The Dress!

I'm not going to wear a very traditional wedding dress, and I don't think that's a big surprise for most people. I'm not into ruffles or spending lots of money, and wearing it at the beach? I'd be freaking out the whole time about it getting dirty.

So I'm looking at tea-length beach dresses, and considering making it myself. These are the patterns I've seen so far that I like: McCall 4460, Butterick B4389, and Vogue 8113.

And a couple that I would consider buying: Thread Design (in green) and Jim Hjelm (also in green).

I knit best on a deadline

Of course there are a few things that have to be done ASAP when you're planning a wedding in less than 4 months. Get locations booked, make up the guest list, and get the invitations out. And, of course, start knitting your shawl, since those take a while. I'm making the Laminaria shawl from the spring 2008 Knitty (Laminaria being the genus commonly known as kelp). The yarn is undyed laceweight silk from the Silk Weaving Studio on Granville Island - I've used their yarn before and it's really nice and excellent value. I'm using single-ply this time - it has a softer hand, better stitch definition, and looks more shiny, though it will be more susceptible to pilling.

The other difference between this yarn and the one I've used before, as I discovered when I washed and blocked my swatch, is that it smells terrible when wet. Like an old horse stall. It took about four or five days for the smell to go away. Therefore my deadline for finishing it is July 31. No staying up on Aug. 5 for me!

If I have time, I'll be making the smaller version in a complimentary colour for my sister as well. As it is, I've been working on it a week and I'm nearly done with the first section (the bit that's plain-looking in the picture).

Shifting deadlines

Figuring out a date has turned out to be a tricky one. Initially we just wanted to get things done this summer, so we planned to give ourselves as much time as possible and went for Aug. 30 - Labour Day weekend. But it seems that's just not soon enough for most people!

First we remembered that James' sister is starting university this fall, so she'll be leaving (for Halifax?) on that weekend. We considered the previous weekend - but no, James' cousin Shawna will be returning to Korea on the 19th. The weekend before that? No, the best man is attending another wedding that day. The week before that doesn't work either - turns out my mom (a teacher) has to return to work on the 7th.

So here we are, looking at Aug. 6th, (yes, a Wednesday) and wondering if we can get everything planned in time. On Tuesday at the Hey Fixie ride, I asked a friend how planning went for his wedding last year, since they had a nice smallish wedding. "Yeah, it works totally fine. Here's how it goes, you [Elaine] plan everything and you [James] agree with everything. Oh, and two words: Home brew."

So the "have you set a date?" status now is, we've checked with our "must attend" guests, found an available venue (our first choice, actually), conducted an informal poll as to whether a weekday wedding would be attendable for the majority of our guests, and we're just waiting to hear back from the person we'd like to officiate.

We're getting married!

James and I decided together to tie the knot on April 13, 2008 - so no, there was no "proposal" as such. It was a beautiful sunny day at Queen Elizabeth Park if you want to know.

We are planning a small and informal wedding on the beach in Vancouver, with immediate family and close friends attending. We're tentatively planning on Wednesday, Aug. 6th.

Stay tuned, we'll post updates and plans and other thoughts on wedding planning here!