A Perfect Day for a Princess Bride!

Amy never thought she'd want a princess wedding dress... but on Friday, she looked every bit of a princess! Her sparkling tulle dress looked amazing on her and she was glowing... and was a bit teary as she walked down the aisle to meet up with her groom, Nathan. The ceremony had some nice personal touches as Nathan's dad was the minister who performed their marriage.

Photos were taken on the beautiful grounds of West Haven Golf Course while guests did a photo guest book and enjoyed the cocktail hour. The wedding colours were ivory and apple red and the dresses, flowers and reception decor were stunning.

The reception was served by great staff at the club and guests were entertained by brother of the bride, Ryan, who was a funny and "natural" MC for the evening. Speeches and a slide show of the couple were tender and touching.

In lieu of favours, guests were each given a gift tag that said "Choose a Charity"... and they were instructed to put their tag in one of three baskets, representing three charities... International Justice Mission, Compassion Canada and Austism Ontario. This was a neat way to give donations to charities and to involve guests in the process.

The evening was rounded out with lots of fun dancing and guests enjoying visiting around their tables. A highlight was all the guests watching bride Amy and her brother Ryan doing the dance to "Thriller" together... very entertaining.

The whole day was a perfect day... with the rain and cold holding off until later in the evening and with the event running smoothly for the couple and their family and friends. Congratulations Amy & Nathan!


VENDORS:
Ceremony Venue - North Park Community Church - www.northpark.ca/
Reception Venue - West Haven Golf Course (Rob) - westhavengolf.com/
Photographers/Videographers - www.kolabcinema.com/
Florist - Nicole Cake (London) nicake@gmail.com
Ceremony Musicians - DaCapo Strings dacapostrings.wordpress.com
DJ - Rob from Music Central www.musiccentral.ca/
Late-night Limo - Checker Limo - www.voyageurtransportation.ca/

Sweet Cheeks Event - AND RIDE - a huge success

Better a late review than a forgotten review!!

Back in May, the Sweet Cheeks Bike Team for the Ride to Conquer Cancer held a wonderful fund-raiser dinner/auction/dance event. It was held at the Flamborough Golf & Country Club where a great meal was provided and a fun evening was enjoyed by all who attended.


Highlights of the evening included a video about the Ride, a jewellry raffle, a "Joker Poker" Draw and a big hit was the "Heads & SWEET CHEEKS" game. Many silent auction prizes were bid upon - and a special guest auctioneer arrived to sell of a few special "live auction" items. The center focus of the hall was the "Hope & Memory Tree".
Music was provided - free of charge to the event - by "Something Blue" (wedding)DJs... who did a great job in playing a variety of great music for us all evening.


The Ride to Conquer Cancer was then held on June 11-12 --- and the team successfully completed the 200km ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls. They, along with all the other riders, raised over $17 million for Cancer Research.

Way to go Team!! SUPER job!!

www.conquercancer.ca

Local Bridal Salon is "Giving Back"

Coach House Bridal Salon is located in Waterdown Ontario - and they are offering an amazing promotion right now (from November 2 to 30, 2010). According to an article in "The Flamborough Review", the focus of their sale this year is "Give and Save"... and here's how it works:

First, they GIVE... Coach House will be donating a percentage of the profits from this sale to the Good Shepherd Centre in Hamilton. They are also holding a food drive during the sale and are encouraging people to drop by & make a donation of a non-perishable food item. For visitors who do so, they will be given a ballot for a draw for a pair of his & hers watches!


Second, you SAVE... Coach House's annual inventory sale this year offers INCREDIBLE savings for both bride and bridesmaids - potentially saving you scads of money! Wedding gowns are selling from $9.99 to $499. And bridesmaids & formal gowns are priced starting at $0.99. YUP! You read it right! Unbelievable prices on a wide variety of in-stock inventory. And, if you prefer to order a gown, they'll give you up to $150 off a veil & accessories.

SO.... if you're needing a wedding gown.... bridesmaids dresses.... or a formal gown perhaps for upcoming Christmas parties or New Years Eve events... be sure to check out this great boutique in the heart of Waterdown.

For more information about the sale & this store: www.coachhousebridalsalon.ca
For more information about Good Shepherd Centres: www.goodshepherdcentres.ca
For the full article from The Flamborough Review: http://www.flamboroughreview.com/news/article/295647

SWEET CHEEKS: Yellow & Black Dinner/Silent Auction Fund Raiser

Saturday April 24th was the date of a great fundraiser event that I had the privilege of assisting at in Burlington. SWEET CHEEKS is the name of a local bicycling team of 19 riders who are training hard and fundraising hard in order to participate in "The Ride to Conquer Cancer" for the Princess Margaret Hospital. Most of these riders are not long-distance riders - in fact, at least one didn't even own a bike - and yet they are all committed to riding the 200km from Toronto to Niagara Falls on June 12-13. Each rider is required to raise a minimum of $2500 in order to participate in the ride. That's a LOT of cash!!




And so, to help the team raise funds, they held a dinner/silent auction event. Approximately 125 people attended the event at St. Luke's beautiful church hall, which was all decked out in black & yellow, the colours of the ride. Gorgeous floral centerpieces were designed by Tracy of Lux Living.
There were well over 100 items donated for the silent auction and several great items were sold off through a fun live. Rick James, local musician & DJ, provided great musical entertainment throughout the whole evening. A delicious meal was provided by Gator Ted's Restaurant. An adorable cake was provided by Linda Jenner and delicious brownies from Jitterbug Java Cafe.

There were two unique features at this event. One was that all the riders brought their bikes to have on display - and attached to the handlebars was the rider's photo and a brief bio about why they are doing the ride. The other feature that was a focal point during the evening was a "tree of hope & memory". It was a white branch tree, lit by a spot light - and people filled out tags to hang on the tree. Yellow tags were for the names of people who have cancer or who have survived cancer. Black tags were for names of people who have passed on from this disease. It was a very visual and impactful image.

The event cleared just over $8000 for the riders - Congratulations Krista & team members for a job well done! And all the best in raising the rest of the funds needed to do the ride.

For more information about the ride, how to donate or how to be a volunteer, check their website: http://to10.conquercancer.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=to10_homepage

Brides - - -
You are invited to an amazing event on Sunday, April 11th
from 12 - 6 pm at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, Toronto...

WEDDING BLISS BRIDAL GOWN SALE and Bridal Show
www.weddingblisssale.com

This very special sale will feature brand new, beautiful, designer wedding dresses at huge discounts (ie - $800 - $4000 dresses on sale for $99 - $350!!!)
There will also be other vendors on site to help you with your various wedding planning needs.

But the really wonderful part about this sale/event is that ALL proceeds support a great charity called New Beginnings. The goal of this charity is to help improve the lives of women and children "in need" by providing specialized support and training -empowering women to become confident, self-sufficient, career-oriented and employable, thus improving their lives & the lives of their children.....

So not only will you help yourself by finding your dream dress at a great price - but you will be helping to support women & children in need!
How amazing is that?!!

Tickets for this great event are being offered at a very special rate of only $10 each ($25 at the door!) Brides can purchase tickets at this drastically reduced rate by going online to the Wedding Bliss website and entering the promo code "VENDOR".


Come on out to the Wedding Bliss Sale....
Buy the dress of your dreams....
and support New Beginnings charity!!

The Wedding Bliss is being organized by Weddings Jubilee and it is my pleasure to be working for Weddings Jubilee at this event.