Over the past several months I have been researching flowers to use for our wedding. Since I knew very little about flowers I started learning about some pretty simple classic flowers and then moved on to more exotic and seasonal flowers. I have included some of my favorite ones here.




This bouquet is made primarily of white orchids and hydrangeas. Orchids are a beautiful exotic flower which are expensive but elegant looking.








What I love about this one is the mixture of flowers. There are green cymbidium orchids, crysanthemums, roses, and lots of greenery. It is so vibrant and colourful!








Orchids, roses, and fresias. Again, the greenery is so pretty mixed in with the flowers.









These flowers are called Fresias. They are very popular for weddings as they are white and elegant looking.







While I do not wish to give away exactly which flowers I have decided to go with for the wedding, but I imagine you can guess at least some of them by looking at the pictures throughout the blog.

Aside from my Brother, Ben is the member of my half of the wedding party that I have known the longest and I am truly lucky to have a friend who has been there for me over about 20 years to now have at my side on my wedding day.

BEN CAPLAN

I met Ben in St. Catharines while we were both swimming for Brock Niagara Aquatics during the 1990s. A lot has changed over the last 20 years, although Ben's feet are pretty much the same size, and Ben and I have been through it together all over that time.

Swimming proved not to be Ben's deal over the long haul (despite his brilliant form shown below) but our friendship transcended the pool and moved to the pool halls, and from there we went to school together, had a hilarious time working at 3 for 1 Pizza together, moved to Toronto at roughly the same time, lived in The Palace together, hit up the Zen Lounge countless times, worked at the UofT pool together, enjoyed Crazy Strings at the Silver Dollar Lounge while swilling prohibition era quality beer, we've watched a number of UFC shows together, Sunday night beers and pool at the Fox & Fiddle, and most recently he moved in with Nathalie and I for a short while this year. There have been many more moments beyond that as well and let's just say that there are no half-baked ideas that I would not buy into if Ben asked me to get involved in.

Currently Ben is fully entrenched in an art career and I could not be more proud of his evolution in this pursuit (you can see one of his pieces below). At one point in time art was a hobby for Ben much like playing the guitar, shooting pool, or relentless womanizing but now it should be considered that Ben has gone pro in two in those pursuits, the first being art and the second... well, if you don't know him then you will and let's just say his billiards game is not what it once used to be.

I have grown up with Ben, much in the same way that Nathalie has grown up with Veronica, and our friendship has endured our crazy teenage years and sadly now our 20s that are in our rearview mirror. I will always be there for Ben and I'm confident that he will always be there for me and on July 24th he will be exactly where I hoped he would be and that's in the wedding party.

Thanks Ben, I deeply appreciate your friendship.

Not much explanation needed. The theme was "Mad Hatter" and it was very girly! Enjoy the pictures! My sister hosted the event and did an amazing job! Special thanks also goes out to Nicole, Gran, Kim, Mom, and Dad for the decorations. It was lots of fun! To see more pictures visit our flicker account!

Notice the side profile. I decided this was the best angle to try to avoid seeing my
swollen nose and eyes!!

Veronica and I about to fall down the Rabbit Hole!

Crazy Hats were worn by all! (Kate, Julia, Kristin, and Brittney)

Nicole made some fancy rabbit cupcakes among green cupcakes. So talented!

I don't know where Gill's hat ended up, but it is still a great photo! No one was about to forget MY name!

I wanted to share a story with you all to warn you of the dangers of walking. Yes, I said walking. A few days ago, I was walking along Robert St. on my way home from UofT campus when I was struck by a crazy biker barreling his way down the sidewalk. He rode up behind me and I was thrown face first into a metal fence. Needless to say I was in quite a bit of pain and shock. The fact that I was also bleeding from the head was also not a very pleasant experience. I somehow managed to get my bearings and a really kind woman stopped and helped me get to the walk-in clinic. Dave, Dudar, and Kate then proceeded to take care of me throughout the day. Dudar bought me a cupcake. Kate distracted me with a marathon of "Community" while asking me memory related questions when I looked like I was about to doze off. Dave cleaned me up, made dinner, and bought me a brownie. Sugar and TV are an excellent way to cure a swollen head!































I now have a nice cut on my forehead (think Harry Potter Style) and a nice swollen face! This of course happened 2 days before my bridal shower which made for awesome photos of me with two swollen eyes and sporting a Disney princess band-aid on my head. I am not sure what the moral of this story is, but I wanted to provide an explanation for my funny appearance in the shower pictures =)


PS: If anyone asks, the fence looks worse!

Since several people have been asking, I thought I would make a very "official" post updating you all on my plans for next year. As many of you know, I spent the months of September to January buried in PhD applications. Of course this coincided with finishing up my MA degree, trying to figure out a summer job, and starting to plan a wedding!! So, you may not have seen much of me during these months. Instead of boring you with the details of where I applied, I am skipping to the end result. I ended up accepting an offer for the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. So, Dave and I will be staying in the city of Toronto which we are really excited about!!! I will start my program in September and am looking forward to taking a "thinking break" over the summer before diving in to another 4-5 years of study.

There are just some friends that you meet that you know, come thick or thin, they would do anything and everything in their power for you and quite simply I know that Nick Dargus is one of those ultra-rare friends in my life and I'm honoured that he will be standing beside me on July 24th.

NICK DARGUS

Since I moved to Toronto in 1999, Nick Dargus has been with me (and I with him) every step along the way. Nick and I were rookies on the Varsity Blues swim team together, we moved into 'The Palace' together, we captained the Varsity Blues swim team together and to two Provincial Titles, we finished our swimming careers in the same year, we moved on with careers at the same time, we've played poker and pool on many an inebriated evening, and last year I was honoured to be the Best Man at his wedding.

Here are some quick hit memories I share with Nick Dargus... The Dougall Perpetual Challenge Trophy, a love of 24 (although if he ruins it for me I will ruin him), Duffs, The Palace, free pool at the Fox & Fiddle, Goldschlager (yikes), Franchises' boobs (you're welcome), and fond smile every time I hear the song 'Rasputin' by Boney M (yeah, by Boney M, will never forget that artist).



Nick and Nathalie are pretty tight as friends and have been so since well before Nathalie and I started to date. To be fair, Nick used to pick on Nathalie quite a bit, much like an older brother would pick on a sister. Although underneath that teasing was also a relationship that Nathalie was comfortable enough to confide to Nick her super crush she had on me... yeah, I'm that big a deal.

Since Nathalie and I have been together Nick continues to be a great friend. To Nathalie's delight she has proven to be an adept dog sitter for Cole while Nick and I enjoy our frequent trips to Duffs (sometimes we even bring along that deadbeat, The Dudar).

Of all the memories I've shared with Nick, I believe the fondest is the fantastic week we spent in Punta Cana last year shortly after his wedding. Nick and his beautiful wife Ashley were generous enough to take the wedding party to Punta Cana and it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip!

Nick has always been there for me and on July 24th he will be right in the thick of things again and I could not be more happy to share this day with one of the best friends I could ever imagine having in my life.

BTW... I don't know how many drinks I had in me at the time of this picture but be assured it was quite a few. A great day!

This is exciting, 103 days left to go until July 24th so it's time to unveil a proper wedding website where you'll find some of the more general information regarding the wedding...

The site is under construction but there are some preliminary details up... more to come.

The blog is definitely going to continue, please keep visiting. Hit up the Flickr. Join our Facebook group. Follow us on Twitter... You can do it all with this wedding, full access!

In all seriousness, lots going on and we love all the help and support our friends and families having been giving us lately!

Visit the official wedding website... http://www.ewedding.com/sites/july24th2010

Tomorrow, Saturday March 26th, is going to be a busy day. As the wedding is coming up in about 4 months it is now time to stop browsing the magazines and start making decisions about those details I have been thinking about for months. So, my mom is going to come downtown and help me out with girlie details while Dave takes care of the more manly-organizational ones =)

Here is the program for tomorrow's events:

12pm - Lunch with Mom at the Windsor Arms Hotel
3pm - Flower consultation @ Pink Twig (Such a beautiful shop!)
4pm - Menu tasting at the Polish Hall (with Dave and Mom)
5pm - Beckers Bridal to pick up MY wedding dress!!!

Looking forward to crossing more things off my to-do list! More updates to come!
Nat

Our good friends Geoff and Liz got engaged over the weekend! We're very excited for them and wish them the best as they put together their wedding plans.

Geoff is looking at a wedding at Yankee Stadium... something tells me that Liz might have something to say about that plan. Good luck Geoff, I think it's a great idea!

OK... So I'm a lot behind in posting, Nathalie introduced her wedding party already in spectacular fashion. In fact, Nathalie has posted I think the last 6 or so posts so I'm back to introduce the Gentlemen that will standing beside me on July 24th.

Today, I will introduce the man that I've known for the shortest amount of time but none-the-less plays a very important role in the relationship between Nathalie and I....

PAUL DUDAR... A.K.A. THE DUDAR

What can I say about The Dudar that the photo below does not already say...

I had other photos of The Dudar in mind but I realize that there will be people reading this blog that might not yet have met The Dudar so I want to keep the content on here safe :) The Dudar is the kind of friend that never brings the mood down and often takes a party over the edge of sanity.

Always fun but even more important always thoughtful and a great friend.

In the history of the dating relationship between Nathalie and I, The Dudar was the first person to know Nathalie and I were together and was kind enough not to gossip about it right away and instead gave us time to lay a foundation for who we were as a couple before letting our friends define the relationship through talk and gossip. This was a rough time for The Dudar, he's a talker and kind of a gossip queen but when something (and someone) really matters Nathalie and I would trust The Dudar with anything.

Today, Nathalie and I share our apartment with The Dudar and we absolutely love having him as a roommate and someone we can blame for the apartment being dirty :)

I have numerous stories of good times with The Dudar, most I can not share on this blog... However, the important thing is that I can not really think of any stories of bad times I have experienced with The Dudar... except for when he ruined Superman for me... for that he won't be forgiven.

Thank you Paul for agreeing to be part of my wedding party, Nathalie and I can not wait to share this day with you!

With all the planning and talking that has been going over over the past several months, I thought I would take some time to reflect on the purpose and meaning behind it all. As pastor Wayne pointed out last week, a wedding is ONE DAY, while a marriage is for a lifetime. If it is just one day, why is it so important? While the question is very simple, it seems as though it is easy to lose sight of the true purpose of a wedding. So, I ask "What is a wedding?"

While a wedding means different things to different people depending on their culture and background, the overall principles seem to be the same. Simply put, a wedding is ceremony whereby two people vow to spend the rest of their lives together. Often it takes place in the presence of family and friends who lend their support to the couple and take part in the celebrations which follow. Thus, it is not just a chance to throw a party, spend a lot of money, and put on a show for others. Rather, it is a celebration of the love and partnership of two people making a commitment to each other.

In preparation for a wedding lots of work needs to be done, but even more needs to go into making sure that the foundation for marriage is being built. In my view, planning a wedding together (the future bride and groom) helps prepare the couple for marriage as they learn how to work as a team. For Dave and I, planning our wedding has meant that we are communicating what we want (or don't want) and thinking about the future together.

There is a lot of pressure out there to make it the "ideal" day, to follow the proper etiquette, and to keep everyone happy. But I ask, what is truly the most important thing?

Since my last post had no pictures in it, I thought that I would include lots here. These are some of my favorite ideas for centre pieces. I have no idea what we will end up doing, but in the meantime I wanted to share some of the pictures and ideas I have been gathering. A unique twist on using a bubble bowl. I like this idea, but not the stringy green stuff at the bottom. Nonetheless, its looks pretty simple to make.

I love this one because the flowers are potted and won't start wilting the next day! I'm not a big fan of the butterflies but like the idea of having something else there with the flowers.

My friends Nick and Ashley had a similar design at their wedding and it was beautiful! The nice thing is that you can use fake flowers and they still look great!

Another version of the one above but with stones on the bottom, which adds a nice touch.

This is probably my favorite one thus far. Of course it is probably because I found it on a professional florists' web page and because it uses orchids which look amazing! I also like that this piece is surrounded my several small stones and white candles.

As many people know, weddings are expensive. While the reception usually accounts for the majority of the funds, the little details end up costing nearly 40% of the total cost! In light of this, Dave and I have been creatively trying to be cost-effective in those details by focusing on what is most important to us. I have been learning that there are ways to have a beautiful and elegant wedding without breaking the bank!

I thought it would be fun to share some of the most shocking costs I have come across thus far in the planning of the wedding and my plans for trying to avoid these money suckers!

#1. Flowers.
I knew that they were not going to be cheap. However, the average wedding bridal bouquet costs approximately $80-$150 dollars! That does not even include using more exotic flowers such as calla lilies and orchids (which by the way WERE my favourite flowers!). For that price we could stay in a hotel for a night or I could buy a new dress! My initial plan for avoiding this financial set back was to make my own bouquets (with the help of my Mom and Maids), but have been advised against this from a few people. Apparently I may be a bit busy the day before the wedding and don't want this stress. Plan B is to use more cost-effective flowers such as daisies, Fresias, Carnations, and oriental Lilies. Maybe then I could buy only a few orchids and use them as an accent =)

#2. Chair Covers
I love the look of reception chair covers with a sash. However, it costs roughly $3 per chair for a pretty standard white cover not including the sash. This sash could end up costing another $1-2 per chair! This would total $4-5 a chair, which means for 100 guests this would cost $400-500!!!! Opting for no chair covers is not really an option for our venue as the chairs are pretty outdated, so either I cut the sashes or find a cheaper way to get this done. Been thinking about buying materials and making them on my own. Lots of work, but if we can get some cheap material in bulk, it may be worth it?!

#3. Stamps
Traditionally, invites should arrive in the mail. However, with the cost of one stamp being 0.57 cents, I think we will opt for hand-delivery or maybe hire a carrier pigeon (there ARE lots of pigeons in the city!). While this won't be possible for all the guests, several live close by (within walking distance) and I don't think they will mind if there is no stamp. Another way Dave and I have talked about saving money is by having an online response card instead of mailing one. I figure that we could save about $60-70!! Enough money to buy a bouquet!

#4. Jewelery
This was an easy one for me. Rather than buy some new earrings or a necklace, I am hoping to borrow some pieces from family members. To me, it would be very special and would count as my "something borrowed."

#5. Extra, Extra, Extras!
One of the wedding books that Dave and I have been using gave a list of items to buy for the wedding. These seem to Dave and I to be superfluous and unnecessary (at least for our wedding!). Some of these items include:

- Bride's Gloves (It's July...I should be warm enough)
- Bride's Stockings (again...July)
- Rose Petals (how about bubbles?)
- Grooms Cake (Traditionally a fruit cake)
- Special bouquet for tossing (nah...though I reserve the right to change my mind!)
- Cake knife (opting for cupcakes!)
- Toasting glasses (will anyone really notice if our names are not engraved into the side as the book suggests?)
- Guest Book and Pen Holder (they estimated $10-75 for this...wow! We will have a guest book, but not one that costs $75!)

#6. Invitations
I was in the Papery a few days ago and was checking out some of their sample invites. Many were $10+ each! In light of this, we are going to make our own! I think it will be a fun experience, probably filled with paper cuts and ink smudges, but overall I think it will be a nice way to add a personal touch!

These a few of the small costly things that have surprised me thus far. That is all for today.

A great idea for making a save-the-date! Although it must have taken hours to complete! Dave and I will not be doing this, but thought it would be fun to pass on nonetheless. I don't yet know how to upload a video from YouTube, so I have posted the link (and Dave can update this later!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqLyCTESjg&feature=player_embedded

While browsing the web for some cool wedding ideas yesterday, I came across some discussions on a popular idea for wedding favors, the candy buffet. As a lover of all things made of sugar (and chocolate of course!), I was immediately drawn to this idea! It seems like a great DIY project that is both fun and cost effective! Here are some pictures that have been the source of my inspiration!


Since Dave has approved the idea (mostly out of his desire to stop me from jumping up and down), we will now begin the debate on which candies will make the cut. I am going to propose M&Ms, Jube Jubes, Jellybeans, Chocolate covered almonds, and perhaps gummy bears.


I also love the idea of making our own bags which can be personalized in whatever way we want!


If anyone owns any glass candy jars or something equally useful please let me know!