And the Winners Are........

CONGRATULATIONS to......

EbonStarr
"My favourite project so far was the veil,
which I made with pink satin edging to match the dress.

Kim
"We are getting married in June 2010 and the whole wedding is pretty much DIY. Our invitations were all handmade by myself and mother in law to be. Our center pieces are all handmade, right down to the embossed labels wrapped around the candles for the center pieces. We are even having the bridesmaids dresses handmade by my mother in law to be...she's pretty amazing. I tell people that the day I got engaged I gained a fiance, a beautiful ring and a wedding planner LOL"

BEL (And Stanley Makes Three)
"We're going to do a lot of DIY - I hope! Invites, programs, menus, wine labels, purses for my girls, gifts for our parents, etc.!"

If the winners could email me, theprofessionalbridesmaid@gmail.com, then I can put you in touch with JessReads who will mail your prizes. A huge thank you to Jess for sponsoring this contest! Be sure to follow Jess on Twitter.


If you're interested in purchasing The DIY Bride: The Crafty Countdown for yourself or for a friend, you can purchase it from my favourite bookstores/sites:

For those are you heading to Chapters.Indigo, click here for a 25% off coupon!

My Former Bridesmaid Dress.

Are you done your shopping? Did your survive the snowstorm (those of you in NE U.S.)? Regardless of whether you were basking in the west coast sun (I'm jealous) or snowbound, I hope you all had a good and productive weekend! I spent mine turning one of my bridesmaids dresses into this lovely tutu-esque skirt for my friend's daughter. Cute, non? I can't wait to give it to her for Christmas - which is just an only 5 sleeps away! What have you done with your ex-bridesmaid gowns?

I will announce the winners of The Crafty Countdown giveaway later today!

Hurry....Enter The DIY Bride Book Giveaway!!

Just a few more hours.....http://neverabridezilla.blogspot.com/2009/12/crafty-countdown-giveaway.html. Enter now!!!

The Crafty Countdown Giveaway

My good blog/twitter friend JessReads has 3 copies of The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown to give away to my readers. For those of you who already have The DIY Bride's first book, this book provides 40 more DIY projects to make for your big day!


Unfortunately, JessReads can only ship to Canadian mailing addresses. So if you're outside of Canada, you'll have to head to your nearest bookstore or Amazon (I'm partial to Amazon!) to buy a copy. Or borrow a fellow Canuck's address to enter the giveaway! Not a bride? Why not gift it to the bride(s) in your life for Christmas!

Here are the deets:

1) Leave a comment here telling me what you plan on DIYing for you big day. (For those of you not getting married, let me know what your next DIY project is!)

2) For an additional entry, either blog, Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway. Be sure to leave the relevant link to your blog, Tweet or Facebook.

3) Maximum 2 entries per person. Contest ends Sunday, December 20 at 11:59PM EST.

4) I'll announce the 3 winners on the following Monday. Approx. value of each book is CDN $21.95

5) Open to those with a Canadian shipping address only!

If you're not familiar with The DIY Bride, check out her website.

For those of you who love curling up with a good book, I highly recommend following JessReads. She always has the latest and greatest reads! Thanks Jess for making this giveaway possible!

DIY Birthday Gifts

My lovely friend Christine's birthday is this week and a bunch of us decided to celebrate last Friday night. The night started here and ended here. ;)

Both S. and I decided to make Christine's BD gifts (something I've never done).

This is S's creation. Gorgeous, non? The keyholes were purchased from an antique market in Milan. To see some of S's other creations, click here.

This is my creation....a lovely feather hair clip. (I'm just happy you can't see the glue!!). I bought the feathers from Sussman's Bridal Supplies on Queen Street and the gold button from macFAB.

Worried that Christine would pretend to like my clip and then put away it in a drawer, I also bought her Nina Garcia's latest book, The Style Strategy. Have you've read it yet? I just bought myself a copy and awaiting its arrival!

What was your latest DIY project? Did it turn out?

To Christine - Hope you have a fabulous birthday week!

Judging a Book by its Cover.

As you may know, my friend C. just got engaged last month on her birthday. I was originally going to get her a comfy bathrobe, as requested by her (after 16 years of friendship, we've taken to asking what each other wants...much easier); however, I decided I wanted to get her a wedding planning book before she embarked on her adventure down the aisle.

Believe it or not, I, the Professional Bridesmaid, have never picked up a wedding planing book. Never needed it (obviously) and never thought of buying one for one of 'my' brides. So this was all uncharted territory for me.

I decided to do a little online research before I headed to the book store. Ideally, I wanted a book with lots of eye candy but still provided practical advice and guidelines (with room for interpretation for C.) on planning a wedding. I went over to Amazon as I find their customer reviews are usually plentiful and helpful.

I'm not going to lie. I judged each book by its cover. How can you not judge a wedding book by its cover!!?? Hands down, the Colin Cowie's Wedding Chic won on the looks factor. You just know there's a ton of photo candy in there. Plus all of the customer reviews were positive. The Amazon description provides that Colin Cowie "is by your side every step of the way." I also like that fact that it was only published last December.

Next up is Martha Stewart's Keepsake Wedding Planner. This is a true wedding planner - it's a 3 ring binder with lists, timelines, guidelines, diagrams, pockets to hold business cards, fabric swatches...i.e. it's the bride's bible. Pro - Likely super useful. Con - It was published in 2003, and C. is not a Martha Stewart kind of girl (she's more contemporary).

Written by Elizabeth & Alex Lluch, this 3 ring binder/book is also a bride's organizer. The Complete Wedding Planner & Organizer was rated highly amongst Amazon customers and it seems to be a great start for those brides who have little or no knowledge about weddings (I guess this wouldn't be for me when I'm a bride?). One customers said she really valued the list of questions to ask vendors.


Cute cover no? So not C. but trying not to judge. ;) Tying the Knot, is another 3 ring binder style book with mostly positive reviews. However, most of the reviews commented on how it was a good organizer (e.g had pockets for receipts, checklists) more than anything. This book seems to be missing the photo candy I think C. would enjoy.

Don't shoot me when I say this but I find The Knot a little too 'cookie cutter' for me. I do appreciate the real weddings sections of the site and I think their 'knottie bio' feature is awesome but other not really my style. So as you can see, I'm a little biased. I took a peek inside over at Amazon as the 'click to look inside' feature was available for this book. The table of contents provided a detailed breakdown of the wedding planning process (but wouldn't this all be on the knot.com anyways?) which is helpful. The book also contains tories of real weddings. A big con - no good photo candy (the pictures were in black and white).

Is the title an oxymoron? I mean, come on, does easy wedding planning really exist? Hmm. I'm intrigued. Easy Wedding Planing Plus boasts "302 pages of wedding etiquette, worksheets, checklists, budget analysis and money-making tips." This is the 7th edition of the Easy Wedding Planning series. Since it was just published in June, there aren't a lot of reviews on it. I think I'll have to take a closer look in the book store.


Any thoughts on which one I should buy? Based on my internet research, I'm leaning towards the Colin Cowie book as it fits my criteria. I'll see how the other books fare in person. Did you buy any planning books for you big day? Which one did you buy? Were they useful? Let me know!

Weekend Lowdown

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to have a 'ME' weekend. It started with an hour massage which I SO needed. I didn't realize how much I needed one until afterword, I noticed that my shoulders weren't up by my ears. My company benefits cover massages so I didn't have to worry about the cost. Thank you employer! If you live in Toronto, go to the Adelaide Club Spa and ask for Cindy. It's a bit of a no-frills massage (i.e. no fancy robes and slippers) but Cindy works wonders and the prices are very reasonable.

After my massage, I hit up the newest arrival on the café scene in Toronto, Petite Thuet. This is the latest venture for Chef Marc Thuet and his wife Bianca Zorich. The mini cafe is filled with lovely French pastries and savoury items like sandwiches, soups and salads. I noshed on a veggie pizza made on a croissant-like crust and a latte. Delice!

I was drooling over the macaroons but was too full to have one.

After my petite déjeuner, I had a facial and pedicure at Beauty Buzz Studio, which is right by the famous King Edward Hotel. I don't have facials on a regular basis but I'm starting to think I should - my face felt so smooth and refreshed after I came out. (The next day is always a different story, as you're a bit red from the extractions and the pre-facial hidden zits come out to play - thankfully this passes within a couple of days. Keep that in mind if you're having a facial before a special occasion.) After my facial, I relaxed in a massage chair and had my feet pampered. I haven't had a pedicure in so long. Let's just say, the beautician had her work cut out for her. Have you seen these new disposable foot files that salons are now using? Check it out.

source

The file part just peels off. Cool and sanitary! I think I may need to buy this for myself instead of purchasing a new foot file every several months.
The rest of the weekend I spent cleaning, watching really bad reality TV and reading. I'm on the second book of the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series by Charlaine Harris(which "True Blood" is based upon). Such a good read.

via Amazon

Finally, I just want to say that today is my blog-a-versary! A year ago, I started this blog partly due to me wanting to delve into creative writing again, and partly due to me being exasperated from the trials and tribulations of being in 5 weddings (after August, I'll have 7 under my belt). Over the last year in the blog-o-sphere, I've learned that weddings come in all shapes and sizes, you can totally buck tradition, and as a "professional bridesmaid", I can (need to) pass along your sage advice to "my" brides. A lot of "my" brides have been very overwhelmed and stressed out by the planning process and I think it's because they weren't aware of the many resources/support (especially blogs) available to them. Lucky for them, once they're married, it's over for them. For "professional bridesmaids", it's an ongoing process. ;) Anyways, thanks for reading and supporting my blog. You've all given me great ideas to become a better "professional bridesmaid" and I hope I've been able to provide you some helpful advice in return, and some pretty pictures too drool over.
Ok, enough of the mushy stuff. Have a great day!

If you want to check out my first post, click here.

Harry Madness!!

Are you a fan? Did you see it? I saw it last Wednesday and loved it! It inspired me to read the last book again.

Speaking of which, how cute is this engagement photo that Susan from en pointe Photography took of Anna & Alan?


FYI - The books Anna & Alan are holding have the American artwork. Below are the UK & Canadian versions. Pretty different no? The different artwork is due to the Harry having different publishers in different countries.

Hope you're having a good Sunday.

Coming Soon.............

..the movie adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife. Have you seen the trailer? I have to say I'm pretty excited (ok, maybe I teared up a little when I saw the trailer). The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favourite books - a love story that isn't (too) cheesy. There are very few book adaptation movies that I have enjoyed watching. I hope this doesn't disappoint! Haven't read it? You MUST. The movie comes out August 14th.

Love The One You're With

As I get older, I find that it's getting harder to find time for leisure reading (and when I do I fall asleep after a few paragraphs!). I can't even remember that last book I read! So my guilty pleasure is chick lit. Chick lit books are an easy read and often times, it's a divergence into someone else's life, the best escape from reality. Although it was published last year, I picked up Emily Griffin's Love The One You're With just last week. The main chick in this story, Ellen, is at the 'crosswords of true love and real life' -- translation: she rus into the boy who 'got away' and now questions if her husband is 'the one.' Come on, how JUICY, is that?! I know, I know...I really need a better reading list. However, if you're ever in the mood for an easy-breezy, gossip-like read (especially when you're slightly hungover from the night before and do not want to attack your chores).....check it out.

p.s. To those of you south of the border, your Amazon rocks. Amazon.ca just sells books, DVDs, CDs, some electronics. i.e. no clothes, jewelery, shoes.

Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie

I love the Confessions of a Shopaholic books. They're a quick, smutty read (perfect for the beach) and Becky Bloomwood makes me laugh! So why am I feeling lukewarm about the movie? Maybe because part of Becky's charm is that she's British and her somewhat tacky remarks seem funnier when said in British slang (the movie is based in NYC and Becky is American)? Or maybe I really enjoyed reading about the fashion haunts in London. And if there is sequel to the movie -- how are they going to capture "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan"? Anyways, should be interesting to see/hear the reviews especially since there are so many loyal Shopaholic fans. I personally prefer the movie was true to the books but hey, I won't (fully) judge until I've seen the movie. Are you going to see the movie?