Wedding music is such an integral part of your wedding day. It helps set the mood and tone of your ceremony, and can get the party started and lasting at the reception. With so many choices (i.e. DJ, instrumental, band, Ipod, etc) you really need to be aware of the formality of your wedding, your budget and the tone you want to set. You wouldn't want to see an Ipod at a black tie wedding of 400 people, nor would you want a 12 piece classical band at a 20 person barnyard wedding.
For us, budget was a big factor in choosing our wedding music. We looked into live music for the ceremony and it was just to expensive for the whole 20 min the ceremony was going to last. Even a DJ was a little more money then we wanted to pay for such a short amount of time. For our ceremony, we ended up getting one of our musically inclinded guests to put together a track of music we selected for pre-ceremony, during the ceremony and afterwords. It ended up working out perfectly and was an inpensive way to have music encorporated into our ceremony.
Since our ceremony music was DIY, I did a lot of research into music suitable for ceremonies. We wanted traditional music, so it wasn't to hard to get a list of music together. For the pre-ceremony music, we used some upbeat "love" related songs to keep the mood light.
For our reception, we went with a hired DJ. Again, we werent into having a band, and after researching an Ipod reception, we felt it would just be too much work. We loved the idea of having people being able to request songs and having the DJ interact with the guests and change up the music according to the mood. I don't remember exactly how much we paid for our DJ, although I do know we got an amazing deal as he charged us less then $800 for 7hrs of music and he also was our master of ceremonies. We went with Pauls Music Service, and for what he charged, compared to many other Dj's he did an amazing job. (He doesn't have a website, but if your interested in using him please contact me and I will forward his phone number).
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Wedding Flowers
I always knew that I wanted flowers to be part of my wedding day. I wanted flowers to be at the reception and ceremony. Picking the type of flowers and colors was harder then it looked (So many types and colors and styles). I kept going back and forth on colored flowers vs white flowers for myself and in the end a mix of white and colored flowers won out. I also ended up going with more of a cascading look for my bouquet instead of the stick like look that seemed so popular when I got married.
Hubs had a pink rose boutanere and the groomsmen and important male guests all had white rose boutanere's. I used a fake white rose hair clip in my hair with white crystals (to match my bouquet) and white feathers.
My bouquet consisted of white lilies, white freesia, pink roses and some greenery, along with white crystal picks. The girls had creame and pink roses, white freesia and greenery. All our bouquets were wrapped in chocolate brown ribbon and had a crystal initial brooch for each girl (The girls initials were the first letter of their name and mine was the first initital of my new last name).
Our cake had white crystal sugar orchids hand made to match the orchids in the centerpieces
We used white orchids in our centerpieces. We decided with white, so they would provide a contrast to the darkness on the tables
Closeup of the pink roses and freesia in my bouquet
Closeup of the lilies in my bouquet
Sunday, April 22, 2012
SleepOut 120
In a little over 14 hrs my best friend Kathryn will be participating in SleepOut 120.
The following has been taken from the website to provide you with more information:
Sleep Out 120 is a 5 day, 120-hour-long campaign during which participants commit to living “homeless” on the streets of St. John’s, Newfoundland, to raise awareness on the issue of youth housing and homelessness. The campaign aims to raise funds for its recipient charity(s) that supports youth in the St. John’s metro area. By encouraging our city’s young people to sacrifice their comforts and stand up for those less fortunate than themselves, this campaign supports a vision of social responsibility through youth supporting youth.
The following has been taken from the website to provide you with more information:
Sleep Out 120 is a 5 day, 120-hour-long campaign during which participants commit to living “homeless” on the streets of St. John’s, Newfoundland, to raise awareness on the issue of youth housing and homelessness. The campaign aims to raise funds for its recipient charity(s) that supports youth in the St. John’s metro area. By encouraging our city’s young people to sacrifice their comforts and stand up for those less fortunate than themselves, this campaign supports a vision of social responsibility through youth supporting youth.
History:
Sleep Out 120 was created by a group of Child and Youth Care students at Eastern college. It all started with conversation amongst students who wanted to create change within the St. John’s area surrounding the youth housing and homelessness issues. Initially the initiative was to follow the national campaign called Five Days for the homeless, (www.5days.ca). As a group, the national start date didn’t work for the student, so as a group they decided to ask Five Days for the Homeless if they could guide our rules and guidelines by their campaign. Five Days gave us permission and we decided to create our own campaign, Sleep Out 120.
We began working on the campaign in January 2010 and built our committee at the beginning of February. Ther start date of the
campaign was April 5, 2010. The 2010 Sleep Out 120 campaign raised awareness
through major media outlets and raised over $9500. We showed that we had a
group of young people who were not only interested but extremely passionate to
create change in St. John’s concerning youth housing and homeless.
The committee was assembled in September 2010, as the months went on, new members joined the committee. The committee consisted of participants and employees from the Housing and homelessness Network, Choices For Youth and For The Love Of Learning. We had a participant team of 20; all of the participants have educational and work backgrounds in either Social Work or Child and Youth Care. The Friendship centre and The Murphy centre provided a talking circle at their youth centre which consisted of the participant team, employees and the youth. At both of these circles, we had the opportunity to meet youth who are at risk, to hear their voices on the issue of homelessness and to give us the understanding for the need for the Sleep Out 120 campaign and other campaigns that help to create change on homelessness because it will not change overnight.
The media helped to cover the three aspects of our key messaging which were the 5 barriers that youth face (LGBT, Aboriginal, substance abuse & addiction, sexual exploitation and aging out of care), the lack of affordable and supportive housing and when affordable, the housing units tend to be inadequate..
Sleep Out 120 was created by a group of Child and Youth Care students at Eastern college. It all started with conversation amongst students who wanted to create change within the St. John’s area surrounding the youth housing and homelessness issues. Initially the initiative was to follow the national campaign called Five Days for the homeless, (www.5days.ca). As a group, the national start date didn’t work for the student, so as a group they decided to ask Five Days for the Homeless if they could guide our rules and guidelines by their campaign. Five Days gave us permission and we decided to create our own campaign, Sleep Out 120.
We began working on the campaign in January 2010 and built our committee at the beginning of February. Ther start date of the
campaign was April 5, 2010. The 2010 Sleep Out 120 campaign raised awareness
through major media outlets and raised over $9500. We showed that we had a
group of young people who were not only interested but extremely passionate to
create change in St. John’s concerning youth housing and homeless.The committee was assembled in September 2010, as the months went on, new members joined the committee. The committee consisted of participants and employees from the Housing and homelessness Network, Choices For Youth and For The Love Of Learning. We had a participant team of 20; all of the participants have educational and work backgrounds in either Social Work or Child and Youth Care. The Friendship centre and The Murphy centre provided a talking circle at their youth centre which consisted of the participant team, employees and the youth. At both of these circles, we had the opportunity to meet youth who are at risk, to hear their voices on the issue of homelessness and to give us the understanding for the need for the Sleep Out 120 campaign and other campaigns that help to create change on homelessness because it will not change overnight.
The media helped to cover the three aspects of our key messaging which were the 5 barriers that youth face (LGBT, Aboriginal, substance abuse & addiction, sexual exploitation and aging out of care), the lack of affordable and supportive housing and when affordable, the housing units tend to be inadequate..
The 2011 Sleep Out 120 campaign team
had tremendous passion and worked productively together. The involvement from
the community and community services was much appreciated. The awareness of
youth homelessness was presented well by the main stream media outlets and we
raised over $15 000.
Please check out the website if you would like to Donate, volunteer, or learn more info about getting involved with this great cause.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Packing tips
Since Hubs and I will be leaving on our 3rd trip to Mexico soon, I thought it would be a good idea to do a post on packing tips (this post is a little more geared to packing for a sunny tropical destination). I know packing can be a daunting task (especially if your heading to another country) if you aren't sure what to pack or what you will need.
The basic foundation to packing is having a good set of luggage and a great travel/carry on bag. Hubs and I bought our luggage at Bentley and its been going strong the last 4 years. You dont have to spend a lot on luggage either, often times it comes on sale for 60% off, so just keep an eye out. My carry on bag is from roxy and I paid $20 for it at our local Costco. It's great, because there is lots of room for me to put my purse in the bag (so I'm only carrying 1 bag instead of 2). It has lots of pockets for quick access to passports, headsets, snacks and any other items you like to keep handy while traveling. I like to write my name, address and a phone number and put it in a pocket of my carry on and suitcases in case they get lost. I also tie a grocery bag to the handle of my luggage so I can identify it quickly when at the airport (You dont realize how many suitcases look exactly like yours until your waiting to pick up your luggage).
When traveling I like to write out a list of all items I think I need to pack (that way I dont forget anything) and mark them off as they're packed. Usually I like to have everything packed a few days before, and then the day I'm leaving I pack the last minute items I'll need just before we head out.
Carry-on Bag
*Passport
*Snacks (nothing liquid or gel)
*A lipgloss (make sure its under the allowable liquid limit)
*Headphones
*Cards/book
*Light sweater (I find planes get quite cold)
*Extra hair elastics
*All travel documents
*Medications (This way if your bags get lost you aren't without your meds)
*Phone charger
*Gum (I cant fly without gum or else my ears hurt when the plane takes off/lands)
Luggage
*I like to pack clothes that work well with one another (this way I'm not packing competely different outfits, and the items I do pack can mix and match)
*Bring a few basic pieces (I.e. black pants, a neutral sweater, black skirt) so it works well with anything you have on
*Keep anything liquid or powder in ziplock bags, that way if they leak or break then it wont get all over your clothes (definitly saves the headache of a cleanup as well). This also makes it easy if they want to search your bags at customs.
*Bring the least amount of footwear (1 pair sneakers, 1 pair dress sandals/shoes and 2 pair flip flops (in case one gets lost or breaks) possible, you never really wear as much as you think you do.
*Pack a couple bathing suits (again its great if you can mix and match them)
*Always bring extra medication because if you don't have it and you need it then you will be shelling out big bucks (last trip to Mexico we forgot the reactine and the airport was selling it for $25 for 8 tablets, when we could have bought it at Walmart for the same price for over 40 tablets).
*Meds I suggest bringing are reactine, bug repellent, tylenol or motrin, eye drops, polysporin, solarcain (in case of sun burn), sunscreen (the higher SPF the better since the sun is super strong in the tropics), a SPF lipbalm to protect your lips, Pepto bismal (we bring the chewable tablets), birth control pills, any meds you might be on, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, makeup wipes (I brought wipes the 1st trip to Mexico and loved them, it saves the hassle of carrying the liquid remover and pads, its all in one), bandaids (you never know when you'll get a blister from all the walking or a scrap)
*I also like to bring a cheap tooth brush (we just dispose of the toothbrush on our way home) and travel toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, swimwear cleaner (especially if your in the pools alot), Q-tips, nail clippers/file, razor with extra blades since you will be shaving more often, shampoo and conditioner (the first time we went to Mexico we werent provided with conditioner and your hair definitly needs it with all the salt water, chlorine and sun)
*Pack an alarm clock (Our first resort didnt have them in the rooms so we had to depend on wake up calls when going on excursions)
*I like to pack the stuff like shampoo and condition in travel size bottles to limit the amount of space it takes up (We brought home a bunch of the shampoo bottles from the resorts, they are the perfect size and saves you the money of buying them)
*Water shoes are a must have! Even though the beaches are gorgeous, they can sometimes be rocky and hurt the feet. You can pick up a pair cheap at walmart (we did for $8.50 each) instead of buying them at the resort for $20 a pair.
*Pack extra hair elastics as I found I lost some and they wore out quicker from being in the water
*A travel book of the language of the country you'll be in can be helpful (or learn some before you go)
*Thank you gifts (we bought a few items with the canadian flag on them, stickers, post cards, fishing items, etc) to give out as a thank you to hotel staff and people we meet on excursions
*Currency-We bring a few hundred dollars in the countries currency so we can tip and buy items
*Make sure you pack a semi-formal outfit or 2. For women its nice to have a dress slightly fancier then a beach sundress for dinner. For men khaki's and a nice dress shirt are a must for dinner (its actually required dress for dinner in many of the fancier resort restaurants). My hubs packs a nice pair of shoes as well for these dinners.
In the end if you forget something you can buy it at the airport or at the resort, just be prepared to spend top dollar. Also when your buying things at the resort it wont always be in English. We bought the Mexican form of reactine and it was completely in spanish.
Have fun and enjoy your trip!
The basic foundation to packing is having a good set of luggage and a great travel/carry on bag. Hubs and I bought our luggage at Bentley and its been going strong the last 4 years. You dont have to spend a lot on luggage either, often times it comes on sale for 60% off, so just keep an eye out. My carry on bag is from roxy and I paid $20 for it at our local Costco. It's great, because there is lots of room for me to put my purse in the bag (so I'm only carrying 1 bag instead of 2). It has lots of pockets for quick access to passports, headsets, snacks and any other items you like to keep handy while traveling. I like to write my name, address and a phone number and put it in a pocket of my carry on and suitcases in case they get lost. I also tie a grocery bag to the handle of my luggage so I can identify it quickly when at the airport (You dont realize how many suitcases look exactly like yours until your waiting to pick up your luggage).
When traveling I like to write out a list of all items I think I need to pack (that way I dont forget anything) and mark them off as they're packed. Usually I like to have everything packed a few days before, and then the day I'm leaving I pack the last minute items I'll need just before we head out.
Carry-on Bag
*Passport
*Snacks (nothing liquid or gel)
*A lipgloss (make sure its under the allowable liquid limit)
*Headphones
*Cards/book
*Light sweater (I find planes get quite cold)
*Extra hair elastics
*All travel documents
*Medications (This way if your bags get lost you aren't without your meds)
*Phone charger
*Gum (I cant fly without gum or else my ears hurt when the plane takes off/lands)
Luggage
*I like to pack clothes that work well with one another (this way I'm not packing competely different outfits, and the items I do pack can mix and match)
*Bring a few basic pieces (I.e. black pants, a neutral sweater, black skirt) so it works well with anything you have on
*Keep anything liquid or powder in ziplock bags, that way if they leak or break then it wont get all over your clothes (definitly saves the headache of a cleanup as well). This also makes it easy if they want to search your bags at customs.
*Bring the least amount of footwear (1 pair sneakers, 1 pair dress sandals/shoes and 2 pair flip flops (in case one gets lost or breaks) possible, you never really wear as much as you think you do.
*Pack a couple bathing suits (again its great if you can mix and match them)
*Always bring extra medication because if you don't have it and you need it then you will be shelling out big bucks (last trip to Mexico we forgot the reactine and the airport was selling it for $25 for 8 tablets, when we could have bought it at Walmart for the same price for over 40 tablets).
*Meds I suggest bringing are reactine, bug repellent, tylenol or motrin, eye drops, polysporin, solarcain (in case of sun burn), sunscreen (the higher SPF the better since the sun is super strong in the tropics), a SPF lipbalm to protect your lips, Pepto bismal (we bring the chewable tablets), birth control pills, any meds you might be on, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, makeup wipes (I brought wipes the 1st trip to Mexico and loved them, it saves the hassle of carrying the liquid remover and pads, its all in one), bandaids (you never know when you'll get a blister from all the walking or a scrap)
*I also like to bring a cheap tooth brush (we just dispose of the toothbrush on our way home) and travel toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, swimwear cleaner (especially if your in the pools alot), Q-tips, nail clippers/file, razor with extra blades since you will be shaving more often, shampoo and conditioner (the first time we went to Mexico we werent provided with conditioner and your hair definitly needs it with all the salt water, chlorine and sun)
*Pack an alarm clock (Our first resort didnt have them in the rooms so we had to depend on wake up calls when going on excursions)
*I like to pack the stuff like shampoo and condition in travel size bottles to limit the amount of space it takes up (We brought home a bunch of the shampoo bottles from the resorts, they are the perfect size and saves you the money of buying them)
*Water shoes are a must have! Even though the beaches are gorgeous, they can sometimes be rocky and hurt the feet. You can pick up a pair cheap at walmart (we did for $8.50 each) instead of buying them at the resort for $20 a pair.
*Pack extra hair elastics as I found I lost some and they wore out quicker from being in the water
*A travel book of the language of the country you'll be in can be helpful (or learn some before you go)
*Thank you gifts (we bought a few items with the canadian flag on them, stickers, post cards, fishing items, etc) to give out as a thank you to hotel staff and people we meet on excursions
*Currency-We bring a few hundred dollars in the countries currency so we can tip and buy items
*Make sure you pack a semi-formal outfit or 2. For women its nice to have a dress slightly fancier then a beach sundress for dinner. For men khaki's and a nice dress shirt are a must for dinner (its actually required dress for dinner in many of the fancier resort restaurants). My hubs packs a nice pair of shoes as well for these dinners.
In the end if you forget something you can buy it at the airport or at the resort, just be prepared to spend top dollar. Also when your buying things at the resort it wont always be in English. We bought the Mexican form of reactine and it was completely in spanish.
Have fun and enjoy your trip!
Friday, April 20, 2012
5 Health Benefits of Limes
Having lived with a family who encorporated quite a few limes into their regular cooking and having a love for Mexico (we've already been there twice), Hubs and I have grown quite fond of limes.
When an article came out the other day about the health benefits of limes, I was excited to read about how good for you they really are.
The lime is the sweeter cousin of the lemon with a distinctive flavour reminiscent of the Caribbean.
1. Limes are good for women's health. They contain calcium and folate. One fresh lime contains 22 milligrams of calcium and over 5 micrograms of folate.
2. Lime peels can combat aging skin. The peels of citrus fruits contain an inhibitor of melanin production.
3. Limes are anti-carcinogenic. The limonoid compounds in limes have been shown to prevent cancers of the colon, stomach and blood. Scientists have observed that antioxidant limonoids also cause cancer cell death. Lime limonoids also stay active longer in your bloodstream, mopping more free radicals than green tea or dark chocolate.
4. Lime juice can help prevent formation of kidney stones. Lime juice contains more citric acid than orange or grapefruit juice. Citric acid is a natural inhibitor of kidney stones made of crystallized calcium. Go for fresh lime juice squeezed into water, as opposed to commercial limeades, for maximal benefits.
5. Limes may lower cholesterol. The primary flavonoid found in the limes, known as hesperidin, has been shown to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in animals fed a high cholesterol diet.
When an article came out the other day about the health benefits of limes, I was excited to read about how good for you they really are.
The lime is the sweeter cousin of the lemon with a distinctive flavour reminiscent of the Caribbean.
1. Limes are good for women's health. They contain calcium and folate. One fresh lime contains 22 milligrams of calcium and over 5 micrograms of folate.
2. Lime peels can combat aging skin. The peels of citrus fruits contain an inhibitor of melanin production.
3. Limes are anti-carcinogenic. The limonoid compounds in limes have been shown to prevent cancers of the colon, stomach and blood. Scientists have observed that antioxidant limonoids also cause cancer cell death. Lime limonoids also stay active longer in your bloodstream, mopping more free radicals than green tea or dark chocolate.
4. Lime juice can help prevent formation of kidney stones. Lime juice contains more citric acid than orange or grapefruit juice. Citric acid is a natural inhibitor of kidney stones made of crystallized calcium. Go for fresh lime juice squeezed into water, as opposed to commercial limeades, for maximal benefits.
5. Limes may lower cholesterol. The primary flavonoid found in the limes, known as hesperidin, has been shown to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in animals fed a high cholesterol diet.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Hello Mexico....
Thats right, Hubs and I will be going back to Mexico on Vacation. Can't wait to see the below view again. For safety reasons I wont say when we are going, but I promise to post pictures and a review when we get back.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
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