Married!

I am officially a married woman! 

After finishing work on Thursday evening, I headed downtown to meet up with my aunt and Ryan for a late dinner and to pick up a few things that my mum had sent ahead with my aunt. We ended up choosing D'arcy Mcgee's, primarily due to it's great location right by the Parliament buildings, and near both The Lord Elgin and The Chateau Laurier. After dinner we headed back to our respective hotels to rest up for the wedding on Friday morning.

Ryan and I both woke up fairly early on Friday morning, so we had plenty of time to relax and get ready at our leisure. Since we were staying at the beautiful and very swanky Chateau Laurier, I certainly wanted to make the most of it! Ryan had picked up a bottle of champagne the night before so we got to enjoy a glass (well, two for me!) before heading over to the courthouse to meet our families.

The civil service was just lovely, and our officiant was so kind! She did a wonderful job at relaxing us both with her funny sense of humor! The room was just the right size to fit in both our of parents, and four brothers. After we said our vows we had our mothers act as witnesses and that was it! We were officially married!

Since we had about an hour and a half before our lunch reservations at The Lord Elgin, we all headed over to the park across the street to take some photos. We were joined by Ryan's grandparents and two of my aunts at this point. 

About half an hour into taking pictures, I realized that in all the excitement, I had completely forgotten to bring my bouquet! Luckily, the hotel wasn't too far away, and our brothers all volunteered to go pick it up for me. Once they returned, we were able to finish taking pictures..this time with the beautiful bouquet! 

Just before noon, we all walked over to The Lord Elgin for lunch, where they had set up a private room for us. The decor, service, and food was amazing! I had the butternut squash ravioli and Ryan had the duck poutine. We heard lovely heartfelt speeches, followed by a fun game of "He Said/She Said", and got to enjoy lots of quality time with family! After our main courses, Ryan and I got to cut the cake as tradition dictates. 

We had dessert and coffee, and then it was time to thank everyone and say our goodbyes for the day. After everyone headed home, Ryan and I went back to the hotel for one more night before checking out on Saturday morning. Everything was just perfect and we are so thankful for everyone's love, support, and generosity! 

Mother's Day Lunch in Ottawa

Happy Mother's Day! 

Despite cloudy skies and a bit of rain here in Ottawa, today was absolutely lovely because my parents and youngest brother came to visit. We went to the Lord Elgin for a special Mother's Day lunch where we got to enjoy huge cups of coffee (seriously, they were more like small bowls!) and a huge buffet spread that included bacon, eggs, roast beef, smoked salmon, and flambéed fruit! 

The Lord Elgin is a beautiful hotel in the heart of downtown Ottawa, so we were able to walk around and see some of the sights after lunch. After stopping by to see the changing of the guards at the War Memorial, we walked down Sparks Street so my dad could pick up a fleece sweater since it was pretty chilly out. Once it started raining we all piled into the car and drove to the Glebe, where we took a short walk along the canal. Had it been a bit warmer and less rainy, we probably would have extended our walk, but considering the weather, we just did a quick tour before getting back into the car and driving to the apartment. Even still, we were able to see some beautiful flowers and trees along the water. The tulip festival is currently going on here in Ottawa so there were plenty of brightly colored tulips on display all around the city.

After our walk we headed over to the apartment for some tea before my parents had to drive back to Kingston. We had a really lovely visit and are so lucky to be able to get together more often now that we live (relatively) close to each other. I hope you all had a lovely day too and happy mother's day!