This is soontobeamrs's Pink Wedding!

The majority of our wedding will be in black and white. Our bouquets, however, will definitely be blush pink. I've been looking at all kinds of flowers and styles, but I keep going back to a big, round boquet of roses. They are so classic!

Here are some dresses I'm loving. My favourite is the black-with-white-polka-dot dress, too cute, but I'm not sure how "bridesmaidy" it is. I'm really lucking out, the dresses I (and my girls) like best tend to be the cheapest. Sears Canada has several very cute dresses that fit my theme perfectly, and all are under $100!!
However, I'm not sure when I should order them, I really like the polka-dot dress, but I am concerned it may be a bit too early. MY MOH is trying for a baby, and who knows what shape she will be by next summer (she could be very pregnant by then!). But, I'm worried if we wait, I wont be able to find a dress I like. Decisions, Decisions! Buy the perfect dress now, or wait and take our chances?

Being the indecisive person I am, I have changed my wedding colours, again. This was my original colour scheme, but it only lasted 1-2 weeks before I chose pink and green instead.

So, I'm positive that this will be my colours from now on. Black and white, with a touch of blush pink. I love a vintage, romantic, Marilyn Munro-type style. Black cocktail BM dresses, blush pink bouquets, and lots of glitz.

I better hurry up and go buy something for my wedding in these colours so I can't change my mind again!!

I went for my first trip searching for a wedding dress on Monday!After trying on tons of dresses, I fell in love with 2 or 3.

I'm really loving the Maggie Sottero Fiorenza dress (the red dress). I tried it on in ivory, but I think I would want it in white. It is just gorgous, the picture really doesn't do it justice. When I saw it on the hanger, I wasn't even going to try it on, but once I put it on, I just LOVED it. The back view is particularly beautiful!

My second favourite is the Da Vinci dress. It is soo pouffy, has tons of tulle. I really like the detail on the top. However, when I had it on, I had a feeling like it looked a little 'prom'. Im not sure, my sister agreed with me, my mom and the consultant didn't.

My third favourite is the last picture. It is not a Suzanne Neville dress, but it is identical. I'm not sure who the designer was. As with the Da Vinci dress, the detail in the top was beautiful. I'm a little worried it might be a bit too 'plain' for me, however. As gorgous as it is, its not a 'show stopper' like the first two.

That was definitely not the only trip though. I could seriously make a hobby of wedding dress shopping.... too much fun!

This weekend we also booked our DJ. He is amazing; young, current, and also a long time friend of my fiance. We knew from the begining we only wanted him. Since the ceremony location does not need to be booked, and our reception venue had a lot of dates to choose from, we were pretty much putting our wedding date in the DJ's hands. If he was not available on our first choice date (July 25th), we were willing to change to a date he was available. Luckily for us, one of the few dates he had left was our date!
So another thing to cross of our list!! And it's official, July 25th 2009 is our wedding date!! Woohoo!!

So this weekend we have made quite some progress!
We booked our reception venue. We were leaning towards a nice museum (see post below for description) but we would have had to cut our guest list. We thought we would be able to easily enough, but after sitting down and looking over our lists, it wasn't happening. So, scratch that idea!
We settled on our hometown community centre. It is very large (seats up to 350 comfortably), has nice hardwood floors, white walls, plenty of parking and great kitchen, bar and washroom facilities. We are in charge of the bar (hiring bartenders, obtaining a liquor licence, buying the alcohol, etc) which we really like since we can serve what we please (helloo signature drink!!!). We don't have a choice with our catering company, one particular company does the catering for this venue, but we are ok with that. We have been to a few weddings catered by them before, the food is excellent.
Woohoo, another thing to cross off the never-ending list!

So this is my first attempt at an inspiration board. I was loving this colour scheme right up until this morning. I don’t know why I even do it, but I was looking at other bride’s colours on this website, and now I’m really liking a softer pink, more cream and very little, if any, green. More of a blush pink and cream, very soft and romantic. So, for now, I’ll say this is my colours, but it may change very soon!

I'd like a mainly pink bouquet for me, with a bit of green and cream. The bridesmaids can carry a very similar bouquet (same flowers) but mainly green or cream, with a bit of pink. Their dresses will be pink, so I didnt want much (if any) pink in their bouquets.
I really like the look of gerbera daisies, hydrangeas, sweet peas and roses. I'm not sure how well each will hold up in a bouquet all day long, however.

Ugh! I just wrote a nice long post, saved it then went back to proof read it - it was all good. I come back a little while later, and it had dissappeared!?! So this is attempt #2.

This week we started the stressful project of looking for a reception hall. I didnt realize it would be so difficult.

Wedding Venue Option #1 is our hometown community center. It holds upwards of 300 people, and is fairly plain (hardwood floors and white walls). The fee is around $600, but one particular catering company has dibbs, so we have to go with them (we cant bring in any other company). I have been to several weddings there before, the food is good, just a little on the plain side (think Thanksgiving dinner - Turkey / Roast Beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc). It is convienent for us and my fiance's family since we all live in this town, but not so convienent for the OOT guests, the closest decent hotel is 30mins away, and cabfare is upwards of $60 one way. Plus, the ceremony location is 30mins away.

Wedding Venue Option #2 is a large attractive reception facility in a larger town 15 mins away from the ceremony location (the town with the decent hotels). It is fairly plain as well, but is laid out nicer and is larger then option #1. The fee is $900, and we can bring in whichever catering company we choose. The only negative is that they are almost all booked up, the only date still open is July 4th (also my brothers birthday). We are lucky that we can be flexible with the date, since the ceremony location doesnt need to be booked (aunt's private property), but we were hoping for later in July or even early August.

Wedding Venue Option #3 is a museum. They have a reception hall that can accomodate up to 140 people, plus an outdoor courtyard with a large tent,stage and a patio leading the indoor hall outside. The fee is $450 and we can bring in whichever catering company we choose. The date we had originally wanted (July 25) is already booked, but almost every other Saturday in July and August are free. The only negative is that our gueslist was up around 170 people, so we would have to cut back a bit. It is 20mins away from the ceremony location, and about 5mins away from the decent hotels.

The man from Option #1 is not calling us back, even though we have left 2 messages already. Im a little hestitant to go with some place with poor customer service...
Option #2 seems ok, except that we are not loving the date.
We are going to see Option #3 early next week. Hopefully it looks as nice as it sounds! The picture to the left is the front of option #3. Living in such a small town with no large cities near-by really limits our options. Hopefully one of these three places works out...

*Fingers crossed that this post works this time!*

I have to say, I am quite (happily) surprised at how involved my fiance is in the wedding planning. I always assumed the wedding would mainly be my responsibility, I could choose and plan to my liking.
However, my fiance has expressed a lot of interest so far, giving input and suggestions. He has said he would like the wedding planning and projects to be shared 50/50. I'm more than happy with that, since we are thinking along the same lines in regards to ideas, themes, colours, etc., anyways. Well, so far, at least ;)

Im just wondering, how involved are everyone else's fiances? A lot of my girlfriends pretty much had a free rein when it came to planning the wedding. Are you doing most of the planning, or sharing 50/50? Are you happy with the amount of help you have, wish you had more help, or wish you had more freedom/control?

I've been looking around at flower girl dresses all morning. My fiance's two neices, who will be 6 and 5 at the time of our wedding, will both be flower girls.
The style of their dress will depend on the bridesmaid's dresses. But, these are some ideas I'm leaning towards. I also like the idea of a flower crown for their head (or, at least a few flowers in their updo), so I could do that with a more simple style. They are all soo cute!

The pillow the ring bearer will carry will be custom made. My aunt has made them for all of her neices and nephews, so naturally, mine will be made, too. I'd like something different, bright pink or green pattern. Our initials and the wedding date will be sewn into the pillow. I'll post pictures when I eventually get mine. It wont be for a long time yet, however!!

So I met with my dress maker today (and also my aunt), and after listening to my ideas, this is what she suggested. I love love love it. It is so delicate (the skirt reminds me of cotton candy!) But, I'm still going to be trying on many different styles over the next several weeks to see what they look like on. She said she will start making it in the new year, so I have some time to decide ;)

I have sort of narrowed it down to a short dress, like in the pictures. I like the look of a pink dress, but if they wear a green dress, there is more variety of what kind of pink bouquet they have. I want them to be happy with it, so ultimately the decision is up to them (but they all have to match!).

These are the styles I like. Next week I will start looking around. My aunt, who is an amazing dress maker, has offered to make my dress for me. I will still go try on a bunch of styles beforehand, though, to get an idea of what they look like on me.
The second picture is the dress I'm leaning towards, and *bonus* I can dye my crinoline bright pink!!

Ok, so I am in love with this idea. If you notice in the picture, the tablecloths are different. I would love to have a few different types of patterend tablecloths, all in the same shades of pink. Even my fiance liked this idea! Our chair's will have white slip covers, and our theme is a bit more of a relaxed, casual wedding.

So what does everything think? Is this cute or tacky?

We are so lucky to have such an amazing spot to get married. My aunt has a private beach on her rural property. Her house is at road level, and a quick walk down a hill (which has been made into a gravel road/walk way) leads to a very private beach. Its just gorgous down there - a large flat area over-looking the river. On the other side of the river is just bush, and because it is downhill, traffic noise is not an issue.
We will rent white garden chairs for the guests and place them all looking towards the river. I'd like to have a garden arch built (like in the picture) to stand under. I'll post actual pictures of the area when I go visit next time. I'm sure my description isn't doing it justice!
Anywho, that is the first definite plan we have made so far! Only a gazillion more to go!

So this is the ring! I gave him a bit of guidance on the style I liked ;)

Sorry the picture is so dark, it was hard to get a good picture without the flash.

I get to start wedding planning!

B and I have been together for almost 6 years, and as much as we talked about getting married, the proposal just didnt seem to be happening. Well, he surprised me on March 29 with the most gorguous ring, so its official! I can actually look at wedding websites with a purpose now!