Two Toronto Weddings on SMP!

In case you haven't seen them, just wanted to let you know that Style Me Pretty recently featurds two Toronto area weddings, both planned by Distinct Occasions. I've listed that vendors in case you are considering them or have hired them! If neither, enjoy the fabulous eye candy anyways!

Venue: Bellvue Manor
Photography: Rowell Photography
Flowers: Rachel A. Clingen

Venue: Miller Lash House
Photography: HRM Photography
Flowers: Rainflower Company
Caterer: Daniel & Daniel
Cake: Allyson Meredith Cakes

The Vancouver Bride is Getting Married!

Congratulations to the Vancouver Bride who is getting married today in gorgeous Whistler, B.C. Have an awesome time!!

p.s. Check out Vancouver Bride's rustic ceremony location.

What is Love?

Patrick + Annie :: Highlight from Blissful Creations on Vimeo.

This is the question Montreal-based videography and photography company, Blissful Creations, posed at Annie and Patrick's wedding. What were the responses? See for yourself in the video posted above! Annie is a former co-worker of mine so this video trailer is especially sweet to me.

The duo behind Blissful Creations is real-life couple, Carla and Jean-Francois. To see more of their work, check out the Blissful Creations blog.

p.s. I couldn't resist showing you a picture of Annie and Patrick's chocolate wedding cake!

via Blissful Creations

Frugal Fridays: Tidbits from the Interwebs

Michaels Coupons

Last Day for This One!!

20% Off at Bath and Body Works
(click on image for coupon)

Not really a Frugal Friday item but wanted to let you know that Canada's Fall Wedding Expo is happening this weekend. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door. For more information, click here.

September 12 & 13, 2009
Toronto Congress Centre South, HALL F
650 Dixon Road, Toronto

And don't forget about the Monique Lhuillier show this weekend!



WHEN?
Friday, September 11th & Saturday, September 12th, 10am-6pm

WHERE?
White Toronto (www.whitetoronto.com)
19 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, ON. M5R 2E1
Tel: 416 849 9196 / info@whitetoronto.com
Call to make an appointment.

To see the latest Monique Lhuillier Bridal collection, visit www.moniquelhuillier.com

The Unbride is Back!!

After a small hiatus, the Unbride is back, and with a brand new site! It's pretty awesome looking, no?


To celebrate her site's re-launch, The Unbride is giving away to one lucky reader a birdcage veil from Castle Bride Couture. Below are some of Castle Bride's veils. To enter, head on over to The Unbride! Plus, you can see which veil The Unbride's alter ego, LA based photographer Justine Ungaro, wore on her big day.

I'm loving the middle one in the bottom row. You?

via The Unbride

Frugal Friday, er, Wednesday

Just a heads up that Listen to Lena! is giving away five pairs of tickets to the Kismet - A South Asian Wedding Affair show. Kismet is the largest and most comprehensive wedding experience for South Asians in North America. The show features over 200 vendors, fashion shows, the 2009 Issue of Kismet Bridal Magazine, free giveaways and more! If you will be in the Toronto area Sunday, September 20th and are interested in going to Kismet (or knows someone who does), head over to Listen to Lena! for more details.


BR is having an awesome online sale right now but it ends 9PM EST! Quick, head over there now!! I was ogling a black dress and a pair of gold flats just this past weekend but decided to hold out for a promotion. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long for the shopping gods to answer my prayers. What do you think of my new Fall purchases? Special thanks to the BF who lets me use him as the clothing mule (I get things shipped to the West coast home and he usually brings them to me). :)

Hope everyone is having a great 9-9-09!

A $5000 Wedding in Toronto - Too Good to Be True?

You may have already seen this Canadian wedding over at A Practical Wedding a couple weeks ago but I couldn't resist asking the bride, Julie, if I could post it here. Julie and Guy are fellow Torontonians and were married on a tight time line (2.5 month engagement -Julie had to keep reassuring friends and family that she was not pregnant, just incredibly excited to be married) and on a tight budget (CDN $5000). I'm not sure which is crazier, the time line or the budget! Here's how Julie and Guy did it............

The Engagement Ring

It all started with this.

via Team Knit

Guy proposed with a knitted engagement ring he knitted himself. Julie is an avid knitter so the ring was just perfect!

The Stationery
Julie and Guy's friend designed their wedding invitations (below) and programmes which incorporated Julie's passion for knitting and Guy's passion for rollerblading. Another friend offered to do the printing while Julie found some budget friendly card stock at a local art supply store. Grand total for paper, envelopes and postage? $131.50.

via Team Knit

The Attire
Julie found her mermaid style wedding dress on preownedweddingdresses.com for $600 including shipping, customs etc. As you might have noticed, Julie and Guy have some talented friends so it's no surprise that Julie and her friend did the gown alterations. Julie DIYed her own headband and purchased her strappy silver sandals from Payless Shoes for $40.

Guy bought his snazzy suit at H&M.

The Flowers
The morning of her wedding, this bride and her two friends visited local flower marts and purchased parrot tulips, blush tulips, wax flowers, Christmas rose and freesia to make her bouquet. Julie's bridesmaids each held a single hydrangea. Julie's DIY Flower Tip: Don't get wrapped up in the flowers you want. Look for flowers that are reasonably priced and fresh on the day of your wedding.

via Team Knit

The Event
Julie and Guy's ceremony and reception were held at the historic George Brown House. Built in the late 1800's, this landmark boasts 15 fireplaces! The couple had a evening ceremony on a Friday.
The couple and their 54 guests feasted on hors d'oeuvres (as opposed to a traditional and costlier sit-down dinner) catered by French restaurant, Bodega. Don't think you can't have open bar at a budget savvy wedding? Think again. Jule and Guy were able to purchase the alcohol ($547.00) and bring it to the venue themselves saving them lots of money. Julie and her maids baked the wedding cupcakes while parents of a friend supplied the top layer cake.

This practical couple enlisted the assistance of their trusty iPod and rented speakers & a microphone which took care of the music for the event. Grant total? $42.00

The Photo Candy
Guy swapped his web design services for the photography services of budding wedding photographer David Addington. Total damage? $0! I love these outdoor shots David got of Julie and Guy.
After the wedding, Julie and Guy turned to Blurb to create their wedding albums. Check out the final product at http://www.blurb.com/books/724010.

So there you have it - how to throw a $5000 (ok, $5,091.51 to be exact) wedding in the Tdot, in a nutshell. For a complete budget breakdown as well as sage advice from this DIY bride, visit Julie's blog, Team Knit. Team Knit is also a great source for all you knitters out there. A big thank you to Julie for allowing me to share her wedding with all of you. I leave you with wedding planning advice from Julie that struck a chord with me.

Remind yourself that this is a party you are throwing to celebrate your marriage and your commitment to each other. This day does NOT define who you are. I honestly think if people spent half as much time thinking about what kind of marriage they want and how they are going to achieve it instead of obsessing over centerpieces/veil/napkin colours, the divorce rate would be nearly zero.

Do you see the knitted engagement ring? Too cute.

*All photos by David Addington unless stated otherwise.

I'm Back!

I am finally on the mend! Not quite 100% but definitely ready to get back in to the swing of things. First, I have to thank you for keeping me sane with all your blogs posts. Being cooped up in the summer can really make one insane. Having TWO people cooped up together with summer colds.....not pretty. And talk about a relationship challenge!! Seriously, if you wondering if you're ready to take the big step in your relationship (be it moving in together, getting engaged, getting married), see if you can endure a week at home sick with each other. Who knew one could bicker with his/her partner over whose turn it was to make the chicken noodle soup? (Not joking.) Anyways, I'm happy to say that both the BF and I are on the mend. Unfortunately, he's already back at our west coast home. Sigh. The ups and downs of LD (long distance) relationships.

I have some interesting posts lined up for you this week, however, before we do that, let's get down to business. The start of September also marks the beginning of the 'Fall 2009 wedding collection' season which means promotions and trunk shows galore! To all those brides who became engaged over the summer - take note, now's the time to save!

• First up is the Coren Moore Fall promotion at Sash & Bustle. As Toronto anxiously awaits the 'official' opening of this modern bridal boutique, bridesmaids can get a head start on their dresses buying by taking advantage of this promotion today!

• Bridesmaids in love with the elegance of Jenny Yoo can save 10% on group orders.

*If you live in Calgary or Vancouver, check out Frocks to see the latest from Jenny Yoo.
*If you live in Toronto, check out White Toronto.
*To find a location near you, click here.

• Ritche Bridal in Toronto will be hosting a Jim Hjelm Occasions trunk show. Special pricing will be offered during the trunk show.

• Reem Acra 2010 Bridal Trunk Show - White Toronto

via Reem Acra

WHEN?
Friday, September 18th & Saturday, September 19th

WHERE?
White Toronto (www.whitetoronto.com)
19 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, ON. M5R 2E1
Tel: 416 849 9196 / info@whitetoronto.com
Call to make an appointment. Space is limited.

To see the latest Reem Acra collection, visit www.reemacra.com.

• Jenny Packham Spring 2010 Bridal Trunk Show - White Toronto
  

via Jenny Packham

WHEN?
Friday, September 25th & Saturday, September 26th

WHERE?
White Toronto (www.whitetoronto.com)
19 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, ON. M5R 2E1
Tel: 416 849 9196 / info@whitetoronto.com
Call to make an appointment. Space is limited.

To see the latest Jenny Packham collection, visit www.jennypackham.com.

• Watters Bridal Trunk Show - Veronica Di Santo Atelier (Woodbridge, ON)

via Watters

WHEN?
Friday, September 25th & Saturday, September 26th

WHERE?
Veronica Di Santo Atelier - www.veronicadisanto.com
4040 Steeles Ave West
Suites 14 & 15
Woodbridge
905.264.5518
email: info@veronicadisanto.com.
*FYI -Veronica is the daughter of famous bridal designer Ines Di Santo.

To see more from the Watters collection, visit www.watters.com.

The Alternative Bride Gets Hitched!

Dawn, aka The Alternative Bride, is getting married this weekend! I want to wish her and her lovely wife J. a wonderful and happy wedding! As you may recall Dawn officially tied the knot back in June in CT since same sex marriages that occur in the NY state are not yet recognized (but out of state marriages are). Hopefully one day soon, same sex couples can marry in NY state. Much happiness to you both!!! Congratulations!

Still Sick.....

Apparently my cold is clinging onto my immune system for dear life since I'm now in my second week of being sick. Ew. Gross. As you can imagine, I've been feeling plenty sorry for myself. Lucky for me, my lovely cousin D sent me this gorgeous vase of flowers as a belated birthday greeting. Isn't she the best? You can't see it from the picture, but there's a gorgeous sunflower in there. Totally brightened up my day.

I have to say I miss blogging. Who would have thought? Oh, and thanks for keeping me amused with your blog entries while I've been lying on my bed, my couch etc. It's kept me sane.