Photography courtesy Stacey Clarke.

Wow, I really can’t believe that our six-month blogging journey has come to an end!  It has been so much fun sharing my wedding planning experience with all of you, and Karlo and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone again for reading along!  We truly appreciate each and every one of you…

Now, since the wedding ceremony in Jamaica has passed, and our Vancouver reception just took place last weekend, I feel the best way to wrap this up is to give you my Top 10 “If I could do this all over again” list.  Here goes:

If I could go back and do this all over again, I would:

1. DEFINITELY still get married in Jamaica! Our wedding ceremony, in fact our whole trip, was absolutely perfect in every way and was even more than we’d ever dreamed of. For those of you considering a destination wedding, I would recommend Jamaica (specifically, the Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril) wholeheartedly.

2. Definitely still write our own vows. I can’t imagine what our ceremony would have been like if we hadn’t had the chance to say our vows in our own words. If you have the opportunity to write yours from scratch, I’d highly recommend it.

3. Make sure to hire a travel agent who has extensive knowledge and experience with booking group travel arrangements, specifically wedding trips.  Sadly, our experience with our travel agent was not a good one, and this was pretty much the only stressful part of our planning experience.

4. Hire a local photographer based on peer recommendations. Since we were hiring a photographer from so far away, we didn’t have the luxury of meeting her ahead of time. All we had to go on was her online portfolio and the reviews of her work that I found on the Best Destination Wedding Forum. In the end, we couldn’t have been happier with our decision—our photographer Stacey Clarke did a magnificent job and she was so incredibly wonderful to work with throughout the whole process.

5. DIY as much as possible! Towards the end, I ran out of time and had to let go of some of the DIY projects I had planned. So if I could go back, I would definitely have planned my time better and gotten a few more DIY’s in there.

6. Go for real touch flowers! I love having my bouquet in our living room, looking as lovely as it did the day we got married. Plus, all of the bouquets travelled quite well—even though they got squished in our suitcases, they bounced back to shape right away as soon as we unpacked them!

7. Have the bridesmaid dresses custom made. That’s what we did, and they turned out amazing! I guess it depends where you live and who you have make them, but our gal did a fantastic job and we couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.

8. RELAX! The night before the wedding, Karlo and I were relaxing and chilling out with our friends in our room at the resort. At one point, someone said, “You would never guess that tomorrow these two are getting married” because we were so at ease and relaxed. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

9. Wear flats for the ceremony and the reception. I decided to wear flats because I know myself, and there’s no way I would have made it through the whole night (or even part of the night, for that matter) in heels.

10. Savour every moment of the planning period. Our entire engagement, from that snowy day in 2008, right up until the night before the wedding, was nothing short of a fairytale. I loved being an engaged, and I’m glad Karlo and I got to enjoy the whole wedding planning process together the way we did. Karlo was definitely not a “hands off, show up at the altar and that’s it” type of groom; in fact, Karlo did as much, if not more, of the planning than I did.  From designing our boarding pass invitations, to creating our bright, fun wedding website and even being in charge of the seating chart, Karlo was truly amazing.  I am the happiest, proudest wife in the world, and I am still pinching myself that I get to call him my husband.

So that’s it. That’s my list. I wish I had more time and space to keep telling you all about the wedding, but alas I do not. I’d like to say thank you again to all of you for reading along, and to all of my fellow contestants, I wish you nothing but love, laughter and happiness with your fiancé/husbands for the rest of your lives. Cheers, everyone!

By far, writing our own vows was the most meaningful and touching part of the whole wedding process for Karlo and I. We had a religious ceremony, so we still did the standard vows that we all know by heart (“for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part”), but we also had a chance to insert our own personal vows into the ceremony and in the end we couldn’t have been happier with that decision.

We wrote our personal vows the night before the wedding, because we wanted them to be as natural and organic as possible and not seem dry or rehearsed. We decided to follow a simple format (one that I’d read somewhere a long time ago), and simply state three reasons why we love each other, followed by three promises to one another. If given the chance, I’d shout my vows from the rooftop, because I’d like the whole world to know how much I love Karlo. Instead, I’ll just share them here with you now…

Karlo,

I love you because you are the funniest person I’ve ever met. You make me laugh every single day of our lives, and I know you’ll do that forever.

I love you because you have such a good heart and you always put others before yourself. You are loving and thoughtful towards your parents, and towards my family, and I know one day you will teach our own children to do the same.

I love you because you are so good to me. You have always treated me with the love and respect that I’ve hoped for, and I thank God every single day for bringing you into my life. You are strong when I am weak, you are my comfort from any storm, and you make me happier than I ever thought possible.

Because I love you, I promise to always respect you and honour our relationship for what it is–our greatest achievement.

Because I love you, I promise to always support you and stand by you, whatever may come.  You have already stood by me and taken care of me, in sickness and in health, and I promise to do the same for you.

Because I love you, I promise to always be true to you and to be honest with you. I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my life. You have my heart forever, because not a day less will do.

So, I’m wondering: are any of you planning to write your own vows?

So unless you are also planning a destination wedding, you’re probably wondering what the heck an OOT or AHR is—I myself hadn’t heard of either until we started planning our wedding last year. OOT is the abbreviation for basically the best loot bags ever—the Out Of Town bags, which we’ll be giving out to all of our guests in Jamaica. AHR is the abbreviation for the big party we’re planning right now—the At Home Reception.

So first, the OOTs! I would just like to say, if you’re one of our guests coming to Jamaica—PLEASE STOP READING NOW! I’m serious, don’t read on! Ang and Chrissy, I’m talking to you ;)  Ok just kidding, I won’t give away all the secret jems that will be hidden in each bag, but I’ll tell you that every guest will be greeted in their rooms upon arrival with a beach bag full of goodies to help them survive the week and have the most fun possible in Jamaica! Some examples of things that are usually included in the OOTs are “hangover survival kits,” (that include things like Aspirin and Tums) basic necessities like extra sunscreen and bug repellant and fun things like card games, puzzle books and other things to pass your time on the beach.  Each bag will also come with a handwritten note to the guest welcoming them to our wedding week in paradise!

Now, for our AHR, Karlo and I had to decide if we wanted to hold the Vancouver party right away after we got back from Jamaica, or if we were going to wait a bit until the dust settled, so to speak. Most destination brides I chatted with were having their AHRs right away, though some did decide to wait a while (4 to 6 months) after their trip to have theirs. In the end, we decided to have ours pretty quickly after we get back—we’re getting back on May 31^st and our AHR is two and a half weeks later on June 18^th. We decided to have the party right away because we really just can’t wait to party with all of our friends and family! Our AHR is going to be an extension of our trip, with the Island vibe infused into every aspect of the party—Caribbean food, reggae music and brightly coloured decorations will bring a bit of Jamaica back to Vancouver with us!

I have to admit, apart from the wedding ceremony itself, the part of the festivities that I am most looking forward to is the dance portion of the AHR—I can’t wait to boogie on down with all our people!  What part of your big day are you most excited about?

a) Saying your vows

b) The big feast!

c) Dancing your butt off

d) All of the above

For our AHR invitations we sent out postcards, to keep with the travel theme. Karlo designed them to match our wedding website…

I’ve always had problem skin.  As long as I can remember, I’ve been plagued with every skin problem imaginable—acne, extreme dry skin and eczema have been my biggest problems. It got to the point when I had to quit past jobs because something at the workplace was causing my eczema to act up. Luckily, over the past few years working with my new dermatologist, I was able to get my skin to a manageable point and hadn’t had many flare ups of any of my skin issues…

Until 2 weeks ago. Basically, my face exploded. I’m pretty sure it’s due to the stress of starting a new job (something I did one month before the wedding!) and the planning of both the wedding trip and the AHR (at home reception)… lack of sleep also must have played a huge part in the breakout. With my eczema flaring up and the acne making a sudden, very unwanted return, I had to make an appointment at a local salon for a facial, something I have only done once in my life and never did again because the chemicals in most treatments just cause my skin issues to get worse. But my boss recommended Skoah to me—a local salon chain that uses all natural products that are manufactured right here in Vancouver. I have to say, I felt really nervous going in there because of my one and only terrible experience at a different spa years ago, but I’m sure glad I did. After only a week, I’ve already seen a huge improvement in my skin and by the time we leave for Jamaica, I’m sure I’ll feel confident enough that I won’t be shy during the pictures.

What has been your skin care regimen leading up to your big day?

Photography courtesy of A Spring Wedding on Etsy.

…unless it’s a fake rose, that is! For the most part, I am avoiding fake things on my wedding day—no fake nails or fake hair or anything like that. I am, however, going to be “faking it” with the flowers—all of our wedding florals will be made of artificial “Real Touch” flowers that are extremely common for destination weddings (thanks to all the ladies on Best Destination Wedding Forum for helping me come to the decision that fake is the way to go!)

Since I am knowingly and willingly bringing fake flowers all the way to Jamaica with me, you might be wondering why I made that decision, so I’ll tell you!

First off, quite honestly, artificial flowers are a lot more affordable than real flowers. Also, I really love the idea that I will be able to keep my bouquet for years to come, exactly as is, 50 years from now, it will look exactly the way it did on our wedding day! Finally, after viewing all of the available options in artificial flowers (the Real Touch flowers are absolutely amazing—they look, feel and in some cases even smell real!), I came around to the idea that fresh flowers are not the only way to go.

In my last post, I talked about some of my favourite finds on Etsy, one of which is JDLEGGANS, a sweet little boutique of artificial wedding florals. The designer behind all of the beautiful creations found in the store is Danielle McAfee. Working with Danielle to create our custom wedding package has been very rewarding—I’ve basically gotten to choose every single flower myself and Danielle has been so receptive in letting me decide how they’ll be arranged.  I had the chance to ask her some questions about wedding floral design and thought it would be nice to share some of her insight with all you fellow brides-to-be. Here is a snippet of what Danielle had to say:

Lara Varona: What’s your #1 tip for brides when selecting their wedding bouquets/florals?

Danielle McAfee: My number one tip would be to have an idea of what you like, but be flexible. Especially with real touch flowers, because although there is a wide variety of high-quality real touch flowers available, some types or colours of flowers are not yet available. However, if you have a general “look” you are going for and can provide inspiration photos, your florist will be able create something similar for you that you will love!

LV: What would you say to a bride who is struggling between going for real flowers versus getting real touch/silk flowers?

DM: I would remind them what a great keepsake a real touch flower bouquet can be. With modern silk/real touch flowers, most people will not even suspect your bouquet isn’t real unless you tell them. (At my wedding, my photographer, who has photographed literally hundreds of weddings, did not believe mine was silk even when she touched it!) And then, once your wedding is over you will have a beautiful keepsake for years to come.

LV: What is a good type of flower to choose for a bride that is trying to “stretch a dollar?” On the flip side, what flower would you recommend they splurge on and why?

DM: For budget-conscious brides, I always recommend gerbera daisies. They are such a fun, happy flower and look great in bouquets either on their own or mixed with other blooms. They are also one of the most inexpensive flowers you can buy—even Real Touch gerbera daisies are very reasonably priced. For a splurge, I think Real Touch calla lilies are always an elegant and timeless choice, even though they are a bit pricey. Hence the splurge!

Thanks to Danielle McAfee of JDLEGGANS for taking the time to answer my questions!  I was going to post pictures of our finished wedding florals, but for that you’ll just have to wait until after our wedding…

Are any of you planning “faking it” on your wedding day?

Photo courtesy of dandelionland. Ours will be customized to look just like us.

First off, I have to share the good news—everything worked out, and Karlo and I are still getting married in Jamaica! It took almost a week, (andthere was very little sleep during that week, let me tell you!) but our travel agent was able to find us enough seats on a different flight to Jamaica, and work it out with the hotel that we still have the same block of rooms as originally booked.  Now, of course, the itinerary is very different from the original—we’re flying on a different day, and we have a few layovers to deal with—but it’s all good. We’re just happy that we still get to feel the Jamaican sand under our feet as we say our vows. Just a little road bump on our way to wedded bliss, no biggie! As they say in Jamaica, “Ery’ting irie!”

Now that that’s out of the way, the planning continues! I’m sure most of you have already heard of Etsy, but in case you haven’t—check it out! It’s the most amazing place to seek out and find the loveliest handmade items for your wedding. I’ve been a fan of Etsy for years (and actually used to sell handmade bags on there myself) and as soon as Karlo and I got engaged, I knew that many a wedding item would be purchased from there. To date, my real touch bridal bouquet (more on that later!), bridal jewellery and our custom cake toppers have all been purchased from Etsy artists, and no doubt I’ll be purchasing more in the future. My favourite feature of Etsy is that you can search for local vendors, and in effect end up buying handmade items from artists in your own neighbourhood. The Vancouver handmade movement has been going strong for

Photo courtesy of PowderBlueBijoux.

years, and I love that in addition to buying items from local craft fairs, I can also shop online and buy from many of the same artists on Etsy. Apart from my wedding dress, most everything for our wedding is handmade—either by myself or from Etsy. I absolutely love that ours is a “handmade wedding,” and really couldn’t have pulled it off without Etsy!

So, do any of you have an Etsy seller or item that you just can’t keep to yourself?!  I adore finding new handmade gems!

Photo courtesy of jdleggans.

The Riu Palace Tropical Bay, Negril, Jamaica.

This morning, I received an email from our travel agent that had me literally shaking in my boots—some people sweat profusely when they’re nervous, but me, I just get the shakes. It said “Please call me ASAP.  I have a very urgent matter to discuss with you regarding your wedding in Jamaica in May.”  Gulp. Call ASAP?  Gulp. Urgent matter?!  I couldn’t even begin to mentally prepare for what he was going to say, so I begged my wonderful fiancé to make the call. And I waited. Intense nail biting ensued.

Then, the call.  “Babe, it’s not good.  Signature Vacations has dropped Jamaica from their spring/summer schedule.  Our trip has been cancelled.”

As I write this, we are two and a half months away from our wedding date, and now there’s the possibility that we might not make it there.  Of course, we can scramble and try to find a different carrier, but the reason we’d decided to go with Signature in the first place was because they were the only group carrier offering EVERYTHING we wanted—direct flight from Vancouver to Jamaica, staying at (in our opinion) the most beautiful resort in Negril, a reasonable group rate for all of our guests, and amazing perks for group travellers.  In short, we chose Signature over all the other carriers because the package they put together for us was perfect. Now, it looks like we’re back to square one in the planning department.

For those of you who are not planning a destination wedding, please let me put this in perspective for you:  this predicament I’m in is the equivalent of your wedding venue suddenly and unexpectedly being closed for renovations two and a half months before your wedding.  Do you think you’ll be able to find a different venue, in which to hold the most important day of your life, on such short notice?  It’ll be hard, sure. But by golly, you’ll (I’ll) do it!

Hope we make it here!

You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that like the course of true love, the road to your dream wedding never did run smooth, either!  And at the end of the day, who really cares where we get married, right?  I’d marry Karlo tomorrow, in our backyard (if we had a backyard, that is), wearing a garbage bag and a plastic ring if I had to. The details are just secondary… it’s the rest of our lives that I’m really looking forward to, not just the one day.

In any case, I hope that by my next post I’ll have some better news to relay to you.  Keep in mind that these posts are written two weeks in advance, so as you sit and read this, I could very well already be dying to tell you the good news!  We’ll just have to wait and see where this journey takes us next…

Before I go, do any of you have a nice relaxation technique you can recommend?  I think I’m going to need it! Ha!

Ok, so I called this post the The DIY Birdcage Veil Experiment because I wasn’t really sure I could pull this off from the get-go.  Before you read on, I will happily report that the experiment was a success, thanks in no small part to the multitude of DIY websites and forum posts that I found on the subject.  I tried a few of these out (like this one from oncewed.com and this one from bridalguide.com) but in the end came up with my own simplified version of this project by Made by Amy, which I have laid out step by step for you here. As you can see, the supplies and steps in this project are minimal. I trimmed down the one by Amy because, well, with all the millions of things to plan for the wedding I figured the easier, the better! So here you go, my DIY Birdcage Veil…

Supplies

- Millinery netting in 12” width (I scoured the city to find this stuff.  Vancouver ladies, the only place you can get it, far as I can tell, is Gala Fabrics on Granville Street!)
- Needle and thread
- Hair clip / bobby pins

Example of cut edge (left) vs. finished edge (bottom)

Step 1
Cut a piece of the netting to approximately 25” in length. Determine where you want the gathered part of the birdcage veil to sit on your head. I wear my hair short in an angled bob, so I wanted the veil go from right to left, angled slightly forward. I bought the 9” and 18” widths of netting (sometimes called Russian veiling), which was all that was available at the fabric store. The 9″ was a little too short (but worked great for the bandeau style, like this one from projectwedding.com) and the 18″ was too long. If the 12” netting had been available, I suspect that would have been perfect, so I cut the 18” down to 12” and worked with that instead.  Once you’ve cut the netting down to 12”, you will be left with three cut edges and one finished edge.  The finished edge is the part that will be visible across your face—the other edges will all be gathered.

Step 2
Lay the veiling flat, with the finished edge running along the bottom. Starting at either corner of the finished edge, take your thread and weave it in and out of each netting hole (diamond). You’ll go up one of the cut edges, across the top cut edge and down the other cut edge.

Step 3
Pull the thread taught, gathering the netting. Now, try it on and see if you like how it looks.  If you are not happy with the way that it sits, adjust as necessary. *Helpful hint: if you find that the top of the veil is too puffy, cut the top corners off so that the top edge has two angled sides.  Repeat trimming until you’re happy with the shape.

Step 4
Once you are happy with the shape and fit of the veil, pull the two ends of the thread taught and tie in a knot. I’d recommend double knotting the thread to make sure that it doesn’t come loose. Fasten the gathered part of the veil to the hair clip, or use bobby pins to secure it to your hair. Cover the bobby pins/clip with a fascinator like this one or this one. Personally, I am going to opt for placing a fresh flower in my hair on the day of the wedding.  Alternatively, you could decide to forgo using a fascinator or flower at all, like in my pictures here. By the way, please excuse the picture—without my hair done or any makeup on, it’s hard to get the full effect of the veil. I’ll be sure to post pics of it in all its birdcage-y glory after our wedding!

Step 5
And you’re done! Yay!

So there you go.  I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial of mine—I sure had fun creating it!  If you are planning on wearing a birdcage veil, do you plan to wear a fascinator, a fresh flower, or nothing at all?