The Morning of our Wedding: Setting everything up!

With our makeup & hair done, we had four hours to set up the venue for the ceremony & reception, luckily we had a few people to help us do it!

The tables and chairs had been set up by the venue the day before and MOH K & I had made only a few adjustments to reflect our seating plan. With the help of my bridesmaids and my sister's best friend we put table clothes, runners, center peices and place setting on 27 tables.

While we were setting up for the reception, my parents were putting together our photobooth outside (thank god the weather decided to take a turn for the good because I don't know where I would have put it inside of the venue!)

Here are my sister and her BF holding up the walls as my parents fasten it together...

....and the finished product...

 (All of the pictures on the wall are wedding pictures of my Mr and my extended families)

In the kitchen two of my mother's sisters worked on plattering all of the appetizers we made on Thursday night and cutting up the cheeses and meats...

It might sound corny but having people like my aunts and my sisters BF help set everything up was one of the best gifts I could ever receive. It meant a lot to me that so many people wanted to help make our day so special.

Since everyone seemed to have a handle on their tasks I set up the cocktail table that were outside of the venue with table clothes and extra center peices. As it was around lunch and the sun had finally decided to come out I had to make a few trips into the venue to cool down because I was worried my make up would start melting off my face...luckily that didn't happen but it sure was hot!

I tied ribbon, that I bought at Michaels, around the leg of the table so the table clothes wouldn't blow away if it got windy and to give them a finished look.

As 2pm appoarched we only had a few things left to do but everyone need to get back to their rooms to change since the ceremony started at 4pm. I was starting to panic when two of my friends stopped in to see how things were going. Since they weren't in the wedding party and didn't have to get ready yet they were able to stick around and finish things up. They saved the day and I love them for that!

All we had left now was to get dressed and make it to the ceremony!

Did you set up your wedding decorations or did you hire someone to do it? As much as I loved being involved in all the details of my wedding, in hind sight I wish I had hired a Day-of Planner to take some of the stress away from me and my MOH K....

The Morning of our Wedding:Hair & Makeup

Although I tried my hardest to have a DIY & budget friendly wedding, I knew that I would not be able to achieve the professional look in my pictures that I wanted if we did our own makeup. Luckily my MOH K's assistant knew of a guy that works for MAC and freelances on the side...he is amazing. Unfortunately we didn't have time to drive into the city and back that morning and he doesn't drive, which meant that his friend, a hair dress, was a package deal. The next hiccup was they both had to work in the afternoon so could only do our hair and makeup in the morning. We weren't worried about our makeup as we felt that would last while we set up the ceremony and reception, and into the night. Our hair on the other hand was a concern, we were worried that the humidity would flatten our styles before the ceremony started but they assured us that they had done this multiple times and everything would look amazing until we went to bed.

They arrived at 8am and started making us look beautiful...

...I was most excited about getting fake eyelashes, something I had never tried before. I love them!!! I don't have think lashes like my sister or other bridesmaids so I was all over that idea when he first told me he would be bringing them with him and I am so happy we did them because I think they made me like that much more beautiful. In fact I can't wait for the next opportunity to use them again...

With myself, 3 bridesmaids and my mother to apply make up to and style hair, we were done by 10 am and ready to tackle a morning of setting up. We had to be back at the camper for 2pm so it was now crunch time...

The Morning of our Wedding: Completing my vows

After the Meet & Greet on Friday, my bridesmaids and I went back to our camper to finish up so last minute details for the wedding (assembling ceremony programs, menus & kids treat bags) and then I set about writing my vows. By 1am I threw in the towel, the girls had fallen a sleep and this was all I had managed to come up with...

...yeah....definitely not enough to call coherent thought let a lone something I was confident to stand up in front of our closest friends and family to express my commitment to my Mr.

The night before my wedding may have been the worse sleep of my life. I tossed and turned, waking up every 20 minutes to check the time and stressing out that I wouldn't have anything to say when it came my turn to read my vows.

By 6am I gave up sleeping and started working on my vows again. At least my bridesmaids were up too and as we took turns getting ready in the bathroom the others helped me put my random jottings into a coherent speech.

It was definitely last minute but by 7:30am on my wedding day I had finally finished my vows.

Did you chose the option of writing your own vows? If so, did you find it hard to put your feelings into words like me?



The Days Leading Up to The Big Day - Friday: Meet & Greet

After our rehearsal, I ran over to our camper to get out of my terrible outfit and put on a dress before heading over to the hotel that our guests were staying at to join the Meet & Greet party.

We, and by "we" I mean "I", decided that the rehearsal dinner wasn't necessary when the goal was to have a wedding that was causal and celebrated family and friends. Rehearsal dinners tend to be a little too stuffy for me and very exclusive since only the wedding party and immediate family usually attend. My extended family and friends were traveling to come to our wedding and if they were spending money on a hotel room the Friday night I felt they should be part of it too.

Unfortunately time becomes an issue when you are throwing a DIY wedding like mine with out professional help so hosting an elaborate Meet & Greet party became unrealistic and I was forced to drop those dreams. Instead we decided to book a conference room at the hotel and bring in refreshments & platters of sandwiches (care of my sister's mother in law) and snacks. It was a come and go night where my family was able to socialize and meet my Mr's immediate family (his extended family didn't arrive until the next day) and our wedding party.

Refreshments & snacks provided by my parents, sisters & BIL...

**Bringing in alcohol posed an issue since we didn't have a liquor license, as we thought it wasn't necessary being a small private & closed event but the hotel staff stopped us so the beers sat up stairs in my parent's room. Unfortunately this news was misinterpreted by some of my extended family as they thought my Mr's family (who are from a Mennonite family on his dad's side...they aren't practicing though) didn't drink at all (my Mr doesn't drink by personal choice but his family does.) so they stayed up in their rooms drinking until they left.**

My sister, MOH M, & her husband, our officiant & MC for the wedding

 

One of my mother's sisters adding my sister to her bbm

MOH K & BM K

My MIL getting to know my grandmother

Did you have a rehearsal dinner or choose to have a less formal meet & greet? Or did you do both?

The Days Leading Up to The Big Day - Friday: The Rehearsal

The work day was over and our wedding party made their way out to the venue for our rehearsal. MOH K put together the ceremony, since ours was not religious nor were we having a professional Marriage Commissioner (we did that Thursday night...Oops I forgot to mention that earlier...I'll have to revisit that later!) so we were free to set our own program.

We handed out copies and assumed it would be an easy run through...what do they say about assuming?

Sometimes I feel like I'm actually herding cat, trying to get them all in one place and listen to instructions.

BIL D (the officiant), my Mr and his groomsmen

my parents

...have I mentioned my Mr and his friends are into Metal...

our fathers

My sister & MOH M

...my Mr and his parents practicing the walk down the aisle...pay close attention to how they are NOT paying attention, this will explain what happens on Saturday...and very perdictable for these 3...

...my parents and I practicing our walk down the aisle...on a side note-WTF was I thinking wearing this outfit?! This is possibly the ONLY decent picture of me during the rehearsal and it isn't great. Remember, dress appropriately for all photo opportunities, you'll thank your self later!

The rehearsal took about half an hour because people kept getting distracted and we then went into the venue to do a quick walk through of the rain back up as the forecast was still suggesting showers through out Saturday and although I really didn't want to get married anywhere other then under the trees, I figured it was better to know what the back up was.



The Days Leading Up to The Big Day - Friday

My day started with me sneaking into my office early to print some last minute things, specifically the programs that I didn't finish until the night before! I also had to grab the projector & screen as my BIL want it for his best man speech but of course someone had taken it to a meeting off site which left me calling in favors to have it dropped off at my house for him to pick up the next day.

Taking a lot longer then I planned...isn't that always the case...I finally made it to MOH K's to start packing up everything for the wedding and our overnight bags.

We had rented a camper trailer for the weekend from kijiji (as the RV companies have decided that rentals after June 15th are at the summer rate and have to be rented by the week, not just weekend) and my sister's husband was kind enough to pick it up early in the morning and drive it out to the venue's campsite and set it up.

After he got the camper he met up with my Mr to pick up the large supplies (alcohol, party supply rentals, the photo booth, centerpieces & other large props from our house) with my company's scrolling billboard truck.

(This isn't the actually truck but it looks alot like this one...Source )

Having this truck was a time saver for both picking up everything on Friday and bring stuff back from the venue on Sunday. I realize that most people don't work for a company that owns their own delivery truck but if its in your budget to rent a small moving truck or you know someone that will lend you one, you will save your self alot of trips back and forth from your venue. (This is also great for Manitoba brides for their social!)

Before MOH K and I left for the venue, which is 40 minutes from the city, we stopped at my house to grab the Out of Town bags I had made for our guests staying at the hotel in Beausejour.

(Here's a pictures of the OOT bags being prepared...after the recap of the wedding I'll go back to the DIY projects)

We had to make it out to the hotel before people started checking in so we left the city at noon and while we drove MOH K attempted to help me write my vows....yes that's right, the day before the wedding and still no vows. She had me start listing the things I love about him and then give an example of when he showed that characteristic...this seemed like a very productive way to flesh things out, unfortunately the only examples I could come up was ones like this "His sense of humor...like when he said he wanted to take a rain check on carrying me across the threshold until I lost some weight because he didn't want to hurt his back"...inappropriate to say in front of our friends and family.

At this point I was starting to stress out that I would never write my vows and would end up sounding like Larry David when he had to give his Anniversary Vows to Cheryl, which my Mr and a handful of friends might enjoy but most people won't get AT ALL.

The Days Leading Up to The Big Day - Thursday Evening

After our supplies were picked up we headed over to my MOH K's house, as she has a larger kitchen then I do and we had a lot to prepare.

MOH K and I had come up with the appetizer menu a few months before and finalized it the week before. I wanted an appetizer spread that wasn't just meat platters and buns but didn't require to much work to arrange the day of and no heating, as our servers who were Girl Guides, with an average age of 12, would be the ones responsible for setting it out while the ceremony was going on.

This is what we came up with and had to prep that night:

• Cherry tomatoes stuffed with pesto cream cheese


• Cheese straws


• Three types of savory palmiers: roasted tomato pesto, olive tapenade, artichoke tapenade(apparently this is the only picture I have of any of the appetizers that we made)


• Walnut Feta stuffed cucumbers


• Crab salad on Endive leaves


• And whipped butter & herb butter for the buns during dinner.

We also purchased a selection of pickled vegetables (onions, olives, mushrooms, asparagus & artichokes), Italian meats, specialty cheeses & fruit that we platter on the morning of the wedding.

(My sister, MOH M and my mother hollowing out cherry tomatoes and cucumbers)

We managed to prep everything for the 150 guests by 11pm, except the cheese straws that MOH K tackled Friday morning before I came to pick her up. As much as I enjoy entertaining and making food for others it was definitely intimidating trying to account for enough appetizers to feed 150 people but not fill them up since dinner would be server shortly after.