One Big Thing to Check Off the List...

So D was here for the past week (which hopefully explains my absence!) and we were able to get a few wedding-relates things knocked off our list. The biggest one by far is that we FINALLY signed the contract with our caterers! We have been in contact with them since probably September of last year, so this has been a long time coming. We had to wait to sign the contract with our reception which took forever, and then it was just a waiting game for D to come to town so we could meet them together, in person, and finalize details and menu options.

Our reception venue had a pre-approved list of about 6 caterers and we had to choose one of those options. We went with the most affordable one, which luckily has also got amazing reviews. Which is good, because unfortunately we won't be able to taste our menu before the big day. I'm a little bit nervous about that, but I have talked to a few people who have had events catered by this company, and they are all good so far, so hopefully it will all work out. Fingers crossed!

Now onto the good stuff! I'm sure you're wondering what deliciousness we picked for our menu! Our guests will arrive to the cocktail hour where there will be hot and cold passed apps - a pretty traditional mix with things such as chicken brochettes, bruschetta, spanakopita, chicken profiteroles, spring rolls, etc. Pretty standard. We chose 2 meat options and a vegetarian option for our dinner. The meat-eaters will start with a spinach & goat cheese salad, followed by with either chicken stuffed with mushrooms and asiago with garlic mashed potatoes or baked cedar-infused salmon served with an asian sesame sauce and wild rice. Both come with fresh and local seasonal vegetables. For dessert, a raspberry mousse. Later on we will have wedding cake and a late-night dessert buffet. For the vegetarians, they will start with a quinoa salad, followed by a main of portobello and tofu skewers served with ginger rice and BBQ ratatouille. Their dessert will be apple pie with coconut vanilla ice cream. Hope it's okay! It all sounds very 'wedding food,' so I hope it all looks and tastes okay.

I found it a bit weird that for our vegetarians they had to have an entire separate menu. Like, we can't choose just a different main dish for them. Hopefully it all works out and people aren't jealous of what they don't get. We know who our vegetarians are, so we are just going to pre-order the meals for them and not give the option to the rest of our guests. The reason behind this is that the vegetarian meal is almost $15 more per person than the meat options. Boggles my mind. But it is what it is, so we will make the best of it!

So that's it when it comes to food for the wedding! Like I said, we will have a late-night dessert buffet which is as-yet undetermined, but it will probably consist of cake, cupcakes, cookies, cannoli, etc. I am weighing the options of a chocolate fountain since we actually own one (I bought one for D one year as a joke... it was like $8 on ebay!), so we will have to see how the logistics for that work.

Now I just need to think about signature drinks. I know that I want some, but I need to think of what. Any suggestions?

Did you have an easy time when it came to picking your wedding menu? Does my menu sound okay? And changes I should make? I am definitely open to suggestions!

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

So after two wedding related meltdowns, we are changing things up! I am looking at this as a positive and trying to gain back a happy outlook on this wedding. I think it was becoming a case of too many cooks in the kitchen (which can happen when wedding funds are coming from a variety of sources - lesson learned, pay for your own wedding!)

Basically, I was told that because of our colour scheme the wedding is going to look like a bee (so not true!), which is apparently ugly. Thanks, Mom. So as much as I loved our yellow-inspired colour scheme, that comment kind of turned me off the whole yellow look. Now, we are going from this:

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To this:


Which, I know I've posted before.

I'm really excited! Originally, we had wanted to go for a more purple/green, black and white colour palette, so this is getting a bit back to basics. D's favourite colour is green, so he is obvs really happy with the change, and I think it just looks fresh, clean and modern. Love. I am especially inspired by the tablescape (is that a word) in the above board, 2nd row, last picture. I'm thinking white linens, black table runner, green napkins, a mix of various white, fluffy flowers in milk glass vases. It's going to be great!

You might think I'm crazy changing something like this up when we have less thank 5 months to go... yikes. But luckily, I'm a procrastinator extraordinaire, so we don't have anything big done yet that would really create a problem. Despite all my lofty goals, I have yet to start any DIY projects. Trust me, DIY is not my friend!

So... yes. White, black, shades of green, some greys and silvers, milk glass, fresh, crisp + clean. This is the new theme we're aiming for. Fingers crossed!

Any big changes going on with your wedding plans?

The Chicken or the Egg?

AKA, The Tables or the Table Linens?

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Girls, this is getting stressful. I'm trying to figure out our table linen situation, and it's like, you can't JUST decide on which ones to get, because first you need to know HOW MANY to get, so first you have to figure out your table layouts, which means you need to figure out some sort of seating plan. STRESS. FUL. Ugh. Maybe this is just a problem for me? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't get this whole wedding planning business. Like, how are we supposed to be able to deal with this and our regular lives at the same time? So. Annoying.

I think the frustration also lies in the fact that we are having long, rectangular tables instead of squares or circles. So we can pretty much arrange table how we want, in lengths of 6, 12, 18, etc. Basically, whatever works for different groups - like a huge table of friends, a smaller table of grandparents, etc. So I've been working on table arrangements ALL night, and now that I kind of have a picture in mind of how it will look, NOW I can start thinking about the type of linens I need.

Oh, but if only it was that easy! So far, all of the rental company websites I've browsed have these super random lengths of tablecloths. My tables are going to be 6FT x 5FT, placed end to end in varying lengths. How am I supposed to know what size linens to get so they will be floor length? Do I have to go into the venue to measure the height of the tables to know what size I need? I wish I had the money to throw at someone to handle this all for me. That would be SO. MUCH. EASIER.

Boo. Rant over.

What wedding roadblocks have you run into?

Toss Toss Away!

Only at wedding can you get away with throwing things at your guests...

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Bouquets and garters, that is!

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about this whole tossing business. I know it is considered tradition at weddings for the bride to toss her bouquet and the groom to toss the garter, but I'm not sure if this is going to happen at our wedding. Honestly, I kind of want to keep my bouquet and not throw it away at the end of the night. My mom kept her bouquet (although I believe she had an extra one she tossed) and had it dried, and had it in a vase on display until one our cats ate it. Funny. Although, I'm not a huge fan of dried flowers either, so we'll see. I guess it will all have to do with how much I like my actual bouquet and if the ladies demand I toss it. If I do, it will be something impromptu and not forced at all. So we'll see! Definitely to be determined...

As for the garter toss, I'm not sure if it's my choice whether we have it or not, but if it was up to me we wouldn't. There is something so awkward about having D rummaging around under my gown in front of family and friends to find the garter. I mean, it's not like I want my grandparents and other extended family seeing that! I don't think I've ever seen a garter being pulled at any of the two weddings I've been two, so I guess I'm not sure if it can be done tastefully or not. But like I said, I don't even know if this is my decision!

Although, she makes it look fun!

So, I think that even if we might not have a garter toss, I still want to wear a fun garter just because. There are a lot of cute options out there. I could either pick something really pretty, go for something to surprise D, or even pick one of my favourite things. As you know I have an absurd obsession with Hello Kitty, so how fun would it be to have a HK garter on my wedding day? Well, fun for me, but not so fun for D!

Here are some options...

Hello Kitty... of course! And blue!


Simple white one


Wedding themed


Super cute flower

So there are definitely many options out there!

How did you choose a garter? How do you feel about the whole bouquet/garter toss situation?

Petal Power

I'm definitely not a girl who has a green thumb, but I do love me some flowers! I've been gathering inspiration for what type of florals I want in the wedding, and am starting to research vendors. I think flowers are going to be scary expensive, so I'm still not sold on the whole 'flowers as decor' concept, and might just consider using flowers for our bouquets.

My absolute and definite favourite type of flower is peonies. Love peonies! There is something about peonies that just scream bride to me, and I love the way they look in a bouquet especially if there is a mix of open and closed peonies. Trust me, I didn't even know what a peony was until I started to plan this wedding, so if you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry!

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So pretty! This is an all-white peony bouquet. I think if I did this I would get rid of all the greenery, and make it just a bit fuller. I love the look of this, especially the ribbon wrapped stem.

For the ladies, I'm thinking this is where we'll add a pop of colour. Since our wedding colours are black, white and yellow, I love the idea of either an all-yellow or white and yellow bouquet. I'm not a huge fan of roses, so I would want to mix all different types of yellow flowers.

Pictures from here, here, and here.

All so lovely. I really like the look of succelents as well, and for a while was obsessed with incorporating them into our centrepieces. They don't really match our wedding look though, so we'll see. I love how everything is constantly changing... I am so bad at making decisions!

As of right now, the centrepiece look I'm going for is fairly simple. We will have long rectangular tables, with white table cloths and a black runner down the middle. I want our centrepieces to be different sized hurricane vases and jars with tall white candle in them, like a lot of them, all in a row down the runner. Then scattered around them will be hydrangea flower petals. I have a picture in my mind as to how I want this to look, but I haven't done a mock-up or anything so I'm not sure what it will look like. Any thoughts?

So at this point, the florals on our table decor will be very simple - just the hydrangea petals. Paired with tall and short vases, do you think that will be enough for such a large room? I don't want it to look empty. If I did do floral arrangements on our tables, they would likely be a variety of yellow and white flowers in shorter vases - I'm not a fan of those super tall arrangement that take over the whole table. I guess I will have to look into pricing and really think about what I want before making a decision. I just think candlelight will be so romantic and elegant, and since our venue is such a large, industrial space, candlelight will really liven it up.

Picture something like this, but with a black table runner.

Did you know what type of florals you wanted right away, or was it a tough decision?

More Sweet Treats

So because having an edible favour isn't enough for this sweet-toothed bride, we will also be having a late night dessert table. This was actually my mom's idea. I think she really just knows our family and what to expect from them when it comes to eating (hey, we like to eat, okay?). So, the plan is to have an assortment of delicious treats put out later in the evening.

Yum!

So the only thing is, we would be making all the desserts ourselves. I have a fairly large and close-knit extended family, so everyone would be pitching in and adding something to the mix. I'm hoping to have a mix of cookies and squares, a chocolate fountain with fruit, and some different candies and treats. Oh, yum! I'm a sucker for desserts.

So advice time... How should we execute this? Since it is something we are doing ourselves, we would be responsible for set-up and clean-up. I don't want people (namely, my mom) to take time during the reception to set everything up. I think the best thing would be to set it all up the morning of, and then either cover everything up and then drape a cloth over it. Or, we could set it up and then hide it behind a curtain or partition. I guess it's difficult because the caterers won't have anything to do with it, but I don't want it to be too much work for those involved. And obviously I want to be able to just enjoy myself all day and not have to worry about what's going on with it. Hm... this seems stressful.

Has anyone done something like this before? I think it is a great idea on paper, but the actual logistics are a bit more difficult. Any tips or tricks?

A Sweet Treat

Let's talk about favours! There are so many options out there for wedding favours, but I think the best option for us is an edible favour. I don't want to buy hundreds of little knick-knacky things only to have them left behind and have it be a huge waste. Plus, I couldn't really think of anything non-edible that I would want to give out as a memento of our big day. At least with something people can eat, I will be guaranteed that there will be nothing left. Trust me... if you met my family you'd understand!

So, edible favours. There are lots of options out there. One of the first pictures that I bookmarked very early on in the process were these:

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These are so cute and obviously very appropriate for the occasion. And how easy would they be to make on our own? On the website they are listed as truffles, but I thought we could even make them as cake pops. Yum. So this is one option.

My next idea actually came from when I took our parents to see the venue. The day we went in they were setting up for another wedding and this was their favour, so it's totally stolen from that couple. Oh well!

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Macarons, so adorable! So, for these I was thinking we could make them ourselves (ugh, DIY! What am I doing?) and then package them in clear boxes with a ribbon. Very cute. And obviously they would be made in our wedding colours (I'm thinking white/yellow and yellow/white macarons, with a black ribbon on the box). The only thing is, I've never tried a macaron. Are they good? And also, they are apparently very difficult to make. So there might be something better and easier out there.

And finally:

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These are really cute too. They are sugar cookies piped with icing and stacked into the shape of a wedding cake. I don't even like wedding cakes that much but I like these. And again, we can stick them in those clear boxes with a ribbon on it, and we can probably make them ourselves.

So those are my three ideas. Which favour do you like the best? Which one is just meh?

And just another note about the macarons (because I think, still, these are my fave!). D went to a dinner party a few weeks ago and these were served for dessert. And he loved them. So now he is a little obsessed with macarons too. Also, my mom is making candy cane macarons as favours for Christmas dinner, so that could be our trial run to see how hard they are to make. What do you think? (Okay, enough. I'm done trying to justify the macarons!)

Did you have a hard time choosing your wedding favours? Did you go for edible or non?

Venue Redux

So after looking at, finding, and booking our perfect reception venue, D and I are changing it up!

Let me back it up. In the summer, when D was still living here (oh, the memories!), we planned an impromptu day date to a newly renovated museum in Ottawa. This museum is one we both visited a number of times growing up, and is located right in the city in an old castle. The museum itself is stunning - high ceilings, marble floors, and really cool architectural details. Well, as we were waiting to pay our admission fee, I noticed a pamphlet about hosting events at the museum. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

The rooms that are available to rent for events were locked to museum patrons, but we peeked through the windows and liked what we saw. So we went home and contacted the museum event planner to schedule a visit. We went, we saw, and we loved! Out of the rooms available for rental, we chose an empty gallery that takes up an entire wing of the museum. It is very industrial - cement floors, exposed ceilings, and plain white walls. I love it! We both did. So we scheduled another visit so the parents could see it. And they loved it as well. Yes!

I don't really have any pictures of the space since they don't have any on their website, but here is one the event planner sent to me. What you can't see is that it's not just one room, it's an entire wing, so we get two rooms attached by a doorway (you can kind of make out the doorway in the middle of the wall in the picture). So I'm thinking one room can be for pre-dinner cocktails and after dinner dancing, like a chich lounge-y space, and the other room will be set for dinner. Oh, and one final thing (can you tell I'm excited!?). See those uplights? We get to use those as well. Oh, yes! I'm a happy girl!

The gallery

Castle-y goodness!

Renovated 'lantern' skylight

Hopefully, I can get some more pictures as we continue on in the planning process so you can all see how amazing this space truly is.

Going into this wedding, I thought it would be a low-key affair and our original venue would be perfect to achieve the feel we were going for. As the months went on, our guest list got bigger and bigger, I chose my dress, and things just seemed like they were getting a bit more 'grand scale' than I had anticipated. Not that we are having an elaborate, over-the-top wedding by any means, but the museum just seems like a better fit to what our wedding day has evolved into. And I couldn't be more excited!

Luckily, after pricing out the rental costs for the venue and meeting with some caterers, it looks like we will be able to pull this off for about the same price as the restaurant would have cost us. So now we are just waiting for the contract to come through, and we are good to go. I'm so excited!

Did you change up your venue halfway through the wedding planning process?