Annette's blog: the wedding week

Wow, what a week it has been!
It seriously feels like three weeks have gone by instead of one!

On monday Kym, Bec, Kym's mum, Justin's mum and I went to West-Edmonton mall.
We needed to get bridesmaids shoes and we found them with in ten minutes if not five. So that was great! After that we had time to have some lunch and have a look around before we had to get our nails done.

Getting our nails done was a rather interesting experience. The girls that did our nails had not finished their course yet, but had completed 9 of their 10 months. So you would think that they should have been able to do a pretty good job.....yeah nah....
None of us were to excited about our nails, but the main thing was that from a distance they looked pretty good!
After we had our nails done, Kym, her mum and I had another walk through the mall.
It was funny to actually be there but to be honest, I wasn't really blown away by the whole thing. It was a mall...just extremely big with a few extra things.

We had dinner at Trevor and Michelle (Justin's brother and sister-in-law) that night. They are one of the most amazing people I have met! Well...Trevor is a bit special in his own way ;) but combine him with Michelle and you will find the most welcoming, easygoing people you will ever meet!

After dinner it was time for Kym's bridal shower! It was a bit different then an australian one. But it was fun and I had a chance to meet new people!

The next day we were going to have a 'relaxing' day. We went to long-island lake. Bec took Micheal and Jess (from australia) along. Mr and mrs mulder were there and michelle was there with her three kids. We had heaps of fun and managed to get a bit of a tan!

We had dinner with mr and mrs mulder. Kym, Justin, and Kym's parents had to go to edmonton that night to pick Ashley up, so I spend the night at Trevor and Michelle's place, making wedding books for the night reception.

On wednesday we spend the whole day doing stuff for the wedding. I managed to get my eyebrows done and afterwards we went to Justin's place to fold the booklets for the ceremony and make the 'thank-you' boxes for at night. This ONLY took us 5 hours! When we were finished we went back to Trevor and Michelle's house, where Justin was nice enough to make us some dinner so we could eat! After dinner Kym's oma arrived.
We tried to have an early night that night, but that didn't really happen! When we got home, we steamed the table runners, my bridesmaids dress and Kym's wedding dress. We did manage to get to bed just after midnight.

And then thursday arrived....the day before the wedding! In the afternoon we drove to the hall where the night reception was going to be held. We set things up and decorated it. For dinner we went to Trevor and Michelle's house....again....for a bbq with the whole family.
At 7pm we had to be a church for the wedding rehearsal....It is all really happening!!
At night Bec came over aswell and we even managed to get some sleep!!

And then along came friday....the WEDDING DAY!
Our alarms went off at 6.30 and at 7.30 we arrived at Trevor and Michelle's place to get ready. Yvonne (Justin's sister-in-law) was going to do our hair and arrived shortly after us. The make up lady came around that time as well. We had heaps of time, so while our hair and make up was being done, we could chill, have breakfast and drink champagne.

Before we knew it, it was 12.30....time for the family to be at church. At 12.45, Kevin (best man) came in the TRUCK to pick us all up. Bec and I had to pretty much strap Kym down to the chair because we still had to wait for another 10 minutes before we could leave ;)

And then the moment arrived! We came to church and everything went really smoothly! After the ceremony there was coffee and cake. Shortly after that we drove back to Trevor and Michelle's place to have family photo's taken, followed by an afternoon of other wedding photo's at different spots. We had amazing weather and lot's of fun!

At 6pm we arrived at the reception and had a very entertaining night! Bec and I did a play about how Kym drove into my car and how she ALWAYS had phones with her...most of the time 2.
We also read out the emails that she had send me around the time she met Justin.

The night finished at 10.30 and Kym and Justin left. There was an after party at Trevor and Michelle's house...so off we went :)
We had a whole box of left over wine from the reception and we managed to drink some of it. We just sat around a fire and chilled...very nice. I think we should introduce that in australia!
People stayed till about 2am and afterwards I could crash on Trevor and Michelle's couch.
I could have slept everywhere! I was exhausted after a long week and a long day!

This morning everyone woke up very late and by the time I got back 'home', soaked of my nails and had a shower, Kym and Justin picked me up to go to Marcel and Jessica's place (also brother and sister-in-law) for a bbq and to unwrap the present.
It was another night full of interesting conversation, making Christina (Justin's sister-in-law) wet after she made me wet and heaps of laughs.

I can not believe it is the end of the week! It was amazing to meet the people in Neerlandia and Barrhead. Pretty much all of them were related to Justin. They are a crazy, CRAZY family, but they all have a heart of gold and made me feel really welcome.
I wish I could stay longer and I'm a bit sad to be leaving on monday already!
I really hope I will be able to visit this place again....and no Christina....it's not because of all the single dairy farmers!!! ;)

It is now however time to go to bed!!

....after I add pictures to the blog......