Happy One Year Wedding Anniversary!

Well, one year has past, and I can't believe how time has sped by. I never really bought into "the first year's the hardest" - and I'm glad. The first year has been the BEST year yet (and we're coming up to 10 years together :O )

And although my goal was to have my recaps finished by the 21st of June - I just didn't get around to it. Lame I know. I used to have nothing BUT time…lol But, work has been busy, and I've been crazy busy knitting :p

If anyone is still around reading, there is still much to look forward to:
-The Ceremony
-The Big Moment (walking down the aisle)
-Vows
-Readings
-Unity Candle
-Married!
-Petal Toss (loved this - a total *must* do for all Brides ;)
-Family Photos
-Bridal Party Photos
-Bride and Groom Photos
-Cocktail Hour
-The Reception
-First Dance
-Cake Cutting
-Reception Details
-DIY Flower Centerpieces
-Wedding Video
-Candids
-Honeymoon
-Reviews
-Photobook

And if you just can't wait for all that goodness, here's a link to the propic slideshow: http://photosmh.com/ashleypatrick/

Going to the chapel and I'm gonna get married…but how am I going to get there?

How did I get to the Church you ask? By a stretch limo, a deluxe hummer SUV, or a horse and buggy? Umm…nope! My Dad met me at the hotel and drove myself and our photographer Melissa in his maroon Chevy Lumina :)







We did consider renting a limo to take the entire bridal party to the Church…but a few problems arose from this. The first being cash. When I priced out the cost of the limos, as soon as I mentioned the word "wedding," I felt the prices skyrocketed. I was offered a few different wedding day packages…the cheapest being a $650 old school limo, to take us from the hotel to the Church and then to the reception. These places were close enough to walk to for goodness sake! And it was an old type of limo!

Other reasons we opted to forgo the limo service was because my sister, my Dad, my two sister-in-laws and mother-on-law all drove to the hairstylists/hotel to get ready in their own vehicles. This wouldn't really have been a problem, except none of them were staying at the Radisson. They were all staying at the student residence on campus, where the wedding venue was. So, it just made sense for us all to take our own cars, and for my Dad to drive me.



One little problem came out of my Dad "chauffeuring" Melissa and I to the Church. Patrick, his groomsmen, or his Dad, basically anyone "in the know" were supposed to ensure that there was a parking spot out front of the Church. Well, they did leave a space…and it was likely large enough for my Dad to pull in, but when we arrived, my Dad thought it was a little tight. My Dad's car is a boat…and let's just say, smaller cars are easier to navigate into tight spots and to parallel park…lol Anyway, unfortunately this seemed to cause a little bit of stress for my Dad. So, instead of pulling in front of the Church, he dropped Melissa and I off, and drove around the block…er…a few times looking for a parking spot. Had we just went with a limo, the driver could have dropped us all of and my Dad wouldn't have had to worry about parking.

It was also kind of weird when my Dad dropped me. Melissa went on into the Church ahead of me. So, when I stepped out of the car, I was completely alone, on the street in front of the Church :p All my girls were waiting inside…and for some reason I thought they'd be waiting outside for me…lol I was also feeling kinda crummy about the parking situation, butterflies were starting to set into my tummy, and I was totally confused about my feelings surrounding my Mom. I had such high hopes that she would some how come through for me (for once in my life) and be inside that Church, and not miss this super important moment in my life. And although I knew I had all of the support in the world (even without my Mom), I felt completely alone at that very moment…Melissa's (or Lucas'?) photo pretty much captured how I was feeling:



They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Anyway, everything (from the parking, to the feeling of alone-ness - which was silly, I had a Church full of people waiting for me!) all worked out in the end. These are just a few things to think about (how you'd like to get to the alter, and who you'd like physically by your side at all times :p) when considering your ride to the alter ;)

An Interruption To Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

Well, I've been working on opening an Etsy shop featuring my knitted goods, and well, it is finally open - yay! You can get to it by clicking on the right, or visiting: www.pitterpatterknits.etsy.com

I still have several items that I'd like to add to the shop (including a few more hats, baby legs, booties and a Yoda sweater), but it will likely take me a bit longer to get them all up.

If you have a chance, I hope you take a moment to visit and provide me with some feedback - this is all new to me.

Thanks in advance!

Boys 'n Beer

While the ladies were busy getting prettied up, sipping mimosas and admiring the flowers, the boys were enjoying a beer at a local pub. This was actually our photographers idea :) She teams up with her now hubby: Lucas. So while Melissa was with us, Lucas was off with the boys.







This one makes me laugh because hubby is so not a cell phone guy. In fact he finds it kind of rude when someone's cell goes off during a meal…and even more annoyed when they answer it and start talking at the table! We have one pay as you go phone that is reserved for trips back to Ontario…it assists with the chaos that are those trips, but other than that we are cell phone free (although I would LOVE an iPhone ;P)













I think it's kind of nice when the guys get some one on one photographer time ;)

My Pretty Posies

I loved my flowers. They were beautiful. Leanne from LSP Designs created all of our personal flowers. My sister, sister-in-laws and mother-in-law and I teamed up to do the flower centerpieces (more on that later), but the rest was left of to LSP Designs.

My bouquet was made up of all whites and creams. Roses, freesia, and peonies. It smelled so pretty:




I'd originally requested roses, ranunculus, peonies and lily of the valley. Ranunculus and lily of the valley were not available at that time in June…but I was just as happy with what I ended up with (need to be flexible Brides!...we can try to control a lot, but not nature!). Two out of four isn't bad, right?






The Groom wore a white/cream freesia bout:




Each Bridesmaid carried a grouping of a single white bloom with chartreuse orchids to match the Groomsmen's boutonnières:


This is where a little bit of miscommunication happened. I *thought I'd made the final decision of each 'maid JUST carrying a white single bloom - and not mixed with chartreuse orchids. But, the flowers arrived with the orchids, and I thought they were pretty. No biggie really…the green really made them pop against the navy dresses :)

The Groomsmen and MC wore the chartreuse orchids:


And the Father of the Bride wore a cream/white orchid:


Other personal flowers we requested were as follows:

-2 alter arrangements:
I LOVED the alter arrangements. I really DID NOT want the flowers to look like funeral flowers. Please, no, no, no. And although my florist didn't really think it was necessary to have flowers up there (the Cathedral already had a lot to look at), I really wanted to have something. So she came up with branches and green hydrangea in the large white vases. We loved the look and it was pretty frugal to boot!


-Unity candle flowers:
I remember that they were beautiful…but it's is too bad that they didn't get reused. The plan was to bring the alter arrangements and the unity candle back to the reception venue…but we forgot. It was kind of a last minute thing and for some reason I felt rushed after the ceremony…even though I don’t think I needed to be.


-12 pew bows:
They were a pretty addition to the pews…I think they also encourage people to sit closer to the front.


- A Program Attendant wristlet - Patrick's little cousin Olivia, she was so cute and did such a great job!:


-2 Grandmother wristlets:
My Granny - I requested some purple for her:


Patrick's Gramma:


-Flower Girl Wreath:
Absolutely adorable. I wasn't holding my breath that Alexis would be willing to wear it (after I've heard of other flower girls ripping them off before heading down the aisle). But she wore it and looked adorable. It was totally worth the extra funds.




-Ring Bearer Boutonnière


-Patrick's Grandpa's boutonnière:


-3 Godmother/Aunts wristlets & Godfather/Uncle boutonnière:


-2 Reader boutonnières.
One for my cousin Alexander:


And one for my big brother Kristopher (who's getting married on 10/10/2010!):


-Cake Flowers: The cake was exactly what I wanted, only it was decorated with the completely wrong colours. The lime green ribbon (provided by the baker) paired with the fuchsia orchids (provided by the florist) made it look like it belonged at a tropical wedding :P I was thinking for more of a grass green on a satin ribbon…I think she used grosgrain. I was also hoping for blush pink orchids…but now that I look back at it, I wish that I didn't have orchids at all. I love orchid plants…but I've learned that I don't love them as cut flowers.




That about sums up the personal flowers. The total came to just under $1000, which was generously paid for by my Dad (thanks Dad!). I'm still surprised we were able to get that many quality flowers and so beautifully arranged for that price. Well worth it!!!