A Perfect Wedding Day

It rained almost every day this Summer, and if it wasn't raining, it was cloudy, overcast, foggy, and generally U-G-L-Y outside.... but the day before our wedding, it magically became hot and sunny, and stayed that way until two days after the wedding.

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.

Melissa looked absolutely breathtaking in her wedding gown, and I looked pretty damn swanky in my all-white tuxedo.

Melissa's friend Lisa Frampton was by her side as her Maid Of Honor, my brother-from-another-mother Mitch Billard stood up for me as my best man.

Abigail and Carter were also part of the wedding party: Carter was our Ring Bearer, and Abigail escorted him down the aisle, pushing his stroller.

I've created a couple photo albums of the wedding, which you can see by going to either our "Bob Loves Melissa" website or our Picasa photo album.

We'd like to send thanks from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who attended the wedding, the reception, the after-party, and also to those who were unable to make it but sent cards or gifts.

Abigail is home for the Summer!

Abigail came up from NB last Sunday, she's staying with us until the wedding! It's great to have the whole family together, even if it's only for a little over a month.

As for the wedding planning, everything is going ahead on schedule, some things are even going ahead of schedule. Another couple weeks and we'll have the wedding license in our hands!

Now that the reception's been moved to the fire hall in Cole Harbour, we've decided to put together a few finger food platters, and we're also encouraging everyone to bring something wonderful from their kitchen with them to add to the feast. The more people that bring food, the larger the feast will be!

A Slight Change In Plans

So we've had to change the location of our reception because we ended up inviting more people than Gatsby's can handle. We've also started to put together a pot luck deal so people from out of town have something to eat there.

Also, one of my closest friends, Mitch, has put together an after party to help us celebrate. It's going on in the basement of The Marquee (Hell's Kitchen) from 10pm - 2am the night of our wedding. It's a private function, so anyone who wants to go will need to contact me to get your name put on the list.

Progress

We've made a lot of progress over the past few days.... The wedding site (Sir Sandford Fleming Park, Halifax, NS) has been booked and paid for, the reception site (Gatsby's Restaurant*, Halifax, NS) has been booked.

The rest of the details will be worked out over the coming week, and all that's left will be to wait for the big day!

Melissa and I are very excited to have our friends & family join us on August 23rd to help us celebrate! If you know us and haven't yet received your invitation, get in touch with us and let us know that you would like to come!

*Gatsby's Restaurant has been reserved for the reception, but we're cutting corners on costs so we can afford to move back to B.C. as soon as possible. In other words, we want everyone to join us at Gatsby's for a drink or two to celebrate our wedding, but we can't afford to pay for the plates of food for guests that you would normally get at a wedding reception, so make sure you plan ahead or you'll be pretty hungry....

There's No Place Like Home

Last weekend we moved into our new home. We rented a house in Bedford, and it's absolutely P-E-R-F-E-C-T for us. Carter's room is cute as hell, all our furniture fits perfectly, and the cats love it there too. I'll post a picture or two soon.

The best laid plans....

Over the course of the last month or two, Melissa and I have come to the sad realization that we're finanically doomed if we remain in Nova Scotia. Because of this realization, we've made a few changes to our master plan:

We've changed the wedding date from April 26, 2009 to August 23, 2008. Also, instead of having a large, lavish ceremony, we've decided to cut costs wherever we can on the wedding. This will allow us to start saving to move the family back to BC much sooner than if we kept the wedding scheduled for next year.

As a result of these changes, we've also decided to change the focus of the Bob Loves Melissa website. Instead of using the site as a way to help pay for the honeymoon, any money raised through the site will now go toward the move back to BC. Once we've moved back and we're back to the income that I've been accustomed to, we'll be able to afford the honeymoon without any help. We just won't be able to take our honeymoon immediately after our wedding, we'll have to wait a while instead.

This decision is the best possible one for our family, since the cost of living being the same in Nova Scotia as it is in British Columbia, but my income is several thousands of dollars less in NS than it was in BC, and I'll be able to go back to working for eBay when we return to Vancouver and make the same amount of money I was making before we left.

On a different note, Carter is doing fantastic. He's growing so fast, it's crazy. He already fits in clothes that are labelled 18 months... wow.

I can't wait until the Summertime when Abigail comes up for a month from Fredericton, she's really excited to be able to get to know her little brother, as well as live with her old man again for a while.

Extreme Makeover: Website Edition

I've just finished overhauling the Bob Loves Melissa website, and a week ahead of schedule, too! I'll be making some small adjustments to it over the next couple weeks, but no major changes are planned.

Here's a progress update: I've nearly completed the first graphic job generated by the Bob Loves Melissa site, and another one is right around the corner, so things should start picking up very soon.

Stay tuned for more updates as they happen, and check back in the next couple days for a cute video of our son Carter!