Nom Nom Nom

Our very awesome "sister" blog Ho Yummy did an in depth analysis of the reception dinner at La Terrazza....check it out:

http://www.hoyummy.com/2010/08/04/grick-snoopys-wedding-at-la-terrazza/

Grick and I will have to go back to actually try the meal! Sounds like it was great :o)

The Beginning of Happily Ever After...

It's been a while since we've posted anything. Don't worry, we actually really did get married! We didn't chicken out and run away to elope :p

The wedding day, was unbelievable. It was at times slow and enjoyable, and at other times a whirlwind. Everyone always says that it zips by and you never have time to eat or enjoy. I have to say that it did whip by for us, and although we did not have enough time to eat, we did enjoy! Thoroughly! :)

We wanted to offer our warmest thanks to everyone who helped put this together! From all our lovely family, to our dear friends, and of course our fabulous vendors - this wedding was a community effort! It was a day that we'll never forget and it's all due to the enthusiasm, passion and joie de vivre that all of you brought :)

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! :)













grick + snoopy

A Wonderful Maaaaagical Animal!

What's the most magical animal you can think of? Some may think it's something like a Unicorn. But if you really think about it, it's just a weird horse with an odd growth on it's head. For me (and others), the pig is arguably the most magical animal. We can obtain bacon, pork chops, ribs, all from this one very generous creature. So, if having pieces of it is so awesome, combining it all must be even awesomer :) That's right, roast the sucker whole. For Chinese people and those living in Vancouver it's not really something new since it is a common sight to see them hanging from the windows of Chinese BBQ places. Porky is on the right.


So what does this have to do with the wedding? Traditionally, before the wedding, the groom's family sends the bride's family a roast pig accompanied by other gifts such as pastries and money. The deliverer is a relative who has been selected based on various criteria such as the number of boys they have and if their parents are still living. My awesome Uncle Jack and Auntie Doreen will be our pig standard bearers since they have Boo. Once they have delivered the gifts and taken everything inside, Tank will cut the off the head and tail. Snoopy's mom will package that up, along with a couple of the pastries for Boo's parents to take it back to my house. Should prove to be an exciting event since Tank has been practicing his sword technique for weeks!

What happens next you ask? You eat! Eat, enjoy, eat some more and pass out from sheer porky awesomeness :)

The Big Day(s) - UPDATED!

Hi All! I recently realized that I never posted an updated schedule post-fire. Here it is! Please read and commit to memory!

• Date: June 3, 2010
  When: 7 pm
  What: Ladies Party
  Where: The Grand Taj
  Who: Snoopy's friends & family, and women of Grick's family
  Details: There will be buffet style dinner and dancing. I have no idea of any entertainment or the program since this is a party being thrown "for" me. For details, see P & A.
  
• Date: June 4, 2010
  When: TBA
  What: Bachelorette
  Where: TBA
  Who: Please check your email for invites!
  Details: P is organizing and has sent evite!
  
• Date: June 6, 2010
  When: 4 pm
  What: Maiyan
  Where: My uncle's house
  Who: Snoopy's family
  Details: My uncle wanted to host a wedding function for me at his house so we'll be doing the first official maiyan there on Sunday afternoon! Thanks to my awesome Thari Chacha! :)
  
• Date: June 8, 2010
  When: 6 pm
  What: Mehndi
  Where: Snoopy's house
  Who: Snoopy's family and friends, Girls of Grick's family
  Details: This is going to be a small and very low-key function with no required attendance :) If you want to have mehndi done or just want to see what it's all about, come on by!
  
• Date: June 9, 2010
  When: 6 pm
  What: Maiyan/Pig Party
  Where: Snoopy's House
  Who: Snoopy's family and friends
  Details: This will be the official maiyan at my house. This will also be the day of the pig party, which Grick will explain in the next post. :)
  
• Date: June 10, 2010
  When: 6 pm
  What: Choorah
  Where: Snoopy's House
  Who: Snoopy's immediate friends & family
  Details: The night before the wedding will be the choorah at Snoopy's house.
  
• Date: June 11, 2010
  When: 9 am
  What: Sikh Wedding Ceremony
  Where: Guru Nanak Niwas Gurdwara
  Who: All invitees
  Details: Breakfast and lunch provided - be on time! :)
  
• Date: June 11, 2010
  When: 2 pm
  What: Chinese Tea Ceremony
  Where: Grick's House
  Who: Grick's family and Snoopy's immediate family
  Details: Grick will explain tea ceremony in another post.
  
• Date: June 11, 2010
  When: 7 pm
  What: Reception
  Where:La Terrazza Restaurant
  Who: All invitees
  Details: Cocktail hour begins at 7pm - be on time if you don't want to miss out! :)

Well, that's it! Your typical Indo-Chinese Wedding! :)

ABC

Weddings are not businesses! They're all about flowers and ribbons and lace! Why the need for all this legal mumbo jumbo? You're in the middle of a fairy tale; enacting out your childhood dreams...you don't want to be bothered with the fine print. You want to examine the various Pantone shades of green and leave the icky little papers to sit in the bottom of your wedding file. Or do you??

Contracts. They're the basis and foundation of any wedding. A good contract will protect not only your vendor, but you as well. We should not treat them as an annoyance. Embrace them. Many people get too excited about signing their favourite photographer or that glorious french pastry chef and don't examine the fine print. What will happen to you and your wedding in the event of a cancellation......or illness......or fire??

Clearly, I've had some experience in the matter and wanted to share some thoughts. I did make the effort to read all my contracts before signing and knew what I was getting into. So when some vendors refused to return deposits due to the change in our situation, I had little recourse - I had agreed to that deal. Which is fine. But that's the point - know what you're signing and know your rights. Vendors use contracts to define their relationship to you, but it works both ways. It also defines your relationship with them. So if vendors become difficult or try to implement new charges or change the terms, always go back to your contract. It is your ally and should help to resolve any disputes. Also, look for vendors with strong and well written contracts. A long contract does not mean the vendor is difficult, it means they're trying to clarify your relationship as much as possible. Ambiguity is not good in a wedding, trust me. A flimsy two line contract protects no one and will only lead to much confusion and heartache.

Bottom line...contracts are your friend. Read them. Learn them. Love them.

P.S.
Thanks to Tank for my free legal advice! I love having a lawyer in the family :)

Some Very Yummy Lemonade

So Grick and I have busily been making lemonade out of the lemons that some random arsonist handed us. All of your kind words, good vibes and hard work all coalesced into an awesome new venue - La Terrazza Restaurant in Yaletown!

I was surprised that they were able to fit our wedding size. When we were first looking at venues months ago, La Terrazza was on the list but we obtained some incorrect information as to it's capacity so we never checked it out. Goes to show....always ask and go to the source! It's a gorgeous and unique place with some truly excellent food. We are both very excited and keep joking that this fire may have been the best thing that could have happened :) We are now able to cut some things that we didn't really want and are able to condense everything into one day! So the new wedding schedule will be as follows:

• Sikh Wedding - June 11th morning
• Tea Ceremony - June 11th afternoon
• Reception - June 11th evening

You will all have the whole weekend to recover so make sure you are raring to go!

Ciao :)

Sigh

So I hadn't posted in a while because things were so crazy with the Olympics. I thought I would return and show off our fabulous invites. However, they are perfectly useless now.....our venue burned down. To the ground.
We just found out today and were told that it's going to take them six months to rebuild. However, the wedding is three months away - the math just doesn't add up. So we - along with sixty other couples - are now scrambling to find alternate locations. It's incredibly frustrating to have to go through this whole process again, especially since we may have to rearrange or scrap parts of the wedding altogether.

Sigh. This is the last thing we needed at this point amidst last minute details and home renovations. But who knows....maybe we'll wind up with an even more fabulous wedding! One can only hope.

I'll keep you all posted!

UPDATE: One thing I would like to add, thanks to the army of people trying to help us find new venues. I know emails are flying left right and centre, phones are dialing and ringing off the hook, favours are being called in, all for us, so thanks. :) Snoopy and I really appreciate it. -G

Ladies Night

What is a Ladies Party?
I can't tell you how many times I have been asked that question. What do we do there? Do I bring anything? Do I do anything? What's with the funny name? :)

A Ladies Party is a party thrown by the bride's side of the family for close female relatives and friends. It is usually held in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Traditionally, for most Indian weddings, there are only a limited number of people who go to the reception from the bride's side. Receptions are generally thrown by and for the groom's side of the family. The ladies party tradition grew out of a desire to have some sort of a party for the bride's side. It is basically another opportunity to eat and dance......and to add to the pre-wedding extravaganzas known as Punjabi Weddings :)

What to Expect?
Food. Entertainment. Food. Dancing. That's pretty much the gist of it. The evening starts with appetizers and is followed by some sort of entertainment. Either the family would do a dance or they would hire a "dance team." I have no idea what is going to happen although I have heard "whispers" of a surprise. Yeah - my family cannot keep a secret :) The party would also feature the Jago Ceremony. This would kick off the dance party portion of the night. Once the dancing begins, dinner is served. Leaving the guests with a difficult dilemma - butter chicken or boogie down? What would you choose? :)


What Do I Wear?
It's a party - wear party clothes. This is not a religious event so you don't need to worry about covering your head or making sure your skirt length is just so. Just come festively attired - it's an Indian party, so blinginess is not frowned upon. And no, you do not have to wear Indian clothes. You can if you want, but there is no requirement or expectation of that!

What Do I Bring?
Just yourself, a smile and a desire to partay!

Hope to see you all there!

P.S. - Apologies to all the male guests, including Grick. This event is the only one where butter chicken will be served throughout the entire wedding.

Hip Hop Is Dead

In real life maybe....but not at our reception! If you are lucky enough to be able to attend our bumpin' party, expect to hear some booty shaking, soul quaking, and earth shattering beats. As mentioned in previous posts, my family likes to party. They are not the crazy, insane, get drunk of your ass and pass out kind of party animal. But young and old - they just like get down. This usually makes me quite happy because I get to join in the raucous fun. It doesn't matter whose party we're at, we always manage to have an awesome time. However, this is slightly worrisome for my wedding because I worry they may be dance floor hogs. Seriously. They don't even notice that they're doing it. So here's a tip - if you're at the party and want to dance...just elbow your way in. Trust me, it's fine. They won't even notice and will be happy you joined them :)

At any party, it's the music that makes it or breaks it. Fortunately, we have hired a pretty good DJ to oversee this. I've been to a few functions they've worked and I was quite impressed, so I am not too worried about this aspect of the party. However, being the democratic kinda gal that I am, I thought I would open the floor to suggestions :) If there are any songs that you think that the DJ absolutely must play, leave it in the comments below. They have asked me for a list of must plays and I will pass along your suggestions as well. I find this to be a better system than people harassing the DJ at the party :)

Grick and I have also been going over the various elements of the wedding and picking the appropriate music to for them - entrance, first dance, slideshow etc. I think that we have made some great choices; however to keep some of the suspense, I don't think I will post them here. You will just have to attend to hear our "soundtrack." Incidentally, Tank, who helped us out with some of the choices, summed them up perfectly:

"... it's a good eclectic mix that captures the mood of each unit and comes together to form a beautiful musical whole..."

I didn't know lawyers could be such wordsmiths! :)

Cheers!