The Countdown Begins

Hello everyone!

So we're 17 days away from the wedding, and nothing new has been posted here in a bit. That is my problem- I apologize. Things are so crazy right now!

I have only received 3 official RSVPs, others have been tentative and verbal, months ago. If people could please email their official RSVPs to theboyeswedding@gmail.com, or phone us and leave a message at the number on the invitation, that would be great.

Please also include your accommodation plans. Most people are not staying the night, but if you plan to, let us know where you are staying (there is a list of hotels in the area here).

Those who still stand to RSVP, we also need to compile a list of what people are bringing to the reception, as it is potluck. If people don't bring anything, there will be a seriously inadequate amount of food, and I imagine that people will want a variety. Please email that with your RSVP, as well as your accomodation plans. Dishes spoken for will be posted as I receive notification. Those who need to be emailed with that information will certainly receive notice. People traveling the farthest distance are being asked to bring the snack foods, bottled drinks, powdered juices, condiments, etc. Anything that doesn't require refridgeration for long periods of time. Some things are good if people have portable coolers, also).

So for those coming from Victoria and the Lower Mainland:
-Veggie trays
-Dips & Spreads
-Chips, Crackers, Rolls and Buns
-Bottles and cans of Pop
-Powdered juices (we have water- they can be mixed at the reception)
-Cold meat trays
-Cheeses
-Tea & Coffee (we also have hot water and a coffee pot)
-Transportable salads
-Canned or jarred foods (fruit, sauces, salsa, olives, jalapenos, etc)

Those coming from the Nanaimo/Comox Valley area:
Primarily seeking entrees. If you're travelling from Nanaimo, cold-served entrees are acceptable, absolutely. Those considering hot entrees, you are welcome to come by the farm the day before the wedding to drop them by the farm. They can be reheated later. We have an oven, a stove and a microwave handy for that. Those that want to prepare them very early the morning of the wedding and drop them by are also welcome to do so. Keep in mind that we will probably be leaving the farm around 11am-12pm to set up the reception site, so I would suggest any time between 8-11am. If you wish to drop by earlier or later, give us a call the day before to arrange it, or before you come by to make sure someone is there.

For Everyone:

• Keep in mind that several of our guests are diabetic, celiac (wheat and gluten intolerant) and have allergies to nuts. We are trying our best to accommodate these people, with sugarless food and drink, things that are nut-free and gluten free. If anyone is unable to accommodate these needs, please label your entrees with those specific ingredients. We don't want to send anyone to the hospital.
  
• The reception is primarily dry. If you cannot enjoy the wedding without spirits, you are welcome to provide your own. However, the reception is not on our property, and we are not equipped to deal with inebriated guests. There will also be children present.

Thank you very much! I love you all, and please keep checking in!

Loose Ends

Hello everyone!

So this morning, I was doing some looking around. Mom has been asking about Wedding Officiants, and she is right, it is time to make a decision about one. John and I were hoping to ask our friend, Roxy, to officiate, as she is licensed to perform Wiccan marriage ceremonies. While neither John or myself are Wiccan (though I used to be one), we were hoping that as a friend who is able to perform marriage ceremonies, she would be willing to do so. We have yet to meet up with her and discuss those details.

In the meantime, I have done some more research. John and I can get our marriage license here in Nanaimo for $50, within 5-7 business days of applying. Coastal Community Insurance (surprisingly) is the place that issues the most licenses here. As for Marriage Commissioners, they are provided through Canada Vital Statistics Agency. I looked online, and there are quite a number in the valley, and some are very local to Mom and Dad. As it appears, the cost of a commissioner is $75+GST, plus all costs associated with travel. We may be forced to go to the marriage commissioner earlier in the day (instead of he or she coming to us) to perform the official civil ceremony, and then have the 'wedding ceremony' later. If that is the case, we will be looking into asking someone special to be the 'wedding officiant'. We have one or two people in mind, particularly one, and we may ask this person in the event that we end up having to be legally married before the wedding.

I have also looked into further information. We would have to register our marriage after the ceremony, and we would be issued an interim marriage certificate, and an official copy would arrive in the mail later. Vital statistics says that I do not have to apply for a legal name change, though I wonder if I am supposed to in order to change my ID. It says that I can choose to use my married surname immediately after the marriage is registered, without a legal name change, and use my birth surname any time I choose. I only have to apply for a legal name change if I use a hyphenate (I wouldn't). Can anyone clarify?

I have a list of marriage commissioners to contact!

Alice In Weddingland

The Bat

Lewis Carroll

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat

How I wonder what you’re at!

Up above the world you fly

Like a tea-tray in the sky.

Why is a Raven like a writing desk?
(Poe wrote on both).

Alright- reality check time. We have a teeny, weeny, teensy tiny budget. After watching The Labyrinth with some friends that are helping to plan the wedding, we were asked to seriously reconsider our theme based on our ability to pull it off without the money at our disposal. Sadly, they're right.

So, after wandering around a bit, and online window shopping, I thought it would be really cool to try an Alice In Wonderland theme. I am making myself a white top hat fascinator with white fabric and pin-on flowers (I have 6 of them) based on this design:

Ivory Mini Top Hat Fascinator by Debenhams; £30.00

I am also on the waiting list for a piece of Alice In Fashionland couture jewellery that is a small bottle that says "Drink Me" on it:

Alice In Fashionland "Drink Me" Pendant
$8.95

John is considering a top hat to go with his tux, since his tux is going to have a longer fitted jacket. I'm going to have to look at a cane for him (but nothing tasteless). I am also looking for a pocketwatch for him. If anyone thinks they have something fitting they can loan, that would be really cool. We're going to sit down tonight and brainstorm, think if anything we haven't committed money to yet can be changed at all. We have a really great, solid idea for our cake that is fun and affordable (same cupcake tree idea, only the topper is a stack of different top hats, one of which is the hatter's, complete with the 10/6 size tag, topped with a teacup full of tea-colored gelatin), and totally works! We also have a couple of croquet sets at our disposal... :D We would be using chess sets as our centerpieces. Ours is plain glass and frosted glass.

There are a lot of really neat Alice In Wonderland-themed things available right now, and I foresee them becoming more available and less expensive as time wears on. If anyone sees anything that might fit, let me know, we'll see if it works. Thanks!

We've been looking around online. This is by no means a new idea, but it's just too fun to pass up!

Alice In Weddingland Inspiration Board

Alice In Wonderland Mosaic Board

-Dollar store travel chess sets at the tables
-Decks of cards at the tables (various card games, like Crib)
-Backyard croquet
-Tea
-Colored ribbon, balloons, lanterns
-Playing card table numbers
-Cookies shaped like Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Playing Cards, Diamonds, Teacups, Teapots, Hats, Rabbits and Mice
-Cookie tray has an "eat me" sign
-Aprons on the flowergirls
-Ushers dressed like Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum
-Poker-themed table cloths?
-Guests use mismatched tea sets with "drink me" tags on the handles
-Bride's bouquet white roses half painted red...
-Finger sandwiches
-Hookah, teapot and chess set centerpieces
-Finger foods: crustless finger sandwiches, grapes, mini-muffins, pretzels, grapes, "Eat Me", "Try Me" and "Take One" decorated cookies

Party Favors & Invitations

That's right-- they're finally on the go. I have 40 party favors and 28 invitations left to finish. It can be pretty tedious, but the finished product is really nice- much better than we expected from an inkjet printer and some scrap-booking supplies.

I used squares of gold tulle and wrapped them around wedding bubbles with crepe paper rope in multiple colors, and gold curling ribbon. I then used gold glitter glue and my fingers to add some sparkle to the outside of the tulle.

The invitations were made with the Once Upon a Time II Stack and some onion paper. We printed the details on the onion paper and the directions on the inside of the scrapbook paper with our Dell All-In-One printer, and used brads to fix the onion paper onto the folded scrapbook paper. I also used dollar store stamps and craft decal butterflies on the outside of the invitations. I've also used HamptonArt clear acrylic block stamps and gold Stampology ink to add borders and accents. The edges of the invitations were all trimmed with a fleur-de-lis edge puncher from EK Success.

There have been so many great ideas online and suggestions from friends. But I found that made it harder, in some respects, to decide what to do, and how to budget. At the end of the day, I decided what I liked that I could afford and formulated my own way to execute it. Handmaking all of my own invitations turned out to be pretty simple, and pretty cheap. I got to use free fonts from the internet that I picked ("Mutlu Ornamental" and "Chopin Script"), and formatted the text and images in OpenOffice Writer. It took a long time, but was more cost-effective than a printer, and higher-quality than box-cards.

As well, I got to make invitations using a variety of paper and folds instead of having to stick to one uniform style. It was pretty great. I mixed the leftover "confetti" from the edge puncher and some gold wedding confetti from the dollar store and put a little bit into each invitation envelope.

Pictures coming soon!

Trendspot! My Wedding Dress in InStyle!

On a whim this week, I picked up InStyle magazine. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan, that wasn't why I bought it. However, I am really into fashion, though I am one to pick and choose pieces I like. I find I often like things before they're popular, or long after they're out of style. I do choose for myself what to and not to wear, but I also love some popular trends. Anyhow, I was curious.

While flipping through the magazine, my jaw nearly dropped when I found my wedding dress listed on page 132 as #34 of InStyle's Style 100. Now, I shouldn't necessarily say that it was the exact same dress. The one in the magazine was a one-of-a-kind, custom-made dress by Burberry Prorsum. However, my dress is a fantastic reproduction of it, by Jasmine B2!

I just thought it was neat, and I wanted to share! :)

While I was looking around on InStyle's website, I found Style Me Pretty, a wedding site that features DIY projects!

Dress Details

The dress deposit is paid for. Thanks, Luz Bridal! I want to give a big thanks to my Bridal Consultant, Kim. She was extremely patient, and really attentive to what I was looking for. The dress I chose was actually one that she suggested. She made it more important for me to find a dress that I would love, that would look great on me, that fit into a truly modest budget. I likely would never have thought of those options without her.

If you ever need a prom or grad dress, or something for a wedding (be it your own, or someone else's) or you just want a nice evening gown, I truly suggest Luz Bridal. Luz is in the store most days, ordering, steaming and tailoring, and she has a staff of truly great women who treat you with great respect and care. Their store is beautiful, with a showroom full of current dresses at fairly reasonable prices. I definitely preferred that over the unaffordable couture dresses offered at the competing bridal stores.

The dress I got was the one from the last blog entry (B2). I was pining over an Exclusive Bridal dress with an empire waist and a grecian cut, but it was far more than I could afford. As it turns out, the part I loved about it was fairly easy to recreate with tailoring and extra fabric. I've ordered 2 extra metres of chiffon with my dress, which will be applied as a second layer over the skirt. It will then be hemmed with an a-line, square cut. A train will also be added with extra fabric, underneath the chiffon, that will snap-in and be removable. So the skirt will look something like this:

I should be expecting the dress sometime around March, when it will then be tailored. The hem is being modified, and some beading around the bust is being added. The nice thing is that this dress will come at a price tag under $400 CDN, after tax.

Another entry will be following soon. I've been looking around at different hairstyles, and shoes. My current accessories are pin-in white flowers with crystal accents, and a magnolia pendant necklace with pearl accents.

We Have Dress!

...well, almost.


First order of business is as follows:
The wedding is on June 26th, 2010, at Filberg Lodge, and will start at approximately 2pm. Invitations with final, solid details will be mailed as soon as possible, so the time may change, but the date won't. The following reception is about a 20 minute drive to Black Creek at the Boyes' property, Baerental. The reception itself is running until 10 or 11, before moving outside so the in-laws can sleep. We will then be having a bonfire/campout for anyone who decides to stay. I expect most people will be driving home or staying in a hotel.

Now, back to the dress. It finally came down to making a real decision, because on average, it takes 4-6 months for a bridal shop to order in your dress. Our wedding is in just over 7 months. That gave us roughly 30 days to make up our minds, and come up with the 50% downpayment. We could have hoped we'd find a pattern we liked and have one made in that time frame, but ultimately, the crunch was coming down, and I was getting pretty frustrated. Now, we went to a place called Luz Bridal Boutique, which we've been past several times and never had time to go in and take a look at.

We went in and were helped quite efficiently by Kim. She let me pick out 2 or 3 dresses that I liked and used that as a starting point to suggest others that she thought I might like. I found a few that I liked, one that I loved, and then we got realistic. The prices at Luz's were a lot more reasonable, but at even half the price of the Maggie Sottero dress, I was still biting my nails. The dress I loved was A $630 Venus dress, with a long, flowy skirt. What we're going with is about $400 cheaper than that, and it isn't even really a wedding dress. It's a bridesmaid's dress.

John and I recently saw My Best Friend's Girl, which I've seen before. I remember really loving the dress that Kate Hudson wore, which is this Amsale dress, in Cranberry. It was long, and flowy, even with sleeves, they were off-the-shoulder, which gave the illusion of a strapless, and it was long enough that when she moved, it had a lot of flattering movement and a slight train. It was a showstopper. I remember considering the design when I first saw the movie, and then forgot all about it. Anyhow, today, Kim found me a dress that was very similar!

It's the Jasmine B2#08 dress. It isn't a "wedding dress" per se, but it is a within our budget, and in white, nobody would be the wiser. We're looking at adding embellishments to it. I have some white lilly hairpins with rhinestone accents in them to put in my hair.

We are returning tomorrow to pay off the first half. I am very excited! Things are really starting to come together!!