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.

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!

Candle Holders For Sale

I just want to let everyone know that I still have some candle holders for sale!

I have eight of the purple ones (they can be used for a tea light as well as for whatever you call the next size up) and they are quite pretty. I’m selling them for $2 or all eight for $12.

Then there are the clear ones. They fit a tea light on one side and a candlestick on the other. We put clear labels on them and used them in lieu of escort cards.  I have several dozen of these things and I’m selling them for $.075 each (reduced price) or 10 for $7.

I will ship and I will meet you along the subway line if that's easier. You can also come to my place to pick them up.

If you’re interested, send me an email at wedtoblog[removethis]@gmail.com.

Pretty Paper

I am not a DIY-bride but if you are, or, if you want to feel guilty about not spending dozens of hours slaving over beautiful projects that will likely only be appreciated by those of us with critical eyes, read this article from last week’s Star about the growing trend of DIY paper decorations.

Make sure to check out the slideshow. It showcases some really beautiful pieces, including a paper dress.

While a paper dress probably isn’t for most brides, the idea of using paper décor to replace flowers is definitely an ideal that might appeal to some. Like the article points out, the cost can be comparable and paper does open up a whole new world of possibilities.

Headed To The CNE?

Yesterday I was at the CNE and while I was there I noticed that home supply stores Bowring and Benix were there, selling off a wide variety of vases that would be ideal for centrepieces. Bowring was also selling those coloured décor gels that some people use in their centrepieces.

Everything was being offered at a reduced price and I have no doubt that at least some of these sale prices really were sales. I was actually at a Bowring last weekend and noticed that it had some nice though not exactly cheap vase option. Now, at the Ex, vases that were going for $40 at the store are on sale for $20. OK, still not dirt cheap but not a crazy price for a vase, especially if you’re creating the centrepieces yourself.

I’m not sure what the quantity situation is like but since at least some of what’s on sale is current stock, so something could probably be worked out. And at least at Bowring, you can leave your purchases there until you’re ready to go home so that you don’t have to walk around with a dozen glass vases.

I wouldn’t make a special trip to the Ex for these vendors unless you’ve already decided to use vases from one of those stores however, if you’re headed to the CNE anyways, you might as well head over to the Direct Energy Centre and check out what they have to offer.

Write Down The Details

I’m sure you’ve already been told dozens of times by now to get all the key details – start times, end times, deposit deals, etc. – in writing. And while I certainly add my voice to that chorus, I want to also take a moment to encourage you to also get all the little details in writing too.

Now, people say “don’t sweat the small stuff” but on your wedding day, someone will be sweating the small stuff. If you’re a super-carefree, go-with-the-flow kind of person, you might not be the sweater, but someone, your mom, your maid of honour, your venue contact, will at some point be staring at something and wondering if it’s looking the way it should. And that’s where having the small details documented comes in.


How these details are organized is up to you, the point is that you and those associated with you have a printed reference to everything from your timeline to your flowers to your cake. This way everyone’s on the same page, people are better organized (and therefor ideally calmer) and issues can be spotted and dealt with earlier.

Another reason for documenting the little details is that having all that stuff written down makes it a lot easier to get a refund, should things not work out. This seems to be a situation that pops up the most with florists and decorating, maybe because there’s so much “imagining” and “visioning” going on. Also, many decorators and florists sell packages that then get modified and well, if those modifications aren’t written down, you can see how things can easily go to a disappointing place.

The point is, it’s much easier to get money back if you can say, “Hey, there’s the email where you promise that for this price, I’ll get package A but with roses instead of lilies and no underlighting on the head table,” than to say, “Hey, I know the contact says that I’m paying for package A but don’t you remember how we talking about changing some stuff?”

A few details that you’ll want to get written down:

• All flower types and colours being used as well as approximate quantities; ribbons, bouquet jewellery and other related items should be detailed out


• Such vase/container/centrepiece details as size, shape, colour, quantities


• Such cake stand details as size, shape, material, any extras/enhancements


• Drapping details would include colours, fabric types, sizes and placement. This is an area where ideally you have a photo of what the drapping should look like, as well as a photo of what fabric(s) is being used


• Chair cover details would include colour, fabric type and any extras/enhancements. This is another area where a photo is ideal


• Your caterer should provide you with a detailed list of what exactly is being served and while you don’t need to know how many baby potatoes each person is getting, you will want numbers for your hors d’oeuvres and possibly even your midnight snack


• Bar details should touch on both alcoholic and non-alcoholic offerings and could even look at what types of glasses and garnishes will be available (though even I’ll admit that might be too detailed for some)

Wedding Stuff For Sale

So I have few leftover wedding items that I'm hoping to sell off.

Let's start with the candle holders.

I have eight of the purple ones and over three dozen of the clear ones (I used them in lieu of traditional escort cards). The clear ones can hold a tea light or, if you flip it around, a regular candle stick.

The purple ones are going for $2 each or all eight for $14.

The clear ones are going for $1 each but I'm open to working out a deal if you want a bunch of them (and if you need more of them, you can get them from Ikea).

I also have for sale eight 12x12 mirrors, also from Ikea. I'm selling them for $2 each or all eight for $14.

All of this stuff is available for pick up in Toronto or I could ship it to you at your expense.

And if you want a bunch (or maybe all) of it, let me know and we can work out a deal. I be reached via this email address: wedtoblog[removethispart]@gmail.com

Spent Vs. Saved

So as promised in yesterday’s entries, here are five areas where we’re glad we spent the cash and five areas where we’re glad we saved.

Spent

The venue – As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the Berkeley Church isn’t cheap but it was exactly what Shawn and I wanted and we received tons of compliments on the venue as well as the food. The staff was always friendly and while we had some communication snags with our initial planner, the planner who replaced her, Kathy, was quite helpful.

Open bar – No question, an open bar was the way to go. It certainly helped to get people up on the dancefloor, speaking of which…

DJ – So my original plan was to go with DJ iPod, an idea that Shawn shot down and I have no problems saying that I’m glad he did. We ended up getting a great DJ who closely followed our playlist while adding in his own touches at just the right moment.

At-home hair & make-up – I think being able to get ready in the comfort of my own home, and not have to worry about rushing to and from somewhere, really helped to make the wedding day more relaxing.

Hotel room – This is one of those areas that I initially thought was a waste of money but the truth is, being able to head to a hotel after the wedding was a nice treat, as was the swim we got to take the following morning. We stayed at the Thompson Hotel and its lovely rooftop pool totally made up for the alarm clock that went off at 6 in the morning and the scent-heavy detergent used on the bedding (and no, I’m not one of those anti-scent people).


Saved

The dress – Technically this is an area where my parents saved but whatever. My dress, which I quite liked (I’ll post a picture at some point) was quite reasonable for a wedding dress of its style. All in, including alternations, the veil, fancy dress bag and taxes, the dress cost under $1,500 which while not cheap, is a good deal considering its size and the amount of detailing it had.

The wine – Our wine was $11.95 a bottle and personally, I thought it tasted just fine, as did many other people. As any wine expert will tell you, the cost of a bottle of wine has nothing to do with its quality so don’t feel like you need to spend big bucks on your dinner wine.

Décor – We cheaped out big time here. All our décor, including our centrepieces and the few flowers we used for the head table/ceremony and the escort card table came to maybe $500. And some of that we’re getting back because I’m selling what I can on the bridal boards (actually, I should probably post that stuff on here too). While we certainly could have spent more here, I don’t think we really had to. The inside of the Berkeley is quite pretty with its stain glass and fireplaces. Plus it helps that the Berkeley includes coloured up-lighting and dozens of tea lights all over the place.

The flowers – The flowers we got were beautiful; Picasso lilies are now my new favourite; but we didn’t have a lot of them and in the end, I think that was fine. Our cake was actually supposed to be decorated with fresh flowers but for whatever reason the florist forgot to bring those so the cake went flowerless. At first I was a bit annoyed but then, as I thought about it, I was OK with what had happened because I realized that I no longer had to pay $35 for something that would be used for a few hours and then thrown out.

Transportation – We didn’t pay for any special transportation and while fitting my big dress in the back of our SUV was a bit awkward, it was certainly preferable to paying some obscene amount for some tacky vehicle.

Our Escort Cards

A few posts ago I mentioned that our escort cards are really labeled tea lights. I know that this probably didn’t give you the clearest picture of what we’re planning on putting together so tonight I sort of mocked one up and took at picture of it.

I say “sort of” because my plan is to use clear labels instead of white ones and obviously there won’t be black scribbling on them (that’s from me covering up the address that was already printed onto the label).

To make life easier, we’ll laser print people’s names and their table name onto the labels instead of printing them on. Then really the only DIY aspect to this project is sticking on those labels.

I think these will be a pretty alternative to the usual paper escort cards. And I guess they can double as a favour since we’re letting people take them home.

20 Beautiful Centrepieces

Toronto’s own Wedding Bells magazine has put together this great slideshow that shows off a wide variety of centrepiece options. Most of these could easily be DIY projects and many of them aren’t the usual flowers-in-a-vase thing.

Here are my three favourite centrepieces from the slideshow (sorry I’m not linking directly to each item, something is either up with Blogger or Wedding Bells and I'm not able to add in the proper links):

Ideas From Martha

Martha Stewart: love her or hate her, you need to admit that she does come up with some great ideas. A few weeks ago my sister sent me a link to this article over on Martha’s wedding site where she (her staff?) highlights “15 years of good things for weddings”.

Some of the stuff listed is super-simple and super-sweet. Below are three of my favourite ideas.

Typewriter Guestbook

Terra-cotta Pot Place Card





Wedding Bouquet with Fortune-toting ribbons

20 Ideas For Your Reception

WeddingBells.ca currently has a slideshow up that showcases 20 real-life reception décor ideas. While some are pretty taste-or-theme specific (like using homemade jams as favours), some are just great (such as using calligraphy on your invites or having a seating chart that shows how everyone is connected).

Most of the ideas are also quite affordable and realistic. For example, have guests figure out what their meal is with a find-the-word menu or create a simple but elegant centrepiece using candles, low flowers and horizontally placed bamboo sticks.

Some pics from the slideshow below.

Our Trip to Michaels

On the weekend Shawn and I checked out Michaels – the arts and crafts store. We went there because I’d read on assorted message boards that it was supposed to be packed with useful wedding-related stuff. We’d also seen a Michaels flyer that contained an ad for some nice-looking, print-yourself wedding invites so we‘d figured that it would be smart to a least see what this store had to offer us.

It turns out that Michaels actually had very little to offer us. Oh sure, it’s packed with craft and art supplies but I think to truly get the most of that store, you need to be a very creative and visionary person. To someone like me, who is about as anti-DIY as they come, Michaels appears to be packed with, well, tacky shit.

The notable exceptions to this are the quasi-DIY invites/paper products. These do not look like tacky shit and while not as nice as what you’d get if you paid $7 an invite, they are certainly nice enough to do the job (really, beside yourself and maybe a few relatives, who’s going to keep your invite?). The BRIDES line also offer a cohesive look for all your paper products (so matching invites, programs, guest book, even favour boxes).

However, colour-wise the selection of these products was rather limited. I was actually quite surprised at how few colours were represented but I guess the limited variety helps to keep the costs done. We were able to find an invite kit in silver so at least we’re taken care of.

The invite kit we’re looking at is this one (but in silver instead of black) and at $60 for 30 invites, it’s cheaper than custom but not as cheap as a true DIY invite. Still, I have no problems paying a bit more if that means I don’t have to cut or glue anything. Also, Michaels flyers regularly contain 40 percent off one item coupons so we’re going to track down a trio of those coupons and save ourselves a bit of cash.

We also looked at Michaels for centrepiece supplies (we’re thinking of using a bunch of rectangular candles of varying heights on a mirror with maybe tea lights in glass cubes around that) but for the most part the store didn’t quite have what we are looking for and what it did have (the candles) could be bought for cheaper at a candle outlet store.

To be fair, maybe it was just the Michaels that we visited (in the Dixie outlet mall) that was less than packed with great stuff. A quick look on its website does show a nice selection of packaging for favours (though the favours themselves are a bit tacky). Maybe I just need to try another Michaels.

The Wonderful World of Colours

I *think* we’ve settled on our wedding colours. They are black, silver and dark purple. Below is my sad attempt at a colour swatch.

I knew right from the start that I wanted dark purple. I’ve always been partial to that colour and it’s a colour that you can get some lovely flowers in. So that choice was easy. Choosing the other two colours was a bit trickier.

We’re going light on decor (no drapping or elaborate centrepieces) so I wanted to keep our colours simple yet at the same time interesting so I was thinking dark purple, gold (because it’s interesting and could be worked into my outfit) and white (because all the linens will be in white). But the more I thought about this colour combo, the less I liked it.


So then I thought about swapping the gold with a green and maybe even adding some brown in.


Then we paid another visit to our future venue, the Berkeley. It was dressed for a wedding that was using black linens and the Berkeley’s standard silver and black chairs. Shawn loved the black and I agreed that it looked great. The silver chairs, while not in the greatest condition, really suited the venue and matched nicely with the church’s other silver elements, like its tin ceiling. And since silver is my favourite colour, the idea of using it as a wedding colour just made sense.

So as of now the plan is to go with black, silver and dark purple. Not the most traditional of wedding colours but I do think that they’ll look great together.

Wedding By Color

Confession time: I have no design skills. I struggled to put together a simple colour scheme for my bathroom and I’m easily amazed by people who designed their own wedding stuff, like invitations and centerpieces.

I do though know what I like and what I don’t like and if presented with a creation, I have no problems declaring my opinion on it.

Because of this, I’ve been spending a far amount of time on Google Images and Yahoo images, looking up keywords like “purple flowers” and “original centerpieces” (I’m 99.9 percent sure we’re going with dark purple as one of our colours). It was this process that led me to Wedding By Color, a great website packed with design idea to uh, inspire you.

The site is really an online community for brides but what makes it different from other wedding blogging sites is that all the bride blogs are categorized by colour. Pick your colour (your options are: red, orange, blue, green, purple, pink, yellow, brown, black and white) and you’re taken to a list of blogs maintained by brides who are all using that colour in their weddings. Most blogs are packed with pictures of wedding stuff: everything from bridemaids’ dresses to cakes to favours. For an example of one particular pic-heavy blog, check out oldhollywoodbride’s black wedding.

You can also view posts by categories or tags (for example, the “flowers” categories will bring up any blog posts that have been tagged with or categorized as “flowers”) and there is a search let that lets you put in a keyword and the refine the results by colour. I tried this out using “Toronto” as my keyword and it actually did bring up some Toronto brides who were also going with purple (though it did also bring up non-Toronto brides as well).

So if you’re a design-challenged bride like myself, check out Wedding By Color. It’s packed with great ideas and much cheaper than hiring a professional designer!

This Is Wrong… Right?

I love the ocean. I could (and have) spent hours snorkelling amongst coral reefs and one of my favourite activities is scuba diving. A big reason why I love being in the ocean is that it lets me watch and interactive with marine life such as colour fish.

So not surprisingly, the idea of using fish popped into my mind while trying to come up with interesting centrepieces ideas. But that’s wrong…right? I mean, using living animals for decorations? Who could justify that?

Well, it turns out that there are more than a few brides who can justify this practice. They explain that you totally can use fish as centrepieces as long as certain steps are taken (don’t surround the fish with candles for example). And what to do with the fish at the end of the night? Give them away as favours!

Personally, I don’t feel comfortable telling my guests, “Here, take this fish home” and I don’t have enough space at home to keep them once the wedding is over. Can you rent fish? If you could, I guess that would solve that issue.

But there are still plenty of other issues, like noise vibrations and worrying about drunken guests swallowing the fish (something I never thought of until I read this thread). Maybe if your wedding was a small, quiet garden party, you could get away with using fish as centrepieces.

Because they certainly make for stunning centrepieces, much more interesting than flowers. But I don’t think fish centrepieces are right for my wedding.