the story of us

Materials:

• Card Stock
• Vellum Paper
• Sticker Sheets
• Envelopes
• Paper Cutter
• Printer

Steps:

The Inspiration

So Dennis has had this vision of his perfect tuxedo, but unfortunately it could not be found anywhere.  His ideal tuxedo would look very similar to the one on the left.  It should have a thin shawl collar (to match the width of his skinny tie), a very very slim fit, and satin lapels.

The Hunt

Honestly, we felt that we’ve been EVERWHERE to look for this tux and we were at our wits end.  We were finally at that point when we realized we would have to get it made to measure if Dennis was planning on wearing this to the wedding.

When we went home to Toronto to select the groomsmen attire, we were also in search for an outfit for Dennis.  We stopped at Hugo Boss, Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, Armani, and the list goes on… The salesperson at Harry Rosen in Yorkdale mentioned that they had the exact Dolce & Gabbana suit in a few months ago, but were now all sold out.  And the price wasn’t exactly afforadable…

We were told they could replicate the suit, but it would cost us quite a bit to do so and we’re better off finding something off the rack.  We were also warned that purchasing a suit or having it made in Ottawa would run the risk of it being too bureaucratic and never have the right slim fit feeling.

We came back to Ottawa and yesterday we had made up our minds and decided to go with Holt Renfrew Made to Measure Services.  The guy from Harry Rosen was right; They would never be able to get the fit that Dennis was looking for.  We also found that they couldn’t modify any of the patterns they already had.  The salesperson at Holt Renfrew said “you’re better off going to Montreal, Toronto or New York, because you’re not going to find it here”.

And on a whim, we decided to go to Montreal yesterday…  Apparently Dennis thought New York was way too inconvenient to get to (lol).

The Capture

Okay, it wasn’t an easy capture.  I called up one of Dennis’ groomsmen, Nathan, and asked him if he wanted to take a short trip to Montreal.  He decided he was in, so I looked up some places we could go to.  Actually it ended up only being on place I found called Michel Brisson.  They had two stores in Montreal.  I called the first one and started speaking in English and I got the big hangup.  The second store I decided to ask if they spoke english en francais and then proceeded to ask if they had any shawl collar tuxedos.  The man on the phone said they did and also mentioned they had many other tuxedos as well.

So off we went to Montreal.  Two hours later and we were there.  Unfortunately the man on the phone had made a mistake and they did not have any shawl collared tuxedos.  Actually he had no idea what it was.  But thankfully his superior was honest with us and told us that we’re not going to be able to find it off the rack and we only had one option, to get it custom made.  He made a phone call and got us an appointment with with an very important man named Billy Waxman, from the Waxman Tuxedo House.  Apparently this man was our best hope and possibly our only chance at this tuxedo.  We didn’t know what to expect when we drove up to this place.

The exterior of the shop was in Mahogany Wood with motorcycle in the window.  The interior was like we stepped back into the past.  It was incredible.  This place had been doing formal wear since 1927 and has received numerous awards.  We knew when we finally spoke to Billy, he could make it happen.  This guy pays very close attention to detail.  He also commented that not many people could pull this tux off, but he knew that Dennis could.  Who knew Dennis was edgy and fashion forward? lol.  So now, it’ll be a few more trips to Montreal this year.  Time to use up my Marriott Reward Points!

Like all brides, we all want the perfect body for our wedding day. And I had set out to get this by doing a few things. One: Join Booty Camp Fitness Two: Go to the gym more often Three: Eat more healthy. Okay, so the first time I joined Booty Camp in April, I did two out of the three. And I saw results, but not the results I’ve been looking for. I went down inches, but my weight had stayed the same. I decided to play sports for two months during the summer and back to Booty Camp in August. This time around I wanted to see better results, so I am in the process of changing my diet. So far it’s been working well. I’ve been using my iPhone to count my calories and record my exercises for the day. The other major component was decreasing my sugar intake. I now look at labels and make sure that sugar is NOT one of the first 4-5 ingredients and make sure that there is approx. no more than 4g of sugar per serving. Doing this, I have already seen some pretty great results. I’ve lost 6 pounds since August and I don’t plan on stopping there…

So by joining Booty Camp Fitness, you get a DVD that you can work out with. What they decided to do this year was open it up to new and old recruits to audition for the 2011 DVD. I was very on the fence about doing the audition, but Dennis had pushed me and told me I had nothing to lose. He was right, there was nothing to lose and so much to gain. This is something I would never thought I would be able to do or be a part of, but I booked a time slot, wrote my essay, got a very good friend of mine to take some photos (Thanks Lyn), watched the first 10 mins of the Advanced DVD workout, and then attempted the first 10 minutes of the Advanced workout (did this for a few days straight…). On my lunch break I headed over to audition.

Meeting Sammie Kennedy (creator of Booty Camp) and the rest of the Booty Camp Crew was awesome. They were so down to earth and great to work out with. Mind you, answering questions in front of the camera was very nerve-racking at first, but once we got to the workout all I could do was give it 110%. It was kinda funny, Dennis mentioned that the ladies in the video don’t even look like they break a sweat, and we were deciding whether to tone down my work out, or just work out the way I usually do (intense, lol). I decided I was going to work out the way I usually do, and if that’s what they are looking for, then that’s great. If not, then I may have scared them a bit. lol

I guess it all worked out though. Tonight, Sammie posted the 5 lucky ladies that were chosen to film the 2011 Workout DVD in PUERTO RICO (yes, that’s correct, I said Puerto Freaking Rico). I couldn’t believe it. I looked at Dennis and started to cry. I was in shock for a bit, but now I’m super excited (notice it’s 1:34 am and I’m still not asleep). I just couldn’t believe that I would be chosen or this could happen to me. It was great to hear that Dennis wasn’t too surprised, he mentioned that I work very hard and I deserve this. I just wish he could also come to Puerto Rico with me. I guess we’ll just have to postpone our honeymoon. That’s okay, we’ll have the rest of our lives to be married, so one week should be no problem.

So I guess this gives me more incentive to keep on striving to live a healthier lifestyle. So the wedding’s in February and the trip is in March. No more over eating this holiday season…. December, I’m ready for you this year!

My plan is to complete the invitations this weekend.. Dennis finally decided to call our Priest to confirm the time of our wedding ceremony (yes, we both forgot).  Our incomplete list is looking smaller

Okay, so this one is still a work in progress, but I figured I would show you what it currently looks like and surprise you with the finished product on the day of.

I wanted something that we’d probably use again.  So I went to Ikea to search for Candle Holders.  Here’s what I came up with:

So people shopping at Ikea were wondering what the heck I was doing, but whatever… I knew exactly what I was doing.  Which one do you like?  In either case of the above, the finished product isn’t going to look like that.  Below is a DIY for dressing up the candles themselves.

Here is an example of what you can do with the candle (mind you, I decided I don’t like it, and have already designed a new one):

This is attempt #1 and the only one you’re going to see.  As you can see our names don’t exactly fit when you look at it head on.

I’ve written the steps on how to do this yourself.  This can be a very inexpensive project if you want it to be.  Honestly, it really depends on the candle holders.  I originally wanted crystal, but each piece was going to cost us about $25 or so.  And really?  Do we use candles that often?  Never.  So Ikea was a more cost effective option.

What I have also found, is that vellum paper is only good for white candles.  If you want to use an ivory candle, you’ll either have to choose ivory vellum paper, or try using printable stickers.

Have fun with this!  And it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s a craft.

Materials:

• Large Candle
• 2 Taper Candles
• Ribbon (Optional)
• Candle Holders
• Vellum Paper

Steps:

1. Create a graphic or monogram of what you want on the large candle.
2. Print graphic or monogram onto vellum paper
3. Wrap vellum paper around candle and glue
4. You can add ribbon to accent the candles and even little trinkets.   Do whatever your heart desires!

I can’t believe I didn’t share this.  A few weeks after our engagement, I see this on twitter:

Dennis had contacted Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory to congratulate us. He DMed him and he responded with the above. Point for Dennis. I love him (Dennis.. lol).

If you don’t already watch the Big Bang Theory, you should.  It’s one of our favourite shows.  Friends of ours, Josie (Making our cake) and Tom Wajda  are going to the taping in California.  So excited for them!

So I’ve has this phone for about two weeks now. Honestly, I would never thought I’d own a smartphone. I had always thought they were just way too expensive to pay for monthly. But now I don’t know what I’d do without it.

So here is the only app that I’ve been using thus far:

Wedding Wire

Wedding Wire took it’s online wedding planner and brought it right to our fingertips. This app allows you to track payments, find local vendors and manage your to-do list.

There are four major components to this application.

Countdown
The first screen acts as the title / overview screen that contains a countdown to the number of days till your wedding. In the overview part it has any upcoming payments as well as the number of tasks already completed.

Checklist
The checklist will sync with your online WeddingWire account allowing you to add, edit or delete tasks on the go.

Budget
Keeping payments organized is quick and easy. You can check your budget, track past payments, and manage scheduled payments.

Vendor Search
Their application will find your location automatically and display vendors within your locale. Unfortunately I haven’t found this part of the app very helpful since all he vendors are situated in the US.

Being one of the only free wedding apps out there that is worth downloading, I would definitely recommend it. Mind you, it’s their online portion that awesome, but this allows you to take it on the go. The only downside I’ve seen was that it would freeze or crash a lot. Since I downloaded the app they have pushed down an update to fix that, so it hasn’t been happening as often as it did or even at all for that matter.

Okay, there is one more app that I’ve downloaded and haven’t tried called “Wedding Timeline” by Sevenlogics. From what I’ve seen so far it’s an agenda for the day of our wedding. You can plan both bride and groom and it will track the two timelines side by side. I’m not sure how useful that will be for me the day of. I haven’t decided if my phone will be with me the entire night. Probably not.

Okay, so you’re probably wondering, what the heck is Etsy?

Etsy is a website whose mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Their vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

I’m constantly looking at this website daily trying to find something to purchase. One might say I’m a little addicted…

However, Dennis is very supportive. He loves the idea that we’re supporting independent artists/entrepreneurs, the fact that we’re getting unique items and we’re still staying within budget.

I have this idea that our wedding will be filled with unique handmade items whether they are made by myself or purchased on Etsy. I’m a huge DIYer so this wedding is allowing me to create all these projects for myself. However there are just things I don’t exactly trust myself doing for our wedding, so I’ve left them up to the professionals on Etsy.

What’s great is that you can speak to the seller directly and customize your order.

Below is the current list of purchases made on Etsy as well as the shops they were purchased at.

	Shop: Creative Bridal Solution Purchase: Garter and Throw Garter This was my first Etsy purchase. At the time our wedding colours were black, white and teal, but since then, that has changed. However, this will be my something blue. Notice the damask pattern on the garter.
	Shop: Ardesign Purchase: Bouquets, Corsages, Boutonnieres, Hair Piece This is my most recent purchase on Etsy. I’m not a huge flower fan, but when I saw this bouquet I absolutely fell in love. Instead of the brown we’re doing purple since that’s our new accent colour. I love how this bouquet seems so simple, yet still has that pop of colour. The chinchilla feathers also give this bouquet the modern touch that I’m looking for.
	Shop: alexbridal Purchases: Faux Fur Jackets and Birdcage Veil Since our wedding is in the middle of February, I had purchased the black faux fur shawls for my bridesmaids and the white one for myself. I had also purchased a bird cage veil to try on with my dress since I’m not 100% convinced that I want to wear a traditional veil at the wedding.
	Shop: Teri Huang Purchase: Waist Length Double Tier Veil I love the volume and length of this veil. Actually once it came in the mail, I wore it for hours. I can’t wait to try this on with my dress.

Photos courtesy of their respective shops.

So there is this website that I frequently visit and which also hosted The Great Engagement Shoot Challenge that Dennis and I took part of a few months ago called The Wedding Co.

They have put together The Crane Chandelier Project to build a chandelier from thousands of origami cranes which have come from engaged couples around the world.

Their goal is to collect 10,000 of these peaceful tokens of love by January 2011 when The Wedding Co. will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The final creation will be a visual representation of a worldwide community of engaged and newly married couples.  Each crane will represent one couple’s leap of love, commitment and patience.

For each crane they receive, they will donate ¢50 to The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

So if you haven’t already done so, please do participate.  If you are worried on not knowing how to make a crane, don’t worry, they’ll show you. Or they will send you a pre-made crane that you just need to sign and send back

Photos courtesy of The Wedding Co.

So you think your envelopes are way too plain?  Spruce them up by adding lining to the interior of your envelope flaps.

This is just a preview of our personally designed invitations. I won’t show the contents until after our invitations go out, because that will just ruin the surprise.

You’ll see from the pictures below that there are black and white envelopes, the white one is the exterior envelope and the black one is the interior envelope to keep everything together.

We are using 5.5″ and 6″ square envelopes.  However, this can be done with any type of envelope, but your stencil will need to be created according to the shape of your flap.

Materials:

• Envelope
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Pen
• Stencil
• Decorative Paper

Steps:

1. Choose your paper for the lining (Image 1, we chose our dining room wallpaper which is the inspiration for our wedding theme, I will post something about this later)
2. Create a stencil to hug the interior of the flap.  As you can see in picture two, I created two stencils.  The one on the left is for the black envelope.  The one on the right is for the white envelope.  Since the white envelope is slightly translucent, there was no way for me to create a shorter stencil and only go half way in the envelope like the black stencil.  This one needed to fit the envelope like  glove.  So depending on the colour of your envelope you may be able to get away with a shorter stencil.
3. Outline your stencil onto the lining paper. (See Image 3)
4. Cut out the outlined lining (Image 4)
5. Apply glue onto your cutout lining. (Image 5)
6. Paste the lining into the envelope and ensure it is on straight.
7. Fold your envelope flap