Mad Libs.

Haven't blogged too much lately, once again because of job anxiety, but also because everything I wanted to blog about was related to Dom's shower and stagette. Since she reads my blog, would be hard to keep these things a secret. 

I made a whole bunch of shower games by downloading this awesome font, and stealing ideas from Pinterest. We played a hilarious game of "he said, she said", but my favorites are the mad libs. 

I love mad libs. My friends and I used to make them for each other. I wrote one "marriage proposal" story starring D and K, and took out all the identifying words. And I wrote an advice sheet, that I think is even funnier. 

Something about nonsense just gets me :)

Dresses.

Wedding dress shopping for Dom today was a total success! We went to Novelle, which is a boutique some of my other friends had recommended, and had a fabulous experience. Much better than our last experience. Plus, Dom is gonna look like a superstar!!! Such a pretty dress. We also got our bridesmaid dresses all sorted out, which made for a long, but awesome, bridal party shopping trip.

Today marks the end of my self-imposed challenge to blog every day for a month. Didn't always get it done (curse things like weddings getting in the way), but overall I enjoyed it. I forced myself to look at what I did everyday, and even though I couldn't always blog about it, it got me thinking more about how I spend my time. And was a much more easy way of journaling than I used to do. 

I think for the next month I will try to keep to a Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday schedule, or something similar. 

Book Page Flowers.

(This post was supposed to go up earlier, but I didn't take the pictures off my camera until late, as I had to deal with a gross humidifier incident... ahhhhh. Homeownership.)

Spent yesterday at the most adorable wedding ever. K & R had a nice little ceremony at the Petroleum Club, and a great reception at a cute little brewery downtown. I love when a wedding just fits the couple so well. This wedding was full of geeky touches and decor that just worked so well. My favorite was the abundance of book page flowers made out of comic books! So adorable.

I have made book page flowers before, but never this many. And I love the colors you get!

Since its the start of my week off, and kinda snowy and cold, I did a bit of winter decorating today. Not Christmas decorations, mind, just winter. Snowmen and things like that. And since my front door is a piece of art in and of itself... where else can I stick my snowmen?

Works for me. 

Darth.

Well, didn't really feel like posting when I went to bed at 3am. Ah well. 

Yesterday was errand day. Followed by a themed stagette party in the evening. I was so excited for my Darth Vader costume. I really got into this one... Judging by the text conversation I had with a friend who dressed up as a Storm Trooper... 

Excellent costume. Except my mask was definitely meant for a child. Which didn't really stay on my face and made me look like a linebacker.

Kelowna.

Fantastic urban art in downtown Kelowna.

Busy, busy, busy!

Last weekend I was in the beautiful Okanagon valley to celebrate Sarah and Landon's wedding. It was an excellent time, and while we were there the girls and I took some time to play tourist and visit with my family.

An adorable, totally personalized cake topper.

Marina.

Mallard duck on the waterfront.

Of course, grapes. Wineries galore!

More Weddings.

Running out of things to call these wedding related posts! Sheesh.

Went down to Calgary this past weekend for Gina and Felix's wedding.

Wedding reception was held in an old log cabin. Very cool.

Awesome party! Love dancing and celebrating with the Lake crew. We know how to have a good time!

Custom-made wedding jenga.

Made cupcakes for this wedding as well- chocolate and lemon decorated yellow to go with the color scheme. Thanks to Dom for the decorating help!

Yes, the initials were carved in AFTER the tree had been cut down.

In other news.. Happy Belated Canada Day.

Weddings. Again.

It's wedding season. Again! Last weekend, Jen and Ben got married! Unfortunately, it was the same day that Nav and Ryan got married. AND the same day as grad. If only I could have been in more places at once!

Beautiful day for a wedding. The ceremony was simple but lovely, the groom and groomsmen were dressed in 40's get ups (so cool!), and there was a hella wicked dance party to end the evening. Whoot!

Shower.

Beautiful chocolate covered strawberries made by Kate.

This weekend we celebrated G's upcoming nuptials with food, family and friends, and... canoes?

One of many, many canoes.

Love you, G!

Weddings II.

I love weddings. Which is a good thing, considering how many I have been going to lately! I recently had two in two weeks... And they could not have been more different!

The first was a stylish wedding for a friend who has been planning her wedding for, literally, years. (When she was four, she wanted to be a bride when she grew up).

All the details were accounted for... since the two of them love to play board games, the reception had a bit of a board game theme (in a classy way of course).

Instead of being at numbered tables, they had names like "Scrabble" and "Monopoly". (I was at the "Murder Mystery" table). There were other small touches to carry the theme... Scrabble boards as decoration (loved those!) and if you wanted the couple to kiss you had to correctly answer a trivia question about them.

The couple had also taken ballroom dancing lessons, which resulted in a stunning first dance! Full of intricate steps and spins, at one point, the bride was spun around by the groom on his hip... I can't do it justice with a mere wordy-description... Think Dancing With The Stars. It was glorious.

The most recent wedding couldn't have been more different in style, but it was just as gorgeous. The bride's family has a horse farm near Innisfail, and a beautiful big red barn was built on it expressly for the purpose of holding the wedding there.

If the weather had been poor, the entire event could have been held in the barn. As it was, the day was gorgeous - rim to rim, blue Alberta skies for most of the day, not a breath of wind, and it was hot. The ceremony was held outside, and included a Celtic "Loving Cup" ceremony, where the bride and groom share a wine glass and drink to their past, present and future with their "anam cara" or "soul friend" in Gaelic. 

The groom wore his father's wedding suit from 30 years ago, as well as the bride's late grandfather's genuine deerskin cowboy boots. Both touches of "something borrowed" worked very well with the country theme!

There was a grand opening of the barn before the reception, and the inside looked phenomenal; you would hardly know you were partying in a barn! The decorating scheme was almost a contradiction of burlap and lace that created a lovely country chic feel. 

A friend of the groom's is a singer-songwriter, and he played us a couple songs to get the mood going for the reception. (You can check Ethan out here.) What followed was a fantastic dance... I don't think I've ever been to a wedding where such a large percentage of the guests spent so much time on the dance floor... Two-stepping to country, twisting to oldies, rocking out to classics and grooving flailing to club music.

While my wedding attending for this year has come to an end, there are already several weddings on the table for next year. I am looking forward to seeing how each couple personalizes their day!

Weddings.

Weddings are strange. (Let me explain)

Prior to February, I hadn't been to a wedding in about 5 years. Prior to June, I hadn't been to a wedding without my parents. But (apparently) you reach a point in your life when the people around you start to get married. And for me, that time seems to be now.

I have been to three weddings so far this year... Two more to go this summer. One friend getting married next week in southern BC (not attending that one). Had a friend elope in January. Next year, I currently know of four close friends who are getting married, and one couple that is waiting until 2013.

The thing that I love about all these weddings, is that they are so different. As long as people personalize their weddings, they will never get old to me.

In February, I went to a wedding on top of Kicking Horse Mountain in Golden.

Luckily, the weather was nice, but I still had to wear my snowpants and a touque. The theme was "snow - chic". Needless to say, the bride and groom had their first ski down the hill together as husband and wife.

The "Just" "Married" signs even had tin cans hanging from them!

The two weddings so far this summer have been much more conventional (ie. not on a mountaintop), but they have still been wonderfully personalized.

In June, I went to a wedding that was marvellously simple; it wasn't plain, but full of homemade touches, lacking any artifice and nothing over the top.  The flowers were all done by the bridesmaids, which meant every bouquet and centre piece was unique. Even the fact that it poured buckets all day couldn't damper the mood!

If you look closely, you can see my camera creeping in the background!

I was honored to make cupcakes for the wedding! The bride had a cupcake stand to put them on, and I spent many hours and made several trial batches to make them perfect. My friend Dominique was a bridesmaid (you can read her blog here) and she helped me bake and decorate (the coconut was her idea!). I think they turned out marvellous!

The most recent wedding happened this past weekend; one of my girlfriends from high school. Her wedding was GORGEOUS! She has spent the past year making sure every detail was perfect, and it was! This wedding was how little girls dream weddings should be - all the elements were there to make sure the bride felt like a princess! Check out this cake...

Is that not gorgeous or what? And don't the newlyweds look happy?

Aww!

So, the thing I find strange about weddings, is that there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do them. There are a few common elements (ie, ceremony, dinner, dance, flowers, etc) but the whole event can be personalized so much. (Stay posted for the wedding that's taking place on a horse farm!) As long as the couple chooses a wedding that suits them, you can pretty much guarantee that it will be wonderful in my eyes!