Why Didn't I Discover These Earlier?!

How cute are these custom hangers by Etsy seller Lila Frances? Perfect for THE wedding dress photo or as gifts for the special ladies in your bridal party! Unfortunately for me, the wait time is anywhere between 8-10 weeks - so it looks like I'm a bit too late for this awesomeness.



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Although... it has given me a few ideas about making my own type of custom hangers...hmmmm...

Sharin' Some More Blog Love

In the last year and half I have seen my fair share of fabulous wedding blogs and websites. The women who work on these put their everything into it, and I just wanted to show them a little gratitude for sharing their stories and inspiring me to put together the best damn wedding I can :)

As a token of my appreciation, I'd like to share a little blog love with this Best Blog Award.



The rules of this award are as follows:

1. To accept the award, you must post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted you the award, and a link to their blog.
2. Pass the award on to approximately 10-15 other blogs that you recently discovered, and think are great!
3. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

In no particular order, here is the list of whom I'm passing on to:

1. Classic Bride - Modern is cool, but classic is forever...
2. Forget.Me.Knot.Weddings - The punny name alone drew me to this blog!
3. With This Ring - Awesome blogger, and owner of the cutest pup named Lola :)
4. A Million Little Details - Created by a dynamic duo of sisters. Awesome blog ladies!
5. The Green Wedding Blog - Go Green!!
6. Shaun And Renee - Could this photography couple be any more beautiful? Yeesh.
7. Here Comes The Blog - Love all the inspiration photos!
8. Pink Pearl Images - Searching for a Toronto-based photographer? Look no further!
9. Running From The Law - What started off as a marathon training blog has now evolved into a fun wedding planning blog :)
10. Newly Wed Adventures - Love her sense of fun and humour!
11. Newly Wed In New Orleans - Note to self...must visit Nawlins one of these days...
12. Kari and Raul - Love all the photos! What a cute couple :)

Thanks for sharing your ideas, discoveries, and stories ladies!!

xoxo The Office Bride

10 Things I've Learned About...

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1. Sometimes the person you believed would be the first to respond, will be the last.

2. Receiving RSVPs on a wedding site is fun and exciting. But there will always be a few guests, bless their hearts, who are technologically challenged.

3. Don't take it personal if people don't respond right away. Everyone is the main character in their own story. In other words, there's plenty of other stuff happening outside of one wedding.

4. After the invites are sent out, it's not a bad idea to casually ask if they've been received after a couple of weeks. In our case, a few never got to their destination! And we wouldn't have known unless we asked.

5. People love chicken, lol.

6. Getting a response is awesome. Getting a personal message along with the response is even more awesome.

7. If the invites were sent out more than 2 months ago, don't be surprised if people have forgotten dates and deadlines as you get closer to the day.

8. You will always get at least one or two casual "Yeah, I'll be there" or "Just count him/her as a yes"

9. Sometimes a "No" is more welcomed than a "Yes," as bad as that sounds.

10. I will always try to respond to future wedding invites early from now on. Karma.

Hula Hoop Your Way Down The Aisle

Who knew a childhood past time could be the latest fitness craze for women?!

Celebrities such as Marisa Tomei, Michelle Obama, and Liv Tyler are all fans of this retro toy-turned-waist-slimming-device. And I don't doubt for a second that it works, especially considering these ladies' fabulous physiques!

What I love is that this doesn't require a gym membership or an investment of thousands of dollars in workout machines. All you need is a good hoop from your local toy store and enough room in your living room to get your hips going! According to Celebrity Diet Doctor, "hooping strengthens your core, improves your balance and can even serve as a really good aerobic workout, adding variety to your current one."

I found this fun hula hoop workout video on Youtube.



I think a visit to Toys 'R Us this weekend is in order...

Let's Talk Music

As some of you may recall, last March the Office Groom and I booked our wedding DJ. After some debate on whether we should do it ourselves or not, we finally decided that having a pro look after one of the most important elements in a wedding reception (in our opinion) was the better way to go.

Luckily, we were referred to DJ Andrew Hussey by our venue co-ordinator, and we immediately loved his style when we checked out his site.

Well, today, we will be meeting Andrew in person for the first time! The Office Groom actually met him a while back to give him our deposit, but today we will have the chance to sit down and talk about our music in more detail.

Not wanting to come unprepared, OG and I set aside last Friday to figure out what key songs we wanted for the night. With a couple bottles of wine, we chilled out in our living room and had a great time picking out tunes for entrances, the garter toss, special dances, and general partaying :)

We're hoping for some classic jazz and blues during dinner, and then the real fun begins for the dancing. We're going to ask that the night begins with some oldies but goodies for the older crowd - The Loco-Motion... Tutti Frutti..that kind stuff. Then we'll follow that up with some classic rock like More Than A Feeling, a sure hit with everyone especially our karaoke loving guests. Then some retro 70's to 90's (sigh, how sad is it that the 90's is officially retro? lol), and finally we'll end the night with some contemporary music that ranges anywhere between The Beastie Boys to Dave Matthews Band.

I'll be interested to know how open Andrew is to all this, and I hope our first meeting goes well! Fingers crossed!

"Discontinued" = Frustration

Here's my wedding rant for the week. I have to go back to the department store where we are registered to replaced a whole bunch of items that have been discontinued...AGAIN. Seriously, how many times do I need to scan a new toaster?!

End of rant.

Showing Some Book Love To Our Guests

What is normally a 20 minute commute to work on the subway took me FORTY FIVE FRIGGIN MINUTES this morning. They kept stopping between stations, so we just stood there in the dark tunnel, while someone on the intercom would explain what was going on, but all we could hear was "St...gre....bu....mor....ple...." Why do they even bother?!

So needless to say, I was a bit flustered when I got into the office, but my sour mood quickly dissipated when I noticed a package on my desk. And I knew instantly what it was...

The guests gifts had arrived!!!

I hurriedly set my purse down, turned on my computer, and got nice and comfy at my desk so that I could open the box. And there they were. 150 brand new, fresh smelling (it's all about the smell for me) Robert Munsch books and announcement cards. Le sigh...



Early in the wedding process, after OG and I had decided that we wanted a book theme, we came up with the idea of donating to a good cause that related to the theme in some way. Enter ABC Life Literacy Canada (formerly ABC Canada) - a non-for-profit organization that promotes the cause of literacy nationally through various programs, and helps adults with low literacy to develop the skills they need to succeed in reading, writing, and numeracy.

All it took was an e-mail, and soon I was in touch with the lovely people in the ABC marketing department. They set it up so that once we made a donation they would provide us with enough books for each of our guests as a token of thanks. How cool is that?!



We're also really happy that they've provided us with a title by Robert Munsch, one of Canada's most popular Canadian children's authors, and a personal favourite of both OG and mine (and pretty much every kid in North America, right?!).

I can't wait to see everyone open their little books at the reception, and I hope know that they were part of a good cause :)