we are married!

Here is the sneak peak our awesome photographer posted on Facebook! 

The first picture was taken at my house, the second and third were at Fleming College in Lindsay and the last was taken outside at the reception.  I will post a recap of the day once I have more pictures.

 

 

 

13 days away

OMG.  We can't believe we will be married in 13 days!  Yesterday we were doing stuff at our house (me: cleaning and unpacking.  David: man stuff with the electrical outlets and some minor demolition!) and it hit me that we will be living there together in 2 weeks. 
A lot has happened both with the wedding planning and house fixing since my last blog post so I'll give some updates...

House
Our main bathroom was U-G-L-Y and outdated (updating it was top priority!). To prove how awful it was, please enjoy these pictures.

wallpaper and border!   there's also a blue toilet and blue wall tiles.  the cabinets on either side of the mirror are really neat but make the bathroom seem so small.

 



the shower had awful sliding glass doors and wallpaper above the shower surround.  who does that?!

 

 

 



We tore off the wall paper, my dad stripped the remaining glue and cleaned the walls (he also patched all the holes that were there...these people liked to hang stuff).  The doors were also taken off and the bathroom looked instantly better!!
David and I painted the bathroom last weekend and it looks great.  We still need to replace the toilet, mirror and light fixture.  Oh, and I can paint the cabinets:D

In other house news: we picked out couches and are going to order them today!  We also brought over our dining room set so we finally have a place to sit and eat instead of eating on the floor.  The first day we were there we ate take out food on napkins while drinking out of styrofoam cups...yesterday we ate real food on actual dishes!


Wedding
my dress came in near the end of September but I had to make an appointment to try it on...ugh! And it needed alterations (I measured a perfect size so they told me it shouldn't need any work.  But it was waaaay too big in one area.  Plus the train needed to be taken off)!  So I had the alterations done and went to pick it up last week. Except-surprise- it wasn't ready.  All the stitching they did was just 'roughed in' so they still had to fix it and make it look finished.  I'm picking it up for good on Friday.
We also decided on a cake after changing our minds a lot (mostly me ) and having some issues with the reception venue (they only allow cake and no cake alternatives).  We also submitted our final numbers to the venue owner and paid the deposit. 

I feel like there is still so much we need to do and that I should be panicking.  But I'm not:) 

My mom asked me if I'm getting excited and I answered "I guess". Truthfully, I'm not all that excited for the actual wedding...I just want to be married!  Our wedding will be nice and fun and memorable but we are most looking forward to just being husband and wife.

soexciting!

stangers who say "that's so you"

I'm a regular poster on a wedding website/forum group.  It's a site that really plays up what you 'need' and 'must do' for weddings but there are some really great women in the forum groups.  I frequent the October 2012 Bridesgroup the most because it's nice bouncing ideas off other people and getting advice from people who are unbiased. 
It's also a great place to post pictures of my dress, hair style, etc because I HAVE to show someone but I'm so not posting any of that on Facebook;) 
When I first joined the group I saw there was an introduction post so I decided to tell the ladies there a few things about myself and our wedding.  I said stuff like "we didn't really pick colours, but I like fall colours.  We don't have a theme, but our wedding is kinda rustic and vintage-y...and it's pretty casual. I don't want to wear a big poufy dress (not that there is anything wrong with them, it't just not my style)."
So after my hair trial I posted pictures, I posted my make up inspiration, what accesories I'd be wearing, what my dress looked like.  And it's funny that the women on the board said "Oh that's so YOU!" even though they never met me.  I've got that response from other people too...like my hair dresser, my make up artist and even the ladies at the bridal salon! 

Those ladies aren't exactly strangers but it was still nice to hear somne positive affirmation of my choices.

christina

one month

We are getting married in one month!  On June 28, 2011 my life changed forever when I said "Ohmy gosh, yes!" to the best question a guy can ever ask a girl...
When we st October 28, 2012 as the date we thought it would pass so slowly. At times it did (after all, 16 months is a long time!) but for the most part it's gone pretty quickly.  Especially now that there is more time behind us then ahead.

Just for fun, here are some of my favourite pictures of us from our engagement.


(from when David proposed and one of our engagement pictures)


(saturday at a cottage)


(lunch together at my work)


(engagement pictures!)


(together for 3 years on December 28, 2011)


(no words...)


(after a movie date)


(dressed fancy for a wedding)


This time next month we will be married:D
Continue to check back at the blog for updates in the meantime!

*christina

wild girls weekend

Here is a little psot about my super awesome bachelorette party thrown by the bestest friends and sister-in-law!
On September 7 we went out for an early birthday dinner after work (my birthday is on Sept. 12, but it's a week day and going out on Friday was easier) at what may be our favourite resturant. In case you wondered, I got a pulled pork sandwich with mustard on a pretzel bun and David got a philly cheesesteak sandwhich.  After dinner we headed back to David's to wtch some TV and just relax.  His sister Kaitlyn had come home from grad school for the weekend but she was gone when we got back...this is important!  SO, we were watching TV when Kaitlyn comes downstairs and asks me if I've had a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks yet.  I said no and got up to take the drink she offered.  As I got closer to her I realized my BFFs/bride's maids were right behind her!  This ws exciting and weird becuase Sarah had just returned from spending the summer working up north and Kate currently works in Toronto. 
After a lot of confused looks (me) and giggles (them) I was told "We packed you a bag, there is a car waiting and we will return you on Saturday."  I was really surprised and just said "oh, ok!!"

So off we went into the night to a secret location.  I had no clue where they were taking me or what we would possibly be doing.  Since I had to close my eyes a lot because there were signs advertising the place I didn't actually know where we were until we were inside.  Aaaaand, we went to Viamede Resort! For those that aren't familiar with Viamede, click here.   The girls had brought along chick flicks, fruity drinks and lots of junk food for a super awesome movie night!  We stayed up late,  ate lots of snacks and Kate fell asleep early (usually I'm the first, even in my own house!).  Kaitlyn and I stayed up even later talking after Kate and Sarah went back to their room.  I actually only got 2 hours of sleep thanks to my awful allergies which seem to be especially annoying at night.  Thankfully I managed to fall asleep again but I didn't feel very rested.

Anyways!  The next morning we ate breakfast together and then headed to Viamede's SPA:)  The girls surprised me with a facial, manicure and pedicure.  I was very rested and relaxed after the facial which was ah-may-zing.  After a whopping 4.5 hours at the spa and all of us nearly falling asleep at some point, we somehow managed to drag our freshly painted toes out to the car to head home.  We had a munchy attack and ate more junk food on the drive:) 

I eventully got home, managed to unpack my bag that Sarah had packed for me, east some more candy and take a nap.  I napped for a solid 6 hours, woke up, text David to tell him I'm still alive and went back to sleep until morning. 

It was such a fun surprise and I literally do have the best friends!

we are home owners!

You read that right...we bought a house!

After seeing over 40 houses this summer we finally found one we wanted to make an offer on.  We were going to see a different house for a second time, but bring our parents because we liked it and wanted their opinion.  We then went to see "our" house for the first time (with our parents) because we were all out anyways.  Overall, it got a good response from all!  There were some things that our dads noticed and expressed concern over but it didn't scare us away.
We saw it on Thursday, August 23 and decided to make an offer on Saturday.  There was an open house all day Saturday so we were a little nervous that they would get a better offer.  The sellers were away until 5:30 that evening so our offer was submitted as soon as they got home.  About an hour later our agent calls to tell us to say that the sellers counter offered our offer...we originally offered them about $15,000 less than the asking price with the conditions of home inspection and finacning.  Their counter offer was more money, but we said YES.  We set up a home inspection and called the mortgage broker to let him know (we were already preapproved but now he had to find us a bank to give us the money).
The inspection could have gone better, but we decided to use the finding as barganing tools.  The inspection was the following hursday so we had the long weekend to decide what our next step was.  After a lot of discussion and thought, David and I decided we still wanted this house.  The sellers verbally agreed to repair/replace some things and cover the cost of others.  We signed the ammended agreement on Tuesday (September 4) and the "Sold" sign went on the house!
We are now waiting for our lawyer to do all the legal stuff and the sellers to fix what they agreed to.
The house closes on September 28 and we are so excited!

So...about the house:

• Viceroy style bungalow
• 3+1 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms (the main bathroom has 2 sinks:D)
• attached 1 car garage
• vaulted ceilings
• 1 acre lot

we got our rings!

I posted a little while ago about having to order my wedding ring because the exact style I wanted wasn't in the store.  I got a call a few weeks ago saying it was in and ready for pick up and we finally picked it up this weekend.  David didn't choose his ring on the day I ordered mine and was going to when we back to the jeweller on the weekend.  When I was handed my ring I thought "there is nooo way that's going to fit my finger!!" it looked so tiny (size 4 3/4...hahaha)!  But it fit my figner perfectly.  I should have taken a picture to show how tiny it looked...I will try to remember to do that next week.
David picked out his ring in a matter of seconds.  Literally. He looked at the display and said "I like that one".  Turns out the ring he picked was exactly his size.  It was meant for him:) 
Fun fact: my ring fits exactly inside his ring!  My mom said that was really cute.
When we took the rings home we were told by the saleslady to wear them for a bit to make sure the size is right (we are getting them engraved and need to be 100% sure of the size before it's engraved).  It was actually a lot of fun wearing them!  My hand looked so good with that gold band on it.  Holding hands felt a little different because David doesn't wear rings. I'd probably want to wear mine all the time so it's a good thing they are kept at David's house!

We love our rings and can't wait to wear them all time when we're married:)  They're so simple and classic...totally us!  Here are a few pictures I snapped after leaving the jeweler.

no Pastor...but we have music!

I recently found out that the Pastor who was going to marry us had resigned from his church (also the church we were getting married in) and would be heading out to Newfoundland in a few weeks.  He told me he would not be returning...therefore, could not do our wedding.  After a millisecond of panic I thought of asking my childhood Pastor.  We had originally asked him but he said he didn't have the time for the required pre-marital counselling sessions.  We thought it would be easiest to have one person do the counselling and marry us so we decided not to sue this Pastor.  When I contacted him last week he told me he was going on vacation at the time of our wedding. And I panicked a little.  Maybe even hyperventaliated. I've said before in this blog that our whole wedding planning process has been super laid back and not the least bit stressful.  well, this is just a tiny bit stressful!!! I called the church secretary to ask her about payment methods for renting the sanctuary and then I asked her about the interm Pastor.  She said she didn't know who he was and that he hadn't arrived yet.  I'm anxiously awaiting her call to tell me he can marry us!  David and I wanted a Pastor that at least one of us was connected to somehow so we are disappointed that whomever we chose will be a stranger.  The obvious thing to do is use the Pastor of our church, except we don't have a church at the moment.  Between the 2 of us we only know a few Pastors and none are available. ARGH.  We're reeeeeeally hoping the new guy can marry us because we don't just want to open up the phone book and pick someone (what if they aren't even legally allowed to marry people!?).

Onto happier news!!
Last night we met with my mom's good friend (Steph) who has agreed to sing and play paino during our ceremony.  I had chosen a processional song ages ago and Steph had been practicing it for a bit.  It sounded soooo good!!  The message of the song is really fitting and I can see myself walking down the aisle to it.  We also chose the song to be played during the registry signing and as we leave.  It feels good to have another thing crossed off the list.

We are a little more than 2 months away from our wedding with only a few things left to do.  Which is nice because we still haven't found a house.  We have seen over 30 houses and only 1 that we were seriously considering.  But we realized too much needed to be done to it and it's not worth pursuing.  I'll admit that this whole process is frustrating and disheartening but we really have to stay positive.  We are going to see some more properties on Sunday and maybe Monday; hopefully we see a winner among them. 
I'll post an update about our house hunt shortly.

-christina

ps: pleeeeease send back your RSVP cards!  The deadline is September 28 and I've only recieved about 1/4 of the cards.  If you have not recieved a formal inviation and RSVP card, you are invited to the wedding a CEREMONY guest only.  It doens't mean we aren't friends...it just means that we have chosen to have a small reception with just our family and wedding party. 

our wedding to-do list

 Here is the list of things we had to do in order to get ready for our wedding.  I typed this document in Word so the font may be off a bit.  Items are crossed out as we go along! 

This list was created in rough order of importance.

 I'm sure there are things I've forgotten to add...

·         Date

·         Wedding party

·         Budget

·         Photographer

·         Reception location

·         Ceremony location

·         Pastor

·         Wedding dress

·         Colour/ “theme” (we don't really have a theme but our colour pallet is fall colours)

·         Brides Maids dresses

·         DJ and music

·         Guest List

·         Food

·         Invitations-decide and make

·         Meet with pastor

·         Register for gifts

·         Choose photo location

·         Decide on Vows

·         Suits for Groom and Groomsmen

·         Purchase and engrave rings

·         Accessories for Bride, Groom and Wedding Party

·         Reception Decor

·         Flowers

·         Finalize ceremony with pastor

·         Decide on hair and make up for Bride and Brides Maids

·         Figure out wedding day transportation

·         Decide and book honeymoon

·         Get married

·         Live Happily Ever After!

2 months and 3 weeks!

YES! our wedding day is fast approaching :D

We checked a few things off our "to do" list recently...we set up meeting with a dear friend of my mom's who will be singing at our wedding (I already know her but David doesn't so this is a meet-and-greet as well as a time to go over what music we'd like and when). 
On Saturday, my Maid of Honour/soon to be sister in law, Kaitlyn and I visited the florist to pick out flowers.  Since I'm doing a brooch bouquet we just need 3 bouquets for the Brides Maids, 4 boutenniers, corsages for the moms and loose flowers for centre pieces.  I'm not going to say what flowers we picked, but they are yellow and red!  I wanted simple flowers made into boquets that were unfussy and casual.  David said I can pick out the boutenniers as long as it has "ruffage" (to us, that word means stuff from nature such as berries and sticks). 
On Sunday David and I chose a cake flavour that we liked and baked a test cake to see how it actually tastes.  It tasted AMAZING!
We also created another registry becuase a lot of the items on our Home Outfitters one have ben discontinued.  We are now registered at Sears and Home Outfitters under DAVID FLEMING and CHRISTINA YOURKIN.  There are a few other David Flemings registered so make sure you look for my name too.

OH, and 2 weeks ago we went to look at rings!  Did I already post about that?  Anyway, apparently the kind of ring I wanted isn't very popular because they had to custom order it for me.  It was supposed to be on Saturday but it got delayed...boooooo.  I'm told it will be in this week...fingers crossed!  Once mine is in David can pick and order (if nesacary) his.  Then we send them away for engraving and that's it!

that's all for now.

shooting my own wedding-crazy, right?

When David and I first got engaged one of the questions I heard most is "Who is going to do your pictures?" A lot of people even suggested I do them myself!!  First of all: that's a little ridiculous and second: nearly impossible!  Obviously I love taking pictures but shooting my own wedding is something I'd never even consider!!  Actually, finding a photographer was a top priority of mine.  If I remember correctly, we chose a date first then a photographer, reception venue and church.  Everything else just fell into place afterwards.

Several months ago I came across this amazing photographer who actually did his own wedding pictures!!  Click right here to see those images.  Apparently, there was a second shooter but still...that's a crazy idea.

I'm pretty sure if I shot our wedding, the pictures would look turn out somewhat like this...

But our super awesome photographer can make us look like this!!

SO...hire a pro people!!

double digits

96.

that's how many days until our wedding.  until I'm no longer "David's fiancee".  until the best day of my life so far. 

until this guy:

 

marries this girl:

(old picture from college...ha)

AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER:)

*******************************************************************
This whole engagment has been surreal for me; at times I don't believe I'm actually getting married but then I see my engagement ring and I remember:)  While looking at rings on Saturday it really hit me that this is happening!  I slipped that little gold band on my finger at the store and thought "this is what I will see every minute of every day for the rest of my life" and it was amazing.

Additional things we have completed:

• invitations (funny story there, more later)
• mailed invitations
• decided on table arrangments for reception
• finally decided flowers for the bridesmaid's bouquets
• decided on flowers/ruffage for boutenniers (it's a hard word to spell)
• booked honeymoon

Things to do:

• choose music for ceremony
• finalize reception play list
• make final payments with vendors
• rehearse ceremony
• get married:)

I'll make a "master list" post that has everything we had to do for our wedding (may I once again add that neither of us has found this to be stressful AT ALL!).

-christina

yay honeymoon!

Since Valentine's Day 2009 I've been dreaming about spending the night at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara on the Lake.  David took me to NOTL for our first Valentine's Day and I thought the Hotel looked so pretty from the outside.

David proposed in the park across from the Hotel one year ago today♥ and we both agreed how awesome (and romantic!) it would be to come back to NOTL for our honeymoon.  We were in NOTL in March and booked a tour of the Hotel so we could decide which room we wanted.  Of course, we picked the biggest, most beautiful and the most expensive!  

Here is a picture of the outside:

(credit: httpwww.governorswalk.caneighbourhood.htm)

The room we want actually faces the park so we can sit on the balcony outside our room and see the spot where David proposed:)

It's such a gorgeous place to visit and I reeeeeally want to live there some day, but we need to be millionaires first!  We have decided to spend the first few days of our honeymoon at our house (which we have yet to find), then go to NOTL, then to another location and then return home before having to go back to work.

**************************************************************

 After we come home from NOTL, we are going to rest for a few days before heading to the GORGEOUS Bayview Wild Wood Resort!  David's parents  got us a gift certificate for a stay there and it looks so nice!  We thought there might not be much to do in the fall (we are going near the start of November) but we were wrong!  There are hiking trails, fishing spots, areas for boating, and more.  

I've never been to a place like this, much less in the fall.

This is a shot from the Resort (click the link above for credit):

***********************************************************

While most couples would pick somewhere hot and tropical, we opted for things closer to home, but still far enough away that it's fun.

We had talked about going to places out of country, but we didn't want to go anywhere that we would have to do touristy stuff or it would be  waste of a trip...does that make sense?  We want the freedom to just be able to stay in if we want, without missing anything, or to eat whenever we want, or go anywhere we want.  

It would be nice to go to a tropical resort or something, but maybe we will save that for an anniversary trip :)

Oh, BTW-any of the coloured and underlined  text (besides what I just typed) are clickable links to the websites for where we are staying.

-christina

a post that's NOT about our wedding

This post is about related to what happens after the wedding...we get to live together!

We currently live in separate houses and have just started the home buying process together.  We found a real estate agent a little while ago and she referred us to a mortgage broker.  Last week we met with the broker to start the pre-approval process.  David and I had an idea of our home buying budget and I admit I was a little discouraged by it because most of the listings we saw online for that price weren't very nice.  Once the broker collected all our information (where we work; how much we make; where we worked in the past; how much we have in savings; how much we have for a down payment; credit checks etc.) he gave us a dollar amount that surprised us both!  He said we could qualify for double what we had thought!!  

He advised us not to go that high so the three of us agreed on a lower price point.  

I got a call from the broker on Friday saying that we are pre-approved at the lower, but still healthy, budget with. He actually said "I got you guys approved for $***,*** with a $**,*** down payment".  We have been saving for a down payment for about a year and are quite proud of ourselves:)  

Initially, we thought maybe our parents would have to co-sign for us (they volunteered if needed) because we probably wouldn't even qualify.  But we did it all on our own!  Some of the down payment money we saved has been gifted to us over the past several months (birthday, Christmas, congrats on the engagement, etc.) but we chose to save it together instead of spending it elsewhere.

and now for wedding talk...

I really enjoy planning our wedding.  It's a lot of fun and hasn't been stressful at all...it helps that David is involved!  Now that we are almost done with wedding things, we can really focus on looking for our house.  

David and I have been engaged for nearly a full year and I still can't believe we are getting married.  Obviously, the giant rock on my finger is a reminder:) It really hit me last week that this is really happening...we are getting married and starting a life together.  

even though I'm supposed to be blogging about wedding stuff, I'll throw in the occasional "update about home buying" post.  :D

-christina

an unconventional incident

about 3 weeks ago I came to the realization the wedding dress I planned to wear was not the dress for me (it’s a weird story so maybe I’ll save that for another post).  it wasn’t my dream dress and after consulting with my mom, I decided to look for another...it was a crazy idea considering there were about 4 months until our wedding.  I can’t buy off the rack because I’m a small size so any dress I wanted would have to be ordered and that can take several months.  I immediately went online to look up all the bridal stores in the Kawarthas and Peterborough to see what lines they carry.  After spending quite some time scrolling through web pages full of poufy, bedazzled dresses, I came across THE ONE.  It was just screaming ‘buy me buy me!’  I made a list of every single retailer that sold this line that was a reasonable driving distance from my house.  I called them all to ask if they had the dress in stock because I wanted to see it in person before ordering it.  not a single store had it!  I eventually called the local stores to see who could order it faster and found one that said it would be in by the end of July.  needless to say, I was very excited and relieved.  I made an appointment with the salon so I could be measured and pay my deposit.  just this week I received a call from the salon saying they were unable to order the dress for reasons I don’t fully understand.   basically, the dress I want is considered  a ‘destination or casual wedding dress’ and the store isn’t authorized to carry particular collection, but they can carry the typical dresses from that manufacturer.  It’s a little confusing and extremely frustrating.    Later in the day I went into the other local salon that carries this lone and told them my situation. they were very sympathetic and are able to order my dress for middle of September. 

I still  haven’t seen my dress in person so I don’t know how it will look on me.  the size that was ordered is supposed to be a perfect fit and I really hope it is!!  I’m disappointed I can’t have my dress any sooner  and am hoping it comes in by the promised date.  that would give 6 weeks for any work that needs to be done (I’m guessing the train will need to be made smaller because I hate trains on dresses).  this dress is so different from my original dress, but in a good way!

It feels more ‘me’.

-christina

wedding beauty

This post is dedicated to make up and hair for my wedding day.  I've had quite the adventures with hair styles over the years and posted some lovely pictures for your enjoyment:)

make up

anyone that knows me well can verify that I don't wear much make up.  I love it and will often wear it to work (not as of late because I'm too lazy) or for special occasions.  my make up is never perfect and I only ever use eyeliner and mascara.  so i knew when it came to my wedding day, I'd need to hire a really good make up artist.  I've mentioned my friend Alycia before and how fab she is (click for her site!) but I never proved it by posting some pictures.

this is how I look on a good day (with no make up)

this is how I look after Alyica has worked her magic
(the picture is small, but I'm wearing winged eyeliner, false lashes and red lipstick-DUH)

hair dilemma

I think that, as women, we often find identity in our hair. I know I did, especially in high school.  Just for giggles. here is a picture of me from grade 11...strangely, I felt like this hair represented "me".

yeah...that's bright pink hair.  It was very high maintenance needing to be recoloured every week or so.  I really wanted pink hair and my mom actually bleached and dyed it for me.  Anyone who knows my mother will be shocked that she supported this adventure!  

I got sick of having pink hair so I dyed it all dark a few months later.  By grade 12 I was embracing my inner hippy and letting my hair go free.

It was long, red and curly...I had curly hair a little kid but it eventually grew straighter.  I loved my hair this way but made yet another dumb decision to cut my hair off...

Super short hair was alright in the summer but looked AWFUL when it grew in.  But David and I met a few months after this happened and I didn't scare him away.

I have spent nearly 4 years trying to get my hair to look the way it did in high school: long, curly and luscious.  I've come close to the length but it always gets in my way, is too heavy and doesn't curl. It just hangs there.  I decided to grow my hair long for our wedding so I could wear it a certain way.  Then I realized that was a dumb idea because it would still be in my way and I didn't want to be one of those brides that waits and waits for their hair to grow so it can be long for ONE DAY...and then cuts it off right away.

This is what I did:

March 2012-Before

After

My hair has almost grown to my shoulders now, which is a lot of length is not much time.  I'm cutting it again so it will be short like the 'after' picture.  I've decided I like short hair; it's easier to look after. 

Having short hair doesn't make me less of a bride that the woman with long, flowing locks.

moral of the story:

There is no moral. You read a long post for nothing.  I don't want to look at my self on my wedding day and not recognize my reflection.  The make up I've chosen to wear is very simple, but classicly beautiful.  It dresses up my face without hiding who I am.  Short hair is what I'm most comfortable with I know my hair will look amazing on my wedding day. 

Bottom line: at the end of them (wedding) day, I hope people aren't talking about my make up or hair style...I hope they are talking about the love they saw between David and I as we transitioned from David Fleming and Christina Yourkin to Mr. and Mrs. Fleming.

shoe teaser (and other news)

I've decided to post a sneak peak of my wedding shoes.  I love them and will for sure be wearing them long after our wedding!

In other news:  we started working on our invites last weekend and they look A-MAZING if I may say so.  We opted for 'print your own' from Michael's and are adding our own embellishment for a 100% custom look:)

We also changed the time of our ceremony, so if you haven't already read it on Facebook, it's been changed to 2:00.

finally got my dress

...i shouldn't say "finally" because it's not like i had to wait several months for it to be ordered and altered. i brought my dress to the seamstress for alterations around the end of december and, after some confusion on her part, picked it up last friday.  i had to wait about 4 months for it, but now i have my dress in my closet.  that's one more thing off my checklist!

my mom, mother-in-law and sister-in-law/maid of honour came with me to pick it up.  i had one last fitting and wanted them all to see it.  everyone saw the dress before alterations so they were excited to see the finished product.  sadly, my bride's maids were unable to come because we all live in different cities. i described it to them and they eagerly await pictures.

i started writing this post a few weeks ago but never actually published it.  the dress is still hanging in the back of my closet, away from dirt and my cat's fur. i wish i had a more worthy place to hang it, like on a 'Mrs. Fleming' hanger on the back of my bedroom door so i see it every morning and night; a constant reminder of what's to come...but then i couldn't close my door properly and the dress might get sun bleached.  on the odd occasion i need to reach the back of my closet, my hand brushes against the plastic protecting the delicate fabric of my dress and i have to fight the urge to try it on. 

my engagement ring

I absolutley looooove my engagement ring!  David did such a good job picking it out:)
Before he proposed I'd been telling him what kind of ring I liked and sending him pictures.  When he gave me my ring I was amazed because it was exactly what I had wanted, right down to the tapered gold at the base of the stone setting.  Here are some pictures because I love it, and David, so much!

I took this picture when I got home after he proposed.
The ring was a bit big but I wore it anyway until we had it resized
(those few days of not wearing it was TORTURE!)

This is a flower from the tulip tree near the spot David proposed.  

my promise ring (that David carved me) and my engagement ring

shoooooooes

just thought you should know...I bought my wedding shoes:D 

I surprisingly don't think the shoes are all that important, which will come as a shock to people who know me.  I guess I'm so in love that little things like that don't matter!

After continually telling my mom that I'm wearing my Birkenstocks, I decided I really did need shoes that are cofmrotable enough to wear all day but still look decent.  I tried looking for dyeable shoes, which are awesome, but they were a little expensive and I'm not sure if I'd be able to wear them all day.  I saw a lot of shoes I really liked but my heart was set on one style in particular.  That style didn't seem special enough so I kept looking.  But I kept thinking about those shoes!  Eventually I decided I needed to find them because I didn't want to walk in any other pair!
I found a few pairs that were all alike except for minor details like exact colour or shape of the toe  (I'm super fussy with my shoes and how my feet look in them).   I found the pair I wanted and brought my mom in to take a look. She loved them and bought them for me.
I'm not going to post a picture yet because I don't know if I want to keep the shoes a secret...check back in a few days:)

christina

dress update!

Today my seamstress called and said my dress is ready.  My mom and I went shoe shopping before picking up my dress (which still needs to be hemmed according to what shoes I get) but weren't able to find a good pair.  I was pretty excited to try on my dress because I haven't seen it since December.  The bodice was too tight so I couldn't bring it home today. No, I didn't gain weight; the dress was just taken in too much!  The seamstress said I can come back in a few weeks to try it on again and she gave me a scrap of fabric from it to bring shoe shopping with me.
The dress so delicate so I'm afraid of ripping it when I try it on.  I've been assured it's made of a hearty material but I'm still super careful! 

That's all I have to post today.  We have about 8 months to go:)

post out of boredom

I'm currently dog-sitting for my future in-laws and watching a lot of TV...I'm really into wedding shows, especially Four Weddings and Four Weddings Canada:)  I think our wedding would win that show because we will have a cohesive look/theme, it's very personal, the venue is amazing and we're super in love!
While we have put a lot of thought into all the decisions we have made, we realized even before we were engaged, that the marriage is more important the wedding itself.  I had actually been keeping a notebook of all these wedding ideas for a few months before David proposed and I had so much I thought I wanted for my wedding. Pretty much as soon as we started planning (within weeks of the proposal) I realized that none of the stuff I had wanted before mattered anymore.  All that I had written and thought of before seemed really trivial and insignificant.  There are things we aren't compromising on or excluding.  Finding the perfect photographer and choosing the right songs for key moments were two of the things we (me probably more than David!) deemed important.
Something else that was really important to us was keeping our costs down.  Our parents are generously paying for everything so that we can save all our money for a house.  We never set a budget because our parents know we aren't going to be extravagant, but we still believe in spending what money we have been given wisely.  You would be surprised how easy it is to plan a great wedding without spending a lot.

I've just realized that I jumped from a TV show to rambling about a bunch of other stuff!!  In case you haven't seen the show, it's about 4 brides who attend each others wedding and judge them.  Whoever gets the most points from the other brides wins a honeymoon to a secret location.

Right now we are 249 days away from our wedding day:)
That's all i have to say for today.

bouquet, make up and a church

I've started assembling my brooch bouquet which is a bit more difficult and time consuming than I had thought. It's really fun though, and I have collected so many brooches from people I know.

I also had a make up trial with my fabulous make up artist and it went really well. i don't wear much make up that often so being made up while still looking like myself is exciting.

Finally, we booked our church and had a meeting with the pastor who will marry us.

We have 271 days until our wedding and are getting more excited every day!!

christina