The Bridal Swap is back!! April 7th, 2013 - Roundhouse Community Centre

DreamGroup Productions' Bridal Swap is back! DreamGroup is more famously known for their Brock House Wedding Show. I went to the show this year, and must say, out of all the bridal shows I've been to, Brock House was the best!

Anyway, the Bridal Swap is for past brides to sell their gently used decor, such as, linens, vases, mirrors, anything you can think of, to future brides. This is a great opportunity to make some money (for past brides), and to save some money (for future brides).

There is also an opportunity to consign your wedding dress! Dresses are all less than $800! This is awesome for budget brides.

Small tables at the booth are $25.00, and large tables are $50.00.

There will also be a small group of professional vendors available to answer any questions you may have.

For more information, check out the website.

Be sure to like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter!

Engagement Party!

We had our engagement party about a month ago. We kept it small, only close friends and immediate family. We wanted to keep the cost low, so I opted to make the invites myself. My inspiration is from Pinterest/Etsy. Here is the finished product:

I created the text on Photoshop, and had them printed at Kinko's. The total cost for printing 30 invites was about $9.00. The envelopes actually cost me more at $15.00!! If you plan on making your own invites, definitely invest in a corner punch. I think the rounded corners definitely make them look more professional.

We had our engagement party in our backyard to keep the cost down, and to keep it low key. We bought paper lanterns from China's version of eBay, TaoBao. The total for 30 lanterns, came to about $5.00CDN. They're the same colour as our colours for the wedding, green and purple.

Here is a picture of the lanterns strung up. We had them strung up around 3 sides of our backyard.

We bought most of our food from Costco. Here is our charcuterie plate. We also had some cheese, various salads, steak and chicken wings.

Our most expensive item, was definitely our cake. It was well worth it!! It was delicious!! Chris and I have a thing with poo talk, I know, it's weird. The topper was made of fondant, and the cake was chocolate with hazelnut filling.

Here are the lanterns at the end of the night. We're definitely going to reuse these for our reception.

 

It was a great party. Our families got to know each other better, and we our friends got to know each other better too. It was simple, and most importantly, we all had fun!

I want to thank everyone who helped with the party. Particularly my mom, Vanessa, my maid of honour, and Jon. They made sure the party went smoothly and I was stress free! 

xoxo

~meesh

It's Official!!!!!!!

As you know, Cal and I have been unofficially engaged for a few months. The only thing that was stopping it from being official was the lack of engagement ring. But it has finally arrived!!! And it is OFFICIAL!!!!

We're not super romanticy people, and no surprise, the "proposal" was also not very romanticy. I know exactly what I want, and how I want it. So obviously I took charge when it was time to find the perfect ring. When the ring was ready to be picked up, Cal was away for training for work. So naturally, I went to pick up the ring from the jeweller. When I went to pick up Cal from the airport that night, I showed him the ring, in the box, and he looked at it, took some pictures of it, and held on to it....but only because I was driving. When we arrived home, he promptly gave the box back, and said "you should probably hold on to this". 

Anyway, Cal arrived on an evening flight, and since he flew domestically, there was no food on the flight. Being a good, domesticated girlfriend, I made him a quick dinner of Chinese noodles with veggies and a fried egg. Definitely a Chinese comfort food staple. As I gave him his dinner, I casually asked, "soooooo are you going to put the ring on me?". His response, "oooh yeaaaah, I guess I should do that". So here we are, sitting on the couch, watching Sportscentre:

This is a picture of us now....but it's pretty much identical to the scene during the actual proposal.

I don't really remember what Cal said during the proposal, something along the lines of "we've been together for a long time (almost 6 years), and I think we should get married some time next year, there is no other place I'd rather be than on the couch, with you, watching Sportscentre..... oh and will you marry me?". Of course I said...YES!! hahahaha. Now thinking back, maybe I should've said no. lol.

It's definitely not what every girl dreams of what her proposal will be. But it was perfect for us. How and where it happened represents what we love to do when we're together...sitting on the couch and watching TV.

Here's a picture of the ring in the box:

 Here's a picture of the ring on my hand:

Here's the view of the basket:

Major and Sandy Shokar at Diamond Deals did an amazing job. When I had a mental lapse on what my wax mold looked like, they were more than happy to set up an emergency meeting with me so I can ease my anxiety. The whole process took about 6 weeks, from my first meeting with Major, to picking up the ring. Major said my setting is more intricate than most, so it took 4 weeks from wax to completion. This picture does not do the workmanship any justice.

I told Sandy, the wax expert, that I did not want any metal showing on the ring, and they have achieved that request without a doubt. I cannot emphasize enough how delicate the ring looks. I will definitely be getting my wedding band from Diamond Deals. 

Needless to say, both Cal and I are very happy with the ring, and we're both so excited to be getting married!

xoxo

~Meesh