12th anniversary in 2012!

this month marks our actual 12th year of being together. wow. 12 years and we're still head over heels...

this kind of completes the whole 12/12/12 circle for us... to be honest though, neither dave or i can remember the date of our actual first night out... we just know it was around the last saturday in march. so we choose to use that last saturday as our actual anniversary. looking at a year 2000 calendar, i can see that saturday was actually the 25th, but - the last saturday just seems so much easier to celebrate on. however this year, being a 5 weekend month - it gave us a bit more leeway with our celebrations...

in honour of our first date, we are returning to the pub where it all started... the earl of sussex

in actuality, this isn't a great place... i think we chose it because dave lived so close at the time and it was walking distance. in fact, we have celebrated previous anniversaries here and have laughed about how mediocre the food really was. but for us, it's still special and we look forward to returning and reliving that first night. 

not ever really being able to pinpoint the exact date of our anniversary was what made 12/12/12 such an obvious choice for a wedding date. we can never forget it... 

though i don't think we'll ever give up our march anniversary either... it's become too special to us. and, we really do love to celebrate everything, especially being together. 

puppy bridesmaid?

if only we could have our new pup in our wedding party!

last weekend our home changed from being fairly clean and fairly quiet to slightly messier, slightly louder but filled with MUCH more excitement. we got a puppy!

sullivan

 we found sullivan at the spca in alymer, and it was love at first sight. at only 3 months old, he's already basically house broken (only a couple of accidents so far), has an amazing temperament and can already sit, lie down and stay (for very short periods of time). he is of course... a puppy - but we are enjoying chasing him around to replace our shoes, socks, slippers, belts, gloves, etc., with proper chewing toys.

sullivan is even slowly being accepted by our cat raid. we are sure these two will one day be best friends:

if only we can figure out how to get sullivan to jamaica for the wedding to include our new best friend in the wedding party... sadly, he too will miss the big event.

 i may however hire talhia do a mini photo shoot with the pup once we get back, because these pics are too cute:

say cheese

we've got a photographer... huzzah! the day will be officially documented. we lucked into finding a friend with superior photo skills who could be convinced to come to jamaica. from amazing photo ideas, to list compilations of what we want covered, to suggestions of timelines - this photographer seems like an amazing choice, and we are even more thrilled it is a friend we can be comfortable and have fun with.

we are oh so pleased Talhia can join us. and if you see a camera with this cute face behind it, smile. you will definitely be caught on camera!

the lonely bride

dave and i just realized our deadline for Jamaica booking is next week! though we do realize some of our guests are making their own travel arrangements, for the majority of those coming, the decision needs to be made by next wednesday. wow.

we do plan on reminding all of our potential guests of this oh so important date, however when getting the list from our agent i noticed.... most of dave's family had booked, while mine... did not seem to show up anywhere....? i have spoken with most of my peeps, and know they are making arrangements, but when a co-worker overheard the situation she couldn't help but laugh with me. what are the chances the bride does not have one guest?

i realize this certainly will not be the case, and i truly love dave's family as my own... but mom, MOH, and everyone else - you are definitely getting harassed this weekend...

to those of you who have booked - thank you! we cannot wait to celebrate with you! to those of you about to book - hurray!!! jamaica!!! and those of you still thinking... come on, you know you want to witness this:

the rainbow connection?

i used to think i wasn't the big dress bride. i was certain i wanted something minimal, simple, and classic with clean lines. i was sure i wanted to be the stylish, chic and cool bride, inspired by my fashion icons:

perhaps something like

or

however, apparently this dress style is not a popular one... at least not in the bridal shops i've visited. though i suspect i'll have to hunt through vintage shops if i want this look, i have of course, been open to trying on any and all dress options.

upon further investigation, it turns out my fashionistas did stray from their usual "style" for their wedding dresses, and yet all four still looked amazing:

my bridesmaid carol has been oh so helpful in finding various styles and looks, including some that looked hideous on the hanger. often they also looked hideous on me too,  but every so often i was surprised. trying on anything and everything, lead me to my new love...

tulle, glorious tulle!

this lightweight fine netting brought me back to my ballerina days...

cue Kermit singing the Rainbow Connection, and 8 year olds flailing arms and legs about

even my fashionable go to ladies have been caught in this wonderful fabric:

torn between simple and classic vs. the tulle princess, my dress search continues. rest assured, even i think there can and should be a limit on the amount of tulle - and yet audrey still rocks this look!