I love that as much as society changes and as tradition on many counts is lost, we still get our mom a card and some pretty flowers. So to all your mama’s out there that do an amazing job and deserve something pretty, I am sending flower thoughts to you. All of your favorites.

Even with the hustle and bustle of Mother’s day David and I managed to get some wedding stuff done! We made all of our final music decisions as far as ceremony, first dances etc. and I also made our MC’s an outline of how the reception will go. This week is big because: 1. Our RSVP’s are due! and 2. I am going for my first dress fitting!

There is a lot yet to do but I am so thankful that I was determined early on in this engagement to be proactive and not slack on wedding plans. What I have to show for it is being a calm bride, not stressed at all! I am still enjoying wedding planning and getting more excited by the day! My mind isn’t being bombarded with wedding thoughts and I am enjoying every second of being a fiancé. For 4 weeks and 6 more days.

Happy Planning!

Tessa

I am deeply sorry for my tartiness regarding my humble little blog post that is normally up on Monday mornings. The time has come, wedding planning is happening faster than I can say “I LOVE DAVID MEISNER”.

I have been extremely productive to the point that I almost can’t remember everything I’ve gotten done! This past week I’ve painted signs, sprayed table number frames, organized and separated the ceremony decor from the reception decor, finalized the rehearsal, bought candles upon candles upon candles, filled out my DJ form, finalized transportation…etc., etc. Oh! And did I mention I started another job this past week? You can leave your gold stars for me in the comment box. Yes I am proud of the to-do list I tackled but I’ve already made two more since then.

I am having to breath a little deeper and be more intentional of relaxing. I have to trust that David will finish his to-do list and trust that I’ve covered all of the steps.

Last night I had a fun conversation with my mom and auntie about the wedding, their memories, thoughts about the day and who will be there. I was shocked to hear about the pranks that people used to pull on the bride and groom! We are talking putting vaseline on the wedding car’s wheel, putting pepper in the air vents of the wedding car, putting corn flakes in the honeymoon bed. All I could say was that we have MUCH better friends than they did. There’s nothing more to it!

As I’m sitting reflecting on the fact that our wedding is less than 6 weeks away, I am blown away by the generosity of friends and family that have not only been supportive but extremely willing to help. Willing to give of their time, willing to plan showers, willing to travel to celebrate with us. It is amazing. It’s all of these people that believe in us and believe in our love.

But enough about us. Shouldn’t you be busy planning something special for Mother’s Day!? I think yes!

Happy Planning beauties!

Tessa

The thing I am getting really excited about is my wedding dress fittings! They will probably happen within the next 3 or 4 weeks. I just can’t wait for it to be all done and ready for the wedding day.

Now that the weather has warmed up I can finally get going on my last few DIY projects. The reason I had to wait was because they involve spray paint, a lot of spray paint. I might even start them today and see how far I can get. These are the kinds of projects that I don’t feel require an entourage of bridesmaids for. They are simple and mindless enough that it won’t take too long and it would actually be hard to involve more than maybe one other person. That is a little tip for you: If you don’t actually need help with a task from your maids, don’t create a mandatory event for it. Yes they are your bridesmaids, yes they love you but no they are not your slaves.

I don’t know about you other brides out there but I had to ask, do you have a massive collection pile of wedding ‘stuff’ in your house. I have had one for months now. I’ve been trying to keep it under control as I don’t want to impose on other people’s space. At some point though (I’m thinking a few weeks before the wedding) it’s going to explode over the entire house. This photo is my wedding ‘stuff’ all tucked away beside my bed. It is a monster I don’t know how much longer I can contain!

There are only 48 days until my wedding and it is still feeling surreal. I am so excited but it feels forever away!

Happy planning friends! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Tessa

One morning this week I had a little bit of time to myself and I decided that I needed to do something productive that was wedding related. I took out my handy dandy  vendors list (It’s a form we give to our clients at Glamorous Occasions to fill out) and began organizing everyone that is going to be a part of the wedding day. From who the photographers are and how to reach them to what time the flowers need to arrive at the reception. I was a little worker bee in her own world.

I think it’s a really good thing for you to start thinking about your ideas of how the day will run; what time will makeup start, what time will the photographers arrive. Questions to start thinking about ahead of time. Your vendors will flood you with these kinds of questions a week or two before the wedding and it will be nice to have it thought out already. (I would reccommend making a timeline and sending it to your vendors the week before your wedding all at once, it will help everyone to know what’s expected)

When you are making your wedding timeline, be specific, include addresses of the places your vendors will need to go and make sure you have someone on the wedding day that has a copy so that they can make sure all is going to plan. One last thing on the topic; If something goes wrong or a vendor has an issue, make sure they are in contact with someone other than you! Whether it be the Mother-of-the-Bride or the Maid-of-Honor. That beauty of being a bride is that when problems happen, you can let others deal with it. It’s your wedding day!

Yesterday I was thrown a beautiful shower by the amazing women in my family. I was completely surrounded by people who love the celebration of a wedding. It was so much fun to hear about the wedding experiences all of them had from 50 years ago. From the bride cooking the entire wedding meal herself to a bride’s hair catching on fire, it was hard to imagine how one would recover! What I found while listening to them telling their stories was that I couldn’t help but feel like they had a different understanding about what a wedding is. It was about the bride, sure, but it was about getting MARRIED that was the most important. They were simple, they were special and they weren’t all about perfection. It was a day of celebration not about stress.

A thought to keep and to remember when my wedding day arrives; to enjoy the day for what it is and what it represents. And if something goes wrong, one day it will be a fun story to tell, a memory.

Happy Planning!

Tessa

I was really looking forward to doing my DIY (do-it-yourself) spray painting projects this week but it turned out to be too cold. What was a gal to do you ask? Well this gal decided on and purchased her wedding night attire! It was fun and weird and exciting all at the same time. I’ve never worn lingerie before. It is just another new and exciting thing that I am looking forward to.

Another thing I did this week was make up an itinerary/order of ceremony for our ceremony musicians and officiant (who is David’s dad if you didn’t already know). Including the order everyone will be in the processional and everything included in the program of the ceremony. Can you tell I was itching to get things done?

The other thing I worked on this week was filling out a form for our DJ. We nailed down our first dance song, our reception entrance song and made some decisions regarding how the reception will go. Whether we’re having a bouquet toss, etc.

I know it’s too early, you don’t need to tell me, but I can’t get the seating chart off my mind. It’s impossible for me to do as only 66 people are coming so far (ANOTHER GENTLE REMINDER TO RSVP!). I know that it’s going to be a big job and I just can’t wait to tackle it.

The other night as David and I were talking we pulled out our wedding bands and tried them on. I felt like a little girl again playing dress up. For just a few moments pretending that I was David’s wifey. I am so excited to be a wifey. I can’t believe how far we have come. From 54 weeks down to 9.

How are you plans coming? I would love to hear about them!

Happy Planning!

Tessa

It was a pretty packed week filled with birthday things, wedding things and anniversary things. It was my birthday on Monday and my sweetie pie was amazing to me all day long. He got me flowers, took me to dinner and planned a surprise party without any smidgen of suspicion from me. (Have I ever told you my fiancé is the MOST amazing man in the world?)

Later in the week we celebrated our anniversary. It was the last time we’ll celebrate our official anniversary as a dating couple.  It’s June 16th from now until forever and that’s just fine with me! {Photos taken 3 years apart}

This week we also started getting RSVP’s! In total we have about 52 people coming. Whoever of you that are invited and are reading this, allow this to be your kick in the butt to do it now! You will forget. You WILL forget!

Im thinking about doing another juice fast. I think I’ll start tomorrow. Easter really pushed me over my chocolate edge. I’m ready to get some enzymes in me and continue on my quest towards a honeymoon ready physique! Who’s with me?!

Happy planning lovelies. Please send me a comment or question! (p.s. I only have a few more of these posts left to go, I would love to hear some feedback!)

Tessa

It’s been a wonderful week for David and I. I am very happy and excited to announce that our invitations have been sent! Into the universe and marked on many calendars. June 16th is officially our day! Getting RSVP’s is going to be very exciting for me. People are actually going to be there, the room is going to be packed with people that love us!

I have been grumpy about the weather this week. As I write this (on my birthday to be exact) it is -16 out. Are we not into APRIL?! I am so done with snow and so ready for my mothers tulips to break through the spring soil of my front yard. I’m not legitimately upset, this is Winnipeg for crying out loud. We have to expect the unexpected, but I am longing for the day that I don’t have to feel cold or worry about breaking my back slipping on the ice.

I wanted to think of something funny I could write about as a little April Fools joke. My mom called my grandma when she went into labor with me and I think it took her a second to believe that she wasn’t joking. What a fun day to lighten up and have a laugh with the people around you. Me and my sister used to wake up extra early (my guess is 15 minutes) to plot how we would prank our parents. One year we decided to toilet paper the entire living room. As soon as they saw it and after giving us a few courtesy chuckles we were told to clean it all up. A little bit anti-climactic.  I have never been seriously pranked before which is weird to me since it’s my birthday. Who wouldn’t want to take that opportunity? In any case I am thankful to enjoy today and to think about the fact that it’s my last birthday as a single gal.

How are your wedding plans going? Are things coming together or getting more hectic the closer you get?

Happy Planning!

Tessa

My thoughts are going on rabbit trails, I’m dreaming and planning for future camping trips with friends, imagining family dinners at our apartment, puppy fever is on the brain, how am I supposed to write about all of these random un-related things?!

I guess I did do one wedding-ish thing this week. I took a solo trip to Victoria Secret to try and find some beautiful lingerie. And I was pleasantly surprised to find out the my Mama found her Mother of the bride dress! That in itself is enough to have me satisfied in wedding plans for at least another week!

Have you ever thought about taking a week off from planning ANYTHING or acting on any of your wedding ideas? I highly recommend it. If I was nuts before my break, I think I’m pretty stable now.

That is my advice this week. Take a week off. Take off those running shoes in your head that have had you whirling into a tornado of wedding thoughts and put on some comfy slippers. Watch an episode of  Grey’s Anatomy and have a cup of tea.

Happy NOT Planning this week!

Tessa

This was the funnest most exhausting weekend I’ve had in a long time. David and I officially got possession of our apartment on Friday! We’ve moved all of our furniture (including two chairs that I re-covered) and have tenaciously been putting together Ikea furniture until the late hours of the night. I can honestly say that it feels like us, it feels like our home. A collecting of things that are so…US!

I can’t lie, I want to live there NOW! I want to be there every minute! I have a few more months before I get to live with my handsome husband and until then I am going to thoroughly enjoy the time I get to spend with my family. Seeing everything finally coming together after talking it over (and disagreeing I might add) and over, the picture we had in our minds is a reality. We have already decided that when you come to our home, you’re family. We will be a home that welcomes people with open arms and loves whoever walks through the door. It all feels surreal.

I have a feeling that is what our wedding day will be like.

Yesterday I finished addressing and sealing all of our invitations and ordered some pretty stamps. It’s happening! The preparations are falling into place.

I’ve reached a place of total content. I know that our wedding will come, I know that it’s not far off. I’m not impatient for it to come. I am actually genuinely enjoying being an engaged gal planning her wedding. And when it finally comes to reality, I know that it’s going to be the most satisfying experience. All of the preparation to culminate in a moment, the moment we say I do.

How are your plans coming? Are you calm and collected or stressed to the maximum? Any way I can help?

Happy Planning!

Tessa

This weekend I planned my first DIY evening with my local bridesmaids (half of them live in the city while half of them life far away). We worked on invitations, tied ribbons, hole punched circles and enjoyed some tea and snacks. We tried to watch a movie while we worked but ended up chatting over top of it. They also tried on their dresses which was so neat! It was amazing to see them all lined up together. I can really picture how they’ll look on our wedding day. It was so fun to see all of the bridesmaids together.

I have a couple of the DIY projects to finished, we didn’t end up getting everything done on the to-do list, but it was worth everyone getting together and having a little girl’s night.

This week is exciting. This coming Friday is officially moving day for my sweetie! We have signed the lease and get possession of our very first apartment this week! David is SO excited to get into our new space. I can’t wait to arrange furniture and dishes, put up mirrors and pieces of art. This is going to be a big one for us. And Tons of work! I will be moving in after the wedding, but trust me, this place won’t be a bachelor apartment for one second! It is ours from the beginning, David is preparing a home for his soon-to-be wifey. I love it.

As soon as I wrote that tears welled a little bit. (and Norah Jones, “Shoot to the Moon” came on to push me further into my emotion). If there is one thing I’m proud of myself so far in this wedding planning journey is that I’m a soft bride. I really love my fiancé, I really love my family and nothing will ever be more important or worth more to me, not even a once in a lifetime wedding. I want to stay soft, keep a soft heart and keep an open mind, keep things light, enjoy the journey. As it turns out, this week we broke the barrier and are now into the double digits. We’re on the final stretch. It’s really going to get here!

How is your planning going? I would love to know

Tessa