Registry Information (Update)

Hello All,

A post from James! Yes, still alive.

Here's a PDF copy of our Gourmet Warehouse Registry, for those interested. Their registry setup is a bit more low-tech, so please check with the store before making any purchases. Unfortunately online shopping is not available, but you can visit the store at 1340 E. Hastings, or by phone at 604-253-3022.

Thanks!

James.

Registry information

James and I have registered at The Gourmet Warehouse.

Beach reconnaissance

I got off work early yesterday and headed down to Third Beach to see what it looks like at low tide (which is when our ceremony will be). I think it'll turn out really nice, large parts of the beach are empty at low tide because the sunbathers all stay above the high water mark and not too many people go swimming. So, since the parts of the beach most likely to be empty are the wet sand parts, you will probably be most comfortable in flip flops or bare feet.

I'd heard some horror stories about ceremonies at low tide being graced by seagulls and errant seaweed all over the place and sand lice and funny smells, but I didn't detect any of that.

There's one particular spot which I think would work really nicely. If you're familiar with Third Beach, it's right at the very very north end, where the sand ends and rocks begin. There's a patch of sand (I think big enough for 40 people?) with rocks to the north, water to the west, and a huge boulder to the east. It's semi-private and really only accessible at low tide.

Afternoon low tide on Aug. 6 will be 2.3 m at 3:37 pm. As it happens, Thursday's afternoon low tide is also 2.3 m, so I think I'll make another visit just to see what it looks like then. It was out to 1.1 when I went yesterday, so not the best indicator of how much sand will be above water when I'm trying to get married.

Things are getting settled down here

We've gotten 5 or 6 RSVPs back; many thanks to prompt responders! I'm rather impressed with the quickness; we mailed the invites on a Friday and my mom in Kentucky said she got hers Tuesday.

Our next task is to find a photographer. I am seriously in like with a woman who charges $900 an hour, but that is not going to happen. A friend of James' is starting her career (she's done 4 or 5 weddings so far, I think) and we will probably go with her.

We're also looking for rings. There's a gallery on Granville Island that has a bunch of stuff we like... some very simple and unique designs. There's also the previously mentioned Martinus Gold on Saltspring, who does custom work as well. I like this one quite a bit (though I'm not interested in 25 diamonds) and this is James' favourite.

Our weekends are getting booked up at an alarming rate. This Saturday we're going to an all-day premarital counselling workshop recommended by our officiant; the one after we're having a housewarming/engagement party. And there's always more shopping to do! We've purchased one part of our favours; the other part can wait till we have a better idea of a guest count. No, I'm not telling you what it is. Also on our to-do list is have a reception menu tasting. yum!

Information!

Directions

• To Third Beach
• By bike: Via the Seawall bike path or Stanley Park Drive. Feel free to make a pile on the beach.
• By bus: From the Main St. skytrain station, take the "19 Stanley Park" bus. Get off at the Stanley Park Dr. traffic circle. Third Beach is about a 1.6 km walk - cross under the Stanley Park Causeway, turn right on N. Lagoon Drive, and look for the Tatlow Walk trail on the right. Or if you'd like to take a bit of time to see the rest of the park, catch the free shuttle bus which makes a stop at Third Beach.
• By car: If you are coming from Hwy 1, exit at Hastings and continue into the downtown core. Turn left on Burrard and right one block later onto Pender, which merges with Georgia. At the Georgia St. entrance to the park, go straight onto Pipeline Rd. at the traffic circle. Turn left at Stanley Park Dr. and continue about 3 km to Third Beach. Turn right to access the parking lot. Alternatively, if traffic is light, stay on the Stanley Park Causeway, exit at Park Drive, and continue on as above.
  
• From Third Beach to radha yoga & eatery (728 Main St., second floor):
  
• By bike: The person at the front decides the route, of course. Indoor bike parking is available, but do bring a lock.
• By bus: Catch the #19 Metrotown bus from southbound Lagoon Dr. at Stanley Park Causeway. Get off at Keefer, cross Main St., and walk one block south.
• By car: Head south on Stanley Park Dr. Following the signs for the Georgia St. exit, turn left on N. Lagoon Dr. Turn right to merge onto Stanley Park Causeway, which turns into Georgia St. and then the Georgia Viaduct. Take the Main St. offramp and turn left on Main. Go north for one block. Parking is available at Main & Georgia on the west side, or continue one more block to Keefer, turn right, and look for the parking garage on the right.

Other handy things to know

• The ceremony will start at 4:00 pm. Feel free to arrive around 3:30; we'll be there to mingle with friends and family.
• Bring an umbrella.
• Dress comfortably. Shoes are optional.
• No, you won't have to do any yoga at the reception, though if you really want to I don't think anyone will stop you.
  

A suitably productive and relaxing weekend

We had a great time on Saltspring. Our initial planning sucked, we didn't pack in advance at all and woke up at 8 on Friday. I decided to look up the ferry schedule and saw that the only two ferries to Long Harbour that day were at 12:15 and 8:30. Did some quick math about how long it would take us to bike 40 km, checked the schedule for the Massey Tunnel shuttle (no bike riding in the tunnel!), and deduced and we'd have to leave at 9:15. So an hour fifteen to eat breakfast and do all our packing and getting ready.

Getting to the ferry went just fine, we were there before 12 actually. And that was pretty good, since when I was looking at the ferry schedule, I thought it was Saturday. The ferry leaves at 12 on Friday, not 12:15. Also, it goes to Fulford Harbor via Swartz Bay, not Long Harbour. Fulford is 15 km from where we were staying (Long Harbour is 6) and also you have to climb a huge long hill, which I didn't know about.

Anyway that all worked out fine and we got to our B&B just fine and had a lovely time and it was hot and sunny. We weren't planning on doing any wedding planning, but we did find a very nice jeweler and a pattern for my practice dress. I'll be making it without those little cap sleeves. I got some awesome fabric for it too, but I can't find a link.

Tonight we're meeting with our officiant for the first time.

How do people manage with big weddings?

Ours is small and I'm tired of it already. I've comforted myself recently with the knowledge that, once the invitations are sent, we don't actually HAVE to do anything else for the day to go off alright. It's kind of like that point in a course where you realize, even if you don't do one single assignment for the rest of the semester, you'll still pass. Why yes, I did have a terrible case of senioritis my last year of university, why do you ask?

Tonight James and I are meeting with a friend of his to work on invitation design. We've mostly got it down, decided on the wording, figured out whose design we'd like to rip off (this one), and now all we need to do is tweak the layout and argue over fonts. I'm going for Jane Austen and Port Credit, and James is in the "less girly" camp.

James' best man has thrown a monkey wrench into the mix; his work schedule has been changed (he's a firefighter) and he's now scheduled to work at 6 pm on our wedding day. Apparently there is no way for him to get out of this. So, looks like the ceremony has to be at 4. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the in-between-ceremony-and-reception time - we'd been planning on avoiding it because it feels disjointed and leaves people wondering how to kill time for a couple hours.

We've also signed up for a marriage counseling workshop on June 7 at the request of our officiant. Looks like it should be beneficial, and cheaper than individual counseling! Can't go wrong with that.

Anyway, this weekend we are taking a break from planning and instead blowing some money on a trip to Saltspring Island. We're staying in a nice B&B and we're going to have a calm and relaxing weekend. We'll probably do some wine tours, maybe go to some yarn stores after (plenty of sheep on that island, and after the wine tour is the appropriate time if James is to come along). Maybe we'll look at some jewelers and fabric stores as well.

Weekend plans

Since I left JLo at Naomi's house last week, I'm doing my organizing here instead. (Have you met JLo? My wedding planner? Staples, $30.)

THINGS TO DO

• Friday night: James finish moving.
• Friday night: Elaine scope out Stanley Park again to make sure the directions are right, especially via public trans
  
• Saturday morning: set up joint bank account at PC Financial
• Saturday morning: James and Jordan go buy their suits
• Saturday morning: Meanwhile, I guess I'll amuse myself at the mall
• Saturday afternoon: ugh, trip to Ikea in Richmond... we need some shelves, like, yesterday
• sometime else on Saturday: Figure out what we'd like to do re: honeymoon
• also whenever we can fit this in: figure out a registry or wish list or something.
• if possible: visit fabric stores.
  
• unrelated: watch some racing at the velodrome
  

engagement bonsai

Hello world,

I'm not much of a blogger so I've been letting Elaine do all the 'net talking. Much prodding later, I'm finally writing a post.

As you all know Elaine and I are a bit non-traditional. I've been getting many requests to see the engagement ring, which doesn't exist. Elaine and I aren't really ring people so we've been trying to come up with a non-ring alternative and we've found it! A bonsai!

(Image is CC licensed and borrowed from ak37's Flickr)

A bonsai has many benefits that match or best a ring:

• They last a long time, the oldest living bonsai trees are 400-800 years old!
• They grow and change over time, just like a relationship.
• You don't have to wear it!
• It looks nice and attracts conversation

Bonsai!

James.

delegating

James had a talk with me yesterday and mentioned I should get more people working for me. So I'm trying to think of what all needs to be done, and which of that can be pawned off on other people. So far I've come up with:

• I need someone to go fabric shopping with me
• I'll need help sewing
• See invitation-making party idea below
• James needs to phone around for a photographer
• I'd like some help with invitation design
• We need to find a musician
• On the day of I'll need some help with setting up things

Anything else I'm forgetting? A lot of things that are a bunch of hassle I'm just not doing. Who needs an arch or aisle runner or flowers or anything like that?

I need to have a party

An invitation-making party that is. This week I went down to Paper-Ya on Granville Island and bought four sheets of cream cardstock, two packages each of green paper and translucent cream vellum, two packages of 5x7 green envelopes and one of 3x5, and seven yards of pink ribbon. That was good for $175, and unfortunately represents a significant savings over just buying them from Wedding Paper Divas or wherever.

Anyway, I've been chopping up the cardstock - initially it's too big to fit in our office guillotine, so I have to do the first two cuts with an exacto knife. I hope I didn't get the lines too wonky. Next up: design the actual things, decide on wording, print them out, and invite my friends over with their glue.

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!