Update

I'm sorry for not blogging in a while. Most of you know that I am in teachers college and for the past month I have been on my first practicum.  I am back at school now and have a little bit more time on my hands.  Since I last blogged a couple things have happened.  Ross and I had our interview with the church.  It went well.  Pastor Dave asked us about our family backgrounds and such and just got to know us a bit better.  We should hear by the new years whether the church elders have approved us and we are officially able to get married there.  We also have the opportunity to get the pastor that was at the church when Ross was a kid, which made Ross very happy.

In other news, I got a funny text message from mom on friday night.  She asked if she was going to get in trouble for buying her dress.  This was like deja vu for me because I sent her and Karla the same message when I bought mine.  I assured her that we wouldnt be mad at her if she liked the dress and she was gettign it for a good price it was fine.  Lunkily a girl I know from girl guides as a child was in the same store and she took a picture of the 2 dresses mom was trying to decide between and sent me them so I could help her make her decision.  I think the dress looks great, at least from the picture, although Karla assures me it looks good in real life too.  Mom will be dazzling in her purple dress for the wedding.  2 dresses down 6 to go!!! Why does this not feel like as big of an accomplishment as it is? We got the hard ones out of the way at least. 

We have also gotten our engagement pictures back in the past month.  Klair, Klairisa Grace Photography, did an amazing job.  I love soooo many of them.  She was able to capture Ros and I beautifully.  I have posted a bunch of the ones I like to the wedding website  so you can have a look.  I should book Klair for the wedding before soemone else snatches her up.  Can't wait to get some printed and put them in frames.

I am looking forward to the holiday season and being able to see the whole bridal party.  Half my girls are out of town and I miss them.  I am looking forward to our bridal party dinner when the whole bridal party can finally meet each other and get to know one another.  I'm sure there will be lots of stories to tell about this night, some probably accompanied with photos. Well if I don't blog before then, I will have lots of stories to tell.  Only 417 days!

Said YES to the dress!!!

I'm gitty jsust writing about it.  I FOUND MY DRESS!!! it's gorgeous.  I was in London for the weekend visiting a friend for her birthday.  Since the guys weren't going to be in town till a couple hours after I did, I suggested we go dress shopping.  She loved the idea so off we went on friday afternoon.  Our first stop was Garbers Bridal Shop.  After aout 15 dresses and two and a half hours nothing had wowed me yet.  i liked bits and pieces of dresses but nothing stood out to me.  Erica was a huge help though and suggested we stop by again on saturday, and retry on my favourites from friday afternoon.  She also said she would try and pull some dresses that had the bits and pieces I liked in one dress.  Well Erica pulled through.  We went back on saturday and the first dress I tried on that she had pulled out took my breath away.  I would tell you all what it looked like but can't just in case Ross decides to read my blog.  I couldn't stop smiling.  I didn't even want to take it off.  It made the other dresses from the day before feel like a track suit.  We did try on a few more that she had pulled out but nothing compared to the first one. 

Now came the tough decision, am I ok with going over my budget to buy my dream dress.  I just couldn't imagine walking down the aisle in anythign else.  I just kept picturing Ross's face at the front of the church as I walked toward him.  OMG writing about it is making me cry.  The fact that my mom and sister weren't there to share in the experience definitely made it a hard decision.  I know they really wanted to be a part of it, but just couldn't imagine leaving the store without the dress and having someone else snatch it up.  So i did it.  I made the leap and bought my dress.  It was tough, and now I have to figure out what I am going to do with my visa bill when it comes in a month.  Having the dress just makes it seem so much more real.  I can't wait to show my family.  Till then, i will just stare at it hanging in my room.

Forgotten Story

I can't believe I forgot to tell this story.  I almost lost my engagement ring last week.  I play volleyball on wednesday night.  Last week I forgot to take my ring off before I left the house so when I got to the gym I tied it to my lanyard.  When I left the gym I forgot that I had put it there and went on my way.  So since it was pouring down rain outside I made a mad dash to my car, halfway down the block.  This whole time my keysand my lanyard were dangling in my hand.  I got to my car, drove home, went in the house, didn't think anything of it.  I decided I was going to sit and watch tv before I went and took a shower.  It took about 5 minutes for me to notice that my ring was not on my finger.  It immediately clicked in as to where the last time I had it which caused a minor panic attack.  I ran to my room to discover that indeed my ring had fallen off.  As I began screaming for my roommate, I rummaged through my bag, checked the floor, etc.  My roommate came downstairs, she thought I was dying, I told her I would be if i didn't find it. 

So off we go back to school at 9:30 at night.  Oh did I mention it was raining? So as I retrace my steps, in the rain,  from the car to the door my roommate tried to get into the school.  of course the doors were all locked by now.  She luckily caught the security guard and was able to get in.  I had no luck on the sidewalk and was starting to think the worst happened and my ring fell off on the mad dash to my car and ended up in a drain.  I went in the school and retraced my steps from the door to where my bag was on the stage in the gym.  No luck.  Of course the floor is grey tile making it very difficult to see a ring.  Thank god for my roommate, because she found my ring on the other side of the gym after just a couple minutes.  Couldnt have been more relieved.  At least Ross knows me and we have it insured for instances such as these. 

Lets just say this week when I went to play volleyball, my ring was taken off long before I left the house and safely stored in its box. 

Making Decisions

My mom and sister had the joy of doing my job for me last night.  They accompanied Ross to the Fogolar Furlan to ask some questions and get some information.  From what I hear, the people at the Fogolar are great and very nice to work with.  Although the hall rental is a little more than the other halls we were looking at, I think it is definitely worth it.  They work with you to give you exactly what you want to make it an awesome day.  I am excited to move forward and start planning more.

Unproductive weekend

I apologize to those who were excited to have dress shopping stories.  I realized on monday morning when I got up that I left my passport in Hamilton, making it extremely difficult to try and cross the border.  Karla, (aka twin sister, MOH), was not happy as she actually was up and getting ready.  She had said the night before that she wasn't going because she didn't want to get up early.  I promise I will post some stories when I actually do go shopping. 

In other news Ross and I got our engagement pictures doen this weekend by Klairisa Grace Photography.  Apparently we are naturals at taking pictures together, must be the 6 yrs of experience, lol.  I cant wait to see all the pictures, the sneak peak ones she posted look fantastic.  Everyone better appreciate the one in the trees, my butt was very wet when I stood up.  I will also post some of these pictures on the wedding website in the photo slideshow once we get them all.  You can use the wedding website to contact us and check thing out about the big day as well.

We also finally got an interview with the church.  Its not until November but at least we have one.  Now all I have to do is not make myself look bad.  lol.  If anyone has gone through one of these, I would be glad to hear what it is like.  We are thinking about booking the hall, Fogolar was the final decision, for our date.  I just couldnt get over the beauty of the room.  We wil hope the church will still have that date open when we do the interview, otherwise we will have to change it. 

Thats all for now, only 466 more days till the big day!!!!

Dresses

One of the things I am probbaly most excited about in the planning process is looking for my dress.  I am also excited to find my bridesmaid dresses, although I have promised I wont be the bride who makes them look hideous.  Those who have seen 27 Dresses know what i am talking about.  But how do you find dresses when your bridemaids are spread across the country.  I have one in New Brunswick, one in Ottawa, my sister just came home from being in the Muskokas all summer and luckily the last actually lives where we grew up and the wedding will take place, not to mention that I live in Hamilton 70% of the time.  Well camera phones have become a blessing.  I am able to take pictures of dresses I like and make notes of where they are.  The girls can try dresses on and send me pictures so I can see wat they look like.  Just this week one was at Sears trying dresses on, and my sister sent me a picture this morning of her in her prom dress (just happens to be the navy blue that I am lookign for.

As for my dress...I first want to shame on all those wedding dress designers who make you feel liek a tank when you try them on.  Why do you ahve to make the sizes run soooo small.  I know I am not tiny anymore, but haven't grown that much.  I attempted to try on a mermaid style dress when my mom, aunt and I were across the river doing some shopping and actually managed to get stuck, yes stuck in the dress.  My mom came to see how I was doing andshe had to help me get out of it.  It didn't matter which way I got into it, either the top or bottom, my hips or my bust got caught.  Moral of the story, mermaid style is not for me.  My sister (also my twin), which if I havent told you already will be my maid of honour, went to a few shops in hamilton while she visited.  One dress gave me hips that were twice as wide as the rest of my body, not to mention I couldn't breate, or move fo that matter, because it was so tight in the torso.  I did however find one i liked.  it was an a-line halter with beading across the top.

Thats another thing, why are most bridal gowns strapless these days?  I will not be the girl who is constantly having to pull up my dress.  I have worked a number of weddings in my days of banquet serving and it just doesn't make any sense.  Why not buy a dress that stays put?  It may take me longer to find, but my dress will have straps on it.  Maybe I will have some luck this weekend, I will be home for turkey day and am going to venture to a couple stores on either side of the river.  Wish me luck!!

Getting up to date

I think if  I am going to talk  about the planning stages I better at least get up to date so I don't confuse everyone.  The first things on our list were to see reception hall and talk to the church.  After looking at many reception halls that looked like gymnasiums or just weren't spectacular we finally found some that we liked.  I suppose I should also inform you that we are getting married in Windsor, Ontario.  Our first stop after the gymnasiums and run down halls was the Fogolar Furlan.  They have a room upstairs that has a marble staircase going into the hall and has been recently redone.  This room I enjoyed, its big enough and would be cozy.  Being the keener that I am I asked if there were any other rooms that were about the same size.  She says yes and brings us down stairs to the most beautiful reception hall I think I have ever seen.  The architecture in the ceiling, the hardwood floors, the beautiful bar, it was breath taking.  Ross, my fiance, said he knew this is where we should get married because its the first time in our trips to look at halls that my eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store.  They also gave us the option to use couches around the fireplace at the back, and cocktail tables by the bar which made my eyes really pop.  We also like the reception hall at Torino restaurant but may take some smoozing from my dad, he knows the owner, to get the hall we want.  So now it will have to come down to the hall that took my breath away, which is probably bigger than we need, or the practical one that is cheaper and is beautiful as well.

The next thing on the list was the church.  I called the church, the one Ross's family has been going to forever to see what the protocol was to get married at the church.  Now I know Catholic churches have quite the process but I wasn't expecting it from this church.  I was informed that we had to fill out a form, bring it into the church, they would then call us to set up an interview.  if we passed the interview with the family pastor, we would need to get approved by the church elders before officially be allows to get married there.  If we are approved we have to do a class to make sure we are fit to get married.  Right now we are playing the waiting game, we have handed in our appliaction and talked to the pastor who will be doing the interview, just waiting for a time and date.  This is nto as easy as it sounds, as I am 3 hours away completing teachers college (which if you want to read about check out my other blog). So we wait and see, and hope someone doesn't snatch up our date on us.

Other than that there has been no official planning.  I went to a bridal show in Toronto just to get some ideas.  My mother, a bridemaid and her mom, went to the fall bridal show in Windsor on my behalf since I was unable to attend.  From what I understand, it was quite a funny experience.  My bridesmaid had to pretend to be me because to get a bunch of the deals the bride has to be there.  So all night they had to make sure that thy called her by my name, which wasn't easy.  She was also asked about her ring, or lack there of one, and she didn't know how to respond.  The funniest part must of been when they ran into a few people they know and were surprised she was getting married being that she doesn't have a boyfriend right now and is quite young.  They had to explain the circumstances so a rumor wasn't started that she was getting hitched.  I wish I could have been there, but I'm glad they had fun. 

This weekend I am going home for thanksgiving.  Ross's mom was very kind and is giving us engagement pictures.  We will be getting them done on Saturday morning and I can't wait to see them.  We will also be doing lots of other planning while I am home and try and get ourselves organized. I can't wait to go home and see the family, and spend some time with Ross. 

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to the blog of a slightly neurotic, bride to be.  If you ask my fiance he may argue on the slightly part but we will leave it at that.  I have decided to write this blog as a way to share my story with the world.  We aren't the most interesting couple, but we have definitely had an incredible relationship.  My trip to the altar, im sure, will be just as crazy and enjoyable.  I wish I has started blogging about this sooner, so I will have to get you up to date.  I will give you the general story and each time I blog I will share an interesting story over our long relationship.

We have been dating for over six and a half years now.  We met in high school and have been together ever since.  For the last four years we have been keeping a long term relationship, minus the summer, because I am away at school.  We have been engaged for almost 2 months and are planning to have a winter wedding early 2013.  Me being the crazy neurotic person that I am, have already looked at many of the things required for planning a wedding and we haven't confirmed the church yet.  That's me, the one who gets everythign done early and then freaks out because there is nothing to do at the end. 

So there you go, if you feel like reading what is bound to be an interesting trip to the altar, i hope you enjoy.  if not, you have just read the ramblings of a bride to be with time on her hands.