Sarah & Jay - July 7, 2007

Well the RSVP's continue to slowly come in...there's still about 100 people yet to hear from though! I've been told they'll come in a mad rush before our deadline which is June 1st. I went down to the farm this last weekend and had a really great time. On Friday night I met Jay, Laura, and Craig in Calgary and the boys went to get Craig fitted for his tux for our wedding and Laura and I scammed Fabricland and got a great deal on tulle! Then we all went for supper and then a movie. Jay and I went to see The Invisible and we both highly recommend it!

As far as the wedding...we both can't believe that it's almost 2 months away! I had my hair and make-up trial with Jacci and Robyn and it went very well. We know what we're gonna do and we'll get together one more time before the wedding to do the whole thing again. We went out on Saturday night in Strathmore for a bit and then I got to spend the whole day with all of Jay's family and got to see Serena so that was really nice! But now I'm at home all alone. Adam moved out this weekend and the next time I'll get to see Jay is May long weekend. I'm sure time will fly!

Jay and I out on Saturday night.

Until next time,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well I'm alone again. Well, not alone if you include Miles...and of course Adam! But Adam's only here probably for one more week before he goes back home and then goes to Germany. Jay has left for the summer for the third time in our relationship. But on the bright side - it's also the last time. This time next year we'll both be packing up all our things getting ready to move down to the farm. Another big up-side to this summer vs. the others is that we get to spend almost all of July together! Then there'll be one more month of summer left and before you know it, he'll be back here in Edmonton to finish up his last year of university. So to distract myself from Jay's absence, this afternoon I treated myself to a French manicure and pedicure! Lots of fun!

Not much new on the wedding plans front, other than the fact that last Thursday I got to try on my dress and it fit PERFECTLY!!! No alterations needed - just a bustle. When Keri comes back from Australia, I'll make a final fitting appointment so Keri can learn how to do up the back and the bustle. Mom and I went mother of the bride dress shopping yesterday with not much luck. We found a really great dress, just not in a really great color for the wedding. Mom showed me a picture of a suit that she'd like to try on, and the model in the picture is wearing a "Queen" style hat, and I told her she could wear the suit as long as she got the matching hat!! We just have to finish our little decorating projects and wait for the day!

All for now,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ Did you know that according to several recent surveys the average wedding cost in the U.S. is $27,000? Here is where most of the expenses went (prices in metropolitan areas are generally higher):

- One day of hair & makeup: $370

- Wedding invitations: $400

- Wedding dress: $800

- DJ: $500-$2000

- Wedding flowers: $1,000

- Wedding planner: $1,500 - $6,000

- Wedding photographs: $1,850

- Honeymoon: $3,500

- Food, drinks and venue rental: $7,500

- Wedding band: $1,350-$10,000

~ Did you know that 36% of all couples spend more than what they budgeted?

- 32% of brides and grooms pay for the entire wedding themselves.

~ Did you know that you can cut down the cost of letterpress by using one color ink? Each individual color requires a new plate.

~ Did you know that average number of guests invited to a wedding is 178?

~ Did you know that on average between 25% and 30% of a couple's guests decline their wedding invitation? However, be careful with over-inviting.

~ Did you know that the most popular wedding months are June, August and September with May, July, October and December following closely second?

~ Did you know that having your wedding around Valentine's Day or Mother's Day may nearly double your floral expense?

~ Did you know you will save a lot of money if you schedule your wedding on the Super Bowl, as most of the vendors will have lower prices. Just ask your football-fan guests to record the game with TiVo.

~ Did you know when someone toasts to you, stay seated and don't raise your glass or sip from it till your toaster is done. Just smile and say thank you when they are done.

~ Did you know that according to a recent poll the weddings were:

- 39% - Elegant

- 37% - Fun

- 6% - Chic

- 18% - Unique

~ Recent trends: Instead of a traditional wedding cake (which often costs $2.50 to $20 per serving), some brides are choosing to serve cupcakes. While other brides have chosen to have individual cakes for each of the reception tables. The guests have fun cutting and serving it themselves. Often, these cakes are decorated differently and have different flavors for each table.

~ Did you know that in the U.S. $1,015 is the average cost of wedding rings for the bride and groom?

~ Did you know that the most popular month for proposals is December, which accounts for 15% of all proposals?

~ Did you know that the two most popular wedding destinations in the U.S. are Las Vegas and Hawaii?

~ The average number of guests attending a destination wedding is 63, whereas traditional 165.

~ Did you know that the average honeymoon budget in the U.S. is $3,657?

I thought that was kind of fun! We won't be spending even HALF of that!!! Yowzah!!

Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got home on Thursday afternoon from work, Jay was here, and I was flipping through my caller ID to see if I had missed any calls when all of a sudden I see that "BRIDAL DEBUT" has called! I immediately start screaming and doing my happy dance as I *98 to listen to what they have to say. Yes! My dress has come in! They want me to come try it on and have it altered as soon as possible! Woohoo! Not only was I ecstatic that my dress came in 3 months and 2 days after I ordered it (who's counting?) but it was a huge relief to not be waiting down to the wire for my dress to come in like I thought that I might have to. So Mom, Keri, and I are going to the bridal shop next Thursday to try it on and get fitted for my alterations!

The RSVP's have been rolling in...so far 21 people are joining in on the fun. And funny thing is...not one person from our bridal party has RSVP'ed. Hmmm........... I guess when you give 2 months, some people will take 2 months to decide!

Jay's done school now and is in Edmonton for only one more week. Then it's back to the farm and a lot of driving for visits for me! Last time we'll ever have to do this though, so that makes it all worth it.

All for now,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't believe we're past the 3 month mark! March especially seemed to fly by. Now all that we are really waiting for is my dress to come in and to get more RSVP's. It's really exciting checking my email everyday to see if more people are coming to our wedding. So far the email RSVP has been working good and hasn't bitten me in the butt yet!

The bridesmaids dresses came in and so far, so good with that too. Laura will need to get hers altered a bit, it's a weird fit for her body, but Keri and Robyn's dresses fit them really well and they all seem to be very pleased with how the dresses are working out! We had a very nice Easter and got to see everyone so that was really nice.

Keri modelling the bridesmaids dress!

Thanks for keeping in touch!
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is a big day! Firstly, I turned 24!! Secondly, we sent out our invitations today! I'm so excited! So other than the fact that it's SNOWING on my birthday, today is pretty great. As far as wedding plans go, we went and registered some more at The Bay, but we found it a little frustrating. See, we won't have a home to call our own for another couple of years, because eventually we will build. So it's hard to know what colors we want in our future bedrooms and bathrooms. So we just picked random stuff. Our 3 month countdown is quickly approaching...I can't believe it.

Well, we're heading down to Calgary on Thursday, scooting over to the farm for dinner on Saturday, then Camrose Sunday, and back to Edmonton for another Easter meal on Monday! Good eatin' comin' our way!

Happy Easter!
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's beginning to feel real! Keri and I finished putting together the invitations last week, I've collected all but 2 addresses and everything's pretty much ready to go! I can't believe we'll actually be inviting people to our wedding in a week and a half! I'm really excited to send them out and see who will be coming. Mom and Dad came down to the farm last weekend to go to the dinner theatre with us and Jay's parents. We all had a really good time and I'm very glad Mom and Dad came down before the wedding to see where we'll be getting married - and where I'll be moving to in a year. It seemed to me like they fell in love with it just as much as I have. We got to go see the hall and the church and we even were able to have a menu sample because Pat who caters the dinner theatre will be catering our wedding.

Keri and I busy making the invites

So other than the fact that we get to send out invitations in April, there's not much else going on. Mom and I will be decorating more and more...but nothing big is next on our list. Just waiting kind of patiently for the call that my dress has come in....

And just a quick little un-wedding related note that Erika and Emmett had their baby yesterday - a boy! 7 lbs 13 oz! How, Erika?!? How!!! Haha... all my best!

Love,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can you believe there's less than 4 months until we walk down the aisle and say I DO!!? It seems hard to believe we've been engaged for 2 months, it seems like much longer than that to me with all that we've done so far. We're about to reach a milestone coming up in April...we send out our invitations!! I've already started to put them together, and Keri is going to come over a couple of times to help me finish. Nothing much else has changed...other than the fact that I'm addicted to Facebook and I'm spending way too much time on there. It's been really cool to meet up with people that you haven't seen for years though.

Not much else is happening with the wedding. The jeweller called today to tell me that my wedding band is done, but I have to give up my engagement ring (grrrrrrr) again for 2 days so they can tweak it so it fits my ring perfectly. So other than that, my birthday is less than a month away and I'll be...24 years old...yikes! I'm not scared of getting older, I actually think 24 is quite a nice number.

Well, I work the weekend, get Monday and Tuesday off and then we're off to the farm for the weekend and we're all going out to the dinner theatre and to meet with the photographer.

Me excited to put together our invitations!

All for now,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been awhile, but we've both had the last week off and we've thoroughly enjoyed it. We went out to the farm last weekend and headed to Fernie on Monday and we stayed for 3 nights and got 2 amazing powder days at the hill! Jay and his dad skiied the last day but I decided I probably wouldn't be able to keep up to those boys so I headed back to the farm a little early and took a well needed nap.

As for wedding plans, I did finally get my ring back and it was so nice that it fit! It was all nice and sparkly for me, but I only got to enjoy it for two days and I had to give it to the jeweller on Friday before we left to have my wedding band made. I hope to have my ring back tomorrow again.

While we were in wedding country, I made an appointment to meet with the florist and Lisa and Robyn were able to join me...and thank God for that because I was definitely stumped a few times. The main flower at our wedding is going to be sorbonne lilies:

Then light pink and white roses to accent. I think it will be very beautiful. I also went and picked up my wedding earrings today and I just love them! I'm going to order a necklace to match, I think it will match the beading on my dress very nicely!

Next we go to the farm on St. Paddy's Day weekend and Mom & Dad are going to come so we can go to the dinner theatre, see the hall and the church and to meet with the photographer and hopefully caterer. I can't believe there's almost 4 months to go!

Bride to be,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Spence better give me a phone call today or by the lastest tomorrow because they said my ring would be back at the most in 10 days! I miss it so much and it'd be nice to have it for the rest of the week, because I have to give it up on Friday again to get the process of getting a custom band made. We're off to Fernie next week and I figure it'd be best to not wear it snowboarding anyway!

Not much to update as far as plans go. This past weekend I went and got some more decorating stuff for our centrepieces, but that's about it! Mom and I have a really good idea of what we're going to do, and we even started making our own pew bows. Next step is to start collecting the addresses of people we don't have and to start compiling our invitations once they are ready!

That's all for now...
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just wanted to post a quick little countdown! My ring has been gone for 4 days now and I miss it so much! Hopefully it will be back early next week. I can't believe how much we've got done in one month:

- Ceremony site
- Reception site
- Photographer
- Caterer
- Florist
- DJ
- Pastor & premarital counselling
- Wedding party organized
- Wedding dress ordered
- Bridesmaids dresses ordered
- Invitations ordered
- Tuxes reserved
- Decorations purchased/rented
- Accomodations
- Honeymoon being planned (by Jay!)

Woohoo!
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, after waiting for awhile and dealing with a rather strang lady at Moores, we were finally able to sit down and pick out the tuxes. It was really easy, Jay had a good idea of what he wanted, and surprisingly Adam and Stefan and Jay together thought it would look nice if the groomsmen wore the same tux, vest, and tie as Jay...but to have the vest and tie pink! I'm stating it this way because I know no one will believe me - this was not my idea or request! This was the boys' decision and when Jamie and Robyn were up here a few weeks ago, Jamie thought it would look nice to wear pink as well. So here is what it will look like:

Looks pretty snazzy, as Laura put it! And Jay will have a white tie and white vest. I think we'll all look very nice together!

Hope you enjoy,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday I dragged mom out and she finally got in "Mother of the Bride" mode and we went to Michael's and pretty much bought all of the decoration stuff...or a good majority of it anyway. We also went back to the decoration rental store and got some stuff for the church and all that fun stuff. I think now we can really take a breather because all of the big stuff is officially done! I'm taking the boys...let me rephrase that - I'm making the boys go to Moores today to go tux shopping! I'm just a little worried about our date so better to go now than the recommended 3-4 months before the wedding. Then Jay and I are going to go to The Bay to do some more registering. We registered for a lot of nice small kitchen appliances at Home Outfitters, so we're going to go for the rest of the stuff at The Bay. Yes, we're going on Superbowl Sunday, but the game doesn't start until 4:30 and we dont't really care so much about American football. Before we go tux shopping and to go register...I think I'll reluctantly give up my engagement ring for about a week or so :( Time to get it resized so we can get the wedding band made. I'm hoping to only be without it for 2 weeks in total...but it's still gonna suck!

That's all for now!
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Keri sent me a very funny video as to why she is very glad that I'm doing my own hair. Jay told me after seeing this he doesn't want to get married anymore (just kidding, of course). All I could do was laugh at this psycho bride-to-be and it makes me realize that I will never be as crazy as that, and like Keri said: I'm glad I'm doing my own hair!

Bride Has Hair Wig Out!!

Hope you enjoy!
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, after a busy and somewhat stressul week at work, I was able to relax this weekend and get back to my favorite passtime: planning the wedding! Jay said we could go register this weekend so before we head out to Mom & Dad's for Ben's 20th birthday (Happy Birthday, Ben!), we're going to go to Home Outfitters and register a bit! I'm so excited! We also went to Spence today to look at wedding bands. Jay picked out his, I think it suits him really well, it's very nice and classy. Mine, however......not exactly what I was hoping it'd be. There is actually one that matches my engagement ring, but both Jay and I weren't too excited about it. We're going to go and talk to some goldsmiths and see if we can get one custom made if it's not too expensive.

I made an appointment with the florist for the end of next month...and that's all for now! Our invitations are ordered and being printed. I found a better font so that the word "God" doesn't look like "Cod" anymore. I'd rather have the blessing of the Lord, and not some smelly fish! Hehe....!

Cheers,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Woohoo! The last of our 6 month checklist can officially be checked off. We hired our DJ...a little more than I had anticipated paying for a DJ, but we literally tried all the local people that were recommended to us from Joy and Robyn, and we had no luck. I emailed this DJ company a few times, told him his prices were quite a ways out of our budget, wrote him a week later after he encouraged me to do some research and he offered us a discount! I'm quite sure it will be worth it.

Katie and I went invitation shopping last week and I already got my proof back! Mom and Dad absolutely love them and Jay said "everyone will know that you picked them out!" but he really liked them too, he said they're "very Sarah"...which I hope is a good thing. I've also picked out one of our wedding favors, and they get made right in Calgary so I can save on shipping costs if one of my lovely Calgarian friends would be able to pick them up for us! *hint*hint* Things are rolling along really smoothly.

Jamie, Robyn, and Katie came up to see us this weekend and we all went out for a really nice dinner with Adam to Earl's in the mall on Saturday night and then the boys went to see Hinder. Robyn and I took Katie back to my place and we chatted about wedding stuff all night. Next morning Rob and I went to Bridal Fantasy...it was okay, but since I have all the big stuff done, we mainly went to get decorating ideas and ideas for flowers...it was fun.

I have managed to get all my bridesmaids and even my mom together the weekend of February 10th so we can go to the florist, meet the photographer, and have an appointment with Pat, our caterer. It should be fun and I'm so glad that we can all make it!

I suppose that should be all for now.

Bride to be,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey everyone. I kindly asked my new roomie Adam to help me out to try to take a decent picture of my ring. It's so hard! This is the best one that we could get...but it still looks much better in person! Hope you enjoy!

The bling!

Posted by Sarah at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello, everyone! In spite of a little frustration in finding a DJ, wedding planning is going very well. I've had so much help (THANKS SO MUCH!) from Robyn and Laura getting me numbers of people to call, Joy was a huge help in calling around people and has been kind enough to let us borrow the mirrors she used as part of her centre pieces! We also got a photographer booked and I've heard absolutely wonderful things from both Robyn and Joy about this lady and I can't wait to go and see some of her work.

So as I mentioned in the first part of this message, 2 of the DJ's that came highly recommended are already booked...and the one "big" name in DJ's that I had in mind is also already booked. I got ahold of another larger company and they can do it..for the low low price of $1000-ish!! Jay called Robyn tonight and we're going to try to find more local people first. So that's pretty much the last big thing we have to do this month and then we can take it easy. We'll go shopping for wedding bands next month right before we take off for Fernie because I'll hae to give up my ring :( to get it resized and the wedding band will probably have to be custom made to fit my engagement ring anyway.

Katie and I might go invitation shopping tomorrow if all goes well and that should be really fun. I'm looking forward to buying the supplies and doing it with Mom and the girls.

Luv,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm pretty impressed at all that we've been able to get done in such a short amount of time! Yesterday we officially booked the caterer, Jay asked Snowy to marry us, and Mom and I went shopping and bought my wedding dress! This is where the title of this entry comes into play: please keep your fingers crossed for me as they say my wedding dress will probably come in 4-5 months...but I'm hoping it comes sooner and definitely not later than that. I absolutely love it, it's pretty much exactly what I wanted. I also ordered the bridesmaids dresses and I hope we like them as much in person as we do online.

I finally got to talk to Lisa today! She's been in Venezuela for almost three weeks now and it's been very hard for us to get ahold of each other. There's still so much to do! We've tried one DJ and he's already booked and we've had no luck getting ahold of a number to call the guy we want to do our photography. Lisi is going to be a photographer too...but we want her to do more candid shots and I love her black and whites. I'm trying to get together with my girls one weekend in Calgary area to go to the florist and to discuss other things...but good luck having 3 nurses (including me) and a nursing student and a full-time mommy getting together!

Next up on the slate is registering for gifts (woohoo!!!) and I think we'll go to The Bay and Home Outfitters - two of my favorites! And we'll probably go shopping for wedding bands in the next month or so...and Jay is going to plan our honeymoon! Laura and Cat (and hopefully Robyn) are coming up next weekend to go to Bridal Fantasy so that should be lots of fun.

I'm so exhausted. I've gotten so excited about all this wedding stuff that I stay up so late and have to get up so early for work...not a good combination!

Cheers,
Sarah

Posted by Sarah at 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello all! Well this first week of engagement has been a busy one already. I've loved showing off my ring and am glad to hear that everyone thinks it's as gorgeous as I do! Jay sure did well, he picked it out all by himself and completely stunned me. I was on call for seven days in a row and worked my buns off. But all that OT that I ended up getting will work well with the wedding coming up.

Speaking of the wedding we've had really great luck booking the hall and the church and we even got the exact date that we wanted - July 7th, 2007! It works out perfectly for us because my position ends July 1st and then we can have the week after to honeymoon and I can come back to work. I would like, at this time, to introduce to you my bridal party:

Keri
Maid of Honour - Friend of the Bride

Lisa
Bridesmaid - Friend of the Bride

Laura
Bridesmaid - Sister of the Groom (& Friend of the Bride!)

Robyn
Bridesmaid - Friend of the Bride & Groom

Katie
Flower Girl - God-daughter of the Groom

I'm so thankful and honoured that they've all agreed to be such an important part of our special day. I look forward to going dress shopping with Keri and Mom this week and then next on our list is booking the caterer, DJ, photographer and getting to go to stores and register for gifts!

I could go on and on...but I better get going because I'd be here forever.

Bride to be,
Sarah

P.S. I get to pick the pictures so too bad! ;) You're all pretty goofy girls like me, that's why you said yes!

Posted by Sarah at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us

I wanna honor your mother
I wanna learn from your pa
I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw
I wanna stand out in a crowd for you
A man among men
I wanna make your world better than it's ever been

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us

We'll follow the rainbow
Wherever the four winds blow
And there'll be a new day
Comin' your way

I'm gonna be here for you from now on
This you know somehow
You've been stretched to the limits but it's alright now
And I'm gonna make you this promise
If there's life after this
I'm gonna be there to meet you with a warm, wet kiss, Mhmmm.
(Yes I am.)

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us,
I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you baby,
And I'll win your trust making memories of us

Posted by Sarah at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)