After researching numerous dj's we finally signed one this week. I have to tell you that the ranges in prices were from $500 to $2000 for the evening! WOW...But phoning many payed off. I got a feel for the services offered , lighting, animation or not, willingness to negociate, overtime charged or no limits and ofcourse experience. I got huge quotes from big production companys to find out that they often contract out for a lesser price to smaller businesses...I needed a GOOD dj because as far as I am concerned..a big wedding with over 100 guest could almost get away with a bad dj lol, with all the noise and ppl it can still work, but with a small group of 30ish..a bad dj would be amplifyed a 100 times!!..BUT I was not willing to cut off an arm to get one I felt confident in.
The gentleman that I found had done alot of contract work for some of the big production companies I had already gotten high quotes on. He also had a reem of photos and references to show us when we went to meet him....very professional and willing to give us a good price because we were getting married on Friday...and also quaranteed that he would be the one doing the evening and not one of his employees...We really felt confident about signing with this man and glad that he was within our budget. Even with the inclusion of pipping in music to the ceremony room then the cocktail room! Let's all hope he is as good as he says he is lol. OH YEAH....AND he is BILINGUAL! LOL
We also found Chris' suit this week! A nice beige linen suit like he has always wanted. It will look great next to my bronze dress with ivory....and again...it was within our budget.
My candle centerpiece things arrived yesterday! I am so pleased! They are as lovely as the photo promised. They will look great on my tables and worth paying the difference in conversion to canadian funds, plus the extra shipping AND another duty of $11 when they got here lol...even with all that they will cost me less then having done small flower arrangements on each table. I also plan to raffle off all but one of them during the evening to those who would like to take one home. I don't need to keep them all lol.
SO...all the big stuff is booked!! I am relieved and pretty damn proud of myself lol. It's now a matter of details, fittings, shoes and some flowers.
BUT WAIT!!.......MY MOST DAUNTING TASK OF THE WHOLE WEDDING AWAITS ME!!!
GETTING A DRESS FOR CLEO!!!..........OMG............HELP ME LORD!!
We are going shopping this Saturday (tomorrow!) with Cleo to TRY and find a dress she could live with wearing and even ......should I dare say it....LIKE aswell!.....I am hoping all the planets are properly alined and the moon is doing what it's supposed to in order for the cosmic carma to weigh on the POSITIVE side of this Saturday for this rare anomally to happen!!!
SEND ALL POSITIVE THOUGHTS OUR WAY PPL!!!
I will let you know if it helped after tomorrow.
On saturday we went back to the Hotel and went over a few details, tweaked the menu (add ons lol) and signed the contract!! It was a relief really and I have to say that doing business with a 5 star hotel really shows. What service. Yes you pay for it but honestly with all my research they were and are quite comperable to the middle range hotel services offered elsewhere... so for anyone out there thinking of planning an event...don't automatically disregard someplace you may think is out of your pricerange. Like us you may be pleasantly surprised.
On top of that, our Hotel contact is a sweetheart. She asked us about another idea concerning the cocktail hour after the ceremony being in the ceremony room. We had been going by the idea from her co-worker who had shown us the rooms the saturday before. We didn't want ppl going into the reception room untill the apropriet time so just figured cocktails could be served in the same room as the ceremony. 
She suggested that we use yet another room next to that, same brick/stone as the others but it would be more comfortable with a few chairs and tables with the punch and platters . Rather then staying in the ceremony room where the chairs were all arranged like a church it would be more cramped. I was like...so your going to set up and give us ANOTHER room at no extra cost? Yes she says, it's not booked anyway lol.....Remember, they aren't charging the fee for the ceremony room either. So you see, just those 2 rooms usually cost $200 to rent each. All 3 rooms are in the same area so my guests just go from one room to the other . We are so thrilled to be able to give our guests and ourselves a great place for a wedding!
I asked her about my centre pieces and if I or a friend could bring them to the reception room earlier in the day to set them up along with my wedding favors and such. She told me that I had no reason to delegate a friend or even show my face there before my wedding lol. She said that we could either the day before or the day of, bring her everything including my sign in book and pen, and anything else I could think of. It was HER JOB to do all that for me. She would by then know all the little details I wanted and she was paid to take care of it all. I have to say it is really cool to be told that.
We get together 3 weeks before W day and go over all those little details.
THEN Chris and I went down St. Hubert street. It is the wedding boutique street of Montreal. I was hoping to find a dress or get a good idea on one. Well, first boutique, first dress!!! Yes folks you read that right! I tryed on a second one that was nice and had another to try on aswell but didnt bother, I put the first one back on again and YUP its the one. Chris and I both loved it. It is NOT a wedding dress. I did not want a traditional wedding dress. This dress is a deep bronze/copper colour with ivory inlay that shows through a seam that opens at the top and down the front from the midway to the floor. It really is beautiful and the colour looks great on me. They have to order my dress though. The one I tryed on was just not fitting the bust area lol. I will have it in ample time for a fitting. I actually found a dress online thats almost identical to it but they dont have my colour choice. I was able then to give my mom and sister and a few friends a good idea of the dress but I will not post it in here. I would rather show u real pics of me wearing my dress later lol...SO THERE!
I have to add that my wonderful fiancee told the dress shop lady to make a note on the dress order for an extra square piece of the bronze fabric. She asked why...he said it was to fold up to have it sticking out of his label suit pocket so we could match. AWEEE WHAT A GUY EH. Stop rolling your eyes! Most men wouldn't even have thought of that.
He will not be wearing a tux. He would like to wear a nice linen suit if we can find one in our price range. Something he will be able to wear again. So that is the next shopping trip.
I have been pricing dj's for the last 2 days. Wow what a range in prices! They go from $550 to $1500 so far. I don't want to be cheep. I want a good dj with experience but I am not willing to cut off an arm to get one lol. A big wedding with 100 or more guest could almost ....I say, ALMOST have a crappy dj since there are alot of ppl making noice and such but with a small 30 to 40 group, a bad dj would be amplifyed and really blow it lol. SO I am still not decided on who, but I know it will be in the 700 to 800 range. But that will also include music piped into the ceremony room. I want classical music in the background just so it doesn't echo in there lol. No precesion
music or anything like that , just beautiful music. 
Oh Oh and we god our invitations aswell!...Told you we are on a roll. Keep in mind, I have only one day a week to do outside stuff lol... So we really got alot done on Thursday. We had a look at what invitations would cost if we had them done and frankly its rediculous for the small mount we need. The more u need the less they cost ofcourse but for us that isn't cost affective. We decided to get a kit that u print out yourself with your printer. They are very nice and we saved $150 that way AND we can even do some in French and English instead of trying to make them all bilingual...I only like being long winded in my blogs lmao!
Man this was going to be a short update on things happening this week..so much for that lol.
I don't know if I should be more stressed or less stressed lol. Things are starting to fall into place so I am relieved about that. I am starting to believe that I am kinda going to pull this off. I sound so sure of myself don't I ........NOT!... Tomorrow we go back to the Hotel to put a big deposit on the reception. Whoo Hoo. I also found some beautiful center piece candles on ebay for my reception tables. AND I found a great deal on a silver plated cake carving set that is new but looks antique. I can have them engraved here.
We had previosly sent in all our documentation for a civil wedding at the Montreal court house but when we found we could marry in that beautiful Le Cave room..we got intouch with them to see about paying the extra for an officient to do a ceremony outside the courthouse like it says on the web site. WELL.... got word that they DON'T do that. We would have to get an independant Officient. .......Good to know!!! The fact that my wedding will be on a Friday has come in handy for so many reasons so far....it was SO meant to be lol. We found an officient. It will cost only abit more then what we would have paid at the courthouse but I am already convinced that it will be VERY worth it. I spoke to the gentleman this evening. He was so nice, and wanted to know all about us. He was so inthusiastic and asked so many questions, anyone can tell he loves doing this. I will not be the 5 minute affair we would have had in the court house. He was even saying it would be atleast 40 mins lol....We meet him in person on Tuesday evening to go over legalities and get to know us more. He told me that the ceremony was for us but also for the special ppl in our lives attending. To feel like they know you even more and become a part of your special day. The other great thing about him is that he is bilingual. We will be able to do it all in both french and english. My guest will be almost half and half with only one or two in the whole mix who speak both. I am relieved because I didnt want ppl to feel left out or clueless about what was going on. I was very impressed by the man and I am even happier if that's possible lol.
This is one of my favorite photo's of Chris and I...it really shows how we feel. Every little thing that is accomplished with our plans has us beaming together. Chris and I have decided everything together . He is as thrilled with the candles as I am. I love that he wants to be part of everything and the whole day will reflect OUR tastes and wants.
I have also been having a blast online with a few buddies while we go through reems of wedding sites looking at dresses and getting ideas.
Before I end this post I want to say a huge....WHOOO HOO SHAN!!! .....My buddy officially became a NURSE today!! Way to go!!! We all knew you could do it.
