We have a lot of offers to catch up on. We’ve mentioned some of these people along the way, but somehow time just didn’t allow for a traditional ‘offers’ post in recent weeks…and a few snuck past us a while ago! Without further ado, let us bring you up to speed on the offers to date.
FASHION
A quick thank you goes out to former bridesmaid Jenn, who offered us a bridesmaid dress…as regular readers know, we actually were offered a set of specifically-made (local, Canadian, eco-friendly) dresses from So-Finedesigns, so we had to turn it down; but thank you, Jenn, for the kind offer! I begin to wonder how many bridesmaid dresses there are out there in the world, lurking in closets and taunting women who will never actually wear them to another event. Another reason I’m so so happy we found the Scube dresses by So-Fine: they are reversible and can be worn as a dress, a knee-length skirt, or a long skirt, which means the gals will be able to wear them time and time again. It feels good to have the girls in something far more reusable than the norm. And hey, for fun: if you know a store that carries So-Fine, you can actually get the Scube dress in a combo of apple green and royal purple right now, and then you will own our exact bridesmaid dress! (When So-Fine made our three dresses, they went ahead and made a run of the same colour combo for the stores…so for a limited time, you can have one, too!)
I and my girls will also be looking dapper with the help of the crew at Daya Spa on Dalhousie Street in downtown Ottawa. Jenn, one of the makeup artists there, found our blog and loved it. Daya is an all-organic spa, and they have stringent cleanliness standards, which is helpful as I have some very particular bridesmaids not even including myself. (Many years of working as a makeup artist myself has made me a bit of a germaphobe when it comes to cosmetics; and that’s not a bad thing, actually.) I met with Jenn last week and we talked about what I might like to have my face look like that day. I have fallen out of the habit of wearing makeup in the last few years, so I am actually not sure; but we’ll see what we come up with! Daya, thank you for being a part of our day!
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| Morganna and me--and my necklace! |
And last but far from least, we have a necklace for me. Months ago we attended a craft show where we met Morganna the White, a fabulous textile artisan who makes the most bewitching jewelry from reclaimed yarn, fibres, baubles, and buttons. I fell in love with her work on the spot, but thought I’d better wait ‘til I had my dress before choosing jewelry. Well, I have my dress, and it’s been loved on by our seamstress Judy Ruggles, and while I looked lovely in it, I knew something was missing…and that’s when I remembered Morganna. I tracked her down through a shop she co-owns called Eclection in the Byward Market (Ottawa), followed her on facebook, and wrote her an email offering to trade some art for some craft. This was on Friday evening. I waited a whole two days before heading down to the shop, just to look around, as she hadn’t written back yet and I wanted to give her a chance to reply. Through divine providence, Morganna walked into the shop while we were there—even though she lives in Toronto! We chatted and she remembered us from the craft show, and immediately agreed to a trade: for one of her beautiful fibre necklaces, I will be doing a spot of graphic design work for her. We hugged on it, and I left the store with my necklace. It took me about five minutes to realize just how wondrous this was, how amazing and incredible, and then I…well, I just started hopping around on the street, in the shops, everywhere. I couldn’t stop hopping. Sounds insane; perhaps it is. I was just so overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of people, and the karmic joy of swapping talent for talent. Morganna, your necklace makes my outfit complete. I feel like a fantastic bohemian princess now. Thank you, from the tips of my bouncing toes to the top of my head.
VENUE
Just a quick revisiting of our wedding shower: if you’ll recall, our friend who offered to host had taken ill rather suddenly and seriously, and we had to find another venue. We ended up at an adorable little event venue downtown, but we had had another offer, as well, from John Marklyn, owner of Marklyn Management. He offered us the loan of a vacant rental space in the Westboro village where he owns some property. In the end, we went with the other venue but we were grateful to have so many options!
RANDOM COOLNESS
Our ceremony site requires the bride to approach from an angle that, if she were to walk it, would leave her exposed to onlookers while she traversed a dirt road or a rough field. Knowing my propensity for nerves and slapstick stumbling, this wasn’t something I was looking forward to. Well, my dilemma was solved! A friend of the family by the name of JP Walsh, a local real estate agent, has offered us the loan of his 1969 Vista Cruiser. Dad will drive me up to the beginning of the outdoor aisle, and I will step out of this fantastic yellow beast to walk right up to my sweetheart at the altar. Thank you, JP!
We found something cool to use for our ‘ring pillow’ a couple months ago, and we realized we completely forgot to blog about it. I was on my way to visit Brian at work and saw a sign for a pottery craft show. I got Brian to come with me on his lunch, and we found a little pot with a slot in the side, kind of like the slot on top of a piggy bank. This ingenious little piece of pottery is an egg separator: you crack the egg into it, pour the white through the slot, and voila! We decided we’d use this as our ring ‘pillow’, because it’s something we’ll use time and again in our kitchen, particularly when baking…so the pot will always remind us of our wedding, and we’ll remember it while making sweet things. The best part: this little pot was precisely ten dollars, which fits perfectly with P:P’s budget rules!
We mentioned this next serendipitous bit of luck before, but we didn’t officially cover it in a blog post: the tablecloths. We attended a thing called the Really Really Free Market, which was a giant collective FREE garage sale. You bring stuff, you take stuff, and either way it’s free. Anyway, we’d been blogging heavily about needing tablecloths, and a newlywed couple sent us an email. Kris, the bride, said she had about 40 matching cloths, but they weren’t white as we’d been asking for (we figured white was easiest): they were way brighter than that and she asked how flexible we are. I gave a rueful laugh when I read that, wondering what colour was about to become part of our theme now…but then I saw the photos, and behold! Kris was offering us 40 tablecloths the exact shade of apple-chartreusey green that is our wedding colour! Kris brought them by to us, and now, between the 15 white cloths we have and the 40 (much finer) green cloths, we will be well decked-out for the evening, with a wonderful splash of colour. Man, we love it when things come together!
A thank you goes out to a woman named Anstria, as well, who offered us a hodgepodge of treasures, including organza bags, a veil, and favours. We were well stocked in these areas, so we declined, but hopefully she will pass them on to another bride on a budget. Thanks again, Anstria, for thinking of us!
We also had an offer from a writer by the name of Sarah Lolley who offered to assist us with vows, speeches, or any other writing we may need. At present, we’re doing alright on our own, but we’re grateful for the offer and to know we have a helping hand out there if we need it! Thank you, Sarah!
We had a great offer that we had to, sorrowfully, decline at this time…but man, it would have been cool! Kristal from Rock Your Wedding & Events offered to teach us a choreographed dance for going down the aisle or for a first dance. Unfortunately, we just don’t have enough time this late in the game, on top of the swing lessons we’re getting from a friend (and Olympic-quality ballroom dancer) we know; but it would have been amazing and we’re so thankful for the cool offer!
And another quick shout-out to Koko Chocolates, who we’ve mentioned before but were remiss in thanking directly: Koko provided us with chocolate truffles to use as prizes at our shower. They were a hit, and we were glad to have them there! Koko, thank you yet again for the chocolates! Koko can do boxes, from favours to large gifts, so check them out…and yes, in case you’re wondering, they are too DIE for delicious.
FOOD
We got an email a couple weeks ago from a woman named Chrystal, who owns an online bakery called Chrystal’s Baked Goodies. Chrystal offered to make us cookies for our wedding, and I gotta tell you, we were so miserable to be turning down a dessert offer! But as blogged about before, our family friend Marta is making us a wealth of amazing cookies to serve and supplement the cake. Regardless, we were super grateful for the offer from Chrystal, and really just so woefully sad that we couldn’t justify having yet more cookies at our wedding.
This is not directly a ‘food’ offer, but a food vessel offer. Our friend Sarah asked us what we still had to find or do before the wedding, and we mentioned we’ve had a helluva time finding disposable wine cups. Sarah is an angel, and immediately said, “Done. I’m on it.” We recently got to contribute something to Sarah’s own special wedding—a day put together through the talents and resources of friends—so this felt like a lovely karmic ‘full circle’. Sarah, thank you for your support! We are so happy to know you.
VIDEO
We also met with the sweet boys from Bytown Productions, a videography company just getting started here in town. These fellas are complete sweethearts. We had the nicest first meeting with them, and we feel confident they are going to rock our wedding video. We’ll be doing an interview with these boys soon, so you’ll hear more about them. Bytown, thank you so very much for your contribution to this project! We hope this will give you tons of new, excited potential clients!
STAG & DOE
A little extra love goes out to The Comic Book Shoppe on Bank Street, who helped us out with our stag & doe by offering up two $50 gift cards for the silent auction and grand prize draw. These were highly sought-after items at the party and helped to bring in some great cash for us!
And of course, much love to Little Cakes Cupcakes for their awesome donation of a $50 gift card for cupcakes! This, too, was a coveted prize, and we just hope the winner invites us over to help eat them.
Much, much love goes out to Boston Pizza in Orleans (a neighbourhood of Ottawa), who hosted our stag & doe. We'll be blogging separately about the party later, but just a quick thanks for the space, the decorations, the promo, the 10% donation, and the $25 gift card for the grand prize package. You guys were the most welcoming, supportive, and excited crew. Thank you for making our party a huge success.
CONCLUSION
36 days to go, and so much love, for each other and for everyone. We're having the best time, getting to meet so many cool people and help spread the word about nifty businesses, too. There's lots coming up and despite the fact that we're down to the wire and super stressed with wedding tasks, we are committed to updating the blog as often as possible. Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the links within this post and enjoy visiting virtually with some of the really cool people who we've fallen in love with.
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