10/10/10 - Roger & Heather's Catalan/Canadian Bilinguistic Autumn Festa: February 2010

For those feeling left out of the action, I thought I'd give an update on how things are going. Especially since I am slightly marooned at Brock University, with only the internet and my imagination for comfort. Wedding planning fun, here we come!!

FOOD/CATERING

We've met with two different companies: Mixed Grill (now O'Conor's Catering) and Twisted Catering (chef of Twisted Fork). I still need to follow up with Twisted Fork (it's been a month or two since we last met), and mom's encouraging me to get in touch with even another caterer, just to see what they'd come up with. This will most likely be "Pepperwood", as in the restaurant in downtown Burlington that Roger and I are both big fans of. Mmm seared tuna. We're still adamant about having tapas/nibblies of both the Catalan and Maritime persuasion - we just need to find someone who understands what we're going for and doesn't make us want to compromise our vision. The Mixed Grill representative really tried to stress the importance of having 'normal' food, an approach that didn't fill us with a good feeling. Tapas really aren't that out there, and how on earth do Chicken Satays count as familiar North American cuisine?? Anyhow, that's where we are for food. Ooh, also - mom's hooking us up with a PEI native who does catering in Oakville for the Thanksgiving dinner. Honestly, as much as we'd like to potluck it, it isn't realistic with the amount of out-of-towners we'll have. And let's face it - who wants to stick around and clean up?

DRESSES/FASHION

In the most awesome of news, mom has bought a dress!! She went shopping with Sue today and apparently picked something out from the first place they went. She sounds really excited about it, and apparently has bought shoes too. The dress is a dark bronze-y brown, with beading around the lapel-less collar of the 3/4 bolero jacket, and the shoes are pure coppery bronze and stunning. Can't wait to see her in it. Add this to the fact that all the bridesmaids have their dresses bought or ordered, it seems as if the people most under pressure to get their rears in gear are the two fools getting married. Eeep. Denise, talked to Jane lately?

I've been thinking about exactly what I want, and I'm getting closer to feeling sure of a direction. As you can tell from the last post, I got super excited about a (really) dark colour under the lace, and I think I'm going to go in that direction. Right now I'm thinking of doing a strapless corset-cover and long fantail skirt in a burgundy/port chiffon overlay over bronze liner. Something very antique-y and streamlined.

Also, I've been wondering what to do for cover-up, seeing as how October is not exactly Canada's warmest months. Do I go with an elegant kimono-style wrap sweater coat, or a more fitted Victorian jacket, similar to the black and white drawing in the second-last inspiration board I posted earlier? Opinions, comments, brilliant insights?

Ooh, also - my veil netting is being purchased! If all goes well, I will have it imported from New York (thanks Maree & Nick!) this Thursday. Awesome.

FLOWERS

As usual, one of my favourite pastimes of wedding planning is looking at pictures, and flowers are my favourite. Since I know exactly what I'm talking about with flowers, it's hard to decide what I want precisely. I've been combing so many pictures trying to find something like what I want... but nothing really seems to fit. So a bit of imagination will be necessary. Try to combine these four examples:

Love: The Cherry Brandy roses, the spray roses, and the wheat/broom.

Don't Love: The orange alstromeria, the simple roundness of it (too modernish)

Love: Those big cream dahlias, the maple leaves, the wildness of it

Don't Love: the bright yellow, the bittersweet

Love: The contrast, the dark dahlias, the garden feel

Don't Love: The pink, the green, the peonies which you can't get in autumn :P

Love: The beautiful cream dahlias (again), the chocolate cosmos, the dusty miller, the scabiosa pods (those green-grey balls), the just-picked-from-the-garden look, the ethereal blend of light neutral colours (the creams and blue-greys)

Don't love: The pink and purple colours, the lack of contrast

Translating this to imagining what's in Heather's head:

Try to picture a bouquet made of those great tissue-paper cream dahlias, combined with the occasional dark burgundy dahlia and chocolate cosmo, red and burgundy maple leaves (think scarlet sugar maples and wine japanese maples), silvery dusty miller, delicate cream spray roses mixed with larger Cherry Brandy roses, and the texture of wheat throughout. Bind it up with a bronzey/rust/silvergreen vintage-type ribbon, and that's the bridal bouquet. For the bridesmaids, try to picture the same as above, only substitute the cream dahlias for dark burgundy ones, and the cream spray roses for warm rusty orange/apricot ones like the first picture. Maybe bind each bouquet with ribbon that matches the dress colour? Anyway, that's the closest I can get to explaining what's in my overactive head.

VENUE DECORATION

A couple weeks ago, Roger and I visited Fabricland to take advantage of the end-of-winter sales they had going on - we were thinking tablecloths. We bought enough material to cover 9 tables, all in different autumn-y colours. Think the bridesmaid palette. We spent over $70 on it, but considering table cloth rentals usually run around $5+tax each, we figure it's a decent deal. Plus we end up with a lot of vibrant-coloured table coverings. Which I am so not complaining about.

Still thinking of how far I want to go decorating the Yacht Club. For those who haven't been in it (recently), it's pretty nautical. However, I was delighted to find that the last time I was in there, three cushy leather couches wrapped around a lovely coffee table in front of the hearth in the main room. It looked so wonderful and welcoming, and I'll admit that it's always been a sort of dream of mine to have couches at my wedding. And a roaring fireplace?? I'm in love. But there's still the part of it being a yacht club, and the place being festooned with flags and nautical references all over. Should I cover the pillar? Should I try to hide the flags? Should I cover the windows, or hang things from the ceiling (if I can)? Here's what we're looking at - what do you think?

Keep in mind that it will be afternoon - so it'll be pretty light out still. All suggestions and ideas are welcome.

CEREMONY

More than a few weeks ago, Roger and I sat down and wrote our ceremony. Like, the whole thing. I'm really happy with it, and I think he is too. The Catalan translation of everything will be cool too, as we're deciding on what to have translated by his brother (probably Fabia) and what to have translated on the screen. I asked a youth/friend of mine from church to run the computer for the service, and I think she's just as excited as I am about having her there and involved. One of the things Roger and I both see eye-to-eye on is having the ceremony be as bilingual (Catalan/English) as possible. No "Spanish" mentions - all Catalan. I won't say any more about what we've written, because I'm traditional enough to want that part as a surprise... at least until the rehearsal.

What I will ask your opinion on is the processional. I've mulled and mulled over this. When we (sisters) played at the McGill wedding at the church, I really loved watching how the groomsmen/ushers were casually visiting everyone before the ceremony started. As the pews filled up, the atmosphere still seemed laid-back. It seemed so wonderful to be able to kill the hype and stuffiness by simply introducing people to each other BEFORE the reception, where the world officially descends into chaos and ignored guests leave early because they feel left out. And then when I was wondering who could be our ushers... I thought... why aren't those closest to us the people who get to run around beforehand? Apparently, it's pretty common for the groomsmen to double as the ushers... but never the bridesmaids. I don't think that's fair. I think you guys (the three of you) should have just as much opportunity to go out and chat with guests beforehand as the boys do. Especially since in our case, you'll be able to introduce more people.

So my question is - how important is walking down the aisle for you girls? Do you mind being 'seen' before the ceremony starts? Would you like to be ushers alongside Roger's brothers, and then come down the aisle with them? Or just line up at the front so people know it's starting? This is the hard part of wedding planning - making decisions for everyone else, especially when you have really nothing to do with them. I want you guys to help make this choice - would you like to be ushers, or would you like to come down the aisle with all the anticipation of the bride? I'm open to all suggestions.

Finally, in more organizational news, Roger and I still have to talk to hotels and Steph's working hard on getting contact information for the family. Once we have the second, we can do the first. But that's where we are now. Hope everyone is still reading, and didn't give up on this significantly-sized entry a few paragraphs ago!

I've been struck down with a sinus infection lately, and the best thing I can distract myself with without my head working overtime or my eyes shutting down is wedding porn. That is to say, inspiration pictures of veils, flowers, dresses, etc.

Today I'm going to share a bunch of 'black' flowers that I adore (even though they're not really black), along with some non-green fillers that are a step-up from your average green collars.

"Black" Flowers:

Mini Callas - in burgundy

The shape of callas always makes me think of underwater lagoons and seaweed tendrils. These ones are a dark burgundy, and look incredible both on their own and mixed in to bouquets.

Black Dahlias

More than just a murder case, black dahlias are a dark boisenberry colour with more depth than a Terence Malick movie. They look great paired with Black Magic roses or with white and ivory clusters for contrast.

Chocolate Cosmos

No, it isn't a drink. Interesting fact about this type of cosmo: you can't buy seeds. You can only buy the plant itself. Strange, neh? Anyhow, these beauties apparently have the distinct smell of chocolate, and they're super trendy in the wedding bouquet world. I've never actually seen one of these with my own eyes, but many online wholesale florists sell them.

Black Scabiosa

Okay, so the name is weird. They're also called Pin Cushion Flowers, but since "pin cushions" is actually the name of another commonly used tropical by most florists, they stick with Scabiosa. They're actually very cool flowers, and come in a shocking blue as well. Also funky is that their pods (aka after all the petals have fallen off) are grey/green and a thing of beauty. They make an ethereal addition to many neutral-coloured bouquets.

Non-green Greens:

Just to clarify, before we start off, that 'greens' is a general term for leaves in the florist world - no matter what colour they are.

Dusty Miller

You might recognize this plant from annual flower beds. It's very commonly seen in gardens to introduce contrast with its silvery foliage. Now, it's starting to become quite the trend in wedding bouquets as well. It's slightly fuzzy as well - which makes it easy to love.

Lambs Ear

Speaking of fuzzy, this leaf wins! Its flowers are really, really ugly, but no one seems to care when growing this plant. The soft textured leaves speak for themselves. It's hard not to love a plant that looks cozy.

Coleus

Probably about as famous as Dusty Miller for annual foliage, coleus can be found in many, many different varieties. There are dark, dark burgundy leaves as well as sunset orang ones.

Finally, some pictures of bouquets with these incredible ingredients at work!

Black dahlias set off the light blushing colours of sedum, peonies and anemone.

Black dahlias and calla lilies work together to produce a dramatically serious bouquet, complete with hypericum berries and small ivory spray roses.

Chocolate cosmos pepper this peachy bouquet of roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, and rosehips.

Dusty miller adds a nearly blue hue to this smorgasbord of pink garden roses, creamy dahlias, blushing hydrangea, scabiosa pods and seeded eucalyptus.