Scott and I met about 5 years ago while I was living in the San Jose area. We dated on and off for a couple of years and then I had to move back home to Canada because my visa expired. We broke up for about 6 months and then started communicating again while I was in Vancouver. Scott decided that he couldn't let me get away so he came to visit me on Labour day weekend in 2006 and we continued to see each other long distance. We took turns travelling back and forth between Vancouver and San Jose, CA. When we would see each other we'd treat it like a mini vacation.  We love to go to Carmel for the day, Sharks games, shopping and exploring San Francisco.  

Scott has a 9 year old daughter named Megan who was very excited to see her Daddy finally get married again! She's a cutie! We decided that instead of a father/daughter dance between me and my father who had passed away several years ago that Scott and Megan would have the father daughter dance.

Scott proposed to me on the morning of August 5, 2007. It was very early in the morning and we had driven to Carmel by the Sea to see the sun rise.  I knew he was going to propose since we never get up early for anything and I knew he had the ring.  I still cried when he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  It was really cold and foggy that morning so no sun rise!  But it was still very romantic and private. I'm not the kind of person who likes an audience for things like proposals.  He proposed to me with an antique diamond ring set in platinum. It took us a lot of work to get to where we are now and it wasn't easy but it was worth it.  He proposed to me approximately in front of the house in the picture above. And then I bought him waffles. Not a bad deal for me!

We first saw my ring in October of 2006. We were in Carmel-by-the-Sea for the day. Carmel is full of really amazing jewelry stores.  We were at B&G Jewelers just looking, doing research and getting a feel for what we liked.  We saw some contemporary rings and I really wanted a diamond that was almost colourless.  We told the owners what we were thinking and he stopped and looked at me. He said "I have a ring you should see. It's across the street at our Estate store. Go over and they'll show it to you."

So we did as he said, not knowing what he was thinking but really curious to see what they had in the other store. When we got there the sales person pulled out this ring that was completely different from anything i've ever seen. It was a very old estate piece and quite elaborate.  The first thing I though was that it was kind of "granny". Scott looked at it and said "that's obnoxious!" because it was huge!!  Once I put it on I realized i'd been introduced to something very special and it no longer felt "granny". It was MY ring. We were meant to be together! It was an Edwardian piece, set in platinum with a center stone of 1.01 carats, D colour VS1 with smaller stones set around the ring totalling .36 carats. When you look directly down at the ring it looks like a flower but when you look at it from the side it looks like a crown. Unfortunately, Scott didn't have the money to put down a deposit to hold it at that time.  We had to leave her behind and just hope that no one else would come along and take her away from us.  For months that ring haunted us both.  He really wanted to buy it and I really wanted to own it.  I'm not the type of girl who thinks that the perfect dress, house, whatever exists. I like a wide range of things but I could honestly say when I was asked that if I didn't get this ring I would be extremely disappointed and think about her for the rest of my life. I didn't tell Scott that though.  Too much pressure!

So February 2007 rolls around and we're back in Carmel for the day.  We checked in the window at B&G and my ring was still there.  We were really relieved but we still didn't have the money for a down payment.  Most of his money was going to paying off debts and flying up to Vancouver to see me at least once a month. So we had to leave her behind again and continue to hope that no one else came along to take her away from me.

April of 2007 comes along and this time things are different. Scott has $$$$$!!!!! He finally could afford to put a substantial downpayment on the ring. B&G does layaway. They're great to work with and very accommodating.  We get down to Carmel on the afternoon of April 18th and go straight over to B&G with butterflies in our stomachs.  We have no idea if the ring is still available. We looked in both windows and nothing. So we go inside and check out the cases. Not there. By this time i'm starting to worry. I told the sales lady which ring I was looking for and she says "OH! I remember you guys! Oh noooo....." Now i'm freaking out! She goes on to tell me that they sold the diamond in the ring.  It takes me a couple of seconds to think about what she said. I said to her "but you still have the setting?" She says YES!  And that they can put any diamond I want in it. My ring was still there waiting for me!  She got out the ring which still had the original diamond in it and I tried it on. It was just as beautiful as I remembered. Scott did all the paperwork while I waited.  Then we went back the next morning and picked out a different diamond to put in the ring. Since they didn't have any more D coloured diamonds available we purchased a beautiful E colour, VS2, 1.21 carat stone. 

I finally got to wear my ring when Scott proposed to me on August 5th, 2007. The pictures don't do it justice.

When I got back down to California for good we went back to Carmel for the day.  We stopped in B&G to say hi to Ashley who had sold us my ring and to have it cleaned. They're the only people I let clean it.  While we were in there Scott saw a very pretty little diamond ring and asked to see it. He loved it! It's a 3 stone ring set in 18K white gold.  It has a center stone of .41 carats and two side stones of .05 carats each.  It's my "welcome home" ring. I love it because it was so spontaneous of him!

Here she is sitting on top of my engagement ring.

We got married at SF City Hall on May 7th, 2008. We had a civil ceremony first because I had come down to spend the weekend and Scott got laid off from his job the day before. I had quit my job and since Scott wasn't working I extended my weekend visit. We had done a lot of flying back and forth and it was getting harder and harder, not to mention expensive.  We decided to put an end to the long distance thing and start our lives together earlier than we had originally planned but in order for me to stay in the country we had to get married. I don't really remember anything the judge said but I do remember thinking how I was surprised at how lovely the ceremony was. I guess didn't have high expectations for City Hall!  We were able to get married in the Rotunda and if you've ever seen pictures you know it's a beautiful place to get married.  We had a very romantic dinner at Fleur De Lys that night and stayed at the Hotel Monaco. Before we went to dinner we did some shopping in Union Square and Scott bought me the brooch I wore in my hair on our big wedding day.

Our official wedding took place at Clos LaChance winery in San Martin, CA on October 18, 2008.  It was a perfect day. Warm, sunny and with a slight breeze.  We had a mostly pink wedding as I didn't want to do the usual Autumn wedding of reds, oranges, and browns.  We had amazing vendors who made everything so easy for us.  A lot of my friends came down from Vancouver for the weekend and one of my four brothers came to escort me down the aisle.  Everyone told us it was the best wedding they'd ever been to!  We honeymooned in the West Palm Beach area of Florida and want to go back very soon!

Even before we got engaged we started discussing venues. Scott had been to a wedding at CLC years ago when they first opened and thought that if he ever got remarried that this is where he would want to have the wedding.  It was the only venue we looked at and we couldn't have found a more perfect spot. It's got an old world feel and the staff are great! We used the catering services of CordeValle Golf which is located next to the winery. We had the ceremony on the lawn and the reception on the patio. Dancing was held inside in the grand salon.

Cynthia and Jeff are married to each other. Jeff is Scott's older brother.  I wanted to keep everything in the family and I wanted someone to be standing up with me that I knew I would always have a relationship with. So it made sense to have Cynthia as my MOH. Jeff was an obvious choice for Scott.  Cynthia wore a Jim Hjelm gown in Pecan which made her look very sexy and shoes from Charles David. Jeff wore a tux from the Men's Warehouse Tux rentals.

Our two flower girls were Scott's daughter Megan (9) and her half sister Samantha (5). The girls did a great job! Megan is a pro with 4 weddings under her belt now.  The girls wore dresses custom made from Pegeen.com in Champagne tulle with an underskirt of buttercreme silk. The bodices and bows are rum pink silk. They carried kissing balls of black bacara roses and pink roses and wore pink ballet slippers on their feet.

Our cake was made for us by I Do Weddings by Debbie in Morgan Hill.  The bottom layer was white with raspberry mousse. The middle layer was white with Grand Marnier mousse and the top was chocolate with chocolate truffle mousse. The design on the cake mimics the design on my dress. The cake toppe is a T for our last name and I ordered it from www.weddingmountain.com. It's covered in silk and rose colored Swarovski crystals.  The toasting flutes were a gift from Scott's mother. They're Vera Wang and the cake cutting set was ordered and customized from the The Knot. Our florist, Flower Divas, added the flowers and petals to the cake. We rented the base from the bakery.  This cake was so good that I managed to have two pieces. We also had a dessert station for those who don't like cake.

We used Flower Divas in Santa Clara to do our flowers and decorating. They did a fantastic job and worked so hard!  We got so many compliments on the flowers. They were one of the most important elements of the wedding to me. I'm not a DIYer so I had to have someone I could trust with the job and not have to worry about it looking amazing. We used an extensive color scheme of ivory, rum pink, camel, terra cotta and deep bordeaux.  I love contrast and drama and had seen black bacara roses at the Granville Island Flower market in Vancouver, BC and knew I had to have those particular roses incorporated into our wedding flowers.

We also had flowers on every other row for the ceremony, a rose petal pathway, roses on both the indoor and outdoor mantles, rose swags on our chairs at the sweetheart table, petals on the cocktail tables with a hurricane candle in the middle of them in the grand salon, and in the ladies room. We used Classic Party Rentals for all our linens. Our dinner tables had Dazzle Champagne Gold cloths and our cocktail tables had Dazzle Burgundy Black. Flower Divas also brought in loads of mosaic glass hurricane candle holders to decorate throughout the space and hung the draping over the pergola for us. They also provided the candlelier and hanging votives for the ceremony. I would recommend them to anyone. Their work has been featured in Inside Weddings. They're simply fabulous.

I got ready in the bridal suite at the winery while the boys got ready in "the dungeon" which is a tasting room downstairs in the winery.

My dress was from Mon Cheri and the style name is Delaney that I got at Trudys Brides in the Pruneyard in Campbell. My shoes were from Grace. The style name Evita. I got my earrings and bracelet at a store in Vancouver, BC called Jeweliette Jewellery.  My veil was a bubble veil with Swarovski crystals and beads which I also got at Trudys. I didn't want a long veil because they tend to get pulled on and stepped on. I ended up taking off my veil half way through my pictures because the wind was picking up and becoming a problem. It was a lot of fun to wear though! Once the sun started going down it got pretty chilly at the winery so I bought a pashmina in ivory which matched my gown perfectly.

I decided to do my own makeup for the day because I was a makeup artist for Bobbi Brown for over two years and I could do as many trial runs as I liked.
Products used:
Chanel Pro Lumiere foundation
Bobbi Brown loose powder in Pale Yellow 
Bobbi Brown grey eyeshadow with a fine Laura Mercier brush on brows
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash eye shadow in Rose Gold on lids
Stila in a matte purple shade in crease 
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash in Bone on brow bone
Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink on upper lash line
Bobbie Brown mahogany eye shadow to line lower lashes
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Black
Bobbi Brown Almond Blush and Soft Pink blush 
Bobbi Brown medium bronzer
Bobbi Brown lip liner in Sandwashed Tulle
Nars lipstick in Catfight
L'Oreal nfalliable Lipgloss in Bloom

I had Cat Hansen from The Shampoo Lounge come to my MOH's home the day of to do our hair.  Here's my trial run pictures:

I bought a brooch made my Homa Creations from Saks Fifth Avenue bridal salon on the day we had our civil ceremony to wear in my hair.

He's a special boy....

Ok, so you don't think there's something wrong with me here's a better look at my honey.

My brother came out from Southeastern Ontario to escort me down the aisle. It was really important to me that he be there as he has stuck by me when things weren't going well for me and I wanted him to share in our day and celebrate with us. He's a great big brother.  Also, it was his first vacation in twenty years! He loved California!!

By the way, he's single, ladies, so if you know anyone....

We decided to rent specialty linens from Classic Party Rental to use since the ones that were provided were plain white and didn't reach the floor.

For the cocktail hour we used Satin Champagne

We used Dazzle Champagne Gold for the reception

We used a much darker more dramatic color for the tables around the dance floor. They were Dazzle Burgundy Black

We decided to use mini maple syrup leaf shaped bottles with maples syrup in them to recognize my home country and our love of all things Autumn. We tied a personalized ribbon around the neck.

Most of my side of the guests consisted of my friends who flew down from various areas of Canada. It was really nice to have so many of them come down and they had a geat time hanging out by the pool the afternoon of the wedding while I slaved away at getting ready. Sitting by a pool in October was a surreal experience for them. Scotts Uncle Pete was quite the dancing machine and danced the night away all with my friends but especially Katie.

My MIL bought us our toasting flutes. They're from Vera Wang. I'm not sure what they're called.

Our invitations were created for us by my friend Andrew who is a graphic designer. We had them printed through Papyrus. They were printed on Stardream Opal in brown thermography and I attached a Swarovski hot fix crystal in Rose.  Our programs were created by www.whiteaisle.com and we assembled them ourselves. I created the personalised menus which I didn't get a picture of and the table names by using Stardream Opal paper that I bought at Paper Source. I created them in Microsoft word since they had a font I loved and then had them printed up at Kinkos. I attached more crystals to the menus and the table name cards.  We named all the tables after Canadian cities and had fun facts about the city at the bottom of the menu cards. I bought the crystals in bulk on line from www.hotfixcrystals.com

My furbaby, Puddin'. Spoiled rotten. Her interests include sleeping, eating, being brushed and more sleeping.