107 days

Hello Everyone,

The Bay really knows how to freak engaged couples. When you go to the website, there's a countdown to the wedding. I'll admit the first time I saw it, I pannicked a bit. Now I giggle. So, any time I print it off, I black out the countdown for Jerry. lol

I haven't done a wedding update in a while so here goes...

Dress - fits lovely
Veil - check
Shoes - check (and comfy)
Jewelry - check

Jerry's clothes - no idea. I told him he's on his own and I don't want to know what he's wearing until I see him with the JP. Athough I had a couple requests: no shorts (but capris were fine), no crazy ruffle shirt with tuxedo, and I would still marry him in a speedo (but would have a hard time keeping a straight face saying my vows).

Rings - check. I was initially going to use my green engagement ring as a proxy ring until we chose something together. But I love my karma ring. Once I'm married, I'll tuck it away and wear my wedding ring. I was going to get a ring & band but didn't quite like the look of it. I love my ring and Jerry's band has the same finish as mine.

Hair - growing. It's coming into the bob I wanted and I'll get about another inch. Pretty sure on the style and will do a dry run with my hairdresser to get photos. Will have my hair done at the salon down there

Make-up - will do myself. I like a natural look and I find make-up stylists use too much mascara. When you're getting married at 1pm, you don't want crazy caked make-up. And I'll do my own nails.

Bouquet - check
Cake - flavours narrowed down but no decision yet
Boutineer - Jerry hasn't picked one yet

Paperwork - Got my passport (looks like I'm going to murder someone) but Jerry still needs to get his. All paperwork set up in Mexico. My vaccines are up to date and Jerry's looking into his.

Vacation - hotels/resorts booked

Language - lol We picked up Rosetta Stone and are slowly coming along. Most of the people we'll be dealing with speak English and the JP will be bilingual.

Vows - have asked for a copy from the wedding planner to look over

Budget - On track

Name - Had a few arguments on this one but we compromised. I'll keep Halliday professionally. And in public I'll be Karen Halliday Hoult. No hyphen. But I'll change my driver's license. Jerry wanted me to completely change my name but I explained some of the complications (SIN, pension & government issues, business accounts/passwords etc) on top of my own preference. Rather than give up my indentity as a Halliday, I wanted to embrace both families.

So, when we get back, Jerry's family wants to host a reception for us. They also want to have a bridal shower for me. Their initial plans were to have the shower on Boxing Day and the reception on Easter weekend. And yes, you can laugh. There was reasoning behind this. We wouldn't have the extra cost of renting a car and most family members are in the Lethbridge area anyways.

We got the shower changed to the end of January and the reception to the end of March. I was hoping for an informal afternoon get-together (like a tea social) but no luck - they were super excited for a full blown reception. It's been almost 20 years since the last wedding in their family and Jerry's the youngest. So, it can be a bit to reign in their enthusiasm (although it's very sweet). As it stands, Jerry's mom asked us for wording of the reception invitations and we found something we like that calls it a party rather than reception. Less formal and more fun sounding. A couple hours socializing, dinner and then dancing.

We'll do a wish tree rather than a guest book. It's a dutch tradition and basically you create a "tree" and people hang notes on it with wishes for the couple. We have some great branches from my lilac butchering this year and some stones from Ontario to put in a vase for a base. I've seen some online and it looks rather pretty.

Fruit cake tasting (hopefully) this weekend. 3 cakes to try and we'll decide on which will work best for the favours. We'll have a real cake at the party for dessert. Dinner we're looking at beef on a bun (to avoid cold lumpy potatoes, overcooked dry meat and tasteless soggy vegetables).

I think on the table we'll have trivia cards with photos of us. I won't know many people and Jerry hasn't seen some of them in several years. That way people can get to know us in a fun way. For example, if you look at our initials, Jerry's are JLH and mine are KLH. I find it funny I won't need to change my monogram. As well, there may be some clay flowerpots with flower seed packets in them. Nothing decided yet. I don't like a cluttered table personally. And I think we're looking at 60-80 people.

We're still planning to have a Mexican fiesta at our place when we get back but I think it'll be pretty laid back. Just friends of ours that we can show photos and socialize. We've got a small home and the weather will be unpredictable. And in all honesty, I wouldn't want a big crowd. Maybe a come-and-go afternoon with snacks and drinks.

So I think that's it for now. Our registry is done except for an item they're having problems adding. We found a beautiful leather sofa and we don't expect someone to buy it for us. If you put it on your registery and buy it within 1 year of your wedding date, you automatically get 10% off. And if you get a Bay card at the same time, another 10% off. And for newlyweds they offer a couple payment options over a two year span. Which when you encompass the discounts, is the reason why we're adding it to the registry.

I don't need to make any more major decisions until the beginning of January, which is when we confirm the flowers, cake, extras with the resort. So, it's a matter of relaxing and making payments.

Have a great day!