5 days and Counting!

Well it's 5 days, or at least it can be. Do you count 'the day' as one of the days? And are you including the end of this day, since it's 11pm? Whichever method you use the time is fast approaching and we are starting to get things really in motion.

Mike's family has arrived at a rental house and all this week is busy busy with flowerbed weeding, grass cutting, decoration stringing, chocolate wrapping, and many other little tasks. It'll be good, but busy with cars going in different directions.

Add on top of that my dress fittings, which I'm a little worried about. My tailor is very busy, especially last week, with other weddings. So this week I will need at least 2 fittings, plus 3 of the bridesmaid dresses are in there as well. Fingers crossed she doesnt' get sick or something disastrous!

Littler things are getting done, and people are busy organizing and writing things down. I hope that no one gets their wires crossed, or anything gets missed.

SO here's hoping for a smooth week!

Proper Footwear

Just a quick reminder to everyone, this is an outdoor wedding. So we have a tent for dinner, and a dance floor to 'cut a rug' on, but remember that you will be walking on grass. From the car park area, to the ceremony, and then inside the tent. Everywhere but the dance floor is either grass, gravel, or a pine-needle covered forest floor.

So feel free to wear heels and things, just make sure they are outdoor approved. Please no stilettos, that will cause you to either sink and/or twist and ankle.

I'd hate to have a mishap that day!

Sneak Peek: Flower Girls

Here is a sneak peek of the flower girl dresses. It is nearly complete, just need to do the obi. But the girls LOVE them and keep twirling in them, so I'm thrilled about that.

The other one is lighter purple, but the same style. But the girls also love their special shoes with dragonflies, so all of it is adorable on them.

Tell me that's not cute lol.

The toughest part is getting them to take it off after we do a fitting! They want to keep 'dancing' in their 'special dresses and shoes'.

Last Day!

Well all things here have been running smoothly (if crazy busy and intense). So as things are coming together I realized this;

Oh My Goodness! It's August 2nd!!!

Know what that means? Two things actually.
1) Our wedding is one month away! (I could the night before with the rehearsal dinner, otherwise it's one month and one day).
2) TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO BOOK!

#2 is referring to the hotel rooms. After today I will no longer have the rooms block booked, and thus you are no longer guaranteed a room and you no longer get the group discount. However there are two other weddings that had block bookings for the same time, so hopefully all the unused rooms from all three bookings are now free and available. So if you haven't booked there should still be room but it's not guaranteed.
#2 is also referring to my RSVP date. I need to know numbers to confirm tables, chairs, napkins, ect, and the catering for the big day. So PLEASE let me know ASAP (like as in the next hours) about if you are coming. Or even if you thinkyou are or you think you are NOT coming. I need to know!

Thanks so much! I want you all to be there and I want to make it easy for you!

Hope to see as many of you as I can!

Completing Things!

Well Mike and I are finally back in Canada after a grueling 25 hours of travel starting in Tokushima and then traveling (via Osaka, Taipei, Hong Kong) to Toronto. We were greeted by excited smiling faces and it was a very welcomed sight.

Since then we've been fight jet lag, and the urge to eat EVERYTHING (or at least I have) while completing many things off the list.

In the few short days that I've been back in Canada I have completed, decided, met with, or realized all of these things;

1. Made sure my DRESS STILL FITS!
2. I bought strapless tops so that I can work on getting a tan since I have these HORRID tan lines from the Mt. Fuji climb (turns out that with thin air you can get a sunburn at 8:30 in the morning!)
3. Orange shoes are no easier to find in Canada.
4. Found cute sandals and some lace for the flower girl outfits.
5. realized that the veils that I was making at too white to match my dress... and thus aren't usable.
6. I dont' have time or the desire to make another veil at this point.
7. I found the perfect veil and bought it today, problems solved.
8. Got a hair cut
9. Booked more hair appointments, and nail appointments for multiple people.
10. Set up appointments with 2 of the people we need to meet with.
11. Met with the caterer
12. Met and decided the cake
13. Have a trial hair appointment tomorrow

These are just the big things too. I've also explained or confirmed decisions about many other things for various people. But it seems the more that I complete things the more things I have to consider. Mind you I'm ticking the big things off the list, and that's important, but there are so many 'little' things that I need to figure out that previously i hadn't even considered. Like, oh yea, I need to figure out what to wear to the 5 different showers that are being held!

Anyway things are great, happy to be home, thrilled to be making progress, and just wish I could catch up on some more sleep. Oh jet lag!

Leaving Japan

Well Mike and I are officially finishing up with Japan. We leave in 3 days! Last weekend we climbed Mt. Fuji as our last trip in Japan, as since neither of us can walk now  it seems like perhaps it wasn't the smartest move lol.

So as we limp through our packing and cleaning we can't help but be a little sad but mostly excited about returning home.

Of course once we get home (and take 48 hours for Jet lag to finish) we have to hit the ground running. We have lots of lists and appointments and things, so we'll be busy with all that ASAP.

But mostly we are just super excited about seeing everyone at home and catching up.
We will miss our dear friends that we have made here, and we want to thank all of you who made these 2 years so much fun and filled with excitement.

Goodbye Japan, you have a place in our hearts.
Hello Canada, we've surely missed you.

DJ Found

Well after our last DJ, a friend, was unfortunately unable to come to the wedding any more, and thus be our DJ, we have found another.

We decided to go to with a professional. Buzzcutz Studioz will be our DJ for the day. I heard from my father and brother that he did an excellent job at a fundraiser event for my brother's school. So it's good to know that someone has heard him before.

It was nice know that even though it's not a friend, who we would have enjoyed, that it is now taken care of.

Thanks to my Dad for taking care of everything there!

Love our families!

DJ Scramble

So we had asked our friend to be our DJ for wedding. Dancing and music is important to us, and we figured with a friend we could get music we really like plus we know him. But it seems that not only can our friend no longer be our DJ but he also can't make it to the wedding at all!

Of course Mike and I are more upset about the second part, but we are also scrambling to find a DJ now too!

There is a possibility that one of our friends from Japan will be able to come and DJ for us though! So fingers crossed that we have a new DJ.

Actually we have had a surprising number of people tell us they can't come to the wedding. It's rather sad actually since we had like 100 on the guest list (some of them plus ones) and we haven't heard back from a lot of people, but so far we have 18 people not coming. Hopefully more people RSVP soon, because our minimum number was 73 people and right now we only have 58.

I didn't think that we wouldn't have enough people! It's more fun to dance with lots of friends and family. So we need music and more people!

Canada Post Back to Work

Yea!!! As of about Tuesday (give or take your time zone) Canada Post will be resuming their duties of delivering mail to Canadians. Thank you Conservative Government (not something I EVER thought I'd say) for make the back to work legislation. I have no heard feeling towards the NDP who tried to stall the bill to give the union and management more time to work out a deal, even if it fell through.

I feel bad that things had to work out this way, I mean it's always better when two sides come to an agreement rather than one side having their hands forced. But I am thrilled at the idea of being able to FINALLY mail our stuff home!

So here's hoping that I have enough boxes now!

Really Going Postal!

OK so my giant rant before about Canada Post being on strike.... I just got madder. I just had a package RETURNED to me here in Japan. One that I had sent before the complete strike took effect. I made it to Canada, and then got sent back. No sitting in a Canadian office waiting to be sent once the post offices opened again. NOPE it's sitting on my kitchen table now.

Don't know if I can get my money back or not.

Either way it's a huge hassle and a waste of time (not to mention I hope it's all unbroken inside).

Rather upset.

Going Postal over the Post System

Ok so up to this point I have been dealing rather well (in my own humble opinion of my sanity) with the fact that I am in South-ish Japan and our wedding will be in Mid-Eastern Canada. This ridiculously massive distant of course makes for some interesting coordination issues, what with the 12-13 hour time difference (depending on daylight savings) and the physical distance for moving things. However with some early morning, or more often, late night skypes and everyone being super accommodating with digital pictures and photographs we have managed thus far. More than once I have sent things home via the Japan and Canadian post system with no issues or complaints.

So earlier this week I sent a package home knowing that Canada Post was on a rotating strike. That's ok, this package isn't needed until August, it isnt' a problem if it takes a couple extra days at a closed office. The day that I sent this package is the day that I find out that all the post offices have been Locked Out! I nearly flipped!

So I have a package in limbo now. Great!

Plus Mike and I are mailing things home, like winter clothes and things, and we were ok to send them via ship which can take like 2 months anyway. But if the lock out continues (since there is no sight in end) I don't want to be spending money on new clothes if I've already sent money to ship things and they are also in limbo. On the flip side I don't want to leave all these clothes behind and HAVE to buy new clothes. AND I don't want to pay the increased cost to use the private courier or the EXCEEDINGLY increased cost to have an extra bag on a flight.

So all this being said, Canada post please stop striking. I want to keep my sanity and most of my money (I was and still am willing to give you some of it though).

Thank you!

Limbo

I wanted to wait to post about all the progress I've made on the wedding front, but alas I can not. There are a lot of things which are sitting partly done, awaiting my full attention (or at least more attention than I can give them this week). So I have a list of things that come next week, when I am no longer working, I can dedicate myself to!

• Finishing off the veils!
  I made slow but steady progress there for a while, but the fiddly little stitches are too trying on my minimal patience at this time. SO it`s best I leave them for now, or else I`m libel to throw it off the balcony!
• The flower girl dresses.
  Thanks to the Canada Post Strike (at the most INOPPORTUNE TIME!) I fear putting the pattern and fabric in the mail, so for now they sit in a box as I debate my courage and trust in the mail system or my fear of overpricing in the private delivery service.
• Marriage counselling session 2
  We need to book another skype date with Pastor Brian to continue our marriage course, but that needs to wait until I have time, so again not until I finish work.
• Ceremony details....
  ... are nearly done. I kind of assigned that one to Mike, well not the choosing of it, but rather the email and details explaining it. So he gets to do that one, not me lol.
• Gift registry finishing.
  Mike and I have chosen some gifts from Sears, and we are just finishing up the list, but we have some hesitations on that one. We will explain that all later.... when I find the proper words to explain it all. Perhaps when I am less stressed about life in general lol.
• Choosing food.
  We`ve got the caterer picked out and confirmed, we just need to confirm some more numbers and the exact menu. Just a mater of playing email tag.
• Ideas for hair and makeup.
  I need to surf the internet some more...
• Things that can`t be done until home;
  confirm cake design, buy shoes, trial hair run, buy makeup, choose and buy wedding rings, get marriage license, make/see the flower girl dresses, assemble the cranes and decorations, order the flowers, and much much more!

But I know have over 500 cranes from students! So the 1000 cranes are done (almost 2 over)! But I need to figure out how to display and decorate the tent with all these cranes! I'll be busy later when I get home.

Two Requests!!!

1. Please Continue to send Music requests! They are SOOO helpful! We have a list going of all of them!
2. If you have any while icicle lights, or just white little lights, please let us know if we can borrow them! Thanks!

Can't wait to see all my Canadian friends and family in 43 days (yes I'm counting).

291 Little Gifts

So my dozens of my students, their parents, and their grandparents have been busy folding Paper cranes as I've said. In one week they have fold 187 cranes! Plus a few other designs such as paper hearts. It's really touching and sweet. They are made from lots of different paper and designs, but they are so bright and happy! I really appreciate the ones with note or messages as well, in English or Japanese. I can't wait to use them at the wedding!

On top of that I'm told one of my students has personally folded 100 at home and has yet to bring them in!

So all told 291 little gifts have been folded for our wedding and I can't help but smile. Thank you to all my students! I promise to send pictures after the wedding!

Fabric Found

So I've got it! The material I will use to make these adorable little dresses for the flower girls!

So I have shared the first fabric that I picked up before, and it hasn't changed. I couldn't find any more of it, and purple is exceedingly had to find in a Japanese them. But did find some different, but still nice Japanese fabric that I think (while not exactly matching, still goes along well enough.

I mean the two girls are twins, but they don't need to be identical on the big day to still be adorable! Honestly I would have preferred one in orange and the in purple, but that wasn't going to happen.

So here is the two fabrics, along with a shiny fabric that I will tie the obi out of. Because it is shiny it didn't photograph well, but I think it should match the bridesmaid dresses well. At least I'm hoping so. That would be nice to tie them all together.

So what do you think?

Rainy (Typhoon) Day Progress



The rice field beside us did NOT have water in it yesterday.



So we are expereincing our 6th (ish) typhoon here in Japan. I think it's the 6th, there are a number of typhoon in the last 2 years that were of little to no worry because they were so small. This one is probably the biggest we've had, and so far it's not terrible, although I am very glad I don't need to go outside.

On top of that I have a wonderfully sore throat which means I talk very little.

All this leads to Mike and I staying home and just working away at some small jobs. So I thought I should update everyone about how things are progressing.

I have gotten material for one of the flower girl dresses. After hunting at 4 different fabric store I came away with this material. I can find lots of Japanese fabric, but not much in purple and NONE in orange. Then on top of that I need at least 240 cm of fabric... and most places had only 200cm.... so it was rather frustrating to at times and I'm glad my friend Nikolina was along with me, otherwise I might have lost my mind.

At my job at U I school of English the students and parents have been folding dozens and dozens of paper cranes for the wedding! Some of them are definitely folded by students, but that kind of makes them super charming. The little notes and things are adorable too, I will definitely miss them. My boss Kaz posted on the School Blog (Click to link) about it, and she also posted about how Mike and I donated money to the Japanese relief fund instead of giving guest favours. It's in Japanese, but I'm sure you can get the idea lol.

The veils are coming along.... slowly. I am being super careful and gentle, which when hand-sewing can be super tedious. Plus I stared out with the entire lace, but after sewing the bottom edge on Mike and I decided that it look better without the top edge. So with a tiny pair of thread scissors I went along carefully cutting the lace (and NOT cutting the veil material). So the bottom edge of the lace is sewn on all of it, and now I need to sew the top part of flowers on.



Veil folded over; smaller edge is the blusher, big flowers is the rest of the trim.

So I will continue with the veils, since I have only half finished ONE, and the cranes, and other wedding stuff. Mike and I working on the ceremony details as well.

If you haven't RSVP yet please do so! Trying to confirm numbers. Also please send up song requests, are enjoying all the suggestions so far, so keep them coming.

Oh yea... one other thing...

Mike and I have booked our tickets home!
Touch down in Canada July 23 at 8:25!

Can you tell I'm excited? Lol

Well that's it for now. Lots more going on in life, but not really wedding related, so I'll save that for another time.

Gifts from Students

So it turns out that my boss Kaz wanted to know if she could have the students fold paper cranes for me as a gift for the wedding. I said sure! But that I didn't have any more orange and purple paper (since I still kinda want to fold 1000 myself). So the students are busy folding cranes for me, some students even are folding them at home and bringing them in. Also they are writing messages on the wings and things!

So at the wedding we will have lots of cranes. those folded by me, and lots folded by my students.  All in all it should be amazing.

I will have to send lots of pictures to the school though afterwards, to show them that I loved the cranes.


I have more news about coming home to Canada and veils and bachelorette parties.... but that will have to wait. I'm exhausted right now.

But stay tuned for me.

RSVPs

Thanks to everyone who is RSVP(ing?) so quickly! I know I asked for people to do it reply by August 3rd, but honestly the sooner the better.

Also some out international friend has sadly, but practically declined,  and while you will be missed Mike and I are more than understanding about the cost of travel. So thank you for considering it, and we know you wish us the best, and that means a lot.

To those of you yet to RSVP, or even for those of you who have, please let us know the full name of the guests you are bringing. We are making name cards (please see previous post) for the seating arrangement, and to save confusion we are using full names. So while I can Facebook some information, it would be phenomenally easier if you just included it in an email.

Don't forget to send song requests as well!

Can't wait to see you all there!

Just too Cute!

So I wanted to tell you about my adorable twin nieces Natalie and Jacklyn who will be my future flower girls.



Not sure who I am holding!

 When I left Canada for Japan in Sept 2009 they looked like this. they were just little babies, just about to turn 7 months old.

When I went home in September for Jen's wedding I got to see them some more and they had definitely grown a lot. Went from just figuring out the crawling to walking and sort making talking noises.



Pics from Easter



Now I talk to them on skype occasionally, and I think they believe I love in a computer screen, since that is the most interaction I have with the. However I can't wait to get home and see and play with them! They are just over 2 now, so I hope they can be my flower girls.

I miss all of my family, especially when I think about planning the wedding and inviting everyone. It's a real family affair with all the wedding party being family of both Mike's and mine. Plus we are having it at my sister's Heather's house, so she and her entire family are absolutely wonderful in that they are planting flowers and everything for us! Even my 9 and 7 year old nephews Darren and Kevin have agreed to clean up their (amazingly awesome!) 2 story tree house for me so I can take some pictures in it! (There is also a running joke that i will live in it before the wedding, garden hose shower and all! lol).

But this is about my flower girls, so I digress.

I picked up super cheap a pattern for children's Yukata Dress. What is this you might ask? And right so if you are not living in Japan and going to summer festivals where small children run around looking so cute it hurts.


A Yukata Dress (minus the belt)



A Regular Kids Yukata



So a Yukata Dress is essentially a kimono style outfit for little girls where the top has the big square sleeves of a kimono (or Yukata which is the summer Kimono) but the bottom is a separate skirt. This is great because a real yukata is one piece and a little restrictive on the legs, so the skirt lets kids run around and be kids. Also the yukata dress has a big obi belt, but usually it is a fluffy scarf like material instead of thick stiff material usually used for an obi.

So now that I have the pattern for this adorable little outfits I need to do three things;

1.  Find some great fabric that is either purple or orange to match the wedding colours. (I'm banking more on purple, I think that more likely).
2. Send the fabric and pattern home to my Mom who has a sewing machine, and some friends who can help. (Let be honest, if I hand sew 2 veils before I leave Japan I will be doing well, 2 more dresses just ain't in the cards!)
3. Hope that my Mom, in her infinite experience and wisdom, along with the aid of friends, can decipher and assemble these dress with the aid of the pattern pictures.... since the instructions are all in Japanese! (Lol I think it"s not as bad as it sounds... but them again they won't have seen the dresses before...)

Yep so I'm on the hunt for some fabric now, and also the material or the already made obi belts. I think ti shouldn't be too hard, what with summer coming and festivals starting.

You can definitely get a LOT of accessories and things. Shoes, bags, bows, flowers, purses, fans, make-up and lot of other piece that go in, under, or on the yukata. Especially if it is a coming of age ceremony of either 3, 5, or 7 years old. Some of those kids wear outfits that are worth more than my wedding dress. You can even rent these outfits like people rent their tuxes for a wedding! But I'm not going to do that, I don't want them to be uncomfortable, or worry about them getting dirty or anything. I want Jacklyn and Natalie to be happy and adorable!

However there is the issues that come with having kids in a ceremony, and I'll tackle those later, such as how to get them to walk down the isle, and what they should carry or not carry. I can tell you this though, while is was super adorable at Christmas, I think the 'Cindy-loo-who' hair won't be the style I go for the wedding. I think worst case scenario I'll do headbands lol.

 

 



A Big DIY (do it yourself)

It's official, I'm making a veil! Actually I'm making 2 veils!



Plastic Tulle



So with the help of Mike I have decided NOT to use the plastic tulle that is common in most bridal veils, especially the homemade ones. I didn't want to use this material because I felt like it was kind of like a 'dress up' material. I know that sounds silly, but that's my feelings on it.



So I was happy that Mike helped me choose a different material that would work well for the day. He noted that I shouldn't use the shiny fabric I was leaning toward because of the flash or natural sunlight could do weird things. So I went with a mate-er material that I hope is still shear enough to work well as a veil. I have to admit, I don't know what it's called! Gah Japan and language barriers!



Drop Veil



Gathered Veil



The reason I am making two is because I can't decided if I want a drop veil, or a gathered veil. So I'm making both!

With 2x the fabric, thread, and two types of lace I spent about 4400 yen, or at today's exchange $51 Canadian. So for two veils I think that's not too shabby at all!

I hope to trim them both in lace, to hide the edges, and them embellish them lace accents on the veil it's self. I went with lace, and not beads or jewels because I like it better, but I can always go back and add them later. Here is my trial runs so far on the extra pieces.

The thicker lace will be the trim, and the other lace will be the accent pieces.

I'm hand sewing all of this so it's a very delicate and time consuming project. Plus, unlike my Halloween costumes, it will drive me nuts if I make a mistake, so I will definitely have to undo some stitches and redo them throughout this project.

But I think they look good. I mean, can you see the stitches? Even from the back the stitches are minimal. So I just have to make sure I don't get sloppy. I'm not sure if this would actually be easier with a sewing machine or not. My only fear is that the edges hold and that they don't unravel on me. But a veil doesn't have to be really 'wearable' or 'washable', it's kind of a one day thing. So here's hoping it holds!

So now I just need to cut that material.... that's the part that makes me nervous! Here goes!

Veil or no Veil

Ok so I've been going back and forth on this issue for a while, and I still can't decide.

As a kid I grew up playing dress up with my two younger sisters, and as kids we had a few times where one of us would get married in an oversized dress of some sort. As the years have gone by I have watched lots of movies with weddings, and brides, and their dresses.

Now even as a child I knew that the movies weddings, especially the Disney ones, were not going to be within reach of someone like me (I hear training forest creatures to carry the train of your dress is rather expensive). So, while planning this wedding things like the venue, meal type, or dish pattern have all been decisions that Mike and I have decided based upon our own tastes and not the influence of childhood games or Hollywood movies.

Yet when it comes to me and what I'm wearing on the Big Day.... I can't help but envision myself in a white dress and veil. I know, I know, it's old fashion, but that's kind of me. I like those things, and it astonishes people. At the store where I bought my dress the sales woman was showing me veils and I asked to see on that 'goes over your head and then can be flipped up'. She looked aghast for a moment before saying 'Your not going to cover your face are you?' I was surprised because I was a wedding dress shop and was like 'Um, yea, aren't you suppose to do that?'

Since that time I have been researching this issue. Here is a little picture to help understand.

So the veil I was envisioning is called a blusher, and probably an elbow or fingertip length at the back. Now this is just lengths though, after that there are many other decisions to make. Do you have lace trim, or beading trim? Pearl beads, silver beads, sparkling bead? Beads through out? Lace all over? Heavy lace or fine lace? Now this is just the veil issues, combine that with how to do the hair and how to incorporate the veil as well. Oh and I dont' have my dress with me, it's in Canada, and that I'm shopping for veils online makes me super nervous that I will get something I don't like and/or doesn't match my dress. Plus veils aren't cheap either. I can find some cheap ones online but they make me nervous.

So here are my ideas to the situation;

1. I scrap the veil idea all together, it uncomplicates things and saves money.... but it's not what I really want.
2. I buy a super cheap veil online and hope and pray it works out..... but that could just be a waste of money (even if it is a little waste).
3. I get a veil, without the blusher, because that seems easier to incorporate with the hair.... but then I am still not getting what I want and instead still have an issue with my hair too (albeit a smaller one).
4. I make my own veil.

I almost had myself convince that idea #1, to have no veil, was the best idea. That was until I watched parts of the royal wedding and saw Kate Middleton, and I realized I don't want to be a 'princess' on my big day but that I did still want to look like her!

Idea #4 came to me today as I was thinking about what to do today. I've made a veil before for Halloween (actually I made the whole costume except for the white shirt). But that veil is a very different design to the one I want for the wedding.... but still it is do-able.... no?

 Anyway I would love some ideas and input on this on.

Also I need to figure out head everything else including hair styles. I'd love suggestions, not just because I am desperate for ideas, but because I am honestly curious as to what other people think about these things now adays. I like the retro veil, just covering part of the face (like my Halloween one) but it wouldn't go with my dress.

I await some replies (please!)

600

600 Paper cranes folded! I am 60% done! Woot!

I've sent the first 500 home to Canada, along with all the Canadian invitations. I have never lost anything in the mail before... and this is the one time it will really count!

Once they arrive in Canada, hopefully my wonderful sister Julianne and Meighan will be stamping them and mailing them for me. Wish I could mail them each from Japan so that everyone could get international mail but it would cost me about 3 times the price.

So I'm going to keep folding!

Invitations

Ladies and Gentlemen I have been working for approximately 11 hours straight (I say this because I took a break to eat a wonderful dinner Mike had cooked) and I have now completed* the invitations to the wedding! I have printed and stamped 42 cards and envelopes, complete with different colour embossing and stamps. I feel rather accomplished, and have a terrifically stiff neck.

All this being said, now would be the very LAST moment to tell me that your address has changed. Fortunately I remembered that 3 people had moved recently, and that one I had used the wrong address for. I will be mailing these out within the next 2 weeks, so if you are moving after that then I am unconcerned, however if you have moved and I am unaware please tell me!

I am busy with lots of other projects now, but considering it took me an entire day off to do this I'm glad it is now done. I won't post pictures because that would ruin the surprise you shall receive in the mail!

So exhausted but triumphant I will go to bed now... with a hot water bottle for my neck, however no papercuts!

Also I will be posting more maps and directions, and details on the blog. Please remember to look here for all that fun stuff!

*This is mostly true except for 3 missing addresses on envelopes and thus have only 3 envelopes to finish.

500!

I have folded 500 cranes! I'm have way there! I now have 3 boxes of them... and I'm running out of places to put them. I think I need to mail this half home now lol.

50% down,
50% to go!

Here goes!

Times!

Sorry this took so long. Mike and I kept thinking that something would crop up, something that would make us go 'Ok then we better set the time for nani nani [translation note 'nani nani' is Japanese for 'blah b
blah blah' and I like ti better lol]. But that never happened.  So it just came down to Mike and I talking it out, and we did.

So here it is.... drum roll please..... 2 o'clock!

Not that exciting is it lol.

2:00 Ceremony At the Newman's House  <--- Click for map from Kincardine hotel to the house.
3:00 Mingle and Chat while photos are taken
5:30 Dinner and Speeches
7:00 (ish) Dance, Cake Cutting, Good Times

Ok so at 2 o'clock, given all that everything runs on time (which I'm told at weddings it doesn't) the ceremony will begin at 2. Everyone will be sitting underneath some amazing pines on my sister's place at the back of her property. After the ceremony we will be taking the various pictures with the wedding party and the family members. At about 5:30 dinner will be served in the tent and everyone can enjoy a few speeches as well. We hope to start the dance between 7-8 depending on speeches and things.

Yep so we will print all this on the invitations as well, but I've had some people asking so here is the info. Hope it helps! Can't wait to see everyone!

OMG Info You Need!!

Ok so I hadn’t jumped on this issue, assuming that I still had time, but I’m glad some people were asking about it and that I have gotten my butt in gear.

Block Booking for Hotels

So here it is. We have 2 hotels booked because both are getting filled up fast with other reservations! So sorry but hopefully this is enough rooms for now. Both hotels are a straight 5 min drive to my sister’s house (seriously other than the drive ways there are no turns!), and are a 2 min walk from each other (you can seem them without issue). Both hotels have been booked for both September 2^nd and 3^rd because I don’t know which nights people would want to stay over. The hotels are booked in both of our names, so give either name when booking to make sure you get a room. All reservations must be made by August 2, 2011 otherwise the rooms are no longer saved!

Holiday Inn Express         519-395-3545

Two Queen Beds             $153                       2 Rooms

Suites                              $162                       10 Rooms

With the discount of 10% the suites are cheaper than a regular room, so I don’t think it’s too bad. I think it comes with a continental breakfast. When booking online the block book code is GCW (as in Gemmell/Clifford Wedding)

Best Western Governor’s Inn     519-396-8242

Queen and Pull Out Couch           $154       10 Rooms

Comes with a hot buffet breakfast.

Some people were also asking about trailer parks in the area and this one is a 2 minute easy drive to the wedding site, 2 minute drive into town, and also an easy walk to the beach.

Green Acres Trailer Park               519-395-2808

Hydro and Water Site                     $153

Full Service Site                                 $160

For the long weekend it’s the same price no matter how many nights you stay at the site. However they have strict quiet hours from 11pm-8am, all pets on leashes, no off site alcohol, and no outside wood rules. Double check the number of people allowed for the sites.

Aintree Trailer Park                      877-396-8533

I couldn't get a hold of them, but I know they are almost directly across from the Green Acres Trailer park, so close to everything you need.

So please book ASAP! I know some of my friends might want to double up on rooms and things, so please make those arrangements with those who can. Remember it's first come first serve, so after this point I'm not in control of who gets which rooms. I mean come on, I still need to figure out which room Mike and I are getting!

If there are any other sites or information you need please let me know!

Holidays in Japan

Well spring is here in Japan, and along with it a little bit of holiday time.

With stresses at work and in life in general, Mike and I were more than happy to get some time off to see some more of Japan. First we went to Kyoto and got dressed up in traditional Kimonos and went to the 'Clear Water Temple', and afterwards ate at a Ninja restaurant.

The next day we went to 'Golden Temple' and then went and did a Geisha/Samurai photo opportunity, followed by a part visit to the 500 gates of Buddhist disciple (we are not disciplined enough to walk all 500!).

A big thanks to our amazing Friend Kei who was a WONDERFUL tour guide and just a blast to be around.

The next day we went to Nara, a very historical city, and visited some HUGE pagodas and the world's largest bronze Buddha statue (over 4 stories tall) and saw the wonderful deer in the parks who enjoy the tourists feeding them Deer Biscuits.

Also, side note, but there is a hole in a post that is the same size as the Buddhas nostril which if you can fit through then it's good luck.... and apparently I am just the right size!

Final day brought us to Osaka where we spent the entire day in the Osaka aquarium watching all types of creatures. Some we knew from our diving trip to Thailand, others were new to us. But we couldn't help but smile and be a little proud when we saw the massive whale shark in the giant tank, and remembered that we have dived with one of these amazing creatures! Personally I think the highlight though, other than watch Mike have a giant kid like grin on his face all day, was the touch tank where we got to pet about 5 different spices of sharks and a few different types of rays! Super cool!

Anyway what I was able to determine during all this in regards to the wedding were these things.

1) I bought these super cute little hair pins to pull in the Japanese tie, and to remind me of my time here in Japan. I think day of they will be great and be just enough bling in my hair since I didn't want a tiara.

2) Heels can be SUPER painful. I spent one day in boot heels, and I was DONE by days end. So I need to find some SUPER comfortable shoes, maybe even two pairs, because I need to be able to dance that night.

3) I'm glad I'm not getting married in a Kimono. I toyed with this idea for a long time, and even once announced to Mike (before we got engaged) that I was going to be married in one. While they are super beautiful and a great experience, those Obi-s are stiffer then a corset, and harder to walk in than a dress. PLUS I was too curvy, so they always stuff me with towels to make me look more box shape, and I can't help but feel 'larger' when they do that.

4) Mike and I are both agreed that we need more practice in FRONT of the camera since we are both a little camera shy sometimes, or not sure sure how best to stand/pose. America's Top Model we are not. *Side note though, I like the pictures that Mike took of me as a Geisha better than the professional woman's and I think I got a few good ones of Mike too*

Visiting around Japan is wonderful, but I am missing home. We can't wait to see everyone and do some catching up and lots more planning.

Updates

So life is continuing here at a relatively normal pace. Although things are still a little up and down with the issues here in Japan, and concern from members back home. But all in all life is normal.

So it was back to folding paper cranes again! By tonight I will have folded 400 cranes! Yea! That's like 1/5, 4/10, or 40% done! Woot! I'm really excited! I wasn't folding them for a long time because we were busy with the English Musical over here (click to see the final fight scene). So basically life in general was on hold.

But I have completed about half of the name cards as well. Been busy stamping the names of people who I KNOW or at least strongly hope will come. People who we are iffy about, or the plus ones I will do later.

Been thinking about the invitations... I have no idea what time to make the ceremony. Both Mike and I are a little stumped about what time exactly to make things. How long do things take? How much time should we allot for pictures, and receiving line, and everything else? What should we do with the guests in between it all? Anyway things we need to iron out but nothing that has to be done ASAP, got some time before the invitations need to go out.

Otherwise things are moving along but need to make decisions about portable washrooms and things. Which brings me back to the previous point in other posts, you slap 'Wedding' into the name of a thing and it JUMPS in price. This is a proven fact of life, and I would like to point out that NO service or good is immune to this idea, portable washrooms included!

Just food for thought.

Tragedy and Inspiration

As many of you know by now, if you are anywhere near a radio, TV, or the internet, Japan has been devastated by an 8.9 earthquake and the ensuing Tsunami that followed.

While Mike and I, and all our personal friends, as safe and unharmed by events, you can’t help but feel terrible about the devastation which has followed in the wake. Flooding, fires, homes and live just swept away.

So while there is very little that we can actual ‘do’ to help the situation there is always fundraising and donating as a means to help. Of course Mike and I want to give money to help, and we can give a certain amount, but on a wedding budget it is not the easiest thing in the world. This was when we had a wonderful revelation.

We had always planned on making a donation to a charity instead of guest favours. We had many reasons for this, but the main reason was that on weddings you spend a lot of money on food and decorations for yourself and the guests already, so why not give to something else entirely? I like to think that the guests feel better knowing that they had a good time and some good was done, rather than having take home some sort of well-intentioned, but probably less-than-useful gift.

Having already decided that we were going to give money to a charity, but having not decided which one yet, has give Mike and I a great opportunity. Not only can we give the original amount that we planned, but also give the amount which we had budgeted into the wedding as well .

So while it isn’t much, considering the vastness of the need and the rebuilding to come, Mike and I feel slightly better knowing that a part of our big day was used to give back to the country we have called home for nearly 2 years.

So a Donation will be made to the Red Cross Japan Relief fund both from Mike and I, and on behalf of all our wonderful guests who will be with us on that day, and even those who we know will be far away as well.

Thank you Japan for all the experiences we’ve had, and I hope this helps a little.

Make Work Details

Ok so anyone who knows me knows that if I’m upset or frustrated I like to do something productive to feel like I am accomplishing something. Ask my old roommates and they will tell you I would clean the kitchen or something when I was upset. Ask Mike and he’ll inform you of my MANY cleaning, crafting, sewing, painting, or folding projects. I don’t know why I just find it therapeutic to look at something and say ‘Well at least the kitchen is clean’ or ‘I finished sewing a whole pirate sail in one night!’

So with my continued irritation with work, and just being super busy with life, I decided to take on another challenge pertaining to the wedding. Yeppers, I am doing another part of the wedding by hand!

So the ‘Save the Date’ cards that we sent out were post cards with the details of the date and our picture on the front (the ever familiar one that our friend Andrew took this past summer).

The back of the postcard had the addresses on them and a brief description of the rabbit theme.

In Japan 2011 is the year of the Rabbit. For us it represents a piece of our past experiences, as well as the year Christine was born. It is also a symbol of our mutual love of the outdoors and was a favoured pet of Mike’s childhood.

Happy New Year and we hope to see you on September 3^rd, 2011.

This one is a mistake one, and I hid the address.

Here we stamped a pair of rabbits and embosses them with a powder that you heat and it melts and dries into a raised edge.

We plan on using this same style, plus more stamps, for the invitations. However we need to work out some more details before we can make the invitations. You need to print out the cards first before you can stamp and emboss. So until we determine times and other details the invitations will have to wait a bit longer.

But I, being slightly unhappy with the current events in my life, decided I needed to do something right now other than the monotonous folding of the cranes (which I can now do without thinking). SO I had stumbled upon some more stamps at one of the stores in Tokushima, and it not being a craft store the stamps were on the cheap side. They were alphabet stamps which got me thinking about spelling people’s names on the invitations. But the invitations will already have 5 or 6 stamps so I decided that would be too much.

I got thinking though, where could I use these stamps? Then I thought about name cards for seats and things. Perfect! My mind got busy with ideas and this is what I came up with because I had already bought the paper-punch of the crane and the cherry blossom.

Just some dollar store construction paper and the lending of my school's paper cutter and this is what I accomplished in one night! I cut out about 160 pieces of orange or purple paper to be the base of the name cards. Then I also added a fold line with a fancy 'fold setting' of the paper cutter. So now they all sit waiting to be glued to.

The other part of the paper is about 140 smaller piece of paper that I will do the stamping onto. They are purple or orange as well. However I punched out either cheery blossoms of a crane silhouette into each of the two colours, thus making 4 different styles of the smaller card.

After that it's a matter of stamping on names and gluing the smaller paper to the opposite colour (ie orange onto purple or purple onto orange) so that the paper cutout stands out!

One of the things I have to decided is which colour of ink I should use. I have experimented with both silver and black ink on both orange and purple paper. The silver turns up better on the orange paper, but poorly on the purple paper. So I guess I'll have to use black in... but I thought that was kind of boring. Oh well, you can't win them all.

So now that I have all this paper cut (I did it in one night because I need to return the paper cutter to work ASAP tomorrow), I can go about carefully stamping the names of people that I KNOW are coming, and I can wait on stamping the rest. However this does mean I will have to pay CLOSE attention to spelling (SUCH a weak point for me T_T). I know I'm going to screw it up! That's why I made well over 100 pieces of paper, and 100 people is the top number of guest possible.

Also on the plus side the paper punching gives me these cute little paper cut outs. I'm not sure what to do with them, maybe I'll use them as annoying confetti that falls out of the invitations...? No probably not. Oh well I'll find a use for them!

Yep so that was my night tonight. I stayed up WAY to late doing it, but it felt so good to be on a roll!

I know it's not needed, and that it's extra, but I feel like there is so little I can actually 'do' on the wedding right now because I'm so far away or I'm waiting for other things to be decided and things. Plus I always thought cute little touches to things were awesome! Little bits here and there I love! At my friend Jen's wedding she drew adorable cartoons for each table number and on just about everything else! At one of Mike's cousin's wedding they had hand written each persons name on a two layer paper flower cut out with the table number on the back. I just want those little things, but I want them on the cheap. So this is how I'm doing them.

What do you think? Is it too much?