This is megbrifallwedding's Chocolate Wedding!

This year has been crazy - all my friends, neighbours and co-workers are having babies and most of my friends are getting married this year.

I feel I never have any time for myself anymore.

I'm not kidding when I say that I have a function even two on the same days every weekend from now until the middle of August.

Plus money doesn't grow on trees and I'm feeling pretty tapped lately from all the gift giving. I know next year it will be about my wedding but it's just so hectic.

I feel really guilty saying, "No!"

How much is too much?

This past weekend the bridal party (of my best friends wedding taking place this July 2008) held a shower for Alissa.

We did a Hawaiian Theme - I've included some pics!

Guest were greeted at the door and given a lei - the bride which I kept busy all day had to drive around town with her lei on - and she thought that was bad enough until we gave her the coconut cups, head band and wrist bands.

Hawaiian music was played in the background!

We had Pina Coladas & Margs and tons of food included kabobs, wraps, fruit and a chocolate fountain.

We played the following games:

- Contest for who came in the best Hawaiian outfit - her grandmother-in-law to be won with her circa 1970s dress from Hawaii which she has kept in her bsmt
- Hula Hoop contest (the bride was a champion - 17 minutes!)
- Quiz the Bride - answering Trivia questions with cards (A-D) from who is her fav band, what's her fav food, etc. and tie breaker question of how much did she weigh when she was born (I won - or course!)
- Toilet paper bridal dresses

We then opened gifts (which were mostly beach inspired)

And gave everyone prizes for the games and gift bags to go home with.

I think it was simple, not too expensive and everyone had a great time :)

When Crocs first came out I thought - god those are the ugliest thing ever created! That was until I bought a pair for me and my fiance. Now I have a pair for inside and out - they are so very comfortable and yes still quite ugly. But I came across these today and thought that they were actually quite cute! Not too sure If I could actually get away with wearing them under my dress without my grandma ripping them off my feet to burn them but perhaps an option? I know for sure I'm not wearing heels just because I don't want to tower over my fiance on our wedding day! Any other time I don't have a problem with my height just don't want to look like an amazon in my wedding pics!

I ordered my sample pack from cards & pocets and have narrowed down my choices.

I am getting a pocket folder for the invitation which is going to be either Bronze or Milk Chocolate.

The inside invitation mat (border) is going to be Light Aqua which matches the rocks from my centerpieces - pic is below.

The invitation wording will be printed on Pearl!

I'm so excited - but I'm just having a hard time choosing between the Bronze (metallic) or Milk Chocolate (matte) it's so hard.

On this website I am able to order a sample invitation with my colour choices so I may end up ordering one of each.

I've posted some pics - sorry that they are not too clear :)

Today is my b-day (24 already - how did that happen so fast!)

Anyways I wasn't feeling the greatest this morning - so last minute decision was made that I would work from home today instead of commuting to the office.

Well my fiance had other plans! He was on his way to my office to drop off flowers and take me out for lunch.

Thank goodness my dad figured out I was at home and not work and told him - he turned around and came back to the house.

I was on a conference call with a headset on and he scared the crap out of me by sneaking into my office downstairs in the basement - after calming down from my mini heart attack - I saw that he got me orchids and some ofther flower (which I do not know what it is called) and a spa gift certificate.

He's such a sweetie sometimes! Tonight we're going out to my favourite restaurant - I can't wait!

I am having a ring bearer and flower girl in my wedding party.

The ring bearer is my friends son Kai who will be 3 1/2 and my flower girl is my niece Ruby Rose who will be 4 1/2.

Brian and I both adore these guys and can't wait to have our own after the wedding!

I can't wait - they are going to look adorable!

It's a zoo around here everyday and then we wonder why - It's me Bri and our 5 pets!

I know we're crazy but all of our animals our rescues and I can't live without them.

Meet the crew

Hailey - will be 7 years old on Wednesday (we have the same b-day!) Brian found her on the side of the road when she was around 5 weeks old and of course brought her home - this was before me!

Dolly - she will be 3 in September and we got her as a kitten from the humane society.

Salem - almost 5! We were supposed to look after him for a couple of weeks for a friend of a friend - they never came back to get him. So he's our only boy in the house besides Bri.

Weeble a.k.a boo-boo or as Bri likes to call her "sausage"
She will be 1 year old in July and we rescued her from an organization called ARF - animal rescue foundation.

Oh and I almost forgot we have a snake too! Not my choice.

I'm so excited to say that I found the perfect website for DIY invitations - it's called cards and pockets and they offer everything you need to make your own invitations.

I wasn't quite brave enough to pick off of colours from my compouter screen so instead I ordered a sample of all of their paper selection.

Here I am waiting for it to come from the US - last time I checked I my order was worked and shipped! Stupid postal system it takes forever!

Anyways soon it will be arriving and then we can choose our invitations! YEAH

**UPDATE** - Still no sample pack - perhaps it will come as a surprise on Wednesday being that it's my b-day!**

Well I'm supposed to be working from home today - but cannot get access from home (I believe a power outage happened on the weekend at work) so until the rest of the group gets in to turn mine back on I thought I would do some updating to my wedding planning!

This site is way too addicting :)

**Got my access back - but still browsing weddingbycolor on my breaks***

PS - solicitors do not leave our house alone! note to self: Need to get NO SOLICITING sign posted on my front door

So last night we met with Johnny Lam downtown - We liked him from the moment he walked into the cafe.

He seems very honest, genuine and very very accomodating to our needs also all of the album work, editing etc. is all done by him and he doesn't sub-out any work.

We didn't have to pick out a package and stick with it - he will give us as much time as we need to choose what is best for us.

I am so happy! One more big thing accomplished.

I can't wait to get our engagement shots done with him (we're thinking fall!)

Anyone feeling stressed out lately! Between my 2 huge projects at work and meeting crazy deadlines, to planning a baby shower for my friend at work and wedding shower and bachelorette for my bestest who's getting married in July to planning our own wedding.

I know I should just "breathe" take a step back and prioritize but everything is on me - and then I have to come home and cook, clean etc.

The joke between me and a couple of my friends is that whenever there is a full moon some evil creature who is not my fiance appears - only this full moon has lasted 2 weeks.

I just wish my 30 year old finace would act his age sometimes! Us girls have to deal with so much more than they do.

I read an article recently that stated, women who say, "i'm going to bed soon." actually end up going to bed on average 2 hours later.

I need to win the lottery - hire a maid, hire a wedding planner, retire and send Bri on a much needed vacation away from the full moon!

**UPDATE** - She broke up with him! I can't believe it but there will be no wedding happening anytime soon for my dad and his gf - after 2 years of dating and my dad renovating to move in his gf and 3 kids in to his house - it's over - and of all days on his b-day! I feel so awful for what my dad must be going through right now :( Okay - first a little about myself before I launch into my anger towards my dad. My parents are divorced as well as Brian's. So planning this wedding is not going to be the easiest considering our circumstances. Brian's mom and dad both have a significant other in their lives and will be civil with one another at the wedding. My parents are a different story. My mom left my dad, brother and I around 10 years ago for her boyfriend and my dad became a single parent/father and mother in one (which he did a great job and I love him to death!) My dad just got legally divorced from my mom about 2 weeks ago. Anyways my dad has been dating this women who has 3 girls for the past 2 years - now that the divorce is final she's moving her family into my dad's home. So my dad drops the bomb on me last night that he is going to buy her a ring and marry her by the end of the summer! WTF Talk about rush into things! I advised him that maybe he should wait to see what living with her is like before he rushes into another marriage. The only reason that he wants to get married so quickly is that he wants to be married before he is 50! (Who cares - you're old deal with it) and he wants to flaunt his new wife in front of my mom at the wedding. I love my dad to death and he has been there for me for everything but bottom line is I don't want him to rush into it and get married before me. He should take some time being engaged first and then after my wedding is done with see if that's what he wants to do. Why is it that when you get older you start parenting your parents?

We are going to meet with one of the photographers that we like next Friday!

I'm so excited and my fiance and I finally sat down to discuss what we would like to capture on that day.

The guy we are meeting with has a reasonable package.

It is going to cost around $3500 but includes 2 coffee table books, engagement pic with enlarged photo for the reception, DVD files and proofs.

Honestly I've never been the girl to really love flowers.

The only one that has always caught my eye and the only one my fiance will buy for me are Orchids - but I definately was not born with a green thumb and kill any plant that enters my house!

At least on my wedding day I can throw them away at the end of the night :)

I've posted some pics of boquets that I like and perhaps would add some hydrangeas for fullness.

Also are some cake ideas - we both want something simple!

Brian gets to choose the cake since I'm not big on desserts - but I really do like the idea of cupcakes.

I really have some great ideas to make our own invitations.

We're lucky enough that my fiance's dad runs a printing business and they can do imprinting, foiling, lettering etc. But he does not supply cardstock for wedding invitations.

I went to Michael's (craft store) and all they have is DIY (which most are hideous) and scrapbook paper which is too thin?

Any assistance on locating cardstock (metallic cream/mocha) would be great!

Recently I've decided that the next thing I want to tackle is hiring a wedding photographer. After all this is an important detail of the wedding since it's capturing our special day.

I've come across a few that I really like and tried to get Brian involved. He wants to argue with me about incorporating the colour green but could care less about a photographer (priorites!!)

Anyways - I'm on my own with this decision now - I just wish he didn't always say, "All wedding pics look the same!" because they definately don't.

Keep you posted on the upcoming freakout from my fiance once I've hired the photographer of my choice - he'll wish he was involved once he sees that price tag.

I haven't gone yet to look at Bridesmaid dresses yet with my girls - but my best friend Liss is getting married this year in July so we've tried on quite a few for her wedding.

The 2 pics that I've attached are dresses by Alfred Angelo that I tried on and look great on just about anyone in the colour Mocha.

One of my bridesmaids in in Australia, Brian's sister is in Thunder Bay and the other 2 are within 2 hours of my place. It's so hard to get everyone together to start hunting down the perfect bridesmaid dress.

Also my niece Ruby will be 4 1/2 at the time of our wedding and my flower girl! I've been telling her one day you'll be Auntie Meggie's flower girl since she was 1 - finally she gets to fulfill her flower girl duties. I've posted a pic of the dress I want to get for her but the dress colour would be Ivory with a Mocha Ribbon.

I really want tea length for the girls but whatever they feel comfortable in - I know most brides always say, "But you can always wear it again!" I'm not one of those brides. I have 3 dresses sitting in a closet that will never see the light of day again.

I'll keep you posted - I think we're going to get everyone together in November for our first fitting!

Here are a few ideas of dresses for my mom, step-mom, mother-in-law and Grandma!

We really should be booking big things - like a photographer, officient etc. but what do I do instead ... find our centerpieces!

I was just doing my grochery shopping at the Superstore when I found the perfect hurricane vase (on sale) and I thought .. hmmm that would look great on our fireplace.

Well I purchased 2 and some clear and greenish/blue rocks with a candle. As soon as I put it together and looked at it I thought it would make a great centerpiece for the wedding!

I called my fiance to tell him the news! - He thinks that a lot of homemade projects look "wacky tacky." Unfortunately he had to work all that weekend and wanted to see it.

We didn't end up going back to the store to purchase 20 more until Monday - I had my first "Bridezilla" moment. I kept picturing that another bride had the same idea as me and bought all the vases!

So we carted back 20 vases and 30 boxes of rocks! The only thing missing is the candle (which I'm sure I can get on sale after X-mas)
Also I'm going to look for some mocha/chocolate brown ribbon to tie in with our main color.

I will upload a pic as soon as my batteries are charged on my camera!

Recently after my fiance proposed, we moved into our new house in Milton, ON.

Because it is a new development we had to go to the post office for mail pickup for the first few weeks. At this point we weren't even planning our wedding because we had so much going on with the move.

My mom and grandma happened to be with me on that day and we decided to look around downtown. We came across a store that carried wedding gowns and had a sign for 50% for off the rack dresses.

Without an appointment and not really anticipating finding my dress we headed in to check things out.

Well within 5 minutes of looking around a certain dress caught my eye ... I must have tried on over 20 dresses but I kept on going back to this dress and when I tried it on it was definately "the one!" It was exactly my size and i'm 5"10 so it was hard to find a dress the right length.

When my grandma had tears in her eyes I knew for sure that I had made the right choice. So we bought it! One thing down and a million to go :)

We're booked!!!

We really wanted the date of September 19th, 2009 because it would be our 6 year anniversary of when we first starting dating.

Do you know how many places already had our date? Crazy ... considering we booked Hockley Valley Resort on February 23rd, 2007.

It is extremely beautiful. Brian and I are getting everything we've both dreamed about. The outdoor ceremony under a tent and a hall that has been remodelled just this year.

Can't wait!!!