Wedding Plans

I am actually pretty impressed with how much of the wedding planning I have done already - and it hasn't even been a week and a half!

This is a beautiful image of the wedding dress I chose. It is handmade by Erin of Bridal Bliss Designs on Etsy. I knew I wanted a handmade wedding dress, that was something that was important to me and the second I saw this dress I knew it was perfect! I can't wait until it's made and I can try it on!

We also have our venue booked. We went with a place called Occasions by the Bay located nearby. They are wonderful. Everything is included -- setup, cleanup, ceremony held outside, reception inside, 3 course dinner, late night snacks, 5 hour bar service. It was such a beautiful place, and completely budget friendly compared to other venue quotes I have received in the last couple of weeks!

Other things that are done: bridesmaid dresses were chosen and ordered, flowers (not including centerpieces), officiant, photographer, invitations, veil, shoes.

One thing I need to get settled this week is the DJ. That is one thing that I didn't realize how expensive it would be to our wedding budget. I've received a few quotes, but I'm waiting to meet with people to figure it all out.

The problem is, that we live in a fairly small city -- the closest major cities are just over 2 hours on each side, so there aren't a lot of options for different services around here!

Anyway, I am having the time of my life planning everything and cannot wait until our big day. Just thinking about spending the rest of my life with my best friend makes me smile!

Edited to Add: I didn't mention, we had to change the wedding date due to our chosen venue being booked. We are now having our wedding on April 20th, 2013 instead of May 11th, 2013!

NO stress!

First of all, hello to all my new fabulous followers! :)

Second, wow, has this week just flown by! I can't believe it is Thursday already! Where did the week go? I've been pretty swamped at work this week -- our department has been really behind because of so many people leaving the company recently.


Anyway, I spent the weekend up at Barry's parents. His cousin was having a birthday party that we had to attend. We went up early and all went up to the Casino in Ajax. Let me just say, I do not have any luck when it comes to Casinos or gambling of any kind. Zero luck. So, we took $100 each, that was it. I was on my very last spin on a nickel machine when I won $400 - yes! Barry ended up losing his $100, so we were only up $200, but still. I've never left a casino actually UP money! Which is why I don't want to go again anytime soon!

Other then that, I have been working on jewelry orders and making wedding plans - which I find to be stressful already!

I used to watch that show Four Weddings and be amazed at the kind of money people spend on weddings. I always in the mind frame of -- that is a down payment on a house, people! Are you crazy?! - Well, I am now realizing how not-crazy those people were. Weddings are crazy expensive! My plan of a small backyard wedding ceremony/reception is still going to cost a pretty penny. Right now, I am looking into venues, as well -- I'm thinking now it might even be cheaper to have the ceremony/reception somewhere because that means we won't have to rent chairs, tables, linens, everything, that we would need for a backyard wedding.

It is all so confusing. I am very decisive as it is, this wedding planning is going to drive me crazy!

Well, it's only been about a week and I have already researched venues, caterers, rentals, disc jockeys, flowers, decorations, wedding cakes, photographers, etc. I haven't decided on any 1 thing yet. However, I do have my wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses picked out -- Just not placing the order for a little while. We have also come up with our guest list, only 55 people, and I figure only 45-50 will actually come, but we will plan for 55 right now while getting estimates and things.

I have a feeling once I settle on a venue, or stick with the backyard idea - then everything will come together at that point. At least, I hope it will a little bit!

Friday Finds

Here are some of my recent finds, some beautiful and handmade pieces here. Completely my style!

Dreamer Casual Tee - Soft Wo... lamixx $26.00	Scarlet Silk Hand Gathered B... reddoll $695.00	Oversized soft silk tunic ,w... AndyVeEirn $78.00
Plum Heather Cowl Dress - Ma... THIMBLEandACOR... $89.00	SALE Fashion convertible Sca... vickyduboisdes... $129.00	Florence - 1950's style ... louiseomahony $1054.00
Tree print slouchy tunic tsh... BetterStayToge... $30.00	Black Heart Hand STENCILED D... twostringjane $58.00	30% OFF The GUMDROP Mini Dre... DominiqueAnsar... $62.99

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Wedding Date Set and Thoughts...

Well, I actually feel like I have accomplished quite a bit in the last 24 hours. We have booked our hotel room for our trip, AND, we have decided on a wedding date. I decided on 3 choices and then asked Barry to pick a number (it's true, that's how we decided!) and... our wedding is going to be on May 11th, 2013! I really wanted a spring wedding so it won't be so cold/hot out, the flowers will just be blooming and it gives me (I hope) enough time to plan some things. It is not going to be a huge wedding, not at all. I want something small, but elegant.

I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow, though. Tomorrow would have been my mom's 63rd birthday, and it's her first birthday that she isn't here to enjoy with all of us. I'm prepared that it will be a tough day. Luckily, tomorrow is my day off so we are headed out to the graveyard in the morning. My dad wants to have a barbeque tomorrow afternoon -- I don't know if he's truly worried about me being alone tomorrow (Barry has to work tomorrow afternoon) or if he just doesn't want to be alone tomorrow either. I think when I had to celebrate my last birthday it was harder, just because she always made such a huge deal out of our birthdays -- there was always a party, get-together, cake, presents, a big home cooked meal, etc. She always made it memorable! And when her birthday would come around, it was almost as if she didn't want any attention on herself, or want any of us to spend any money on her. Regardless, I think tomorrow will be tough. And on that sad note, I am going to share some cuteness with you:

photo credit

Thoughts on Life, Wedding Plans, Holiday Update

With everything that has been going on lately, we've decided we are going to go away for a few days when I am on holidays in a couple weeks. I'm working on planning everything right now, booking our hotel room, etc. We'll be heading up to Brantford and Hamilton, first of all to visit the Brantford Zoo and the African Lion Safari. Of course, if I can locate some other fun stuff to do along the way we will be there! :) It will be nice to get away for a few days and relax.

Another thing I've been thinking about lately is wedding plans. Barry and I have been engaged for over a year, and have not settled on a wedding date - mostly due to the fear of costs, and I think it is time to just take the plunge and announce an official date. Everything else will fall into place (I hope!), and I can't wait to start the planning stage!

Of course, I've been planning since the day we got engaged, but, this will be official planning - not just thoughts and ideas thrown around in my own head! If there is anything I learned from my Mom passing away so suddenly it is to live life to the fullest, never put things off and to not have any regrets. I need to start putting that into action in my everyday life!

I will announce the date once we have decided! :)

photo credit

Some Delicious Dessert Recipes I MUST Try!

I've gotten the baking bug recently. I've always been much better at baking, then I am at cooking.. plus, I love desserts - of almost any kind!

Here's some delicious looking recipes I found recently and I plan on trying soon:

Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

BaNilla Sandwich Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes
Anyone else hungry yet? :)

I've been in training all week at my 'other' job. Unfortunately, the direction the company is moving towards is not one that I would like to follow. I don't plan on leaving before I am able to find another job, however, the first day of training when someone asked why the company was doing this change, the reply we received was - "Because this is the direction the company is going in, if you don't want to follow along with it, then there's the door."

As hard as jobs are to find right now, I would hate to burn any bridge. But, nobody should be spoken to that way. It was almost a threat, in my mind. And here I thought I had finally found somewhere that I enjoyed working, someplace where I enjoyed the job as much as my fellow co-workers. Now, they are completely changing out job description to merge all positions. So, I used to have 2 positions within the company - now, with this change, everyone will be expected to be able to work in about 5 or 6 different departments, whenever they choose to move you. It might be on a weekly basis, or a daily basis. It is just a very negative environment to work in, and the company is continuously losing good people over this. Everyday at least 1 more person is leaving, some of whom have worked there for 10, 15 or even 20 years. Pretty sad to see such a major company in Canada take a huge downfall.

Alas, I will continue to job search in the meantime and try to step it up by applying for anything and everything.

P.S. Thank you to everyone who gave me thoughts and words in regards to Tippy. I really do appreciate it. I think about her everyday, how much she will be missed. I have not even been able to open our spare bedroom door yet (this is where she stayed at night, so she couldn't fall or hurt herself). I keep reminding myself that she is no longer in pain and in a better place. It'll take time.

A Beautiful Giveaway: From A Beautiful Mess

If you haven't already, everyone needs to hurry up and enter the Beautiful Giveaway sponsored by A Beautiful Mess. There are so many gorgeous prizes to win -- and they will all go to one lucky reader!

My shop, Starletta Designs is participating and offering a $50 gift card!

The giveaway is open until August 5th!