This has proved to be very beneficial for me. In my program there are three of us in the same class all getting married within a four month time period, we are all on strict budgets, we are all have moderate to large wedding, so the thought occurred to us, why are we all buying similar items at full price. If you can learn to trust other people and not be super picky about details that most people will not remember about your big day, this next bit is an ingenious idea.
The three of us have decided to go splits on certain items ie. White Lights, Tulle, Possibly Vases etc. Through being just a little flexible we are going to be saving ourselves a ton of money. Figure out who in your life is getting married and if its not possible to do like we did, offer to buy some of their stuff off of them after the wedding so as to save money. For instance I bought 15 pew markers off of another girl in my class who got married last summer for 20 bucks. I'll probably have to put like 20 more dollars into them to make them my colours etc, however, it would have cost me a couple hundred to make them myself.
Most importantly scour Kijiji for wedding items. They usually have tons of brides reselling their decorations on there. My entire wedding will be from Kijiji and the dollar store essentially and I'm not ashamed to admit it because it is still going to be stunning.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
What I Learned From The Jack and Jill
It has been over a week since the Jack and Jill happened and it was a great time. Apart from getting to spend time with friends and family, making some money, getting a little on the rowdy drunk side and dancing up a storm, we learned some valuable lessons that we will take with us into the wedding week.
The first is that there will be a lot of little costs here and there that you wont think about that will add up quickly. For instance, meals, liquor, float money, decorations that you forgot ex. extension chords, white lights etc. We ended up spending a lot of money that weekend that we hadn't banked on.
As a couple you need to let people figure their own life out. I went into overprotective mode for this event for some reason and decided to essentially book all of the hotel rooms, I organized all of the drives even though other people had offered to do it. I think I did it this time because it wasn't the wedding so I wanted to make things as easy on everyone else as humanly possible, but I definitely wont be taking that on for the wedding!
More hands make less work? True but it also can cause more stress. There were about 20 people there during decorating time and while I appreciated everyone taking the time to come help it was about 10 people too many. 20 people means 20 different opinions, it means 20 people looking at you for a task to do. It was just too overwhelming for that day. With that said, the more men the merrier! Morris was probably my best help because he just stood beside me with a roll of tape the whole time. That's the great thing about men and weddings; they are just so overwhelmed by the idea of it, that they need a ton of direction and if they dont get direction they will continue to do their original job for the entire time. Women on the other hand will be working on a project, get bored and then find something else to do lol.
Only your opinion matters. (EVERY BRIDE MUST READ THIS) This is where you need to turn a little into bridezilla. Some people will think they know what's best for your wedding, they don't. This is going to come off bitchy but I'm not in the business of buttering people up, this isn't the sugar coated guide to planning a wedding, I want it to be real; if an opinion on something wasn't asked for, chances are I didn't want to hear it. That doesn't mean I was walking around like a dictator, I asked for a lot of opinions that day and was happy to hear them when I asked. Giving opinions that countered mine when not asked for, made me frustrated, because it made me second guess something I decided on. If I decided on something, it's because it was what I wanted, not what someone else might have done. I'm lucky because 99% of the time I genuinely dont give two shits about what other people think about my wedding and that's because I am not a pushover. The truth of the matter is I have more event planning experience than anyone else invited to my wedding (except maybe Craig and I am always open to his opinion) and I'm not ashamed to say that i'm a FANTASTIC event planner. But there are a lot of pushover people like that out there especially when it comes to friends and family. If you are grown up enough to be getting married then you should be ready to put your big girl pants on and learn to say no to people.
On a higher note, I had a ton of fun at my Jack and Jill and from what I remember, most people seemed to have a great time. Here are some photos from the event:
The first is that there will be a lot of little costs here and there that you wont think about that will add up quickly. For instance, meals, liquor, float money, decorations that you forgot ex. extension chords, white lights etc. We ended up spending a lot of money that weekend that we hadn't banked on.
As a couple you need to let people figure their own life out. I went into overprotective mode for this event for some reason and decided to essentially book all of the hotel rooms, I organized all of the drives even though other people had offered to do it. I think I did it this time because it wasn't the wedding so I wanted to make things as easy on everyone else as humanly possible, but I definitely wont be taking that on for the wedding!
More hands make less work? True but it also can cause more stress. There were about 20 people there during decorating time and while I appreciated everyone taking the time to come help it was about 10 people too many. 20 people means 20 different opinions, it means 20 people looking at you for a task to do. It was just too overwhelming for that day. With that said, the more men the merrier! Morris was probably my best help because he just stood beside me with a roll of tape the whole time. That's the great thing about men and weddings; they are just so overwhelmed by the idea of it, that they need a ton of direction and if they dont get direction they will continue to do their original job for the entire time. Women on the other hand will be working on a project, get bored and then find something else to do lol.
Only your opinion matters. (EVERY BRIDE MUST READ THIS) This is where you need to turn a little into bridezilla. Some people will think they know what's best for your wedding, they don't. This is going to come off bitchy but I'm not in the business of buttering people up, this isn't the sugar coated guide to planning a wedding, I want it to be real; if an opinion on something wasn't asked for, chances are I didn't want to hear it. That doesn't mean I was walking around like a dictator, I asked for a lot of opinions that day and was happy to hear them when I asked. Giving opinions that countered mine when not asked for, made me frustrated, because it made me second guess something I decided on. If I decided on something, it's because it was what I wanted, not what someone else might have done. I'm lucky because 99% of the time I genuinely dont give two shits about what other people think about my wedding and that's because I am not a pushover. The truth of the matter is I have more event planning experience than anyone else invited to my wedding (except maybe Craig and I am always open to his opinion) and I'm not ashamed to say that i'm a FANTASTIC event planner. But there are a lot of pushover people like that out there especially when it comes to friends and family. If you are grown up enough to be getting married then you should be ready to put your big girl pants on and learn to say no to people.
On a higher note, I had a ton of fun at my Jack and Jill and from what I remember, most people seemed to have a great time. Here are some photos from the event:
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
My Favorite Websites
Wedding websites are becoming a popular part of wedding planning. I've navigated my way through many of the popular websites today and I am here to share my thoughts on a few of them that you may stumble upon when working on your wedding. I'm going to divide them into Create Your Own Wedding Website and just Wedding Websites.
Wedding Websites:
So these are where you can find wedding products, ideas etc. Some of the create your own wedding websites offer products and ideas, as well and I will mention them in their section. Here are my favorite product and ideas websites:
1. davidsbridal.ca- I put David's Bridal first because it is a very reliable, well-known website that is essentially a one stop shop for everything wedding. Hell, you could even buy your dress online if you wanted to. They have hundreds of bridesmaid dresses, accessories, items for the ceremony and reception, invitations and other stationary-- THEY HAVE EVERYTHING. They also ship to Canada, which I've learned is sort of rare with these websites.
2. Etsy.com- Etsy is my favorite. It is like an online marketplace where vendors can promote their handmade (usually vintage inspired) items. They have headpieces, jewelry, art, clothing but they have GREAT wedding items. I'm buying all of my jewelry, my headpiece, one of my bridesmaid gifts and probably many more things from Etsy. The only thing about Etsy is that each thing you buy is from a vendor, so you are paying that specific vendor to ship something, if you buy multiple things from multiple vendors, you wil end up paying multiple shipping costs.
3. recycledbride.com- If you are on an extremely strict budget and dont mind second hand items, this website is heavenly. It is all brides reselling their wedding decor and clothing. In some cases you can buy brand new never worn wedding dresses at a fraction of the cost because the brides had a change of heart. It is a pretty good site and even better if you are looking to make some money after your wedding
Obviously there are many more websites for wedding products, these are just three of my favorites.
Now onto create your own wedding websites:
Josh and I decided to use a wedding website because it saves us money, it is more organized and just easier than receiving hundreds of response cards. With that said, when it comes to elderly guests, they will get a response card in their invitation mail out.
1. mywedding.com- This was the first wedding website creator I tried and it was probably the next best thing to the one I went with. It has a lot of options with your website, it has a budget creator, inspiration pages, a blog option etc. However, the layout is slightly annoying to navigate and some of the options are slow at processing. So I opted to search for something else.
2. weddingbells.ca- I looked into this website because it is Canadian, but quickly found out that this is the only convenient thing about this website. It was horrendously slow, had an outdated look, not as many website or inspiration options. I was extremely frustrated when I was trying to make a website on this page so I quit while I was ahead.
3. theknot.com- This is what I ended up going with. The Knot offers great wedding inspirations and ideas, an amazing budget tool, great website options, seating chart creators, checklists, guest list creators. It has been an amazing tool and guests are able to RSVP on that website and it is sent directly to my email and phone plus kept on the website to keep everything organized. I'm still working on our wedding website, but feel free to check out the draft: king-stewart.ourwedding.com
The only disadvantage that I have found is that the knot online wedding shop (which is amazing by the way) wont ship to Canada, I had a number of things picked out and when I went to purchase I wasn't allowed to, so that was frustrating, but other than that I've had nothing but a positive experience.
Wedding Websites:
So these are where you can find wedding products, ideas etc. Some of the create your own wedding websites offer products and ideas, as well and I will mention them in their section. Here are my favorite product and ideas websites:
1. davidsbridal.ca- I put David's Bridal first because it is a very reliable, well-known website that is essentially a one stop shop for everything wedding. Hell, you could even buy your dress online if you wanted to. They have hundreds of bridesmaid dresses, accessories, items for the ceremony and reception, invitations and other stationary-- THEY HAVE EVERYTHING. They also ship to Canada, which I've learned is sort of rare with these websites.
2. Etsy.com- Etsy is my favorite. It is like an online marketplace where vendors can promote their handmade (usually vintage inspired) items. They have headpieces, jewelry, art, clothing but they have GREAT wedding items. I'm buying all of my jewelry, my headpiece, one of my bridesmaid gifts and probably many more things from Etsy. The only thing about Etsy is that each thing you buy is from a vendor, so you are paying that specific vendor to ship something, if you buy multiple things from multiple vendors, you wil end up paying multiple shipping costs.
3. recycledbride.com- If you are on an extremely strict budget and dont mind second hand items, this website is heavenly. It is all brides reselling their wedding decor and clothing. In some cases you can buy brand new never worn wedding dresses at a fraction of the cost because the brides had a change of heart. It is a pretty good site and even better if you are looking to make some money after your wedding
Obviously there are many more websites for wedding products, these are just three of my favorites.
Now onto create your own wedding websites:
Josh and I decided to use a wedding website because it saves us money, it is more organized and just easier than receiving hundreds of response cards. With that said, when it comes to elderly guests, they will get a response card in their invitation mail out.
1. mywedding.com- This was the first wedding website creator I tried and it was probably the next best thing to the one I went with. It has a lot of options with your website, it has a budget creator, inspiration pages, a blog option etc. However, the layout is slightly annoying to navigate and some of the options are slow at processing. So I opted to search for something else.
2. weddingbells.ca- I looked into this website because it is Canadian, but quickly found out that this is the only convenient thing about this website. It was horrendously slow, had an outdated look, not as many website or inspiration options. I was extremely frustrated when I was trying to make a website on this page so I quit while I was ahead.
3. theknot.com- This is what I ended up going with. The Knot offers great wedding inspirations and ideas, an amazing budget tool, great website options, seating chart creators, checklists, guest list creators. It has been an amazing tool and guests are able to RSVP on that website and it is sent directly to my email and phone plus kept on the website to keep everything organized. I'm still working on our wedding website, but feel free to check out the draft: king-stewart.ourwedding.com
The only disadvantage that I have found is that the knot online wedding shop (which is amazing by the way) wont ship to Canada, I had a number of things picked out and when I went to purchase I wasn't allowed to, so that was frustrating, but other than that I've had nothing but a positive experience.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Wedding Shoes
Some days are just fun, like the day you buy you're wedding shoes. I decided to go shiny because everything else will be pretty laid back and I need to shine!
Also my dress came in and it fits, with even a little bit of wiggle room HOORAY!
Music, Music, Music!
I have an extremely strong opinion about my wedding music and other people's wedding music I just choose not to share those views with them because, to each their own. This is the only subject that I become Bridezilla on... so far. I will say it now, there will be no requests at my wedding or Jack and Jill, i've heard too much shitty music at other weddings to want to hear it at my own (yes I am a bitter bitch on the subject). One thing that bothers me is when I see grandparents at a wedding watching the younger people grind to Usher on the dance floor, I think there is a place for that and its not at an event with all ages, but again people should have whatever they want at their own wedding.
Planning the music for the Jack and Jill, which is coming up in three weeks has been the absolute most fun part of wedding planning to date. I've put A LOT of thought into the music, there is no new crappy music in the playlist, it is all classic "fire hall" music with a celtic, Cape Breton flare. Having a father who plays in the band and being brought up looking at set lists, I have a pretty good eye for which songs work and dont work and the order songs should be put in. People who are new to planning set lists typically put WAY too many waltzes in their lineup there should only be 5-6 waltzes in a dance.
It is important to me that this is a party for everyone, old, young and in between. I chose songs that are classics, from a variety of genres, that are easy to dance to.
Here is the draft of the set list (The #s are off and the highlighted ones are the waltzes, feel free to steal this for your own needs):
Planning the music for the Jack and Jill, which is coming up in three weeks has been the absolute most fun part of wedding planning to date. I've put A LOT of thought into the music, there is no new crappy music in the playlist, it is all classic "fire hall" music with a celtic, Cape Breton flare. Having a father who plays in the band and being brought up looking at set lists, I have a pretty good eye for which songs work and dont work and the order songs should be put in. People who are new to planning set lists typically put WAY too many waltzes in their lineup there should only be 5-6 waltzes in a dance.
It is important to me that this is a party for everyone, old, young and in between. I chose songs that are classics, from a variety of genres, that are easy to dance to.
Here is the draft of the set list (The #s are off and the highlighted ones are the waltzes, feel free to steal this for your own needs):
1. Some Kind
of Wonderful- Grand Funk Railroad
2. Long
Train Running Doobie Brothers
3. My Own
Way To Rock- Burton Cummings
4. My
Sharona- The Knack
5. Pocket Full of Gold- Vince Gill
6. Brown
Eyed Girl- Van Morrison
7. Here for
A Good Time- Trooper
6. Only The Good Die Young- Billy Joel
7. Keep your
Hands To Yourself- Georgia Satellites
8. Spirit in
The Sky- Dr. Hook
9. Johnny Be
Good- Chuck Berry
10. Taking
Care of Business- BTO
11. Doin It
Right- Powder Blues Band
12. Shakey
Ground- Delbert McClinton
13. Rock and
Roll is King- ELO
13. Better Be Home Soon- Crowded House
14. Movin’
On – Rankin Family
15. Rock
This Town- Stray Cats
16. Lager
and Ale- Kim Mitchell
17. You May
Be Right- Billy Joel
18. Sharp
Dressed Man- ZZ Top
19. Brick
House- The Commodores
20. Magic
Carpet Ride- Steppenwolf
20. Black or
White- Michael Jackson (short version)
21. I Want
You Back- Jackson 5
22. Kiss-
Prince
23. Summer
of 69- Bryan Adams
24. Look at Us- Vince Gill
25. Fat
Bottom Girls- Queen
26. Old Black Rum- Great Big Sea
27. Heave Away- Fables
27. Sold-
John Michael Montgomery
28. Boot
Scootin Boogie- Brooks and Dunn
28.
Chattahoochie- Alan Jackson
29. Twist
and Shout- Beatles
30. Aint Too
Proud To Beg- Temptations
31. Don’t
Bring Me Down- Electrolight Orchestra
32. You Make
My Dreams Come True- Hall and Oates
33. I wish-
Stevie Wonder
34. The Way
You Make Me Feel- Michael Jackson
35. Make You Feel My Love- Adele
36.
Footloose- Kenny Loggins
37. Oh What
A Night- Four Seasons
38. Play
That Funky Music- Wild Cherry
39. Superstition-
Stevie Wonder
39. Hurt So
Good- John Cougar Mellancamp
40. Mony
Mony- Billy Joel
40. Born to
Be Wild- Steppenwolf
40. Tush- ZZ
Top
41. Pour
Some Sugar on Me- Def Leppard
41. Night that Patty Murphy Died- Great Big
Sea
41. 500
miles- The Proclaimers
42. Home For
A Rest- Spirit of the West
43. Shook Me
All Night Long- ACDC
44. Crazy- Aerosmith
44.
Authority Song- John Cougar Mellancamp
45. Old Time
Rock and Roll- Bob Seger
46. Callin’
Baton Rouge- Garth Brooks
47. SHOUT-
Isley Brothers
48. You Feel
The Same Way Too- Rankin Family
49. Mull
River Shuffle- Rankin Family
50. Friends in Low Places- Garth Brooks
Bouquets
Another great tip for all you brides to be: BE FLEXIBLE. One of my bridesmaids and I were going to Michaels just to get ideas about flowers and there was a great sale on so we bought all of the flowers for my bouquets (please see previous post on my extreme hatred for real flowers). A real bridal bouquet typically can range anywhere from $100-400 (ridonculous), I got all of the flowers for 6 bridesmaid bouquets and my huge bouquet for less than $200.00 so I saved a butt load of money! We got really eager and decided to make the bouquets that day as well, here is my cheap DIY Bridal Bouquet:
Engagement Photos
I know I've been slacking but it has been a crazy month. This was a treat, to say the very least. On our last trip to Cape Breton, Josh and I, along with our extremely talented photographer Shoshanna Fraser decided to do a little engagement shoot. People seem to have varying opinions on engagement photos and I can understand the hesitation if you are paying a lot of money or dont particularly enjoy having your photos taken, but Shoshanna recommends it and now I definitely recommend it. Having professional photos taken at a location other than Walmart or Superstore can be slightly intimidating, of course, if you have the model personality that I do it is a breeze (jokes).
It is, in all honesty, slightly awkward at first trying to not look posed while posing and I'm happy that we got that awkwardness out of the way before our wedding photos. It is a great way to get that lucky man used to having a camera all up in his grill too, because Josh was certainly not prepared and was certainly not a fan, as most straight men of the world are not. It was nice for us to get together with our photographer in a more relaxed setting than what I would imagine our wedding day will be like and tell her what angles we like, dont like, which photos we are pros at and which ones we suck at. It helped us and Shoshanna get more comfortable with each other, understand how she works and we learned quickly that she's the best. Having a photographer that you can have fun with, I realized very quickly, is so important for the photos not turning out posed; all of the smiles and laughing photos were genuine because I was either laughing at Josh or laughing at the fact that Shoshanna swears just as much as ... well ... Josh and I.
The results are simply the best; we have gorgeous photos of us in our normal clothes in a beautiful setting that we can treasure forever and it got us very excited (Josh slightly less than myself) for our wedding photos.
Here is the link to Shoshanna's Website: http://www.sfraserphoto.com/ and you can find her photography group on facebook by searching Shoshanna Fraser Photography. She is the BOMB.
It is, in all honesty, slightly awkward at first trying to not look posed while posing and I'm happy that we got that awkwardness out of the way before our wedding photos. It is a great way to get that lucky man used to having a camera all up in his grill too, because Josh was certainly not prepared and was certainly not a fan, as most straight men of the world are not. It was nice for us to get together with our photographer in a more relaxed setting than what I would imagine our wedding day will be like and tell her what angles we like, dont like, which photos we are pros at and which ones we suck at. It helped us and Shoshanna get more comfortable with each other, understand how she works and we learned quickly that she's the best. Having a photographer that you can have fun with, I realized very quickly, is so important for the photos not turning out posed; all of the smiles and laughing photos were genuine because I was either laughing at Josh or laughing at the fact that Shoshanna swears just as much as ... well ... Josh and I.
The results are simply the best; we have gorgeous photos of us in our normal clothes in a beautiful setting that we can treasure forever and it got us very excited (Josh slightly less than myself) for our wedding photos.
Here is the link to Shoshanna's Website: http://www.sfraserphoto.com/ and you can find her photography group on facebook by searching Shoshanna Fraser Photography. She is the BOMB.
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