Sea Side Siesta Wedding!

Today is my maid of honor's wedding day!!

Unfortunately, I am not in attendance...  Tara and Tyler are in Playa del Carmen, Mexico with their families, exchanging vows and uniting their souls, 'til death do they part.

Because I am a full-time student in the midst of an condensed one year professional studies program, I was unable to spare the time (or the cash!) to make the trip to warm, sunny Mexico.

This is the thing with destination weddings: some people will be unable to go.  Whether it be for financial, educational, family, or a number of any other reasons. 

What you must remember when planning your destination wedding is not to take friends and family members not coming personally.  This is the risk that you are taking when decide to plan this sort of wedding.  Most people would love to come, and if they are able to, they will.

Tara is totally fine with my not being there.  She knows that if I could, I most certainly would be in attendance.

Since cutting through the red tape in Mexico is rather intense, it is difficult to have a binding marital contract if you are not actually citizens.  So, Tara and Tyler had a very small ceremony here in Winnipeg the weekend before they left, and Jason and I attended that.  It was lovely, simple, and sweet.

Typically speaking though, destination weddings are a great way to keep your numbers down.  You can be pretty certain that the only people who are going to come are the people who really, really love you and want to share in your day.  And those are the most important people anyway, aren't they?

No need to deal with any distant cousins or old friends getting inappropriately drunk at the reception (on your dime).  Guest lists can be slashed with no feelings of guilt whatsoever.  Distant relatives and friends are hardly expected to dish out two or three grand for a trip to Mayan.  So even if you do invite them, they are unlikely to come.

Obviously, our choice of venue to exchange vows is (almost) local, since we are marrying at Victoria Beach, just about an hour and twenty minutes north of Winnipeg.

However, I can totally understand the appeal of planning a getaway warm-weather-wedding.  All the details are looked after by the resort for you - all you need to do is pick the flowers, the food, and the time of day!

You also have a built in honeymoon!  Of course, all your family is on your honeymoon with you...

Off with her hair!

Typically speaking, most short haired North American brides begin the "growing out" task as soon as they are proposed to.  I, on the other hand, did the exact opposite:  last night, I cut my chin length hair into an even shorter pixie coiffe!

As soon as I started talking about getting a short haircut, people's immediate question/reaction was "what about your wedding?"  As if it was improper to marry with short hair.  My response has been that I don't really care if my hair is short or long on the day of nuptials, as long as it looks pretty.  I also feel as though having a cute pixie bridal 'do' will separate my wedding day look from the typical bridal up-do.

Having said that, I have to admit, the wedding did factor into my decision making process.  If I cut it off and hate it, will it grow back in time?  Do I want to be limited in hairstyle choices because of the short length?  And the ever-so-vain question:  will I look less pretty?

After reviewing all these questions and concerns, I decided to go for it!

I have worn my hair short from time to time over the years, and I knew it was flattering on me.  I also knew if I wound up hating it, I have eight months to grow it back into at least a chin length bob.  Still, it was nerve-racking when I walked into the salon last night at 6:15 to cut it off.  Many women seem to wear their hair like a safety blanket, and although mine was not particularly long, I still felt a sense of attachment to it.  And so it was with baited breath that I sat in my stylist's chair, and let her work her magic.

The result?  Judge for yourself...

I'm happy with it.  Now, the challenge is to come up with a bridal 'do' for my new short coiffe.  Here are some of the looks I've found, feel free to vote on the one you like best.

Dress Shopping: Round One!

We all know that probably the most exciting part of planning a wedding is dress shopping!  Well, I had my first go at it over the holidays, and I must admit that it was far more fun than I was expecting it to be.

To be completely honest, the night before the excursion I was not really in the mood to go.  My mother and my maid of honor, Tara, were joining me, and since my mom was flying out to Mexico on January 1st for three weeks, the plan was that we would start our search before she departed...  It's not that I was not eager to get a wedding dress, but it was rather soon after Christmas and schedules had already been so hectic, it just seemed as though one more thing to do was more of a pain than a pleasure.

I can assure you, that feeling vanished as soon as I tried on my first dress!  Once I got into the stores and had the clerks, my mother, and Tara bringing me gowns I was loving every minute of it.

We started our gown shopping at 'Bridal Bliss' on Stafford Street.  It's the newest bridal boutique in Winnipeg, carrying fewer dresses than most of the other salons with a stronger focus on customer service.  The dressing rooms are on the second floor, they are huge and private with massive full length mirrors and beautiful black & white graphic wallpaper.  Trying on dresses at 'Bridal Bliss' was delightful because of the modern and upscale approach to retailing.  Unfortunately, I did not find "the dress" there.  Most of their selection were dresses that had very full skirts and a lot of detailing.  My aim is to find a gown with clean lines that is beautiful, but simple at the same time.

Our next stop was at '7th Avenue' on Academy road.  Immediately upon entering the store the difference in style and layout was felt from the previous shop: it was packed full of shoppers, all their wet boots piled up by the front door, scurrying sales girls were running around looking for gowns for brides, and there were racks upon racks of dresses smushed together.  I didn't even know where to start.  Thankfully, Tara was there to help weave through the gowns and start pulling out the ones she thought would work.  Then a salesgirl popped over to lend a hand, and before I knew it I was trying more gowns.  The dressing rooms were not as beautiful (and certainly not as private) as 'Bridal Bliss', but I did have far more luck with the gowns!  Which, we all know, is the whole point. 

About five gowns in, I may have even found "the dress'!!  It was BEAUTIFUL.  I will not be describing it nor posting any photos of myself in the dress, just in case a certain mister husband-to-be's eyes should graze this page.  Let's just say, I have not been able to stop thinking about this dang dress!  When my mother returns from Mexico at the end of the month, we will be heading out for round two.  Although I think I may have found 'the dress', I want to try on some others, just to make sure there's not a better one out there (which may not be possible:)...  I'll keep you updated!