The importance of options!!!

So, we have 86 days to go til May 5, 2012. With this in mind, we've spend a lot of time the past few weeks on wedding stuff and planning and figuring. One of the things we want to do is to set aside a block of hotel rooms for family and friends. We also wanted to try to figure out some kind of way to have a rehearsal dinner and a breakfast together after the wedding. These celebrations are so precious and we want to cherish this opportunity to have so many of us close together.

And this celebration is not one I thought I'd see in my lifetime. I had heard of people having commitment ceremonies and weddings, but they weren't legal or binding. And then it happened - another option for us. The celebration of marriage. Wow.

So with this apple-cheeked, rose-coloured glasses optimism, we researched hotels and dreamed about how much fun it was going to be to get dressed for the big day in the hotel room! Running into family and friends in the lobby. Catching up.

We initially settled on the Ramada Hotel on Jarvis. Central. Inexpensive. Their customer service was fantastic. We checked it out in the daytime - fantastic. We gladly handed over a credit card. And then, that weekend, on a Saturday night, we decided to excitedly drive by and dream more about our big day. And so we did. And our collective jaws hit the ground.

Now we are both feminists and both open-minded individuals. We think everybody has the right to earn a living and make choices. But not in front of our wedding hotel, dressed in black pleather thigh-high go-go boots, standing with one foot on the steps of the hotel, your two other hooker friends on the other side of the steps, and the pimps standing 4 yards away, smoking. No. This is not what we want. This is not the hotel we dream of. And so we went back to the drawing board.

Because my sister is coming to town with her family, and because one of the things we love to do with my sister's family and Twinkie's sisters' families, is to swim, that was the criteria we used to find a hotel. And that is how we happened upon our next and hopefully final hotel choice, the Delta Chelsea.

So, this past Tuesday, we set out to check out the Delta Chelsea at night and also to see the rooms. We were told to meet Jody at the Children's check-in - which is adorable! Once we got there, we were told that Scott, a bellman, was going to take us around.

Once we met Scott we were convinced and it just kept getting better. Scott has worked at the hotel for 36 years. He thinks he'll work another 17. He knew the hotel inside and out. He knows all the rooms, all the floors - all the stories, all the halls. He made recommendations that were smart and kind and considerate and helped us problem solve. What a great employee.

He also talked about his past and his future and his choices and his options. When he started at the Delta Chelsea, he was 17. He didn't know about other jobs, other options or as Capote says - other voices, other rooms. He didn't know then that after 36 years, another company would have had a much better pension. He didn't know then that he'd have been able to retire already or be packaged out if he had chosen to work at Bell Canada or Ontario Hydro. He didn't know his options. And he certainly didn't know the impact that his choices would have on his future.

It will be a tremendous loss to the Delta Chelsea when Scott decides to retire, and it was a tremendous win for us to have met Scott and have him show us the best of the Delta Chelsea and offer us the best for our wedding. Added bonus - despite our age difference, etc., he just knew we were the wedding couple - no questions asked, no problem, just assumed gay wedding. Wonderful.

We had asked him about a small meeting room, and we walked out of there that night so excited about a wonderful hospitality suite complete with bathroom and fridge, dining table, sofas, t.v. and cupboard, attached on both sides to hotel rooms for some of the wedding party. Perfect. So many questions and such a perfect solution. Thank you Scott. And thank you ladies of the night.

And now we are dreaming of how much fun it will be to have the rehearsal dinner in the hospitality suite - kids running around, both of our sisters and their families there, family, wedding party, friends, out of town guests, maybe some swimming, maybe some turns down the 4 storey water slide. All our favourite people, together, to celebrate options and the fact that sometimes, luckily, we get it right.

Let the games begin.

Yours in a hospitality suite,

Cupcake

How did you get Creampuff?

Our wedding is bringing a lot of people together who have never met. Which I guess is typical. We wanted to bring our wedding party together and have everyone meet and get to know each other. So we set a date in December, got as many people as we could - who were available that day, and had a fantastic eggs benedict brunch.

We had a few laughs, a fantastic brunch, and got a few ideas from each other. Everyone got along really well and that was amazing to see.

So incredibly heartwarming to bring pieces of your different lives together and see a fun and lovely group of people bonding together. It was really exquisite and we hope to do it again soon.

It is a bit hard to do things like that - to ask people to give up a precious Sunday to come for a day of planning our wedding - but everyone was so gracious and happy to be there - thank you all!

And then in January, we got to finally go to Winnipeg and spend some incredible time with CupcakenephewW and CupcakenephewB and my sister and brother-in-law. They are so far away, and when we have these get togethers, one of the toughest things for me is that Creampuff is away at university and my sister is too far away to share it with us. So these visits to Winnipeg are so incredibly precious and sweet.

And CupcakenephewB said something to us that is such a testament to my sister and such a testament to the new world. One day when we were swimming, CupcakenephewB said to me, Cupcake, if you and Twinkie aren't married yet, how did you get Creampuff?

So very sweet.

Yours in deep gratitude and appreciation and love

Cupcake

Wedding Week Extravaganza!!!

Wow. This week has been breathtaking. We knocked a ton of things off our list and organized so very much. Exhausting and also surprisingly fun.

Rooms are pre-booked at the Ramada, wedding party stuff is managed, we also BOOKED THE DJ!!! This shindig is actually going to happen this time.

Wanna know the menu?

Okay - here goes:

Veggie Roll
Spanokopita
Mac and Cheese Fritters

Greek Salad

Cheese Cannelloni with Garlic Bread

Gourmet Barbecue - choice of two meats (steak, chicken or salmon) or veggie :)

Roasted Potatoes, Grilled Veggies, Wild Rice

Dessert

Cupcakes

Late night pizza table!!!!!

Yee Haw!!!!

Yours in planning

Cupcake