A Beautiful Day for a Great Couple!

Jason & Melanie have been planning their wedding day for over a year and a half, with Jason counting down the days, hours & minutes on Facebook for much of that time!! Finally, this past Saturday, they became husband & wife!

Community Church in Waterdown was the venue for both the ceremony and reception ... and all the decor was done in both blue & green, the bride's favourite colours. :

Melanie is also a big "DIY"er - and so many of the decor elements were made by her... tissue balls of all sizes, seating chart, lettering for bulletin boards, posters of family photos, table name cards, etc. The tables were all named after wedding movies... Father of the Bride, The Wedding Singer, Meet the Parents, The Wedding Planner, etc.

The ceremony included personally written vows, a hand ceremony and a sand ceremony - as well as a special song sung by one of the bridesmaids. After the ceremony, the bridal party had photos taken in the yard behind the church and guests enjoyed appetizers on the patio while the cermeony room was "flipped" and turned into the reception hall.

After a buffet dinner, speeches and a couple of fun games, the couple danced their first dance to a song sung and played on guitar by the father of the groom & his friend. The guests enjoyed dancing as well as playing fooseball, air hockey, pingpong & basketball in an adjacent games room! It was an intimate and fun evening.

Congratulations Jason & Melanie - thanks for letting me be such an intimate part of your wedding day!

VENDORS
Venue - Community Church - www.communitychurch.ca
Officiant - Matt Pamplin, pastor of Grindstone Church mpamplin@grindstonechurch.com
Musician & Makeup Artist - Christie Latta christielatta@gmail.com
Soloist - Catherine Wickett - catwickett@gmail.com
DJ - Aaron White - www.djaaronwhite.com
Caterers - Maitre 'd Catering - http://www.goldbook.ca/burlington-on/caterers/maitre-d-catering-5201/
Decorators - Marian Van Geest & Jan Stevens of Van Geest Special Occasions - www.vangeestspecialoccasions.com/
Florist - Samantha Forrest of Pocket of Posies - www.pocketofposies.ca
Cake Decorator - Grant Brierly of Grant's Custom Cakes - grantbrierley_@hotmail.com
Linen Rentals - Josie Gibson of With All My Heart Wedding Decor - www.withallmyheartweddingdecor.ca/
Videographer - Jason Matos Photography -
http://www.jasonmatosphoto.com/
Photographer - Heather Braaten (friend of family)
Assistant Wedding Coordinator - Susan Zuk of Elegant Details www.elegantdetails.ca
Volunteers who helped with various elements of wedding: Karen Hayes, Mary Montini, Jolaine Montgomery, Lois Montgomery, Sonya Cuttriss, Pauline, Jo-Anne & Marc Rudy, Shantelle Matos, Liz Walmsley,

Sunny Day full of Smiles!

The elegant Blessed Sacrament Church in Toronto was the setting for the wedding ceremony of Charise & Nedzad... a beautiful couple who were surrounded by loving family and wonderful friends. Their ceremony included special Phillipino traditions in honour of Charise's background. Following photos at a park across from the church, the bridal party gathered in the foyer of The Rosewater Hall for an Islamic wedding ceremony in honour of Nedzad's background.

The whole event showed evidences of Charise's DIY expertise... from the place cards, menu cards, table cards, favours, centerpieces to the "guest book", which was a canvas designed by Charise that listed all the guest names, and above their name, guests made a heart out of their thumb prints - what a unqiue idea!

The reception began with a fun choreographed dance by the bridal party followed by a graceful and romantic choreographed dance by the bride and groom - a dance that brought many of us to tears! The reception included some fun elements such as elastic wind-up butterflies hidden under the menus to surprise the guests... a ball-smooch game for 3 guest couples... a father/daughter dance with the groomsmen as "back up singers"... a traditional Phillipino "money dance"...the bridal couple game to determine "who knows each other best"...piano solos by the bride's nieces...and of course the garter & bouquet tosses. One of the reception highlights was seeing a same-day edit video of the wedding day.

It was a wonderful day - planned perfectly by this amazing couple and supported incredibly by their dedicated bridal party and family. What a pleasure it was to coordinate their special day for them!

Congratulations Charise & Nedzad!










VENDORS:

Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church - www.blessedsacramenttoronto.ca
The Rosewater Hall - www.libertygroup.com
Photographers - Mariane M Photography - www.marianemphotography.com
Videographers - PGP Studios Inc - www.pgpwedding.com
DJ/MC - Impact Entertainment - www.impactentertainment.ca
Cake - I Do! Wedding Cakes - www.idoweddingcakes.ca
Floral Rentals - Pacific Florist, Lawrence Square, Toronto
Florals - Real Canadian Superstore, North York
Linen Rentals - Around the Table - www.aroundthetable.ca
Limo - Toronto Limo Rentals - www.hummerlimousineservice.ca
Assistant Wedding Day Coordintor - Susan Zuk

Beautiful Wedding Day!

Yesterday, we were watching the weather with a close eye all day... as the clouds kept rolling in, threatening rain for Patt & Kelly's outdoor ceremony at Liuna Gardens. However as the ceremony time approached, the clouds let up and the rain held off! Kelly had to fight the wind blowing her veil into her step-dad's face coming down the aisle, and the wind was a bit cool at times, but the ceremony was beautiful, overlooking the various colours of the lake.

Guests enjoyed cocktails on the patio to the great music of a jazz band while the couple had creative photos taken around the grounds at Liuna.

The reception kicked off with the couple doing their first dance - which was "accented" with a tradition from the groom's family... where all the family members came up and literally wrapped the couple in streamers and paper ribbons. I've never seen anything quite like it - but I had been warned that this would likely happen at some point in the evening! Its interesting to see what families do as traditions!! Following this dance, the cake cutting and the bride's speech, a delicious and very filling meal was served, interspersed with other speeches. Dancing lasted well into the night, and included a bride & friends rendition of "YMCA"... costume hats and all!!

It was a wonderful family celebration and obvious that this couple is well loved by their family and friends. Such an honour to be part of their wonderful day! Congratulations Patt & Kelly as you begin your new journey as husband & wife.

VENDORS:
Liuna Gardens - www.liunagardens.com
White Orchid Weddings (officiant Anne Blinch) - www.whiteorchidweddingceremonies.com
Mike's DJ Service (Live Musicians and DJ/MC) - www.mikesdjservice.ca
Amazon Lens Photographers - www.amazonlens.ca
Wedding Cake & favours - Sweet Celebrations Wedding Cakes - www.sweetcelebrationsweddingcakes.com
Decor & Flowers by Sue Gallo Designs - www.suegallodesigns.com
Late Night Sedan Pickup - Mermaid Limo - www.mermaidlimo.com

Andrea & Trevor's Big Day!

On September 30, 2011, Andrea & Trevor tied the knot - and this fun-loving, easy-going couple had a wonderful day!

The ceremony took place at St. Christopher's Church in Burlington.
The girls were in pretty red dresses, the guys were handsome in their tuxes - and Andrea sported the most fabulous shoes under her stunning dress... the shoes were covered completely with Swarovski crystals!!

Following the ceremony, family photos were taken outside the church and then the bridal party took a limo bus to Dundurn Castle for more photos in a very picturesque setting.

Steam Whistle Brewery Unique Wedding!

Laura & Mike's wedding on Sept 24th, 2011 was held at one of the most unique venues I've been to for a wedding... the Steam Whistle Brewery in downtown Toronto. The Brewery is located in the historic train round house, right at the base of the CN Tower.

The bridal party got ready in a luxurious suite at the Royal York and did their photos prior to the wedding - both at the hotel and also on the grounds of Steam Whistle.
The evening was clear and comfortable for the 7 pm ceremony which was held outside on the patio - with train cars in view, the CN tower just off the to the side and the lights of the city starting to come on.

A cocktail party reception was held in the large "warehouse" space (The Hall) of the Steam Whistle. The room was set up with numerous cruiser tables, "ghost" bar stools (clear plastic) and groupings of white leather sofas, benches & ottomans. Uplighting on the wooden beam pillars and lots of candles everywhere helped create a warm ambiance. The party got into full swing immediately following the ceremony, with the bar open, appetizers and food stations set out and the DJ cranking up the tunes and got the light show going. An old-fashioned photo booth was kept busy during the night with guests dressing up and getting their photos taken.

It was definitely not a traditional wedding, but the contemporary "cocktail party" theme of this wedding suited the venue, the couple and the guests perfectly - a very unique day that I'm sure everyone will remember for a long time!

Congratulations Laura & Mike!






VENDORS:

Steam Whistle Brewery - www.steamwhistle.ca
10tation Catering - www.10tation.com
Contemporary Furniture Rentals - www.cfrentals.com
Jayme Van Geest Photography - www.jvgphotography.com
Nth Degree DJ - www.nthdegreegroup.ca
White Orchid Wedding Ceremonies - www.whiteorchidweddingceremonies.com
The Wedding Cake Shoppe - https://theweddingcakeshoppe.com/
Rachel Sherlock, Florist - creativelygreen@hotmail.com
Fairmont Royal York Hotel - hotel & SUV limo service - www.fairmont.com/RoyalYork

Oh boy... its been AGES since I last posted a blog - where has the time gone?! And I realized, much to my chagrin, that I still have a couple of weddings from the FALL of 2011 to post about yet. My sincere apologies to those couples for not posting their weddings sooner! So... before I start adding new information for brides, giving tips and ideas and before trying to become more consistent with my blogging - I'll update my past wedding blogs first! Then, we can start fresh and new! So... check back right away... another wedding post is coming!