The Maui Food Scene

I planned to share this post ages ago, and didn't...and now in what has been a long winter, I am craving the sun and surf of Hawaii. Here is a post on a couple of our favourite places we ate at.

We didn't do much on our honeymoon...we planned it that way. We wanted some time to relax, and for the most part, that's exactly what we did. One day we even slept for 18 hours. The one thing we did do pretty regularly was eat really delicious food. The food scene is Maui is excellent. There are tons of great little local independant restaurants, and that's what we spent time checking out. Here is a review of some of our favourites:

Kihei Caffe

The Kihei caffe is amazing. It is a breakfast spot, it is very cheap (for Hawaii) and it is BUSY!!! You stand in line to order your meals and then you go and find a table (only after you order). It's a bit daunting, but everyone always finds a table or makes a new friend. I had the traditional breakfast which was fried rice with an egg on top. It was delicious and the portion was huge, I ended up eating it for lunch the next two days. We also got a very yummy Banana Bread muffin with chocolate chips and coconut on top, it was incredible!

808 Deli

For lunch one day we tried the 808 Deli. Everything on their menu is under $10, and the food is Fresh and Delicious. This is a picture of my yummy Turkey Sandwich (Chris said it was boring) and he got the pulled pork. We both loved our choices and the atmosphere of the Deli.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

I know Cheeseburger in Paradise is a chain, but we had some very yummy burgers here one day, and they served the Hawaiian beer that Chris really enjoyed. It's definitely worth checking out if you're craving a god burger!

Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice

Don't take Chris' look as an indication of how yummy this was because it was absolutely delicious and a small was HUGE!!! I think the Mister was just annoyed I was taking a picture before he could dig in! There is a lot of debate over the best shaved ice between Ululani's and a place called Local Boys, but we loved Ululani's. Make sure to ask for a snow cap add on which is a sweet cream mixture, gives it a nice creamsicle touch!


Monkeypod Kitchen Restaurant

This place is reviewed as one of the best places to eat on Maui. The food is fresh and the atmosphere is awesome. This is a picture of the homemade jalepeno poppers and they were very yummy. They have a great happy hour where all appetizers are 50% off and pizzas are only $9. This was one of my favourite places not just for the food but how awesome the decor is:

The moral of this story is, we ate very well on our honeymoon, and in this cold long winter, I can't help but think:

Wedding Wednesday: Custom Invitations Without the Custom Price

Our wedding invitations were another labour of love and cost savings. We ordered a digital custom design from YellowBrickGraphics on Etsy and had them printed at a local PATH printing shop. The digital custom route is really affordable and great for brides inviting a ton of people because the more people you invite the cheaper the cost. We paid $35 for our design, and were able to request custom colours from the designer. It's worth shopping the printing around- we saved with Path because they print on big sheets and then just cut the invitations to size. I purchased the Kraft paper envelopes from PaperGoodsSupplyShop on Etsy which is a local seller and was able to save the shipping by meeting the seller at a Starbucks. The return address envelopes were standard from Staples. I was lucky to get some cute heart stamps from Canada Post, but I understand you can now customize your stamps similar to the US.

I love how our invitations turned out, they fit our colour scheme with the wildflowers, and the kraft paper envelopes tied in with the Burlap on the tables.

Tick Tock Clock

We got a few beautiful handmade gifts for our wedding. I have already posted about the gorgeous afghan crocheted by my good friend Jessica here, and today I am back to share the beautiful clock that Chris' good family friends built for us. This clock is beautiful and very special to us. My grandmother used to have a grandfather clock, and the sound of the chimes still makes me think of visiting her when I was little.

Virgil put so much time into building this beautiful clock for us, and we love the way it looks in our home. The cats are also very fond of the swinging arm!

There is and inscription with our names and wedding date on the back. I have dreams of this clock becoming a heirloom we pass down to our children and grandchildren one day!

DIY Friday: Wedding Venue Decor

After reading the Style Me Pretty and Ruffled blogs religiously for over a year and a half, I knew the decor for my venue was going to be really important to me. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I did want it to reflect my style; rustic, colourful and full of patina! It was hard because we don't live where we got married, so I had to make sure whatever I planned was manageable. I was very lucky to have the help of my parents on this one. They travelled to visit us earlier in the year, so they were able to take all of the jars I have collected over the years that I planned to use for my centrepieces. My dad also arranged with a friend to borrow a few items his daughter was using for her rustic wedding that was held just a few weeks before mine. One tip for brides getting married in a different city is to check Kijiji and Craigslist in the city their getting married in for items they may want to use. That's where I found my colourful bunting and old door I put my menu on. You just need a Super Dad or Relative to pick stuff up for you. I'll never forget when I sent him for the door- "You need me to pick up an old door...and you want to use it as decor?"

I found the wooden C and J at the Christie Antique Show, after a coat of paint they were ready to go. My mom and grandmother arranged all of the flowers in the canning jars.

I got this printable online (Wedding Chicks Blog) and put it in an old frame that use to have my mom's grad picture in it!

This old door was converted into a chalkboard and used to display the buffet menu. It is currently living in my parents shed and we're working on ways to bring it back to Ontario as I am in love with it.

The centrepieces were a burlap square with a stack of old books, two flower arrangements in canning jars (the smaller one on top of the books) with tea lights and a floral table number held up by a vintage spool. My friends did an awesome job arranging these and I loved how they turned out. We personalized a few of the tables by picking books that related to the people sitting at that table. 

Since only my maternal grandparents were still alive to witness our special day, we wanted to do something to remember all of the grandparents. We got black and white copies of each of them and had a table dedicated just to them with the word "Memories" in scrabble tiles.

When we asked our baker to put sprinkles on our wedding cake, I think she was probably very surprised. It turned out exactly how we pictured it, and looked great with the DIY bunting cake topper I made (tutorial here). When I sent a thank you card to the Baker, she said that her and her husband drop off a lot of wedding cakes, and most decor set ups don't make them take a second look like ours did. I like that we didn't have a cookie cutter reception, and I'm glad we did it on really light budget by using a ton of items we owned already.

We also used scrabble tiles as place settings for the wedding party at the head table.

Speaking of head table, here was the panoramic view I took on my iphone during the reception. My dad and brother hung all of the bunting along the top of the room the morning of the wedding. Did I mention how thankful I was to have family and friends pitch in to make this day great?

I love this picture. Chris surprised everyone with this big kiss! I made the Mr. & Mrs bunting out of burlap and stencils I got at the dollar store. Behind us is the crocheted bunting my mom made that says "Love Is All You Need". It was such a great day, and we truly are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that helped put it all together. I also need to thank my friend Shaun for taking many of these decor and venue pictures. He knew how much work I put into planning everything, and knew it would be important to capture all of the details. He did such a phenomenal job!

DIY Bouquets and Boutonnieres

I'm back with some wedding posts as I received all of my pictures just before the holidays, and now have plenty to share!

As you know by now, this wedding was a labour of love and a practice in cost savings. One of the greatest opportunities for cost savings in my opinion is designing your own bouquets and boutonnieres. Not everyone is up for this, or wants the added stress, but given we only had 3 bouquets and 8 boutonnieres, I figured we could definitely manage. There are tons of DIY videos and blog posts on making your own bouquets. This is a good one for bouquets and this one is good for boutonnieres.

You will need:
Flowers
Floral wire
Floral tape
Garden Sheers
Ribbon to wrap around the base
Glue gun and glue to secure ribbon

We ordered flowers ahead of time from Costco. The total for all of this was $96.50, and we didn't even use all of these flowers!

The ladies in action making boutonnieres

Mom helping to add the final touch on the day

The finished product!

With the girls' blue bouquets

The guys and their boutonnieres

All in all this wasn't a bad project at all. We made all 8 boutonnieres in less than two hours. If we bought them at the store, it would have cost us about $100. We did ours for less than $20. Our bouquets took a little longer, but that's just because we had to decide how we wanted them to look and what flowers to use. For those indecisive brides, i'd recommend choosing an inspiration photo so you and your ladies have something to go off of. This was my inspiration bouquet, and i'm very happy with how it turned out:) I added lace from my dress to the base and secured my grandmother's brooch on the front. It was my something borrowed, blue and old!

Love in the Mail

We got some major love in the mail last week. My good friend Jessica crocheted us a beautiful afghan as a wedding present. At my husband's request, she made it in Toronto Maple Leafs colours and big enough to cover his entire body. At my request, she made it wide enough to share and cuddle.  I am blown away by her talent, and determination to take on such a big project. I had a nap just yesterday under this sweet gift, and it is absolutely wonderful.

What was the icing on the cake of this sweet gift was the very thoughtful message she wrote in her card. Here is just an excerpt that makes me smile:

"...This should not be the kind of blanket you put on display, but rather one that gets used on the daily. It should be the blanket that gets pulled over your head during a scary movie. It should be the blanket that goes on road trips, to the soccer field, to the hockey rink, to the cottage on those chilly nights. It should get covered in cat hair, tear stains, coffee stains. It should be washed often, need to be mended, be patched up, be tossed around. Basically- it should be loved! It should be that hg that you need, the comfort that family and friends give from a distance. Let it remind you of the warmth and love love that surrounded you on your wedding day..."

As you can see, our family has already started to put those directions to good use. I love that we will always have a reminder of our wedding day and my sweet friend Jessica when we snuggle up with this blanket.

Time of our Lives

When our photographer suggested we attempt the lift from Dirty Dancing, I have to be honest...I had my doubts. I am not the most coordinated person on the face of the earth, so I imagined face planting would be the end result. After a few attempts, we got the money shot, and it took centre stage in our photo guest book.

When she asked the day of the wedding, I thought she was joking. I mean, jeans and a t-shirt are one thing, wedding gown and tuxedo are a whole other ball game. After a little encouragement from our bridal party and our Best Man playing DJ on his cell phone, we got it done!

For all those girls that memorized the lines of Dirty Dancing growing up, I have to admit playing this out in real life was pretty darn cool. Gotta love a man that can do the lift!

Wedding Recap: Favours and Flowers (or why my Mom's a Machine)

My mom is a superstar. I have known this for a long time, but now the world knows too...especially the 80 people that attended our wedding and have already devoured at least one jar of jam. Growing up my mom was the kind of mom that let you eat dirt because every kid needs to eat a little dirt every now and then, and it's not going to hurt anything.

As soon as Chris and I got engaged, my mom started working. Even though we live far apart, we talked almost every day on the phone, and mom did what she does best- creates. She volunteered to make jars of jam as the favours, and I loved the idea. Because our original guest list was 165, my mom made over 100 jars of jam from scratch and in some cases she grew the fruit in her garden too! She bought fabric from Value Village to put on the tops, and she tied the tags I bought from a myownlabels groupon on each jar. It was definitely a labour of love.

Carefully Tying on the Tags

The Finished Product

I bet you thought my mom's talents stopped there didn't you? Turns out, my wedding was the second wedding that she and my grandmother played florist for. Because I'm incredibly thrifty and my mom's green-thumb is incredibly vibrant, it was determined that all of the flowers for our centerpieces would come from my mom's garden, and then my grandmother and mother would arrange everything in my mason jar collection.

The Growing Phase

My mother prayed all summer long that the flowers would survive the crazy maritime weather. She picked all the flowers bright and early the Thursday before the wedding. Sure enough Thursday night there was a crazy thunder and lightening storm followed by a massive downpour. What was most impressive was the fact that my mom and grammy arranged all the flowers in the time it took Caitlin and I to drive into town for a pedicure! Seriously, if you didn't believe the machine like qualities of my mom before, you must now.

The Arranging Phase

The final product was absolutely gorgeous, far beyond what I could have ever pictured or pinned on pinterest. The colours were gorgeous, playing up all the other colours around the room. From the start, when people asked me what my wedding colours were, I said "multi-coloured". Nobody got this...but my mom. That's what moms are for.

The Final Product

Wedding Wednesday: We Made It!

Well folks, we made it! Last Saturday Chris and I officially became Mr & Mrs! This wedding was a labour of love from everyone involved, and the day proved to be far more emotional than I had ever anticipated. There is so much I've been waiting to share with all of you. We completed tons of DIYs for the special day including DIY Bouquets and Boutonnieres, Centrepieces, Handmade Sparkle Belt, Table Linens, Favours, Bunting, Table Numbers to name a few. I also plan to share my lessons learned and advice for others planning a DIY wedding.

Photo Credit: Heather Grattan Photography

There will be radio silence for the next couple of weeks as we enjoy some time together on our honeymoon, but there will be plenty to share upon our return!

Flower Power

Well wedding week has officially begun. We got into my parents place very late last night, but we were able to sleep in a bit today. I took a few pictures of my florist's hard work this morning. The flowers look gorgeous, and in only a few more sleeps- they'll take center stage on the reception tables:)

Wedding Wednesday (on Thursday): Countdown is On!

We're getting close now. You can tell because this post was supposed to go out yesterday and it just didn't happen. We're making lists and checking off to-do items. All in all, I am not terribly stressed, which is a good thing. My lists are helping with this. I downloaded the "Wedding Workbook" from A Practical Wedding, and it is a great way to organize my thoughts. I am now rethinking not having a day-of coordinator, but we'll get there, and there will be tons of friends and family I will gratefully hand my lists to, so on the day of; I can relax!



Flower Girl Shoes we checked off the list a few weekends back!

Wedding Wednesday: Groupon Guestbook

We're officially one month away today, so lots of excitement and last minute details underway!

As I mentioned in this post, Groupon is a great source for saving money on wedding items. One of the very common items regularly posted on Groupons is for photo books. So far I have purchased two of these vouchers. I used the first voucher to create a leather bounded guest book for people to sign at the wedding using some of our engagement photos. I simply downloaded the software, designed the book and sent in my order. Overall I saved about 70% on the cost, which is great and I loved the way it turned out. 

One of my favourites from the engagement session

Wedding Wednesday: The Great Shoe Debate

It is no secret to anyone that I love shoes. So as you can imagine, choosing my wedding shoes has proven to be difficult. To be honest, I thought about splurging on a fancy designer pair of laboutins, jimmy choos or valentinos, but decided that's really not me at all.  As always the trade off for fashion and comfort is top of mind. I know I can't have both, so I've decided for fashion as long as my poor little feet can handle it, and then I have a back up comfort pair to turn to.

 The pair I landed on are very special and have a great story only my dad can attest to.

Here are some of the runners up:

Wedding Wednesday: Shower Recap

It has been over a month now since my whirlwind shower weekend, but I wanted to make sure I shared some of the details and photos from the day.

My soon to be Mother-in-Law planned and organized the entire shower and then asked my lovely friends and bridal party Caitlin and Tricia to play hosts for the day!

The shower was held at the beautiful Ancaster Mill. We had the solarium complete with amazing waterfall views. It was the perfect setting for a group our size (about 30).

Caitlin and I had to wait outside while Tricia and Louanne were finishing the set-up- we managed to take the best ever selfie- clearly enormous sunglasses are the key to a picture perfection!

I was literally showered with gifts, which was a bit overwhelming given once you pass childhood birthdays, you typically aren't in a situation where you're the center of attention opening a ton of gifts (some from people you just met that day)! We are so lucky to have such great family and friends.

One of the traditions I love about Ontario wedding showers (or at least the ones I've experienced here) is that the groom shows up at the end with a bouquet of flowers for the bride to say hello and thank you to all of the guests (and to help me transport everything home). Chris was doubly sweet by bringing not only a bouquet for me, but one for his mom. She was over the moon, and it was really sweet! Here are the beautiful flowers I brought home:

Overall it was a great day. We played some fun games (my favourite was the newlywed game where I had to guess how Chris answered questions). Chris' mom did a great job pulling it together, my favourite touch was the flower arrangements in teacups, and everyone that attended had a great time. I've found since the shower everything wedding related has moved into high gear. My dress is done, we  picked up our wedding bands last week, and we have almost all of the RSVPs to build our seating chart. What once was over a year away is quickly approaching- definitely have a few last minute DIYs I need to do!