Post-wedding celebration

Well, it's all officially over now. We had our post-wedding celebration/reception last Saturday. It was a lot of fun - kind of crazy at times, but still lotsa fun! (when I say crazy, I mean it in a good way) ;)

So ... yeah, Saturday ... the days leading up to the event were slightly insane - there was a lot to do to get ready for it. Saturday-day was the craziest of all ... a few things didn't go quite according to plan (in other words, there were a few set-backs). But in the end, it all worked out (of course).

We listed 7:30pm as the time for the event to begin - Dan and I planned on arriving around 8pm (to let a few guests arrive before us). We were totally shocked when we walked in - everyone was already there! We didn't think people would actually be on time ... it was a bit overwhelming when we entered - an entire room of people (about 70) all looking at you - and clapping. The clapping totally threw me off - I almost cried! (I know, such an emotional female sometimes...)

The party was a lot of fun - it was really great to see everyone. We hadn't seen some of our guests for awhile, so it was awesome seeing everyone. It's kind of hard to have real conversations when you're one of the two "centres" of the party though - there are a lotta people you have to talk to. So there were some people who I would have loved to chat with longer - but just didn't get the chance to.

Projecting all of our wedding pics onto a big screen was a great idea - many people were happy that we did that. So Selmer and Bart, it was just like you were at our party - cuz' you were on the big screen - for all to see - numerous times over! ;)

The craziness started around 12:30am. That's when the dance floor kicked into high gear. More on that below, by the dancing-pic ...

We had good company, good food, good music, good drinks ... and cupcakes! What else could we ask for?! :)

"I would walk 500 miles ..."

Anthony & Lora started the dancing - then when most of the guests had left (by about 12:30am) the rest of us joined them on the dance floor.

I hadn't planned on dancing (I've always thought that one of the most ridiculous-looking things in the world is a bride dancing in a wedding dress ... ) but I got dragged out by Marcie. I was glad that she insisted, cuz' it was a lot of fun.

Our bartender, Jamie, almost immediately took control of our iPod and became our DJ ... so we had no say in what music was played. He had some "interesting" choices (ha ha!) - some of the favourites were:

• I would walk 500 miles - The Proclaimers (we did the whole swing-your-partner-circle thing ... lotsa silly fun there)
• Jump Around - House of Pain (and yes, we literally jumped around like a bunch of drunken idiots) :)
• Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice (Selmer - just for you!!!)
• It Takes Two - Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock

Oh my, it got pretty silly ... for "It Takes Two" we did the whole circle thing and would chant someones name, who then would have to go in the middle and do their thang ... ha ha! The only person who was too shy to go into the circle was Kimberly. Again, I hadn't planned on it - but then I realized that everyone would expect me to not go in - and so I did! Probably shocked some people ... especially when I did the classic "slap your ass" move! Ha ha!

Yeah, Anthony was on the floor, trying to breakdance ... our bartender was breakdancing and doing the moonwalk ... there were a few "chest bounces" happening ... ha ha! Fun was had by all. :)

After we shut the bar down, we hopped into the limo that was awaiting us (compliments of Angela & Vanessa - thanks again!). We only had to pull over once, so that Anthony could vomit ...

All in all, it was a really good night. It was exactly what we wanted.

Dan & Anthony

Anthony started this pointing-thing when we were all in Italy ... and it still carries on ...

We go waaaay back

Two of my oldest friends ... Tasha and Vanessa. I've known Vanessa for 25 years! As for Tash, we've been friends for 17 years. I was soooo glad to see both of them there. :)

Darren & Angie

I like this pic of Darren & Angie ... don't quite know what was going on, but it's a funny pic. :)

Yum!

Oooh, the cupcakes were so good! (it appears that Kimberly agrees!) :)

Anthony & Marcie

Ah, I see this pic was taken while Anthony was still sober enough to walk! ;)

A bride, guys and beer

This pic originally was going to be of Darren & I ... then Anthony wanted in ... and before we knew it, it went from a couple shot to a group shot. :) (so we've got Jay, Anthony, Rob, me, Darren, Paul & Bent ... and part of Sam on the right)

The set up

This picture should give you an idea of how we set the Brewhouse up for the event ... this was taken later at night, so just imagine people at every table and standing all over the place and you'll have a pretty accurate idea. That's the screen/projection in the background ...

Sis-tahs!

Me n' my sister. Okay, everyone always says that we look alike - whatcha think?! We can't see it, so please do tell what it is that makes everyone say this!

Family pic

Our first family picture in a LONG time. The last one we have is from 1983. Seriously.

Sick of wedding pics yet?

So, are you sick of seeing wedding pictures yet? I'm not! ;)

This one was taken just outside of the room we got married in, just a few seconds before we entered. I was a bit nervous ... here, I'm reminding myself that I don't want to cry when I walk in, hear our wedding song and see all our friends!

Busy

This weekend is our post-wedding celebration/reception at the Granville Island Brewhouse - already! It's amazing how quickly the past few months have zipped by. I still can't believe the wedding is over and the reception will be soon over too. It's sad! After two years of planning ... (sigh)

The preparations for the reception are underway. I thought we had most of it taken care of before we left for Europe - we rented the brewhouse, arranged all the catering, got the required liquor licence, sent out invitations, etc. I didn't think there would be all that much to do when we got back - but I was sorta wrong about that.

Some of the things we've been figuring out/dealing with over the past while have been:

• Music - we were going to get a DJ but opted against it. Instead we're loading up our iPod and are going to hook it up to a mixer and huge speakers. Need loads of music for it though - so been figuring out what we want - and downloading.
• Photographs - we're going to have all of our wedding photos projected onto a wall throughout the night. So we had to get a projector and still have to make a DVD of all of the hundreds of images ... we're also going to have small/mini photo albums of wedding pics on some of the tables, for people to flip through - so I've been uploading images like crazy onto the website of the place where I have photos printed (which is painfully slow cuz' of the high resolution of the images).
• Favours - we decided that we wanted to give favours that are Italian-themed to our guests. We decided on biscotti and jordan almonds. I currently have someone baking three different types of biscotti for us - we need to pick them up tomorrow night and package them all ...
• Centrepieces - needed something for the tables ... so we've opted for fresh flowers and tealights. However, we didn't want to spend a small fortune on flowers, so I had to come up with a plan so that we didn't need too many flowers ... I managed to find small wine carafes/glass jars that I will use as vases that shouldn't need too many flowers each one - and the vases also fit in with the little Italian theme!
• Outfit for mom - months ago I told my mom that I was going to buy her a nice little outfit to wear to the party. So she came over last Friday/Saturday from Vancouver Island and Angie and I took her shopping. Managed to get her a nice outfit and some cute shoes.

Miscellaneous other stuff:

• getting Dan's suit dry cleaned and pressed
• getting my dress steamed
• finalizing guest list (numbers)
• making a couple last-minute changes to our gift registry at The Bay
• hunting for the perfect favour bags to house the biscotti and jordan almonds
• cleaning the apartment! Still haven't even put our backpacks way after the trip ...
• trying to think of appropriate thank you gifts for Angie, Lora and Marcie (already have one for Kimberly)
  

Hmmm ... I guess that's pretty much the stuff I've been working on. Makes for some busy evenings after work ...

On the Campo

I think this is a cute picture ... I just wish it was a bunch of little Italian women clapping at us!

Yeah, I know, pretty cheesy ... but the photographer was set on having us pose like this!

About to enter the town hall and get married!

The professional pics have arrived!

We got our professional photos today! The FedEx delivery guy arrived at our door this morning at 8:40am - yay!

I was getting quite anxious about these pics. I'm excited to have them, but to be honest - I think a lot of them will have to grow on me. I had really, really high expectations for these ... as I'm sure many of you know, photos are very important to me. The photography was one of the most important parts of our wedding (to me, anyways). And seeing as I'm always the one taking the photographs at weddings, it was very difficult for me to stand back and let someone else take the most important photos I've ever had done!

Don't get me wrong, though - there are some good ones! I think I'm maybe just being overly finicky.

Right now I'm having crazy thoughts, though. If the photos don't grow on me, then I want to go back to Siena for our 1st anniversary (along with our outfits) ... and have more photos done! And then I could have a little more input into what is taken. I know, totally insane thought. But hey, you never know! I dunno, it just seems like in most of the photos, I don't look like myself (I know, I'm wearing makeup and a wedding dress ...) - my head looks totally round (straight-on pics of me don't work well) and there are far too many fake smiles. I'm not the biggest fan of posed photos - it's brings the fake smiles outta me.

Anyways, I still plan on posting a whole schwack of pictures online at some point - but for now, just a few (my favourites so far). :)

Ciao!


Exiting the Palazzo Pubblico

After the ceremony

Drinks on the Campo

One of my favourites that our photographer took ...


Ahhh, sheep shit!

This also is one of my favourites ...

Panoramic pic taken on the Campo

Flowers, food and shoes!

Dan did a really good job at making my one-month-late birthday a nice day. :)

As I mentioned in my last post, I woke up to find a birthday card that said that we had an "appointment at 8:05pm". When he picked me up from work, he actually got out of the car and opened the hatch of the car for me ... then opened my car door ... and when I got in, our wedding music (from the Amelie soundtrack) was playing. :)

He then took me for a latte at Starbucks ... and for a little drive around Stanley Park ... then we went home and I found a HUGE bouquet of flowers waiting for me. Nice! On top of that, a hundred bucks to put towards a pair of shoes! (Angie & Wayne had given me a gift certificate to Gravity Pope for my b-day, so Dan wanted to add to it cuz' the Camper shoes I like are $200)

Then just before 8pm we headed out ... it ended up that he had planned a "surprise" dinner for me at Cafe de Paris. I put "surprise" in brackets cuz', well, Dan thought that it was a surprise ... but I kinda knew all week what was up. I didn't want to ruin his fun so I played along. :)

Sheri, Darren, Emma, Marcie, Anthony & Leah were there when we arrived. We ate good food and had a nice time at my belated birthday celebration. Dan wanted to take me there because I had really wanted to have a good cassoulet when we were in southern France, but didn't succeed ... so I had "le cassoulet toulousain" last night. For those of you who aren't sure that that is, it's a traditional dish of southwest France - a casserole of duck confit, sausages and beans slowly simmered together. Definitely a hearty dish!

It was a nice night ... and a nice birthday. :)

30 years + one month

Today I'm 30 years and 1 month old. :)

Yes, my 30th birthday was last month, but it was sort of overlooked by most. It was a busy day - Dan and I were up at about 5:30am because we had to catch a flight from Amsterdam to Florence.

By the time we were checking in for our flight, I thought I should be kind enough to give Dan a a little reminder that it was my b-day. I thought he'd feel kinda silly if someone else said "happy birthday" to me before him ... so I thought I'd give him the heads-up. :)

We got to Florence, found our way to the bus/train station and immediately hopped a bus to Siena ... got to Siena mid-afternoon. Almost immediately after getting off the bus we bumped into Selmer and Bart (who had arrived a couple hours earlier) .... Selmer asked me about the date of my birthday, I told him it was the 9th ... and that was about the end of that (hee hee!). Five minutes after running into those guys, we all ran into Kimberly and her mom ... and Kim didn't recognize the day either.

A few hours later Dan & I met up with Angie, Wayne & Sophie - I am happy to say that they did remember. They wished me well on my grand b-day and gave me some fabulous gifts (they're too generous, I tell ya).

The next day Kimberly remembered and apologized profusely for forgetting. Then we hooked up with the rest of the gang and they too forgot that it was my b-day the day before (until Dan brought it up).

Everyone was just hyped about being in Italy ... and being with their friends in Italy ... I can see how it was overlooked. My birthday isn't overly important - just another day to everyone besides me.

But anyways!! Back on track now, we're celebrating my birthday tonight. Dan and I agreed that we would ... so, with today being June 9, it's exactly 1 month later. There was a card waiting for me this morning (Dan leaves for work a lot earlier than I do, so I'm still sleeping when he leaves) - and apparently Dan and I have an "appointment for 8:05pm" ... I'll fill you in tomorrow. :)

P.S: Unlike many before me, I didn't feel the need to freak out about turning the big 3-0. No biggie ... plus, it's gonna happen anyways, so why fret about it?! Plus, I'm the happiest and most content that I've ever been ... and my guess is that it's only gonna get better.

Mmmm!

This was one of the "primi" dishes at the wedding dinner - pappardelle with wild boar ragout. It was definitely the favourite of many that night.

It was SO good ...

Not quite back to reality ...

We've been back in Vancouver for 10 days already. How lame is that. You know, normally at the end of a trip I'm ready to go home (well, maybe not really ready, but I resign myself to the fact that I have to go home) - this time around, I wasn't ready to come home - nope, not whatsoever.

It was such a great trip! I didn't want it to end. If I could go back and change anything there are only a couple of things:

• I would skip Amsterdam & Paris and spend more time in Italy
• I would arrange for someone to look after Sophie the day of the wedding, so Angie & Wayne could enjoy the ceremony and dinner
• I would chat with Anthony, Bart & Selmer more - and maybe even Lora a little more
• I would hire a videographer for the day of the wedding (to document it for me, cuz' the day zipped by so quickly!)

Yep .... and it would have been great to spend more time with all of our friends in Italy ... that was a lot of fun. I think we'll have to try to talk everyone into trying to do it again in the future. :) Southern France was really great too - that's another slow-paced sort of place that would be great to spend time with friends with.

So yeah, we're now back home. Back to work (today is my 3rd day back - ugh) ... but at least we still have something else fun to look forward to - on June 18 we're having a reception here at home, for all our friends and family who weren't able to be at the wedding in Italy with us.

We've rented out the Granville Island Brewhouse for the evening and arranged for some awesome catering. Dan and I are going to wear our wedding-outfits that night, as there are a lot of people who really want to see us all done up (yay, I get to wear my dress once more!) :)

The next week will be busy, preparing for the party - but I love anticipation of fun things to come, so I'll enjoy all the stress. After the party is over and done, then it's time to really get busy and make life more like Dan and I both want it to be.

And plan our next trip. :)

More dinner

Another pic from dinner ... missing a few people in it, though (Bart, Wayne and Anthony). And I look all freaky, like a ghost or something (the flash made my face look all creepy and white). Sophie has now been passed along to my lap. :)

Reception dinner

Sophie loves Uncle Dan to bits... therefore, she always wants to sit with him. In this case, he did his best to continue eating the AMAZING food, while entertaining Sophie at the same time.

The food was so good, how could you stop eating?!

View from above

Bob took this pic from upstairs in the Palazza Pubblico (from the room we got married in). I just need to edit it slightly, and remove the foot from the top of the shot ...

After

And this is after they reached us ... :)

Funny one

After the wedding we were out on the Campo having photos done ... the photographer had taken Dan and I over to one corner of it and took some pics ... then he took us to a spot and told Dan to stand in one spot, and me in another (with our backs to the town hall). Then he told us to turn around - and this is what we saw!

Ben had told our friends to run towards us on his mark ... makes for a fun picture. I'm sure the photographer got some really good shots of this - I can't wait to see them. :)