Well, the fate of the wedding tour seemed pretty grim. With DH set to start working all weekends starting on the 7th of July it seemed unlikely that we were going to be able to pull it off.
Our first concern was Ottawa and Newmarket. St.Catharines and Toronto seemed easier to resolve because we could get DH there later on in the day. But Newmarket was a 2 hour drive from his worksite and Ottawa was upwards of 6
We tried to move the Newmarket date to a date in June, but not enough of the guests could swing the change with such late notice. We decided to move the Newmarket date to coincide with Toronto. Guests would need to drive half an hour, but it wasn't the end of the world.
But Ottawa was still problematic. We went up on Canada Day and celebrated both the birthday of our nation and our wedding tour with one set of friends from Ottawa. But there was still another entire party to contend with. There didn't seem to be any solution. No other weekend worked for the friends hosting our party and we simply could get DH there. Ottawa -- at the very least -- was going to be cancelled.
That is....until my friend Rene saved the day. She cheered me up and promised that they'd make it happen (one way or the other) and even said that I could "borrow" her husband (my good friend Tim) as a proxy DH if need be. She even suggested having a video link.
In the end we wound up finding out this afternoon that DH's start date will be pushed back until next weekend. The tour will be hitting Ottawa...with DH.
So on with the show....
ST.CATHARINES, ONTARIO
The plan was to host my mom's family on Saturday and my dad's family on Sunday at my parent's house. Both my parents have many brothers and sisters and had all my cousins come, we wouldn't have had enough room.
Let me introduce you to the place I call home.
St.Catharines is located in the region of Niagara, known for its fruits and its wine, particularly its ice wine. I love it. There's nothing like driving along the highway coming from Toronto, turing the bend around Hamilton and feeling the lake. And I do mean feeling it. The air just changes in a way that feels like home.
One of my favourite places in St.Catharines is Lakeside Park. I spent a lot of time as a kid and teenager hanging out here. I think it's just gorgeous
I love the beach and the piers...
I even love our Canadian Geese (despite the mess they make)...
But I'm most proud of our old fashioned, hand carved carousel...(it's only 5 cents a ride!)
Before DH and I realized that a DFTW was a possibility, I had looked into getting married at the end of the eastern pier. I thought it would be the perfect place to have a small gathering, especially because I feel so close to my grandmother (who passed when I was 16) when I'm there.
I love my parent's house as well. I guess it'll always be home now.
(that was the first day I got my brand new car, it was the only picture I had with the front of the house).
DH and I drove home the Thursday before the weekend started to come up with a game plan. I still had to put together the favours, do all the shopping and put the food together.
We originally had planned to do t-shirts for favours, to keep with the theme. But after being inspired a la Oprah, I decided that making them would be an unnecessary use of energy. And I wasn't sure if people would have any use for them. Instead we made copies of the DVD (which Simon modified), packaged them with popcorn, and had a package of hershey's hugs and kisses for take aways.
Every time I go to buy a fruit tray for an event, I shake my head and say "why would I pay so much money for cut fruit....I can do it myself". Well after 2 hours of cutting fruit and veggies on Saturday, I would have gladly shelled out the extra $20
Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of the actual days. I was busy moving from room, to room, to the backyard to tell my tales and show the pictures. I promise, promise, promise we'll take more for the Ottawa stop.
One of my favourite moments was slipping outside with my little cousin and her friend to watch them blow bubbles. They were so cute!
After being disappointed with my DFTW cake, I wasn't taking any chances on our wedding tour cakes. For this stop we splurged and went to a great local bakery. It was so tasty!
The wedding tour was off to a great start. It was nice to sit around and chat with family in a relaxed way, to tell them all our stories, and watch them experience the wedding for the first time as they watched the DVD.
DH did a great job taking the footage we received from videography and adding on post-ceremony footage from my dad's video footage. We had fun making a DVD to true form. Bonus features were included in the DVD including montages from when we were little, video from my limo ride, and even a commentary (that's right...we sat down and recorded our thoughts as we watched the video). It's truly a great keepsake.
I'd like to share a little of it with you. This the montage DH composed of me from video and pictures taken over the years. The picture has lost some of its resolution from compressing the file, but I hope you still enjoy
(click on image)