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WeddingGirl.ca is about sharing stories, ideas, tips, tricks, and thoughts about being engaged, planning a wedding, getting married, and living happily ever after.
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Destination weddings have always evoked a similar vision to me…. a white sandy beach, turquoise-blue waters, a tropical breeze and lots of palms trees. I’ve pictured brides in flowing, chiffon dresses, carrying bouquets of tropical flowers, walking barefoot down an aisle lined with orchids in the sand. For this reason, I didn’t feel right using the term “destination” wedding to describe my own nuptials in Disney World, Florida. Instead, my wedding became a “pseudo-destination wedding”, and oddly enough - the term has caught on!
Yes, for mine and my husband’s wedding, we all had to take time off from work, exchange our currency, and get on a plane and travel… but not to somewhere faraway and remote. Instead, we all drove an hour over the border, hopped on a 2.5 hour JetBlue flight from Buffalo to Orlando, and rented cars to get to Disney World (some of us took the complimentary public transportation to save on costs).
Instead of the destination wedding requiring guests to book all-inclusive packages (which typically average about $1500+ per person), our guests’ return flights cost $160 CDN (inclusive of taxes and fees), and food and beverages were as elaborate or as simple as people chose them to be. Because our wedding took place near a busy international airport, this allowed guests to fly in and out on just about any day, at any time and gave our guests the sense of a vacation without having to take an entire week off from the real world.
In Orlando, guests had the option of choosing their own hotel accommodations. If the resort we picked did not fit within their budget, dozens of alternatives were available. The accessibility of public transportation was a big help for those who chose not to rent their own vehicle, and the fact that the primarily spoken language was still English, made it much easier for guests to get assistance and direction when needed. This also made it significantly easier for me to actually plan the details of the wedding itself.
Within a few emails, my Disney wedding planner, Michelle, became one of my favourite people to communicate with. She was informative, helpful, and exuded a sense of excitement that was difficult not to embrace. Knowing that my emails would get answered within a 24 hour period, and that there would be no grammatical discrepancies or language barriers between us was a huge priority for me, and a big relief! (I have been hired by a few brides to help plan their actual destination weddings for this reason alone!)
All in all, our own pseudo-destination experience could not have been better (although it did snow the morning that we landed).
Now, while in Florida on a series of dive trips and site visits, I am gathering information about the wide variety of destination wedding options for other brides. I have talked to dozens of people and received hundreds of opinions. I’ve done enough market research to begin to understand pricing variations throughout the state, and I look forward to sharing these with you in the coming blog posts!
… so next if you’re considering a destination wedding but worry about the extras like cost, travel time, and planning… don’t! Your dream pseudo-destination wedding might be closer than you think! (literally!)
For those of you who frequent this website, you know how remarkably unusual it is for me to not write a blog post for days (let alone weeks), but this time, it’s been with valid reason. Internet has been a hot commodity (often very, very inaccessible). Though I’ve managed to keep up with all personal communications, my time has been spent fighting limited WiFi signals rather than contending with the blog post that I knew I wanted to construct after what’s been a fantastic week of doing what I think everyone should try at least once in their lives…. breathing underwater!
My new husband owns a scuba diving store in St. Catharines, and taught me how to dive about two years ago. I promise you, you will never forget the first instant that you do something as completely unnatural as breathe beneath the surface of the water. It was about as foreign to me as the first time that I put my face in the water while snorkeling in Mexico, and my mask became the window to a completely different world I’d only previously seen in National Geographic and Disney movies. I’d learned about the evolutionary developments of coral in my neuroscience classes, and I’d seen the underwater antics of Nemo and his friends, but I had no idea what an incredible experience it would be to see it all first-hand. Scuba diving gave me that opportunity.
Now, Dan’s Dive Shop, and WeddingGirl.ca are joining forces to help every bride and groom (on every budget) discover what lies beneath!! Though not everyone will go on a tropical honeymoon, you don’t have to be in tropical waters to experience the under water world. Every body of water has something to be seen, from sunken cars and shopping carts in the Old Welland Canal, trains and pump houses in Sherkston Quarry, to massive shipwrecks in the lakes and larger waterways.
This past week has been spent in Northern Florida, checking out the freshwater springs of the far-reaching underground cave systems on which Florida was built. The Florida Aquifer is one of the largest underground system of rivers and caves in the world, and you don’t have to be an advanced cave diver to experience it! The crystal-clear waters of the Florida cave basins allow swimmers, snorkelers, and open water (basic) scuba divers to experience the breathtaking beauty of this environment.
Trips like these are perfect for newlyweds to embark upon a unique learning journey together. Husband and wife teams (as well as any buddy team) learn to share responsibility, communicate without verbal cues, and troubleshoot and problem solve together. Together, they experience something that less than 5% of the world’s population has ever experienced - and for many, it’s life-altering!
To learn more about the promotions available to help get you below, be in touch, or email Dan’s Dive Shop directly and let them know that WeddingGirl.ca sent you!
One of my favourite things to orchestrate at weddings have been the various “tosses” and exits you can stage for a bride and groom’s grand farewell (either from the ceremony location, or the reception). At my Parisian bride’s wedding, we tossed rose petals:
At my own destination wedding, we had a staged bubble exit, just like these guys: (because my own photos aren’t ready yet)
This morning, I received an email from Martha Stewart Weddings, highlighting various other ceremony toss ideas.
Traditionally, brides and grooms’ guests would toss rice, symbolically wishing them a lifetime full of these blessings (read more about this tradition here).
Some modern alternatives to tossing rice after a wedding ceremony now include birdseed, which is available in a variety of cute, wedding-friendly “versions” such as labeled packets or heart-shaped birdseed “popsicles” for guests to break up and toss.
Though I’ve never seen this done at a wedding, Martha suggests tossing hydrangea blooms, fragrant seasonal blooms (such as waxflowers or chamomiles), or season-related items such as sunflower seeds, fall leaves, or tiny paper snowflakes.
One of the most romantic exits I think anyone can stage (best done for evening ceremonies or late-night send-offs) - sparklers!!
A staged exit is a good way to give your guests a “favour” that doubles over as a useful component of your wedding theme, and unique wedding photos…. so choose wisely, and make your exit the most memorable one any wedding guest has ever seen!
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On February 13th, Sarah and Paul were married at Holy Rosary Church in Thorold. This church has a tremendous amount of significance to Sarah and her family, as she grew up in the same town, went to the same school, and had all of her special Catholic moments in this church. Now that she’s all grown up, she can see it for its absolute majesty!
Sarah chose blue and silver as her colour theme, and a “winter wonderland” as her design concept. A delicate incorporation of red into the wedding was a nod to the Valentine’s Day holiday weekend.
After getting ready in the morning at L’Estetica Salon, the bridal party returned to the bride’s grandparents’ house in style with Lakeside Limousine’s stretch-SUV limo.
The bride wore a white wedding gown with red accents throughout the bodice and a red corset tie-up back, while bridesmaids wore navy blue dresses. All the girls wore satin opera-length gloves that matched the colour of their attire.
Sarah carried blood red roses, accented with white stephanotis, and the girls carried white roses with green cymbidium orchids (made by Meghan at Titterington’s). Bouquets were tied with silver stem wrap and accented with silver sparkle spray.
Following a traditional Catholic ceremony, the newlyweds and wedding party traveled to Jordan Village, specifically to Cave Spring Cellars Winery, for photos. (IMPORTANT: make sure to obtain written permission for wedding day photography at public locations such as wineries or towns).
Sarah and Paul’s reception was held at the private La Sila Banquet Hall (formerly known as the Belvedere Club) in Thorold. Guests were wowed with mood lighting, a stunning backdrop and head table by Simply Beautiful Decor, and DIY centerpieces showcasing silver-crusted mitsumata branches and clear decorative sand, with twinkling votive candles around the mirror base. (All of which are available for sale now!)
The seating chart and table numbers were custom-created for Sarah and Paul by Anne at Inviting Elegance, and the cupcakes served to guests at the midnight buffet were custom-baked and decorated by Angel at Let’s Eat Cake! The stunning three-tier faux cake was made by the amazing Diane, over at Eleganza Faux Cakes, and was topped elegantly with a beautiful Swarovski crystal mongram of the couple’s last initial.
Congratulations Sarah and Paul!!
A special thanks to WeddingGirl.ca’s Parisian Bride, Catriona, for lending a helping hand in coordinating this event!
If you’d like to purchase Sarah’s pilsner vases, decorative sand, and/or mitsumata branches, please be in touch!
Today, highschool sweethearts Sarah and Paul will tie the knot! Having been together for almost a decade, and with their little boy, Liam in hand, Bride and Groom will exchange marriage vows and celebrate the beginning of their new journey together as a family. We wish them nothing but the very best of luck!
If you had asked me or my fiance, about 3 months ago, how our wedding plans were coming along… we would have looked at eachother, shrugged, and said, “They’re coming”. The truth was, we didn’t know if there would be a wedding. The stress of planning, coupled with our inability to effectively communicate our needs to one another, was pushing us into a deep, dark place where canceling the wedding seemed to be the wisest choice. All of this was happening while I was still a wedding planner, still a business woman, and still sticking a smile on my face every day when I met with clients to discuss the happiest day of their lives.
One of my business meetings around this time was with Anne, one of my favourite officiants over at Kettle Creek Weddings. Our strictly-business chat slowly turned to a much more personal discussion about me, Matt, and our life together. I confided in Anne that there was trouble in paradise and I didn’t know which direction we should be heading.
It was at this time that Anne told me about the Prepare / Enrich program that she and her husband, Garry (also an officiant with Kettle Creek Weddings) are certified to facilitate. I’ve written about this program before, find that blog here.
Now that Matt and I have been married one month (tomorow), I can undoubtedly say that this program has changed our entire lives. Not only did it get us to the altar, it has taught us how to love eachother, respect eachother, communicate with eachother, and even fight with one another.
When people ask me, “Does married life feel any different?” - my answer is, wholeheartedly, that it does. The funny thing is though, I don’t think it was the wedding ceremony that changed it for us… it was the work we did with Anne and Garry, the transitions we made through the Prepare/Enrich program, that re-taught us how to be a good partner.
This program was the reason we chose to bring Anne and Garry to Florida with us to deliver our marriage ceremony. We had learned so much from them, had become so inspired by them, that it didn’t make sense to have anyone else marry us. If you watch our wedding video and listen to the words spoken in the ceremony, you will see how it was custom-personalized to the journey Matt and I had taken with Anne and Garry. Words like, “No ceremony can create your marriage - only you can do that” were spoken during our “sessions” with them, back when I wondered, “Why even bother getting married?”.
The reason Matt and I decided to try this program was mainly its scientific nature. The 300-question psychological inventory administered to each partner at the onset of the program really spoke to the researcher in me. It analyzes each partner’s personality, stresses, character traits, values, beliefs, attitudes, and history. Once completed, the two inventories are aligned and the results are printed out for the program facilitators so that they can custom-tailor their program to the couple. The results highlight strengths and room for improvement. There is nothing more powerful in a relationship than seeing your partner’s feelings on paper to solidify whether there is a potential future for the two of you.
I find it ironic that my schooling and education is in psychology, counseling, and crisis intervention… when now I am working with couples at a time that is, without a doubt, one of the most difficult and stressful times of their entire lives. I’ve had numerous late-night phone calls from brides in distress about arguments, miscommunications, poor choices, and what seems like the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”. As their planner, I can only do so much to try and smooth these difficulties over. After that, I pass them on to the most capable hands I’ve ever been in…. Anne and Garry’s.
One day, when WeddingGirl.ca is a multi-million dollar corporation, my plan is to gift the Prepare/Enrich program to all my couples. Until then, all I can do is give every stitch of WeddingGirl.ca endorsement to this incredible program and the amazing growth and development it offers not only to couples, but on a personal level.
You can now have a beautiful candy buffet as a favour and/or dessert option at your wedding without having to buy all the vases! The following options for candy buffets are available to be borrowed.
