I've had a few people ask me over the past few weeks how the wedding plans are coming along, so I thought it would be a good idea to use this space to give an update on how things are progressing.

But first, I have to say a big thank you to my Mum who has been a big help from the beginning.Before Richard and I had decided on it as a location for the wedding, she accompanied me to the Crossroads Centre where we enjoyed a very nice lunch. After a look around the building, making observations and giving suggestions for the setup, she had a browse in the bookstore while I took pictures and a video of the location.

Just a few weeks ago we went to Staples together to have a look at stationary. Since wedding "season" is pretty well over, a lot of the supplies they have are on sale. It was great having Mum there because she is so good at math (one of the few things I did not inherit from her) so she was able to work out which was the best deal as well as how many inviations I would actually need. We also picked up some nice accessories to "pretty up" the plain invites and programmes. If you have the time, doing it yourself can be a lot cheaper. If you also have the talent that is, which I don't. But my wonderful sister-in-law to be, Rachel, does.

And now to the dress. It was so hard to find a non-strapless dress. I had an idea in mind of what I wanted but my first shopping trip yielded nothing. I had a great group come with me for support (thanks Rachel, Laura, Shiv & Sharon) and it was a great day. Although the strapless dress with feathers that the saleslady had me try on was a bit much. I do have pictures but I think I'll keep those to myself.The second store I went to was great. Mum came with me and had great success. After I described the dress I was looking for, the owner brought out four dresses, all similar to what I wanted. It was the first one I tried on that was THE one. Mum took pictures for me and chatted with the woman about alterations. I did try the others on but the first one was it. As for the look, you'll just have to wait til January 6th to see it.

Finally, shoes. After perusing snapshots of other Christmas season weddings, I saw a shot of a bride's shoes with her bouquet. I guess you have to see it to get the impact but the shoes were red and looked just beautiful with the white dress. So I decided to look for a similar pair especially since I could not justify spending the money the "bridal" shoes cost given I would just wear them for one day. Mum once again came through and found a beautiful pair which fit great but I could just not justify the price. But we did continue shopping around that day and she found a similar pair with more support for an 1/8th of the price!More to come but I think that's enough detail for now.