DIY Bride...Sort of

Like many brides I am planning to include a few DIY projects in my wedding. Here's the thing though: I am not good at DIY projects. I'm not the slightest bit crafty. I can read anyone under the table, but I can't sew a cushion cover or make a pretty scrapbook page to save my life. Creating an envelope liner seems impossibly difficult to me, although I've been informed it's not. When other brides DIY, you would never know the project wasn't done by a professional. With me, everyone will know.

Here's an example of DIY work that just completely blows me away (and makes me feel inadequate!):


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However, I think I'm okay with that. I want the wedding to be a reflection of me and Mr. Knitting and we certainly never do anything the slightest bit crafty normally. So while I'll be putting lots of effort into my DIY projects, I've had to resign myself to the fact that they really will look like I did it myself and that's okay because it's an honest reflection of us. It's even more okay because the more I look at DIY touches that actually look like they are homemade, the more I realize that I really really love this look.

For example:

Table numbers made out of mason jars and tea stained doilies (I love the flowers too, but suspect they aren't DIY):


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Escort card with silhouettes:


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Adorable jar of apple butter:


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Unique way of displaying family wedding photos:


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Cupcakes that I made for my older sister's wedding (yes, I'm obnoxiously proud of them!):


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Have you ever been intimidated by a DIY project?

Being Emotionally Detached...

...from the weather. As much as I love Toronto I have to admit we don't always have the best weather. I have no idea how a Toronto summer bride could stand the stress of having an outdoor wedding here as we have gotten so much rain the past two summers.

However, as a winter bride in Canada you'd think I'd be all set to have a gorgeous super snowy wedding.

For example:


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Unfortunately, that's not something I can count on. Last winter we had something like two snow falls and I'm pretty sure each had completely melted by the next day. It's much more likely I will have zero snow and lots of rain. It doesn't usually rain too much in the winter, but since I scheduled my wedding then I'm sure it will be nonstop rain all of December.

However, instead of spending any time worrying about what the weather will be like I've decided to be emotionally detached from the weather. I'm preparing myself by assuming and planning for the worst. This includes grey skies, rain, and cold, but not cold enough to snow. I already know that lovely outdoor photos of us frolicking in snow aren't going to happen, and not just because Mr. Knitting isn't much of a frolicker!

To be honest, this is complete neccesity for me because I'm a major worrier. I would probably spend the two weeks leading up to my wedding glued to the weather forecast and probably in tears every time it took a turn for the worse. Not worth it. I'm just going to plan for the worst and I'm quite excited to take lots of pictures involving my beloved (that's right, beloved) Wellies and umbrellas.


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How has weather affected your wedding plans?

Mr. Knitting's Ring

I have a little problem. While I love rings and am so excited to wear my beautiful engagement/wedding ring for the rest of my life, Mr. Knitting has huge knuckles and is convinced he can’t wear a ring. At first I was a bit sad at the idea of him not wearing a wedding ring because I thought others might think that he's not committed to our marriage. However, I got over my tiny bit of sadness when I remembered my father doesn’t wear a wedding ring and he and my mother have an incredibly happy marriage. I realized not wearing a wedding ring doesn’t signal any less of a commitment to me, and what do I care about what others think about my marriage?

However, I would like him to have something he could wear in place of wedding ring. I’m currently considering a wedding watch as a good option. I thought about wedding cuff links or a wedding tie clip, as I like the idea of jewelry, but I’m thinking he would prefer something that can be worn on a day to day basis. Also, in the 6 years that I’ve known Mr. Knitting he has never once worn cuff links or a tie clip so I’m guessing those aren’t items he’ll be wearing too often in the future.

A watch seems like a pretty good idea to me. He hasn’t owned a watch in a few years and would definitely love a new fancypants watch. It’s also something I could have engraved, which appeals to sentimental little me!

Hilariously, when I asked him to have a look at watches he likes, it turns out he's a bit of a princess. Here's what he came up with:

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It's a $7000 watch. Hahaha I don't think so. I guess we don't need to feed anyone at the wedding...(After he read this Mr. Knitting insisted I let all of you know that he didn't really want a $7000 watch [with more diamonds than my ring], he just thought it was nice).

What do you think? Any other good suggestions? Have any of you considered an alternative to a wedding ring? Is there such thing as a nice adjustable wedding ring? I’d love to hear your ideas.

To Kerchief or Not to Kerchief...

My grandparents on my mother's side are Ukrainian immigrants and my parents had a very traditional Ukrainian wedding. I identify more with being Canadian than with being half Ukrainian, but I'd still like to include a few Ukrainian wedding traditions in our wedding. However, the one I like the most is one that I actually have quite a few reservations about.

Note: This is my summary of the tradition based on what my mom has vaguely told me. I would appreciate any further details (like its name) or corrections to my version of it, as I'm having trouble finding any more info on it.

Near the end of a Ukrainian wedding reception the bride's veil is removed and a kerchief is put on by her mother and godmother. The idea is that you're no longer a bride, but a wife. I like this tradition and I love looking at the pictures of it from my parent's wedding.

Here's my grandmother putting on Mama Knitting's kerchief:

Mama Knitting dancing with her dad:

Mama Knitting throwing her bouquet. I love her expression in this one:

All personal photos

However, my issue with this tradition is that for me it says, "Okay now you're a wife, get busy with house work because that's what women do." This bothers me a lot because despite the fact that I like baking, pearls, and looking like a 1950s housewife, I'm not interested in promoting or conforming to traditional gender roles.

So that's my issue. My current thinking is that I'll still go ahead and do it. I think the tradition can be whatever I make of it, which for me will be a connection to my parents' and grandparents' weddings and a simple acknowledgement that I'm now a wife, with no implication that this means I will now sit at home and bake because I'm a woman.

To be clear I have no issue with women that are housewives. I just take issue with the idea that a woman would be a housewife becuase she's a woman, instead of because that's the best choice for herself and her family.

Have any of you struggled with whether or not a family tradition is appropriate any longer?

Favourite Things: Polka Dots

I love polka dots. Basically if something has polka dots on it, it's a good bet that I'm going to love it. It might be entirely forgettable without polka dots, but with them it's suddenly the most exciting thing ever.

Me prancing (that's right, prancing) around Europe in Polka dots:

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For me, polka dots just seem so sweet and elegant. They can be really mod looking as well, but I prefer them to look a bit more delicate. Anyway, in case there are a few more polka dot fans out there, here's a few images I love.

The always lovely Dita:

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I also usually love pretty much anything Carla Bruni Sarkozy wears:

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A vintage dress from Cabaret, an amazing Toronto store:

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A few dresses I found in Paris and think that I should own, even of they don't look all that different from ones I already own:

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It usually rains a lot in Toronto in the summer and I may just need to replace the semi-broken umbrella I've been using for the past year:

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I think I need to host a tea party just so I can use these as invites:

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This one is a good example of how polka dots can transform something sort of forgettable into something adorable. I can't say I normally look at any ironing boards and think, "Oh how cute!":

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I love this bathing suit. It's perfectly vinatgey (yes it's a word):

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Okay so the mannequin this is on is a bit creepy, but the mask is pretty great:

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Diaper case I will need to own when I'm a yummy mummy:

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Some bridal polka dots. I love how subtle these are:

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Despite the fact that I'm clearly a bit obsessed with polka dots I don't find them especially Christmasy, so I doubt I'll be using them very much in our wedding. However, they will be present in a very subtle way. Just before I decided on my wedding dress I noticed that the under layer is actually a very subtle polka dot fabric, similar to the wedding dress I posted above. That's when I knew it was undoubtedly the dress for me.

Are there any other polka dot fans out there?

Wedding Shows

I went to two wedding shows and I'd have to say over all I'm not a fan. The first one I went to with two of my bridesmaids was completely awful. It was big and crowded, pretty much nothing was to my taste, and the vendors were all pretty pushy and annoying. For example, one of the vendors from a big suit company was shocked that we didn't have at least 4 groomsmen who required tuxes and kept insisting that we needed to dress our fathers in matching tuxes. Not my thing.

The second show I went to with Mr. Knitting was much much better. It was organized by The Wedding Co., one of my favourite Toronto based wedding resources. This show was lovely and elegant with lots of amazing vendors. Mmm so much amazing food to sample. This one was a lot more fun than the first one, but it still wasn't the most helpful for my planning process because all these amazing vendors were way out of my price range.

For example, here's the gorgeous letterpress invitation by Sweet Peony Press that I spent a lot of time mooning over:

Photo from Sweet Peony Press

However, I was inspired (read: plan to flat out copy) by the way The Caketress (maker of my favourite charm cake) displayed her cakes. She draped pearl necklaces around the table and in between the cakes. I loved this as I love pearls quite a bit. If a piece of jewelry has pearls in it, it's likely that I will love it.

Here's an image of her table at the show. If you look closely you can see some of the pearls. The cakes look amazing too, but I get distracted around pearls!

Photo from The Caketress

Anyway, I plan to use this idea for my dessert table. I kept an eye out for $2 pearl necklaces at the St. Lawrence Market Antique Market and I managed to find tons. They're all different shades of white and I even have a few pink ones just to keep things interesting!

Here's the dessert decorating collection at the moment:

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So despite my conclusion that overall wedding shows didn't factor too greatly into my planning process, I would still highly recommend the Wedding Co.'s wedding show to anyone in the Toronto area. It was a lot of fun and it was very cool to meet with all these fantastic (and not pushy) vendors and to get a bit of inspiration from them.

What ideas did you pick up from a wedding show?

Hello From Miss Knitting

Hello hive! I almost can't believe I'm writing my very first official Weddingbee post! I actually found out I was going to be a bee while I was in Amsterdam and since no one (except Mr. Knitting) knew I'd even applied to be a bee I think my family and friends were a bit confused by the (excessively exclamation point laden) email they got from me that didn't refer at all to the incredible trip I was on, but instead was all about how I was going to be a bee and that it was the coolest thing ever. Let's just say the whole being in Amsterdam thing receded from my mind for a few minutes! Anyway, I'm now back from an incredible Europe trip with a girlfriend (and bridesmaid!) and am so excited to get back into wedding planning mode. As for being able to share all the details with all of you? I couldn't be more thrilled and excited!


Mr. Knitting and myself at my graduation dinner last year.

Mr. Knitting (who prefers to refer to himself as a Wedding Bro) and I are planning our cozy vintage Christmas wedding for December as it's my favourite time of year. Basically as soon as December rolls around (who am I kidding, it's more like mid November) I am always hit with this wonderful cozy feeling that just makes me want to light a billion candles, blanket my apartment in Christmas related paraphernalia, and then spend all my time in the kitchen making food for my favourite people.


Baking with my baby sister. You can see the slightly (okay, very) crazy look I have. Yay Christmas!

The plan for the wedding is to basically take all the things we love about the winter holidays (family, food, decor...etc) and somehow make them all fit in our wedding. Family, friends, and a sense of community are also really important for us so we're actively making an effort to involve as many people as possible in as many ways as possible.

Why Miss Knitting? I'm not much of a knitter, although my mom has recently taken it up again. She used to knit a lot while I was growing up and yes, I did used to own a sweater featuring a panda in the early 90s! Now that she's taken it up again I'm excited to have lots of lovely (and hopefully, panda free) knitted sweaters in my future. To me knitting also conjures up images of cozy winter nights by the fire snuggled under a big knitted throw so I thought Miss Knitting nicely conveys the cozy and wintry theme of our wedding.

Anyway, once again I am so so thrilled to be a bee and very excited to all of of my wedding planning adventures with all of you!