A Morning Surprise from my Daughter Ava

Brian and I have talked about marriage here and there, we are a very sarcastic and fun loving people, we are not mushy, we did talk about if Brian did propose how he would do it. He always said he would never do it in public and get down on one knee cause he thought I would laugh at him.  I might of, but he knew if he ever did do it that I would want it to be on a ordinary day, no holiday and no big proposal. Think it was a Monday, Brian had the day off, cant remember why so I was still sleeping in the morning, Ava and him got up early and planned there master plan. lol. Ava came up stairs, with the ring box, actually tapped me on the head with the box to wake me up. and when I was awake, she handed me the ring box. At first, I didn't think it was a ring but when I opened it and Ava told me it was a ring, well that was perfect. Ava and I then went downstairs and Brian asked Ava if she asked me, Ava then said, mom we are getting married . 

It was an ordinary day, I had to go to work that day at 3pm, we made our phone calls, I went and saw my mom and told her and then went to work. Was perfect the way they did it.

Brian and I use to date when I was 16 and he was 18, we dated for maybe 4 months and then went our separate ways. 8 yrs later, I decided to take my mom out for supper for mothers day, went to Crabby Joe's. and Brian had the same thought that day, he took his mother out for mothers day too, for 8 years Brian and I never ran into each other and that was the first time we have seen one another for that period of time. I didn't recognize him at first, in passing I did say hello but didn't want to disturb them during supper. That night I went on Facebook, cause everyone has Facebook, to see if I could find him. Sure enough he had an account, I sent him a message, he got back to me right away and that night we went out for coffee and have been together ever since. He gave me a beautiful daughter and I'm so greatful for what we have :-) 

I was delighted to meet Jennifer and Brian and their daughter Ava. Their wedding colours were black and teal, and i wanted to give it a kind of vintage look, so i used a lace across the bottom with a pearl. I used a real peacock feather as well as a white feather to give this beautiful invitation some dimension. Hope you love it ! Thanks for letting me take part in your special day !

xxJenica

The wedding that was never supposed to be....

Shawn and I met through work in March, 2007 but it wasn't until an emergency services dance in May of that year that we really got to know each other. We spent so much time together that night that many people assumed we were already dating! From there, a really close friendship began. We didn't want to get into a serious relationship, however, because we were going down completely separate paths in life: I wanted marriage and kids, and Shawn was pretty sure he didn't want to do either again.
After months of hanging out and becoming almost inseparable, we realized we were both developing strong feelings for each other and we were faced with a difficult decision. Would we stay together and make this a go, even if one of us has to change paths, or would we have to stop seeing each other all together so we could move on in our separate directions? Shawn did not want me to sacrifice my dreams of being a wife and mom, and I did not want to force him into beginning a life with me that he wasn't comfortable with, for fear one of us would regret our decision later in life.
And so, 'Plan Breakup Date' was born. That's right, a breakup date, a predetermined date in the future that would end our relationship. Of course our friends thought we were crazy, but we knew that neither of us would actually break up with the other if we didn't have a plan. We set the date for two months later and spent even more time together leading up to the date. We actually became closer during that time. However, as the date lingered nearer and nearer, we both realized we couldn't go through with it. Instead, we decided to continue to date for a few more months and revisit the issue at a later time (Avoid, avoid, avoid. Deny, deny, deny!). I refused to talk to Shawn about kids during that time because I didn't want to pressure him or guilt him into making such an important life decision. I didn't dare to hope that he would ever change his mind, and I didn't want to start a family with someone who wasn't 100% on board.
Then, one day in May 2009, almost one year since we started to hit it off, Shawn said the most amazing thing. He told me he could actually see himself having a family with me, and the thought no longer gave him heart palpitations (LOL!).
From that day on, things just got better. I got to meet Shawn's amazing son, Alex; we started going on family vacations together; and in early 2009 we all moved in together. We could finally start talking about our future together. I couldn't be happier!
But of course, I am a woman. I began wondering when the heck Shawn was going to pop the question! We had talked a lot about getting married and even discussed specific details of our wedding day. We just didn't have any formal plans yet. It only took him 2 more years to propose....talk about dragging your feet, LOL! However, since he DID spend a lot of time and effort planning a surprise engagement trip to Ireland for me, I have decided to forgive him his tardiness ;-)
Our engagement trip was nothing short of amazing, although when he actually did propose, I put him through a bit of agony. He had pulled over on the side of the road at the ruins of a beautiful old church. When we went inside, Shawn turned, got down on one knee and pulled out the ring, asking me to marry him. As soon as I saw the ring I forgot the question, focused on the ring, and exclaimed "that's awesome!!" A few moments later he actually had to tell me I hadn't answered his question. LOL! I laughed at him and said "of course I'll marry you!"
And here we are, planning our wedding. We got engaged May, Friday the 13th, 2011 (by accident), so it was only fitting that one of the only days available for our venue in 2012 was July, Friday the 13th! We were super excited for it to work out that way and we can't wait to spend the rest of our lives as husband and wife!

This was a first for me at taking the pictures for the wedding invitations. Allison and Shawn are such a fun and funky couple, they wanted to do something different, so we went outside and took some fun shots with a piece of slate with the writing we're taking the plunge on it! (thankfully we have a great property to take pictures as i am no professional at this) but I think they turned out great!!