Well, I’ve been a tardy blogger and haven’t posted in a REALLY long time.   Planning a wedding while moving to a new home and working on a big project at work has kept me sidelined for the most part.

We’re now in the home stretch… the RSVPs are in, the seating chart’s submitted, the flowers picked … now it’s just time to do last minute running around … still have 1/2 of my centrepieces to pick up (thank goodness there are stores open on Labour Day Monday!), pick up my ring from being cleaned, grab my dress (kinda important), and pack up the car with all the wedding bits and then i’m off to get hitched!

Aside from a LOT of last minute hassles (cancellations, family emergencies, hotel change and more), i have loved planning our wedding.  I have loved buying every wedding magazine and looking for inspiration, and checking out the gorgeous wedding sites I came across (www.stylemepretty.com i’m talking to YOU!)… i think i’ll have on indulge now and then even after it’s all over!

I know it won’t all be perfect, and i’m (trying to be) ok with that.  I’m looking forward to being surrounded by our family and friends and celebrating our happy ever after.

Will post pics of all the bits and pieces from the wedding (invitations, flowers, centrepieces, day-of, etc) in the weeks to come.

This blog was mostly for me, but thanks to anyone else who might be reading…

Bring on September 10!

Where has the time gone?  Between work (sooo crazy!), getting ready for the new house (coming soon!) and the wedding, i have barely had time to breathe let alone update the blog…

And sadly, i really don’t think much has happened since my last post.  I’m really caught up in all the little details and i’m realizing how much it sucks to be such a visual person… i can’t seem to decide on a DIY centrepiece since i have no idea what it would look like.

What HAVE we done? the bridesmaid’s have dresses (yay!) … alfred angelo, black cocktail dresses, very nice; also found our lovely flower girls dress (also alfred angelo, a gorgeous silver).  The groom-to-be and i have looked at tuxes and think we have that nailed down.  I’ve decided on the dessert – from a the delectable Cupcake Shoppe at Yonge and Eglinton (yummy!) and my lovely friends are even going to pick it up for me on our wedding day so i can save the delivery cost!    And i found a venue for the rehearsal dinner – we don’t have to go far, we’re going to stay at the Eagles Nest!  sweet!

Oh and I finally decided on the wording for my invites by the AMAZING Laurie from Designed by Yours Truly … I get them all back tomorrow and can’t wait … she did a great job on the mock so can’t imagine what the real thing will look like! *I’ll post pics after … just don’t want to spoil the surprise for the invited guests.

And sadly that’s it… still to come: transportation, makeup, ring bearers outfits, ring pillow, guest book, hair style, decor, centrepieces, ceremony music, vows, readings, and SO much more it’s crazy!

Will try to post  more often, if only to remind me of how little time i have to do so much!

Thanks for reading…

So finally had a chance to sort out my flowers.  My helpful wedding planner / friend from high school recommended Angie from In Bloom Flowers who i totally loved and felt no need to look elsewhere.

She was so helpful and knowledgeable and just knew exactly what i wanted.  Well, i didn’t even really know what i wanted…something classy, elegant, in season and inexpensive…we agreed on Dahlia’s — ahhhh Dahlias.  Doesn’t that just sound lovely?

I haven’t decided if i’ll have an all-white bouquet or an all-red bouquet (deep red), but i still have a bit of time to figure that out.

What do you think?

Man, i was really excited to register… who wouldn’t?  you get to SHOP and mix and match and go crazy with that little scanner gun…but there are so many improvements these departments stores could learn.

First on the list.

1. Sears.  I registered for a few items blindly at a wedding show (no prices of course), and then was invited to their Sip, Search and Scan event.  Well, i wouldn’t really call it an ‘event’.  The first issue was the $5 price which wasn’t listed on their flyer – not a big deal, only $5, but still — if you’re going to charge, list it on all of your promo materials.  Second issue was the ‘event’ itself.  You could hear the music and the cheesy dj announcer from the other side of the mall!   It’s a bridal event, specific for brides, not to draw other shoppers to the area… the music was so loud that people (including myself) asked the dj to turn it down but he said Sears wanted it like that…sheesh!  There weren’t any signs on where to go, where to pay the $5.  There were employees manning registry stands, but they had no clue.  Lined up at the registry desk, they took me to a separate cash desk to pay the fee, then BACK to the registry desk to fill out forms and get a huge booklet to carry around, then start scanning.  I ended up deleting my registry from Sears … the experience was brutal and just proved to me that i didn’t need anything from them.
2. The Bay.  Another experience that got off on the wrong foot. I had signed up at the Wedding show and they gave me a $25 giftcard.  They said someone would call me in the next couple of weeks to book an appointment but no one did.  The next thing i knew, it was 2 weeks later and my gift card was expiring that day!   Not one to lose out on $25, i headed over to my local Bay store.  Now granted i didn’t have an appointment, but i figured i already had a number, so if they had a scanner, i could just add more and get my $25.  The consultant didn’t see it that way and said i needed to meet with her but she couldn’t fit me in for an hour and a half.   She said if i don’t scan today, i don’t get the $25…boy, she didn’t seem too pleased with me.  Now this is where Bridezilla Amanda comes out to play.  I suggested just giving me the scanner since i was already registered, and that if we had time after, we would have our consultation… she said that wouldn’t be possible so i asked to speak to the manager.  He agreed with me, and she played dumb, and off scanning i went!  Trouble is she actually made us sit through a boring consult after — seriously, we’re older, we’re not 20 years old just starting off…we know what we want!  I went a bit scanner-happy and had some fun, but really, the Bay just seems so old-school and expensive.  I think people just use them because they’re the biggest of only a handful of options.  *sigh*  I am seriously thinking of deleting the whole thing or at least a bunch of items.
3. Home Outfitters.  Now this was a good experience.  Maybe it helped that our appointment was on a weeknight so the store wasn’t very busy, or that the store is bright, well-organized and easy to get around, or that the customer service was great.  Whenever we had trouble finding something, we just asked Frank and we was there to help (thanks Frank!).  I would recommend Home Outfitters for sure on the basis of the store experience.  The biggest issue with The Bay and Home Outfitters is that you can’t see pictures or your items online or link to full descriptions.  So i can’t really remember what i picked or what the colours look like or anything.
4. Bed Bath & Beyond. This was by FAR the best experience because i didn’t have to step foot in a store (yet).  I could register online for everything!  They have a bridal catalogue and wedding section to see the recommended items, they have pictures of everything and full descriptions — it was glorious!  Now granted, i’ll probably check out a store to see some of the items in person, but man, it was fun!  And the best part is that they have BBBs in the US for my family across the border (unlike HBC stores).

I think i might try one more store (Crate and Barrel) mostly because a lot of my friends recommend it but also to fit that US bill as well.

My biggest pet peeve for these stores – aside from not being able to see pics of my choices online – is that i’d like to be able to sync my registries in one place so i can compare and see everything in one place.  There’s a website called www.myregistry.com that has potential, but it’s very US based and right now only sync’s stores like Target, Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel.  Their neat feature is that they have a button you can download and whenever you’re on an e-commerce site (any site, with or without registries), you just click ‘add to my registry’ and there you go.  You have a registry of items that you really want from as many stores as you want.  The only reason i’m not doing it, is because your guests would have to go back to your myregistry site and manually remove any items you purchase (vs having it done in-store).  I’ve read reviews were people got a lot of duplicates.

When will a ‘one-stop’ registry hub exist so i can see all my choices in one handy location?  Maybe i should work on that.

Man that took longer than i thought!  I started shopping slowly back in November and LOVED it…i felt soooo pretty and thought every girl should experience it so i s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out the experience thinking i had plenty of time.  I just needed to find ‘the one’ by mid-March at the latest (the 6-month mark).  After a few sessions it started to get tougher…i learned which shape looked best on me, so everything i tried on looked ‘nice’ but nothing made me sparkle.

Eventually I  had  4 that were at the top of my list.  And all of them were at different stores.  DAMN – what’s a girl to do?  I wanted to try on the dresses back to back so i could get a better feeling, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.  I think i drove my friends crazy sending them pics of the possible choices and getting them to come out with me.

I wanted something a little different from the norm, def not traditional, and something that would fit the evening wedding i had planned at the fabulous Eagles Nest.

It all came to a head on Sunday when i brought my sister with me to two different stores to try on the top 2 gowns.  When i tried on the last one, she knew it was the one.  She said i lit up in it and it was definitely me.  So decision made, that’s all i needed to hear.  I think if she said she liked the other dress better i would have been disappointed, so that’s a good sign that i made the right choice.

I won’t post a pic yet, but it’s GORGEOUS and glamorous and very “me” – a bunch of people have seen it (chalk it up to ‘indecisive Amanda’ again!), but i can’t have everyone knowing what to expect when i walk down the steps at the Eagles Nest!    Promise to post a pic after the big day.  What i CAN tell you is that i bought it at Chris & Tina’s at Parkway Mall in Scarborough…the entire staff have been wonderful and i highly recommend them!

Next up…flowers!

Things are rolling along now … happy to report that we booked our photographer; Jenn Kelly from 360 Photography in Toronto (Liberty Village).  I found her just by doing a search for photographers in the GTA, but when i went for my appointment and looked through her portfolio, i was surprised to see the wedding pictures of a friend of mine (and they were gorgeous!).  I left the appointment to think things over (i’m not an impulsive person) and emailed my friend right away to get her reviews… and they were raving!   My friend couldn’t have been happier and that solidified it for me.  A tough choice made easy.

Looking forward to working with you Jenn

Well, things are progressing along nicely now.  I took a bit of a break from the planning for the month of December for a holiday (sort of a pre-honeymoon getaway to Antigua) and to enjoy the Christmas break.  Once January hit, i was back at it full-force.

The choice of DJ wasn’t really that difficult. While there are a whole list of things a potential vendor must have before we book them, a big thing for me is to have a connection with them.  It’s an important day and we want it to go as smoothly as possible.  Having people that ‘get’ you is key.  That’s part of the reason we booked the Eagles Nest for the venue due to the coordinator Leanne.

Back to the DJ though.  We met with Ben Melbye from Star Productions on a reference from my friend Jane.  He was a friend of her and her husband’s and had done their wedding a few years back and I (vaguely) remember enjoying the tunes.  Our meeting went really well – he was very laid back and casual, but very professional as well.   We’re able to customize the type of songs we want with their online form and even get a link for our guests to request music a head of time.  His goal was to give us the type of party we wanted and he seemed really excited about the possibility of working our wedding. 

I’m not quite the impulsive type, so i wasn’t ready to book then and there, i needed to meet at least one more DJ to do a comparison.  I booked an appointment with a larger company with about 100 DJs … as soon as I met the guy he showed me a photo of how he gets people on the dance floor.  It was the dreaded “napkin” game where you pass the darn thing around to your table-mates for the centrepiece giveaway and then he leads you on the dance floor.

There will be no games at our wedding.

None.

The napkin thing might be your deal, but it’s def not mine… i just think it’s been done.  Over done.  He seemed a bit shocked that i didn’t want a centrepiece game at all.  “No game?”  Nope.

Then the guy takes me in to this room and shows me all the smoke and light shows he can do.

My decision was made right then and there.

Ben from Star Productions was my guy.

No bells and whistles.  We don’t need games, smoke or light shows to have a party.  We just need music.  Good music.

So thanks Ben – we look forward to having the best wedding ever with the best music ever!

Napkin-dance guy can shove it.

Well, it took a lot of after-work and weekend visits, but we finally selected our venue.

Drum roll please….

The Eagles Nest in Vaughan.

I actually saw this one with my good friend Stacey and when we walked in the hall we both went “ooohhhh”.  The reception hall has a wrap-around patio overlooking the golf course and a pond.  While it was dark out when we saw it, it definitely made an impact.

What truly sold me on this place was the wedding coordinator Leanne.  Stacey and I just had a hoot chatting with her that night and I just felt really comfortable with her – a very important thing for your wedding.  She was funny, personable, and most importantly, she got my ‘vision’ of the day. 

The hall is large enough that we can have both tables for dinner AND a lounge/bar area, plus we have the entire patio – SWEET!

I took the fiance back to the venue and he loved it too.  Nothing else really measured up to the Eagles Nest, and believe me, we saw a LOT of places – my handy spreadsheet of pros and cons proves it! 

So, happy to have the venue nailed down.  Now all i have left is the photographer, dj, clergy, florist, wedding dress, decor, centrepieces, transportation, wedding cake…

Stay tuned!

Turns out very hard.

Especially when you 1) have a full time job, 2) work at the north end of downtown T.O while your fiancé works closer to home in the ‘burbs and 3) not many event managers work evenings to meet with you. It makes it even harder when you want to try and space the bookings out a tad so your fiancé doesn’t think you’re crazier than he already knows you are. 5 venues on a Saturday – not really gonna cut it. So we’ve been visiting maybe one or two during the week and then one on the weekend, and I’ve seen a couple on my own, but that’s not really efficient.

I just haven’t been blown away by anything, and when I am, the cost is ENOURMOUS! I just want to have a location that we can get married at, have our pics taken at AND have the reception. We want to have a somewhat intimate cocktail reception with our close friends and family. I want yummy food, great tunes and my guests to dance and mingle all night.

Most of the places we’ve seen have been either far too traditional, too expensive, or just not what I had in mind… I just can’t picture myself getting married in a banquet hall, even though one of them has a super cool new lounge. I’m finding some of the trendier places are just rentals of the space and you have to take care of finding the caterer, tables, chairs, linens, etc. I’m sorry, but that’s just too much work and extra money (you should see some of the rental fees – you’d think you’d get the moon for those costs!).

I find that while I know it’s our day, I’m really trying to please everyone… not too far away from our hometown, accessible to hotels, golf course nearby, plenty of bathrooms (this is important to me as a girl, as a frequent wedding guest – location and # of bathrooms is important – esp if you’re competing with other weddings).

So far we’ve looked at the Glen Erin Inn, McMichael Art Gallery, The Royalton (super-cool lounge), Old Mill, Millcroft Inn, and Rattlesnake and Eagles Nest golf courses. We’re off to see Edgewater in the Stoney Creek this weekend (prob too far), the Royal Botanical Gardens, Terrace on the Green and a visit to the new golf course in Brampton – Turnberry.

But how far is too far to drive? Especially when you’re doing an early evening ceremony on a Friday – should you worry about that? Or just go with a reasonable drive (no more than 45 mins-1hour for most of your guests)? And hotels, is a 10-15 min drive to the nearest hotel ok?

Questions, questions and more questions. This bride thing is tough and I’ve barely started!

Ok, so the cat’s out of the bag… my bf and i got engaged over the September long weekend and i couldn’t be happier.  Like most girls, i’ve dreamt of my wedding day for years and years (and years and years), but that vision has changed, the older i’ve gotten.  Let’s face it, i’m no spring chicken anymore, and i’ve been to a LOT of weddings over the last 15+ years (since my friends have started getting married) and have learned what i want/don’t want for my own (our own) celebration.

And that’s exactly what we want — a celebration, a party, a shindig.  Just the people we love and who love us right back to be there with us and have some drinks, some laughs and dance til our feet ache.  Being in the marketing field, i’ve attended lots of cocktail parties and events with food stations and appetizers, and that’s what we’re going for.  I envision twinkle lights and candles (we’re having a Friday late afternoon/early evening ceremony) and lots of finger foods and yummy nibbles.  We want the cool factor (but obv on a budget).

So the dilemma.  Where to begin?  I’m a planner, organizer AND worry-wart by nature, so my head’s already spinning with all that needs to be done.  We’re looking at September next year, so just about a year to go… seems like a lot of time, right?  Not so much.  Apparently i need to get a venue right away … CRAZY!

The big problem is to try to find something that has the ‘hip-ness’ of a downtown Toronto location, but in the suburbs of the GTA?  (too much trouble for guests to get downtown on a Friday afternoon for a T.O locale)

So, this is a call out to all my married friends and friends of friends and any other brides-to-be out there that might be listening… i need your help, not only for venue ideas, but reco’s for anything and everything weddings. 

Can you help a girl out so she doesn’t become a Bridezilla?  (My fiancé {i like the sound of that} thanks you in advance:

Where do i help?

• Venues (hip, cool, non-banquet hall):
• Flowers (what’s in season in the fall?  local florists in Peel region):
• Best places to shop for a dress (and get a deal)?:
• Do you need favours?:
• Do you need to give centre pieces away to your guests?:
• When to send save the dates?:
• Best places for invitations?:
• Do you need to have programs?:

Okay, that’s a good start.  My biggest issue is the venue, but whatever help i can get, i’ll take!  Comment at the bottom of the blog, or send me an email.

Thanks in advance friends…