You didn't think we'd keep these to ourselves did you?

Inspired by my sister Shauna's blog posting, I thought I'd write a note or two on some of my favorite things about our wedding day.  Details are already starting to slip away, so it's a way to keep some of those a little longer.  And, selfishly, talking about it helps me relive a little bit of the day too. :)

My favorite take-away (literally) from the day was the Photo Booth Guest Book... it is just awesome!  It was a great way to capture at least one photo of everyone who was able to join us (though I find it hard to believe that our photographer, Layton, could have possibly missed anyone).  AND, we got pictures of them with PROPS! Googley classes, tiaras, sparkly wigs... you name it! It made for a great keepsake that you have to see to fully appreciate.  But, since you are not all here to see it in person, we've posted the photos online for your enjoyment!  Hope you didn't think we were going to keep them all to ourselves??

On the note of pictures, if you have any in digital form, please send them along via email to erinandericgethitched@gmail.com.

Pics by the Pro

Hooray! We have received our pictures from our photographer, Layton Reid, and he did not disappoint. Here are a few of my favorites, but for the full set (WARNING, a LOT of pictures), click here to see our album on Picasa!






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A Little Piece of Paradise

For the first fourteen years of my life, I spent summers camping with my family at Inverness Beach Village.  It continues to be one of my favorite places.  Because we had friends and famlily who travelled a fair distance to share our day, Eric and I wanted to make sure we spent some time with them.  Instead of disappearing on our own, we decided to spend the week in Inverness and encourage those who were sticking around to check it out as well. 

So from Monday to Thursday, we were joined by much of our friends and family.  Though the weather didn't cooperate as much as we had hoped, I did go swimming 3 out of 5 days!  The Calgary travellers did some exploring in the highlands and Baddeck, and the all got to just hang out and enjoy being together.  Percy and Louise picked up a feast of crab for us to enjoy on everyone's last night.  Followed by a campfire and a game of Werewolves (thanks Denny), it was a great way to finish our our holiday.

Except, our holiday wasn't finished, we still had a few days left!  Between our house purchase, wedding planning, and visitors, it seems we hadn't had downtime for ages.  It was a bit of a shock to the system when everyone left on Thusday - I'm not exaggerating to say we had a pretty serious case of the blues.  While we are closer to family since our return to the East, we're not THAT close, and we are certainly a lot further from our Calgary friends. 

Playing "Pommes de Pommes"

I came to the conclusion that while I missed our Calgarian friends a lot, I really do not want to live in Calgary....I just went them all to live in Nova Scotia!  It was fabulous having everyone here, even for a short time.  I think that means we'll have to do it again! :) 



The MacNeil Gents

The MacNeil Ladies


How Sweet It Is!

So, I had written an entire posting that was essentially a rundown of our wedding day... and it was DULL... which, of course, our day was NOT!  Our day was about as perfect as it could be!!  So instead of a play-by-play, I thought I'd share a few little side stories.

Being the girl, I was into the details like selecting a color for the dresses, even using this nifty thing on the Davids Bridal website that allows you to "picture" your bridal party... all the while assuming Eric was going to wear black.  Who knew he had other plans?  So, the boys went from black to gray, and the girls from gray to navy blue!  And I must say, they looked great!

I had appointments for myself, Kim and Gloria at a salon which shall remain unnamed.  With about two weeks to go, the salon cancelled.  So, I had to find a new salon, for a bridal party, on the Saturday of labour day weekend - a busy weekend for weddings! Luckily, the folks at Wish Salon + Day Spa were able to accomodate us, and I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

Now, if you recall from the previous post that we hit the town on Thursday, you might understand how hard it was to get up when our bridesmaid Kim arrived on the "red eye" from Calgary on Friday morning.  While we may have been a little bleary-eyed answering the door, Kim by far had the harder job!  She left her family (including a 7-month old daughter, Taylor) in Calgary, didn't catch much sleep on the plane OR at our place after arriving. She also jam-packed Friday with some visiting, fingers and toes with Gloria and I, and to top it all off, an evening with Eric and I, his parents and our visitors - our friends Colina and Tina with their daughter, Eric's sister Joanne with her husband and 3 children, and my sister Shauna with her husband and 2 children!! She's a trooper for sure (possibly supernatural), and she must have slept well Friday night because she was good to go on Saturday!

Kim was also one of a number of guests flying solo (or at least without kids) for our wedding. Our groomsman Mark was also there without his wife and children (much to Mel's disappointment), my cousin Terry (of the MacNeil Family Jam Band) was there with his partner Patti but without his three kids, and my cousin Janis also flew from Calgary to come solo, leaving her family home.  I'd like to tell you these folks cut loose and did something crazy, but as far as I know, they behaved themselves.

I've been asked a few times about the music and reading selections at our wedding (special thanks to my uncle Hughie for providing the music for the ceremony!), so I thought I'd give you a rundown:
Neither my write-up or the photos do justice to the day whatsoever.  When we collect more of our pictures we'll get them up on a website, but for now here is a sampling from our photographer, Layton Reid.

Upper Deck to Lower Deck

Yes, our wedding was yesterday, but I have decided to catch up on some postings anyway!
Sarah, Mark and Jeremy on the Mar
As you are aware per this previous blog posting, we hit the high seas (or at least Halifax Harbour) with some friends and family on the Thursday before our wedding. We were pretty lucky that there was enough breeze to actually sail for the first half of the trip.  It was a nice chance for our parents to meet some of our good friends from Calgary.  Aside from being a little chilly (though the staff had lots of blankets to help with that), everyone had a great time!

Eric, Shauna, me, Susan
After the boat ride, a bunch of us went to the quintessential Halifax bar - the Lower Deck.  Having a bridal party consisting of folks who don't live in Halifax, we thought we would get off pretty scott free as far as pre-wedding shenanigans go.  Apparently we underestimated our Matron of Honour and Best Man.  While wearing a fun get-up which included gargantuan foam cowboy hats (a tribute to where we met each other and all of these friends), we had to complete a list of tasks - which were conveniently written on laminated sandwich boards!  Among the tasks... "re-enact your first make-out session on the dance floor", "request a song and ask a stranger to dance", and "eat as many hot wings as you can in two minutes" - turns out Eric and I suck at speed eating!

Both parts of the evenings were a lot of fun (from what we can recall), and it certainly set the stage for great party on our wedding day.... IF we have enough time to recover...