Jen & Jeff - June 17, 2006!
Whew, we’re back and we're married!
Our honeymoon was relaxing and amazing - I would highly recommend the RIU Tropical Bay in Negril, Jamaica. Ya mon!
But onto the wedding – here's the full story.
As many of you know, we planned an evening wedding (7:00 pm ceremony) at a last-minute location (the Grist Mill) followed by a cocktail reception at the Walper Terrace Hotel. Needless to say, I had PLENTY of time to get ready – by about 5:00 pm I felt like I’d already lived a whole day and could hardly believe the wedding was still to come.
FRIDAY
The day before the wedding was pretty busy, but good. I went for a manicure / pedicure, met up with Alyssa (my Maid of Honour) and picked up our dresses, dropped by the florists to pick up the cake topper and dropped it off at the CakeBox, then zipped home to meet Lesley (my bridesmaid) and Jenna (a good friend who flew in from BC) who were arriving for the weekend. In the evening, the whole wedding party met at the Grist Mill to set up for the ceremony and do a rough “walk through” then we all went for beer and wings at the Heuther where Jeff and I gave everyone their thank-you gifts. Fun times!
We all came back to our place around 10:30 pm, I wrote up some super quick guestbook instructions, then Jeff and I said our goodbyes and he took off for Noel's house (the best man) and the girls stayed at the apartment with me. The only BAD part… I’d gotten my first ever bladder infection the day before (figured out what it was Friday night) and had an “episode” around 11:30 pm Friday night, so I didn’t get to sleep until about 2:30 am. Ugh.
SATURDAY
I woke up around 8:15 am, in mild discomfort, and debated going to the walk-in clinic to get a prescription for the darn bladder infection. Unfortunately, I couldn’t for the life of me find the listing in the phone book, so I then tried calling my boss, who happens to be friends with our family doctor, to see if I could reach him at home, but no luck there either. Instead, I contented myself with chugging back as much cranberry juice and water as humanly possible and prayed to the wedding Gods that I wouldn’t have another episode in the middle of the ceremony! By noon (after a delicious brunch with the girls) I think I’d managed to consume approx. 3L of liquids, lol!
At 12:15 pm, we showed up at the salon for our hair appointments. The girls were done quick – like 30 minutes quick – and my hair only took about 50 minutes. Yay for fast and phenomenal stylists!
Next up, Alyssa and I left for our make-up appointments (unfortunately we couldn’t get them all together so we booked two at 2:00 pm and one at 3:00 pm) and Lesley went to get her nails done. In the meantime, my mom met up with the boys at the florist's – the boys had just finished decorating / setting up for the reception! – to pick up our bouquets and floral arrangements.
Make-up went well, Lesley showed up for her appointment just as we were finishing up, and then Alyssa and I left to go “check” the reception set up. The boys had done an amazing job (with a little key "support" from Tiffany, Noel's fiancée)! The place looked near perfect and with just a few minor adjustments (mainly asking to have a table removed, and moving a couple tea lights) we were done. We checked into our rooms for the night, then headed back home making a quick stop at Subway for a bite to eat.
By this time, it was approx. 4:30 pm and everyone was reconvening at my apartment – Alyssa and I, Lesley and Jenna, and my mom (who had also brought my brother Max down earlier in the day). We all got dressed, with very little difficulty, and we were ready to go!
The Ceremony
I was determined to be on time, and we were pretty close! People were milling about outside the Mill (no pun intended, haha), so we parked down by the Perimeter Institute and then started walking up the sidewalk toward the Mill. Don (Perron), our amazing officiant, came out to meet us and give us the scoop on what would happen next. Emma (from BareBonePhoto) was already snapping photos and there’s a really funny one of Don carrying our purses back into the ceremony for us, lol.
The girls walked down the aisle and then my mom and I moved forward to stand in the doorway for our turn... just as I walked up, my heel slipped into a crack in the floor boards, but I don’t think anyone noticed – I covered it up pretty well and thankfully it didn’t stick on the way back out! As I walked in, I saw a few people that stood out, then I looked toward the front to see Jeff and there he was grinning away! The biggest surprises of the ceremony were that Jeff cried (it was so sweet) and I didn’t (I was focussing on reassuring him, lol), our brothers got up to do a reading (the hand ceremony) which was a surprise planned by Don and really sweet, and I made it through my vows without fumbling once – I think! We also got a moment to ourselves, out behind the Mill, while Alyssa and Noel finished signing the registry, which was really nice.
Several people came up to us afterwards to say how nice the ceremony was and one friend said it was the nicest ceremony she’d been to (and she’s been to a lot of weddings in the last little while!) which was a great a compliment. I can’t wait to see the video.
In Between
While the guests headed off to the reception, the wedding party and immediate family stuck around for photos, which turned out amazing!
The major things of note here were that I realized I’d forgotten to put on my garter (lol) and as we were finishing up, Mike (Jeff’s groomsman) realized that his wallet was locked in his car and he’d given his keys to some family members who had already left for the reception. There’s a funny shot of Emma, using a some “telescoping stick” (I’m sure it has some photography use), to try and jimmy the lock through the window which was open a crack!
The Reception
For the reception, we had 3 rooms at the Walper – the Oak Lobby (main room), the Oak Room (food room), and the Barrister’s Lounge (the bar). The funny thing was, most of the time people migrated to either the Oak Room or Barrister’s Lounge and at one point, it was just me, Jeff, and Jasmyn (the DJ) in the main room, lol!
The night definitely whizzed by, although by this point I felt like I’d lived at least 2 days in one and was maybe working on a third, lol! We got a bit behind schedule, but that wasn’t a big deal, and like everyone says I barely tried any of the food because A) I wasn’t hungry and B) I was never in one place long enough. I also didn’t have anything to drink except cranberry juice and water – Jeff said he had about 5 or 6 drinks, but figured he must have “sweated it all out” because he never felt tipsy, haha! – and the wedding Gods must have been listening because thankfully I felt fine all night!
Overall things went very smoothly – we did a few speeches, had our first dance, tossed the bouquet and the garter, and mingled and chatted with our guests. The only bummer was that the lights in the main room couldn’t be dimmed, so it was a bit “too bright” all night. That was really our only “complaint,” if we could even call it that, so not bad at all!
After everyone had left, we quickly tidied up, then headed up to our “honeymoon suite.” There was champagne and truffles in our room, so Jeff and I plopped on the bed, had a couple drinks and a couple chocolates, and chattered away for a half hour, 45 minutes or so before heading off to bed... ;-)
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we woke up bright and early, and headed down to the Terrace Café for brunch at 9:00 am. We’d made reservations for 20 people – mainly family, wedding party, and out-of-town guests – and since it was Father’s Day, we had to get in there pretty early! Eighteen people showed up and we had a nice brunch before packing up our stuff and heading home.
Back at home, my mom and brother stuck around while Jeff and I opened our cards and gifts – we got so many wonderful things, we couldn't believe how generous everyone was! And by the way, Jeff has to be the cutest thing I've seen when it comes to opening presents. He gets right down on the floor, takes everything out of the boxes, and sets them all up. I wish you could have seen it! The 2 of us bundled up in our sleeping bags in the middle of the living room floor, dishes and cutlery washed and on display, appliances and cooking stuffs oohed and ahhed at... He's a bit like a kid in a candy store, but a very responsible one that wants to make sure he has looked through every candy and sorted them just right, lol. ;-)
After my mom and Max left, Jeff and I set about getting ready for our honeymoon -- picking up last minute items, and packing our bags. We left Monday afternoon, spent a wonderful week relaxing in Jamaica, and arrived back early Tuesday morning. And that was that!
Our honeymoon was relaxing and amazing - I would highly recommend the RIU Tropical Bay in Negril, Jamaica. Ya mon!
But onto the wedding – here's the full story.
As many of you know, we planned an evening wedding (7:00 pm ceremony) at a last-minute location (the Grist Mill) followed by a cocktail reception at the Walper Terrace Hotel. Needless to say, I had PLENTY of time to get ready – by about 5:00 pm I felt like I’d already lived a whole day and could hardly believe the wedding was still to come.
FRIDAY
The day before the wedding was pretty busy, but good. I went for a manicure / pedicure, met up with Alyssa (my Maid of Honour) and picked up our dresses, dropped by the florists to pick up the cake topper and dropped it off at the CakeBox, then zipped home to meet Lesley (my bridesmaid) and Jenna (a good friend who flew in from BC) who were arriving for the weekend. In the evening, the whole wedding party met at the Grist Mill to set up for the ceremony and do a rough “walk through” then we all went for beer and wings at the Heuther where Jeff and I gave everyone their thank-you gifts. Fun times!
We all came back to our place around 10:30 pm, I wrote up some super quick guestbook instructions, then Jeff and I said our goodbyes and he took off for Noel's house (the best man) and the girls stayed at the apartment with me. The only BAD part… I’d gotten my first ever bladder infection the day before (figured out what it was Friday night) and had an “episode” around 11:30 pm Friday night, so I didn’t get to sleep until about 2:30 am. Ugh.
SATURDAY
I woke up around 8:15 am, in mild discomfort, and debated going to the walk-in clinic to get a prescription for the darn bladder infection. Unfortunately, I couldn’t for the life of me find the listing in the phone book, so I then tried calling my boss, who happens to be friends with our family doctor, to see if I could reach him at home, but no luck there either. Instead, I contented myself with chugging back as much cranberry juice and water as humanly possible and prayed to the wedding Gods that I wouldn’t have another episode in the middle of the ceremony! By noon (after a delicious brunch with the girls) I think I’d managed to consume approx. 3L of liquids, lol!
At 12:15 pm, we showed up at the salon for our hair appointments. The girls were done quick – like 30 minutes quick – and my hair only took about 50 minutes. Yay for fast and phenomenal stylists!
Next up, Alyssa and I left for our make-up appointments (unfortunately we couldn’t get them all together so we booked two at 2:00 pm and one at 3:00 pm) and Lesley went to get her nails done. In the meantime, my mom met up with the boys at the florist's – the boys had just finished decorating / setting up for the reception! – to pick up our bouquets and floral arrangements.
Make-up went well, Lesley showed up for her appointment just as we were finishing up, and then Alyssa and I left to go “check” the reception set up. The boys had done an amazing job (with a little key "support" from Tiffany, Noel's fiancée)! The place looked near perfect and with just a few minor adjustments (mainly asking to have a table removed, and moving a couple tea lights) we were done. We checked into our rooms for the night, then headed back home making a quick stop at Subway for a bite to eat.
By this time, it was approx. 4:30 pm and everyone was reconvening at my apartment – Alyssa and I, Lesley and Jenna, and my mom (who had also brought my brother Max down earlier in the day). We all got dressed, with very little difficulty, and we were ready to go!
The Ceremony
I was determined to be on time, and we were pretty close! People were milling about outside the Mill (no pun intended, haha), so we parked down by the Perimeter Institute and then started walking up the sidewalk toward the Mill. Don (Perron), our amazing officiant, came out to meet us and give us the scoop on what would happen next. Emma (from BareBonePhoto) was already snapping photos and there’s a really funny one of Don carrying our purses back into the ceremony for us, lol.
The girls walked down the aisle and then my mom and I moved forward to stand in the doorway for our turn... just as I walked up, my heel slipped into a crack in the floor boards, but I don’t think anyone noticed – I covered it up pretty well and thankfully it didn’t stick on the way back out! As I walked in, I saw a few people that stood out, then I looked toward the front to see Jeff and there he was grinning away! The biggest surprises of the ceremony were that Jeff cried (it was so sweet) and I didn’t (I was focussing on reassuring him, lol), our brothers got up to do a reading (the hand ceremony) which was a surprise planned by Don and really sweet, and I made it through my vows without fumbling once – I think! We also got a moment to ourselves, out behind the Mill, while Alyssa and Noel finished signing the registry, which was really nice.
Several people came up to us afterwards to say how nice the ceremony was and one friend said it was the nicest ceremony she’d been to (and she’s been to a lot of weddings in the last little while!) which was a great a compliment. I can’t wait to see the video.
In Between
While the guests headed off to the reception, the wedding party and immediate family stuck around for photos, which turned out amazing!
The major things of note here were that I realized I’d forgotten to put on my garter (lol) and as we were finishing up, Mike (Jeff’s groomsman) realized that his wallet was locked in his car and he’d given his keys to some family members who had already left for the reception. There’s a funny shot of Emma, using a some “telescoping stick” (I’m sure it has some photography use), to try and jimmy the lock through the window which was open a crack!
The Reception
For the reception, we had 3 rooms at the Walper – the Oak Lobby (main room), the Oak Room (food room), and the Barrister’s Lounge (the bar). The funny thing was, most of the time people migrated to either the Oak Room or Barrister’s Lounge and at one point, it was just me, Jeff, and Jasmyn (the DJ) in the main room, lol!
The night definitely whizzed by, although by this point I felt like I’d lived at least 2 days in one and was maybe working on a third, lol! We got a bit behind schedule, but that wasn’t a big deal, and like everyone says I barely tried any of the food because A) I wasn’t hungry and B) I was never in one place long enough. I also didn’t have anything to drink except cranberry juice and water – Jeff said he had about 5 or 6 drinks, but figured he must have “sweated it all out” because he never felt tipsy, haha! – and the wedding Gods must have been listening because thankfully I felt fine all night!
Overall things went very smoothly – we did a few speeches, had our first dance, tossed the bouquet and the garter, and mingled and chatted with our guests. The only bummer was that the lights in the main room couldn’t be dimmed, so it was a bit “too bright” all night. That was really our only “complaint,” if we could even call it that, so not bad at all!
After everyone had left, we quickly tidied up, then headed up to our “honeymoon suite.” There was champagne and truffles in our room, so Jeff and I plopped on the bed, had a couple drinks and a couple chocolates, and chattered away for a half hour, 45 minutes or so before heading off to bed... ;-)
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we woke up bright and early, and headed down to the Terrace Café for brunch at 9:00 am. We’d made reservations for 20 people – mainly family, wedding party, and out-of-town guests – and since it was Father’s Day, we had to get in there pretty early! Eighteen people showed up and we had a nice brunch before packing up our stuff and heading home.
Back at home, my mom and brother stuck around while Jeff and I opened our cards and gifts – we got so many wonderful things, we couldn't believe how generous everyone was! And by the way, Jeff has to be the cutest thing I've seen when it comes to opening presents. He gets right down on the floor, takes everything out of the boxes, and sets them all up. I wish you could have seen it! The 2 of us bundled up in our sleeping bags in the middle of the living room floor, dishes and cutlery washed and on display, appliances and cooking stuffs oohed and ahhed at... He's a bit like a kid in a candy store, but a very responsible one that wants to make sure he has looked through every candy and sorted them just right, lol. ;-)
After my mom and Max left, Jeff and I set about getting ready for our honeymoon -- picking up last minute items, and packing our bags. We left Monday afternoon, spent a wonderful week relaxing in Jamaica, and arrived back early Tuesday morning. And that was that!
posted by Jen at
9:38 p.m.
1 Comments:
welcome back Jen! Good to see that you remembered us on this blog of yours! LOL!
By
Quirky Cori, at 12:05 p.m.
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