Saving the date... and setting the theme!

It is no secret that I have got a tonne of wedding inspiration off the web, from my fellow bride-bloggers! There is something about the plethora of easily accessed wedding porn that makes one question their creative abilities... and the web is my prime resource! Now, I would normally consider myself a fairly creative soul, but let's face it, the left-brain domination inherent in my 9-5 job (or these days, 8-8!) tends to filter the creative juices that would otherwise flow freely through my head at any given time! The engineer in me facilitates the organization of design ideas and plans, sources out appropriate materials, and in general, is skilled enough to carry out any technical components required to complete a project... you see what I mean, left-brain domination!
But, when the situation is just right, I can be inspired by others' right brain magnificence, add a bit of creativity of my own, and come up with a project that I think is pretty cool. This is exactly the case of our Save-the-Dates. I have seen soooo many date-savers that pull on my love of modern, clean, sophisticated stationary, but let's face it, modern and sophisticated doesn't quite set the tone of our wedding. No, it's more along the lines of fun and casual, un-pretentious and quirky, maybe even different. So when I saw this most fabulously right-brained save-the-date from the broke-ass-bride (who I love by the way...), my otherwise scattered creativity came a bit more into focus!

So I too contacted sarahNwonderland with my ideas... a wedding in the mountains of course... and asked her to create a quirky, fun, graphic of Ian that we could use to set the tone of, and bring in a theme for our wedding! I had two ideas in mind... the first was a winter graphic, with Ian and I in wedding attire, but wearing ski boots, with a caption along the lines of "We're busy skiing right now, but we want you to save the date", or, the second would have us in wedding attire, hiking in the mountains, to go with a caption along the lines of "We're almost to the top, and when we get there, we want to share the view with you!". Sarah quickly got back to me (very professional to work with!) with these two sketches:

While I absolutely ADORED the cuteness of the ski-inspired sketch, we decided the summer-version was more versatile, and could be used for many stationary items down the road, so we decided to go with the hiking graphic!

I wanted the entire date-saver project to be inexpensive, and we did consider sending them via email, but I just loved Sarah's work so much, that I wanted people to be able to have a physical copy. So, I decided to go ahead and print postcards... no, like actual postcards that did NOT require envelopes, and when it was all said and done, the project cost $63 for 100 postcards... overall, a great deal! This is the final version that I designed (front and back):

WHAT DO YOU THINK?!?! So far the response has been great... and I, well, just love them!

The moral of this blogger-story... don't be afraid to get inspiration from other bloggers out there... it doesn't mean you are creativity-inadequate, it just means you can get a jump start! Especially for those of us who need a little poke (ie. PUSH) out of our left-brain-safe-haven!!

Save-the-date... yes, that means the date is BOOKED!!

photo from here

So, normally I would not be offended if someone was unable to attend a party I was throwing (yes, even my wedding), if they had prior engagements... it happens right?? BUT, I am mildly concerned about those friends who get engaged AFTER us, and decide to plan their wedding on the EXACT same day as us... even after I have cordially invited them to 'save the date'?!?! Really? Are you serious? This isn't exactly Bride Wars, but I am finding myself quite put-off. This is someone with whom I share professional and personal niceties, and as of late, who has regularly come to me for relationship advice... more specifically... proposal advice. This is someone who requested my assistance/guidance in finding the ring, asking the parents for permission, the proposal date, and now, wedding planning. So I find it difficult to understand how he has missed the purpose of the save-the-date. It's not that I am offended that they are choosing the same date, I am truly disappointed that they will not be able to celebrate with US on our wedding day... yes, it's disappointment.

I know it is not my place, and I need to understand that everyone has their own life/priorities, but is it totally inappropriate to be baffled by this? This is a friend who has shared the most intimate of the ups/downs of my relationship, and vice versa (goes with the territory... office mate!), and we are both taking on very new roles that we have needed support with over the past months... growing pains to say the least! Has anyone else had their own version of Bride Wars?? Who are you most disappointed about not attending your wedding?

The Menu (Part 1)

OK, so I have already mentioned our differences in menu ideas... I wasn't even joking about the pot-luck!! Ian is very casual when it comes to menu planning. A typical evening sounds like this... "heh babe, what would you prefer for dinner, Thai or pancetta wrapped sea bass?" to which he replies... "um, sure!". When we go out for dinner, there are generally two qualifying questions we ask when choosing restaurants: 1. Do they use quality ingredients and have healthy options? and 2. Do they serve generous portions at reasonable prices? These questions have somewhat limited our options, but trust me when I say that we have our short list of reliable stand-by restaurants which we frequent on a regular basis, and on those rare occasions that Ian likes to get adventurous and try something new, I undoubtedly have a LONG list of places I've been dying to try!! In fact, I have almost every page of John Gilchrest's "My Favorite Restaurants in Calgary and Banff" rabbit eared for those very occasions!

How does this all affect the wedding menu? Well, as you all know, in planning the wedding meal, you have to add in a heavily weighted third question: 3. Can we afford to serve this to 120+ people?? Oh, and if you have read this, you know how I feel about the pressure to find a menu that represents you as a couple!! What represents us in one word... dichotomy. So this is how our wedding menu evolved:

• How does the food relate to the overall feeling we want on our day (ie. relaxed, family focused, un-fussy)?
• How can we maintain our main priority of down-home FUN with food?
• Do we want mountain food, or theme food?
• Heh, remember that cajun mean we had for my going away party... that was good right??

As a bit of background info, we are really trying to create a 'house party' feel, or more specifically, a cabin party! We spend countless weekends out at our family cabin, and food, as you can guess, is always a central theme, whether it's shrimp and crab or Costco hamburgers! Here is an example of late night snacking at the cabin: (yes, that's chicken out of a box!)

BUT, we of course want this to be a special party, with amazing food... so a bit of class is required! Here's a teaser of the compromise we have come up with...

Is it too early to be over it??

So the thrill of the engagement, and the excitement of our future together is NOT getting old... in fact, I am loving it even more than I thought I would. I mean, I have been excited about getting old together for a while, but it really has gotten even more sweet. Ian is soaking it up even more than I am I think, which seems to instill giddiness to the most mundane planning moments... he's like a little boy. I love it!

But, I have to admit, the whole planning process is already getting a bit old for me. I do not do well being stuck in planning... I am a doer! I like to plan, research, organize, and then... EXECUTE! I am goal oriented... so wading knee deep (or head deep, depending on the moment) in a swamp of planning-themed ideas, inspiration (thanks blogger brides!!), photos, advice, and more photos, I feel bogged down and over-whelmed. My to-do lists from all the websites I have convinced myself absolutely crucial to join, tell me that I really don't have anything to do right now (we are about 8 months down, and before getting engaged officially, we had venue, photographer, dj, caterer, hotels, shuttle, dress, and veil all secured). So does that mean I am supposed to sit on my hands and look at wedding porn to pass the hours of this planning process? According to The Knot, I need to inform my MOH what is expected of her... somehow I just don't agree with that one. She is married, and was a crazy-organized and effective planner... she knows what she is doing better than I do! So sit on my hands it is??

NOPE, that's not gonna work. So, yesterday, even though we have no idea who our readers will be, what songs we will use, or for that matter, exactly what our ceremony is going to look like, I started designing our programs. As far as I am concerned, this is a detail that mostly gets overlooked, so why do I continue to search, painstakingly, for that 'perfect' program, when really, it serves a simple purpose of informing our guests who is in the wedding party. That doesn't seem to carry a lot of weight on the stress meter if I sit back and consider it realistically. Plus, by biting the bullet, making a decision, and getting started on it, I quite seamlessly shift from planning to executing... productivity is a dream!! I will post pics of my relatively non-descript programs when I get closer to being done, but for now, I am happy to have accomplished something, rather than just thought about something!

When Opposites Attract

image originally posted on jenessilver.com

For all the non-brides out there, or at least for the non-bride in me, it is excruciating to hear brides talk about their wedding being "so us"! "We did golf tees for favours because we both love to play golf", sounds more like "what do you mean you and your fiance don't share all the same hobbies?". "Our wedding menu was just perfect because fillet Mignon is OUR most favorite dish" sounds more like "maybe you should start cooking new things cause it's strange that you and your fiance don't like the same things...". "We both felt so enamoured with our venue the minute we saw it, we knew it was just PERFECT for us" sounds just a bit too much like "if you can't find a venue that is representative of the two of you together, you might as well not have a wedding!".

Of course I know I am being a bit dramatic, but the truth is, Ian and I are opposites in so many ways. He drinks beer... and only beer! I love to try new wines, champagnes, and martinis. He likes t-bones and ribeyes, and I am a tenderloin snob. He golfs with his buddies and watches Formula 1 by himself on Sunday mornings, and I water ski with my friends and work-out in the early am Monday-Friday. He plays Sudoku, I read wedding blogs. He thinks a potluck wedding would be awesome, and I think... "are you kidding me?!?!". So needless to say, picking a wedding style and venue was a bit of challenge for us! In reality, we weren't completely sold on the idea of having a wedding until we saw this:
It's completely "us". Sorry frustrated-brides... all I can say is, they were right. All those brides who claimed their venue was perfect, just perfect. They were right. I know it can feel like they effortlessly found their perfect, representative, meaningful venue, but hear it from me, it can be difficult, demeaning, down right frustrating, but your venue is out there. Ours is the Elk View Lodge in Fernie, Canada. Ian and I have enjoyed the mountainous wonder of the Elk Valley together for the last couple of years. In fact, it was the first place we 'vacationed' to together... a 4 day mini-vacation, but our first one together nonetheless. The Lodge will be our ceremony and reception location, our rehearsal BBQ venue, our hotel, our B&B for our family and bridal party, our late-night hot-tub location, and probably our photo location! This means no limos (I LOATHE the idea of spending good $$ on wedding limos!), no travel for our guests between ceremony and reception, no corkage fees or cake-cutting fees, no 'closing time', no scheduling of rehearsals... this means one family filled weekend in the mountains where we, sidenote, get married!!

Check out the splendor:
the view from the hot-tub deck (found here)
ceremony location: image originally posted by 6:8 photography reception set-up idea (found here):the master bedroom (found here):I hope you love it as much as we do! It resonates with our passion for family, casual entertaining, outdoor fun, and if you can believe it, allows us to create a weekend wedding on a budget! Happy shopping to all you new brides, and good luck on stumbling upon "the one"... after you found "THE one"!

It's Official...

We have always joked that we have been dating for so long-ish. In other words, there was a definite gray area as to when we started dating. Things were casual, they almost ended, then things got back on track. There was a drunken ultimatum of sorts, a nervous dinner at Codo, and then we were just Tiff and Ian. We were together. Well, isn't it fitting, after 2.5-ish years, we were officially engaged on December 23rd... -ish! It was late at night on the 23rd, but could have been past midnight, making it the 24th. I am going to stick with the 23rd, the day I returned from Europe.

Codo has since turned into 'our place', and Ian proposed over Codo take-out, after my flight home from a 2 month work trip was delayed by 12 hours, ruining his planned proposal AT Codo. But, when it was all said and done, it was perfect! It was so... us! Casual, fun, unexpected, romantic, even a bit silly. Bottom line, it was official! We have been planning the wedding, unconventionally and nontraditionally, for more than a couple of months, so the proposal itself wasn't a surprise. This is probably something Ian would wish to change, but for me, somewhat of an anti-surprise-est, it was perfect. We made a conscious, thought-out decision, as adults, to spend the rest of our lives together. This process of making smart, educated decisions, after evaluating options and weighing the pros/cons, is one I am a firm believer in. So it is no surprise to most people in our lives, that I have become a bride, and Ian has become a groom, on purpose. And one thing that's really great about this decision being formalized by an engagement ring, is that we can continue with our wedding planning, out of the closet!! It has been a secret mission for the most part, and now we can have fun with the details, get help from our friends and families, and enjoy the whole process with our wedding vip's (read: me and my girls have that many more reasons to drink champagne while scouring for the perfect pair of heels!!)

Oh ya, and one more really fun perk... looking at my gorgeous engagement ring... image courtesy of www.shopsimong.com