Taken just a few moments after getting engaged, while Eric Clapton sang on in the background. Possibly the best 20 minutes of my young life!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The "real" engagement picture
Taken just a few moments after getting engaged, while Eric Clapton sang on in the background. Possibly the best 20 minutes of my young life!
Engagement pictures- Sneak Preview
Here are the electronic versions of the three pictures that Jordan has already sent us. There are many more to come...including the ones taken on the carousel (we're awesome!). So just a quick sneak peek. (And before you ask, YES, we are ACTUALLY inside the barn...it's not superimposed. It was a real, honest to goodness barn!). I like to think we look pretty good together ;)
Until next time,
LOVE Jason and Zita _________...???
Time for an update
So, I've been bad at my goal of updating this frequently. I suck. So this may be another really long post.
So, of course wedding planning, being the all consuming hobby that it is, is taking a bit of a back-burner role due to my looming final exams. That being said, all has not been forgotten. Here's an update of sorts on various topics.
1) Ceremony: CATHOLIC CHURCHES WON'T DO CEREMONIES DURING LENT!!! GAH!!! We're not changing our date because we're too attached to the idea of leap year, and we aren't willing to wait four years so this puts a major glitch in our original plans. For now, the idea is to get married in the United Church with one of Jason's cousins as our pastor. Then, following our honeymoon, we would get the marriage blessed by a priest. It's not ideal, but I think it's the best decision given that we aren't flexible on the date. I'm even considering doing the official blessing during our honeymoon (which we are having at my mom's cabin just outside of Ottowa I think) so that we can have it in Ontario and my extended family can join us! My mom suggested that, and I thought it was a wonderful idea.
2) Wedding party: We are having the biggest wedding party in history, I swear to God. Five on each side. Add Jeff Blahun as a groomsman. I haven't had a chance to confirm with the new bridesmaid yet, so I'm not going public with our choice yet. But there will be five (FIVE!) on each side. Chalk it up to Jason and my classic indecisiveness. Sigh...
3) Wedding dress: I haven't started shopping yet, but I've been procrastinating studying by browsing the internet. I think I've found a style that I like a lot (it's very, very, very simple) so that's exciting. I'm not sure if I want to buy off the rack, order in from ebay or have a dress made...it all depends on the cost I guess.
4) Following Easter dinner with the Lockharts, we should be well on our way to finding a caterer. Apparently the cost of that will be lower than I had anticipated. Somewhere around 10-12$ a person instead of the 20$ I had been told to plan for. So, for a guest list of 150 (which is our current estimate), we're talking from 1500$ to 2500$. Jason's mom also agreed to be the lead on the decorations (thank God, the woman is brilliant!) so that makes me feel much, much better!
5) We booked and viewed our honeymoon suite at the Ramada Hotel in Stettler. It's BEAUTIFUL! I will post images of a similar room, but ours is fancier and more luxurious! We also reserved a large executive loft (with a seperate bedroom for bridal-napping) for the women to get ready in. The gentlemen will be getting ready at Jason's parents house. Jason and I also took a romantic drive around the Stettler area to get better acquainted with possible picture locations.
6) We took our engagement pictures on April 4th, 2007. Jordan Verlage (www.verlagephoto.com) did a beautiful job, despite the cold, snowy weather. We may look freezing, but I guarantee you that we did as good job hiding it as we could in light of the weather.
7) Engagement party is booked for May 5th, 2007. This coincides with the Mexican holiday of Cinquo De Mayo. Jason is excited to wear a sombrero! I'm excited to be done school and able to have a few cervecas and relax!
8) Wedding colors have been finalized. Black and White with touches of red. Should be pretty. And classy. But most importantly, simple!
The next few things on my list of things to do include:
1) Finalizing a caterer
2) Choosing a baker for the cake
3) Finalizing the guest list with our parents
4) Figure out how in God's name we're going to afford this day!
5) Build our registry/ies
6) Attend our engagement party and hopefully have a good time :)
7) Finalize and order flowers (yes, apparently I'm supposed to do that this early...weird)
8) Choose a dress style and decide which method i'm going with in getting what I want.
9) Book our DJ and talk to Sarah about music.
We are getting a phenomenal amount of support and encouragement from those who surround us- we are a very lucky couple! I'll admit, this entire process is a little intimidating, but it's also exiting. I am looking forward to the day that I become Mrs. Jason and he becomes Mr. Zita (the last name question is still up in the air at this point!).
So, of course wedding planning, being the all consuming hobby that it is, is taking a bit of a back-burner role due to my looming final exams. That being said, all has not been forgotten. Here's an update of sorts on various topics.
1) Ceremony: CATHOLIC CHURCHES WON'T DO CEREMONIES DURING LENT!!! GAH!!! We're not changing our date because we're too attached to the idea of leap year, and we aren't willing to wait four years so this puts a major glitch in our original plans. For now, the idea is to get married in the United Church with one of Jason's cousins as our pastor. Then, following our honeymoon, we would get the marriage blessed by a priest. It's not ideal, but I think it's the best decision given that we aren't flexible on the date. I'm even considering doing the official blessing during our honeymoon (which we are having at my mom's cabin just outside of Ottowa I think) so that we can have it in Ontario and my extended family can join us! My mom suggested that, and I thought it was a wonderful idea.
2) Wedding party: We are having the biggest wedding party in history, I swear to God. Five on each side. Add Jeff Blahun as a groomsman. I haven't had a chance to confirm with the new bridesmaid yet, so I'm not going public with our choice yet. But there will be five (FIVE!) on each side. Chalk it up to Jason and my classic indecisiveness. Sigh...
3) Wedding dress: I haven't started shopping yet, but I've been procrastinating studying by browsing the internet. I think I've found a style that I like a lot (it's very, very, very simple) so that's exciting. I'm not sure if I want to buy off the rack, order in from ebay or have a dress made...it all depends on the cost I guess.
4) Following Easter dinner with the Lockharts, we should be well on our way to finding a caterer. Apparently the cost of that will be lower than I had anticipated. Somewhere around 10-12$ a person instead of the 20$ I had been told to plan for. So, for a guest list of 150 (which is our current estimate), we're talking from 1500$ to 2500$. Jason's mom also agreed to be the lead on the decorations (thank God, the woman is brilliant!) so that makes me feel much, much better!
5) We booked and viewed our honeymoon suite at the Ramada Hotel in Stettler. It's BEAUTIFUL! I will post images of a similar room, but ours is fancier and more luxurious! We also reserved a large executive loft (with a seperate bedroom for bridal-napping) for the women to get ready in. The gentlemen will be getting ready at Jason's parents house. Jason and I also took a romantic drive around the Stettler area to get better acquainted with possible picture locations.
6) We took our engagement pictures on April 4th, 2007. Jordan Verlage (www.verlagephoto.com) did a beautiful job, despite the cold, snowy weather. We may look freezing, but I guarantee you that we did as good job hiding it as we could in light of the weather.
7) Engagement party is booked for May 5th, 2007. This coincides with the Mexican holiday of Cinquo De Mayo. Jason is excited to wear a sombrero! I'm excited to be done school and able to have a few cervecas and relax!
8) Wedding colors have been finalized. Black and White with touches of red. Should be pretty. And classy. But most importantly, simple!
The next few things on my list of things to do include:
1) Finalizing a caterer
2) Choosing a baker for the cake
3) Finalizing the guest list with our parents
4) Figure out how in God's name we're going to afford this day!
5) Build our registry/ies
6) Attend our engagement party and hopefully have a good time :)
7) Finalize and order flowers (yes, apparently I'm supposed to do that this early...weird)
8) Choose a dress style and decide which method i'm going with in getting what I want.
9) Book our DJ and talk to Sarah about music.
We are getting a phenomenal amount of support and encouragement from those who surround us- we are a very lucky couple! I'll admit, this entire process is a little intimidating, but it's also exiting. I am looking forward to the day that I become Mrs. Jason and he becomes Mr. Zita (the last name question is still up in the air at this point!).
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
24 hours later!
So it's been just over 24 hours since Jason proposed, and I admit I still have the engagement bug- I can't sleep for all the excitement. The past day has been spent telling our family and friends about our big decision: I am pleased to report that all those concerned seem pretty happy with our announcement. For posterity's sake, here were some of the reactions:
My mom: the first person we called, I was still crying my tears of happiness when I called my mom. Since i had just spoken to her a few hours earlier, she answered the phone concerned that something was wrong! She was quite surprised to find out my real reason for calling. We spoke of how exciting the next year would be, how amazing a person Jason was and how happy she was for us. Then Jason took the phone and she welcomed him to the family. It was about as perfect a phone call I can imagine- totally not the reaction I expected from her at all! It was wonderful.
Jason's parents: Next on our "must call now" list were Jason's parents. Though I didn't get the chance to talk to them, Jason tells me that they appeared much less shocked then my mother. This may have had something to do with the fact that we woke them up! I keep forgetting that 10:30 at night is late for a lot of people...! Jason spoke to both of his parents who expressed happiness for us.
Jeff and Chantal- the instigators for our being together in the first place- were next on our list. Chantal, being pregnant, was sick in bed but we had a chance to talk to Jeff. The couple was far from surprised- realistically they had been expecting this for quite some time. This reaction would be echoed by Miles, Conor and Krystal, all great friends who have known for quite some time that it was only a matter of time. It is, however, nice to finally have it on the record!
Jason's brother, Bryan: Not only did we have to inform Bryan of our decision, we also asked him to make a decision of his own: Would he be our best man! Though Jason's brother was shocked by our news, he readily accepted to be part of our big day! Again, waking him up may have influenced his reaction, but I think it's safe to say that Bryan was the most shocked of all!
Jason's sister, Cristan: We did not succeed in reaching Cristan the night of the engagement. Silly girl had already gone to sleep! Nor did we succed in telling her in person when we returned from lunch with my mother the next day! Silly girl was fast asleep. It was not until after my night class, almost a full day later that she would hear the news- and via telephone at that! Jason had to call her on his break at work since I felt it was important that she it from him first. I then had the pleasure of talking to her in person and asking her to be my bridesmaid. She seems very excited for Jason and I, and even more excited for the wedding! This party girl knows a good time when she hears of one!
Other important phone calls were made- each too brief since we don't speak to our friends enough- Ryan and Skippy have signed on as best men. Sarah Colpitts was thrilled to be asked to sing. And the wedding party is quickly shaping up! I managed to reach Janine over msn and she has accepted to be one of my bridesmaids...all that's left is hearing back from Mikey, whom we had to contact via email because he is still on the ships!
So, as it appears now, the wedding party is as follows:
Best Man: Bryan Lockhart (brother of the Groom)
Groomsmen: Mike Smith (cousin of the Groom), Ryan Boer (friend of the Groom and Bride) and Matt "Skippy" Smith (friend of the Groom and Bride)
Matron of Honor: Chantal Cloutier ("sister" of the Bride, friend of the Groom)
Maid of Honor: Krystal McLay (Friend of the Bride and Groom)
Bridesmaids: Cristan Lockhart (Sister of the Groom, friend/roommate of the Bride) and Janine Groeneveld (friend of the bride)
Attending as ushers (with duties to be determined): Miles Knudsen and Conor Northup (friends of the Bride and Groom)
Masters of Ceremony: Jeff Blahun and Ashley Hisset (friends of the Bride and Groom)
Ring Bearer (if his mom says yes since he's still young!) Jackson Northup (nephew to Conor Northup)
Songstress: Sarah Colpitts (friend of the Bride)
I think that might cover everybody! Jason and I spent a great deal of time discussing and planning the wedding party in order to find roles that were best suited to those who are nearest and deareest to us. Sadly, many others who are also close to our hearts will have to enjoy the view from their seats and have been spared the stress and agony of being in the actual wedding party! Hopefully there won't be any hurt feelings- I have seen too many people fight over positions of honor! And if there are fights, may they be resolved in the best way possible: FOOD FIGHT!
At this time it is unclear what role Antoine will be filling at the wedding, but it is my hope that he will walk me down the aisle in lieu of my father.
Alright, enough sleep-procrastination for now. Time to pass out on the couch and wait for Jason to come home from work! All in all, day one was full of excitement!!!
Zita
PS: We're still not sure how to "announce" our engagement to the rest of our friends, but we figure word of mouth moves quickly enough. Tomorrow, I have to remember to call my own extended family out East! Hopefully my Aunts, Uncle and Nanny will be able to make it out here for the big day!!!
That's all I can think of for now: Next post- 11 months ISN'T ENOUGH TIME!!! Also, wedding flower choices, wedding colors and updates on the ceremony!
My mom: the first person we called, I was still crying my tears of happiness when I called my mom. Since i had just spoken to her a few hours earlier, she answered the phone concerned that something was wrong! She was quite surprised to find out my real reason for calling. We spoke of how exciting the next year would be, how amazing a person Jason was and how happy she was for us. Then Jason took the phone and she welcomed him to the family. It was about as perfect a phone call I can imagine- totally not the reaction I expected from her at all! It was wonderful.
Jason's parents: Next on our "must call now" list were Jason's parents. Though I didn't get the chance to talk to them, Jason tells me that they appeared much less shocked then my mother. This may have had something to do with the fact that we woke them up! I keep forgetting that 10:30 at night is late for a lot of people...! Jason spoke to both of his parents who expressed happiness for us.
Jeff and Chantal- the instigators for our being together in the first place- were next on our list. Chantal, being pregnant, was sick in bed but we had a chance to talk to Jeff. The couple was far from surprised- realistically they had been expecting this for quite some time. This reaction would be echoed by Miles, Conor and Krystal, all great friends who have known for quite some time that it was only a matter of time. It is, however, nice to finally have it on the record!
Jason's brother, Bryan: Not only did we have to inform Bryan of our decision, we also asked him to make a decision of his own: Would he be our best man! Though Jason's brother was shocked by our news, he readily accepted to be part of our big day! Again, waking him up may have influenced his reaction, but I think it's safe to say that Bryan was the most shocked of all!
Jason's sister, Cristan: We did not succeed in reaching Cristan the night of the engagement. Silly girl had already gone to sleep! Nor did we succed in telling her in person when we returned from lunch with my mother the next day! Silly girl was fast asleep. It was not until after my night class, almost a full day later that she would hear the news- and via telephone at that! Jason had to call her on his break at work since I felt it was important that she it from him first. I then had the pleasure of talking to her in person and asking her to be my bridesmaid. She seems very excited for Jason and I, and even more excited for the wedding! This party girl knows a good time when she hears of one!
Other important phone calls were made- each too brief since we don't speak to our friends enough- Ryan and Skippy have signed on as best men. Sarah Colpitts was thrilled to be asked to sing. And the wedding party is quickly shaping up! I managed to reach Janine over msn and she has accepted to be one of my bridesmaids...all that's left is hearing back from Mikey, whom we had to contact via email because he is still on the ships!
So, as it appears now, the wedding party is as follows:
Best Man: Bryan Lockhart (brother of the Groom)
Groomsmen: Mike Smith (cousin of the Groom), Ryan Boer (friend of the Groom and Bride) and Matt "Skippy" Smith (friend of the Groom and Bride)
Matron of Honor: Chantal Cloutier ("sister" of the Bride, friend of the Groom)
Maid of Honor: Krystal McLay (Friend of the Bride and Groom)
Bridesmaids: Cristan Lockhart (Sister of the Groom, friend/roommate of the Bride) and Janine Groeneveld (friend of the bride)
Attending as ushers (with duties to be determined): Miles Knudsen and Conor Northup (friends of the Bride and Groom)
Masters of Ceremony: Jeff Blahun and Ashley Hisset (friends of the Bride and Groom)
Ring Bearer (if his mom says yes since he's still young!) Jackson Northup (nephew to Conor Northup)
Songstress: Sarah Colpitts (friend of the Bride)
I think that might cover everybody! Jason and I spent a great deal of time discussing and planning the wedding party in order to find roles that were best suited to those who are nearest and deareest to us. Sadly, many others who are also close to our hearts will have to enjoy the view from their seats and have been spared the stress and agony of being in the actual wedding party! Hopefully there won't be any hurt feelings- I have seen too many people fight over positions of honor! And if there are fights, may they be resolved in the best way possible: FOOD FIGHT!
At this time it is unclear what role Antoine will be filling at the wedding, but it is my hope that he will walk me down the aisle in lieu of my father.
Alright, enough sleep-procrastination for now. Time to pass out on the couch and wait for Jason to come home from work! All in all, day one was full of excitement!!!
Zita
PS: We're still not sure how to "announce" our engagement to the rest of our friends, but we figure word of mouth moves quickly enough. Tomorrow, I have to remember to call my own extended family out East! Hopefully my Aunts, Uncle and Nanny will be able to make it out here for the big day!!!
That's all I can think of for now: Next post- 11 months ISN'T ENOUGH TIME!!! Also, wedding flower choices, wedding colors and updates on the ceremony!
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