The Story Behind My Favourite Photo on Instagram

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"We were together. I forget the rest." -- Walt Whitman. And just like that it's been two years. Love you BB #love #marriage #wedding #happyanniversary

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I like this photo for obvious reasons: the handsome stud I’m about to make out with, a reminder of our wedding, and the fact that my arm looks skinny. What makes it my favourite photo on Instagram is the story behind the moment.

When I was planning our wedding, I found these adorable decor pieces for the reception – kissing bells. The winery where we got married wasn’t too keen about clinking glasses with cutlery to get the bride and groom to kiss, so when I found the kissing bells that doubled as placeholders I thought it was the perfect solution. On the back is a really sweet poem that reads, "Today as we gather together / Wish us a love to last forever / If you would like us to share a wedded kiss / Ring the bell for lifelong bliss!"

I’m usually pretty hesitant about being all kissy in public but there’s no room for being self-conscious at your own wedding! Seconds before this photo was snapped M whispered, “Let’s give them a show,” which is what prompted that huge smile on my face. I love how we look so genuinely in love. 

Today I'm linking up with Helene and Taylor for #Blogtember14. What’s the story behind your favourite photo?

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5 Dos and Don’ts for Attending a Wedding

I’m so excited to not only be attending, but also standing up for, my best friend in her wedding this weekend. Follow me on Instagram to get some behind-the-scenes pictures (but don’t worry, I won’t be committing Don’t #5 below). Since we’re right in the prime of wedding season, lots of us have probably been invited to a wedding or two this summer. But what happens if you haven’t been a guest at a wedding before or maybe it’s been a really long time (like back when you were a teenager)? For those of us who want to avoid offending the bride and groom, I thought I’d share some modern wedding etiquette tips.

Photo copyright of Dave and Charlotte Photography

5 Dos and Don’ts for Attending a Wedding

What I'm Wearing: Infinity Dress

 

Von Vonni transformer dress in egglant / Lulu Splendor rhinestone cuff bracelet

Some call it an infinity dress, this particular designer calls it a transformer dress, but all I know is that I have two of these babies (one knee-length, and this full-length as well) and I love them. I wore this outfit to my cousin's wedding in Tobago and felt so comfortable throughout the afternoon and evening in this dress. You might recognize my bracelet from this post about bridal accessories as it's also the one I wore for my wedding.

Wedding Wednesday: Rehearsal Dinner

Welcome to my fifth and final installment of Wedding Wednesday where I've styled an outfit for the Rehearsal Dinner. Continuing with the white theme, I chose a sleek white dress that's a perfect canvas for fun accessories. For our rehearsal dinner, we decided to have a very casual affair at my parents' home but what I love about this look is how easy it is to dress up (as I did below) or dress it down with minimal jewellery and cute flat sandals.

Click here to shop this look

We had our rehearsal ceremony and dinner two days before our wedding. It was the first time both sides of the families met so I was a bit anxious but I remember thinking, "Oh my god we are so close to getting married!" Going through the ceremony and seeing my husband-to-be's family as well as my own standing off to the side as our lovely minister walked us through everything was a little surreal. I was practising how to walk down an aisle and where to hold my bouquet - I was thisclose to getting married! Anyway, the wine was poured, the food was served, and our rehearsal was better than I could have hoped.

Wedding Wednesday: Bachelorette Party Time!

Wedding Wednesday: Best Bridal Accessories

Wedding Wednesday: What to Wear for Your Wedding Shower

Click here to see part one of my Wedding Wednesday series in case you missed it last week.

Wedding Wednesday: What to Wear for Your Engagement Photos

May is officially the beginning of summer wedding season and I’m thrilled to introduce part one of my Wedding Wednesday series. Yesterday I talked about 10 wedding tips I learned from planning our big day and today I’ve got some outfit inspiration of all you brides-to-be. If you’re getting married in the next few months, you’ve probably already got your wedding dress picked out, but what about all your other pre-wedding events?

We all know that the LBD gets lots of love, but today I want to talk about the LWD. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with a white dress for your engagement photos. In fact, I think it’s a super cute idea to wear white for all of your pre-wedding events (might as well keep the theme going, right?).

This lace dress from Modcloth feels very romantic and whimsical to me – perfect for an afternoon engagement photo shoot! I especially love the flutter sleeves and the subtle heart pattern. I added a distressed denim vest and bright blue espadrilles for a little bit of colour and variety in texture.

10 Things I Learned From Planning My Wedding

I got married to the love of my life on September 16, 2012. As the first one out of my friends to get married, I learned a few things along the way and thought it would be nice to share my top 10 wedding tips that I learned from planning my big day.

10. It doesn’t necessarily take a year to plan a beautiful wedding.

I remember when we first got engaged people asked us two questions right off the bat – where and when would be having our wedding. “You have to book your venue right away! It’s only 11 months until you want to get married!” Umm... 11 months is still a lot of time. I remember feeling this immediate pressure to start planning when all we wanted to do was take some time to enjoy the feeling of being newly engaged and admire my pretty new ring. As we went through our wedding planning process, and since then as some of my friends have gotten engaged, I realized that there’s way more flexibility in venue availability (for example, choosing to get married on a Sunday) than we initially thought. Since there are so many factors to consider I would really recommend taking your time, enjoying the planning process, and looking into contract specifics before locking down a venue.

9. The wedding is about the couple, but it’s not only about the couple.

Weddings are family celebrations. Yes the main focus is on the couple, but most of the time weddings are a big deal for the families involved. We are very fortunate to have extremely understanding family and friends who were so considerate about what kind of wedding we wanted, but even then there were a few things that we had to compromise on to best suit everyone’s needs.  Unless you are eloping (and even then, there will most likely be hurt feelings!), it’s not just two people joining together, but two families as well. 

8. Etsy.com is one of the most valuable websites you’ll find throughout the planning process.

Wondering where to buy those cute props you see in all those engagement photos? How about where to pick up cake toppers? Bridal hair accessories? Stationary? You’ll find it all on Etsy, trust me. Best of all, this website is a marketplace where small businesses and craftsmanship are valued and promoted. It’s truly a community and a wonderful resource. When the invitation templates we kept seeing around seemed a little too cookie-cutter for our taste, a friend recommended searching on Etsy. We got our invitations through a wonderful little shop called Love In Writing and couldn’t have asked for better service. In fact, we went right back and ordered our programs, menus, and table numbers and were blown away by the quality of our stationary. Etsy should not be overlooked!

Photo copyright of daveandcharlotte.com

 7. Creating a wedding timeline is a great way to help plan your day and keep things running on time.

I created a simple spreadsheet in excel that had columns for the description, time, and duration of each activity on our wedding day. I distributed it to the wedding party and our vendors so each person knew where they were supposed to be and who they could get a hold of in case things were running late. It might not be the perfect wedding planning guide, but it was still a great tool that listed out all of our details and helped us from forgetting all the little things.

6. No matter how much planning you do, be prepared for everything to run late.

Despite everything I said above, no matter how much you plan, shit will run late. Maybe if you’re Monica from Friends everything will be on time, but let’s be realistic. With so many people involved and all those appointments to coordinate, it’s just not gonna happen. Accept that no matter how much planning you do some things will be out of your control, but if you’re lucky enough to have a kick-ass bridal party they’ll make sure to oversee the details, keep that champagne flowing, and keep the bride stress free. C’est la vie!

5. Hire a coordinator for the day of the wedding.

I cannot stress this tip enough! Think you can take care of coordinating all the details yourself? Think again. As the bride you’re busy getting dolled up, taking pictures, and if you’re a super procrastinator like me, finishing up your thank you speech as you’re getting ready (oops). What if you don't have access to your venue until the day of your wedding - who’s taking care of overseeing the centerpieces? How about setting up the aisle markers and seating chart? We couldn’t afford to hire a wedding planner, and though our venue came with an onsite coordinator (who was lovely), she only showed up an hour before the wedding and as I found out the week before, it was not “in her job description” to set up the items that weren’t provided by the venue (ie: place settings, floral arrangements, cake and cake toppers, seating chart, programs, etc.). What an absolute headache! My bridesmaids were getting ready with me so they couldn’t help either. Thankfully I have the best friends in the world and with some added muscle from the groomsmen they were able to put everything together in the knick of time. I hope you learn from my oversight and save yourself the stress – hire a coordinator!

4. Things will go wrong. Guaranteed. Some people may notice, most will not.

I found this super fun idea in lieu of the typical seating chart. In actuality, despite using heavyweight paper, it was a disaster and those chairs were toppled over within an hour. By the time I saw it later in the evening, what could I do? But let me tell you, I did not receive one single comment about our failed attempt and when it came time for dinner all of our guests ended up finding their assigned seat. No matter how much planning you do, sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and let the little things go.

3. Photography is expensive but absolutely worth it.

It’s going to be expensive for a high quality photographer and you’ll pay for their experience (yes we’re talking a few thousand), but this is one area where you do not want to skimp. Make sure you’re on the same page and you vibe with your photographer so you know that you feel comfortable together (trust me, it shows in the pictures!). Before our wedding, I totally thought engagement shoots were overrated but in reality ours was a great way to get to know our photographer, and his style of photography and direction, before the big day. We worked with Dave Biesse of DaveandCharlotte.com and I couldn’t recommend anyone better. Worth every single penny.

2. People say one thing but do another.

The week before our wedding, three of our guests cancelled their RSVPS, but if that wasn’t enough, the day of our rehearsal ceremony (two days prior to our wedding), one of Matthew’s groomsmen bailed. In fact, he didn’t even tell us directly, but instead told his wife, who passed along the message to Matthew’s sister, who let us know during our rehearsal dinner. This “friend” lied about booking his airfare and to this day he hasn’t had the balls to call Matthew directly and explain what went on. Isn’t that ridiculous? I’m sure you can imagine how hurt my husband was and how furious I was. It was two days before our wedding – what could we do? As I said in tip #4, you just gotta roll with it and realize in the grand scheme of things we were surrounded by our nearest and dearest and that’s all that mattered.

1. Take the time to soak it all in.

I’m sure you’ve heard this tip before but that is because it is so true! Oh-em-gee how quickly your wedding day passes by. Do your best to take it all in. Don’t be overly concerned about whether things are running exactly as you planned them. You’ve created your wedding timeline (#7). People know where they’re supposed to be. Things will go wrong (#4) and everything will most likely run a bit late (#6). But you know what? It happens all the time. Wedding coordinators are used to it. Let them deal with the details and instead choose to be present in the moment. Steal some time away with your new hubby and soak it all in. Try to be a guest at your own wedding and enjoy the massive celebration that you spent all those months planning! The day really does pass by that quickly.

Our first dance as captured by Dave Biesse of daveandcharlotte.com

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday May 1st, I will be running a 5 week series called Wedding Wednesday (yes I'm super clever). It will be a styling series for all the ladies who might want a little bit of inspiration on getting dressed for their pre-wedding events. First up - what to wear for your engagement photo shoot (and a glimpse at my own pictures). Join me tomorrow, won't you?

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