Our Wedding Day: In Pictures

Before I get back to regular posts, I thought I would share some of our wedding day pics. Hope you all enjoy!!

The groomsmen and groom looking dapper

My bridesmaids and me

Allan seeing me for the first time

Checking me out

Excited to see each other

My awesome homemade sash

The group, together

Special moments

My peacock shoes

Kissy faces

Blowing (and popping) bubbles

Needing to reapply the fuchsia lipstick

The candy buffet

Homemade signs 

Me and my dad, walking down the aisle

My dried flower bouquet

It's all done!  We're husband and wife

Wedding party mayhem

Sisters!  Lisa, my sis and maid of honour

The rings

Mmmm, pies!

My sister and her boyfriend singing us a song

Cutting the pie

Thanks for checking them out!!

17 Days Till The Big Event: Advice Needed!

Photo courtesy of memoriesatthepines.com

Before I begin to try and explain how excited I am about the wedding, I wanted to take some time to thank all of my followers and readers.  (This means all of you!!)  First off, this blog wouldn't be anything without your comments and feedback and for this I am truly grateful.

Also, I wanted to thank you all again for your patience.  I've been slacking lately on writing posts and I feel extremely bad about it BUT can't seem to find the time to fix it.  Let me say that this wedding planning thing is SO HARD.  Kudos to the individuals that do this as a full-time job but, man, it's definitely not for me.  In addition to planning everything, making all the DIY finishing touches, I'm hardly sleeping AND can't seem to find time to make it to the gym.  Anyway, enough complaining!!  Thanks again for your support and I truly do have some awesome posts lined up.

So, I have 17 days until the wedding and only 2 more days after that till we board our plane and head to Bali.  So many exciting things happening in such a short time!  It's overwhelming, crazy, fun and scary, all at the same time.  I do, though, have a few questions that have been weighing heavily on my mind:

1) How do you (or did you) deal with stress on the day-of?  Any advice you can share?
2) Anything I should be prepared for in the next two weeks?

Whew, thanks for listening ladies!  You all rock!

Talk soon...

 

The Rumors Are True! I Have New Hair!

As I'm sure everyone knows, I've been growing my hair for my upcoming September 15th nuptials. Needless to say, my hair, which grows like an absolute weed, is now almost at shoulder level. (Well, the spot where your neck meets the top of your shoulders anyway.)

Me, sitting at my desk at the office.

The other weekend, Allan and I went to Calgary to visit my sister and her boyfriend for a few days.  During this time, the plan was for my sister to color/trim my hair and assist me in buying some extensions.  See, I've always thought I wanted long hair for my wedding and decided the easiest way to achieve this was with clip-ins.  Since it was my first time EVER buying them, I wanted my sister to be there as she would be the person to cut/color and style them for me.  So, we did just that and here's a look at me with some extra long locks...

Huge change right?

I should mention that my sister is a FANTASTIC colorist as the extensions we bought were highlighted with multi-colors and she was able to achieve the same look on my natural hair.  However, after all this time, effort and money, I'm starting to think that I prefer my hair shorter for the wedding.  I'm really undecided...

Have any of you ladies worn clip-in extensions before?  What are your thoughts on wearing them for a big event?

 

Choosing the Best Wedding Hair!

You will never believe this but there's under two months until the big day! I am getting so excited and soooo ready to be done with wedding planning.  I just want it to be here already!

On a different note, I realize it's time to make a decision regarding how I want my hair to be styled for the big event.  Down or up?  Straight or curly?  Braided or wavy?  There are so many decisions...

Here are some fabulous styles I've been considering:

The Messy Braid

Photo unknown.  Was sent to me without a link

There is something so sassy and relaxed about a messy french braid.  I love the way this looks on this girl and LOVE the ethereal feel of the style.  However, my hair is definitely not as long as hers and I am not too sure if I want to wear my hair up to begin with.

Beachy, Wedding Waves

Photo courtesy of formalhairmakeup.tumblr.com

Sigh, this is the look I envisioned when I thought about getting married.  Downfall - my hair is going to be a different length (though I am using clip-in extensions) and I want to keep my blunt bangs.  PLUS, since I'm wearing a birdcage on my head, I'm not too sure if this will work.

Half-Up Half Down

Photo courtesy of hairstyles-for-girls-india.tophairstyle.no-ip.org

This is the style I'm considering the most.  Because I'll be wearing clip-in extensions, I think this could be the easiest look to wear them in.  Also, it has an easy-breezy feel to the style.  It's not too perfectly coiffed but still stylish.  Hmmmm...

The Messy Up-Do

Photo courtesy of howquicklydoeshairgrow.com

This is more of a classic, almost vintage-y, feel and I must say I love it.  Still not too sure about wearing my hair up for the big day BUT love it all the same.

What are your thoughts ladies?  How did you wear your hair for your big day?

 

The Stagette Weekend - It's HERE!

I can't believe that my stagette weekend starts tomorrow!

Me and 5 of my bestest friends are going to Pender Island for 5 days. We're going to relax in the sun, do some whale watching, get wild and crazy, watch as many scary movies as possible AND do whatever else my friends have planned.  (I've been told there is to be a scavenger hunt but know nothing about it.)

Here are the things I hope to accomplish during the 5 days on Pender:

1) Make all the candle holders needed for the wedding
2) Do a different hike everyday
3) Pull this biggest prank on all my friends while watching the scariest movie I have ever seen: "The Strangers"
4) Eat really good food
5) Drink like a fish
6) Learn to turn on a BBQ
7) Play some really crazy drinking games
8) Attempt to sleep in past 6:30 AM
9) Actually see a whale while whale watching

Lofty ideas??  I think not.  I have the greatest group of friends EVER and can't wait to begin this long weekend tomorrow!

Signing off, ladies, for a few days and will talk to you on Tuesday.  (PS - I'll take some crazy pictures...)

 

What's Inside??: The Stagette Gifts

What could possibly be in this package?

In exactly 15 days I, and my closest girlfriends, leave for Pender Island for 5 days to celebrate my stagette. I am beyond excited.

Not only is my best girlfriend flying in from Prince George (where I grew up AND about a 9 hour drive from where I currently live) but I also get a chance to party it up with my closest friends in a different city.  A small city, yes, but a different one all the same.

This wedding is coming up so fast (3 months away) and I could not have planned anything if it wasn't for my friends.  They are not only the most supportive gals I know BUT they are also the craziest.  Seriously, I can hardly wait to have everyone in the same place and be able to drink the evenings (and mornings, shall we choose) away.  So, as a token of thanks to them, I've put together some exceptionally cute "thank-you" gag gifts.   Check them out

A Fruit Smoothie facial mask

A cute squirtgun (that I plan to use to wake all the girls up every morning)

A Wooly Willy magnetic draw board

A manicure/pedicure set

Maynards Sour Watermelons

Hot pink nail polish

SkinnyGirl Margarita (delicious)

A hot pink lip gloss

I, of course, wish I had an unlimited budget and could buy the girls a beautiful necklace or something but alas, I can't.  I do, though, think I got the next best things.  All of these items will be absolutely useful for our 5 day trip away and I can't wait to try out the Wooly Willy.  I haven't used one of those in years!

 

Choosing the Best Wedding Makeup

This one little decision is literally ruling my life at the moment.

Not only are there so many choices BUT how do I know what look I want captured for the rest of my life.  Whew, big decision right?  I know that I'm putting way too much emphasis on this little detail but lets recap a couple things: One, I am beyond obsessed with makeup and two, my wedding colors are the color shadow trend of the summer.  (Turquoise, indigo, yellow and coral.)

So, yes, this decision is important.

Since we're not having a formal wedding (think vintage backyard picnic theme) I know that ultra classic makeup isn't the look I want.  On that note, here are a few samples of makeup "themes" I'm tossing around my head.

Indigo Eyes 

Photo courtesy of www.thekit.ca

Sigh, this look is absolutely gorgeous!  Yes, I know that less is more but man, there's something so edgy in the idea of me sporting this look while in my lace wedding dress.  Hmmmm.

Peacock Trend 

Photo courtesy of www.bronzebudgetbride.com

Though the "peacock" isn't playing too heavily into my theme (aside from my shoes, sash and jewelry) I am really liking the idea of wearing some peacock-inspired makeup.  Not only would my blue eyes pop but it adds just the right amount of shimmer.

Traditional Vintage 

Photo courtesy of www.sheknows.com

I know I said I wasn't traditional but I do like the classic bright lips BIG lashes look.  Of course, my lips would be fuchsia and not red but still, this look could also really work.

Ethereal Makeup

Photo courtesy of www.bellasugar.com

Love the bold cheeks!  Actually, love this whole look.  I know that less is more on your wedding day and really think that this makeup style promotes that saying.

Simplistic Style 

Photo courtesy of www.junebugweddings.com

Could this be the vintage, simplistic, natural look I have been after?  Could be.  I must say, her bangs are really what makes this look work.  (Lucky for me I do have big bangs...)

What is your favorite wedding makeup look?

Wedding Wednesdays: The Vintage Wedding Dress

As you all know (since I talk about it at least once a week on here), I'm getting married September 15th.  Of course this in itself is extremely exciting but I'm also stoked about our vintage wedding theme.  Allan was very understanding when I explained I wanted a vintage theme (this of course means our color scheme is turquoise, yellow and grey) and his only request was that we incorporate "biking" to some extent.  With all the vintage tandem bike paraphernalia on Etsy these days, it's been very easy.

Anyway, enough about the theme...let's talk dresses.  [I should quickly mention that Bronwen (my fab blogger friend and bridesmaid) writes a recurring post called Wedding Wednesday but with her on vacation at the moment, I thought I would write this week's].  Because of the vintage theme, I wanted to find a dress that not only followed suit but also fit me to a tee.  I'm happy to say that I've already purchased my dress but since I can't give away too many details about it just yet (in case Allan decides to read this post), I thought I'd post some pics of others dresses that all have something in common with my dress....LACE!!

Any of these dresses striking a chord with you?  Which one is your favorite?