I’m large!

Read: I’m overweight; according to Wii Fit. I’m 5’6” and weigh 167 pounds. My BMI is 27%.  This of course is a far cry from how I looked when I met Nick back in 2005, I was a size 4 and a mere 142 pounds.

Holy exposure Batman!  Nick was playing around with the settings…
Lets just call this the “before” pic

I ran into some health issues around 2006 and my weight increased to 155… and it didn’t stop there, by our wedding, I was hovering around the 162 pound range! That’s right; I gained 20 damn pounds in 4 years! Now I’m hovering around 167, and it was here when I said, enough is enough!

Victoria 2009 = 2nd Honeymoon

Nick and I had an awesome time in Victoria/Seattle. We were privy to a great tour of the HMCS Algonquin (sorry no pics are allow on a war ship), but I did capture this pic in the ward room of the Coors beer cans that change colour when it’s cold. I arrived in Victoria with a little chip on my shoulder after the news about the Coors billboards that claims their beer is “colder than the people in Toronto”.

iphone pic

I was already to wear my Maple Leafs jersey on board the airplane to show my pride, but I didn’t want to lug home a big hockey sweater. Besides, I was already over packed as it was… I just made the maximum allowed, 50lbs… right on the dot.

I tried to keep a journal of the trip, which turned out to short bullet form notes. Oh well, I tried right? Here’s how my trip went down:

CAUTION… mad pics after the jump… it’s true , I have no discretion…

More Reviews… Make-Up and Stationer

Makeup:  Michelle from M•A•C

Grade:  A+

Loved, loved, LOVED the make-up.  I ended buying all of the make-up used (in the weeks prior to the wedding) so I could master the look.  So subtle, yet so chic!  I’ll admit it though, I’ve strayed once in our 3 year relationship… I had to have my makeup done for an after work dinner party downtown late last year

Michelle is gonna do my makeup for my post wedding shots, which quickly turned into our anniversary photos (I gain a little extra weight while in Victoria).  I’m thinking of going for a smokey eye… never done that before!

Thanks again Michelle!

Stationer:  Winggleam Studios

Grade:  A+++

One of the most important people of the day… you know what they say, how the invite sets the tone of the celebration yadda, yadda, yadda… My big sis from Winggleam Studios did just that.  She’s a freelance photog/graphic artist based in the UK.  Which worked perfectly for me, cuz any changes that needed to be done were ready for my approval the next morning.

I learned a lot about desk top publishing by working on these invites with my sis.  I definitely had my “vision” on how I wanted them to look like, but  she executed it with such professionalism! Everyone loved the way the invites turned out and all of the little details throughout the night… from the idea for the wish bowl note cards, to the photo seating chart.  Can you believe she whipped that out in less than 10 minutes?  She’s just that good!

Our note cards from the wish bowl

Victoria

Guess what! I finished my post on the trip to Victoria, but just realized I didn’t upload the pics to flickr. Will do so tonight, in the mean time, peep these pics from my iPhone.

Click on the image to enlarge the pic.

Victoria Harbour

Our hotel in Seattle

Nick’s purchase at Banana Republic

My purchase at J.Crew & Gap

Cancún, part 2

Part 1 over here…

The next day, we up up bright and early for our “Mayan Encounter” tour.

WARNING… very pic intensive after the jump!

Vendor’s Review: More Dresses

Flower Girl Dresses:  My ma

Grade:  A+++

My mom by far was the most important person of the day.  She came through countless times and kept everything together, while suffering from a pretty bad sinus infection.

Not only did she help get a great deal on my dream dress, but she did all of my alternations which easily saved me at least $400.  She also made the Flower Girl dresses and “all of the dress at table number 1” as I so eloquently stated in my speech to my mom that night… which included:

• My Aunt Valda’s dress
• My Aunt Julie’s dress
• My cousin Huldah’s dress
• My sister Sandra’s dress
• Her dress and caplet

Oh and lets not forget my beautiful brocade jacket with the fuchsia lining!  I received sooo many compliments on it.

So she was responsible for 9 pieces for just one day! Plus my alterations on my gown and rehearsal dinner dress… which brings the total to 11!

Ma, you know I love you lots, even though I don’t say it enough.  I know we argue about stupid things, but what can I say, we’re both Virgos, we need to have everything perfect!

Bridesmaids Dresses:  La Bella Sposa

Grade:  B -

The place is OK… I didn’t like the fact that we had to remove our shoes before we went into the place.  It didn’t really make a difference, because the floors were still dutty!

My bridesmaid Nicole highly recommended this place.  And the fact that we went with this shop was purely coincidental.  Nicole got married in 2007 and was very late in ordering hers and her bridal party dresses, and La Bella Sposa came through.

But when it was Natalie’s turn, things did not go over too well.   I was told that 2 months is a fair TAT for maids’ dresses, but 4 – 5 months was the max.  We weren’t that late in ordering, around mid September, nonetheless, our dresses were promised in late December.  Then in the first week of January.  Still nothing came in.  Then Winnie, out sales associate confided in Nicole by saying “she dropped the ball” and weren’t due until late January.

In the end the dress came just in time, and the girls looked lovely!

Rehearsal Dinner Dress: Sposa Italia

GRADE: F

Four words… DO NOT GO THERE! You heard my stories and complaints… Nothing but problems with this 2-bit place.  The people that work there are very incompetent.  The one man (the owners husband) has no respect for women… very nonchalant and condescending.  A right JACKASS!  The owner, meh, and staff whatless.  There was this one old school broad who never let me speak… not once, and when I told how I felt about things, she said i was "putting words in her mouth"  All this in from of the owner.  She knows the caliber of imbeciles she employs but does nothing to change things.

I said it before and I’ll say it again and again and again… if you need a Disney Birdal dress, go elsewhere.  I lucked out and had no choice but to order from them because Sposa Italia was the only GTA store carrying Kirstie Kelly’s entire  collection… at the time, I wanted to buy my wedding dress there.

One tid bit I forgot to mention, was that I was promised free alterations because of all of the problems I encountered.  That didn’t happen… they turned it around on me and balked on their promise.

Pic from Christmas Cheer at the RCMI back in December.
The dress wasn’t altered at the time… I had to keep on pulling it up.
My mom altered it just in time for the rehearsal dinner.

Vendor’s Review: Cake!

Cake Topper:  Cake Therapy & Rain’s End

Grade:  A+

It was a last ditch effort to find a new baker.  My sister recommended one of her friends to bake our top tier, but it didn’t quite pan out.  It was by chance that I saw a wedding cake segment by Bonnie Gordan on a local talk show.  Though she no longer bakes for the general public, she does have a Cake Designer Referral Service which showcases her top students.  I decided to go with Carla Rocha of Cake Therapy*.

The cake was/is beautifully designed, and sooo delicious!  We have it stored away for our 1st year anniversary.

Our topper came courtesy of Rain’s End.  The birds are better than I could have imagined.  So many personal details were added and Carrin was so patient!  She is so freaking talented, and has so many different crafts in her shop, from pottery chickens to clay sculptures…  not just needle felted birds… Visit her Etsy shop to get your own!

*Sadly, Carla is no longer accepting new orders for 2009/2010

Cupcakes: Lamanna’s Italian Bakery

Grade:  A+

We decided a while back, that we didn’t want the standard cake for our wedding.  We’ve been going to Lamanna’s Bakery  for a few years now, since my local grocery store closed their scratch bakery.  The cupcakes were yummy, as expected!  The crew at Lamanna’s are so sweet.  I wanted to give them a nice tip when we picked up the cupcakes, but they wouldn’t have it.  I made sure to send them some nice pics of their baked goods in action!

We sourced the cupcake tree from Gervais Rentals for a decent price too.  My only minor complaint is that there was a “knob” on the top tier that prevented the cake to sit atop.  It’s OK , cuz it would have bee too high, and it looked just as good on a cake stand.