Wedding Pictures

Okay, finally, after weeks of promising, I have posted our wedding pictures. Please send me an email if you want the link.

I'm MARRIED!

from London Heathrow

It's over. Saturday was perfect! It went better than I ever could have imagined!

Anyone who was in Kelowna in the week leading up to the wedding knows the weather was miserable and looked less than promising for Saturday.

Friday night as our out of town guests left the house a PRECISELY 9:00 (yeah, yeah, so my dad kicked them out so that I could get some sleep), the stars were out and shining hard. Saturday morning, Kelsey and I went for our pre-wedding walk and it was still nice - a bit chilly, but dry.

While we were getting our hair done, it got cloudy, but by the time the photographer arrived, the sun was shining!

The ceremony was short and exactly what we both wanted. The venue was spectacular with all its fall colours.

Happy, happy, happy. I'm still over the moon two days later.

The reception was a lot of fun! We both had an absolute blast!

Thank you to everyone who helped us get here - my bridesmaids, Mom and Dad, Kelsey, Rebecca and Jared, Alex's parents and brothers, Stacey, my rather large, but very special extended family, and our friends who helped with everything from getting me ready, to calming nerves, to feeding us and doing dishes the morning of the wedding, to ensuring everyone was on time, that the venues were ready and that all the little details were looked after. We couldn't have pulled our big day off without a lot of help!

A selection of photos from the big day:

photo credit: Fiona

With my parents, pre ceremony

photo credit: Neil and Melissa

Going to get married

photo credit: Kate

First Kiss

photo credit: Fiona

The Mulvigirls

photo credit: Mikey

With the Lyons family

photo credit: Mikey

With our parents

photo credit: Fiona

Husband and wife

photo credit: Fiona

the girlies

photo credit: Fiona

more husband and wife

photo credit: Mikey

The oh so famous Dishes

The Lyonses and Auntie Stella do the YMCA

Fraser and Rebecca YMCA it

The beautiful, yummy cake Auntie Susan made

photo credit: Rebecca

sisters

Amazing people in my life!

I have an amazing family (and amazing friends too!)

Somehow I managed to get organized to go to Kelowna for a week, organized for Alex and I to go to Europe for two weeks, organized for company to arrive today and catch a few hours sleep last night.

I was up before it was light out to catch my flight to Kelowna. I landed and the week of errands started with a bang!

Then I was looking forward to a relaxed and quiet evening with my sisters, but strange things started happening. Auntie Jenny, organized aunt, called at 6:30 to see if we were the keepers of the travelling family cutlery for a dinner party she was having tonight at 8:30. Not like her at all, but okay. Kelsey said we could drop it off on our way out because it was on our way to where we were going and that we'd be by around 7:30.

When we got there, Kelsey and Rebecca made me come with them because I hadn't seen Auntie Jenny in a while. Which kinda maybe sorta made sense. Except that she had company.

Then she asked us to come in. Which made no sense at all. Until I she dragged me around the corner to where my mom (who had gone to dinner at a "friend's" house with my dad), my other aunts, cousins and Fiona's mom were waiting. For a shower. A surprise shower. Complete with great food, amazing company, and a super duper vacuum!

So I have amazing friends and family. Hands down. No doubt about it! Four showers, three of them surprises. You're the best! All of you!

Problems and solutions

As the guests arrived, Stacey and Fiona gave them each two different coloured index cards.

Stacey giving instructions

Each guest was supposed to write down a problem that Alex and I might encounter after we are married and a solution to that problem. After each gift, I was supposed to read out one solution and its answer.

reading the problems and solutions

Except...Fiona had shuffled them all up, so there were some crazy combinations and much laughter. Some were plain silly, while others made sense in a strange and curious way. Snoring was a common theme...

P: Communicating with each other
S: Put two sinks in the bathroom

P: You have company over and Alex hides in the kitchen to read the paper
S: Whatever Shannon wants

P: Alex snores too much
S: Hide his sandals

P: What side of the bed should each of you sleep on
S: Push him off the bed

P: He mixes salmon with mayonnaise
S: Alternate years

P: What is for dinner?
S: Live with it. Put it on yourself

P: Alex won't stop snoring
S: Choose your side right away and never change. It's worth setting guidelines for the future

P: Alex is messy around the bathroom sink
S: Give him a warning that if he doesn't come now, you'll throw it in the bin. If he doesn't come, throw it in the bin. He'll never do that again. Start off like you mean it.

P: He wears socks with his sandals
S: Don't give him salmon

P: When you call Alex for dinner and he doesn't come, what do you do?
S: Baby oil :) That's it...yes

P: Vacation in Hawaii or London
S: Take two aspirin and call him in the morning

P: Doesn't put the cap on the toothpaste
S: Make Alex sleep on the couch

P: It's 11:00 pm and you have a headache. Alex wants to "talk"
S: Order take out

P: Alex doesn't like your cooking
S: Make him always clean the toilet

P: Where to spend Christmas, with his family or hers?
S: Call Dr. Laura Schlessinger

P: He snores
S: Buy him a cookbook and tell him to learn

P: Alex refuses to put the toilet seat down
S: Turn the other cheek

P: When he cooks dinner (or any meal for that matter) he will use everything in the kitchen
S: Don't use toilet paper holders that need to be pulled apart

Twenty-four hours

My super fantastic friends Fiona and Stacey had a wonderful shower for me today, themed on 24 hours. Contrary to the initial reaction of some of the guests, it wasn't a shower that lasted for 24 hours, but each guests was given a time of day and they were supposed to select something that fit with that time period.

There were some predictable things like lingerie for the late night/middle of the night hours, cookbooks, a rice cooker/steamer, beer glasses and a pretzel dish, and a wine and cheese tray complete with beautiful crystal wine glasses for the hours around dinner time. There were some interesting choices like baking dishes and wooden spoons for 5:00 am, coffee flavoured vodka for first thing in the morning, and some knitting gear for 11:00 pm. We got some wonderful things and I can't wait to start using all the baking stuff we got...it seems the ladies know me well!

The Bride-to-be

Jill, Christine, Merilyn and Auntie Shirley

The MOB (my Mom!) and her rubber ducky door prize (and Aleksandra too)

The beautiful hat created by Bret-Alise

Mmmmm...yummy cake made by Fiona

Cutting the yummy cake

With my super wonderful friends: Matron of honour, Fiona and matchmaker and mistress of ceremonies, Stacey

Shoe update

The verdict is in.

The purple shoes won. No contest. The flats just didn't do it. The dress needed heels...

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. Now I have seven weeks to break them in...should be okay...I hope!

Just as Stacey predicted...

The invitations have gone out in batches and the replies are slowly coming in. And just as Stacey predicted, the YES replies are coming faster than the NO replies. I have no idea what sort of drop off we're looking for, I'm just glad we only invited 161 people for our 160 person venue (okay, we invited a few more than that, but we didn't count the people who told us no before the invitations were mailed in that number).

And as much as I've been prepared for certain friends from overseas to say no, as we've been getting their replies, it still makes me a little sad that some very important people in my life won't be here on October 20. Not in person anyway. I'm sure each and every one of them will be here in spirit.

It's getting so close, I'm starting to get a bit anxious. Not can't sleep at night anxious, but certianly overwhelmed by the last few things that need to be done anxious.

Fifty-one days and counting. I can't wait until it's here!

Shoe Dilemma

My "shoe consultant" aka Bret-Alise got me to get these two pairs of shoes to go with my wedding dress...one pair will be returned after the fitting, but I'm not sure...I am leaning toward one pair...

Thoughts anyone? The purple pair is almost the same colour as the bridesmaids dresses.

Quarantined, what?

Virginia emailed this morning to say she received some pieces of invitation in the mail.

Yup, that's right. Pieces.

Seems the paper we used has plant material in it (go figure...) and they had to quarantine part of it. They nicely removed the ribbon and sent her the printed pieces though. They will send her the back piece *if* she waits six weeks and pays $45.

Sigh...who knew it would be this difficult to invite people to a wedding!

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood

Ain't it pretty today?!?!

Well, now that we've successfully managed to track down all the members of my immediate family and Alex's immediate family, I'm allowed to post the following pictures.

This is how Alex and I spent the morning...

Because this is what I'm wearing now....

Here's a close up, because I know SOMEONE will ask.

And, because you've been asking, here's what happened.

Yesterday I had to go up to my employer's k-town location. It was gross out. The snow was starting to melt. When I got the airport and put my bag through the x-ray machine, my phone rang. (The x-ray machine people at the airport LOVE me, because this happens all the time). It was my Dad, checking to see if I made it to the airport and if my flight was delayed. I made it. The flight was only delayed by about 15 minutes. Seems as soon as he hung up the phone with me, Alex called to ask my Mom and my Dad if it was okay to ask me to marry him.

I met my Mom at the airport after my meeting and we sat and had coffee for an entire hour and she didn't even blink. YAY MOM!

This morning I realized that I didn't have a bus pass for this month so while we were having breakfast I asked Alex for a bus ticket so I wouldn't be late for work. He insisted on getting it for me even though I insisted that I didn't need a bus ticket to eat my breakfast. Off he went and I just shook my head. SILLY SHANNON!

Alex came back with the bus ticket and then all of a sudden he got down on one knee, showed me the ring and said will you marry me...

I said YES...of course...

So my plan to not be late to work was foiled and now I've got no focus, but it's Friday and I'm taking next week off, so it's OKAY!

That's all...