Posted Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:44 AM
It feels like we’re racing with time now. At the moment, we’re
trying to get through a hellacious summer work schedule and our wedding
planning is in high gear. Unfortunately, with everything that is
happening at the moment, My Several Worlds is taking a bit of a
beating. I’m juggling two jobs, private classes and Chinese classes in
addition to an active summer social calendar.
The most important piece of news is that I finished booking all my
flights this month. I booked my ticket to Canada. John is still hoping
for prices to drop on his ticket to the States. We will be arriving in
North America on the 11th of November. I also booked two tickets from
Canada to the States. Claire and I will be flying to the States a few
days before the wedding so she can make the most of her North America
adventure and I can reunite with my hunny-bunny before we get hitched.
I’ve also really stepped up my workout routine over the past two
months. I’m one of those people that needs, no, craves, a workout in
order to de-stress, and I believe there’s nothing better than going for
a quick run to boost my energy. In the past two months, I’ve increased
the length and varieties of my workouts. You could say my official
bridal workout routine is in full-throttle and I’m loving it!
I run three times a week. I start my week off with a quick 5K. Then
I throw in a strength and endurance building interval workout over 5-7K
with a 10K to end my week. On my off-days, I hit the weights and finish
off with a light cardio workout on the elliptical, the stationary bike
or incline speed-walking.
I’ve recently added a second dance class to my routine and I think
I’m going to back the runs down to twice a week. I like the variety in
my routine and when I vary my workouts, I get better results because
I’m not doing the same old thing everyday. I’ve always been in good
shape, but I’m working at getting a bit more sculpted. It’s definitely
paying off and I think folks are going to be pretty surprised when I
arrive home. This girl is ready and raring to go!
PS> Don’t worry Dad. You taught me well and I’m still keeping
with your sound advice. I have my rest days and I’m careful not to
overdo it, even though I feel like I could move mountains right now!
Posted Sunday, June 08, 2008 11:43 AM
This blog post is late, considering my recent bout of health problems. I hate to admit it, but the last thing on my mind this month has
been the wedding. May 10th came and went and I still hadn’t
accomplished much on my to-do list. We’ve still managed to knock a few
things off our list despite unusual circumstances we’ve faced over the
past four weeks.
The wedding invitations arrived last month. Some of my friends have
been doing more moving around over the last year than I have, so I
mailed out those invitations early. I finished our Wedding Web Page as well.
After much deliberation, I have finally picked my bridesmaid
dresses. My girls will be wearing a rich, warm coral which is going to
look stunning in the natural surroundings. I just finished sending an
email out to the girls tonight to let them have a look at it and to
find out about their sizes. We ordered a dress to see what it looks
like and it will be shipped to Taiwan later this month.
We’ve also picked out our wedding bands.
I’m still trying to decide how I want to wear my hair, and I’m
giving a lot of thought to shoes and accessories. I’ve been trying to
motivate John into looking at ideas for the groomsmen, but it just
isn’t happening. I don’t think it’s really hit him yet.
I know we still have plenty of time, but I had a bit of a panic
attack after looking at all the things we need to do in the time we
have left. Mainly I’m concerned about how much needs to be attended to
while I’m in Canada. At this point, we are planning to be back in North
America for the 11th of November and we fly to Mexico on the 6th of
December. It hardly seems like enough time at all to get things
organized and ready to go. I wonder if I’m going to turn into a
bride-zilla?
Posted Friday, April 11, 2008 10:06 AM
This last month has been an exciting one. Our invitations have arrived. My Mom sent me some samples, but the rest will stay at their house in Canada, where they will be addressing the invitations for us. John and I finalized the guest list and the list was sent to my Mom. Invitations will go in the mail on the 10th of June.
Speaking of invitations, I never mentioned where we ordered ours from. Wedding Paper Divas have a terrific mix of traditional and contemporary stationary at a reasonable cost. They will personalize your invitations online. This option made the decision much easier on us once we were able to see our names in print. The invitations perfectly reflect our laid-back, and relaxed attitude towards our wedding. I was even able to change the color scheme to match my bridesmaid party. Everything is happening the way it should be.
Over the last two weeks, we were able to finalize our wedding party details. I’m deep in the land of bridesmaid dresses at the moment, but I’ve managed to narrow the search down to four choices. I’m keeping a sharp eye out for gold accessories.
Most importantly, our engagement photos are fabulous and they have given me the extra boost I needed to get our wedding website ready our friends and guests. I’m working with The Knot, which I absolutely adore. It compiles all of my ideas and clippings in a folder on-line and has helped us budget and plan with ease. I get a monthly to-do list to keep me on track. So far, we’ve managed to stay in our budget. I’ve also been able to research a number of different wedding vendors from around the world, and I’ve been able to meet and chat with other brides on-line.
We have an official wedding web page listing the details of our wedding. I have also created a gallery of our special moments together over the past four years. I can even share my search results for bridesmaid dresses, accessories, hair and make-up ideas with my family and friends and I’ve also started a small wedding blog over at The Knot to keep everyone updated. I really like spending the time putting these things together. I think everyone is starting to get really excited. It certainly keeps me on pins and needles!
Posted Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:04 AM
This excerpt was written on June 15th, 2006.
Every little girl dreams of their wedding day. Today, I took one step closer to my dream. I bought my wedding dress today.
Although John and I got engaged in Bali last year, I haven't had family or many friends to share this dream with because I'm so far away from home. My wedding day has seemed like a distant dream until today. After finding the dress and adding the veil, I suddenly realised that it's really going to happen. I truly feel like a bride-to-be now.
My sister, Shauna, and I spent a lovely afternoon at Sinders Bridal House in Carleton Place. We muddled through a mess of gorgeous gowns and were able to narrow the choice down to three stunners. My mother arrived to help me with the final decision. My dress isn't anything like thought it would be and yet it's so unbelievably perfect that I couldn't help it. I knew it was meant to be the moment I put it on.
We also decided on colors for the wedding party and I'm leaving Canada with a lighter load to carry. I can't tell you what a relief it is to know that this is taken care of. John and I will be returning to Canada a few months before the wedding in November 2008. Knowing my dress and accessories are taken care of means that everything else will fall in to place over the next year.
I want to remember this day and this feeling forever. I think today is the first day I've ever cried tears of joy. They were the best tears I've ever shed.
I'm getting married!
Posted Thursday, April 10, 2008 10:56 AM
This excerpt is taken from my bridal journal at My Several Worlds.
March 9, 2008.
Nine months from today, John and I will be getting ready to tie the knot in Cancun, Mexico at the Moon Palace Golf Resort and Spa. I'm still pinching myself. This dream is so close to coming true and we are so incredibly excited. With such a short amount of time left, we're obviously becoming a bit more anxious with the details.
According to my bridal planner, I'm supposed to be focusing on these details this month: finalizing the guest list, choosing flowers, and making final gown decisions.
Despite what everyone else thinks, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we are ahead of schedule. Our guest list is finalized. Our invitations arrived at my parents home last week. My Mom and sister, Shauna, will be helping us address the invitations. Once we checked the cost of shipping the invitations to Taiwan and then shipping them back out, we realised it just isn't feasible. Besides, my Mom has the most amazingly, perfect handwriting. I'm secretly relieved that she's helping us with this as I know her penmanship is much much better than mine. Our invitations are going to look top-notch. I don't need to worry about flowers as this will be decided when we meet with the wedding coordinator in Mexico. Plumeria and orchids are both native to Mexico and I love both. I wish I could have some peonies, since they are my absolute favorite, but a girl can't have everything.
Gown decisions? Done and done. My wedding dress arrived in Canada last week and is currently being stored at the bridal house I purchased it from. Its arrival prompted new questions about transporting it. I'm flying with the dress from my home in Ottawa, Canada to the Minneapolis for a few days before flying on to Mexico with John's family. At the moment, I'm busy investigating how one goes about packaging and transporting such a costly and fragile item. If I get my way, it won't leave my sight. We're down for the eight month mark and raring to go!
Posted Thursday, April 10, 2008 10:23 AM
Do you know how hard it is to plan a wedding in Mexico when you live in Taiwan? Throw a Canadian bride and an American groom into the mix and you've got controlled chaos.
For those of you who don't know, John and I are a year away from getting hitched after the world's longest engagement. OK. OK. So I'm exaggerating. We got engaged in Bali in March 2006, but it feels like we've been talking about our wedding forever.
Well, it's finally happening. All our dreaming, scheming and searching has come to fruition as our goal over the last month has been to organize the details and get ourselves booked into a resort in Mexico.
The last two months have involved a flurry of phone calls and emails to nail down a date. At the moment, we're working with two travel agents, which has been a little challenging. Just before Christmas, we were able to book our wedding at the Moon Palace Golf and Spa Resort in Cancun, Mexico. It's a five-star, all-inclusive resort with a little something for everyone.
Over the past two weeks, we've been on the phone every night trying to get the rest of our travel plans booked.
An excerpt from my bridal journal dated January 17th, 2008.
Our flights were booked this morning and I'm emailed a 'Save the Date' notice to everyone on our list. It felt a little weird doing it this way, but we don't have any other option. We want to give our guests as much notice as possible and since our wedding guest list includes friends from around the globe, an email was the best way to contact everyone about our plans.
The Globetrotters are well on their way to making it official!
Our wedding will be on the 10th of December, 2008 at 4:00pm on the beach. We've watched so many sunsets in so many magical places that this time has special meaning to us both. We're thrilled we were able to book this time for our wedding.
With our travel plans out of the way, we can finally get into the details that make a wedding unique.