snswedding2016

So it seems like a couple of us are having some bridal party issues these days. I almost feel silly posting this because it really isn't that big of a deal but the situation did upset me so here we go... So for over a month I've been trying to organize a bridesmaids day. Two of my girls still need their dresses (I've let them pick their own style but staying within a colour palette). One bridesmaid asked me if I would go shopping with her and I thought that would be a great opportunity to plan a bridesmaids day. We were going to go for brunch in the morning, shop for dresses, maybe work on the OOT bags and then go see something silly like Magic Mike XXL - haha! I thought it would be a really fun day to hang out with the girls especially because I haven't done anything like this since I've been engaged. It took some planning with everyone's schedules and the fact that one of my maids of honour has two kids, the youngest one only 1 1/2 months old but we finally settled on this Sunday. I feel like I've been a pretty low maintenance bride when it comes to planning and organizing and mostly by choice. I love planning and sometimes I'm too ahead of the game and get things done so quickly that those who wanted to help don't get the chance. I realized that when some of my girls were a little sad they weren't there to go dress shopping with me. i've mentioned it before but the thought of wedding dress shopping has always overwhelmed me and so I went on my own to custom design it. I felt bad that my girls missed out on that part of the process that they wanted to have. All of the other sourcing, shopping and planning I've pretty much done on my own. My maids of honour have come with me to some dress appointments and we've gone accessories shopping but that's pretty much it. This is why I thought this day would be great way to spend time together doing some wedding stuff. So today I get a call from one of my maids of honour asking me what time the dress appointment was on Sunday (this MOH has her dress already). She said she wanted to confirm the dress appointment time because her boyfriend's family is planning a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend's dad on Sunday. She wanted to know if she could do both (you read what we had planned for the day though right...umm..). I told her I was pretty sure it was 1 or 2 and she was like "oh...we'll you're going for brunch right? So I'll just come to that but I won't go to the dress appointment because I already have mine and that way I can go to the party". To be honest was shocked and a bit stunned. It was so much about going to the birthday party - I totally get wanting to be there for your partner's dad's birthday but it was how she went about it. There was no apology for just finding out now about the party and that she feels bad for missing out on the day we had planned. She almost laughed it off, as if it was going to be a waste for her to be there anyway. To be fair she may have forgotten or didn't realize that this was this important to me but honestly that makes me a little more annoyed. I've been engaged since October and this is the only thing for the wedding that I have planned in advance with my bridal party to do as a group. I feel like I she should have at least realized that this would be really disappointing to me. Not to mention that aside from the fact that I haven't had any wedding planning requests (with now less than 5 months left) that I've lost two bridesmaids in the process. I'm not mad about this particular situation or the other two having to drop out for very good reasons, I'm just really disappointed. This bridal party situation just starts to feel pretty sad and pathetic. I know I'm probably being hyper sensitive about this situation but I was just really looking forward to this Sunday after everything and now this happens. Despite this particular situation this MOH has been really great and she's super excited to be a MOH and plan a shower and bachelorette. Somehow she just doesn't see how this weekend is important to me. To be honest if she approached it differently today saying she just found out and she doesn't know what to do about the situation because she should and wants to be at the party, I would have told her to go...but it just wasn't handled that way. The other issue that I feel really helpless about is that I have two MOHs. We've all known each other for the same length of time - we went to university together. I want both of them up there as MOH and I couldn't choose between them. Although we have know each other from the same place, I have different friendships with the two of them. The one with kids, we were friends since second year and became close friends very quickly. She was my go to place to crash when I didn't want to commute back to the suburbs from downtown. I treat her kids like my own - her oldest daughter is our flower girl. I'm actually one of the few people she actually refers to as auntie and we're not blood related. The other MOH and I were friends in university but we've really become close in the last 5 years. 5 years ago the other MOH got married and we were so thrilled for her but the two of us were in terrible relationships that we were convincing ourselves were not as terrible as they were. A couple months after we both broke up with our men (within weeks of each other) and that really brought us closer together. We were back on the dating market at the same time, we helped each other through heartbreak and new relationships. She was at a place that my other MOH was not and so it really shaped our friendship. I just found out tonight that it hasn't been easy being co-MOHs. I guess I should have seen that coming but I figured them being such close friends too it wouldn't be an issue. Apparently one feels like she isn't really getting a hand in planning and that the other one has taken over with her ideas. Or that she didn't think the other MOH would want to speak during the MOH speech because she is shy. I just want them both to feel like they are MOHs but maybe that's impossible and I'm living in a fantasyland. They also both hate confrontation so I know they won't talk to each other about it. I guess I should just let it go but I don't want one of them to feel left out. I know! I know! these really aren't that big a deal but it's starting to feel like it is all piling up. By the end of today I was feeling really emotional about it and disappointed that it isn't working out the way I hoped it would. Sean's also away right now on a boy's trip and he would be the one to console me about this. We talked a lot about this tonight and I feel a bit better but I just miss him too. Sigh. @ I'm really feeling for ya! Emotional day for MOHs today... sorry ladies for the crazy long venting session....there is no judgement if you skip this post to the next one that will hopefully be a little more upbeat!

what a crazy journey but you're a now married!!!! Congrats!!! I hear you about flight issues to the east coast. Trying to figure out how to get Sean's family off PEI and to Mexico in January was A LOT harder than I anticipated! Also that suggestion about flying to Moncton and then driving to Newfoundland....I have no words to say just how ridiculous that suggestion was...

TOMORROW!!!! Have the best wedding week!! Can't wait to hear about it when you get back!

Congrats on your legal ceremony!!! So excited for you!!! Keep us posted on how it all goes!

I can be there by 5:15pm/5:30pm as well! I like the alt inside option as well.

Hey Ladies! So I just called and O&B doesn't take reservations on the patio. They can book us inside and then we can move to the patio OR she suggested if we're there by 5:30pm we should be able to snag a big table. Thoughts? @@acw271011 @@diadiamond do you ladies want to meet right after work and we can hold down the fort? lol! Or do we want to pick a different place that we can get a reservation for.

@@veryvalentine @@yycbride2016 @@ashhtayy @@acw271011 @@TinkerSofi @@krystalball @@maybeoneday Thanks so much ladies for all your kinds words!! We had such an amazing time during the shoot and with 3 hours we didn't feel rushed to get our photos done by a certain time. We had time to relax and just explore the grounds. I can't thank my photographer and friend enough! She is a great photographer but also just an awesome person to hang out with. It was the best way to end the long weekend! I feel like I'm still on a high from it! I also can't wait to meet you Toronto ladies very soon for drinks! @@veryvalentine loved your chandler reference - made me LOL! Love that episode!! I definitely recommend doing an engagement shoot if you're on the fence, I know I was until both of these opportunities presented themselves. It really gets you comfortable in front of the camera - great practice for the big day. You also just have a lot of time to focus on you and your fiancé and get excited about your wedding! It's also a nice break from the planning stress!

I think it sounds like we're pretty settled on O&B on the 14th. I agree with @@acw271011 maybe we can all do one last check in to do a head count and I'll make a reservation!

Thanks so much ladies!! You guys are so sweet! @@Wafflesmom Sean's definitely the one more comfortable in front of the camera between the two of us with him being in the 'biz'. Every so often he would just smirk at me and I was like "what are you smirking at?" and he would say "you're totally posing" LOL! He would break me out of it and we would take a deep breath and just focus on each other. It was always easier when I forgot she was taking photos. @@calgarybride2015 We LOVED that tree!!! It was our favourite! It had so much character.

Sorry for the delay ladies!!! (@@veryvalentine - here they are ) WARNING PIC HEAVY!!! ...sorry, our amazing photographer and friend was amazing and spent 3 1/2 hours shooting yesterday and took over 450 photos. She went through them all and sent me about 175 of them early this morning! It was hard to narrow it down. It was such an amazing day, I can't even tell you. It made us so excited for our wedding!! We spent the day getting ready and then arrived at Terre Bleu for 5pm. We had a private permit so the farm was entirely ours for 3 hours. The permit was a bit pricey but totally worth it when we saw all the different spaces we could use. They had a huge new structure that was just built about 3 weeks ago all made out of beautiful barn board, the lavender fields of course, a gorgeous gazebo, a trail in the woods, the lavender distillery and other nooks and crannies. We met Ian (who was so lovely) and he welcomed us to his family farm with open arms. We found out that they just opened their farm to the public for the first time last year for 10 days, during that time 7000 people came through the farm to check it out! This year they decided to open it to the public every weekend and holidays for the harvesting season. Just on Monday alone there were 1000 people that came through. Impressive!! Due to the extremely harsh winter we had, some of the plants need to be dug up and replanted and the bloom started a lot later this year but I still loved being on the lavender farm and taking it all in. Of course it could have been a little more purple but that's mother nature and we were just so happy to be there just running around and frolicking in the lavender! They have two sides the french lavender (which are the taller plants that are just about to be harvested again) and then the english lavender (which are those cute little mounds and most of these plants have been harvested already). They do all the harvesting by hand!!! Anyway I could go on and on...I just loved the place and would go back (we missed out on the lemonade and ice cream). Here are the pics! I'm pretty in love with them. It felt pretty magical (I know soooo cheesy) and it was just perfect. It was also so great to just be there with Sean and focus on us. We spent hours just looking at the clouds in the sky and laying in the grass...it's been a while since I've done that! Oh and we JUST caught the sunset just before leaving! also we were so lucky with the weather between the storm on Sunday and the rain today we couldn't have asked for a better day!

@@veryvalentine Will do!!! I'm going to tell Sean we need to go back for the lemonade and ice cream!

@@veryvalentine That's awesome! So glad you guys were able to check it out. What time were you there yesterday? We had out photoshoot just after the farm closed. We were there from 5-8pm. Funny - I was just about to post some pics because my photographer and friend is amazing and she's already worked on them! I'll be posting shortly with an update. Did you get any of the lavender lemonade or lavender ice cream - we saw the sign and wished the store was still open! haha

@@SimpleBliss we're not big all inclusive people either and we are also foodies! My ideal vacation is wandering and exploring a city but that being said after attending my cousin's DW a couple of years ago, it totally changed my mind. The cost factor alone was a major thing, especially for our guests. It huge to be able to tell our guests "yes, you're paying all this money up front but you won't have to spend anything else while you're there unless you really want to" (i.e. excursions etc). I don't know if you have any kids attending your wedding but it is a huge plus for parents to go to an AI for a family vacation, there is no stress of when the kids eat, how much and if they are wasting money/food etc. We have 8-10 kids coming so that was a big consideration especially having it at a resort that could keep them entertained. When we went to look for our resort our top "must-haves" were: -Good food (we're foodies plus my future brother in law is the head of the culinary school in PEI-no pressure) -Family Friendly -Affordable This is not to try and convince you on AIs but just my experience as AIs were not always my first choice either. Not sure how it compares to having it offsite but I think with 20 people your budget is totally doable especially if you're keeping it simple. My wedding budget (just for the ceremony and reception) ...at the moment we have 51 people Ceremony package - $950 Decor - $270 (I'm bringing some things from home as well and it is not included in this number) Outside vendor fee - $800 (for photographer) Food - $810 (3 course plated meal) Sound equipment rental - $250 Set up fee - TBA (probably around $300 so that would be added to the total below) Total - $3080 Outside Vendor: Photography $1100 From home: Real touch flowers - $100 OOT bags- $150-200 Other decor - $300-350 Of course this doesn't include travel, attire and gifts. I hope this helps! Happy planning!

@@SimpleBliss Welcome and congrats on your engagement! Is your $5000-10 000 budget including travel costs for you and your fiancé? Are you completely opposed to having it at an all inclusive? My resort budget for 60 people for just the wedding was $6000 and we're definitely under that so it is possible but I know you mentioned the all inclusive thing isn't really your first choice. There are definitely other options too though (I unfortunately don't have any experience in that department however) with beach clubs, boat cruises and restaurants...not too sure on the range of costs there. @@acw271011 may be able to give some words of wisdom as she's planning a small reception off site.

I agree I think a later time will help out a lot of people with travel time. Let's say 7pm for now and change it if we need to depending on everyone's schedules.

Yes the more the merrier!! All are welcome! I figured O&B would be a good choice, especially with the location for those needing the go train after and I really like their patio as well. @@acw271011 you were right there was someone I missed on the list but I couldn't remember where I saw her and on what thread. haha - oh my short term memory....anyway after searching through the threads I found it!! @Laurena1229 you are more than welcome to join us on the 14th if you're free for drinks on a patio!! @@Ruzanna are you still free to join us? Also what time works for everyone? I know some of you have to travel in after work. I work downtown so I can get there very quickly from work, let me know what works best for everyone. Once we have a consensus of the time and place (although O&B looks like the front runner at the moment) I'll make a reservation for us!

@@acw271011 congrats on booking the resort!! I know the process must have been more than frustrating but it must feel so good to have that settled! Can't wait to see pics of your dress!!

@ aw thanks - I think Sean and I just enjoy going out too much! haha! Ok here are some other ideas: Oliver and Bonacini (Yonge and Front) - big patio, central location, more corporate crowd, Muskoka brewery is their sponsor this summer so their beer is on special (for the beer drinkers) El Catrin (Distillery District) - big patio, beautiful and fun decor, Mexican restaurant (goes with DW theme for most of us! ) but the location isn't the best for those coming from the West End. Black Bull (Queen and Soho/Peter) - big patio, always busy, not the fanciest place, affordable, more of an artsy "queen west" crowd Beverly Hotel Rooftop (Queen and Beverly - just east of Spadina) - rooftop patio, cozy feel, smaller so depending on numbers it may be harder to get a larger group, a little pricier but a neat spot Brownstone Bistro (Yonge and Gloucester - just north of Wellesley) - medium sized patio, central location, reasonable prices those are the places that come to mind off the top of my head. I'll keep thinking.....do any of these peak anyone's interest? So far I have the following on the list for the 14th: @ @@veryvalentine @@acw271011 @@krystalball @@Meandhim @@JoannaBanana Have I missed anyone?? Excited to meet you all in person!

Hi Ladies! The opening of the bar has been pushed and it should be opening within a week or so but again nothing is for sure. Unfortunately this is how a lot of big renovations go. I've already mentioned to the owner that we want to use it on the 14th but I'm just not sure it will be all up and running. I think to be on the safe side we should have a back up location just in case. Ideas?

@@calgarybride2015 lol that's amazing! I have to share that with my friends! I'm a Libra - we're all about justice....that justifies the alpha bitch attitude right?!? hahaha I was in Vegas several years ago for a bachelorette weekend and we were all walking along the strip when all the pedestrians started crossing the street as cars were zooming by. All the pedestrians were getting angry as they were almost run over and I yelled out "Hellllooooo??? It's an advanced green people!!!!" my friends turn away and pretended not to know me. lol! I still haven't lived that one down (it was 5 years ago ha!). I just can't deal with stupidity, that's really when the alpha bitch comes out. haha!

gorgeous wedding bands! They compliment your engagement ring beautifully!

@@vfosho congrats on your engagement and welcome to the fun part of wedding planning. I agree finding the resort and the dates and the right price is the hardest and most frustrating part. Now you get to do the fun stuff. Have you checked out @@kcole123 's planning thread? I believe she was married at the same resort. Happy planning!!

@@calgarybride2015 is it younique 3D fiber lashes? my friend sells it as well but I haven't tried it yet.

@@yycbride2016 oh that makes me even more mad to know that her wedding is out of town too!! I'm all for have your wedding wherever and however you want, it is your day! I hate though how destination weddings take all the heat when I've had to go to so many weddings just far enough outside of the city that you still need a hotel. I don't mind getting a hotel for a wedding I want to attend, but don't give me attitude about how my wedding costs so much for you, ya know?! I have a wedding at the end of Aug and I broke down the cost by night and Mexico is still way cheaper and that includes food, alcohol and a FLIGHT! It just bugs me when people say those things! grrrr! @ love that video too - so funny! I was at a Starbucks once and an old man told the barista his name was Rumpelstiltskin. The old man seemed to get a real kick of it! haha!

@@yycbride2016 all your DIY projects look amazing!!! Love the little message in a bottle! As for your friend's fiance, that is so incredibly rude and then to post it on social media is unbelievable. It was obviously a small mistake that wasn't done intentionally but she has to make a huge deal about it and then adds in the jab about the price as well. I hope she doesn't attend your wedding - you don't need that negative energy around your special day. @ @@Wafflesmom I love the Starbucks name fails too - it always surprises me and makes me laugh when they spell my very common name "Stephanie" wrong. lol! I know there are many ways to spell my name but I find it funny when they think my way of spelling it is strange. Yesterday I was there ordering a couple of drinks and the barista asked me for my name and said "I want to spell your name right, is it with an i or a y?" .... I say "i" and then she proudly turns the cup around and shows me and it says "Steffani". I smile and giggle and say "don't worry that's close enough" and she's like "no no, did I spell it wrong? I'll fix it on the next cup", I tell her that's not necessary but she insists. So I say "well it's an "ie" at the end and it's with a "ph".....she looks confused, then she looks at the original cup, then back at me more confused. So I spell my name out for her, she writes it and then says "ooohhhhkay noted". As if my way of spelling it is weird. The whole conversation just made me laugh. One of my MOHs name is Genevieve and we've kept track of all of her Starbucks name fails. They have included "Jenna Eve", "Jen-B" (yes, spelled like that haha!) and our favourite... the oh so common name "Jenani"