. A million pieces of card stock, vellum and a lot of glue, stamps and embossing powder later they’re absolutely beautiful!

It’s hard to see… but we used clear ink, embossing powder and a heat gun to add an embossed dandelion stamp to the vellum! It’s my favourite part:) We also added a silver embossed dandelion to the envelope for an added touch.

We made a pocket on the back to hold the maps and RSVP cards and envelope.

They went out last week and I’m already getting RSVPs in the mail, it’s so exciting!

You can use RSVP as a gift card code in your Loyalty Club Account for 300 points!

More to come, this past weekend was quite busy!

Until next time,

T.