are you in or are you out?

Once the giddiness of the engagement has worn off (well...hopefully it doesn't!), it's time to get to the business of planning a wedding. Before you can book a venue, you need to figure out how many people you want to invite....and so...the dreaded guest list begins! My husband is from an Italian background, he's a first generation Canadian. Let me tell you, the Italians where I live, have many traditions, most of which I love. And one of them is to basically invite anyone and everyone to your wedding. Our venue was only able to accommodate 240 people, which may seem like a lot, but in a city where upwards of 350 invitees is the norm, it's not very much. Needless to say, we ended up with 207, and I was VERY happy about that!

So if you're wondering who should make the list and who shouldn't, here are some tips via CNN. My faves are #5: Do you know my fiance? and #4: Do I have any kids?

picture from Martha...check out the fabulous forest inspired wedding here.

destination weddings

Again, while I plan my cousin's wedding for her (really, it's me living vicariously through her) I found this company dedicated to planning your destination wedding. Even just going to their website makes you want to travel somewhere hot and exotic.

I love Canada!

Little did I know that we had an amazing bridal magazine in Canada that I had never heard about! It is called Wed Luxe, and they also have a great website. They call themselves Canada's Luxury Wedding magazine, but don't be scared off because you think everything inside will be out of your price range. They have a lot of great ideas....and most importantly, vendors! So far they only list Alberta, B.C. and Ontario vendors, but I'm sure that will change soon. Here are a few of my favorites I found:

These people are truly amazing. I love, LOVE their video production. Please check out their website to view some of their 8mm film samples, you will definitely want them for your event!




In the sweets department, I found Allyson Meredith Cakes. Her confections are definitely a thing of beauty! Just take a look at these yummy delights...

And finally, a spectacular wedding venue in the Eastern suburbs of Toronto, The Miller Lash House. Nestled in Highland Creek, on the Old Kingston Road, this house was built by Miller Lash, a wealthy Toronto businessman, in the early 1900's. It was built in the Arts and Crafts Style, using natural materials, and blends seamlessly into it's surroundings. If you choose to have an reception inside the house, it can seat 50 to 75 people. There is also a spectacular outdoor tent that can seat 200. Every client has exclusive use of the property. If you do choose the tent venue, you can also rent all of the indoor spaces for just another $500...totally worth it! The best part about the tent venue, is that the washrooms are in a quaint stone cottage...no dealing with port-a-potties here! Check out the website, and a slide show of my favorite images.

I think this maybe one of our favorite new websites....so we will let you know what's happening!

pretty things

I hosted a tea party birthday for my niece on the weekend. It was a lot of fun to do some girly stuff! My colour scheme was pink and green (see the invites in this previous post). I know she's only 9, but I got excited and wanted to have floral centerpieces. This could easily be adapted to a wedding a centerpiece, and it was cheap! My local grocery story had mini carnation bunches for $7.99. One bunch of flowers made 5 floral arrangements! I used the large white paper bowl from Garnish, which was $1.10. Inside it I put a juice glass of water and arranged the flowers in the glass (I figured this way I could reuse the containers later). All in all, the centerpiece was $2.70!! You could put several on a wedding table and it would be so pretty. I printed off some menu cards, stuck them to a bamboo skewer and put it inside the arrangement. Easy!


Another idea that can be adapted to a wedding, is the small activity boxes I gave each of the girls. I filled them with some jewelery beads and cording (our activity of the day), some bingo cards and a dabber, and even some sweet treats. Wouldn't this be a great idea for the kids at your wedding reception...maybe fill it up with a colouring book, crayons and some stickers. Surely this will keep the kids busy while the parents enjoy their meal. I used the small white paper bowls from Garnish, $1 each, and the square clear hinged container, $1.50.

Now that the party is over, I must find something new to plan....any ideas?

your guest will love you

Last summer I decided to go against the norm and wear a white dress to a wedding. I promptly spilled red wine down the front of my dress...I swear, I'm the messiest eater! Thankfully someone sitting at my table had a Shout pen, and with the help of a little water, wouldn't you know it, it all came out!

Why the story you ask? Well, if you're a bride, you might want to think about putting some emergency items in the ladies restroom (men never seem to care about these things). Perhaps some nice hand soap and lotion, hairspray, dental floss, sewing kits and of course, Shout wipes! Just find a pretty basket you might have lying around the house and fill it with all these goodies. And to make it even easier for you, I found a great website where you can buy all these things, in handy dandy travel sizes! Minimus has everything from hand soap to olive oil, all in travel sizes.

nice n clean antibacterial wipes - 9 cents each

la fresh dental finger mitt - 28 cents each

shout portable wipes - 29 cents each

freshscent lotion - 17 cents each

When browsing the site, be sure to check out the food items, there might be a few things you could add to the reception tables. For instance, would the kids like a hot fudge sundae? Put a little container with sprinkles and some single serving packets of fudge sauce at their place setting. What a fun idea for kids!

This site is also great for travelling on airlines. All of this stuff will surely fit in a ziploc bag, and now that some airlines are charging for luggage, you will be able to fit all your toiletries into your carry-on. Perfect for the honeymoon!

handy tips of the day

As much as we curse Martha because we can't achieve her level of perfection, she does know what she's talking about. There is a lot of useful information about weddings on her website, here are a few of our faves:

1. Tips on writing Thank You notes (I dreaded this...)
2. Bride 101
3. Tips on planning a long distance wedding
4. 50 tips for the perfect reception
5. Tips on hiring a wedding planner

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

Okay, so I'm CRAZY about this for sooooo many reasons! These are pictures from a launch party for the Wedding Chicks. Amy Squires, a very talented photographer, and Jocey Canrinus, a very talented stationery designer, are the Wedding Chicks. They have a really fun blog, it's well written, the design is fab, and they have so many great ideas! Listen, if they put together a party like this, you know that not only would you totally want to hang out with them, but they've probably got all kinds of goodies to blog about!


This party was organized with the help of Kary H Events, and I wish I could of been there! I love the bottles in the ice....I love the little cupcake toppers....I love all the details!!

All images are from The Wedding Chicks and Kary H Events Blog.

Be sure to link through to their blogs to check out the full size images. Thanks for the great inspiration ladies!

destination weddings

I have a friend who is thinking about getting married away from home and all the big wedding hoopla. Myself, I loved all the party planning and fuss, but everyone is different and I can totally see the benefits of tying the knot somewhere hot and exotic.

I was browsing today to find some great places to go and the best times of year to do it. You want to avoid certain countries and cities in hurricane season, for example (seriously, how gross would that be). Or you might want to go to a ski resort or a winter type get away (not really sure why, but whatever floats your boat, as C would say). The Knot has a whole area on their website dedicated to destination weddings and best of all they give you a list of months and which places are the best to go in those months - how easy is that?

So if you're thinking about heading somewhere other than your home town check this out to make your day a less stressful.