It’s been a crazy couple of weeks with ups and downs and LOTS of family but the highlight was DEFINITELY my little brother Chris and my new little sister Caitie’s long-awaited wedding!! (Well, at least the engagement was long-awaited…the wedding happened with a fair bit more efficiency, eh Chris?). “Wedding Week” started with last Sunday’s bridal tea.

The Bridal Tea

Last weekend we held a very entertaining bridal tea for Caitie. My event-planner-extraordinaire sister YY found a lovely venue, The Waterside Inn in Port Credit, that was willing to put up with us and we took over half of their dining room.

In place of presents, we asked guests to email their favourite recipes to put together a recipe book for the bride-to-be (if this idea sounds familiar to one of my email followers, shhhhh… but please thank your bridesmaids for me – best shower idea EVER!). Then we provided piles of sticky scrapbooking doodads and bling and had them go to town on their pages!

And of course, since no bridal shower is complete without a little healthy competition, we did the classic “forbidden words” game, giving each guest a set of clothespins when they arrived and warning them that they were subject to forfeit if they said the words “bride,” “ring,” or “wedding.” In the end, through a dangerous combination of trickery and sheer cuteness, there was a clear winner.

We also made a rehearsal bouquet out of advice and wishes for the happy couple using paper flowers with button centres on pipecleaner stems. I’m in a play coming up soon (shameless plug – COME OUT AND SEE ANNE OF GREEN GABLES AT THE PARIS FAIRGROUNDS NOVEMBER 15-18 & 22-25!!!) involving a lot of teenagers who have been very good sports about helping out with all of my bridal shower preparation, including the cutting out of many paper flowers and the making of about 100 beaded bracelets that wound up being used for the bachelorette party instead!

By the end we had gorged ourselves on crust-less sandwiches, tea biscuits, quiche, cookies, and cakes and had lots of fun!

The BIG Event Itself

The bride looked stunning, the groom looked dashing, and my kids looked adorable…what more could you ask?

Once his walking-Molly-down-the-aisle duties were discharged, Ben made himself the unofficial wedding photographer, trying to give the talented Bruce Zinger a run for his money!

Ben captured some great moments:

The reception was spectacular – Kelly and Christine at Flowers Plus truly outdid themselves! (Make sure you click on that link because I discovered when I went to their site to link to it that they had also posted about the wedding with much more detailed pictures!)

The newlyweds being dedicated musicians, there was naturally a lot of musical talent represented at the ceremony and reception but the highlight was a trumpet duet by the bride and groom.

After that I don’t know what got into them…they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. I mean, get a room, guys. Geez.

Of course, as often happens at weddings as the night goes on, the music plays, and the food and drink flow, the young people started getting friendlier with one another.

We finished what had to have been Ben and Molly’s latest night ever by heading back to the hotel around 11:00 pm. Fortunately we were thinking ahead and put them in their PJs before we left,  because Molly was asleep in Ian’s lap as soon as the taxi started moving. As we left, Ben yelled over his shoulder the question that had been bothering him all afternoon and evening – “Chris? CHRIS? Why didn’t I get to do my proper job? WHY DIDN’T I CARRY THE RINGS??”

The Aftermath

The weekend was a blast – we recovered the lost sleep quickly – and the only lasting effect seems to be that since the wedding, Ben and Molly have been insisting on candlelight, tablecloths, and chair covers every night at dinner.

~ karyn