I am so lucky to be able to call Heidi Allen a friend, colleague, and inspiration.
Heidi has been not only a fabulous role model and mentor for me as a wedding planner, she agreed to share her incredible amount of knowledge on the tips, tricks, and ideas for choosing the *perfect* wedding gown with all of you! Enjoy!!
No matter how much money you spend on your wedding.. if your Big Day is “cookie-cutter” and seems rehearsed, no one will remember it and most will not even enjoy it.
Making your wedding your own, making it part of both you and your husband, not part of a book you read, or doing things you think you “have” to do will mean you can share your personalities with your guests and make them feel special on your day.
Share with your guests part of who you both are! There is nothing wrong with the traditional white wedding, but sometimes it is nice to make yours stand out from the rest…
Today’s weddings are all about different choices that reflect your personalities and style. We have compiled a list of our favourite non-traditional or unexpected wedding ideas to work into every aspect of your big day. Also ways to guarantee your guests will leave with memories of fun and laughter throughout the entire evening.
Consider Your Grand Entrance
Make your entrance especially grand by being escorted by your pet dog or by arriving on a white horse. I have even seen the groom entering by elephant and one by helicopter, on my favourite show “Rich Bride, Poor Bride”, but you really have to weigh out the cost of renting such an extravagant mode of transportation.
Having an “Oscar” themed wedding entrance is also a chic yet savvy way of being introduced as the brand new Mr. & Mrs. walking out on a red carpet with photographers surrounding you will impact your guests reactions of your grand entrance.
Impress With Unique Wedding Reception Ideas
Think outside the banquet hall and bring your celebration to a naturally beautiful venue like a garden or museum. Your guests will enjoy strolling around picturesque grounds or appreciating timeless works of art. Almost all local museums provide a wedding reception area for your guests at a minimum cost to you. This is a great way to save on decorating the “hall”, as you already have your art work canvas’ out on display.
If you are a couple who enjoy a good party with all of your friends and loved ones, why not consider a “Vegas” style wedding. Providing a casino flare to your wedding can be a good option for entertaining people. The only difference you will experience will be hiring a fun casino which does not involve betting by real money. Casino ‘money’ will be a fun twist for your friendswho will enjoy an evening of gaming and memories.
Many people think that their wedding day should be magical, why not consider hiring a magician! Not just any magician but perhaps one that will travel around to all of the guest’s tables and perform fun and mystical magic tricks! This is a guarantee that your guests will be entertained throughout the entire reception. The magician can perform such acts as making more desserts appear or bringing out flowers that match the wedding party’s floral choice, also making the guests have fake wedding bands appear from behind their ears, this is a common trick but with a wedding flare.
Keeping your guests occupied during the wedding reception is a must! Holding an ongoing contest between guests will keep them on their toes throughout the reception. The newlywed’s can even announce prizes for the best couple, the best smile, best costume etc. The bride and groom can also take part by announcing the winners nearing the end of the reception. This kind of an arrangement will keep the guests occupied and filled with anticipation.
Weddings are all about the feeling of love and romance. Why not try a twist on your typical wedding reception seating? Try having tables for 2 for your guests who are couples, spice things up a little by adding candles and a romantic touch.
When thinking of your guest book, this is one of the first things your guests will find themselves doing upon their arrival to your reception. Why not try putting a little twist on the typical guest book. Have your guests spend a couple of moments filling in how they know you and asking them to share a special memory or wish for the newlyweds is something that you will cherish forever.
We all know that everyone loves making the new bride and groom kiss at the head table. Clicking your forks against your glasses is a tradition that has been carried on for years. Why not try something unique like a spinning wheel, when the guest wants you to kiss, they can come up to the head table and spin, some options they may land on are: Sing a love song, or do the hula hoop. I have been to a wedding with this fun activity and it was really amusing watching the guests try to get the new couple to kiss, after working so hard to do so. Another unique idea is to announce to your guests that in order for you to kiss, they must stand up and tell a story, or share a memory, about either of you, or about you as a couple. This is a lovely way to reminisce about your life and the special people that are a part of it. Your guests will be kept entertained and you’ll have so many more special memories of your big day to look back upon.
If “Here Comes the Bride” doesn’t suit your style or personality, choose a song that does. There is no written rule that states you can’t make your grand entrance to a rendition of your favourite song unless otherwise stated by your church or officiant.
However if you crave live music over a DJ, consider tying your musician selection to the theme or location of your event. A beachside wedding naturally blends itself to the sound of steel drums, while a trumpet quartet will sound impressive in an elaborate cathedral.
Consider fun ways to entertain your guests and amaze them. This is one wedding they will never forget. Try a caricaturist to do caricatures of your guests. This is a great keepsake for guests to take home with them and a wonderful way to capture your night.
Do you have many children on your guest list? How about hiring a Balloon Artist to make balloons animals, especially effective if a number of kids will be there. What a great way to keep the kids entertained, while the adults get down to partying.
Consider renting a small photo booth for the reception. The cost is anywhere from $1300 for 3 hours to $2000 for a full 8 hour day. Guests are able to capture 4 pictures just as you would in the mall photo booths. Any pictures taken by your guests can serve as an instant souvenir item and they also give everyone a chance to loosen up and be more relaxed in photographs. On the topic of photography another option could be to assign someone to snap pictures of guests as they arrive at the reception using an instant camera. After the wedding, sign each photo, add your wedding date, and include a short word of thanks to each guest for having attended. Mail the photos to the guests along with your thank-you cards as an extra special memento.
No matter what your budget or how simple or elaborate you would like your big day to be, make sure to make it all your own. Personalize it with as much YOU as possible. This is your day, and sure it’s nice to have your guests talking about your memorable wedding, for years to come… it is still your day, and most importantly it should be remembered by you and your husband.
With it being the long weekend, and everyone enjoying a laid back day in the sunshine, I almost completely forgot that it’s finally time to launch Part 2 of my amazing Bridecast with the incredible Caketress!! Enjoy!!
It has been stated that the key to a successful marriage is communication and compromise but how do you effectively communicate about that compromise?
I have always felt that it was my destiny to meet a great man, only at the time in my life when I would be completely at peace with myself. I’m almost there with the latter.
What I discovered about happiness is that we must have all or most areas of our lives in check. I consider being “whole” as your life represented by a pie (flavour does not matter.) There are several pieces to make up this whole, just like grade school math class taught us during the fraction chapter. The pieces include facets like: family, friends, career, spirituality, self, health and finance. It has been my experience that we cross paths with various people in our lives. We have all heard that people enter your life for a reason, season or lifetime.
Everyone and everything has a purpose in our world, however not one person or thing can provide us with all the pieces of the pie. In other words, never put all your eggs in one basket.
It drives me crazy when girlfriends ditch their friends for a man. We are all guilty of falling head over heels for a dashing gent, and a natural instinct is to wrap your entire schedule and world around this person. Over time however, we begin to realize that although yes, we have met our Prince Charming, we cannot ignore the other pieces of the pie sitting on the counter, waiting to be explored and enjoyed.
You may be wondering where I am heading with this. I’m getting there.
I love being married. I feel loved, safe and special. Being a wife is wonderful. I can’t help however, becoming irritated with myself and others who have always had such a strong sense of independence and are suddenly beginning every conversation or opinion with “we think, we feel, we do, we do not.” You get the picture.
I was elated to meet and marry my twin soul. Literally, my husband and I have established that we live and have lived in parallel universes; sensitive only children raised by single moms and stepfathers, who love to write and met on a dating site, yet lived five minutes away from each other in Toronto. Often we finish each other’s sentences, and totally get each other’s wacky sense of humour.
Time marches on, and I have realized that yes, I have met a truly amazing man in which I believe we will both live a happy and enriched life, but Dear God, are we different in some ways.
In the dating phase of a relationship, we are of course on our best behaviour at all times. Like a job interview or meeting of the parents for the first time, your first impressions certainly count. Not only do we take extra care in our appearance, manners and punctuality but it also seems that we are very accommodating to the other person’s needs and interests. It also seems that as honest or open as we are with our newfound amore, the other person is not reallyhearing us. Love at it’s infancy is so blind to any faults or truths that it’s as if, when I told Michael, I’m a really emotional person, he wasn’t really believing me. I expressed that I absolutely LOVE to dance. I love music. I always have and that will never change. He nodded his head in approval and said that my hair smelled nice. When he told me what a sports nut he was, I gazed into his dreamy eyes and proclaimed that of course it would be so much fun to attend a football game with him.
I’m not quite sure at which point things get fuzzy as you move from the dating to the matrimonial stage of life but if this transition was a screenplay, it would read: “Take the needle and scratch it fast and loud across the vinyl record!”
Let’s take a jaunt back to last summer. My husband excitedly asked me to go to the Jays game. We were given great tickets but it was honestly the last thing I felt like doing. To make a long story short, we spent 90 minutes at the game, where I thought we had a V.I.P. box but in actuality we paid 20 dollars for two beers and sat next to farting and elbowing men. We spent a combined 8 hours in traffic both there and back and only saw 90 minutes of the game (I said that already.) The construction was insane. We almost ran out of gas. We were tired and cranky and I am sure he was wondering why he didn’t just go with his buddies.
Last Saturday, I was heading out to a new local lounge with a couple of friends. The intention was to have an early night but I knew deep down that we would be busting a move later in the evening. I absolutely love dancing. My husband detests it (and I don’t know why because he has great moves!) I kept coming over to check if he was okay when finally we both wondered aloud why he even came.
Why is it that the same things we fell in love with each other in the beginning start to irritate us further into the relationship? Why do we try to change or mold or resist each other’s differences?
To tie all my loosely gathered points together, in the same way that it is okay and in fact healthy to disperse your energy and appetite into several pieces of the pie that make up our lives, it’s also healthy to realize that we will never get everything from one person. Truth be told, there are some things that my husband could never be and nor should he. Why should he try to fill the role of a mother or girlfriend or colleague? Similarly, I have friends of varying demographics. Some are colleagues that provide a laugh during the workday, some I can share my deepest secrets with, and not feel one ounce of judgement. Some are young, some are seasoned. Some are male, some are gradeschool chums. Some I can go hiking with and others I can go dancing with. Some inspire me and some have scorned me. Some have taught me lessons about love and others have taught me about courage. The difference with marriage is that we don’t have multiple husbands to fill our various needs the same way a girlfriend would.
The compromise that we arrived to is this: We agree that our ideas of what constitutes a fun Saturday night can sometimes be different. We agree that I would much rather turn the music up LOUD and he would much rather jot notes down quietly from a cooking show. We agree that we will never turn to each other for a night out of dancing or a sporting event again.
So, we agree to disagree. And that conclusion in my opinion, is a fine art of compromise.
(But don’t you think he looks awfully comfy on the dance floor?)
Do you, or someone you know, love all things “pretty”? Do you wish that your wedding planning didn’t have to end with your wedding day? Do you ever think about helping others plan THEIR Ever After’s?? – if so… then this is for you!
WeddingGirl.ca is looking to expand it’s team of event designers, planners, and coordinators.
On Thursday, June 3rd, 2010, at 7 p.m., we will be hosting an open Casting Call for aspiring event planners from Ontario (Niagara, Hamilton, and the GTA) who are looking to join our dynamic team!
If you have an eye for detail, a knack for flair, and a love of making someone’s wedding day extra picture-perfect, then we want to meet you! Or if you know someone that fits the mold, be sure to pass along the details!
Please send your cover letter and resume to info@weddinggirl.ca, with the subject line: Casting Call RSVP. Someone from our team will confirm that you’re on our guest list and you’ll be given details of where to meet, what to bring, and all that jazz =)
A few weeks ago I had the incredible opportunity to meet with Lori Hutchinson, The Caketress at her Design Studio in Vaughn. I wrote a blog about our interview, and it received such a tremendous response that I knew I had to bring more of these kinds of amazing vendors to all of you! With a special Thank You to Studio67 for filming, editing, and production, here is Part 1 of my Bridecast with The Caketress. Enjoy!
So as you can see, the only thing sweeter than Lori’s fabulous designer creations, is her fabulous personality! To read more about our interview, click here.
Make sure to tune in next Monday morning for Part 2 of The Caketress’ Bridecast… and until then, Happy Planning!
Of COURSE the true meaning of your wedding, centers around the eternal love that you and your spouse are vowing to in front of God and your witnesses. Of COURSE the most important elements of your union have to do with the wedding ceremony itself. It would be vain to state anything otherwise. I also believe in upfront and ballsy honesty. I can honestly say that the most memorable part of my day were the love and promises that were shared between my husband and I.
A close second was searching for my wedding dress(es).
I ordered the dress online and prayed it would fit. I saw it and I instantly knew that the funky, non traditional yet still beautiful style was meant for me. I also knew that after trying it on, it would be nearly impossible to pull off our wedding dance, which was set to the genre of swing, that was specifically designed to move, jump and kick, in that trumpet style sheath.
I set out to buy a 2nd dress that would hopefully allow me to perform our dance which we had worked so diligently in practicing. I had a vision that later in the night, while tearing up the dance floor with my ladies, I could be freed of the restrictive corseted number and boogie the night away with ease.
Obviously I am not alone in this vision, as now made available to all brides is an option which is much less expensive than buying two dresses. Enter: The convertible/detachable wedding dress. This popular growing dress trend allows you to have your dress, and wear it too! (And possibly wear it again.) The idea is that you get two looks out of the one dress. The longer and fuller train allow for tradition, yet the zip or button off portion allow for a cocktail dress which represents fun, freedom and variety. You can even possibly wear the shorter version of the dress again if you wanted to dye it or wear it, prêt-à-porter.
This “2 for 1″ style of wedding dress will allow the bride both tradition and chicness, all wrapped up in one dress for one price.
When I was doing research for my bridesmaids’ dresses, I came across a few difficulties. For example, a couple of my bridesmaids are average-sized with large busts while one of my bridesmaids is very petite and super-skinny. I also wanted my ladies to be able to afford purchasing the dress with the hope that they could wear it again (but seeing as how we’re a close group of friends mixed with family—that was never going to happen!). I was getting frustrated, when all of a sudden I found the answer to my prayers—convertible dresses!
The convertible dress (or “convert-a-dress” as I like to refer to them as) is the perfect dress, in my opinion. The top of the dress can be tied to create several different looks, so it can be worn again and again without the fear that someone has already seen you in it; the bottom of the dress is flowing (i.e. not clingy—perfect for concealing the stomach and hips areas!); the dress can be packed without severe wrinkling, and no alterations are necessary. During my research, I have come across three different designers of the convert-a-dress: TwoBirds Bridesmaid, American Apparel and Avon.
TwoBirds Bridesmaidwas the first website I had come across that sells the convert-a-dress. In fact, their specialty is solely the convertible dress. When Arianne came to Toronto for a trunk show, I managed to book a time to see her and her dresses and they were much more beautiful in person than on the website!
Price: Depending on the style and length you want, the cost is anywhere from $270-$395 US. Of course, taxes and shipping charges would be extra.
Colours: 18 colours available, and they can even create colours for additional costs. You could request a colour swatch.
Converting: Claims to be able to wrap into 15 distinct styles. How-to’s are located on the website.
Pros: From trying the dress on, I can say that the dress is comfortable and not clingy, and also has a slight shimmer in it. They offer the dresses in two sizes—0-14 and 16-24. There are different styles available—on their website: Classic (as seen in the above picture), Rosette and Two-Toned. They also sell coordinating bandeaus (tube tops in the same colours as the dresses for additional coverage), groomsmen ties and flower girl dresses. You could request a sample of the dress to try on at home for a certain amount of time, in case you cannot go to a trunk show.
Cons: The price; $270 per dress is a little bit costly, in my opinion. TwoBirds currently does not have a Canadian store, so it may work out to be more expensive for Canadians to order. Shipping is at $20 per dress. For a dress that you could practically cram into an envelope, I thought the shipping was a bit much.
Overall, I thought the TwoBirds Bridesmaid dress would be a good choice if you could afford it. The material is pretty and they do specialize in making your wedding party look nice and coordinated. If you get a chance to go to a trunk show, I would suggest that you do; Arianne is great in person and she is very willing to work with you.
American Apparel is a store that I am not that familiar with. However, a friend of mine directed me to the site to see their convert-a-dress, and I was pretty impressed.
Price: $45.00 Canadian Dollars (CAD) for their RSA8339 Cotton Spandex Jersey Bandeau Dress, with taxes and shipping extra.
Colour: 19 colours available.
Converting: Claims to be able to convert into 15 distinct styles. The website has more information on how to wear this dress.
Pros: The price! $45 is a great price. They have a lot of colours available. This dress could be dressed up or dressed down. The dress comes in specific sizes (S, M, L).
Cons: The material is a cotton spandex jersey mix, so it may not look dressy enough for a wedding. They do not have XL sizes in this dress. Depending on the style that is tied and the height of the person wearing it, the length of the dress might end up being way shorter than intended!
As I have mentioned above, I am not that familiar with American Apparel clothing to give an accurate statement about this dress specifically. I am relying on their website as my source but I am assuming that it is also sold in stores. I do like that you could dress it up or down as seen on the website and through the customer reviews.
Avonis also starting to sell their version of a convert-a-dress. I’ve seen this dress for sale in one of their recent campaign magazines a few weeks ago, but they do not advertise clothing on their Avon Canada website. I did manage to find it, however, on their American website.
Price: $24.99 USD, but I saw it recently in the Avon Canada catalogue for $35.00 CAD (I need confirmation regarding the cost). As per usual, taxes and shipping are additional costs.
Colour: Avon only had this one colour available as seen in the picture.
Converting: Can convert into seven different styles as seen above.
Pros: The price; $35 for this dress is very affordable. It has a very modest length, which is perfect for a spring/summer wedding. This dress is supposed to be a “one-size fits most”.
Cons: Lack of colour availability. Only for purchase in Canada through their catalogue (the U.S. website only ships to U.S. addresses).
The biggest drawback is that it is only available in one colour at the current moment, but this dress would definitely be the most cost-effective…if you could even find it to order it. Maybe if we can petition Avon Canada to market this dress more effectively, then they will listen to us!
So, there you have it; my review on convertible dresses for bridesmaids. Despite my views here, remember that everyone is working with a different wedding budget and that what I alluded to as being pricey just might fit your budget perfectly. Though I wrote this review for bridesmaids, why not for brides? I would love to have one of these dresses to wear on my honeymoon!
If anyone has any other experiences with any other brands of convertible dresses, or even the ones I have mentioned above, I would love to hear about them!
Congragulations on your engagement!! Becoming engaged to the one you cannot picture life without is a moment that you will never forget. I am sure the first thing you wanted to do was scream on the top of your lungs and tell everyone, I know I sure did! One thing to remember is information these days travels fast by everyone having easy access to cell phones, email, and Facebook. Therefore, you need to keep in mind that once word gets out it will travel quick which means you need to get to the people you and your fiance want to personally tell before someone else does! For instance, my fiance and I ensured that we personally saw our parents and closest friends to surprise them and tell them the big news. In addition to telling them our exciting news we also requested everyone to respect our wishes of wanting to personally tell people ourselves, and to give us a week before slamming it all over Facebook, and calling up other family members and freinds. The process of letting your friends and family members know is a personal choice, but just remember how quickly word can travel!
Once engaged, and the news is shared, some couples are a little unsure of the next steps towards I Do! First it is important to think about how long you both want the engagement to be. Determining a season or a month that you want the wedding to be can help you determine the length of your engagement.
For instance, my finace and I got engaged in July 2009, we knew we wanted a summer wedding therefore we would either have to start the planning process right away and get married in the summer of 2010 or we would have a longer engagement and a lot more time to plan and get married in the summer of 2011. If you guessed summer of 2010, you guessed right! Therefore, once you have determined an approximate season or month it will help you determine how long your engagement will be and how long you have to plan your wedding.
Next, you need to figure outwhat type of wedding ceremony and reception you and your fiancé envision. Once you have both agreed upon that then you need to figure out the details of your budget, for instance what the budget is, and who is paying for the big day.
From here you can then start researching venues, and then once you have found your venue(s) then you can set your date. A helpful tip: Always ensure your ceremony and reception contracts are signed before you book any vendors! Also, to help you with the decisions, wheeling and dealing with vendors, and to be your saviour for the day of your wedding, many brides and grooms to be are hiring wedding planners. In today’s world many people are too busy and would rather pay to have someone else put their dreams into reality and save them money along the way. Therefore, to hire or to not hire a wedding planner is a decision that needs to be seriously discussed and decided on. From one Bride- To- Be to another Bride- to- Be- even though your fiancé says he will help we all know we will be doing 90% of the work!
Finally, soon after the engagement you should consider picking your Wedding Party; this is a decision that should take serious thought and discussion. Also, don’t forget about your engagement pictures and the engagement party to celebrate your upcoming wedding with your closest friends and family.
Overall, I have very briefly outlined the first few steps to take after you have said Yes! The process of getting from I Will! to I Do! can be very time consuming, overwhelming and exciting. Therefore, I am looking forward to starting at the beginning with you where you said Yes, and assist you along the way with helpful advice, information and tips to get you to your I Do!
The time has come and I am beyond excited to FINALLY tell you about Bridecasts!!! For those of you who know me, you know I can’t keep a secret to save my life… so this one has been torturing me for months!!
With an amazingly special thanks to Wanda and Brian at Studio67, WeddingGirl.ca and I are bringing you an exciting new way to plan your wedding: it’s fun, it’s fresh, it’s interactive… it’s a Bridecast! (forgive me for how quickly I was talking… I was far too excited for my own good, and a tiny bit nervous!!)
Starting next week, our first Series of Bridecasts will be launched, and you will not believe just how amazing these vendors really are! These are the creme de la creme, the best of the best… the ones who take your ordinary wedding plans and make them UNFORGETTABLE!
Be sure to come back and visit on Monday morning to see our first Bridecast showcase. She’s absolutely incredible!!
