Rain Couldn't Dampen This Wedding Day!

Becky & Mike didn't let the rain stop them from enjoying their wedding day. Having the ceremony and reception all held at the Waterloo Inn made things easy for guests and allowed everything to be done indoor and dry! Becky looked amazing in her gown.. and her adorable flower girl was precious in her black gown edged with black feathers. Bouquets and boutineers were also all made of feathers.

The colours for the day were black, white, silver and royal blue. The ceremony space was beautifully decorated with a sparkly black and crystal backdrop with large planter and candles in stands, and all chairs covered in black.
The reception hall had the ceiling draped as well as another beautiful backdrop behind the head table. Manzanita trees were the centerpieces and the room looked beautiful.

Guests enjoyed a cocktail hour in the foyer and then a delicious buffet dinner. The speeches included an unexpected "rap" by the brides' parents - wearing hats and sunglasses to the Eminem song, "Lose Yourself". It was a true highlight of the evening!

The couple played the "shoe" game, causing laughter among the guests. The reception program was ahead of time, and so the dancing party began early, much to the delight of the bride & groom. The cupcake table was set up with various height trays on top of glass vases filled with roses. A photo booth in the foyer provided some extra fun and laughter for the guests.



This couple were very informal and laid back... thoroughly enjoying their day with their friends and family.

Congratulations Becky & Mike!


VENDORS:
Venue: Waterloo Inn www.waterlooinn.com
Photographers: Elena Photography www.elenaphotography.ca
Officiant: Trish Pajunen, Kettle Creek Weddings www.kettlecreekweddings.com
DJ: KToss Entertainment www.ktoss.ca
Decorator: Decorating Dreams - Lori Lawrence www.decoratingdreams.ca
PhotoBooth: Never Forget Photo - David Wilk www.neverforgetphoto.ca

Perfect Day for a Partially Persian Wedding

Thanksgiving Saturday was a beautiful, warm, sunny, cloudless day... a perfect day for Naomi & Arash to enjoy their outdoor wedding ceremony and photos at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. The girls arrived to the RBG in style in classic cars, then walked through the gardens to the ceremony tent.

The ZoroAstrian priests conducted the traditional religious ceremony in both English and the traditional language, with a full table on display with candles, assorted sweets and other symbolic elements. After the traditional ceremony, the couple then exchanged personal vows that they wrote for each other, and then exchanged rings.

Guests enjoyed the gardens while photos were being taken and then cocktail hour was served in the atrium of the RBG. The banquet hall was decorated with lots of florals and greenery, with a beautiful backdrop and accents.

The wedding cake was a stunning 5-tier creation!
The DJ/MC kept the evening moving along, and was able to engage guests in both English & Farsi, playing a great mix of music. Dinner was enjoyed interspersed with touching speeches. When the dance floor opened, the guests were out there enjoying the dance to the fullest.

Naomi & Arash were so easy-going and laid back with awesome family & friends.

It was a fantastic wedding day! Congratulations to a special couple!


VENDORS:
Venue: Royal Botanical Gardens www.rbg.ca
Photographer: Life Images www.lifeimages.ca
DJ: Unique Sounds DJ www.uniquesoundsdjs.ca
PhotoBooth: Tribute Kiosk http://www.tributekiosk.com/
Cake: Wedding Cakes By Design www.weddingcakesbydesign.ca
Vintage Cars: Memory Lane Limousines www.memorylanelimo.com
Flowers: Flower Deco www.flowerdeco.ca

Music Gardens and Crush Wine Bar - unique wedding day!

Kayan & Doug planned their wedding to be at the beautiful outdoor Toronto Music Gardens... and while the weather threatened to rain all day,

the rain held off and gave them a perfect day for an outdoor ceremony with the CN tower in the background and surrounded by manicured gardens.

Following photos at the park, the reception was held in the dining room of Crush Wine Bar in downtown Toronto. Upon arriving, guests enjoyed cocktail hour at the bar and a special family celebration during

the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. Kayan wore a beautiful red traditional gown for this ceremony as they shared tea with their elders, received family blessings and had a special opportunity to get lots of family photos taken.

Back in her white wedding dress, Kayan & Doug and their guests enjoyed a delicious meal, great wine, special speeches, fun games and time to celebrate the special place that their family & friends have in their lives.

After dinner, Kayan changed into a gorgeous royal blue gown. Together, the couple shared a tasty macaroon off of their macaron tower, in lieu of traditional cake. A photo booth was set up and guests enjoyed taking photos as well as dancing the night away.

Congratulations Kayan & Doug!


VENDORS:
Photographer: Carmen Davidson Photography www.cdavidsonphotography.com
Ceremony Venue: Toronto Music Gardens www.harbourfrontcentre.com/musicgarden
Reception Venue: Crush Wine Bar www.crushwinebar.com
Officiant: Victor Li (bilingual English/Cantonese) vwli@hotmail.com
PhotoBooth: GuestList DJ www.guestlistdj.com
Flowers: Sobey's Floral Department, Queens Quay store
Macaron Tower: Le Dolci www.ledolci.com
Guitarist: Alan Kulka https://www.facebook.com/alankulka‎
Limousine: A Celebrity Limousine www.acelebritylimousine.com
DJ: 3 Owls Entertainment http://www.3owls.ca/

Radiant Bride at radius restaurant

Terri and Matt are an adorable couple who like unique and casual things and doing things "out of the box". And that even included their choice of wedding venue! With their theme of rustic Trees... bringing the outdoors in... they found the decor of radius quite suitable for their wedding.

Matt installed strings of lights on the restaurant's rooftop patio, adding unique ambiance for their early evening wedding ceremony. The patio was set up with white folding chairs and the "altar" backdrop was antique doors hinged together. The aisle was lined with tree stumps as bases for assorted candle lanterns.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails in the dining room while the couple had some great photos done outside and on the city street.

Matt, being a talented woodworker, made a beautiful wooden bench that was on display as the "guest book" for their guests to sign. Guests were given small tree saplings as take-away gifts.

Instead of a wedding cake, a table made of an old door on top of two large wine barrels held assorted pastries and sweets. To display these desserts, assorted tree stumps in various sizes and heights were set on the table and then the desserts set on top of each stump.

This was a very creative display and kept perfectly within their theme.

This couple was all about close family and friends - and this was a wonderful wedding to celebrate the things that meant the most to them.

Congratulations Matt & Terri!



VENDORS:
Venue: radius restaurant www.radius.ca
Pastries: Cake & Loaf Bakery www.cakeandloaf.ca
Flowers: Edna Millar Flowers www.ednamillerflowers.com

Photographer: Stad Creative www.stadcreative.com
Rentals: My Key Event Rentals www.mykeyevent.com
DJ: Precious jp1987@hotmail.com
Favours: H Richardson Farms www.Johnhrichardsonfarms.com

Vow Renewal Wedding Celebration

Kaylin and Stefan live in Holland, and for various reasons it was better for them to be married than just engaged - so they actually got married at city hall in Holland last May... Fast forward to this year, and finally, they were able to celebrate their marriage with a full wedding celebration here in Ontario with family & friends.

The ceremony was held at Crossroads Chapel in Burlington with about 50 guests in attendance. Ceremony music was provided by a flute duet, which sounded beautiful! Stefan walked down the aisle with their 2 year old daughter, Peyton in hand and carrying their 3 month old daughter McKinley in his arm - a sweet picture of Groom Daddy with his girls! Kaylin was stunning in her strapless dress and brought a huge smile to Stefan's face! Family friend, Ken, officiated the renewal of their vows ceremony with a touching ceremony that included vows, exchanging rings, a blessing on married couples in attendance and a blessing on them as parents.

After family photos at Crossroads and then bridal party photos at the quaint Village Square in downtown Burlington, an intimate reception was held in the private dining room of Paradiso Restaurant. Father & son team, Casey & Connor shared the MC & DJ responsibilities, bringing great music and personal touches to the celebration. Tender speeches with a few tears, funny stories with some good laughs, a delicious meal and a fun dance were enjoyed by all. It was truly a celebration of a wonderful couple!

Congratulations Kaylin & Stefan on one year of marriage and on your wonderful wedding celebration day!



VENDORS:
Ceremony Venue: Crossroads Chapel www.crossroads.ca
Reception Venue: Paradiso Restaurant www.paradisorestaurant.com
Florist: Samantha Forrest of Pocket of Posies http://pocketofposies.ca/
Linen Rentals: With All My Heart Wedding Décor www.withallmyheartweddingdecor.ca
Photographer: Don Golding of Boutique Wedding Photography http://www.boutiqueweddingphotography.ca/
Cake: Wedding Cakes By Design www.weddingcakesbydesign.ca
Ceremony Flutists: Elaine whiskin@univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca;
Videographer, MC, DJ, Officiant.... wonderful friends of the family!

Winter Wonderland 25th Wedding Anniversary

Cindy & Ken celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last evening surrounded by about 80 friends & family. According to family members, this couple has weathered storms and difficulties and stayed true and committed to their marriage despite the challenges lift has thrown at them.

The party was the wedding reception they never had 25 years ago. With a "winter wonderland" theme, the room sparkled with snowflakes and stars hung from the ceiling and along the head table backdrop.

White, Silver and turquoise blue were the cool colours with lots of sparkling accents, mini lights, led lighting and candles.

Cindy wore a beautiful burgundy gown with a silver shawl... and she and Ken shared their "first look" moment, captured on camera by their photographer, followed by lots of family photos. Once the reception began, the couple shared a first dance... and later a second dance... with Cindy's neice singing two of their favourite songs for them. The head table was a celebration of their immediate family as they were surrounded by their 3 adult children and their partners/friends.

Guests enjoyed a delicious buffet with a wide assortment of cold and hot selections, served by the wonderful staff at the Holiday Inn. After dinner, a slide show highlighted the past 25 years of their life, a couple of family speeches paid tribute to them and then they enjoyed the rest of the night dancing and socializing with family who don't have the opportunity to get together too often.

It was truly a celebration of their marriage... and here's wishing Cindy & Ken another 25 years together!

VENDORS:
Cake - Cakes for All Occasions http://www.cakesforalloccasions.ca/
Venue - Holiday Inn, Cambridge http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/cambridge/ycmca/hoteldetail
DJ, MC, Photographer, Musician - all friends or family members

Hamilton Bridal Show 2013

Last weekend was a wonderful time at the Hamilton Bridal Show!   Hundreds of brides came to gather wedding planning information from close to 200 vendors, and to enjoy fanstastic fashion shows.  Some brides came alone... others with their grooms... and others with moms and bridal party members.   It made for a very busy couple of days!

I was also very excited to be able to display my new business logo on my banner as well as new business cards and service information handouts.


I make sure that I display my Wedding Day Emergency Kit at the show as I find couples are always intrigued with.  This year, I also displayed samples of the Welcome SWAG BAGS - a service I offer to put together welcome bags for the out-of-town guests who attend weddings or events.

Its always a fun time meeting and talking to many different brides.  I met brides who were very young... and brides who were in their 60's.  Most brides were first-time brides, but there were quite a few doing for the second time around as well. 

I love finding out about the themes and ideas that brides have for their special day.  Quite a few are planning to head away on a sunny destination wedding - definitely a growing trend.  One bride I met is planning a wedding weekend at a country retreat center - what fun spending a weekend with your guests!  Another bride is planning a 1920's theme wedding with their reception at a unique local theatre, with silent movies included!   One bride and her groom are big into sea-doos ... so their wedding theme will be sea-doos... held at a gun club with a lake at it!   Another bride won her wedding a local waterslide park and they plan to wear bathing suits under their bridal attire and go in the wave pool!   What I come away with from talking to all these brides is to realize that there is no limit to the creativity and unique ideas that these wonderful gals are coming up with!  

The days of cookie-cutter, traditional weddings are long gone... today's bride is all about unique, individual, creative, one-of-a-kind experiences.

Thanks to all the brides who stopped at my booth and took time to chat with me and fill out a ballot to win a champagne & chocolates gift package!  Congratulations on your engagement and enjoy your planning experiences!


To check out the websites of all the vendors who participated at the Hamilton Bridal Show:
http://hamilton-halton-spring-2013.exhibitors.topweddingshows.com/exhibitors/list

Weddingstar Warehouse - WOW!

During the first week of January, I was out in Medicine Hat, Alberta visiting family - and I found out that Medicine Hat is the headquarters for one of my favourite wedding catalogues - Weddingstar.   And - my brother in law knows the owner/president!   Before I realized it - I found myself meeting the President, Mr. Rick Brink and enjoying a fantastic tour of their 90,000 sq foot warehouse! 

I knew that Weddingstar provided thousands of great wedding products - but I had no idea they distribute over 3000 products and that they ship to brides in 70 countries around the world!  This company is truly committed to making every bride's dream of a unique, personal and special wedding a reality.    Quality control is very important to this company and they have excellent processes in place to ensure that every order they receive is filled exactly as expected.

Weddingstar is one of the world’s leading designers, manufactures and retailers of wedding accessories and they are celebrating 30 years in business this year.  They specialize in personalized accessories... everything from candles to stationary, glassware to favours, stickers to ribbons, napkins to cake toppers (and more!) can be personalized.

Recently, Weddingstar has formed a fantastic partnership with prestigeous wedding and event planner, Preston Bailey.  Preston has planned weddings for celebrities, dignitaries, CEO's, sports stars and royalty.  He will be launching his "Preston Bailey Tabletop Collection" with Weddingstar early in 2013, offering brides unique tabletop accessories for their weddings. 

It was an eye-opening experience to tour the Weddingstar facility and to learn all about the great services that they provide to their customers. 
It was truly a highlight of my visit to Medicine Hat.

For amazing ideas, great tips and excellent products, be sure to check out their website - or pick up their catalogue at your local bookstore (magazine section).
www.weddingstar.com

And of course, for more information about the creative Mr Bailey - check out his site as well....
www.prestonbailey.com.