Two Years in the Making

Sorry this post is so delayed! Better late than never!

Bright and early Saturday (Aug 5) Kate and I met Anna and Ann at the
California Sun Spa Anna had made us all appointments for a pedicure and manicure. She also made Kate and appointment for a full-body massage. I was actually not really in the mood for the spa that early in the morning cause I was so tired from the late night before. However, once we were there and are feet were being done I felt much more awake and relaxed.

My attempt to have my eyebrows done before the wedding were thwarted the day before because the spa Kate had recommended couldn't fit me in. Both Anna and I needed our eyebrows done and so she asked when we arrived at California Sun Spa if they could fit us in and they said they were booked solid all day and had no available time. At this point I didn't know what I was going to do because the make-up girl had told me that I HAD to get them done before the wedding.

The girl who was doing my nails was named Eva. She was FANTASTIC! She did a wonderful job and got me through quick enough that she had time to do my eyebrows! I will go back to her because she was so FANTASTIC! I highly recommend her. She didn't have to make the time to do my eyebrows and yet she did and made my day so much simpler.

After the spa we went next door to the Sunset Grill for breakfast. The girls in the spa highly recommended it. They have all day breakfast which some people crave. I had a sandwich instead since I thought that because it was noon I should be eating something more substantial.

After breakfast Anna headed back to Mississauga to get ready for our stay with her that night. Kate, Ann and I headed to Adam and Laura's baby shower at their condo. That was the best baby shower I've ever been to. There was great food and drink and company but without the ridiculous shower games that are usually played. The other thing that made it different was the fact that it was a co-ed shower and not women only.

We ended up leaving the shower later than we had planned. Kate had left the gift with Stuart and he arrived late because he had had a lot of errands to run. We made it back to my place by 6pm and had promised Anna we would meet her at the subway station at 7.

I raced around like a madman trying to pack all my gear because I had opted not to pack the night before in favour of sleep. I also took the time to burn the DVD slideshow for the reception again to make sure I had a back-up in case of a mistake. By the time all that was done it was almost 7.

By the time we arrived at the subway it was 8:30 and we were all STARVING. We headed out to Moxie's at Square One for dinner. Connie and Mike joined us for a very relaxing dinner.

They had just arrived in town that day and wanted a chance to visit since there would not be time after the wedding.

After dinner we parted ways with Mike and Connie and headed to a Shoppers Drug Mart in an attempt to get the last minute things we would need for the wedding. I picked up a Tide to Go pen just in case someone had an accident.

We had had all these grand plans of what we were going to do together the night before but it ended up being that we came back to Anna's and went straight to bed.

Countdown is Over! The Wedding Day!

I woke up at 6:30am and couldn't get back to sleep despite the fact we had decided to get up for 8am. So I washed my face and brushed my teeth and then took pictures of Ann while she was still sleeping! She looked SO cute. HEE HEE. My next victim was going to be Kate but when I walked into the room she was in she was already awake. I got a picture of her anyway.

Shortly thereafter everyone else was up and we were packed up. We headed out in search of breakfast. Kate and Ann REALLY wanted eggs for breakfast. Unfortunately for us we couldn't find any breakfast places. We came across MacDonalds, Subway, Timmies and Mr. Sub in volumes but couldn't find a nice sit down place.

After about 20 minutes of driving we finally found a bakery and deli. We stopped to check it out to see if it had anything that would fit the bill. The menu listed omlettes so Kate and Ann were satisfied. Anna asked at the counter to find out they couldn't make us an omelette but they offered to make us regular eggs. We went for it and then grabbed a pastry and some coffee/juice to go with it. The eggs ended up being fantastic cause they were scrambled with ham, onion and parmesean cheese. YUMMY.

At this point it was pretty clear the weather was going to be really good. The sun was out the sky was blue with fluffy clouds and there was a wonderful breeze. We arrived at "The Country Club" and found Fran and Sheldon dropping stuff off. Fran had brought our bouquets which turned out to be absolutely beautiful! Kate's even had little marshmallow banana candies in it!

We grabbed our dresses from the storage room and headed down to the ladies tournament locker room. It was pretty cozy for a locker room. Maggie our hair girl showed up and Kate insisted one of us went first so that she had someone she could send out running around. I opted to go first. Everyone else had an idea of what they wanted and I had NO clue. I described rather badly to Maggie what I wanted and she pulled it off rather nicely.

The whole hair thing started at about 10:30 and didn't finish till about 2:30. Well we did have 5 people to go through!

Diana our make-up girl didn't arrive till 12 or so. She had to take transit out to us because she doesn't have a car. She ended up waiting at one bus stop for a LONG time and eventually called us to tell us she was stuck. We picked her up from the corner she was stuck on and she proceeded to do Kate's make-up.

Near the end it got tight for Ann getting her make-up done but Diana pulled it off in plenty of time.

The whole hair/make-up thing was fairly relaxing because we could wander around and check out how the other preparations were coming. I got first photos of the cake and the challah as well as the table centrepieces and the ceremony location.

It got really exciting when everyone started coming down to visit us. Auntie Carol, Fran, Kate's Mom, Anna's Mom and my Mom. And when we went to get dressed I was the first guinea pig. Olwyn came in and helped us get suited up so to speak. It made things really real once the dress was on. It was such a strange feeling to know that the whole thing we've been working towards was finally going to happen.

We all helped Kate into her dress. She looked amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. Before we knew it Cindy, the wedding co-ordinator, was herding us up the stairs to get the ceremony started. When we got into the lobby of the club Kate's Dad was standing there waiting for her. He was dressed in the full Scottish regalia and Kate started to cry when she saw him as she had no idea he was going to be dressed up like that. To further complement the family fashion statement, Kate's Mom wore the McDougall Tartan sash. They looked fabulous together.

Ryan was waiting outside the doors to the club and I said a quick hello to him as he was going to pipe Kate down the aisle after we walked in. So we were told to head to the aisle outside and Kate and her Dad would remain at the door to the club till we had walked down.

When we got to the aisle the boys were waiting for us all decked out. They looked fabulous. It was actually great to see them all. Jason and I had an issue walking down the aisle. We had to pass through this arch which was not tall enough nor wide enough for the both of us. I had to walk through first and he had to duck through after me. It was pretty funny but we adjusted.

I was so excited to see Stuart's face as Kate walked down the aisle but I actually didn't get to see it at all. The way the whole front ceremony was set up made it so that all the bridesmaids couldn't see and sometimes couldn't hear what was going on. You think that when you are part of the wedding party you get a birds eye view of the whole thing but that definitely wasn't the case here. Kate's back was to us the entire ceremony and she blocked the view of Stuart and then Kate's Dad and Grandmother, who had walked her down the aisle, stood behind her obstructing the bridesmaids view of the proceedings.

So I can't really say much as far as how the ceremony went but it seemed long because my shoes were KILLING my feet. I am reminded as to why I don't wear heels. I couldn't wait for the pictures to be over so I could go and put on the isotoner slippers I had bought instead.

They did not do a traditional receiving line after the ceremony which was great because all the bridal party got to go inside and have some punch and relax for a bit. Then we were out standing outside waiting for pictures to finish. I tried to take a few pictures but it's hard when you don't want to get in the way of the photographer.

Finally the photographer dismissed us and I ran inside to put on my slippers. YAY! That was the best $30 I ever spent! The slippers totally did the trick. They were perfect for the rest of the night and the dancing.

Dinner was a sit-down interspersed with the speeches which I guess is a Southern Ontario way of doing it. I actually prefer this way because while you wait for your next course you get to hear some of the talking so that it doesn't come as one big lump at the end of the meal. It broke it up nicely. It was a very informal dinner because everyone walked about and chatted as dinner was going on. It was refreshing from the Thunder Bay receptions I'd been at where everyone stays put while they eat. I really enjoyed the chance to mingle with all my friends whom I hadn't had a chance to talk to yet.

The food was delicious and the speeches were great. Anna did a very untraditional speech by asking Kate to come up and help tell the "Gifts from above story". Of course this made it much better because it's hilarious watching the two of them fight over the microphone and blame one another for the story.

All these weddings I've attended have given me great ideas for my upcoming job as maid of honour in Karen's wedding. Now everyone tells me I should watch what I do because my turn is coming apparently...Well I say let's test how good my friends memories are :D

I had produced a slideshow which was going to close all the speeches out. We had had some trouble getting the laptop to work with the projector so the DJ had a portable DVD player with him which worked instead. I set it up to run and watched people's reactions. Everyone seemed to really like it. But the people who were most important were Kate and Stuart. They were both crying by the end. I'm so glad they enjoyed it. It was my way of letting them both know how much I love them.

After the slideshow Kate and Stuart cut the cake and then had their first dance. They danced to "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" sung by Louis Armstrong and I think Ella Fitzgerald. Then Kate danced with her father to "Do you love me (now that I can dance)" and Stuart danced with his Mother to "In My Life" by the Beatles.

Then the rip roaring dance party began. I loved that everyone was up on the dance floor. All our friends were there and were having a GREAT time! I've found it really makes a difference at weddings when you know a large portion of the guests. It was like that at Voula and Jeremy's wedding to. It was because of all our friends being there we had a blast.

Scotty had made Lisa promise to dance to 'Promiscuous' by Nelly Furtado with him. He dubbed it 'their song' Hee hee. I told him I should have had the DJ play Black Velvet so that he could all do that old dance for us.

And as Thunder Bay tradition demands "Home for a Rest" was played and everyone was dancing to that one!

The bouquet toss went against tradition and Kate threw four bouquets instead of one. Around each bouquet was tied a ribbon with one word on it. The word was a characteristic that she admired in one of the bridesmaids. The word Kate chose for me was integrity. Now that is SCARY! Now I have expectations to live up to! :D Because it wasn't being tossed

to mean that the girl who caught it would be the next to get married all the girls single and married were allowed to be in the crowd. I liked this much more because then there is no pressure or expectations and everyone was there just to have fun. The funniest moment came when Sally's husband Rob caught one of the bouquets cause it came flying right at him out in the crowd.

Stuart also strayed from tradition by allowing all men, single or married to participate in the garter toss. In the end Rob was triumphant after a last shot scrumish with Jordan. :D

Lisa and Joe were kind enough to drive Jason, Scott and I back to my apartment at the end of the night. Lisa stuck around long enough to thankfully help me out of my dress which seriously requires three people to get into and at least one to get out of. I was honestly glad to get it off by that point because the ribbing had been poking me all over.

It was a long day and when I went to bed that night I was really grateful for everything having gone so well and given everyone such wonderful memories. I hope Karen's wedding goes just the same. These are moments one waits for all their life.