Steve posted to our guestbook wondering about pinoy wear in Nova Scotia, and I thought it would be a good idea to answer here in case anyone else has the same question.

The company that we suggest in California (mybarong.com…it’s on the “notes” page of the keychain info – second to last page) is the closest we could find for this type of attire. I even asked my friends in Montreal, and there isn’t any there either…it all comes from family & friends who have been to the Philippines!

This company is great. The clothes are shipped directly from the Phils. at very decent prices. If you use the coupon code provided in the “notes”, you will get a discount on shipping (we have paid $1 – $7 for shipping…FedEx ground, and it’s here in usually 5-6 days, faster than the 10 days they guarantee). For you guests in the US…the shipping is free with FedEx ground.

The style is very laid back for the men, more dressy for the women…lots of colour, beaded or embroidered. check out their website, and if you don’t feel like ordering something, you can always immitate the style as close as you can. The key is to be tropical, but still put together (what you wear to the beach = too casual, what you wear for a New Years gala = too dressy).

Any questions, please ask us! :)

Oh and it’s raining again…I have that Moby song stuck in my head…what a drizzly, gloomy day! I am so not motivated… hee hee! ;)

Late last night I pulled out the tiara I designed again as the hair consultation I have on Thursday made me think about it. I added the chain to the back of it…basically the selling feature of these type of bridal headpieces when I sell them is that you can wear it as a choker as well, so you have some use for it after the wedding. Plus I added some beads to the end of the chain so some sparkle will peek out through the hair do. ;)

So last night I added a bit more sterling silver wire and tonight I added a few more beads. I will sleep on it and look at it again tomorrow; whether or not I am finished with it or if I will add a few more beads. It is still very simple in design, and it will make for one interesting necklace afterwards. :) Can we say conversation starter? Hee hee…

Tonight we had night #2 of the Wedding Prep and it was much more interesting tonight. The couple presenting was very funny and honest, and that was a wealth of information on its own. Fr. Hattie was funny as usual, he keeps it interesting!

Wednesday we meet with the florist for the final flower orders and Thursday downtown to the hairstylist…I think I will pop into Parklane while I’m down there. There is a really funky drink store at that mall and I want to look at the price of some mix, plus I can pop into the spa and make my waxing appt. for the Thursday before the wedding. :) I usually do it myself, but with all the activity taking place I will appreciate the spa trip.

Rick is out today helping Brent (best man) move…so I am content to stay at home with my beads. It is another gloomy day, not raining at least. This is typical, Nova Scotia spring weather.

So I am working on another little project for the wedding now. Just a little detail…funny how I can look at something and say, “It’s too plain, I need to dress this up a bit”. I love it…so many little ways to stretch the creative muscle.

Yesterday I dragged Rick out to the local Dollarama to see if I could find any cheap decorating supplies for this new project. Dragged is the wrong word, he is more than willing to go. Very helpful, he is, even paid for the goodies. ;) So I brought them home and decided it would work fine…only I didn’t have enough, so back out we went to the Dollarama in Bayer’s Lake. They had nothing. So, a little disappointed I wondered what I was going to do, as it was such a great accent I did not want to change my plan. Rick to the rescue…he drove me out to Bedford, and said if that one didn’t have them, we could try Wyse Road in Dartmouth. LOL! I told you he was more than willing….ready willing and able! :) We hit pay dirt in Bedford…so out in the pouring rain we got soaked to pick up my $14 worth of dollar store craft supplies…driving 20 minutes out of our way. Cute eh? Was it worth it, you ask? Sure was! Wait until you see these… ;)

So all the envelopes are stuffed, sealed, and postage is licked. There are just a few left that we are still confirming addresses for (two of which are groomsmen, so no big deal, we know they’re attending). :) Feels good to have that done. I have two left for buffer in case we’ve forgotten anyone, and really, I can always make more. I made sure to put one away as a souvenir for ourselves, as well.

We faxed the contract back to the Lord Nelson yesterday. I am annoyed with the sales rep. I have in writing (email) where she said our costs would be food based, no room rental, yet they charged us a room rental. She said it was because we changed to a reception style and what she was talking about was a sit down dinner. Yeah, and I was supposed to know that…how??? These are those annoyances that I hated that used to come up when I was doing group travel/convention bookings…and who ate it?? The agency. I wish these damn suppliers would just honour their mistakes. Bitch bitch bitch. *giggle* Anyway, she cut the fee in half, and I am not going to quibble over $130. But I really think that since we have a block there they should be waiving the fee. I’ll be sure to express my disappointment when I get the chance to “rate my stay”. ;)

The salon owner called today and I’m going to meet with one of the stylists Thursday about our wedding hair. He said she comes in early on Sat…like 7:30am, so that’s good. We will probably have 2 to 3 stylists getting the 5 of us done. I am so glad they can accommodate us…London hair is directly across the street from the hotel, very convenient. The sooner I can get hair done, the better, so I can relax, have a momosa and take my time getting ready. I’m normally not a morning person, but Lord knows I won’t be sleeping in that day! :)

I also called the florist today to make another appointment to book the rest of the flowers. They are supposed to call me back tomorrow.

On to the next project. Exciting! :)

Rick has just posted the wedding info on the site. It can be accessed by the links at the tops of the page or by typing the links in directly as per the wedding invitations. My Ninang Linda was the first person beside my parents to get an invitation. I figured since we were there to see her I mind as well, save the postage. She loved them and thought they were beautiful. :) I am really excited on getting these out to everyone. Tonight I will get the out-of-province folks done and ready to go. Which I must get back to…

Whew, I’m bushed. What a busy day. I wanted to get my chores for the week finished today so I could concentrate on getting the wedding invitations done when the envelopes arrive tomorrow…what luck, they arrived TODAY! They are the perfect size, and a great colour. I am happy. :) I still haven’t started addressing envelopes tonight. I am tired after wedding prep. But the inserts are all finished and good to go…

Wedding Prep was good. I am definitely glad we picked doing it over 7 weeks; it is a lot to take in. One of Rick’s old co-workers from Market Squared, Christine, and her fiance are taking the prep too. Funny, we didn’t realize they weren’t married! :)

It was interesting…some things we agree with, other things we don’t. The good news is that we believe in the foundation of the marriage prep and we disagree with the same things the priest was saying. So that’s a good sign that we are on the same page. ;) Hee hee…I like that the course is not set up for you to follow it – or else – it really is designed to make your mind up for yourself. We were bored through a lot of it, for two reasons. Number one, we are taking the course late so a lot of the things to think about and be decided we have already done. Number two, we were surprised that some of these questions, people are only asking each other 6 months before the wedding! Just goes to show that we have a good solid foundation for our relationship (something else we learned tonight…a rock as foundation rather than sand. If you don’t get it…I am too tired to explain it. ;) ).

So I went over to Tansy’s this morning for my second dress fitting. It feels so good on, and much lighter without the train! The bust area fit much better now…I no longer have to get implants to make the dress fit. LOL! She will now sew the hem and zipper and I will have another fitting in a week or two. I am so glad I had Tansy work on this dress…she really can see the potential in it; it is a diamond in the rough that I don’t think a traditional wedding seamstress would understand. They would just see the picks, dirt and imperfections. She and I see a work in progress!

She had a fabulous idea to cover the picks in the back. We’re going shopping for some flow-y material, and it will be attached to cover the zipper portion, flowing to the floor, like a train, but it will be detachable in case I want to remove it for the reception. I absolutely LOVE the idea, and again is the reason why I wanted Tansy to work on the dress. She sees the potential and thinks outside the box; the type of creative person I wanted to work on it.

I also handed off the crystals, and it looks like the random placing will work perfectly. I love all the customizing we are doing, I can really make this dress my own, and I wouldn’t be brave enough to do this much altering if I had paid a ton of money for it. Perfect perfect perfect! :) I think I may get some more crystals to put on this new train idea. We’ll see what material we pick out first.

All of the invitation inserts are printed & cut out…I just have to do some assembling. I’ll work on that tomorrow and Tuesday and get it done (Monday night we have wedding Prep). Just waiting for the envelopes….so exciting! I cannot believe I am sending out wedding invitations. It really makes this whole thing real, instead of something we are doing in the future.

Rick got a hold of Matt today, the very last groomsman to be contacted, and what luck, he is the same size as Rick, so he can wear the shirt we already purchased. So I will go ahead and get the shirts ordered this weekend. We also found a neat cloth collapsable party cooler at Canadian Tire today for $29.99…and it’s blue. :) We decided to get it as it is definitely fitting for the reception and we will use it again inthe future. It holds up to 54 cans, so it’s a good size.

I redid the list of things to purchase today, and there is not much left! It is such a sense of accomplishment, and so nice to have it all paid in cash. Woohoo! Now we’ll focus on making money to pay for the food and the balance for the suppliers, which is the bulk of the expense, but so far attainable. :) We are still right on budget, which is fantastic! :)

Can you tell that I am happy to be finished these invitations this evening??? I did the happy dance! I am so glad that I made them and did not order them. Yes, they cost less to make, but not that much less. The point is they are very original, and truly reflect Rick & me, and the style & feel of our whole wedding. The reply cards are hot of the printer as I am typing this, and the other inserts are pretty much done; Rick is working on the web content (you know, all those empty links up there that just says “coming soon”) and map inserts as well tonight.

My mom’s friend from Switzerland called her today…she is firming up her plans to come here for the wedding as they also plan to visit family in the US while they are in this part of the world. :) I am so happy she can make it. This is my mom’s friend from college and it’s nice she will have someone here from the Phils. since her family cannot come. Some of you may have heard about the mudslides in Leyte, luckily it was not in my mom’s village, but you never know if everyone is safe until you hear from them. Plus it is always very disheartening to hear of any sudden loss of life where ever it may be.

So mom called today to say dad’s retirement party is 4:00 on Thursday. He is so happy, and I know he wants to get this over with so that he can put that chapter to rest and enjoy his retirement!

I’m off to cut out reply cards! :)

Can you believe…three months to go…BREATHE!!! LOL…just kidding…I think we are in good shape, actually. :)

Still busily working away at the invitations. Tomorrow night I am determined to finish them…so very close. I got my blue clutch in the mail today…now that’s HOT as Paris Hilton would say. ;) I am so impressed…it is the perfect shade of blue and much bigger than I imagined; which IS a good thing…I hate buying evening bags and all you can fit in it is a credit card! This will definitely fit my credit card…and my lipstick and powder…and my cheque book…LOL! The fun of paying for your own wedding. ;) I know I have kept a lot of the wedding attire hush hush so here’s a sneak peek of the evening bag:

You know me…bargain queen…I ordered this from the states and the cost, with shipping & duty, came to $47 Canadian! Wow!

Mom called yesterday after mass and said she got my baptism certificate already; issued from the Church office. Rick’s arrived in the mail today. Horray for one more thing off the list of things to do! We start our marriage prep next Monday night…and somewhere in there next week we would like to squeeze in an evening at our sister church, Canadian Martyrs to hear the guest speaker Priest coming up from New Hampshire for our Parish Mission. Dad’s retirement coming up this Thursday…busy busy busy! :)

The invitations are coming together nicely. The inside portion is assembled and the paper I chose for the outside is wonderful…reminds me of white sand; I love the texture of it and totally has the “feel” (look and emotion) that I was going for. It is a fairly simple design, but it looks great so I am happy! I can’t wait for you all to see it.

Tonight I am working on the inserts…reply cards, hotel info, directions. I really need to get these out to those of you out of province…so if that’s you, they will be mailed soon….hopefully by the end of next week.

Brent was over today to get measured for his shirt. We have David already measured and Jason emailed Rick from Korea to say he would handle it ASAP. That leaves Matt, my brothers and the fathers (if they so choose to wear the barong). We are going to Windsor Thursday for my dad’s retirement party, so we’ll get three taken care of then, anyway. I am hoping that mom will do some hemming for me. :) I need the material for the head table hemmed and Rick’s pants…it’s easier if she does it since she has the sewing machine. ;)

We had a bit of a scare yesterday afternoon…the fire alarm went off, and when Rick went into the hall to investigate, he could see & smell smoke. So we grabbed the cat carriers and loaded the cats in…with difficulty. Jet wasn’t so bad since he likes his carrier anyway (he naps in it at times) but Zany…no way would she go! Thank Goodness Rick could coax her in. Once we got out in the hall there was a group of our neighbors investigating the cause and we did some sniffing out until the Super got there. Turns out a dryer in our laundry room was not working properly, causing it to smoke, but it did not catch on fire. The cats got a little outing and they seemed no worse for wear once we let them out of the carriers.

Well, tonight I finished the candle holders; packed and ready to go, not to be opened until May 27th! The whole project has taken me just 5 hours spanned over 3 days, I am quite impressed. A quick, easy project that turned out quite impressive.

I also finished the back portion of the invitations…I can now put the glue gun away, thank goodness! I have enough war scars from that thing now. :) Tomorrow night if I feel up to it I will start assembling the front part.

The Archbishop’s secretary emailed me today…thankfully there is room for either Pre-Cana course (you can either do it over two Saturdays or Monday nights for 7 weeks). We decided to take the 7 week course; the group is smaller (10 couples vs. 40 couples…holy cow, 40!! That is a lot of couples!), it’s held at a local church just minutes from here, and we think we would get more out of it in a more intimate group with the info given to us in smaller chunks. We really want to get as much out of the marriage prep as possible. We have been doing our own marriage prep with the book “The Hard Questions” but any help to keep our relationship happy & healthy is worth it.

The hotel also got back to me about the rehearsal dinner, and it’s a go! We are doing a standing room style reception with some fun foods! Her only suggestion is that we add a protein, so people feel more full and that’s a great suggestion. Rick & I aren’t big meat eaters, so we don’t always think about that. Anyway, the way we worked around it is to have cash bar for any alcoholic or non-alcholic drinks. That way, everyone can choose what kind of drink they want without us spending most of our budget on a variety of drinks. We have been able to concentrate our money on the food so it will be a good spread of fun eats. :) So my contact at the hotel is doing us up a contract. Easy, easy! :) Thank you brain, is all I have to say. ;)

I love how this is all panning out, and I am esp. glad Rick & I decided to do it our way. No sense letting this non-conventional brain of mine go to waste. ;) There is always another choice, you just have to think outside the box. :)