My Trip To Kleinfeld Bridal

*Ah! I just realized that I didn't post about my recent trip to Kleinfeld on this blog. But I did post about it earlier on my other blog, StuffLindsayBought.blogspot.com*

Recently, I went to New York City and the whole reason why I recently went was to help my sister, who lives there, with her wedding dress fitting.

Last August, she ordered a dress from Kleinfeld (yes, the shop from that TLC show) and was told that it would be in by mid-April. So we figured that me taking a mid-May trip made sense. You know where this going right?

I arrived in NYC on Thursday, May 12, and at that time, there was no dress. My sister made one last desperate call to Kleinfeld the following Friday morning and oh yes, they were just going to call her because the dress was there. But the earliest they could get her in for a fitting was mid-June (which was bumped to early June when my sister explained she was leaving the country for her wedding in mid-July).

So for a while there it looked like I wasn’t going to see the dress. But Saturday morning, after being coached by me on what to say to hopefully secure one of Kleinfeld's “emergency” spots (and I know they have these spots because I’ve seen them referred to on the show), my sister called the store again. Unfortunately she just got the answering machine. So things continued to look bleak.

But then my mother called. She’d talked to someone at Kleinfeld and had managed to get us a viewing (though not a fitting) for that afternoon. Yeah!

Yes, the girl on the show was trying
on a "Pnina", similar to this

So off we went to one of the world’s most famous bridal stores and yes, they were filming Say Yes To The Dress when we were there. But no, we’re not on it. The filming was only taking place in the show room and if you don’t have an appointment, the most you can do is poke your head inside that room, which, just like the lobby, is not as classy or as elegant as I had imagined it would be.

But anyone can head down to the basement, where the fitting rooms are, along with a small collection of overpriced shoes and other accessories. This is a pretty small space and again, it’s not as elegant as it could be (Toronto's White was noticeably nicer).

But while Kleinfeld was a bit of a letdown in interior design, it did have amazing service, once we were inside the store.

The woman manning the fitting area desk was very warm and even though we were just doing a viewing, we were assigned a seamstress who explained what alterations needed to be made and helped us pick up a veil.

Even though we were being “squeezed in”, the experience never felt rushed and while we did have to wait a bit to get our room, it was only about a 10-15 minute wait, which considering the store had over a 100 appointments that day, is pretty good.

If I lived in or around NYC, I would check out Kleinfled because it does have the largest selection of dresses in the world. But I would be reluctant to be a Toronto resident and buy a dress from there, given the store’s deadline issues (plus there’s the hassle of getting your dress over the border).

Also, while you don’t have to get your dress alternated there; alterations are a big part of the store’s sell and the way Kleinfled’s does it is that you pay a hefty, flat fee and then get as many alterations as you need. This is great if you live nearby and have a dress that needs lots of changes but obviously isn’t that practical if you live in another country.

As for visiting Kleinfled’s just for the sake of visiting it, I’d say pass. Sure, if you’re in the area I guess it wouldn’t hurt to pop in and check out the few dresses displayed in the lobby but again, unless you have an appointment, you’re not getting into the showroom (and even then, the bulk of the dresses are in the backroom). And while the accessories section did have some pretty items, none of them, least of all te Jimmy Choos, were cheap.

57 Wedding Invite Designs

One of the hardest aspects of my wedding was finding an appropriate invite design. I literally looked at several hundred different designs over on Esty, as well as various do-it-yourself kits and a few offerings by local invite companies.

Initially I thought the big problem with picking an invite design was going to be our limited budget. But then I started looking at designs and realized that no, our biggest problem was going to finding something that we liked.

Eventually we did find our invites but damn, did it take a lot of digging and while I love what we end up with, I do wish that this blog post had been made in say, January 2010, because it would have saved me a lot of time.

That post highlights 57 different wedding invitation designs that are for the most part anything but traditional. If you’re like me and want something different than your typical coloured-ribbon invite (you know what I mean), you’re going to want to check it out.

While it doesn’t contain pricing info or anything like that, you can click on an image to get to a page what will give you the name of the designer and from there you should be able to track him or her down.

Here are a few of my favourites:

For those of you not feeling Google Maps.

Interesting New Wedding Venue: Neubacher Shor Contemporary (NSC)

*Updated on April 25 with a venue link*

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email inviting me to the launch party of a new venue, something that, as far as I could tell, was simply called “The Venue”. While the picture included in the invite looked intriguing, I couldn’t find anything online about this place and its location, 5 Brock Avenue, confused me because I know that area and I couldn’t imagine where this place would be.

Then I saw this article over on BlogTO, a review of some place called the Neubacher Shor Contemporary (NSC). It was the full name for what I was calling “The Venue”.

As the article explains, this space is both an art gallery and an event space, with the event side of things being called NSC The Venue.

The picture to the left should explain why I couldn’t figure out where this place was located. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. But the inside, which offers 3,000 square feet of loft-style space, would make for an ideal, contemporary wedding space. (In case you can't the copy on that top image, this place fits 150 sitting; 250 standing.)

Annoyingly, I can’t find a website for this venue but based on the invite I got, I’m thinking that the catering company Eatertainment is providing the food so if you’re interested in this space, maybe they can put you in touch with the right people.

Thanks to Jasmine for the venue link!

A Fun Wedding Blog

Sometimes it’s fun just to look at pretty pictures.

If you agree with that statement, you’ll want to check out The Lela New York Wedding Blog. It’s packed with beautiful image, after beautiful image of wedding-related stuff (for example, check out this post about short wedding dresses) and offers categories for easy browsing.

As the name suggests, this is a blog out of New York so many of the products it showcases aren’t available here but this blog can still be a great source of inspiration (for example, check out these fun mini-cakes). Plus, with the Canadian dollar flying high, it might be worth it to try and track down some of the items it highlights, like these too cute cake toppers.

My Honeymoon

While looking this blog on Friday, I noticed that I never posted anything about my honeymoon! And that’s just wrong because my husband Shawn and I had a great honeymoon. We took it in February and spent two nights, in Los Angeles, five nights on the French Polynesian island of Moorea and five nights on its sister island of Bora Bora.

I wrote up several blog entries on the Bora Bora and Moorea portions over on my other blog, Stuff Lindsay Bought.  So check them out and let me know if you have any questions: wedtoblog[removespace]@gmail.com.

Below are a few of the almost 2,000 pictures we took (yeah, we went a little picture crazy).

Love Online Coupons?

I know that I've talked about Groupon before on this blog but I don’t think I’ve mentioned One Spout, a site that basically collects all those Groupon-like online coupons into one place.

This site offers a bunch of different sorting options, including by distance and category, though you can’t sort by newest first, which is kind of odd.

That one flaw aside, this can be a great site for a bride-to-be.  It lets you declutter your inbox while still letting you catch a great deal, like over 50% everything from flowers to photos to wedding cakes. There’s even deals on wedding show tickets.

One deal that caught my eye was this one from TakeItAndGo.com that, for $89, gets you an at-home spa party for you and three friends. The really nice thing about this deal is that you can buy an unlimited amount so in theory, you could buy three of these coupons and have a twelve person bachelorette where everyone gets a mini- massage, pedicure and manicure (if you’re interested, the deal’s still on for four more hours).

One Spout isn’t just a Toronto thing; it has sites for most major North America cities as well as areas like “Halton region” and “Niagara region”, so this a great site for brides all across the continent.

Some Wedding Reading For You

Last week, the Toronto Star updated its online wedding section with a ton of new articles. Topics covered include ways to keep costs down (including a look at City Hall weddings), wine advice and invite ideas. And yes, there are multiple pieces about dresses (looks like my decision to wear a big dress makes me fashion-forward in the world of wedding gowns).

The Star’s wedding section is actually quite extensive, with dozens of articles that go all the way back to August 2008. It’s worth it to flip through some of the back stories since some of them, like one bride’s personal story on where to spend and where to save, are a great read.

LouLou magazine also recently launched an online wedding section, to go alongside this month’s wedding-focused issue. Since LouLou is a shopping magazine, there is a real focus on “stuff” so if you’re on a budget and/or have problems with shopping you might want to skip this one.

But LouLou really does highlight some great items like these reasonably priced shoes and these pricier ones.

And some of the articles, like the ones on nail trends and fragrances, are actually sort of useful.

More Thoughts On My Wedding Photos...

The other day I was flipping through my professional wedding photos, trying to see how our escort card table had been laid out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a single pro shot of this table. At best, were some pictures, taken by a friend, of how it looked later in the night, once it had been switched over to our midnight snack table.

This made me realize that I didn’t have pictures of a lot of the “little” and even not-so-little things. For example, I didn’t have a decent picture of my centrepieces or any of the guest tables. And while we didn’t have a lot of flowers as décor, if you look at our photos, it’s almost as if the bouquets and corsages were the only flowers we had.

When it came to photos, I had made up a list of shots I wanted taken but these were almost all formal “people” shots (you know, me and my grandmother, me, my grandmother, sister and mother, that type of thing). While I did have some other shots down (like the outside of the building), I didn’t list out everything.

Part of this was because I assumed our photographer would just take shots of certain things like centrepieces. The other part is because I didn’t realize I wanted certain shots until after the wedding. For example, we had a signature drink, which was explained in a picture frame. I would have loved to have had a shot of the drink by the frame, but I didn’t think of that until it was too late.

Several months ago, when I was putting together our Photobooks, I realized all the great, creative, people-oriented photos that we could have taken (be sure to flip through these example books before your wedding day for ideas). Now, as I’m trying to remember the various details that made up our wedding, I’m realizing all the other photos that I wish we had.

So my advice to you, future brides, is to write down every possible shot that you want taken and then give that list to your photographer. Odds are, this is going to be a long list so you’re probably going to want to break it up, by location as well as by priority (I do realize that not even the best photographer in the world is going to capture everything).

I’d also explain to the photographer that you’re being thorough, not crazy, and that you’re just trying to ensure that you end up with photos you love.

Because once your wedding day’s over, it’s over and trust me, it sucks to be sitting, wishing that you had a picture of A or B (and yes, I’m still disappointed that I never got my wedding day “wow” shot).

White Toronto

*This entry has also been published on my other blog, Stuff Lindsay Bought*

From WeddingBells.ca

As I detailed in Saturday’s entry, my sister has selected the Simple Silhouettes line for me and her four other bridesmaids to wear. While a great-looking line, it’s not a very popular one, at least not in Canada, and as a result, only one place in Toronto carried: White in Yorkville.

Now, if you’ve ever been a bride in Toronto, you’re probably familiar with White. For the rest of you, I’ll explain that  it's considered to be one of the city’s better, and pricier, bridal stores.

I was a Toronto bride but since I preferred not to look at things I couldn't afford,  I never went to White (well, that and I bought with my dress with my mom in Alberta). But I was always curious about it and because of that, I was happy to have an excuse to check it out.

Located in an old Victorian on Hazelton Avenue, it should be made clear that White is no Kleinfields. It’s a small place with a suitably small selection. But the dresses they do have well, they are certainly stunning. Maybe a little too stunning.

Let me explain…

While I’m sure White stocks at least a couple sleek, simple gowns, most of the ones I saw are elaborate creations full of lace, beading and sparkle. While some were more “traditional” looking, many had a definite high-fashion look to them and the detailing on both types was truly amazing.

While these dresses aren’t necessary big in size (though they do have those), they are big on impact and honestly, I don’t think most women could carry them off. Besides requiring the right body type (long and lean but not skinny), they also require the right attitude. For many women, a wedding day is about being a princess but these dresses, even the ones with tulle, say “supermodel” more than “princess”.

Then there's the issue of cost. With dresses by such designers as Badgley Mischka, Monique Lhuillier and Oscar de la Renta, yuo can safely assume that this is not the place for the bride-on-a-budget. While I did see I think at least two that are three thousand-something, most of the price tags I looked at were above the $5000 mark with many dresses costing over ten grand. And no, that cost doesn’t include alterations (oddly, White doesn’t do alternations).

From Distinctoccasions.ca

The selection of bridesmaids however, is both more varied and more practical. Again, the selection isn’t huge and neither is the overall “bridesmaid loft”, which is located at the top of the house. I’m pointing this out because while I was getting my dress, a bridal party with 12 (yes, 12) maids showed up and things got pretty cramped pretty quick.

Also, the lighting’s not the best in there so if you can, get colour samples that you can take out and look at in better light.

The service however, is excellent. I had my own clerk who was friendly and helpful, offering useful and honest advice and opinions. I was measured for my dress by a different woman who was quick, professional and also offered her honest opinion on exactly what size I should get. And I have to give my admiration for the woman who was dealing with mega-bridal party. Despite their noise and uh, stupidity (multiple members weren’t wearing underwear), she was calm and organized.

I was less impressed with the fact that I paid more for my bridesmaid’s dress than my sister's other maids, who are buying theirs from a shop in Calgary, but I guess that Yorkville rent’s gotta get paid somehow.

Appointments are a must-have at White and because the selection is on the small side, I would check with them and make sure that they carry the designer/specific dresses that you’re looking for. And seriously, if you don’t have the budget for a pricy dress, don’t even walk in there.

Simple Silhouette Bridesmaid Dresses

*This entry has also been published on my other blog, Stuff Lindsay Bought*

Last weekend, I went shopping for a bridesmaids dress for my sister’s wedding. Based on 

Violet

that  experience,  I  have written up two reviews; one on of the line of dresses I tried on and another on where I went shopping. Let’s start with the dresses.



 My sister has  five “maids” (if you hate that term, stop reading now because I am going to use it) and of course we don’t all look the same. So she’s decided that we can each pick our own dresses, with some conditions in place.


And I’m quite happy that my sister did lay down some dress parameters. The whole pick-whatever-you-want approach to bridesmaids’ dresses seems great on paper but in real life can result in some really random and weird combinations. Plus it can be stressful for both the maids and the bride since no one really knows what to get or expect.

My sister told me and the other maids that we’d be wearing pink, tea-length dresses from the 2009-2010 Simple Silhouette lines (aka the "Simple Collection") and I have to have to say, she made a great call.

 Now, I should warn you that Simple Silhouette’s 2011 bridesmaids line is sort of ugly. I’m not sure what happened between the 2010 and the 2011 lines but whatever it was, it should be undone because the older dress designs are genuinely attractive garments that most women would be happy to wear.

 

Senna



For the most part, these designs have clean, simple lines and similar skirts so they there is a cohesive look to them. At the same time, the top portions come in a wide enough variety of styles that most maids will be able to find a dress that feels and looks good.

Another nice thing about Simple Silhouettes is its extensive fabric options and the fact that all of its dresses, at least from the pre-2011 collections, are available in any of those fabrics.



I tried on over half-a-dozen dresses and they were all comfortable and flattering. Overall, this was one of the more positive shopping experiences I’ve ever because everything looked at least “good” (and unless I’m buying t-shirts, clothing shopping is usually a very frustrating thing for me).





Buttercup

I  think most maids would be happy to wear a Simple Silhouette dress except for one key detail: the price.

These are well-designed, well-constructed dresses and those facts are reflected in their cost. As a result, these dresses mostly run between just under $300 and just under $400 and if you’re getting a satin or silk dress, it’s going to be on the higher end (though you can get a bit of a discount if you’re buying three or more dresses in the same colour/fabric).



To help balance that high cost out, keep in mind that because the look of these dresses is so great, they really could be worn again (as long as the fabric choice isn’t too crazy).

Don’t believe me? Then check out Simple Silhouette’s Beyond the Wedding Day photo shoot.



Oh, in case you’re interested, the dress I picked is called the Violet and it's the first dress included in this entry. 

Big Sample Sale at White

On Saturday, I was at White bridal salon in Yorkville, getting a bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding. I’ll definitely write up an entry about that experience but for now, I just want to let everyone know that White is having quite the sample sale this Friday and Saturday.

Check the ad below for more details and if you want to check out the sale, be sure to book an appointment! This is not the kind of event where you can just show up (in fact, I think Saturdays are appointment-only).

Getting Married In Toronto Might Be Getting Pricier

It might soon cost a bit more to get married in Toronto. City council has proposed raising the cost of a city marriage license up to $140, from $130. Not a big jump but still, something to take note of it.

Also something to note: You don’t need a Toronto marriage license to get married in Toronto. A marriage license from any city/town/whatever in Ontario will do and yes, marriage license costs do vary by municipality . Of course, before you plan a road trip, crunch the numbers and make sure it’s worth your while to go out of your way to get a cheaper license.

Also possibly going up is the price to get married in one of Toronto’s four civic centres (this includes City Hall), from $75 to $100, and the cost of photo permits for city parks. Pricing here varies by the park but page 46 of this lengthy document gives you an idea of how the numbers are changing.

A Wedding Show Worth Checking Out (if you have the budget)

Long time, no blog (but then I have been busy writing over here).

I decided to make my first post over here in quite some time because there’s a great event happening this weekend over at The Carlu: The Wedding Co.’s annual wedding show.

I have to admit that I never attended this particular show when I was a bride though I really wanted to. It’s smaller and more selective than most of the other shows out there and the vendors are generally quite high in quality and talent. Unfortunately that means they are also higher in price. So I decided not to tease myself with services and ideas that I couldn’t afford and skipped this show.

 

However, if you have the budget, or are great at DIY stuff, this show is worth its $20. Need proof? Just check out the Highlights section over here.

Photobook Canada Review

*originally posted over on my other blog, Stuff Lindsay Bought*

Recently I ordered four books from Photobook Canada as Christmas gifts for family members.  All four books are full of pictures of my recent wedding and are similar to those photo books that many wedding photographers offer in their packages package (in fact, some wedding photographers use this exact company to create those books).

To properly review Photobook Canada, I’m splitting the review into two parts. This means it’s going to be a long one, but if you’re considering creating a photo book or using this company, this is a review worth reading.

Designing the Book

First off, if you say, struggle to add photos to Facebook, don’t even both trying to use Photobook’s free design software. It’s not actually that hard to use but it does offer a ton of choices and does require a certain amount of computer intuition, if that makes sense (but don’t worry, you don’t need to know HTML or how to edit photos or anything like that).

You’re also going to need high-res digital JPEG files of your photos and I recommend that you have these ready to go, in a folder on your desktop. You can add in photos after you’ve started the process, but having the majority of them all in one folder will help make things go smoother.

While you can design your photo book from scratch, I recommend using the wizard.  It basically takes your folder of photos and then distributes them over the number of pages you’re going with (and yes, you can easily add in more pages later).

For some people, that might be your book, done right there. For others, you might just need to adjust how the image are cropped or swap the placement of certain images (all super easy to do). 

My pictures were pulled in a weird order so I ended up moving almost all of them around but the wizard did give me some great ideas about how the photos could be displayed. The software offers you dozens of different templates and if it weren’t for the wizard, there’s no way I would have thought of using some of them.

Do spend some time just playing around with the software and seeing what you can do because this program allows you to be quite creative. And do look at some of site’s examples for ideas you can be inspired from.

Overall, I found designing the book to be a fun and easy process. The only thing that annoyed me was that all of the backgrounds have at least some kind of pattern to them. Now, the templates all start with either a solid black or white background and while most templates come in either colour, some of them don’t. So if you have a template that only comes initially in a black background but want it to have a solid white background, well, too bad.

But on the plus side, you can download a free proof of your book and see exactly how it should look in real life.

Checking out and uploading my photos was also a pretty smooth process though uploading the photos can take a while so be prepared for that.

The Actual Product

The Photobook model we went with was the 11" x 8", Imagewrap hardcover book for $65. For this price, we got 40 pages of photos and images on both the front and back of matte laminated hardcover.

In full honesty, I wasn’t at first impressed by my Photobook. Just judging it just from the cover, it seemed rather year-book-y, though one with crisp, clear photos on the front and back.

Thankfully, I was more pleased with what was inside. The paper stock really is excellent and my photos were bright, colourful and laid out just like they were supposed to be. So at minimum we ended up with high-quality year books.

If you want, you can spend more money and upgrade to the PRO series, which, with leather covers, looks nothing like a yearbook. But then the cheapest PRO model is $300.

While $65 for what I got is a bit on the high end, Photobook Canada seems to often run sales/offer discounts or coupons that turn their products into great deals. For example, it’s currently running a holiday promo were using the promo code “HOLSAVE40” will save you 40% the cost of a book.

Some Emails Worth Signing Up For

Since I’m winding this blog down but still occasionally posting, I’ve added a new email notification thingy to it so that it’s easier to find out when I have made a new entry. Signing up is quick, easy and nope, I won’t get your email address and neither will any other lists. Then on days when I do post, you’ll get an email of that post delivered straight to your inbox.
And speaking of emails, are you signed up for any of those email coupon sites like Groupon? If not, you might want to check out the following sites:

• Groupon
• WagJag
• FabFind.com
• Deal Getters

While each of them is slightly different, they all work by emailing you a daily deal. And why might you want to sign up for all this mail? Because sometimes the deals are perfect for a bride.

For example, spa and restaurant deals are very common and could help you save on your beauty and thank-you/rehearsal meal costs. Many of the coupons can also be bought as a gift for someone else so there’s a way to save on your bridal party thank-you gifts.

I’ve also seen deals on photography (while I doubt you could get your actual wedding photos cheap, I have seen some that do apply to engagement photos) and stores that sell jewellery and accessories.

Personally I’ve bought Groupon deals a few different times and it’s always been a smooth process, both buying and redeeming.

 A few weeks ago, we bought a couple Groupon coupons that, for $35 each, got us $115 at Photobook Canada. This was a fantastic offer for us since we were planning on creating photo books anyways and those things aren’t cheap. Since then we have created our books and redeemed our coupons and as usual, it was a smooth process (and yes, I will post about my Photobook Canada experience at some point but in case you’re wondering, it was positive).

While all these emails can be a bit spammy (most of them you will just delete), the deals they offer are so good that personally, I find they’re worth the email clutter. Just make sure you only buy coupons for stuff you needed to buy anyway!

Review of The William Ashley Warehouse Sale

*This was first posted on my other blog*

So I spent this morning at the William Ashley warehouse sale. Is this event for everyone? No, if you hate crowds, waiting in line or lots of options, skip it.

But if you’re getting married; know someone getting married; getting a new place to live; upgrading your plates, flatware, household décor, etc.; have a lengthy Christmas shopping list; really have any kind of Christmas shopping list or just love an amazing deal, then you want to make the trek out to Railside Road.

I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about heading out this morning to this sale. Part of that was because I had to get up early (we wanted to be there right at the opening time of 10 am because this sale does grow quite the line). But I was also worried that this sale wouldn’t have anything I needed/wanted.

My sister is getting married next year and initially I thought that this sale would be a great way to pick some pieces up for her. But then I started to worry that it would just have discontinued and plain/less attractive patterns and that I was wasting my time going out there.

I was wrong.

My sister is actually getting two different patterns and while the sale didn’t have the one, it did have the other and I was able to get her a serving pattern at an amazing price. If I was a rich sister, I would have got her the four place settings for just under $900; originally going for I think around $2,800.

Yeah, the deals are that good and the selection is excellent (yes, it even includes Wedgewood). When the time comes for me to buy fine china, I’m definitely going to be getting them through the warehouse sale.

While I didn’t buy any dishes for myself, I did get a great stainless steel bowl (you know the kind, with the wavy top) for $14,99, originally $50.

There was of course a ton of other stuff that caught my eye (as well as a few things that were mocked). This sale really had everything from the aforementioned china to glassware to small appliances to Christmas stuff to even furniture.

If you’re a DIY bride, you really want to check this sale out. There are dozens of different types of vases, a huge selection of ribbons and lots of candles and other décor-type things.

Like I mentioned at this top, this sale is not for everyone. Don’t go with a big group, don’t bring kids and do have a budget. And if you can, go on a week day; this sale on the weekend is a bit nutty.

The William Ashley warehouse sale wraps up on Sunday, December 5, and is open every day except for Mondays and Tuesdays. More details can be found over here.

My Bachelorette

I said that my goal was to more or less wrap this blog up at the end of October and clearly I’ve missed that goal because I’ve yet to write about one of the highlights of this whole wedding experience: My stagette. So let’s get to it.

My stagette was held the Saturday night before my wedding. While this timing might not work for everyone, I liked having it then. Plus, it was the only Saturday that worked for my sister, who lives in New York, and since she was organizing the whole thing, she kind of had to be there.

Before I get any further I need to give a big “Thanks” to my sister for putting together a great night. While I did give her some ideas, she really organized the bulk of it.

She also put a lot of money into it. While my guests were to give her $25 each to cover the expenses of the night, I know that she paid far more than her $25 share (I guess this is where it pays, to have a big bridal party).

We started the night at my condo. In total, I think I had about 13 guests and they started trickling in about 5:30 pm (yeah, we started early, more on that in a second). In order to cut down a bit on costs, we did ask people to bring food and that worked out really well (in fact, we had leftovers).


Alcohol was provided by me and my sister and it was served by two professional bartenders who were also part of the evening’s entertainment. While my sister actually only hired one guy from BartenderOne, we end up with two and together they taught us how to make five different drinks that I’d picked out and showed us a few bar tricks as well.

Both guys were a lot of fun and it was really nice to have someone make drinks for us. And considering we got two guys for just over $200 the price is good (they bring all their own mixing equipment but unless you want to pay extra, you provide the alcohol, pop, glasses, etc.). The one annoying thing is that because of provincial law, you have to book these guys for a minimum of six hours. Of course, you don’t actually need to have them at your event for all eight hours but since you’re paying for their time… … and that’s why my stagette started at 5:30 pm.

In addition to the bartenders, we also had a professional makeup on hand. Her name is Jessica Jean Myers and she actually wrote a little blog entry about my stagette here. She taught us all some makeup tricks and tips, using me as her model. She first did a daytime look on me (which I loved), and then a night time look (which looked amazing though it was a bit on the dramatic side). This was great for many reasons, one of them being that I didn’t have to worry about my makeup that night.

After my looks were done, she sat down with some of my friends and did their makeup. While my sister originally booked her for four hours, she ended up staying for five which was great of her and also made her price, $300, a little easier to slow (she did bring all her own stuff in case you’re wondering).

At around 11 pm we headed out via taxi to the Mod Club to go dancing. I  picked it for a few reasons: 1) If you’re on guestlist, cover’s only $5 and the bride gets in free, 2) they play music that appeals to me and most of my friends and 3) it’s a pretty relaxed and fun place. The fact that my stagette fell on the Saturday night of Caribana made all of these points extra important.

As we expected, the Mod Club wasn’t super-busy and they played the right mix of Brit-pop, newer indie/alternative stuff and the occasional dance track. While I know this isn’t what many brides are looking for at their stagette, it was fine for me and I know I had a great time.

I feel I should offer a bunch of general stagette tips but seeing that this post is already enormous, I think I’ll save those for another day.

William Ashley Warehouse Sale

William Ashley’s massive warehouse sale kicks off this Wednesday and then runs until Sunday, December 5. I’ve never been before but people I know who have been say that it’s a great place to get everything from china to things like vases and candle holders. So if you’re DIY your centrepieces or other bits of décor, you probably want to check this out.

Here are the hours:
Wednesdays - Fridays: 10 am-9 pm
 Saturdays & Sundays: 10 am-6 pm

It’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays and the site says that it’s restocked daily but I would suspect that the best stuff goes out early.

As usual for these things, it’s located way out in some industrial park.

Happy shopping!

Our Postcards Are Here

Our thank-you postcards arrived on Friday, a full week earlier than scheduled. So bonus points to Vistaprint for that (though I get the feeling that orders set to ship “slow” generally arrive ahead of schedule).

Overall we’re happy with the postcards. Yes, the paperstock could be heavier/higher quality but considering that we paid $30 for 100, glossy, coloured, custom postcards, I can’t really complain. Besides, I believe Vistaprint does give you the option to upgrade your paperstock if that’s important to you.

I should note that the back of these cards have just enough space for the addresses (we had our return one preprinted) and a short note. Personally I’m fine with that but you’re the type of person who likes to hand write notes, you’ll want to go with a proper card instead of a postcard.

I kind of wish we’d cropped our image a little different so that Shawn and I filled more of it. But then considering how awkward I generally look in closer up shots, it’s probably for the best that we didn’t.

So if you’re wondering if I would recommend Vistaprint, I totally would. Just make sure to unsubscribe yourself from its mailing list after you’ve received your order; otherwise be prepared to hear from them multiple times a week.

Photo Reality Check

I spent last weekend touching up my wedding photos, mostly removing armpit fat that my photographer had left it. Besides feeling at bit annoyed at having to do this task, and a bit frustrated with Photoshop and GIMP, the two photo editing programs I was using, I was also feeling a bit sad with how my photos turned out.

More specifically, I was feeling sad with how I looked in the photos. I do want to make it clear that I did end up with some amazing photos, it’s just that unfortunately, I don’t have an amazing one of me.

I look OK in the photos that are taken at a bit of distance, but it the closer-up ones I just look awkward. I had just assumed that I would have at least one “breathtaking” photo of myself but nope, nothing. At best, there are some shots were at least my dress looks stunning.

Other people in the pictures look great and the background in some of our shots, like the one included in this entry, are beautiful. While maybe more direction from my photographer would have resulted in some better shots, I do have to admit that the reason for my less-than-amazing photos is more me than my photographer.

Shawn and I actually had another photo shoot done in Alberta. A cousin of mine who’s a full-time, professional photographer did the photos and again, the results were the same: Some beautiful pictures where the other people in them look better than me, the bride.

The one positive thing about all of these is that it makes me glad that Shawn and I didn’t go out and spend $4,000 on a photographer. I feel like even if we had, we would have ended up with similar results and then I would have been angry, really angry (even though, again, the main reason for the poor photos would have been the fact that I’m simply not photogenic).

I guess my bit of advice for brides-to-be is to realize that photographers aren’t magicians and can only work with what they have. If you take a poor photo, well, then you take a poor photo. Yes, there are tricks of the trade and there’s always Photoshop but those things can only help to a certain point.

I think maybe I would have gotten better photos if we’d had a bit more time for just-me shots (though we did have plenty of time in Alberta and I still ended up with the same results) and if I had practiced posing. I’ve read that some celebrities spend hours standing in front of mirror, seeing how the look from different angles, in different positions. I know it sounds silly but maybe they’re onto something.