CORNER BROOK — Shelley Mitchell got some of her wedding plans done based on her experience attending last year’s Spring Wedding Show in Corner Brook.
Knowing that her fiancé, Ford Burden, would be studying engineering in Thunder Bay, Ont. and she would be doing much of the planning at home by herself, she was glad she had made some headway from information she got at that event.
The advance preparation became even more important in October, when Mitchell had to put planning on hold after she was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.
The diagnosis put Mitchell off work and she ended up spending nearly two months in St. John’s for treatment. Fortunately, she is back on her feet now and, although she will have to have some form of treatment for the rest of her life, she has returned to her job as a CT/X-ray technician at Western Health.
“It’s been really, really tough,” said Mitchell. “I just try to keep saying it could always be worse and trying to stay positive.”
Burden has been in school since last June, but did come back for a while after his bride-to-be got sick.
“We decided for him to continue on (with school) because it is a treatable cancer,” said Mitchell, adding that being so far way during this ordeal has also been tough on Burden.
Before she got sick, Mitchell and Burden had already agreed on most major aspects of their wedding plans, like booking a venue and a photographer. With the third annual Spring Wedding Show coming up at the Pepsi Centre on March 23, she hopes this year’s show will help her put the finishing touches on what’s left.
“I got a few ideas and did decide on a few ideas from the last wedding show,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to it this year because it is closer to the date. Where everything has been on hold, I still do need to plan certain things.”
Mitchell is hoping the wedding show will help her decide on tuxedos for the groom and his entourage, flowers and wedding favours.
“Financially, things are scaled back a little bit, but I’m just staying positive and it will be great day,” said Mitchell.
Janalee Perrett, the show’s organizer, said the event is indeed a one-stop shopping event where people planning to be married can get information on just about every aspect of the big day. In addition to vendors from across the province peddling their wares and services, there will also be fashion shows and hair and make-up demonstrations throughout the day.
“If anything, Shelley can walk away relieved that she has some ideas and won’t feel so congested because she’s by herself,” said Perrett. “She can go back to Ford with ideas and even take photos of what she sees at the show and send them to him. It will make things so much easier.”
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