It was a dark and stormy night -- wait, that's a different story. However, I did wake up at 7:15 on Sunday morning to a gloomy, cloudy morning. Rats! For once the weather channel's forecast was right and it looked like rain was imminent. I allowed myself 5 minutes to wallow in self-pity. After all no bride wants to get married in the rain. Why did this summer have to be the wettest one in 10 years? They'd been predicting rain for the past 5 days and it had been beautiful outside the whole time except today and -- uh-oh! 5 minutes are up; time to move on.

I showered and drank the banana-strawberry smoothie that my mom made for me. As I left for the hairdresser's, I wished that I had eaten something more. I had thought that wedding jitters would curb my appetite, but I was surprisingly calm (and hungry). By 8:30, I was at the hairdresser's. I was there alone and enjoyed having some quiet time, while Dionne, my stylist worked. In less than 45 minutes, I was tiaraed, veiled and ready to go. I was on my way back home, but my stomach kept crying out "Feed me!", so I turned my rented Lincoln towards McDonalds I was hoping that the server would see my veil and offer me some sort of Bridal Value Meal, but I was told there is no such thing. If you ask me, they are overlooking a major marketing demographic.

After finishing my food (some manner of "McMuffin"), I returned to my parent's home to do some last minute honeymoon packing. As I looked around my childhood bedroom, I realized that this would be the last I would be in "my room". From now on, when I came home to visit, Phil and I would share it just like we would share everything. It was a bittersweet moment.

A little before 11:00 a.m. my grandfather called everyone together and gave a little prayer for the day. Then I made a tearful speech, thanking my parents for everything. Even my dad cried, which didn't help to stop the waterfall of tears I was already pouring forth. At 11:15, I left my house and headed for the site of my initiation into married life: La Vedette. As I drove down the 401, it occurred to me that I was totally excited, but totally calm. I was so proud of myself. I decided that no matter what happened (with the exception of Phil not showing up), that I would go with the flow and own it. This was my wedding day and I was going to make the most of it!

I arrived at La Vedette a little before noon. I was the first one to arrive. The staff was still cleaning up from the previous nights wedding. I went up to the bridal suite and sat quietly in order to deepen my zen-like state. A few minutes later, my in-laws arrived and disrupted the zen (it was all right, I was getting bored, anyway). My future mother-in-law, was fit to be tied, because the make-up artist was late. We made some phone calls and discovered she was lost. She showed up at 12:45 (45 minutes late) and went to work on me. She was quick and when she finished making me up a mere 20 minutes later, I was thrilled with the way I looked -- natural, but glamourous.

Phil and I were supposed to leave for our pictures at 1:00 and it was now 1:05 and I hadn't gotten dressed yet. Oh well, I figured if I was late, people would wait for me. My mom, my best woman, Stephanie and I made our way up to the bridal suite to get dressed. Note to future brides: If you are wearing a gown, they take a bit more work to put on that normal clothes. I took a full 15 minutes, but I was finally ready. I looked in the mirror and thought "Wow, I look like a bride." It sounds strange, but when I had tried on my dress during the fittings, I just looked like me in a big dress. Now I looked like a real bride.

I made my way downstairs and opened the door. Stephanie went ahead of me and announced me to Phil. I took a deep breath, stepped forward and there he was. He looked so handsome in his black tux and blue vest. Many of the other attendants had arrived and cameras were going off like crazy as we greeted each other. "Wow!" Phil said, after we shared our first kiss of the day. "You look amazing," I told him. "You look so beautiful," he said.

A few minutes later, David our photographer took us outside for pictures. It was a little gray, but the rain was holding off. When we returned inside, our entire wedding party was present, looking very sharp and ready for pictures. Because we had allowed 3 hours for picture-taking before the wedding, it was all done in a very relaxed and casual manner. La Vedette had provided sandwiches, juice and coffee for the wedding party, so we ate, drank generally hung out. At first, I hadn't been to keen on the idea of taking pictures before the wedding, but in retrospect I am SO glad we did it that way. I got to spend some really good time with Phil and the wedding party. We just had a lot of fun, which helped me stay calm.

At four o'clock, guests began arriving. We had decided that the bridesmaids would assist the groomsmen in ushering the guests to their seats. Each guest received a theatre-style playbill, complete with wedding party bio's and thumbnail photos. Apparently, these programs were a big-hit, but Phil and I were not there to see it. We were crammed in the bridal suite, along with our parents and witnesses (Phil's brother, Jeff and my best friend, Steph) signing the registry. We decided to take care of this before the ceremony (I didn't like the idea of pausing in the ceremony to do it). Moments later, we were legally married. Soon after that, our coordinator arrived to tell us that it was time to line up for the processional. Nerves began to batter my zendome as I got ready to march down the aisle. Our grandfathers began the procession, followed by the groomsmen. Phil marched down the aisle, accompanied by his parents. Next came the bridesmaids and then it was my turn (with my parents). It was amazing to see all my family and friends, smiling at me, silently encouraging me. The ceremony was very short (about 15 minutes), one Phil and I wrote ourselves. As, I read the vows we had written together, I got a little teary. Phil didn't cry at all and now I owe him 5 bucks.

After the ceremony, there was a cocktail reception in the lobby, with finger foods and punch. Ken Edge, our musician/DJ provided background music for our guests while they mingled. Phil and I took this time, to be alone and wind down from the ceremony. By the end of the hour, I was anxious to get back to the party and was happy our coordinator told us that it was time to for the first dance. When we came back down, the room had been converted for the reception. Our centerpieces, which consisted of three floating candles in vases and rose petals cast a romantic glow over the room. We danced with our each other and then our parents and then sat down for speeches. Both our father gave brief speeches and then the buffet was opened. It was a delicious spread (even, I enjoyed it and I eat steak 4 times a week).

After dinner, we cut the cake (courtesy of Pastry Lane) and our F&F gathered around for more paparazzi-type picture taking. After dinner, the were 4 more brief, but apparently entertaining speeches (Jeff, Steph, Phil and myself) and then it was time to dance the night away. Before the night drew to a close, I tossed my bouquet (Steph caught it and her boyfriend turned white and we all danced the hora. Then the dessert buffet was opened and everyone left the dance floor, to partake of cakes, fruits, tarts and pies (I can't believe I just used the word 'partake'). All too soon, the night was over. Guests left and we began cleaning up. Phil and I didn't feel like ending the night, so we hung around for awhile after and chatted with some of our attendants. Finally, it was time for us to leave and we drove off to begin our honeymoon and our lives together!

I hope you enjoyed my little drama, but if you didn't I hope I can make it up to you by providing you with a list of vendors that may help you with your own wedding planning.

Dress: Laysieng Couturier in Ottawa. - Laysieng will help you custom design the wedding dress of your dreams. She will work with you during every step of the construction of the gown and lend you any accessories you need (veil, crinoline, gloves, etc.) at no additional cost. Her workmanship is topnotch (far better than most pre-made gown) and her prices are very reasonable. I paid $900 dollars (tax included) for my gown. It was cream peau-de-soie sleeveless, with a corset bodice, rose detailing on the back and a three-foot-train (that could be bustled for dancing).
Bridesmaids dresses: Fairweather - Fairweather's bridal collection features various dress styles, in various colours. I chose cornflower as the colour and let the girls choose whatever style they wanted. The good thing about their system, is that it allowed my girls to order their dresses from the store closest to them (there was no way, we could all get together and go shopping). The only snag occurred with the dresses for my cousins overseas. My mom was traveling to Bermuda and was planning to take the dresses down with her. Unfortunately, the dress orders were 4 weeks behind (due to backlog in orders) and did not arrive in time. However, in fairness to Fairweather, when my mom contacted the regional manager and explained the situation he did everything in his power to fix the problem. He called the warehouse to put a rush on the dresses and when they arrived had the store, he paid to have the dresses express mailed to Bermuda (free of charge). As a back up plan, he had two dresses delivered to the Fairweather near my mother's house, just in case my cousins didn't receive their package in time. He also arranged to have a tailor on standby, in case alterations needed to be done at the last minute. He paid for all of this out of his pocket. Luckily, the dresses arrived in Bermuda 3 weeks before the wedding and fit very well. Check out www.fairweather.ca
Flowers -The Toronto Flower Shop - Sandra is a wholesale florist and she was amazing. Innovative, easy to work with and CHEAP. All of our flowers (6 LARGE handtied bridesmaids bouquets, my bouquet, throwaway, all the rose centerpieces, gorgeous floral arch, headtable flowers, buffet flowers, altar standards and more) came to less than$1000 (tax included). I cannot emphasize how beautiful the flowers looked and smelled. Sandra was a joy to work with.
Music - Ken Edge - Ken plays live music or prerecorded or a mix of both. He will play anything you want. He didn't know the song we'd requested for our processional, but got the sheet music and learned it in a mere two weeks. He charged us $825 dollars for 81/2 hours for a mix of live music and DJing.
Cake - Pastry Lane - Our cake was a three-tiered white chocolate mouse cake. It was gorgeous, delicious and only $300. The best thing about pastry lane is that before you buy you can get two sample cakes to take home and try. And these aren't teeny slices, they're really mini-cakes (enough to feed 3 or 4 people each).
Venue -- La Vedette - Amazing! La Vedette can host your ceremony, reception (or in our case) both. It is a beautiful banquet hall, with an extremely helpful, friendly staff. Our package included: -vegetarian buffet (2 types of pasta, 3 vegetables, 3 types of salad, breads, cheeses, rice, stir-fried vegetables, kosher pickle tray, etc.) -cocktail snacks (spring rolls, cheese in phyllo pastry, cheese and crackers, stuffed mushroom caps, alcoholic and nonalcoholic punch) -deluxe open bar and white and red wine at the tables, plus champagne for toasting. -dessert buffet (8 cakes, 6 pies, fresh fruit, tarts, flan, mousse, etc.). All this and they assign you an event coordinator free of charge, which is such a bonus. For all of this we paid $61/person (tax included)

P.S. Some people call me The Gangster of Love