Mini-post: bachelorette party review!

My outfit for the day

Last Saturday, I participated in one of the most important and honored wedding traditions of our time: the bachelorette party. My lovely matron of honor, Sir Tamara, organized a day for me, with plenty of input from myself that she lovingly ignored. Well, I will admit she did keep it low-key, which was a must; but my request to spend the evening watching Jane Austen movies and knitting was ignored utterly.

I met up with some of the girls at Sir Tam’s house where I was decorated with ‘bride to be’ sash, tiara, and feather boa. Combined with my busty workout top and short skirt, plus my blond wig (more on this later), I looked really ready for our first activity…

We started off the afternoon at 3Sixty Pole Dancing, where owner Corinne had donated a class for our enjoyment. For those not yet ‘in the know’, pole dancing—now called pole fitness—is a great way to get in shape, and there are a few studios popping up around town. 3Sixty has two studios now, one in central Ottawa, and one in Kanata (west end). You can organize a private class for your friends, or join an 8-week course, with more new fitness stuff starting all the time. We first saw 3Sixty, you may recall, at the Rouge fundraising event, where the girls flipped and spun themselves around a pole until we felt dizzy on their behalfs. I and nine of my favourite girls dressed in shorts and sports bras and found ourselves standing with both hands on a big brass pole. I think I may have been more intimidated, except that Sir Tam and I had actually cheated a little, sneaking off in the spring to 3Sixty’s Open House day when they first opened their new location in Kanata. I could tell, however, that my friends seemed a bit nervous and maybe a little unsure of themselves…which is fair, especially when you consider how few girls have faith in their upper body strength. I wondered if anyone else was flashing back to primary school, when they would clutch to the fireman pole on the playground for dear life and slide squeakily down to the sand.

Corinne started us off with some stretching, then some sexy walking around the pole. She taught us one move at a time, adding one more step each time around the pole. I found this perfect for me, as I have no memory for these types of things but I could usually keep up with adding one tiny step onto the last one. From our first experience at 3Sixty, I knew I would want longer hair for some of the sexy hair flips, so I wore a wig from a past Hallowe’en costume: a bright blond thing that I swore I’d wear at least twice and now have done so. The wig seemed to have super powers, making me feel far more courageous and sexy than usual, and when Corinne challenged us to perform a choreographed routine of our own making, I was hardly shy at all.

By the end of the class, girls were doing great on the poles, and we even got to try an upside-down move. Corinne wrapped up the class by performing a full routine for us at a level 6, and claimed that we could all perform that dance by the end of a year. I want to believe her so very badly, as Sir Tam and I have committed to starting lessons in the fall! The session wrapped up with Corinne giving me an ‘I ♥ Pole Dancing’ shirt, which I’ve worn twice already, albeit a little shyly. 

Cue that Moulin Rouge song!

 

The rest of the evening feels like it should stay undisclosed, given that it was my bachelorette. It was a great time, though, with a combination of silly games, obscene dessert, and lots of chat. And at no point did anyone try to drag me to a nightclub—thank you, girls, this is why I love you. The night closed when Brian and Tam’s hubby Jon got back from a house party and reminded us that they had to be up early for a class, whine whine whine. I’ll remember this, boys, on Brian’s bachelor party night!

Big love goes to Sir Tam, for putting together a night full of fun, penises, boobs, and panties. You deserve and earn your knighthood daily. On your tunic, emblazoned on a field of pink, I’m adding a pair of cake pop boobs.

Cucumber carving competition.

Stag & Doe: the details!

We’re blogging today a bit more about the Stag & Doe, with a few details that people have been asking for! (The details of the silent auction and grand prize are at the bottom of this entry!)

THE BASICS:

When: Tuesday July 12^th, 2011, from 5pm-close

Where: Boston Pizza Orleans (Ottawa, Ontario)

3884 Innes Road Orleans, ON K1W 1K9

What:

-Come eat and drink, and it’s a great night to do so: there’s special pasta deals, and $12.95 pitchers of Long Island Iced Tea!

-10% of any and all your Boston Pizza receipts that you put into the provided bin will go to the happy couple!

-There’s a silent auction running from 6pm-8:30pm, items listed below!

-‘Minute to Win It’ style games will be running from 6pm-9pm outside (weather permitting, inside otherwise), and three ‘special’ games will run at 6, 8, and 10pm. Participation in games enters you into the Grand Prize Draw (see what’s included in the draw below!)

Who: EVERYONE. We hope to have friends, family, blog readers, and total strangers come hang out with us. It’s a chance to relax and mingle before the big day, so we’re happy to see you all and hope you’ll come and chat with us!

Also: big love goes out to Boston Pizza for offering to host this gathering, doing decor, and helping us spread the word. You guys have been amazing, and we're excited to even just hang out with the staff!

ITEMS FOR THE SILENT AUCTION

ITEM    and     VALUE
Tax return value of $90 from Ottawa Tax Services    $90
Knitted scarf  by Sir Tam:   priceless
Pickled carrots by Mom    $30
Cookies x 3 batches by Marta    $20 each
Slackline and lesson by Brian    $100
Jewelry: earrings by Jordan    $30
Painting of X-Men's Mystique, by Jordan Kent  $100
Comic Book Shoppe Gift card    $50
Coleman lantern    $20
Electric travel mugs & cooler    $40
Laptop bag    $50
Rooster lamp    $10
Cards + custom cards by Mom Baas:   priceless
Handblown glass oil lamp    $40
Korean wooden dolls    $20

Mary Kay hand care    $45
Grooming Mix Bag    $80

THE GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE:
Boston Pizza    Gift card    $25
Little Cakes Cupcakes    Gift card    $50
Aeropostale    Gift card    $35
Comic Book Shoppe    Gift card    $50
Cookies by Geek Sweets!

Planning updates, and a visit with the Royals!

Here's a few updates, with a special treat for the Will & Kate lovers at the end!

YOU’RE INVITED: A PARTY!

We’ve had a busy two weeks, and we’re getting a little antsy as we get closer and closer to the big day. Less than two months to go, yet our minds are still pretty focused on our upcoming Stag & Doe. For those who haven’t heard about it yet, it’s being hosted by Boston Pizza in Orleans (a suburb of our city), on July 12^th from 5pm-close. As someone who goes to bed pretty early, the big question we’re pondering is, how late we’ll make it before someone has to carry me, asleep, to the car! If you want some more details, follow this link. Remember that we’re inviting all our lovely readers, friends, family, you name it! This will be our last chance before the wedding to get to meet some of you, and we really want to see you there!

We want everyone to have some fun, so we’re setting up some ‘Minute to Win It’ style games; come play, and every time you play you’ll be entered into a draw for a grand prize package. If you managed to actually win one of the games, you’ll get a boatload of extra draw entries. It’s going to be fun to try—and to watch. So far, the grand prize consists of:

-a $25 gift card for Boston Pizza

-a $50 gift card for Little Cakes Cupcakes

-a $35 gift card for Aeropostale

…and we’ll see what else ends up in the package before the party!

Aside from the games, there will also be a silent auction. Everything, from Marta’s homemade cookies (you will LOVE them), to a $50 gift card for The Comic Book Shoppe (thanks, guys) will be up for bidding. A full list will be posted here soon.

As well, you can just come by for some munchies; put your receipt in the provided bin, and at the end of the night Boston Pizza will give us 10% of the bills gathered!

All these fun and games are going to help us out with some of the incidentals for the wedding that simply can’t be found another way, like the marriage licence, some cleaning supplies, and so forth. If there’s anything extra, we talked about putting it towards our ‘aftermath week’—since we’re not having a honeymoon after the wedding, we’re going to have a stay-cation here in town. But hey, even if you don’t want to play any games, bid on any cookies, or eat any pizza, we are also happy just to have you stop by and share some love with us! This may also be a good time to drop something off for our In Spirit Table!

A WORKSHOP FULL OF AWESOME

The felted flowers we made!

Last week, a gaggle of our friends and family participated in a workshop with Annie Bananie. Annie had contributed a workshop for our wedding, and offered to teach us how to make felt flowers that we could hang in the braches in our centrepieces. (Annie also blogged about the evening: read it here.)Annie was hard at work before we got there, making a huge piece of felt by hand. Our friend Anne brought wine and snacks, and we settled in to learn how to make these flowers. Even Dad Kent got into it, and he did a swell job, we thought! It was really wonderful, having friends and family together around a big table, making tiny pretty things and learning from Annie, who eventually sat with us and became another member of our circle, chatting and sharing. We ended up going through two sheets of felt, as everyone was having a great time and didn’t really want to stop. By the end of the night, we had a shoe box overflowing with little rosettes, and I promised Annie I would repurpose them after the wedding. We had such a great time, I cannot wait to join in on another workshop with Annie in the fall.

Fun with Felt at Annie Bananie's!

THE FINE DETAILS

We had a meeting with Christina, owner of The FlowerFactory, who is contributing our bouquets, boutonnieres, and head table accents. Christina was one of our first contributors, and she’s been the brunt of several panicky emails about wedding drama that has nothing to do with her, herself…but she’s always been a sweetheart, emailing back with words of wisdom and calm. Christina’s arrangements are beautiful, and we trust her imaginative talent so much that we have literally just told her to go wild. Our only request: lots of non-flower things happening. I’m not a feminine gal in the traditional sense, and we really want the wedding to be man-friendly, so sticks and twigs and greens and berries, etc. is really more gender-neutral. It’ll also bring a nice touch of nature, which we both love. We chatted with Christina and her partner over hot bevies for a while, and it was great just to have the chat time with her again! Because we’ve been so open with the plans for floral arrangements, this is one of the details of the day that I am the most excited to see. And this right here is a great example of why our wedding is going to be so cool: there’s a lot of ‘wiggle room’ where even the bride and groom will be surprised.

We also, thank the heavens, have confirmed a videographer. Neither of us was panicked about the possibility of not having a wedding video for ourselves, but we both really wanted one to be able to share all the love and awesomeness of the people who helped bring this wedding together. So we were super excited when we heard from Bytown Productions, offering to film our wedding! We met with Ryan and Andrew, and these sweet young men were really great. They showed us a sample video, and we talked about what we like and don’t like in wedding videos. They’ve promised to get us a short web-friendly video as soon as possible after the wedding so that we can blog it for all to see. We’ll chat more about Bytown in posts leading up to the wedding, but this was a major wishlist item and while a small detail, is one we are incredibly happy to have confirmed!

FOOD: SOLUTION

As you probably know, we’ve been struggling with some food issues for the wedding. We aren’t able to use the fridges, stoves, and microwaves in the kitchen for liability reasons, which has thrown a bit of a monkey wrench into our dinner plans: a potluck that needs to be kept fresh for two hours (plus the hour that most people will have spent in the car to get there). We’ve decided to simplify: have all guests bring cold dishes that can be served cold, and have them bring everything in coolers with ice, with enough to keep things cold for the full three hours (travel + wait time at venue). This will likely limit the amount of ‘filling’ dishes, however, as there’s more risk with high protein foods. Well, my cousin Steve has come to our rescue. He is arranging to cook a big side of beef at his work, and bring it with heating equipment on the day of the wedding. This news was some of the best we’ve had in weeks: the huge reduction in chest pains was so appreciated! While coolers and a giant beef order may not be the most elegant solution to our food storage problem, it is definitely the simplest! Steve, thanks for being awesome.

A SPECIAL TREAT: WILL & KATE

This past weekend, we also had a nice little treat between various errands, wedding tasks, and Canada Day festivities. Brian and I were invited to attend a private reception of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they visited the Canadian War Museum! We went to the museum on Saturday morning with my parents, and were put into lockdown for a few hours while guests arrived and security was checked. Kate and Will visited with veterans and war brides before making a hasty trip through the reception area we were stationed in, and we applauded as they walked through.

I’ll admit, I was a bit shell shocked, what with all the pomp and applause happening, and so many cameras—though none of the guests themselves were allowed to take photos (I snuck a couple shots with my phone before the royals got there). As the royal couple walked by our little group, an arm’s length away, we applauded, and William actually waved at me…but in my utter surprise, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything at all: I just kept clapping and smiling what I’m sure was a ridiculously wide-eyed smile. Gahhhh. Ah, well; at least I looked fantastic in my Vivien of Holloway engagement dress that I was gifted! Naturally that’s what I wore, as I love the dress and most importantly, I love to dress on a theme; so my dress from England was worn to greet our guests from England. And however socially stunted I was in the moment, it's not everyday you get to attend an intimate reception for the Royals, so really all I had to do was stand there, look pretty, and smile. Right?

Bri and my parents at the reception

So many people waiting outside for a glimpse!

THE UPCOMING WEEK…

Really, for the next week, I think we’ll be focusing mostly on the Stag & Doe. We really want everyone to have a great time, and we’re so lucky to have Boston Pizza’s help with decorations, space, food, and other details…so we can focus this week on putting together some fun games, a great auction, and a fun grand prize! We hope to see you there; it’ll be a nice fun night in the midst of wedding chaos and we’d love to chat with you. In the meantime, stay tuned for more blogging as things continue to heat up around here…

Motorcycles, topless guys, and Brian's jacket found!

After work last night, I was a busy gal. I drove around my neighbourhood, running errands and picking up items for the wedding; I finished my relay with a trip to the gym, where I forced myself (despite being utterly disinterested today) to work up a serious sweat on the elliptical, followed by calisthenics ‘til my abs gave out. I drove home to an empty house, as Brian was working late—perfect. I made myself a giant veggie burger and some sautéed vegetables, put Anchor Man in my DVD player, and prepared to gather my sewing materials to work on my wedding dress. I got half-way through my burger before I felt pretty full, and I considered putting the other half in the fridge for later when I would be hungry again. But then the little voice inside my head reminded me that I’d been hungry all afternoon…that I wanted to finish my burger just for the tastiness of it…that I had nowhere to go, so I might as well stuff myself (albeit, with pretty healthy food) to the point of guilty-pleasure-discomfort. I complied, mowing down the burger in four giant bites, content with my distended belly, my gym-sweat hair, and my evening plans.

Then I checked Twitter. And there was a message. From HarleyDavidson Ottawa. Inviting me to last night’s big fundraiser, Precious Metal. “Oh, em, gee,” I said aloud. I had heard about Precious Metal, and had really wanted to go, but with 74 days ‘til the wedding, I just felt way too busy. Yet here I was, with an open invite to stop by the gala, on the house, and chat with Ottawa Harley about Brian’s jacket search. Hmmmmm.

First, I tweeted back that I had only just gotten the invite now, and it seemed too late. Then I tweeted that I would stop by. Then I waited to see if Harley would tweet back, maybe to tell me I shouldn’t come…but no such tweet occurred. A little reluctantly, I went and put on a little black dress, and ran my hot iron over my hair. I argued with myself that while, yes, this type of event wasn’t my usual thing (loud music, bar scene), and while I wouldn’t know anyone, nor would I be able to hear anyone because I never can in a bar, it did involve motorcycles and it may actually be fun, even flying solo.

Well, fun would be understating it! The event took place at a lounge called My Condo on Clarence Street in the market, a cozy little club with a good atmosphere. I knew I’d found the place when I saw the half-dozen Harleys lined up outside—one in our wedding green, which I took as a good sign. Inside, there was a station to get your photo taken on the back of a Harley, a spot to get your hair made over with a stripe of pink added in, a couple different makeup stations, and cupcakes from a new shop, The Cupcake Lounge, that just opened in the market. A guy was teaching girls on the dance floor how to stand up a fallen motorcycle (something I really want to learn how to do but not in a skirt and heels, thanks), while a silent auction took place and women tried on pink Harley gear upstairs. The entire event was put on to raise money for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

I asked the bartender to make me up something virgin and pretty so I wouldn’t feel empty-handed, and made a tour of the stations. I explored the clothing, got my hair made huge and wavy with a pink streak added in, and got my photo taken with two topless fellas while I straddled a big hog. In a moment of unusual bravery, I introduced myself to some strangers and made quick friends with them, chatting with them throughout the evening. I managed to find out who mans the Twitter feed at twitter.com/#FreedomHDOttawa …we chatted briefly before she had to take care of some stuff around the event, with a promise to reconnect later. I bided my time, because I was, naturally, very curious about her interest in Brian’s motorcycle jacket search.

I forget sometimes that not everyone reading the blog has been reading since day one, so let me quickly get you up to speed: motorcycles are what brought Brian and I together. Bri and I were friendly for about a year before he got Sookie—his little Honda Magna that he reconstructed from broken parts by hand—but we became real, fast friends when Brian got his bike. Actually, that’s not accurate: when Brian first got his bike, I wasn’t interested in the slightest. My dad had put a serious fear of bikes into my head, and I had no intention of ever getting on one. Brian pleaded with me for weeks to take a ride, and I just laughed. He told me he’d bought a helmet just to get me on the bike, lying and telling me he’d gotten it on sale for thirty bucks at Canadian Tire so I wouldn’t feel badly if I really didn’t want to go. I still said no. He finally got me to try it when he threatened to take a different girl out, wearing “my” helmet. My pride was piqued, I told him to be at my house at five, and I was standing on my doorstep, trembling, when he showed up.

He explained the rules of being a bike passenger, got me strapped into my helmet, and promised to take me just around the block. I remember hanging onto him with all my strength, convinced that my pride was going to get me killed. Three minutes later, we stopped at Starbucks and Brian pried me off of him and took me inside to get a drink. As we stood in line, me still in shock, I turned to him abruptly. I grabbed his jacket in two shaking fists and said, “I know you want a coffee right now, and I know we just got off the bike, but I really want to go again.” Brian obliged me, and we were on Sookie non-stop for the rest of that summer. It was our chance to spend real quality time together, our last chance to hang out before he moved away in September to Calgary—a story for another time, but the end result is, I rescued him three months later and brought him home…and in exchange for that, he bought me my cowboy boots, which I love to ride in and which I’ll wear down the aisle.

Brian had wanted to paint Sookie; I obliged by surprising him.

So this, readers, is why Brian is going to wear a motorcycle jacket down the aisle instead of a regular suit. Between Sookie and Calgary, Bri has always been my cowboy on a steel horse. And surprisingly, finding Brian a jacket has been one of the hardest parts of our wedding project. We knew we had to look second-hand, or hope for someone with a new one to offer it up; trouble is, Brian is larger than a lot of actual vintage jackets. We were ready to trade an old vintage coat of my own, but we just weren’t finding a jacket that fit and looked right. Brian is, if people haven’t caught on yet, very easy going, and a few weeks ago I was telling him how upset I was about the jacket search going badly…to which he replied, he didn’t care if he had to marry me in jeans and t-shirt. If you’ll recall, I informed Brian that if I started down that aisle and he was not wearing a leather jacket, I was going to turn right back around and not marry him. While I admit that this is a bluff, the emotional sentiment is genuine: I want to walk down that aisle and into the arms of my steel-horsed cowboy, waiting for me in proper attire. (To revisit the original blog entry where I melted down over the jacket, click here.)

Well, it looks like we’ll have that dream of a jacket realized!

Towards the end of the Precious Metal evening, I reconnected with Jennifer of the FreedomHDOttawa Twitter account, and she brought me to meet the manager. We chatted, and they offered Brian a jacket. We haven’t seen it yet, but we will post pictures as soon as we can! I was speechless, and in total shock, and I can’t imagine how that looked to the Harley ladies. I just couldn’t believe that this last non-negotiable ‘must have’ element of our wedding was coming together. With 74 days left, we were realizing our vision. I told the ladies that we were thrilled, and so appreciative, but that given the generosity of the offer, we’d like to help out with volunteer hours, art/design, or whatever else, for their next fundraising event. We shook on it, and a wonderful trade was approved by all.

Ladies of Harley Davidson Ottawa, I can’t thank you enough for a wonderful evening of fun, motorcycles, and cool women. I still have 74 days to sew the detailing onto my wedding dress, so I’m really glad I made the decision to roll my full belly out of the house, put on a dress, and come visit. I’m looking forward to the next Precious Metal, and I strongly suggest that all you lady readers out there join us for the next one!

Our wedding shower: a mad hatter's tea party!

Brian and I decided to do a co-ed shower, breaking with tradition...I know, big surprise, right? But when I thought about doing a girls-only shower, my skin crawled. It reminded me too much of a baby shower, those loathsome parties where the childless among us either feel weird for not wanting babies, or feel rushed to hurry up and have them, while our dear friend is forced to wear bows on her head and people have to play 'what's in the diaper' games--don't the parents get to play that enough at home!

Sir Tam took a major lead in planning this party, and our love and admiration goes out to her. Every tiny detail of the event was truly a showering of love upon us. Her sweet knight in shining armour, Jon, was by her side every step of the way. He hand-drew the playing cards you see in the photos. My (Jordan's) parents made copious trays of Kent traditional sandwiches, and the wedding party chipped in to provide all sorts of other goodies. The crowning jewel in the room: the Little Cakes cupcakes, all done in our Mad Hatter's tea party theme.

Tam organized party games, presents were opened, and people had a lot of fun. Brian and I got to visit with some friends that we haven't gotten to see much lately, which was also really nice. Family met family. Tam's friend Erin gave her talent to make a cake for us to enjoy. Our lovely Laura Stephenson captured the most lovely shots of everything, and Adam Pap came by a little later to catch a bit more. All this in the gorgeous little venue, From This Day Forward, which owner Izabela had donated to us for the day!

I'll admit, hesitantly, that I have caught a bit of the wedding bug. This party was really fun, and it's pretty traditional to have a shower. So maybe not every wedding tradition is silly. Mind you, any excuse to dress up and you've got my attention! But really, when you fill a room full of gifts, food, friends, family, and cupcakes...how could that not be fun?

I've captioned the photos to give you some highlights. It was a lovely day with lovely people and we felt like royalty. Well, I felt like royalty...Brian felt, to his utter joy, mad as a hatter.

The very popular bubble chair!

Brian surveying his kingdom.

Brian was in cupcake heaven.

His new favourite hat!

awesome signage.

Amazing munchies from the wedding party.

Jon Hudon's amazing art!

What an adorable venue.

Beautiful cake by Erin

Flights of Fancy fascinator!

Maggie brought a hat with special sentimentality.

A super huge thanks to Vivien of Holloway for my dress.

And super love to Judy Ruggles for altering it for my figure!

My crino, from Hopes & Dreams

Kisses.

My mom and I.

Koko Chocolates gave us treats for prizes!

More cupcakes..so many! mmmm

My creations: tea cup cake stands.

Me and Sir Tam. She earns her knighthood daily.

Cutting the cake. The practice was good...

Hopefully we'll be better at it on the wedding day.

Another Flights of Fancy by Kate

Tam had me searching for paper clips on Brian.

Opening gifts...

Every gift was so thoughtful,

...beautiful...

and special....

And it was great to see family!

Amazing gifts, incl. our wedding night stay at a hotel--thanks, Mom and Dad!

Tam's handmade treasures!

My very own jersey with my newlywed name...

...from Brian's brother. Made me cry.

Silly to cry over a macho gift like this, but it just hit home: Kent-Baas!

Our wedding invites, by Fran Baas!