Tuesday 26 July 2016

Wedding Florist

Psst... sometimes when looking for people to hire for your wedding you just have to ask the most recent person you know who got married.  That way they do all the hard work of pricing things out and seeing who offers the best stuff for the best price.

And that folks, is exactly what we did for our florist.  John's sister got married in February and she had mentioned how a lot of florists charge A LOT for flowers but she had found someone that was super reasonable.  So John and I didn't even look around.  We (okay, it was me) asked John's sister who they used and called her up.  Turns out her prices are really reasonable (am I the only person that gets excited when things come WAY under budget?).

We went in to see her not really having too much of a clear vision of what we wanted (or knowing if certain flowers even existed... ahem John ahem) and I'm confident she'll be able to put it all together into something beautiful for us.  After talking with her and corosponding through email a bit I think I do have a pretty good idea of what I want things to look like (and I think we are on the same page... I guess I'll see soon when she puts together the silk mock up for us)

What is she all doing for us?
Bouquets (mine, my bridesmaid, and one to toss into the crowd)
Boutineers (groom, groomsmen, and our dads)
corsages (for our moms)
Flowers for centerpieces

If you are in the area and want a reasonably prices florist let me know... I'd be happy to pass on her information to you.

Friday 22 July 2016

Top 20 Cookies from the Year

I said about a month ago that I would compile a list of my top cookies that I made during the last year .. after reviewing the candidates I decided that the list had to be 25 cookies long (and let me tell you narrowing it down from 52 Weeks of Cookies to just 25 was kind of hard.  But here we go (in no particular order

5.  Graham Cracker Cookies 
(I'm going to make these again soon to bring to the lake!)
8.  Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
(I might make these again this summer too)
9.  Banana Cookies
(these are next on my list to make and bring to the lake)
25.  Birthday Cake Cookies (because... special occasions)

I've noticed now that I've compiled my list that a peanut butter cookie is noticeably absent from the list... so.. do you have a go to peanut butter cookie recipe?  Because I might need to try it!

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Wedding Photographer

Selecting a wedding photographer was one of the easier things John and I had to do.  

First, I asked for suggestions.  My sister went through photography school and so I asked her who she thought would do a good job.  John's sister also recently got married so we [kind of] looked into who she used as well.

Out of all the suggestions I emailed just 2 photographers.  

How did I narrow it down?  That's easy and something you should know I always default to because of my Mennonite ways... price.  If they didn't have a price listed online I didn't bother to send them an email.. I mean they could have been really affordable but come on... list your prices so I have an idea of how affordable!  

One of the photographers was someone my sister had recommended and the other was an acquantice.  
In the end, we went with the photographer that I knew.  I knew that she would be easy to communicate with and because she knows me she is willing to do (in my opinion) so much more for us!  

Sometimes going with someone you know isn't the best option... they might give you a really good deal but take their time getting pictures back to you (I've heard of this happening) or they might give you a really good deal but be relatively new to the field.  

I feel like we are getting the best of the best for us and I'm looking forward to her (and the second shooter... that's right it's going to be like the paparazzi showed up!) capturing our special day.

We ended up using one of our engagement photos for our invites that we hope to have sent out (or hand delivered) by the end of the month but here are 4 photos that we also really liked that didn't make the cut..





and here is a much better shot of the ring... John zoomed in on it



Tuesday 12 July 2016

Guest Book

We've come up with a great idea for a guest book (but I'm obviously not going to tell you exactly which idea that is).  What I will tell you is that I sent the following images to John to help us make a decision for what we wanted our guest book to be (and we decided on one of them).

1.
Wood


It goes well with our centerpieces and is pretty well free!

2.
Engagement Picture on Canvas


I feel like we need to find a way to use our engagement photos and show them off to people that attend the wedding.  This would be a great option!

3.
Polaroid Picture Scrapbook


We'll need someone manning the table to take our guests photos (we'll also need to purchase/rent/borrow a polaroid camera) but you have more than just a signature to remember the person by.

4.
Hearts in a Frame


Ok, I wasn't sure what to call this one but basically people sign the little wooden hearts (they can maybe write a message on it if they really squish) and drop it into the frame for us to have forever.

5.
Classic Wedding Guest Book with Engagement Photos in it

I didn't think a photo was needed for this one but it's also an option.  A great way to show off our engagement photos!

Feel free to venture a guess as to which one we picked.  Like I said we did pick one of them (but I won't be telling you which it was... you'll just have to stay tuned until after the wedding for that)




Tuesday 5 July 2016

Wedding Day Accessories

The day I bought my wedding dress I also bought a couple accessories to go with it (mostly because I was for sure buying one of them and then the 2nd - a bracelet was half off).  I make lists for John and I to get through in a week or two and last week I had "buy shoes" (for myself) on my list of things to do.  

Luckily for me that same week Aldo sent out an email reminding me of the presale for shoes that are 50% off that I never even looked at the first time they sent it because I was 100% sold on the idea of getting my first pair of Toms to wear on my wedding day.

Why Toms?  I think they do great things and I found a pair that I liked (and I thought it was a great reason to spend $70 on a pair of flats).  Then when I finally found them in a store (I was just going to order them online if I never found them in store) I was uncertain on them.  $70 is a bit of money to spend on shoes you are uncertain on.

So, with this knowledge in mind and that reminder email from Aldo just sitting in my inbox I made the very short trek to Aldo to get some regularly $60 for $30.  Only, for Christmas I had asked for a gift card from there to buy a black purse (which I actually JUST bought for a wedding I went to recently - also half off) and with what was left I only had to pay about $14 for my shoes.  What a steal!

This week I've been wearing them around my condo to stretch them a little (I was torn between sizes to get.. 7 seemed almost too big and 6.5 seemed almost too small but the guy told me I had time to wear them around the house and return them if I didn't end up liking them).

I'm not going to be announcing which ones they are (I guess you can go online and make some guesses though) but I will tell you that I will not be wearing any kind of heels at the wedding.  John isn't too much taller than I am so I get to wear flats (which is exactly what I would have chosen to wear anyways).

Now I just need to decide on what kind of earrings to wear (or if I need to go out and purchase some) and I'll be all accessorized for the big day!

Unless,,, I'm forgetting something (and it isn't hair that I'm forgetting about.. I'm just not talking about accessories for that.... yet)


Saturday 2 July 2016

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Frosting

52 Weeks of Cookies:  Week 53


That's right folks... I've got one (and only one) bonus week for all of you!

We've got so much to be celebrating...

Schools out for summer
Canada Day
My birthday
Wedding Planning is still happening
Oh, and I've got relatives in from The States.

This weeks recipe comes from Cookies and Cups

So, it's everyone's two favourite things.. chocolate chip cookies and frosting... and when you put 2 things that you really like together it's supposed to make something REALLY tastey... right?  Just watch Full House Season 5 Episode 25 for confirmation of this.

Anyways, obviously when you pair tuna with ice cream it may not turn out so well and I'm assuming frosting and cookies hasn't turned out nearly as bad as that did.... but still not so great.

Am I still bringing the cookies to the lake next weekend?  

Of course!


If these seem a little familiar they probably look a lot like my very first week of this madness when I made some Birthday Cake Cookies which I'm going to go ahead and recommend you make!

Last week I also made some pretty good cookies: Cookie Dough Oreo Cookies