Today marks exactly 1 month since the wedding! I can’t believe how time flies!
We recently received a copy of the same day edit that we presented at our reception so what a perfect way to mark our first monthiversary than to share the video with you all. We weren’t originally planning to have a same day edit, even though I badly wanted one. But my cousin Gail and her ridiculously creative fiancé Joel offered to film one for us and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Joel, being the perfectionist that he is, wanted to have a longer clip but issues with the venue’s equipment that day forced him to have to cut it short in order to be able to present a SDE at all. But all in all, Jeff and I absolutely love it and get the warm fuzzies every time we watch it
Hi everyone, this post is very late coming (sorry we’ve been super busy ever since we got back from our honeymoon) but we would like to thank everyone for their help and support in making our wedding day happen. We’d also like to say a big thank you to all the who made it out to share in our special day. It was everything we dreamed our wedding day would be and it would not have been possible without you guys there.
Here is a sneak peek of our wedding photos from our photographer Kevin - we can’t wait until we get the full set. We promise to post more as soon as we get them.
My buddy Victor also snapped some great shots, you can view his photos here.
Haha… cheesy title but whatever. So since the last post, Jeff & I are now officially the proud new owners of a beautiful new home in Mississauga! Can I get a w00t-w00t!?!
I’ve been living here since 2002 but now Jeff is officially a Mississaugan!! Don’t worry, babe. You can take the man out of Scarborough, but you can never take the Scarborough out of the man. Now, let’s exchange those t-shirts and baggy jeans for a sweater vest and khakis, yes? Hahaha - I jest, I jest. But c’mon… you know Mississauga was responsible for my trading in of circa-1993 platforms for a more modest and sophisticated kitten heel, right? I’m just saying.
The shower will be held on Sunday, August 23rd in our beautiful new home – score! We won’t have to worry about transporting our gifts and many of our friends and family will have the chance to see our house for the first time. Jeff has worked very hard to make the backyard and deck presentable for our guests and I can’t wait to see the house filled with the smiling faces of our nearest and dearest. I’m literally peeing my pants in anticipation of all the fun that I’m sure will be had by all. Let’s hope that the amazing weather we’ve been having these last few days sticks around for another week!
I’ve already got my shower dress ready and can’t wait to finally wear it. I bought it around March and have pulled it out every now and then just to admire it in all its BCBG glory. I swear to you all: BCBG dresses were tailored by the finest angels in heaven. They are THE BOMB DOT COM. But I digest… For all our friends and family checking this out, our registry info is below:
Home Outfitters Registry # 08184194
Pickup Store: Yorkdale Shopping Centre (416) 640-0601
Crate & Barrel
Visit or phone Yorkdale Shopping Centre (888) 657-4108
Upcoming shiznit: Later on this month I have another makeup trial and my first hair trial! I’ll be sure to post on how it turns out! Until the next post.. toodles! xoxo.
*I never liked the term bridesmaid. I figured that “Friends of Honour” was much more fitting. Hence, my Maid of Honour and Friends of Honour make up Team MoH-FoH. Yes, some days I surprise even myself with all this clevery
First off: Thank you to my amazing ladies for a sexy Sunday! Brunch was deeeee-lish and you all looked red-hot in your dresses!
Choosing bridesmaids dresses can often be a difficult task, since outfitting a number of girls with different body types and tastes can be a challenge to say the least. Even though I have an amazing group of girls who are happy to wear whatever I ask of them, I still wanted them to feel gorgeous in their dresses. Let me tell you, I totally struck the Bridesmaid Lottery. Not only did it take just one afternoon of dress shopping, but all 6 ladies ended up choosing the same dress. To say that they looked beautiful is an understatement – they all looked hot! The deep red color complimented each of their skin tones… and the silouhette… oh, the silhouette. If you don’t have curves, it gave the illusion of curves in all the right places and if you are already naturally curvy, it complemented each and every bodacious curve. The dresses have to be altered but man, even without a perfect fit, my girls looked smokinggg. I CAN’T WAIT for everyone to behold their loveliness walking down the aisle. It’s a good thing the wedding date is in late October because I guarantee you’ll be feeling hot around the collar
Here’s a little preview of their dresses. I didn’t want to unveil their dresses until the big day so you’ll have to settle for a peek! My bridesman, Symon, will be rocking a vest & tie in the same fabric as the ladies… just so there’s no confusion, haha.
So I freelance as a makeup artist, mostly for weddings. I’ve had a love and passion for makeup artistry since I was a teenager so naturally (or naively, depending on how you look at it) I thought that looking for a makeup artist for the big day would be the bomb diggity. I mean, come on – browsing makeup portfolios for hours on end? Meeting up with potential artists to play and get beautified? A piece of my own little personal heaven
Um, not so. When I told (told, whined – whichever!) Jeff that I was having trouble finding a makeup artist, he confessed that he suspected that would happen because I do makeup myself and therefore would have higher expectations. I thought about this and I’m still not sure if that’s the case. Yes, I do makeup for weddings. But I also would not consider myself a professional by any means. I also know firsthand that you can’t necessarily judge an artist by their portfolio. Because I myself have a very modest and humble portfolio; certainly nothing that would cause brides to rush to my door en masse. I’ve been told by brides I have had the privilege of being the artist for their day that they trialled with professional artists with amazing portfolios and left with applications that left much to be desired. And by the same token, I’ve also been told that brides took a leap of faith in trialling with me when I didn’t have much of a portfolio but subsequently ended up booking me over the professionals. So knowing this and having gone through it as a freelancer, I thought that I would be the complete OPPOSITE of picky – that I would actually be more open-minded when looking for my own artist.
Like I said, I’m still not sure which is true. Am I subconsciously picky? Maybe it’s a little bit of both. In any case, I’ve only had one trial to add to my belt notch and unfortunately, it just wasn’t a fit. Great lady, just didn’t feel like she was the one. In the meantime, I have several artists in mind that I’ve started contacting to set up trials with. Hopefully I’ll be able to find her (or him!) soon – wish me luck!
Upcoming post – Bridesmaids dresses are in! First try-ons, brunch and general shenanigans to ensue. Stay tuned!
Blue by Enzoani & Maggie Sottero Trunk Show (Bridal & Beyond) Bridal & Beyond Blue by Enzoani, Mar 12 - 29 (Toronto Location)
Maggie Sottero, Mar 19 - 29 (Toronto Location)
Love Bridesmaid Dresses by Enzoani, Mar 12 - 29 (Toronto Location)
Monique Lhuillier? Sample Sale? Yes, please! (Dina Alonzi) Dina Alonzi Bridal Thursday March 26 - 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday March 27- 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Saturday March 28- 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
A large selection of Monique L’huillier, Rivini and much more!
Come early for best selection!
As a small-footed gal, I love this shoe sale… (Petite Feet Sample Sale)
- Thousands of size 6 shoes (will also have full size run up to size 12)
- Over 10,000 pairs of designer brands at sample prices!
- Franco Sarto, Jessica Simpson, BCBGirls, Naturalizer, Via Spiga and many more
- $1 from every pair of shoes sold goes to Easter Seals
- Cash only
International Centre
6900 Airport Road, Hall 4
Mississauga, Ontario
Dates & Times:
Thursday, April 9th 10-9 VIP ONLY
Friday, April 10th 10-9
Saturday, April 11th 10-6
Sunday, April 12th 10-6
I love my bridal party. Love them. We are such a diverse group of ladies, different in so many ways but somehow we just work. One is a friend I’ve known since the first day of ninth grade, not knowing that we’d be sister-in-laws 14 years later. The others are ladies that I met a little later on in life and despite multiple counts of attempted snobbery on my part, they ended up winning me over in the end and now I can’t imagine not having them around. Not only am I blessed to have such an awesome group of ladies, but I’m also lucky enough to have one bridesman who is as sweet as the molten chocolate lava cakes he creates… mmm… lava cakes… but I digest.
With such an amazing group of people, I knew I had to find a special way to ask them to be part of our day. Having made Jeff a handmade Valentine’s Day card one year (that ended up costing me $65 in supplies! Loomis & Toles is dangerous! It turns a glue and construction paper girl like myself into a raging Martha Stewart with a side of HyperOCD), I knew that a simple card would be the perfect choice.
I purchased a package of hot pink cards with matching envelopes from Michael’s craft store. On the front of each card, I created a collage of all my girls:
On the inside was another collage of just the girl and myself on the top half of the card. On the bottom half, I wrote out for each person all the reasons why she was important to me - finally asking her to be a bridesmaid at the end.
Ria and Symon’s card had their collages as the cover:
Once the cards were complete, I put them in their hot pink envelopes and like a present, tied the outside with a black ribbon. I wish I had taken a picture of all the cards wrapped up – they were so cute together!
All in all, the girls (and Symon!) loved their cards. They were so easy to make and I really enjoyed personalizing each one
Every now and then I stumble across a sale or event that brides might be interested in so I thought to myself, “Self, you should post them on the site! And you should name the posts Limited Engagements!” So I did :)
Alfred Sung Bridal Trunk Show @ Ritché Bridal
Thursday March 12 to Sunday March 22
Select from the contemporary bridal stylings of Canadian icon designer Alfred Sung.
Special pricing available during the trunk show.
Brides please book an appointment 416-789-4378. www.ritche.com
I’m going to be cliché and start my first post off with: HELLO WORLD!
Ever since Jeff told me that he wanted to create a wedding website I was completely stoked and couldn’t wait until it was up and running… and here we are! I’m so excited to have a place to share our thoughts, ideas and experiences on the planning of our wedding extravaganza! And yes, I’ve taken quite a liking to calling it that: EXTRAVAGANZA! Sounds way more exciting, right?
The purpose of this site is, as Jeff mentioned, a place for our friends and family to get new developments on the wedding planning & upcoming events, as well as a place to connect with us or our amazing wedding party. But as a first time bride (and last time bride! ;P) Jeff also encouraged me to use this as an outlet to share whatever was on my mind when planning the wedding – the good, the bad and the ugly. I thought that this was an awesome idea since for the 8 or so months that we’ve been engaged, I’ve accumulated a ridiculous amount of ideas, inspiration and advice so I’m almost positive that I won’t experience the dreaded writer’s block here! The goal here is to hopefully help other brides in the planning process; whether you learn something through my own successful experiences or through my inevitable blunders – either way, I hope that I can be a resource to others the way so many other brides, blogs, sites and forums have been for me these last few months.
I’m also looking forward to documenting the whole process… somewhere to immortalize the whole experience. Time goes by so quickly that it would be nice to look back on this, post-wedding, and be reminded of the true labour of love it took to get there
So since I’m obviously going to be around a lot (giving Evelyn a run for her money as The Chatterbox, no doubt), I thought it’d be a good idea to prepare you for my, um, writing style. What you can expect (”Jeanna-isms”, if you will):
I have my own vocabulary and will often use made up words
I quote Family Guy. Often. “Now I may be an idiot, but there is one thing I am not, sir, and that, sir, is an idiot.”
I like to make stupid plays on words… for my draft speech, I actually have written: “Jeff, you have been my caterpillar of strength.”
I sometimes have Valley Girl Tourettes. I, like, totally blame The Hills, like.
I sometimes have Gangsta Tourettes. What is that saying? You can take the girl out of Scarborough but you can’t take the Scarborough out of the girl? Don’t hate, yo.
I’m corny and enjoy a good pun or two
I usually write like I converse and when I converse I laugh often… so expect a lot of haha-ing and LOLLERSKATING ;P
I love, LOVE emoticons. I apologize in advance if you suffer from Emoticon Fatigue.
Aside from those things, I think I’m a pretty ok writer
Anyway, thanks for reading my intro and disclaimer… I guess I’ll see you around!
Hey everyone, I know some of you have been eagerly waiting for me to get this website up but I’ve been super busy lately, sorry. But on behalf of Jeanna and myself, I would like to say welcome to our wedding website. So sit back, relax, grab a cup of joe or a wobbly pop, enjoy the site, and meet our wacky but amazing bridal party.
Latest Wedding Update
A couple weeks ago Jeanna and I completed our marriage prep course with the Catholic Family Services of Toronto. I’m proud to say that we passed with flying colours and yes, we are still getting married or else you would not reading this blog post.
This Website
Soooo, like I said on the homepage, this website will be the place to find information about any wedding related events and to connect with us, the bridal party or other guests.
Before you leave say hi by leaving us a comment and also be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed or sign up by email to stay up to date with the latest happenings.
