Wedding hair drama

So the bride gifted us all with updos for the wedding, which was so fun and awesome. When mine was done and I walked back to join the other girls, they all started laughing. It was bad. I asked if they could fix it because those curls were falling out super fast, but the girl had gone home, so whatever.

(an hour after getting my hair done) 

(after one of the other bridesmaids fixing it up for me)

So I sent a pic to my sister, who promptly told me I needed bobby pins so I could put that mess up into a side bun. So we did that, and it was all good. Crisis averted. Really, it was no big deal, and no one cared how my hair looked, especially me, but I did love having my sister able to diagnose the problem via texting. I've only had my hair professionally done a couple times, and never experienced the style falling out so fast. I dunno. In the future I will definitely ask the stylist for a handful of bobby pics for emergencies later in the night.

Pictures of recently engaged people

When my best friend and her longtime boyfriend showed up here in Newfoundland for a little vacation a few weeks ago, she had a giant ring on her finger! I had a feeling it was coming soon, but still, it was so exciting! I was like, we need to take pictures of you guys all newly engaged and in love and on the rock with your new rock. And Jenny was like, of course, whatever you want Jess, you are the best at taking the slightly sloppy, semi-candid pictures that I love*. 

So we kind of planned to go to a wharf/beach somewhere and take cool Newfoundland pics. But then suddenly it was the day they were leaving, and we had just gone for a greasy breakfast, and I just pulled over and said we were doing these pictures, and I don't care that it's raining, and Mark is wearing his Sunday Funday t-shirt with a beer stein in place of the U.

And seriously, look how cute they turned out. I only got a few because it was raining and there was water actually on the lens of my camera, and Cohen was super annoyed that we weren't going to be going down the slide over and over like we usually do when we go to the park.

I love the pictures, mostly because you can see how up-for-anything these two are. I really get the impression that they have a good time together, whatever they are doing. Some stuff they love doing together: softball, dodgeball, bowling, darts, golf. I wish we lived closer.

*Jenny, feel free to get actual real professional engagement pictures. Also, Jenny, I didn't exactly ask your permission to put these pictures on my blog, so hopefully you're cool with it. Rest easy that only my family and our close friends read this blog.

thoughts on 6 months ago

this is a long one. unless you are currently planning a wedding, you might not be too interested.

we were married 6 months ago today. i know it sounds hard to believe, but every single day of this marriage has been a tiny bit better than the one before. i guess for me it's about knowing that you are a part of a team. we were a team before we were married, but that little piece of paper really does make things feel different for me.

anyway, a couple things about our wedding did not go as planned. i am sure that many, many brides secretly feel this way. weddings are just so crazy because the bride (usually, along with the coordinator, maid of honour, mother of bride) spends tons of time and energy (and money) planning this day. then on the big day, you are supposed to "just enjoy it". so on that day, people are constantly coming up to you saying things like, "i totally just want you to enjoy your day, BUT there's this problem that is happening that i just wanted to let you know because i don't know what to do, and we need to fix it." examples from my wedding day:

1. the limo. the driver was super young and super new, and did not know his way around moncton. he was an hour late because he couldn't find the salon. when he finally came (to the parking lot of the hardware store next door), he wanted me to pay cash for the limo. i explained to him that i had already paid with my visa by phone weeks before. he was not having that. he wanted cash. he offered to drive me in the limo to an ATM (though he didn't know where any ATMs were). i had him call his manager (who was not working that day, of course). 15 minutes later, he had talked to his manager, and we were on our way. but really, not too fun.

2. the spa. i treated all my girls to pedicures at a fancy spa the day before the wedding. it was so fun, we had wine, and really had the best time. later that night, we got a call from the spa. we were all at the party my parents were hosting. the spa had accidentally undercharged me. i told them i didn't have my wallet with me (i was at my pre-wedding party), but i would do it first thing monday morning. they said no, they needed the money right then. i couldn't really leave my own party to go back and get my wallet, and we had just spent around $800 at the spa that day, so i really couldn't believe they couldn't just settle the bill two days later. the tip alone would have more than covered the amount i had been undercharged by. anyway, it was really upsetting, and i would never ever go back to this spa again because of it.

then there are a few parts of the wedding that i would totally do differently:

1. the photographer. j and i love taking pictures of our life and travels, but we are not fans of professional photos. we knew we would never put a picture of us on our wedding day up on the wall. just not our style. when we booked a photographer, i really wanted to get lots of pics of our guests. but i never told the photographer that. so she took as many pics of j and i as she could. but when all the guests did the wave before the ceremony, and when my university friends were all reuniting and chatting before the reception, the photographer was just chilling, waiting to take more pics of j and i. i wish i would have told the photographer what i wanted. seems so simple now.

2. the drinks. for j and i, drinks were really important. i think offering guests a drink right away makes them feel welcome. at our reception, the servers waited a full 30 minutes after we were all seated to pour the wine. i think maybe they didn't want to interrupt the impromptu speeches that were happening, i'm not sure. if i had a do-over, i would just have the bottles of wine at the tables so guests could serve themselves right away.

the issues may have been mostly because i had never met a single one of my vendors until the day of the wedding. our wedding ended up being a total success, and i think everyone had a great time, despite these little things. though j and i are both so happy we get to just be guests at our friend's weddings from now on.

our wedding: a few b&w pics

just a couple fav pics with my parents on our wedding day. love them and love j. happy wednesday!

our wedding: budget

j and i had a special savings account for our wedding. for the year we were engaged, we both put money in it every month. it made the actual month of our wedding easier. we weren't stressed about the costs at all. 

while we were planning our wedding, i kept a list of all the money we were spending on the wedding. we didn't have a set budget, but i thought it would be interesting to look back at how much things were when we got married. i was surprised about the things that ended up costing the most...

this is what we actually spent broken down into percentages:

alcohol (shots, wine with dinner, drinks from the drink tickets we gave each guest): 13%
food (dinner and dessert): 20%
decor (from an awesome company in moncton, plus shot glass favours): 10%
transportation (flights for j and i, shuttle for guests, rental car, hotel rooms): 20%
bridesmaid stuff (dresses, earrings, pedicures, limo): 12%
jon's suit, our wedding rings: 10%
wedding coordinator, photographer: 10%

wedding dress: gift from my parents
flowers: gift from my parents
hair: gift from my sister
cake: gift from my aunt
"dress rehearsal" wine and cheese the night before the wedding: hosted by my parents


having my flowers done as a gift was huge. i chose some of the most expensive flowers, and insisted that the table centerpieces be in square, clear glass containers. mom ended up buying quite a bit of glassware that we never ended up using. she would send me pics of trial runs that she did, then we would make changes. we skyped near the end so i could really see all the details. when i imagined my wedding, flowers were always top priority for me. i can imagine that the flowers probably would have been 20% of the budget. or more. i was really happy with how the flowers turned out.

also, my bridesmaids ended up going to the mall the night before the wedding to buy shoes for themselves and me. i had already ordered 5 pairs of shoes twice (aka we now have 10 pairs of beige shoes that were never worn), but neither seemed right. i really struggled to find shoes i liked (also, i am not really into shoes), and was planning to wear an old purple pair of wedges my sister had. but in the end the girls got me the light blue ones i wore, and they were awesome. they are now part of my sister's shoe collection.

happy friday

we are back to fake fridays around here, but it still feels good. this weekend j is flying across the province in a private plane to play golf. pretty lux. i'll be trying a few things in the kitchen, and making use of my gym membership. 

i am working on a little post about our wedding budget. secretly that is the thing i am most interested in when i read about other weddings. i'll have that up on monday. have an awesome weekend!

our wedding: reception details

we had our reception at the crowne plaza hotel in dieppe, new brunswick. i had never seen it (or anything, really) until the day before the wedding. i thought it was really beautiful. the checkered floors might not be for everyone, but i liked them

our room set-up. i loved it. the floor, the lighting, the orchids along the wall of mirrors. i loved how everything was white. and the room was really small, so it felt cozy with our small guest list. i was pretty into those white balls over the dance floor. so cool. 

the centerpieces took over 8 hours to put together, and they were really heavy. we spent a lot of time deciding on the flowers, and in the end we went with a variety of roses and hydrangeas, and also succulents. i loved how they turned out. lots of guests took home an arrangement at the end of the night. 

i know a lot of brides really focus on the paper products like invitations, programs, place cards. but we were set on having a green wedding with no paper. so our place cards were dental floss. we thought it was a tacky but fun detail.

we did not want cake. we are not huge fans of wedding cake, or cake at all. we debated cupcakes, but in the end my danish family gifted us with this traditional danish celebration cake. it had 17 layers of an almond pastry. it was actually a hit with the guests, and another kitschy detail. we also did a danish skoal (cheers) with vanilla vodka in custom shot glasses. loved it. 

why our wedding day was NOT the best day of my life

seems like everyone always says that their wedding day is the best day of their life. it's always up there with graduations, the birth of your children, the day you bought your first house. but our wedding day wasn't like that for me...

when j and i started talking about getting married, we debated all the options: a traditional wedding in his hometown, a beach wedding down south, a backyard wedding at my parent's house, a wedding at a cabin in the woods where all the guests would stay for the weekend. the truth is that eloping at our city hall sounded the best to us. but we knew that both our families would want to be present at our wedding. and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for our guests (only family and very close friends) to come to our celebration. so we planned a wedding that was a perfect compromise. it was outdoors, it was in a city that was easy to travel to, the guests and wedding party were all able to stay in the same hotel for the weekend. it was all good.

but really, i could not be more uncomfortable being the centre of the attention of over 50 people at once. so by design, our wedding was never going to be an event i would feel relaxed and happy at. i was so relieved when the dancing started at the end of the night. finally everyone was not looking and talking about me (and j). there were other great moments during the weekend, like connecting with friends i hadn't seen in a while, and having a morning-after breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

and the moment when i slid a ring onto j's finger was amazing. i barely noticed everyone else at that moment. but the best day of my life is the day j asked me to marry him.

maybe other people feel the same way as me about their weddings? ps, we got our pictures back! they are so cool.  i'll do a few posts with the pics.

this is it

we leave super early tomorrow morning for new brunswick. the next two days are filled with hair cuts, suit alterations, shoe shopping (i totally don't have shoes for the wedding yet!), picking up the marriage certificate from city hall.  i'll probably blog a bit while we are away, but not as much. wish us luck on the weather!

more weekend: double rainbows and kayaking

(on a whale watching boat in twill) 

(same) 

(nice view of where we work in twill (beside the water tower)) 

(kayaking at dildo run) 

(double rainbow!!)

what a weekend. friday was a stagette with the ladies i work with. it was awesome. lots of s'mores, snacks, slush. j and i decided to be tourists in twillingate sunday. k, just fyi, it is really expensive to be a tourist in twill. like, $75/person for a whale watching boat ride. $10 for a run of the mill sandwich. but it felt so great to be out in the ocean, and the sun was shining, and life is good. i feel like i will barely make it through these last few work days before we head to new brunswick for our wedding. i am so excited to see people we haven't seen since we moved here. 

it's friday

(picnic supper earlier this week)

this week has been a blur. no matter how organized we have been with the wedding planning, there are so many loose ends to tie up in the days leading up to next saturday. there are lists to finalize, seating charts to verify, suits to alter, gatherings to attend, work to do. i can see why some people take the week before their wedding off from work. it wasn't really an option for j and i since we are taking our honeymoon right after the wedding. i am more than lucky to have my sister and mother (aka florist and wedding planner/stylist) putting so much time into this. 

j has planned a mini getaway for us this weekend. we have to work right up until we leave next week, so i feel like we need a little chill time this weekend. life is good. 

wedding wednesday?

sometimes you have your wedding all planned out, booked, and ten days (yes, for real) from the event, you find a better ceremony venue. it is better in a few ways. it is near the water. there has never been a wedding there before. it has lots of flowers everywhere. it is 5 minutes from the reception site. this is happening. i am actually thrilled. the truth is that i don't even really like golf, so getting married on a golf course was never too appealing to me (or j). 

lucky

i get to marry this guy soon. i am so, so lucky. also, apologies if all i talk about for the next two weeks is wedding stuff.

wordy wedding planning

wedding planning can be really fun. and it can be tough, too. when j and i first became engaged, we were going to have our wedding on a beach. we pictured having a lobster boil by a cottage somewhere for a reception. which all sounds cool, but you need to think about the less fun things like washrooms, parking, accommodations for guests, transportation. and since j and i live 2 flights away from where we wanted to have our wedding, we couldn't have any DIY. we couldn't bring anything from home, or enlist friends to help. so we "settled" on a ceremony outside, at a golf course. and we are having our reception at a hotel. almost all our guests have to travel many hours to get to our wedding, so i love that we are all staying at the same hotel for the weekend. and we are including a few really cool details (as seen in the picture) that i am really excited about. i think it is good to be flexible while wedding planning. maybe you can't do the exact things you pictured, but there are probably really cool ideas you can use. i am so happy that we hired a wedding decorator and coordinator. especially with just a few weeks to go before the wedding, i am so happy i have pros to help us.

on the weekend: comfort cove camping

(our typical camping setup) 

(my view) 

(freshly picked mussels)

on the weekend we drove the hour or so to comfort cove, nl. we found a place to camp, and set up for the night. i love heading out of town with j, even if just for a night. and camping is my favourite. j sets up our hammocks, makes our food, takes care of me. we picked mussels on the beach. i think i could pick mussels for hours. and we watched a movie on the macbook in the tent late at night. i know it's weird, but j and i love watching movies in our tent when we are camping. for some reason, it's so much better than at home. 

in other news, we are inside three weeks until we get married. despite promising myself to not sweat the small stuff about the wedding, today i found myself wondering if the wedding coordinator will remember everything, if the seating chart is getting done. dumb things. 

how we met

we met at school. it was frosh week. we were at a beach outside halifax for a frosh bbq. we ended up sitting on the same towel. he said i should rest my back against his. for comfort. like a chair. and that felt one hundred percent good, even though i had only met him 20 minutes ago. four years later he asked me to marry him close to that spot we first met. we did not take a simple path from meeting to marrying....

rings

the other day we got all our rings in the mail. the best mail ever. i had been designing my ring over email and telephone with the designer, so i didn't know exactly what i would get. it is very different from my initial idea, but so much better. j's ring is very simple and beautiful. and then j's niece sent him a ring to give me. it is made of gold coloured beads. she saw it at a craft fair, and insisted her mother buy it so that j could give it to me on our wedding day. it brings tears to my eyes, it is so sweet! i will definitely be wearing both my new rings on the big day.

happy friday

(me and jenny enjoying the sun in paris)

i am wishing for some sunny weather. it has been a long, cold, rainy week. but our wedding rings arrived in the mail today! it was so exciting, and we immediately tried them on. they fit perfectly. j wants to wear his now, but we decided to wait until the wedding. i am looking forward to making some vegetarian meals this weekend, and visiting our sauna. 

weddings, sisters, mothers

 (george street wedding planning)

(las vegas wedding dress shopping)

there is a truth about wedding planning that i wasn't expecting. it has brought me even closer to my mother and my sister. we have always been a close trio, but for the past year we text and talk every. single. day. i love it. when i could not look at one more pair of cream/white slightly wedged sandals that would suit all my bridesmaids, my sister was able to find something perfect. when i made the decision to keep the wedding really small, inviting only my most supportive and positive friends and family, mom was all about that. when j and i wanted to go paperless, they were on board. feeling pretty grateful for them, and looking so forward to marrying j.

side note: j played our "wedding song" last night, and we cried. well, i cried, and he looked more emotional than usual. love him so much.

happy weekend

i think this is the weekend that gander is finally going to have a bit of warmish weather. j and i have big plans to eat outside a lot and go hiking. and we are running a 5K tomorrow morning. this is a big deal for me, not so much for j. i am even a little nervous about it. and as the wedding gets closer, i get more excited. how often do you get all your favourite people in one place? my florist sent me pics of a trial bouquet with peonies, hydrangeas, roses. i am completely in love. distance wedding planning is not so bad.