Great Friends that We Have

As our special day draws near, Denise and I have started to create the itinerary for the wedding day events. While we can do the up front planning, we realize that we can't do anything but smile, pose for photos and be all cheerful. I must say that we're really thankful for the friends that we have. Generally speaking, Denise has always done an excellent job in keeping in touch with friends and its easy to see why they would be so willing to help out. On the other hand, I'm the type of person who is a bit more private, and afford the same privacy 'distance' to my friends too. My emails responses are typical one-liners without the fluff (i.e: "Hi, how are things going... blah blah blah").

Let me tell you how thankful I am for friends who accept me for this and are willing to help when asked. Special thanks to our friends Sandy, Hsin-May and Joy for being our first designated wedding helpers with the most difficult tasks. For all of my other friends, I might actually call on you for help very soon.... and I mean an actual phone call.

A Note to our Out-of-Town Guests

This message is for our out-of-town guests who have booked (or will be booking) one of the hotel rooms that were reserved for our wedding at DoubleTree International Plaza Hotel. If you have booked a room for Friday August 22, as well as Saturday August 23, please let us know. You can send us an email through one of the contact links on the left of this screen. This is to ensure that you will get the discounted rate on the Friday night too. Thanks!

Small But Important Details

Colin and I have been rather quiet on the wedding blog lately but that is not to say that we have been slacking in our wedding planning. Since most of the "big" things are taken care of, we have turned our attention to the small details. And there are plenty of small but important details to think about like ceremony decorations, centrepieces, and bridal hair/make-up.

I have been working with my good friend, Sandra to come up with some inexpensive but fabulous looking decorations to dress up our ceremony site. I don't want to spend too much money on the ceremony decorations because we're not going to be at the ceremony site for a long time. However, a few decorations are necessary to create a romantic wedding atmosphere. So, we scoured a few craft stores and dollar stores in Ottawa and I think we have come up with some nice pew bows and wreaths to complement the floral altar arrangements we have ordered through our florist. Car decorations are next on our list.

Another decoration detail that we have finalized is centrepieces. Two weeks ago, Colin and I found our centrepieces when we were wandering around First Markham Place in Toronto. All I will say is that these centrepieces are unique and were quite a deal. We just have to figure out the logistics of transporting them to our reception site.

I have booked a hair and make-up trial at the end of July. In preparation for the trial, I have been browsing several stores in search of the perfect hair accessories and jewellery. My preference would be to have at least the jewellery picked out so that I can try it on during my second dress fitting next week.

The RSVPs are coming in!

The RSVPs are coming in and it only makes me realize that the wedding is fast approaching. Many of our guests have been successfully using our RSVP online form but I have gotten a few RSVPs via phone as well. I'm very happy that a lot of my out-of-town family will be able to join us on our special day. This includes relatives from as far away as Vancouver, Brandon (Manitoba), Boston and Trinidad & Tobago!!! Of course, we have received a lot of RSVPs from local guests in the GTA, as well as guests from Waterloo and Ottawa. (Is Ottawa considered to be "out-of-town" given that we live in Ottawa too?)

Keep the RSVPs coming!!! :)

Measured for our Penguin Suits

On Saturday, My groomsmen, the fathers and I went to Moores to get measured for tuxedos. The style that we have chosen is a one button jacket, ivory vest/tie combo... no one will be paying much attention to me that day anyway.

Surprisingly, getting all measured up was much quicker and easier than I expected. The reason we went with Moores is because they are quite cost effective and pickup can be done at different locations per person (although, in the end, we will all be going to the same store). In the end, the 6 rentals will cost an average of approximately $130.

All in all, renting the tuxes were quite painless, except for a minor incident as we were about to part ways and go about our own business.

For the remainder of the afternoon, my groomsmen and I drove around looking at various limousine rentals; it was a very good thing we went to look first before committing to anything, as some of the vehicles were a bit suspect. Even, though one establishment offered me an extended SUV, including champagne, red carpet, tax, tip for $600, we've decided to pass.

Some photos of the vehicles that we will not be renting will be posted shortly.