Red and White ...and Green?

We took inventory of our booze needs for the wedding, and have come up with a hefty shopping list. For beer, we are sticking with one type: Steam Whistle in bottles. We chose this beer for 3 reasons:

• We like it
• It's locally brewed in Toronto - there's the green factor
• It comes in great retro bottles, a perfect aesthetic fit for our day (we know a keg would be slightly more eco-friendly, but glass is fully recyclable, and we won't have any waste like we would with a keg which could only be half consumed)

As for wine, this was a slightly more involved process. We wanted our wines, red and white, to have some sort of a "green" story. We considered local and organic varieties, as well as those with an environmental/charity tie-in. Weddingbells magazine's current issue published a piece on picking wines and suggested a brand called Plantatree. The producers of this wine would apparently plant a tree for every bottle purchased. Perfect! Unfortunately the Weddingbells fact checker didn't do her job: the wine has been discontinued by the LCBO, and is in fact no longer in production. If you're lucky, your local LCBO may still have a few bottles, but we certainly weren't able to get our hands on several cases.

We scoured the web looking for options, and found that many of the organic varieties were out of our budget, but there seemed to be several good local options, and some with other green aspects. Other important factors we considered were price and label design. Our shortlist:

• 20 Bees (Ontario, local)
• Cave Spring (Ontario, local)
• La Vielle Ferme (France, not really green at all, but we love the wine, the price and the bottle)
• Cono Sur (Chile, a carbon neutral wine, with some organic varieties)

(Runners-up: Simply and XOXO)

We bought all four bottles and attempted to coerce a few of our friends to come by and help us. No takers, though. So, it came down to me, Alex, a large ancovy pizza and 4 bottles of red. We had hoped to buy the same variety in all brands, but found that our local LCBO didn't stock much variety. Maybe the results were a bit skewed, as we were comparing apples and oranges (or in our case merlots and cabernets). Our taste test was blind, so as not to be biassed (I was already leaning heavily in favour of one of our picks based on the bottle). Luckily, we both picked the same two as our favourites. Here were our findings (keep in mind we are not connosseurs):


1st: Cono Sur Merlot - bold and smooth (the WINNER!)
2nd: La Vielle Ferme Récolte - lovely not-too-bold wine that we both liked, but not as much as the first
3rd (tie): 20 Bees Cab-Merlot - tasted more like Apple Cider Vinegar
3rd (tie): Cave Spring Gamay - Disappointingly watery, although to be fair, I have had their other varieties and love them. Not sure I've ever had a Gamay before...This was also the priciest of the bunch.

Alex's parents have offered to help us out with the wine purchase (Thank you!) and we are ever so grateful: getting the caterer has put us over budget. This extra help will hopefully ensure that our costs stay somewhat reasonable.

Cheers!

Crunch!

We're really in the homestretch now. I told myself that as of August 26th (exactly a month before our wedding) that I would blog every day. Ridiculous, really. This will be hands-down the busiest month for us, and if I haven't managed to be consistent with writing yet, I sure won't be any better during September. I do have quite a lot to share since my last entry, so maybe I'll try to write few blogs today while being a tad hung over from my Bachelorette party last night. That, my friends, will require a whole blog all to itself.


NEWS:

We have a caterer! So we haven't officially signed or paid a deposit, but we were happy with the quote and we've said "I do" to Western Cut, a catering company that I originally bypassed, thinking that their offerings were a tad casual for what should be a more formal affair. Really, though, it may be a blessing that the original caterer didn't pan out - we have a better cost, and a company that understands our vision. They may be a tad rough around the edges, but Jill assures me that kitchen-types typically are. I won't get my panties in a wad over this one. We do have food, after all!


We have wine! Alex and I held ourselves a little wine tasting of sorts and picked our wine for the event. See next blog for details.


Our invitations are out! We did them ourselves from scratch, and spent hours upon hours getting them from conception to physically mailed in 4 days. Whew! Again, more on this in an upcoming blog.


We have the best friends EVER! Everyone came through with amazing suggestions for caterers, and some went even so far as to offer up their family members to get the job done. Special thanks to Kim, Liz, Leah, Jodi and Lesley. My friends have been particularly supportive, and are still practically begging to help us out. While I still don't have much to delegate, I know that they will be oh-so-valuable in the coming weeks. They also threw me the absolute greatest "last hurrah" as an unmarried woman last night. More to come on this subject! Alex's brother Charlie threw him a bachelor party of sorts this weekend, and the boys headed up to camp near Wasaga Beach. While we are both quite rough today, we both had an amazing time. We know that we are so lucky to have such incredible friends.

Have Tongs, Will Travel?

Wanted: Cook for hire. Must-haves: Pity, Muscles and Mad Grilling Skills. Nice-to-haves: you look (and cook) like Jamie Kennedy.


We are verging on desperation. After much deliberation, we conceded defeat and decided to go with a caterer for the BBQ portion of the dinner. We had been working with a restaurant in Kingston, and just as we were confirming, they backed out, claiming that another couple booked ahead of us. There had been no previous mention of the urgency to confirm during the 18 or so back-and-forth emails. It would have been handy to know that we were in contention for the date, especially the very night before when they sent us an updated quote. Fishy.

Possibly this is for the best. The catering manager didn't seem to quite grasp the concept of our uber-casual affair, and we were fighting them on every detail. The problem now, is that we are left one month before the wedding with no Plan B. Hiring a caterer was always Plan B, as we really thought that our Plan A - do-it-yourself with a little help from our friends - would pan out. Now we're scrambling to make it work again. I have placed a near-nervous-breakdown call to my sister (Queen of the Bar-Resto Industry and friend to many a spatula-wielding gent) to find us some muscle for hire. If only we could find two capable, pleasant chaps to stand over steamy smoky meat products for a few hours, we'd be set. I am dangerously close to a posting on Craigslist. While Jill chats up her boys in the kitchen, we are reaching out to a few more caterers. We have even stooped so low as to email The Lone Star in Kingston. Really though, it's just meat. I hope my mom's deviled eggs, and my Grilled Veggie Orzo Salad and lemon cupcakes will outshine BBQ chicken anyway.

While we scramble to work out our Plan C (I suppose), I beg you: if there is anyone you know - anyone at all - who is trustworthy and familiar with a grill (and possibly in need of a few bucks), let us know. We will pay gas, hotel and a wage.

Worst case scenario? I'd better use ALOT of hairspray, because I may be sweating over a hot grill myself.

The good news? We have actually just secured a bartender for the day, which means that our siblings are off the hook (Thanks Liz and Stephanie!).

Ahhhhh, Freak Out!

Le freak, c'est chic?

Um, not in this case.

I am currently spending my sick day at home working myself into the seventeenth tizzy of the week over wedding this-and-that. My newly dubbed wedding Fairy Godmother (hallelujah, Tanya!) seems to be on the side of my mother in the case of Bride VS. M.O.B.: To cater or not to cater. OK, so my mother's advice should hold more weight than that of a person I have not really seen in 8 years. However, we are predisposed to initially reject our Mothers' wisdom, aren't we? At least that's how I am programmed. I called Alex in a panic (it's daily now) and admitted that if our last ditch attempt to avoid catering didn't pan out (hiring some of my sister's bartender and cook friends), we should break our budget and shell out the extra cash for some professional help.

*hangs head* You might win this one, Mom. How about a plea bargin: I plead defeated and you hold off on the "I told you so's"?

To cool my jets, I will now leave you with some inspriational images of perfectly-pulled-off picnic weddings. *Le sigh*:


Ahhh, much better.

Oh, I need 50 yards of cheap pale aqua or chartreuse gingham cotton or cotton/poly lightweight fabric. Any suggestions?

Justify!

An hour before the wedding, I dye my dress and hair black. The guests show up 2 hours too early. We forget to write vows.


These are the nightmares that are plaguing me nearly every night now. It stems from my looming to-do list and only 49 days left until the big day. Yikes! Everyone has been very supportive, and although I have no real delegating to do just yet, it helps to know that I do have glue-gun assistants, cupcake-icers, and scissor-toting helpers waiting in the wings. And yet, I am still freaking out. Maybe I still feel alone in my stubbornness: I still think that we can BBQ ourselves (if only because I can't bear to relinquish control over such a major aspect). Am I on edge? Too difficult to live with? Entirely beyond control and reason?

The answer is no. Sometimes justification can come in the form of an out-of-the-blue Facebook message from an old College friend:

"...If I can give you any advice, get as much done now as you can. And I know you've probably already heard it, but really, I mean it. We (The Duke & I) got married last weekend. The reception was at his parents place in the old bank barn, and we pretty much tried to do everything single handedly, between chores (he is a dairy farmer) of course. We tried to keep it local as best we could (food, wine and favor wise) and did as much DIY as possible. I'm telling you right now that every single all night craft session and possibly turning your poor families (including the ones from way out of town) into slaves the week before, is perfectly okay. And TOTALLY worth it. You might be up until 6am the night before the big day, and be running on 2 hours sleep the day of, but it will ALL be worth it. It really, really will.

I hope you try to enjoy it, and if you need to vent because Aunt A. is using the scissors, instead of the Exact-o blade to cut tags out, I'm totally here. Or if Aunt P. is wrapping the caramel corn (that you've been working on for hours) 5 times around instead of the 3 times in red twine like you had asked, I will totally be understanding. Hunting for 300 'made in England' antique pie plates to serve the pie on because home made pie tastes better on fancy plates, is totally acceptable behavior. And collecting endless kitschy salt and pepper sets for each table is okay too. In the end, you'll probably be totally exhausted since the wedding is a second full time job with overtime, but it will be the best day ever. EVER. And it's okay is you don't do that weird ass traditional stuff like garter throwing or allowing speeches where drunken uncles yap on endlessly about what any sane (or sober) person would consider totally inappropriate.

I hope you get everything done on your list, and if you need to vent. I'll relish it. I think I'm in wedding craft with drawl, so if you need help, I will totally follow your instructions and won't try to do it my way, honest.

Remember, it really is worth it Dayna."

Thank you, T. You really don't know how empowered I feel now!

Monsoon!

That's right Mother Nature, get it all out of your system before September.

[ Our backyard on Sunday ]

Our basement is flooded yet again, despite repeated complaints to the landlord. I mostly stuck around home last weekend to watch the rising water level in my house. Yikes. Of course this happens while Alex is 4000 km away (and enjoying perfect LA weather)! There is a lot of stuff in our basement now, as it has become Wedding Central. Keeping everything dry and above-ground has been tricky and a bit like a game of Tetris. It finally seems to be draining (or evaporating) as I can actually reach the washing machine without wearing rubber boots.


Please, please cross your fingers for clear skies for our wedding. While we will have a roof over our heads for the most part, the bathrooms are a bit of an outdoor trek, and the buffet will be in a separate area. Rain would be a slight annoyance. However, my dress would like mighty cute with my red Hunters...:)

[ it wouldn't be THAT bad if it rained... look at how cozy they are! Photo: David Purslow]

Maybe it's the weather, but the distance has finally started to get to me. (Come home soon!) Or maybe it's pathetic fallacy (that's the term we were looking for, Alex), and the skies are shedding tears for me. OK, that's just me believing in stars again. But, Alex comes home oh-so soon, and I hear that the weekend weather is looking up. Yay!

---

In other news, I have made strides. Yes, progress at last! This week I:

• connected with the officiant
• completed our marriage license application
• reached out for quotes from caterers (this is my mother's only request, I think) and spent the last two days haggling details
• chose a colour scheme and fonts
• designed buttons for all of our guests and sent them off to be produced
• rejigged the seating plan (on Martha's website) as the dinner location has changed and I need to see how many extra tables/tents we would need
• purchased fabric for the jam jar tops (for favours)
  
• designed printed and punched out labels for the jam - pics to come
  
• purchased more paper samples for invitation print tests
• worked on music

I shouldn't get too comfortable - still lots to do. Updating hotel info on the website and getting the invitations done should be my main focus. However, my current project is cupcake flags. SO not a priority, but I am really getting caught up in the fun things. Eep. Here is my inspiration c/o notepolish.com and weddingbeepro.com:

Over Easy

I am currently stuck at work, as the skies just opened up, and I refuse to bike in wet jeans for the 3rd day in a row. So, while marooned here, I will blog.


The other day I made a huge batch of egg salad, with good intentions of bringing my lunch to work. Every egg in the bunch was impossible to peel. Gah! Even if you know the trick - sliding your thumb under the thin skin between the shell and the egg - some of the little buggers are just stubborn. In this case, it was all of them.

I really hope this doesn't happen the day before our wedding. We need to shell about 130 of them to make deviled eggs and potato salad. We can't have them looking pitted and we certainly might lose our minds if they all decide to hang on for dear life. My mother has always made deviled eggs with mayo and a pinch of paprika. Maybe she adds onions, too, but I can't remember. I guess I assumed that this was the generally accepted - and only - recipe. Then, my friend Sheila suggested cumin. I realized that the possibilities were endless! Snooping around online, I found a whole range of ingredient options: horseradish, hot sauce, curry, mustard, black olives, dill. Since I love the photo above, however, I think I'll make mine with the following:

• Mayo
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Mustard Seeds
• Capers
• Green Onions
• Paprika
• Pepper

Yum! This is a combination of what I think is in the above, and of my special egg salad recipe. It's a secret.

On the subject of food, yet again, I have finally decided to tackle this to-do and reach out for more quotes. A few dead ends, but some definite possibilities. The first quote was astronomical, however. I am waiting on a second. If this one doesn't pan out, I am back to begging Dads and uncles to put in a little elbow grease on the big day. My assumption is that Dads would rather be helpful and busy than idle or social, anyway. We'll see...

I did find a great blog with a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to cater your own wedding. It is my new bible. Visit Forkable for details.

Dear Ms. Post

While visiting a flea market with my parents this summer, I happened upon a copy of a 1955 edition of Emily Post's Etiquette ("The Blue Book of Social Usage"). Originally published in 1922, mine was already the 9th edition. It interested me for two reasons:

1. Pistachio (my employer/baby/bread-and-butter) currently retails the 17th edition (published in 2008). I wondered if Emily (via Peggy Post - her great-granddaughter-law, if you please) had lightened up just a tad in 50 years.
2. Morbid curiosity: I don't care much for etiquette. I prefer the speak-your-mind/be-yourself approach (although I do value manners and politeness, thank you). I do, however, find the subject of formal etiquette to be quite amusing, especially the 1950s interpretation.

Reading the book gives me great delight.

[ Ms.Post / an early edition / 17th Edition by Peggy Post ]

Sentences like "Correct Invitations to a wedding are always engraved on the first page of a double sheet of ivory white or note paper either plain or with a raised margin called a plate-mark." and "The bride-elect and her mother then go to the stationer and decide details..." and "The phrase 'and Family' has never been approved for invitations by persons of taste..." have me very close to rolling on the ground in tears.

I intend to break her every rule.

Sure, I can send a professionally crafted email to a colleague, use the right fork at a 5-course meal, and put on a polished look for a formal occasion. Really, though, I am not much for formality. Please do not expect the words "request the honour of your presence" to appear anywhere on our invitations. I suppose there may be some guests, in my grandmothers generation, most likely, who may disapprove, but "traditional" is just not our style. I am wearing a white dress, though. Isn't that enough?

Luckily, my parents are one top hat away from a 3 ring circus, and have always appreciated my own brand of quirkiness (which I invariably get from them). They are not concerned in the least about offending Ms. Post.

I have only scratched the surface of the daunting task of designing, printing and assembling my own invitations, but I have at least started experimenting with fonts and colours:

As for design, I'm not quite there, although I have thought that a stitch-bound booklet would be quite cute. In the meantime, here are some lovely and somewhat unconventional invitations that inspire me (images courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings, Once Wed, Etsy, and The Green Wedding Shoes):

The Big 3-0

This week, I turned 30. Being the dramatic and sensitive Cancer that I am, you'd think that I would have overreacted. You might have expected me to invest in absurdly expensive eye creams and obsessively investigate my impending varicose veins and crows feet. Not so.

Besides wondering aloud if a woman of 30 should be wearing a skirt that hits well above the knee, entering a new decade didn't bring on so much as a pout (pouting is unbecoming at my age, right?). My mother always says that every decade is better than the last. Considering the fun she is having at 50, I believe it. Besides, how can I possibly hate turning 30, when I am getting married this year?

I love my job, my dog, my friends and my house, and I'm marrying for love. It's shaping up to be a great decade, I think.

I am in LA (where I also celebrated my birthday) at the moment, and am taking opportunity of a little down-time to think about the wedding. Alex is recording, and I am left to my own devices. LA is great, but I am currently without a car, and I have exhausted all of the walkable shopping areas in Glendale. I went a tad crazy at Michael's, too (nothing new). This store often brings on hyperventilation and half a dozen new hobbies on a normal visit. Add to that one bride on a DIY mission, and you have near cardiac arrest. I picked up paper, a myriad of glue/adhesive products, ribbons, tuile, calligraphy pens and florist tape. I am eager to get crafting!

While here, I have also flip-flopped on our dessert for the wedding. I dislike cake, and had hoped that Mom and I could make 115 strawberry tarts. She pointed out, however, that strawberries are not in season in September. Since there is nothing worse than imported strawberries, we returned to the drawing board. I then saw this image:

Gorgeous lemon tarts topped with blueberries! Yum. Same problem though: I don't think that Ontario blueberries will be easy to come by in the fall. Today, however, I picked up, on impulse, the cutest little cupcake kit at Urban Outfitters, complete with 250 colourful liners, recipes and decorating tools:



Ok, I guess we're doing cupcakes! Mom will be happy, as this saves her the chore of pastry making (since my pastry resembles the texture of a hockey puck). I think that cupcakes will be easier.... right Mom? So, I'm not a cake fan, but not everything about the day has to be about me, right? Plus, this could be a good thing: if I dislike the dessert, I won't eat it! Now, if only I could find a reason to steer clear of sweets altogether.

La La Land

I wrote my Thank-yous for the shower last night. I feel like I'm doing little things to feel a sense of accomplishment, and somehow avoiding the major tasks. Truth is, I keep waiting for a huge chunk of time to really delve into wedding to-dos. This may not happen. At least, it won't happen anytime soon. I leave for LA in 2 days! This week, besides the usual things that occupy my waking hours - work, dog, house/garden upkeep - I have also filled my days with long-overdue appointments, and necessary errands for trip preparation. Plus, I am scrambling to tie up loose ends at work. I'm afraid our poor wedding will be neglected for yet another week. *sigh*

Perhaps, however, the guys will have long days in the studio, and I, having run out of shopping money by day 2, will have nothing better to do than sit by the pool with my laptop and finally tackle my to-dos. Wishful thinking.

Oh, does this count as actual progress: today I discussed wedding hair with my stylist and we decided on a braided side-bun (although I will need temporary extensions) to really let my yet-to-be-purchased giant flower headpiece shine. The catch? I have to pull off the 'do myself. As we'll be farm-bound 3 days prior to the wedding, there's no way my Toronto stylist could possibly tackle it. No fear! Years of cutting my own hair should invariably make me equipped for the job. Right? Right?

Until I have real wedding news, I will leave you with this lovely blog from Etsy: Click here!