Two whole years of Oh Happy Days

Two years ago, on this day, I married my best friend. Since then we have done some travelling, purchased our first home in the city we love, and we are presently expecting a baby. The years just keep getting better and I can't wait to see what next year has in store for us! 

Wedding Wednesday

Rustic Vintage Wedding...for no one in particular...

Vintage Rustic by alanna_redman

Wedding Wednesday: Adorable DIY Favour Ideas!

I think that favours are probably my favourite wedding element. They not only help you personalize your special day, but they're also a lovely way to thank your guests for making it so special. I have compiled a few of my favourite wedding favour ideas from my favourite wedding bloggers.

This first idea combines my love of favours with my love of terrariums. It would be simple to do with some fishbowl vases from your local craft shop and some succulents from your local garden store. Throw in a few shells or river rocks, and voila! I was considering this as an option for my own wedding, but I think it would be really well suited for an eco-conscious wedding or a woodland theme. Find out more from Martha...it's her idea after all!



This lovely idea would be the perfect way to showcase fabric or paper that incorporates your colour palette for your day, and as a bonus, it would double as a centrepiece...just be sure there's one per guest (vary the height and volume for visual interest) and be sure guests know they're meant to take them as they leave. I found this idea at I Do It Yourself...check out this resource...it is amazing and invaluable with tons of free printables and great ideas.




These DIY ice cream favours from Style Me Pretty would be perfect for an outdoor summer wedding.



These matchbox covers are a classic idea...You can find the template here and you can mix and match computerized fonts and designs or you could go really wild and calligraph your own..hooray for typography!



Finally, since the importance of presentation cannot be overstated, I have found some lovely cut and fold boxes (including the butterfly one below) here to put something lovely into...like, oh, I don't know...some truffles or Parisian macarons...



Happy crafting!

Wedding Wednesday

I have decided that I will keep up with Wedding Wednesday in spite of the fact that my wedding is over. I still find myself researching colour palettes, and "shopping" on Etsy for one-of-a-kind wedding details and I think that if wedding planning is still one of my interests, my blog should reflect that.

This week's palette is a peacock theme. I think that if I hadn't done my "Pink, Cream and Gold/Marie Antoinette-inspired" theme, I would have almost certainly done a peacock theme.

Without further ado:

Peacock Theme by alanna_redman

If any of you have any requests for themes, I'd be happy to see what I can come up with...Just drop me a line :)

We're Married!

...and here are some pictures to prove it!

More to come...as well as some more good news!

The ceremony...

The dove release...

Resting my sore hips...

A kiss for my lovely husband....

Invites: Sent!

Since I'm guessing most people have already received their wedding invites, I doubt my mother would be too averse to me writing about them now.

My wedding invitations were a huuuuge labour of love. It began a year ago, when we first got engaged. The cherry blossom chiyogami paper on the front is really the jumping-off point of the colour palette and the theme for our day. I literally hand cut, hand tied and hand-mounted every.single.invitation...I did have some help in the final hours, which is great because I think I would scrapped the entire endeavour without it.

If you read my blog you know: I LOVE to DIY, but I HIGHLY recommend leaving the job up to the professionals (unless you quit your job to plan your wedding:) In the end, they turned out beautifully and I wouldn't have been able to afford the same quality materials had someone done them for me...so I guess it's all for the best.

This is the entire invitation "suite" as it were...

The invitations were printed on this embossed cherry blossom paper by Peninsula Press...They look a little wonky here, but this was before they were flattened out properly...

The reception card and the response cards, too! No wedding crashing, please! :)

The final product...

We've already received some responses, and it finally feels like we're really getting married...OOOOH! and the eggs are finally done! I have to show you how they turned out...someday soon!

Latest Wedding Idea...Coming to Fruition!

If there are any of my former readers left out there, you may remember me salivating over these place card holders by Paloma's Nest.


These beauties would be perfect on our day, however at $58 for 6, they were considerably out of our budget. I was disappointed for about 1.4 seconds, whereupon I realized **I could just make them myself!** Here's the plan:

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I haven't got anything to show you yet, but thanks to my extraordinary cousin, I should have these babies in two weeks! I am currently in the process of drawing up the invites which will be printed and mailed next weekend.

Everything is coming together...I just have to breathe...

Also, as the wedding draws nearer I am trying to be more careful about what I am eating...in order to further motivate me to do so, I am going to be posting a link to my food journal everyday at the end of the day...Once I figure out how.

Count it Down!

The countdown begins. Only 96 days until our...

I am BURSTING with excitement! Hence the 2:00am post, and my apparent insomnia.

Wedding Wednesday- Flowers and Palette

I have finally picked my florist...After meeting and chatting with so many wonderful girls, I have decided to go with Wine Country Floral. We chose Shelly because she has lots of experience, she is clearly passionate about the flowers I have chosen, and she does gorgeous work. Seriously...go check out her website.

I think I've mentioned before that our palette for the day is pink and cream with brown and gold accents, but for the flower scheme we are also going to infuse a little bit of a soft green. My inspiration for the palette comes from this gorgeous Japanese paper from Paper Source:



This picture doesn't even begin to capture how truly stunning this paper really is. It's a thick, fabric-like material, and the pattern is actually silk-screened. The white background is pearlescent, and the entire design is outlined with gold (which doesn't come through at all on the picture.) Essentially, I purchased this paper based on the picture thinking it was lovely, then when I pulled it out of the box, I almost fell off my chair.

My original hope was to have cherry blossoms as my flowers throughout...That fell through when I was told that they are only in season in March and April. I didn't lose heart though, since I knew that my FAVOURITE of all flowers, the peony, was still barely in season, and my paper would still make sense based on the rest of the colours.



The best part about choosing peonies is that my mother (an avid gardener) has THE most gorgeous and abundant peonies in her backyard garden. I'll be able to incorporate some of her flowers into my bouquet, making it even more personal and special...



See? Perfect!

I originally wanted pink hydrangeas, which meant my florist would have to spray white ones, since pink is apparently not a natural colour for hydrangeas...I was not really into that idea, so when the "antique" hydrangea come to my attention, I was thrilled. This light green beauty has a hint of pink blushing on the tips of the petals.



We'll be using these in the centrepieces with cream peonies, and hypericum berries, which are these little beauties:



The corsages and boutonnieres will all be constructed with cymbidium orchids and green hypericum berries.



I am too excited to get a few mock ups done so I can post more specific pictures....I'll get to it!

Wedding Wednesday...Updates!

So, as per the genius idea of my friend Suzy I have sent my Save the Dates with my Christmas cards. For all those I don't personally know (and there are a few of them coming to my wedding) I will be sending them out after Christmas. I'm not sure if I ever posted the finished product, but here they are...


I had them done by ADT in Niagara. They did an amazing job, and I would recommend them to anyone! I am going to be using their services for my wedding banner too...more on that later.

I have ordered my cake topper...I opted for the birds instead of the monogram. I am over monograms...they are totally overdone.



I am also considering an aisle runner with the "Oh Happy Day" saying on it and our bee...I'm looking at about $200 minimum for that though, so I may have to rethink that one...or I could just find a way to do it myself for less...

Late, Late, Late Wedding Wednesday

So I have just realized that I am 6.5 months away from walking down the aisle. While that may sound like forever to some, to me it seems like tomorrow. If it were tomorrow however, the only regret I would have is not getting into some wicked shape before the day. With Christmas and the general stress of being a "grown up," I have definitely not been as diligent with my fitness routine as I have been in the past...So much so that I am actually canceling my membership to my beautiful gym in the new year...$100/month when I've gone like 12 times tops makes NOOOOO sense. I have a free gym in my building, and I use that much more often.

I've found a few plans that I can likely institute without too much trouble, but I like this one from the knot the best...But if I REALYY want to be hardcore the January issue of Oxygen has a pretty good routine too...decisions, decisions.

My fitness inspiration: Jamie Eason


My fitness goals have less to do with being hot walking down the aisle, and more do with de-stressing and generally trying to get more healthy...oh yeah, and I'll be wearing bikinis for two weeks straight on my honeymoon. If that's not inspirational, what is?

Wedding Wednesday...Pink Champagne Wedding

This week's Wedding Wednesday mood board is inspired by my favourite libation, Pink Champagne. My theme for this wedding day is "Parisian Ballerina." Don't worry, I haven't changed my mind again...it's not for me. It's just a dream...

Pink Champagne Wedding by alanna_redman

Wedding Wednesday...I DIY

Listen up, all you brides-to-be! If you love to do-it-yourself (and who doesn't?) ...then you MUST visit I Do it Yourself. This site is a gold mine of all things wedding-related. You can find QUALITY downloads, access to freebies, fonts, labels, crafty ideas, and inspiration. I absolutely love this site, and I HIGHLY recommend that you take a few seconds to peruse through.

If you aren't already convinced, here are some photos of the content to be found...to entice you!













Why are you still here? GO!
Have a lovely day!

Wedding Wednesday...Save the Date Revealed!

Without further ado, here is the save the date that I created (with the help of my fiance, of course)...I am going to add the website to the bottom and the "Formal Invitation to Follow" tag line, so if it looks unbalanced, don't worry...it'll be perfect soon...


These will be going out within the next few weeks, I just have to corral addresses.

I wanted to feature the gorgeous work of Etsy seller Paloma's Nest here on Pint-Size, because she is one of my favourite vendors on the site. Caroline Vasquez is the owner and artisan. She has been a featured seller on the front page of Etsy, she has also been featured in several major bridal publications...i.e. Martha Stewart Weddings and she is lovely to do business with. She works with natural materials, predominantly clay and wood, to create simple and unique heirloom pieces for weddings, or any special occasion.

Steve and I purchased this wedding ring bowl, in spite of the fact that we don't have a ring-bearer...it was too beautiful to pass up, and it would look stunning in a shadow box as a memento of the day...

I loved that it matched the cherry-blossom theme and, of course, ours says 'Oh Happy Day!'

There are other ring bowls available as well, like this one with a golden rim...


If you're seeking unique, personalized favours, Paloma's Nest features these gorgeous, simple charms which can be worn as necklaces, bracelets, or used as tree ornaments at Christmas.




Finally, if my budget would allow, I would definitely incorporate these golden eggs into my decor. Eggs are a symbol of new life, fertility and abundance, all excellent wishes for a newly married couple.


I am hoping tonight will be the start of an extended weekend for me. I have to clear that with the powers that be, of course, but there's a good chance. I have tons of meetings with vendors looming over my head right now, and I need some time to get those done and really relax. As much as I LOVE Toronto, the go-go-go pace can be a bit exhausting. As the items pile up on my to-do list, I become more and more stressed, and the only way to deal with the stress is to get things done...

J'aime Beaucoup les Détails

I have been realizing of late, that tying this whole wedding theme together is going to be more tricky than I originally thought...When I get excited about some thing I tend to over-do it, and that's what I feel is happening here. My original vision for a "simple, elegant evening" has since shifted to a "shabby-chic garden party."

In keeping with the new (and FINAL!) theme, I have corralled some really delicious wedding detail inspiration to try and keep me focused...I am definitely distracted by anything painted white and distressed...it's a curse...

I LOVE the idea of incorporating moss into the escort card display. Neither of the following pictures are quite what I have in mind, but I'll certainly keep you posted when I have created my own chef d'oeuvre...though I'm not thinking it will be for a while yet.



I abhor the ribbon on this example, but you get the idea.



My mom found EXACTLY the birdcage I was looking for at Homesense. My vision is for this little beauty to house cards on the day...once again, sans ribbon.



I LOVE the idea of creating a monogram entryway at the ceremony à la Martha...here the ribbon makes the cut.



Given that birds are a staple of shabby-chic decor, and the fact that we have a bit of an avian-theme running throughout the day, I thought these little birdies would be perfect nestled atop our cake. My original thought was monogram, but this is more unique.



Overall, I think the new theme is going come together...between the paper, and the birds, and the bees, and "Oh Happy Day," and the shabby-chic garden party and...Oh la la! What HAVE I gotten myself into?

Who am I kidding? I relish every second of this...<3