Photog!

I am on the search for a photographer. Our wedding is going to be a bit out of the ordinary (on many levels) and the photographer situation is going to be no different. The general run through is that my uncle is hopefully (I'm still waiting to hear back from him) going to be doing the pictures for the ceremony. He has done weddings before and so I'm confident that he will do a great job. However, he's a little too close and a little too much like my dad, for me to feel comfortable with him being the photographer for the main photo shoot (especially for the romantic pictures with Brent and I). Then, for the reception, I am going to have our dear friend Jeff take candid shots throughout the evening (actually, he's just going to be taking pictures by nature, and he's giving me the results :)
My dilemma though, is that I need to find a photographer for the two hour photo shoot inbetween the ceremony and the reception! It's kind of a strange problem to solve. My main criteria is personality. I want someone that will make everyone feel really comfortable and at ease; making people laugh, and enjoy themselve- this makes for the best shots. Of course, someone with good taste, and creativity is a major factor, but the personality is key.
The final criteria is that I want to have someone who I know, or at least knows someone who I know. I don't want just a random; I want a community connection.
At this point, I am looking into a photographer named Nataschia Wielink. Emily, my dear friend, is actually her assistant throughout the summer and a fabulous friend the rest of the year (community). I have contacted Nataschia and am waiting to hear if she is available, affordable, and flexible. Her website gives you an idea of her style. The link is for her blog, which if you have time to scroll through, is great. Her website is also good, but I think the format is off and so the tops of the heads are cut off. Try to ignore that. I would love to hear your feedback.
Anyways, as usual I would love to hear your input. If you know anyone, or had someone, or just are wanting to comment on Nataschia's pictures, that would be great! Thanks for reading!

The Dress

It has been decided! My grandma and I are going to sew my dress! For about a year or so, I have had this romantic idea that I would sew my dress with my grandma. Something about sewing it myself, seemed so wonderful, and the dress in my mind seems really simple. When we got engaged, and then decided to have the wedding in five months, I abandoned the idea because it seemed like it would be too stressful and busy. But then, I was talking to mom and dad about my dress and I, very timidly, told them about my dream of sewing it and how it probably wouldn't work. They were like, "WHY NOT!.. Grandmas has time!" and that sparked my excitement all over again. I asked my grandma last night, and she agreed. So, it actually is going to happen! We are going to still go "wedding dress shopping" so that I can have that fun experience as well as try to find some dresses like what I have in my head, to make sure it actually looks good on me. I'm going to invite my grandma to come with, so that she can better visualize what I have in my head. Then we will go to Hamilton to find fabric, and a pattern and then let the threads spin!

The other key factor in this decision is community. Community is a major value in Brent and I's life and relationship, and so it would only make sense to include that key value in our wedding. Having my grandma make the dress is one example of this value. I'm pretty excited for the endless possibilities. Wow! Amazing!

The Flower Connection

So it is always good to have connections, and between the two families, it looks like we have more than enough connections. Everything from food, to photography we some how know people, or know people who know people. It is great! The latest greatest, is the flower connection. As a good Dutchman, Brent is connected to many greenhouse folk, namely his family. His uncle Peter is some sort of floor distributor and buys from all kinds of florists and greenhouses. He has offered to get all the flowers that we want, and will sell then to us for cost! Amazing! He has suggested that a few months before the wedding (practically next month), I sit down with him with a list of what I would like, and he will see what he can scrounge up. It's pretty exciting! Ruth Martens, a great friend of the family, has offered to do the arrangements, and so talk about pulling on your resources! It's phenomenal. We are so blessed to have so many connections....and this is just the beginning.

With the flowers though, I need your thoughts on colour schemes. As many of you know, I am in love with hydrangeas; I have been for years. It has always been my hope to have them at my wedding. My favourite colours of hydrangeas are the blue/purple ones and so I was thinking of having the majority of that colour and then a mix of the white/pink ones and then some white roses and such. It sounds gorgeous to me. But then the question is, what kind of colour scheme do I use for the rest of the wedding. Purple, pink, green, blue??? (This would be in regards to the bridesmaid dresses and also the decor.) Any thoughts?? I'm really flexible and quite willing to entertian new, out of the box ideas. What do you think? I would love some opinions on this. Decisions, decisions!

The Date

So today we decided on a date! It was a process of elimination, with many different factors in play. Trying to figure out what day of the week would be best, who we needed to consider when making the decision, who would be able to make it for what days, if the location is available and then just what part of the month would be best. At the end of it, Brent and I were shoveling snow, and were discussing the possibilities and then we finally were like, "Let's just have it on this day." "Yup. Done". So it was decided! May, 8th, 2009!!! Very exciting!

We also have decided that we are going to have the ceremony at our church (Westview) and the reception at Ball's Falls, in the big barn. It has been a childhood dream of mine to have it there, and it looks like it will be a dream come true! I am calling on Monday to confirm!

We're Engaged!!

I can not believe it! It actually happened, and it isn't just a dream! Brent and I are actually engaged and are actually getting married. The whole thing is still so surreal and unbelievable. I have to keep reminding myself every morning that it isn't a dream, but is a reality. I AM ENGAGED!!! Crazy!!

It is also crazy how many things that I am forced to think about right off the bat. When is the wedding, where will the wedding be, what are our colours, what kind of flowers, who is going to be in the wedding,what is the plan for the honeymoon, where are we going to live in the summer, etc. etc! I wasn't really prepared for so many questions all at once. Never mind, for the past half a year, I have had to keep reminding myself that I was not engaged and not do any pre-engagement-planning. Everything wedding related was off limits. Now, it's all free game! Making the shift in my brain is kind of surreal. Wow! How exciting!

It is amazing how your life can change so dramatically over night. I was wondering what kind of project I was going to take up for the holidays, and all of the sudden, I have an entire wedding to plan! I think that will be a big enough project!

So, this blog is for you. I want to keep you in the loop with my thoughts, questions, plans and ideas and want to also give you the chance to let me know your thoughts. Brent has asked if he can write things too, so he may. Be excited for those posts!

A key feature of this blog is going to be your comments and suggestions. So please comment, suggest, and give your imput. I will need all the help that I can get, and would really appreciate your advice and wisdom. My hope is that you will be involved in this whole journey and so this blog is just one way that we can all make this the best engagement ever!