Snswedding2016 Planning Thread - Jan 9 2016 (Azul Fives)

[snswedding2016]

@@krystalball thanks so much! haha I strive to be the anti-bridezilla so that means a lot...although when that groomsmen started making a fuss about the pants I felt some bridezilla emotions coming on! lol!

Edited November 25, 2015 by snswedding2016

[snswedding2016]

Legal Ceremony Updates

 

It has all come together this week (more or less). Once we decided to cancel Sean's parents' trips, we started working on alternative dates that would work for my mom, his parents and our schedule. They are coming in Dec 7-10. 

 

- Location - originally we thought about having it downtown Toronto but my mom has some hotel credits at Casino Rama...I know it sounds like an odd choice but they actually have a beautiful hotel side with some great restaurants, a piano bar, spa and pool. We were able to get two adjoining rooms for 2 nights and only have to pay $150 total. We'll be getting married at the piano bar (before it opens) where there is a beautiful 3 sided fireplace beside the piano.

 

-Food - there is a really nice restaurant called St. Germain there that has amazing food. Our meal for 6 is covered (my uncle is joining us for the day) we just have to pay for the alcohol - pretty great deal! 

 

-Officiant - our original officiant is unavailable for our new date but she recommended a colleague who is free and willing to drive to Orillia for the ceremony. He will honour our original officiant's fees, which is great!

 

-Flowers - I decided after we cancelled my mom's trip to make this ceremony feel a little more special. Since I decided to go with real touch flowers for Mexico, I thought it would be nice to have fresh flowers for the legal ceremony. I'm getting a bridal bouquet and a boutonniere  for Sean.

 

Inspiration pics for the flowers:

 

 

-Hair - I also decided to get my hair done, just another way to make it feel special and more like the real thing for our parents. We're trying to make it a slightly more glamorous affair without adding too much to the ceremony language itself (that we save for Mexico).

 

Here are some inspiration pics for hair:

 

 

 

The silver lining in all of this is that Sean and I realized that we would never have had 2 full days of uninterrupted time with just our parents in Mexico. There would be so much running around and trying to spend time with everyone, that actually this alternate plan will actually give us more time with them. I think in the end that will mean way more to them than a trip to Mexico (even though we would have loved for them to be there and experience it). 

 

More updates to come but I'll save that for another post. This weekend is my bachelorette in Niagara Falls - we leave Saturday!! I'm excited!

Edited November 27, 2015 by snswedding2016

[calgarybride2015]

Glad everything has come together. Don't think a ceremony is a casino is tacky at all (but I love Vegas). What you have planned there sounds beautiful. Your pics are gorgeous, such good taste. Have a freaking blast this weekend!!! Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

 

 

 

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[ashhtayy]

@@snswedding2016 so sorry to read about all the changes that have happened but I love that you are able to look at the bright side. It will be so nice to have the intimate moment with your parents. The dress, the hair, the bouquet are all so elegant. Can't wait to see pictures.

 

Have a blast at your bachelorette this weekend. Niagara is always a fun time especially with your girls

[Wafflesmom]

It sounds like you've planned a special and intimate legal ceremony that will definitely be memorable. I'm so happy to hear that it's all come together and that you'll have the much needed time with your mom and Sean's parents. I agree that adding the extra touches like your bouquet and getting your hair done will add a special touch to the ceremony. I can't wait to see pics!

 

Oh and have a great time at your bachelorette! After everything you've been through, a weekend of pampering will be exactly what you need and deserve

[snswedding2016]

@@calgarybride2015 @@ashhtayy @@Wafflesmom Thanks ladies! We're now excited about our legal ceremony plans. It was nice last night for the first time in weeks I felt really excited for the wedding and it started to feel real and close! These last couple of weeks have been so stressful that it was nice to have that feeling. 

 

I spent the last two days working from home. It is really starting to slow down at work (which I'm actually  happy about for wedding planning). American Thanksgiving usually marks the start of the really slow period leading up to the holidays. I was able to still do my work from home but multi-task and get some wedding stuff taken care of. 

 

Besides organizing the legal ceremony, this week we managed to tackle a lot:

-Started printing our printables for our welcome bags (I'm able to use my printer at work which is great)

   -printed the welcome letter, itineraries for everyone (general, groomsmen, bridesmaid, and maid of honour), rooming    

  list & menu

   -still need to finish tips for the resort and I might do a game page or two for the kids 

   -*I'll post pics when it is all completed

-finally found a slip for my after party dress 

-finished legal ceremony and symbolic ceremony scripts

-took inventory of all the stuff I have for the wedding and to see what's missing

-started packaging some of the decor (tupperware works really well with the paper roses!)

-almost finished playlist - just need a couple more songs for the pre-ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner music lists (emailed the partial list to my friend who is helping us put it all together)

-started working on our "Azul Fives Setup" document - I'm putting all of our notes in one document with detailed instructions on how we would like it all to look, making note of what we're bringing from home and what we're ordering from Lomas

-ordered another piece of luggage today with a black friday sale, on top of the discounted price I got 15% off for purchasing for the first time with them online and then I also qualified for free shipping! I feel like that is a black friday win! I feel like we should be good for luggage now but I'm waiting for the last two pieces to come in to take a look at it all

-PAID THE RESORT BILL!!!! That was a big sigh of relief to get that done. 

 

Next things to tackle:

-finish up the crafts!!! (magnets ...I literally have 4 to finish, somehow I keep procrastinating, love quotes - vellum is cut and ready to go, my "S&S" letters - just need to finish the back on one of them)

-finish the printables

-assemble welcome bags and distribute before Christmas to those in Toronto

-find shoes and white shirt for Sean 

-finish off groomsmen gifts

-create a zoom link for our streaming link of the wedding in Mexico and send it out to guests who are unable to come

-get marriage license 

-book grooming appointments!!!

-pick and plan a date with my bridesmaids and my mom just before we leave for Mexico

-Christmas shopping....I have to include this here because I'm SO not thinking about that right now with everything else to do haha!

-Settle up final numbers with our TA....with the 3 cancellations/refunds we need to see where we are with our numbers and transat credits. I think we may just be on the cusp but really that's ok...either way we're spending less than what we had planned. 

-Arrange transfer between Azul Fives and El Dorado for the honeymoon!

-Send out gift to our amazing TA!!

-Exchange money to pesos (and a little bit of US)

 

-Try and stay on this detox I'm on until the wedding (but cheating around parties and Christmas)! We actually don't have a scale at home so I don't know how much I've lost (if any) but I think in a way that's a good thing. I'm loving how my clothes feel and how I'm feeling in general. Regardless of the numbers, I'm feeling better overall. I'm not going to lie this detox isn't easy (I'm off of alcohol, dairy, gluten and sugar  )...needless to say I'm cheating this weekend on my bachelorette trip! 

Edited November 28, 2015 by snswedding2016

[snswedding2016]

Bachelorette Weekend Reivew

 

Ok ladies I survived my bachelorette trip - haha! It was an amazing weekend with my girls. I went with my two maids of honour and the one bridesmaid that is in Toronto. 

 

We left early Saturday morning and our first stop was "The Pie Plate" in Niagara on the Lake for brunch and dessert. It was really good especially because it was the first time I had sugar, gluten and dairy in almost a month! I've actually been wanting to try this place for a while now. Every time we go to Niagara on the Lake, I point it out but we've never gone in. Without knowing this one of my maids of honour picked it out on her own - perfect!

 

We then drove to Niagara Falls and checked into our hotel. Stop #2 was spa treatments at the Double Tree Aveda Spa. So relaxing. I had a Baltic Body Mud Masque. We went back to our hotel and got ready for dinner. 

 

Stop #3 was dinner at the Keg at the Embassy Suites on the 9th floor, which has an amazing view of the falls. My girls told them that it was for a bachelorette party so they gave us a great table with a perfect view of the falls!

 

 

Our "fun" straws...haha. 

 

My girls got me a disco ball cup! It was awesome! People kept asking me where I got it. A group of drunk women in their 50s wanted to steal it from me. lol!

 

 

Stop #4 we went back to the hotel room to get ready for evening portion. They bought some games to play which involved drinking shots - ugh! Sugary shots at that....such a recipe for disaster. Luckily I brought this electrolyte booster to have while we were drinking and it really helped!!

 

 

 

Several shots later   we ventured out to Stop #5 (most of these stops were a surprise but had a feeling of where we were going for this one). They took me to "Peppermints" in Niagara Falls ...luckily you are not allowed to take photos in there. Lots and lots of embarrassment happened in this place.

 

After my moment on stage (my friends paid for me to go up there...) we finished our round of drinks and we all looked at each other and said "I think we're done here" lol! Stop #6 was dancing at "Seven". I saw a couple who were married earlier that day and the groom came over to me and asked when I was getting married. He took the rose from his lapel and gave it to me. He said "This flower brought me good luck today and I hope it does for you too." It was really sweet! 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop #7 - late night fries at Denny's before we went to bed

 

The next day we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Niagara on the Lake for our last stop (Stop #8) High Tea at the "Prince of Wales Hotel". It was a nice juxtaposition to peppermints the night before. haha!

 

 

 

[ashhtayy]

@@snswedding2016 wow! Looks like your girls did an amazing job with your bachelorette party.

 

Ps. It brought tears to my eyes when I read a groom gave you his rose as good luck - so adorable!

[calgarybride2015]

Sounds like you had an awesome time. The photos are fabulous. The girls really put together a special time glad you had fun

 

 

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[snswedding2016]

It really was a great weekend full of fun adventures...it was just what I needed after a stressful month!

 

@ haha yea peppermints was an 'experience' - I'll tell you more about it on Friday.