Holiday Sandwich

So here it is, November 28th...about a week after Thanksgiving (US version) and less than a month until Christmas. We're sandwiched between the holidays - anyone beginning to feel squooshed yet?

I've been thinking more about the holidays than wedding planning to be honest. I did manage to do a first draft of our wedding workbook so it's been floating in my mind behind the scenes so to speak. I did find a new bridal salon in town (Philadelphia) that I'll have to check out. A few weeks ago Valerie and I walked into a very chi-chi bridal salon near our home and they had six, yes SIX wedding dresses on display. WHAT? I had to laugh since I'm will most likely buy my gown on ebay, where I can choose from about oh, 6,000 or so.

I've picked up my camera again and have found my love for photography once more. I've been taking at least one picture a day for a couple weeks now and posting them on my photoblog. If you would like to take a look, the link is http://photoblog.com/greeneyedgirl .

I'm going to hang out in one of the parks for a bit on Saturdays where people usually get their wedding photos taken. I thought that it would be a good way to see some of the photo techniques wedding photographers use (my alterior motive), and possibly get to practice a little myself. After what I hope is the last round of leaf raking...

~geminibride~

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The Florist

I had my first meeting with a florist this weekend. I took my mum. She is an avid gardener and knows a whole heck of a lot more about flowers than I do.

The florist was great and welcoming and made us feel cozy about being there. Not to mention the store smelled heavenly like Spring in the midst of the slush and snow outside. I had only a very basic idea of what I wanted. I’m very open to suggestion and flexible about the flowers. Turns out the one thing on my “I would really like to have…” list is actually one that’s difficult to guarantee! Of course! But I’m told as long as I promise not to burst into tears if the weather/ growing season decides it doesn’t want fit into the Master Wedding Schedule that Susan is making for us, it’s okay. There’s plenty of similar substitutes. Like I said, I like to think I’m a pretty flexible person. I can deal with that (Cut to: June 1st and bloggerbride having a Bridezilla Breakdown over her flowers) hehehe.

My mum was thrilled to discover that she won’t have to set it all up and then move it from the church to the reception. I think she assumed she was going to be the “runner” for the whole day! I hope she can let everyone else deal with it so she can actual ENJOY herself.

We went through absolutely every flower we would need for the day from the bridal parties bouquets to the single stems in the centerpiece I have designed (in my head). We poured over photos galore and it really got my mum and I excited. It feels like with every new meeting and new vendor the wedding becomes a little bit more real.

The florist turned the quote around super quick. Now we have to digest the information and decide if it’s right for us.

~bb~

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Meet....ME!

Hello everyone. I just thought I'd write a short (or not so short...we'll see) introduction as I will be making appearances on this blog in the next little while. As susan menioned, I am getting married April 26th 2008. So today marks "5 months minus 2 days" in the countdown.

The thing that is most scary to me is that with all this focus on Christmas in the coming month, and my brother and his girlfriend expecting a baby at the end of January (they are our best man and Maid of honour), I have a feeling that after the baby arrives, everyone's going to go "Wait a minute... only 3 months until the wedding!!!" and we will run around like chickens with our heads cut off.

When that happens, (yes WHEN, not if) I will try to take time from my busy headless poultry dashing to try to document it so that at least someone gets some enjoyment out of it (The word's "Schadenfreude"... be sure to look it up. It will be a common theme on my entries Im sure. And Im also impressed with myself that I spelled it right the first time. Yay! I get a cookie!)

Hmmm...what else should you know about me?....Oh. I love brackets! (the punctuation kind, not the hardware. Although Im sure you noticed). I guess its a sign that I love sharing details about things. Susan asked me to fill out some fill in the blank introductory questions for my profile. I had a hard time deciding the "I am passionate about..." one. Maybe I should have said Im passionate about brackets and the PROPER use thereof.

You know, this post is very indicative of what's going on with me. Notice Im avoiding all wedding details and such? Yup, that's me right now. I'm all weddinged out. From consulting with others, it seems that such a phase its quite common around the 5-6 month-to-go mark. Good thing for you is Im kinda coming out of it so Im sure I'll actually post once in awhile!

Anyway, back to introductory things, I met my Fiance in the summer of 2000 when we worked together at a summer job. He's now a long haul truckdriver which brings a whole set of challenges in itself. We have two cats and a dog (One of my cats, Omiya, sitting on my wrists and rubbing her head on the keyboard so I think she's trying to say hi to you). I spent a year teaching English in Japan which is important to know for a few reasons, but most of all, our wedding is asian themed despite the fact that neither of us are of asian decent.

Anyway, I wont take up anymore of your time for now. But thanks for reading and I hope you will enjoy my point of view on this whole wedding planning journey.

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Welcome!

I'm happy to welcome two more authors to the team! kd_2b_kk will be celebrating her nuptials in April of 2008 so I'm sure she'll have plenty to talk about ;)

Also, coming soon will be a lovely lady I had the pleasure of working with earlier this year. We're keeping her identity hidden until she's decided on her moniker ... stay tuned :)

Welcome ladies!!!

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Cold Snap!

It’s almost December. Eek! The summer and fall have flown by at an earth-shattering speed for me this year. Looking back on that and as I’m awaiting the professional pictures from some events organized by Moments That Shine in the past few months, I thought I would pop up some pictures and descriptions on a few favourites. Stay tuned in the coming days for these tidbits!

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Thinking of Engagement Photos?

Something that has been incredibly popular in years past is engagement photos (and that may not slow down!). I’ve answered many clients as to whether or not I thought they should go ahead with a session so I thought I’d jot down what happened with my husband and I in hopes of helping you.

Years ago when we were engaged, we balked at the idea early on. In fact, I knew of no other couple that had gone out of their way to get these photos done by a professional. If any friends or family bothered they had asked a non-professional who had a good eye to take a few pics of them. My husband and I didn’t even bother with that. The photo we decided to display at our wedding came from our first vacation in Nova Scotia. We had pulled into some viewpoint along the Cabot Trail, put the digital camera on a tripod, steadied it on the hood of the car and there you have it! We lucked out though … it managed to stay straight and not lean.

Our wedding pictures are amazing. We look at them more than normal people should (okay, I look at them) and subject everyone we know to taking a peek at the album. But to be honest, something was missing. We have plenty of vacation photos, silly shots from parties, pictures with friends … but nothing professional with just the two of us. Sure my husband looks great in a tux but I’d love to stare at a great photo where he’s more himself. Just as I was coming to that realization, I had the opportunity to help a friend out. I asked Bernard if he was interested and off we went! We now have professional photos showing what we look like on a regular day!

So what do I tell clients when they ask whether or not they should? I start by telling them of my story and my regrets. Then I follow it up with posing the question, “what better time to see if you and your photographer are going to click (pun intended) at the wedding?!”. Many photographers offer the service free of charge (or for a nominal fee) when you’re booking with them for the wedding. My personal view is why not take advantage of it? They can definitely be taken later as my husband and I found out but if it’s there, go for it. Just remember these things …
Have fun, show your personalities and bring a costume change or two … you’ll be amazed at how different the pictures will look with different outfits.

Just to give you the giggles, here are a few outtakes from our session. Thanks so much to Kristina at SugarTree … we love them!!!!!!!!!

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First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage ......

I was overjoyed to receive an email from former clients this morning announcing the birth of their perfectly healthy baby boy! William Zander was born last week in Toronto and "Mother, Baby and Dad are fine but tired"


Mira and Lawrence are the proud parents and I couldn't be happier for them. All the best to the new family!!!

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Mirror, mirror, on the wall ...

I’m not sure if it’s the ‘sudden’ change in the weather that has made me feel less energetic or if it is just daunting to think of things to write about almost every day. I do know topics are becoming tricky right now. I was going to wait for one of the guest authors to pick up my slack and make things interesting in here … but I thought I’d be a good leader ;)

As I write this there are 35 days, 3 hours and 21 minutes until Christmas. Wow. That was a collective groan if I ever heard one through cyber space! Because of that statistic I was going to write about holiday events. The only problem is that made me groan, too. I haven’t done an ounce of Christmas shopping yet so I don’t need to be reminded. Instead I thought I would poke around event and wedding trends for 2008. Looking forward will help get me through this gloomy and blustery evening.

May I please begin by breathing a huge sigh of relief at the new colours for 2008? Please know I mean absolutely no harm to any of my friends, family or clients who have used it or will be using it but I’m here to tell you pink and chocolate brown are outta here! Yes, I realize how ironic that is since the Moments That Shine colours are exactly that … but I thought of my company branding years ago :P Needless to say, between looking at my letterhead every day and seeing many a rosy and chocolaty wedding in the past year, I’m welcoming the change with open arms. Oh yeah. I suppose I should actually say what the colours are! Purple is going to be huge in every shade, gray is the new brown (which was the new black) and green is important not only environmentally but on the palette as well. Think jewel tones for everything and you’ll be keeping up with the Joneses. I’m really excited to hear in with the bold and out with the pale!

As far as attire goes, reach back, baby! Vintage and Hollywood glamour are in. Halter and plunging necklines, antique laces, satin ribbons (with a splash of colour for good measure), sexy shoes and chandelier earrings are all being snatched up. Don’t feel you have to go all out with this though. Hopefully a recent bride of mine won’t mind me using her as an example … what she did to her dress by adding a splash of colour and some bling was exactly what’s going to be emulated by tonnes of women next year … she’s so ahead of her times …



Invitations are playing a bigger role in the event as a whole. We all know the invitation is what sets the tone and next year people will be making them count. Letterpress is getting even hotter but for those who may not be able to afford that, personalization is the way to go. Be different than everyone else, put some thought into the design and go for something that screams y-o-u!



Personalization will be big in all areas of events. Rather than monograms, couples are opting to have their own logo made. You can do this and echo it all throughout your day. If you have family heirlooms, incorporate them somehow … this might even be a family recipe that you want to share with your friends (it’s amazing how much guests will gush over a homemade chocolate chip cookie). Bring in things you love even if they’re not-so-new.

Finally, think outside of the box. You don’t have to have a banquet hall dinner with round tables. People are opting for the more sheik square look with unbalanced numbers, cocktail-style receptions and live music. Guest lists are smaller than they used to be which (hopefully) frees up a bit of money for people to spend on focal points and details.

There are no rules and it looks like that’s really being embraced now!

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Makeup in Motion Packages

In case you haven't been to the site, here is some background on our services!

Bridal Packages

Choose Which Package Is Best For You!

Just Makeup Package
Makeup at your venue of choice on the day of the wedding
$35 per person
**In-studio pre-trial option $25 per person**

Wedding Survival Package
Pre-trial
Wedding Day Makeup
Lipstick
Lipliner
Dual Powder
Blush
Retractable Blush Brush
$119 per person

Deluxe Bridal Bundle
Eyebrow Re-shape
Exfoliating & Hydrating Facial
Pre-trial Makeup
Wedding Day Makeup
Lipstick
Lipliner
Dual Powder
Blush
Retractable Blush Brush
$159 per person

Skin and Makeup Package
3 Facials
3 Makeup Applications
Wedding Day Makeup
15% off all Wink Cosmetics
$219 per person

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Proposal #2 From A Reader

Here's another wonderful story received ...

Great things happen when you play Scrabble!!

Thanksgiving weekend.... Saturday night, while camping at Silent Lake, Chris and I were playing a game of Scrabble (while it rained cats and dogs outside of our dining tent). At the end of the game, Chris said he still had 1 more word to play, and with the game already being over, I agreed to let him play it (just to humour him). He played the word "Ring" and I clapped politely on the good play, and when I looked up, he was holding a ring box in his hand. I began to cry and obviously said yes :)

It didn't go down as he had hoped. He had originally wanted to take me on a canoe ride and propose to me on this little island that's located in the middle of the lake (Silent Lake Provincial Park is "our" park). Unfortunately, the weather didn't agree w/ his plan, as it rained from the moment we woke up, until we went to bed. While playing Scrabble however, he noticed the opportunity to spell "RING" and thought it was too good to be true, and obviously far too good to pass up :) So he took the opportunity, and proposed!

In my opinion, something "planned" couldn't have gone any better :) It was the perfect proposal!

As an aside, looking back at the photo, we noticed that the word "RING" was played between the words "GREAT" and "GIFT". Obviously, it was meant to be!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kelly & Chris, Mississauga, On




Thanks so much!!! :)

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I love the night life ....

Most of my good friends know that there are a few things in life that I’m a little too passionate about. I listed in my profile that hockey is one of them but I didn’t mention another that may actually trump that … music. I’ve been a ‘music person’ since I was little and I’m happy to say that hasn’t changed in my adult life at all. In fact music surrounds me in business, as well. Music actually surrounds this website … it’s in my company name, the headers for all sections on the sidebar … it even creeps out in a title every once in a while.
When choosing the music for an event thought should really go in to it whether you like to don dancing shoes or not. Choosing a play list was one of the first things my husband and I did for our wedding but from years of helping couples, I know we were a bit of a rarity. When clients ask me for help now, I will certainly do what I can but I sincerely don’t like to interfere with exact songs. I’ve noticed a bit of a trend lately in that couples are either cutting the dancing out of the reception completely or they’re only dancing to a few songs and then closing the dance floor … cocktail receptions are very popular! If you do this though, please still think about the mood you want portrayed via tunes. If you’re going to have a first dance, think about what song makes the both of you get that tingly feeling … think about lyrics that might make sense to the two of you … think of what makes you happy! You don’t have to have ‘our song’ … in fact even if you do, that wouldn’t have to be your first dance. There are no necessary rules to the music you choose but it should reflect you in some way. If you have quirky personalities, classical music may not be the best choice. If you’re both straight-laced individuals, you may want to steer away from poppy show tunes. You get the picture. And remember … if you need help, ask for it! Rather than consulting those ‘top 50 wedding songs’ lists (some are okay but many you find online are out-dated) ask your DJ, bandleader, event planner and/or friends … if your friends are anything like me, it would be a dream to help out ;)

I should put my money where my mouth is, shouldn’t I? I’ll finish this entry with a list of my favourites that would be great for a wedding (I've tried to get samples of all songs) … remember, they don’t have to have a specific tempo … if you want to do the jive, do the jive!

.: Susan’s Current Favourites :.

At Last - Serena Ryder (rather than the Etta James version)

Bubbly (sample on the left … this is my prediction for the big first dance song in years to come) - Colbie Caillat

Come Away With Me – Norah Jones

Come Summertime – Justin Rutledge

Dark Angel – Blue Rodeo

Hiding Place - Serena Ryder

I Will Love You For Miles - Danny Michel

Is It You – Blue Rodeo

Paper Cup (don’t mind the video) – Heather Nova

The Ring – Sarah Harmer

Running – No Doubt or Danny Michel (scroll down to the Valhalla medley)

Skyway Bridge (click on artist/releases and a menu will pop up with names … this track should automatically play) – Melissa McClelland

Storybook Love – Willy DeVille

Take My Hand (really don’t pay attention to this video) - Dido

Trouble in the Fields – Nanci Griffith or Sarah Harmer

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The Twins Emerge....

First, I want to say how grateful I am to Susan to give me the opportunity to blog on her site.

So, what am I going to write about? Here's the short version (ready....?) We are planning our same sex wedding to be held in May of 2009 in New Jersey (a.k.a. Southern Canada).

I'm going to be buying everything for our wedding on Ebay or similar sites. Yes, everything. I'll also be putting together a typical budget for the items that I'm planning on purchasing - retail vs. auction. Oooh, shopping and bargain hunting for a wedding, what could be better?

Since this will be my second wedding -- I planned my straight wedding ages ago before I knew better (way back in the 80's!), and now my same sex wedding, I'll post my experiences of both and the differences, if any, in the way we are treated as a same sex couple making wedding plans vs. a straight couple. I may even have a weak moment and post a picture or two from the wedding where Big Hair ruled in the land of Bon Jovi...and the icing on THAT cake - I was a Hair Stylist back then!!!

Boy, are you in for a treat.

Here's a bit about me...
I'm extroverted, dry witted, creative, love meeting new people and learning about them, passionate, strong-willed...

My favourite song: Dancing in the Moonlight – King Harvest (what a dork!)

One food I'd arm wrestle for: Dark Chocolate anything from Naked Chocolate Cafe.

Something I'm extremely passionate about: Marriage Equality

If I were a movie character I would be: Louise (Thelma and Louise) or Kate Hepburn

Something that scares the bejeezus out of me: George Bush, Dick Cheyney, et al., Global Warming.

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Real Proposal from a Reader ...

I started to get suspicious... Dan and I were planning a trip to Vancouver to visit his dad. A month or two in advance I said it would be nice if we stayed downtown for a few days before travelling to the sunshine coast. He thought this was a great idea and said that he would plan our night out on the Saturday... fast forward a couple of weeks. I ask what are we doing on the Saturday, he replies "It's a surprise"... hmmm that got me thinking. Dan never does surprises. Later the same week he starts complaining about how broke he is.... hhmmm again I start to wonder, could this really be happening? and then finally, while I am searching for my passport in our bedroom, I come across a gem appraisal. Oh my god! I can't believe this is happening. I start to wonder how it's going to happen, what does he have planned, is it really going to happen in Vancouver? or is he going to randomly pop the question. My minds races for weeks on end! We arrive in Vancouver on the Friday and I start to think I've made the whole thing up in my head... that everything just happens to be a coincidence and it's not actually happening. I even think the maybe the gem appraisal wasn't really a gem appraisal!

Friday night we meet up with some friends and go to a japanese restaurant for dinner. We're on vacation, we're having fun and out comes the sake. I don't know how much I drank but by the time we left dinner at 10pm I was pretty tipsy, we then went on to another bar to meet some more friends and have some drinks. By the end of the night... I was completely smashed.

I wake up on Saturday morning and I am not well. Dan goes to Tim Hortons and gets breakfast, I can't eat it. I feel so terrible because I don't want to ruin our vacation... I drag myself out of bed and we go sight seeing. For dinner, Dan made reservations at a super nice restaurant located right on the ocean... we get all dressed up and go out. Just before we are about to leave, I'm not sure I can go, I tell Dan I don't feel well at all. After laying down a bit longer, I drag myself out the door and we arrive at the restaurant. I still can't eat. The waiters look at me funny as all I have is bread and a few bites of a side salad. And then thank god for gravol. I brought some along just in case, I didn't want to feel groggy but anything was better than the way I felt at dinner. So I popped my pill and about an hour later I was feeling pretty good. We walked over to Stanley park and Dan started acting weird, we kept walking around in circles and he kept looking for something. We even sat down on a bench for awhile. About 15 minutes later we saw it... A horse and carriage ride just for us. It was a gorgeous night, brisk but blue bird sky and sunshine (rare in Vancouver!) We toured around the sea wall and I noticed that Dan was more touchy feely than usual... holding me close. I thought maybe this isn't actually happening, maybe he is going to postpone the engagement because I've been so sick today. At one point the driver says the horse wants to take a break and have a drink of water. So we walk down by the water overlooking the lions gate bride and sit on a bench, within a few minutes, Dan was on his knee telling me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Of course I accepted! We get back to the carriage and there was champagne and two wine glasses for us to celebrate. We called our parents from the park and headed to the jazz bar at our hotel, where they played the most amazing music. It was definitely a night to remember.

Thanks for reading!

Allison

Thanks so much, Allison!!!

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Cross-Country Proposal

To kick off the ‘Engagement Series’, I thought I’d relive the wonderful memories back from when my husband surprised me … I didn’t think it would be so difficult to remember those little details though! Here goes nothing …

I have to give a bit of background information about myself to set the story just right. As some of you may or may not know, I’m a born-and-raised B.C. girl. I grew up in & around Victoria but in my early adult years, I visited Vancouver a lot. So much so that it became a bit of a second home. I think it was because of my complete obsession with the Canucks and going to Blue Rodeo concerts but one never knows for sure. Anyhow, I can’t recall when it was but at some point a family member asked me to housesit for them while they went on vacation. That was my first time absolutely alone in Vancouver and I loved it. I used to take walks around Ladner (where I was staying) and other days I would take the Skytrain into the city. Many days I wound up at Canada Place where I would sit outside and watch the water planes going by while listening to music. It quickly became my favourite spot to get away to.

Fast-forward about ten years.

Somewhere between my days in B.C. and working for a fast-paced company in Toronto, I met a great guy, fell in love and moved in with him - from B.C. to Ontario - within four months of knowing him. I love my mom for being so cool about that but if I have a daughter one day there’s no way in hell I’d let her do what I did. That’s a whole other story though.

While working for this company, I was lucky enough to do a lot of cross-Canada traveling while organizing board meetings and parties … imagine my delight when one of the meetings was going to be in Vancouver. Free trip home … woohoo! Bernard bought a ticket on the same flight and came along with me so we could do some visiting with my mom and younger brother.

The day before my mom and brother came over from Victoria (at least I think it was then … I’m the first to admit I’m horrible with dates) Bernard and I were able to have a bit of free time. I honestly can’t remember what was going on before this (I think I was consumed with work) but we ended up taking a walk from the downtown Fairmount down to the waterfront. Bernard was so sweet as we were walking … he would only let me on the inside of the sidewalk … I thought it was because he was being his usual chivalrous self. I found out later that it was because the ring was in one of his pockets on the left … so I had to stay on the right.
We wound up walking up to Canada Place … not totally unusual because it really has the best view around. We found a seat and just enjoyed the scenery. Then all of a sudden it happened. Bernard is down on one knee and saying what I’m sure were beautiful words. I hate to admit this here but I honestly didn’t hear the all the words … I just saw the ring and kept thinking in my head, “he’s proposing, he’s proposing!” I did hear the question though. Apparently I was still in my own world or crying or something because Bernard’s next words were, “I’m sorry … I’m going to need verbal confirmation on this one.” That’s when I managed to squeak out a ‘yes’. I don’t think it was then but he told me at some point that I gave up a lot to move away and be with him (which is ridiculous, really) so he wanted to propose in my favourite place in the world. He had be planning this for months.
The walk back was so peaceful and seemed to go on and on. I wouldn’t have really noticed how long we had been walking for except for the fact that we were both starving. We missed dinner and were looking for a restaurant that was open in the area. Why we couldn’t find one is beyond me but it happened soon enough. We found an amazing little Italian spot that will hold a special place in our hearts for obvious reasons.
The rest of the night was spent looking at each other with loving eyes, giggling, holding hands … almost acting like teenagers ☺

So that’s the proposal. There’s more though.
The ring. My insanely beautiful and perfect ring.
Bernard doesn’t do anything halfway. He knew exactly what I was looking for in a ring and made it happen. I was almost obsessive about not wanting my ring to have claws (I’ve heard too many stories of the gem falling out) and the design had to be ‘me’. Bernard, unbeknownst to me, found a jeweler and worked with her to design something for me. They were going back and forth with sketches and finally a wax mold. When he was going to the shop, he would tell me he was ‘stuck in traffic’ and various other excuses. I bought it. The end result is perfect.


The real story about the ring was getting it from Toronto to Vancouver. I went through security at the airport before Bernard (which ended up being a good thing). For some reason, his carry-on luggage was being inspected. Very casually Bernard told me I might as well go sit down because this could be a minute. I felt bad for him because security can be nerve-wracking but I agreed to go sit. He was at least five minutes (he’d likely say it felt longer). The employee was doing all kinds of tests on the luggage but it didn’t look like he was finding what he was looking for. I learned later that Bernard told him in a low whisper that there was an engagement ring hidden in one of the compartments so maybe that’s what he was looking for? Nope. Dude was just looking around … very thoroughly! Finally he let Bernard go through and the plan was back to normal. You see, if the cover had been blown Bernard was prepared to get down on one knee and propose in the airport terminal.

That would have been a great story, too, but I’m happy with the way things turned out ;)

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The Musician

Hello!

Just a quick post because I'm ultra excited!

We booked another vendor today! Another scary white Excel square is now filled in. FI and I were kicking around the idea of a small jazz band to play during our 1.5 hour cocktail between the ceremony and the reception. But after checking some prices we decided it was too expensive for something that we really could do without.

Then I read some fantastic reviews about a classical guitarist named Derek Macrae. I went to his website and absolutely fell in love with his work. My FI plays guitar (quite well!) and I have always loved listening to him play. So a solo guitarist FITS us perfectly. It was sort of like when we walked into our venue (The Doctor's House) and it just felt like US.

The fact that Derek is ridiculously frugal helps too! He will be playing ALL of our ceremony music AND our cocktail for considerably less than what the jazz bands were charging for the cocktail alone. Woo hoo!!

Now we have to start thinking about music. Derek has samples on his site and they all make me weepy. Which I guess is a good thing.

Love it.

~bb~

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Engagements ...

In honour of bloggerbride's wonderful engagement story, I would like to ask any people interested to send me the details on how they said 'yes!!!'. At a later date I'll publish a bunch on the blog and we'll all have a good cry ... errr ... read. You can send them to: inquiries @ momentsthatshine.com (fill in the spaces) ... no time limit and no restrictions on the writing. Just let me know if you would like to remain anonymous or if you would like to broadcast your love to the world ;)

And in the next couple of days I'll get it started with my own proposal story ... it'll be a blast to relive it!

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Guest Authors Aplenty!

If you're a regular reader of this little blogspot, you may have noticed each day the list of guest authors on the right has been growing. That was my intention all along but I have to say I'm thrilled at the response from everyone. Some vendor authors will be popping in and out at their leisure, some will be a bit more of a constant fixture ... you'll see! The lovely brides-to-be (and some grooms-to-be!) will likely be writing a bit more but that's their call.

What's the reason for the update, you ask? Well, I realized people were coming on to the site but no formal introductions were being made! I'd love to take a few minutes to give those who I know are on board a quick hello and let everyone know how we know one another ...

With all of the brides-to-be (for now), they're clients in one capacity or another. Some are close in distance, some far ... but something serendipitous happened at some point and we're in constant contact now!

On to the vendors ...

The lovely Kristina Laukkanen from k.photography (soon to be officially changed to Sugar Tree Photography) is someone I'm very proud to call a friend. We actually met when my husband and I hired her to do our own wedding photos and since then I've had a blast watching her grow as an artist. She has a very exciting new endeavor taking up much of her time right now and I'm sure once she's able to post, she'll tell you all about it.

When thinking about a make-up artist to bring on board, it didn't take me long to figure out who to approach. I met Kelly Weldrick about a year and a half ago after I received her name from the small business program we both graduated from. Right away I was drawn in by her energy and enthusiasm for her work ... she's one infectious lady! She also was gracious enough to be a part of the team for the fashion show I helped coordinate this past March.

Also because of the fashion show I was lucky enough to meet and work with the great Martin Kolditz of MGX Productions. Frugal Bride members will know the company and I hope to bring him a bit more exposure through this blog. I called for a volunteer videographer and within hours Martin jumped on board. He was an absolute delight to work with and he has the patience of a saint. I truly look forward to working with him again!

Jessica and Erin from Periwinkle Flowers will be joining us later on this year or early next year with some tips/advice/stories from florists. I was passed their contact information by my business coach and within a couple months of introducing myself, a client of mine ended up booking with them! They're both young, hip and fun to work with ... I can't wait to see what they bring to the mix!

That's it for introductions for now ... more people will be coming on board as time goes by but before I forgot, I wanted to welcome everyone. And of course, each writer is more than welcome to give their side of the story ;)

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The Wedding Planner

This weekend FI and I had our first in-person meeting with Susan from Moments That Shine (apparently, crazy emails from me don’t count as a “meeting”). It was nice to have a real concrete conversation about wedding stuff. Things were written down, dates were set, charts were filled out- PROGRESS WAS MADE!

FI and I are feeling really good about everything. I was feeling a bit “willy-nilly” about what needed to get done next so it was good to make a list of “things to do” in the near future. FI and I are all about lists, and spreadsheets!

Susan has a chart that she uses to keep you in line and get the conversation moving. She tried to assure me that eventually all of those intimidating blank squares would be filled with text- lovely, organized, wedding text. But that seems pretty far off.

We also got the chance to look through her invitations portfolio. Although most of them are online, sometimes it’s nice to get to flip actual pages, and open things. You forget about the importance of tactile experiences in this day and age. We fell in love with two invites. One is “classy” and the other is “fun”. That’s a pretty typical debate for us. We want people to know as soon as they get the invite what the “vibe” of our wedding is. I guess we just have to narrow down what exactly that vibe might be! Likely, “Classy Fun”. Ha!

Susan also suggested a florist, so my mother and I will have our very first florist meeting at the end of November. I’m quite excited about that- it will be more PROGRESS!

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