This is lovelybride's Yellow Wedding!

After getting my nails done the other day, I stopped by West Side Flowers to check it out, and met this great florist, Sierra, that I highly recommend speaking with if you're from the Calgary area. She seemed very knowledgeable about flowers, and we were confident enough in her ability to hand over the flower arrangements to her.

We did give our opinions on flowers we don't like (e.g. I'm not crazy about wildflowers, although my fiance is, but that doesn't really match our wedding theme so we're okay), flowers we like (e.g. roses, irises, etc.), the style we want, our wedding colours and our budget. I also sent her pictures of my wedding dress and my bridesmaids dresses.

In other news, the wedding invitations are pretty much done for 95% of guests, there's just a few that I have to redo the printing or print out because I didn't have the full name at the time of printing. Printing was only $16 for the wedding invites, which is awesome because that includes both the invitation and response card.

Also, on Tuesday Mark and I are meeting with a potential photographer. I know everyone says that the photos are the only thing you get to keep to remember your day, but to me it doesn't really make a difference whether all the photos are taken by a professional or with a regular camera. I know there's a difference in the quality of the shot and the quality of the picture, but I still don't see a really great reason to have a professional photographer for all aspects of the wedding. Do you guys know a mind-changing reason?

Yesterday I made invites a priority and I'm really happy with the result. I finally printed the invites I designed using Adobe Illustrator (keep in mind I'm not a graphic designer) and printed them at a local print shop that is targeted toward graphic design students (InSource). The printing quality was amazing, and the price is decent too.

Looking at the cost breakdown per card:
- 16 cents for the printing
- 50 cents for shimmery paper - cool thing about this is that that the ink looks shimmery too
- 70 cents for the DIY pocketfold card

Plus I still have to price out envelopes (50 cents for shimmery light gold envelope if I go with one from Michaels, although they don't have a matching reply envelope so I'm not sure if I'll go with those ones, as well as the printing and paper for the RVSP - maybe a dollar per card?

So what does that come to? Just over $3, not including the cost of labour (me and my bridesmaids lol), but I like the fact that they're homemade and I'm going to customize them to the recipient on my side of the family at least. I'm going to need help with my FH's side of the family since there are a lot of them!

I've put up a photo of the info piece I designed - I did blur out all the information, not because I don't trust whoevers reading this, but to me it doesn't make sense to put that much personal info online... Anyways picture it on shimmery pale pale gold paper (all the swirls come up as clear with the printing, not white), backed with a 3mm gold border on top of a dark blue pocket fold invitation.

Oh and the A is for my FH last name, which I'll be taking for among friends and family. S&M and M&S just don't feel great, particularly now that my fiance was just diagnosed with MS.

Six weeks ago I was thinking about wedding cakes and invitations, and six weeks later I have not substantially progressed with either of them! It's a bit ridiculous but we've had a good reason for it, as my fiance was recently diagnosed with MS.

Still life goes on, and while we considered postponing the wedding (stress aggravates the MS symptoms) we know we want to get married with all our friends and family in attendance.

So over the next few days, my challenge is to organize the guest list and invitations once and for all!

My fiance and I decided against having a dessert course, as we genuinely want our guests to enjoy the wedding cake. The second last wedding that I went to didn't serve the wedding cake at all, which was a bit odd.

So now I'm hunting for a delicious, moist (not dry!) wedding cake with buttercream icing. I don't like the taste of fondant, and I'd rather the cake tastes good than looks good. Multiple flavours would also be good, as I'd definitely want a chocolate layer.

I just emailed Brulee Patisserie to see if I can set up an appointment for Mark and I to discuss (and hopefully taste test) wedding cakes.

Last week I was in the Dominican Republic, having an awesome time not thinking about anything! It was sun, drinks and the beach. The purpose of the trip was to attend my close friends wedding, which was a beautiful intimate ceremony that incorporated traditional North American wedding elements with the destination theme.

The relaxation of the trip was much needed given the rush I was in before the trip. Right now we've put the house on the market, as we have a new property being built that we're moving into (with my FSIL and FBIL, long story!) in March. In addition to that I'm job searching, having completed my MBA in the middle of the recession and haven't had the best of luck so far, much to my surprise as I usually find work easily and generally have a good work ethic ~ is that bragging or overcompensating? And then there was dress shopping! I put off dress shopping for the five months of the wedding planning, as the first time I went didn't go as planned. I thought that wedding dresses were supposed to look beautiful on everyone, but when I tried them on I was disappointed with the overall result, although I loved the effect of the corset : )

Anyways, I went shopping with my sister (also MOH) on the Sunday before leaving and didn't find anything. Then I went again on Tuesday with my FMIL and found three dresses I liked, with one being my favourite. The only thing about my favourite dress is that it was the first one I'd tried on that day (also it was the only one my FMIL cried upon seeing me in), so by the end of the shopping trip I wasn't sure if the first one was truly my favourite or if it was relative to my other shopping trips. I went back to try on the 3 favourites for my sister and future sister (who is one of my three bridesmaids), leaving my favourite dress for last. When I tried on the two that I liked but didn't love, my sister liked the first best and my future sister liked the second best, so I wondered what they'd think of my favourite (they didn't know which one was my favourite at that point, I refused to tell them until the end so I'd get their real opinions). When I tried on my favourite they loved it too! The final proof that it was my dress was when I put on the veil and had a slight shiver run through me, the kind you get when someone tells you a ghost story, not the kind you get from being cold.

I have to say it wasn't especially fairy-tale like when it came to purchasing the dress. I called around to get the lowest price, which was a $180 lower than the original price of the dress where I tried it on from. However the original store price-matched it for me, which was nice. I went in to put down the deposit on the day we left for the Dominican, so I no longer have to worry about my wedding dress!

~ The only thing I would've wanted to change is to have had my mother there when I found the dress. I did get to try on dresses when I visited her in Ontario at least ~

Booked my appointments to try on dresses. I have to buy one soon... same with invitations!

It's a little overwhelming when I start to think about it.

In the meantime I also have to: find a job - preferably one that requires an MBA; work on this article that is being submitted to the Academy of Management Review; and, keep the house in selling condition, as it's currently on the market. Not having a job is so frustrating, and it makes planning a wedding really difficult. Mark and I are lucky because our families are helping us out with the budget, but it's difficult to request money, even when it's already been offered.

Does anyone else have difficulty committing to a hairstylist? I recently started getting my hair done by this stylist, and I love her work, but I've hesitated in asking her to do my hair. Not because I don't think she would do a great job, I think she'd be fantastic, but it is a big commitment!

What about you? Was it easy to commit to your stylist or not? It's funny because it's so easy to commit to Mark, my FH, but difficult to commit to a stylist!

Mark proposed in August on the 15th at the top of the mountain in Victoria overlooking the city and the ocean as the sunset. It was very romantic, and I loved that he did it in Victoria (we're from Calgary) where my mother's family lives and when my mum was visiting. As the sun had just set, I didn't get a good look at the ring until we made it back to the car, but was stunned by its perfection once I saw it under the car light, and it looks even better in the sunlight. Since the engagement ring was entirely Mark's domain (I told him I wanted something simple, sparkly and elegant, but not a solitaire), I'm still unable to accurately describe the ring. It has a 0.75 carat 'perfect cut' hearts-and-arrows diamond in the centre, and is surrounded by 18 tiny diamonds that lead from the side of the diamond all the way to the top where the main diamond is inlaid - I think it's called a pave style but I'm not sure.

It was a challenge to find my mum... earlier that day she had said she might be at my aunt's or my grandfather's. Neither Mark nor I had cell phones on us, and when we tried a payphone close to both locations it wasn't working, no matter how many quarters we tried to put in it. We went to my grandfather's first, as he lived in an apartment building that required visitors to telephone in. As he was nearly blind and unable to use the phone from memory, I figured my mum would answer it if she was home. However when we dialed in we heard someone pick up and hang up the phone, which we figured was my grandfather's doing and that my mum must be at my aunt's.

We raced over to my aunt's house, where I tucked my hand into my pocket to hide the ring. But my mum wasn't there. My aunt called to make sure she was awake (as mum was visiting from Ontario and had just arrived that day herself at it was after 9pm Victoria time at that point) and gave us the go ahead that she was indeed awake. We didn't want to tell my aunt before my mum, after it was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion and what daughter doesn't want to show her mother first? (Just wait until I have kids... : )

When my mum let Mark and I in through the apartment side door, she asked, "What brought you here?" (given the unusual hour). I said "I think you know Mum" smiling as Mark had already told me he'd asked my parents for their blessing via Skype a while back. My mum turned around with a big smile on her face and was so happy we'd gotten engaged. We went into the apartment where I showed her the ring - she was impressed and thought it looked beautiful - and told my grandfather the news. He told us he was really happy for us and he tried to look at the ring.

Originally Mark and I were going to wait two years before we got married, but being with family in Victoria made me remember how important everyone is to me, on my side and on Mark's side. I also wanted my grandfather to be at the ceremony, and knowing that being in his 90s and declining with age, two years could be too long to wait so we decided to marry after a year long engagement. Sadly my grandfather passed away two days before his birthday and the day before my mum's birthday. It was peaceful and while he slept, but I still miss him sorely.

I am lucky to be marrying the love of my life, who treats me so well and was so smart to have proposed in Victoria with my mum, grandfather and extended family close by. Mark and I are looking forward to our wedding, and will remember the loved ones we've lost and will appreciate the family we are sharing with each other as we build our own family.