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 Opting for no chair covers is not really an option for our venue as the chairs are pretty outdated, so either I cut the sashes or find a cheaper way to get this done.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!

A Bit of History...
The Western bridesmaid tradition is thought to have originated from Roman law, which required ten witnesses at a wedding in order to outsmart evil spirits (believed to attend marriage ceremonies) by dressing in identical clothing to the bride and groom, so that the evil spirits would not know who was getting married. (quote directly from Wikipedia)

Here are the profiles of my "Protectors" who will be by my side on our big day in order to protect me from danger (in chronological order).

It can be said that Veronica and I have known each other for a long time. We met just before Nicole was born when we were 3 years old. Our mothers brought us to Nursery School and we’ve been friends ever since. We always enjoyed playing together and even managed to get the Chicken Poxs at the same time “coincidentally” so that we could play during our sick leave from school! Recently, she has been my Martha Stewart Wedding expert and has been pouring over magazines on my behalf and passing on all the good stuff.

Nicole is my younger sister and will be my Maid of Honor in July. While we were kids we spent our time playing with dolls, watching Disney movies, running around the neighborhood, and dressing each other up in our mother’s clothes. Now that we are older, we have different ideas of fun. For Nicole it is scouting out the nightclub scene in the club district of Toronto, while I enjoy the quaint Martini bars of Little Italy. Even though we have different tastes, she is always loads of fun to have at a party and it will be great to have her by my side on the big day.

Kate and I swam together for the UofT varsity swimming team for 5 years and lived together at Borden for 4 years. We initially met in New College Residence where we bonded over Cafeteria food and commiserated about our sore muscles from swim practices. We have learned many life lessons over the years, for example: that burying things under rugs is always a bad idea, how the offering of pizza can be utilized to have dead mice removed (Thanks Scott!) and for moving furniture (Thanks Dave and Scott!), and finally the importance of having dozens of Arrested Development jokes on hand at all times. She is guaranteed to bring “sexy back” to the dance floor in July.

Sarah and I met during the 2^nd year of our B.A. degrees at the University of Toronto in the campus student group Athletes in Action. She moved into Borden house the next year where she lived with Kate and I for 3 years (technically a three way common law deal). While living together we always encouraged each other to aspire to greatness, such as: flossing our teeth on a regular basis, daily abdominal workouts, evening bible readings, and giving up sugar for a week (my least favorite one!). She is also getting married this year (June 26^th) and so I have a wedding buddy to share ideas with!

Friends.

The holidays are coming to a close, 2010 has started... the big day is coming soon!

Nathalie and I are very excited for 2010, we're excited for the wedding and details are really coming together pretty fast.

Already done...

• church booked
• reception venue booked
• wedding party chosen
• wedding dress ordered
• preliminary wedding guest list put together and agreed upon

Objectives we need to address this month...

• identify a photographer
• start to brainstorm about putting together invitations
• finalize guest list
• map out the schedule of the big day
• work with Knox to schedule our pre-marital counseling sessions

Lots of busy fun stuff.

This month you can look forward to a blog post series of introductions to those in the wedding party! These fantastic eight people are the most important people in our relationship and we want you all to understand what those people in our wedding party mean to us!

Talk to you soon!

Dave

YEP! IT'S A TOILET PAPER DRESS!

You did not actually believe we were going to give out pictures of Nathalie in her wedding dress already in the middle of November? C'mon. You're going to have to come out on July 24th to see what the real thing is going to look like :)


Special thanks to the ladies of Laurence Hall in New College last year who put together this beautiful toilet paper creation in honour of Nathalie and I getting engaged!

So after a lot of contemplation, Nathalie and I have decided that we want to share a picture of Nathalie in her wedding dress with all of you. A sneak peak if you will.

To build it up properly we plan on posting a picture up here next Friday. Mark it in your calendar. Friday, November 20th. Here. Book it.

Next Friday. November 20th. A limited sneak preview of Nathalie's in her wedding dress.

See you then!!

Hello Friends!

A mere 264 days before the big day and Nathalie and I are super excited after a week that has gone a long way to completing a framework for what our wedding is going to look like next July.

Nathalie has been settled on her wedding party for months... yeah, true story. Months. She knew immediately. On the other hand, I was slow in coming to a final decision on the gentlemen that will stand beside me, and only because I have so many fantastic friends that could be excellent in a groomsman role.

On Monday I took out the four men that will serve as my groomsmen for the wedding. Nathalie and I will unveil our wedding party over the coming weeks on the blog to give them their due as to what they mean to us and our relationship... some great stories, I promise.

Fast forward to Thursday, Nathalie and I were joined by her parents and we put a down payment on a reception venue. The venue is fantastic, Nathalie and I have both been there before and have a great deal of fantastic memories from the venue. Future blog entry on the venue to come.

Finally today, Nathalie went to visit the great people over at Becker's Bridal & Formal. You can check out Becker's at their website. Nathalie made the decision on the dress she will wear on the wedding day, sorry no preview pictures (I haven't seen the dress either). Mackenzie over at Becker's Bridal did a great job helping Nathalie and we serious recommend her to any of our friends and family who have wedding or formal needs in the future.

Traffic on this site is blowing up, we promise much more content to come!

I wanted to post this beautiful cake that my grandmother made for my parents' wedding. There are some beautiful flowers on top!

I found this picture on the internet and thought it was a great idea!!! Just kidding. I don't really understand the appeal of cutting up your own dress or eating a life size cake of yourself but I guess to each his/her own! I am curious though how many guests there were, that is a lot of cake!!! Nonetheless, it is pretty funny.

While I don't want to divulge all the secrets about the wedding, Dave and I recently decided upon a color scheme which would be used for the bridesmaid dresses, flowers and centerpieces. It will be a plum or dark purple color accented with silver and maybe some touches of lighter purple. This deep purple is so elegant and classic, I love it!

Here is a flower which helped inspire me. It is called a Cymbidium Leodogran orchid. It looks a little more pink here than I am looking for, but at least you get the idea.


While I am not set on the style of the dress, this is color.

Yes. Nathalie is still very tall.

Yes. Nathalie's bride's maids are still very tall.

Yes. My hair is still really blonde.

No... I'm not sure if that's supposed to be my brother beside me.

... and YES, those two little girls and the one little boy are evidently now in my wedding party so Nathalie can up the cuteness of the wedding pictures...

Look at how tall she is? Look at how small my wedding party is? Something tells me we have some details to fill in...