This is acowleysoontobe's Pink Wedding!

back when we booked our photographer, i asked paul what the odds were of him letting me book a videographer as well. without skipping a beat, he said "hell no" and that was that. i wasn't changing his mind. not for all the dinners, full control of the remote, dog poop patrol, or any of the other stupid things we do most of our bargaining for, in the world.

then i remembered paul hates to see me cry.

i love when things fall into place, and ended up having a fateful lil' discussion with one of the girls i work with. i explained to miss sasha how bummed i was that paul wouldn't even let me look into hiring someone to film the wedding. that's when she told me i had to see something, and pulled up a video on youtube. i watched the video until every goosebump on my body was in full force...until they actually hurt!

she was showing me some work done by her friend {dave tebbutt}. a very young, almost a baby if you will, ridiculously talented, funny and sweet guy, who has learned his way around a camera let me tell you. after seeing a few other "wedding highlights" videos he had put together, i scribbled his name down, and went home. on a mission.

then i remembered paul hates to see me cry.

while eating the delicious meal i cooked for him, i pulled out the laptop and told him he had to see something. he wanted to know what. "what is it". he kept saying. i explained how i had seen dave's work, and wanted to hire him for the wedding. "no. it's not happening. i don't want to see myself on tv, i don't want to be filmed all day, i don't want it. no." WOW. talk about a stubborn white lil' scottish kid! i ignored him and played the video that sasha showed me for him. still nothing.

then i remembered paul hates to see me cry.

the tears started as we sat in silence, watching this amazing video that made me long for one of my own. i love my photographer and how she captures moments like they're going out of style....but i want to be able to hear the words...to see the moments that i will be too caught up in that day to remember in explicit detail 5, 10, 60 years from now.

then paul saw that i was crying. "get a quote and we'll talk".

that's my boy!!!! i'm happy to say we have booked dave, making the next 315 days seem like 315 years away. take a peek at his work, and tell me if you could have passed up the opportunity to have something this special in your hot little hands.

moral of the story: don't offer to cook dinner, when shedding a tear is sooooo much easier ;)

Jon + Shannon // Highlights from Dave Tebbutt on Vimeo.

the number one reason i wanted to have our wedding in june didn't have anything to do with availability, weather or preference. rather, it had everything to do with the fact that peonies, my all time favourite flowers, are fully in season and at their cheapest. outside of their season, they typically start at $5/bloom, and can go anywhere up to $10+ depending on quality, colour and variety. and because i know i want the tent and ceremony area literally jam packed with flowers, i couldn't possibly accomplish/afford this any other time then june.

i have met with my florist, the owner of {my bouquet} and discussed what i would like for decoration pieces here and there, and some ideas i have for the ceremony. including flowers on the arbour we are getting married under (that my dad is going to build us) and 2 fresh floral wreaths that i have mentioned, that will go on the old doors to the hall.

but when it comes to what the girls bouquets are going to look like, and what style i want to go with for the boys bouts, i am totally stumped. never mind my bouquet! a few years ago i worked in a flower shop in town that was known for trendier/funkier designs. while making a boutonnière for a groom, or bouquet for a bride, i would picture what i wanted mine to look like. now that the time is coming, i can't picture it for the life of me!

i know i want it to be a mix of blush pink and rose pink, include garden roses, ranunculus and obviously peonies, have a collar of magnolia leaves (my other fave flower....i love magnolia's) and have the stems wrapped in either satin or preferably lace with pearl head pins down the center. i may want to add a vintage broach or another "something old" idea.

as for paul's boutonnière, i think i will be making that myself. if i can get the same flowers from my floral designer that will be in my bouquet, i am going to snag a few and make his bout the morning of the wedding. it will be nice for me to sit alone and work on something special for him. something made with my hands and then pinned to him with his mom's.

cheesy cheese mucho cheese.

i have found a bunch of pics that really inspire me, but nothing that has made me say "this is exactly what i am looking for!". maybe it's not out there and my florist and i will have to create it ourselves. damn my visual needs!

keeping my eyeballs peeled....

since i was just a wee lassie i knew i wanted to cruise around in a {rolls royce} on my wedding day. it's the one day you can splurge and get the cream of the crop-so we did. and i am so excited i could pee.

because we have 4 boys, 4 girls, plus paul and i in the wedding party, we knew 1 limo wasn't going to work. and although the limo busses look fun, they don't really tie in with the whole "vintage" theme and setting i'm trying to create. then i stumbled upon {niagara classic cabs}, a company based out of niagara on the lake that offers special occasion vehicles like limos and sedans, as well as the most stellar classic cars and cabs.

we met with and loved the boys from {niagara classic cabs}, so we booked them up! for the wedding party, we have rented hackney or london cabs, and because the cabs seat 5 we have rented 2 of them. one for the boys and paul, which will arrive at the ceremony where they will set up and wait. then the girls will arrive in their own cab, literally step out and start walking right up the aisle. i'm slightly jealous of how much fun i know they will be having in the cabs, but then i snap out of it....imma be in a rolls royce baby!

on top of the cabs, we have hired a 1961 {rolls royce silver cloud II} that my dad and i will drive in to get to the ceremony. this is the part that makes me cry every time. i picture us cruising along the niagara parkway, just me and him in the back seat laughing and having nervous fun. he is the perfect person to keep me calm moments before we walk down the aisle. once we pull up, the music (and the tears) will queue and my dad and i will start walking down the aisle.

aaaand enough of that. i'm crying all over my keyboard.

after the ceremony we are heading to the downtown core for photos with the wedding party and our families. so paul and i will be hopping in the {rolls royce}, while the boys and girls get back into their cabs. {niagara classic cabs} also offers services to come back to the venue after the reception for a late night pick up, and will drive paul and i back to our b&b in the rolls.

i never knew that cars made me this happy. but apparently they do.

all i can think about when i picture paul and i in the back of the {silver cloud} is the beyonce and jay z video for "upgrade you". we have a little less money then them (pffffft), but on our wedding day, we'll be rolllllllin' ouuuut!

pink dresses on bridesmaids and boys in suspenders,
bicycles old and equipped with cool fenders,
bouquets of peonies tied up with string,
these are a few of my favourite things.

lemons on cake plates and tan cowboy boots,
cream candelabras and girls posing in chicken coops,
four best friends that all jump like their on springs,
these are a few of my favourite things.

i'm a huge nerd. thank god i don't get paid to do this.

but this wedding.

please?

green wedding shoes does it again.

insert paul and amanda here.

it reminds me of our engagement photos and makes me want to do another photoshoot for shits and giggles.

a "333 days till the wedding shoot" if you will.

not that this is a huge deal or anything, but i am super stoked that i booked the b&b that i will be staying at the night before and the night of the wedding.

i had always pictured sleeping at my mom and dad's place the night before the wedding, waking up and having breakfast with them while the girls arrived for mimosa's and to get our hair did. those dreams were shattered when i moved out of my parents place and they waited a whole 3 days to paint my perfectly hot pink room to a boring steel grey for my brother to move in, and turned his room into my mom's walk in closet. (must be nice).

after deciding to get married in niagara on the lake, we figured the easiest and most convenient option for us, was to book somewhere to stay the night before the wedding. i didn't want to do a hotel or motel, and started searching through over 100 b&b's in town. when i stumbled across {cecile's house} i stopped searching. it is lovely.

a historical home circa 1890, it is packed to the tits with antique furniture, period pieces and fresh flowers. i think it will be the prettiest place to get ready for the wedding, and will make for some really special photos. (the antique chaise lounge at the top of the stairs has "photograph amanda in her wedding dress" written all over it). the owner is a lovely french man born and trained as a chef in france. he makes breakfast each morning including his own homemade croissants and scones. (i pretty much knew i was booking this bad boy based solely on the breakfast spread). i have reserved two rooms for the night before the wedding so that my bridesmaids and i can have a slumber party and toast to my last night sans husband.

i didn't want to leave my mama out, so when i called her and told her i wanted her to join our party, she screamed into the phone like the italian she is and told me how excited she is. my mom loves my girls and vice versa, so we will all have a really good time im sure. plus she and i will share a great big bed, which couldn't be more special to me.

i also booked the master suite at {cecile's house} for paul and i to stay in the night of the wedding. i'm kinda excited that im staying there the night before, so i can add some little details to the room as a surprise, and make sure it's perfect for when we leave the reception. *insert cat call here*

the boys will be having their own cute lil' slumber party at their own b&b literally a stones throw away from mine. i don't know how i will keep myself from sneaking over to see paul...

something else crossed off my list of things to do.

something else i am ridiculously excited for.

while creeping on the internet for creative ways to word our wedding invitations, i stumbled across this hilarious little diddy.

the last line kills me.

just a little somethin' to get me through the last hour of work before the weekend :)

throughout this wedding planning craziness, i feel like i have been very "me me me" oriented, and not really "you you you" focused. and if you asked paul if he cared or if he felt left out, he'd probably politely ask you to be quiet so he can continue watching his sports in peace. in a nutshell, he couldn't care less whether or not we have pink linens or green ones, or if we are serving riesling or pinot. (mmm. pinot.)

now, i would like to say that his lackluster interest in planning the wedding hurts my feelings or stresses me out, but i truly love all the freedom i have had to plan this bad boy. he has definitely helped me out with all the major decisions-food, location and guest list, but the train stops there. the rest has been up to me.

speaking of trains.

paul works in toronto for a company called {EMD}. basically, they are a company that works side by side with {CN Rail} a railway company that provides transportation and services by train. if one of those locomotives fail, paul's job is to diagnose the problem, and inform the crew how to fix it. basically, he's a huge smart nerd. which is perfect for me, because i just so happen to love hot nerds. he works ridiculously hard, travels an hour and half each way to get to work, and never, ever, ever complains about it. (i complain more about my 25 minute drive to work then he has ever whined about...anything really). his determination to move his way through the company, and provide the best life he can for our little family, is one of the sexiest qualities about paul. he takes care of me, and i like that.

if he's not at work, 99.9% of the time, he's watching sports. i have never met someone willing to watch baseball for 17 hours straight, while flipping to the highlights during commercials in case he missed something important during the 30 seconds it took him to run to the bathroom. he loves everything about the game, and knows everything about it too. he's played it since he was 3 years old, and has been in love with it ever since. our first summer together, the baseball diamond was my second home. going to his games and travelling with him and the other "baseball girlfriends" for tournaments. it was so fun to watch him do something he truly loved, and i loved watching him hustle his cute little ass in his baseball uniform. "Go Merritton!"

over the last 7 years, i have watched paul turn from the 18 year old boy i fell in love with, to the 25 year old man i am dying to marry. (sometimes i think he's more like an 85 year old scottish man-wearing his cardigan and drinking his tea on our couch, but it works). he is unlike any other boy i have ever known. truly sweet, kind and adorably charming, it was impossible not to fall for him. and i know i joke around and razz him about being painfully shy, but it really is my favourite thing about him. he is a good man who would never do a thing to hurt me or let me down-we have a respect for each other that takes some couples a lifetime to achieve, and it’s only going to get better and better.

i'm a lucky girl-in love with a plaid wearing, beard growing, train and baseball lovin' nerd. and i love it.

i have been going back and forth over the last few weeks on how i want our tables to look for the reception. because we are having a tented wedding, we have to watch our seating plan to make sure there is room enough for a dance floor, the bar/bars, the cake table, the head table and of course, all of our fabulous guests.

one of the first decisions we made was to do harvest tables or long rectangular tables instead of round tables, which will be 8' long and seat 8 people. the main reason we decided to go this route, was because we like the idea of the guests being able to face each other, in a more intimate and fun seating arrangement. harvest tables also allow you to save a little more room, and gives you endless possibilities for tablescapes or centerpieces.

here in lies my dilemma.

do i want to do 2 longer pieces or multiple vases down the center of the table? do i want to do the same vases, or a combination? do i want to incorporate mason and milk jars, or stick with vases alone? basically-do i want this wedding to look like a polish tea towel or not?

i have popped into a few antique shops over the last few weeks, and have been able to price out mason and milk jars for fairly cheap-ranging between 1$-6$ per container, meaning around $25 per table if i want several jars. i am really diggin' {blue ball} mason jars, and love the idea of incorporating that perfect little amount of turquoise into my pink and green vintage colour scheme.

i have found about 8000 pictures online that have inspired me right into this crazy little catastrophe going on in my head-and am going to try to make a decision quickly so i can start collecting vessels and plan out each unique table setting.

unless my head pops off from stress in the meantime.

totally un-wedding related, today is father's day, and i couldn't let it go by without saying a lil' something about my dad. a great big giant teddy bear (literally, his name is ted and he's well over 6' 2" with lots to love) he and i have the kind of relationship that goes beyond father and daughter, and right into friendship. he can make me laugh with one goofy grin and will scoop me up and hug me tight when he knows i'm bummed. he was the first man to ever love me unconditionally, and has always been the role model for my future husband. i knew i wanted to find someone strong enough, compassionate enough and kind enough to care for me till i was old and wrinkled, and when i found paul, it was a no brainer-he made my dad proud. and that means the world to me.

so happy father's day daddy! i can't wait for you to walk me down the aisle and share our daddy daughter dance. i know you will be one of the biggest reasons why i will be crying the whole day, and i can't wait to share the happiest time of my life with you, mom and the rest of our family and friends.

cheers to really really great dad's.

xoxo

i am a {tacori} bride/snob through and through and i don't care who knows it! i love everything about their designs, their quality....their philosophy and style. the only thing i do not love, is the price. hence why i waited 7 years to get my engagement ring. yikes. the wedding band that is the match to my engagement ring is absolutely stunning-a perfect fit that looks really pretty as a set. unfortunately, the price tag is higher then what my parents paid for my first car-by a long shot. that being said, i couldn't possibly imagine asking paul to buy me the {tacori} wedding band...plus we have a year till the wedding to save up for one and not 7 ;)

tuesday evening paul and i met with the owner of a jewelry store in the area, to discuss having my band made for us. i printed off pictures of my engagement ring and the wedding band that matches, cleaned my ring really well and made sure my nails were in tip top shape. while waiting for one of the sales associates to get the owner for us, i took a peek at all the bands they had on display to find myself getting upset. i didn't like any of them. not a single one. what is wrong with me!?!

the owner came over to introduce himself, and before he even said hello, he took one look at my ring and said "tacori?" he looks at paul "why would you do that?". i thought they were going to have to scrape my jaw off his jewelry counter. uhm. excuse me? this is my baby you're talkin' bout! then without a word he turned around and went back into his work room. paul and i looked at each other like "is that it? does he plan on coming back?"

well he did. with a fist full of eternity wedding bands.

as he slipped each ring onto my finger he explained why he started our conversation the way he did. long story short, he is very passionate about jewelry and feels like by putting a name brand like {tacori} on a ring, shouldn't give you the right to charge whatever you want. fair enough. (still not grounds to talk smack about my bling!). the last ring went on, and my heart sunk a little deeper-still not loving any of them. they were all too wide, or not sparkly enough...didn't suit my e-ring or my taste. then a light bulb went off in "tacori basher's" head and he was back from his workshop with 1 more ring. 'this is the one" he said. i slipped it on and was almost pissed off. he was right.

it is AMAZING! more perfect then i could have asked for. it's the perfect width, the perfect amount of sparkle-and even the perfect size. it compliments my engagement ring and made me squeal like a little girl. the best part: it's not actually perfect. it's not a match set to my engagement ring. it's not {tacori} or what i imagined i would end up with. and i really like that.

the owner saw my excitement, and by the end of the meeting i decided i liked him. i respect his love for making jewelry and how it shows in every beautiful piece he had in the store. we paid for my ring and i wore it the whole way home. now it sits in a secret little spot...and gets a little bit of lovin' each day when i slip it on to say good morning and then tuck it away again.

so as i mentioned in my last post, friday was the 1 year countdown to our BIG DAY! i was literally counting down the minutes till i was done my shift when one of my co-workers wandered over to my desk with a surprise delivery. flowers? for moi!?! couldn't be. the boy doesn't send flowers...it's not really his bag. sure enough, simple and plain as day, the card was signed "love paul'. cue the single tear that teeter tottered in my left eye, dying to come out. they were perfect. a simple little posey, satin wrapped like a bride's bouquet in pinks and greens. i am the luckiest girl in the world.

after work my bridesmaids and i met up and headed to the {navy hall} where we are getting married next june, and it was better then i imagined! we were the only ones there and took full advantage with a picnic complete with a nice big blanket, a huge shmorgishborg (love that word) pink champagne and vino, with cupcakes and bob marley on the ipod for dessert ;)

we started planning how things will be set up and where everything will go, where we will come in and where the aisle will be. it almost brought me to tears, but with a punch in the arm from cass (what are bridesmaids for?) i was able to pull myself together and have another glass of bubbly. lol.

we even had a lil' photo shoot as the sunlight flooded the field and made for the prettiest pictures. if next june 11th is anything like this one, i will be one happy little bride. we sat and chatted a while longer and then headed back to one of the girls house for a fire and marshmallows. it was the perfect end to a really special day, and i am so thankful my girls and i were able to share that. i've said it before and will say it again, i get by with a little help from my friends.

they truly are the sunshine of my life <3

wait a whole 365 days?!? in a perfect world i would do it today!!! i don't know why today is so super special to me, but it is. i woke up and headed straight for the window to see what the weather was like, and was greeted by sunshine and a bright blue sky. it made me smile and i said a little prayer that this is what i will see when i wake up next year.

because i'm a huge nerd, i bought the cutest "little white dress" to wear to work in sort of "preparation" for the big girl white dress i'll wear next year. it's the little things that make me happy....

after work my bridesmaids and i are heading to the {navy hall} where paul and i are getting married, to celebrate an official countdown. we're setting up a blanket on the middle of the grounds where the tent will be, and are having a cute lil' picnic complete with finger foods, and maybe some vino ;) how did i ever get so lucky?

knowing i only have a year to go gets me even more excited...if that’s even possible...and i think i may have seen a sneaky little grin on the boy's face before he left for work this morning. i told him i can't wait to be his wife, and got a serious high five in return...

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i used to always picture my bridesmaids wearing the same dress, in the same colour with the same bouquet in their hands. but after our first bridesmaid meeting, and a bunch of emails back and forth, i have started leaning towards each of the girls wearing a different dress. i noticed this has become a little bit trendier, and makes for really great photos.

my girls are really great at emailing me when they find a dress they like, and what we have found, is that we all like similar styles and designers. with a laptop on my dining room table and a glass of pink champagne in our hot little hands, we checked out site after site of bridesmaid gown lines, and selected a few that we liked. then we narrowed them down further to a select few we want to try on.

still not fully satisfied with our options, we started looking into stores that aren't typically known for bridesmaid dresses, like {anthropolgie} and {ann taylor} and {jcrew} who all had really cute options, in different styles and the same colour palette. i would be perfectly fine with each of my girls in a totally different dress, length, neckline, material and shade of pink. (i think that my only must is that all the girls wear pink). paul surprised me one day by saying he doesn't want to wear a traditional black tux or suit, so the boys will be super cute in grey suits with grey vests and pink accessories. how sexy are these kids going to look as couples?!

with each of them having a different body type, skin tone, hair colour and style, i want them to choose a dress that they are going to not only look fabulous in, but feel good wearing too. we decided we will keep an eye out for the new lines that come out for each season, and see what we can come up with that looks good as a whole. i'm really excited to see what we can find, and know that no matter what they wear, they are going to look perfectly pretty in pink :)

i feel like with pretty well 1 year left before the wedding (eeeeeee!!!), i am going to get a head start on some of my DIY projects. i love arts and crafts. i love vino and snacks. and i love my girls. so another bridesmaid meeting is in order! i found a few ideas that i think can be tied into my lil' shabby chic theme, and think they compliment each other and other items i have already purchased.

i was debating on whether or not i wanted our guests to throw rice, rose petals or blow bubbles as the boy and i walk down the aisle, but after stumbling across the world's sweetest petal cones, i have decided to go with tossing petals-if peony petals are do-able and won't cost me a million dollars, i would prefer them to rose petals. they will look really pretty in photographs, and go along with the rest of the florals we are using. the cones are simple and fun, made with pages from old books, which i love, and then tied off with simple satin ribbon so they can be hung from our amazing white chiavari chairs. they look simple enough to make and will look lovely lined down the aisle chairs. i am also going to print off a poem to go on the inside of the cone that says something along these lines...

~ A few petals for you
to throw at the two
as they walk down the aisle
as bride and groom~

it's so cute i could puke. so that's those.

then i want to tackle some of these stellar book wreaths. i have already ordered two fresh floral wreaths for the old doors to the hall itself, but i love these book wreaths so much, that i want to incorporate them somehow. either as a base around the cake plate or pillar candles, or even hung down the front of our head table with a thick band of satin ribbon or lace, with our monogram in the middle. i am going to try and make a few of each style, and hopefully they turn out! i will post them when they are done ;)

looks like i will be hitting up the library soon! pfffffttttt.

i know this is totally wedding unrelated, but i couldn't let today pass by without paying tribute to my biggest celebrity inspiration, the lovely miss marilyn monroe.

i know that over the years, her face has become a novelty, very easily plastered on everything from magnets to lunch pails to purses (i think i have all those things and more). if you have the chance to sit down and watch {The 7 Year Itch} or {Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend}....(which they are mind you)...you can appreciate not only how adorably sexy she was, but how charming and sweet she was too.

i'd say of all the women who have come out of Hollywood, marilyn would be the one i respect and am inspired by most. i love her classy yet sexy style. she was just so lovely and so cute....you kinda wanted to put her in your pocket and take her home with you.

so Happy "what would have been 84th" Birthday marilyn! i know if you were alive today, you wouldnt look a day over 30 ;)

cheers!

next to "what are you doing with your hair for the wedding day?" the number 1 question I get asked when people find out i'm engaged, is "are you making your own cake?". at first I struggled with an answer and simply said "im not too sure, i would really like to make it to the wedding, and the stress of making my cake would damn near kill me". but after having our first Bridesmaid meeting, the girls reassured me that we could totally pull it off (it may have been the vino talking though). i get by with a lot of help from my friends <3.

i should probably mention that in my spare time (which isn't a whole lot) i make cakes. birthday cakes, wedding cakes, anniversary cakes and my fav-dirty cakes ;) i picked up my lil' hobby about 2 years ago now, when i attempted my first cake for my mom and dad's 25th wedding anniversary. it turned out perfectly, and once i was bit by the cake bug, i wasn't able to stop. i started up a small biz from home called {mangia cake} and started making cakes for family and friends...then co-workers...and then people i didn't know who had been referred to me. to date i have made over 65 cake/cupcake/cookie orders, and i really love that i have found something that lets me get down with my creative self, and that i truly enjoy.

the only downside to my cake love affair, is that i am a wee bit of a perfectionist. i like when things look homemade and handmade...a little imperfect and rustic-but very clean and very tidy at the same time. that being said, a cake typically takes me anywhere between 2-4 days to make. from making everything from scratch, decorating the cake and assembling it on site, it is a lot of work and a lot of commitment. and i love it, i really do. in a perfect world i would have my own adorable bakery and bake my little heart out. but at the end of the day, making cakes out of your kitchen doesn't pay the bills. who needs hydro and water and heat anyways? i have decided that at this time, i need to focus on the last of my cake orders for this year, working full time and being a bridesmaid in paul's sister's wedding. (oh, and planning my wedding too :)

i uploaded some pictures of cakes i have made....and when i find some more pics of cakes that inspire me for my wedding cake, i'll be sure to post :) as well, if you would like to visit my website, you can head to www.mangiacakebyamanda.ca and see some of my other yummy creations.

ps-if you have any questions about your wedding cake, i would love to help :)

~amanda the mangia cake
xoxo

while looking through baby pictures at my mom and dad's place, i came across a picture from my first holy communion. who knew i was a little bride in the making! i remember how excited i was when my mom, nonna and i went shopping for my communion gown, and it made me stop and appreciate how lucky i was to have them with me when i found my wedding dress. cheese and rice... i'm gonna start crying...

anyways, i thought it was too cute and had to post. check out that curtsey!

i also added my FAVOURITE picture of paul as a wee lad. he is so cute with his pudgy cheeks and big blue eyes. he's probably only 2 or 3 years old, and has THE BEST mullet I have EVER seen. business in the front, and a party in the back! that's still how he rolls ;)

i wonder how our kids will look??? hopefully more like him then me!!

i'm assuming if you are planning your wedding (or just love weddings as much as i do), you have stumbled upon what i consider to be THE BEST wedding website on the internet. (besides wbc of course ;) if you haven't perused {green wedding shoes} you need to. RIGHT NOW. you won't be disappointed.

{jenny campbell}, the girl behind the green shoes, is absolutely spot on when it comes to styling, trends and basically "all things wedding". and even though she turned me down when i emailed her asking her to post our story and engagement photos (ouch), i still love her and her fabulousness. (not to mention, she is a southern california based blogger and living in little ol' ontario was a strike against me, and she did say how much she loved them).

here is a link to her site, and one of the weddings she featured at the beginning of the month.

http://greenweddingshoes.com/real-wedding-tahni-josephs-bohemian-french-inspired-wedding/

i got goosebumps as i looked through the photos and read her little blurb. the whole "bohemian french" ensemble is spectacular, and the bride looks like a little peach. make sure you scroll down to the bottom for all the details shots. i'm partial to the sky blue and fucshia colour scheme....and the dresser and cake? please.

j'adore.

ps-i'm getting our wedding featured on her site if it's THE LAST thing i do. lol.

so for the last 2 nights, i have been suddenly waken from a deep sleep after having what i have diagnosed as "bridemares".

in my dream it is the day of the wedding, and i wake up to realize i am running super late. no one wanted to bother me because i am so sound asleep, and when i finally wake up, i have literally an hour to get ready before the ceremony. i realize that nothing is organized, and that all of my plans were never finalized. my hairdresser calls to say she can't make it, and so i start doing my hair myself. as i run the curling iron through my hair, it starts falling out! in chunks and clumps all over the floor. i start crying and my eye make-up runs, so someone sends for paul to come and console me as i have a panic attack and can't breathe! (which would happen in real life, let me tell you).

i wake up just as paul walks into the bridal suite to find me on the floor, in my gown, mascara all over my face and BALD. and when i open my eyes i am literally bawling hysterically and sweating so much i thought i peed in the sheets! (paul is sound asleep mind you).

why do i keep doing this to myself!?!

i like to think i am super organized and seriously on top of things. i have 2 more things to finalize and the wedding is pretty well planned and done. besides a few DIY projects I have in store, I could get married THIS june 11th if I had to/could, never mind an entire year from now!

am i concerned that things are going to fall apart on me? that vendors will bail on me or go out of business? that paul will get cold feet? (i told him he ain't gettin' cold feet cause i'll cut them off! LOL) tonight i am going to make sure i don't eat anything before bed, and that i fall asleep thinking happy thoughts. like kittens and puppies and johnny depp and all that jazz, cause one more night of bridemares like the ones i've been having, and i'm gonna buy myself a back up wig!

yikes!

i ordered 2 custom hangers from {lilafrances} on {etsy} and am over the moon about them! anna did an amazing job, and i think they are going to be spectaular for photographs on the wedding day.

i ordered one for me that says 'mrs.cowley' to hang my wedding dress on, and one for paul that says 'mr.cowley' to hang his suit jacket or vest on. i liked the idea of having "his" and "hers" not only for photo purposes, but so i can hang them by my front door or on my coat hooks after the wedding. they are simple, sweet and fun.

***note***

i was aware of warnings that the metal used to make the hangers would not support a heavy gown, so if you are planning on ordering from {lilafrances}, make sure your wedding gown doesn't way much more then a standard evening gown and you should be fine. i checked the weight of my dress the last time i tried it on (which was far too long ago by the way) and i am sure the hanger will be just peachy :)

i didn't think it was possible. how could i be any happier then i have been since the day paul proposed? well it is possible...and it happened.

last friday evening paul, india and i packed up a few things and headed to beamsville ontario to meet up with our photographer nataschia at {the good earth} cooking school. the sun was warm and bright, the orchards in full bloom....the owner nicolette out in the gardens cleaning them up. i kept asking paul if we were in a movie. it was magical.

i had seen a 1950's tandem bike in the front window of an antique shop around the corner from our house, and called the shop to see if the owner would rent it out to us....and the best $20 i've ever spent later, it was ours for the night. we planned on trying to learn how to ride it before the shoot....but decided against it...and thank god for that, it made for some pretty fun photographs.

i also made a collar for india (and will post a DIY soon) of satin ribbon and a broach. she looked cute as a bug's ear. i also made (or should i say paul made...lol nataschia) a banner. with card stock, letters printed out from the computer and satin ribbon, i spelt out {all you need is love} and strung it together. it worked out perfectly, and i plan on draping it across the front of the bar at the wedding.

after some fun at {the good earth} nataschia took us on a wild goose chase to our second location. we travelled up the mountain and into the thick of the country. farms, barns, dirt roads, dog's we almost ran over and right to a field with an abandoned car. my guess is somewhere in the 1930's, black and rusted...paint peeling. it was ridiculous. i wanted to get in, but nataschia mentioned mice and paul was not having it. lol. we did a quick change and shot some of the more "sexy" pics....lots of kissing and cuddling...i felt like it was our first date...with a really cute photographer watching the whole time. hahahahaa.....

at one point during the shoot, towards the beginning, i started becoming emotional. nataschia kept telling paul to "hug and kiss amanda...hold her tightly...kiss her shoulder...kiss her face....kiss her like you would if i wasn't here"...and then it started. first with the left eye and on to the right. mascara everywhere...lipgloss and boogers...so romantic. i realized that everything i worried and stressed over in preparing, wasn't important. it was me and the boy...in the most breath taking place i had ever been...more in love then i had ever felt in all my life.

that night, i fell in love with paul all over again. he's my friend that turned into my crush, that became my boy and now my fiancé...and soon but not soon enough....my husband.

and i can't thank him or nataschia enough, for doing that for me.

enjoy the photos....and when i come back down from cloud 99, i'll take another good look at them.

with much debate over whether or not i was even going to do wedding favours, i decided to go for it....with some reassurance from my bridesmaids and my mom. i knew i wanted something that my guests may actually use...something they would actually like...and something they wouldn't throw in the garbage or at the back of their "re-gift closet" when they got home from the wedding.

i scoured wedding websites, perused fellow {WBC} bride blogs, and memorized almost every favour idea martha ever put out, and then i stumbled upon my dream favour. a pair of white ceramic chubby bird salt and pepper shakers, packaged in a neutral beige box, with an almost sickingly adorable quote printed on the inside. i also plan on changing out the chocolate brown satin ribbon they come with for either pink and green raffia, or ivory lace, and adding a tag off the ribbon with our date on it. jackpot! they are perfect.

i ordered them online from {www.pricewisefavors.com} and was even able to catch a midnight madness sale the website was having, getting them for even cheaper then they normally are! so instead of doing one set per couple, i did one set per guest-allowing them to have an individual pair each when setting their dining room table for special occasions and family meals. (at least this is my thinking)

2 weeks after i ordered them, i received an email saying that {UPS} had received the package. so my mom, dad, the boy and I rushed over the river to grab them (and some pizza, wings and beer of course) and was really happy with how they look. i was worried they would end up looking cheap, or waaaay smaller then i had imagined, but nope. they're fabulous. i'm trying to run with a theme here...birdcages, chubby birds...what else can i find without looking like the creepy bird lady from Home Alone 2???

breaking news: yoga has not killed me, and i have not given up......yet.

on to the nitty gritty: i am crazy nervous/excited/worried/stressed and scared silly about my engagement photos this friday. (we originally had them planned for sunday may 2nd...but with some short notice and stroke of brilliance, moved them to this friday). this both excites me and scares me as i still have what seems like a lot to do to prepare...including getting my hair and nails done, running a quick course of crest whitening (lol), mentally preparing for the shoot and most importantly finally deciding on what i want to wear...and what i want the boy to wear (i'm so glad he just listens to me and buys/wears what i suggest).

the problem is that paul is so stankin' cute, that i need to work extra hard to look good next to him! honestly, the kid could wake up, roll out of bed, brush his teeth and still look like a million bucks. meanwhile i decided to take the afternoon off work so i have 4 hours to do my hair and put my make up on...lol. seriously.

i think with the tricks my photographer and i have up our sleeves...the time of year and what the weather network claims the weather will be on friday (sunny and comfy) it should make for pretty amazing photographs. not to mention (even though i have 10,000 times) i have the most amazing photographer :) love her.

oh...and about the fact that the boy is shyer then shy. i'm going to try and keep him calm...crack some jokes to make him laugh, and hopefully he will loosen up enough to take some great pics. we are also going to bring along our pooch india. she is the real leading lady in paul's life, and i know she will help him relax, and make things fun. she also happens to be a model and is friggen adorable.

fingers, toes and eyeballs crossed that all goes well...

this should be interesting as i haven't done any physical activity since March of 2006. and i'm not lying. i hate exercising. everything about it is unappealing and seriously makes me nauseas just thinking about it. i hate knowing that at the end of the day, i'm going to have to drag my ass to the gym...just so i can hustle for an hour and a half, surrounded by guys and girls who actually know what they're doing and it shows....i hate getting sweaty and 9 times out of 10 i stop at the corner store on the way home to grab a bag of chips. so what's the point?

but lately i have decided that i'm going to prove my parents and friends wrong and actually TRY to stick this out. my really amazing friend neena instructed my first yoga workout on sunday with a group of friends, and i didn't hate it. a few days later i convinced the boy to do a 90 minute yoga sesh in our living room, and it was actually the highlight of my week-first because it was an advanced dvd which i wasn't aware of, second because i thoroughly enjoyed watching paul try to get into some of the most interesting of positions-including his legs straight over his head, and because i completed the entire workout-which i am very proud of. tonight i complete class 3 of 4 for the week and i am almost excited about it.

maybe this will be a phase and i'll go back to my couch potato, reality tv watchin', ketchup chip eating ways....or maybe, just maybe, i will end up getting into a routine, enjoy the sweating and get my sexy little bride body in no time.

stay tuned. and if i don't post over the next week, it's because i'm dead in my living room in downward dog position. yikes.

i had my mom and bridesmaids keep an eye out for a birdcage and lanterns for me as we are all VERY frequent visitors of {Homesense} and {Winners}. my mom called me a few weeks ago to let me know she had been to {Homesense} and saw a few things she thought i might love. so i literally flew down and was more then pleased with her findings. (by the way, she would never purchase something without me being able to see it first...she knows i have undiagnosed OCD...and she's good like that...hahaha)

i was able to pick up a really pretty birdcage to use as my cardbox. i wanted an antique, but was finding that they were far too expensive, although i am planning on keeping it and putting it in my garden afterwards. it's all white and sits on a stand, which i was stoked about as it will free up space on my receiving table.

i was also able to get 3 lanterns, also in white, that will be used on my head table. i plan on filling them with pillar candles, and tucking peony heads in and around them. i will probably line the center of my head table with sheet moss, so they will sit on top of that. they are perfect. good work ma!

do you ladies have any other suggestions on what i could decorate the birdcage and lanterns with?

peep toes and slingbacks and pumps....oh my!

i think i may email christian louboutin and ask him to stop designing shoes, cause they are gonna be the death of me. i dream about his shoes. scratch that. i have fantasies about his shoes....i guess i will start saving up my pennies. price tag on these puppies range $400-$1400....and worth every cent.

why was i cursed with expensive taste?

ps-can you tell what colour shoes i'll be wearing on the big day?

we received an email from our officiant that we are all booked for the day of our wedding. i was worried about this process, as i wanted to make sure the person we chose was going to not only do a good job, but they would match our personalities and bring something fresh and interesting to the table when writing the ceremony.

i was desperado to write my own vows. dead set against doing it any other way. but as mentioned in previous posts, paul is super shy, and when i presented him with the idea, he pretty much had kittens. he said he would literally fall over at the altar if i made him recite his own vows, so we scratched that-much to my chagrin. luckily, we found {sheldon kofsky} an officiant who runs {wedding ceremonies} out of niagara with his lovely wife. they also run a B&B in the {jordan village} which is super sweet.

visit their website at {www.weddingceremonies.org}

i met sheldon at the vintage inns wedding show back in february, and he instantly charmed me. he showed us pictures of the various weddings he has done, and told us that he is open to pretty much anything in terms of attire and traditions. so we emailed each other back and forth, and finally decided on a date to meet at their home. paul and i had a few ideas in mind as to how we wanted to ceremony to go, and a lot of things we DID NOT want, such as:

~any mentioning of anything religious. i was raised roman catholic and paul raised as a baseball lovin', tea-drinkin' little white scottish kid. it's not that we have anything against it, or think anything of it...we just wanted the ceremony to be about no one but us. (ps-people automatically assume we are doing the traditional 8 hour catholic service with the communion and all the jazz and lights. but i simply tell them that the big guy upstairs wasn't invited to the ceremony, but is totally welcome at the reception)
~nothing overly mushy, cheesy or expected. we wanted the ceremony to be light, funny and easy to sit through. we also wanted to focus on the fact that we started out as friends, and have become best buds.
~recognizing that not all of our family could be there in person, but we were thinking of them and know they are with us in spirit.

we have decided to incorporate a few traditions, and have chosen the music for the ceremony. the whole thing should be quick and painless...over in about 25 minutes. and that's about all i can say about the ceremony without starting to cry. during our meeting with sheldon, he made paul recite the first line of the vows. he told him it wouldn't hurt and that he could do it. so we faced eachother, and with the biggest grin on my face, heard the words i have been dying to hear. he starts: "i paul, take you amanda to be my wife."

CUE THE WATERWORKS. i didn't see it coming! this was supposed to be a fun exercise! sheldon made paul stop right there. i think he was worried that once i had started crying, i wouldn't be able to stop.

something tells me we are going to need to practice this.

a lot.

i have every season of {martha stewart weddings} magazine dating back to 2006. (long before i was engaged mind you). it is my FAVOURITE wedding magazine, and i can't wait for it to hit the shelves each season so i can bring it home, grab a glass of wine and drool all over it as i make my way through the glossy pages.

i think martha and i are soul mates. she just gets it. not only is she writing about ideas long before they're trendy, she's writing about them again long before they come back in style. she appreciates making everything in life as pretty as it can be, whether it's practical or not.

the spring 2010 edition of {martha stewart weddings} was a home run for me. i honestly gasped when i flipped to page 237 to be greeted by a 2-page spread of 4 pretty pink table settings sitting under the most insane cherry blossoms in bloom. if i was only having 40 guests at my wedding, this is how i would do it. (engagement session is now even more anticipated)

i also really enjoyed the "ballet inspired" wedding and bridesmaid gown section, which was 14 pages of the luckiest model/sarah jessica parker/kate hudson look-a-like decked out in the pretties pink, ivory and tulle gowns i have laid eyes on. bridesmaids en pointe, tutus hanging from the ceiling and chandeliers lit with pastel pink candles. i don't know how the stylists and photographers worked on these sets without their heads popping off with excitement. mine did just looking at the damn magazine! if you haven't picked it up yet, turn your computer off right now, head to the nearest 7-eleven and grab yourself a copy. best $6.95 you'll spend.

oh yeah-while flipping through this little diddy, i stumbled upon my new favourite quote of life:

{i believe in PINK....i believe in kissing, kissing A LOT...and I believe that HAPPY GIRLS are the PRETTIEST GIRLS-miss audrey hepburn}

keep it comin' martha baby.

even before i was engaged, i knew that the first thing i was going to book when i finally was, would be my photographer. at the time, i wasn't sure who it was going to be, but i knew in my opinion, that of all the wedding decisions i would make, this was going to be the most important. at the end of the day, all you are going to have left are the memories, the bill...and your photographs.

paul is "anti-videographer". as he says "i'll never watch it, so why would i pay for it." fair enough. however, this only made my decision on who to chose as a photographer even more serious. paul is super shy. like painfully, uncomfortably, awkwardly shy. in fact, it would be less uncomfortable to watch someone get set on fire, then witness paul do any sort of public speaking or anything centered around him. (and i think that his shyness is my favourite thing about him). this meant i needed to find someone who was going to make paul feel comfortable and like "himself", so all of our photos didn't turn out like he was holding in a pee the whole time. thank the good lord. we found her.

{nataschia wielink} is a photographer based out of vineland, ontario and she is absolutely fabulous. i fell in love with one of her photographs, just had to meet her, and then i fell in love with her. she is young, fun and unique, and so are her photos. i love her eye for design and style, and more then that, her attention to lighting. i love when a picture is flooded with sunlight-taken at the right moment in the right spot and it comes out perfectly. when the people in the picture don't look "posed" or told to "smile"-when it's natural and honest and real. and nataschia's pictures do that for me.

eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

we met at the beginning of january, upstairs in the ridiculous studio of her ridiculous home on her ridiculous blue couch. we had tea (which i spilt on her ridiculous table) and chatted for an hour and a half about how ridiculous her photographs were. ridiculous. she wanted to know what kind of people paul and i are, where we had our first date, what we do for fun and what we want our wedding to look and feel like. i loved that she wanted to know this, and felt like i was sitting with a long time friend. by the time i got half way home, i had decided that we had to have nataschia photograph our wedding, and we booked her up. (paul loves her too by the way....it ain't always all me!)

now we are waiting on nicer weather so we can have our engagement session. we have some really fun ideas on locations, outfits and style. i am so pumped for this session and can't wait to see how it turns out!

ps-do yourself a favour and check out nataschia's website. {www.nwphotoblog.com}
warning: you will become a daily creeper.

pss-my bridesmaid jen and i made the cut in her "a lovely show" post. yeeeeee haaaaaaw!

i know it's a tad bit premature, but i am so excited to plan our honeymoon that i have recruited my own personal travel agent. it's become a ritual (and one of my favourite's) to wake up on saturday morning, send the boy (bless his heart) for a coffee and stay in bed to chat on the phone with my dear friend and maid of honour jules. she is currently completing her thesis in montreal after finishing up at mcgill university, and i am so excited that she will be coming home for good in a few short weeks. then jules will be done with all her "important" and "serious" work, and fully available for all her maid of honour duties including keeping me sane, helping with lots of late night DIY projects and planning my honeymoon! latley our saturday morning chats have focused on planning the honeymoon, and jules gets me more and more pumped.

jules and her family have travelled to italy several times, and on her last trip there, she visited the most incredible place called {Cinque Terre} which in italian means "the five lands". it is located on the coast of the italian riviera and is made up of five 5 villages: vernazza, corniglia, riomaggiore, manarola and monterosso al mare (it even SOUNDS beautiful, but then again, everything sounds better in italian). jules had told me that of all the places she visited while vacationing through europe, cinque terre was the most beautiful and romantic spot she had seen, and thought of me while she was there-she said i would love it. so when she returned, we sat and went through photos from her trip, and she was right-i fell in love with it.

since then i have been very nerdily researching cinque terre and every time i do, i find something else that i love about it. most accommodations are b&b's or inns, which is very sweet and charming. there are beaches and small shops, vineyards to tour, train stations so you can travel into the main cities and amazing trails to hike on. one trail in particular that i have to walk, is called "via dell'amore" or "lover's walk" which is a pathway that connects the villages. on this walk there is a famous spot where "lovers" stop to "seal your eternal love". i know i know. super cheesy. but if there is ever a time when you can/should be mucho cheese-it's your honeymoon. at this spot, you take a lock, sign your names on it, make a promise to eachother, lock it to the fence that lines the trail and throw away the key.

swooooooooon. i love it and all it's cheesy glory.

my mom is italian, born in the very small village of {terelle}, located about 100 kilometers from rome. my nonno and nonna moved to canada with my mom when she was only 6 months old, and have not been back since. it's such a shame....but what can you do. i am excited to see the country my mom and grandparents are from...and will hopefully make a day trip out of visiting my mom's hometown. ps-she is soooo jealous.

the plan: a 3 week long honeymoon, lots of sight seeing, lots of eating and drinking vino (i fully plan on gaining any bride weight i lose right back-who care's, we'll be married and he ain't goin no where!) and relaxing. spending days on the beach with wine and cheese and my man. we want to travel into rome to visit the usual-cathedrals and museums, the piazza and the colosseum...make him kiss me on the spanish steps. as much as i am looking forward to the wedding...the honeymoon is sounding pretty damn good.

that's amore!
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