Could This One Be... The One?

Today was the first trip to a bridal shop and it was very overwelming. It felt a little bit like playing dress up but at the same time it didn't feel wrong. The first stop was Ivory Bridal in Langley and I was very impressed with the service I received. They were courteous and very helpful, the consultant told me, "the bride doesn't choose the dress, the dress chooses the bride" and based on my experiences so far I couldn't agree with her more. Originally I had decided not to visit this particular shop because their website looked a little bit coutour for my taste, but I fell in love with a dress I saw in a magazine and they were the only ones who stocked that particular designer. So after a couple of quick emails I had an appointment for 11am this morning. My posse consisted of Mom, Kathy, Anastasia and Sydney, all of who were very helpful and kind with their opinions. We started pulling dresses and very quickly had a few out that we liked and the consultant asked if she could pull some dresses too, I wanted to be open to anything so I said SURE! She got me into a fitting room and I just strated trying.

The first one I put on was not something I would have chosen for myself but I fell in love with it. It was stunning! I wasn't the only one who thought so either. I won't be saying much about it because of the Ian factor. If you must know feel free to email me at jvaness@shaw.ca and I will happily forward you a link (well.... except to you Ian, sorry).

The next one that was tried on was axed pretty quick, it was nice but didn't give the same OOMPH as the first one. Continuing on, there were a couple that were a couple amazing dresses that have "tied for second". We have dubbed them "Whipped Cream" and "Henry" (my family likes to name things because it makes it easier for us to desipher between them). I was put in dress after dress but nothing seemed to match up to the first one, even though they were all beautiful and I felt like a bride in them... they didn't have that same... OOMPH. So as the appointment was coming to a close the consultant suggested I put on the first dress again and see if it still lived up to my memory, espeically since it was the first one I tried on. So I did, and it did. So it is the front runner.

NOW, something you must know about me (and most do) is I love to shop, so this will not be the first and last shop visited. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks at Champagne and Lace where I am sure that I will find at least one or two more that jump out at me as "could be the one". This is a decision that I do not want to rush.

Now that I have officially been into a bridal shop as a bride I have to say that being a bride is FUN. I know that some people get really bent out of shape trying to have the perfect day, but in all honesty I have been enjoying the planning process so much. When it comes down to it, if the day isn't perfect I don't think I'm going to have a coniption about it. That being said, I still have 14 months for a coniption to build so maybe I should shut my big mouth. :)

A non-wedding related note

I'm now finished what I have deemed the most exhausting weekend ever. It all started on Friday with 2 exams back to back... WEE, that was fun. Then Saturday with another exam followed by a highschool-style trip to the ball field (with an in-car change and all) for my first game with Storm. I think in the end we lost but it still felt so right being back on the field again.

That night was a team bbq where I was dubbed "Seven". Lets just say it has to do with my number (7) and a reference to a certain friends episode... I'm sure you know what I mean.

A slightly later night then expected I dragged my sorry butt home at 1am only to drag my sorry butt out of bed 7 hours later for the 10am game Sunday morning. 2 games (and 2 solid wins) later I was feeling it. I've forgotten how much a game takes out of you, pitching or not.

Next task was to not fail my final this morning... I'll let you know when the marks come in (or maybe not as the case may be).

Last, was to make it through tonight's game which was against a fairly tough team. 7 very close innings (and one stunningly beautiful change-up) resulted in a victory for Storm. Hazaa! Now that's the way to start a season.

Next stop.... WEDDING PLANS!!!! (serious wedding plans)

Sorry for the lack of posting

Wedding plans have been put on hold until after finals are over (i.e. this coming monday) so until then... I bid you adieu!

Bridal Fair... Round 2

This past weekend I went to my second bridal fair as the bride. I thought it would be an overwhelming experience but it really wasn’t. Granted I was flanked by my sister and mother who are both so wonderfully patient and supportive (not to mention helpful). There were a few things there that I found helpful, tuxes for Ian (who has been kind of non-committal up until this point). A dress that I fell in love with (and Ian didn’t hate), and so much honeymoon information I don’t know what to do with it all. I was very glad that I had my ring “stand in” in the words of Ian, “it gave me more street cred.” In my eyes it made me feel more like a bride to look down at my hand and see something there, a bare finger would have felt like I was a child pretending.

There are still a lot of decisions to make but we are getting closer with every conversation. We’ve started talking about registries and Ian is even coming around on the idea of having a wedding china, silver and crystal set. I don’t expect that we will get FULL sets of everything but I wanted to start building them so that eventually when I have a reason to use them we have the stuff. But that being said we also agree on a lot of things, like the fact that we both desperately want THIS kitchen aid mixer.

Anyone who wants to make a young engaged couple very happy…??? Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge. Just kidding :)

Roberta

Over a month after being engaged Ian and I finally went into Barkley's to get my ring sized.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but Barkley's Custom Jewelers is the little boutique jewelry store where Ian got my ring designed.

So in we went and I finally met the lovely Roberta who helped Ian designed my ring, and I LOVE HER! She was a lot of fun and a quick trip in to get one ring sized turned into nearly an hour in the store. Oops!

It started with the sizing, then we decided to get my grandmothers ring sized, something I've been meaning to do since I started wearing it at 17. It's really too small for me, but I have simply strangled my finger since then.

A few years ago Ian gave me a ring that was just something sparkly to look at, but I've been wearing it on my ring finger since. However I want to now wear it on my middle finger, so it too needed to be sized... Oh why not - we're already here!

NEXT Ian asked if I was wearing my sapphire necklace that he brought home from Myanmar, I said of course because I rarely wear anything else. He then asked if Roberta would look at it to tell if it was real. She said no problem and busted out her little glass and after a quick look from the expert (the shop owner) it was decided that my necklace was real and the diamond in it is actually a diamond. HA! Go figure. We were both fairly sure they would be fakes. Good to know.

One of the reasons that I was avoiding getting my ring sized was that I knew that I would have to go without it for a few days and I didn't like that idea. My finger feels so naked without it. So Ian jokingly asked if they had a "loaner" ring. I nearly fell over when Roberta started digging through drawers and pulling out rings. After one ring that didn't fit we got one on my finger and boom, Jen had a loaner ring. Haha! I guess that's what you get when you build a relationship with your local proprietors.

Here is a pic of the "loaner ring" if you like it better than my real one I would very much appreciate you keeping that opinion to yourself, but if you like my real one better (which of course I do) I strongly urge you to comment and say so :)

We also started looking at wedding bands, I mean we're already here right? We looked at quite a few for Ian and we found one or two that were nice and one that I really loved. Roberta was once again wonderful in helping us decide on styles and said that she would look around for things that would suit Ian. We also tried a couple for me, but sadly it's looking like a normal wedding band is going to look very strange (not to mention ugly) with my engagement ring. So she said she would come up with a few designs for custom bands for me to look at when I came in to pick up my engagement ring.

Better start expanding the budget...

My First Bridal Show

This past weekend was very eventful. There was the Feenstra family reunion for Grama's 79th birthday (for those who don't know Feestra is Ian's mom's side of the family). This was a lot of fun because I have not seen any of the cousin's since the last reuninon four years ago.

Also, I went to my first wedding fair, and since this is a blog about the wedding I am going to tell you ALL about it. I found of about it from Ian. A little bit about why Ian knows about wedding fairs and I don't: since getting engaged Ian has realized that there is a bit of an untapped market in professional lighting for weddings. So he has been in contact with wedding planners and event coordinators marketing one of the companies that he works for, LA Stage Lighting. So was actually exhibiting at this particular fair.

It was on Easter Sunday and my mom and I decided it we went right when it opened we would be able to squeeze it in before needing to get home to cook dinner. So she picked me up and off went went. It was rather pricey to get in but Mom being my mom smiled and payed the lovely girl. Did I mention I have the best mom ever? So in we walked and it became rather obvious that I was the only bride there. So every table we went to they were so happy to see a bride that they were very forth-coming with info (and some free stuff). I put my name down for every contest/draw in the place so who knows maybe something will come of it. We met with a cateror who had dealth with food issues more complicated than Ian and I (shocking I know) and a cake person who my mom and I really liked.

However, the thing that impressed me most was a piece of jewelery that took my breath away. Here is a picture of it (as usual photos don't do it justice):

Yes I know that it's red and that doesn't really go with my theme, but that is a story for another posting.

We said a quick hi to my fiance who was looking bored at the LA Stage Lighting booth and then sat down for the fashion show. The dresses were a little odd for my taste and the models were less than spectauclar but I had a nice time sitting with mom (and Ian who appeared behind us 1/2 way through).

I walked out with a surprising amount of information and felt pleased with what I had seen there. Ian later told me that the total turnout for the day had been very poor and there was a good chance that I might win one of the draws. I guess I will find out soon enough. Fingers crossed everyone, I'm pulling for the custom veil! :)

Wedding Viewing

Surprise surprise I'm big into wedding movies right now. Currently my favourite one to watch over and over (I'm actually watching it again right now) is Father of Bride. I also love Father of the Bride II, even though it is all about babies not weddings, but how can anyone resist Franck?!

Another favourite is the Wedding Planner, I have a soft spot for Jennifer Lopez movies, again I say judge me if you must.

What I am looking for is your favourite wedding movie. Mostly because I am obsessed with anything wedding related and I don't want to get sick of Father of the Bride. It's very likely that I will watch it about 50 times in the month leading up the wedding.