Introducing: Wedding Planning 2011

The Date: July 2011 (we hope!)

The Theme: Rustic/Outdoorsy/Woodsy/Lakish/minus the bugs----"Feminine Rustique."

The Location possibility: Whonnock Lake Centre in Ruskin, BC

The Dress: Found it! Can't post photos though as RB reads this blog and he isn't allowed to see anything until the day---he insists as well! Let's just say it's beautiful.

The Photographer: Duncan Turner owner and operator of DLT Photo and you can actually see the front page are photos of my sister JCs wedding. Very vogue, Liv you'd like!!!

I've been busy as a bee since the proposal trying to find venues and tour them for the ceremony and reception. This is because as you well know, RB and I are travelling (moving) to Ontario this summer for 1 year and as venues must be booked at least 1 year in advance (for good venues) we will have to book while in Ontario. However, we don't want to book somewhere we have not seen so with two weeks to go until D-Day, we are booking tours to figure out the best venue.

We did look at one location, however it was far too pricey and while family will pay for it, I simply could not justify the costs.

There is one place though that months upon months ago I had thought about as a wedding venue. Being a girl I always thought of these things in my head...the "When I get married..." self-discussions. Whonnock Lake Centre is located in beautiful Ruskin, British Columbia up in the mountains near Stave Lake between the cities of Maple Ridge (my birth place) and Mission (where I grew up for many years). It is nestled in the trees among other lakes such as Hayward (where we go to swim in the summer) and Rolley Lake, Stave Lake where the Stave Lake Dam is. It's a wonderful wilderness area and Whonnock is just absolutely beautiful.

I always pictured myself having an outdoor wedding in the trees. I was never a groomed gardens type of girl or a golf and country club one either. I always pictured a wedding near water as I practically grew up on the Pacific Ocean. Woodsy was definitely the dream and RB is pretty okay with that, too!

If you check the link you can see photos of the centre though I will take some photos myself on the 14th of this month when we go for our official tour. It may be raining so we'll bring umbrella's. The centre has hardwood flooring with high ceilings and timber beams. On the one wall it's floor to ceiling paned windows that look out onto Whonnock Lake. Often this is where the head table goes. What a sight!

Outdoors there is a dock that goes way out into the lake and is great for photos. There are also many garden areas around and nooks and crannies for great photography.

The unfortunate thing at this point is that I cannot book Whonnock until Jan 2nd 2010 9am when the phone lines open up and you must must must phone right away to get the date you want. It is a popular venue. And as Lily says from the popular show "How I Met Your Mother" (my guilty pleasure), there is always one couple who wants exactly what you want and are always two steps ahead of you. We need to be that couple!

As far as everything else goes, we will start to plan once the venue is secured. However, we're always open to any and all ideas you have regarding anything---anything at all that pops in your mind that you would do if you were me or us or whatever. I will write it down!