2016 Bridesmaids Dresses
by Alisha Chadee
Let’s face it, being a bridesmaid is fun! You get to look fabulous and play an integral role in the lives of your dearest friends on the happiest day of their lives! Cheers to that! The playing an integral role part is fairly obvious, so I won’t get into that right now. Instead, let’s focus on the fabulous part! We love stylish bridal parties, so without further adieu, here are our picks for our favourite..2016 bridesmaids dresses
2016 Bridesmaids Dresses!
Our brides know that we are always here to help, and this is no exception. We want you to be on trend and looking your best. We’ve done the legwork and compiled what we think are the best glam, trendy styles that your bridal party will go nuts for! 2016 bridesmaids dresses
Sweet Separates
Gone are the days when bridesmaids had to wear single toned, single fabric gowns. I’m loving the trend of separate tops and bottoms that we’re seeing everywhere this year! We are so hoping that one of our more daring brides will embrace this gorgeous style!
Cleo top and Louise skirt – perfect combination for a whimsical summer wedding
Glam Sequins
I am a glitter queen! I live for anything glitz and shimmery! I don’t think there was anyone on earth happier than I was when glittery sequins began to play a huge part of trends for 2016 bridesmaids dresses. Even the most modest bridesmaids will feel fine and fab in a sequin gown! I particularly enjoy these dresses in metallics and nude shades. 2016 bridesmaids dresses
Gorgeous sequined bridesmaids dresses in blush with white bouquets. Fab photo by Amy & Jordan of Omni Montelucia.
Flutter Sleeves
Flutter sleeves are so elegant and whimsical, and as our name implies, we like whimsy! These sweet dresses come in many cuts and styles. Personally, I like the A-lines with slits. Cute, and a little saucy. Much like myself.
Gorgeous Jenny Yoo bridesmaids dress with flutter sleeves. So elegant!
We hope you enjoyed our picks for the prettiest 2016 bridesmaids dresses! We want to hear your favourite picks, too, so leave us a comment and let us know if we missed your favourite!
We want to hear about your ideas for styling your lovely ladies, and all about your wedding, too! Contact us today to get started on your initial meeting with our team!
xoxo,
- Published in 2016, Wedding, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps
WPIC Course – A Review by Rachel!
Meet Rachel.. our FAB wedding and event coordinator!
Today on the blog, Michelle and I wanted to give you a very belated formal introduction to our amazing newest team member, Rachel! Rachel has assisted us with events since this past wedding season, and we are so excited to share more about her journey into weddings and events! She’s started off the right way by…
Taking the WPIC Course!
Read more about Rachel’s journey, in her own words, into the Toronto events scene below!
“This past weekend marked a very important one for me for a variety of reasons. Just so you lovely readers have an idea of who I am, I am a graduate of theatre studies where I completed a four year program. Yes—my first love entailed acting and appearing on stages. I do believe that my innate ability to entertain crowds will never be a lost trait. However, in my first year I had a professor that began our first day of class with a life changing statement.
“If ANY of you in this class do not wake up every morning and want to act, DO NOT STAY IN THIS INDUSTRY.”
This was the best career advice I could ever receive since it resonated with any serious career that I would choose. To be honest, after he said those words, something deep down changed for me. Suddenly I became realistic with my goals and knew I could not see myself pursuing a career in the business of acting. However I was now in the predicament of not having a single clue of what I wanted to do for a living, which is what led me to finishing and eventually graduating.
In 2012, two years after my brother proposed to my now sister-in-law, I decided I would plan and execute a beach themed bridal shower for her as my own “welcome to the family” present. During the event, I received many compliments on the smoothness of the event. The event planning career seed was then planted, but I still had a million reservations. Especially since this was the only event I had planned!
Then in 2014, I successfully planned and executed my mother’s surprise birthday (featuring a Halloween style theme). It was a (literal) glowing success. I think the moment I saw tears of gratitude streaming down my mother’s face, as she walked into the house, sparked an idea—why not make this my livelihood?
Many event coordinators will tell you that they started off in the field because they began planning events in their private life and decided to make it a career option. My reasons started along a similar line and once I got an idea of how much background work is involved in the planning process, my excitement only grew. I also realized I needed to educate myself. To be a true planner both the education and practical experience has to be there. WPIC course
With the support of Alisha and Michelle, I completed The Wedding Planner Institute of Canada course this weekend and let me just say that both days were heavily lengthy, ranging ten to eleven hours on each day (breaks included). This goes without saying that my instructor, Melissa Nowakowski (Creative Director at Et Løfte Events) was engaging, articulate, detailed and thorough with every section of the course. wpic course
For those of you that may not know, The Professional Wedding Consultant & Coordinator Course teaches its students the ins and outs of either establishing their own wedding planning business or how to get hired by an event planning company. The course also details the cultural and religious traditions associated with weddings, proper etiquette, how to plan and execute the entire wedding process, the importance of networking with other coordinators/vendors in the industry, and the strategic method of marketing yourself and your business. wpic course
What have I taken from the WPIC course?
Not only has the WPIC course clarified endless questions that only many years of experience could answer, but I walked out of that classroom on Sunday evening with such confidence in my abilities and talents as an event coordinator. For example, if someone were to ask me what a proper wedding invitation and a “Save the Date” card should look like before taking this course, I would not have known how to reply. Other questions I had were: what should a proper table setting look like? Why is white traditionally chosen as the color of the bride’s wedding dress? What is an emergency kit and what items should be included? Fortunately, by the end of the course these were all answered for me!
Our beautiful new wedding and event coordinator, Rachel! Photo provided by Nirvanie Srikishun Photography
Melissa Nowakowski, thank you once again for all of your help this weekend. Your passion and love for this industry truly shows in your teaching methods. The WPIC course is the starting point for everyone interested in the wedding planning industry, and I would highly recommend checking it out!”
Michelle and I are so happy to have Rachel as a part of our team! We also appreciate that she believes in continuing education as much as we do! To set up an initial meeting with our experienced and properly educated team of professionals, contact us today! We are so stoked to meet you!
- Published in 2016, Vendors, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps
Average Wedding Day for Wedding Planners
Today on the blog we wanted to address what the average wedding day looks like for our team. This is the time of year when we get tons of inquiries from interested brides and grooms. We know there are skeptics out there that wonder what they are paying for with a month-of coordinator, and if our services are worthwhile. We believe that knowledge is power, and that you should know as much about our process as you can before deciding if you want to work with us! Bearing that in mind, we wanted to present…
Our Average Wedding Day Schedule!
Depending on the type of service you select with our team, we’ll have a lot or a moderate amount of contact before your wedding day. Regardless of the service, in the 6-8 weeks leading up to the wedding day, we spend a lot of time with you and your vendors. We do a thorough venue walkthrough and we meet with you to finalize all of your details, timings, floor plans and seating chart. We also attend your rehearsal and coach your bridal party through their entrances. We teach them how best to walk down the aisle so the photographer can capture happy smiles and happy tears. There are lots of good times and lots of laughs, and we aim to keep you nice and relaxed straight through to the wedding day.
Start Time on the Average Wedding Day
6:00-10:00am
On the average wedding day, we are up and caffeinated by 6:00am. We begin by confirming that our bride and groom are awake and ready to tackle the first line item on their schedule. As we sip our warm bevvies, we send quick messages or make calls to your vendors to confirm that they’re on schedule. After slamming back some breakfast and hauling on pantyhose, we pack up our car(s) with your wedding favours, table numbers, schedules, copies of your speeches and entrance music, give lots of hugs and kisses as we split up and head to your ceremony and reception sites.
Okay, I lied. We stop for another cup of coffee and then head to your ceremony and reception sites.
A good caffeine fix.. we can’t resist it!
Once we arrive on site, we ensure that your ceremony decor is set up. The requirements and time commitment here vary by type of wedding ceremony. Either way, we check in with the officiant or religious official, ensure the ceremony decor is set up correctly, and check in with the bridal party. On the average wedding day, we build in extra time for hair and makeup and transportation to the ceremony site. In our experience these areas are the number one causes for late starts to the day. Still, we like to make a quick call to the group to find out if we’re on schedule. Average wedding day.
At the Ceremony site – 10:00am – 3:00pm or so
We head over to your ceremony site to make sure that everything is set up correctly. Photo: The Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale
At this point your ceremony space is set up beautifully, we’ve checked in with your vendors and one of a few things may be happening. Some of our couples opt to do a first look, and this usually happens before the ceremony. We help facilitate this to make sure that the photographers get the most genuine reaction. We’ll then assist with pinning on boutonnieres, jujjing dresses [you know – fluffing them up?] and doing a entrance quick run-through with the bridal party. We remind everyone to walk slow and smile, and check in with any children in the bridal party. We make sure our bride and groom are hydrated and have eaten. If not, into the emergency kit we go and give them a little snack. Once guests begin to arrive we instruct the bridal party to take their places.
We then help with the entrances by manning the doors. Once the bridal party is down the aisle, we’ll fix the bride’s veil, train and bouquet, give her a quick hug and remind her to take it slowly down the aisle and for Dad or other loved one to lift her veil before handing her off to the groom.
At the Reception site – 12:00pm – 5:00pm
During the ceremony, an assistant will oversee the reception space set up Photo: Tom Wang Photography
While the ceremony action is going on, we’ll also have another member of our team overseeing the set up of the reception space and setting up seating arrangements, cardboxes, guest favours, centerpieces and DIY decor. This will generally keep our lead or assistant busy right through to the start of the reception. We’ve coordinated weddings with guest lists over 500. That means 500 individual name cards and guest favours to place onto each setting.
Photo Sesh – 3:00pm – 6:00pm
We’ll help your photographers capture all of the shots you wanted for your wedding!
During photo time, we assist with herding the bridal party around and getting cooperation for the photography team. While we do love you and your bridal party to pieces, on the wedding day it’s not always easy to wrangle the group together to take photos. Yes, we all love a great selfie, but you’ve paid a professional photographer a great deal of money to capture high quality photos. We’ve realized that there is value to having an extra set of hands available to assist the photographer. And also to fluff the dresses a few more times. And maybe reapply your lipstick.
Cocktails, Canapés and Catered Delights – 6:00pm – 7:15pm
Once you photo session is nearing completion, we touch base with our team to ensure that the reception site is good to go, and that cocktail hour is going well. Our team back at your reception site are managing the logistics of your cocktail hour and ensuring that canapés and drinks are flowing smoothly.
At this point we’re in constant contact to make sure that your reception entrance, however we’ve planned it, is about to go down smoothly. Some couples prefer not to be seen until their grand entrance into the reception hall, and others choose to arrive during cocktail hour to mix and mingle a bit. Either way, one of our favourite moments is watching the look on your face when you see the surpassing gorgeousness of the décor for the first time. There’s nothing like it.
We take care of our couples! We make sure snacks are waiting for you during cocktail hour!
Also – we do our best to make sure there is a snack waiting for you and the bridal party in the bridal suite. Being gorgeous all day and taking fun pictures really is tiring, and we want you to be at your best before you start the main party!
We are now tasked with assisting your DJ/MC and family members gracefully move your guests from the cocktail hour space into the banquet hall. This is no small feat, since on our average wedding day; we end up with 400+ guests to artfully guide into the banquet hall. Most guests want to keep hanging out in the cocktail hour space and continue mixing and mingling. However, the Whimlets pride ourselves on keeping our weddings on time! We make friends with your guests throughout the day, that way when we have to deliver the ‘end of cocktail hour’ news; the devastation is at a minimum. Usually knowing that a sumptuous dinner waits is enough to get everyone hustling to their seats.
Dinner, Speeches and Happy Tears – 7:15pm – 9:30pm
After your parents and bridal party dance their way into the hall, as queued by the MC, it’s your turn! We do a quick fluff of the wedding gown, give lots of hugs and well wishes, and open the doors at the perfect moment and send you in to the deafening cheers of your guests! Once you’re seated, we slip into the hall and begin liaising with the catering manager on when to start service. Average wedding day
We facilitate your wedding entrances – and we loveeee this part! Our one regret is that we can’t see it from the vantage point of the guests – so seeing the photos afterwards always makes us smile! Photo: G+H Photography.
Timing is everything with the dinner courses – the last thing we want is for the service team to be clearing plates while your mom is giving her speech that she’s waited to give your entire life! We are constantly watching throughout the dinner festivities to ensure that our schedule and the kitchen’s schedule are perfectly synced. Lots goes on during the wedding day and it’s easy for the itinerary to be thrown off – our main goal during dinner is to make sure that the people you’ve elected to speak have the opportunity to do so with as little disruption as possible. There is a strong chance that we’re sipping coffee #10 by this point. Just kidding – it’s probably only #4 or #5.
Your wedding is full of special moments that you should be present for – let us manage the details. That way you can stay present in the moment. Photo: Accentuated Moments Photography
Also, I should mention – we love speeches. You see, I spend many months, sometimes years, working closely with my couples. I get to know you – your idiosyncrasies, your likes and dislikes, and the beautiful love story that you share with your intended. I love the speeches because I get to see you in the light that your closest friends and families see you, and the stories are always funny, sweet and endearing. I loathe having to step out of the hall during speeches. Average wedding day
Party, Cake, More Yumminess and Lots of Dancing – 9:30pm – 12:00am
At this point it’s time to get the party started! You may have opted to do your first dance earlier or maybe you’ve decided to do it now. Either way, at this point the guests have are full of wine, dinner and desert and are ready to party!
Enjoy the dance floor with your guests.. this is what everyone has been waiting for!
While you and your guests are partying it up, our team is setting up sweet tables, late night food stations and preparing the cake to be cut. We’ll pull you aside to remind you about throwing the bouquet and the garter toss, and late night photos if you’ve opted to have a session. We’re touching base with the photographer and videographer about milestones that they’ll want to capture for you.
We’re also keeping an eye out to make sure you’ve eaten enough, and that your parents/family members are enjoying themselves. We also check in with the DJ and MC and make sure that they have enough water and a snack, too. Average wedding day
End Time on the Average Wedding Day
The Grand Finale, Smiles and (Some) Tears – 12:00am-1:30am
All too soon, the bar is doing last call and we’re getting calls from your décor company to see if it’s time to come pack up. We get teary eyed knowing that our wedding journey with you is almost at an end. It seems funny that we started off as strangers meeting at our office and now we’re dear friends. We will let your family know where all your personal décor items are and do a quick survey of the room to make sure that your rentals are still where they ought to be. We chat with the catering manager and make sure the leftovers from your wedding cake is packed up properly, and we put aside a takeaway container of food for you to eat at your after party or hotel. We don’t want you to have to hunt for late night fast food!
Then, at the last moment, when we absolutely have to do it, we’ll take our leave. We give you lots of hugs, kisses and well wishes, get a little emotional, and promise to be in touch soon. We tell you how much we loved working with you, because we absolutely did. We then pack up our stuff and head to our cars. Before hopping in, we’ll high five the team and head off to our respective homes. Average wedding day.
Truth is, we get so attached to you, and we miss you a ton when the wedding is over!
Another beautiful, special wedding complete. It’s bittersweet for us, because we’ve come through, helped coordinate a wonderful wedding day, but we will missssss you. And there you have it. This is what an average wedding day looks like for our team. Full of laughs, great times and some tears. Seriously, I’m teary-eyed just writing this and reminiscing. Average wedding day
It’s a journey and we absolutely want to be there with you for it! Do we seem like the type of team you’d like to work with? If so, contact us today – we want to hear all about your wedding!
With Love,
- Published in 2016, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps
Review of 2015 & Our Goals for 2016
We had an amazing 2015. We have stated numerous times that we are so grateful to our family, friends and clients for simply being the best! We managed to get off to a running start and learned a ton along the way! We love sharing our successes and teachable moments with you. In that spirit, we wanted to share our 2015 social media statistics and our goals for 2016!
2015 Social Media Statistics
We made huge leaps and bounds with our social media in 2015!
Michelle created this beautiful graphic that outlines our areas of achievement. For example we had over 13K views on our website – which is awesome! We recently relaunched the site, so we’re very excited to see what these numbers look like next year! We also saw a huge increase in our Pinterest following and activity levels. Are you seeing this?? Almost 250,000 views on our pins! Love!
The coolest item? One of our Instagram posts went viral when the official Christian Louboutin Instagram page liked and commented on it!
We also saw areas where we could improve. For example, we only posted 43 blog posts for 2015. We also want to see more returning visitors to our website. We did a fab coaching session with Krista of KJ&Co and learned a whole lot that helped us improve our website a lot!
Now that we are well into 2016, the Whimlets have brainstormed and come up with goals for 2016. We each considered what we would like to accomplish for the year, and to stay accountable, we wanted to share these goals with you. Without further ado, I present to you our…
Goals for 2016! *Cue the Fanfare!*
Alisha
As a team, we accomplished a lot in 2015. Sometimes I forget that our journey began only a few short years ago. We looked at 2015 as the year that we made a name for ourselves in the Toronto events industry. I think we hit the mark and forged a ton of great new relationships. I’d like to see more of that in 2016!
One of my personal goals for 2016 is to create a stronger awareness for our company with venues that align with our brand. I will accomplish this in 2016 by conducting 1 (one) site visit at a new venue per month and writing a blog post on the experience.
Michelle
My personal goal for this year is to create a bigger presence for our Wedding Stationery sub-brand – RSVP by Whim. In order to accomplish this, I will create its own entity within our Whim website as well as build the brand using social media. Across all social media platforms, RSVP by Whim will always link back to the main website.
Rachel
Lastly.. We have an office!
Yessss we do! This past week we moved into our first ever office! We achieved one of our goals for 2016 really early and we are so excited to invite you all to come visit us! While we aren’t totally finished decorating, we are already meeting new (and existing) clients at our office. We’re located at 8611 Weston Road, unit 28, Vaughan Ontario – the major intersection is Weston and Langstaff. Here’s a sneak peek of part of the space. Want to see more? Come visit :).
Sneak peek of our office space!
We are so thrilled to be able to serve you better, and to have a space that allows us to be productive and creative!
If you made it through this list… thank you!
Whew, it feels good to get that out in the open. We plan to be as open and honest about this journey as we can possibly be. In fact, we’d love it if you called us out on not meeting our goals! We want to be the best version of ourselves so that we can serve our clients better! Here’s to a productive and fulfilling 2016!
- Published in 2016, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps
Hilton Mississauga Venue Review
by Alisha Chadee
I love being a wedding and event planner. I love it for so many reasons. The primary reason is that I enjoy helping couples plan the most important day of their lives and I love the creativity involved with designing a themed corporate party. It honestly doesn’t feel like work to me because I enjoy all aspects of the planning and execution. As with any career, there are fun perks! One of them is that the Whimlets are constantly invited by venues to visit and sample their fares. Poor us – having to visit beautiful spaces and eat yummy food. It’s a hard life, but someone has to evaluate all that the wedding world has to offer you! Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered :).
Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale – Yessss!!!
Recently I was invited by the beautiful Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale to come visit their beautiful wedding and event space.
Lobby of the Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale – courtesy of the hotel
As I sat in the lovely lobby and took a few snaps with my camera, I took in the ambiance of the room. I like evaluating lobbies. This is the first spot your guests will see at the onset of your wedding. I loved that this space was warm and friendly, with a professional yet luxurious feel.
I met with Richha, the Catering and Sales Manager, and she strove to welcome me and answer all of my questions. Richha took me on a tour of the ballrooms, meeting spaces, restaurant and even a guest suite! Check out a few photos of the lovely ceremony and reception spaces. All event space photos courtesy of the Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale.
Compass Room Reception Space – beautiful for a cocktail reception
The Greenwich Room – perfect for a reception dinner and dance.
The Greenwich Room is also very appropriate for a lovely and modern wedding ceremony
I am OBSESSED with modern ceremony spaces and the Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale delivers!
Modern and luxe. It’s difficult to find spaces in Toronto that can cater to groups of up to 900 that have this ambiance. Like I’ve mentioned before – I love modern.
It wouldn’t be a good site visit without sampling the fare offered by the culinary geniuses at theHilton Mississauga Meadowvale. Richha and I headed over to their in-house restaurant, Quest. The food was delicious and beautifully displayed. The head chef is able to customize their menu to suit even the pickiest palette and I was pleased with the extensive selection of wines.
Are you drooling yet? I wonder if I can do a second site visit..
This meatloaf was amazing! I (reluctantly) shared my leftovers with my husband. It was gone in seconds!
Richha’s three-cheese mac! Yum!
All in all, I really like the Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale for an intimate or large wedding reception for a few reasons:
- Modern couples looking for a hotel wedding experience usually think of the options available in Toronto. I was very pleased to see that we have a great modern, luxurious hotel option here in Mississauga. I love the West-end, and I’ve lived here my entire life – so the more it develops, the happier I am!
- I very much enjoyed the food. I am a foodie at heart and I believe that your guests will always appreciate a well thought out meal at your wedding. Working with experienced chefs and sommeliers guarantees that your guests will have a wonderful culinary experience. I also enjoyed the flexibility of the menus. There are sit-down and buffet options, along with a multitude of cultural variations available.
- I love modern wedding and event spaces. TheHilton Mississauga Meadowvale offers a sleek, contemporary design and is suitable for modern luxe weddings.
Hilton Mississauga Meadowvale – Quick Facts
Location: 6750 Mississauga Road, Mississauga Ontario
Capacity: 10 to 900
Size of Space: Up to 40,000 square feet
Catering: Available onsite
Bar: Available Onsite
Photo Ops: Available in Courtyard
Amenities: Many – but ample free parking is available for wedding guests.
Contact: Richha Arora
Website: Click Here
What do you think of our review? We’d love to go with you on a tour of theHilton Mississauga Meadowvale for your upcoming wedding or event. Contact us today and we can get started!
xoxo
- Published in 2015, Vendor spotlight, Venues, Wedding, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps
Creative Guestbook Ideas for the Fun Bride
By Alisha Chadee
You’ve picked your wedding colour scheme, you’ve picked your wedding theme and your planning is coming along nicely. Wonderful! Time for the final details, like your wedding guestbook. Here’s an excellent opportunity to showcase your theme in a creative way! There are tons of ways to showcase your creativity and leaving the boring old guestbook in the past. Where it belongs. Forever. Without further ado…
Creative Guestbook Ideas
The Whimlets have planned and coordinated a ton of weddings over the years, and we’ve always advocated for as much creativity as possible. One of our favourite areas to incorporate this is in the guestbook and receiving line items. Guests enjoy the fun extras and out of box ideas that show you care about their experience. For example, one of our couples featured a guestbook tree. The guestbook tree featured an Fujufilm Instax camera with slips of paper for guests to fasten their instant photos and leave a message. The messages were then tied onto the tree and created the leaves. The Diya Decor tree was visually stunning, standing at 6ft tall, and had all of the guests raving.
Closeup of the Guestbook Tree and hanging ‘leaves.’
The beautiful Diya Decor creation at #Anilina2015
I’ve always loved simplicity – it’s the ultimate sophistication, right? In that spirit, I love the idea of artwork that guest can sign. These pieces are then hung in the bride and groom’s home after the wedding. Check out this artwork created from the thumbprints of the bride and groom, fashioned into a heart. Guests signed around it and the bride and groom displayed it in their home. I really like the underlying message of two becoming one.
Artwork that guests can sign are a fun alternative to the traditional guestbook. We love this thumbprint design. Photo by Jonathan Young Weddings
What do you and your fiancé like to do? What are your hobbies? For example, couples who enjoy travel may consider using a globe and have guests sign it. This would be a neat piece to display in an office or in a family room. Like I said before, I love creative guestbook ideas that double as art!
Fun globe guestbook idea for smaller weddings – great nod to a globetrotting couple’s shared interests in travelling. Found via Elizabeth Anne Weddings.
As an alternative to this idea, rather than using a globe, use a map and frame it afterwards!
Frame a personalized map and have guests sign it. After the wedding, hang it up in the family room! Found via HereAndThereShop on Easy.
Are you a wine lover? Yeah, so am I! Start collecting those corks and have guests sign and add them to a shadow box! The shadow box can be personalized to include your wedding monogram and brand!
Wine lovers unite! Have your guests sign corks and add them to a shadow box! Display it after the wedding! Found Emmalinebride.com!
I loveeeee Jenga! It’s such a fun game for groups or even a low-key date night. My husband and I play all the time and it turns into a battle royale! I digress.. Have your guests sign Jenga pieces on one side and add a piece of advice on the other! You’ll have fun playing afterwards and the game might even become a keepsake for your future children!
Break out the Jenga! Guests will love leaving advice and you’ll love playing on date night! Via OhLovelyDay.com
Creative guestbook ideas are all around us – just think about the activities that you enjoy as a couple and the ideas will flow! How did you like the suggestions that I’ve given you? Leave me a comment and let me know! If you are looking for help with putting together your dream wedding, contact us today!
- Published in 2015, Trends, Wedding, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps
A Modern Romance at Liberty Grand in Toronto
Liberty Grand is a beautiful spot. Seriously gorgeous.
We never get tired of weddings at Liberty Grand in Toronto. It’s such an elegant spot, with great modern features set against a historic building. Naturally when one of our August 2015 couples contacted us and said their venue was Liberty Grand, we were seriously stoked.
Meet Valerie & Jon. Adorable, right?
Valerie & Jon’s Liberty Grand wedding, shot by Memory Video Productions
Valerie & Jon’s Liberty Grand wedding, shot by Memory Video Productions
Apart from their obvious cuteness, these two were such a delight to work with – so laid back and genuinely excited about getting married and showing their guests a great time. Michelle and I were more than happy to get involved and help them with their finishing touches. This wedding had a lot of fun features to keep guests entertained all day and night!
Valerie & Jon hired a very talented group of vendors to help pull their wedding together, and based on their review of us, it’s safe to say that they are happy with the end-result :). Check out a few more of their photos, and a full vendor listing below. Thanks again to the fabulous Memory Photo and Video based out of Woodbridge. You guys rock! Guests walked away with hand-rolled cigar favours, individually wrapped. Michael McDonnell and a team of two arrived on site after dinner to provide caricature sketches for guests to take home.
This cake was a huge hit with us and all of the guest. This delightful confectionary creation was created by the Wedding Cake Shoppe in Toronto :).
This crowd had a blast from start to end. There was a ton of audience participation and everyone clamoured to be involved!
Is this a bridal party or a magazine spread? Valerie & Jon’s beautiful bridal party!
This is the beautiful bride with two of her bridesmaids and the most adorable little flower girl in the world. This shot was taken in the courtyard of Liberty Grand
Rose gold and blush head table. Isn’t the backdrop stunning? Wedding Wows Toronto provided the beautiful decor.
The Key Players
Wedding Planners: Whim Event Coordination & Design
Photography & Videography: Memory Photo & Video Productions
Venue: Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex
Decor, Floral & Rentals: Wedding Wows Toronto
Transportation: Lucid Limos
Cake: The Wedding Cake Shoppe
Ceremony Music: Duo D’amour
Hair & Makeup: Brush Boutique
Entertainment: Michael McDonnell Caricature
Favours: Frank Correnti Cigars
Are you dreaming of your big day? OMG we are too! Contact us today and we’ll show you how we can make it happen together!
- Published in 2015, Real Wedding, Wedding, Wedding Planning
Atlantis Pavilions & Dreams – A Beautiful Muti-Day Wedding
Dreams Convention Centre
In August of 2015 we had the opportunity to work with a lovely couple, P&G, to assist with designing their wedding. They had a multi-day wedding featuring a traditional Sri Lankan dinner. This was following their Christian wedding service at Rexdale Alliance Church in Toronto. The lovely dinner, catered by Raja Ram, was held at Dreams Convention Centre in Brampton. The beautiful decor at Dreams was provided by Diya Decor. Here are some of the gorgeous photos from day one, all courtesy of Tom Wang Photography.
Stunning stage decor by Diya Decor. Fab photo by Tom Wang Photography.
Stunning stage decor for day one by Diya Decor. Fab photo by Tom Wang Photography
Gorgeous fresh flower arrangement by Classy Flowers. Photo courtesy of Tom Wang Photography.
Beautiful display by Diya Decor. Lovely photo from Tom Wang Photography.
Lovely use of candelabras on this stage design from Diya Decor.
Lovely use of candelabras on this stage design by Diya Decor. Photos by Tom Wang Photography.
Beautiful mute-level stage decor really added depth to this high-ceilinged ballroom at Dreams Convention Centre. Decor by Diya Decor and photo courtesy of Tom Wang Photography.
Gorgeous and vibrant head table arrangement.
Atlantis Pavilions
Our bride and groom wanted a very different vibe for their smaller, intimate celebration party at Atlantis Pavilions later that weekend. While designing the space, we kept in mind the fact that our couple preferred simple elegance. We worked with a neutral colour palette to make the most of the lovely, large windows in the venue and the natural light. We flanked the head table with large blossom trees and used our fabulous embroidered Vashti overlay on the head table, as well as some of our decor items. A special thank you to Sarah and all of the staff at Atlantis – it was a pleasure working with you on this lovely wedding!
Closeup shot of the lovely white blossom trees from Film Greens in Toronto.
Stunning (and delicious!) cake from Sinfully Sweet by SoniaJ.
A closeup of the lovely wedding cake designed by Sinfully Sweet by SoniaJ. Photo by Tom Wang Photography
A head on shutoff the simple, elegant head table design we created for our couple.
Hydrangea centrepieces with pops of red from the favour boxes, table numbers and escort cards. All stationery designed by Whim.
We really love the neutral colour palette and beautiful ghost chiavari chairs that are standard at Atlantis Pavilions.
Vendor Love
Several fab vendors made this special weekend happen, and we wanted to recognize them! Check these guys out – you won’t be disappointed!
Wedding Design, Stationery & Coordination: Whim Event Coordination & Design
Photography: Tom Wang Photography
Videography: PGP Studios
Cake: Sinfully Sweet by SoniaJ
Ceremony Venue: Rexdale Alliance Church
Reception Venue 1: Dreams Convention Centre
Reception Venue 2: Atlantis Pavilions
Entertainment: Broken Dance
Entertainment: Your Private Dancers
Are you looking for assistance with designing the wedding of your dreams? Contact us today!
- Published in 2015, Real Wedding, Wedding Planning
Month-Of Coordination: What Is It and Do I Need It?
Month-Of Coordination is for (almost) everyone.
Why do couples book month-of coordination? Usually these are couples who genuinely enjoy planning and are on top of their details, but want to relax and enjoy their wedding weekend. They want to avoid having to follow up with vendors all day. They want to avoid worrying about setting up small items or coordinating a rehearsal. Our month-of clients are usually professional couples that really want to interact with their guests and enjoy the details and fun aspects of the wedding that they’ve spent months and sometimes years planning.
When a couple books a month-of planner, they typically continue on with their wedding planning until approximately 4-6 weeks prior to the wedding. At this point, the planner and the couple meet and discuss the details of the wedding, and go over timelines, contracts and expectations to get a feel for how the day should play out. The planner also does a final walkthrough of the venue and confirms timings and requirements with all vendors. That sounds wonderful – but how does a client get from their engagement to this point? It can all be very overwhelming.
In order to make the planning experience a smooth one for our month-of coordination clients, we have put together a handy and stylish…..
Isn’t it pretty? This resource package includes:
– Planning Checklist
– Budget Template
– Recommended Vendor List
– Guest List Template
– Etiquette Guide for Addressing Wedding Invitations
– Marriage License Instruction Sheet
– Vendor Contact Sheet Template
– Wedding Day Timeline Template
Why do our clients love this? It gives them the tools they need to efficiently plan their wedding and stay organized. Our clients have full control over the planning of their wedding and we step in closer to the wedding date and ensure that all of this hard work is executed flawlessly.
Why do we love it? We recognize that stepping into an event mid-way can be challenging for the couple, the vendors and of course for the planners. After planning and coordinating several weddings, we realized having that there are benefits to having these resources available from the onset of the planning process. In fact, our couples felt better educated and fully equipped to put together a fabulous wedding. It also helped us step into the wedding midway with the confidence of knowing that our couples used resources and guides that we’ve used time and time again.
Do you want to relax with your friends and family on your wedding day? Contact us today to learn more about our Month-Of Coordination package and how you can benefit from our Client Resource Package!
- Published in 2015, Vendors, Wedding Planning, Wedding TIps