Two Years

When the calls and conversations
Accidents and accusations
Messages and misperceptions
Paralyze my mind

Busses, cars, and airplanes leaving
Burning fumes of gasoline
And everyone is running
And I come to find a refuge in the

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

Monkeys on the barricades
Are warning us to back away
They form commissions trying to find
The next one they can crucify

And anger plays on every station
Answers only make more questions
I need something to believe in
Breathe in sanctuary in the

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

Children lose their youth too soon
Watching war made us immune
And I’ve got all the world to lose
But I just want to hold on to the

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me

The easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

Easy Silence by the Dixie Chicks was the last song the Boy and I danced to on our wedding day.

Two years has flown by, and these words have never felt more true for us.

Happy Anniversary Buddy… I know whatever this year brings for us, we’ll take it on it together.

Love always.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary

Did you notice that the wedding posts (and all posts for that matter) fell off the planet? Yeah, me too.  What can I say… the summer’s been a little nutso.

But today’s the day. One year later. First anniversary.

“They” say the first year is the hardest. If that’s the case I can happily report the Boy and I are in for years of smooth sailing. I read a post the other day from Fumbling Towards Normalcy about fairy tales and happily ever after. It made me laugh. Shana always makes me laugh. But she opened this post reflecting on a friend’s status on her anniversary and I really couldn’t agree more.

For richer and poorer – check – (got a new job; bought a house)

In sickness and in health – check (only the odd man cold; for the most part we’re pretty healthy)

For better for worse – check and check.

Sure we’ve had an argument or too, but we also had a lot of fun. It feels different than when we were engaged or dating. And still any time the Boy refers to me as his wife it feels a little strange but it also makes me feel really loved.

But as I remember what we promised each other last year, it makes me remember how lucky we are. Lucky to have found each other. Lucky to have had such a perfect wedding day. Lucky to be supported and loved by so many people. Lucky to have such a happy life together.

Happy Anniversary Buddy. 1 year down, lifetime to go. 🙂

XOXO

Rustic and Romantic County Wedding

The Boy and I spent the weekend in Prince Edward County a couple of weeks ago , and while it was a great way to spend some time together we never would have discovered this new little wine county were it not for our lovely friends Andrew and Charlsie. The Boy played volleyball in university with Andrew and thankfully Andrew brought Charlsie into our lives!

Their wedding was held at a big red barn near Bloomfield Ontario and just like this beautiful couple – it was a stunner! The Boy and I discussedon the day and since I think one of my favorite parts about a wedding is how each couple is able to create a day that is perfect and reflective of them. The Boy and I wanted a great party with all the people we loved in one room. A Catholic wedding was important to me and by default important to him. We wanted to make sure that everyone had a great time and knew how much we loved and appreciated that they were there. So that’s what we kept in mind all the way throughout the planning process. It was perfect for us.

Andrew and Charlsie’s wedding was equally as perfect for them. They wanted to keep it small and simple. They are environmentally conscious people, both country kids, love their families, their friends and each other. All of it was reflected in their day. And it was perfect for them.

Highlights for The Boy and I:

1. We took a minute to give each other a knowing smile while this beautiful couple said their vows – a welcome opportunity to renew our own vows in our heads.

2. We also loved the opportunity to catch up with some great friends – something you don’t really have the opportunity to do at your own wedding.

3. We brought the camera and while we both took about a million photos I edited it down to a few of our favorites.

Finally, a wedding tip. Keep track of the couple – or if you are the couple assign someone to keep track of you. Remembering back on our own wedding day, The Boy and I danced together a few times first, half a dance in the middle and our last dance. We were both trying to talk to as many people as possible (my policy was if you want to talk to me come and dance) and between the two of us we covered pretty much everyone. By the end of the night when we got back to our hotel room we turned to each other and said “so how was your day?!” It was fine, but I noticed that Andrew and Charlsie hadn’t so much as checked in with each other since their first dance. So I arranged for a check in for them.

It was appreciated by the couple and I think one of my favorite pictures we took.

Congratulations to a truly beautiful couple, we were so happy to be part of your day and look forward to many more celebrations together!

PS Charls, I know you’re a little sad about moving a little further west – but we’re thrilled! Hoping we can see much more of you guys this winter! XOXO

Showcasing the Talent

Instead of a traditional speech The Boy’s Best Man showcased his musical talent.  Very sweet. And luckily for me (and him) very easy to recount what he said, no speech recreation and memory straining required.

Of course he opened with some nice words about how happy he was for us.  But mostly I just remember the singing and how different and lovely it was.

Good memory.

Boy’s BFF Paul debated long and hard about what song to choose and how/when to do it.  He considered some Tragically Hip options, but our favourites that are within his range, are about war or the death of a child.  Not really the most wedding-y. So instead, he surprised us.

The Cranberries – Dreaming my Dreams.

Here’s the video:

And here’s the lyrics:

All the things you said to me today,
Change my perspective in every way.
These things count to mean so much to me,
Into my faith, you and your baby.

It’s out there. It’s out there.
It’s out there. If you want me I’ll be here.
[X2]

I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.
I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.
And there’s no other place,
That I’d lay down my face.
I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.

It’s out there. It’s out there.
It’s out there. If you want me I’ll be here…
[X2]

I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.
I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.
And there’s no other place,
That I’d lay down my face.
I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.

Dreaming my dreams with you.
I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.
And there’s no other place,
That I’d lay down my face.
I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.

Still loving that line – And there’s no other place, that I’d lay down my face. I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.  – Beeee-u-ti-ful.

Thanks BFF Paul for sharing your music skills and making our day just that much more special.

Can’t get enough of this LONG wedding recap? Well, you’re in luck – I’ve just counted the number of weeks to our one year anniversary and decided, this can’t go on forever.  So, I need to move a little more quickly (I knew those skipped weeks were going to come back and bite me). So starting this week – double Wedding Wednesdays posts.  Come on back this afternoon – for a few words from The Boy’s parents!

It’s time to play the music

After a couple hours of photos and after our guests had printed in and enjoyed some apps (which rumour has it were delicious) it was time for us to join the party.

This was probably an example of when we should have listened to our DJ.  But I didn’t. It was fine.  But it probably could have been better.

Our wedding party danced their way in to a song from a little movie called Juno. For those of you who were at our wedding – you may recall this was also the song that played on our wed-site.  The Boy said you wouldn’t notice.  I said, I didn’t care (but only because I knew you would).

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I’d want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I’d want is you to shade me and be my leaves

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I’d be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I’d be a nod
If you were a seed, well I’d be a pod.
If you were the floor, I’d wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I’d be a hug

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I’d be the fire.
If you were the love, I’d be the desire.
If you were a castle, I’d be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I’d learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

And then a separate song for us.  Now this is where we probably should have listened to our DJ.  I picked (and I say I because the Boy was no help when it came to these decisions) The Muppets Theme Song by OK Go.

I seriously heart the Muppets and when I heard this version last summer I thought – brilliant.  The only problem is – there is about 60 seconds until the appropriate introduction of the guest star. 60 seconds doesn’t seem like long until, you are dancing awkwardly with your new husband in the lobby. That’s what the DJ tried to tell me.

I was having fun.  The Boy was confused – why couldn’t we just go inside.

So we came in a few seconds early and the clapping from our guests may have drowned out our wedding party introducing us.

Meh.

We made it. We we were married. And really, these were minor details that no one noticed except for me.

And maybe the DJ.

Setting the Stage

There was not a lot of DIY in our wedding but there were a lot of cool details that I was wishing I could blog about before, but didn’t want to ruin the experience for our guests. So I stayed silent.  Now I’m left with a whole bunch of detail information that seems silly to share but since I know there are those out there following along looking for detail help – I’m doing it.

I didn’t want to go crazy with the crafting. Which I don’t think I did.  But I did want those personal touches – of course, everyone does, that turn the wedding into our wedding.  It started with the colour scheme, Orange and Gray as picked by The Boy.  We got so many complements on that choice and I would like it to be on the record that I gave him full credit every time. I may not be big on the crafty crafty ideas but I do LOVE typography, so I included a lot of that, which I wasn’t sure people would notice, but apparently they did.

Again, trying to figure out the most logical way to present this, I think I’ll take you on a virtual tour of our venue.

The yarn balls – unfortunately in the 1000+ photos we have, I don’t have one of the front entrance where they were hung, but imagine them in two bunches flanking either side here.

As guests came in they were greeted by our two lovely bridesmaids, BFFs Kristyn and Kate, and encouraged to drop any cards in the orange bird cage, and “leaf” their print on the guest tree.  We had our bridal party and all those at our rehearsal dinner preprint using red for VIPs everyone else had their choice of orange, yellow or green.  I loved how this turned out btw, it is awesome! Instant art that we will love forever. I have visions of it hanging in a kids room one day – you know, kind of a product of all of this love kind of thing. I got it from Bleu de Toi on Etsy, Love love love. For now it hangs in our living room – the Boy says he likes that it will help him remember our anniversary.

Now, I had made the decision about the tree, and Sista and I decided that guests shouldn’t sign their print because if they did that’s all you would see when looking at it – black scribbles everywhere = boo. And while the Boy agreed, he was pretty adamant that guests have something to sign like a traditional guest book.  I hate traditional guestbooks. I don’t think you ever really look at them again and if he was going to insist I wanted something cool.

Enter The Lover’s Dictionary.  This was a book Sista found at Anthropologie that is a novel, but written as dictionary entries.  Each entry if read on it’s own is a quirky definition of love.  Awesome right?  Well, almost.  It turns out that because we bussed most people in from the hotel, having two things to do in the line was confusing and causing quite the backlog.  So most people skipped the book.  Some did sign it and we love the messages they left.  I’m considering carrying the book around with me for the next year and getting people to sign it as we see them.  Love the book in theory, and in practice the messages that we did get are really sweet.

While I stationed Kristyn and Kate at the guest book/tree table I knew that some might skip it and come back to it later, so I wrote a little poem about how the whole thing worked.  I don’t actually think that many people read it but nonetheless here it is.

From the front entrance people I presume made their way directly to the bar where they were greeted by our wonderful bar staff and a complete list of all that was available for their enjoyment.

And given the length of time they spent in line and the beautiful weather outside, many (I’m sure) headed directly to the bathroom to freshen up.  There they found baskets with various odds and sods to help them on their way, as well as more poetry.

Drink and appetizer (didn’t get any but heard they were delicious) in hand guests were encouraged to head on in and find their seats.  An alphabetical list of names and corresponding tables was at the end of the guest table, as well as a seating map, (Sorry no picture of the map – I was overzealous in my throwing away post-wedding and didn’t think to take a picture of it first!)

The tables were named after all things the Boy and I love (besides each other of course – barf). I may have stolen the idea from my cousin Stacey’s wedding but ours were less lovey, zen and peaceful (like her) and more alcohol, sports and knitting related (like us)!

Can you tell which tables belonged to whom?

• Kiki and Denba
• Lucky Cans
• Steamwhistle
• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Anthropologie
• Sugar Maple
• Richmill Farm
• Urban Farmers
• Western Mustangs
• The Twenties Roar
• Birdie
• The Color Purple
• Come Here Often?
• Hand Dyed Yarn
• Muscle Beach

Inside was a whole lot more orange and gray… we’ll get there, next week.

Wedding Wednesday – Crap.

So you may have noticed Wedding Wednesday has once again taken a bit of a hiatus.  I assure you I have the next 5 weeks written.  Alas, I had to take the photos off my computer in order to create enough space for a software update. Which has delayed the post finishing process. Last night I sat down to put the pictures into the posts… I can’t find the CDs with the picture files. Crap.

I’m sure they’re somewhere. The Boy probably knows where they are.  Or they’re in somewhere perfectly logical like the bottom of a box in the sun room.  I just need to take my mind on a little adventure since they weren’t in the perfectly logical place I thought they were… my knitting bag.

This is SUPER frustrating on three levels.

1. When I sit down to finish off my posts I expect things to go smoothly.

2. I have a wedding wall planned in my head and a general update of all of our pictures in our house planned and the CDs are an integral part of that.

And perhaps most important,

3. The most common argument between the Boy and I is that he is O.C.D. anal about where things go and I am not. I insist that just because I don’t have a “spot” for everything doesn’t mean I lose things. I in fact very rarely lose things. I do, occasionally misplace things or forget things – but I think this just gives my brain the opportunity for a work out. And all is well, no harm done. The Boy will not see it this way and I will need to spend hours and hours rehashing why I don’t have spots for everything. Exhausting.

ANYWAY, if everyone could (as my Nanny would recommend) say a little prayer to St. Anthony – they’ll surely turn up.

Fingers crossed 😐

 

Congratulations! Thank you! x150

We didn’t plan a receiving line.  But apparently we didn’t need to.

After some high fives and fist pumps

Some hugs and smiles

The congratulations started pouring in.  We started with the family – of course

But things started getting crowded so we headed out to the beautiful day

And we said “Thank you” to all 150 people.

And while at some point we thought the line would never end – we were so happy to see each and every one of them.

And we were wonderfully rewarded…

Champagne and 10 minutes to check in with each other.

 “Hi husband! How was your day?”

I Meaghan take you Boy

How do I capture this moment? What I was thinking? (try not to cry) What I was feeling? (nauseous)

I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.  The music started.

Forrest Gump Suite.  Do you know it? We love movies the Boy and I and this one is quite possibly one of the best.  Plus, it’s such a great piece of music.

The girls went up and the last one to leave me was Sista, who wished me luck, and when she was at the front she gave the Boy a big hug (she said it just didn’t feel right to walk right passed him like she didn’t even know him) and then it was just me and my dad.

I stepped into the doorway and the tears started coming. But I looked straight ahead and focussed all my attention on the Boy and on not having makeup run down my face in the pictures.

Friends told me later they had never seen someone look like they were concentrating so hard and so focused.  One goal. Get to the Boy.  Get married.

We went through the beginning of the mass and as soon as the Boy and I were able to sit down – and listen the words we chose.

First up, Song of Songs  we chose it because I love the line My Beloved is mine, and I am my Beloved’s. Love it. Why not open a wedding with a love poem?

Second up, Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 12:1-2, 9-18; LOVES the line Rejoice with those who rejoice, Weep with those who weep. It’s a list of high ideals to aspire to – but hey, there’s nothing wrong with lofty goals.

Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12a I love the Beatitudes. Love them. Life is a mix, good and bad and so is marriage, love and faith can get you through.  Come on that’s just a good message to remember.

Side note here, while I had the more churchy upbringing the Boy knew what he wanted, or more specifically what he didn’t. Corinthians. Love IS patient and Love IS kind. But as the Boy says, “I hear the Bible has a lot of to say, I’m pretty sure we can find something that doesn’t make me think of Wedding Crashers”  Well said Boy. Well said.

Post readings, the vows. The big show. We didn’t write our own, in the Catholic church, since marriage is a sacrament they discourage you from writing your own vows but give you several to choose from. We went traditional.

It didn’t take long. But in those few moments we did it.

Married.

Mr and Mrs.

And I felt… hungry.

We went through the remainder of the mass and while walking up to sign the register, I tripped.  Seriously.  Just a small one. And only fitting really.  Coordinated? Not so much.

There we are signing away, I turned to our priest and said – “This is the wrong song”  He smiled and laughed and said “We had to make an executive decision – I was hoping you wouldn’t notice!” I told him – “You’ve obviously never planned a wedding if you thought I wouldn’t notice!” The Luckiest isn’t Catholic enough (or at all) apparently.

So it got cut. Shoot.

So the song was wrong.  I didn’t care.  The right song would have been lovely. But the wrong song was nice too – and spoiler alert, that was the only thing that went wrong (besides the trip I guess). And that’s good enough for me.  I was happy that I chose to write down the words to the right song in our program.

That’s it. We were married.  We RAN back up the aisle – the Boy has LONG legs when he wants to and then we shared high fives, hugs and fist pumps all around.

Done and done.  Married.

Let’s party. 

But first… I’m starving someone find me some food!

The Details

A brief time out from the nervousness of waiting for things to start, to bring you a little DIY.

There wasn’t really a LOT of DIY in our wedding, mostly text stuff.  But one of the things that was Designed it Yourself was our church program.

I asked our priest if there were words he had to say, or things that should be in the program but he said “Don’t put too much in there – I won’t say half of it anyway.” Alright then.

You may or may not know that a Catholic mass is quite… involved.  And since it is only my family that are Catholic we wanted a program that would be helpful for everyone, but not a book.  Definitely not a book.

So we I put this together with the wonderful help of Pages brought to me by Apple.  Brilliant.

I included the words to The Luckiest – which was to be sung while we signed made it legit in the eyes of our Province not just in the eyes of God. Love this song, and loved that even if no one noticed – for me it tells the story of how we feel and what we hope for.  Love, love, love you Ben Folds.

And instead of putting the words to the readings, we put why we picked them.  And I can firmly say we since we really did pick them together.

We also managed to use more of our engagement photos and brought a little more family memory into our service. These are the things that I’m sure were only noticed by some, but for us, well me (let’s be honest) these were the details that meant the most to me and worth the effort.

Catholic Mass explained on one page – CHECK!