Danika and I
The Doily Chandelier
Walking down the aisle with my dad
Nick trying not to cry
The Lightsaber Fight
The Wedding Party
Rain Boots!
The Groomsmen Cuflinks
Reading our vows
Kris giving his moving speach
Danika singing us "Ours" with a few changes
Photos by: guenardphotography.blogspot.ca
Photos by: guenardphotography.blogspot.ca
So now
that the wedding is over, I kind of want to go back and write a little review
on the whole process – the best parts, the good parts and a few ugly (I would
have said – the good, the bad and the ugly, but I don’t believe that my wedding
was more ugly and bad verses good, just a few minor hick-ups). I found a little
questionnaire online and I thought I would fill it out as my review.
Q. What was the best part of your wedding day?
The best part of my wedding day was that I got to
marry my best friend and the man that I love so much.
Q. What would you change, if anything?
There is nothing I would change. The whole day
ended up being perfect. It was just so magical, romantic, sweet, stunning and
amazing! Yes – I am using all of those words to describe my wedding, as I don’t
think there is just one word that can describe how it felt for me.
Q. What was unexpected that you loved?
When I first started planning the wedding, the first
thing that I really wanted to do was a sparkler send off. Well on the actual
wedding day, when Nick and I were leaving the reception and everyone had lit
their sparklers, everyone started to sing “Nah nah nana, Nah nah nana, hey hey
hey, goodbye!” They sang that over and over again until we had driven off. It
was so touching and unexpected and just made that moment so much more
special.
Q. What are your fondest memories of your wedding
day?
I have a few...
- Seeing Nick for the very first time while walking
down the aisle. You could tell he was just trying so hard not to cry.
- Getting ready at the Salon with my girls. I made
sure we had lots of time to get ready so we weren’t rushing. It was just nice
to hang out with the girls and relax before the big moment. I think the most
fun I had was jamming in the car with Bev because we were early arriving to the
hall and they weren’t ready for us.
- Feeling so much love from all of my friends and
family that day.
- Reading our vows privately after we finished most
of the photography. I wanted to exchange some personal promises with Nick, but
he did not want to exchange them in front of everyone. I still wanted to
capture that moment, so we decided that when we finished taking the wedding
photos, but before we headed back to the hall for the reception, that we would
exchange our personal vows, but have Jennie (our photographer) take photos of
us doing so. I think it was the best decision we made and it was our one
private moment that we got to share together. (Well, almost private... Crystal
and Bev were still there to help me with my dress and so I’m sure they heard
some of our vows. At least I have witnesses!)
- Kris and Danika’s toasts. All of the toasts that
were given were amazing and special to us, but everyone will have to agree with
me that it was Kris’s speech that moved everyone to tears, and Danika singing
us a song that was truly memorable.
- Sparkler Send Off. See above.
The whole day was truly memorable, but these were
the moments that really stick out in my mind.
Q. Is there anything you wish you had spent more
time or money on?
I wish I had time to do all of the crafts that I
wanted to do. Pinterest is a terrible invention as you see so many cute ideas
and you just want to do them all, but unless you have tons of time and money,
it’s nearly impossible to do everything you want to do. You just begin to
prioritize what you think is really important and you just get those tasks
done. It’s kind of funny how the one thing we spent the most time on – the
ruffled wood letters, was kind of the think people really didn’t notice, but
the things I spent the least time and money on were what people really noticed.
Everyone complimented me on the cupcakes - which we made the day before the wedding,
the table numbers – which I spent probably only 1 night doing and the paper
doily chandelier. The Doily Chandelier was more of a last minute thing, and yes
it did take some time to make, but compared to the ruffled letters, it was
nothing.
Q. Is there anything you wish you had spent less
time or money on?
Invitations! Well I wouldn’t have actually changed
what they looked like, or how they were made, but I made way too many. I pretty
much made one for each guest, when really you only need to make one per family!
I probably could have saved a lot of time and a little bit of money with that
knowledge. Oh well.
Q. Were there any unexpected surprises or issues?
Haha – I think the only issue that came up during
the wedding was the kids found the sparklers early on at the reception and got
a little carried away. Bianca set them out about 7:30pm and the kids would not
leave them alone, so she had to go put them away again and not bring them out
till just before our sparkler send off. It was kind of funny because my grandma
was guilty of lighting some of the sparklers herself and handing them to the
kids. Other than that, I can’t think of anything that went wrong. To me the day
went perfectly thanks to my amazing mother, wonderful mother-in-law and my best
friend Bianca being so awesome at running the entire day. I also have such
amazing friends and family who all pitched in to help set up and take down
throughout that entire weekend – Nick’s parents, siblings, Aunts & Uncles,
cousins, my parents, my siblings, grandparents, and bridesmaids.
Some good unexpected surprises was my parents
gifting me with a little charm to remember the day by, and they had the charm
and my grandmothers ring (my something old and something blue) inserted into my
bouquet. My dad also gifted Nick and I with a book that he made that was filled
with my family history. He then gave us the task of starting the Irvine side.
The only other surprise that I can think of was the gift that Nick’s brother
Kris gave us. Kris is currently taking his welding apprenticeship and he welded
us this penguin sculpture with a rose set in the middle. It was so thoughtful
and we can’t wait to display it in our new home.
Q. What's your number #1 tip for future engaged
couples?
It’s the special details that you will remember.
Weddings do tend to get generic, so try and insert your own flavour. Some
details that we did were:
- Star Wars
Lightsaber Fight. Nick and I both love Star Wars, so to surprise him I bought
like 8 swords, and after the ceremony when we started the photography I brought
them out and handed them out to the guys. It was kind of fun for the guys to
all play around and fight each other. Plus Nick and I got to have our “first
fight”.
-
Superhero
Cufflinks. Nick loves his superheroes and comic books (we even featured comic
books into our engagement photos), so for Nick’s gift to the guys he bought
them each a pair of superhero cufflinks to wear for the wedding. It was subtle
and unique, but it was just enough for Nick.
- Rain
Boots. I did see this idea somewhere, but as soon as I saw them I knew that it
was something that I wanted to do. Due to getting married in April and knowing
the weather was going to be unpredictable I wanted to give the girls a pair of
rain boots to wear for photos. I think at first the girls thought it was a
little weird – but I am sure they have changed their minds and are glad because
it was a little cold outside and the ground was very soft. Had they worn high
heels for all of the photos – I’m sure many of them would have ended up with
dirty shoes. Plus it helped to keep their toes warm.
- Private Vows. I really wanted to exchange some
personal vows with Nick, but he did not want to read them out loud in front of
everyone. I still somehow wanted to capture the moment so Nick agreed to read
them to each other at the end of the photography, but before we headed back to
the reception. I am so glad that we did it this way. It was just a great way to
have a somewhat private moment throughout this crazy and hectic day.
- Penguins,
Penguins, Penguins. Nick and I really love our penguins and they do have some
meaning to us, so we decided to incorporate them into the wedding. I didn’t
want to go overboard with them as the wedding was in early spring – not winter,
but I still wanted do something. We ended up getting hand painted penguin cake
toppers that we ordered from Esty that were a little expensive, but they were
adorable and we got a lot of compliments on them. I also put them on the bottom
of our wedding programs, wedding advice sheets, toonie bar signs, as well - I
will be putting them on our Thank-you cards. I think people got the hint that
we like penguins, but they weren’t overbearing and I think they just added a little
cute touch to the wedding.
- Pokerchip
Wedding Favours. Now I hated this idea from the beginning, but this was the
only thing Nick wanted and would not budge on. When we were discussing what we
would like to give as wedding favours, I wanted to do something like handmade
soap or a jar of jam. To me those ideas seemed a little more country. However,
Nick found these pokerchip magnet favours online and you were able to put a
picture in the middle as well as a message around the outside. The reason Nick
wanted to do the pokerchip magnets was because we got engaged down in Vegas and
thought that people would like to put it on their fridge. In the end I’m still
not a huge fan of them, but Nick was happy and our guests did like them and
thought they were very unique.
- The Band.
Almost every wedding I’ve been too has had a DJ, and no one ends up dancing for
very long and it’s the same music playing on the radio. Now don’t get me wrong,
I do love this music, but Nick and I have very different music tastes. Last
summer I went to my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Ben’s summer party and they had this
band playing some awesome music. Nick wasn’t with me at the time, but I as soon
as I heard them I knew Nick would love them. So when it came time to book some
music, I called up my Aunt Wanda and got the name of their lead band member
Sean McGee. They did such a wonderful job and they were so easy to work with.
Sean was always there reassuring me that everything would go smoothly. He
helped us pick out music for the wedding and gave us tons of suggestions. He
was so patient with me and always answered the many emails that I sent him.
Sean even ended up meeting with my sister a couple times before the wedding to
work on secret song to sing to us at the wedding. They both did such a great
job and he totally helped my sister when she stumbled on few of the words. I
seriously got so many complements on the band and everyone was just amazed at
the variety of music they played. The band played everything from Keith Urban,
Lady Gaga, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rush, Kiss, Eagles, Bloodhound Gang, Beastie
Boys, Cheap Trick, etc. The list seriously goes on and on. All together they
played 3 sets with very short iPod breaks in between. They even played one
encore song at the very end when everyone was screaming for one more. I am just
so happy that we ended up choosing to go with this band, and that everyone had
a fun time dancing to them.
Q. How did you feel after the wedding?
When Nick and I drove
away from the ceremony we asked each other if we felt any different, and we
both said no! We’re both just extremely happy to be together and we’re so
excited to move into our new place and “play house” as Nick would say.
Q. Lessons Learned?
While planning this wedding, I learned a few
things, and when trying to plan for the perfect day, there were a few tears
shed along the way. I am an emotional person, but I swear I was extra hormonal
while planning the wedding. I use to joke that if this is how I am planning a
wedding, I wonder what I’ll be like when I’m actually pregnant!
I know everyone always says that the wedding is
about the couple and it’s your day so don’t worry what other people think, but
it just isn’t as easy as that. Nick and I come from two very different
families, so when planning a wedding, it couldn’t be just about Nick and I.
Even though it was our day, even Nick
and I had different opinions on what we would like to see. I think the biggest
issue was alcohol. Nick’s dad owns a liquor store that happens to be 3 doors
down from the wedding hall and all of his family likes to have a drink or two,
and most of my family does not drink, however I do have family and friends that
like to have a drink too. This was probably our first big obstacle. My family
was a little unhappy that we were even considering having alcohol at the
wedding, but less than two years ago my sister held her reception in the church
where alcohol was not allowed, and her husband’s family definitely drinks and
so guests just ended up drinking out in the parking lot instead. No matter
what, if people want to drink, they are going to find a way. So instead of
people sneaking it, and it taking away from the wedding, we decided to
compromise and have a small toonie bar open after the dinner. We charged $2 for
alcoholic drinks, and all other drinks like pop, juice and water were free of
charge. I think it ended up being a really good decision. We only had a handful
(well – that I could see) of people that got a little too drunk, and most of
them ended up being my guests! Overall, I think everyone had a really good
time. I just really learned about compromising, and that families love to have
their input.
Q. What did you not expect would
happen while planning the wedding?
People not giving me their RSVPs! Gosh, this was
probably the most time consuming and stressful part of the entire planning
process! My wedding was catered, so because of that we had to provide numbers
to the caterer. As well, I wanted to do a seating chart to make sure that all
of our family sat close to the front. It was just so annoying trying to track
down and call everyone to find out who was coming and who wasn’t. I don’t care
if you’re not coming – just tell me!
In all, planning a wedding is not easy! Someone told me awhile back (in the middle of a
meltdown) that it’s during those big moments in your life (weddings, births,
funerals, divorce, etc) that you truly find out which friends and family you
can actually count on. Relationships are tested, but in the end everything
works out for the best and everyone did come together to make sure that our day
was perfect
