13 years in the making...

Normally, I do an anniversary post on the actual day Dave and I first met (October 17),  but yesterday, we were a little busy...

Yep.. 13 years later to the day, we've finally made it official (not that moving in and living together for several years isn't official... it just doesn't involve a pretty white dress).

About a month after I met Dave, I knew I wanted to keep him. Dave took a little more convincing. I wanted a full-blown fairytale wedding, with horse and carriage and the whole bit.. Dave was more of the "Let's not and say we did" sort.

But a relationship is the art of compromise, so in the end, we did a very wee fairy tale - just the two of us, my brother and his wife as witness (and doubling as photographers), a park by the lake,  a few vows, a kiss, a few photso, and dinner. (It  fit our current budget much better than a big wedding would...)

Dave is a little shy, so I had to promise not to flash photos of his face willy-nilly all over the internet. So I thought I'd share some of the crafty details of our day

I got the dress on ebay several years ago ( I told you this was a long time in the making) - a store sample for 75% off. Of course, I've put on some weight since I bought it, so it required a few modifications to make it fit. Last month, I spent an evening pulling out the original zipper. And that trip down Ottawa Street a few weeks ago.. that was to get supplies to to make a insert and lacing to give me a little more room in the dress.

My flowers were also made quite a while ago

 A definite advantage of silk over real... A few autumn picks from the dollar store, some wild roses on clearance at Michaels, some dollar store ribbon and voila - bouquet for under $10.

Naturally I made my own jewellry (with the exception of my pearl necklace, which was my great-grandmother's)

I've always loved the combination of pearls and garnets. And since no wedding ensemble is complete without a tiara

So I made one of those too. (It's a good thing having a large bead stash)

I think it all came together  quite nicely. Oh... and there was a beaded wedding shawl too...

 The Layla shawl,  in Continental Cat (Colour is "Garnet"... what else?)

I'm sorry I can't show you more pictures with Dave.... well maybe just one..

But it has to be our little secret!