Happy Michaelmas

We apologize for how long it's been since we've been able to post anything on our blog, but much has happened in the last week to recount!

Today is our birthday and we are enjoying a quiet celebration for two. Kathleen had to work, but John managed a trip to the golf course. We're heading out for dinner and maybe a movie in a few minutes here.

The biggest news of the last week is that we have purchased a house! A small bungalow built in 1924 and located in the neighbourhood of Inglewood, a few blocks east of Westmount mall. The home has plenty of charm and character and we can definitely envision a happy home. There is work to be done, some right away and some over the next year, but we are excited to get started!! We've now officially met all the conditions of the sale, so everything should be finalized by Tuesday of next week. We take posession on November 1st, though we think we'll take advantage of an empty house to paint and renovate before we move in.

What is exciting us most about the house is that just across the alley is the home of Adam, Shelly and Zac - brother, sister-in-law and nephew of the bride. This happened entirely by accident, but the opportunity to be closer and spend more time with them is lovely. As Zac said, "Now we can see each other... WHENEVER WE WANT TO!!" We are having dinner over there on Sunday night for a family birthday celebration, and are planning to stand on the back porch and look across the yard at our new little house.

Well, that's it for now! More on the house to come in the next week, we're sure. The Bridal Expo is this Sunday so Kathleen is heading there with some girlfriends to exercise her judging muscles. We hope to get a DJ out of it!

Bridesmaid Dress Design

I want to thank my bridesmaids for helping design this beautiful dress! The green is not quite the right shade, but there's only so much a person can do with Windows Paint!

Colour Chosen!

So after considerable debate, putting off the decision a number of times, and loads of great input from friends, we have finally chosen our colours for the wedding! We are going with sage green and ivory, which we hope will make a beautiful summer combination. As soon as the decision was made, thoughts turned to how those colours would appear in invitations, flowers, garments, etc. An email went out to bridesmaids, who were VERY VERY helpful with ideas for their dresses. So far, we have poofy, lots of pleats, and covered in bows. ;)

Wedding Dress Saga

From the desk of the bride... While we were in Ottawa, a message was left in my voicemail from the salon where I bought my wedding gown. At more than 10 months before the wedding itself, this did not seem like a good sign. After a couple of days of phone tag, they reached me at work, and... unfortunately... the designer is no longer making the model of dress I'd chosen (see below). There is no wiggle room... the dress cannot be made.

Now, this seems a most unkind thing to do to a soon-to-be bride, but as it turns out, there is a silver lining... As it happens, I bought the same size and colour of dress as the trial version at the salon that I'd tried on originally, so last Saturday, I headed back to the salon with my mom to try it on again and see if it was in good shape. After two years of being tried on by innumerable other brides-to-be, there was some damage to the fabric, and the buttons had to be replaced, but under the magical hands of the seamstresses at the salon, any flaws are undetectable. And to make the lining even more silver, the dress will now be half price!!

So I will have this beautiful dress of my dreams after all!!

Happy Birthday Mom Conway!

Last night, we had the opportunity to get the Conway and Armitage-Conway families together to celebrate Kathleen’s Mom’s Birthday. The sun was shining, BBQ smoking, and Sangria was flowing. It also gave us the opportunity to do a little wedding business and finalize a few more roles for our wedding. Patrick Conway (Kathleen’s eldest brother) has agreed to read the New Testament reading, Adam and Shelly Armitage-Conway (Kathleen’s other brother and Sister-in-law) have enthusiastically agreed to be Co-Masters of Ceremony for the reception. Also, Patrick and Adam will be ushers at the wedding, and Zac (Kathleen’s nephew) and Shelly will accompany John’s sister and her daughter Jessica for the procession of the gifts during the service.

We think we have also finalized the readings, hymns and music for the wedding, although we reserve the right to change our minds often between now and then. I don’t think we will be putting them down here in the blog, as we have to leave SOME things a surprise!