When I first started thinking about my wedding dress this was my initial idea. It seems to have been influenced by ancient Greek dresses which I liked. I never did find this dress, so never in fact tried it on. However, I did try on a similar style...unfortunately it looked a whole lot better on the model than it did on me.














The second dress that I thought about was one that was 100% homemade! Yes, it was the toilet paper dress! Thanks to the Laurence Ladies of New College 2008-2009 for the lovely party and the fun dress!














The first time my mom and I went wedding dress shopping was in August 2009. It was fun to get started and share the experience with my mom. I tried on lots of different styles and even some with different colours. These below are the best ones I found that day. Nothing really made me think "WOW this is it!" so the search continued. Although I did start to notice myself gravitating towards certain styles.














Next time we went shopping we brought along my sister Nicole and went to Beckers Bridal and their sister store The Dressroom in Toronto. We started at the Dressroom which carries discounted and last season dresses. There were some really nice ones there, but again nothing which really stood out to me. Down the street was Beckers and the very first dress I tried on there was beautiful! It did not have any beading or lace, and had a really unique neckline. I immediately loved it, but continued trying on more dresses (might as well be thorough!).

As most of you know I am a "thinker." I like to put my brain to work before making decisions. So I went home that day to think about the dresses I tried on. After a week, I was still thinking about that dress I tried on at Beckers and then knew it was the dress. I went back for a final time a few weeks later with my Mom, my Bridesmaid Veronica, and Mother in law Karen, just to get a few more opinions. And just like the TLC show that I continue to watch even though the wedding is over, I said "YES to the dress."

It took several months for it to get ordered, so I did not see MY dress until April. Veronica and Emily came with me this time to pick it up. Emily took some pictures. As you might notice, It did not fit me properly yet, but it was all mine and I was so excited!














On July 24th I absolutely loved it! It fit me perfectly and I loved the way I felt wearing it. Here are a couple of my favourite dress shots.

Even though weddings are a lot of fun, they are also very serious events full of very serious moments that call for some very serious photos. This is a catalogue of some of those moments. For those reading this blog who have not yet been a part of a wedding, beware!

(#5) The Polish Hall showdown between Kate and Dave over the giant purple poof. Apparently the poof was so amazing that they resorted to a staring contest in an effort to decide who gets to put the poof out of its misery by crushing it to bits!

For those who don't know, this is a poof (see below).


(#4) Dave's Bachelorette memorabilia...at least he got some good advice!


(#3) Saturday swimming double. In honour of Byron Macdonald (our former Varsity Swim coach), we made a sign for the pool deck. No, we actually mean your attendance is required for both swim practice and the wedding ceremony!

I would like to make a special mention to Andrea Jurenovskis who actually carried her swim gear inside her clutch (yeah, that's right...a clutch! Not even a purse!).



(#2) Ring Practice. In an effort to distract me from the stress of the wedding Dave invented something brilliant. It was called "ring practice." This was a chance for me to wear my wedding ring for a brief period of time under two important rules:
1. Do not wear it outside the apartment
2. Do not let anyone except Dave see the ring

I was a very happy fiance during ring practice =)


(#1) Getting stabbed by Cam with a light saber.

His punishment...hold the bouquet!

Some pictures of our rings. Our friend Mira created them for us and we could not be happier! My ring used diamonds from the late Dorthy Ling (Dave's grandmother) which made it extra special for me. Dave's ring was also pretty cool I guess ;)

Wedding ring + Beautiful bouquet of flowers + Nice dress + Dave
= Awesome day

My grandmother helped me pose for this picture. She said that it was a Dutch tradition to take a picture of the wedding ring in front of the bouquet.

Gran...this one is for you!! Beautiful shot!! The Dutch clearly know what they are talking about.

Kathryn captured this picture of my ring while I was giving Dave a hug. She definitely has a talent for capturing special moments.

Dave showing off his ring to the Bridesmaids. They are obviously very impressed!

The candy buffet was one of my favorite parts of the reception. Apparently it was a hit since Dave and I ended up with no leftovers! I put my cousins Lisa and Chantal in charge of making the signs and labels, and Kayla helped them with putting it all together. Even though I missed out on actually eating any of it, it was very fun!

A little video that our photographer put together with never-before-seen pictures from the wedding....

CLICK HERE

We are going to have print ordering information shortly, by the sneak peaks Nathalie and I have been given by Kathryn Palmateer we must say that we have been soooo impressed by her work and her work ethic.

CHECK OUT KATHRYN PALMATEER PHOTOGRAPHY

Thank you KP!!!!

On the morning of July 24th, while Dave was likely just chilling, I was out in Mississauga getting my hair done and getting ready with my parents and bridesmaids. Before leaving for the church, we took some pictures in Paul and Karen Field's backyard. They have a beautiful garden and I thought I would post some of my favourites.

Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Field for letting us use your backyard, being our photographers, and for lunch!

Now that things have settled down after the wedding, I am now starting to think about what to do with my wedding dress. It was such a beautiful dress and I absolutely loved wearing it! I need your help! What are your thoughts?

A couple options...

a) Keep the dress (maybe save it for future daughters? or as a keepsake from the wedding)

b) Keep the dress but with the intention of cutting parts of it up in order to make other outfits (I'm thinking a child's christening outfit, or something like that)

c) Donate the dress (One possibility is The Bride's Project which resells wedding dresses and donates the money to cancer research)

d) Try to re-sell the dress at a discounted price (maybe make some extra cash)

e) Trash the dress (maybe jump in the UT pool?)

f) Keep the dress and organize monthly dinners with other married girlfriends where we get a chance to wear our dresses again

What do YOU think??