Boutonnieres for the Grooms party

We’ve already covered the bride and bridesmaids in previous posts, so let’s talk a little about the groom, groomsmen and ring bearer for your wedding…… Guys in the wedding party wear boutonnieres- small clusters of just one or two flowers/ greenery wired and taped that are then pinned onto their lapels. What we recommend most often is that the groom wears something that is special from the brides’ bouquet and then the groomsmen wear something from the bridesmaids. So if you are having a bouquet of all white flowers including roses, stephanotis and mini callas then the groom might wear either a mini calla or maybe you’d choose a cluster of stephanotis. If the bridesmaids then are carrying posies of say red and burgundy flowers such as hydrangeas with roses and berries then the groomsmen would wear perhaps a small cluster of hydrangea blooms with some berries.

This is a nice way to organize it as the guys are often all wearing the same outfits, including the groom so this will set him apart. It doesn’t always work out so neatly though- perhaps you are carrying all hot pink peonies for example- a peony is first of all much too large to work well as a boutonniere, but you may also come up against some objection to the flower being the colour pink ( believe me- it has come up….many times..) In this instance you would choose something that comes up elsewhere in the wedding to try and tie it all in.

Fairly new to the market are boutonniere magnets-

these handy little gadgets are used within the mechanics of the boutonniere and are really, really strong. We had one of Erin’s friends’ road test them at their wedding and apparently the magnets stayed on all night through much ruckus and dancing.

At Periwinkle we wrap the “stems” of the boutonniere with black ribbon as we feel it gives a nice finished look- I’ve also seen really nice finishes that use decorative wire wrapped around, or snippets of material to match other parts of the wedding.

Ring bearers are usually quite young- Many brides just choose to have them wear a version of the groomsmen’s boutonniere, to make them “one of the guys”. If you are thinking of having the ring bearer actually bear the rings on something, may I suggest a floral “pillow” for maximum adorableness!

Keep Reading ...

298 days to go

With the sunshine finally out and some of our friends returning home from their tours in the next few weeks, counting down to the wedding feels as important right now as counting down to MM"s eventual fall return. So I'm setting aside the doldrums this week and rejoicing in the fact that I'm engaged, and to a wonderful Military Man.

Lately everywhere I look I find new inspirations. Yesterday it was flowers, in a local grocery store's floral arrangements, where I found lovely mini orchids that looked strikingly like this gorgeous instant-love of a mystery flower I saw last month in the farmer's market in Cannes, France:


Not sure how easy these might be to get here in Canada in May, but I'm definitely going to ask.

And I'm seeing a lot of women coming into the bookstore where I work, wearing the prettiest bright sundresses. I'm noticing that many of these women are not stick figure types, yet they look fabulous in big 1950s-inspired full-skirted dresses or 1960s inspired fitted sheaths in raw silk or cotton. I'm also noticing a lot of asymmetrical details, be it a hem that is higher in the front then in the back, or a triangular bodice that goes over only one shoulder. Sort of like this Jim Hjelm number that I'm loving right now but definitely not in black


Speaking of dresses, I guess that's my next big thing. Glancing over the wedding planning list, I realize we've made some real progress lately. Ceremony and event venues? Booked, with deposits paid. We're using a pretty waterfront city park for our outdoor ceremony (note: This was an extremely economical choice as well.... $25 for the permit and that's it!). The reception is the Chateau Laurier, so MM gets his castle.

Officiant? Booked (and loving the fact that it will be a local woman with a fantastic voice who happens to also be a college professor).

Photographer? Booked. Some of you may remember earlier this year my post here on our engagement session with Irina Fortey of Irina Photography and Susan's subsequent interview with her. Well, that session cinched it for us, so we're happy to say that Irina and her hubby Mihkel will be capturing the beautiful fleeting moments of our Day.

Florist? There is a florist that has been putting weekly arrangements into my fave Starbucks cafe with their business card and I'd been admiring their work over the last year. When Susan was here for our whirlwind planning session and scoping-out tour in May, we dropped into their shop and were pleased with their work, their personalities and their pricing. So I'm happy to say that they are on the shortlist and I hope to book them soon.

DJ? Originally we weren't going to have one, but the room at the Chateau includes a dance floor so what the heck? I have a lead on a great DJ that our military family resource centre uses often. I'm meeting the president this week and it is looking promising.

Cake? Oddly enough, for a hotel of Chateau Laurier's caliber, they do not have an onsite pastry chef. So we will indeed need to outsource this, But, as I posted here, MM and I found a company online whose work he likes the looks of (and hopefully the taste...we'll find that out when he's back). They are my front runners, so with any luck, that's chosen too.

Tux company? Chosen. Got a deal at a wedding show this winter so we have booked with a nationwide chain, which should make it easier since our stand-up guys and dads are scattered across this huge country.

Susan will be doing our invites (that should be rockin' fun to do!) and I've got a strong idea of what I want, with her guidance.

That doesn't leave much to be decided. Dresses? Yep that's almost pretty much it. Ok true there is decor for the ceremony and the reception, but that can wait quite a while yet. Short of keeping my eye open at garden centres now for those deep discount end of summer sales, for things to help make the public park pretty and private, I can turn my attention to some serious dress shopping and badger my stand-up gals into doing the same. I would like it all chosen by the end of September, so that it gives the 4-6 months I'm told it takes these days.

Steaming right along.. 298 days to go and counting!

Keep Reading ...

Lovely day for a stroll through the grass.

We had a flat of wheat grass in the store this week, in order to make up a sample for an upcoming Bar Mitzvah. After that appointment we were left with several square feet of lovely fresh green shoots just sitting there, begging to be shown off. So, how about this for a fun centerpiece idea, perhaps for a bat Mitzvah or baby shower?
Or what about this?

Not in the market for a child centric party? Well, there’s always this for a wedding shower or wedding day centerpiece…..


I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I’ve been seriously resisting the urge to take off my shoes and walk all over it!

Keep Reading ...

All the miles that separated disappear when I’m dreaming of your face

When I sat down tonight to write this post, I thought I’d talk about the stuff I saw in Europe that has inspired me, or share the news of what has happened in our wedding planning process. Things have moved along, decisions been made, deposits paid, checklist items marked off as done. But the words for talking about those things won’t come. I can’t write them, not right now.

Instead, what I feel inside of me tonight is the hole in my life caused by that goodbye in Heathrow a few weeks back. It is the bittersweet joy/pain of counting down not to the wedding, but to that day on the sometime-horizon when MM comes back home again.

When will it be? Right now, we’re not sure. The military has extended his tour by an undisclosed number of days and weeks. We think he will be home for Christmas, and for my graduation. But, like so much of living within military life, we are not sure.

It seems like every song I hear on the radio that speaks of love, of the joy of finding yourself in the eyes of someone else, or of rediscovering the meaning of home in someone’s arms makes me think of my man. Same goes for every song of separation, of longing, of commitment despite situations, miles and people. And I know that over there in the desert, despite the 8 ½ hours that separate us in timespace, MM feels the same, but amplified. For while I’m comfortable here in Canada, in the house that we’ve put together and the home we’ve made here, my man is hundreds of kilometers away. Living in 50 degree Celsius heat, surrounded by sand and scrub and makeshift buildings, my guy works and eats and sleeps, while also aching and dreaming and yearning of me and of home.

They say that deployment separations like this, with their demands and tensions, details and uncertainties, longing and loving from afar, they test a relationship. More than a few break on the crucible that is a tour. I’ve already watched a few military friend couples, engaged or even married, find their own relationships on rockier footing then they thought possible. And each morning or evening, when I talk to MM and I hear the weariness in his voice, or see the loneliness in his words on my instant messenger screen, I know firsthand how hard it is to live with all of this, and to be supportive and caring and upbeat for him, when I have many a day where I feel anything but those things.

Yet I made a commitment to him. When he first told me he was a military man, and when I accepted him and fell in love with him as my military man, I made a commitment to accept the hardships that came with this all encompassing vocation of his. And then once again, just over a year ago, when I proposed to him in that rumpled bed at 2 am on a Wednesday morning, I did it with a more defined awareness of what it would mean to be his Mrs.

Now, a year later and a little more than halfway into his tour, despite the loneliness and pain of having him so far away, I feel a renewed commitment to accept him with everything he is and an even deeper longing to be his Mrs. Even though I know even better now how hard it will be at times in our future life to be his wife and to share him with the military.

Thing is, he’s worth it. For his smiles and his dimples, his sparkling blue eyes and the sound of his unguarded laughter, the feeling of his abiding love and dedication to both me and to his calling as a military man… All of this and a thousand reasons more is why he is worth it.

As I've listened to these songs in the last few weeks, and again tonight, and yet again probably tomorrow and next week, I remind myself of all of this. It's worth it. He is worth it. When I’m planning the wedding, our wedding, I have tried and will continue to try to keep that one certainty firmly fixed in my heart and mind and dreams. Our wedding will be a public joining of us and a private celebration of the determination that got us through the days we’re in now to get to that Big Day.

Next year, when we are there, and the DJ plays the love songs I’m listening to now and MM and I dance together, I expect that the tears in my eyes and his will be not just be simple tears of happiness. Coming as they will then after two long years of being together, yet separated by military life, those songs will remind us of the days that have come before that Big One. The songs will whisper to him and to me of the deeper complexities of everything that has gone into getting us to our day, beyond the picking of the hall and the dress and the DJ and the flowers. The tears that flow then will be happiness, yet, but also a kind of cleansing of all this, as we join our newly married hands and walk out into the world together, side by side.

As the song says:

Everything I know, and anywhere I go
it gets hard but it won't take away my love
And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done
it gets hard but it won't take away my love

While right now, then, I might not be sure of much, the one thing I am sure of is that I miss my military man. I love him, I am committed to him and I can’t wait to be his Mrs.

Keep Reading ...

You Might Think ...

We have *not* disappeared. Honest! The big absence has been because of preparation for our new blog! Right now we're having some difficulties with our web host but as soon as that is resolved, we'll be ready to launch and show off the new digs!

In the meantime, I'll be posting when I can and I know some of the guest authors will be able to keep the ship afloat :)

Cheers,

Susan

Keep Reading ...

Carried away by the wind

I'm back in Canada after a lovely yet bittersweet three weeks in Europe with MM. We met in the airport in Rome, spent a few quiet days in a little Italian port city then boarded a cruise. 15 days and a dozen beautiful European city-ports later, we disembarked in the east of England and spent a few days in London before saying tearful goodbyes at Heathrow last weekend.

(a house on the canals in Bruges, Belgium)

Looking back at the pictures of the trip, and remembering the whole thing over again, I'm struck by how many of our pictures are of architectural details. Whether it was the fantastically highly wrought churches in Florence, the beautiful balconies of Barcelona, the steeply pitched roofs of Bruges (Belgium) or the limestone buildings in London, our pictures seem to be about the grand and little details of each of the places we experienced.

(the Duomo in Florence, Italy)

Granted we have a decent number of pictures of each other, usually of MM with a beer in his hand (he enjoyed sampling the various local varieties) or of me with my fun and silly custom made hat courtesy of a fabulous Etsy crafter, WorthyGoods.

(me on an open-topped tour bus in Barcelona)

And we have pictures of food, things we ate that seemed distinctive, like the gigantic and silly sundaes we ate in London's iconic Harrods department store.


They were straight of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party! (Sidenote: Imagine something like this instead of a wedding cake? Talk about wow factor!)

But overall, the pictures we took seem to act as memory boxes of the unique character of each city or town or country area. The markets, the streetscapes, the buildings, the statuary, these are what we wanted captured on film. And hopefully, too, some of the joy we felt at being together after a three month absence, and yes the poignancy of having to part again in London.

(MM & I near the port in Cadiz, Spain)


So now that the wind under the plane's wings has parted us both, me back here to Ottawa, MM back to Afghanistan, we will be able to use those photos over the next few months to remember the feeling and flavour and unique nature of each place and of the simple and profound joy of being hand in hand again, walking a city's streets, basking in togetherness.

Keep Reading ...

Two Toronto weddings

Just a quick post to share with you two adorable weddings from the weekend- One at McLean house here in Toronto, shades of pink with silver grey, full of peonies and other summer loveliness.
This bride was madly in love with all spring flowers, but could only get the venue she wanted at the start of the summer, so we both spent many months praying hard for a cool slow spring ( sorry to all you hot weather lovers, as our hard work seemed to pay off!) to allow her to have her peonies at least.




The second was a downtown affair at the Park Hyatt hotel-


but this bride brought a sweet organic natural vibe to the urban setting which I loved.

Keep Reading ...

To Be Out In The Road

After watching the Daily Show on Wednesday night, I *had* to look up something they were talking about. And it's perfect for Friday Footwear (something I haven't posted about in a while).

They've been on the news quite a bit but have you heard of .: Heelarious :.? The company was started by two friends and their product? High heels for babies 0-6 months of age. When I first heard about it, I have to admit I was taken aback and thought it was a touch overboard. Now that I've gone to the site and seen the product more closely, I'm finding them quite adorable. I'll let you decide for yourselves ...And here is the rest of it.

Keep Reading ...

I've Got Something New To See

I came across this list on .: The Knot :. and thought it would be a great new topic and discussion. They listed the "50 First Song Ideas" ... totally subjective, of course. There are some great classics on the list but if I hear any more Celine Dion, Shania Twain or Chris DeBurgh as that first song, I may scream. Okay. I won't scream because I do believe people should play what makes them happy ... but I can scream inside, right? I'm a self-proclaimed music snob. Anyhow, the list gave me an idea to find alternatives that people may not have heard of. I focused on a Cowboy Junkies song a few weeks ago ... perhaps I'll have to find some other gems for you.


Without further adieu, here's the list ...

1. "At Last" (Etta James)
2. "As Time Goes By" (from Casablanca)
3. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Ray Charles)
4. "Because You Loved Me" (Celine Dion)
5. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Elton John)
6. "Can't Help Falling In Love" (Elvis Presley)
7. "Chances Are" (Johnny Mathis)
8. "Close To You" (The Carpenters)
9. "Could I Have This Dance?" (Anne Murray)
10. "Dream A Little Dream" (Mamas & the Papas)
11. "Embraceable You" (Nat King Cole)
12. "Endless Love" (Diana Ross & Lionel Richie)
13. "Fascination" (Jane Morgan)
14. "Fever" (Peggy Lee)
15. "Forever and Ever, Amen" (Randy Travis)
16. "Forever" (Kenny Loggins)
17. "From This Moment" (Shania Twain & Brian White)
18. "Grow Old With Me" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
19. "Here And Now" (Luther Vandross)
20. "I Finally Found Someone" (Barbra Streisand & Bryan Adams)
21. "I Only Have Eyes For You" (The Flamingos)
22. "I Will" (The Beatles)
23. "If I Loved You" (from Carousel)
24. "In My Life" (The Beatles)
25. "It Had To Be You" (Harry Connick, Jr.)
26. "Lady In Red" (Chris DeBurgh)
27. "Love Theme To Romeo & Juliet" (from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet)
28. "Marry Me" (Neil Diamond & Buffy Lawson)
29. "One Moment In Time" (Whitney Houston)
30. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" (Billie Holiday)
31. "So This Is Love" (James Ingram)
32. "Some Enchanted Evening" (from South Pacific)
33. "Something" (The Beatles)
34. "Somewhere" (from West Side Story)
35. "The Best Is Yet To Come" (Frank Sinatra)
36. "The Rose" (Bette Midler)
37. "Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You" (Roberta Flack & Peabo Bryson)
38. "True" (Spandau Ballet)
39. "Unforgettable" (Nat King Cole)
40. "Up Where We Belong" (Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warrens)
41. "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (Captain & Tennille)
42. "Wedding Song (There is Love)" (Petula Clark)
43. "We've Got Tonight" (Bob Seger)
44. "We've Only Just Begun" (The Carpenters)
45. "When I Fall In Love" (Nat King Cole)
46. "Will You Marry Me?" (Vonda Shepard)
47. "Woman" (John Lennon)
48. "Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong)
49. "You Are So Beautiful" (Joe Cocker)
50. "Your Song" (Elton John)

Some of these are great but others ... oh man ... Whitney Houston? The 80's called and want their playlist back :P

Keep Reading ...