The big day is getting much closer now, and I actually have some progress to report! Whew.

I have ordered my dress, it is being made for me and should arrive sometime in February. Mike and I have started shopping for his tux, and he knows just what he wants (now it's a matter of ordering it). He decided to buy rather than rent. For my clothing, I have the veil but need to embellish it with swarovski crystals I just ordered, and I also have made my necklace. I still need to get a corset and gloves, as well as a garter (though I think I'll make that).

For the tux, Mike chose a cutaway morning coat, which still has tails but is much less extreme than full dress tails. It's really nice. Black, naturally.

Mike's wedding band is on the way (yay), and plan on ordering mine pretty soon.

We've got the reception venue booked, although now I have to confirm with the owners (think I'll do that today). I sent out "save the date" magnets with our Christmas cards...

Pretty soon we'll be booking the actual trip for our destination wedding.

So things are moving along!

I added engagement photos to the site last week. Soon we'll do an engagement announcement in the newspaper. Not that anyone reads the paper, but it'll make a nice keepsake for later.

Shopping for dresses has finally begun! I stopped by a shop near work last week. I didn't find anything, but I'm glad I've started. Somehow it feels good to just start. It's a little intimidating to begin the search, somehow. It generally takes 6 months to order a dress in, and I have 8 months before our wedding. So still a bit of time, but not an excessive amount. Need to get cracking.

I love this website: http://www.wedcraft.com/
So many good tips for invitations, favours, and other wedding items. Really well put-together.

I have been e-mailing with the wedding coordinator for the resort we're planning on going to, they seem very nice and organized so far. I'm confident everything there will go well. The only thing I'm worried about is the cake, it's supposed to be a traditional Caribbean cake -- basically a rummy fruitcake. Bleh. I hope there are other options, because I'm not too into the fruitcake.

OHMYGOD I'm getting married in 10 months.

!

!!

Time is flying far too quickly.

There was a girl looking through bridal magazines at the grocery store recently, which her mother chided her for (she didn't have a ring on her finger). At that point I realized oh yeah, there are wedding and bridal magazines and I can and probably should look at some of those, now! I've never really thought about that. My friend Sara, who is getting married in 2009, offered to lend me some, and she and I have plans to go to the Calgary Bridal Expo next month. Even though Mike and I aren't having a standard wedding, there are still some of the same things to consider. So that should be fun! And I still haven't started dress shopping, although I did make a post on Calgarians about recommendations for dress shops. It's been very helpful, and gives me a place to start.

Two good 'resource' websites:
http://www.theknot.com
http://www.weddingchannel.com/

That's it from me, for now!

I bought a veil! It was very inexpensive and it's a plain, 2-tier elbow-length veil. I am either going to embellish the comb with some tiny sculpted flowers and rhinestones, or use one of the decorative hair clips I already own with it. It shocks me a bit that people will spend over $100 on a veil -- it's some tulle and a hair comb, for goodness sake. Mine was $14! I also don't really get cathedral-length veils, since they're so easy to step on, get caught on, and yank from your head if there are any hugs from well-wishers.

I still have to buy gloves, and figure out what will be 'something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue'. Blue is easy, either underthings or a hair decoration. New is also easy, since most of what I'll be wearing will be new, anyway. But something borrowed, or old? Eeep. I'll have to dig through my childhood jewellery/junk box to see if there's anything appropriate and old. Anyone want to lend me something? :)

Not too long ago I started looking up cake lifters and knives, another thing that irks me as to how expensive they are. The resort will supply the lifter/knife set, but for $50! Forget it. I went to get a very nice $7 stainless steel lifter at Canadian Tire, and I'll pick up a similar knife somewhere, and tie pretty ribbon onto them for the ceremony. That way I can bring them home and remove the ribbon, and they're practical household items.

To get started on next: dress shopping, dammit, and having a corset made (sweetheart overbust in fabric #124).

I haven't done too much since the last time I wrote a diary entry, however we did go out to Bragg Creek to look at a possible reception venue. We really liked High Country House, but we want to look at a few more places that are right in the city, to compare the venues themselves, as well as cost. I think we'll choose our location for the party in pretty short order.

Also we've settled on the resort to get married at, Sandals Royal Hicacos in Cuba. They do weddings, and they're an 18+ couples-only resort, which is perfect for our destination elopement. You can see pictures of it that I've downloaded from the web if you go to "Wedding Location" on the left-hand menu.

Guess that's about it, now that it is under a year away, we'd better get cracking. At least a little.

The wedding is just over a year away, so I don't feel like we should really be doing too much planning at this time since there is SO much time left. However, dates have a way of creeping up on you, so probably it might be better to at least start thinking about what to work on, now. I don't want a last-minute rush.

Let's examine the big picture, and a timeline. At this point, the big stuff needs to be settled:

1) Arrangements and the trip to Cuba itself planned
This is the first major one since everything else centres around this. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the only days of the week that flights from Canada to Cuba generally depart. It would be nice to do our marriage paperwork here in Calgary the same day we leave (and how much wil we do?! Decisions!), but that might not be feasible. I have been looking at Signature Vacations with interest, they have several resorts in Varadero that specifically coordinate weddings, and they have a very well-organized weddings package. http://www.signaturevacations.com/weddings/
The Paradisus Varadero and Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort & Spa look nice, so far. Unfortunately all flights depart on Fri/Sat/Sun only. Which means we'll be there for nearly a week before the wedding. Some others to check out are:
http://www.sunquest.ca/destinations/varadero.asp
http://www.conquestvacations.com/intro/vra.asp - offers a lot of free wedding packages.
I want to make sure where we go is an "adult only" resort, as well.

2) Space booked and arrangements made for our return 'reception'
Have to figure this out. How many people will we invite? We'd like a casual party, BBQ atmosphere. Where would be a good place to do this? A lot of details to be worked out here, but with the way Calgary is, it would probably be a good idea to book this soonish so we're not limited or disappointed.

3) Clothing -- especially the bride's dress.
Everything I've read suggests getting the dress 9+ months in advance, to leave time for ordering, tailoring, and alterations. Depending on the dress, I will probably want to have a custom victorian corset made to wear underneath, too, and having that made will take some time. I know what kind of dress I want, at least. Now I just have to find it.


So those are the big three that are on my mind right now. Little details like food or music for the event, invitations or cards, photographs... not so much. That can always be ironed out later.